Just a little fluffy oneshot about Edward teaching Bella to play piano. Nothing serious of course - based on trying to teach my friend to play piano! Please review, it makes me very happy indeed :) Enjoy!!
I stared at the keys. Black and white. Ebony and ivory, like a song Renée used to love when I was little. They all had names, according to Edward: A to G, an octave. Not that I could remember that even if I tried. They all looked the same; how were you supposed to tell an E from an F? And what was a 'flat' or a 'sharp'? They were both little black rectangles that made musical noises when you pressed them. Well, when Edward pressed them they sounded musical – If I even thought about touching one my ears would start to hurt. Somehow, after an hour of Edward trying to teach me to play, I was beginning to figure out that I wasn't a very musical person.
"Bella, you're playing the wrong bit!" He sighed, shaking his head. I gave him a death-stare.
"No I'm not! That's the bit you told me to play!"
"No, we're playing that," Edward pointed to the top of one of the sheets of music. I stared at it in hopeless confusion. Obviously it meant something to him; all I could see was a bunch of lines with black notes (in various designs) on them.
"Isn't that what I was playing?" I asked him sheepishly. He shook his head. "Oh. I see."
"You were playing this section," he told me patiently. Leaning over, he pointed to a line far down the page. "You're supposed to be playing this. It's easier." I couldn't help but be distracted by the fact that the golden twilight set the room aglow, illuminating his marble features like one of those angels you see in old paintings. Managing to drag myself out of my rapture, I blinked in horror as I realised he had been talking.
"Er, sorry...could you repeat that?" Edward sighed again. He took my hand in his and laid it on the keys, proceeding to play the section slowly, directing my fingers to hit the right keys. The only problem was his cool fingers against mine, making me lose all focus in what I was supposed to be doing. Play the piano Bella. Play. Stop looking like an idiot.
"Alright, now it's your turn," he stated, pushing the sheet over to my side slightly. "Do your best." I stared at the first note intensely, trying to remember what key it was. Nothing came to mind. I took a deep breath – time for Plan B. I hit a random key that I strongly suspected was a C and, to my surprise, Edward nodded approvingly. Plan B was working. The next note I recognised as a C, because it was the same as the first, so I played that. So far so good. I took a deep breath and began to guess the rest: C, C, B, A, B, C, D, E, E, E...
"Bella! Stop!"
"Is that not right?" Edward just shook his head, looking vaguely amused. "What's so funny?"
"Bella, you were just playing 'chopsticks'." I made a face. Aha. That's why it sounded so familiar. And here I was, thinking I had finally discovered my inner musical genius. No such luck. "As good as it is to know that you can play something, we're trying to play this piece here." Poor Edward. It must be like Mozart trying to teach a five year old to play 'twinkle twinkle little star'. Oh God, it was exactly like that.
"Sorry," I mumbled in embarrassment, looking down. Couldn't I do anything worthwhile? Edward put his hand under my chin, forcing me to look up into his liquid gold eyes. Those eyes that made me lose every train of thought and simply melt away...I wasn't quite sure how I was going to learn to play the piano if I kept getting so distracted, but his mouth was mere inches away and that suddenly seemed a lot more important than music. He laughed softly.
"Ah, Bella. You don't have to do this if you don't want, you know." I gazed back at him stubbornly.
"But I want to," I answered obstinately. The thing was, I did want to. I wanted to be able to do something and piano seemed the perfect choice because it was Edward's choice as well. Not to mention, I got to have him as my teacher (which wasn't turning out to be such a good thing, as I spent more time staring at him than at the keys).
"We won't do it if you get upset."
"I'm not upset," I wailed, trying not to sound like a five year old and failing miserably. Edward laughed.
"If you say so. Shall we start again?" I nodded eagerly. Ok, I would pay attention this time. "Right, put your finger on C." I hesitantly put my finger on a key that looked like a C – not that I could tell. "Close - move up two." I shifted my finger along. "No, other way." I moved the other way along, trying to resist the urge to bang my head against the nearest hard object. "Alright, play that." I did so obediently. "Now, play the key next to it."
"Black or white?"
"White. It's always going to be white unless it's a sharp or a flat."
"Er...what are those again?" Edward gave another long sigh.
"You'll find out later. For now, stick to white."
"Alright," I answered, staring at the notes and imagining them as keys. That confused me even more, seeing as they all looked the same. I hit the note next to the C and then, struck by an odd wish to look like I was playing something, I played about fifteen notes more along the scale. Edward looked slightly nonplussed and amused at the same time.
"What are you doing?" He asked. I scowled.
"Trying to play something."
"Well, do you want to give the piece another go?" I hesitated. Images came to mind of me sitting, playing the piano while everyone stared in awe as I smiled with great dignity and Edward kissed me as the music floated all around us...
"I can play it!" I yelled enthusiastically. Edward blinked.
"If you say so..." he murmured, looking slightly worried as I put my finger to C determinedly. The next note was a D...and then a G...and then back down to a B...I began to play, my original high hopes slowly suffocated as I realised how painful it sounded. Edward was trying to hold in his laughter. I snarled and, for lack of something better to hit, slammed my head into my hands. Just then, the door flew open and Alice leapt inside, looking wary.
"What broke?" She asked suspiciously. "I heard loud crashes..." Her eyes widened as she saw me at the piano and Edward almost choking with the effort to stop laughing. "Ah. Right. It sounded great Bella, really. Very...strong. Passionate."
"Violent?" Emmett suggested lazily, grinning from behind her. "It's nice to see you enjoying yourself Bella. Remember, the piano has feelings too..."
"Well, I thought it was a great improvement," Edward stated supportively. Everyone in the room, myself included, gave him an incredulous look. "I'm being serious! Like Alice said, it was...passionate."
"Well, if that's how you swing..." Emmett shrugged suggestively. Edward coughed and I got the feeling he'd have gone red if he'd had blood.
"Oh come on," I scowled. "It wasn't that bad..." Alice came over to stand behind me.
"She's right, you know," the small vampire pointed out. "The keys are still intact and everything!" I gave her the deepest glare I could. She giggled nervously.
"I suppose that's an achievement on its own," Emmett laughed. I gave up on trying to glare at everyone at once. Rosalie drifted in, having just come out bed (she liked lie-ins, which usually became sleep-through-the-day-ins) and looking her usual combination of bored and...bored.
"Did anyone else hear crashing from down here?" She asked, looking around warily. Emmett burst into gales of laughter, clutching the top of the piano while Alice and Edward suddenly received suspiciously loud coughing fits. Rosalie saw me at the piano and sighed, flicking her blonde tresses over her shoulder. "I should've known. If anyone asks for me, I'll be in the soundproof side of the house." That sent Emmett into further hysterics; he trailed after his love as she swept out of room with as much dignity as one can muster while wearing a pink fluffy bathrobe.
"I'm so bad at playing piano," I wailed. There was a long silence. Alice gave a slight, awkward cough and Edward suddenly caught sight of something interesting out of the window. "You know, you could at least pretend like I'm not!"
"Gosh Bella, how could you even suggest you could be bad at something," Alice gushed at once. "Why, your playing is like angels singing! When you play it brings tears to my eyes, for such is the beauty of your skill and talent." Edward simply muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'honesty is the best policy'.
"Alright, no need to push it," I grumbled. "I guess piano playing isn't really my forte." Edward wrapped his arms around me soothingly, meaning I had to struggle to hold on to my irritation with the world (well, the piano-shaped part). Alice patted the top of my head and I felt slightly patronised.
"You may be secretly brilliant at something else!" She remarked optimistically. I attempted to raise one eyebrow but remembered I couldn't actually do that, so I resorted to raising both.
"Like what? Solitaire?" I asked sceptically.
"Nothing wrong with that," she shrugged. I just leant against Edward's shoulder with a frown. "Everyone's special..."
"...Another way of saying no one is..." See? I couldn't even think up my own lines! Not that I was about to point out that I got that from The Incredibles.
"...It's just some are more special than others!"
"Great. Really helpful. I feel brilliant now," I grumbled sarcastically. She beamed and Edward laughed softly. He entwined our fingers and, using his free hand, turned my head so I was looking into his eyes (this works every time, damnit!). Grudgingly, I felt my anger slip away as I was taken in by his smouldering gaze. Before I could help it I was reaching up to him, sighing with satisfaction as his lips met mine in a explosion that took my breath away. Too short of course; it always is. He laughed at my expression.
"I'm sorry you aren't a professional pianist," Edward murmured into my hair lovingly. "I'm sure you would make a very good one indeed. Interesting, that's what they'd call you."
"If all else fails, I can always play 'chopsticks'," I mumbled and he laughed. Behind me, the twilight glow faded into the soft grey dusk as ebony and ivory were forgotten for the moment. The best part of piano lessons was when they were over.