'FINE, LEAVE, SEE IF I CARE,'
'FINE, I WILL,'
'FINE!'
'FINE!' The slam of the door resonated throughout the house and its force left her trembling. It was the worst fight they'd had yet and fighting was not something they did often. Her back was to the door and she glared at the piano opposite, the music sheets that were lying on the top now strewn across the floor like it had vomited. She squeezed her eyes shut, determined to not give in to the tears as she bent over to collect the sheets and her mobile phone, that had been thrown at some point and ended up lying near the open window. She looked out on the street below and breathed in the air in an attempt to help clear her mind. It was truly ridiculous what they had been arguing about, but before she knew it a few smart ass comments had turned in to a world war three screaming match with the piano acting as No Man's Land and here she was two hours later feeling exhausted. Sitting down at the piano, she placed the sheets on its top and rested her head in her hands before noticing the true cause for the situation out of the corner of her eye. A sterile white box lay on its side; the cover had an image of a woman holding a round belly with the silhouette of a fetus. This would have been okay except he just happened to come in at the wrong time and started to assume the worst. She didn't even know if anything was actually happening or even if she was… She shook her head, not wanting to think about it and now he was God-knows-where, hopefully coming home later in one piece and in a calmer mood. She pressed one of the piano keys and listened to the dull sound, not paying any particular attention as she pressed another and another and soon found herself playing a well known tune. She remembered the first time she sang it at the National Vocal Group and Choir Championships when she was in high school three years back and her group had even won.
All that seems like a dream now, she thought before breaking into the first verse;
'A chair is still a chair, even when there's no one sitting there. But a chair is not a house and a house is not a home, when there's no one there to hold you tight and no one there you can kiss goodnight.'
She felt the tears running down her face as she drew out the last note but she kept playing as they became a relief for what had just happened and the last few months that had consisted long distance phone calls, overseas trips and weeks of trying to be optimistic when you didn't know how long he'd be home for. She knew it was silly to worry and over assume for they been together for just over a year, they were best friends and she was certain that he would be the one who would get down on one knee and ask her to spend forever with him. They were only young but still she dreamed and hoped;
'A room is still a room, even when there's nothing there but gloom. But a room is not a house and a house is not a home, when the two of us are far apart and one of us has a broken heart.'
Her voice cracked and squeaked as she roughly wiped her eyes and shook her chocolate brown hair from out of her face; the tips of some locks were as soaked as her hand as it had fallen out from its ponytail throughout the argument. She felt a little calmer now as the music soothed her as well as the atmosphere in the room as it spilled out from the window, travelling down the street. She kind of hoped he would hear it and come home for the sky had changed from the sunny midday to an afternoon of amber as it was getting late and she didn't want this to be the thing that made everything between them stop;
'Now and then I call your name and suddenly a face appears. But it's just a crazy game and it ends, it ends in tears.'
Her eyes had now dried, leaving a sticky residue that had become familiar to her lately and it wasn't from arguments. The smallest thing would set her off and before she knew it she would be in tears, whether it be a sad song she would be playing on the piano or a story about an 85 year old actress who died that was from TV show she never even heard of, but it was being presented in the news so she cried anyway. She thought this was weird for her to be acting like this, so she bought the thing that was still in the box just in case anything had happened. They had talked about little ones and the future but expected it to be later, when they were both ready for it and could afford doing up a baby's room and being parents. She smiled for the first time that day since the argument, at the thought of her with a growing stomach and could imagine the smacking of excited little feet on Christmas day running down the stairs into a decorated lounge room. Her hand went down and rubbed her stomach for a moment;
'So darling, have a heart. Don't let one mistake keep us apart. I'm not meant to live alone, turn this house into a home. When I climb the stair and turn the key, please be there,'
She stopped at the sound of the kitchen door opening and footsteps coming up the stairs;
'Still in love with me.'
She sat there in thought for a moment and jumped when he cleared his throat. She turned to see him leaning in the doorway, knowing he would have had heard the song from down the street and he knew it as well as she did for she sang it all the time. His expression had changed from earlier and now appeared calmer as his eyes were red and puffy with a hint of apologetic behind them. She could see he was holding something behind his back and it was dripping water on the floor. He noticed her glance and with a sheepish smile, he brought a bouquet of red roses around to his front;
'I'm sorry Rachel, I'm sorry for being an immature dick and jumping to conclusions about well-you know,' he nodded his head in the direction of the box that was still on the floor.
Rachel wiped away the new tears that had started to fall down her face before running and throwing herself in to the arms of Finn. She buried her face into his neck and inhaled the musky, sweaty scent she had grown to love before searching for his lips with hers. Pulling away she looked up at him as he wiped away another tear with his thumb and gave a little smile before inhaling the roses he bought her;
'It's okay Finn, I understand why you reacted like you did, I would have done the same thing if I were in your position. We've got the whole world ahead of us but I would rather know if anything has happened and I would love you to be there for it every step of the way, I can't imagine my world without you, I love you,'
He gave her a goofy smile before letting her go and watching her run over and pick up the white box. Watching her shoulders rise and fall he heard her take a deep breath as she stared down as it sat in her hands. She ran a hand through her hair, letting it fallout from its ponytail and turned around with a smile,
'Well…. Shall we?' she shook the box, the rattle seeming surprisingly loud for such a small object. The noise made her looked nervous, but so was he, this was a new step for them both. He nodded and walked over to her before wrapping an arm around her shoulders,
'Yes… We shall,' he kissed her temple as she inhaled the scent of the roses before walking out of the piano room together and into the unknown but joyous future.
