Scratching Records

Tom slammed the door behind him and threw the car keys across the entryway. They skipped once, then twice on the tiled floor, clattering to a stop only when they reached the opposite wall, lying meekly on the ground against the white kickboard.

Tom followed soon after. His back slid against the door until he sat, head on his arms and knees pulled to his chest. His hood was pulled over his head, his blank eyes seeing nothing but the new dents and scrapes on his car.

There were footsteps coming towards him.

"Hey. You too?" Tom looked up at Tamara. Her blue hoodie was tied around her waist, and her eyes were exhausted.

"Yeah," Tom said dejectedly, running his fingers through his hair and pushing his hood off.

"Great. Wanna get a drink at my place?"

"Kinda early, don't you think?"

Tamara shrugged. "I was thinking tea with some vodka. The girls just made some biscuits, too."

"Sounds good to me." Tom took a hold of Tamara's hand, and she pulled him to his feet. She turned and led the way through the mirror, feeling the familiar layer of warm alone before ending up in a kitchen almost exactly the same as Tom's.

"Mint?" she asked without preamble, making her way to the kettle.

"You got raspberry?"

"Only tea bags."

"That's fine." Tom settled at the granite counter and looked at his hands. He was too tired, too apathetic to be angry. Sure, people were dip wads, there was nothing he could do about it. Except get angry maybe, and after a sleepless night, that was out of the question.

Tamara set a steaming mug of tea in front of him a few minutes later, and poured in a shot of whatever she had in her flask. With a grunt of thanks, he lifted the mug, blew on the surface, and took a long, deep draught. The obvious fact that the actual tea was from a bag was hidden by the heat of the water and burn of the alcohol.

It was oddly soothing. But, then again, he was an alcoholic; it was in the job description.

"So," Tamara slumped into her chair off to the left of him, taking a drink herself and smacking her lips, "Anything you want to talk about?"

"Eh," Tom shrugged and swirled the liquid in his mug. "Not really. Tord's being... Well, Tord."

"So, existing, yeah?" The two laughed. "Same thing with Tori. She tried to leave her rubbish in the kitchen this morning; there were chords and earbuds freaking everywhere, and-"

They sat there for a long time, chatting happily and munching on biscuits, forgetting the twin sets of gashes along the sides of identical cars spanning two worlds. Tamara eventually hid her flask away after they realized they had gone through three cups of tea and alcohol each, then switched to just tea. It was oddly bland without the added burn of their preferred substance, but not too bad. They continued until the water left in the kettle was cool and metallic, and the both of them were left tipping back the last dregs of cold tea.

"Movie?" Tom asked, his mug clinking in a hollow sort of way as he smiled at Tamara.

"You read my mind," she answered after swallowing her last gulp. "C'mon." She stood from her chair, leaving the mug covered in kittens on the table and began to walk into the back of the house. Tom followed, knowing she was headed for her room, where he also knew hid one of the most amazing movie collections ever; zombie movies, old westerns, american television, food shows, it was all there. Tamara paused by the bathroom door. "You go find something, I gotta go."

He nodded as she closed the door and continued his way to their previous destination.

And then, he stopped.

He stared quizzically at the second to last door on the left. The door in itself was rather unremarkable; painted white, with a silver handle that didn't match any of the others in the house. There was a little sign, covered in glitter and pink, with a couple of crossbones and skulls wearing bows, and it said "Keep Out". It was kind of like Matt's back home, when he thought about it. But still, that wasn't why he stared.

There was something coming from behind the door. Not light, not movement, but a sound. Quietly, he put his ear up to the wood, listening intently. Was that… Singing? A ukulele? Glancing once again at the sign and deciding to ignore it in not even a second, he turned the door handle.

"-heart and you'll find love, love , love, love,

Listen to the music of the moment, people dance and sing,

We're just one big family-"

Her voice was sweet, nothing like he had heard before. Her ginger head swayed from side to side as she strummed a small ukulele she had bought from who knows what store, her back to the door. There were purple earbuds trailing from her ears to a laptop, where the lyrics to the song were sitting. Her jackets were draped over the back of her chair, and he could see her freckled shoulders on either side of the straps of her grey vest.

He blinked. She was a ridiculously good singer. Of course he might have been a bit biased, but that was beside the point. He stepped silently into the room.

"There's no need to complicate,

Our time is short,

This is our fate,

I'm yours."

She muttered the next few words under her breath, cursing her weak fingers and struggling to find a few chords on her instrument before returning to the next verse. Only someone interrupted her as she took a breath. A familiar someone that made her heart beat a ridiculous pace as she yelped with fright

"I've been spending too much time checking my tongue in the mirror,

And bending over backwards just to try and see clearer,

But my breath fogged up the glass,

So I drew a new face and I laughed."

Tom was smiling, his empty eyes half-lidded as he leaned over her shoulder and staring. She laughed at his voice and his words, a little shakily with surprise, and please and a little taken-aback he knew the silly American song. She resumed her momentarily paused strumming.

"I guess what I've been saying is there is no better reason,

To rid yourself of vanity and just go with the season,

It's what we aim to do,

Our name is our virtue."

Tamara stood, leaning against the doorway with her arms folded against her chest, smiling serenely at the two backs facing her; one in blue, the other framed by flaming red hair, and both singing in a broken and beautiful harmony. Tom wasn't the best singer in the world, and Matilda was far too quiet, but just now, that didn't matter.

It was a perfect duet.

"No I won't hesitate no more, no more

It cannot wait, I'm yours.

Open up your mind and see like me,

Open up your plans and then you're free,

Look into your heart and you'll find the sky is yours,

So baby please don't, please don't, please don't,

There's no need to complicate,

Because our time is short,

This, oh this, oh this is our fate,

I'm yours, oh."


A/N Heheh. I thought it was kinda cute. Hope you guys enjoy. This was a request from amelgam on my AO3; go check it out. It's basically the same thing with a different layout XD

Anyway, thank you everyone for all the love you've shown this silly story. I hope you enjoy it, and please, leave a prompt or request!

Love you all!

~File 13

"I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz