A/N: Don't mind me, just keep reading! :)
Thanks to my beta Demelza Llivell!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything Twilight.
Also, the song in here is called 'Franklin' by Paramore. Love them, love this song!
Previously...
I held onto Rose and Alice's hands and asked them, "Together?"
They both smiled and squeezed each of my hands and said, "Together."
BPOV
- 2 weeks later, Seattle -
It had been two weeks since we moved from our home at Forks to a condo near Hollywood Records in Seattle.
Rose was redecorating the new place, trying her best to make it look like our old home.
Alice loved the extra space in the condo and help Rose redecorate; she adapted quickly.
I, on the other hand, was growing more miserable every day. Edward and the guys, especially Edward, tried to make me as comfortable as possible by cheering me up. But everytime I tried to smile or laugh, it just resulted in tears. I tried to hide them from Rose and Alice. They could tell though.
"Do you want to go back?" Rose asked me one day in the living room.
I pulled my eyes away from the television screen to see her standing over me. "What are you talking about?" I frowned, confused.
"You know what I'm talking about," she sadly accused. "Do you want to go back to Forks?"
I frowned, shaking my head. "No."
"Bella…"
"No, Rose, I'm fine, really. I just need more time to adjust." I tried to reassure both her and myself.
"Bella…" she sat beside me and muted the television. "Talk to me. What's wrong with you?"
I looked to the screen again but spoke to her. "I miss Forks. I miss my friends, my house, my room, all of it. The forest near our house, everything…" I sniffled, and Rose wiped a tear away from my cheek.
"You can still have those things, Bella. You can still keep your friends, your room. There are still trees here," Rose said.
"But it's not the same! Everything here is so different, so new, and I'm having trouble finding my place here," I cried, more tears falling down. "I need Mom here to tell me what to do; I need her, not that you aren't doing the best you can, but…" I trailed off then.
Alice then came in with a pencil, pad, and my acoustic guitar in hand.
"Alice, what " I started, confused, but she just handed me my guitar.
"Write it down," she simply said. "Write it all down. Write down everything you're feeling into song. Then, you go call Edward and tell him to come here and hear this. And make sure this ends up on your guys' album."
"Alice…" I began, but stopped and sighed. Maybe it was time to stop fighting and just feel.
So I wiped my eyes, grabbed my guitar, pad, and pencil, and began to play.
Alice and Rose left the room to respect my privacy.
- An hour later -
For the first time in two weeks since I'd been in Seattle, I felt a smile creep its way on my face.
I finished my song, and I felt the weight of the world come off of my shoulders. I was finally able to put all of my sadness and depression from the move onto paper, and now, I felt loads better.
I called Edward's cell phone, who was surprised to hear the pep in my voice, and he said he would come over.
Ten minutes later, I heard the doorbell ring, and I opened it to see Edward, as well as the rest of our band behind him. I smiled at all of them, letting them in. They gave me a hug and sat in the living room.
I told them that I was really missing Forks, and the song I wrote was to help cope with those feelings of sadness. They nodded, and I showed them all the music sheets for the song. We went over it for about an hour; then we drove over to the Hollywood Records recording studio to record with my sisters in tow.
I had never been in a recording studio, so I was nervous as to what would happen there.
When we got there, Carlisle and Esme were standing outside the door to the booth.
"Where have you all been?" Carlisle exclaimed. "Why haven't you been answering my calls, Edward?"
Edward sighed deeply. "We were all just helping Bella out with a problem, Dad."
"Well, you all can play 'Dr. Phil' some other time. Let's go," Carlisle grumbled, unlocking the door to the studio.
I could tell that Edward wanted to badmouth his father, but he just quickly stepped inside into the sound booth. Our bandmates stood in their places to play, and I suddenly grew even more nervous. Especially since I was going to be singing the majority of the song.
"Bella, head inside," Carlisle ordered quietly.
"Um, okay," I squeaked, and I stepped inside tentatively.
Edward held out his hand, and I gratefully took it.
"It'll be okay," he whispered in my ear.
I nodded, to afraid to talk back, and we both put on our headphones. I closed my eyes.
[Italics: Bella; Bold: Edward; Bold & Italics: Both]
And when we get home, I know we won't be home at all.
This place we live, it is not where we belong,
And I miss who we were,
in the town that we could call our own.
Going back to get away,
After everything has changed
('Cause you remind me of a time when were so alive.)
Everything has changed
(Do you remember that?
Do you remember that?)
Everything has changed
('Cause you helped me push aside all that I have left behind)
Now everything has changed
(Do you remember that?
Do you remember that?)
So we stand here now,
And no one knows us at all.
I won't get used to this,
I won't get used to being gone.
And going back won't feel the same,
If we aren't staying.
Going back to get away,
After everything has changed
('Cause you remind me of a time when we were so alive)
Everything has changed
(Do you remember that?
Do you remember that?)
Everything has changed
(Cause you helped me push aside all that I have left behind)
Now everything has changed
(Do you remember that?
Do you remember that?)
Taking up our time,
Taking up our time,
Taking up our time.
It's taking up our time,
We can't go back, we can't go back at all
It's taking up our time,
We can't go back, we can't go back at all.
It's taking up our time,
We can't go back, we can't go back at all.
It's taking up our time,
Taking up our time.
Cause you remind me of a time when we were so alive.
Do you remember that?
Do you remember that?
The music swelled to a close, and I opened my eyes again. Edward squeezed my hand, wiping away a tear from my eye. I smiled sadly and looked over to Carlisle, who was watching Esme engineer everything. Esme smiled at my hand in her youngest son's, but it was his father I was worried about.
Then Carlisle looked to me. He didn't look angry, just…skeptical, maybe? Wary? But of what? As far as he knew, Edward and I were just best friends. Hopefully, we could be more than that someday, but for now, everything was okay. Why was Carlisle looking at me like he didn't trust me?
Edward let go of my hand and asked into the pop filter/recording microphone, "Dad? What's up? You okay?"
Carlisle shook himself out of his thoughts, pressed a button on the sound board,and spoke, "Bella, you were a little soft on that last part. Care to do it again?"
Soft? Soft? The song is already soft! What was he talking about?
"Um, what do you mean 'soft'?" I asked.
"Soft, like we couldn't hear you properly. Would you care to do the last bridge up until the chorus?" he asked critically.
"Um, sure." I turned to Edward and the others. Edward looked extremely annoyed, his jaw clenched tight, but he didn't say anything. "Do you guys want to run by that last part again?"
"Yeah, sure," said Kate, Sam, Paul, and Seth.
Esme turned a few knobs and buttons on the sound board, and Edward, the band, and I put our headphones on again. I was sure to be a little louder this recording.
Taking up our time,
Taking up our time,
Taking up our time.
It's taking up our time,
We can't go back, we can't go back at all
It's taking up our time,
We can't go back, we can't go back at all.
It's taking up our time,
We can't go back, we can't go back at all.
It's taking up our time,
Taking up our time.
Cause you remind me of a time when we were so alive.
Do you remember that?
Do you remember that?
Edward smiled at me, and I smiled back.
"Was that better?" I asked Carlisle through the pop filter.
"Do you close your eyes a lot when you sing, Bella?" he asked.
"Yeah, bad habit, sorry," I shrugged, ashamed.
"Well, I couldn't feel the emotion in your voice with your eyes closed, so," Carlisle sighed, "let's run through it again."
I frowned, confused, but Edward spoke up before I could.
"Dad, are you serious? I'm standing two feet away from her, and I can feel the emotion from her with her eyes closed," he argued.
"Well I didn't feel it, so we're running it all over again!" Carlisle argued back.
"Dad "
"It's not open for discussion!" Carlisle turned to Esme and whispered in her ear. Esme sighed deeply, shook her head, and turned some knobs and buttons on the sound board.
We went through the song two more times, and each time, I opened my eyes and even looked into Edward's. Finally, Carlisle decided it was good enough. Then we took a five minute break.
My voice was growing weary, so I stepped out of the studio and went to the vending machine to buy a bottle of water. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see who called me. I frowned when I saw Jake's name on the screen. After about two buzzes, I chose not to answer him.
"Hey."
I jumped when I saw Edward walking toward me.
"Hey," I answered back, sliding my phone into my pocket again.
"I just wanted to say I'm so sorry about my dad; he almost is never this," Edward sighed, trying to find the word to describe his father, "hard on newbies."
"No, no, it's okay. Um, I mean, it must be worse at home, right?" I asked.
"Well, it's not unbearable, but you know." He shrugged.
"So where'd everyone else go?"
"They're in the studio lounge. We wanted to record "Two is Better", but since you've been singing all day, I assumed that you wouldn't want to." He hedged nervously.
"Um..." I thought for a while about this. My voice was starting to wear out, but I did want to at least start our first single. "Can we start the song and then finish it tomorrow?"
"Yeah, sure!" he smiled and gave me a hug, which I gladly returned. Then, we walked back to the studio together.
We passed the studio, and Edward opened a door across the room. Inside was a green carpeted room with lime green walls with a gray loveseat on one side and a gray couch on the other. In the middle was a large, flat-screen television along with a stereo, Playstation, Xbox, and other gaming systems. Seth and Sam were playing on the Xbox, while Kate, Alice, and Rose were sitting in the couch watching them.
"Wow," I breathed, amazed.
"Yeah." Edward smiled. He led me to the loveseat, and we sat down in it.
"So how was your first day of recording?" Alice asked me.
"It was good; tough but good," I said.
"Why? What happened?" Rose asked.
"Carlisle was being an ass; that's what happened," Sam answered, not looking up from his game.
"Why?" Alice asked him.
"Oh, he kept pestering Bella on how she was 'soft' during the last part of the song, which is supposed to be soft anyway," Kate replied.
"'Soft'?" Rose and Alice replied incredulously.
"Yeah, we must have went over 'Franklin' over three times before Carlisle decided it was good enough," Kate explained.
"Wow, Bella, are you okay? Did he hurt you?" Rose asked, her mom-mode coming out again.
"Yeah, I'll live, but we still have another song to record," I said.
"Can we hear?" Alice asked, excitedly bouncing up and down in her seat.
"I don't think so, girls." Esme popped her head in the door. "It's still classified information. I'm sorry, but you girls have to leave. We have to get back to work." She said apologetically.
"Oh, really? But we stayed for 'Franklin'," Alice replied.
"And that was my mistake; I shouldn't have let you ladies stay," Esme answered. "I'm sorry, but it's the company's policy."
"Wait, can they come listen when we're all done with the record?" I asked her.
"Yeah, sure, that's fine, but, for now, no outside visitors during recording sessions," Esme replied.
"We should get back to record 'Two is Better', guys," Edward said, standing up.
We all agreed. Sam and Seth turned off the Xbox, and we all walked out to the studio. I hugged Rose and Alice goodbye, and they left while the band, Edward, and I stepped back into the recording studioto work on the first half "Two is Better".
Carlisle didn't have as many problems with me with this song as before, but I still felt a bit unnerved around him.
At about six at night, we were done for the day, and my voice was so tired. The band went their separate ways home; the only ones left were me and Edward.
"So…" I started but started giggling.
"So…" Edward laughed and came over to hug me. He'd been doing that a lot lately.
"How are you?" I asked, my voice muffled under his chest.
"I'm okay; you?" He mumbled in my hair, rocking us back and forth.
"I'm okay, too. And your dad didn't scream at me again," I joked.
Edward scoffed. "I don't know what was wrong with him today. Maybe the stress of being my co-manager is really getting to him."
"I thought he was a doctor," I said.
"He is, on the side. But majority of the time, he's here."
I looked up at his face. "How do you feel about that?" I asked him.
"About him being here half the time or being a doctor?"
"Both."
He sighed. "Well, it's…I mean, I guess it's okay. But he's almost never home. He's either here, at a business meeting, or at the hospital. It's…it's tough, especially since he still wants me to become what he wants me to be."
"Well, what do you want?" I asked.
He gestured to the studio around us. "This. All of this. Making music, writing songs, collaborating, producing, acting, performing, all of it," he announced. "And I'll be damned if I let my uptight father or any hater tell me otherwise."
I smiled hugely at my best friend. I was so immensely proud of him and his success so far. He may have only had one award right now-the 2006 Kids Choice Award for Favorite Male Singer,placed in his music room-but I knew that , with this new project, we would have many more to come. And I couldn't wait for it all.
Reviews are better than recording your first record with your potential boyfriend. ;)
BTW, go listen to Paramore. Best band ever, IMO!