Chapter 6

A/N: It's Sunday. Time for some more Piano Man. There is a lot more music in this one so get that YouTube pulled up. This one is short-ish but there is a lot of sweet Edward and Bella. Thank you so much for your reviews and love for this story. Thanks to AGoodWitch for all her help and love for my sweet Edward. Off we go.

The next day was a whole lot of nothing. I had to work, as it was a weekday. When I took a break for lunch, I got an idea. As I had leftovers from my rice making, I packed them up in a Tupperware container and put a post-it on it that said Hi. I put it on the ground, knocked on the door, and rushed back inside. On the other side of the door, I heard Edward open his door and his responding chuckle.

I smiled and went back to work. I got a text message a little while later.

The rice was delicious. Thank you! _E

I noticed right away that it was Edward's number and I smiled.

It's no problem. I made too much, so my poor planning is your gain. _B

He replied less than a minute later.

Well, I feel like I owe you now. What is your favorite classical song? _E

Are you asking which one I like the most, or which one I'm most curious if you can play? _B

I sent the text, smiling.

Your favorite. I told you I can play almost anything. _E

My favorites are Chopin- Nocturne in E Flat Major (op 9, no. 2), Fur Elise, or Moonlight Sonata. _B

It took a good couple of minutes before I got a response.

What song were you curious about? _E

Liszt- Mazeppa (Transcendental Etude No. 4) _B

I waited for a response, wondering if he knew the song. Of course he did.

I have played that song twice in my life and both times I was so exhausted by the end of the almost nine-minute song; I told myself never again. You really are trying to kill me, aren't you? _E

I snickered and typed out my next message. He really walked into that one.

Are you honestly telling me you don't have the stamina for longer than nine minutes of fingering the keys, Edward? _B

Oh, I have the stamina when I really want something. You think you can keep me engaged? _E

Oh, holy hell. This man was throwing back the sexual innuendos. I imagined he had a way with words, just like he did the piano, and I shivered thinking of the dirty talk he was probably capable of.

I have my ways. _B

Are you immersed in your spreadsheets? _E

I'm waist-deep in it, but for some weird reason, I can't focus. No idea why that might be. _B

All I got back was an emoji with its tongue sticking out.

I heard him play a few warmup scales on his piano and then he started playing Fur Elise, then launched into the Chopin piece, followed by Moonlight sonata. Now, while most people who know the song, only knew the first movement, which was 7 ½ minutes. Edward, never one to back down from a song challenge, played all three movements, which was a whopping 17 ½ minutes. Somehow, I didn't get restless knowing he was the one playing.

After the 25-minute show-off session, I got another text.

How's that for stamina? My fingers don't even hurt. _E

I grabbed a pillow from the couch to groan into, not wanting to alert my neighbor that he was killing me.

Color me impressed. _B

I wasn't even coherent enough to come up with a better response. I spent the next half an hour squirming in my seat and thinking of things that should not be thought of at work. I threw in the towel, logging off an hour early, intending to make it up throughout the week. I sat down at my piano and played Breathe No More by Evanescence. I had heard this song long after my dad's death, but it still spoke to me about how I felt when he passed.

I've been looking in the mirror for so long
That I've come to believe my soul's on the other side
All the little pieces falling, shatter
Shards of me, too sharp to put back together
Too small to matter
But big enough to cut me into so many little pieces

When I finished the song, I heard thunderous applause from next door, but I could tell it was from a TV show or movie and it was being played through speakers. It lifted the melancholy right away, and honestly, I kinda loved him for that. I giggled. My phone started ringing and I noticed that it was Edward, and he was requesting video. I accepted and answered the call.

"Fuck, beautiful, where did you learn to sing like that?"

"From the time I was probably old enough to talk, my dad was constantly singing me songs and when I turned seven, he gave me singing lessons. When I turned eight, he added piano lessons to that as well." I rarely talked to people about this, maybe being over a video made it easier. Or it could be the look on Edward's face. He was smiling and listening intently. That smile put me at ease. "We played songs together all the time. My mom wanted me and my sister to be classically trained pianists only, but my dad was always trying to mix it up with newer songs." He chuckled at that. "Billy Joel, Pink Floyd, Queen, and Ali and I threw in Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, and Pink."

"You said you stopped playing for a few years. Did you just lose interest?"

I looked down because I really didn't want to bring down the mood with the reason.

I heard him give a sad sigh. "Shit, your dad has passed, hasn't he?"

I gasped and looked up at him through the screen. "How did you know?"

"Other than the heartbreaking look on your face, you told me about your mom and sister, but you leave your dad out of a lot of your stories. For someone who seemed so important in your early life and the way you smile when you talk about him, something had to happen for him to no longer be a part of your life."

"My dad was the chief of police when I was 15. It was a small town, so he still did the hard work along with the other cops he led. He got fatally shot when they responded to a robbery. My dad went to work like every other day, but he never came home that night. We were there at the hospital by his side when he passed away." I started to cry silently, just annoyed that the tears were falling. "The promise I made him that night was the only one I ever broke. I told him I would never stop playing, but every time I got near a piano, I just got so angry and sad. It took me three years before I could even stand it. I listened to a lot of Evanescence. Want to hear the song that I first played on the piano when I went back to it. What made me start again."

"Take it away, beautiful."

I smiled because I loved he called me that.

"Ok, it's a little melancholy."

I started playing My Heart is Broken by Evanescence. I closed my eyes and got lost in the music and notes.

I can't go on living this way
But I can't go back the way I came
Shamed of this fear that I will never find
A way to heal my soul
And I will wander 'til the end of time
Half a life without you

My heart is broken
Sweet sleep, my dark angel
Deliver us, change, open your eyes to the light
I denied it all so long, oh so long
Say goodbye, goodbye

I continued to play the song, looking up at the camera every once in a while, seeing Edwards green eyes trained on me the entire time. When I finished, his eyes looked a little watery, and I felt bad.

"I didn't want to make you cry. I'm sorry."

"No, it was just the emotion and beauty in your voice. You made me feel it. That was amazing."

I smiled a sad smile.

We continued to video chat for a while. I walked him around my apartment, and he did the same. I was a little jealous to find out his was bigger, and he had a loft bedroom. There were a couple of those every few floors. I have no idea how they accomplished that, but I wasn't an architect, so maybe I wasn't supposed to. His apartment was very tidy, and you could tell that only one person lived there. Mine was clean, but there was a little bit of chaos going on.

We talked about our families some more and told stories of when we were younger. I found out that he and his brother were quite the handful. His brother was married to his high school sweetheart, and they were getting ready to have a baby soon. He told me he had mentioned his mysterious neighbor to his mom, and he told her that last night he found out who it was. Oddly enough, he changed the subject after that. I imagined he didn't want to tell me what he and his mom had discussed.

After we had exhausted several conversation topics, we ended our call. He asked me for a request to play tomorrow. I told him to surprise me. He smiled at that, and we both bid each other a good night.

I texted Alice and Jasper replied saying that it took some manipulation and pleading, but he made sure Alice rested and she was feeling marginally better after two doses of antibiotics. I told him to keep at it.

I made dinner and again, I had leftovers, so I put them in front of his door and texted him to let him know I left him some dinner. He replied with a picture of the food I left him. Pot roast, roasted potatoes, and green beans, and a drooling emoji. I laughed. I waited a few minutes and got a text that I couldn't tell anyone, but it was better than his mom's.

I patted myself on the back for that and continued my light cleaning and watched some TV. I honestly found it so boring, but it was a great way to pass the time. Since the lockdown I had been watching it more often and I had binged some TV series, but they were all shorter ones and I gravitated towards comedy more. There was enough ugly shit in the world right now.

Totally bored and fed up with trying to keep myself busy, I decided to turn in early and get a start at work earlier so I could make up the time I had skipped out on today. I turned on the CD that Edward made me, again and I got a final text from him.

Sweet dreams, beautiful. _E

I replied immediately.

Ditto, handsome. _B

I laid in bed and fell asleep quickly.

A/N: So, how are we feeling? These two just make me happy. Let me know your thoughts and leave a review. Come join us at cullenlvr83 fics on facebook. Until next week lovelies!

Playlist:

Nocturne in E Flat Major (op 9, no. 2) By Frederic Chopin

Fur Elise By Ludwig van Beethoven

Moonlight Sonata By Ludwig van Beethoven

Breathe No More By Evanescence

My Heart is Broken By Evanescence