Grace struggled to turn Eli over. As she did, to her relief, Eli moaned and his eyes fluttered open. "Eli, are you ok?" It took him a minute to focus. "I guess so. What happened?" "I think you must have passed out," Grace said, the relief showing in her voice. Eli tried to sit up, only to lay back down again with a groan. "You know what?" he said with his eyes shut. "What?" she said. "Now I remember why I stopped drinking." Grace gave a small chuckle, which brought his eyes open again. "What are you doing here anyway?" Grace, embarrassed, stuttered, "Umm…I saw your light was on and I was just going to shut it off so mom and Rick wouldn't yell at you about wasting electricity. Here, let me help you up." Eli decided to take her help this time, since he really didn't want to stay on the floor. They slowly got up together and made their way to the bed. As he started to sit down, sickness rose in his throat and he stumbled to the bathroom as quickly as he could and slammed the door. Grace, trying hard to ignore the sounds coming from the bathroom, started straightening up his bed. When she went to throw some tissues away, she noticed papers with music notes on them in the garbage. She pulled a couple out. On the one the words "The Music of My Heart" were written and that was it. The next one had a few notes, but no lyrics. She could tell the other papers were the same. As she heard the water running, she hastily threw them away and sat on the bed.
Eli came out looking pale and sheepish. "And that's the other reason I stopped drinking." He groaned, flopped on the bed, and looked at her with one eyebrow cocked. Suddenly, Grace realized her housecoat was still in her closet with the remains of Eli's guitar. The nightgown she was wearing was long, but sleeveless and kind of sheer. Eli seemed to realize why the flush had come into her cheeks and he said, "You can go if you want to. I'll be ok." "Actually," she said, "Do you just have something I can cover up with?" Surprised, Eli said, "Um…sure. There's a flannel shirt of mine there on the couch." "Thanks, " Grace said, going over to get it. As she bent over the couch, the light from the lamp formed a golden halo around her hair. As he looked down, he could see the shape of her breasts and legs through the thin material. Swallowing hard, he forced himself to look at the ceiling.
Grace wrapped the shirt around her and turned around. Eli was lying there looking at the ceiling. She was suddenly aware that he had removed his shirt in the bathroom and her eyes traveled from his chest down to where the waistband of his sweatpants began. He looked at her then and she blushed furiously. "Um, if you're sure you're gonna be ok, maybe I should go." Eli smiled slightly. "Yeah, I will be, but can you come here for a minute?" She slowly walked over to the bed. "Sit down. Please." After she sat, he said, "I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I was really drunk and high"
"It's ok," she said stiffly.
"I can tell it isn't, Grace."
"Well, I can't help wondering if you were right."
"Grace, I'm never right about anything. There's no reason I would be now. Besides, obviously I act like a baby, so you might as well treat me like one."
"Eli, you do not. I think you're just really unhappy right now."
"Ya think?" he said sarcastically.
"Why did you do that to your guitar?"
Suddenly defensive, Eli said, "I don't wanna talk about it. You better go to bed."
Angrily, Grace said, "Now who's treating who like a baby, Eli? Don't shut me out."
Eli looked like he wanted to argue, then the fire left his eyes. He shrugged. "I figured, what's the use? Even when my life was at its worst, I still had my music. Now all I have is a title."
"What's the title?" Grace asked, already knowing the answer.
He shut his eyes. For a minute, she thought he wasn't going to answer her. "The Music of My Heart."
"Well, that sounds like a good title to me."
"Yeah, except it's all I have and it's all I've had for three weeks now."
"Maybe you just have writer's block."
"No Grace," Eli gritted his teeth. "What I have is a drugged up brain and nothing to inspire me anymore. It's over. The one thing I was good at, the one thing I thought might make me a success is gone." He moaned. "Here we go again," he said, getting up and charging to the bathroom.
Grace stared at the door. She couldn't believe he felt this way. He really was talented and he needed to be assured of it. She yawned and looked at the clock. 4:30! Yawning again, she leaned back on the bed. "I'll just wait here long enough to tell him it's just a phase and then I'll go to bed."
A few minutes later, Eli emerged from the bathroom and found Grace sound asleep. Smiling, he went over and started to wake her up. The shirt had fallen open and he could see a creamy expanse of skin rising and falling with her breathing. With his own breathing becoming rather ragged, he forced himself to pull the shirt together and fasten a couple of the buttons. Then he went back in the bathroom, but this time for a cold shower.
When he came out, he started to lie down on the couch, deciding not to bother Grace. "This happened before, that night we got high together so it isn't a big deal," he told himself. Then, before he really knew what he was doing, he walked over to he bed and brushed some stray hair from her forehead. Her skin felt cool to his touch and he bent down and brushed his lips lightly over the coolness. She didn't even stir. He looked at her for a minute and he knew without a doubt he needed the comfort of another body for what was left of the night. Slowly, he crawled in, careful not to touch her. Sighing, he closed his eyes and finally slept.