Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. The song written is in fact called Soar, but it was written and composed by Christina Aguilera, Rob Hoffman, and Heather Holley…I did edit the song to make it seem more like a poem…Lilliana
Fumbling with his keys, they slipped from his grasp. He kneeled to pick them up and slipped the key into the doorknob, only entering after there was a satisfying click noting that the door was unlocked. Sighing as he entered the room, he flopped his guitar on his bed while tossing his keys onto his dresser. He sauntered to the bathroom turning on the shower. He stared at himself in the mirror as if doing so would provide answers to all of his problems. He watched his features dissipate as the steam from the shower encompassed the bathroom. He turned from his distorted reflections and began peeling clothing off before he stepped into the only warmth he has known lately. He let the warmth envelop his body, closing his eyes as water made rivulets down his face and over his exterior. He thought of Grace in the same position as he. Before he had seen her panties, her hair was wet; she had been in the shower. In his mind he let his eyes roam over her body, tracing her curves of cream up to her angelic face. His eyes sprung open at his thoughts. He quickly turned the water from warm to cold in order to try and relieve some of the tension created by his thoughts. Eli stepped out of the shower and made his way to his room clad only in a towel. Slipping on boxers and jeans, he sat down on the edge of his bed and began strumming his guitar. The same melody had been in his head for a week now, but there weren't any words that seemed to fit. He decided to give up and go to sleep.
Grace sat at her vanity brushing her hair while thinking back to the awkwardness that had been dinner. Rick, Lily, and Zoë alone covered the conversation. Glances were made between Grace and Jessie as well as the latter and Eli, but never once were glances exchanged between Eli and Grace. She had wanted to steal a peek at Eli, even if only for a second. But she told herself to wait to take in his gorgeous hazel eyes and his brow which furrowed in confusion, and his lush lips that could consume hers…She had excused herself from the table citing that she was tired and had eaten prior to dinner. She had to get away from Eli; it was more than she could bear. Jessie had followed her five minutes later asking if she was okay. Grace said she was and Jessie reminded her that if she ever needed to talk…Grace smiled silently as Jessie left the room with a matching expression. Sighing Grace put her brush down and turned to let the bed envelop her.
Grace crept downstairs around one o'clock in the morning only to hear someone humming quietly in the kitchen. She peered around the corner to see Eli eating a bowl of cereal.
"Hey Eli," Grace said visibly startling him from his state.
"Hey Grace, what are you doing up?" he questioned while setting his bowl down on the counter.
"One could ask you the same thing mister." She chuckled as Eli pointed to his cereal and told her that he was hungry. Grace in turn told him that she couldn't sleep so she decided to make some warm milk.
"Does that stuff really work?" Eli asked his brow furrowing.
Grace smiled before answering, "I don't really think so, I just need something to do with my insomniac self." She poured the milk into the pan turning the stove to medium she went in search of a wooden spoon. "Eli," she asked, "what were you humming earlier?"
"Oh," he replied rather shyly, "just a song I have been working on." He shoveled another spoonful of Cinnamon Toast Crunch into his awaiting mouth.
Grace had retaken her place at the stove, lazily swirling the milk after successfully locating her spoon. "I'd like to hear it sometime," she heard herself say. When the words registered, she blushed slightly.
"I'd let you, but I just have the melody, I can't seem to find the words." He looked defeated because the one thing he truly loved didn't come easy to him anymore. He set his bowl in the sink and said his goodbyes before returning to his garage apartment.
After he left, Grace found herself a bit sleepy, so she poured the milk down the drain of the sink and started up to bed. As she drifted off to sleep, she found herself humming the tune Eli was having difficulty with.
When she woke up in the morning, the tune still occupied her thoughts. She thought back to last night and the way his bare chest shone in the softly lit kitchen. After getting ready for school she ran down to the kitchen only to be informed by her mother that Eli was to take her and Jessie to school this morning.
The ride to school went smoothly, no fighting or awkward silences ensued. Grace hopped out of the front passenger seat, quickly saying her goodbyes to Eli and walking into school with Jessie.
In the jeep, Eli noticed that Grace had left something behind. A small envelope replaced her in the passenger seat. He picked up the envelope and turned it over in his hands. On the other side, it read: Eli. Looking perplexed as to why Grace would leave a note instead of talking to him directly, he placed the envelop in his pocket. He would read it when he got home.
Pulling into the Sammler/Manning driveway, he shut off the engine to the jeep and made his way to his apartment. Once inside, he tossed his jacket on a chair after retrieving the envelope from the pocket. He leaned back from his seated position on his bed and cautiously opened the envelope. His eyes scanned over the contents. The note read:
Eli, I know this may be a little weird, but I couldn't get your tune out of my head last night. I know you were having a problem with lyrics, and I was going through my collection of poems, and I thought this one might fit. Of course I know that I am not anywhere near a songwriter, but maybe it would help…maybe I am just being bizarre, I don't know. But here it is anyway. Grace
Eli paused before flipping to the next page. He couldn't believe Grace would do something like this for him. He couldn't believe that an amateur could think of lyrics so quickly. He felt a twinge of jealousy for that, but maybe they would be terrible. He silently cursed himself for thinking that, he knew they would be amazing, and they were. As he read, he was mesmerized by her work and astonished at how she was able to make sense of the words swirling in his head. They words were what Eli had wanted to write all along. Somehow she had entered his head and formed logical thoughts and expressions. He was amazed and grateful. The poem read:
Soar
When they push when they pull, tell me can you hold on
When they say you should change can you lift your head high
and stay strong
Will you give up; when your heart's crying out that it's wrong
Will you love you for you at the end of it all
In life, there's gonna be times when you're feeling low
And in your mind insecurity seems to take control
We start to look outside ourselves for acceptance and approval
We keep forgetting that the one thing we should know is
Don't' be scared to fly alone, find a path that is your own
Love will open every door it's in your hands, the world is yours
Don't hold back and always know, all the answers will unfold
What are you waiting for, spread your wings and soar
The boy who wonders is he good enough for them
Keeps trying to please them all but he just never seems to fit in
Then there's the girl who thinks she'll never ever be good enough
for him
Keeps trying to change and that's a game she'll never win
In the mirror is where she comes face to face with her fears
Her own reflection now foreign to her after all these years
All of her life she has tried to be something besides herself
Now time has passed and she's ended up someone else with
regret
What is it in us that makes us feel the need to keep pretending
Gotta let ourselves be
Eli picked up his guitar and put the already melodic words to music.
.:*:. LN .:*:. I hope you guys liked the chapter…sorry I haven't written in a while. Let me know what you guys want to happen…I am running out of ideas. Please read and review, that is the only way I know you guys want me to continue…plus it makes me smile J! Lilliana