Karaoke Dreaming
Alec learns a song, and does some karaoke, and Max... well Max has an epiphany.
~~
Alec was missing. Max hadn't seen him for nearly a week. No, exactly a week. She had seen him at the bar, where he had sung a song for her. But when he had seen her, he'd run away. Max didn't know where he was. No body knew where he was. And Max was worried. What if he'd got hurt, or captured, or killed? If he's dead, I'll never forgive him. Or myself.
When she had been sitting in that club, listening to Alec sing that song for her, she had thought that her heart would break. She had no idea that he felt that way about her, or that he felt so...alone. She wanted to see him, to tell him that she was sorry, sorry for hurting him, and sorry for not realizing what she did to him earlier. But she couldn't. She had no idea where to find him or whether he would listen to her even if she did find him.
Walking into Crash, Max looked around. As with every other time she had walked into Crash for a week, he wasn't there. She spotted O.C. and Sketchy though, and walked over to them and sat down. O.C. looked at her for a second, before pouring her a beer.
"Still no sign of your boy?"
"No. And he's not my boy."
"Sure, whateva you say suga."
Tuning out, Max leant back in her chair and listened to the music that was playing. One song finished, and another came on. It was not the kind of music that Crash usually played, but Max listened to it, it's words striking a chord in her brain.
Some say love, it is a river
That drowns the tender reed
Some say love, it is a razor
That leaves your soul to bleed
Some say love, it is a hunger
An endless aching need
I say love, it is a flower
And you it's only seed
It's the heart, afraid of breaking
That never learns to dance
It's the dream, afraid of waking
That never takes a chance
It's the one who won't be taken
Who cannot seem to give
And the soul, afraid of dying
That never learns to live
When the night has been to lonely
And the road has been too long
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed, that with the sun's love
In the spring becomes the rose
Suddenly realizing what she had to do, Max got up and uttered a quick goodbye to O.C. before leaving Crash. She walked down the street for about a mile, and then turned left. Walking into the bar, she looked around for the manager, or anyone who could help her. Quickly spotting the manager, she fought her way over to him.
"You're the manager, right?"
"Sure am. Why?"
"I was just wondering if you had any places left in tonight's karaoke competition?"
"Always have room. Know what you'd like to sing?"
"No idea. I don't know many songs. I can't even sing."
"Had a fella say the same thing last week, and he turned out to be absolutely amazing, brought everyone to tears."
"Is he here this week?"
"Nope. Haven't seen him since. Anyway, come through to the back, and I'll help you find something to sing."
"Sure. Thanks."
Max followed the manager back stage, where she spent the next ten minutes looking through pile after pile of lyrics, looking for one that expressed exactly what she felt. Finally finding one that she liked, she showed it to the manager, to get his opinion.
"It's a good song. Not too fast, but with an upbeat tempo. Good choice."
Max opened her mouth, to ask a question, but before she could the manager cut in.
"If you go into that room over there you'll find the CD. It should be in alphabetical order by title. The CD player's in the corner, headphones are next to it."
"How'd you know..."
"Just a good guess, I suppose. Anyway, you'll probably be on last, so you have about twenty minutes to wait."
"That's fine."
~~
(Twenty minutes later.)
Max walked out onto the stage, and up to the microphone. She scanned the crowd, but there was no sign of Alec.
"You'd better be here. Because this one's for you." She whispered softly, before the music started.
Remembering exactly what the song sounded like, Max began to sing, trying to sing with as much emotion as she could. She tried to do what Alec had done, and place the emotion of the song in the words, and surprisingly, it worked. Although this wasn't a slow sad song like his had been, Max was still able to convey the emotions to the crowd, just as Alec had.
When I was a little girl
I had a rag doll
Only doll I've ever owned
Now I love you just the way I loved that rag doll
But only now my love has grown
And it gets stronger, in every way
And it gets deeper, let me say
And it gets higher, day by day
And do I love you my oh my
Yeah river deep mountain high
If I lost you would I cry
Oh how I love you baby, baby, baby, baby
When you were a young boy
Did you have a puppy
That always followed you around
Well I'm gonna be as faithful as that puppy
No I'll never let you down
Cause it grows stronger, like a river flows
And it gets bigger baby, and heaven knows
And it gets sweeter baby, as it grows
And do I love you my oh my
Yeah river deep, mountain high
If I lost you would I cry
Oh how I love you baby, baby, baby, baby
I love you baby like a flower loves the spring
And I love you baby just like Tina loves to sing
And I love you baby like a school boy loves his pet
And I love you baby, river deep mountain high
Oh yeah you've gotta believe me
River Deep, Mountain High
Do I love you my oh my,
River deep, mountain high
If I lost you would I cry
Oh how I love you baby, baby, baby, baby
Do I love you my oh my,
River deep, mountain high
If I lost you would I cry
Oh how I love you baby, baby, baby, baby
Finished, Max began to walk off stage, only to have the manager stop her. She could hear the crowd going wild; they had loved her performance. The manager gave her some money, how much she didn't care, before letting her go. She walked through the crowd, ignoring the men trying to get her, looking for one person only.
Walking over to the seat she had sat in the week before, she found him sitting there, head laid on the table. Sitting down, she gently tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up, and then banged his head back down on the table.
"Hey, what's with the self-inflicted harm?"
"Go away Max."
"No. I don't want to."
"Well I want you to. And if you won't go away, then move so I can go."
"Alec, we need to talk."
"We do?"
"Yes, we do."
"About what?"
"Look, will you come outside with me, I can hardly hear myself, let alone you."
"You can hear just fine Max, now what do you want?"
"I want you to come outside so we can talk. Please Alec?"
Alec lifted his head once more, and, once he saw the sincere look on Max's face, he nodded, and got up. Max led the way outside, and they walked into an alleyway, where they could talk.
"Where's Logan?" Alec asked.
"Why would Logan be here?"
"Isn't that who you were singing for? Logan?"
"You stupid idiot. You don't get it do you?"
"Get what?"
"I wasn't singing for Logan just then."
"Then who were you singing for?"
"You."
~~
There you have it, the second installment. There probably won't be many more chapters, but at least two more.
Oh, StreetSaga1209, I didn't write the song, it's from the musical Les Miserables, and I have no idea who wrote it.
Thanks everyone for reviewing. Please do it again.