3, 2, 1 BOOM – Chapter 5
They went into Eli's room and started collecting his notes and music books. They made two rounds before all was safely piled on the kitchen's table, and went into the garage one more time to check if anything was forgotten. As they were about to exit the room again, Eli noticed Grace was Shuddering a little. "Are you cold?" he asked kindly. Grace just nodded and hugged herself. "I'll bring my blanket with us so you won't be cold".
"Thanks" Grace smiled a little. She was amazed to see him all through the day, he was absolutely wonderful. Kind and funny and comforting her.
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Back in the living room, there was still nothing new on the news and the storm outside was getting stronger. "I'll go check if all the windows are locked properly" Eli began to go upstairs and check them. Meanwhile, Grace decided to try and call the cell phone again, although she wasn't very optimistic about it. She picked up the phone and was about to dial when she detected the fact that there was no line.
'Great, just great, probably next, the power will go off'.
Grace needed something to occupy her while Eli was upstairs so she decided to boil some water and make some hot chocolate before the power will go off too. She made two cups and dropped some marshmallows in too. Just as she came out of the kitchen and into the living room Eli was back too. He saw her carrying the cups and hurried to help her with the door. "That smells delicious, thanks" he smiled at her a little. "I'll turn the heat on 'cause it's getting cold and later we might not have power". Eli went and did as he said.
They sat on the couch, Grace curled in Eli's blanket, and drank the hot chocolate as they waited for the next update on T.V.
Grace was, apart from being very concerned about her family, very warm and comfortable, surrounded with Eli's smell. His blanket held a faint scent of his cologne and his special 'Eli's smell' as she likes to think about it. Finally, the next report came.
"…We expect the storm's peak to arrive at around 5am… I repeat again DO NOT go outdoors, there's a real danger of being hit by a lightning tonight… some roads will be blocked until tomorrow at least… phone lines in some parts of the city were cut off, but should be fixed in the next hour…more updates in 30 minutes."
"Oh, I didn't tell you, I wanted to try and call the cell phone again but there's no line" Grace told Eli. "By the way, aren't you cold, you gave me your blanket and you look cold, I didn't mean to be rude, I'll go grab my blanket from my room".
"Don't worry about it, I'm fine, really, and you're not rude." Eli assured her.
"Well, I don't want to change the channel cause there might be some important update, so the movie part will have to be postponed" Eli started "But maybe you'd like me to play my new song for you…" He sounded, to Grace's complete surprise almost shy about it. He never looked shy before. It was cute.
"I'd love to hear it Eli"
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"I've got the tune, I'm just not sure about the lyrics…"
Eli began playing a quiet tune. It didn't sound like his usual stuff; it sounded mellower, not the sweet and sticky kind, but almost sad.
Grace was fascinated, watching his face express his feelings as he played the beautiful music. It really suites the weather tonight, Grace thought, she wondered what inspired him to write that kind of music. Eli got her attention, still playing by gesturing with his head towards a crumpled piece of paper beside him. Grace took it and engulfed by his scent and music began to read the scribbled words as Eli sang.
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"Most days feel like disappointment"
"Some days just not good enough"
"But always, yeah always, incomplete…"
"Without…"
"Most days feel like I'm alone"
"Some days just not worthy"
"But always, yeah always, incomplete…"
"Without…"
"Maybe someday…"
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Grace followed the lyrics as Eli's voice sang them to her, and then he stopped. She looked at him, his head sloped down and as he felt her look at him, he slowly began to lift his head and finally looked at her.
What she saw in his eyes overwhelmed her. He looked so vulnerable, as if he'd just uncovered his soul to her with this song. He had an uncertain look and then his mouth twitched in a little embarrassed smile "What do you say?"
Grace looked thoughtful for a while and then grabbed a pen and scribbled a few sentences on the crumbled paper.
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"Someday I'll find someone who believes in me"
"One day I'll find a rock to depend on"
"At some point I'll be un-alone"
"Whole"
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Grace stopped writing and after a moment's hesitation handed him the song. Suddenly she felt very exposed too. Eli took it and read her lines. He didn't say a thing, but started playing the song again, this time it was complete. As he finished with a soft tune, he raised his look to Grace's now uncertain eyes and smiled a genuine smile. "It's perfect".
Grace's face relaxed and she mirrored his smile now. "Yeah, perfect."
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Thank you so much for your great reviews!!! ;D
Since FF.net didn't work properly for the last few days I finally decided to write an original song myself, so what do you think?
Drop me a line and make me smile ;D
LitJunkie