Epilogue

Two days later

Electra had come onto the ship. I didn't object, but whenever I looked at her I felt guilty. Guilty because I still hadn't been able to choose between her and Faye.

But I pushed the thoughts out of my mind. They weren't getting me anywhere, and no one had forced me into an ultimatum... yet.

Faye had come to me with a request the morning after Halloween, and we had set about fulfilling the request the rest of the day. It incorporated a side of me that I didn't use often enough.

I went up to Electra's door, and heard music on the other side. She must have been playing a recording.

I knocked twice. The music stopped.

"Come in." she said.

I opened the door, and saw Electra organizing some of her clothing. I didn't see a sound system.

"Were you singing?" I asked.

She blushed a little. "Sorry. I'll stop."

"No, no, it's fine. It was nice."

"Thanks." Electra said. "Is there something wrong?"

I sat down on her bed. It was pretty comfortable. I wanted to speak, but like a child with attention-deficit disorder, I was distracted by the view of the sunset through her window. It reminded me of the ritual Spike, Faye, and I had where we would watch the sun dip below the horizon, flasks of whiskey and cigarettes in hand. It was unhealthy, but relaxing.

"Jack?"

I shook myself out of the daydream.

"Yeah, sorry. I was wondering if you still played the piano."

"I do." Electra replied, folding a shirt and putting it away in a drawer. "Why?"

"Could you, uh, follow me?" I asked. She nodded.

I brought her into my room, where Faye was messing around with a microphone.

"You got her." Faye said.

"Got me for what?" Electra asked. "Jack?"

I pointed to a keyboard I had set up. "Alright, just set yourself up over there."

She did, but was skeptical. "Can't you play the piano?"

"Yeah, but not while I'm playing the guitar." I replied, and pulled up my acoustic-electric. I grabbed a few pieces of paper, and put them down on her piano stand.

"What's this?" she asked.

"It's a song. Faye helped me write it." I said.

"What's it called?"

"'Gotta Knock a Little Harder'." Faye replied. "Can we start now?"

"Are you all set?" I asked, turning to Electra.

"Uh... sure." she said.

I got my left hand into position- a G major chord- and started to play. It began with an acoustic intro, so there wasn't much of a chance for me to stop and listen. But playing along with them was really nice.

I knew that at some point, I'd need to face the inherent problem and say goodbye to one of the girls. I might even really screw up and lose both of them.

But at that moment, there was no need to worry. There was just music.