AN: Welcome to chapter eight! The song for this chapter is "Do you?" by Yiruma. I really recommend you listen to it, it's gorgeous.

No. 8: Jake – Do you?

Jake woke up an hour earlier than he needed to. He jumped out of bed and got ready as quickly as possible. Stumbling and droopy-eyed, he went to his armoire and pulled out clothes for the day. He had made a habit of leaving early so he could squeeze in even more practice at the music building. He also went to practice in between classes and on weekends. He even showed up an hour early to his practices with Amy. He needed all the time he could get.

Jake was composing Amy a song. He started writing down ideas the night he found out she was the girl on the other side of the door. He worked on it at every spare moment, but, during that first week, he couldn't bring himself to go to practice while she was there. There was a part of him that was scared of falling for her even more than he already had. The more he liked her, the more he had to lose, and dammit, if he didn't already have too much to lose. There was another part of him that thought he wouldn't be able to keep the charade up any longer. His body and soul screamed in protest every second he didn't open the door and put his lips on hers. He was exhausted. He wanted to be with her.

"I want to be with her" he thought and it was the only thing that kept his self-control intact. Moving too quickly could crumble the entire infrastructure of their relationship. Timing was everything. He didn't believe he would have had the resolve to stop himself during the first week he found out about her, so he stayed far away. He knew it would probably hurt her, but he needed time to figure himself. He also need to figure out how to proceed. He wasn't going to just leave this up to chance. That first night, he came up with a plan and the first step was to compose a song for her.

It proved to be one of the most demanding and grueling projects he'd ever taken on. Jake was a piano player, not a composer. It was one thing to play the notes you were given, but quite another to create the notes. He was taking a composition class, but they were just learning the basics. It wasn't a course on "How to Write Songs that Will Most Assuredly Get the Love of Your Life to Love you Back". He wrestled with the notes on his music paper constantly. He talked to professors, upperclassman, he even got some pointers from Holt.

It took weeks and weeks, well after he and Amy completed their Cyrano De Bergerac project (that they got an A+ on), but finally, he had a song. Even after its completion, Jake continued to tweak it over and over again. He needed it to be perfect.

Jake walked towards the music building, the early morning sun making his brown hair shine. In his mind, he went over the places he thought he could improve the song, humming to himself occasionally. When he got to the music building, it was blissfully quiet and peaceful. He had been coming a lot in the afternoon, the busiest part of the day, lately. He could really focus during this time of day.

Jake sat at the piano and began plucking out the notes and trying different variations. After being there for twenty minutes, something clicked into place. He played the progression again and felt a bolt of lightning go up his spine. He played the entire song and felt his whole body tingle with accomplishment. He had done it. It was ready. He practiced it over and over, each play-through more joyful than the last. He had never worked so hard on something and now he was here with a finished product. His chest swelled with pride.

Later in the day, Jake went to the fourth floor of the music building, where they had a full recording studio that students could use if they booked in advance. Jake did not have the forethought to book in advance, but the building manager took pity on him when he pleaded. The manager found him an hour slot at 4pm, which was more than enough time.

Jake recorded the song, got it put on his flash drive, and then transferred it on to CD that he could give to Amy.

As the day went on, Jake got more and more nervous. He imagined hundreds of scenarios where Amy didn't like the song and wanted nothing more to do with him.

"It'll be fine, it'll be fine. Stop freaking out, stop freaking out!" he thought, trying to calm himself. He knew she'd be gracious no matter what the song sounded like, but illogical fear still consumed him. It was more than just an issue of whether she liked it or not. Giving her this song was so huge. He had made it with his own two hands and all out of the feelings he had for her.

The song was a confession, a piece of his soul, and it was stained with his blood, sweat, and tears. There was nothing "easy" about giving this to her. It required him to give part of himself away that he didn't know he had.

When he reached the music building that night, his hands were shaking. This only made him panic more because he worried it would affect his playing. He arrived a good hour before Amy made her usual appearance and practiced his song. He was careful to check the clock consistently. The last thing he wanted was for her to hear it before it was time.

As he practiced he remembered the past two weeks. They'd agreed to holding off on meeting, but they talked every single day. She talked about her brothers and how they made fun of her all the time, but how they'd kicked anybody's ass for her if she needed it. He talked about how his father left when he was seven, and how he's barely had a phone call since. Amy told Jake it was "his loss" and he felt himself fall for her a little bit more. They talked about stupid stuff like their favorite movies and childhood battle wounds. They talked about their dreams and their futures. Jake thought about how much he wanted her to be a part of his.

Jake looked up at the clock and realized she'd arrive soon, so he started playing "Moonlight Sonata" instead. When he finished the song he heard a gentle knock on the door. Jake's stomach dropped and felt his hands shake again. He got up and approached the door, a note already waiting for him.

"That song's so dark" she wrote

"Yeah, really punches ya in the gut"

"Are you upset?" she asked.

"No, why?"

"I dunno. I just feel like you normally play how you're feeling" she wrote and Jake wondered if that was true.

"Naw, I was just practicing Beethoven for a class"

"Oh, good"

"Thanks though"

"Sure"

"Hey, Amy?" he asked, and his heart doubled in speed.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Remember when I told you I would make it up to you for that week I went off the grid?"

"I do"

"Welllllll, today I finished it and I was hoping you would listen to it" he wrote, heart still hammering against his chest.

"Of course, whatever you want"

"Okay, great. Stay right there" he wrote and slipped the paper underneath the door. He went back to the piano and sat on the stool. He looked at the keys and at the sheet music he didn't need. He memorized the piece by heart. It was a part of him, he didn't need any help. He took a deep breath and began to play.

As he played, the world seemed to slow down. Jake released everything into the keys: every wish, every heartbeat, and every "please-don't-go" feeling. He felt a divine energy course through his fingertips, all singing out to her, praying to reach her. If she didn't understand how he felt after this, she never would. Jake reached the end of the song and the room seemed to glow with warmth that wasn't there before. He felt electricity course through him, but he also felt exhausted, as if he had moved stones all day.

He took a deep breath and moved slowly to the door. There was no note there yet, but he could feel her there. He saw the paper slowly slide in through the bottom of the door and he picked it up carefully.

"Did you write that?"

"I did."

"I can't form sentences right now"

"You're doing alright so far"

"Tomorrow" she wrote. Jake looked at the paper and saw it had one circular, wet stain. After noticing it, he heard her sniffle. She was crying. The impulse to open the door and hold her was unbearable

"Never mind, you did lose your sentence-forming abilities" he wrote with an attempt at humor.

"We're meeting tomorrow. This is not a request and you have no say in the matter. We are meeting tomorrow" she wrote and even though fear gripped his chest, he knew it was time.

"Okay, tomorrow it is. Meet here at nine o' clock?"

"That's perfect" she wrote and he smiled. He took the CD out of his jacket pocket and slid it underneath the door.

"I put the song on a CD so you could have it, if you wanted it. You don't have to listen to it or anything" he wrote.

"I'm going to listen to it every day, you idiot" she wrote back in a flash.

"You liked it?"

"There's not a word strong enough…"

"Really?"

"Really. It was amazing, you've ruined all other songs for me" she wrote and his heart fluttered.

"Oh, well sorry about that"

"I'll live. What's it called?" she asked.

"It says right there on the CD: 'Amy's Song'"

"You're so stupid" she wrote and he smirked.

"Yeah, I probably could have been more creative with that one"

"Play it again"

"Play what again?" he asked and he knew full well what.

"My song. Please?"

"Your wish is my command" he wrote back, standing up.

He went to the piano with a happy thrumming in his chest and played the song again.

AN: Chapter eight is done! I hope you guy's enjoyed this chapter. It was a little shorter, but I think I'll make up for it in the next chapter.

Thank you guys so much for all of your support and amazing comments. You guys are seriously so sweet and precious that I gushed about you on tumblr (crystal-gem-jessie if you need proof). You're all pretty pancakes and I love ya like a love song baby.

See you in chapter nine!