AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the tenth and final installment of "You're the Only Song I Want to Hear"! The song for this chapter is "Sunrise" by Hauschka. Enjoy!
No. 10: Sunrise
—The Previous Night—
Amy
Amy stormed out of the piano room, her heart painfully hammering against her chest, and her mind a confused mess.
"Jake! It's been Jake this whole time. God, I'm so stupid!" she thought, racing down the stairs. Nothing made sense, yet it all made perfect sense. All those little eccentricities she remembered feeling familiar in both of them had been hints of the same person. They were goofy in the same dumb way, both irresponsible in the same reckless way, and they were both kind in the same infuriatingly, compassionate way.
"UGH!" Amy yelled as she marched further away from the building. Why hadn't Jake just told her? Why didn't he just come right and say "It's me Jake, I'm the one playing piano?" Would that have been so hard?
She tried to imagine her reaction if he had done that. A part of her knew she'd probably feel really awkward around him since the foundation for their relationship hadn't been solid enough yet. Was it solid enough now? Amy had told herself last night that, no matter who it was, she'd accept them and do whatever it took to make it work.
Amy stopped in her tracks at the half-way point to her dorm from the music building. What was she angry about? She was definitely angry Jake came when she specifically told him not to, but that didn't make sense anymore because he was the person she was meeting anyway. If he hadn't shown up she would have been really hurt. Maybe it was the lying and sneaking around that bothered, but wasn't all that just because he was being careful? He wanted to make sure it was done properly so that she wouldn't run away…like she was now.
Amy remembered what Jake had said back in the room:
"I was worried you wouldn't want to be with me if I was 'Jake'"
He wanted to be with her? That was such a…committed thing to say. Jake wanted to be with her and she ran away from him. Guilt and regret filled her chest. What had she done?
Amy pivoted and ran as fast as she could back to the music building. What was wrong with her? She had been fretting for weeks that she still had lingering feelings for Jake while simultaneously having an emotional affair with a boy behind a door, and it turns out they're the same person? And she's upset? Was she crazy?
Her shoes slammed on the pavement and she was breathing hard as she got closer to the building. Jake had spent god-knows-how-long writing a song for her. That beautiful, wonderful song and she accused him of joking about his feelings for her? Another pang of guilt rippled through her body. How much did it hurt him to hear her say that? She really was the worst.
"Please, still be there. Please, still be there" she prayed as she opened the door to the music building. Terror pulsated through her veins. What if he wouldn't have her now? What if she'd hurt him too much? She pushed herself to run even faster up the steps and to the piano room.
BAM!
She swung the door open with so much force it probably made a dent in the wall. The sound had startled Jake who was, mercifully, still there. He looked at her, eyes widened in surprise and confusion. Amy looked at him, breathing hard and body tired, but couldn't think of anything to say. The only thing clear to her was that she wanted to be with him too, but no words came to her.
Then, she acted before her mind could realize what she was doing. She went towards him with, what must have been a pretty menacing walk, because Jake suddenly got in a defensive stance. Regardless, she wrapped her arms around his neck and crushed her lips against his, kissing him fiercely. He was unresponsive for a second, but then melted into her. A sigh of satisfaction escaped her mouth. Jake ran his hands all over her and Amy felt her skin light on fire with every caress. She kissed him as long as she could until her lungs pleaded for air. She took her lips away and found her breath, which she lost on the run up.
Jake looked at her as if had never seen daylight before, his eyes full of wonder. He put gentle hands on her cheeks and kissed her again. Amy, desperate to deepen the kiss, grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him even closer. Jake took the hint and Amy heard a low rumble in his chest. He broke away from her and kissed the outline of her jaw to the base of her neck. It drove Amy wild and she knew she was entering into dangerous territory. Her caution seemed to be sleeping somewhere, though, as she buried her fingers in his hair and called out his name.
Jake came back up to her lips, still passionate, but slightly more chaste. They stopped only when their lungs begged for it. Jake put his forehead on hers and held her hands like he was afraid to let go. He felt him take deep breaths and every part of her body wanted to wrap around his, but her caution came back to her and said "let's wait a little bit".
He said her name in a low, husky whisper that sparked unwarranted visions in her head of them sprawled naked on the piano and him saying it again.
"Knock it off, Amy!" she thought as her cheeks reddened further and she quickly replied to him with a simple "I know".
For whatever reason, it cut the tension in the air and all they could do was laugh. Their eyes met again and Amy saw that Jake was blushing pretty intensely as well. His hair was messy from where she had grabbed it and his lips were swollen from where she had (lightly) nipped. An overwhelming need to kiss those full lips again coursed through her.
Jake mumbled something about how she'd scared him. She wrapped her arms around his neck again and a devilish glint hit her eyes.
"I'll make it up to you" she said, and one day soon, she absolutely would.
—Present Day—
Jake
"No"
"Aw, c'mon Amy" Jake said, turning away from the laptop on his dorm-room desk. Amy was sitting on his bed and looking at one of his old Batman comics.
"No, I already told you. You need to finish the assignment" she said, not looking at him.
"I've been at it for two hours. Can I take a break?" he asked as a mischievous grin bloomed on his face. This time she looked at him and then at her watch. Jake approached the bed as she deliberated.
"I guess you've earned a break" she said as she looked up and was surprised to see Jake inches away from her face. He quickly kissed her and wasted no time wrapping his arms around her. She giggled through the kiss and separated from him.
"Jake…" she said, a hand going to his cheek.
"What? Is everything okay?" he asked, worried.
"Yeah, yeah I guess, I just want to talk a little" she said, rubbing a thumb on his cheek.
"Oh, sorry" he said, suddenly feeling guilty. After finally being able to kiss her after all this time, it was hard not to do it constantly.
"No, don't apologize. I'm not mad or anything. It's just, we've been kinda distracted and we really haven't talked about anything since we've been, uh-"
"Vigorously making out?" Jake asked with a cheeky smile. Amy rolled her eyes. Just because they were romantically involved, that didn't mean he couldn't still make fun of her.
"Yes, that. I dunno, I just feel we should talk about things"
"Okay. Like what?" he asked.
"Um, well, so the piano, huh?" she asked. What kind of question was that? She already knew all about that. It dawned on him that this was not the question she wanted to ask at all.
"Yup, been playing since I was five. What else?" he asked.
"Um…yeah that's what I wanted to know" she said and looked nervous.
"That's it?" he asked.
"Yup, you know Batman is a very good detective" she said, lifting up the comic to show him. She looked down at it and an even more mischievous look appeared on his face. He knew exactly where this was going.
"Do you want to be my girlfriend, Amy?" he asked and Amy whipped her head to look at him.
"What? No. Why? Do you want to be my boyfriend, or something?" she asked, getting herself into a confused, flustered mess. Her words might have hurt him if her tone didn't give her away so completely.
"I didn't write you the best song ever composed ever to not be your boyfriend" he said. Jake saw her eyes widen, but a smile curl on her lips.
"So you're better than Bach and Beethoven now?" she asked with a condescending tone.
"I'm up there" he said, flashing her a toothy grin.
"Oh really? So 'Für Elise' and 'The Turkish March' all pale in comparison?" she asked, but he had no answer other than his lips on hers. He put a strong hand on her neck and positioned himself so his face was above hers. He breathed her in and realized he was addicted to her smell: sweet and earthy, like cinnamon. He took his lips off hers. They really did need to talk.
"I want to be your boyfriend" he said simply, his thumb outlining her jaw. She looked up at him with big, brown eyes.
"I want you to be my boyfriend" Amy said quietly, even shyly.
"It's settled then"
Then, Jake decided they had talked enough for one day.
A month later, it happened. Jake dropped the "L-bomb". He didn't mean to, not that he didn't mean it, but he didn't plan it to go down the way that it went down. It was all very mundane. Amy was visiting his dorm again and was about to leave for class. Jake was staring at his computer screen and checking Facebook.
"Okay, I'm off. See you for dinner at seven?" she asked throwing her bag over her shoulder.
"Yeah, sounds good" he said, throwing her a wave and a quick look.
"Okay, see you later" she said heading out the door.
"Bye, love you"
Amy stopped. Jake stopped. They slowly looked at each other with shocked faces.
"What?" she finally asked, her face showing nothing but surprise.
"I-it was just y'know-I was-"
"You were what?" she asked. Jake's face fell and knew that the only way not to hurt her feelings was to say the truth, even though this is not how he wanted to tell her. He shrugged his arms in defeat.
"I love you. This isn't really what I had in mind when I told you but-"
"I love you too" she said, interrupting him. Jake's face went back to being stunned.
"You do?" he asked, standing up on the question. She looked at him with big, tender eyes.
"Mm-hm" she said, nodding. Jake immediately wrapped her in a hug and let out a relieved sigh. He didn't realize how scared he was that she might not say it back. They pulled back and he placed a soft kiss on her lips. She dropped her bag on the floor. Jake separated from her.
"Oh, you'll be late for class" he said and she smiled.
"I can skip it" she said as she unzipped his hoodie. He didn't need to be told twice.
Amy
Amy walked up the stairs in the music building, a beautiful song drifting to her ears. She smiled. Her boyfriend sure was talented. Amy had just finished her last final and they agreed to meet in the piano room one last time before they had to leave for summer. It was a little bittersweet leaving, but she reminded herself that she and Jake lived fairly close. She'd get to see him plenty, though probably not every day.
She opened the door and saw Jake playing the piano, a sight that never failed to make her smile. He heard her come in and stopped to greet her. She sat down on the stool with him and handed him one of two coffees she held in her hand.
"We're gonna need the energy, I haven't packed anything" she said, taking a sip.
"Thanks. Yeah, I haven't either" he said.
"How'd the talk go with your mom?" she asked. Apparently, the school had sent a letter to Jake's home address saying that his major transfer had been approved and Mama Peralta was not happy about it.
"Oh, y'know, we yelled at each other for a couple hours and then we somehow got to the point where she agreed I could still be a music major as long as I took up a minor in business" he said easily.
"What? Jake that's great! I mean, I know it's not ideal, but still!" she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"Ha, I knew you'd say that"
"Are you happy?" she asked, worried.
"What? Yeah, of course. I've already taken a couple of the core classes so it shouldn't slow me down too bad. I'm just annoyed I have to actually take business classes. Ugh" he said.
"Yeah, well, just get by. It's not like you're going to need you're business classes" she said, taking his hand and Jake gave her a playful push with his shoulder.
"I told her about you" he said with soft smile.
"You did?"
"Yup. I think it was the only thing that turned her around. I told her how I wooed you with my siren song and that you made me really happy blah, blah, blah"
"Yeah, well you make me really happy blah, blah, blah too" she said. He looked down at their intertwined hands.
"She wants to meet you" he said softly.
"Really?"
"Yup"
"I'd love to meet your mother!" she said, but then her enthusiasm slowly transformed into panic, "Oh, god. What would I wear? Should I bring something? Does she like banana bread? Oh my god, Jake! I don't know how to make banana bread, but what am I going to bring if I don't bring banana bread?!"
"Amy, Amy, you're doing the thing again. Breathe. My mom will not dislike you. Hell, she'll be ecstatic that you exist. She'll be a little disappointed that you're a gentile, but eh, she'll get over it" he said, taking a sip of his coffee.
"Okay, it's fine. I'm fine" she said, calming down.
"Should I meet your family?" he asked.
"Oh god, Jake. That makes me even more nervous than meeting your mom" she said, eyes widening again.
"What, why?"
"Jake. Seven brothers. And a very Catholic father. And I haven't exactly kept to my purity vow" she said, her face contorting with worry.
"Yeesh, yeah let's push that meeting back as far as we can. Maybe just don't tell them I exist" he said.
"Sounds like a plan" she said and rested her head on his shoulder. They sat in comfortable silence for several minutes.
"I'm going to miss this" Amy said.
"We're coming back in three months"
"I know, but I'll miss it"
"Yeah," he agreed and sighed
"This room's definitely treated us pretty well" she said, plucking a key.
"Except for that one time you ran out on my romantic confession" Jake teased.
"Oh, and what about you? You stood me up for a week!" Amy shot back.
"So I could write you a love ballad!"
"Ugh! There's no use arguing with you"
"Yeah, 'cause I'm always right" he said, smiling into his coffee.
"You're the worst"
"You love me" he said in a sing-song voice, still teasing her.
"Stop being right all the time" she mused as he bent down to give her a gentle, coffee-infused kiss.
The End
AN: Aww here it is the last chapter. I'm sad! I really liked writing in this world. Can I confess something? I came up with this AU because it was a secret fantasy of mine. I used to day dream about it during the summer before college and hope I could meet a sensitive piano player who'd tutor me and we'd slowly fall in love. *Sigh* oh, to be so young and naïve. I hold no such hopes for grad school haha.
Well, the format is kinda wonky for this one, but I hope it was easy to follow and satisfactory? Endings are hard.
So, this will be my last fic for at least two months because I'm leaving to be a camp counselor tomorrow for the next two months. I get one day off a week, but it's not enough time to write. I busted out three 14k+ fics in a month, so that's pretty good.
If anyone wants it, here is a complete track listing for you:
1.) "Prelude No. 15 in D-Flat Major, Op. 28 'Raindrops'" by Chopin
2.) "Dernière" by Yann Tiersen
3.) "Lyric Pieces Op.71: 3. Puck" by Edvard Grieg
4.) "Nocturne No. 2 in E-flat Major" by Chopin
5.) "Georgiana" by Jean-Yves Thibaudet
6.) "Clair de Lune" by Claude Debussy
7.) "Butterfly Waltz" by Brian Crain
8.) "Do you?" by Yiruma
9.) "Dearly Beloved (From 'Kingdom Hearts') [2012]" by Kyle Landry
10.) "Sunrise" by Hauschka
*Bonus: "Soul Meets Body" by Death Cab For Cutie
The bonus track is where I pulled the title from! Death Cab's my favorite band so I'm always suggesting them haha.
Shout out to JM for the Hauschka rec!
Alright, well goodbye lovelies. Thank you so much for all the love and support. I've had a bit of a bad month, but all of your kind comments really helped me get through it. Thank you very, very much. If you want to keep in touch you can always find me on Tumblr as crystal-gem-jessie. I have every Friday off so if you want to say "hello" I can get back to you in a week. Again, thank you very much for reading. I am truly humbled. Thank you.