Staged (a Clairo fan fiction)

New beginings and a killer finish

I know I should just be on top of the world from the second our lips collided, but the first thought that came to my head was DAMN, that was smooth for a drunk person. I mean, it was cheesy but she's like really out of it, so I'm impressed. I'm having trouble thinking of any rational thoughts. I think it's because this doesn't feel real. It absolutely can't be happening right now. Claire can't be kissing me. Why would someone like her want to kiss me? I tighten my grip in her hair and feel her smile against my lips. I guess it's real.

All of a sudden I am overcome with bliss; the initial shock and delusion begins to subside. and I am finally able to truly enjoy it. My cheeks start to burn, and the butterflies in my stomach feel more like a stampede. Nothing could be more perfect than this moment; her passionate, rough movements, a hint of alcohol still on her breath, the shaky hand resting on the side of my face, her thumb gently stroking my jaw line.
I seemed to forget about the intoxicated state of my lovely Claire, because I shift my weight and lift my hand off the railing to pull her in closer. She immediately loses her balance and falls on top of me, knocking us to the floor of the roof. We laugh for a second, but the second our eyes meet again, I quickly pull her back down, her lips crashing into mine. The kiss resumes, despite the brief interruption. My head goes completely blank and the only thing I can think about is her. All I can think about is this perfect kiss.
Our feverish kiss which is deepening by the second, somehow remains tender and cautious; our kiss which is warm and heavy, somehow stays light and soft. A shiver goes down my spine as her fingers move to caressing the back of my neck. Nothing could be better than this.

I hear the sound of footsteps
"Eve, Claire, are you guys up here?"
It's Hayley's voice from the stairwell. Claire doesn't seem to care, but I shove her off of me and sit up just as Hayley walks onto the roof. We don't need to explain this right now.
"Hey Hayley." Claire says slowly, choking on her words as if still reeling from the affects of our connection.
"Where have you been? I've been searching all over for you. We need to go now, Rostam has been calling off the hook!" Claire just stares at her emptily, "Is she okay? She looks hammered. And why are you on the ground?"
"Yeah, she had a lot to drink. Who's Rostam?" I ask.
"Claire's producer for the album she's working on. He said he just had a break though on one of her songs and she needs to get over there right now."
"Well then let's go."

Me and Hayley help Claire to her feet and return to the party. We make our way to the elevator and out the door. After a fairly quick drive, we arrive at his apartment. Hayley knocks on the door and it immediately swings open, after only one tap.

"Hurry inside, I have an idea for Closer To You that can't wait." He grabs Claire and pulls her into the apartment without even noticing our presence. The door slams in our faces.
"Dude, it's Hayley, let us in."
I hear some rustling around from inside.
"We're busy." A muffled voice replies
"She's drunk. You aren't getting anywhere with her for at least a little bit. Let us help you. Plus, we have nowhere else to be now, we can stay as long as you need."
A sigh comes from inside as he unlocks the door. We step into the room.
His apartment is a small studio covered in instruments. Papers of lyrics and music notes litter the floor to the point of barely being able to identify the carpet color. In the midst of it all sits a small couch, where Claire is laying.

"Alright Claire, now that all interruption is out of the way, I finally figured out the drums and bass for the verses of Closer To You. The verse is low energy, so I had the idea to do a high energy, hi-hat heavy drum loop to bring up the
mood."
He presses a button on his computer, playing an instrumental just as he described.
"I don't know if the bass is loud enough, but what do you think?"
Claire remains expressionless, as if she didn't even hear him.
"Told you she's drunk." Hayley says with a laugh. "Let me try. Claire look at me, do you like the pretty music?"
Claire sits up slowly and begins to listen.
"The drums are cool." She responds
"Cool for closer to you?" Hayley pries
"Yeah very cool yeah."
"Awesome. She likes them."
Rostam rolls his eyes and continues to work on the beat. Me and Hayley force Claire to drink more water, and get her some food from the fridge. Rostam doesn't seem to mind. After about an hour, she seems much more aware.

"Alright, on verse two, you have the lyrics as
'So I need to hear your voice
Know I'm standing here by choice
Coz you were never like the other boys, anyway.'
That's fine, but do you really want an elementary level lyric about boys in this album that celebrates your improvement as an artist and sexuality?"
"You're right... but what else rhymes with choice that could work there?" Claire ponders.
They consider the question for a while until I decide to add to the conversation.

"What if you said 'And I can't hear the background noise, anyway' instead?"
They both turn to me
"Who are you anyway?" He asks, "who said you could be here?"
"Wait but I kinda dig that" Claire says excitedly while scribbling my idea down

They work together on the song for a while longer, occasionally accepting input from me and Hayley, until we all eventually fall asleep.

I regain consciousness and Claire's arm is once again around me. My eyes blink a couple times and suddenly everything comes back to me. We're still on the floor, and all of our surroundings are just as we left them. Hayley and Rostam aren't here, so it looks like they woke up and let us sleep. I turn to Claire. Her eyes are shut and her mouth is slightly parted, a piece of her messy blonde hair falling into the corner. I smile to myself. What could be better to wake up too?