𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 (𝙵𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙱𝚡𝙱)

Track 15 | 𝗜 𝗞𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 (𝗜𝘁 𝗪𝗮𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂)

Only then did I notice that Ari's eyes had watered and were tinted a slight red. The song had made him emotional by the looks of it. It must've meant something deep and personal to him.

His vocals were, though a bit scratchy at times, honestly beautiful. I didn't expect Ari to have such a soothing singing voice. The way he talked normally sounded like he smoked twelve packs a day with the rasp and the occasional deep breaths. The song itself was gorgeous.

I tried my best to listen to the lyrics, but I was so caught up in his voice and the way he looked as he played it that I... didn't pay attention. Ari had distracted me from Ari.

That's probably why I didn't hear the last line of the song and had fathomed what it meant.

"Hey, you there?" Ari asked, waving his paw in front of my face.

"I—Sorry, I—" I blurted out, realizing that my inner-conversation hadn't stopped time like it did in most movies or TV shows. "What were you saying?"

"I asked, 'how did it sound?'" Ari repeated for me, a little weirded out.

"Oh, oh... Ari, oh my God," I swooned, shaking my head and touching my paws to my face, covering my mouth and snout. "It was beautiful. Like, literally, beautiful."

Ari smiled and looked down. He wiped a tear from his eye and nodded his head with a small chuckle. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

I've never seen this side of Ari before.

"Jesus, Ari, I mean... that was so amazing, I... I can't believe you wrote that," I expressed, stretching my limbs awkwardly. I've grown to not care about how I wrote my songs, but Ari's little tune has switched up my whole mindset. Maybe I should get better at my own songwriting.

"It's really nothing, I, just, like... wrote feelings from the heart and it, just, translated onto the paper," Ari subsided, setting the ukulele down on the bed beside him.

"What is it about?"

"Huh?"

"The song. What is it about?"

"Oh, I..." Ari began to hesitate, looking down at his feet. "It's... about love. And the relationships I've been in. And... how I've sorta failed most of them."

"...What do you mean?" I asked, the mood becoming more intimate between the two of us.

"I... I fall into relationships a little too quickly if I'm being honest," Ari admitted regretfully, scratching the back of his head. "Whether it's something meaningful or casual, I don't know... Dating is weird."

"Well... at least you have something special, you know?" I shrugged, referring to Eden.

Ari tilted his head up to me. "What do you mean?"

"At least you have something, anyway," I repeated in a different fashion.

"What do I have..?" Ari's eyes danced around as if the answer was written on the walls surrounding us.

"You're talented, Ari. Really. I get the appeal now."

"What?"

"I get why she likes you."

"...Who?"

"Eden."

"Oh..." Ari released a sigh as if relief came over him. "Well, we've been friends for a long time."

The way he talked about Eden appeared off. Like Eden was barely a lover to him. He seemed almost ashamed to be dating her.

"...Is that really how much Eden means to you?" I got a little defensive, knowing that I could treat her better.