Melodies of the Heart

Chapter Six

Levi

The phone chirped and buzzed incessantly as Levi stared up at the wooden beams that made up the ceiling of his temporary bedroom. The third floor of Mary Alice's boarding house was drafty, but in the May heat there was a welcome breeze flowing through the room.

He'd barely left the room in the last twenty-four hours. Once to eat and once to unclog a toilet for the old woman who was letting him stay in her house. Other than that, he'd mostly stared at the ceiling and dozed off from time to time.

The phone buzzed again and he sighed heavily. He knew what he'd done was wrong. He should have told them what was going on in his head, even though he wasn't exactly sure what that was. Just leaving without a word was a dirty thing to do, but at the time he hadn't thought he had any other choice. It was that or get on a bus for LA to start the whole thing over again.

He was sick of it, though he still hadn't found the right words to describe the feeling. There was a time he'd been so good with words, they'd always come so easily before, but in the last year it had gotten hard.

No, he thought to himself. It had been longer than a year. So much longer. Where does the time go?

A specific ring tone, an old Elvis song, came to life on his phone and he knew it was Dean calling. Only Dean got that ringtone and for the first time since he'd fled Vegas, Levi thought about answering the call. Out of everyone he'd hurt by just leaving, it was Dean he felt the worst about. His oldest friend trusted him, and he'd shattered that in one stupid, selfish move.

His fingers searched for the phone, but just as they brushed against it, he stopped himself. He was ashamed of what he'd done, but that wasn't why he stopped. It was something else that stopped him from answering Dean's call.

It had been just a flash, but there was no denying it was there. The thought of Kassidy came and went from his mind like a lightning bolt, but it was enough to stop him from answering the call.

Instantly, his thoughts of regret went from leaving his band behind to neglecting to swing by her family's bakery for breakfast that morning. When he'd first suggested it, it had only been to be nice, but as he thought on it, he realised he really did want to do it. And that was exactly why he had decided to stay in his little rented room and stare at the ceiling.

But now he realised how stupid that had been. Stupid and cruel. It was clear she wanted to see more of him. Being around groupies long enough had made him recognise that look easily, but she wasn't the kind of girl who was just trying to come back to his tour bus. She was sweet and honest, which was exactly why he thought he should stay away from her.

Despite the voice telling him to leave her alone, Levi couldn't help himself. He waited for Dean to give up and the ringing of his phone to end before he picked it back up, cleared the mass of unread notifications, and then Googled her little family bakery.

They didn't have their own website, something Levi instantly thought he should suggest they invest in, but at least their number was listed online.

It used to be so easy for Levi to call a woman up, or ask her to come backstage with him, or onto the tour bus, but for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, he hesitated. Dialing her number unnerved him in a way he hadn't been familiar with since high school, but he swallowed his nerves and began to dial.

****

Kassidy