I Wanna Sing You a Sunrise

Chapter 17: Memory Lane

A/N: How is everybody doing? I know it's been a bit of a tough week and I want to say I'm here for you, this story still has a while to go and it will keep going no matter what happens.

This chapter is rated M.

Lyrics: I Don't Know What Love Is (Songwriters: Lukas Nelson / Stefani Germanotta)

Enjoy!

****

The sun was starting to slowly sink lower, the sky an incredible dark blue when they were back at the house and she smiled, thinking it was exactly like his eyes. Hesitating as she stepped out of the car, Stefani braved her mind.

"So... are you going to kick me out or can I stay?"

He frowned, unlocked the door. "Of course you can stay."

"Good." She followed him into the house, stood in the middle of the living room, feeling a little lost. "I wasn't sure. Things... feel a little different now."

Bradley glanced at her, reaching to pick up a couple of Lea's toys from the floor. "Why?"

"Because... because you're different." She bit her lip. "Because you're not with Irina anymore. It's just a... new situation."

It was a much more intense situation, the air heavy with unspoken emotions and her worries and inner demons; despite that, she felt so comfortable here, always had, even when Irina had still been fully in the picture.

"She still... lives here?"

He nodded, heading to the kitchen. "At least until February. Hungry?"

"Starving." She smiled; food was something that hadn't been on her mind much lately. "That reminds me that I owe Natali some ice cream."

He chuckled, reaching for a pan. "Why?"

Stefani relayed the ice cream sacrifice her sister had made to accompany her to LA and Bradley laughed, reaching into the fridge for ingredients. "Well, the freezer is full of ice cream if you want to invite her over."

"I don't." She drifted over to the kitchen. "I want to be with just you now. What are you making?"

He glanced at her, blue eyes intense. "Pasta, naturally. Well, I made it yesterday, but there's more than enough left for the both of us. With chicken."

"Sounds awesome." She swallowed, glanced at his strong hands, long fingers, imagining them working the pasta dough; it brought on some sinfully sensual thoughts of them working something else and she quickly tried to clear her mind. He had luckily turned back to the stove so didn't notice her reaction; Stefani closed her eyes, counted slowly to ten, forced herself to calm down.

"Can I go to the basement?"

He glanced at her, frowning a little. "Yeah, sure."

"I mean... unless you need help. I just wanted to... it holds so many memories." She remembered many days, many late nights downstairs, writing, composing, singing, sometimes just the two of them, sometimes with Lukas, Julia, Natalie, Hillary... that had truly been one of the most incredible periods of her life.

Bradley nodded, reached for a spoon. "Go ahead; it's been cleared out a bit though. I'll get you when dinner's ready."

"Thank you." She gave him a soft smile, turned and made her way to the basement stairs. The room had held an almost complete mini-studio before and during filming, now it was emptier, boxes stacked along the walls but immediately memories flooded her mind; there were photographs on the walls still, taken along the way of them all, singing or writing together and Stefani brushed her hand against a few, felt her throat constricting a little. Many of the songs on the soundtrack had been written here and she began to quietly sing one, smiling to herself softly.