Guessing Game

7

I groan as my phone buzzes again waking me up from my slumber for the second time that day. I refuse to open my eyes as I feel around for my phone before finally getting a hold of it.

"Hello?" I mumble into my phone still cuddling into my pillow. "Well good morning sleepy head" Teagan teases down the phone. I growl, "Shut up T. I'm still tired". "Dude it's like 1pm" she shouts. I reluctantly open my eyes and check the time on my phone to see it is in fact was just past 1pm. I rub my eyes trying to clear my vision a bit, "Give me a break I was up late last night".

She snorts, "Oh I could tell by the girl that was in your bed this morning". I freeze and look around the room. "How did you manage that anyways?" She asks as I scuttle out of the bed and check the bathroom but no joy. "Teagan I got to go" I say before I hang up not giving her a chance to reply.

I run a hand through my messy bed head and sigh. "Where did you go Rory?" I think as I look around for any indication of where she went. But find none. I dial her number and wait as it rings. But it rings out. I bite my lip and run a hand through my hair as I try it again only to get the same result.

I groan as I hang up knowing she's not going to pick up any time soon, "Where are you Rory?" I rub my eyes before I get changed to try and find the missing singer. And I already knew the first place to look.

The cafe for two reasons. She goes there everyday and I'm going to need coffee if I'm going to be any bit productive.

I slowly make my way to the cafe hoping it will wake me up a bit. I trudge up to the counter where Hunter smiles at me, "Hey Jessie your usual?" I smile at him, "Yeah thanks". "Late night?" Hunter asks as he starts to working the coffee machine. I yawn and nod, "Yeah I got a call late last night from Aurora and had to pick her up".

Hunter freezes for a second before he looks up at me, "You saw Rory yesterday?" I just nod before he gets back to working on the coffee. "I'm surprised" he mumbles under his breath. I tilt my head sideways, "Why'd you say that?"

He hesitates obviously he didn't mean for me to hear what he said, "Shit". He just continues on making the coffees as if nothing ever happened but I wasn't going to play along, "Hunter?" He sighs as puts the coffee on the counter in front of us and runs his hand through his hair, "Okay look. I know Rory is closed off and a bit tough around the edges. But she has good reason too. And I know it may not seem like it, but she is slowly opening up too you. And that's rare for her".

He sighs as he leaning in closer to me dropping his voice to a whisper, "It's makes me happy to see how close you and Rory are getting. Your good for her, she's been the happiest she has been in a long time. But Rory needs to be the one to tell you. It's her story to tell and if I was to tell you, she would only lose trust in both of us and she would shut down again and I can't let that happen".

"Why last night though? Why was last night so bad?" I ask. He sighs as rubs the back of his head, "I'm getting she was in a really bad state last night when you found her". I nod, "Yeah. She was really drunk, she even throw a bottle at the wall. And she kept on talking about an EJ?"

Hunter's face instantly drops, "She mentioned EJ?" I furrow my eyebrows, "Yeah she kept asking for EJ and wanted to know where she is. Who is she?" Hunter doesn't meet my eyes as he stares at the counter drumming his fingers before he looks up, "That's something Rory has to tell you. But if you bring it up don't press it. It's....a sensitive topic for Rory".

I lick my lips trying to digest all the information he's throwing at me, ""Okay". I think for a second before speaking again, "Has Rory being in here by any chance?" But he just shakes his head. "Can you make one for her ask well please?" He nods, "Planning on meeting her?" I sigh, "I hope so". He quickly makes me the second coffee and soon I'm out the door again expect now I know where I'm going for sure.

I repeat the same route I took in the early hours of this morning. Before I knew it I was back at the door of the music room just like a few hours before. And just like last night I paused at the door and surveyed the room. It had obviously been cleaned up from last night. All the instruments were back in their rightful places, music sheets no longer littered the floor and although there was still the faint smell of vodka, there was a black bag shoved in the corner no doubt filled with the empty beer bottles waiting to be thrown away.

And unlike the night before, instead of being sprawled over the piano drunk off her ass, she was know sitting up posed over the keys as she started playing the same tune she had shown me the last time but now a complete version as she started to sing.

From the very first moment I met you
I was yours
Every part of me knew it
I'd never felt like that before

To the edge of the world I would go
If you'd only ask me to (ask me to)
And I wish you would
I wish that you would

But you can't love me like I want you to
And I don't want to face the truth

The chords were slow and long while her voice was soft and quiet. I watched her in awe as her face screwed up in concentration. Her eyes weren't even open as she played each key perfectly.

Loving you is like dancing without music
Loving you no I don't know why I do it
Loving you is so hard it leaves me with bruises
Loving you is like dancing without music
Dancing without music

And there nothing that I wouldn't do
To truly be yours
When you touch me I swear it's like heaven
But I'm left at the doors

And there's nothing I can do or say
To change your mind or numb the pain
I know you'll never feel the way that I do
And I'm getting tired of night like this
Spinning on the precipice
'Cause you can't love me like I wish you would

I don't know if she knew I was there or not but it didn't seem to hinder her performance.  But her voice was filled with such emotion as she sang and it conveyed through her music as well as the music started to pick up and get sharper.

Loving you is like dancing without music
Loving you, no, I don't know why I do it
Loving you is so hard, it leaves me with bruises
Loving you is like dancing without music
Dancing without

But you can't love me like I want you to
And I don't want to face the truth

Loving you is like dancing without music
Loving you no I don't know why I do it
Loving you is so hard, it leaves me with bruises
Loving you is like dancing without music

The music starts to slow just like it was at the beginning as the keys start to drag out drawing to a close until finally the music died out. But she didn't move as she stayed in her seat just staring at the piano.

I stand there not knowing what to do as I awkwardly shift from foot to foot. I take a deep breath before I walk over to her and hold out the cup to her making her look up at me. She accepts the cup and nods, "Thanks". I shrug as I sit down beside her, "No problem. I see you cleaned up".

She winces at that, "Yeah. I'm sorry about last night". I smile lightly at her, "It's okay". But she obviously didn't agree as she shakes her head, "It really isn't. You shouldn't have seen me like that. I'm sorry if I scared you".

"I wouldn't say scared. More shocked when you threw the bottle" I joke but Aurora sighs, "Yeah not my finest moment". We don't say much after that as we just sit there occasionally taking sips of our coffee. "The song was beautiful" I say breaking the silence. She drops her head looking at her coffee, "Thanks". "How do you write songs like that?" I ask. She sniffs and shrugs, "I don't know. It's personal".

I nod as we fall into silence again. "You know you can always come to me if you need to talk right?" She inclines her head and I can see a smile come to her face for the first time since I found her, "I know". She leans her head on my shoulder, "Thanks Jess". I just smile.

"Anytime Princess"