four alarm fire // matty healy

I Am King

"Your chariot," Matty said as he opened the passenger side door. I nodded my head and then swung into the seat, then the door closed after me. Matty's open hand hit against the top of the car twice, then he slid across  the hood like the star of an action movie. He sat in the driver's seat and then stated how he hoped he didn't scratch the paint.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," I put my hand on his shifting hand. "You've really pulled out the stops for me."

The car started rolling and then he shifted into second gear, "This is just the beginning." The car's engine growled as he followed the circle of the end of the street. "Off we go, then!"

The city passed by the windows at a quick speed. We drove through some neighbourhoods, all beautiful, but the divides were very clear. It was an almost instantaneous change - we would turn the corner and the scenery would change on the next block. The only constant was the sky turning a pinkish coral colour. Matty turned to take a back alley route. There were lots of cars parked along the curb, but very few people. They loitered, watching a gate raised, letting us pull into an underground lot.

"Okay, surprise number two," Matty was trying to keep his cool, but he was a bit nervous. "Wait here." He ran around the car quickly and opened my door. Lovingly, he caressed my hand as he unlocked the building's door in the garage. The door buzzed at the same time as a green light flashed, then it allowed us inside. We took the elevator from the ground floor to the eighth, about a third of the way up the building. We watched as the ornate scale showed the elevator climbing higher and higher.

Then the doors opened to a small room, with weird walls and a large glass pane looking into an area with instruments and microphones. We were in the same studio where the band recorded their songs.

Matty crossed in front of me glint in his eyes. He gestured for me to sit down on a stool, then placed a set of large headphones on me. He entered the booth - the smile never once leaving his face. 

"Listen, I've been thinking about you a lot," he pulled up a stool at the grand piano toward the back of the studio. He placed his phone on the seat next to him, set to record.

"Me too," I mouthed through the glass. He smiled, then tinkered around a bit and sighed.

"Now, this is not completed by any means, but I still want you to hear it." Major chords echoed through the speakers as he let his hands flit across the keys. Then he eased on the chords and the notes became twinkly and soft, like stars in the sky.

There comes a time in a young man's life
To settle down and find himself a wife
But I'm just fine
'Cuz I know, that you are mine

He kept playing and speaking over the music as he told he the things he wanted to add: "I'm thinking some flutes or some brass instruments here."

I smiled through the glass. I felt like I could hear what he was imagining out loud. "We might put some high hats here, like in a crescendo."

I write rhymes I hide behind

He hummed some lines and then sang others.

I'm fine if you are fine

When you say I'm wasting your time
Then I smile and say things will be fine

He played on, but stopped singing. The notes went down in a scale almost, but they were empty without his voice.

I knocked on the glass. He couldn't hear me as I offered a phrase.

"Oh, love, you've got to hit the blue button. Talk into the mic."

A light flickered on when I spoke, "What about, Eventually, I'd like to say 'I do'?"

His ears pricked up like a German Shepard, then he started to press the keys again. He sang the line, making small changes and then settled on one that was more painful:

For some reason I just can't say 'I do'

The pieces of the song were hurt, but in love, almost. He brooded on a few more lyrics about wine and sunshine. Matty's wrists sunk into the keys, less poised than they were before. He breathed heavily and closed the lid to the piano.

Matty walked away from the instrument and I pressed the button in front of me again.

"It sounds beautiful so far. Sounds like the first dance song at a wedding."

"That's what I was going for, but," he opened the door to meet me at the soundboard. "it's a really complicated feeling, so I didn't want it to just be 'I love you and I want to kiss you all the time' sort of a thing, you know?"

"Yes, I understand, and I think that it portrays that in a sort of tongue-in-cheek way, because you've got to listen to what you're singing, not how you sing it." I stood up from the stool and smoothed out my trousers.

He smiled genuinely, eyes closing and crows feet appearing. "Shall we migrate to the next section of the evening?" I nodded in excitement. We walked out of the studio and into the golden elevator again. He pressed the button to the top floor and the doors closed.

"But for the record, It would be a privilege to kiss you all the time," I said.