The Way Your Heart Sounds

Lauren and Jimmy were in the car, on their way to Zacky’s house to hang out for the night. The rest of the guys were also planning on being there as well. Since Jimmy spent so much of his time with the guys, Lauren had also gotten very close with them over these past few months of her and Jimmy’s relationship. She considered each of them her friends as well as Jimmy’s. She was excited to spend the night hanging out with all of them.

“So, I think I’m finally ready to hand my song over to the guys,” Jimmy said suddenly, interrupting her thoughts. She turned to him, her eyes wide.

“Wow, they’ve been waiting ages for this. They’re going to be so excited! What’s it called?” she asked.

“I originally titled it Death, which sounds morbid, I know. Now it’s called Fiction.”
Fiction, like the bright red letters that ran down the center of his chest. She wondered if he wrote the song about himself, since he liked to go by Fiction as one of his many nicknames. But if so, why was it originally titled Death? She didn’t want to bombard him with questions, but she was curious. He was drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.

“Can I hear it?” she finally asked.

“Honestly, it’s not properly recorded. I have lyrics and demos of me mumbling over some melodies. So don’t think it’s final, but you can hear it,” he smiled.

After a few more minutes of talking about Jimmy’s song, they pulled up in front of Zacky’s house. Brian was standing outside, smoking a cigarette. He smiled when he saw them, and held his arms out for Jimmy to give him a massive hug, as usual.

“How are my lovebirds doing?” he asked.

“We’re doing great,” Lauren smiled.

“I’ve got a surprise, but all of the guys need to hear it at the same time, so let’s go inside!” Jimmy said, clearly enthusiastic.

“Surprise? Are you pregnant too?” Brian joked, turning to Lauren. Lauren rolled her eyes and smacked him on the shoulder in response.

Jimmy pranced into Zacky’s living room, announcing to all the guys that he had something to tell them. Everyone’s ears immediately perked up.

“My song is finished!” Jimmy proclaimed loudly.

“Do you have the demo with you?” Matt asked, standing up with a huge grin on his face.

“Yes, let’s listen,” Jimmy said, returning his grin and starting off towards the hallway.

“Everyone in the studio, now,” Zacky said. All of the guys made their way into the hallway and Lauren followed, wondering if all of them really had studios in their houses.
By the time she made it into the studio, Matt had already stuffed Jimmy’s CD into the CD player. There were a few tense moments of silence while they waited for something to play. Finally, an eerie piano melody filled the room, followed by Jimmy’s musings that weren't very defined until the chorus:

“Not that I could,
Or that I would,
Let it burn,
Under my skin,
Let it burn”

Lauren felt goosebumps on her arms. His voice was so intense and so clear in those particular lines. She looked around the room and noticed that the guys had a similar reaction.

From what she was able to make out of the rest of the song, the lyrics were incredibly touching and a little melancholy.

“I know you'll find your own way when I'm not with you tonight.”

When the piano faded out, there was silence again. Jimmy was looking at everyone with anticipation etched onto his face.

“Holy shit,” Brian mumbled.

“Well? What do you guys think?” Jimmy asked.

“It was well worth the wait. Truly beautiful, dude,” Matt said, clapping him on the shoulder. Jimmy was beaming as the rest of the rest of the guys complimented his song.

“What did you think, babe? Did you like it?” Jimmy asked, turning towards Lauren. She smiled and grabbed his hand.

“It was beautiful, Jimmy. So touching.”

He smiled in response and hugged her. Even though she loved his song, she couldn't help but wonder more about it. The song was named after himself, and it was about saying goodbye to everyone he loves. She wanted to know where he got the motivation to write something like that.

The rest of the evening was pretty casual. Once it was way past midnight, everyone started to head out of Zacky’s House. The guys were discussing another time to meet up and work on Jimmy’s song as they left.

“Did you really like it?” Jimmy asked in the car, as he was driving them home.

“It was wonderful. It was just kind of sad, you know? What inspired you to write those lyrics?” She asked. She figured now was as good a time as any to ask him questions about the song.

“Hopefully Matt doesn’t kill me for spilling, but we’re thinking of the album being a collection of people’s worst nightmares. What I wrote about is mine- leaving behind my loved ones. But it's also kind of peaceful, like there's a sense of resolution, you know? The hurt fades and you know they'll be okay because you're still there in some way.”

Lauren nodded as she listened to him explain the lyrics.

“You should really consider writing, you're incredibly talented at painting images and feelings with your words,” she commented. He shrugged.

“Maybe one day I'll write.”

As they got back to the house and got situated, Jimmy’s cell phone rang and he picked it up.

“Hey Zee…Oh, I did? ….Nah, don’t even worry about it...You hang onto it for now, you love
that jacket…”

Lauren realized as Jimmy was talking that his leather Avenged Sevenfold jacket wasn't here. It must have been what Zacky called about.

“I left my jacket at Z’s house,” Jimmy said, after he hung up the phone.

“Are you going to go back to get it?” Lauren asked.

“Nah, I told him to hang onto it. Let’s lay down together, I'm kind of tired,” he responded. Lauren nodded and looked up at him.

“You ever gonna shave? You're getting a beard there,” she smiled, touching the hair on his face.

“Eh, seems like a waste of time,” he mumbled. He grabbed her hand and they walked together down the hallway.

Notes

So fun fact, I actually wrote two endings to this story because I was so indecisive about how I wanted it to end. One ends at 35 chapters and the other at 44. I still haven't decided which one I'm going to post! Do any of you have a preference with story length? I won't give away the endings of course, but I will say they're both happy in their own ways.