till forever falls apart | Taylor Swift

72

Jack: cool! Got any ideas? I'm all ears

August: Working on it!

As soon as her fingers touched the keys, August found herself playing a tune that sounded quite familiar. Smiling to herself, she remembered it was one that Ryne had written when they were younger. In fact, it was the first thing he had ever taught her to play on the piano. Ten-year-old Ryne was so proud of the three repeating two-note chords back then. He had never written anything more than that measure. The same three chords repeating.

But still, it sounded great. It was slow, sad, and mellow. Perhaps even hopeful. August's fingers moved with their own muscle memory. She played the A chord, then its augmented shape. Then added the sixth note to the chord. Then back to the augmented. Then, she played it again. And the third time she played it, she jumped to the D, then the C#minor, and finally the B minor.

It was coming along and a small smile started playing on August's lip as she went back to the same motif from the beginning. And when she played it again, she closed her eyes and found herself remembering that same exact day, two years ago.

The words poured out of her without much effort, the melody flowing on its own.

I got your voicemail again, seemed like you were busy...
So, I tried to hide the disappointment in the message I left behind
If only I could be that ignoring girl for a couple more hours or so...
But I got a call, soon after, that you died

August paused, her fingers trembling over the piano. Her vision had already started to blur, but she could already start to feel... better. There wasn't a word to describe it, exactly. She wasn't sure. But she knew that this was what she had to do.

She changed up the beat, playing a more uplifting series of major chords. But the words that flooded her brain were nothing but.

I don't wanna cry cuz it doesn't help
No, it won't bring you back to me, any sooner, sooner
We always think we got time but there's no time before it's over
And it's over...
Honest, honest
We always think we've got time but there's no time if we're honest...
... if I'm honest

August dropped her hands into her lap as she felt a tear slide down the side of her nose. She sniffled, brushing it with her finger but it didn't matter. There were more tears.

There was some ruffling going on behind her and she turned around, expecting to find Phoebe chasing Benjamin, but she was surprised to find Taylor leaning against the doorframe in her pyjamas, her eyebrows furrowed while she hugged Olivia close to her chest.

August jumped slightly in surprise and used her hands to wipe at her eyes furiously. "Hey— I'm sorry, did I wake you? I'm really sorry, I wasn't—"

"No, no, don't worry about it. It wasn't you. Olivia did, actually. She was meowing at the door to get out," Taylor explained. August nodded, dropping her hands back into her lap. "I didn't even realise until I was going down the stairs. I think I was still half asleep," she chuckled softly and took a tentative step into the room.

August sent her a little smile and turned back around to face the piano keys. She saw Olivia walk past the piano to the large windows ahead and soon after Taylor was standing right behind her.