Swell (Complete)

Chapter Eighteen (Part Two)

"Do you remember me? And what we used to be?
It turns out your word is broken now
Cause you always seem to let me down."

....

Adora felt a strange peace when she woke up Wednesday morning. After school she and Gus had gone to the bakery; he had insisted and Adora had some sort of wave washing over her when she had seen it was Mr. Taylor working alone.
The last thing she was ready for was another fight.
She had received texts from Will about staying back in the music room during lunch to help him with Brett's solos. She happily accepted the request and now the two of them were sitting in one of the smaller music rooms after class.
She had been a little distracted during their class; Gus had mentioned rekindling their summer romance, but after Tom and the card from her violent admirer she didn't want to fall into another romance with anyone so confident and self assured.
She had laughed at their table the afternoon before and told him about Tom and his overconfident kissing and desperate want to convince her to date him.
Gus had seemed understanding enough. He had pointed out that he would have no intention of harming any of her friends as the card sender had, but she had managed to convince him to leave their fling in the summer.
That hadn't stopped him from trying to kiss her when he'd dropped her off at home though.

"Hey, are you alright?" Will broke into her thoughts and she heard the silence of the smaller room for the first time.
A small, awkward smile turned her lips and she let go of a half laugh. "Yea, sorry, just... So much going through my head right now."
Will returned her small smile and nodded. "I bet, did you want to talk about anything?"
Adora bit her bottom lip and met his eyes. The eyes that had been there for her that morning at the hospital when she had been worried about Brett.
The gentle version of Tom's, it was almost like there was an entirely different shade of emotion to Will's eyes compared to his twin. Though they were an exact colour match.
They felt safe compared to Tom's scary intensity.
"It's just... Suddenly... I feel overwhelmed." She felt a knot choking her throat when she realised she couldn't explain her feelings.
"Because so much has happened?" Will relaxed his arms over his guitar and gave her his full attention.
"Yea. I mean, Tom and his attempt to change my mind, and then Brett... Oh gosh, Brett and that card." Thinking of the hospital room, and the blame she had felt once she had read the card made her start to tremble.
How had she got here? Trembling over a card? Her best friend hurt because someone wanted to protect her?
"Its alright, breathe." Will's hand was on her shoulder and she scoffed at his words. She hadn't realised she'd been holding her breath.
She put a hand to her mouth when she felt her eyes were burning and blurring with hot tears.
"I'm sorry. I don't know..."
"Adora, it's alright. Just breathe."
It was a few deep and shaky breaths later before the trembling slow down and her shoulders slumped over her acoustic guitar.
When had she gotten back to this anxiety? How long had it been building?
Her heart was still racing in her ribs, but she could breathe, and she was wiping her face with the end of her sleeve.
"I'm sorry, Will. I don't know how..."
"Adora, it's alright. A lot has happened, I get it." His face was sympathetic and understanding as he looked at her, his hand still on her shoulder.
A lot had happened, like when the storm had washed over the family boat. When Dodge had been washed overboard. When her father had been lost.
She forced herself to take a deep, shuddering breath.
"How is it you're always around when I lose it?" She laughed through her teary breathing.
Will smiled and shrug. "Just lucky I guess."
She had barely said a word, but somehow she was feeling better. Had she just needed that moment of a break?
"Feel a bit better?"
"Yea, actually." She laughed and wiped the last of the breakdown from her face. "Let's get back to your solos!"
"When you're ready." Will smiled and leaned back on his chair, preparing his fingers on his guitar's neck. "Cause, I can't understand this progression that you've written here, so I can't carry on without you."
The weight dropped almost instantly from her shoulders when she saw his teasing smile. They had talked about her scribbly notes on the music sheets before and she could see Will was trying to lighten her mood.
He'd managed to do it without barely doing anything.
Iain used to be able to do that. Brett had always been able to do it. Now the thought of both her cousin and her best friend made her feel on edge.
Another deep breath and she shook the unease off her shoulders. She felt the tingle of relief fall over her and she dragged her chair closer to Will and his music stand.
"Oh wow, that one is a struggle. Sorry." She looked over her own handwriting and shook her head. "It's a G though, have you played this song at all yet?" She frowned and looked at him.
"Nope."
"Ok then. Let's try and clear this mess up." She leaned over to her bag; guitar still hugged against her as she opened the front pocket and pulled a pen out.
After fixing her messy G over all the right lyrics, Adora put the pen on the music stand and leaned back with her guitar.
"Right, fixed. Let's go." She put her fingers on the neck of her guitar and rested her arm over the body.
She tapped the body as a count in and then started the chord strumming and lyrics.
She hadn't played the song for a while, and almost immediately she felt the deep connection sink in her chest as she remembered how much it meant to her.
Will watched for a few bars before he started joining in, strumming certain string quietly to harmonise her chords.
Adora felt as though she had played the song every day of her life. When the chorus started she was able to play with her eyes closed and she could focus on the sound of their guitars mixing together and giving a full background for the words she sang.
She could feel Will's eyes moving from the chords on the stand to her for the cues, but she was also aware of something else radiating towards her, admiration maybe?
He had heard her sing enough times to know her range and tones, but it felt as though she was singing to him for the first time.
She remembered hearing the song not long after her father's funeral, how it had resonated with her then, she could still feel the echo of it years later.