Chapter 21 The Song Of Being A Family
TWENTY-ONE
THE SONG OF BEING A FAMILY
ALEX
Our shadows stretched across the foyer floor as we stepped inside.
Seb gave me a quick smile before letting go of my hand.
He had held it the entire way back up here, even when one of the older Seastonians drove by and clearly noticed.
It made sense that he would let go now, though.
Wanting to tell his parents about us was one thing; walking in there hand in hand after all the yelling was another.
The smell of fresh coffee drifted through the house. Dishes clattered in the kitchen, stopping right as I closed the door.
“Is that you?” Laura called out to us.
“We’re back,” Sebastian replied, heading into the kitchen with a quick stride.
With my hand still on the doorknob, I froze. Hearing them move around in the other room was enough to make my breath turn shallow again.
Instead of following Seb, I listened, trying to get a feel for the situation. I heard clothes rustling, a knock against the countertop, and a quick exhale followed by a trembling inhale.
“Where’s Alex?” Laura asked, sending shivers down my back.
“He’s…” Sebastian’s head poked through the doorway, his eyes wide and searching. “You okay? You don’t have to be shy.” He smiled with a warmth that finally got my feet moving again.
As soon as I walked through the doorway, Laura rushed over and wrapped her arms around me. “I was so worried that we’d driven you away.”
While hugging as a greeting wasn’t common for us, we had done it before. But this hug was different. It lasted five times as long as usual and was at least twice as tight.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered, keeping my eyes on the floor.
“No, you don’t have to be.” She finally let go of me, her eyes darting to Sebastian and Dany, who were standing by the kitchen table.
“I already apologized,” Sebastian said, raising his hands in front of his chest as he glanced at his father.
Dany narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, giving his son the same look. They all sure as hell made it clear to each other who they thought was at fault.
“Laura,” I said, pulling their attention back to me.
“Even if you don’t think I have to say it, I want to.
” My gaze moved between them. “I’m sorry for yelling at all of you, and for causing all that trouble.
But I think it’s safe to say we’re all sorry for different things.
What matters now is that we’re all here. ”
“I couldn’t have said it better,” Dany stated, his eyes still on Seb for another second before he turned to me. “Sorry for letting things escalate like that. We were really worried about you.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
We all exchanged a smile before Laura clapped her hands together and whirled around. “Now, let’s talk it out.” She went behind the counter and brought out a plate of sandwiches, wrapped in aluminum foil. “I wasn’t sure if you guys were hungry, so I made enough for all of us.”
“I know I am,” Sebastian said, sitting down at the table with such determination I wondered if sandwiches had solved fights before.
I pulled out the chair next to him and sat down. Laura unwrapped the serving plate and placed it in the middle of the table.
The white bread was lightly toasted. Cheese, tomatoes, bacon, and lettuce stuck out from the sides of the triangular sandwiches.
“So, I hope it’s okay to ask…” Dany held on to his coffee mug and watched the steam rise. “What kind of music do you two make?”
Seb’s jaw clenched. I guess, even with all the apologies, it wasn’t that easy to stop reacting a certain way once you got used to it. He grabbed a sandwich, took a bite, and chewed slowly.
“I’d say it’s pop,” I answered for him.
“Like, all-ages pop or… young-people pop?” Dany chuckled nervously.
“What is—never mind,” it grumbled beside me, but then he took another bite and chewed as if it was the only thing keeping him from snapping.
“No, go ahead. You can ask,” Dany replied.
Sebastian swallowed. “What is ‘young-people pop’ supposed to mean?”
“You know, the kind of music old folks like us don’t understand anymore.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. It’s music. You either like it, or you don’t.”
“Well, can we listen to it?” Laura chimed in, finally sitting down. She grabbed the smallest sandwich on the plate.
Sebastian pulled a face, then took another bite to keep himself from saying something he’d regret. He brushed his knee against mine, almost as if asking me to take care of that part of the conversation for him.
“I have it here,” I said, pulling out my phone.
“This is so cringe,” Sebastian mumbled, his mouth still half full.
“Hey, don’t antagonize us. Maybe we’ll like it,” Dany said, still holding his mug in front of his mouth.
Laura reached over and nudged the mug toward his lips, making him take a sip. “If you meant what you said earlier, we’ll hear it sooner or later anyway.”
Sebastian kept chewing but nodded at me.
I played the demo of the song we wrote together after our spa trip.
For the full three minutes and forty-four seconds, we all listened without saying anything.
Laura smiled the whole time. Dany’s face didn’t move a muscle.
When the final notes faded out, I stopped it before it could play the next song. One was enough for now.
The silence that followed was broken only by the soft clunk of my phone hitting the table when I set it down.
“Well, that’s the direction,” I said after a while. “There are nine more like that, though we tried to show as much variety as possible.”
“That makes sense,” Laura said.
Another five seconds passed with no one speaking. Sebastian chewed his last bite of sandwich a little too long and only swallowed when Dany set his mug down on the table.
“I like it,” Dany said, pressing his lips together.
Sebastian sighed. “You don’t have to pretend.”
“No, I mean it. It’s good. To think you did that in just a week… I like this way more than…” Dany cleared his throat. “Well, I like it a lot. You did a great job. What are your plans now? Do you want to send it to record labels?”
“Not yet,” Sebastian said. “Even if it’s good, it’s hard to get labels to listen without a following on social media.
So we’re planning to upload it online and build some buzz.
Once we have some traction, it’ll be a lot easier to get it in front of the right people.
But for that, we first need to have the songs properly mastered in a studio, which takes time and money, and as you know, we—okay, mostly I—have neither. ”
“If there’s anything we can do to help, let us know,” Laura said.
“Thank you, but no,” Sebastian replied sternly. “We already have a plan. We’re going to run a crowdfunding campaign to raise the money for studio time. It’s a good way to connect with people. We’ve also thought about playing a concert. I have some connections in Las Vegas I could reach out to.”
“Las Vegas,” Dany laughed. “That’s a big plan.”
“But it’s doable. We’ll schedule the concert after my finals. This way, it won’t interfere with my degree and will give us enough time to build some excitement. We also need more time to actually practice playing together, since we’ve mostly just recorded stuff and never had proper rehearsals.”
“I have no idea how you pulled that off then, but I’m proud of you,” Dany said. “Really, I mean it. I’m not just saying that.”
“I know, you don’t.”
They glared at each other, but after a second, they both broke and burst out laughing. Their voices rose together, filling the room with an easy calm before tapering off at the same time.
Sebastian scratched his chest, still smiling, and then glanced at me. He held my gaze long enough to make it clear he thought the moment for the next truth had come.
My heartbeat sped up, but I still nodded for him to go ahead. As we had established earlier, it was better not to keep secrets.
“There’s one more thing I want to tell you,” Sebastian said, his gaze lingering on the half-empty sandwich plate.
Laura intertwined her fingers and placed them on the table. “We’re all ears.”
Dany shot her a side-eye, but when she didn’t react, he looked back at his son and me.
“This is still new, and it might be too soon to tell anyone, but I think it’s best if you know.” Sebastian let his words settle for a moment, then looked up. “You remember when we were at the diner last weekend? When you said you’d be happy to meet anyone I ever wanted to bring home?”
His parents exchanged a look. “We do,” Laura said.
“Well…” Sebastian wrinkled his nose and pointed at me. “He’s the one I was talking about back then.” He furrowed his brows as if bracing for something to hit him in the face.
They didn’t react for a full five seconds—then Dany’s laughter broke the tension. It was so genuine that I almost joined in.
“And here I thought you were about to tell us you were leaving the country or had committed a crime.” He held his stomach, still shaking with laughter. “But this is great news.”
Sebastian’s mouth fell open. “It is?”
“Of course. You two are so similar it’s almost scary. It’s like you’re made for each other. As long as it doesn’t interfere with your degree—”
“If you’re happy, we are too,” Laura said. “That goes for both of you.”
“The fact that it’s Alex makes things easy,” Dany added. “Now you don’t have to worry about whether we like him, because you already know we do.”
Laura smiled at me. “Thank you for telling us.”
Sebastian leaned back in his seat and stretched his arms over his head. He stared at his parents, his eyes narrowing in disbelief for a few seconds, before slapping my shoulder.
“Well, that was anticlimactic,” he said, squeezing me as if he needed to do something with all that energy now that we didn’t have to hide anymore. “I thought this would be a longer conversation.”
“Oh, if you want it, we can discuss this,” Dany replied with a smug grin. “I bet your mom is dying to know if that means we’ll get to see you more often in Seastone. Or is Alex moving away now?”
Laura took Dany’s hands. “Easy.”
Sebastian chuckled and shook his head. “Actually, I can answer that. For now, neither. This was my last week before I have to focus entirely on my studies.” He looked at me. “But the end of summer isn’t far off.”
We hung out with Laura and Dany for another half hour before Sebastian asked if it was okay for us to spend the rest of the day working on our music.
While they insisted we all have dinner together, they agreed—probably also knowing it was just a pretext.
His real intentions were obvious: he just wanted to spend the rest of the day alone with me.
When we made it to my room, he threw himself onto my bed. “I hope you don’t mind that I used the music as an excuse.”
He patted the spot next to him. I climbed on top of him and rested my ear against his chest. His heart beat steadily. He was so warm.
“Can we stay like this for a little while?” he asked, his palms finding my shoulder blades.
“Of course.”
He brushed his nose against my hair and pulled me closer to his chest. “This is hard,” he whispered. “No matter how much I tried to sound mature about finishing my studies and everything… I have to admit I don’t want to leave here without you.”
His words made me hold my breath. The warmth he offered did little to ease the weight of what he had just said. Sure, we had two more nights together, but that wasn’t much compared to the months we’d have to wait before seeing each other again.
“We’ll talk every day,” I said, hoping it would help.
“Of course we will. But I already miss your touch.” He pressed his hands more firmly against me.
“I’ve never felt this way about anyone, Alex.
I thought I was in love before, but now that I’ve met you, I realize I wasn’t.
Whenever I was away from someone I was dating, I just shrugged it off.
I still had myself. But the thought of being away from you makes me tremble.
I wish I could put you in my pocket and smuggle you out of here. ”
“Same.” I looked up as a thought crossed my mind, “You know, now that your parents know, I could actually visit you in Las Vegas without having to keep it a secret.”
“You want to visit me?” Sebastian pulled his head back, a smirk spreading across his face. “You know what that means: I only have a small apartment. You’d have to share a tiny bed with me. Not one of those fancy, touristy Vegas suites everyone else gets.”
I glanced at our feet, crammed together at the end of the twin bed we were lying in. “You mean a tiny bed like this one?” We both laughed. “What torture.”