On The Floor (Second Story) (27 page)

***

"No, no, no, sweetheart. Sit down and relax," Grams says to Jake as he gets up and starts clearing the plates.

He moves around to kiss her on the cheek. "You cook, I clean. Just because I don't live here anymore, doesn't mean I can't help. Plus, this will give you some time to grill the girlfriend," he says smiling over at me.

Grams chuckles then looks over at me. "Why don't we go to the living room and relax. I promise, no
grilling
involved."

"Sounds good," I say getting out of my chair. Jake kisses me on my way past him, as Grams, Gramps, and I head to the living room. We sit down on the couches, Gramps propping his feet up on the chest that serves as a coffee table.

"Now I know I promised no grilling, but we do want to get to know you. Dinner was spent talking mostly about Jake, and while we love him very much, we already know him," Grams says smiling over at me as she takes Gramps' hand. "Frank and I would really like to get to know the girl that has stolen our boy's heart."

I smile over at them and tell them a bit about myself. The same kind of stuff that I told Jake when I first met him.

Gramps smiles at me when I finish. "So you play the piano?" I nod in response and he goes on. "Did Jake tell you that I tried to teach him piano when he was younger? It didn't really take," he says chuckling. "Now the guitar on the other hand... He was a natural. I'm sure you've seen him play."

"I have. And you're right, he is definitely a natural."

"So you were accepted to Juilliard? You must be a fantastic pianist," Gramps continues.

I smile shyly. "I'm okay," I say shrugging one shoulder.

They both laugh. "So modest," Grams says. "And I hope you don't mind that Jake told us a bit about your mom. We both are so sorry for your family's loss. From what Jake has told us she sounds like she was a wonderful woman."

I wait a moment for the pain that normally comes when people bring her up out of the blue, but it's not there. Well, it still makes me a bit sad, but the pain that normally takes my breath away is absent. And as I look into Grams eyes, I think that the lack of pain has to do with the woman sitting in front of me.

I have only known her a few hours, and I already feel comforted by the warmth and caring of this woman. No wonder Jake loves her so much. As a matter of fact, looking between the both of them, Grams and Gramps have none of the normal curiosity that comes when people start to talk about my mom. Their expressions are only full of concern and support.

"Thank you. I love and miss her very much. And she was a wonderful woman."

"She taught you to play the piano, right?" Gramps asks.

"She did," I say nodding and smiling.

"You know," he says, a smile on his face, "we happen to have a piano in this very room. Do you think you would want to play something?" With the smile on his face and the way he asked that question, I feel like I'm looking at an older version of Jake.

I laugh. "Sure. Any requests?"

"Hmmm... I've got an idea," Gramps says getting up off the couch and heading toward the piano bench. He opens it and searches for a few moments before finding what he was looking for. He pulls some sheet music out of the bench and calls me over as he sets it up on the piano. "Think you can play this one," he says smiling at me.

I glance at the song he wants to me to play and I smile back. "I've got it handled."

I sit down on the bench and set the papers that Gramps gave me on the music stand. The sheet music he picked is for
At Last
by Etta James. It's something that I've actually played a few times before, and I remember some, but not all of it. As I start to play the opening notes to the song, I look up over the piano and see Gramps extend his hand towards Grams. "May I have the honor of a dance with the lovely lady?" he asks.

She smiles at him taking his hand. "I think you already know the answer to that question, honey. You didn't really give me a choice when you picked our song. Then again, I could never turn down a dance when you were the one offering. Especially to
this
song."

I smile and without even actually deciding to, I start to sing along to the music. My fingers move smoothly over the keys as I serenade Grams and Gramps while they dance in the living room, looking at each other as though they are the only ones in the room. In the world. It is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. To be this in love after all these years together, all the things they have been through with their daughter, and raising their grandson. They still look at each other like they just fell in love.

And I think that this is the truth of love. To keep it, you have to remember the reasons you fell in love in the first place and find new reasons to fall in love with each other every day.

Every moment.

And I feel like I am witnessing one of their moments right now.

One of the moments that they are falling in love.

Because the truth is, we never stop falling. If you hit the bottom, then it's over. And all of this falling in love can be scary, but an endless fall isn't that scary when you have someone there with you.

My eyes start to tear, but luckily the song is coming to an end, so they don't have to hear the emotion in my voice. I see movement out of the corner of my eye and I turn my head to look at Jake. He is watching his grandparents dance, a smile on his face. And he must have seen my head turn because he looks at me.

And I see it in his eyes.

Feel it in my heart.

This is one of our moments.

One of the moments where we are falling in love.

***

We spend the rest of the night talking about music. It turns out Grams and Gramps both play the piano, but Gramps also plays the guitar, harmonica, and saxophone. Grams plays the violin. At one point, Jake pulls out Gramps acoustic guitar and starts to play the music to one of the songs he's working on.

"Sounds good, son. Have you written the lyrics yet?" Gramps asks.

"Kind of," Jake says winking over at me.

"Can we hear what you've written so far?" Grams asks.

"No can do, Grams," he says, chuckling.

"And why not?" Grams says crossing her arms and giving him a look that just makes him laugh harder.

"Ask Rachel."

They all look over to me. "He's
fine tuning
them. Apparently, I'm not allowed to hear the lyrics until he's done fine tuning them. It sounds like the guys in his band have all heard them and he even performed some at one of his shows, but if I'm at practice or the show he won't sing them. All I get to hear is the beautiful music. No lyrics," I say sticking my tongue out at Jake as he laughs at my explanation.

"Ahhh..." Grams says smiling. "The song is about Rachel," she says looking between me and Jake.

"No," I respond shaking my head.

"Yes," Jake says at the same time with a smile on his face.

I turn to him with a confused look on my face. "Really? They're about me?"

"I thought you knew," he says, his eyes full of love. "I finally found something to write a love song about. And you know those are the greatest songs ever written."

"Songs about great love," Gramps says nodding his head and leaning down to kiss Grams on the head.

"Now I want to hear them even more! Jake, please?" I plead with him, a sweet smile on my face.

"I'm still fine tuning, babe," he says chuckling.

"But..."

"I promise. Soon. I just want them to be right before I reveal them to my muse." The look he gives me is full of promise.

"How sweet!" Grams whispers to Gramps. "He said she's his muse. It's so nice to see him like this. I never thought I'd see the day..."

"Me either," Gramps whispers back. "I'm glad."

I don't think they know I can hear them and I know that since Jake is across the room, he definitely can't hear them.

I'm speechless as I look into Jake's eyes. Knowing how much I've changed his life. How much our love has changed his life.

But it's not scary.

Falling is wonderful.

***

After dinner at Grams and Gramps, we head back to the dorm. Jake gets a text message as we are walking to his room and he checks it, chuckling to himself.

"What's so funny?" I ask him.

"Oh, nothing. I'll tell you later."

He unlocks his door and we get inside and start to take off our shoes and jackets. "Sooo...?" he says, flopping onto his bed, holding out his arm for me to come and snuggle in with him.

"Sooo what?" I say a smile on my face.

"What did you think of my grandparents?" he asks and I can hear the smile in his voice.

"Eh," I say shrugging and holding back a laugh.

"Seriously?!" He sounds totally outraged.

I turn in his arm so I am facing him. "Of course not seriously! They were great. So welcoming. And I can tell that they really love you. The real question is, do you think they like me?"

He smiles at me. "They loved you."

"That's what they said when we were leaving, but how do you know they were telling the truth? That's just what you say."

And what they said was:

It was so nice to meet you.

I can't wait to see you again.

I'm glad you gave our Jake a chance.

"They may think I'm... eh," I continue.

"I just know," Jake says with a smile.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. But I also got text messages from both of them telling me how much they adored you," he says reaching out to grab his phone from the night stand. "See..." he says pulling up the messages.

Grams:
Rachel was such a doll. I absolutely adore her. I hope I will see more of the both of you. Love you, sweetheart.

Gramps:
You caught a good one, don't let her go. You only snag one of them in a lifetime. Love you, and Grams says to tell you that you should come by again soon. Both of you.

The smile on my face is big. Huge. Stretching from ear to ear. "I really liked them," I say reaching up to give Jake a quick kiss.

"You know, Rachel, you should perform more."

"Huh?" That kind of came out of nowhere.

"You were amazing at their house tonight," he says leaning down for a longer kiss.

"Thanks," I say shyly.

"You should do something at the open mic thing."

"Huh?"

"Why don't you perform something? Everyone loved it when we did that thing at the center."

"Maybe..." I say, trying not to make the commitment.

He rolls so that I am under him, pinning me between his body and the bed. His hands are on either side of my head, holding up his weight. "Uh uh. That answer is going to be a yes. I'll announce you either way. So be prepared," he says giving me a devilish smile as he leans down and kisses my neck.

"Seriously, Jake?"

"Seriously." He continues to trail his lips and tongue over my neck, moving close to my lips and then moving away. Teasing me.

"Ugh! Fine! But I get song choice."

"Whatever you want babe," he murmurs against the hollow behind my ear.

"Mmmm..." I say, as I shiver from his light teasing kisses against my skin.

"Oh! Before I forget to ask, how did you pick that song to play for them? You know that is their song, right?"

"I heard Gramps say that, but he was the one to pick the song. I'm glad he did, though. Watching them dance together like that reminded me of my parents. It's something I want when I grow old. To still be that in love."

"We will be..." he says, before leaning down and pressing his lips to mine. Kissing me like he means what he just said. And I sure as hell hope he does. Because this is a moment where I am falling in love with him.

Again.

Still.

Always.

Chapter 20

It's Friday morning. The first Friday of April. And that means it is open mic night. An open mic night that I agreed to perform in. And I can't for the life of me decide on a song. Or even what type of song.

At first I was going to do something no one expected.
Super Bass
by Nicki Minaj.

Then I was decided to do something funny.
Ice Ice Baby
by Vanilla Ice

Then I was set on doing something classical.
Rhapsody in B Minor Op. 79, No. 1
by Johannes Brahms.

Then I went through the entire catalog of Sarah Mclachlin and Sara Bareilles.

Right now I've decided to do something meaningful and I picked
Landslide
by Fleetwood Mac. But as I am practicing, this performance seems too personal to do in front of a group of people I barely know.

"I can't do this one, Jen..." I say, stopping one verse into my performance. I look down at the first row of seats in one of the school's practice auditoriums and see Jenna playing on her phone. "Are you even paying attention to the fact that I am having a meltdown about this performance?"

She looks up from her phone. "I'm paying attention. I just think you're overreacting. You could play anything and it would be great. You are ah-ma-zing. Just think of a song that you would want to perform and do it. Stop over thinking it."

"Ugh!!! That was no help Jenna. If I could think of a song that I really wanted to perform, I would have picked one on Monday," I say standing up and jumping down from the low stage. Her attention is back on her phone, so I take a seat in the chair next to her and grab her phone from her hands. "And what is so important that you can't keep off of your phone for like ten minutes while I talk to you about this?"

I glance down at her phone and see a text conversation between her and Nate. I look over at her and smile. Before I can say anything, she grabs her phone back and shoves it in her purse. "Don't even start with the questioning. I realized you were right about Nate. He really is looking for more than a hook-up."

"And...?" I ask, trying to get more of an explanation.