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"Yes" I nod, pushing my phone back into the pocket ofout here alone?" he asks

Looking away, I shrug "Just taking in the scenery"

"It is beautiful"

When I turn back to him, I find his eyes on ot so I want to show you"

Jake pushes open the door to the library and leads h

In the centre of the rooly beautiful black piano

"Is that a B&ou a tentative step toward it

Owning a Bösendorfer was my ultimate dream when I used to play Jake knew that

"It’s a 290 Imperial," he says softly froertips over the casing

"It’s yours"

I step back, away froain"

"No…I, u tiht after I left"

He did?

"My dad talks too"He just does"

"No" Jake s over to me "Not why does your dad talk tooafter I left?"

I feel a flood of eh me, all that bottled-up pain I’ve carried around for all these years hitting the surface, causing my skin to prickle and my mouth to work of its own accord

"Because your leaving broke my heart, Jake, and when you cut off all contact, as left of , and it just hurt tooafter you were gone, I just couldn’t bring uess the music left with you"

Jake wraps his ar me to his chest "Fuck, Tru," he chokes out "I’m so sorry I left you"

"You were fourteen, it’s not like you could have stayed"

I’ word fro session

"No, but I could have kept in touch I should have kept in touch I was such a stupid, selfish fucker back then, so fucking angry, and I couldn’t see pastyou off would affect you I should have coh to leave home, and all those years since"

"If you had, then the world would havehappens for a reason, Jake"

"I just wish that reason hadn’t meant twelve years without you I fuckin’ hate that you stopped playing the piano because of me I want you to have this back, Tru I want you to start playing again"

"I don’t know" I shakesince I last played, I et You’ll be rusty, but it’ll still be there You are an a player, Tru Natural talent like yours doesn’t just disappear"

I gaze up at his face

"Try, for me? Please"

How can I say no to hi eyes

"Okay," I concede

The sives me nearly cracks me wide open

I take the seat at the piano and let ers hover over the keys

"I don’t knohat to play," I say, feeling self-conscious, pulling back ht you so some music books off a shelf "You know, just in case you needed the the books to me

"Any of yours in here?" I tiltagainst the piano "I ht them"

"What if I wanted to play one of yours?"

"Then I’ll teach you First, play h the books and opt for the es, I flick through to the first song and altone

I wonder if he knew that was in here

Setting the book up on the piano, I read over themy memory with the notes I surprise myself at how easily I can read the ht when he said I wouldn’t have forgotten

I positionto play a C ht for two beats, then shifting to B-flat and G o

Crap, I’ood Great, in fact

I close ers, and in that brief , and I’m transported back to a whole other ti atthe kind of happiness I haven’t seen on his face for twelve long years Seeing hi at me this way makes me fall into the

"I’ hall to Jake, who is in the living room

"You want some dinner ready when you’re done?" coonna cook?"

"I’ll order in, sh, I reply, "Then, yes, please"