Silently Falling

Chapter Twenty One (Edited 10/25/2020)

Thanks for being such dedicated readers :) :) :)

10/25/2020 - The song that comes up in this chapter is called Pictures by Hollow Coves and I highly recommend listening to it while reading that portion! It fits very well and was very emotional for me :)

Silently Falling: Chapter Twenty One

West left shortly after his confession about his real reason behind learning sign language. His words stuck with me for the rest of the night and I wasn't able to focus on the movie Dad insisted we all watch together for some family time. I couldn't even tell you what it was about.

Today went by as usual. Mr. C decided he doesn't need another song for another couple of weeks, so that leaves me more time to work on my personal songbook. Which is exactly what I'm doing now. Toby is upstairs playing Rocket League, and Dad is still at work, so it's a perfect time for me to be able to sit down and play the piano while tweaking an older song of mine before West comes over for our lesson.

I wrote this song back when Dad decided to pack up and move to New York for half of his time. It was hard enough to grow up without a mom, but when we suddenly had to grow up without a dad...this song came out of it. When he would randomly come home every couple of weeks it reminded me that my mom never can come home. This song is about her. It's about him. It's about missing the family I want back.

I don't know what made me want to go back to this song. Maybe it's the fact Dad has made a few comments about wanting to try harder for me and Toby. Maybe it's because I want to have that conversation with him. Let him know how hard it is on me when he's never here. For whatever reason, I'm sitting here playing a song that I wrote when I really did feel like my life was falling apart.

However, I'm stopped when I hear a knock at the door.

"Raine! Can you get that! I'm in the middle of a game!" Toby calls from upstairs.

I glance out the window next to my piano bench and see an old, slightly banged up black Jeep in the driveway. The heartache from playing this song slowly subsides as I walk to the door, anticipating that smirk on the other side. He doesn't disappoint, and as soon as West sees me he gives me that famous smirk and comes inside.

"Hey Sunshine."

As we walk into the living room, he eyes the piano that's keys are open and exposed and my songbook on its perch.

"You working on something?"

I stand next to the piano and slide my hand on some of the keys, shrugging slightly. "I'm just making a few small changes to an old song."

He walks closer and takes my songbook, glancing at me momentarily.

"May I?"

I bite my lip while debating if I should let him into this particular song. While the last one I played for him was personal, this one is personal for a whole different reason and it's not as up to interpretation as the first. It's harder for me to play. For me to read. But West knows about my feelings towards my mom's death and my dad's absence, so when I meet his gaze, I nod for him to go ahead.

"Pictures," he reads the title aloud. He scans the lyrics, brows furrowing together and lips tugged into a frown.

He lifts his eyes to me once he finishes. "Is this about...?"

I sigh and sit down on the bench, trying to find the words to describe it.

"It's about more than just her," I sign, referring to my mom. "It's about my Dad, too."