JOSH CHASEZ

I'm almost glad MattHunter didn't have any competition here: they wouldn't have stood a chance.

Keeping JC

          He sat before the piano, pencil grasped firmly between his teeth, as he pounded the ivory keys in a new melody. He was only vaguely aware of someone placing their hands on his shoulders and placing a cup of coffee before him.
          "Thanks, JC."
          "Thank you. I’d say it’s the least I could do for you, considering you’ve agreed to help me on this rewrite at the last minute."
          "It’s my pleasure." "Besides," he added silently, "it gives me more time to spend with you."

          JC just smiled at him, apparently lost in thoughts of his own. "The music you’ve got written so far," he began, finally breaking the silence, "is just incredible. I wish I was having half as much luck writing the lyrics."He patted the section of the piano bench directly next to him, scooting just enough for JC to sit down, but forcing him to remain close. "What seems to be the problem?"
          "I don’t know," JC confessed. "I had an idea of what I wanted before I sat down to write it. It was supposed to be what someone would or should be willing to do in order to win someone else’s heart. It’s not hard to get my attention. It’s much harder to keep it. I’m willing to take the chance with almost anybody, hoping, even praying, that it’ll be worth it."
          He looked up to see me staring into those impossibly blue eyes before he blushed, turning his gaze towards his shuffling feet. "I don’t know," he laughed uncomfortably. "I guess it sounded better in my head than it did when it came out of my mouth just now."
          "I don’t know, either," he smiled at the excessive use of the phrase, "I don’t know." "I think just about anything coming out of your voice would sound like Heaven."

          JC looked up at him, suddenly wary that he was reading something that wasn’t there—something he wanted to see. Abruptly, he flashed crimson and turned back to the papers on the piano. "So?" JC asked. "What do you think would win someone’s heart?"
          "That’s too general," he chuckled. "Gimme some specifics."
          "Well, what would you do, if, say, you were interested in me?" JC asked him. "Purely hypothetical of course."
          "Interesting prospect," he grinned. "In a purely hypothetical way, of course. What sort of things do you like?"
          "If you're asking in the romance department, it’s the simple things that matter most," JC responded. "I’m not impressed by someone spending money on me. I’ve got money. What I don’t have is someone who’s genuinely interested in just spending time with me."

          "So what would you say . . . ," he began, "to someone who wanted to sit on the floor in front of the couch with you watching your favorite movie, which you’ve both seen a thousand times?"
          "Sounds like a promising start," JC raised an eyebrow. "What else?"
          "What if they wanted to lay in bed with you all day rather than watch their favorite team play?"
          JC smiled broadly, pushing himself off of the bench and onto the top of the piano itself. "Keep going."
          "How do you feel about holding hands? With someone who wouldn’t want to ever let you go?"
          "A must," JC replied.
          "Someone who called you just to hear that angelic voice?"
          JC stretched out on top of the piano and propped the side of his head up on the palm of his hand. "Sounds real good. What else?"
          "Someone whose face lit up every time you walked in the room?"
          "Uh-huh," JC muttered, absentmindedly staring at him.

          Uncomfortable, he shifted his attention back to the piano. "And someone who’d be just as happy lying next to you fully clothed as having sex with you?"
          JC just nodded before resting his chin on his now folded arms.
          "Someone who, despite themselves, couldn’t keep from closing their eyes in bliss not just when you kissed but whenever you came close enough to feel each other’s breath?"
          "Definitely."
          He thought about it for a minute. "Okay, JC, what about surprises? Flowers, candy, jewelry, what?"
          "Flowers," JC answered confidently. "There’s some thought behind flowers."
          "What kind of flowers?"
          JC was perplexed for a minute. "A rose," he eventually answered.
          "Roses?"
          "No," JC clarified. "A single rose. Like I said, simple."
          "What color?"
          "Whatever suits the mood," JC smiled, wistfully lost in thought.
          "I don’t understand."
          "White or red," he grinned.
          "White or red?"
          "White for friendship and red for love. I need both of those rolled up into one person," JC explained, pleased with his choices.

          He put the pencil down on the piano and pointed to JC. "I think I’ve got the chorus. Take a listen:

                    Buy me a rose
                    Call me from work
                    Open a door for me
                    What would it hurt?
                    Show me you love me by the look in your eyes
                    These are the little things I need the most in my life

          JC sat there, utterly speechless.
          He cringed, certain JC hated it. "I guess someone who did things like that wouldn’t catch your eye," he said, suddenly very conscientious, even embarrassed, of his answer.
          "Probably not," JC said stoically. He hooked a finger under the other’s chin, lifting his eyes so their gazes could meet. "Since somebody like that already has," he smiled.

 

Lyrics from "Buy Me a Rose" by Kenny Rogers with Allison Krauss
Copyright Dreamcatcher Music 1999