Coldwater slid down my body as I stood under the tall shower head. Practice had been brutal, and my muscles ached. I'd wanted nothing more than to go home and collapse onto my bed and never get up.

But life, and more importantly Tyler, had other plans.

"Dude, come on. If we wait any longer we might as well take the L now." A chuckle tagged itself at the end of his sentence, though I could hear the underlying urgency. We'd finished filming everything for our collab project and Kyra sent a rough edit that was nearly done except for the color grading-- which I still didn't fully understand-- and graphics. And, she'd unknowingly signed my death certificate the moment she said that Tyler and I should work on the score together to make sure that the music fit what I wanted because "a film is only half as good as its score", as she said. I just wish that she and her mother hadn't decided to pack up and surprise her dad with a visit on his extended business trip so she could brave it out with me. Or distract me. Either would have sufficed.

"Addison!" He whined after I didn't respond. His voice, though goofy, sent chills down my spine and had an effect on my body I really wish it hadn't. Especially when I was 100% naked.

"Yeah, I'll be out in a second," I said as casually as I could as I tried to swallow the massive lump in my throat.

"Alright, but if your butt isn't out here in the next five minutes, I will come in there and drag you out, naked and all. Don't think I won't. I don't play when it comes to my grades."

I put my hands up in surrender though I knew he couldn't see me. "Okay, okay, I believe you. Just get out of here. I feel awkward showering when people can hear."

"Okay, I'm leaving. But you have four minutes now!" He called before his footsteps started fading away. Only when I heard the door open and close before the room filled with stillness yet again, did I let myself release the breath I was holding. My heart was pounding as if practice had ended thirty seconds ago rather than thirty minutes ago. He made me feel things that I didn't like. Well, I did kind of like it, but not when he was the one causing it instead of Kyra. I felt like I was emotionally cheating on her, but no matter how many times I tried to rewire my messy brain and screw my head on straight, every glance Tyler casually threw my way or my name would slide past his lips just right, I would be back to square one.

It was torture of the worst kind.

I hurriedly turned off the water, hating the part of me that wanted to stay in just to see if Tyler would make good on his obvious tongue-in-cheek threat, then peeked my head out to confirm that I was alone. Once I felt sure, I walked out bare, listening as my feet wetly slapped against the tiled floor. Goosebumps rose on my skin as a coldness far less forgiving than the water wrapped around me like a mummy's bandages, urging me to quickly dress. I'd barely finished sliding on my hoodie before Tyler burst in through the door. "Alright, dick out or not I'm about to drag your a-- oh never mind, you're already out," he said as our eyes locked.

I awkwardly chuckled. "Uh, yeah."

"Good. Common, I'm starving. I was thinking about stopping by Mikey's right quick, then after that do you wanna work at my place or yours? Or we could go somewhere else if you'd like."

"Mikey's is closer to my house, so we can do it at my place."

"Cool, cool," he said as he readjusted his bag over his shoulders. I slung my own backpack over my own shoulders before he slung his arm around my shoulders. I felt a static-like shock move through me like a current at the sudden action. "We're going to make some fire, my friend. Certified fire."

"I can believe it," I said, though all I could focus on was the weight of his arm around me.

"I need to grab the MIDI I checked out from my locker. Come on."

"What's a MIDI?" I asked as I let him drag me out of the locker room and down the hall.

"It's basically a keyboard with pads and controllers that we use to produce. I had one on my desk in my room if you remember, but it's old and doesn't work half the time."

I nodded in understanding, vaguely remembering seeing something that resembled what he was describing. All too soon, his arm was leaving my body as he quickly put in his combination and grabbed what looked like an instrument case from his locker. "I couldn't carry it out in the open, especially not on the subway," he said, reading my thoughts. "Come on."

I wordlessly followed him through the hallways and out of the school. Crisp air filled my nose as I watched the sun slowly start descending in the sky though it was barely past 6:30. "What did you think of the plays we ran today? I thought they were pretty sick."

"Yeah, they were fine," I absent-mindedly answered at the same moment that my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and instantly saw Kyra's contact pop up.

Babygirl <3 (6:34): hey, bb. just wanted to check in on u and c how the scoring is going. My mom and i r stuck in the airport rn bc our Uber is stuck in traffic. Who knew atlanta traffic could get as bad as new york's lol

I grinned as I typed back.

Me (6:35): hey, we havent started yet. just left practice and we r getting food rq before we start 2 work. sux about ur Uber but itll b worth it when u see ur dad. tell him i said hi. miss u a lot but i love you more

"Is that Kyra?" Tyler asked as we started descending into the underground world of the subway.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Because you only smile like that when you're talking to her. And me of course."

I nearly choked on my spit. Had I been that obvious?

Tyler laughed as he patted me on the back. "Woah, man, no need to get all choked up."

I was gasping for air, that small drop of spit causing my body to have a full freak out. We stopped walking and Tyler gently put his hand on my back. "Don't try to take a ton of breaths. Stop and take one slow deep breath," Tyler instructed. I nodded and did as he said. I stopped fighting for air and let my body momentarily freak out before I slowly inhaled. It felt weird at first, but as if I were a robot, my body started rebooting until I felt normal again.

"Thanks, man. My spit went down the wrong tube."

"It happens to the best of us," Tyler said as he started walking again.

I silently nodded as I fell into step with him.

We effortlessly made our way through the subway system, and I nearly had a heart attack when I had just enough money on my card to make it through the gate. As if we were ants marching through our colony, we traveled from train to train without a single mistake or second guess-- or more like I was following Tyler and hoping that we didn't get lost.

Before too long, we were emerging right in front of Mickey's. I could practically feel the cholesterol in the air and taste the health code violations, but my stomach pulled me right through the door and into the small establishment. I got nachos and a milkshake that I knew my semi-lactose intolerant stomach would beat me up for in the middle of the night, and Tyler ordered Mikey's famous hot wings. I already knew I was going to steal some from him when he wasn't looking.

We opted to eat as we walked back to my apartment, which was about a fifteen to twenty minutes walk from here depending on if we dared to j-walk between a thick cluster of cars and tour buses, or decided to be good law-abiding citizens....because a police officer was watching. Only time would tell.

"Bro, you know what? When I first moved here over the summer, the first thing I did was go to Mikey's and ordered one of these," Tyler said, his words semi-muffled due to the food in his mouth. "It was my first taste of New York: side hustles and trying to make it. Been coming back ever since."

"Why did you move here?" I asked as I scooped up some cheese onto my nacho chip. "Where are you from?"

"I'm from Louisiana, and I left because there was nothing there for me anymore." His words were vague, but the sudden hard look in his eyes told me there was a larger story there. A story that had volumes and volumes in it, but I opted not to push it. I could respect when someone wanted to keep their skeletons in the closet. "Have you lived here all your life?"

"Yeah. Born and raised."

He nodded. "I wish. I love it here. It feels like this city is its own world. There are so many nooks and crannies to discover, it's crazy. I bet you've had time to explore them all, huh?"

"Not even half of them," I admitted. "Though this city is in my blood, I can barely remember how to ride the subway from one place to another, let alone be able to explore and actually find my way back home, so it's one of the other: find new places or know where I'm going to sleep."

Tyler laughed. "Bro, I haven't even been here a year and I knew the subway system like it's the back of my hand, get out of here."

"I couldn't even if I wanted to. I've only been to one other place than here."

"Really?" Tyler asked, genuine shock in his expressive eyes.

I nodded. "Yeah. Just here and the city my dads grew up. It's so small I don't even know the name of it. Besides, I mean, where else would I want to go? We've got crazy entertainment here, great schools, there's always something happening. I don't know, I just never really thought of going anywhere else, even to just visit."

"Bro, remind me that before we both die, I have to get you down to Florida. Those people are insane, even by New York standards. I don't understand how they do it."

"Do what?"

"Live! They literally don't give a crap what's going on, as long as they can go to the beach or to the mall or whatever, they'll do it. I mean, we could even be in a pandemic and the world could be ending, and you could still catch at least a handful of them on the beach or something. It's insane."

I laughed. "Sounds like the exact reason why I wouldn't want to go."

"And that's the exact reason that I'm making you go."

Our journey consisted of small talk and jokes that only we would laugh at and before I knew it, I was opening the door to our apartment. "If it's messy, forgive me. Adryan and Emerson don't know what the meaning of 'clean up after yourself is'. Oh, and take off your shoes at the door or Padre will freak out. He's weird like that."

Tyler peeled off his shoes as his wide eyes took in our apartment with wonder. "Woah," he breathed. "You have a two-floor apartment this big and this nice in New York?"

"Yeah, I kinda guess I do."

"Woah," he repeated as he shook his head. "Insane."

"Addi?" Papa called from deep within the apartment.

"Coming! E abbiamo un ospite, quindi per favore non essere strano (And we have a guest, so please don't be weird)."

I heard my Padre's deep laughter as I led Tyler toward where the voices were from. "Fair warning, my dads are dorks," I lowly said as we walked down the hall toward the living room where both of my dads were sitting on the living room couch. Azalea was sitting next to them with her head on Padre's shoulder as Adryan and Emerson sat on Papa and Padre's laps respectively as Inside Out played on the TV.

"Addison, nice to see you're not dead. I was worried I would have to get up and find my phone and send a search party for you," Padre joked with a smile, causing me to roll my eyes.

"To be honest, if you didn't come back in thirty minutes, I would've taken your room and claimed it as my own," Azalea said matter-of-factly, her attention still on the screen. Yet somehow when I stuck my tongue out at her, she managed to stick hers out too, all without switching her gaze. It was weird.

"Addi!" Emerson cried as she got up and hugged me with Adryan following in her footsteps.

"Hey you guys," I warmly greeted as I gathered both of them in my arms. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," Emerson said with a giggle as I gently tickled her tummy.

"Hey, I missed you more!" Adryan whined, wanting attention too.

I chuckled as I held my fist out to him. "Of course you did, little man." He grinned as we bumped fists before his attention turned to Tyler, who I'd momentarily forgotten was there. "Who's that?"

I straightened up. "Everyone, this is Tyler. He's my friend and we're working on a project for school."

"Hi," he said as he waved.

"Tyler, this is Adryan and Emerson, my Padre, my Papa, and you already know Azalea," I introduced with everyone waving as I said their name and Azalea adding an extra "s'up?" at the end.

"Wait, I recognize you from somewhere," Papa said as he turned more toward Tyler.

"Oh, I'm on the football team with Addison, sir."

Padre snapped and nodded. "That's it. That's what I know you from. Number thirty-two, right?"

"Yes sir," Tyler beamed.

"You're a great player. And don't call me sir. It makes me sound old. You can call me Mr. Bruno."

"Me too," Papa chimed in.

"Of course. And I wanted to say, Mr. Bruno, I'm a huge fan of your work. You're amazing."

"Huh. Well, I didn't think anyone was a fan of us behind the scenes developers but thank you, Tyler," Papa joked as he adjusted his invisible collar with distinction.

Tyler obviously didn't get the joke because his eyes slightly widened. "Oh, actually I uh..."

Padre hit Papa with a laugh. "Madison, you're so annoying. Don't do that to the poor boy," he chastised before turning back to Tyler. "Thank you. I really appreciate it."

"Well, we don't want to keep you two long. If you're hungry, there are leftovers in the fridge since you missed dinner," Papa said before his attention returned to the screen and Emerson and Adryan climbed back onto his and Padre's laps.

"Okay, thank you."

"Thank you." Tyler and I said at the same time before I led him upstairs to my room. It felt strangely intimate allowing him into my safe space, and with every step up the stairs we took, I frantically searched my brain in an effort to see if I'd left anything out in the open that could be incriminating. But my mind was too busy buzzing at the fact that Tyler was coming into my room to properly focus or remember.

I silently prayed and pushed open the door before I flicked on the light. After my eyes scanned the room, I silently let out the breath of relief I was holding. I was in the clear. "Dude, your room is sick," Tyler said as he took it in. My eyes followed his around my room, and though I didn't see anything too special I said "Thanks" nonetheless before I moved over to my desk. It was already clear for the most part, but I only had one chair and I didn't feel like doing all the way back downstairs to try to wrestle one of my dads' chairs up here.

"I don't have another chair. Can we just sit on my bed?"

"Already way ahead of you," Tyler said as he crashed onto my bed, causing me to laugh as I sat down next to him. "Man, even your bed is soft. Maybe I should try to get my dad to be a computer developer or New York Times Bestselling author or something." He dug into his backpack and pulled out his laptop. "Can you unpack the MIDI?"

"Are you sure you trust me with that? It seems expensive," I said with a chuckle, only half-joking.

"Yeah, I trust you, Addi. All you literally have to do is open the case and set the keyboard on the bed. Two easy steps, I can trust you with that."

"Suit yourself," I said in a sing-song voice before I carefully did what I was told, though my heart was racing. Tyler was in my bed.

Tyler was in my bed.

It felt strangely forbidden, almost illegal. But that rush made it worth it.

I carefully set the heavy keyboard on the bed as he typed on his computer. "See? That wasn't too complicated." He clicked a few more things and Kyra's rough edit popped up on the screen with what looked like a complex editing software in the background.

"Woah," I breathed. Now it was my turn to be colored impressed.

"What?"

"That looks insane," I said, mesmerized by the hundreds of things on the display to mess with. I found myself leaning closer. "What does this do?" I asked, pointing to a random button.

"That opens up the automation panel," he said as he clicked on it, causing a new window with a bunch of lines and knobs to appear. "So, when we're done making the music, we can make the sound travel from one ear to the other to make it sound more realistic. I can do that with the sound effects too once we decide what we actually want."

"That's insane."

"Yeah, it is," he said as he turned to me, his breath gently caressing my cheek as he spoke. A shock traveled down my spine and deep into my stomach. "Watch this." He quickly connected the keyboard to his computer. "If I change this, then it changes the MIDI from a keyboard to..." he pressed some keys and the sounds of an electric guitar filled the room.

"That's insane. What kind of witchcraft is this?"

"No witchcraft, I'm afraid. Just musical genius." He put the keyboard on my lap. "Try it."

"I can't. I will shatter it by touching it," I said as I shook my head and tried to shove it back on his lap.

He looked at me, an amused look in his deep eyes. "Addi, this keyboard has taken its fair share of beatings and it's still standing strong. The worst you can do is drop it two feet to the floor. I think it will survive."

I bit my bottom lip and looked at the contraption in my lap, both enamored and terrified at the same time. "Okay, but if I break it, you can't blame me because I warned you."

"Y'all be fine, Addison," he gently assured as he clicked a few things on his computer. "Try it."

I gently ran my fingertips across the keys before I found a random key and pushed it all the way down, revealing a drum hit. I smiled at what I'd done before I pressed more keys, creating a messy cacophony of drums and cymbal crashes. As if I were a child, I continued messily pressing the keys until I'd made every possible noise that I could. "That's so cool."

"Yeah. And look what else you can do." Tyler effortlessly snaked his arm around my waist, causing me to gasp and jump in surprise. He chuckled. "Relax. I'm just guiding you." His hand made its way over mine before he used his other hand to lead mine to the pads at the top of the machine. "Just follow my lead." His voice was low as he spoke and the way it danced along the back of my neck and under my clothes made me want to jump up and run for the hills. But I stayed. It was as if I was under a spell that only Tyler could cast, whether he knew it or not.

He pushed down on my hands to create a pattern that I instantly recognized as the opening beat from Billie Jean by Michael Jackson. His hand hands engulfing mine sent a warmth through me that could make even the coldest day in Antarctica more bearable. After a few repetitions, he slowly retracted his hands, taking the warmth with him. And though I badly wanted that warmth back, I continued moving my hands in the pattern he'd shown me knowing that if I stopped...I didn't know what I'd do.

"Good," he smiled. "A natural."

"Thanks," I said, my voice small compared to his.

"That's enough fooling around though. We have serious work we need to do if we're going to turn this in on time," he stated, his voice going from tender and playful to hard and serious. "Alright, for the beginning, I was thinking of something really mellow. I can easily incorporate