The melodious sounds of the grand piano filled the large room with its beautiful notes. With the windows open, the white sheer curtains fluttered in the wind, bringing in the fresh sea air.

The sounds of the waves crashing brought her a sense of peace as she focused on her task at hand. Pausing for a short second, Alana brought her hand up to grab the pencil she had tucked behind her ear and quickly jotted down the melody she had just been playing.

Music had always been a part of her life. When she was just a little girl, her diary was often filled with lyrics she would come up with throughout the day. Perhaps it was the fact that her parents had recognized her talent in music, but when they found out about her interest, there was no hesitation in signing her up to take piano lessons.

She was grateful to have the opportunity to be able to chase her dreams and for having such supporting parents. She remembered the conversation she had with her parents when Kevin Gilligan had first approached her with the offer. It was a big risk, yet her parents pushed her to take it.

And here she was, doing the very thing that she loved doing and living her dreams.

Tucking her pencil back behind her ear, she tilted her head as she reread the music notes she had jotted down. There was just something about the way music seemed to calm her soul down. When words couldn't, she turned to music to help her tell her story.

And that was what she was trying to do. With so much frustration in her, she wanted to write a song that would not only showcase her feelings but also tell her story. No one would be able to tell her what's right or wrong when it came to her music. No one would be able to tell her own story for her.

With just a piano, she was able to create something out of nothing. To her, the piano was a beautiful instrument that was a work of art upon which the soul was invited to tell its tale. It spoke directly to the souls in a language that predated words. Each musical note sought to connect and communicate the truth behind every individual's stories.

Alana had long begun to prepare for this upcoming album, yet with everything going on, she wanted to rework everything once again. Some songs were going to stay, but after careful deliberation, she would be rewriting some of them.

This would be an album that would be close to her heart— after all, she was going to be singing about her fears and trauma. Despite supposedly being on a little break, she couldn't refrain from setting up a meeting with Adrian, who not only scolded her for working, which she defending herself by stating that it was her way of de-stressing, but also caught her up with some of their findings regarding who had leaked the information.

Apparently, Tiffany had the bright idea of leaking the information to the press, hoping to tarnish Alana's image. Obviously, she had failed since the public had mainly been in support of Alana, which was the complete opposite of what Tiffany had imagined in her head.

Along with the court case that was coming up, she would now be getting sued. Alana wasn't sure how the legal side of things would work with just everything being piled on continuously, but she trusted Leanne and her agency to take care of things for her, which she was very thankful for.

After discussing with Adrian, as well as some other important members of the creative team, including other producers, they had all agreed with Alana about making this album personal, even encouraging her to do so.

These past few days, whenever Asher would be doing some work, she was almost always in the piano room. With a beautiful view of the ocean, this was probably one of her favorite rooms in Asher's vacation home.

Alana moved her head from left and right, trying to stretch out her tense muscles. She had lost track of time, but it seemed like the sun was still up high in the sky. It had probably been around 3 hours give or take since she first sat down in front of the grand piano.

Placing her fingers on the keys, she closed her eyes and began playing the song she had just written once again. With a content smile, she knew that this was the song. Now, all she needed was lyrics.

Feeling a presence next to her, she opened her eyes and as soon as she turned her head, she immediately brightened up. She had been so in the zone that she hadn't even noticed a freshly showered Asher taking a seat next to her on the piano bench.

Standing up, she stood up and moved so that she was standing in between his legs.

"Hey," he greeted softly, gazing up into her eyes.

"Hi," Alana leaned down, placing a soft kiss on his lips. Bringing her hands up, she ran her fingers through his slightly damp hair. Asher had just taken a shower after finishing his workout in the home gym on the basement floor. "How was your workout?"

"Pretty good," he grinned before placing his hands on her waist. "Though it would've been better if you were there with me— perhaps giving me some motivation."

Alana bit back her smile before giving her boyfriend a scrutinizing stare. "You just want to watch me do squats in my spandex."

"I think you've gotten it all wrong, baby," Asher said as he feigned innocence.

"And what have I gotten all wrong, Mr. Pierce?"

"What if I just like having you as my workout buddy?" he replied cheekily. "Even though you're not wrong— your ass does look phenomenal in spandex, especially those black ones you love wearing around the house."

"Asher!" She slapped his arm, causing him to throw his head back in laughter. She even had to slap his wandering hand away, apparently not quick enough as he gave her ass a small squeeze.

"Pervert," she muttered.

"You love me though," he grinned cheekily.

"You're lucky I do."

"Now, give me a kiss, princess," he demanded, puckering his lips, causing her pout to turn into a small giggle. Just seeing a 6 foot 2 muscular man who was known to be stern and ruthless, practically beg to be shown some love by his girlfriend was quite funny to Alana.

No wonder Adrian often teased Asher for being a simp for Alana.

Giving in, she placed another kiss on his lips— this time letting him take control as he practically ravaged her lips. Keeping one arm around her waist, Asher brought his other hand up to cup her face.

Their kiss seemed to go on forever, and after a while, finally, she pulled back for air. Alana kept her forehead on his as she maintained eye contact and managed to catch her breath. It was like every time they kissed, there were sparks and in all honesty, kissing Asher was one of her favorite things.

"I missed you," He whispered, peppering another kiss on her now swollen lips— the hand on her waist slipping under her shirt before rubbing small circles on the skin of her lower back.

"I've been right here," she replied, smiling into his kisses.

"Doesn't mean I still can't miss you, baby," he said, burrowing his face into her neck as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "I just miss you every time we're apart, even if you're in the other room."

His words had her scrunch up her nose playfully as she lightly poked his chest. "You've become cheesy, Mr. Pierce."

"Only for you, princess," Asher took her hand in his and brought it up to his lips. "Your new song sounds amazing by the way."

"You think people will like it?" She asked, biting her lip nervously.

"I think everyone will love it," he replied. "Regardless of what people think and you shouldn't care what everyone else is going to think, it's going to be an amazing song."

Those words were exactly what she needed at the moment.

"I love you," she murmured, wrapping her arms around him once again as she hugged him tightly.

"I love you, more," he whispered, wrapping his arms around her. "Now, are you going to teach me how to play?"

She pulled back, giving him a questioning look.

"The piano, pretty girl."

"You want to learn?" She asked feeling a bit taken aback by his suggestion. "Last time I tried teaching you..."

"You ended up storming out of the room in frustration, princess, I remember," he chuckled with a mischievous smile on his face. "As much as I love you, you're not the most patient person in the world."

"I am plenty patient, thank you very much," she sent him a glare— one that she did not mean at all. "And we were like kids— of course I was bound to get frustrated."

"Uh-huh," he said completely unconvinced. "Well then, let the lessons begin Ms. Sommers."

Alana scrunched her nose, before huffing. She took a seat in between his legs so that his arms were around her. Compared to Adrian, Asher was not very talented musically. However, artistically, Asher seemed to always be in his element. She already knew this was going to end up a mess, and that Asher was completely hopeless.

Not even half an hour later, he was, indeed, hopeless.

★ ★ ★

Alana listened as laughter and chatter filled the once quiet backyard. The fire pit flickered in front of her as she pulled the white faux throw blanket closer to her.

Despite it being warm throughout the day, the ocean breeze seemed to bring the temperature down at night, making it a bit chilly.

She watched as her and Asher's family spread themselves out in the spacious backyard that overlooked the beautiful Pacific Ocean. The sun was just setting, decorating the sky with the vibrant colors of pink, orange, and yellow.

Both her and Asher had invited the group to join them on their little break, and she had no problem having them with her. On the other couch, Mrs. Pierce and her mother were gossiping as per usual while holding warm cups of tea in their hands.

She wasn't sure what they were talking about so animately, but with the smiles on their faces and their occasional glances in her direction, Alana knew they were no doubt already planning her and Asher's wedding— which didn't make sense because they had just begun to date.

But who was she to stop them?

Marianne and Jayce were being the cute couple that they were, lounging around in the shallow end of the pool. Alana had to bite back the laughter bubbling inside of her as Jayce splashed Marianne with water, causing her to glare daggers at him. Alana couldn't help but chuckle at the slow realization on Jayce's face that he knew he was now fucked.

Someone was surely sleeping on the couch tonight.

Her father and Asher's father stood in front of the grill with Adrian and Asher as they whipped up a bunch of burgers, hotdogs, and steaks. Honestly, Alana had never seen so much food in her life, but she knew the boys were going to devour it all in under 5 minutes. Adrian and Asher were bickering, as usual, fighting over who could work the grill better.

Shamelessly, Alana couldn't help but check her boyfriend out, who was only wearing a pair of shorts. Where his shirt had gone, she had no clue, but she definitely was not complaining with the view she had.

Jesus, how could a man like that be so attractive?

She was almost sure she was drooling at this point.

She turned her attention to her father and Mr. Pierce, who were chatting as they watched the boys. A couple of weeks ago, Mr. Pierce had profusely apologized to Alana for bringing Tiffany and her father into their lives many years ago. Of course, Alana waved his apologies off, knowing that he did not know what was going on behind closed doors.

But still, there was evident guilt inside of him, and he vowed to provide Alana anything she needed to get justice. And one thing Alana hated seeing was the guilt on his face, especially since this was the man who saw her as his own daughter.

She remembered the times where he would sneak all of them ice cream before dinner— always seemingly getting caught by Mrs. Pierce who seemed to have some sort of a radar whenever this happened.

Alana wası't one to hold grudges, especially when these were people she loved and cared about.

In the hot tub, Kimberly was sitting next to Tristan as they talked quietly amongst themselves. The usual bickering pair appeared to be more civil now, and perhaps it was because of what happened a few days ago with the reporters.

Alana couldn't help but smile at how cute Tristan and Kimberly looked together and she hoped they would soon realize their feelings for one another.

"A thick and juicy burger for m'lady— just how you like it."

Alana rolled her eyes playfully as she turned to see Asher taking a seat next to her with, indeed, a thick and juicy burger. In his other hand, he had a plate for himself, along with a hotdog and a couple of slices of steak.

"Why thank you, kind sir," she gave him a bright grin as he handed her the burger, before eyeing his plate. How he was going to finish all of that was beyond her.

Placing his plate on the empty space beside him, he pulled Alana closer, shifting so that he could place her legs on his lap. She leaned back into the fluffy couch as she turned to watch Asher begin to devour the plate of food.

Had she not been feeding him enough the past couple of days?

Apparently not.

Despite his entire focus being on the burger that he was now almost half-finished, he kept his free hand on her leg, casually caressing her calf. She couldn't help but grin at how cute he looked at the moment— it really reminded her of their childhood.

"I was thinking," she began, wanting to share with Asher about what she had been thinking about all day. "I don't think I want to stay quiet about everything that's going on."

Asher turned to look at her, his focus now on her instead of the burger. "What do you mean?"

"I just think I should be the one to talk about everything myself," she muttered, looking down at her plate. "I should be the one to speak out instead of hiding behind others— just like how I encourage my fans to always speak out and speak their truths. I want to talk about the importance of mental health and that yes, I was in a bad place, but I'm okay now."

Asher was quiet for a second, processing what Alana had just told him.

"You know I'm your biggest supporter and that whatever you decide to do, I'll be behind you backing you every single decision you make," he took her hand in his and caressed it softly. "So, you want to do an interview of some sort?"

Alana nodded.

"Then we'll do the interview, baby," he confirmed, giving her a supportive nod. "I know I told you this before but..."

Tilting her head so that she was looking into his eyes, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear that had gotten loose.

"Just know that I'm going to be right next to you every step of the way."

★ ★ ★

Ahhhhh!! I'm so sorry my loves-- I know it's been a while since I last updated, but I've just been so busy with preparing to move into my new apartment and grad school is starting soon, so my schedule's been very hectic. But I really really appreciate and am extremely thankful for you guys being so patient with me as well as all the kind messages you guys have been sending me! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and please bear with me because more is to come^^