"Surprisingly, no," Jace answered. He paused for a moment as he complemented how to elaborate. His own voice, powerfully serenading them, issued from the radio and into the silence of the car.
"WOOOAAAHHH! Where will you be waking up tomorrow morning/WOOOAAAHHH! Out the back door, goddamn, but I love her anyway/Miss Jackson, Miss Jackson, Miss Jackson, are you nasty?"
"If any song pre-2013 comes on, I'll leave it on, because they remind me of the better days. 2013 is when Jasper and the others stopped contributing to the songs." He breathed through his nose out of frustration. Before the release of Too Weird to Live, Too Young to Die!, Jasper, Cass, Evan and Orion had helped Jace out with the music for their songs. Then, in January of 2014, they all got slack and Jace ended up writing all the music for every song. It had been this way since then. And he couldn't blame it on Orion leaving, because Orion had left at the start of 2015.
He couldn't kick them out of the band, because they were his friends. But he hated being the only contributing member of the band sometimes.
"I love them, they're my friends, but I hate that I'm the only one putting in any effort and they get credit. Like, I'm super proud of Death of a Bachelor, but ..."
Embry's eyebrows furrowed hearing this. She could only imagine how irritating and tiring it must be, every single time. Isaac was bossy, but the four of them always worked on their singles and albums together. She wrote the songs, they wrote the music, and they all added input to make the best song they could with one another. This was their usual routine before Orion had joined them and stuck to it. It made things easier on them all.
And it was a lot of work to do it alone. She knew because she had written a few songs on her own, only because she had wanted to. So, since he was doing it all himself, he deserved every ounce of credit, largely when those songs became hits.
"I get it." She placed a hand over his forearm gently."Especially, when Jasper makes speeches like he did at the Tilbury Music Awards. If it really starts to frustrate and bother you, maybe you should confront them about it."
Jace sighed. "You know Jasper. It would take a miracle to get him to listen to anyone who isn't him. I'm surprised he even follows the music I write for him, to be honest."
Jace's head leaned back as he drove. He was clearly conflicted about the issue. "Sometimes, I've considered kicking them all out and continuing solo," he admitted. "It would still technically be Beautiful Pain, but, well, it wouldn't be the same. Then, I've thought about leaving the band and writing other music as Jace Lesecki or some other stage name, but ... I don't know."
Jace knew deep down that he could never leave Beautiful Pain behind. It was too big a part of him. It was ingrained into his skin -- literally. He had a tattoo. But even if he went solo, he would still be Jace from Beautiful Pain.
An idea struck him, and he perked up noticeably. "You know what we should do?" he said, glancing at Embry out of the corner of his eye. "We should write something together. Then release it as a single. As us. Jace Lesecki and Embry Ashford."
"Really?" Embry had worked with other artist before, obviously. But she had never once thought of compiling with Jace, neither she had thought it to be possible considering the festering hate between their bands. Yet, that was before she truly got to meet him and talk to him. And now it felt all to right to say yes. "Absofuckinglutely!"
"That is the best idea I've heard since Wreck-It-Ralph." She straightened up in her seat and smiled just a bit as she bit her bottom lip. They'd have to think of everything else later, but at the moment, just knowing they'd work together on something was enough to keep her pumped.
Jace smiled. "Awesome!" He was glad that Embry had accepted his offer, both because he liked her and wanted to spend time with her, and because she was amazingly talented and anything they collaborated on would turn out amazing.
"You still owe me that date, by the way," Jace reminded her as he parked behind the hospital, just on time. Entering through the front door would be suicide. They were celebrities, after all.
"I haven't forgotten." How could she when she was anticipating it so much? She winked at him and led the way she did, which was relatively easy. They went through the hospital employee entrance where a few staff members were there to direct them. They were, however, surprised to see Jace, she hadn't exactly called in to say that he was coming too. Otherwise, the news would leak to the others, and she's rather it happen after it was done.
Anyway, she knew it would be a wonderful surprise, for the hospital, at least. They would - no they did love the extra person without a doubt. So, there really wasn't a problem.
When they entered, what seemed to be a playroom, where many of the children were gathered, seeing their shocked, exited and so clearly happy faces was enough to make her break out into a full blown grin. She couldn'thelp but laugh at some of thier reactions, they wee all just too cute. She didn't belive she was good with children, but it didn't stop her from adoring them.
Jace's heart warmed and a smile spread across his face when he saw the crowd of happy kids and teens. He wanted kids, and since he couldn't have them right now, warming the hearts of little people in this hospital was the next best thing.
Jace stood on the stage beside Embry and waited for the show to begin. A small girl, probably eleven years of age, was reaching up to him. She had tubes coming out of her nose and they were connected to an air canister.
Jace reached down and took her hand. "Hey there. What's your name?"
"Lily," the girl said in a strained voice. "Are you from Beautiful Pain?"
Embry smiled at the two as she pulled her guitar out from her case to set up. She paused and leaned over to join in on their conversation."I was there too, saw it up close." She commented
"Yeah, but you didn't win it." Said a frail boy matter of factly and ever so innocently. He looked around the same age as the girl, Lily.
Embry deadpanned."Rub salt in the wounds why don't you?" As a response, he giggled and she broke into a grin again."What's your name?"
"I'm Joey." He grinned excitedly."And even if you didn't win the award, I still love your songs and you."
"Aww!" Embry cooed and pulled him into a hug."Well, Joey hearing that from you is a billion times better than winning any award." She kissed his cheek and stuck her tongue out at Jace playfully.
"I still prefer you, Jace," Lily promised him, squeezing his hand.
"Well, as long as I know that, life is wonderful." Jace kissed her forehead and stood up to stand beside Embry. He took the microphone first, rolling up his sleeves as he spoke.
"So I know I'm not the one who you were promised," he mused with a grin, "but after this miniature speech I'm not going to steal Embry from you for any longer."
The children laughed, which made Jace happy.
"I just want to say that I'm very proud and very privileged to be here, and I hope you guys enjoy the show."
"Very well said. Because in the end, that's all that matters." Embry clapped her hands, completely and happily agreeing with him.
She tucked back a few strands of her hair behind her ear and moved in front of the mic."Like Jace, I too am proud and happy to be here and to sing for all of you." Still grinning, she set her guitar correctly in her hands. "I'll be singing Still Into You, which was actually picked by this guy over here." She pointed a thumb to Jace."If you know the words, please do sing along."
She strummed the strings of her instrument, checking the tuning."If not, that's cool too. all that matters is that you have fun. So, without further ado..." She cleared her voice."Here is Still Into You."
Embry began to play the guitar."Can't count the years on one hand that we've been together..."
Jace politely stood on the side of the stage, signing autographs and taking selfies with the kids, while Embry performed. He was in awe. She was just as good live as she was on tape, and that was something special. It was so rare to find a good singer without autotune these days -- this was ninety-percent of the reason Jace hated pop music.
When Embry finished her set, Jace clapped along with the screaming kids. Once Embry had thanked the audience, Jace stepped forward, plugged his acoustic guitar into the amp and sat down on a stool.
"Okay, my turn," he said into the microphone with a smile. "So this is Northern Downpour."
He began to strum the instrument and sang into the mic. "If all our life is but a dream/Fantastic posing greed/Then we should feed our jewelery to the sea."
Embry watched him perform from the side, she had been excited to hear him sing the song live from the moment she selected it. Live music was always better than any music playing from the phone, radio or boombox. And while his voice rocked the house on those devices, it completely burned down the house when you were in the same room,when your ears could hear it personally, when it was live.
As much as she wanted to sit still and listen closely, she had other obligations. Such as taking pictures and signing autographs. She couldn't recall how many selfies or Snapchats she took. But she knew she was on Snapchat for a while on her phone with the younger children, they were fascinated with the filters.
She was still holding a little boy, who refused to let go, taking one last Snapchat, when Jace was done. Of course she had to applaud and cheer with everyone else after giving a amazing performance as that one.
Embry walked back over, still holding the child on her hip with his arms wrapped around her neck, beaming."Thank you, Jace. That was amazing, am I right?" She turned back to the children and gained their cheers in response.
"And thank all if you for allowing is to be here and sing for you. And the hospital staff for making this possible."
Another applause.
"Unfortunately, as heartbreaking as it is we'll have to part soon in ten to fifteen minutes. But that is more than enough time for us to do one more thing. Any request? Or questions?"
The kids raised their hands with questions, all looking enthusiastic and energetic, and Jace wanted to hug them all. However, that would be weird, and impossible seeing the crowd was so populated. Regardless, he selected one little girl with a shaved head and sparkly chocolate-coloured eyes.
"Are you two married?"
The kids laughed and Jace smiled up at Embry. "No," he told the little girl. "Unfortunately. Embry makes really nice stir-fry."
They answered more questions, ranging from favourite colours and future songs, until the hospital staff announced that they were out of time and the nice singers had to leave.
After saying and waving their goodbyes, and in Embry's case, detaching a little boy from her with the help of his mother, they had departed. "That was fun," Embry said, once they were at the car again. "I don't think it would have been as much fun if it was just me." And she was being genuine. In the end, the kids were the ones that made it special, but bringing Jace along was definitely the best move, not only for them but for herself too.
She ruffled her mess of blonde hair, it had gotten ruffled before from the child she was holding. He was just too cute, she let him did what he liked, playing with it, which resulted in a mess. Though, she didn't really mind nor care.
Jace was still smiling. The entire experience had been amazing, and he felt he would remember it for a while.
"I love kids," he breathed as he drove. "I would like about twenty-seven kids when I'm slightly older. I can start a cult. It would fit in with the LA Devotee video."
Jace wove through the LA traffic until he reached a light, where he was forced to stop. "Thanks for bringing me."
"Twenty-seven kids?" Embry scoffed, shaking her head. She had never heard anyone she knew ever wanting more than two even as a joke. Embry herself wasn't sure how many kids she wanted, but she did not limit herself to two. as he had said, he must really love kids, it was heartwarming.
Nonetheless..."Good luck finding a woman agreeing to that." She laughed at his cult idea."You're a weirdo." She stated endearingly.
"And you're very welcome. Like I said, it was fun. We should go and do it again sometime."
Jace smiled at her warmly. He obviously didn't really want twenty-seven children -- that would be ridiculous, even for him -- but he wouldn't mind three. Or four. Or eight.
Jace pulled in front of Embry's house and looked at her. "Well, here we are, madame," he said in his best French accent, which admittedly was quite good. "Now, unless you had something else in mind ... "
"I guess that depends on how free you are for the rest of the day." Embry didn't exactly have anything planned, yet. She was sure she could come up with something in small matter of time. All she cared about at the moment was if she could have more time with him and how long.
"There are something's we can do, like I need to get your hand measurements for your gloves and you can pick out the colors while we do that." She took his hand in her own and stated at it as if ahe wad examining it when in actuality she just wanted to hold it.
"Oh! I also thought of a couple of first date ideas too." Embry snapped her fingers. She could write a whole list of all of the things she wanted to do or try with Jace. But she had only selected three ideas because things had to go step by step.
"Ah, yes, glove shopping." Jace reluctantly took his hand back from her and started the car once more, easily slipping back into traffic. "One of my favourite pastimes. I love me a good glove." He knew they were obviously for ice skating but he liked to mess with her. "Just tell me where I need to go."
Jace raised an eyebrow at her mention of first date ideas. "Oh, really?" he asked with a smirk. "Do inform me. I myself have come up with a couple of things, but most of them involve shots of bleach, so your alternatives will probably be a tad more appropriate."
"I don't know. Walmart? Yeah, Walmart, they'll have everything, including the skates." Embry answered him instantly and pointed straight ahead as a dramatic gesture."And then we can head straight to the rink."
"Bleach shots? I'm actually curious where that leads. Maybe later, eh?" She said jokingly, but her eyes said otherwise."Anywho, I thought all three of my ideas through from simple to more. First off, we could go to a theme park, can't remember the last time I've been. Secondly, we could pack a picnic. And last but not least, you can teach me how to skateboard." She listed them all off with her fingers.
"I think it's only fair if I'm teaching you how to ice skate." Naturally, she could rollerblade. But skateboarding baffled her.
