Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
STRANGE ... chapter seven !
NATALIA HAD SPENT the last few days after her and daniel's date, perfecting the song she had promised maeve she'd written — which might have been a slight lie. she had, had the song finished, but then she'd started to rewrite certain parts that she didn't like, which we basically the whole song. natalia knew she was being too self critical, but she could help it. for some reason, she could just never believe that her work was good enough.
so, she sat scribbling down different lyrics in her notebook, while humming the tune to herself. the song was about her ex-boyfriend, jackson, who she'd broken up with over six months ago at that point. it had taken her time to be able to talk about him, let alone write a song about him. jackson had been an awful moment in her life that she didn't like to discuss a lot. he'd cheated on her multiple times throughout the relationship, but would somehow always convince natalia to come back to him. she could never say no to him, no matter how much she wanted to.
it didn't take her long to rewrite the lyrics she didn't like, and so she had finally finished the song. natalia had texted maeve telling her that she'd rewritten some bits, but it was actually done this time.
maeve was natalia's best friend growing up in school — sure she'd had daphne and wren, but she'd met them through her musical theatre group, so the relationship was never the same. natalia and maeve were best friends from the minute they started school, right up until the end. they'd drifted slightly after she left monaco to go to los angeles, to pursue a career in music, but they were still best friends.
not long after natalia finished the song did her phone ring, with 'daniel' appearing on the screen.
"hello?" natalia answered, slightly confused as to why he was calling her then. they hadn't planned anything right?
"i've got two days until i leave for canada," daniel spoke hurriedly, like he couldn't wait to tell her something. "let me spend them with you, please."
natalia smiled, a blush taking over her cheeks. "i'd love to danny, but i need to work."
"fuck, of course you do. i'm sorry, that was selfish of me to ask." he sighed, clearly disappointed with the way the conversation was heading.
"you didn't let me finish. i was going to say, but you can tag along if you want?" she proposed, wanting to spend as much time as possible with her.
"no, no i wouldn't want to impose." daniel denied the offer.
"you wouldn't be!" natalia laughed, "honestly, i'm just working on songs and i have a few gigs."
daniel spoke, "only if you're sure?"
"i am, i wouldn't ask if i wasn't." natalia replied, exited that she'd get to spend more time with daniel.
"write songs? you took my advise then?" he questioned.
she nodded slightly, even though he couldn't see her. "yeah, i'm going for it, just liked you said to."
"good, i'm glad."
"so, what you up to now?" natalia asked, fiddling the ring on her finger.
"nothing," he huffed, "you doing anything?"
"i've got a gig at this café later, but apart from that just trying to write more songs," natalia explained, "you could come over if you wanted? you know, give me some creative direction?" she suggested.
and that was all i took before daniel was racing over to her apartment, and knocking on her front door. natalia quickly opened the door, and let daniel inside. she wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug, and his arms went around her waist.
"hi." she breathed into his shoulder.
"hi." he repeated before he let go of her.
for the rest of the evening, daniel and natalia sat cuddled up on her sofa, while she wrote down lyrics for new songs. natalia's dog ollie was also fast asleep in the corner of her living room, on his bed, his golden fur being illuminated by the candles around the room.
natalia had wanted to be a singer for a long time, but had never had the confidence to pursue it. but, after her date with daniel, all she wanted to do was write. natalia had been singing in a few cafés for nearly a year now, but it was always covers; now she was ready to sing her own stuff.
daniel drew patterns along her thigh as she hummed slightly. natalia was sat in between his legs, with her back against his chest. it was such a domestic moment, and natalia enjoyed it more than anything. she felt so comfortable with him, and she hadn't even known him for two weeks at that point. maybe natalia was moving too fast, but she didn't really care in that moment.
daniel cleared his throat slightly, "could i hear the song? if your finished with it that is."
"yeah of course you can." natalia replied softly.
she moved off daniel, to her piano in the corner of of her living room. "this one's about my ex, it's called i miss you, i'm sorry." she explained.
natalia started to play the opening melody on her piano, before singing. as she sung the song, daniel sat on the edge of the sofa, his eyes glued to her. he was mesmerised by her, and couldn't stop looking at her. she was just so perfect.
after, she stopped singing she turned to daniel, "did you like it?" she asked meekly.
daniel smiled brightly, "i loved it lia. it was amazing. your amazing." he spoke.
"thank you," she walked towards him and cuddled up to him again. "i don't miss him by the way." she whispered.
"miss who?" daniel furrowed his eyebrows, looking down at her.
"my ex."
he nodded, understanding that she was referring to the song being called i miss you, i'm sorry. he smiled, "i know."
"good." she replied.
"good," he mimicked, before taking a deep breath. daniel was deciding on whether or not to confess his feelings to natalia, but he didn't get the chance to.
"right we've got to get going," natalia announced standing up, "i've got a gig."
daniel and natalia made their way to the small café-bar hybrid where she would be performing. recently, natalia had been posting herself singing covers of songs on social media, and she'd started to gain a following. so, a few places across monaco had reached out to her, asking if she'd perform — and obviously she agreed.
natalia had dreamed of being a singer for a long time, and she was finally getting the chance to follow those dreams, with daniel by her side...
— authors note ! act one is gonna be so fluffy and like barely any angst because act two is gonna be so angsty 😉😉
