Milo’s eyes rested over Fawn’s face as he took her features in for a moment of deliberation. He nodded, brushing past his thoughts because he was sure they would affect his mood when he didn’t want them too, and made room for her on the couch next to him. He knew that if he hadn’t, she would still make her way into the space. Just because he didn’t look to the door to see when Emmi would walk in didn’t mean that he wasn’t thinking about it, but it wasn’t the first time he was alone with one of his little sister’s friends. He spent a considerable amount of time with Jude at the book cafe or tagging along when there was a book signing or convention in Williamsburg. If he were willing to admit it, Jude was one of the few real friends Milo had left after years of neglecting those same friendships, but he wouldn’t admit to it only because he knew she was Emmi’s friend first and he wasn’t in the business of taking anything from anyone anymore; he had never meant to fall into it in the first place. Jude wasn’t a secret, but no one had asked Milo about it yet and it wasn’t in his nature to talk about things people didn’t ask about. On the other hand, Fawn and Milo shared the same love of music but just about nothing else. Even in their music tastes, they were different. He encouraged her creatively and helped mix melodies or compose when she asked, but it had been a while since they worked on a project together. The last time was before he graduated and went off to college a year earlier than the three musketeers. He wasn’t blind to what brought Fawn back; when he heard the story on the news he thought back to the incident he witnessed between Fawn and a formal head cheerleader when they were teenagers. He hadn’t thought about it in so long and the memory as as good as forgotten until that news segment brought it back. Part of him hadn’t been surprised, but he knew how shitty it felt for the past to creep out. It was why he never asked her about her time away from Fallbrook; never asked her about much actually. He caught how Fawn’s hair draped effortlessly over her shoulder and looked away, eyes on the DAW on the screen of his laptop. Most people would explain what they were working on at this point, but the guy just hit play after giving her an Are you ready? look. The instrumental that followed was for his most recent job, but it felt personal as music usually was for people like them. Letting her listen to it and knowing that she knew who he was felt like an invasion of privacy, but Milo didn’t mind because he knew Fawn understood. It started with four piano chords looped, building up to a more loud and grand point, then it introduced strings. Milo had barely slept in the last month, spending as much time as possible composing and then recording himself playing each instrument. The editing was the final stretch. He let the music play, sitting back so he could watch Fawn’s reaction without interrupting the moment if she noticed.
Despite being the woman of many men’s desire. The object of obsession. The ‘It Girl’ to many and yet, Milo always seemed disinterested in anything she had to say outside of music. Still, she was unsure of why she sought out the validation of Milo Valentine. Why was he so important to her that the praise from everyone else she’d ever come in contact with wasn’t enough, not until that stamp of approval come along from him. Even when the likes of CMA Award winners had stopped by the recording studio and gave her endless praise, she still had to send the song to Milo to see if he liked it. She waited that week, every day checking her email to see if there was any response. Nothing. She wished she could say she didn’t take it personally, but she did. Maybe she hadn’t send it to the right email, but she couldn’t be bothered to check, she would rather assume the worst. That he simply didn’t care, or he was too busy. Their differences were what drew her into him more, inhaling that sweet scent of their quiet judgments of one another. It was never negative, at least on her end. She just wanted to learn more about him, determine why he behaved in certain ways. Was he actually aloof or was he burying another facet of himself that he enclosed away from others? Fawn knew that no one really liked her all that much except for maybe Emmi. She and Jude were so inseparable at one point in their lives, but she could tell that there had been a shift since high school. She wished she knew exactly what it was though. There was a wavering feeling toward Milo, some days she needed that validation that he approved of everything and other days? I don’t speak boyshit. Her nails lightly glided through the golden strands of her hair as she listened to music he was playing. Everything he did was understandably cinematic, it was beautiful. But she wasn’t going compliment him. The hot and cold feelings she had toward him were leaning a little more arctic the longer she was around him. He hadn’t done anything to shift her feelings and that was precisely why they were wavering. She didn’t know what the feel or think around him. Maybe it was the fact that she knew everything she touched turned to absolute shit and she didn’t want to ruin whatever bit of friendship she had with Milo by becoming incredibly close with him. “Nice...” was all she said before standing to her feet again and typing a quick text to Emmi to figure out where she was. “Keep at it.” she continued in the driest tone she could muster, her attention immediately going back to the phone in her hands.
