28th February 2021

Loud banging on my bedroom door woke me.

"Stop that." I threw my pillow at the door.

"Sorry but can't." Came Jaxon's voice a second before he stepped into the room. "Come on, we're going to help Tye and his team clear up the beach."

I groaned and hid back under my duvet. I'd stayed up late trying to get to grips with the new melody I'd created, and I didn't have enough sleep to deal with a fully awake Jaxon yet.

I gasped when I felt a heavy weight land on my legs.

"Idiota." Pushing the duvet aside, I watched Jaxon sprawled out on top of me with narrowed eyes.

"Aww, I love you too, man." Gushed Jaxon. "Now get dressed before I take your duvet with me."

"I never agreed to go," I groaned.

"Maybe not, but you need one morning off from all this..." He lifted his hands in my general direction. "Less stress is key."

I couldn't argue with that, but there was only one problem.

"I have to perform a complete song for the producers in five days' time, I don't have time for this."

Jaxon picked up my discarded pillow and threw it back at my head. "Stop and listen to yourself. You can't make yourself write the perfect song for this film. All your best ideas come from when you're out and doing something. You need to get out of your head for a while."

I hugged the pillow. Jaxon was right. Whatever I was doing wasn't working. Maybe I did need to think about this differently.

"Okay, but I'm bringing my guitar." I countered.

Jaxon's teeth flashed, his smile that wide. "Perfect. Meet us downstairs in fifteen mins."

I watched him leave, amused at how much my own plans had changed. In my head. I'd had the entire day marked out. A quick breakfast, followed by song writing, then lunch, followed by...more song writing.

I would never tell Jaxon, but I was pretty relieved for his intervention. Spending a few frustrating hours staring at my guitar wasn't my favourite way to spend a Sunday. But then neither was being part of a beach cleanup team. At least it would include some company.

We rushed through a quick breakfast. Hazel joined us in her scrubs, polishing off two bagels before she went upstairs to sleep. The night shifts were never her favourites. Tori elected himself to stay behind and look after her and to prepare some lunch for us to come home to.

"Eco warriors need their strength," he joked, earning a glare from Jaxon.

Tye tugged his boyfriend out the door before a battle of wits could start, and Jaxon lost.

"So what's the plan?" I slung my guitar across my back, my songbook safely tucked with it.

Tye scratched at his beard. "There was a big storm last night and a lot of debris got washed up onto the beach. The guys called me this morning to see if I could get some volunteers to come and help with the cleanup." He looked at me apologetically. "Sorry to drag you along."

"We're not dragging him anywhere. He wants to come, don't ya, Sam?" Jaxon raised his eyebrows.

"Oh yeah, totally."

Tye laughed at my pathetic lie, and Jaxon groaned. "You really can't lie, can you?" He shook his head in mock horror. "Come on, Teddy, let's burn off some of your energy." Jaxon took the lead and ran off, Teddy barking happily in his wake.

"You sure, you're okay to come? I can explain to Jaxon that you don't want to?" Tye offered.

I considered his offer, but declined. "I think I could do with some time out for a bit."

Tye smiled at me but didn't question the reasons behind my decision. That was just the way he was. He understood if people wanted to talk about things, then they would when they were ready. It wasn't his place to pry.

Sometimes it blew my mind that such a relaxed person ended up with my hyper friend. But then, I guess, opposites were known to attract.

When we got to the beach, we were each given a bag, a long grabber, and a pair of thick gloves. Tye put us in groups of two and sent us on our way.

"Hey, I'm Leah." My partner introduced herself with a wave.

"Sam."

"So how do you know Tye?" The girl tied back her shoulder length hair, piling it all on top of her head, before snapping her gloves into place.

"His boyfriend is my roommate." I used my grabber to point out Jaxon standing next to Tye.

The girl - Leah - nodded and for the next few minutes we focused on putting rubbish into the bags.

There weren't many people out so early on a Sunday, so the beach was practically deserted.

Teddy ran between me and Jaxon, before disappearing to the water's edge to bark at the waves before doing the journey all over again.

The rest of the volunteers watched his antics with fond expressions as he went to a few of them for belly rubs.

Before I knew I was doing it, I was humming the same melody I'd played the night before, my fingers moving to play the notes in the air.

"What's the song you're humming? It sounds cool." Leah wiped her forehead with her arm.

"It's nothing. Just a song I'm trying to write for work."

She looked at me, impressed. "You're a musician? What do you play?"

I thumbed behind me where my guitar was propped up against the beach hut bar. "Guitar and piano. Though mostly I have to settle for a keyboard." It wasn't always easy to gain access to the grand piano, but there was always a keyboard free.

"So you're in a band?"

I shook my head and watched her frown. "I'm part of an orchestra that creates music for TV and film."

She blinked. "That must be fun."

"It's different." I shrugged, not sure why she was so interested in my life.

Jaxon headed over, Teddy hot on his heels. "Hey Sam, some volunteers are getting a little bored and they've noticed your guitar. Do you think you could play some stuff for us to work to?" He begged.

I shifted my feet, toeing at the sand. "I wouldn't want to leave Leah-"

"Don't worry about me, I'll just work with Tye, you should definitely play." The girl cut me off before I could finish.

"Great." Jaxon gripped the top of my arm and towed me back towards the beach hut.

"This isn't one of your plans, is it? Sometimes I think you and Tori are even worse than my abuela when it comes to scheming."

"Pshh your grandmother takes the cake when it comes to scheming." He stopped and thought about it. "Maybe she's second to my Nanna, actually. But that's beside the point. I've got nothing to do with this so just shut up and play."

"You want me to shut up and play." I smirked at the contradiction in his command.

Jaxon placed the guitar in my hand. "Don't be such a smart mouth, that's my job." He smiled ruthlessly. "Now just get out there and entertain those volunteers." He gave me a little shove before heading back to Tye and Leah.

I took out my guitar and placed the strap around my shoulders. My fingers plucked the strings, checking the tension.

Heads turned in my direction, and I heard a few catcalls, mostly from Jaxon, which made me chuckle. I launched into a cover of one of our favourite bands, enjoying it when people sang back to me.

I walked between the groups, playing and taking requests. It felt fresh to be playing to regular people again. I had been stuck playing for producers and Tony for so long that I'd forgotten what it felt like to play with a crowd.

Me and the boys still played together. It was good practice, but we hadn't performed on a stage in over a year. I realised how much I missed it. I missed the connection it brought, the ability to see how much my music could affect people.

I continued to play even when they began packing up.

"Hey Sam, play that song you were humming." Leah called out, making Jaxon's head pop up.

"It's not finished yet." But my words were met with a chorus of boos followed by cheers.

"Go for it, man." A random volunteer shouted out, others joining in.

I ran my two hands through my curls in indecision before placing my hands back in position.

I played the first few chords, humming along with the tune. The volunteers clapped along, encouraging me. And then something amazing happened. I felt the spark of something. My hands moved of their own accord to the next notes. My humming changed into small words, not quite lyrics, but the possibility of them.

I lingered over the last few notes as the song ended. Jaxon walked up to me, his mouth hanging open before he fist pumped the air.

"I knew my scheme would work." He danced on the spot, kicking the sand.

I glowered at him. "I thought you said you weren't scheming."

"I lied," he said, without a hint of remorse.

"You're unbelievable."

But Jaxon shook his head. "No, that was unbelievable. Where did that come from?"

I couldn't answer him. I wasn't sure where the song had come from, but being back at the beach, the place I had first met Evie, may have had something to do with it. It gave me inspiration.

A part of me was desperate to get all the notes and lyric fragments written down, fearing that if I left it too long, the song would disappear on the wind. But another part held me back, just wanting to enjoy the moment.

On the beach, with the dark clouds rolling in, I felt so close to Evie. If I just closed my eyes, it was all too easy to picture her standing next to me.

A few people thanked me before they headed home, their jobs now complete. I concentrated on putting my guitar back in its bag, leaving only me, Jaxon, and Tye remaining.

Bags of rubbish sat around our feet, and Tye reassured us that someone was already on their way to collect it. I didn't fancy having to do the whole job again if the wind caught them and strewed their contents back over the beach. Not that I had really done much work compared to the others.

"We should get going." Tye eyed the sky with apprehension and I didn't blame him; it looked like another storm was on its way.

"I'm going to stay here a little longer."

The two of them looked at me. "Want us to take Teddy?" Jaxon whistled, drawing Teddy back to us.

"No, it's okay. He deserves more time outside." I scratched behind his ears, chuckling when he pushed back against my hand.

"Okay, bro." Jaxon gave me one more questioning look before they both left, leaving me alone.

I propped my guitar up behind me and sat next to Teddy, who was happy to curl up next to me. I pulled out my songbook and wrote as much as I could remember. Some notes had already faded from my memory, so I left gaps as I was writing.

The clouds rolled overhead just as I finished. I tucked the book away and just looked out onto the deserted beach.

It was a bittersweet moment when the heavens opened and graced us with a divulge of rain. Looking around, it could have been the same day I had met Evie.

I stood, Teddy looking at me with his tilted head as I stepped out into the rain.

The rain soaked through my clothes, making my sweatshirt stick to my arms and shoulders. I felt it flood my scalp and drip from my curls and off my nose.

But I didn't shy away from it. I turned my head up and let the rain lash at my face. I held my hands up and felt the rain splash in my hands. It was wild and freeing.

Even though she was no longer with me, Evie was still inspiring me. Still pushing me to be better.

"Thank you," I said to the empty sky.