Page 37 of Tumbling Hearts

“Gene, this is beautiful.” Ray accepts the artwork, holding it closer to get a better look at it, his cheeks feeling warm. “It looks just like me.” He looks up, catching Gene’s sweet smile.

“Thanks. I’m rather proud of it.”

“Woah, a drawing? Let me see!” Santiago cuts in, hovering over Ray’s shoulder to get a look for himself. “Holy shit, Gene! That’s amazing. I’ve always thought you were ridiculously good at drawing, much better than me.”

“Hey, don’t put yourself down, Santi. You’re great yourself,” Gene chuckles. “But thanks anyway.”

“You should frame that, Ray,” Santi says.

“I definitely should.”

“And Ray, if you don’t mind…” Gene says, tilting his head. “I wanted to play a song for you. But it can wait until the record’s done⁠—”

“Oh no, please, play for me!” Ray laughs. “We can just stop the record and come back to it later. We’ve got all night.”

“A song, eh?” Santi rubs his chin. “A cover, or something else…?”

“One that Ray and I wrote together. You’ll know it.”

Ray wants to guess which one it might be, but figures he’ll stay quiet to keep the song a surprise. Thankfully, Santi does too, and offers to turn off the record player for them. After he does so, Gene grabs his acoustic guitar from the stand next to the couch and throws the strap over his shoulder. He stands in front of the TV, becoming the center focus of the living room, and Ray calls everyone to gather round. Ray has a front-row seat in the middle of the couch—still holding Gene’s precious drawing—with Carol sitting on one side, Santiago on the other, and the rest sitting or standing about.

“I’ll admit, I’m a little nervous to play for you all like this,” Gene says, gripping his guitar neck tight. “I know we’ve played in front of thousands of people on tour, but that’s as a whole band. I’m not used to playing… by myself, y’know.”

“You’ll be fine, Gene,” Ray says, giving him an encouraging smile. “You got this.”

“Alright. Here goes nothin’...”

Gene plucks a soft arpeggio, tickling Ray’s ears with the sweet melody. Of course, he instantly recognizes it. How could he not, when it’s one they wrote together? They haven’t played it in a while, not since they recorded it in Vegas a couple months ago. But hearing it again excites him. Especially so, when it’s one he holds dear to his heart.

“It’s you who has it all…” Gene sings, strumming along. “All of me, always you. You’ll catch me when I fall… All of me, always you.”

Gene holds Ray’s gaze as he sings the lyrics. It’s a love song they wrote, one that Ray insisted that Gene sings lead himself on. As Gene’s soft voice flows through the room, it makes Ray’s heart soar. He thinks on that sentiment again—a love song they wrote.

A love song.

“It was always you…”

Those notes hit Ray’s very soul.

“It was ah—ah—ah—always you…”

He wishes he could reach out, touch Gene’s face, pull him close.

“You cause all my laughs, you cause all my tears. But it always feels so right, holdin’ you near.”

Carol brushes against his shoulder, sitting next to him on the couch.

He ignores her touch, focusing solely on Gene.

“It was ah—ah—ah—always you…”

Aweek has passed since Gene left for California. Ray let Santiago do the honors of dropping Gene off at the airport, not having the heart to see him off personally. He knows he’d get too emotional seeing Gene go past the gates. There’s no point in feeling all that nonsense, since it’s not like Gene will be gone forever. So he thought he might as well avoid it—Santi offered anyway, possibly sensing the tension brewing between Ray and Gene. He’s always so good at noticing that.

Earlier in the week, Ray was back in the studio with Dennis, busy mixing their second album. They finally decided on a title for it: Dust Off. It doesn’t really mean anything, but it’s a fun play on their band name, and with a wide assortment of songs from ‘Wild Girls’ to ‘Burn it Down’ to ‘It Was Always You’, something neutral-sounding works best. Things were moving right along in the studio while Ray was working, and the album is nearly complete. It probably will take only a couple more sessions before everything truly is finalized. Then, it’s onward to logistics, pressing, packaging, shipping them out to stores, and marketing.

And of course, the biggest and best way to market their album is with a tour. If all goes well, Dust Off will release in September, and the tour will kick off shortly after.

Gene promised he’ll be home by then.