It was raining; not the romantic catch you on the tarmac before you get on the plane kind, but the steady, light drizzle that made everything feel heavier, like a fog so thick that the sky seemed eternally gray. I sat under an overhang on a bench outside the student union, hoodie drawn tight around my body, notebook open in my lap but untouched. In my head, words began to fall from the sky.

The rain whispers in my ear, little pieces of you that sing your prayer...

Classes had ended for the day. Like most community colleges, students had either scattered for drier places or had gone on to their other daily responsibilities, but I stayed.

I watched as drops beaded on the metal railings of the staircase, as though time had slowed just enough for me to catch up to it.

The file Bastien had saved, the one with the raw version of "Burned," was still on my beat-up MP3 player. I listened to it once before bed last night, and then again this morning. Not to critique it, just to feel it.

My voice. My words. Was I ready for the world to see me and dissect? Fear. Loss.

But for the first time without Dean, I wasn't letting the fear drive.

I heard footsteps, methodic and unhurried. Jess appeared under a familiar umbrella the color of chartreuse, a word I didn't even know until Jess corrected me when I said it was lime. Bastien was holding a second one that he passed to me silently, this one dark blue. Instinctually, Jack's Mannequin started playing in my head. Bastien stood in front of me, his usual faded brown suede jacket, mismatched flannel and weathered gray jeans combo already soaked through.

"Tick tock, did you push snooze too many times again?" I said, teasingly tapping the time displayed on my barely working phone, accepting the umbrella.

"We're exactly on time," Jess replied.

"Dude, get a new phone. I'm surprised the clock even works on that thing." Bastien teased.

"I will once I can afford it. Honestly, I'm lucky I even have this one. If it weren't for Google Voice, no one could reach me at all."

"I know. Half the time I think you're ignoring me, and then I remember you don't even have signal unless you're on Wi-Fi. It's pretty annoying," Bastien muttered as he gently shoved me with his shoulder.

"I have to side with Bastien here. It's like gambling at a casino trying to reach you," Jess added. "So, what's up?"

I looked between them, unsure if I was going to ask for too much, if I was burdening the people I should be taking the burdens from.

"I was hoping you could both help me with this song I'm working on. It sort of just came to me..."

Bastien raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything, just nodded once and flashed a pleased smile.

Jess gave me a look, half-proud, half-serious. "You're actually asking for help? That's mature of you."

I looked down at my notebook. At the lyrics scrawled in the corners. At the rain still falling, slow and steady.

The dark silence seemed so far. Wishful thinking for you amongst the stars...

Words and melodies and sonic landscapes cascaded in my brain like the rain trickling down the umbrella.

"Yeah," I said, surprising even myself. "If the two of you aren't going anywhere, I might as well take advantage, right?"

Bastien gave me a sidelong glance and simply replied, "We might not be going anywhere, but we don't work for free. I have some laundry that might need doing, the bathroom needs some scrubbing."

Jess jumped in, "And some cooking. I need a break from Bastien's gourmet concoctions."

Bastien retorted, "Don't see you volunteering."

"Would you want me to? I think you remember the casserole I made." Jess looked over mischievously at Bastien.

"Umm..." Bastien blankly responded.

"How about I make dinner tonight and you help me record?" I interjected.

As the three of us continued walking back to Jess's place, the rest of the song slowly pieced together in the falling rain.