The Way

By: Moigoodness

Email: moigoodness@yahoo.com

Hooray for song fics!

Disclaimer: Don’t own A Walk to Remember or any associated characters, nor do I own Clay Aiken or his music (although I know somebody who wouldn’t mind if I owned Clay Aiken and gave him to her as a gift).

Okay, so I’m sitting here pretending someone just put a bullet through my shoulder. I can do that. Damn, I still can’t get over how fake this stupid red dot on my arm looks. Isn’t blood supposed to spread or something? I hope my arm doesn’t fall asleep before this thing ends. I have enough trouble with my lines as it is, I don’t need a tingling arm to distract me. How did I get into this again? I was supposed to have some one-liner part in this play. I’ll never know what possessed Ms Garber to give me the male lead but here I am, trying not to make a complete idiot out of myself. Okay good – I don’t have to say anything for awhile. Plenty of time to just collect my thoughts. All right, this is where you come in. Right on cue – there’s the Obi-Wan Kenobi cloak.

“Look, I ain’t blaming ya.  I’m not asking for forgiveness either. Just did what I had to do.”

Now you take that rug off and…

There’s something about the way you look tonight…

Damn. Like a “WOW!” kind of damn. I had heard some of the girls gushing about that dress but I never expected… well I never expected this. I guess this is what happens when we don’t have a final dress rehearsal. I mean yeah I’ve done this plenty of times in practice but that was when you were wearing overalls, or that old sweater. Shit… am I supposed to say something here?

There’s something about the way that I can’t take my eyes off you…

I just got shot. I’m probably supposed to be sitting here in pain or something. So why can’t I stop staring? Another line … shoot, what is it?

“When you walked…” Focus, Landon, focus! “Outta the rain and into my club… that wasn’t just a coincidence, was it?”

“Nothing’s coincidence,” you say. Your voice rings in the room like perfect crystal. But I only half-hear it.

There’s something about the way your lips invite…

My eyes are fixed on your mouth, those soft pouting lips as you speak. Your makeup and the stage lights make them seem to shimmer as you form your words. I can’t move, I can hardly think.

Maybe it’s the way that I get nervous when you’re around…

But I know I have to think. I have to think hard enough to speak. I have another line.

“Your face.  You look so familiar…like this dame I knew once only it wasn’t real. It was a dream.”

“Tell me about this dream girl.”

And I want you to be mine…

What’s there to tell? You know her – she’s sitting right in front of me. But that’s not the right answer. Not today anyway.

“Well…” I stutter almost absent-mindedly. “I don’t remember…”

I’m looking around now, finally breaking my gaze for a few moments. I definitely have no idea what I’m saying. I’ve come completely undone and all it took was one look at you. Why the heck aren’t there any cue cards for this production?

And if you need a reason why…

“All I know... is that… you’re beautiful.”

And it’s the truth, I know it is. I want to take your face in my hands and say it to you again, but I still can’t move. I keep waiting, until I realize that I still didn’t get it right.

“The dream. Help me to remember. Will you sing for me?”

It’s in the way that you move me,

And the way that you tease me,

The way that I want you tonight.

I can relax now. You’re singing your song… but my mind won’t stop spinning. Everyone can see me, my eyes following you as you move along the stage. Everyone can see but I don’t care anymore. Your hair is amazing, your skin flawless. You’re beautiful, from your soft brown eyes down to each perfect fingertip.

It’s in the way that you hold me,

And the way that you know me,

And when I can’t find the right words to say,

You feel it in the way.

Truth be told, this isn’t the first time I’ve been consumed by thoughts of you.

There’s something about the way you stay on my mind…

It’s been plaguing me for weeks now. Ever since you slammed the door in my face. No girl has ever shot down the Carter charm like you did. Maybe that was it – I finally realized that it’s not about getting the girls, it’s about finding the one who looks past the act I put up.

There’s something about the way that I whisper your name when I’m asleep…

You’re the last thought on my mind before I go to sleep and the first thought in the morning when I wake up. Even in my dreams, I can’t escape you. Nor do I really want to. You’re there every night… laughing, teasing, being yourself. And every night, you’re just one step ahead of me. I reach out for you, to take your hand… and I wake up.

Maybe it’s the look you get in your eyes…

And when I wake up I remember the glimmer in your eyes, the sunlight reflecting off those beautiful browns. I love looking into them and watching them dance.

Oh, baby it’s the way that it makes me feel to see you smile…

And that amazing smile… the way your lips curve so naturally, so gracefully. As if you were born to be happy, to fill the world with laughter and joy.

And the reasons, they may change…

As I watch you tonight, singing on the stage before me, I realize there’s so much more that I’ve barely scratched the surface. But one thing’s for sure…

But what I’m feeling stays the same.

It’s in the way that you move me,

And the way that you tease me,

The way that I want you tonight.

It’s in the way that you hold me,

And the way that you know me,

And when I can’t find the right words to say,

You feel it in the way.

You’re finishing up now, making your way back to your chair across the table from me. I’ll have to say something or do something soon, everyone’s expecting it. But I can’t. The only thoughts I have are of you. Trying to understand the way that I feel.

I can’t put my fingers on just what it is that makes me love you, you baby.

So don’t ask me to describe, I get all choked up inside,

Just thinking about the way…

I’m at a loss for words, looking at you as you sit down in front of me. We’re so close to the end of the play, but I’m stuck. Please, say something. Get me out of this because I can’t do it right now. Not with this beautiful angel sitting in front of me, looking right through me and into my soul with her big brown eyes. The sound of her voice still pierces me to the core. My heart is pounding a million miles a minute and my brain… well that part of me gave in awhile ago.

It’s in the way that you move me,

And the way that you tease me,

The way that I want you tonight.

It’s in the way that you hold me,

And the way that you know me,

And when I can’t find the right words to say…

I just can’t remember my line. It’s hopeless – no point in trying to remember. But the show has to go on, doesn’t it? So I do the only thing I can do. I do what my heart is screaming at me to do, what I’ve been dying to do since I saw you.

There’s something about the way you look tonight.

There’s nothing more to say than…

My lips touch yours and I feel it instantly. I hope you do too.

I feel it in the way.