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track 1: 1956
Eddie Roundtree first met Camila Álvarez during their first week of school, and he felt delighted when he realized that she and her family went to the same church as his parents, and that she would therefore be attending the same Sunday School as him. Which was great, because he had always found Sunday School awfully dull, and now there was something to look forward to.
He had only just turned eight years old when he first talked to her; she was seven, a year younger than him, but also taller and smarter than most kids his age. Or at least that was what Eddie thought when she dutifully recited every single one of the books in the Old Testament to their teacher.
He approached her at the end of the class, as she chatted with a couple of girls. His knees were inexplicably wobbly and he felt funny in the tummy, which made him think that he may have gotten the measles from his brother; however, he felt better as soon as Camila turned around to look at him, with that big smile of hers.
“Hi,” he stuttered, his smile eager and his heart fluttering lightly inside his chest. Could this be a symptom of the measles as well? “You’re Camila, right?”
“Yes!” Camila replied brightly. “And you’re Eddie! My mom told me you live right at the end of our street. I think she’s met your mom already.”
Eddie nodded, even though he had no idea whether their mothers had met. If Camila wanted to see that as a bond existing between them, then so be it.
“Are you getting picked up by your parents?” He asked then. “I’m going home by myself, so we could walk together if you’d like.”
Camila beamed at him, which made his tummy flutter once again. It all felt so overwhelmingly nice; just being around her made him feel better, almost as though he were flying. Eddie thought of the times he pretended that his bed was floating through the sky at nighttime, and wondered if Camila was the version of it that remained during the day.
“That’d be very nice, Eddie,” the girl nodded, then turned around to wave goodbye to the girls. “See you next week!”
And with that, the girl tugged at Eddie’s arm, almost like his parents did when they walked together down the street, and offered him yet another broad smile.
“Let’s go.”
Eddie had never spent much time alone with girls, not really. He only had a younger brother who was more of a nuisance to him than anything else most of the time, and at school his ‘bestest’ friends were all boys: the scrawny-looking Graham Dunne, the ball of nerves that went by the name of Warren Rhodes, and poor near-sighted Chuck Loving. They usually kept to themselves, playing tag or ball through recess and sitting together in class, and Eddie had never really minded not interacting with the girls in his year.
But everything seemed strangely effortless when it came to Camila. The two of them chatted nonstop all through their little walk from the neighborhood parish up to their street.
“You have a brother, right?” Camila asked. “I’ve seen you two playing outside your house.”
“Yep,” Eddie answered. “His name is Pete, but he’s got the measles. That’s why he skipped Sunday School this week.”
“Oh, no,” Camila whispered, and she seemed genuinely upset about it, even though she probably had never even spoken to Pete before. Eddie wondered if she always cared this much about strangers. “Maybe he’ll be able to come to Sunday School with us next weekend?”
The possibility of there being yet another walk to the parish with her the following Sunday made him feel elated, even if it meant having to drag Pete along with them.
“Sure!” He nodded enthusiastically, and added a few seconds later, “Do you have any siblings? They can come along too, if you’d like.”
Camila seemed to smile in a quietly sad way for a second, then shook her head.
“I’m an only child,” she explained, with a seriousness that was almost surprising in a seven-year-old. “I wish I had siblings to play with. Mamá and Papá usually play with me if I ask them to, though, but we always have to play in Spanish because it’s easier for them.”
“Your parents don’t speak English?” Eddie asked curiously. He could not conceive what living in a household with a different language was like. “How do you speak with them, then?”
“I speak both Spanish and English, silly,” Camila laughed. “Besides, they do speak English. Particularly my dad, because of his job. It’s just that they’d rather speak Spanish at home, that’s all.”
“All right,” Eddie nodded. He still didn’t understand how someone could speak more than one language, because even though he took French at school he could hardly say anything besides bonjour . “So you could be a Spanish teacher when you grow up, then. Like Miss Fuentes at school.”
Camila laughed. “Yes, but I don’t want to be a Spanish teacher. I want to be a photographer.”
This startled Eddie even more than the language thing. How did she know what she wanted to be when she grew up? He didn’t even know what he would want for breakfast the following day, because his mother had begun to complain about how his favorite cereal brand was too sugary for them.
“What about you?” Camila asked. “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
“I . . . ” Eddie hesitated. He was the oldest one of the two, and he didn’t think it was appropriate for Camila to have everything so figured out when he had had a whole year ahead of her to plan his own life. He furrowed his own brow and thought about his hobbies for a second, then finally declared, “I want to be a guitarist. Or a baseball player. But I think I want to be a guitarist more than anything else, yeah.”
“That’s cool!” Camila nodded approvingly, and Eddie felt a rush of relief flooding him. If Camila thought that being a guitarist was cool, then that would be his career path from now on. “I’ll take photographs of you when you’re famous, and you’ll invite me to your concerts. I bet Elvis does that with his school friends, too.”
“Yeah,” Eddie echoed, a half-smile forming on his lips. “I bet he does.”
They had reached the edge of the Álvarez’s garden by that point, and Eddie soon realized that Camila’s mother was gazing intently at them, shyly waving hello. Years later he would wonder whether the woman had remained silent because she felt surprised about seeing the two of them together, or because she worried that an eight-year-old might judge her for speaking an imperfect English.
Still, he offered her a bright smile, and waved back before looking at Camila again.
“Let’s meet up here for Sunday School next week, okay?” Camila asked.
Eddie thought of his friends, of his little brother, of his parents, and even of the girls in his class. He was only eight years old at the time, but even then he knew that he had never felt this excited about seeing another person again.
“Yes, sure,” he said, nodding his head emphatically. “See you at school.”
Camila grinned, then stood on her tiptoes to press a kiss against Eddie’s cheek. It was a fleeting, friendly gesture, but the feeling of her lips against the still chubby side of his face would remain there for a very, very long time.
“See you at school, Eddie.” And with that, Camila sauntered off to greet her mother, the two of them speaking in a very enthusiastic way in Spanish.
Eddie stood there for a second, smiling to himself like an idiot, and only set foot towards his house when the two of them disappeared behind the door.
track 2: 1966
Eddie thought the universe was laughing at him as he realized he was playing "Can't Help Falling In Love" when he first saw her. Standing on stage with his guitar string over his shoulder, Eddie hadn't regretted missing prom until that precise moment when he saw her appear in the school’s gym, illuminating the whole place.
It had been months since the Dunne Brothers had agreed with the high school management to be the band to play at prom, so Eddie hadn't even bothered to look for a partner to go with. Now he was thankful that was the case, because that was when he was most aware that he would never get to ask the only person in the world he would really want to dance with, and maybe hold hands or kiss. They were friends, yes, and they got along well enough to be in each other's good and bad times — but it was clear to Eddie that Camilla would never look at him with the same eyes he looked at her. She was just out of his league.
She looked so beautiful that Eddie didn't understand how it was possible that all eyes in the gym hadn't turned to her. It was as if all the lights in the universe had turned to shine on her and so much beauty took everyone’s breath away. Even though it was a song he knew by heart, Eddie almost missed a note when their eyes met.
And that's when he noticed that something wasn't right.
Camila, who usually shone so brightly that she could be compared to the sun, had her beautiful dark eyes dull, as if lifeless. That's when Eddie almost put his guitar aside and jumped off the stage to go rescue her from whatever was hurting her feelings. But he couldn't do that, not only for the sake of not letting the band down, but because it would draw attention to Camila that she wouldn't want.
Luckily, they knew each other well enough to be able to communicate from a distance — Eddie questioned her with his eyes and she shrugged and hugged herself to play it down and protect herself a little at the same time. Eddie eventually frowned and Camila shot a glance in the direction of the exit door, as if to say that they would meet there at the end of the concert. Eddie ended that wordless conversation by nodding in her direction and wishing the setlist would end quickly so he could leave with her. Anyways, he wasn’t going to look anywhere else until the concert was over.
Both were great music lovers, one as a musician and the other as a listener; but a setlist had never been so long. It was as if all of a sudden the songs were getting longer and longer, which kept distancing them more and more. Neither of them was able to pay attention to the songs when all they longed for was to be able to talk — for Eddie’s part so he could know what was going on and for Camilla’s part to have a friendly shoulder to lean on.
It wasn't easy for them to get together even when the concert came to an end: the guys from the band wanted to spend some time together to celebrate how good they had sounded, his friends from the AV club sought him out to congratulate him on the songs, and some girl he had talked to sometimes asked him if he didn't want to spend some time with her. But Eddie couldn't stay away from Camila when he knew something was wrong with her, so he pushed his way through the crowd until he they met in the middle of the gym.
“Hey, you sounded good. Can we…?” Camila stared at Eddie with her brown bright eyes, as if she was relieved by his presence. And, in fact, she was.
“Sure. That’s why I’m here. Let’s go” Eddie gave her a reassuring smile, passing an arm behind her back in an attempt to give her a safe space even there, while they were still surrounded by people.
Camila sighed with relief as she realized that she was no longer alone, either physically or personally. She still didn't know how she was going to tell him what was going on in her head, but at least she no longer felt out of place.
Once in the hallway, she sat on the floor with her back pressed against the wall. That's when she allowed herself to really show how hurt she was, causing Eddie's heart to break a little. And, although he was afraid of messing up in such a delicate situation, he ended up sitting down next to her and raising an arm to offer her a spot to snuggle into.
“You know Mike Turner, right? The guy who invited me to prom.” Her voice cracked as she began to speak, so she leaned on her friend's shoulder to seek strength from him. "Well, he got together with his buddies outside the gym, one of them said he stole a bottle of whiskey from his father's cellar and they went around to get drunk. It didn't even occur to him to invite me to go with them, he simply told me he'd be back, although I know he's not going to."
The first thing Eddie felt was a sense of rage rising in his stomach and up his body until it caused him to frown. How could anyone be so stupid as to invite Camila to prom and not spend the whole night staring at her, making her laugh and chatting with her? There were people in the world who did not know how to appreciate their luck.
However, the anger soon turned to sadness. He had heard Camila talk about her excitement about the prom for ages, about putting on a pretty dress and feeling like the star of a movie. Camila was a girl who lived things with real passion and enthusiasm: she never did things for the sake of just doing something or felt things half-heartedly, but put her whole heart into what mattered to her and made sure everyone felt as good as she did. And now some asshole had broken her heart.
“I’m sorry, Cami. I– I don’t know what to say. I’m sorry.” Eddie plunged his nose into her hair and hugged her to him, as if he could protect her from anyone who could not appreciate that light of her own, which, like the sun, made everyone who looked at her feel warm. “I don’t know if this is going to make you feel better, but I think that that guy wasted what could be the night of his life. Anyone would be the luckiest person in the world just to show up here with you on their arm.”
“Do you really mean it?” She answered, moving just enough to be able to look him in the eyes. Eddie was always there when she needed him, like a home to return to. Nothing could fix how much it had hurt her to be left alone at the prom, but she did feel that Eddie could help her heal a little.
“Of course.” Eddie even composed an offended expression at the idea that anyone could doubt something so obvious, causing Camilla to smile. "You're nice, you're gorgeous, I'm sure you can dance better than anyone in that ballroom, and you're also good at making jokes sometimes." Now that Camilla seemed to be feeling better, Eddie allowed himself to joke a little and pinch her cheek in an attempt to cheer her up. When he saw that she responded with a smile, he felt the universe was back in place.
“I don't know if I dance better than those in there, but I dance better than you for sure. You have to improve your moves if you want to be a famous guitarist.” This time it was Camila who gave him a little push, even laughing afterwards.
“I can't believe you brought me here to insult me.” Eddie composed a dramatically offended gesture, although he ended up jumping up and offering her a hand. He wasn't going to waste the opportunity of a lifetime, even less now that she seemed cheered up. “But show me how it should be done.”
“I’m not going back there, Eddie.” She answered, staring at his hand. “It would be embarrassing.”
“I’m not asking you to go back, I’m asking you to dance with me.” Eddie knew that Camila's heart wouldn't race as it did his every time they were close, but he also knew that she was looking forward to dancing and that the gesture would make her happy. “Please?”
“You are going to waste your prom night.” Despite her words, Camila could not resist accepting her friend's hand and getting up with his help.
“I'd rather be with you here than with anyone else in there. I promise you that.” He had no idea about dancing, that was true, but they could hear a slow song inside the gym, so he brought the join of his hands to his own shoulder, inviting Camila to hold on to him.
And Camila, of course, held onto him to have the dance she had been dreaming of for months.
track 3: 1975
Eddie had never thought he could love someone else’s child as though they were his own, but the first time he met Julia Dunne he was gladly proven otherwise.
There was something mesmerizing about her, with her big brown eyes heavily resembling Camila’s and her little hands constantly fussing about, almost as though she wished to hold onto every single little thing in the universe all at once. Eddie saw her for the very first time along with the rest of the members of The Six, but he found himself visiting the Dunne household as often as he could, even more so than the baby’s own uncle.
Or her father, for that matter. But that was an entirely different story.
In any case, Eddie secretly relished those afternoons in which he drove to Camila’s house straight after lunch, welcomed by the young woman that he had once loved more than anything else in the world and her infant daughter. He soon found out that he enjoyed them particularly throughout the summer, when Julia was only a few months old and they could sit in the porch for hours on end, watching her coo or fuss about with her tiny hands, Camila’s expression oddly rejuvenated by her daughter’s vigour. He had seen her at her lowest, and he was glad to see that the company of her child brought her the comfort that her husband was apparently unable to provide her with.
But he hadn’t come here to think about Billy, he told himself as he knocked on the door. He thought about Billy way more than he deserved; or at least that was the way Eddie saw it at the time, with the way he had treated them and, most importantly, the way he had treated Camila and his own child. Eddie had never regarded himself as a particularly familiar person, and he hadn’t really cared for the idea of starting a family until he found himself spending an increasingly high amount of time with Camila and Julia. Now that he ached for what Billy had and so selfishly dismissed, he couldn’t help but feel an incremented sense of anger towards the so-called leader of their band.
Soon enough, however, Camilia opened the door while holding Julia with her left arm, and every single little worry was wiped clean off Eddie’s mind.
“Hi!” She wrapped her free arm around Eddie’s shoulders, pulling him in for a hug that actually took a moment for him to reciprocate, as he was far too busy being smacked on the face by the ever-curious Julia. When her mother noticed what she was doing, she let out a gentle laugh and shook her head gently, “Sorry, I don’t know why she keeps doing that.”
“It’s all right,” Eddie laughed, then ducked his head a little to properly greet the infant who was now staring at him, her eyes wide and curious and as loving as her mother’s. “Hi, Julia, love. How are you doing?”
“Goo,” the baby gurgled back, her tufts of brown hair shaking as she moved her head a little. She offered him a smile, and smacked him again before repeating, as enthusiastically as she could, “Goo!”
“Goo indeed,” Eddie nodded, then looked at Camila before placing a very gentle hand on her elbow. “How are you holding up?”
Camila shrugged, but ultimately said nothing, which broke Eddie’s heart even more than an actual answer. It angered him to think of how little she deserved this: Camila, who had been the brightest star in the sky of his childhood; Camila, who had always been nothing but gentle and loving to those around her, even if they sometimes did not deserve it. But she was definitely the one who didn’t deserve this, although then again nobody did. Billy had been absent during her pregnancy, during Julia’s birth, during the first months of their daughter’s life. And Camila hadn’t even complained, not once. It escaped him how she could be so patient when the other person hardly deserved patience at all.
But that wasn’t his war to fight, after all. Eddie didn’t have a say in the matter; he hardly should have an opinion at all about his bandmates’ personal lives, and yet he couldn’t help but judge Billy somewhat harshly. Because he knew: he knew about the drugs, of course (everyone did at that point), but he knew about the infidelities, about the flirting with their most dedicated groupies, about how his daughter — his own daughter, Eddie told himself miserably, who was just about the most wonderful creature in the universe — was just an afterthought in his scheme of things.
But he didn’t want to think about Billy today. Not when he was far away, somewhere only Teddy could find him, and he had an entire afternoon by Camila and Julia’s side.
Camila quickly invited him out to the porch, where she had arranged two armchairs, one for each of the two of them, and a large towel for Julia, who loved rolling around over the floor while gurgling and observing the adults hovering above her. Even though Camila momentarily took a seat on one of the armchairs, Eddie chose to kneel beside the child, whose eyes were immediately fixed on him.
“Hi, darling,” he murmured, tracing the contour of her cheek with his index finger. She was such a precious little thing, he told himself, almost sadly. He knew that she would always have her mother by her side, and that her uncle Graham would obviously be there for her as well, but he couldn’t help but wonder if that would ultimately be enough.
“Da!” Julia gurgled enthusiastically, clapping her two hands together.
Eddie froze.
“Come again?” He whispered, trying to figure out if Camila, still behind him, had reacted to her daughter’s babbling in some way.
“Da, Da!” Julia echoed happily then shook her hands and latched onto Eddie’s index fingers. Her eyes were fixed upon his again, and that was when she added for a fourth time, in case Eddie had not heard what she had just said, “Da.”
Eddie remained silent for a second, not quite knowing what to do. Surely Julia had to know he wasn’t her actual father? Perhaps she was just gurgling random sounds out, or perhaps she had confused the sound ‘da’ with something far more complex, like ‘uncle’ or ‘friend’. He frowned, staring at the smiling little girl, and was only interrupted by Camila’s quiet laughter.
He turned around, and surprisingly enough found her covering her mouth with her hand, shaking her head as she cackled.
“I knew this was going to happen,” she said, sounding surprisingly calm about it all. “You’re her favorite. Even more so than Graham — and she loves him a lot .”
Eddie felt even more startled by Camila’s reaction, and even frowned a little before replying, “What?”
“She just stares at you whenever the band is on TV, I swear,” Camila nodded emphatically, then leaned forward and caressed Eddie’s hair gently. He didn’t know whether he should feel flattered, but he smiled nevertheless when she added, “I’m so glad she has you, Eddie.”
“I’m happy to be here for her,” he replied finally. His eyes gazed up at Camila’s, and he gave her hand a gentle squeeze before adding, “And for you too, of course.”
“Well,” Camila countered, smiling nevertheless, “I’m not as cute as she is, but I’ll try my best.”
And then she pressed a kiss to the top of Eddie’s head and laughed like it all was nothing, but the only thing Eddie could do for the next few minutes was to gaze at her in wonder and tell himself that perhaps he could be there for the two of them, after all. Billy didn’t have much of a say at that point, and he wanted to help Camila, even if it was from a strictly platonic way. He was happy to let go of whatever illusions of sharing a romantic relationship with her that he had fostered over the course of the years, and to simply be there by their side, watching Julia grow into the bold human being that she was already shaping up to be. He would choose them, the two of them, above anybody else in the world, and he secretly wished they would let him make that choice instead of being a blurry figure between family and friend for the rest of his life.
If only, he told himself. If only.
track 4: 1976
Eddie was the last person Camila expected to run into on that night of heartbreak and Camila was the last person Eddie expected to see in that bar at that time of night — however, when their eyes met, they both realized that there was no one in the world they wanted to see more than each other.
Although Camila never expected to meet anyone there, as soon as she met Eddie's gaze, she knew that he had seen her, not only physically, but the bassist had also seen her soul. He could read her as an open book — and Camila was okay with that.
Even being several steps away, Eddie knew instantly that Camila was heartbroken. And, although he probably would have gone to greet her under any circumstances, the intuition that she was sad made him abandon everything for her without a second thought. In fact, he was okay even with the insult of the girl he had been talking to, because it was something that got a chuckle out of Camila. Okay, standing a girl up to go to the rescue of the girl he was in love with wasn't the most gentlemanly thing he could do, but Eddie didn't think there was anything in the world he couldn't do for her — even if it was not the best choice morally speaking.
“You’d choose me over a sure thing like that?” She asked, even if the answer was obvious. However, besides the fact that she wouldn’t know what else to say to keep the conversation from being about herself, at a sad moment like that Camila needed to someone to tell her that yes, she was someone’s priority and that yes, there was someone looking out for her in the same way she looked out for everyone else.
“I’d choose you over everyone.” Eddie’s heart was the one who delivered those words that came out of his mouth — so sincere that they cut off Camila’s breath.
His words were so honest that for a moment she did not know what to say. It was ridiculous that even as a married woman, such a pure and selfless expression of love could touch her heart so deeply. She was no fool, she knew the way Eddie had been looking at her with loving eyes for some time, but even so it was clear that he was not trying to get anything from her with that confession: he was just saying things as he felt them.
And, just as her heart started pumping blood again and her breathing recovered its usual rhythm, something new grew up in her insides as she looked at Eddie. He was a handsome man, he loved Julia like she was his own flesh and blood, he was funny, he was smart, he was sweet… he was everything she wanted in a man — and he was always there for her.
“Look… I don’t know what happened, but let me buy you a drink and walk you home. Okay? Everything will be okay by tomorrow, I promise.” Eddie, aware that perhaps he had overdone it with the feelings put into his own words, offered her a much more casual smile and raised a hand to call the waiter so they could pretend that his words didn’t actually exist.
“No.” Camila grabbed his hand before the waiter could see it and gave him a smile as sweet as the ones he always offered her. She didn’t know where the night (and their feelings) would take them, but she was sure that she didn’t want her decisions to be infected by alcohol. “Let’s take a walk, please. The music and all these people don’t help me feel any better, but you do.”
Eddie’s expression softened so much in response to her words that Camila could only curse herself for not having a camera on hand to capture that moment. But perhaps that was the magic of what was about to happen: after sharing their entire lives with the rest of their friends, in interviews and through songs, that night would remain in the memory of just the two of them. Only Camila could see the sparkle in Eddie’s eyes, only she could feel his jacket falling on her shoulders and only she could cling to his arm as she had so often done — even if this time it meant new things to her.
It wasn’t a sweet, delicate first kiss. No, there were so many feelings bottled up in the hearts of the two of them that as soon as they gave them the slightest escape route they burst into a rush of hunger and desire that no one would have been able to stop.
Surprisingly, it was Camila who started it. Eddie had had opportunities along the walk, and he had come close to taking the shot on more than one occasion, but he would never have forgiven himself for messing things up with her — so he didn’t dare to do anything in the end. Camila, however, hadn't stopped feeling a growing desire in her chest so when she saw the opportunity to taste his lips she couldn't stop the impulse that itched in her fingertips.
So it was she who jumped in to kiss him at the very door of her car. Camila tugged on his hand, leaned against the vehicle and interrupted whatever Eddie was saying so she could catch his lips between her own. Even as Eddie was processing what was happening, she already pressed his lips with her tongue to ask him to open them so she could enter his mouth.
And then Eddie responded with his hands wrapped around Camilla's waist, firmly as if they were made to fit in that place, and he kissed her back, drinking in that kiss he had always dreamed of as if he were a man lost in the desert. Even though he had been longing to taste Camila's lips all his life, nothing could compare to knowing that she wanted him back. Eddie could taste the remnants of tequila on her lips, he could feel her breath mingle against his own, and most of all, he could feel her tugging on him as if she were begging for more. He felt like he was dreaming — maybe this was how the earthly paradise looked like, he thought.
And on that occasion, more than ever in his life, Eddie Roundtree was willing to devote his entire being to pleasing someone else's desires.
She was so focused on continuing to discover Eddie's lips that Camila opened the car with clumsy hands, without looking at what she was doing with her hands. It was far from the best place to spend their first night together, but neither seemed to have any intention of wasting time looking for somewhere else.
She lay back on the back seats as she tugged on his tie to make sure he did the same and without getting too far away from her body. She had only just discovered what it felt like to be under Eddie's attentive caresses and it was already clear to her that she would never tire of feeling his hands wander up and down her back. He was so delicate and hungry at the same time — as if he was possessed by Eros himself.
They settled between the car seats as best they could, even laughing at the absurdity and excitement of the situation. Neither of them could believe it was happening, that they were really kissing each other, and yet every time they looked into each other's eyes they smiled like two silly lovers who did nothing more than kiss the lips of the one who made their heart race.
“Are you sure about this?” Eddie asked, pulling away from her just long enough to look at her eyes and make sure everything was okay. Camila was a beautiful woman, always had been, and yet Eddie was sure he would never see her as beautiful as she was at that moment, underneath his body and with her cheeks flushed with heat.
“Yeah, yes. Come here.” Although she spoke hurriedly and while trying to pull his shirt out of the inside of his pants, Camila made sure to sound convinced and dispel any doubts about it. She really wanted him, maybe she always had.
And, since Eddie was respectful but not stupid, he accepted that answer without further insistence. He grabbed Camila's legs to invite her around his hips and ran his hands up her thighs, slowly slipping them under her dress, teasing. His lips, meanwhile, left Camila's mouth to go down her neck, taking all the time in the world to discover all that skin he now had at his mercy. He kissed her, ran his tongue along her collarbones and bit her under them, wanting to leave a mark that would still be there the next day. He would need to see proof that it hadn’t been just the sweetest of his dreams.
Camila, who could not be so patient, arched her back to try to stick her body closer to his as she pulled her dress up with her hands. She wanted Eddie to move down her body with his lips and up her legs with his fingers, eager to intensify those rushes of pleasure he was giving her.
Eddie, of course, planned to give her anything she wanted, but not without having a little fun first: he removed his hands from Camila's legs so he could pull down the straps of her dress to expose her chest. Just seeing her like this made him sigh and increase his hunger for her, if it was possible for that to happen. However, before he could do anything, it was Camila herself who guided his head towards her breasts, so Eddie had no choice but to caress one of them with his hand while kissing the other.
He caressed her nipple with his tongue and ended up biting it gently as he heard her moan in response. He couldn't believe he could actually provoke all that in Camila, and they had only just begun.
He felt as if her presence was intoxicating him in the best possible way: he was now breathing raggedly but at the same time that her, he felt as if he could drink from the sweat that was already under her clothes and as if all the music he needed to survive was what was coming from between her lips. And, since all he could think about was that he wanted it to go further, the next time he slipped a hand under her clothes was to run his fingers down to the fabric of her underwear.
Feeling Eddie’s fingers inside her made Camila feel a pleasure that she had almost forgotten. Sex with Billy had become routine and boring, as an attempt to keep the flame of their relationship alive. Being with Eddie, on the other hand, made her feel the excitement and passion of being with someone she really wanted. It made her feel good physically and emotionally, made her want more of him, to drink in his warmth and melt under his hands. It was as if Eddie was reminding her what it was to love and feel loved — he made her feel a little more alive, a little more present.
“Eddie, sit down.” Camilla would never force him to do anything he didn't want to do, but she felt such an urgency to have him inside her that it sounded like a command.
“What?” He sounded confused, as if desire had clouded his mind and he could not understand what Camila intended. However, as he feared she could regret what they were doing, he moved until he was sitting in the back seats of the car without saying anything else.
Then, Camila loosened his belt and straddled him, so that it was much easier for them to continue kissing and caressing and discovering each other's bodies under their clothes. “Better?”
“Yes, better.” Eddie nodded several times, out of breath, and looking for her lips again.
Embraced and practically inhaling each other's breath, they both melted into a new kiss that fused their bodies into one and gave sense to the story they had together.
Later that night, both of them would smile like fools while remembering what happened. Their cheeks would redden thinking about how perfectly their bodies matched and their hearts would race at the idea of seeing each other again, and again, and again. Eddie and Camila knew that there was something bad in what they had done, but they also knew that it was too late to stop their love from growing like a beautiful garden they had been taking care of since they were just children. It was something bad, maybe, yes, but it felt good, not only physically, but as if both of them had found their place in this world.
After what had happened that night, their affection for each other had been reborn like a light that would bring them out of the cave they were in. They could try to pretend it would be nothing more than a fling that would last as long as their vacation time, of course, but deep down they both knew that they couldn’t ignore the love they had for each other.
They could not know what the future would bring to them, but they certainly wouldn’t be able to imagine a future in which they were not together.
track 5: 1977
Daisy Jones & The Six were one of the most famous rock bands in the United States by the time their Chicago concert came along, and yet all that Eddie could think of was going home and seeing Camila and Julia again.
Music was still his biggest passion, of course, but he hadn’t been surprised at all when he realized that being on the road made him feel a little weary after a couple of days. He wanted to be home, to work at the studio, and to be able to go back to the people he loved at the end of the day — even if that meant sneaking around with Camila and seeing Julia whenever he visited the Dunne household, pretending that nothing had changed between her mother and him over the past few months.
In truth, his relationship with Camila had changed a lot ever since they first got together. Sure, they still found it a little hard to keep their hands off each other, but Eddie knew that there was much more than lust to it. He had been in love with her for as long as he could remember, and he was beginning to think that there might be some chance of Camila reciprocating the feeling in some way; perhaps not as intensely as he did, but he knew that she definitely felt something for him. He just had to figure out what it was before Billy found out and everything burst into flames.
He had been fiddling with his bass for a while when the door of his dressing room creaked open. At first he didn’t even bother looking up, assuming it would be Warren fussing with his outfit for the gig or Graham wanting to check on him before the show; however, a very familiar voice lulled him out of the music-induced trance that he fell into whenever his fingers happened to fall onto his bass.
“Eddie? Are you busy?”
His lips curved into the biggest of smiles when he lifted his head and saw Camila standing in front of him. He left his bass on its stand and immediately stood up.
“Busy enough to have you waiting around for me?” He asked, as his hands went up to caress her cheeks. “Never.” He glanced towards the door, and pressed a very gentle kiss to her lips when he was sure that no-one would see them. “What are you doing here? Where’s Julia?”
“Don’t worry, she’s home. With my mom,” Camila explained, shaking her head a little. She seemed a little distraught, which made Eddie feel a little anxious. Sure, nobody felt right about cheating on their spouse — but he had never seen her exhibit guilt about it, at least not right to his face. “I needed to talk to you.”
“And you came all the way to Chicago when you could’ve just called?” Eddie teased, trying to brighten things up a little. “Well, that’s just a tad bit dramatic, love.”
He hadn’t begun to call her that on purpose, of course. The word had just slipped out of his mouth one day, as they both held each other inside their favorite room of the little hotel in Santa Monica that they had taken a liking to over the course of their first weeks together, and it had flown into their conversations seamlessly ever since.
“Shut up,” Camila did a meek smile, but pursed her lips right afterwards. Eddie began to worry when he realized that she wasn’t about to reciprocate his teasing. “I . . . it’s important, Eddie.”
He frowned, dreading a conversation that might put an end to the happiest year of his life. He knew that the situation was complicated — they had had to do tons of sneaking around, with them acting as detached as they could whenever Julia was around, as the little baby he once knew had grown into a toddler who was far more aware of the world around her than she used to be. They saw each other nearly every day, and Eddie wouldn’t have changed a single thing about it, but he suddenly feared that Camila might have grown tired of him, of all the hiding, of not being able to tell her daughter what she was up to. Perhaps she wanted to go back to Billy, to what they had before he stepped in. Perhaps it was all coming to an end, and he had no say on the matter.
“I’m pregnant, Eddie.”
She blurted it out, almost as though she were ripping a bandaid off, then let out a profound sigh and rested her forehead against Eddie’s shoulder. The bassist, however, was too dumbfounded to even understand what she meant by that.
“You’re . . . oh, God.” His eyes widened when he finally realized what she meant. “Is it Billy’s?”
Camila shook her head, then looked up at him gingerly. “I haven’t even slept by his side for months now.”
Eddie was beginning to feel dizzy by that point, and for a second he genuinely thought he might faint after all.
“It’s yours,” Camila added, in case he needed more clarifying. “You’re the father, Ed.”
“Am I?” Eddie asked, his tone almost incredulous. It wasn’t as though he thought Camila had been sleeping around with other people aside from him, but the possibility of him being the father had only just dawned upon him. He wanted to laugh, to cry even, but he had to bite back a smile before adding, in a very gentle way, “What do you want to do about it?”
Camila remained silent, their eyes firmly locked, as though there was not a single soul aside from them in the universe. Then she whispered, “I want to have it. With you.”
That was when Eddie finally allowed himself to grin, enveloping Camila in the tightest of hugs. “Oh, shit. We’re gonna have a baby.”
He laughed, squeezing her close before kissing her face in the most loving of ways. He felt so utterly alive that he could have screamed out of sheer joy, and for a moment it seemed like that was precisely what they were about to do.
His hands went up to caress Camila’s cheeks, and he brushed his lips against hers before whispering, “Shit. I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” Camila nodded emphatically, her hands gently rubbing the back of Eddie’s. She bit her lower lip, then added with a feeble smile, “That’s why I’m leaving Billy after tonight’s concert. I . . . I want things to be more or less settled by the time the baby arrives.” She paused, then quickly added, “If that sounds all right to you, of course.”
Eddie let out a soft, almost incredulous laugh. She was the one leaving her husband and taking her daughter with her, and yet all she could worry about was his own well-being?
“It sounds fucking fantastic to me, Cam.” He pressed a quick kiss to her lips, then grinned again before whispering, “God. I’m going to be a dad. We’re . . . I’m . . . I’m having a baby with the love of my life.”
Camila laughed quietly, her lips brushing against Eddie’s before replying, “I thought music was the love of your life.”
“Hardly,” Eddie shook his head. “Particularly when there’s you in the picture. I’d choose you over anyone, remember?”
The way Camila smiled at him, as though he were the brightest star in the universe, was more than enough for him to know that she did indeed remember.
They stared at each other for just a little longer, basking in the absolute glory of the moment that they were living, and then their lips finally met for the gentlest, most loving kiss that Eddie had experienced in his life.
To Hell with Daisy Jones & The Six. To Hell with music. To Hell with life, even, if it meant not living every second of it with the woman that he was in love with, their daughter (for he thought of Julia that way, of course) and the baby that was yet to come. Eddie wouldn’t even dream of having it any other way.
track 6: 1997
Standing with her arms crossed and looking straight ahead, Camila watched her daughter with her back to her, interviewing the man who had been like her father all her life. Reliving what had happened twenty years earlier had not been easy for either of them, but now that she could see the whole story from a step away, at least she was happy with how things had ended.
Julia hadn't let them hear the testimonies of the rest of her bandmates and wouldn't until she had the full documentary, she made that clear to both of her parents, but Camila was pleased to see how happy she seemed to be interviewing Eddie.
And Eddie, of course, would flash proud smiles at his daughter when she got a little off track and they could look at each other in a less professional way. He had always sworn that he would distance himself from his past as a rock star forever, but he didn't hesitate to say yes to Julia when she presented her project to them at a family reunion a few months ago. She gathered them all around a table, including her sisters, and told them that she wanted to tell their story, the whole story. Julia knew better than anyone that it would make her parents nervous, so she had it all tied up by then: they wouldn't have to see each other if they didn't want to, she wouldn't include anything they didn't want and, above all, she would be objective about what was going on behind her camera. No one was surprised that they all agreed to speak in front of her — nor that none of them wanted to speak in front of the others.
Now that Camila was watching the last few minutes of the last interview Julia would do, she was beginning to wonder if it would really be such a bad idea to call Daisy, Warren or Karen. The Dunne brothers would be a little more complicated, but she would even agree to have coffee with them, just to know how their lives were going. After twenty years she had the life she always wanted, so it wouldn't be so strange to see them again, no hard feelings.
So lost was she in her own thoughts that she didn't see Eddie moving closer to her and wrapping his arms around her waist, but she smiled as soon as she felt a kiss on her shoulder.
“A penny for your thoughts?” He asked, smiling against her skin. Reviewing the photos she had taken twenty years ago had made her realize how much they had changed since then; however, when Camila looked at Eddie, with his hands full of rings and his beard-covered cheeks, she still saw the most handsome man in the world.
“I was thinking that I miss them a little bit.” Aware that her husband was a little more resentful than she was, Camila wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on the lips before continuing. “Time does heal a bit, after all, don’t you think? I bet you miss hanging out with the guys, and chatting with Karen and getting drunk with Daisy. I bet you even miss arguing with Billy.”
Eddie wrinkled his nose a little as if to say no, though he ended up laughing and nodding softly. “I do miss them a bit, yes, I guess Julia has so much magic that it makes her grumpy dad soften up a bit.”
Instead of responding with words, Camila responded by giving him a longer, more affectionate kiss. She still found it hard to believe that things had ended so well for her after all they have been through and that she had been in love with the most wonderful man on the planet for twenty years. She lived off his photos, had three wonderful daughters and a husband who said "I love you" to her every night. The truth was that if she could ask for anything more, it was to be at peace with her past.
“Ugh, book a hotel room or something.” Julia said, exaggerating a disgusted face as she picked up her recording stuff.
Eddie, as usual, instead of separating himself from Camila, stuck out his tongue in the direction of his daughter as if he could annoy her with that gesture. They had always connected beautifully, even when Julia was just a baby, so now that they were adults Camila was still grinning like a fool to see them having such a lovely relationship. “Don’t boo us for being in love, have some respect for your mom and dad.”
“Yeah, the Romeo and Juliet of rock and roll.” Julia started by rolling her eyes but ended up smiling, showing that, deep down, she not only didn't judge their love story, but found some charm in it. “Just take your wife on a date or something and let me work. You are distracting me.”
Julia waved them off and both Eddie and Camila laughed in response. Having revisited their past made them realize how happy and lucky they were now, even after having a past where their love seemed impossible. “Okay, okay, we are out. Don’t be late for dinner, we’ll see you later.”
Camila waved goodbye to her daughter with one hand and intertwined the fingers of the other with the fingers of her husband, leaving the small studio by his side.
Julia hadn't asked them about what happened after the Six split up, but she didn't need to ask to know about it: the band gave them enough money to spend the next few years in absolute peace and quiet, focused on raising their daughters and taking care of each other. Once they felt rested, she went on to make a living from her photography studio and Eddie from his music, albeit much more quietly and discreetly than in the seventies. Both had thought they were destined to live under the spotlight of fame, yet they had found their own little place in the world in a house full of music and children's laughter.
Now, with their daughters all grown and independent from them, Eddie and Camila were living a kind of second youth and second romance in a very different way from the one they had twenty years ago. They had learned from their mistakes, had become more mature and had built a life together.
“So… What do you say? Will you let this poor guy take you out on a date?” Eddie flashed her one of those charming smiles he had always had for her and had caught hundreds of times on camera, knowing she would say yes.
“You already know the answer.” Camila wrapped her arms around her soulmate’s neck and stole a kiss from his lips before continuing. “What about that cafe with a piano and an open mic? Maybe I’ll convince a musician to sing me a ballad…”
“How demanding.” Eddie smiled against her lips and kissed her back, nodding briefly to let her know that he would, at least, think about singing for her.
He slipped an arm around her shoulders and walked beside her in the direction of the cafe, absently caressing one of those rings he now always wore on his hand and that was a physical proof of his marriage to the girl he had always loved.
“Eddie?” Camila gave him a sideways glance as they walked, putting on that voice she used to put on when she was going to ask him for something.
“Yes?” He raised his eyebrows, paying full attention to what Camila was about to say.
“You will call them, right? Someone has to be the first to build bridges and your daughter gave you an excuse.” Camila studied Eddie as she waited for his response, even though she knew exactly what he was going to say. They had been together for twenty years, and she was still fascinated by the fact that she knew him so well that she was able to guess what he would say.
Just as his wife had imagined, Eddie kept a few seconds of silence which he broke right after with a deep, heavy sigh. It wouldn’t be an easy thing for anyone to do, but everyone knew it would have to happen sooner or later, so he didn’t see why not to make use of the excuse of the documentary.
“I’ll call Warren. Then we’ll see.” Eddie sighed again and Camila kissed his cheek as soon as she heard his answer, celebrating that he had made the decision she thought was right.
It was clear to her that Warren would only be the first step and that he would soon end up calling all those people who had been so important in their lives. Daisy Jones and the Six would be reunited, even if it was behind the scenes — and Camila wanted to think that, little by little, they would be a family again from then on.