He laughed at my efforts of holding the guitar before standing up from my desk chair.

I laughed embarrassedly as he came around me, putting his arms around me from behind and holding the guitar.

"Here, I'll show you how you do it," he whispered shifting my hands on the guitar.

He put one hand further up on the neck of the guitar and the other one on different stings.

"There you go." I heard him say, letting go and moving back in front of me smiling happily.

This. This was what I preferred.

Not being shouted at, but someone with patience. Who was willing to deal with my shittyness at music and improve my work.

I think all teachers apart from him had just accepted at this point I was going nowhere in life, but he was the only one who actually took a chance. Maybe that was putting more pressure on me, not wanting to let him down.

"So like this?" I asked, as I started playing the first few chords.

He nodded frantically as he grinned. "Yes! See! You can do it!"

"Hardly," I muttered stopping, looking down at the guitar.

"You're doing well, do y'know the next part of the song?"

"Nope,"

He turned around and picked up a sheet from my desk, holding it to his chest for me to see. The sheet had everything on there I sorta needed to play the song on the guitar I was attempting.

I stuck my tongue out slightly at the side of my mouth furrowing my eyebrows as I focused, squinting at the sheet of paper every so often then looking down at the guitar.

I played a few more chords pretty well, ignoring the spaces between them where I was looking back up at the sheet.

I stopped as I looked back up at him with a huge smile. But he was already looking at me with one.

"Did you see that!?" I asked him excitedly.

"I told you you can do it!"

"I didn't know I could!"

"Here, try this part of the sheet," he said turning the sheet back around to face me as he pointed at the bottom.

I sighed not wanting to as I gave him a 'seriously?' look.

He rolled his eyes putting the sheet back down on my desk. "Alright fine, we can save that for next time,"

I smiled happily. "Thank youuu," I cooed as he sat back down on the spinny chair on my desk.

I placed the guitar down gently back where I had been keeping it for the past few weeks and stood in front of him.

"I prefer you over every other music teacher I've ever had y'know," I smiled, being in a happy mood.

"I think you mean out of every teacher you've ever had," he asserted with an eyebrow raised.

"Alright, out of all teachers,"

His cocked up eyebrows returned to its natural place. "More like it,"

"But I mean it Billie. I don't understand why you care so much about my future. But it's nice to see someone cares,"

"You don't care about your own future, someone has to keep you on track,"

I walked over to my bed sitting on it, still facing him as we carried on the conversation. "It feels good to actually be able to do the work,"

"That's because you actually tried,"

"I always try,"

"You hardly try,"

"Well it's nice to have someone care when I'm trying and when I don't," I smiled lightly to him.

"I just wish you would understand how important school is, your future is at risk,"

"Did you do well in school?"

He looked away from me as soon as I asked my question, awkwardly gazing at the floor. "Well..." he murmured after a brief moment of silence. "...that doesn't really matter,"

"Yes it does." I said instantly. "You can't sit and say this stuff to me if you didn't even do well in school,"

"Well maybe that's why I'm trying to teach you that it matters,"

"Why? Did you drop out and not go anywhere?"

"Not go anywhere? I'm a teacher,"

"So you did drop out,"

"Back to the work, we need to carry on with this guitar practice." I heard him say as he stood up and walked over to the guitar.

I didn't bother sitting up as I watched him strap it on to himself and play a few chords.

"Can you play me something?" I asked him with out thought.

He looked up a bit puzzled by my question, I guess a request like that wasn't expected by me. He smiled softly before shaking his head. "No way,"

"Not even just a little bit?"

"This isn't about me being able to play, it's about you,"

"I know that. But I need to see an example y'know? I need to see what I've gotta be able to achieve. How to do it, I can't do it with out seeing someone else who knows what they're doing... don't you agree?" I asked him sitting back up.

"Mallory I'm not playing you anything,"

"Please Billie!" I whined clasping my hands together. Attempting puppy dog eyes, but I knew I was never good at those.

"I'm not-"

"-please!"

"Mallory I-"

"-pleaseeee!"

"It really means that much to you?" He asked exhaling.

"C'mon Billie joe, I know you're good cause I've took your word for it. I just wanna see you play,"

He didn't say yes. He didn't say no either, he looked down at the guitar and shook his head chuckling breathly as he began to play a rhythm on the guitar.

I watched his finger placement, he wasn't even looking at what he was doing. He just knew what to do, his eyes were actually on me. But I dodged his gaze.

He was better than I thought, surprisingly good to be just a music teacher. Way better than I would've thought a music teacher would be.

After a moment or two of me beating my head along to him playing, he finally stopped as I stood up.

"That was awesome!" I shouted bugging out as he took the guitar off and carefully put it around me.

"I told you I was good," he beamed with his hands around me, carefully placing the strap on my shoulder.

I held the guitar as he pulled his hands away and looked back at me. "You think you can do it?"

"What and follow up on what you've just played?" I asked with a 'seriously?' face on.

He walked behind me, once again putting his arms around me as they appeared before my eyes and held the guitar with me. I felt his chin rest on my shoulder and his breath tickle my neck as he spoke.

"You gotta put your hand higher." he whispered once agian re adjusting my hand.

"I keep forgetting," I whispered back embarrassedly.

"No no, don't worry about it. Beginners mistake,"

"Really?"

"..yeah, so put your finger on this string-" he instructed moving my finger to a different string on the guitar. "-and this one here-" he moved another one. Before moving his arm under the guitar and wrapping around my waist as I held it. "There you go, now try and play,"

"What about the sheet?" I asked turning slightly to face him.

He turned his face to, his nose just inches away from touching mine as he smiled slightly. "You don't need it,"

"I do," I pouted.

"You don't, you can do it with out the sheet I know you can,"

"I can't,"

"That's your problem. You don't think you can do anything so you don't even try. I know you can do things-"

"-you just sound like every other teacher now,"

"What do you mean?" He asked, his brows knitting in a confused expression.

"You're just like the rest of them,"

"The rest of them?"

"Yes, The rest of them,"

"How am I like the rest of them?" He asked me, still not moving his head from my shoulder or his arms from my waist.

"You think that I'm trying to be stupid don't you? They all think I know what I'm doing I'm just choosing not to do it like- like I want to be failure,"

"I don't think that at all,"

"Then why did you say-"

"-I'm not saying that Mallory," he said softly to me, half a smile on his lips. "I'm saying I know you can do it. I know you know how to do it. But you don't know you can, and that's what's stopping you. You don't think you can so you don't try, and when you do you put little to no effort in. But I know when you try you can do it, you just have to actually give it a go with effort to realise you can do the things,"

I looked away from his eyes and back down at the guitar as I understood what he meant. Maybe he wasn't wrong with that either.

"It's hard to believe in yourself and... think you can do this... and think... that you can do that. When everyone's just expecting you to fail," I replied, my eyes looking down on the floor now.

I heard him breath in as he buried his nose in my hair, his face buried in the side of my neck. "I know that more than anyone... why do you think I'm believing in you now?" He asked me, but his words muffled by my hair, I could still understand though.

"I don't want to let you down Billie. I'll let anyone down but you,"

"And why's that?" He asked me, taking his face away from my neck as he looked at me. I looked up and turned to look at him, this time the tip of my nose was just grazing past his.

"Because you're the only one who really cares,"