Adam and Eve's Apple of Trouble

"Adam and Eve?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

A long pause. "That's what you're calling your new band?"

"Sure! It's genius, man. Like, we're Adam and Eve, the first couple? And we're starting a band with the first instruments ever made: a bass guitar and a drum kit? It's so fucking clever."

"I mean, I don't know if it's that clever? I've never heard of Adam and Eve as a band name before."

"Ah, but have you ever heard of Adam and Eve as a couple before?"

"No. That's kind of why I'm asking?"

The guy who had introduced himself as Adam shrugged. "It's cool either way. As long as people get it."

The girl who had introduced herself as Eve sighed. She was slumped on the couch in her living room, staring at the two pieces of equipment that were set up on her carpeted floor. Heavy metal posters lined the walls around them; she didn't know how much longer she could take sharing a house with such an obvious music snob.

"You want to start then? You got the amp plugged in?"

Eve nodded at him. She had spent hours learning how to play guitar from her favourite YouTube videos, which had led to her buying a cheap starter kit from the music shop down the road. She hadn't been sure whether or not she was going to stick with it - it would certainly be easier to give up if she wasn't making any progress - but Adam seemed convinced that they could make something decent together eventually. He had even gone on to suggest that they might have enough talent to record their own album; if nothing else, he said, they could put their names out there and try to get noticed by one of the big labels, who would surely be interested in someone with such raw potential. Eve was prone to wondering whether or not he was having another laugh at her expense, but he seemed genuine enough when he talked about it; more than once she had caught him humming music that she didn't recognise while they were hanging out at his dorm room at college.

He plucked his bass from its stand and began thrumming along with her guitar playing; after a few minutes of fiddling with her effects pedals, Eve joined in with his rhythm, before finally raising her voice into harmony over his soundscapes. They didn't play for longer than half an hour - there were no lyrics for them to sing, so instead they just tried to improvise some harmonies around each other - but it felt good nonetheless; like they were making something together that was worth something more than just a bit of fun. It also helped them forget about everything else that was worrying them both: their parents' expectations for their future careers, the pressure of meeting new friends at college this year, doubts over whether or not they should keep seeing each other when they weren't sharing a campus together...

The last song ended awkwardly; neither of them knew how to end it properly without lyrics to guide them through their instrumental part - and yet neither of them wanted it to end either. After all those weeks spent twiddling away on their instruments without giving much thought to anything else outside their relationship; suddenly there was an awkwardness between them now that the music had stopped playing. They stared at each other across the length of their instruments; neither one of them quite knowing what to say next. Eventually Adam stood up from his spot behind his drums and put his bass back into its case while Eve stowed her guitar into its bag as well as packing away all her cables and pedals into her backpack. When she looked up again he was already walking towards her; he took hold of her hand and pulled her close against his chest as he pressed his lips against hers in a kiss that tasted like all those beers he'd been drinking during those late nights writing songs on his laptop at college. He tasted bitter on her tongue; sweetly bitter like cherries or raspberries or plums... and suddenly she forgot where she was and what day it was, and everything else besides this man holding onto her hand became irrelevant once more. She lost herself in him for what felt like forever before finally forcing herself away from him again so that she could see his face again properly without tasting beer on every breath he took. "What do you want to do now?" she asked him softly when she had collected herself again... "We could go back to your place?" "Or mine?" he suggested instead with a smile on his face; "My folks aren't home until tomorrow afternoon." "Then let's head back to mine," Eve replied quietly before linking arms with him again and leading him out of the front door of her house in order to make their way back home together once more..