It's Like I Knew You Before We Met

Shallow

24 hours. It had been 24 hours since EJ Caswell had been over at his cousin Ashlyn's place, just casually taking a shower, when he had heard someone else singing their heart out from the opposite side of the apartment walls. 24 hours since he himself had joined in, equally as passionate as his duet partner. 24 hours since he had sung for the first time in forever and had re-discovered just how much he missed his former days as a theatre kid.

24 hours and he still had her voice stuck inside his head (which also meant that All Is Lost and Some Things Never Change had been and were currently still playing on a never-ending loop inside his head). Her bright, powerful voice that had been music to his ears and had blended so wonderfully with his own. A voice, definitely a female one, that had belted out one Disney song after the other like a true theatre kid. A voice that had sounded soulful and deep while singing Iduna's lullaby, bright and clear when singing Anna's part as well as incredibly strong and powerful during Elsa's part – and let's of course not forget the incredible Sven impression she had given! And all that while flawlessly and effortlessly transitioning from one part to the next within a timespan of not only 5 minutes.

EJ shook his head. He was doing is again. He was gushing about a voice he had heard once. The voice of some girl he had never even seen. The voice of some girl he still wasn't completely sure had not just been a figment of his exhausted brain and overactive imagination. This had to stop.

And yeah, in retrospect suggesting a Frozen marathon to Ashlyn – who had of course immediately been on board – had not been EJ's brightest idea. Like that would make him forget the voice.

Hanging out with Ashlyn had still been a great idea, providing the awful day Friday had started as with a pretty great ending after all. They had watched both Frozen movies with Ashlyn singing along to literally every song and getting a grudging EJ to join in with a verse or two per song as well. And after the movie, the Caswell cousins had spent another hour or so just catching up with one another and talking about the first week of classes. EJ was so happy to see Ashlyn, albeit exhausted, so deliriously happy with her chosen course of studies. Seemed like his little cousin had made the perfect choice when choosing her major. And the prospect of seeing her boyfriend Big Red again tomorrow, who was flying in from Salt Lake, probably also played a part in lifting her spirits.

It was pretty late already when EJ finally packed his things and bid Ashlyn goodnight with her immediately offering up her shower to him for the rest of the weekend as well, knowing that no repairmen would have the chance to come by EJ's place any sooner than Monday. EJ had gratefully accepted and they decided that he would come by tomorrow after his run.

After finally arriving back at his own apartment, EJ had immediately gotten ready for bed. But after lying down, he realized just how good of a distraction hanging out with Ashlyn had been and sleep had evaded him for the longest time. Because that's when that voice from the shower sneaked itself back into his mind and his mind started reeling, thinking about who the voice could possibly belong to.

EJ knew that both Nini and Kourtney lived in the same apartment building as Ashlyn but was pretty sure he could exclude both girls from his list of possible suspects. For one, he had both of them sing a bunch of times and was pretty sure he would have been able to recognize their voices even with a wall in between them. And also, neither Nini's nor Kourtney's apartment were directly beside Ashlyn's if he remembered it correctly. Now that he thought about it, he had no idea who Ashlyn's immediate neighbors on her left and right were. He assumed they were students too, considering the prize of the apartments and its location. But other than that, he had no idea.

And that's how his list of possible suspects actually came up empty. At least for the moment.

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