Sidemen Oneshots + Stuff

Years, pt 1

I got an amazing story idea using this song when someone sang it in my school's talent show.

Enjoy.

~~~

< Young children >

"Harry, honey, I know this is only your first day at your new school, but I would suggest you make some good friends," Harry's mum kindly suggested. The boy sighed.

"What about my old friends?" he asked.

"Well, perhaps you may see them again in the future, but I think you should also make some friends in your new school," his mum repeated. "Oh! Look, we're here. I'll bring you in, okay?" Keeping her word, the kind lady led her scared and confused son into the school building, waving him off as she left him with his new headteacher.

As Harry faced his new classroom full of noisy children, he gulped. It was all very overwhelming.

"Class, this is Harry," the teacher introduced him. "He is new and will be joining us for the rest of the year."

"Hey Harry! Come sit with us!" a short blond boy shouted, standing up. He was accompanied by five other boys, and they were all grinning and waving at him. After a moment of hesitation he smiled and walked over to them, taking a seat at their table. The smallest of the group, a cinnamon skinned boy, leaned over and whispered quickly in his ear.

"Nice to meet you. Wanna go on an adventure?"

Once I was seven years old, my momma told me,
"Go get yourself some friends or you'll be lonely."
Once I was seven years old.

Harry quickly learned what the boy meant by 'adventure'. The group of six were a very rambunctious bunch, getting into trouble more often than not. But he didn't care; in fact, he fit straight in. He also quickly learned everyone's names and their personalities. Simon - the short blond who had shouted to him on his first day, who was a sucker for anything sporty. Josh - the eldest and one of the most mature, always looking out for the others. JJ - loved music and shouting at the top of his voice, never running out of energy. Ethan - not afraid to speak his mind, even if he had no idea what he was saying. Tobi - also very mature, he helped to keep the group together and was kind to everyone, although he was barely ever seen not on the football pitch. And last but not least Vikk - the cinnamon boy who had whispered to him on his first day; he was quieter than the others, but just as witty and even more clever. It was an odd bunch, sure, but they somehow made it work. And boy, the adventures they had. Every break time they could be found in the playground, roleplaying, coming up with random stories, pretending to fight in different ways, anything. There was no limit to what they did.

It was a big, big world, but we thought we were bigger.
Pushing each other to the limit, we were learning quicker.

At eleven, everyone knew the group of seven as the troublemakers. They didn't deny it - rumour was, one of them actually named them that. The name was true though. Ethan never got through an entire test without speaking at least once, Simon had a habit of kicking footballs onto the school roof, JJ wasn't afraid to use the new words he learned in front of the younger children and all of them never backed out from a chance to have dangerous fun. Besides from Vikk, maybe.

Actually, it was Tobi and Vikk who kept the group from doing anything illegal at their age, like drinking or smoking. They were the ones who kept the group sane. However, they couldn't stop one thing: the need for fame.

By eleven, smoking herb and drinking burning liquor.
Never rich so we were out to make that steady figure.

Harry came home one day after the class had experienced a very interesting talk with the local nurse. Needless to say, JJ would be bringing it up repeatedly. Harry had informed his parents of what he had learned and his dad merely smiled.

"You're growing up, my son," he remarked. "Just make sure one day you find the one you love and keep them, so that you won't be lonely for the rest of your life."

"But what about my friends?" Harry asked, not exactly in the mood to be looking for love after learning what he did. "Won't they keep me company?"

"Yes, I suppose they will," his dad replied, "But if you don't find love you will be missing something. Love makes you feel...complete."

Once I was eleven years old, my daddy told me,
"Go get yourself a wife or you'll be lonely."
Once I was eleven years old.

< Teenagers >

September that year, the troublemakers had moved up into high school. After the transition Harry managed to get into something other than mischief: writing. Whether it was stories or songs, poems or novels, he enjoyed it. Music had sparked his interest as well, and his parents recognised that fact. So, for his twelfth birthday, Harry was gifted with his own ukulele.

I always had that dream, like my daddy before me.
So I started writing songs, I started writing stories.

Now, whenever he wasn't spending his free time playing games with his friends, Harry spent his time writing his own songs with his ukulele. They would be about anything - friendship, hatred, downright stupidity. But one thing he wasn't expecting to write about was love. Yet overtime, he started writing songs about love as well, slightly surprising him because he had no idea why.

Meanwhile, the seven friends were growing. Simon had pointed out that being labelled as 'troublemakers' would give them a bad reputation in school, so they had all been tasked with thinking up a new name.

They didn't come up with anything until they were fourteen.

Something about that glory
Just always seemed to pull me.
And only those I really loved
Would ever really know me.

Of course, the group knew about Harry's love of songwriting, and they enjoyed it when he played for them as well. However, they all wanted his talent to be known (even though Harry was quite opposed to the idea) and it was Josh who suggested that he play in the end of year concert.

It took weeks of convincing, but eventually Harry had been signed up by his music teacher and he knew he wouldn't be able to back down. The other boys helped him practice by giving feedback, suggesting different things and sometimes just listening to him. By the time the concert rolled around he was ready and fully confident, not as afraid as he had been in the first place. Plus, the amount of praise he received afterwards helped a lot.

Ethan brought up an interesting point the next day.

"Have you guys realised that whenever one of us achieves something, everybody is just expecting the rest of us to be there?" he asked. This got the boys thinking; Ethan made a very valid point.

"I guess they can see that we're all connected in a way," stated Josh.

"Like...sidemen," Tobi commented. Simon blinked, looking at Tobi for a second before gasping.

"That's what we can be called! The Sidemen!" he exclaimed. Instantly the others agreed with the name, feeling drawn to it. Harry smiled - he knew they were truly connected now.

"I guess...I guess we're the Sidemen now."

~~~

I figured out once I got to when they were fourteen that I should probably separate the parts a bit. Not sure how many parts this will have but I know where I'm taking this story so look forward to it!