jiley | one shots

18 | drums

riley was leaning against the door frame of the white painted room, curiously looking inside where her boyfriend was sitting on the drum set. he was very focused on what he was doing, not even noticing her petite body staring at him.

"hey," she said to get his attention right when he groaned frustrated and almost threw his sticks away because just couldn't get it right. her voice made him look up and immediately soften a little.

"hey," he replied with a smile and gave her a signal to walk over and she did so. "was i too loud?"

she shook her head. the two of them live in a pretty average house, not only from its looks but also from its size. it had two floors, the bottom one was filled with the basic stuff, a kitchen, a living room, a sleeping room and a bathroom. upstairs they had among others a workroom for riley and some kind of music room for james mostly since it was where he held his drum kit. so whenever riley had to get some work done he made sure he didn't play too loud.

"i wasn't even working, i was in the living room actually and heard you play," she explained with a chuckle. she knew how frustrated he sometimes got and when she heard him playing that loud she knew he once again had some issues, whether it was with the beat or the song he had to play, so she decided to go upstairs and distract him a litte. so she took place on his lap and turned her face to him. "can you show me how to play?"

he laughed a little. "babe, i can't teach you how to play the drums in five minutes." she pouted jokingly.

"at least try it," she insisted, causing him to laugh again.

"alright," he mumbled in her ear, giving her goosebumps. he put the drumsticks in her slightly opened hand before covering the back of her tiny hands with his own hands.

"okay, so this" he hit one of the cymbals that stood around the chair they were sitting on with the stick in her right hand by moving her hand with his. "is the crash cymbal. it's the strongest accent marker within the kit and there are two crash cymbals." he moved her hand to the other one and stricken against it with the stick in her left hand. "they're often accompanied by a strong kick on the bass drum pedal."

to riley none of what he said made any sense but she loved seeing him like this. she loved how his eyes would light up once he talked about something he loved. she loved how happy he would sound and how concentrated he was. so she nodded, not wanting him to stop.

"and what is this called?," she asked curiously and made another cymbal make a sound, this time by pressing her foot on a pedal.

he chuckled. he thought it's adorable how clueless she was over the instrument. "those are the hi-hats.  they can be sounded by striking the cymbals with one or two sticks" he once again showed her by moving her hands to the cymbal and striking it. "or just by opening and closing the cymbals with the footpedal like you just did."

"can you play something for me?," she begged.

he nodded. "what do you wanna hear?"

"the anniversary song you wrote for me." she didn't even have to think about the answer, that song forever had a special place in her heart.

the drummer grinned before fulfilling her wish. but instead of letting go of her hands and playing with the sticks he made her play the song by moving her hands he still held tightly. it made her giggle but she went with it and really enjoyed it; feeling his chest against her back, warm and comfortable, feeling her hands on top of hers, holding them tightly, yet so softly, feeling his breath against her neck. it just felt like home.

so once he finished riley couldn't help but turn her head to him and press a passionate kiss against his lips. he smiled into the kiss as he returned it until she pulled away just to breath out "i love you."

"and i" he pressed a kiss on her forehead since she now sat side wards and faced him "love you."

"why were you so mad earlier?," she asked out of the blue. it still bothered her because she hated seeing him like this. she knew his temper could often get the best of him so she knew it wasn't too serious, though. litte mistakes already made him feel like a total fool and she really hated that because to her he and everything he did was perfect.

he sighed. "last time at band rehearsals john and luke wrote this new song and i just can't get the beat right. it's making me so angry because i know i can do better." riley felt how he tensed up a little.

"hey,  you need to calm down, okay?" she softly tilted his head up by his chin. "i'm sure you can do it. it's just the pressure."

her touch made him a lot calmer already, like always. he took a deep breath before nodding. "you're right.  but can you do me a favor?"

"always."

"can you come to the rehearsals next time?," he asked. he knew her presence only would make him a lot calmer already and with her he was sure he could do it.

"if that helps you, sure."

he nodded again before hugging her softly. "thank you," he whispered.

she smiled. "no worries," she answered before pressing a kiss on his cheek while pulling out of the hug to turn towards the drums again.  "now, how do you use this thingy?" she pointed at the bass drum, causing james to laugh, hug her tightly from behind and then once again taking her hands with the sticks into his and explaining it to her.

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god bless wikipeda because i know nothing about drums lmao