Particles | Chris O'Neill

>two<

The next few weeks go by in a whirlwind of editing, going out to eat with the Grumps, and sleeping way too little.

Ryan and I are getting really close. Chris and me too. The three of us and Matt do almost everything together. One particular night, we've found ourselves at my apartment. We're all curled up in various places in my living room, watching a stupid scary movie. I'm on the couch, my legs extended over Ryan's lap. Chris is sitting on the floor in front of us, and every now and then I'll reach forward and ruffle his hair.

At one point, a jump scare in the movie sends me hiding in the cushions behind me. Both boys erupt into laughter. Chris reaches up and touches my back gently.

"Oh, my God, y/n, are you okay?" He asks through laughter. I don't answer with words, I only groan loudly.

"Oh, fuck, it gave her a stroke!" Ryan yells. I bring my face out of the cushions and laugh along with them. We reset our positions and watch the rest of the movie. When it's over, Ryan get up and grabs his keys from the counter.

"That was fun, we should do this every week," Ryan says. I nod, smiling.

"Absolutely," I say. I give him a hug, then Chris.

"Chris, you want a ride home?" Ryan calls over his shoulder.

"Actually, I was gonna show y/n something, so I'll get an Uber. Thanks though." I look up at him, confused.

"Show me something?" I ask as Ryan closes the door behind him.

"Yeah, I finally put something together. You know, for our collab?"

"Oh yeah! I forgot we said we were doing that!" I grab his arm and bounce on the balls of my feet.

"You did?! It took me fucking ages, you Dilbert!" He laughs, running an exasperated hand down his face.

"Sorry," I say with a giggle. He looks at me for a moment before speaking again.

"So, you said you bought a keyboard?" I nod and lead him to the small piano keyboard I bought the week before. He sits down and places his fingers on the keys, swiftly playing a few chords to warm up. I widen my eyes at him.

"You're really good," I say. He chuckles and looks over at me.

"Those were just simple chords, y/n."

"Okay, but I don't know how to play piano, you dip." He raises an eyebrow at me in response.

"Then why did you buy a keyboard?"

"I didn't buy it, I rented it. Because I wanted to learn!" He shakes his head and starts playing again.

"Maybe I'll teach you," he says, his words bridging a gap between two chords.

"I'd like that," I reply.

"Great." There's a pause, and we look at each other before he continues. "So, these are the chords I was thinking. If you write words, we'll work together to fix the chords and put the words to music. Then, fuck yeah, dude, we have a song." I nod, a blush creeping up to my cheeks. He plays what he's written so far, and I almost tear up. It's not just the progression of the chords, which is beautiful. It's him. It's the way his fingers brush the keys. It's the way he sways slowly forward and backward to the music. His eyes are set on the keys below his long fingers. When he's done, he picks up his hands and turns on the bench as much as he can to look at me.

"So... that's what I have so far." I'm still a bit in awe of seeing him play. I've been a fan of him for such a long time that seeing him playing something for me is like seeing Dan from Bastille play me a love song. Like a dream.

"That was... beautiful." He smiles sweetly and dips his head down.

"Thanks. I think it could be a really cool, like, atmospheric song." He continues to go on about the themes he thinks could go with it, and all I can do is smile and nod, taking in every word. When we're done, he scoots the bench back and stands up. My heart droops a little; I'm not ready for him to leave yet.

"So, I guess I'll call an Uber now," he says, slipping on his shoes. I frown absentmindedly.

"Oh... okay... I mean, I could give you a ride if you want," I offer, praying he'll say yes.

"Are you sure?" My ears perk up at his response.

"Yeah, absolutely! Come on, I'll get my keys." I turn and grab my keys from beside the front door.

"Thanks," he says. I swear I see his cheeks turning red. I can't help but wonder if it's because he likes me.

"No worries " I reply. We head to my car together, all the while, talking about our favorite music and games. He puts his address in my phone, and we start driving. He lives a good ways away. Taking into account that it's 11:00 on a Friday night, we both groan knowing it'll take at least 45 minutes to get him home.

"I could have called an Uber, y/n," he says, fidgeting with his beanie.

"Stop it," I retort, "it's totally fine." He smiles at me and nods, putting his hands up.

"Alright, okay, fine," he says with a chuckle. I chew on the inside of my cheek while we sit at a red light. If there's one thing I'm known for, it's being nervous around boys. I've done a good job of hiding it, but if Chris and I sped any more alone time together, I may explode.

As we drive, we start talking again. Eventually, we start talking about our favorite movies. Turns out we both love horror movies.

"Have you seen the new It?" He asks. I shake my head.

"No, not yet. I really want to, though!"

"Well I was thinking of seeing it with Ryan and Matt and maybe Ross, if you wanted to come." I smile widely and nod my head.

"Yeah, that would be awesome!"

"I'll text you when we decide on a time."

We finally pull up to Chris's place, a bit after midnight. He hesitates before reaching for the door.

"I'm excited you're gonna go with us to the movie..." he says, almost under his breath. I blush, obviously.

"Me too," I reply.

"We went to see some shitty horror movie a couple of weeks ago, and it was just me and Matt. We got so bored I ended up just suckin' him off in the theater." I erupt in into laughter, putting my hand over my mouth. "His cow-patterned wiener didn't taste too good," he adds in a stupid voice.

"Cow patterned??" I say through a huge laugh.

"Yeah, you should ask him about it next time you see him," he says, opening the door. I wave him a goodbye, and he closes the door behind him. Needless to say, I go to bed that night very happy.

(Well hello again. I hope you guys are digging the story so far. I'm trying really hard to not just put garbage out here, but I think I may be failing lololololol. Let me know if you have any ideas for the story!)