Serenade >> m.c

//one//

dedicated to vvinterfell bc she was one of the first writers i read and i think her writing is incredible tbh

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If I was asked to describe my next door neighbours, the first thing that would come to mind would be music. Not only was it loud, but consistent, a heavy drum beat, guitars. It was like it was never-ending, so much so that I had gotten used to it being the background noise to my life, despite having only moved into the house a week and a half before.

I had only seen my neighbours a couple of times since I had moved in, normally at unreasonably early hours of the morning when I had woken in the night and was sitting on my doorstep, or on the balcony, the only place I could go where I wouldn't run the risk of my parents finding out about my late night habits.

There were four of them my age. They seemed to be coming in and out of the house constantly, with coffee and food, making loud conversation and punching each other affectionately on the arm.

I was intrigued, to say the least. I would sit on the front door step, a book hanging useless from my fingers, watching them with curiosity.

I didn't even know their names.

-

It was verging on 11 pm when I got into my car, my purse on the passenger seat and the laces on my Converse undone. One of the perks of having my own car was being able to go where I wanted, climbing out through my bedroom window with my keys in my hand.

I stopped off at the supermarket, browsing the aisles and picking up a packet of Skittles and filling up a large cup of coffee from the dispenser at the end of the aisle.

I reached the till, grabbing some gum and grinning politely at the lady behind the counter when I heard laughter behind me.

"I can't believe you're dyeing your hair again, Mikey. It's all going to fall out by the end of the year."

"Fuck off Ash, it will not. I don't dye it that often. Anyway, reverse skunk is going to look great!"

"I highly doubt it."

"I hate you."

I turned around to see who was talking as the lady was getting my change, only to be faced with the four boys from next door.

One of them was holding a box of hair dye, while the others had various packets of food piled up in their arms. They were all turned towards each other, until one turned and locked eyes with me as they waited for their turn at the till.

"Hey!" the one with the hair dye box announced suddenly, looking at me, "You're my new next door neighbour, aren't you?"

I nodded, grabbing the money from the lady and saying a quick thanks to her, unsure how the conversation was going to continue, before turning around to watch them, pulling loose change out of their pockets and dumping down the items in their arms.

I walked outside, sitting on my car bonnet and drinking the coffee I had bought, gathering the energy to get into the car and drive somewhere, but also stalling so I could see my neighbours.

The boys came out of the shop and headed to the car beside mine, chucking the bag into the boot, before my new neighbour turned.

"I never caught your name." he said curiously, catching me staring at his bright pink hair.

"Vivian. You?"

"I'm Michael. This is Calum," he pointed at the dark haired boy who was struggling to open a packet of muffins, "that's Ashton," the curly haired boy grinned and raised a hand, before grabbing the packet from Calum and opening it for him.

"The blond one's Luke. He's pissed at us at the moment, because his girlfriend dumped him and he's back to being sad and alone again." The blond boy- Luke- scowled at Michael, but threw me a small smile before going back to look at his phone and furiously typing.

Michael leant towards me and whispered in my ear, "She's horrible. Really self-obsessed. None of us like her, but Luke thinks she's perfect, would do anything for her." He hissed, rolling his eyes and nudging my shoulder companionably.

"Oh. She sounds like a bitch." I said, wrinkling my nose and smiling at Michael, who grinned back, before putting a finger to his lips and running his hand through his hair.

By this point, the boys were leaning comfortable against the car, throwing bits of food at each other and chatting. But this all went silent when I opened my Skittles.

"Dammit." Calum groaned, hitting his forehead with his hand.

"I can't believe we forgot the Skittles. I knew we'd left something behind." Ashton groaned, before staring at the skittles intently.

I paused, a green skittle in my hand, before I slowly offered them the bag, their puppy eyes too much for me to handle.

"That's it! Michael- you're no longer on the best friend list- Vivian just took your place." Luke announced, finally looking up from his phone and grabbing a handful of colourful sweets from the bag.

"Hey!" Michael protested, throwing a wrapper at Luke, who caught it laughing.

"Hey, do you guys have some weird obsession with music?" I said suddenly, "because it's all I can hear twenty four seven, even when I'm up early, which is rarely." I said, tilting my head to one side.

The boys all looked proudly at each other, before Michael said, "We're in a band together. We practice a lot at mine, if that's what you mean. But there's always music on as well, when someone's in the house."

"A band!" I enthused, "That's actually kind of cool. What are you called?" I asked.

"Well, currently we're Five Seconds of Summer, but knowing Michael it's going to change again at some point." Calum grumbled.

I narrowed my eyes for a second, before nodding.

"I like it."

Ashton looked quietly proud of himself too, before he glanced at the clock on his phone.

"Shit, Michael I have to be home in three and a half minutes or I will be disowned. D'you reckon you'll be able to get me home in time?" Ashton cried, throwing the remaining food into Luke's arms and yanking on the car door.

"Sure, don't panic man. I'll tell your mum that you made a new friend, she'll be so shocked she'll completely forget about your curfew." Michael snickered.

"That's hilarious Michael, I've never heard that one before." Ashton said dryly. "Now all of you get your asses in the car right now before I quit the band and get murdered by my mum at the same time."

Luke was still laughing at Michael's joke as they all clambered into the car, before they all squished their head through the window.

"It was nice meeting you, Viv!" Calum yelled, along with a chorus of goodbyes from the others.

Michael craned his head out the window and grinned.

"I'll see you around, Viv. I thought I was never going to meet my new neighbour!"

I laughed and waved at them, hearing a series of expletives coming from who I assumed was Ashton as Michael slowly pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road, leaving me alone with a half filled cup of cold coffee and three yellow skittles.