Twenty Øne Piløts||Imagines

Noise Complaint//Both

Word Count:1213

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After living in a duplex for a year and a half, I noticed that most people didn't tend to stay long. While my neighbors typically left within two or three months, I stayed put. The house was affordable, and I had a stable job in the city, so I really had no reason to leave. The landlord wasn't the overbearing type—she and I actually had a pretty good relationship.

From our conversations, I had picked up that whoever moved in just a few weeks ago, it was just one guy who was in his late 20's(which after mentioning, she wiggled her eyebrows at me, knowing about my recent history of relationships—or the lack thereof). Though he lived alone, I took note of the extra car that was often parked in the driveway that belonged to a friend of his that was at his house most days.

Since he moved in, I noticed that the general volume in my house had increased significantly. Whether it be the laughter that came from the pair or the clatter of something that they knocked over(which seemed to happened pretty often), I heard it all. Since we lived in a duplex, the noises carried through the walls pretty easily. For the most part, I didn't mind, though. It made my house seem a little less empty and lonely as I went about my day.

On occasion, the thing that did get on my nerves was the blaring music. Fairly often, usually in the late evening until about midnight, the two would blast music—typically twenty øne piløts—and though I definitely approved of their music taste, sometimes it was inconvenient.

On nights when I was up late, being my typical "night owl" self, I thought nothing of it, sometimes singing or rapping along to my favorite songs. But on nights like tonight, when I had to wake up at 5:30 to make it to work on time, it was driving me crazy.

I had been in bed for almost an hour when I threw the covers off of my legs, grabbing a sweatshirt as I walked out of my room. I wasn't angry, I just needed some peace and quiet for one night.

The moment I stepped out of my front door, I regretted not changing out of my shorts as the brisk October air hit my bare legs.

Oh, well. Better make this quick.

I knocked on the door softly and stepped back, waiting for it to open—it didn't and the music continued to play from inside the house. I knocked again, this time louder, and the music cut off, though as it did, I noticed that it gradually died down, part by part, causing me to furrow my brow.

I heard footsteps quickly approach the door as I silently prayed that the neighbors wouldn't be upset with me. After all, our first interaction was going to be me complaining about them enjoying their music, and I really hoped it wouldn't give the wrong impression.

The door swung open and I barely glanced at the man that stood there before I looked down at my feet, unable to look at him out of anxiety.

"Hey. I wouldn't normally do this, and I'm really sorry to ask this, but I have a really early shift tomorrow morning, and I was wondering if maybe you could-" I dropped of in the middle of my sentence when I glanced back up at the man in the doorway, recognizing the head of bright yellow hair immediately. "Holy mother of..."

Josh(Dun—yes, that Josh) laughed at my reaction as he leaned on the edge of the doorway. After a moment of silence, he piped up, "Sorry I didn't catch that. What were you gonna ask?"

I moved my mouth silently for a moment, unable to form any words. "I... Tomorrow I- I had to- wait, are you kidding me?" I managed to stutter out.

He chuckled again, replying with a confused, "What?"

"You're my neighbor?" I asked in disbelief. "Josh freakin' Dun moved in next door to me."

"In the flesh," he remarked, holding his arm out as he turned in a circle, as if to prove to me he was, in fact, real. "Tyler's here too, but he doesn't live with me."

"Hi!" a voice exclaimed from somewhere behind Josh.

"So what was it you were gonna ask?"

"Oh, that," I muttered as my original intention came back into my mind. "You know what? It's nothing. I'll just go-"

"No, no. You came over here for a reason. Did you need something?" Josh stepped onto the porch with a concerned look on his face as I turned to back to my front door.

"Well, it's just-" I struggled to get the words out, cringing at the fact that I was now asked the very members of twenty øne piløts to stop playing their music so I could sleep. "I sort of have a super early shift at work tomorrow morning, and I have to get up at 5:30," I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. "And the noise carries through the walls really easily, which makes it hard to get to sleep when..."

"Oh, man. I'm so sorry," Josh's face showed a mix of regret and apology. "We didn't even think of that—man, I feel awful. I'm so sorry."

"No, no. You're fine," I said, still feeling bad even though he was the one apologizing.

"We'll go ahead and stop. Sorry about that."

"Thanks so much," I smiled at him. "You guys sound really good, though. I've been enjoying listening to you.

He laughed and thanked me. "Sorry again... what was your name?"

"[Y/N]," I replied shyly.

"[Y/N]," he thought about it for a moment. "Listen, if you don't have anything tomorrow evening, would you maybe want to come over? Tyler is gonna be here again, and maybe we could make it up to you."

"I would love that!" I beamed.

"Alright," he smiled back. "Sounds like a plan. Just come on over whenever. I should be here."

"Will do," I wasn't able to wipe the smile off my face. "Night, Josh."

"Night, [Y/N]," he replied, and I walked back in my house, shutting the door and leaning my forehead against it. I let out a quiet giggle.

What dumb luck...

I didn't hear anything else that night—not a peep. I slept peacefully and went to work the next morning, unable to get the thought of my new neighbor out of my head.

The next day, I took Josh up on his offer, and joined him at his house that evening. I got to meet Tyler and Jenna, and we spent the evening eating pizza, listening to the guys play music, and played video games until the wee hours of the morning.

Josh and I exchanged numbers so I could let him know when I would have an early morning. On those nights, I didn't hear a peep from the house next door, with the exception of the night that he and Tyler serenaded me to sleep with a quiet rendition of House of Gold, Ms. Believer, and and acoustic version of Holding On to You.