daylight ◇ 5sos | a.i

one

0.1

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The weather in London was cold and gloomy, as always really. Puddles covered the grey concrete sidewalks and soft cold breezes kept a chill in the night air. The small amount of light produced from the streetlights showed the dark clouds circling in the sky, signaling that yet another downpour was near, but that didn’t stop Lily from plodding down these wet sidewalks, her feet splashing into each and every puddle.

Lily lived in a quiet area of London, the way she liked the world, calm and quiet. There was a newly built hotel a few streets down but very few people ever stayed there, tourists wanted to be in the heart of London with Big Ben and hustle and bustle, definitely not her idea of a good time. Lily spent most of her time cooped up in her apartment with her cat Cooper, drawing and doing arty things, only leaving if something really needed to be done or she couldn’t sleep, which is what brought her out on this chilly night.

She slowly looked around to see no one in sight, perfect. Casual strolls in the late hours of the night was a way to clear her mind, sitting in her bed left her totally alone with her thoughts which terrified her, walking down the near pitch-black streets was a way to escape from these thoughts till morning or sleep seemed unavoidable. Suicidal and anxious thoughts haunted her mind until sleep took over, but as years went on, sleep stopped interfering and insomnia kicked in, the tremendous trio. Depression, anxiety and insomnia. 

Lily and her family moved to London from New York when she was 5, all she remembered about New York and America in general was how busy and crowed everywhere was, just the thought of that always made her cringe. Sure London wasn’t the most isolated and quiet place but it was much better than living in the big apple where you couldn’t even get 2cm of personal space. Lily’s parents and little brother moved back to America 2 years ago, Lily decided to stay seeing as she was 19 at the time. Her parents were hesitant at first, knowing of her disorders and struggles with them in the past, but shortly respected her decision and loaned her some money to buy a nice apartment. Now 2 years later, Lily was 21 and living in a studio apartment with her cat, the real English dream.

The wind picked up slightly, causing Lily’s lilac hair to fly in every direction, including her eyes, even with it being in a high ponytail. Just as she tucked the stray strands behind her ears she found herself face-to-face with someone else.

“Sorry” he chuckled, using his big hands to steady the small-framed girl

“No, I’m sorry” she replied in a small voice. She looked up at the tall, curly-haired guy who was smiling widely at her.

“Don’t be” he chuckled again and lowered his hands from her arms.

“Now why is such a small girl like yourself wondering the streets of London at this time?” the faint light coming from the street light provided Lily with just enough light to see the guy’s toothy grin. That was the kind of question someone would ask before they kidnapped you and dragged you back to their basement where they would keep you for years and do who knows what with you. Unsure of how to answer, Lily just shrugged,

“Couldn’t sleep I guess”

“Same here, except I’m jetlagged from my flight” Lily’s heart was beating fast as usual, she wasn’t used to this much conversation, especially with a stranger. “I came over with some friends but they all fell asleep at the hotel so I decided to come out for a walk and explore a little”

“Cool” to be honest Lily didn’t really care for this stranger’s life story, she just wanted to continue her walk then go back home and cuddle with Cooper.

“I forgot to mention, my name’s Ashton”

“Lily” she smiled weakly for a moment, she tried to show a little emotion to this chatty stranger

“Well it was a pleasure to meet you Lily but I should start heading back to my hotel before my friends wake up” she nodded in reply. She wasn’t over the moon happy she met this guy in the middle of the night, but a little social interaction was okay.

He went to leave but quickly turned back to face her,

“I’m about to sound like such a tourist but, do you know how to get to…” he glanced down at the crumpled piece of paper in his hand, “Holiday Inn Express London?”

“End of the street and turn left, then left again at Nando’s”

“Thanks. Hopefully I see you around Lily” his toothy grin spread across his face again before he walked off down the street. Lily kind of hoped she wouldn’t have to see him again and put up with his talkative personality.

Lily pulled the door to her apartment shut and locked it, as she slid her boots off she heard the bell of her cat’s collar approaching,

“Hey Coop” she smiled and scratched his back causing him to purr loudly, “Ready for bed?” he replied with a short meow and followed her to the bedroom.

She quickly changed into some sweat pants and a pullover before collapsing onto the bed, Cooper jumping up next to her. The lack of sleep from the past few days had taken a toll and tonight Lily was exhausted, which allowed her to fall asleep in only a few minutes to the sound of raindrops hitting her window, totally erasing this stranger, or Ashton, from her mind.

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so I wanted to start a new story (just because, + it's 12am and I couldn't sleep). I was going to make this a Luke or Calum fanfic but I just couldn't resist my sunshine. Anyway, I don't know where this story is actually going so oh well oh well oh weeeeeeelll. I know nothing about London and what's there so I'm just making things up as I go

I called it 'daylight' after the new 5sos song that came out today. Also, I would just like to say, Michael's red/orange/pinky hair is sexy af