taron egerton ~ oneshots

adjacent apartments

It's been three hours. Three. Hours. The guy that lives next door to me will not stop his goddamn music. I'm used to him doing this at ungodly hours, but tomorrow is my final for my undergrad degree in biology and I need to sleep. And considering it is currently one in the morning and he is playing Rock You Like a Hurricane at full volume, I don't think I'll be falling asleep anytime soon. 

However, considering I have never spoken a word to him and I'm half asleep and very cross, I don't really want to go knocking on his door just yet. I'm going to give him a half hour and if the music hasn't stopped by then I'm going over.

I can be reasonable when I want to be. 

[30 minutes and 26 seconds later]

"Hey!" I shout, banging on the guy's door. "Shut the fuck up!" 

At this point, he is playing Dr. Feelgood and I can barely hear my angry bangs on the door. In fact, I can barely hear my own thoughts. 

"Hey!" I scream, my fists banging against the door so loudly it shakes on its hinges. I continue to maim his door until it is opened and my fist almost connects with the guy's face. 

His eyes are red, which makes me think at first that maybe he's high, or on drugs, but after a moment of contemplation I can see that's not the case. His cheeks are also red, and his eyes have a sheen about them like someone who has just been crying. 

I lower my fist and frown. "Are you okay?" I have to shout these words because the music still plays loudly. 

He nods, his face blank. The music changes and Pour Some Sugar On Me starts to play, the transition between the songs is relatively quiet, so I can hear him sniff quietly. Although I was going to berate him for being so loud, I can't help but wonder why the guy was crying to aggressive music. 

"I'm Y/N by the way." I hold out a hand for him to shake and he complies, smiling a little and briefly. He lets go of my hand and brushes it through his messy hair. 

"I'm Taron." And though his voice comes out a little croaky, he does his best to sound polite. "What did you want?"

"Oh, right." I laugh awkwardly. "I was just wondering if you could turn down your music because I have a final tomorrow and I really need some sleep."

He leans against the door and nods slowly. "Sure, sorry to keep you up. I didn't think about that."

"Are you having a party or something?" That's my way of starting a conversation, using an open-ended question that will allow me to ask why he was crying without being so blunt. 

God, I am so tired.

"No, not really." He says simply, and he seems just as tired as I am, more even. He doesn't elaborate, which ruins my way of politely asking. 

"Oh."

I stand there awkwardly, unsure what to say if I should say anything at all. The song changes again, this time playing Paradise City. 

"I see you like 80's rock then." I say, biting my lip to stop a random nervous laugh from escaping my lips. 

Goddamit I am so tired and awkward and I am not functioning whatsoever. 

He also laughs nervously and nods, holding his hands up in mock surrender. "Well, what can I say, I have a very specific taste."

But when his smile disappears he looks sadder than before. I find my heart breaking for the boy I know nothing about other than his music taste.  

"Are you okay?" I ask again quietly. The boy before me looks broken, but he looks like he doesn't want anyone to know. Even though his eyes are filled with tears, more than before at my words, and he bites his lip to stop it from trembling. 

He hesitates but shakes his head. "No."

I say nothing, but nod, and stare at my feet. I'm astounded he had the courage to say that. More often than not a boy his age who is struggling with something internally won't admit it. Pride tends to get in a lot of people's way when it comes to these things, even if they don't think they have any. 

I look back up to see him staring at me. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He shakes his head, which doesn't surprise me. 

"Do you want to sit together in silence and just think?"

He nods, giving me a small, but grateful smile, and he holds the door open for me to come inside. We walk to his balcony, and I try not to notice how messy the room is. He turns the music off on his way, and pulls the door open for me. 

We sit in the cold night air in silence for an hour and a half, before I somehow manage to fall asleep against the cool brick wall I lean against. 

---

I wake up in the morning at six o'clock when his alarm clock goes off. I'm lying atop his bed sheets at one end of the bed, and he lies on the other end. There's a mere foot of space between us. 

We both awake immediately, jolting up. I startle when I see him, and then when I see that I'm not in my apartment. 

Hazily, I start to worry about what happened last night. He looks equally disorientated and worried. 

Sharing a nervous glance I say what we're both thinking. "We didn't....last night... did we?"

He gulps and shakes his head uncertainly. "No, I don't think so."

I exhale with relief, and start to get to my feet. I didn't bring anything with me so I don't have anything to gather. I stand at the foot of his bed as he gets up too. 

"Thanks, for last night. It was nice." He says with the closest thing to a genuine smile I've ever seen on him. 

I smile back, my cheeks flushing, probably because the room is warm and stuffy. "Of course. If you ever want some company let me know."

I walk to his door, and as I'm slipping out he calls after me. "Good luck on your final Y/N."

"Thanks." I reply, not looking back so he doesn't see that my face flushes again. 

---

thank you guys so much for 1k reads!! also please comment requests or PM me them. I have a shit ton of ideas but I would love to do some personalized ones for you guys :)