Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Noah Sterecra was living a sad life, he worked at a Starbucks and spent most of his time rotting in his tiny apartment he shared with his roommate, Trent. He sighed while staring back at himself in the coffee machine, he was covering the shift of Dawn, a supposedly magical girl who worked the afternoon shift. It was just him serving and making every latte and espresso the people in the que wanted. He was meant to be working with his manager Heather but as usual she hasn’t shown up. The bell on the door rang as it swung open and in walked Heather.

“Noah, why the hell are you here?! Your shift was this morning!”

“Dawn needs me to cover because she’s at some wildlife protest.” He said as Heather sped past him into the break room.

Another guy trailed in behind Heather and Noah’s attention drew towards him, he was tall, tan and had piercing green eyes. His hair fell just around his shoulders and a bull necklace hung loosely around his neck, his chiseled jaw and handsome face wasn't the only reason Noah was staring, the guy standing in front of him had to be one of the most famous rock star in North America, Alejandro Burromuerto. He had a black bag thrown over one shoulder. It was covered in pins and patches, Noah jumped out his skin when Heather appeared behind him.

“Stop staring and get back to work.” She deadpanned from behind him
“Sorry, it’s hard not to stare when your favorite music artist walks through the door behind your bitch of a boss.” Noah snapped back, spinning to face Heather.

“We’re childhood friends, he’s staying with me for a while. Now go take his order!”

Noah walked up to the counter abandoning the empty cup sitting on the counter.

“So, what do you want…”

“Uh….I don’t really drink coffee. What would you get, make it sweet though?” The man behind the counter responded, his Spanish accent was a lot thicker in real life.

“How have you never had coffee, it’s like the best drink, anyways, If you want me to suggest something sweet I’d probably say mocha or something?”

“Uhm…A mocha then!”

“Okay, that's like $4.60 or something.” Alejandro handed Noah five dollars and walked towards one of the empty booths where he sat and opened his bag, from which he pulled out headphones and a laptop he plugged them in and started doing whatever famous people did in a tiny Starbucks.

The rest of Noah's shift was easy, there weren't many customers and Heather made most of the drinks anyway, every so often Noah would catch himself staring at Alejandro. It was hard not too. They were closing up and Alejandro was the only person left in the café. Outside the street lights turned on just as they were about to leave. Heather and Noah lived in the same flat block, that’s how Noah got his job in the first place.

“Are you coming to watch our band practice?” Noah uttered in the silence of walking with Heather and Alejandro.

“Sure but only because we’re out of soda and I know Trent buys tons.” Heather responded “Also Ale will have to come with us, Bridge is setting up a huge party for later.”

“You’re in a band?” Alejandro spoke up.

“Yeah, we’re shit.” Noah replied

“What do you play?”

“Bass.”

“Cool…” Alejandro trailed off as they approached the flat building.

Noah opened it and they all trudged in and up the five flights of stairs into Noah’s flat. When they all entered they were hit with shouts from Courtney about how late they were and a scream from Cody. Noah’s band consisted of four people, Gwen the drummer and Noah’s friend from high school, Cody, Gwen’s brother and Courtney, Gwen’s girlfriend. Trent and Justin were also there, Trent was Noah’s flatmate.

“YOU GUYS ARE SO LATE!” Courtney yelled as they sauntered into the main room, Noah’s bass laid in the corner and Gwen was sitting on the seat of her drums swinging back and forth. Trent and Justin shifted on the couch to make room for Heather and Alejandro.
“I’m here now, don’t shit yourself.” Noah responded.

“Alejandro Burromuerto!? We’re like your biggest fans!!” Cody screamed picking up his guitar.

“Aha, thanks mi amigo.”

“Since you're finally here we can start” Gwen said to Noah.

“Let’s start then!” Cody was buzzing to see Alejandro at their band practice.

“WE ARE THE ALL STARS, 1, 2, 3, 4!!” Gwen yelled and Noah started playing.

They didn’t consider their music shit, just decent. Noah loved playing bass; he let the rhythm carry him through the song and sung in the background when he had to. Since Courtney was the only one with a good voice she sang most things, Noah shouted when shouting was needed and Cody played guitar. The song came to a close and Trent and Justin burst into claps and shouts, so did Heather just slower and a lot less enthusiastic. Alejandro just sat silently, expression unreadable.

“You guys suck.” Heather shouted as if she was in a crowd.

“I told you guys we sucked, I'm the only talented person here!” Courtney exclaimed.

“I don’t think we suck…” Cody muttered

“No-one cares Cody.” Noah deadpanned.
“You guys are really good!” Alejandro piped up from his spot on the couch

Gwen sniggered and Noah made a small “mhm” sound.

“No I’m being serious you guys are great, you could sign with an agent or something and get big!”

“You think so?” Noah raised one eyebrow and messed with the strings of his guitar.

“Yeah?”

“I did come here to listen to music” Justin said

“Ugh whatever” Noah said “1, 2, 3, 4 !!!”

They started playing one of Noah's favorite songs, “Consequences” . It was his favorite because he wrote it, it’s about addiction and shit. It also just has banger basslines. He shouted into the air as they played and when the song finished even Heather seemed impressed.

“That was actually good.” Heather complimented.

“Thanks!” Courtney squealed, getting a compliment from Heather is so rare it’s like diamonds in a coal mine.

The rest of band practice was a drag; they played a few songs then started packing up.

“So, you guys coming to the party later?” Heather mentioned.

“Sure, we’ll all be there!” Gwen answered for the group. “I’m gonna load these cables and stuff into the car.”

“Yeah we should probably get going, Cody you coming?” Justin said, wandering towards the door. Cody followed yelling bye to everyone.

Trent went into the kitchen to make food and Courtney, Gwen and Heather went out to load Courtney and Cody’s stuff into Gwen’s car. Gwen and Courtney live together and Cody lives next door so they all live pretty close. Noah realized it was just him and Alejandro in the room and suddenly it felt more awkward than before.

“Do you actually think we’re good or were you just saying that?” Noah questioned slumping down on the couch beside the Spaniard.

“Yeah! You're really good on bass, how long have you been playing?”

Noah felt his face flush, he wasn’t used to getting compliments.

“I’ve been playing for around seven years and thanks, I guess.”

“I’ve been playing guitar for seven years too!”

“Ale! Come on, we're leaving, I have shit to do!” Heather screamed from the doorway

“So, I’ll see you later at Heather's party?”

“Yeah, bye…” Noah called as Alejandro walked out with Heather.

Noah sighed and checked his phone, he saw a notification pop up.

*Alejandro! followed you*

He felt a smile grow on his face.

Chapter Text

Alejandro hates parties, and it's not because he couldn't ever go to them. He just found them uncomfortable. He would never admit that. According to the media he was some evil, cool rockstar in reality he was just him but standing in the middle of Heather's crowded living room didn't make him feel like him, people were staring and whispering as he walked past. Then everything started closing in on him, the walls and his vision went blurry he could feel his heart picking up and his breath becoming shaky, then he felt an arm around his wrist and it pulled him into a different room.

The room was stuffed full of furniture all from Heather's house. People were perched on all of the furniture and some on the ground he looked over and Courtney was beside him. Courtney was the girl from the band, he reminded himself he wasn't Alejandro Burremerto right now and he could drop the cool act.

“Uhm, hey?”

“WOAHHH ALEJANDRO BURREMERTO MY LITTLE BUDDY IS YOUR BIGGEST FAN!” The boy who yelled that was on the couch was accompanied by three other people, a ginger girl with wild eyes and curls everywhere, a strong looking stone faced girl who was leaning on the big guy in the middle on the other side of him was a familiar looking barista, Noah.

“Oh cool! Not to be weird but what’s this place?”

“Oh this is the room where saddos go!” Gwen shouted from the couch, she had a drink in her hand, she swirled the beer in the cup and took a sip.

“I’m gonna play music! Heather and Bridgette let us use this place to get away from the crowds! My name's Sierra by the way!”

Sierra walked over to a speaker that was sitting on a bedside cabinet. She turned it on and unlocked her phone. Music started playing loudly, not as loud as the party but enough to drown it out.

Alejandro awkwardly wandered over and sat beside Noah, he was the only person he knew. Sierra's music was actually pretty good. It was a mix of TV Girl and other indie bands Alejandro actually grew to like. The song changed and Owen, who was Noah's friend from earlier, got up and played something different. It was Alejandro's music, he visually cringed and turned away. Noah sighed and got up.

“I’m gonna go get some air, I'll be back later guys.” Noah said to particularly no-one since Owen and Gwen were dancing in the middle of the room, they were definitely drunk. The ginger and strong looking girl was chatting and laughing in the corner. The few other people in the room were playing a stressful game of charades.

“Mind if I come with you?” Alejandro spoke to Noah, he couldn't bear to be inside with these people he didn't know while listening to his own music.

“Uhh, sure, I guess.” Noah responded. They both stalked out the room and onto the balcony looking over the night sky.

They both sat there in awkward silence until Noah reached into his pocket and pulled out a lighter and a ciggerate.

“You smoke?” Alejandro said as a pathetic conversation starter.

“Only at parties…It’s really shit but I started in high-school.”

“Oh. Sometimes I wish I gotta do shit like that in school, all I do is play music and get screamed at.”

“That sucks, I thought you would’ve been popular in school, prom king.”

“I was. Until my music got popular, I was always pulled out of class and eventually dropped out.”

Noah sighed, shrugging his shoulders and took a long drag. “Some people would kill to speak to you, having to drop out must’ve been an ok sacrifice?”

“I’m not saying I’m not happy being famous, I just wish I got to experience life.”

“Hm, I guess I could understand that, I work at a Starbucks in Canada though so maybe I don’t.” Noah half joked.

Noah sighed again and offered a cigar to Alejandro.

“No, thanks though, I don’t smoke.” Alejandro responded to the offer weakly, staring out at the skyline of Ottawa.

The pair went silent again, staring out into the cold night air. Eventually Noah turned to face Alejandro.

“Did you mean what you said earlier, about us being a good band, and putting in a word with your producer?”

“Yeah. I will put in a word, your music is great.”

Before Noah had time to respond the door to the roof swung open, Courtney stomped out shouting about charades and Ale took that as his que to go inside. The rest of the night was a blur, he sat with Noah in silence while everyone else chatted away. He was normally confident and charismatic but being around people he barely knew made him tense up. He didn’t pay much attention to anything apart from the fact that Noah didn’t have a single drink all night.

Chapter Text

Noah woke up to a sound that was too familiar, his alarm was shrill in his ears and he groaned. He slumped himself up and in front of him was a bundle of dead bodies, Noah wished, his sleeping friends had their limbs entangled like a big human rubber band ball. He checked his phone and he had an assortment of messages from Izzy, Courtney, Cody, Owen and Trent. They all read pretty much the same. Explaining they had to go but Noah was asleep and they didn’t wanna wake him. He looked around the room and everyone was there apart from the people who left him a message, Bridgette, Heather, Gwen, Sierra, Lindsay and Tyler.

He got up and walked to the main room, it was a mess, cups and bottles were discarded on the ground. There was a tipped over table with ping pong balls laying nearby. He heard footsteps behind him and thought someone else had woken up.

“Mierda, ¿qué pasó aquí?” A voice muttered from behind Noah.

It was Alejandro, Noah realized he hadn’t seen him in the backroom with everyone else.

“Uh, hey.” Noah said groggily his voice came out croaky and weak.

Heather stumbled into the room clutching her head.

“Bad hangover?” Alejandro laughed, his accent was thicker in the morning and Noah had to admit it was attractive.

Heather just groaned and took a sip of the water in her hand. She handed Noah his phone.

“Your phone is going crazy, it woke me up.” Heather groaned.

Noah opened his phone to see a very angry string of messages from Courtney and Cody. Courtney was complaining about Noah and Gwen still being at Heathers saying they needed to practice, then he remembered.

“Oh shit! Uh sorry Heather but me and Gwen have a gig later we gotta bounce.”

Heather had already passed out again on the couch, according to Noah’s phone it was already 2PM.

“Tell Heather to be at the Rockit for 8PM. You can come if you want.” Noah called to Alejandro as he shook Gwen awake.

-----------------------

Gwen and Noah rushed about his apartment getting ready while Courtney warmed up her voice and Cody tuned two guitars and a bass. Noah fluffed up his hair in the mirror while Gwen applied eyeliner carefully. They walked into the main area and picked up their instruments.

“We gotta go soon, but we could probably run through the set once more.” Courtney grumbled.

“Sure, but we got this, I don’t know why you're so stressed.” Gwen replied surprisingly cheerfully.

They ran through the set without any problems, they played music so much it was muscle memory. They went to load everything into Gwen's car, Noah hauled his bass and part of Gwen’s drums into the car’s boot.

They were all loaded into the car by Courtney, Noah couldn't drive so he sat in the back seat Cody beside him. Noah hates the radio; he can't stand listening to the same three songs over and over especially when it’s accompanied by the same annoying lyrics about some breakup as much as he hated the songs the lyrics were somewhat relatable; he had been through a few rough breakups himself. Noah tuned it out until he realized they were playing a rock song, it was weird but Noah surprisingly enjoyed it. The music faded out and the presenter’s voice blared from the front of the car, that was “Song About Me” from Alejandro Burremerto, his new album comes out next week make sure to stay tuned for that but for now this is “Third Life” by Ariana Griande. Before Noah had time to go on a spiral of internet searches about Alejandro's new album the car screeched to a stop and he had to get out.

Noah rolled his eyes as Courtney paced up and down the coffee table in front of them. She was always nervous before shows but it’s worse today since she’s had about seven cups of coffee.

“Court, we’ll be fine. We’re a good band!” Gwen got up and wrapped an arm around her, trying to comfort her.

“What if the audience doesn't think that, I knew I should’ve joined that other band!”

“You are aware you’re talking to your current bandmates right?” Noah said, his eyes boring into the worried girl in front of him.

At that moment a guy walked through the room,

“The All Stars, right? You guys are on, and good luck out there.”

Courtney sighed, Gwen let go of her hand and led them onto the stage, Noah had to admit he didn't expect this many people to show but it was a good surprise, kind of. He scanned the ground for his friends but spotted them up on the balcony. Owen, Izyy and Eva sat around a table, Owen flashing him a toothy smile and Eva a thumbs up. Tyler, Justin, Trent and Harold sat around another table they were having a hushed conversation, or argument about something. Bridgette, Lindsay, Heather and Alejandro sat at the final table Heather was giving them all a judging stare and Lindsay was clapping and waving. Noah’s attention drifted to Alejandro. He made eye contact with Noah, smiled and then winked at him? Noah could feel his face heat up, he couldn't tell if it was from the shining lights on stage or the fact a famous guy just winked at him, before he had time to spiral the crowd quietened down and Gwen screamed.

“We’re The All Stars! 1, 2, 3, 4!!”

They burst into song Noah felt a smile grow across his face, which was rare but he was doing the thing he loved, playing music. Whenever he played he felt weird, like every tiny atom in his body had connected to guide him through the song like an invisible string pulling on his body telling him what strings to hit and when.

The band got a surprising amount of support and shouts from the crowd, everything actually went smoothly. They were playing their final song of the night. It was called ‘The Fall’ and it was the first song they had ever written, they wrote it as a group and it was his favorite to play. It had one of the best bridges ever and Noah got to sing it. The bridge came up and Noah shoved the nervousness and breath that caught in his throat to the back of his mind and he shouted his bridge into the mic, if this is what Courtney felt like everytime she sang Noah would start a solo career and sing his own music. Courtney thanked the crowd and exited the stage. He immediately felt Cody’s arms swing around the group and envelope all four of them in a sweaty, happy hug. After they let go Gwen pressed her lips to Courtney’s cheek and cheered with excitement.

“Oh my god we did it! You guys were so good, we’re so good, they loved us!”
Noah knew Courtney and Gwen had unbelievably sappy feelings for eachother, but he definitely didn't know they just kissed like that. Neither did Courtney apparently because she was standing still with her hand pressed to her cheek, her entire face was flushed red and her mouth was slightly agape. Noah took a mental picture of the scene laughing to himself. Cody pinched him and made a ‘Let’s piss off somewhere else motion’ and for once he went along with it.

“Uh, we’re gonna go…find…. Harold! Yeah, let’s go find Harold.” Cody burst out pulling Noah away from the couple.

Noah writhed out of Cody’s grasp to find the rest of the group standing in front of them. Owen scooped him up into a bone crushing hug while Trent, Justin, Harold and Cody shared one of their own. Everyone else awkwardly stood back not knowing what to say, Izyy was the first to congratulate the duo.

“YEAH YEAH YEAH!!! YOU GUYS WERE SO GOOD OUT THERE I THOUGHT I WAS GONNA PASS OUT!!!”

“Thanks, Izz!” Noah replied, he didn’t act like it but he genuinely cared about Izzy, Owen and Eva.

“Thanks, all of you for coming to see us play!” Cody said to the group, they all mumbled different things there words seeming to collide into one big hum.

Courtney and Gwen walked up to the group, their hands entangled together.

“Let’s go get a drink, to celebrate?” Justin suggested. The group agreed and followed him away. Noah called out about just wanting to go home but he gave up trying over all the noise and just messaged Trent and ‘The All Stars group chat’.

Him and Alejandro were left standing backstage, Alejandro was typing into his phone, he clicked send and slipped it into his back pocket.

“Well done! You were great out there.” Alejandro piped up “Are you not going to get a drink?”

“Yeah, I don’t drink that much, plus I’m exhausted.”

“You seem to get tired a lot pequeño bajista?”

“Yeah uh what does that mean?”

“Secret, want to drive back to Heathers with me, unless you have your own car, that is.”

“Sure. Courtney’s the only one who drives and I have no other way to get back.”

----------------

The drive back to the flat block wasn’t that awkward, they sat in comfortable silence until they found a common enemy, people, they laughed and talked about how stupid everyone was. Eventually they reached the apartment building and parted ways but that night Noah lay awake thinking he couldn’t shake the image of Alejandro winking at him earlier in the day is words also rung in his ears,

“You were great out there”

He meant the band, right, all of four of them, not just Noah. He sighed he didn’t want to spiral right now, he checked his phone to see Alejandro had posted, he clicked on the story. It was a video of the band playing, it was Noah’s bridge in ‘The Fall’ he clicked the comments to see lots of the same thing.

‘@###### OMG!! We were here we lit could’ve seen him!’

‘Ur new album is gonna be so silly ayayaya :3’

Those were the top two comments, Noah decided to leave own before rolling over and squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to go to sleep.

‘tysm for watching us play :)’

He didn’t understand why Alejandro had to be so nice, he was like a magnet. You wanted to be friends with him so bad, almost like he drew you in. Why couldn't he just be a massive dick like everyone else.

Chapter Text

Alejandro woke up to a loud beeping in his ears, it had been a while since he heard a loud ringing almost everyday. Since he moved to Ottawa to move in with Heather his life had been boring, apart from meeting Noah. The only reason he moved was to get away for a while, there was a big enough recording studio and his manager just called in every so often. After the release of his new album everything would go back to the way it was before he was playing a music festival the day after his album drop and if his music did well he would have pictures taken everywhere he went. He rolled out of his bed in Heather and Bridgette's small room and walked through to the main room where he met Bridgette.

“Sup, you're up early?” Bridgette questioned, she had become accustomed to seeing the taller boy everyday.

“Yeah, I have a meeting to go to.” He responded, wiping his eyes.

He got ready carefully but quickly, brushing out his hair and smudging black eyeliner under his eyes to make him fit his media portrait. He yanked his hood up making sure it wouldn’t mess with his hair. He slung his bag over his shoulder and left the house.

When he arrived at the meeting room his hair was slightly disheveled but he looked presentable enough, the meeting was to make sure he did enough advertising so people would actually listen to his music, he had to do a entire interview and sit in a room with people he hated, his manager Chris Mclean, music producer Chef Hatchet and a social media manager Blainley.

“Alejandro! How nice of you to join us!” Blainley beamed as he walked into the room. He internally rolled his eyes and slumped down in the empty chair.

“So, we’re going to start by filming you an interview to post online.” She continued as Alejandro pulled his damp hood down and flattened out his hair. “Just pretend we aren’t even here!”

“I do that most of the time anyways” Ale retorted under his breath before responding in a clearer voice. “Yeah okay let's do this.”

He made sure to tone down his accent and pretend there wasn’t a camera watching his every move and recording his voice.

“So! What inspired you to write this album, any particular inspiration?

Normally Alejandro would’ve just responded saying he had to make another album or he would be homeless and lose his record label but the famous side of him would say otherwise.

“Uh- Probably just feelings and stuff, we all have them, even me somehow.” He laughed at his own pathetic attempt at a joke and the complete lie that his answer was.

He answered a few more questions about his music and what to expect from his future music and the festival that was fast approaching. He gave the same cookie cutter answers and they wrapped up the interview. The rest of the meeting felt like a bore. It was just Chris droning on about how he needs to get involved in drama or pull some publicity stunt. Before he left he made sure to tell Chris about Noah’s band.

“Hey before you can I talk to you about a band who I think could do really good signing with you?”

“No! I’m busy right now.” Chris snapped back at Alejandro.

“Well they could make you tons of money and make you more famous but if you're not interested….”

“Money? Okay sure give me their email and we can think about giving them a deal.” Chris being the ego-tistical maniac he is would only listen if they could make him money.
“Here’s a twitter account of the bassist, you could probably find something from there, bye now.”

Alejandro walked out of that meeting and pulled his hood up, zipped it up and tried to look like a normal citizen. He walked outside and the rain poured down on him, it soaked his hoodie as he ran to the underground. He got on his train and started receiving some strange looks from people, like they recognized him but couldn't put a name to his face. He shuffled his feet and bored his eyes into the ground. The train screeched to a stop and he got off. The rain hadn’t stopped so he walked faster, his shoes getting soaked. He walked into a coffee shop on the side of the street, it was bright and not too busy so he thought he could hide out for a bit.

“Could I please get a medium mocha?” He asked the barista, his eyes fixed on the counter.

“Alejandro..?” The barista responded, making him tense up and start to rock on his feet. He looked up to see the barista in front of him, Noah behind him was a ginger girl standing at a coffee machine, she looked close to smashing it into a million pieces.

“Oh, Noah, I didn't see you there.”

“Whatever, it’s £4.60.”

He handed over the money, picked up his coffee and went to sit, it was weird seeing Noah again. Everything felt weird, he had showed up at Heathers a week ago and he just met some guy who he had helped get a record deal with.

He only sat for around ten minutes before a disaster struck. There was a scream from the curly hair girl and a concerned noise from Noah. Alejandro turned around and there was smoke coming out of the coffee machine and there was an overflowing cup under the funnel. Noah was running around the machine and the mystery girl was jumping about shouting at customers. The Spaniard took that as his cue to leave. He dropped his cup in the bin and sauntered out of the shop. He got a call from Heather.

“Hello?” Alejandro uttered into the phone.

“Alejandro!!!! Where the hell are you! You can’t just fuck off and only tell Bridgette!” Alejandro didn’t have the phone on speaker but he was getting judging looks from the people around him.

“Sorry, I’m on my way to the flat now.” Alejandro hung up the phone while half listening to Heather’s screams through the phone. He walked down the street and into Heather's apartment.

Chapter Text

Noah had nine sisters, eight older and one younger and today he was getting a visit from the youngest. Mary Kate- or MK as most people knew her. He was lying on the couch scrolling through whatever social media was least brain-frying, he scrolled through what felt like millions of posts about the same things, Alejandro's new album, the festival and some of Gwen's posts, Gwen did lots of photography, she loved taking pictures. Noah loved all the photos. He thought it was interesting. Photography was preserving a moment in time. Encapsulating it forever. A memory for everyone to see. He clicked onto Gwen's profile looking at the most recent photos. Surprisingly the first one was him, it was a picture taken at night. It was of Noah and Izzy in a children’s park, spinning on the prices of equipment. He remembered that night, it was when Izzy and Gwen had hauled him out of bed after he was hung up on some- bad memories. He was forever grateful for that. He spent ten minutes watching an interview with Alejandro, about his new album. It was weird to think that just two nights ago he was on a roof speaking to the same tall, tanned boy about being famous. How he regretted some aspects of it.

His phone buzzed and a notification appeared at the top of the screen. It was from MK, Noah opened the message, flinching at the sudden switch of light, he had most apps to dark mode but messages was not one of them.

“noah, i'm coming over with my friend i'll be there in ten:3”

Noah groaned and pulled himself up, he went to get dressed in some decent clothes and after a long struggle of what to wear he decided on an outfit he wore often. Noah often got cold in the harsh winter air of the apartment so he wore a white undershirt with a blue polo and red jumper, the layers made him look questionable but Noah wasn't one to ponder over his appearance. He fixed his hair to restrain the relentless teasing from his little sister about his hair being too long. After around five minutes of rushing about fixing small things around his apartment he flopped back onto the couch and turned back into a lifeless corpse on the cheap but comfy sack of pillows he got from the Facebook marketplace.

The bell that was flimsily attached to Noah and Trent's door went off and the shriek of the bell echoed around the room, Noah sighed and rolled off the couch. He pulled himself up, his head was throbbing and the world around him spun. He staggered his way to the door and flung it open to see two faces. A taller girl he didn't recognise with straightened blonde hair and deep purple eyes. She wore a cropped jacket with a white shirt and denim shorts. She had a necklace around her neck which read “J” in fancy lettering. In front of the girl was a smaller one which Noah knew much better, she wore a cheeky smile and a big red jacket. The pockets were stuffed with her hands and the many other pockets were filled with trinkets. She had her classic blue beanie on and she stared up at her brother.

“Noah! I've missed you!” The pair of them didn't like physical touch so they just awkwardly smiled at each other.

“I missed you too MK, come inside Trent's out with Justin right now.” Noah’s response sounded flat, like he wasn't happy but it had been months since he had seen his younger sister and he was happy to see her again.

His sister wandered into the apartment, the other girl slowly walked behind her. MK interlocked her hand with the girl and gave her a warm, safe smile. They went into the kitchen and Noah followed behind. With a brow raised at the site in front of him.

“Noah, you know my favorite brother by the way.” MK walked over to the fridge and grabbed three cans then slumped herself into one of Noah's four chairs that sat around his crappy table. Noah sat on the left, his back to the fridge facing the pair of girls and the cans which now sat in front of them. MK slid a can to Noah and he opened it hastily.

“I'm your only brother.” Noah deadpanned back at her, raising one eyebrow.
“Yeah, whatever. Uh I kinda wanted you to meet my girlfriend. Julia!” The younger responded, her face adorned with a warm smile.

“Yeah, my name's Julia. Uhm you might know me, I kinda do social media a lot.” She said popping open her can of whatever Trent had bought in bulk the day before.

“Thanks for clarifying the names Julia, also I haven't heard of your social media but I'll go stalk it once you leave!” Noah lightheartedly joked while staring at the duo, he was just trying to break the ice. After his little sister's announcement the air hung around awkwardly. It wasn't that Noah wasn't happy for his sister, he really was and he was pleased the ravenette had trusted Noah with the information.

“Noah, stop being weird, it's chill. Julia's really cool!” MK drawled dryly, her voice getting happier the closer she got to the end of her sentence.

“Thank you, for y’know telling me about Julia. I actually kinda have news I guess.”

“Did you finally get a girlfriend or boyfriend or whatever better than Emma?” MK responded giggling to herself.

“No, the news was that I played a show.” Noah cringed and wanted to bury himself into the ground at the mention of Emma, for some reason MK was so hung up on her like Noah once was, maybe one day he'd get hung up on Julia like this. Or maybe MK was a weirdo sometimes.

“Oh yeah I saw that on Alejandro's story!” Julia spoke up. “You actually have really good music.”

“Thanks” Noah attempted to reply to Julia's praise before MK but into the conversation.

“YOU PLAYED A SHOW AND DIDN'T TELL ME!? Jeez I thought we were close” MK faked a sadness in her voice.

“Oh shut up. I would've told you but I know you didn't think me being in a band would work out.

“It wasn't that it wouldn't work out, it was just statistically impossible you would ever actually make it as a band, like be successful!” MK spoke back doubtfully, like she didn't fully believe herself.

Julia made a sound of agreement and the awkwardness that once hung in the air disappeared.

They spoke for a while and Noah made lunch, grilled chicken wraps, a recipe Owen sent to make sure Noah wasn’t starving himself to death. After they ate MK and Julia headed back to their friend’s flat. They were staying with a girl called Emma until the festival was over, that's what they were doing in Ottawa in the first place. They didn't just come to tell Noah they were dating and they were going to the festival with a few other of their friends. Noah was wondering about his own friends. He had spoken to team e-scope not too long ago, the name was one Izzy came up with during her time as her alter ego ‘Kaleidoscope’. The group consisted of; Noah, Izzy, Owen and Eva. The friends he was worried about were his bandmates, he hadn't heard from them since the show and he was worried. Obviously Gwen had kissed Courtney and they looked like they sorted it out but Noah didn’t know. He was scared that they had an argument while drunk that night and now the band was forever ruined. He stared at the dead group chat for a while until he finally decided to message.

Noah!
“Hey, are you guys all good? Just haven’t heard from you since the gig.”

He stared at the message for longer than he should’ve, hoping for anyone to respond. Even Cody.

Codemister
“i’m all good!”

He groaned internally at the sight of Cody’s message, it wasn’t exactly who he wanted to respond or the response he wanted. He watched the word’s ‘Gwenny is typing’ appear momentarily on the screen then disappear in the same moment.

Codemister
“GWEN I SAW YOU TYPING FONT IGNORE US!”

He sniggered at the crappy spelling of his friend.

Gwenny
“Hey”

Noah!
“Gwen what happened with you and Courtney!”

Noah placed his head on the table dramatically expecting Gwen's response to be as sad as possible. His phone buzzed again and he picked it up awaiting disappointment.

Gwenny
“We're dating haha!!!!!!! Idk if it's a shock but we were too nervous to tell you guys :( it's why both of us haven't been active”

Noah felt his entire body chill, he slumped down in the chair and smiled. He was happy for Gwen and Courtney. They really loved each other and it made Noah warm and fuzzy inside, it was a weird feeling. Like the feeling when you see a good test result, or when you listen to music for the first time. Late at night when the clock flicks over to the next day. He couldn't describe it but he loved love. If only he had some of his own. All the thought was making Noah lonely. He picked up his phone and messaged the ‘TEAM E-SCOPE!!! >:3’ group chat that was constantly alive.

little buddy! noah!
“You guys wanna come round for dinner? It's been a while since we hung out?”

e-scope >_< // izz!
“YEAHHHH EVA SAYS YES TO WOOHOO !!! WE'LL BE ROUND LATER YAYAYAYAYAYA”

big o :3
“YEAH! i'll bring round snacks you better have ingredients noah!”

Noah couldn't stop a smile from infecting his face, his friends cared so much and they would come over whenever. Noah made sure he had ingredients for Owens cooking activities. He made sure the piles of wires and instruments were out of the main room and he waited for his friends.

They had pasta for dinner, Owen was great at cooking pasta. They played charades and monopoly and danced to ABBA for hours, Trent stumbled through the door at eleven and immediately fell asleep in his room. The group was still awake. Noah forgot about the pressures of life, the loneliness that would so often consume him disappeared, until tomorrow when his friends would leave. He danced and laughed with Izzy until she eventually puked in the bathroom for no apparent reason. Eva mostly stayed on the couch playing games or bobbing her head to music and Owen was rambling while setting up games for the group to play.

Later that night the sun was coming up, Owen, Izzy and Eva had left hours ago but Noah couldn't sleep. Thoughts ran through his brain he didn't know why he was thinking so much about his emotions. Nothing had changed apart from Gwen and Courtney dating. It had been a while since Noah had dated and the comment his younger sister made earlier that day was swimming through his head. Emma. Emma was Noah's ex- girlfriend and when Emma broke up with him, he didn't take it well. Not in a completely bad way, Noah wasn't angry. He was just extremely sad. He spent a week straight writing crappy songs you would hear on the radio and crying. Gwen and Izzy comforted him then. Pulled him out of his nest of a bed to get milkshakes and go shopping, Noah would forever love them for that. They didn't leave him, like Emma had done. Emma wasn't a bad person at all, Noah had really loved her. The only thing Noah remembered completely from the breakup is what Emma said.

“Maybe relationships are like memories, they are meant to fade away, like all good things do” Then she hung up the phone and never answered again. Noah was worried about Gwen and Courtney, what would happen if they broke up.