memories.

The day passes quickly and Dakota and Alan exchange a few texts but she mostly just works on a sketch.

Her pencil scratches back and forth on the notepad, adjusting the shading behind the letters.

“Ever heard of death by fun? Neither had I until I saw the midnight sun.” It read, a combination of the moon and the sun in the illustrious background. The lyrics were her own, just little bits she had pieced together. She had notebooks full of tidbits like these scattered throughout the still packed boxes at the apartment.

“Are those lyrics?” Cole asks, plopping down on the wooden stool beside her.

“Yeah,” she replies, her tongue stuck out a slight bit as she erased a bit of a line before going over it again.

“Whose?” Cole isn’t nozy, just curious, so she doesn’t mind much.

“Mine.” One word answers are all he’s gonna get, though. She’s in the zone, giving almost of all her attention to the art in front of her.

She sees him nod out of the corner of her vision and he gets up, going to put on some more music.

She finishes outlining the ‘midnight’ before she hears ‘In Friends We Trust’ by Chunk! Captain No, Chunk come through the speakers.

He slides into the room a moment later, singing in a very off key voice,

“Hey dudes are you ready to
Understand why some of your friends are true.
These ones that would follow you
Anywhere and through anything you'd do.
Revelation of a friendship on your tattoos,
A salvation…”

A small smile is the only sign that she sees him, otherwise she just acts like he isn’t there.

He spins her swivel chair around to face him, still singing in that god awful voice. He pulls the reluctant girl out of her chair and dances maniacally, trying to get her to laugh.

He just has to break out the robot for her to crack up. She starts jumping around with him, the two creating their own moshpit.

“Hey dudes let's get ready to
Defend your mates in case they need you.
One mind leads you and your crew.
This kind of friendship makes you
Feel the real power.
You can do anything with your brothers.”

They sing along, but she finds that when Cole sings in his regular tone, he’s actually a pretty good singer. Great, even.

The bell over the front door rings and they freeze, snapping their heads towards the door.

“Alan!” She sings, climbing over the counter to get to him.

She hugs him and when they depart he places his arm around her waist.

Cole looks at the two with a raised eyebrow. “I take it you’re the Alan I’ve been hearing about?”

“I hope so.” Cole cracks a smile at his joke, but still keeps the protective aura about him. It’s really quite amazing, how Dakota makes people just automatically want to protect her.

“So what’d you come here for?” Alan adverts his attention from Cole, smiling down to her as he answers.

“To pick you up, remember? So you can meet the band.” She cocks her head sideways, surprised.

“Really? It doesn’t seem like seven.” He chuckles at her forgetfulness and she moves to gather all of her things. But pauses, puzzled as she can’t find one of her sketchbooks.

“I think I forgot my book in the back room. I’ll be right back.” She shoots Cole a warning look before heading to the back.

“So,” Cole says a minute later, crossing his arms over his chest, “I don’t know you, but you seem pretty cool. Just know that if you hurt her, we’re gonna have a problem.”

“I understand.” Alan musses his hair as he speaks, and Dakota picks that moment to walk back in.

“Found it!” She exclaims, holding up the book. Alan grins, opening the door for her. She says her goodbyes to Cole and the two head off to the band apartment.

“Now,” Alan warns as his hand rests on the door handle, “five guys live here, so it might be a bit messy. And I warned them to be on their best behavior, but knowing them they’ll forget.” She giggles and nudges his shoulder.

“Come on, let’s get it over with.” He laughs and throws open the door to reveal four band members she recognizes pretty easily.

She stands still for a moment, stunned, as Alan introduces her. “Guys, this is my friend, Dakota. She just moved here from Mississippi and she’s a tattoo artist.” One man in particular stands up to greet her and she about faints.

“Hi, I’m Austin.” She accepts the much taller man’s hug before shakily turning to Alan.

“Alan?” He turns away from his conversation with Tino to answer. “Yeah?”

“How come you forgot to tell me that you’re the new guitarist for Of Mice & Men?”

He shoots her a smirk, shrugging, “I guess it slipped my mind.”

Notes

Shorter than usual chapter, but hey - at least I tried.