A short Wen and Olivia one shot, because the last two I wrote were so badly written that I cringe just thinking of them. And I've gotten into music a little too much, which gave me the idea that I really didn't want to lose.
Let me know what you think! I'll hopefully write some more of these cuties soon.
you'll hum this tune forever
It's one of those nights that they listen to the adrenaline coursing through their veins, instead of the rational (and quite frankly, sleep deprived) parts of their minds. It's one of those nights where the music playing from some old mix Wen made is enough, so there's no need for them to say anything.
They forget that there's an album to be finished writing, and that they have real lives to get back to once the band takes a break before taking on the press and the concerts with this new album, and that there's the prospect of freaking college coming up. Soon all their woes won't be about what they'll wear to the prom or who gets to sing the next solo. It'll be assignments and trying to test the waters of adulthood.
Olivia's hair is blowing from the cool breeze, and she lays her head back to feel the full effect, throwing her arms back too. Those thoughts can haunt her some other night, but tonight she wants to have fun. She knows in her head she should be worried about this. It's four am, and they're driving on a lifeless city road, the hood down and music blaring. If they're caught they could get into trouble with their management, and even their bandmates. (She'll never admit that it might have made the opportunity even more enticing. She really needs to sleep.)
Some Walk The Moon song plays in the background, and she closes her eyes as Wen hums along. (She swears she's getting better with modern music – Wen's been slowly getting her out of her Bob Dylan and The Beatles heavily influenced playlist. Oh the heartache.) She's not sure how long they stay like this. The songs start to blend in together and with the little amount of sleep she's had in the past few days to get this album ready, she's unaware of time passing now.
Wen stops the car, and Olivia opens her eyes to see where they are. He's stopped at a beach, and although she knows this is completely clichéd and reeks of wannabe teenage rebellion, her eyes light up and she sits up. He gets out, and like the true gentleman that he is, he opens her door for her. He leaves his hand out for her, and she takes it graciously with a smile and a blush creeping up onto her face.
If she had an ounce of rebellion in her and an ounce less of dignity, she'd suggest skinny dipping in the sea. But she doesn't, so she stays holding his hand without saying anything while being guided down the sand. She stops to remove her pumps, and shyly places her hand back in his. It's his turn to get nervous, but she pretends she didn't see it. (Its sort on an unwritten rule with them – like their own little thing.)
Wen's the first to break the silence, with small talk about the song they've been working on for most of the day. He's really excited about it, and he knows his rap needs a little more work (his words, not hers. She thinks everything that he writes is almost poetic) but they're really onto something. He says it will probably top Breakthrough, and probably get them the worldwide recognition they know they deserve. America's hard to crack, but Europe? And Australia and Asia? She feels a little sick at the prospect, but it's the good kind of butterflies she associates with preforming. Then he asks her if she's got any new songs that she's been hiding from the band. (This is the part of the romantic comedy that she'd muster up the nerves to sing a song that she wrote about him, and how she's so crazy about him. But this is real life, and Olivia wouldn't even think of doing that. She barely has enough confidence to show him the songs she deems 'rest of the world' safe. Not sounding obsessed is her main goal in her professional and personal life.) She pretends to think of the songs she's got memorised in her head, and then shrugs.
"I don't think so. Stella's searched through my song book at every chance she can get," she tells him. She learned that none of her songs would be private in there the hard way, and she refuses to get burned again.
"Will you still sing for me though?" he asks, and stops walking. She feels like his gaze is burning into her skin, and she tries to breathe the sense of absolute dread down.
"I don't think that's a good idea," she begins. How will she get out of this now?
"No one's around Liv. I'm the only one who will hear you," he points out. "You've sang in front of me hundreds of times now."
But none of those times were as intimate as this, and although it's still a little dark from the early hours of the morning, she can see his frame perfectly. She'll see him staring at her with that cute look of concentration that he has, and god is it even possible to say the word no in front of Wen Gifford? Damn him and his freckles.
So Olivia sings one of the songs that she heard back in the car, because it's way too late for her to think of a song that she wrote. She'd get the lyrics wrong, and although Wen wouldn't notice she would. She also sings it in hope that he'll join along with her, but that plan doesn't actually work. There's not enough space between them, so she backs away as she's still singing, hoping to help her distract herself from him and focus solely on the lyrics. When she's finished, she looks at her watch to distract her from the compliments he's giving her and That Smile. (She's capitalised it in her head because it deserves it. Her inner grammar Nazi should hate her for it, but it's the one look that makes her melt. She forgets about everything bad, and it makes her feel like she's on fire. It's even helped her get onto the Madison Square Garden stage to sing a sold out gig. If that's not capital letters worthy, she doesn't know what is.) She checks the time and they realise that they should be on their way back soon.
"We should have went for a dip," he says suddenly as they walk back to their car. "Next time we will."
"Maybe even make a sandcastle or two," she adds with a smirk. They're walking dangerously close to each other, and when her hand brushes against his she pretends it's the breeze that made her jump.
"So there will be a next time?" he asks, turning to her. She thinks he sounds nervous, but maybe she's overanalysing it.
"Sure, where else would I get to hear this killer music?" she asks, trying to be as casual as she can. He sends her back a smile and wraps an arm around her, pushing her closer to him.
They both walk back to the car like this, although with a little bit of difficulty, and they turn the music up to the loudest as he starts the engine up. Come On Eileen starts to play, and she's almost shouting the lyrics with him. She feels like they should apologise to the civilians on the Californian road that they're driving down, but life is short and the night is young and she feels alive. Not the buzz she gets from singing in a concert, but something even better. He's laughing, and she wishes she had brought her camera or even her phone so she could take a picture of this scene in front of her. She wants to remember this night for everything that it has been, because when will she feel this free again?
They murder a good few more songs, but it's the most fun she's had singing and she couldn't care less if anyone sees them. By the time they get back to the recording studio, she's exhausted and she's got a pain in her side from laughing so hard. She's also got sand stuck between her toes that's been annoying her the whole way back, but she didn't want to give off a weird vibe in front of him, so she lived with it. She still doesn't want the night to end though, and is hesitant about getting out the car.
"I'm really glad we did this," she tells him, and although he's beaming at her, she knows there are no words that can describe how thankful they did this. How she's thankful for the reminder of how life can be this fun, and not having to follow everything their manager says. How she's thankful to be alone with Wen for more than five minutes in the day and not just have it be because of rewriting a song.
"I'm really glad you came with me," he says. She doesn't blush, and neither does he. It feels natural, the words delicately rests in the air.
"Do you think they noticed we left?" she asks him in a whisper, as he opens the door of the recording studio for her.
"Probably not. They were smart enough to go to sleep," he answers, closing the door as quietly as he can.
She takes her place in her sleeping bag that was placed randomly on the ground, where they had started off just a few hours before. Both unable to sleep and restless, and Wen suggested a quick drive to soothe them. She's in the middle of a snoring Stella and Scott, and Wen's kneeling beside her. They sit up for a few moments, taking in the sight of each other. Her breath speeds up just a little, and it's a strangely intimate scene between the two.
That's when he kisses her.
His mouth is hot over hers and he cups her jaw as he kisses her, his body bent to meet hers and her own face raised up to his. She thinks about how she's always wanted this, even without realising it, and how this shifts their relationship completely. She has the taste of him in her mouth, and he has the taste of her, and that obviously changes things. They'll never go back to usual, and although it should scare her, it doesn't.
She's the one to pull back from him. She doesn't say anything at first and she keeps her eyes closed. She can feel his breath on her face, and there are so many things she wants right now, so many things she wants that should not be possible.
He moves over to his own sleeping bag, that's opposite from hers. She seems him look over at her one last time, and then his head ducks down and all she sees is a flop of ginger hair.
Olivia lays there barely breathing, her finger running along the outlines of her lips. She can't sleep, she's too afraid that this was all too perfect, and that if she is to wake up, she'll find out it was all just a dream.
When morning comes, she's tired and grumpy and wants to throw her shoe at their manager for waking them up. But Wen stands up and yawns, looking adorable and rugged, and then she remembers everything. The feeling of his lips on hers, the smell of the sea air, and their horrible but dramatic rendition of My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark, and she knows there's nowhere else she'd rather be. (Even if she feels a little dead inside. It was definitely worth it. She'd do it again and again, never asking where he was bringing her. She'd follow his every footstep, just to feel it all again.)
He catches her eyes on his, and stops moving.
And then she smiles at him, and when he smiles back she can detect just the faintest hint of possibility.