request pairing was guy!light/girl!hope.

He could handle the occasional party from his neighbors.

He could even handle one of his next door neighbor's dog barking all night long.

What Clair couldn't handle was the terribly loud basslines of the god-awful playlist his neighbors above him were blasting.

Holding a pillow over his head couldn't muffle the music well enough. It was up to him to march upstairs and demand they shut off their music— which wouldn't be pretty. Clair had an overwhelming day training the rookies at work and had just settled into bed when the bassline began thumping throughout his apartment. Normally he would be okay with it, but this wasn't the first time he's lost sleep because of a party upstairs.

The rose-haired man considered the classic move of striking the roof of his apartment with the end of a broomstick, but thought better of it and climbed out of bed to pull on some shoes. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes once more before grabbing his apartment key and locked the door behind him, muttering to himself how stupid this entire situation was and how much sleep he could be getting were it not for Kesha's auto tuned voice keeping him awake. Clair wasn't even sure which of his neighbors was directly above him, he just knew that the first person who'd answer the door he'd knock on would get the glare of a lifetime.

The music seemed to be getting louder and louder with every door he passed until eventually he stopped in front of one that was practically pulsing with music. Clair considered banging on the door, but settled for a few firm knocks – considering they could hear him knocking through the bassline of "We R Who We R".

Surprisingly, the music was turned down and he heard several people talking at once. The locks on the door were undone, and he came face to face with a set of nervous green eyes that were very familiar.

"I'm so sorry, I know the music is too loud, my friends were being obnoxious and they're going home right now-"

"Hope?" Clair nearly sputtered out. He felt his stomach drop and heart begin to race. "Hope Estheim?"

The silver-haired girl blinked before looking Clair up and down. A warmth settled across her cheeks when she seemed to remember who he was. "Clair? Clair Farron?" She gave a surprised laugh, "It's been, like…"

"Three years, yeah," Clair suddenly forgot the reason he was so angry earlier, a smile replacing his sleep-deprived scowl. "You look…good."

He didn't know if it was appropriate to label his two-year high school sweetheart as "good", but Hope didn't seem to mind. She opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a voice behind her asking who was at the door.

As if remembering she had guests over, Hope turned to answer. "It's actually someone from high school – do you guys remember Clair?"

A brunet peeked outside towards the rose-haired man in the hallway, a grin growing across his features. "Oh, yeah! Clair, it's been a while."

"Noel." Clair waved, keeping his smile. "Didn't think you would leave Bodhum."

"Gotta leave the nest eventually. I'll give you two some privacy." He nudged Hope outside of her apartment before closing the door. The music being turned up once more, though it wasn't as loud as it was earlier that evening.

Noel couldn't have made things more awkward between the two. Not only was "Your Love Is My Drug" playing – on purpose, the two figured; the last song hadn't even finished – but the unspoken conversation between the two about their relationship was hanging in the air.

After a few beats of silence, Hope was the one to speak up first. "You look good, too."

Clair avoided her eyes, leaning back against the wall with his arms folded across his chest. "Has it really only been three years?"

"Feels longer." Hope chuckled.

"I thought you went back to Palumpolum." he said.

"I did. Then I decided to move to Eden and finish up college here. But I thought you had stayed behind for your sister. How is she, by the way?"

Clair met her eyes, then. An involuntary shiver ran down Hope's spine. "Married. I didn't think she and Snow would last from high school, but they love proving me wrong." Call it wishful thinking, but she thought he looked sad for a minute. "She asked about you, actually. Thought we were still together."

Another moment of silence settled across the two. Kesha was still blasting from Hope's apartment behind her.

"Look, Clair…"

"I know. It's weird to not talk about it," he replied, sighing. "So say whatever you wanna say."

She fidgeted with her shirt sleeve. "It's just…don't you think it's a funny coincidence that we ended up in the same city? The same apartment complex?"

"Is this your way of using fate to ask me out again?" Clair gave an amused smile.

"Only if it works." She shrugged, leaning against her apartment door. "Do you miss it? Being together?"

Normally he would deny it. He'd give a million reasons as to why he didn't miss being with Hope – they were too young, they were never really in love, high school is different than real life – but none of those reasons came to mind. All that came to mind were the two years he spent as the happiest boy on earth.

So he gave a slow nod, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'd be lying if I said no."

"I mean, I know high school is different and we were probably just too young to really understand what we were feeling," she could feel herself rambling but she couldn't stop her mouth from speaking; Clair always had that effect on her. "But if you're willing and I'm willing – which I am, like, one hundred percent – I think we can try it out again and see if we're okay for each other? I know it's been three years but it's not like I can forget the two years I spent with you and-"

"Hope," Clair had crossed the hallway and gently took hold of her arms, halting her speech. He shook his head, chuckling, "Jeez, I almost forgot how you get when you're nervous."

Her cheeks flushed pink, but she couldn't help laughing along with him. "It's your fault, you always make me nervous. A good nervous."

"You said the same thing at prom."

"It still applies. Plus, you're taller, which makes you even more intimidating."

"Too intimidating for a movie this Friday?"

"I think I can put a brave face on for a movie."

hope you enjoyed!