Cuddle Buddies - Niko Vilhelm Moilanen | Blind Channel

I wouldn't fit into those groups

I was on my way to a birthday party in a bar my best friend begged me to go to when our ways crossed. „Sofia!", Tommi screamed as he saw me and waved his hands. „I'm so happy to see you! I know, you agreed on going here with me, but I also know how much you hate parties of people you're not familiar with. So... thank you, I guess", he said grinning and pulled me in a tight hug. I just nodded and continued walking next to him.

As Tommi mentioned, I've never been the type of guy that likes to party and drink alcohol, especially not when it's a party of someone I've never met. But Tommi hadn't stopped asking me to go there with me because he didn't know the other guests and didn't want to be lonely. Therefore, I practically haven't had a choice and decided to give it a chance. I just couldn't hear Tommi begging anymore.

As our ways crossed, we hadn't been far away of the bar of Tommi's friend's choice, so we arrived after only a few minutes of silent walking. Entering the small bar in Oulu, our hometown, I instantly realized the strong smell of beer that I hate even more than it's taste. This evening will get interesting, I thought. I just hoped, that the next few hours would pass quickly or I'd find people to talk to. Otherwise, that would be a long evening or even night. Because even though I'm not feeling comfortable in a situation, I often hesitate to leave because of my guilty conscience.

Looking at the people sitting at the table Tommi headed for, my hope to find people to talk to vanished. About seven or eight men sat there and talked to each other. All of them wore black clothes and as far as I could tell, most of them were tattooed in well visible places. You should never judge a book by its cover but since I haven't gotten to know them, I could just judge them by their way of looking.

They all had a similar style to Tommi and since they had to be friends of one of Tommi's friends, I assumed they all were part of one of these rock or metal groups. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against these people but I felt like I wouldn't fit into those groups. I listened to a different kind of music and the idea of dressing in black only has never even come to me mind. My personality was more... Let's say colorful.

I took a look at Tommi who started greeting the men with a smile in his face. Against his expectations, he seemed to know most of the guys who now were looking at Tommi and me. At the same time, I was still standing about a meter away and wasn't moving at all. Normally I wasn't that shy bit seeing all these men I didn't know, I had no idea about what to say or do. Luckily, Tommi saved me out of that situation.

He helped us getting to know each other - or at least to know each other's names. „So, that's Sofia, one of my best friends from middle school. Sofia, these are my band mates and and some of their friends." Pointing at one men after another, he told me their names and which was their part in their band. He started with a men with blond curls who turned out to be Joonas, the guitar player. After that I got to know Aleksi, the kind of DJ; Olli, the bassist; and Joel, a vocalist and guitarist. Finishing that, my best friend introduced me to their singer, rapper and screamer Niko, who was the one celebrating his birthday. The other men that seemed to be unknown to Tommi as well introduced themselves as Niklas, Jari and Mika. But already that moment I knew I wouldn't be able to remember all these names and the person they belonged to.

Following what Tommi had done some seconds ago, I sat down on a chair next to him. As I wanted to give the waiter a sign that I wanted to order drinks for Tommi and me, Niko asked my about what I wanted to drink. Smiling because I felt like he was able to read my thoughts I answered that I wanted to drink some water. „What do you want to drink?", I asked turning to Tommi. „Sofia, you should know me good enough to know that", the brown haired man answered laughing. Well, he was right. I knew that he never drank something else than beer when we went out.

„Then we have a water for me and a beer for Tommi", I said and wanted to get up to order them, but again, Niko was faster. „I can do that", he smiled at me. „But it's your birthd...", I started to disagree, but I was interrupted. „And I'm a gentleman", the brown haired man told me and ordered the drinks that were brought us a few minutes later. „Thank you!" I took a sip of my water. Ouch, that was cold. I still don't get why people like their water that cold.

After drinking a bit more, I wanted to ask Tommi something about how long he has known Niko and the other band mates since he never introduced them to me, but he was talking to the black haired man, I think his name was Aleksi. Since Niko talked to his seating neighbor as well, I couldn't or perhaps also didn't want to start a conversation and started wondering about the band, their kind of music and my opinion on that.

Looking at Niko, I couldn't deny that he (and the other boys as well) looked really attractive in these black leather clothes. It didn't only fit their style of music because it looked kind of dangerous – violent – just like rockstars and metalheads often look but it also fit Niko perfectly. The dark clothes and long brown hair complimented his face so much. My parents had always told me that I should be careful with this „type of guy" because they were „involved in crimes" and wouldn't „care about other people's feelings". I grew up with these prejudices, thus I'm confused that men that had worn similar clothes have attracted me in the past couple of months. But liking men who wear this stuff didn't mean that I wanted to dress like that as well.

Lost in thought, I continued drinking my water for a while until I realized it was empty. As I wanted to grab for the bottle of water to refill my glass I looked up and a few moments later I found myself staring into Niko's eyes. His eyes were captivating my gaze, I'd never seen such beautiful green eyes before. I don't know if Niko realized my staring or if he and the man sitting next to him – was his name Joel? – had finished their conversation, but now Niko's gaze met mine and a little smile appeared on his face. Oh now. I quickly looked away. I just hoped he hadn't seen my staring because I didn't want to embarrass myself in front pf my best friend's friends.

Luckily, Niko hadn't seen it or at least he didn't show it because he then started talking to me without mentioning that. „So, you're Sofia, the only person and actually the only thing at all Tommi talks about when we're rehearsing?" Hearing that, I blushed a little. Tommi talks often about me when he's with his band members? Well, I hope he only said good things about me...

„Right. Well, at least the part with my name and that I'm one of Tommi's best friends. I don't know if he talks a lot about me." Niko grinned as an answer and his gaze started wandering from my face down my upper body. „Don't get me wrong, but to me you don't seem to fit to Tommi judged by the way you look. To me you seem more like a very calm person who is absolutely not into our kind of music and who can't stand people with personalities like ours. Would you mind telling me about how you got to know Tommi and all in all a bit about yourself?"

Well, I can't blame him for that thought. Many people had asked me about how Tommi and I can be friends at all because we had so different personalities. And I actually looked like the type of guy Niko had described, even though his description didn't totally fit my personality. But should I really tell him about how and who I really am? Most of the people that thought they'd know me – my parents included – had no idea of who I really am and I actually liked that. This way no one could blame me for characteristics that I truly have and wouldn't be able to hurt me. I didn't want to fully open up to Niko because I had known him for not more than an hour but if Tommi would hear what I said, he'd be irritated by me telling things that weren't true. So I decided to tell no wrong things but also to not fully open up and just telling a few things that define me.

So, there it is. The first chapter of my first fanfiction. Actually, this is the first time I'm writing something that is more than just a short story. Therefore I'm thankful for every feedback - content wise and language wise since English is not my native language.