Balance | Daniel Seavey AU

F I V E | you can't break me

5:09 AM.

If I was going to do this prank, I needed to do it right. I had to wake up early, and try to hack into Daniel's computer. It was easy because he didn't have a password or anything, so I was able to add a video into his computer, recalling a conversation I overheard when I got back from work yesterday when I was doing my assignment.

"Yeah, I'm supposed to go up and do the presentation tomorrow—" it was all a blur after that. If I'm able to do this, Daniel will hate me so much.

I opened his presentation before adding the video, saved it and turned his laptop off, and hopping back into bed. I didn't sleep, I ended up drawing in my sketchbook as I waited for Daniel to wake up. When he finally did, he rubbed his eyes and glanced over at me, his eyes still drooping. "Good morning, sunshine," I couldn't help but grin.

"What time is it?"

"A little past six, you wake early," I pointed out. "What's the agenda for Mr. Daniel I-still-don't-know-your-last-name?"

"Seavey."

"CV? You have to make a resume? You're applying—"

"No, I mean, my last name's Seavey," he then spelt it out for me. "What's your last name?"

"Dornes, Mason Dornes," I told him.

"And to answer your previous question; I have a presentation to do," he told me, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from smiling. "You?"

"Lectures," I answered simply. I glanced over to his guitar, before saying, "I realized I never heard you sing legitimately."

"Legitimately?"

"That one time you sang was when I was running late," I reminded. "Come on, sing something."

"I can't sing under pressure," he joked, grabbing his guitar and setting it on his lap, positioning his fingers at the strings before strumming once.

"Just sing dude, maybe it'll calm you before your presentation," I urged him. I honestly didn't even care if he'd sing or not, as long as I distracted him long enough so he wouldn't check his presentation.

"Give me a chord."

"Do you know Say Something?" I asked, the song popping in my head first. I ignored the tug at my heart, knowing the reason why that song suddenly popped up.

"Great Big World?" I nodded. "I do..." He positioned his fingers at the right strings before he began strumming. I listened closely, feeling myself getting lost in his voice.

Oddly enough, I felt myself sink back into a memory—the memory that had the sing playing through my computer. It was funny how the timing was so exact, that it fit with the situation.

I remember working on a digital drawing, music playing out loud when my mom came in, her face looked empty, absolutely no emotions whatsoever but her words were sharp, strong and hit hard.

"He's dead."

"What— oh my, Mason, are you crying?" Daniel asked, putting his guitar down and leaning forward, his face laced with concern.

"Huh?" I asked, still dazed until I tasted the tears fall into my lip, and reached up to wipe my eyes. "No– ha-ha, oh crap."

"You know it's okay to say you were, I'd understand, it's a sad song," he assures, "and plus, we're roommates, at some point we're going to have to open up."

"Clothes? Dude, no–"

"You know what I mean."

I let out a sigh, "I know, but not right now, I'm pretty sure you're going to want to switch roommates at some point."