Balance | Daniel Seavey AU

S I X | can't stop singing

I was a light sleeper.

You could be opening a bag of chips in the dead of the night, trying to make as little sound as possible and I'd still wake up.

Daniel, on the other hand, wasn't subtle when trying to place my hand in warm water.

"You are a fucking idiot," I grumbled under my breath, my eyes closed as he held my wrist over the cup. "And a twelve year old." I opened my eyes to see him staring at me like a deer in headlights. I chuckled at the sight. I tugged my hand back, sitting up and checking my phone; 4:16 AM.

"What were planning to do? Make me wet my bed?" I asked, my tone condescending.

"I'm sorry I couldn't think of anything else," he admits. I roll my eyes, sitting up and rubbing my eyes, letting out a yawn. Daniel turned the lights on before he climbed back into his bed, mimicking my position.

"Don't people talk about deep things at this hour?" He asked randomly.

"How would I know, I'd be asleep," I retorted, my eyes half opened. I grab my sketchbook that I'd put under my pillow, beginning to sketch a random drawing as Daniel began strumming his guitar. It was peaceful for the both of us for a few hours before classes began, and I realized that the carnival was now in less than a week.

For the past few days, we've been filling up a few rooms in the college with different themes. We had also given each other jobs during the carnival, and I was apart of the food stands in the halls by the rooms with Corbyn.

Beside me, my phone's music had paused as Zach's name appeared on my screen. I slid the screen, answering to his call, "Hey shorty, what's up?"

"Dad and I are arriving early, we'll be there tomorrow afternoon, and we'll be staying at a hotel nearby," he explained straight to the point. "So, do you have work tomorrow?"

"Weekends are my days off," I told him, "so you want me to pick you both up? What about your brother and sister?"

"They're staying home," he answered, "and yes, you will be there to pick us up."

"Don't I get a choi—"

"Nope, talk to you tomorrow then, bye..." He sang before hanging up.

"Boyfriend?" I almost choked.

"No, cousin." I didn't ignore the slight tilt of his head when I said that. I admit that Zach and I look nothing alike, because he is Caucasian, while I'm a mix of American and Egypt. Like I said, he's from my mom's side, while my dad was the Egyptian. "I'm mostly from my dad's Egyptian side, while my mom's white."

"Ah..." He nodded in acknowledgement. "So where's your dad?"

"He passed away," I responded, shading the drawing to avoid making eye contact.

"Oh I'm sorry for your loss," he pitied, and I had to clench my jaws to keep me from running my mouth. "If I may ask... When?"

"Uh, a little over a two years ago," I said, taking a subtle deep breaths after. When I was sure my eyes weren't glossy, I looked over to find Daniel hopping off his bed and climbing up my ladder, "What are you doing?"

"I've faced a fair share of sad people, and even you don't want me to, I'll still give you a hug," Daniel explained.

"No, Daniel, it's–" before I could finish the sentence, he wrapped his arms around me and I sat stiff in his arms.

"Just hug me back, Mase," he urged, tightening his arms around me. Reluctantly, I placed my hands around him cautiously, not used to being given this much affection. The last time I hugged someone was Zach before leaving, but even then, it didn't mean much because it was a simple hug good-bye. The last time I hugged someone because of my loss was my mom, but even that was short-lived because she didn't hug me back.

I took in a deep breath, tightening my grip around him a bit more before pulling away. This time, I had a good look at my roommate; freckles dotted his nose, and he honestly had such a young looking face—hard to believe he's eighteen. His eyes were probably the most captivating; he had striking blue eyes, surrounded with dark blue, the iris around his pupil a mix of blue and teal.

"You want a picture?" He teasingly asked, his lips quirking up. I paused before rolling my eyes, shoving at his chest before climbing off my bed. "Oh come on, I was kidding."

"And I need to shower, I feel... Positive," I cringed jokingly. "Don't wait up."

— 

I was glad to know that Stanley—owner of Hotshot Coffee—had closed the café for his niece's birthday in his hometown. After class, I had dragged my legs to class from how tired I felt after the lecture. Falling into my bed, I almost fell asleep immediately when I heard the strumming of guitar.

"Waking up, to ash and dust..." Daniel's melodic voice rang through the room, and I groaned into my pillow.

"Dude, sing somewhere else," I scolded, pushing myself up to find Daniel sitting at his desk, his guitar ready.

"Is it too late now to say sorry?" He continued to sing, a smile appearing as he did so. He then reached back into his pocket, pulling a piece of paper and handing it to me.

Got an assignment to sing for the day, don't make me get an F –your roommate.

"Oh for the love God–"

"–God only knows, how much I need you!" He sang out loud, a vein appearing at his neck.

"So you're going sing, every. Single. Time?" I asked, my tone bored but my face annoyed.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he responded, using the lyrics from that one Chris Brown song.

As I sat there with my sketchbook in hand, an idea popped up in my head as Daniel kept singing random songs. "Danny-boy!" I called, causing him to stop playing entirely, a look of fear passing his face. "You don't want an F, right?" He nodded. "So what if we play a game? Also testing out how many songs you can't fit in that head of yours." A smile spread on his face as I said it, and he was up for it.

"Okay, we will start easy," I began, finding a word, "Trouble."

He positioned his fingers at the right chords, then sang, "I knew you were trouble when you walked in."

"Okay, that was too easy," I admitted, biting down on my bottom lip. "Slow?"

"Des–"

"And not Despacito," I cut him off.

He pursed his lips before grinning, "You gotta move it slowly, take and eat my body like it's holy..."

"Nice vocals," I commented. "This one might hit a nerve, but loss?" His eyes softened, but he nodded, strumming his guitar.

"Hold, hold on," he began, "hold on to me... Cuz I'm a little unsteady." I felt my heart racing as he sang that; his eyes were closed as he got lost in the song, the lyrics hitting hard at home.

"Okay, hotshot," I cut him off, "what about the word fun?" And we played the game until later that night when I had gotten too tired to actually suggest a song.

"I'm done with you," I muttered, my face pressed against my pillow.

"It goes do re mi fa so, so done with you," he sang, "send the X and O's on another note."

"Okay, go to sleep dude," I grumbled, "it's past ten, we've been going at this for almost five hours."

"Sing me to sleep."

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idk why i added that assignment, i thought it would be a fun idea and hopefully you guys enjoyed in some way. im close to 100 reads, that's amazing especially in a span of one week, thank you all so much. don't forget to vote, comment and share :)x