A/N; Hello hello I am back once again with a revamp of Listen. If you read the latest chapter of that fic (which wasn't really a chapter, it was an update) then you'll know what all is going on. If not and you're a new reader, then welcome! You probably don't hate me yet and that's a good thing...cue awkward laughter. Anyway, I worked up the motivation to continue the story and actually finish it but after rereading it I noticed some serious plot holes and cringe worthy grammar errors so I decided revamping it would pay off in the long run.

You can read the original by going to my profile thingy if you really want to (oh gosh please don't my old writing was so bad compared to now it makes me want to cry). It's still there and I don't plan on deleting it for the sake of keeping the reviews that make me happy.

My fics have a tendency to take on a life of their own and as long as I've got a beginning and end planned out I just kinda wing it and see where the rest takes me. I'd like you to think of this as more of a coming of age story than super action packed and plot oriented. Basically, expect lots of fluff paired with some angst and deep philosophical conversations/soliloquies because teenagers get really philosophical sometimes. My apologies if you were looking for something different...ah I'm sorry for rambling I'll just get on with the story now.

Disclaimer: because we still have to do these and it makes me very sad.

Ruby

I stared down at the world from inside the hidden cloak that the trees provided. The people, the time, the whole world was passing by so fast, but I don't care. I have my headphones and that's all that matters to me.

The music blared so loud that I couldn't even recognize the words they were singing, but the notes echoed and resonated through my ears like a church bell ringing loudly at the stroke of noon.

I looked down from my perch, down at the world below me. I recognized all of the expressions on their faces.

Some girls were laughing at a golden eyed boy who was making a fool of himself trying to impress them. And a girl with blue hair and blue eyes, almost as ridiculous as her hair, was sitting on a bench looking annoyed. She got up and walked over to the boy and yanked him away by the ear making the golden eyed boy yelp in the sudden pain.

The girls giggled and waved goodbye as he was dragged away against his will.

The blue haired girl looked steamed and so did the golden eyed boy. After all, he was having a lot of fun making an idiot of himself in front of those girls, but it was obvious that he thought he was being cool.

It looked like he kept complaining to the blue haired girl about it, but the girl just shrugged it off and let go of the golden eyed boy's ear.

Then the golden eyed boy pulled something out of his pocket. They were small and tangled and golden like his eyes.

They were headphones.

He offered one of the speakers to the blue haired girl standing next to him. At first, she frowned, but that frown dissipated into a subtle smile as she accepted the one headphone.

I watched them walk hand in hand down the sidewalk. A doofy grin was plastered on his face, and rose-colored cheeks on the girl's.

I sighed as the songs shuffled. A new song, a new beat, a new voice, but the same volume. Loud. Just how I liked it. I did a little drum solo in my lap going along with the song while closing my eyes and tilting my head back to enjoy the moment to its fullest.

When the song changed again I looked back down below me and my eyes caught sight of a boy being bullied.

He didn't have any expressions on his face. I caught a glimpse of his eyes for a moment. They were cold and blank, the eyes of someone who'd been through this thousands of times. They were the eyes of a warrior, a warrior who'd fought many battles and most likely just wanted to go home, but he knew he had no home to return to. After all, that's probably how he became a warrior in this first place.

It took one glimpse and it felt like he'd already stared into my soul and discovered everything about me, read me like an open book. One glimpse and I could practically hear him screaming, "Don't just look at me!" as though he wanted deep down inside for someone to help. Alas, he already knew that wouldn't happen. He knew it was futile. All he wanted was for everyone to stop staring at least.

But what surprised me more than the message conveyed by his eyes was the color. Dark brown? No. That's how they appeared at first, but I looked more intently taking note of how red they were.

It was comforting to know someone had eyes similar to mine, not just the color, but the emptiness of a tired warrior as well. Though, I'm not much of a warrior. I would never have survived through as many battles as him. Definitely not if I used the same tactics, because I'm a coward. I would be nothing more than another dead body on the bloody battle field, cannon fodder basically. I would die without any honor and would soon be forgotten. I can't face my problems head on like a true warrior. I am the lowest of the low. I deserve no such prestigious title, for I am a coward, a coward who does nothing but run away.

I am just a coward with the empty eyes of a warrior.

This red eyed boy, he was the true warrior. He sat there, being kicked and beaten. He did not cry in pain. He did not flinch. He stayed there and took it. I would almost feel proud if I wasn't so damn empty.

Satisfied, the bullies walked away.

The boy with the red eyes got up, as if unaffected and picked up his hat and placed it on his head. He stuck his hands in his pockets. Little to no surprise, he too pulled out a pair of headphones. Red headphones to match his red eyes.

And his headphones must have been playing just as loudly judging by the looks he was receiving. Or maybe it was the fact that this boy had just been beaten by a bunch of strangers and brushed it off as though nothing happened at all. He continued down the sidewalk, unfazed.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a boy with auburn-brown hair and green eyes, fiery and piercing. Green really wasn't a suitable color for him, or perhaps it was almost too fitting because it seemed to work for him. He ran up behind the red eyed boy and did what looked to be yelling, trying to get the other's attention. He went unnoticed. The warrior's headphones were in and he was blocking out the ugly world surrounding him, or at least trying to, just like me.

The brown haired boy crept up behind him and yanked out the headphones, causing the red eyed boy to look surprised for a very brief moment before he went back to his expressionless gaze and started walking again.

The brown haired boy was obviously displeased and he puffed out his cheeks in annoyance, like a little child would, before he started chasing after the other boy who was now quickening his pace. After catching up, he grabbed the red eyed boy and…hugged him?

But this wasn't your average hug. This is what some hopeless romantics might call a "passionate embrace." The red eyed boy started pounding his fists into the other's back, but he wasn't let go of so eventually he stopped.

Some drops of water hit the sidewalk. Rain? I looked up at the sky but it wasn't raining. Looking back down, I noticed he was crying, without any expression. It was just tears falling from his hardened warrior eyes. The green eyed boy kept comforting his friend and he wiped his tears from his face. Somehow, I got the idea they were more than just friends.

I let out a long sigh after I lost sight of them. Looks like the lonely warrior finally got what he was longing for all this time, a home.

I felt a little disappointed by this, but it was probably my jealousy acting up.

Then I wondered to myself what would happen if I just stayed hidden in my tree forever, blocking out the world bustling about below me and listening to my music. Would anyone care? Would they care if I just disappeared for one day? What about a week? Or a month? Or a year? Or forever? Would anyone look for me? Would they forget about me? Would they forget about the lonely wannabe warrior who just wanted his own home to return to but couldn't because it never existed in the first place? Would I die on that bloodbath of a battlefield and fade out of this world with everyone forgetting my own existence? I'm not an honorable warrior. I don't deserve a place to call home like the red eyed boy. It's because I'm a coward, a nobody. No one cares about nobodies like me. It's just me.

Me and my headphones…against this cruel world.

With a sigh, I rested my head back only to realize the sun was starting to set. I'd been sitting in this tree all day, observing other people's lives instead of fixing my own. Oh the irony. I have to get home soon. He doesn't like it when I come home late.

So I began to get down from my perch. That was when I saw this one girl. She had brown hair, tied in two pigtails that framed her face, and a bandana. She had blue eyes. They had a sort of twinkle to them. An innocent twinkle that hasn't been exposed to the cruelty of this world yet. She was wearing an orange shirt and black spandex… I frowned. How fashionable.

I continued to scan her. I found something odd about her (well more than I'd already noticed). She wasn't wearing headphones. Why? This was indeed strange.

I come here day after day. I sit in this tree day after day. I watch these people day after day. And if there's one thing that I've noticed, it's that most people nowadays are walking around with their own pair of headphones and blaring music. Especially if they are alone.

And here this girl was. Lacking in fashion sense, walking around town alone, without headphones, observing her surroundings contently. She sure was a strange girl. I haven't seen her around here before, but she seems familiar for some strange reason. "Oh well." I shrugged.

Then as if she was reading my mind, her eyes met with mine as I was still getting out of the tree. It was then that I noticed how creepy I looked. I'd been staring at her for a while with one foot in a tree and the other awkwardly dangling in search of the ground. I broke off the eye contact first. After setting foot on the ground I put my hands in my pockets, and started walking down the main street sidewalks a little faster than necessary.

I finally reached my home. I stood there fiddling with the doorknob, debating whether or not I should walk through the door, but it was already dark out and the later I got home, the worse. I sucked in all the air I possibly could, held my breath, and quietly opened the door. I regretted it instantly.

A/N; Since the first eight chapters were already published and I still have them saved things will update pretty quickly because I only have a little tweaking to do to the chapters instead of coming up with a brand new concept. Praise. I like to think that my writing has improved in the past year, hopefully it has.

I checked this chapter three times for errors but I don't have a beta so if you see something wrong (besides my improper sentence fragments. it's just how I write.) feel free to message me or something and I'll fix it ASAP. Also, I know I probably messed up tenses somewhere along the line because this was originally in present tense but I started unintentionally throwing in complex verb conjugations and it wouldn't surprise me if I really hecked up orz

TLDR; 1st 8 chapters will be published on a daily basis, maybe 2 or more on some days depending on my mood, but after that updates will most likely dwindle down to a weekly or biweekly schedule. Feel free to give some constructive criticism, I enjoy it and it helps me improve. And reviews and favorites/follows and all that stuff is more than welcome, even if you're ranting or fangirling. We can bond over our tendencies to ramble! Like what I'm doing now in a TLDR... okay I'm just gonna go now bye