Title: the lonely hearts club band
Playlist: With A Little Help From My Friends-The Beatles, Superman- Joe Brooks
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Honestly you can take credit for this whole story I'm far too ashamed of it to claim it.
Warnings: ew.
Meeting him is purely a coincidence.
Or maybe fate, she's not sure, actually.
She's walking to a table near Mini's with her milkshake-comfort food-and he's wandering somewhat aimlessly around the food court when he bumps into her.
Cute as he may be, graceful, he was not.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" He exclaims, picking her back up off of the pavement he'd knocked her down on.
"No, no it's fine!" She brushes the dirt off of the back of her thighs.
"Here, let me buy you another milk shake!" He offers, noticing the spilled vanilla all over the cement.
"You don't have to-" She starts, but he tugs her wrist back towards the kiosk and she figures it's not up to her anymore.
He orders a shake for himself, too. Chocolate.
She's not sure why, but for some reason he sits next to her. And, for two strangers, it feels oddly comfortable.
"So you're Kira, Austin's girlfriend, right?" He asks, sipping his tiny milkshake.
She scoffs, casting her eyes down to the floor. "I was."
"And what does that mean?"
She meets his eyes and gives him a small, bittersweet smile.
"I…I'm sorry. It's none of my business."
"No, it's fine. He just- it's just- I can tell he likes Ally more than he likes me. And I don't want to intrude on that."
Elliot smiles at her. "So you noticed, too? God, he's so in love with her and he doesn't even know it."
She laughs, which feels really nice after last night's events. She didn't even get to go to her stupid Katy Perry concert.
"Right?!"
They sit there laughing together for a minute before Elliot sighs.
"So we're like, the rejects, right?
She swirls her straw around in her cup aimlessly. "I mean, at least I am. You didn't really get rejected by Ally, did you?"
"I guess you're right. I know we used to have crushes on each other, but we were kids. Times change. And I mean, she's pretty, but.." He gives Kira a pointed glance.
"I think I've found someone prettier."
It hits her then: he's flirting with her. He is honest-to-Godly, hormonally, flirting with her.
Well, if it had to be anyone, she's fine with it being him.
"I'm flattered." She says honestly, and he smiles shyly.
He scratches at the back of his neck-which she assumes is a nervous tic- and scrunches his nose.
"Hey, uh, Kira… would you want to like… hang out some time?"
Her eyes glimmer. "I'm free this afternoon."
He grins widely.
/
As soon as they get into her car, she smacks herself on the forehead.
"Oh my God, I'm an idiot. I completely forgot, I have to pick up my brother from soccer."
Elliot shrugs. "That's fine."
She stares at him in disbelief. "You're willing to come with me? I'm warning you know, Joseph's a little brat."
He laughs and adjusts the passenger seat so that it leaned back further. "Nah, it's cool. I said I wanted to hang out with you. If this is what it entails, I'm cool with that."
She smiles. She'd gone out with quite a few guys before- most of them just using her to get to her father, before he implemented a rule against her dating musicians- but she doesn't remember the last time one of them was this nice.
And they weren't even officially going out.
/
Joseph loaded himself into the car, sweaty-face, mud-caked cleats and grass-stained shin guards and all.
Kira made a disgusted face. She hated her car getting dirty.
"Who's this? Your boyfriend?" He singsonged, making kissy faces at the front seat.
She gently shoved his shoulder from where she was sitting. "Shut up, Joseph. He's not my boyfriend, he's-" She stopped. She actually wasn't sure what their title was.
"He's Elliot."
Smooth.
She pretends not to see him give a small chuckle out of the corner of her eye.
/
Yeah, if we're being honest here, he's not sure how any of this happened.
One minute, he was ambling around the Miami Mall food court because it was the only place he remembered how to get to without Ally's guidance, and suddenly he finds himself in like with Austin Moon's ex-girlfriend and he's in her car with her little brother and what?
"Kee-raaa." Joseph chimes from the backseat. "You're supposed to drop me off at Keegan's house. It's back there."
Kira slams on the brakes. "Shit." She mumbles, backing up into somebody's driveway so she turn around.
"Ooh, you cursed. Imma tell Dad when I get home."
She rolls her eyes as Elliot laughs. "Just shut up, Joseph. You're eleven, I'm sure you hear worse at school."
Joseph grumbles something under his breath, but he just crosses his arms and sinks back in his seat.
Kira eyes Elliot laughing and smirks.
"What's so funny?"
Elliot shakes his head, still grinning. "No, it's just that I'm an only child, so little arguments like this are just really funny to me. You're lucky to have a little brother."
"You can have him, if you want." She jokes.
"Hey!" Joseph exclaims from the backseat.
She smiles fondly. "He's alright."
Elliot smiles. He likes this girl more and more every second he spends with her.
"Whoa. Your house is huge." Elliot says, gaping at the mansion.
Kira shrugs passively. "Yeah, I guess it is. My dad is a big record label executive. But sometimes I don't really care to have a house this huge. It's just me, my dad, and my brother, and dad's always here or there. It gets kind of lonely." She says forlornly, pursing her lips and looking up at the white-painted exterior walls of the house.
"Where's your mom?"
She's noticed he's not one for subtlety.
She looks down into her purse and fishes for her house key so he won't see her tearing up.
"She died in a car accident when I was eleven."
His heart stops for a nanosecond. God, what an idiot he was. He never should've asked that.
Instinctively, he wraps his arms around her.
"I'm sorry."
It feels oddly….nice. Comforting.
She shakes her head and pulls out the keys.
"It's okay."
Once in her lavishly decorated room, the first thing he notices is her myriad of instruments.
"Wow. You must be good at music."
"Eh." She shrugs. "I mean, I grew up around it, I suppose there was no way for me not to learn it. But I've never actually wanted to pursue it as a career or anything like that. I'd rather act. My mom was an actress."
He nods and gingerly sits down on her pristine white bedspread. Everything about her room seemed so delicate and had an air of expensiveness, as if it would disintegrate under the touch of middle-class people, like himself.
"Still, it's cool. I've never really gotten into music. Art's more of my thing."
She sits down on the bed next to him.
"Did you ever want to learn music?"
He shrugs. "I mean, I think when I was a kid, I wanted to learn how to play guitar. But my dad thought it was a stupid idea."
He laughs. "My dad was always so drunk, he thought everything was a stupid idea. I guess that's why he ended up leaving."
He's a bit shocked that he just admitted that. That's something he's never told anyone, let alone a girl he's only known for like, twenty-four hours and has only been talking to for around four.
If even.
Somehow, it seems like the right thing to do is grab his hand. Which she does, getting a huge, goofy grin in response.
"Would you like to learn some guitar now?" She whispers, not letting go of his hand.
He nods. "If you want to show me."
She lets go of his hand for a second to grab her acoustic Fender from the stander in the corner of the room.
"Here." She hands it over to him.
"I have no clue what I'm doing with this thing." He admits bashfully.
She tilts her head to the side. "That's why I'm here to teach you."
She carefully placed his fingers on the right frets and the right strings and tells him to strum.
He fails miserably, in the most adorable of ways.
She giggles. "No, here, let me see it."
She plays some chords to With A Little Help From My Friends by the Beatles.
Do you need anybody?
I need somebody to love.
Could it be anybody?
I want somebody to love.
He looks over her in a moment where she's looking back at him, and it feels like the world has gone quiet aside from her singing. He is there and she is there and in the same moment that it feels as if he is intruding in her privacy, it feels like he belongs.
He hasn't felt like he belongs anywhere in a while.
She looks back down at her hands as she plays the progression.
What do I do when my love is away.
(Does it worry you to be alone)
How do I feel by the end of the day
(Are you sad because you're on your own)
No, I get by with a little help from my friends,
Mmm, get high with a little help from my friends,
Mmm, gonna to try with a little help from my friendsShe smiles proudly as she finishes the song.
He laughs. "Yeah, I'm never going to be good enough to compare to that. Even if I devoted the next ten years of my life to learning just that song."
She laughs in unison with him, and then he stops abruptly.
"Kira?" He whispers softly, inching closer to her.
"Uh-huh?"
Her breath is slowing and her heart is quickening. Is this supposed to be happening? She doesn't believe so.
"Are you over Austin?"
She smiles. "I think so."
"So you wouldn't mind if I kissed you right now?"
She loops her thin arms around the back of his neck.
"Please do."
/
.fin.
A/N: Moral of the story here is I cannot write for this pairing. Legit.
Also don't let me write at 1am.
soooo I've basically shipped them ever since I saw the clip with Kira's little "he's cute" comment from Campers & Complications. But I was not fueled to write a fic until I saw nycklepigans' video 'Bedroom Hymns', which is gorgeous like all of her vids, so check those out.
Also I a)love the Beatles and b) was watching Beatles week on American Idol when I thought of this so yeah that's where the title and song came from.
I hope you at least got *some* enjoyment out of this, though! :D
Tessa