Hey babes! New little one-shot for ya. This one was inspired by a post I found on Pinterest a while back and I thought it was pretty great. So I wrote this. Had a little trouble coming up with a title, but I eventually picked something and I hope it works. :)
Enjoy!
"Hey, Grant, you coming out with us tonight?"
"Out where?" Grant asks his group of friends, not looking up from his laptop, continuing to type.
"That karaoke bar in town."
Grant looks up at his friend and raises an eyebrow at him. "A karaoke bar? Seriously, Trip? Our first weekend at college and you guys all want to go out to a karaoke bar?" He looks at each of his friends.
Hunter shrugs. "There's supposed to be a lot of girls there."
Grant nods. "And there it is."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hunter replies.
Grant shakes his head. "Nothing, really. Just that it seems like you guys are always looking for an opportunity to meet girls and nothing else."
"Well why shouldn't we be doing that?" Trip replies. "None of us are looking for a lasting relationship, exactly. We just want to go out and have some fun while we can."
"Well you can count me out of your little endeavor," Grant says, turning back to his desk.
"Seriously? Come on, Grant. You know you'll have a lot of fun there."
"No, I probably won't," he replies. "I'm not really a singer."
"You don't have to be. Just come with us, have a few drinks, maybe get a few numbers from some very attractive women, and try to enjoy yourself."
Grant shakes his head. "Nope. I'm not going."
"I can't believe I let you guys convince me to come here," Grant mutters as he and his friends make their way inside the karaoke bar. He immediately takes notice of the small group of women on stage singing a song he vaguely recognizes.
"Don't be like that, man," Trip says to him. "We'll get some drinks, sit down, listen to what's going on, and maybe sing a few songs a little bit later."
Grant shakes his head. "No. I am not getting up there. There's only one way I'll get up there and I'm sure it won't ever happen."
"Never say never, my friend," Trip tells him, clapping him on the back. "Let's go find a place to sit."
"Yeah, fine." Grant reluctantly follows his friends through the club, locating an empty table just big enough for all of them in the center of the room.
They all get seated and quickly order drinks and various snacks, starting to talk with one another.
Grant's attention is quickly drawn back to the group of women on stage singing together. As he listens, he can't help the small smile that grows on his face when he recognizes what song they're singing; I'll Make a Man Out of You from Mulan.
"Hey, Trip," Grant speaks up to his friend, not taking his eyes off the stage, or one brunette in particular singing with extra passion.
"Yeah?" Trip replies.
"I think I might get up and sing at some point tonight."
Trip smiles. "Really? That's great. What changed your mind?"
Grant glances at his friend before smiling back over at the stage. "Guess you could say I've been inspired."
.
.
.
"Hello there, kind sir," Grant says to the man running the karaoke system off to the side of the club. "I'd like to sing Track 48, please."
The man just gives him a look. "Bro, you sure you really want to sing that song?"
Grant gives him a tight smile and nods. "I'm sure."
The man sighs. "Alright. Good luck, man."
"I don't need it, but thanks anyways." He turns and makes his way up onto the stage, grabbing the microphone out of the stand and moving the stand off to the side. He moves back to the center of the stage and holds the microphone up in front of his mouth.
"Good evening, everybody. My name is Grant and this song I will be singing tonight is dedicated to the absolute number one girl in my life, Amanda, even though she isn't here. It's also for that wonderful group of ladies who was up here earlier; you all inspired me to actually get up here and do this." He looks off to the side. "The music, please."
A second later the music starts, a few whoops and hollers coming from Grant's friends.
Smiling wide, Grant stands up straight, holds the mic up to his lips, and begins singing.
The seaweed is always greener
In somebody else's lake
You dream about going up there
But that is a big mistake
Just look at the world around you
Right here on the ocean floor
Such wonderful things surround you
What more is you lookin' for?
He casually paces back and forth across the stage, singing out to the crowd.
Under the sea
Under the sea
Darling it's better
Down where it's wetter
Take it from me
Up on the shore they work all day
Out in the sun they slave away
While we devotin'
Full time to floatin'
Under the sea
He hops down off the front of the stage, going over to the table where his friends sit. He stops right next to Hunter and leans his arm on the man's shoulder.
Down here all the fish is happy
As off through the waves they roll
The fish on the land ain't happy
They sad 'cause they in their bowl
But fish in the bowl is lucky
They in for a worser fate
One day when the boss get hungry
Guess who's gon' be on the plate?
He pushes off of Hunter's shoulder and walks around again through the room, singing to a few of the people around him as he goes.
Under the sea
Under the sea
Nobody beat us
Fry us and eat us
In fricassee
We what the land folks loves to cook
Under the sea we off the hook
We got no troubles
Life is the bubbles
Under the sea (under the sea)
Under the sea (under the sea)
Since life is sweet here
We got the beat here
Naturally (naturally)
Even the sturgeon an' the ray
They get the urge 'n' start to play
We got the spirit
You got to hear it
Under the sea
He moves over to where the group of girls from earlier is sitting and sits down on the end of their booth bench, singing to them with a smile.
The newt play the flute
The carp play the harp
The plaice play the bass
And they soundin' sharp
The bass play the brass
The chub play the tub
The fluke is the duke of soul
(Yeah)
The ray he can play
The lings on the strings
The trout rockin' out
The blackfish she sings
The smelt and the sprat
They know where it's at
An' oh that blowfish blow
As the musical interlude starts to play, Grant tosses a wink at the brunette sitting next to him before standing up and moving away from the booth.
He makes his way around the club once more, doing ridiculous dance moves to the music.
As the interlude comes to a close, he jumps back up on the stage, standing front and center.
Yeah, under the sea (under the sea)
Under the sea (under the sea)
When the sardine
Begins the beguine
It's music to me (it's music to me)
What do they got? A lot of sand
We got a hot crustacean band
Each little clam here
Know how to jam here
Under the sea
Each little slug here
Cuttin' a rug here
Under the sea
Each little snail here
Know how to wail here
That's why it's hotter
Under the water
Ya we in luck here
Down in the muck here
Under the sea
When the final note of the song hits, Grant throws a fist in the air in time with it.
A second later, the entire room bursts into applause, the loudest of the cheering and hollering coming from his friends.
Smiling, Grant makes his way down off the stage and back over to his friends.
"Dude, that took some serious balls to do," Hunter tells him.
Grant sits down in his seat and looks at Hunter. "You're so strange, but thanks. I just figured if a group of girls can get up there and sing Disney song after Disney song, what's wrong with me getting up there and singing one?"
"Well I got the whole thing on video for you," Trip tells him. "I'm sure Mandy will love to see it."
Grant deadpans. "You're the greatest, Trip, a true friend."
Trip chuckles. "You're the one who got up there and sang, man. I just recorded the entire thing for posterity."
"Hey."
Turning his head, Grant sees the same brunette from earlier standing in front of him.
"Hey," he says back. "You were one of the girls singing Disney songs up on the stage earlier."
She nods. "I was. My name's Skye."
"Grant," he replies.
"I know. You were the guy who just did a near perfect rendition of Under the Sea."
"Near perfect?" he asks.
Skye nods again. "Mm-hmm. Those dance moves could really use some work."
"I'll have you know that my dance moves are awesome," he says with a small smile. "Amanda thinks I'm the best dancer ever in the entire world."
Skye raises an eyebrow. "Oh really. And has this Amanda actually ever seen you dance before? Because I'm sure she'd change her mind."
"She's seen me dance," he tells her. "But I don't think she'll change her mind. At least, not for a few more years."
"You seem pretty confident about that."
"Oh I am," he says.
"Well your girlfriend seems like a very lucky girl," she tells him.
All of Grant's friends immediately burst out laughing.
Skye furrows her brows. "What's so funny?"
"Amanda's not his girlfriend, love," Hunter tells her.
"She's not?"
Grant shakes his head. "Nope. She's my sister. My six year old sister."
Skye's face instantly reddens. "Oh my goodness. I am so sorry for just assuming like that. I feel like such an idiot right now."
"It's fine," Grant tells her with a smile. "It's my fault for not clarifying before; sometimes I forget that other people don't already know that. You've got a really nice voice, by the way. I heard you singing pretty loud when my friends and I came in."
"Thanks," she says. "So do you. Bold choice too, going with Under the Sea."
Grant chuckles and nods. "Yes. Well, Mandy's kind of in this phase right now where she's completely obsessed with everything having to do with The Little Mermaid. She makes me watch the movie with her all the time so I've kind of memorized the songs without really intending to do so."
"Well you're a very good big brother for watching that movie with her whenever she wants."
"Thanks," Grant says with a smile. "She's sad that I'm away at school now, but I think most of it is because I'm not there to watch it with her."
Skye smiles and laughs. "I'm sure that's not the only reason. But hey, once Thanksgiving hits you'll be seeing her again. You are going to go home for Thanksgiving, right?"
Grant nods. "Yes, I will be."
"Skye! Get over here!"
Skye looks over her shoulder to her friends. "I'll be right there. Give me a second." She looks back at Grant. "I'm sorry, I have to go."
"Oh, yeah, no, go, it's fine. You're here with your friends, go have fun with them."
Skye slowly starts to back away. "Great, thanks."
"Of course."
"It was really great to meet you, Grant," she says as she turns to walk back towards her friends.
He gives a small nod as he watches her go. "Likewise."
"I still can't believe this actually happened, man," Trip says to Grant. "Out of all of us it happened to you first."
"Why is that such a big deal?" Skye asks from her chair right next to Grant, their hands entwined together.
"Oh, maybe because in high school Grant never really seemed to be into girls very much. Lot of people there thought he was actually gay."
"I went on dates with girls," Grant tells his friends.
"Yeah, but not with any of the girls from our school," Trip replies.
"That's because all the girls at our high school were stuck up and snobby. I wanted to go out with people who were real. Like Skye is." Grant turns his head and smiles at the woman sitting next to him.
"Grant!"
Turning his head, Grant smiles when he sees his sister running towards him, a wide smile on her face.
"Hey, Mandy," he says to her. "I don't think I told you earlier, but you look very beautiful."
"Thanks," the little girl says back with a smile. She turns her attention on Skye. "Hi."
Skye smiles. "Hey, sweetie."
"Grant said you're my sister now because he's my brother and you married him."
Skye smiles and nods. "He's right. You and I are sisters now. What do you think about that?"
"I like it," Amanda says with a smile.
"Me too," Skye says back. "I've never had a sister before."
"Me neither."
"Well then we're going to have to make sure to do everything that sisters do and have tons of fun together."
Amanda smiles. "Yeah."
"Hey, Mandy," Grant speaks up to his sister.
"Yeah?"
"Is it okay if I steal Skye away for a dance?"
"Okay."
He smiles. "Great." He looks over at Skye. "Would you care to dance with me, Mrs. Ward?"
Skye smiles back. "I would love too, Mr. Ward."
Grant stands up from his seat, grabs Skye hand in his to pull her up from her seat, and leads her out onto the dance floor.
Wrapping their arms around one another, Grant and Skye begin to sway to the music, getting completely lost in one another.
"You know, I still can't believe I let you convince me that a Little Mermaid theme was a good idea for our wedding."
"First of all, it's not Little Mermaid, not really. I'd call it more of an underwater or nautical type of theme. And it's not even that heavy of a theme, just subtle hints throughout the décor."
Grant nods. "Right. But I'm still a little confused as to why the underwater theme."
"It makes sense," she tells him. "We first met after you sang Under the Sea at that karaoke bar."
"That we did." He smiles wide. "Best decision I ever made."
"Even better than the one where you asked me to marry you?" she asks.
"Well if I hadn't gone to that karaoke bar in the first place and chosen to get up and sing, you never would have come over and introduced yourself. And then I wouldn't have fallen madly in love with you right then and there."
"You did not," she says, a small smile on her lips.
"Okay, maybe I didn't fall in love right there, but I definitely felt something for you and wanted to get to know you better."
Skye smiles up at him. "And that's exactly what you did."
He smiles back and leans down to press a kiss to her lips. "Yes it is."
So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Also, working on something kinda fun, and I'd love to have your help with it. When you leave a review, just let me know a reason why you love Skyeward. I know why I ship/love them, now I wanna know why you do too. :)
Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!