Chapter 1

A/N: Ok, so back to solo writing and I'm super nervous. I wanted to post this first chapter because I can't wait anymore. This story is a little different. It's not drabble, but the length of chapters will differ from one to the other, and it's more of a lighthearted story. I want to thank SassyNoles for her help with some of this story. Also huge thanks to agoodwitch. She has been beta, cheerleader, prereader, and sounding board for this story and she is amazing. She also listens to me rant, so she has the patience of a saint. There is a lot of music in this entire story, so there is a playlist below. This is all BPOV. Alright, off we go.

Three weeks ago, they had announced that we were going into another lockdown. This one looked like it was going to last at least a month, if not longer. We were required to wear masks in common areas, and only essential trips outside the house were allowed.

I have always been more introverted than my sister. She was very verbose and loved talking to people. So, while my life hadn't changed drastically, hers had.

"Honestly, Bellsy. This whole lockdown sucks. How long has it been since I've seen you face to face?" My sister asked me. I smiled at her face through the screen of my smartphone.

"It's been three weeks, Alicat," I answered.

She scrunched her nose at my nickname. She hated it since we were kids, and I was the only one who could get away with calling her that. Anyone else would have their ass handed to them. My sister was little but fierce, and no one expected her to make grown men cry, but she had, more than once. "Have you talked to Mom?"

I groaned. My mom had become so neurotic since this whole new lockdown had started. She called daily and I get she was worried, and I was too, and being away from both of her daughters during a time like this was cause for her to freak out. I nodded my head at Alice. "Of course, I do, every day."

Alice laughed, and I chuckled along with her. I was about to say something when I heard the first notes of Fur Elise from my neighbor. Whoever it was, they were playing the piano. I had gotten a new neighbor a couple days ago and every night since they had moved in they had played the piano. "Is that the piano person?" Alice asked, knowing the entire story.

"Yeah, they're playing Fur Elise. Last night, it was moonlight sonata, like the whole thing." I explained.

"Jeez, that song is melancholy. I wonder why." Alice mused.

Alice and I knew classical music. Our mom had always tried to instill a love of it in us, and I took piano lessons until I was 15. I still played now and then because I had a piano, but it wasn't even of the same caliber as my neighbor. Now, when I say neighbor, I really meant they were right next door. The neighbor on my right was a creep, so the piano guy was on the left. I had yet to meet this neighbor, but they compelled me to listen to their music every night. Alice, knowing this, bid me farewell, saying she would call me in a couple days because she was still struggling with remote learning.

I hung up and went to go sit in my armchair facing my window that had an amazing view of Seattle. Being winter, the sun was already setting, and I watched it sink into the horizon while listening to the music. When they finished with Fur Elise, it surprised me to hear them launch into Chopin's Nocturne, Op 20. It was melancholy and beautiful, and having to play those flourishes required quick hands. I could never get good enough to play that song.

I got up and turned on my electric kettle, preparing to make a cup of tea. I busied myself in the kitchen and laughed to myself when they started playing the Nutcracker Suite. I loved the classical stuff, but they needed to get some more modern stuff in their rotation.

I finished my cup of tea and felt a burning desire to reach out to him. Not to meet him, I wasn't allowed to do that in a lockdown, but I could leave them a note next door. I could request a song, seeing as how I was home every day. My job had been remote before we went into lockdown. I took out a sticky note and wrote:

Hey neighbor!

I love listening to you play the piano. For a more modern twist, I would like to request you play a song for me. Will you play "My heart will go on" by Celine Dion. Cliché, I know, but I always loved how it sounds on the piano. Thank you!

-The girl waiting for her song in the apartment to the right of yours-

I pulled my boots on and my facemask. I walked next door. The music was louder out in the hallway, like I was in the same room as the music. I stuck the sticky note to it, with a piece of tape, and booked it back to my apartment like the chicken I was.

I sat back in my armchair and played around on my phone while listening to the calming music coming from down the hall. The person only played two more songs, because I'm sure that people would complain about the "noise" if it went on too long. I wondered who the person playing the piano was.

I assumed it was a guy, and I don't know why I immediately jumped to that conclusion. Maybe because I was a single girl and not seeing anyone else but myself for weeks on end was wearing on me. I turned the TV on and lost myself in a sitcom for a few hours. I decided to go to bed early, and I would just start my remote work early if I happened to get up. I went through my nightly routine and fell into bed, thinking about my mystery neighbor and their piano.

A/N: There we go. This chapter is short and sweet and probably the shortest chapter of them all. How do we feel? Let me know.

Playlist:

Fur Elise By Ludwig Van Beethoven

Moonlight Sonata By Ludwig Van Beethoven

Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. posth. Lento By Frédéric Chopin

Nutcracker Suite By Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky