First Kiss - A Lawson FanFic

Chapter 4 - Joel's House

The door swung open, revealing a tall, skinny guy with blonde hair styled into a quiff. He had a bass guitar slung over his shoulder, his stance relaxed and open.

"Hey," he said, "I'm Ryan. You must be Ellie," he winked, "Joel's told me all about you." I pulled a face in embarrassment.

"Nice to meet you," I replied.

"Come in," he said, stepping back to give me space to allow me to step inside into the hall of the flats. He turned to go up the stairs, motioning for me to follow. We traveled up two flights, until we reached a door that read 14b. From inside I could hear the sounds of drums and guitar. I turned to Ryan, raising my eyebrows.

"Band practise?" I assumed.

"You know it," he said, his smile crinkling his eyes of his young-looking face.

He pushed open the door, waving his arm to gesture me through. I shuffled through into what appeared to immediately be the kitchen, unsure of where to go and what to say. Ryan walked past me into the lounge where speakers, a drum kit and various wires were set up. He yelled above the music:

"Yo, guys! Ellie's here!" The music came to an awkward, untuneful halt as four pairs of eyes moved to rest on me. I focused on one particularly blue pair: Joel's.

"Hey," I said finally. Joel was the first to speak up.

"Hi," he said, making his way over to me, "how are you?"

"Good, thanks," I said, smiling. He hadn't changed one bit from yesterday; his perfect, dark hair ruffled into a similar quiff to Ryan's, his blue eyes twinkling and his mouth stretched into a broad smile. He was wearing a light grey t-shirt and black jeans, his feet clad in navy striped socks.

I melted.

"Don't mind all this," he waved behind him, motioning to all of the instruments.

"No it's okay," I said quickly, "besides, it's me interrupting your practise." I said.

"Yeah," he said with a laugh. Oh, how I love that laugh.

Then, a tall guy with dark, curly hair sauntered over, his hand outstretched.

"Hey, I'm Andy," he said with a Liverpudlian drawl, as I shook his hand, "it's great that you're here."

"Thanks," I said grinning.

Finally, I presumed, was Adam; a shorter, stocky guy with dark hair brought up into a box quiff.

"Hello," he said, also shaking my hand. He seemed to be the only member of the band with a southern accent, like me. At least I'm not the only one, I thought, relieved.

"Hi," I said, "you must be Adam?" He realised his eyebrows questioningly.

"No, it's just your names are outside," I explained quickly as an attempt to cover my knowledge of his name, "for the bell- er, your flats?"

He smiled, flashing a brilliant set of teeth.

"Yeah yeah, I know," he said, "Yep, I'm Adam. The drummer," he added with a laugh. I laughed in response, glad of the riddance of awkward tension.

The four of them then turned to me, as if expecting me to say something.

"So..." I began, "what were you guys playing when I rudely interrupted?"

"We're working on a new song Andy's written," Joel explained.

"It's called Red Sky," added Ryan.

"Awesome!" I enthused, then with hesitation; "Can I... hear it?"

Joel's face cracked into a huge grin as he said, "Of course! Right, lads?" he asked, turning to the other three band members. They began to make their way back into the 'studio', and I followed suit, unsure of where to sit.