counterfeit [newsies x reader]

bonus chapter

"BOY NEXT DOOR"

RACETRACK HIGGINS X READER

summary:
his saturday mornings are often occupied by karaoke in the serenity of his own home, but someone else feels like joining in.

author's note:
this was originally posted when i had a oneshot book, but it was the only one i ever got around to posting. since i'm done writing for newsies at the moment and i wanted to post it somewhere, i decided to add it here as a bonus chapter! it's unrelated to the counterfeit canon, but i hope you enjoy it nonetheless!

word count: 883

modern au

---

YOU ALWAYS EXPECTED Saturday mornings to start the same. You'd roll out of bed, access the situation of if you needed to take a shower or not, and then make yourself breakfast.

Another thing you always expected, every morning, no matter what day, was the voice of your neighbor. You'd never met the guy, but you knew his singing like the back of your hand. Every Saturday, at about six-thirty, those heavenly chords would ring out through the walls.

Of course, the vocals were muffled but what you could hear was stunning. It was like a little blue song bird sat on your windowsill every morning and sang to you like a Disney princess. Your heart swelled everytime he sang, and even more so when it was a song you knew.

You often felt as if it was directed towards you, even if he was singing to himself in the shower. Then it occurred to you, he had probably heard you too. Who knew the countless times you'd belted Phantom Of The Opera in your bathroom.

And so, here you were making a cup of coffee. You pulled the hot mug off the coffee machine, and began to prepare it. You poured in your preferred about of milk and watched the dark liquid turn lighter as it mixed together. You also spooned in an amount of sugar before allowing it to dissolve in the hot drink.

You picked up the yellow Playbill mug, and journeyed to the living room. Your hand flickered towards the remote, but once you heard him, you hand dropped back to your side.

"No more talk of darkness,
Forget these wide eyed fears.
I'm here, nothing can harm you,
My words will warm and calm you."

You smiled. You'd recognize that song anywhere. A classic musical theatre duet. You took a sip of your coffee as you continued to listen.

"Let me be your freedom,
Let daylight dry your tears.
I'm here, with you, beside you,
To guard you and guide you."

And then, all of a sudden, you couldn't help yourself. You knew who was supposed to sing next. He needed someone to sing Christine's part. You set down the coffee cup, and sang.

"Say you love me every waking moment,
Turn my head with talk of summertime.
Say you need me with you now and always,
Promise me that all you say is true
That's all I ask of you."

Your voice rang out fairly loudly through your apartment, so it wouldn't be a surprise if he heard you. You sat there, and waited for him to continue, but a vocal reply never came.

You could heard a loud screech of a rusty faucet, and the water receding back into the old pipes.

Why was he getting out?

Hadn't he just started singing and thus started his shower?

Your mind began to roam all the possibilities as you took a sip of your cooling coffee.

Through the this walls, you heard a door slam, and several stomping feet before your doorbell went off. You heart went haywire. He didn't need to know that you'd fallen in love with his voice over the past two months. And if his face was as good as his voice was, then you'd be head over heels in no time.

You set down the coffee mug, hesitantly, before rising off the couch. As you walked to the door and looked down at you sock clad feet, you realized that you were wearing your pajamas. You mentally cursed yourself and reminded yourself that you'd already come this far and shouldn't leave him waiting.

So, you walked up and threw open your apartment door.

Your heart immediately picked up speed. You were right, we was handsome. He was standing there, hair still wet. It might've been lighter had he not just jumped out of the shower. He was wearing a damp tee shirt and some older sweatpants.

"Hello?" You asked, attempted to get him to start the conversation, even though you knew what he wanted to talk about.

"Was that you?" He asked.

You contemplated on what to say. You could lie and tell him that it was your roommate that didn't exist, and that she just left in her trip to Africa after singing her verse and she'd probably never be back, but you didn't know, so he could just give up now. You reconsidered, maybe he had a thing for girls who knew All I Ask Of You by heart.

"Yes." You answered, unsure, with your eyes still wide and face red.

"Can I take you on a date?" He asked. Your eyes widened, if they could even more than they already were. You didn't even known his name!

"Can I at least know your name first?"

"Is that, All You Ask Of Me?"

"Yes." You laughed and so what facepalmed.

"Race."

"Race?"

"Yep." He paused, and you were unsure of what he wanted you to say. "How about that date?"