Adopted by Zerkaa

· Guitar Lessons ·

Enjoy! xx

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Mia's POV

***

"Hey, I'm off," I say, shrugging my guitar over my shoulder as I swipe an apple from the fruit bowl on the kitchen counter.

This morning I'm meeting Carson at Callux's place so he can teach me how to play the guitar. We might be doing something else afterwards too, if you know what I mean. 

Carson's been staying with Lux for a few days now since he and his mum had a fall out. Carson texted me the day it happened and he seems to be pretty upset about it even though he says its normal for his mum and him to be like that with each other. 

"Where are you going?" Josh asks, frowning slightly as he takes a sip from his coffee mug. 

"To Lux's," I say, nodding at Freya. "I asked a few days ago and you guys said I could go. He's teaching me how to play the guitar"

Josh still looks confused and looks at Freya. Freya gives him a look and shakes her head with a chuckle. 

"She did ask," Freya confirms, giving me a wink. "Go on and have fun, sweetheart. Let me know if you need to be picked up"

"Thanks," I smile, giving the couple a wave. "See you later"

"Josh, you are so forgetful sometimes," Freya chuckles as I shut the front door behind me. 

***

I arrive at Callux's place with ease and ring the doorbell. 

Callux's house is nice and pretty large. It's nice to see him happy in his moderately new home. Carson says he might be staying here a while depending on the situation with his mum. 

The door opens a few seconds later and I smile when I see Lux. He's dressed in black joggers, his notwoways shoes and an oversized white shirt. A hoodie tied around his waist and him having his hat on tells me he's getting ready to go out. 

"Hey, Mia," Lux smiles, stepping aside. "Come in. Carson's in the living room"

"Thanks," I say, giving him a hug hello. "You going somewhere?"

"Meetings," he replies with a raised eyebrow. "More shoe designs and that"

"That's exciting," I smile, following Lux into the house. 

When we reach the living room, I see Carson tuning his acoustic guitar on the cream sofas. His messy mop of brown hair moves as he raises his chin, his grey eyes connecting with mine when he notices he's not alone in the room anymore. 

"Hey," Carson says casually, his lips tugging into a small smile. 

"Hey," I reply, sitting next to him on the sofa. 

"Right, well, I'm off," Callux says, shrugging on his hoodie. "You two behave and make sure you eat something, yeah? I'll be back in a few hours"

Carson and I wave and say goodbye. We wait until we hear the front door click shut. 

"You look great," Carson says, looking me up and down. "Ready to get started?"

I nod and smile at his charming ways. The way Carson holds the guitar makes the butterflies in my stomach go mad. 

***

After two hours of Carson yelling at me for tugging the wrong strings on the guitar and me laughing at him, we decide to get some food for lunch. 

"What do you fancy?" Carson asks, tapping onto deliveroo. 

"Whatever you want," I shrug. "I'm not too fussed"

I put my guitar back into its case and then sit down next to Carson again. He seems to be hankering over some Chinese cuisine the way he hovers over the menu.

"I'm good with Chinese," I say, out of the blue. "Make sure to get the egg fried rice though"

Carson nods with a smile. 

"That's my favourite"

***

The food arrives forty-five minutes later and we eat outside in the garden. Carson and I eat straight out of the styrofoam containers with shitty wooden chopsticks and talk about stuff like college, our parents and Lux's house.

"I get the big guest room," Carson shrugs, eating a dumpling whole. "Cal always makes sure I'm fed and doing okay before he leaves the house too. I like it here a lot better than my mum's. She'd just yell at me for anything while Cal is chill"

I nod. "I get that"

Carson chuckles. "You're lucky to have Josh and Freya. They seem chill too"

I laugh and roll my eyes. 

I think the internet and Sidemen viewers think Josh and Freya are chill parents. They are laid back about some things like going out and meeting friends but are super tough when it comes to school, curfew, bedtime and meals. Josh and Freya definitely aren't chill chill, but they're not horribly strict either. Nonetheless, I am still lucky to have them. 

"Should we clear up and watch a movie or something?" Carson asks. 

I nod and stand up, starting to clear the containers with Carson. The clouds in the sky look damp and grey and ready to pour down with rain any second. The temperature has also dropped so Carson and I make sure to hurry up and clean everything as fast as we can. 

***

"What do you wanna watch?" Carson calls from the living room. 

"I don't fucking know, choose something"

Carson gives me a look as I join him, tripping on the carpet and almost landing on him. Oops. 

"You're sassy," Carson laughs.

Carson and I lock eyes for a split second. My hand is still resting on his leg from when I tried to use him to protect my fall. 

Carson leans in for a second and my heartbeat speeds up. I suddenly feel stupid when he grabs the remote from behind me. 

"Any ideas yet?"

I shake my head no and feel my face flush red with embarrassment. 

Carson and I have been pretty flirty over the past few weeks. Whether it be in texts or in person, Carson and I flirt A LOT. It wouldn't be surprising if we had just kissed.I kinda wish we did since I've been thinking about it for a long time. 

***

7:30 pm

***

Knock knock

"Come in," I say, shutting my sketchbook abruptly. 

My bedroom door opens and Josh pokes his head in. He's wearing the same clothes from the Sidemen shoot today so I assume he's just gotten back from filming the video. 

"Hey," he smiles. "Dinner's almost ready"

"Okay," I nod, running a hand through my hair. "I'll be out in a second"

I put my sketchbook on my bedside table and get off the bed to change into my sleepwear. Josh still stands at the doorway looking uncertain about something.

"Everything okay?" I ask, grabbing myself some sweats and an oversized shirt. 

"Yeah," Josh nods. "Did you have fun with Carson?"

My mind starts to think about the almost kiss and I want to kick myself for being so stupid. Carson was only reaching for the TV remote, not leaning in to kiss me at all. 

"Yes, I did," I reply quickly. "I'm getting more comfortable with the guitar now"

"That's cool," Josh says with a gentle smile. "I'm glad"

***