To Fix A Heart ➳ A Sidemen Fanfiction

I

1.5 years later

Vik sighs, leaning back into his desk chair. His palms rub against his face, refreshing his eyes from their sleepy selves. Pieces of his nearly-black hair falls into his eyes, only barely obstructing the dim light of his room from shining into his premature irises. With his rigid muscles, he struggles to stretch from his position, only to have his chair hit the side of his double bed nuzzled into the corner of his room.

Somehow, he's managed to finish editting and filming before the sun's risen, which, as of the past week, is a first. The final video is still rendering, and he's missed the correct timing for a morning run, so maybe he'll just grab a cheeky tea before falling asleep of inevitable exhaustion.

With his jacket in one hand and a few pounds in his other, he quietly sneaks down the stairs, though not doubting that Josh and Simon are awake anyway. It's probably 4am; everyone in the house is usually awake at this time anyway. Some of the boys are stopping by next week, so unless their sleeping patterns match Vik's, the ones in the Sidemen house are going to have sort out their schedules to spend optimal time with the rest of the Sidemen guys.

Vik slips on his shoes--his normal ones rather than his usual trainers--before leaving the house, making sure to shut the door carefully behind him. His direction is going nowhere, being that he knows of no nearby cafe. The pavement under his feet seems aimless as he begins walking, only his mind hoping he'll come across some luck.

The usual cold London wind blows across the tiny spots of exposed skin he has, chilling him from the exterior. It is about mid-winter; February was just peeking around the corner. It has only sprinkled with white flakes down in England, so the 2015 winter has been quiet and unlively, only consisting of harsh wind and maybe the odd rain storm. The street lights planted reasonably between each other illuminate the otherwise empty street, creating an eerie nightfallen feel, running from the shadows to the darkened horizon.

As another gust of harsh winnd blows across Vik's hair, he buries his hands into his pockets, pulling up the neck of his jacket so it covers his nose. Why, again, did he think it was a good idea to roam the streets of London in the winter at 4 in the morning? Couldn't he have just made tea back at the house, and then he could make it for all the lads. He could turn back... but he's already come this far.

Sometimes, he believes it's the countless hours he's spent staring at his computer screens that plays with his mind. Grand Theft Auto becomes real, the terrain turns more pixelated and block-like, guns are placed into his hands and he has to plant a C4--

He didn't choose to have these fake mirages, but on the other side of things, he loves it. He loves his career, being that he could run his own schedule and it's very social. Vik never used to be a social butterfly--courtesy of his focuses on school, but now, he isn't even attending university as a nineteen year-old. He's chosen to take a couple years off, and if the content he releases to his numberless fans isn't enough, maybe he'll consider schooling.

But for now, he's happy with his friends, his fans, and his job.

Quickly, Vik approaches what seems like mid-town, but he's never quite come across this area. The buildings around him are mainly shops, but they're abandoned for the night until daybreak. The emptiness of the block seems mysterious, though not strange for this early in the morning--especially in January.

The night is restless and the day is nonexistent, the population has disappeared and the atmosphere is utterly still. It seems surreal, but Vik could pinch his skin multiple times and still open his eyes to the same lonely scene, though now with a stinging pain on his arm.

Building after building he passes, the windows dimmed from the absent light behind the thick glass. Metal bars cover the doors; a precaution for the nights. It's not that London is shady... it's only to be careful, because anywhere can be dangerous.