Balance | Daniel Seavey AU

S E V E N T E E N | four days

Day one.

I was able to move out of the dorm, and found one with their old roommate moving out because she got into a serious relationship. Her name was Lauren, and she was in ballet. Her violet hair and tattooed arms definitely surprised me when she told me she took the major of dance, when I expected her to have taken art or music.

Daniel and I hadn't spoke because he was asleep when I had packed up my things.

Of course it hurt to have moved out, but it wasn't like I was never going to see him. The most I could do was walk past him in hallways, and that's sort of it.

I created a bond with Lauren that day, and we ended up clicking after she told me her secret obsession with Game Of Thrones.

"So what does that mean to your relationship with Daniel?" Corbyn had asked that morning during lectures.

"Nothing, there wasn't ever anything," I told him as I faced the front. The same question popped up during my shift at Hotshot, and I told Jonah the same thing, only he had continued the conversation.

"He came by this morning, and almost ordered two cups of coffee," he added, and I rolled my eyes.

"It doesn't really matter."

Later that night, Zach had called and informed me that Jack, Jonah and Corbyn had told him about the mishap between Daniel and I in their group chat that they created.

"But get this, we named the group 'Why Don't We' because if we had a band, that would be the name," he added for no particular reason, "So tell me why Daniel isn't popping up in conversations."

"I don't know, and I don't care," I told him, "It's not my fault he can't understand privacy."

"He's trying to get you out there, Mason, your art deserves to be seen, even if it's in a start-up art gallery."

"Whatever, Zach, I've gotta go."

—

Day two.

Lauren and I had stayed up to rewatch Game of Thrones, so we spent the entire weekend, only able to watch three seasons because we would both end up falling asleep during one of the episodes.

"Hey, you never told me why you switched dorms," she piped, pulling her violet hair into a bun. "Was she annoying? Messy?"

"Well, he wasn't any of those," I told her, emphasizing the 'he'. "He and I had a fallout, and I couldn't really be in one room with him knowing what he did."

"Were you guys a thing?" She asked, and I shook my head. "Was he... Gay?"

"No, it's just... We fought because he broke my trust, and I'm big on the whole trusting thing, so it did hurt me a lot." I told her, folding up my blanket.

"You like him, don't you?" She stated. I faced her, and she had a smirk, her brow raised teasingly. "You like your roommate."

"Ex-roommate," I corrected.

"But you didn't deny," she sang.

"No wonder you're a dancer, your singing sucks," I said, in hopes she'll forget the conversation.

"Dude, stop changing the subject!"

"Okay, yeah, I did like him, but that crush ended when he fucked up," I told her, glaring.

"What did he do?" She crossed her arms over her shoulder.

"I'm not telling you—" then she started singing. At that moment, I began to miss Daniel's singing voice and this monstrosity Lauren was trying to do made me realize that Daniel's talent shouldn't be going unnoticed as well.