The next morning I was woken up by the smell of coffee and the gentle clatter of cabinets being open and shut. I groaned softly and wiped the sleep from my eyes with a yawn.
I sat up and stretched before a coffee mug was held in front of my face. I looked up to see Five holding it out to me, to which I took gingerly.
"Thanks, lovely," I said tiredly, taking a few small sips.
The boy sat down next to me, placing his own mug down on the table before handing me a folded blazer jacket. "I forgot to give this back to you last night." He explained, making me gasp.
"Right! I'm so sorry that I didn't get your clothes washed yesterday like I planned-" He placed his hand over my mouth, cutting me off with an expectant look.
"There's no need to worry about it. I washed them myself, so you can relax." He assured me, making me roll my eyes playfully and pull his hand off of me.
"Just let me do something nice for you, Hargreeves." I mumbled, twisting the rings on my fingers.
He scoffed and stood back up while grabbing his mug. "Never gonna happen if I have anything to say about it." Five gave me a little smirk before making his way towards the snapshots of his family.
I kept quiet, ignoring my racing heart and heated face as I sipped my warm drink. Elliott walked over, a bowl of cereal in his hands.
"Did you develop these photos yourself?" The boy asked.
The man nodded. "Sure did. Government has eyes everywhere, so I can't exactly drop these off at the local Fotomat."
I watched as Five took an orange video tape box out of his pocket, scratching out the date before handing it over to Elliott. "Can you develop this?"
He looked over the box curiously. "Frankel Footage. Friends of yours?"
He gave the man a sarcastic smile. "Cousins on my robot mother's side. Can you do it or not?" I started laughing, thus making me choke a little on my coffee before immediately washing it down. Both the men gave me a concerned look, to which I shook my head and gave them a bashful smile.
Elliott looked back down at the box before rambling quietly about his process for getting the film developed, little giggles escaping me as I watched Five's face grow more and more annoyed.
"Elliott!"
The man snapped back into the conversation. "Should take me about five, six hours."
The boy sighed before turning to me and taking a few steps closer, holding out a hand. "Well, we have time to spare. Do you have any ideas?" I gave him a giddy smile and eagerly stood up from the couch, taking his hand. "Should I be worried about that smile?"
I nodded. "Absolutely." I then dragged Five out of the building, throwing a goodbye to Elliott on the way out as we walked down the street hand in hand.
After a few minutes, the boy next to me sighed. "Where are we even going?" I groaned and gave him a nudge.
"It would spoil the surprise." I whined before we finally reached the building I had in mind. A diner with an open mic, where people were enjoying their meals and getting a show from fellow patrons.
When he realized where we were, he gave me a raised eyebrow. "Seriously?"
I rolled my eyes and dragged him inside. "Listen, I've always wanted to come here. I just never had anyone I could do that with comfortably. And if it makes you feel any better, we can leave after a little while."
Five saw the pleading look on my face before he eventually gave in, squeezing my hand gently. "Fine. Only a few acts, though, and then we're leaving." I cheered quietly and pulled him to stand towards the back of the room as a group of four black men went up to the microphone.
"How are y'all doin' on this fine mornin'?" One of the men called out into the small crowd of people within the diner, earning a few cheers and whistles. "That is fine and dandy, ain't it? We are The Temptations, with an original song of ours that you folks get to hear first. It's called My Girl."
My face broke out into a wide grin as I shook Five's arm, my eyes darting between him and the group on the little stage. "I love that song," I whispered.
The boy chuckled and squeezed my hand again. "Just be careful. We don't wanna draw attention to ourselves by singing along to a song that technically doesn't exist yet."
I waved him off dismissively, swaying gently to the strumming bass guitar as the group began to put me under a spell with their beautiful melodies and harmonic phrases. I withheld the urge to break into dramatic lip syncing as Five advised, simply enjoying the live performance of one of my favorite songs.
Once The Temptations finished, there was clapping and cheers all around, including a standing ovation from every patron in the diner. The sight of their stunned faces made my smile grow brightly, inspiring me into a reckless decision.
Once everyone settled down, I slipped away from Five's side, heading over to the group of talented men with a nervous smile. "Hello, um, could I possibly borrow your guitar? I'd like to go up there and sing something myself." The guitarist gave me an encouraging look and handed over the beautiful instrument.
"Go sing your heart out, little lady. And keep the guitar. I have plenty more." My smile grew in relief as I gingerly took it from his hands, muttering a million thank you's before walking up onto the stage.
As I held the guitar against my chest comfortably, I took a deep breath before strumming a tune only familiar to me. Every pair of eyes in the room fell onto me, including the green of his.
"Down the block there's an antique shop
And something in my head said "stop", so I walked in
On the counter was a cardboard box
And the sign said photos twenty five cents each
Black and white saw a 30's bride and
Two lovers laughing on the porch of their first house
The kind of love that you only find once in a lifetime"
Across the diner, Five and I made eye contact, his expression seeming conflicted. It confused me, but I refused to stop once the courage had found me.
"The kind you don't put down
And that's when I called you, and it's so hard to explain
But in those photos, I saw us instead
And somehow I know that you and I would've found each other
In another life you still would've turned my head
Even if we'd met on a crowded street in 1944
And you were headed off to fight in the war
You still would've been mine
We would've been timeless
I would've read your love letters every single night
And prayed to God that you'd be coming home alright
And you would've been fine, we would've been timeless
'Cause I believe that we were supposed to find this
So even in a different life
You still would've been mind
We would've been timeless"
I took a moment to allow the guitar a spotlight, strumming along to the melancholy love song as I attempted to look anywhere in the room other than where Five Hargreeves stood.
"Time breaks down your mind and body
Don't let it touch your soul
It was like an age old classic
The first time that you saw me"
I couldn't avoid his gaze any longer, the way it wasn't piercing but inviting, almost as if wanting me to stare into his green hues so intimately.
"In a crowded room a few short weeks ago
And sometimes there's just no proof, you just know
You're always gonna be mine
We're gonna be
I'm gonna love you when our hair is turning gray
We'll have a cardboard box of photos of the life we made
And you'll say "Oh my"
We really were timeless
We're gonna be timeless"
I slowed down, giving a final strum to the guitar before clapping and whistles broke out amongst the people in the diner, a bashful shade of pink appearing on my face as I waved and scurried off the stage. I glanced over at The Temptations, the group giving me the loudest applause out of everyone else. I giggled quietly and rushed over to Five's side, the boy greeting me with a soft smile.
"So much for drawing attention to ourselves, but that was very pretty." He commented while ushering me out of the building with a hovering hand by the small of my back.
I nodded and glanced down at the gifted instrument with an appreciative grin. "Thank you. I'm surprised that I had that in me, honestly."
The boy scoffed and slipped his hand into my own that didn't have a hold on the guitar. "Seems like that's been in you for a long time. You did wonderfully, doll, especially for one of the Speak Now vault tracks."
I gasped and whipped my head around to stare with wide eyes at his side profile, his face holding a smirk with his dimple visible. "So, you really did listen to my rant about Taylor, huh?" I asked smugly.
Five rolled his eyes with his expression unwavered. "Why wouldn't I? I said I wanted to know more about you, and I'm beginning to realize that music might be the best way to do so." He gave me a side glance before continuing to lead me down the street.
I tilted my head curiously. "What have you found out already?"
He took a moment to think. "You prefer a quiet environment. Nothing loud and lavish, because then it would just give you anxiety. You're the kind of hopeless romantic that doesn't just want to be loved, but you want to love someone until you're dying breath. However, you think you're doomed in that department, because you're a little clumsy and awkward." He stopped walking, forcing me to do so as well. "Sound accurate?"
I...hate how easily he read me.
"I plead the fifth," I muttered, flustered beyond belief. "How the hell did you figure all that out?"
He shrugged. "Every time you have been in contact with music, I learn more about you. When we danced in the park, you were nervous, but I could tell it was something you wanted. Every time we're in an open place that's loud, you get tense, but you're perfectly fine if you're humming a song. It's not that hard to find out when you spend a good amount of time with someone."
I gaped at him with a scoff. "You know more about me just from spending time with me the last week and a half than most of my family members, who watched me grow up." I pointed out, making his eyebrows furrow in thought.
"Have you learned anything about me that you didn't already know?" He asked, equally as curious as I was.
Before I could answer, a small group of girls no older than sixteen walked by us, the leader of which gave an enticing look to Five. "Hey, handsome." The boy kept walking, his hand tightening around my own despite his calm demeanor. "Um, I was talkin' to you. Don't you have any respect?"
Without turning back, he called out to her. "Nope, just a rude awakening that I'm already taken." He held up our conjoined hands as we turned the corner, dropping them once we were out of their sight.
I started giggling madly, replaying the scene in my head multiple times. "Poor girl," I muttered through my laughter. The boy turned to me with an incredulous look.
"Why is she getting sympathy in this situation!?" I laughed even harder at his reaction, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.
"Because she had the confidence to do what a lot of girls in my universe would've done too, if they saw you."
He raised an eyebrow as his shock turned into a look of slight discomfort. "Well, I'm glad that wasn't how you greeted me the first time, doll." I flushed a little and shook my head, playing it off.
"I don't have the confidence to greet anyone like that."
"Well that's good. That means I don't have to worry about someone snatching up my partner in crime."
What?
(2104 words)
(i was listening to mother swift and timeless popped up and honestly...it's a song that fits the vibe of their relationship sm so i had to put it in here, yk?)