Waylen glanced up when heard sounds from the room next door, frowning faintly when he heard someone crying. He paused in his playing for a moment, wondering if there was anything he could. He hesitated, then began to play something else, singing along as he played.
"You belong, among the wildflowers. You belong on a boat, out at sea. Sail away, go find a lover. You belong somewhere you feel free." The softness of the song was one that had always soothed him, and part of him hoped it could soothe this crying person next door.
(Song is Wildflowers. The one I've got in mind is the version by the Wailing Jennies)
Finn hadn't taken into consideration that the walls might be thin enough to hear through. When the guitar strumming started back up (with vocals this time) and he could hear it loud and clear, he tried to stifle his soft sobs in embarrassment. He didn't want to ruin someone's evening. In the new quiet, he could make out soft singing next door, the guitar now taking up a steady rhythm. He shifted on the bed, gripping a pillow to his chest and moving onto his side. He sucked in a deep breath, focusing on the soft music playing in the room over. His heart was still aching painfully and his tears were still coming in waves, but it was more to get it all out of his system. He was sure that the musician wasn't playing for him, but for just a peaceful moment, he allowed himself to tune into the private concert. In no time at all, he found his sobs coming to a halt, being too focused on quieting to hear more of the beautiful melody.
Once he realized that he wasn't crying at all anymore, he blinked a few times in surprise. Before he could think twice about it, he grabbed a receipt from his pocket and scribbled a quick note on it. 'you play beautifully.' He was out the door almost impressively fast, sticking it in the neighbor's card slot, and back in his own room in less than a minute. He'd done it all too quick to let his anxiety talk him out of it, and while the back of his mind was definitely worrying about it, most of him was glad he'd done it.
He kept playing and singing, letting himself get lost in the music, head swaying faintly from side to side with the beat of the music. He opened his eyes when he heard noises, but didn't move away from where he was sitting and playing, a soft smile playing across his lips. He closed his eyes again, little dreaming that the person he was playing music to comfort was in fact the person who had irritated him the most in high school. There person he had got along least with. But for now, he just played and sang, and when he ended one song, he started another.
"We could change this whole world with a piano, add a bass, some guitar, grab a beat, and away we go. I'm just a boy with a one man show, no university, no degree, but lord knows, everybody's talking about exponential growth, and the stock market crashing and their portfolio." He sang softly.
(I don't remember the name but it's an Ed Sheeran song lmao)
Flinging himself back onto the bed, he cracked a soft smile. The person next door was still singing. Maybe this whole situation wouldn't be so bad. …Was he a creep for listening to them? They had no idea that he was practically pressing his ear to the wall to hear the tune clearer. He should probably cut it out- not to mention he needed to unpack and clean up. He reluctantly dragged himself off of the surprisingly okay mattress, finally taking off his shoes and setting them by the front door. He pulled his suitcase over to the dresser at the foot of the bed, sitting on the floor with his legs crossed as he began to unpack. Even across the room, he could still make out the faint tunes playing a room over. He subconsciously began nodding along to the rhythm as he went about completing his mindless chores.
(alskdfjlkasj i'm so making a spotify playlist for these two eventually-)
(bro if you do it, make it collaborative and send me the link, that sounds lit–)
"I'll be sittin' here with a song that I wrote, saying: love can change the world in a moment, but what do I know?" He hummed along with the instrumental part, head gently swaying from side to side with the beat. Waylen was a very versatile musician, able to adapt his playing and his voice to any range of styles. Hell, even country, if he wanted to. The only thing he couldn't do all that well was rap, but he didn't mind that. For now, though, he stuck with soft, gentle songs, figuring the person next door would rather hear those than the louder, more aggressive shit he did so much.
(totally will! this is so cute rn what the-)
Finn was glad that the other person hadn't stopped playing yet, the music provided a steady distraction, though he still felt a bit guilty for listening in. It wasn't really his fault that he could hear it from his room. Who could blame him? The walls were thin, and the musician was talented. He could've probably gotten close enough to the wall and just spoken his compliment instead of sticking it in the neighbor's door- that is, if he had the confidence to do that. Which he didn't. He'd barely gotten the courage to write the note, after all.
It didn't take long for him to finish unpacking since he hadn't packed much. He'd originally only planned to be here for a week or so. He'd need to go shopping soon for pretty much everything. He could afford take-out tonight, then he'd go shopping tomorrow. Or the day after. Or whenever he could bring himself to go somewhere not within the radius of the motel.
(:D yes it iss)
"Love can change the world in a moment, but what do I know?" He eventually finished the song, pausing for a moment, then began to play again. "What would I do without your sharp mouth? Drawing me in and you kicking me out, you got my head spinning, no kidding, I can't bring you down."
He smiled softly as he continued to play, eyes sliding shut again and losing himself to the music, even forgetting about the person he had originally begun playing for, just losing himself in the soft beat of the music that he played.
It'd been such a long day. It wasn't even that late yet- probably only late afternoon- but laying on the bed and listening to the musician next door sing, the soft hum of the ceiling fan providing nice background noise, Finn found himself getting sleepy. His eyes were still damp with tears and he occasionally found himself crying softly once again, but he knew he needed it. He needed to get it out of his system so he could focus on moving on and doing better things. He figured he'd give himself a few days to recuperate before he'd push himself to get things done.
As he lay in a state of mild peace, beginning to drift off, he kept thinking about his neighbor. If they continued playing their lovely music, maybe this whole situation wouldn't be so bad. Maybe he'd even meet them at some point. He could try and befriend some of the other tenants, perhaps. Anything to make this predicament more enjoyable. Looking on the bright side and imagining what his future might look like, Finn drifted off in no time.
(Finn like: hey, this won't be so bad)
(Waylen, when they figure out who each other is: (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ )
Waylen kept playing for a while, before stopping and setting his guitar aside, putting it in its case and lying down on his bed with a faint sigh, closing his eyes. He knew he needed to move on eventually, but, well, he wasn't sure what to do now. He didn't exactly have an apartment to return to right now, since he'd rented it out for two months to someone else. So he couldn't go back for another month and a half. So he was, basically, stuck here.
(lmao literally- Finn is gonna be straight up devastated at first tbh)
Finn didn't remain asleep for long, thirty minutes at most. It was a nice nap though, and when he reawoke, he did feel a bit better. Gazing up at the ceiling, he began coming up with a mental plan. He'd need to find a job or some source of income relatively soon. He had enough money to get him through probably two or three weeks here, but then he'd be running thin. He figured he'd go for a walk around downtown at some point to try and find a place that was hiring. It was the best he could do right now.
(lmao)
Waylen eventually pulled his phone out, scrolling through it with a faint sigh, shifting around on the bed and shaking his head. "Fuck." He mumbled. His therapy appointment was tomorrow. It was virtual, thankfully, but still. He wasn't even sure whether or not he needed therapy anymore. It had been a long time ago. One of his hands rubbed against the scar on his arm for a moment, and he shook his head. He still didn't understand how his father had gotten so fucked in the head that he had done what he did.
With nothing better to do and no motivation to leave the room yet, Finn picked up his phone only to be met with exactly twenty-four text notifications from his now ex-girlfriend, Amelia. Her contact name in his phone was still 'my love' with heart and flower emojis on either side of the words. It nearly began the tears again seeing it. Quickly unlocking his phone using his fingerprint, he opened the contacts app and promptly changed it to simply 'Amelia Sullivan'. It matched most of the names in his phone- he didn't see the point of overly cliche and cheesy contact names for people he barely knew, so most of them were just names. The only exceptions to this were his moms and his sister, who were marked as 'birthgiver #1', 'birthgiver #2', Yes, he was adopted. Was that going to stop his goofy contact names? Absolutely not. and 'hellspawn'.
He skimmed over the various texts from Amelia, but didn't bother to read all of them. They were all some form of justification and begging Finn to try to understand. He quickly typed out a break-up text. He didn't think he'd actually have to write one, assuming she'd just get the memo, but apparently not.
Waylen eventually rolled over onto his stomach, still scrolling through his phone. He turned on the TV, flicking through the channels until he settled on a movie he'd seen a few different times, and so didn't mind starting back in the middle.
He had no idea what to do. It was a little early to go sit in the bar like he usually did. Meet a guy or a gal. Talk, hang out. Maybe go home with them or bring them back to the motel for a fuck. Never went any further, but he didn't mind that.
Finally finishing typing out his final goodbyes to her, Finn hit the send button. The small whoosh sound effect triggered a sinking feeling in his gut. It was done. They were over. He didn't allow himself to linger on that thought long enough to begin feeling upset again. He sent his family groupchat a quick update to let them know that he'd gotten here okay, but that he was a bit tired from the plane and would probably crash and take a nap or something. He didn't really know if he'd actually fall back asleep again, but he really couldn't muster up enough energy to have a full conversation at the moment and that seemed like the best excuse. It wasn't exactly a lie.
With that out of the way, he turned off his ringer and set his phone face down on the nightstand next to the bed. He picked up the TV remote, looking over the unfamiliar layout for a moment before just clicking on the news for some background noise and something to distract himself.
(skshdbs why is it that I can absolutely see Waylen, once they figure out who the other is, purposefully having a one night stand really loudly just to irritate the fuck out of Finn lmao)
He ran his hands through his hair, examining his nails for a moment, then sighing and flopping his head against the pillows. He was so bored, but didn't know what else there was to do. He had already played music for hours now, and while he loved music, there was a limit to how long a day he could play. He had definitely hit that limit. His fingers hurt from how long he had played already.
(Sorry for the short reply!)
(oh my god finn would be so upset lafkjalkdsf)
The weatherman on the TV was going on and on about tomorrow, and Finn didn't really listen to what he was actually saying until he caught the word 'rain'. Looking back up, it seemed that the forecast for tomorrow would be a bit dreary. A rainy day might be nice- he could go out without worrying about having to talk to anyone. He was pretty sure he had packed a jacket that would keep him dry, and he had a couple good waterproof shoes he could take out. That would be a nice way to explore the city.
(no worries! there's not exactly much to write about in detail about lmao)
(lmaoo)
Waylen eventually sat up, just to lean against the wall and sigh, still scrolling through his phone. He supposed he could always go on a walk, but the weather here had been pretty shitty lately, so maybe that wouldn't be a good idea. He wasn't sure. It was just boring, to be here all the time.
His plans for tomorrow now pretty much decided, Finn moved on to plans for the rest of the evening. He definitely needed to shower soon- really, he should've hopped in the shower as soon as he got to his room, but he'd needed a bit. He still felt dirty and gross from the plane, so he would do that soon, and then he could probably afford to order out tonight. He didn't really have much of an option.
(should we just timeskip?)
(that'd probably be a good idea lmao- when should we skip to? the next day?)
(aight aight so finn is heading out in the morning to go walk around in the rain or some shit, and waylen is heading somewhere too, and they bump into each other outside their rooms?)
(yeah that works! And Waylen or Finn is like "it's this fucker")
(skdhdhdv what if Finn didn't recognize him at first and was like "hey thanks for the m…wait a minute" lmao)
