~Noah~

When I got there, I texted Dylan. He said to just walk through the gates and into the backyard. I walked in and he greeted me.

"Hey!" he called from a few feet away. I glanced around and saw patio filled with people. Off to the side, there was a pool house with a cabana in the front of it. There was a band set up underneath it with three people talking underneath it. There were two girls and a guy. One girl and the guy both had red hair and the other girl had light brown hair. That's all I could really tell about any of them from this far away. However, the girl with light brown hair looked really familiar. I feel like I met her before, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Suddenly, the floodgates opened and a million and one memories came rushing back to me as I realized who she was. I greeted Dylan and we talked for a few minutes when Lilly turned back towards the microphone.

"Any other requests?" she called through the mic.

"End of the Night!" I called, making Dylan look at me with a "What the hell?" look on his face.

"What?" I said as if nothing happened. "I like hearing other people's renditions of it." It was one of our older songs, but it was also one of our most popular, so there were a lot of covers online.
I thought that that song request might tell her who I was or let her know that I was here or something like that. Possibly even bring back some happy memories. However, the opposite seemed to happen: she looked shocked for a second, then her face almost immediately got super red and she seemed to get really flustered. Lilly said she didn't know the chords to it— which I knew was a lie—so she asked for any other songs. I decided to shout out another one of our songs that I love hearing people cover.

"Alright! I love that song!" the girl exclaimed. It always actually made me really happy whenever people told me that they actually loved our songs. She sat down at the piano and started playing the intro. I remembered writing that song. It was nice to be in a band because a lot of people didn't have the luxury of being able to have an outlet to express themselves into. I do, and it's awesome to be able to get my feelings out into songs. It also lets me easily know when other people feel the same way I do and have shared some of my experiences and lets me know that I'm not alone. A lot of people don't get that.

She started singing. She had a beautiful voice. She had a very passionate voice, and she really did a phenomenal job with the song. Even though I was the one who actually wrote the song, I felt as though I was listening to it for the first time. Her voice was so amazing. I was hanging on to every word she sung. Her voice was so captivating. The way she sang gave me this odd feeling in my chest. I could almost feel butterflies fluttering around in my chest. I wasn't sure why. When she sang, I felt like I was lighter than air. There was just... something about this girl.

I had to meet her.

After she finished, she said that she was going to get a water and walked back into the pool house. I stayed standing there, staring at the keyboard across the patio. I could still hear her in my head, the way her voice seemed like it would carry a thousand miles without a microphone. I had an odd feeling that I wouldn't be able to get it out of my head for at least a little while.

There was something so familiar about her. There was something in her voice, something about that light brown hair paired with those dark brown eyes that I remembered from somewhere. Suddenly, it hit me. That was the girl who I actually found myself looking forward to meeting again after a full year. That was the girl who I had always thought would end up a singer when she grew up, just like me. That was the girl who I found myself looking for in the hallways once she became a freshman in high school. I wasn't sure why I was, but I always did.

"Was that... Was that Lilly?" I asked Dylan.

He nodded. It seemed like he was about to say something else, but a voice interrupted him.

"Hey, Dylan," I heard behind me. I looked over and saw her.

Wow, I thought. She has really grown up. Twenty-three to twenty-six can make a big difference apparently.

"Hi! You did a really great," Dylan said.

"Thanks." She looked at the ground.

"Yeah, you did! You were amazing! Honestly, I felt like I was listening to a whole different song! That honestly sounded better than the original. I really liked that little run you did on the 'you'," I said.

"Thanks, but I can't take credit," she said, looking back up. "That's just what—" she then seemed to get really flustered, "you... do." A huge grin spread across her face.

"Well, if it isn't little Lillian Carter," I smiled.

"Hi, Noah!" she greeted, flinging her arms around me in a hug. I hugged her back, a little surprised at her enthusiasm to see me. I didn't think she was going to be this excited, considering how we had never really been that great of friends.

"Woah, hey!" I laughed in return, surprised. She stepped away after a second.

"Sorry, I'm just super excited to see you!" she beamed. "I haven't seen you in forever! How have you been?"

I shrugged. "Alright. Dylan probably already told you, but, y'know, we're working on the new album a lot. The record label's really pressing us on this one." We caught up for a couple minutes until someone across the patio called her name. She glanced over, held up her index finger, and mouthed "One second!" She turned back to us.

"Alright, I have to go see what Julia needs. I'll see you later for the next set of requests," she said to Dylan. "It was great seeing you again. I'll talk to you later, and you'll have to tell me more about that new album, if Dylan doesn't get to it first," she chuckled, talking to me. I was about to answer her but I suddenly couldn't. My stomach was suddenly tied into a knot, but in a good way. It felt like something about her smile and laugh just caused me to get so flustered that I couldn't get any words out.
I just smiled and nodded, like an idiot. I was silently chiding myself for that as she walked away, off behind Dylan. I heard him say something but I couldn't focus on it; I couldn't tear my eyes away from the girl that just walked away from us. There was... something about her. The way she sang and the way she spoke. There was something that I had never noticed there before. I tried focusing back on Dylan, but I couldn't. All I could focus on was Lilly. Something had happened in the last three years of not seeing her that had changed. I remember I had sort of taken notice of her when we were younger, but not too much. I mean, there was something that had happened between us, but it never lead to anything. I wished it had, but it didn't. After all, when you're in high school, two years can be a big difference. I didn't think so, but Lilly must've, because she had never said anything about it again once things started changing. I didn't want to say anything, considering I was the older one and I didn't want to make her uncomfortable.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard my name being said.

"Oh no. No, no, no. Noah, no," Dylan said. I looked up back towards him.

"What?" I asked.

"That's my little sister, Noah. No," he repeated.

"What do you mean 'No'?"I asked, "What was I asking?" I was a little confused. Did I ask him something while I was looking over at Lilly?

"You weren't asking anything, but I know that look."

"What look?"

"I don't know, but that—that look. Every time you see a girl you might like, you get that look. It's like your eyes get all dazed, and you look like you're lost in thought, and you get this small little smile on your face. As much as you're my best friend, there's no way I'm letting you near my baby sister. She's the most important person in the world it me. You two are friends and I'd rather keep it that way. She's had her heart broken too many times in the past. I know this might not sound very good, coming from me, but, trust me, she's had a rough past and she's a lot to handle."

"Alright, sorry. She's your little sister, I shouldn't. You're right," I admitted.

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A/N: Hey guys! So I think I'm going to try going in a Lilly/Noah/Lilly/Noah POV pattern. Also, I have a couple chapters pre-written, so I'll upload those more quickly and after I get through those, I'm probably going to update every other day.

Also, don't be a ghost reader guys!! Don't forget to comment so I can tell if you guys are liking it so far!! 😁😁

{Posted on 4/25/19}