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Nicky was walking around the open room looking at the instruments scattered around the area that were covered in dust and grime from the years of neglect.
The foxes were helping the music department move some old instruments that they no longer used to another storage room because the one they were currently in was being renovated into a filming room.
Something Nicky quickly learned about being an athlete was that the teams were frequently asked to do work around the campus. More commonly than not, it would be something like moving chairs and tables around. In this case it wasn't far off.
It was quite a big area made mostly of wood. The entire room was shaped like a triangle with the walls slanting and meeting at the top, with one side of the wall -ceiling?- having large windows. Sunlight flooded the space around the instruments and highlighted the dust particles slowly floating around the room.
Strings, percussion, brass, and woodwind instruments were thrown everywhere- really, there were A LOT of instruments.
Nicky's back was gonna kill him later for this.
"One, two, three, and UP! Nice work!"
Dan's voice echoed through the air once again.
Matt, Kevin, and Dan were trying and failing to find a way to comfortably pick up one of the pianos without it toppling to the floor.
Andrew was staring at the three foxes, enjoying the show while Neil and Allison gathered a handful of basses and guitars in their hands before easily passing the three struggling souls.
It made Nicky regret not taking his phone to record it.
Once again his eyes began to wander around the room, looking at the objects thrown around him.
While he scanned the dusty area, an object caught his eye. Out of the corner of Nicky's vision, he saw a sleek black guitar with silver strings and tuners.
- Why is that here? - Nothing seemed to be wrong with the guitar. The strings were all still attached, and nothing had been broken off of it, no holes or cracks either.
Sure, the paint was a little chipped, but otherwise nothing.
Slowly he made his way over to the instrument, picked up the guitar, and threw the sling around his shoulder. It was nice. Wasn't heavy, pretty easy to hold, strings didn't cut into his fingers, and the strap hung comfortably off his shoulder blades.
The only reason the guitar would have been in the storage was if someone had accidentally left it. Must have been a while ago, though- Nicky could see the scrapes and dirt gathering on the black paint.
...Hmm- Why not?
Nicky gave the guitar a strum. What came out was a horrid sound that made him want to cover his ears and hide under a table.
Nope, that's definitely not right.
... What's the harm in taking a small break?
Nicky slid down onto the floor and started adjusting the tuners, strumming the guitar every now and then to see the chords play out and hear how far off they were.
After a few minutes of dabbling with the guitar, Nicky finally strummed it one final time before the chords synced up in harmony. The sound that rang through the room, fully on key, after a few minutes of listening to painful screeches was satisfying to say the least.
He felt accomplished. Damn right he did that! Even after years without picking up a guitar, he still has skill after all.
Nicky smiled to himself as he started playing the chords in a steady rhythm that he learned by heart years ago.
It was one of his favorite songs- Nicky remembered staying up all night in high school, sitting on his bed playing his old guitar over and over again until he was able to perfectly play the melody. He couldn't stop bragging about it for days after.
Nicky began humming to the song as the lyrics played in his head like a mixtape.
"Since when could you play?"
Nicky startled over the sudden voice.
He looked up from the strings to see Andrew standing over him, leaning over to take a glance at the guitar.
"I took lessons when I was a kid."
Nicky patted the ground next to him and signaled for Andrew to sit.
And to his surprise, Andrew listened.
He sat down cross-legged across from Nicky. He did a silent scream of joy.
"Yeah, it took me forever to learn. I only actually practiced when I was dying of boredom or when I was in the lessons.
All the time was worth it, though. Guitarists are the coolest. I can't tell you what kind of dark magic happens when there's a random guitar at a party and you start playing. It's like a light switch! You immediately become the coolest person in the room."
Nicky was rambling again- he knew he was. The backliner was about to apologise, but when he looked up, instead of seeing a bored Andrew that he expected, he saw the blonde watching and listening to what Nicky was saying, patiently waiting for the brunette to continue talking.
If he told anybody that he was fine, he was probably lying. Nicky's brain was full-on short-circuiting.
"-One time I was at a party, and I started playing a random guitar I found on the floor, a few girls came over and started flirting with me- I didn't even realise until after the party when one of my friends had to tell me that they were."
Andrew rolled his eyes like he wasn't even surprised. He probably wasn't. Nicky chuckled at the thought.
"Of course you didn't."
"Look, I was hanging around you and Neil for over a year and still didn't pick up on the tension between you two. My lack of perception when it comes to romance shouldn't be surprising to you."
AHHHHHHH, he was talking to his baby cousin! Andrew Minyard was listening!!!! He was interested!
He. Was. Smiling!?!??!! Well- kinda, as much of a smile as Andrew was willing to give in public. BUT STILL-
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-
Wait-
....??
What if???
"I can teach you a few chords if you want?"
Andrew looked up at him. He stared at Nicky for a few seconds- probably thinking- before he shrugged and turned his gaze back onto the older boy.
"Sure, why not?"
Nicky was DEFINITELY gonna rant about this later.
Hmmm, was Aaron a good victim of his speech? Maybe Neil?? Either way, there was no escaping now.
Nicky put the guitar in his lap down onto the floor and shot up to scan the pile of instruments. He looked at all the guitar stands that were lined up on the wall before picking one that was in a decent condition.
The build of it was different from the black one Nicky had grabbed earlier, but it still sat in his hands nicely. The guitar was painted red and white with black tuners and strings that were still unbroken. The strap that hugged the guitar was also a bit shorter than the black guitar’s one, but the strap itself was cut clean in half, probably how it ended up in the storage room. Still a crime in throwing away a perfectly good guitar but Nicky wasn't complaining right now.
It would be perfect for Andrew.
Nicky slid back down onto the ground with the new instrument in his hands and gave it a strum.
It was off, but an easy fix that wouldn't take a long time.
After three or four more times of adjusting and playing the guitar, it was properly tuned and ready to be played.
"Here ya go, shorty."
He unhooked the strap and reached out to hand the instrument to Andrew.
"I'll stab you while you sleep."
Andrew's response was almost immediate.
"You can try."
Once he had his guitar in hand, Nicky began his lesson.
"All good?"
"Yeah, I think so-"
"Great! To start, all you have to do is learn how to hold it properly. To do that, put your left hand right here- with your fingers like this. We'll be changing this later on, but for now, this is the easiest way to hold it. And the other hand will be lying across here-"
Nicky moved his hands in time with what he was saying, putting his hands in a resting position on the guitar. Andrew quickly followed behind, mimicking Nicky's hold on it.
A few tweaks later and it was all good!
"See, easy, right? Now here are the basic chords of a guitar, E Major-”
Nicky gave a strum of the guitar.
"D Major"
Nicky shifted his fingers and gave the guitar another strum as the chord fell into the air.
"A and G Major"
Nicky played the chords as he said them aloud. Giving Andrew a demonstration of the sounds and finger movements.
"These are just the basic notes, but they still are very important. So to play a 'E' chord, you gotta move your left hand over here and put your fingers on the strings like this-"
Nicky rambled on as he started teaching Andrew how to play the individual chords. Andrew listened intently as he watched Nicky's fingers move over the strings like he was trying to commit them to memory with just his eyes.
The entire time Nicky felt like he was five seconds away from passing out. He always felt like he was high on dopamine every time he got to do something with his cousins.
What could he say? He loved spending time with his family.
"And a one, two, three-"
The foxes didn't even say anything as the two of them sat down and played the entire time. All they did was look down at them and smile whenever they passed- they didn't even complain that they weren't doing any work! Well, maybe Kevin did complain a little, but that's better than nothing.
Now the foxes were almost finished with their classroom transfer mission and were huddled against the last few remaining boxes as they looked over at Nicky and Andrew as they played.
Nicky was able to teach Andrew a very basic version of the song he was playing earlier using the chords Nicky had taught him. They were now using all their hard work to put the final project together.
Andrew was looking down at his hands as he carefully played the melody of the song, Nicky's guitar leading him through the rhythm and giving Andrew more confidence to play louder.
It wasn't half bad- the notes blended together, and the song was recognisable through the quick chord changes and how the notes stayed on beat.
Nicky honestly forgot how much he loved playing, and it made it ten times better being able to play with Andrew learning next to him.
Finally, when the last note of both Nicky's and Andrew's guitars faded out and the silence began to wear off, the foxes standing on the sidelines whistled and hollered at the two boys sitting on the floor.
"Damn! That was actually cool!"
"You guys never told me that you two could play!"
Aaron walked towards Andrew and leaned over him while Andrew tilted his head back to look at his twin .
"Does this mean I'm losing on the coolness scale now?"
"Oh yes, definitely- everyone knows that only cool people play guitar. You better catch up."
Kevin looked confused.
"Wait, why are people who play guitar cool?"
Andrew didn't even bat an eye as he pointed to Nicky.
"His words, not mine."
"Betrayer-" Nicky side-eyed his cousin. "But it's true! It's common knowledge, Kev- if you paid any attention to anything but exy, you would understand."
Aaron rolled his eyes, picked up one of the boxes, and started walking out the door.
"Whatever you say."
Nicky and Andrew kicked themselves off the floor as everyone went to pack away the last boxes. Unfortunately, it seemed like they had to do some work after all.
" Hey, Hemmick-"
He turned his head to the side where Andrew followed him to grab a box.
"Hey, Andrew!"
"... I'm sure if a guitar or two goes missing, they'll never know-"
A low whisper escaped the blonde's mouth as the two picked up one of the last remaining boxes.
"... Andrew..."
"Ya?"
... fuck it.
"We'll hide them in the back of the Maserati when we go to 'pack away' the last boxes. Don't tell Kevin I'm letting you steal. I don't want to die young."
"Would never dream of it."
And with that, Nicky and Andrew sped-walked out the room not at all suspiciously with the two guitars slung over their shoulders that would never make it to the new storage room.
And if every Thursday, Andrew comes over to Nicky's dorm room so that he could learn to play guitar, no one questions it.
And when they were asked if all the instruments made it to the new storage room safely, no one tells the music students what happened to the two 'lost' guitars either.
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