Chapter Text
On a regular fall morning in Chicago; cold, cloudy, windy, and gross, Y/N got out of bed. The apartment was freezing, only heated by three shitty radiators scattered around the house. Decrepit old wooden floors felt like a shock to the nervous system compared to the warm bed with her favorite thick comforter. Wrapping a fuzz blanket around herself, she makes her way to the kitchen to get coffee.
"you've got to be kidding me"
Y/N thought to herself. She had forgotten to pick up a new container of instant coffee, and didn't have enough to make a cup. The Cafe down the road was calling her name. Making the best out of it, and even making it 'aesthetic' by bringing her notebook and laptop so she could come up with ideas. Usually on the weekends Y/N just hangs around during the day and waits for the evening to get ready for the bar, there are some really good underground bands there that play more punk style music.
After getting ready by quickly refreshing basic hygiene like brushing teeth, Washing her face, Brushing and pinning back her H/C hair, she got dressed. Because Chicago was the coldest place to be in early winter, other than Antarctica, dressing warm was a must. She wore fleece lined tights with jean shorts over them and tall brown boots, with a sweater and a thick coat for the top half. Something that would keep her warm on the walk to the coffee shop. Packing up her laptop, a pen, and a notebook, bursting at the seams with creativity, all in a Vera-Bradley bag and heading out the door. It wasn't too long of a walk, but the wind was harsh and felt like sharp ice whipping her face compared to the apartment.
The coffee shop was a huge relief, it was warm and cozy with the slight hustle and bustle of the morning. The line was long but customers seemed to be served quick. However, something caught Y/N's eye. A group of three sitting at a table/booth near the counter with a crumby laptop between them, they were talking loud but they looked like they were working on something. She swear she had recognized them from the bar, some show or something they must have preformed. One of them started staring back before mild embarrassment settled in and made her look away, however, her order name being called quickly distracted her.
"Finally" Was the only thought she had while settling down in the cozy, small table near the window. Cold seeped in but felt good as she slowly sipped her coffee. Only a few ideas were scribbled down into the notebook on an already half full page before her process was interrupted by one of the guys from the booth by the counter.
"Hey, can I sit here for a moment?"
He had short black hair, looked kind of edgy, and the memory of him playing bass the other weekend hit her abruptly. He had a sweet smile, but kept looking back at the other two from across the coffee shop.
"Yeah sure, what's up?" Y/N tried to be casual, and he just pulled out the chair and sat down, still looking back at his friends.
"So... ok, I swear I, like, recognized you when you were ordering and I just had to come over and talk to you. Sorry but do you remember us preforming at the bar the other night?" He seemed like he was struggling on how to start the sentence at first, but soon found his way with the words and kind of started rambling.
"Yeah, oh my god! You guys were the one band that played like last Saturday, how could I forget? Your vocalist is dope by the way, I can't believe he plays the drums as well." She felt her face get flushed with embarrassment. "Why would I say dope??" was the only thought she had before he continued, hopefully he hadn't noticed.
"Yeah, we don't really have a drummer right now, usually one of our friends fill in but no one was really available. We only played a few songs because those are the only demos we have right now, we're making more right now over there if you maybe wanna...?" He pointed over at the table.
"Oh yeah, of course! Should I bring my stuff?"
"Yeah definitely. I just asked because, like, you looked like you were writing something over here and we could use some creativity... and stuff.." He rubbed the back of his neck, he seemed kind of awkward but he was really nice. She quickly put her stuff in the bag and brought it over to the table.
"Patrick, scooch." The guy called out to his friend, the one she made eye contact with earlier, as he lead the way over to the table. Patrick made room in the booth seating, and she sat down next to him. He was honestly really cute, he looked like a total dork and he was sweating with nervousness, but he was still super cute.
"Ok so, wait I forgot to introduce myself." Pete chuckled and the other two laughed with him. "My name is Pete, This is Joe," Pete put his hand on Joe's shoulder as he said hi. "And that's Patrick. He's the "Dope" vocalist that can play drums." Bright red spread across her cheeks as she thought, "why would I say dope??? Now Patrick's also looking at me and he probably thinks I'm weird."
"I didn't catch your name earlier though" Pete attempted to change the subject, seeing as she had become embarrassed from his comment.
"My name is Y/N, I'm not like in a band or anything cool like this though."
"Ok but your like a third of the way there by writing lyrics and stuff" Pete seemed to be putting everyone in a good mood, everyone felt less awkward and like everyone was warming up.
"Yeah so basically, he's using you for ideas." What Joe said had earned an eyeroll from Pete.
"Anyways, right now we're just writing song lyrics and really basic ideas." Pete turned around the laptop to show a Microsoft word doc that had plenty of ideas written in it.
"Honestly it looks like you've got a lot of ideas right there." Patrick watched her face from her left side, watching her scan through the collage of ideas made him nervous she would be able to tell that the 'bad' ones were written by him. Though, she thought they were all good, and the lyrics were very unique and smart word play.
"Yeahhhh, but like none of them feel right." Pete emphasized and Joe nodded.
"It's mainly Pete that comes up with stuff, I add things sometimes." Patrick awkwardly chuckled and Y/N smiled at him.
"Ok well, I mean you can start by organizing your ideas that match up? That might help you think of songs more clearly."
The rest of the morning went smoothly, lots of joking around, ideas being moved and sorted, and honestly, it was very productive. The rest of the coffee shop had slowed down and cleared out, and everyone's coffee had gone cold, but no one really minded because they were all busy. One thing Y/N had picked up on, however, was how quiet Patrick was. Whenever he had an idea he seemed nervous to speak up. He just fiddled with the buttons on his coat sleeves for a while until Joe or Pete asked if he had any ideas. The fear that she had freaked him out made her feel bad for him.
No one really wanted to leave the coffee shop, but there were house chores and work to be done at home so they had to call it a day.
"Hey, Y/N, you should totally come to our show tonight." Joe offered as he came back from throwing away coffee cups.
"Of course, I was planning on going to the bar tonight anyways"
"No, I mean like at the old warehouse off of chestnut road, they turned it into an official venue a few years ago and we usually perform there. We only really perform at the bar when we plan on getting free drinks after." Joe explained
"Oh nice, I'll find my way there then. I'm really switching up my routine today" They both chuckled and were about to bid our farewells.
"Yeah, it would be really nice to see you there" Patrick added, "The show starts at 6 but were probably gonna watch the other bands play and have a few drinks after." He looked at Pete like he was trying to remind him of something before they went.
"Oh, wait! I have one more thing for you," Pete said, fumbling through his pockets. He started to get a little frustrated and gave up, taking the pen and grabbing Y/N's arm to write on. "We all had a really good time, and I think we should keep in contact." He finished writing his number down and then handed the pen to Patrick. He looked like he blanked and panicked for a moment before also very quickly writing his number. "I know you and Patrick didn't get to talk much, but I promise he's a great guy." Pete winked and Patrick turned pink in the face. There was the clear feeling of excitement, tonight would be great.