Closer // Graham Coxon

stranger love

-

a few strands of your hair razed over your face finely, framing it in a alluring manner as you looked at your guitar fretboard to the body of the guitar many times fleetly in order to get the chords right. meanwhile he rested his chin against the palm of his hand and watched you intently. you were struggling but you looked pretty doing it, he thought.

"let's start with the g chord, you put your middle finger on the 3rd fret, e string- this one and then you put the -" you explained further but he didn't listen as he was busy being a bit of a voyeur. he gazed at you and got lost somewhere in your beauty.

 "now you do it!" you handed him your guitar.

he blinked rapidly before taking it, "ooo i'm so scared!! y/n-!!" he attempted not to smile and give it away.

"go on! try it at least one time! i believe in you!" you motivated him wholeheartedly.

he smiled and blushed in response.

then he went on to place his fingers in position to create a g chord. he pretended to be much less confident than he actually was at playing guitar. you had to yell at him the finger positions again before he actually did them right. he placed his fingers on the strings but he didn't press on them hard enough, that was on purpose.

he strummed the pick against the strings that let out an anti climactic and muted noise, "it's not working!" he frowned.

"you have to do it like this-" you placed your hands on his and guided him. he liked it.

all this build up had him playing the g chord perfectly.

"nice! " you exclaimed.

he stopped playing and looked at you with endearing eyes, "now what? " he asked.

"erm- that's about it for today! " you replied. you only knew 3 chords and you couldn't use them all in one day. it was a risky situation.

he went, "really? "

you nodded yes in response.

he placed the guitar down with a cheeky grin on his face that he couldn't hide. he assumed you would be an intermidiate guitarist but you were quite literally a beginner. graham rocked back and forth in place while pondering. he had this itch to do something nice for you, to make you remember him.

"fancy a cup of tea?"

you folded your arms and turned over to him, "oh funny that- i see. you're the guest but you're offering to make me tea-" you said.

"so what if i'm the guest. i- are you doubting my tea making skills i know how to make tea y/n! " he was persistent.

"of course you do!" you stood up and said somewhat sarcastically.

he looked up at you, "then let me. "

eventually you gave in and said yes to him.

-

you opened the kitchen window and let the cold yet welcoming breeze grace your face. graham was amidst the process of making tea and you stood by him to watch him and make sure he didn't make a mess of your kitchen. he heard the noise of a muffled radio changing stations, you were fiddling with the knob on it. he heard that whilist making tea for the both of you.

it landed on a modern day rock station where some unfamiliar band was releasing their new album, modern life is rubbish, it was called. graham's heart dropped, his guitar student persona would fall into pieces if you found out he was actually a guitarist in a popular band back in london with his mates.

to his relief you turned off the radio but to his dismay you also said, "i never listen to modern radio stations, i reckon in terms of music and mainstream media i'm stuck in the 60s."

you looked over the cabinet for one of your vinyls, "you know what i actually hate celebrities, that's it. that's the thing, there's no point of them existing and i especially hate the people who worship them like holy gods. liking them is okay but these people take it to the extremes. "

"odd relationship dynamic, isn't it. " you continued talking while putting on a beatles record.

"i'm glad to meet someone regular and down to earth like you. " graham heard you say while pouring tea from the kettle into two cups.

"i'm glad to have met you too. " he smiled and handed you your cup of tea. in that moment, he told himself he is never going to let his rockstar secret unfold in front of you.

"this tastes good! i expected it to be shit! " you took your second swig of the tea.

graham gave you a look, "it's a blessing and a curse being blunt isn't it? "

you laughed with him at this newly formed inside joke.

"no i mean it actually tastes amazing! " you said to him.

"thanks." he replied.

-

after drinking tea and sitting around together for a while, you two dabbled in a personal chat. you and him were really getting to know each other. tho, graham still felt like a stranger and a cute one at that. he readjusted his glasses at the bridge of his nose while having a look around your house, he was guilty of being a visual snoop. his eyes landed on your sketchbook.

"you draw?" he asked.

"hm." you nodded on agreement.

"no way! i draw too, i even went to art sch-" he exclaimed but you pressed your finger against his lips.

"shh, this is my favourite song. let me listen." you whispered to him while still touching his lips. he went dead silent and watched you as you absorbed every bit of your favourite beatles song playing. he thought you looked very beautiful, being this emotionally invested.

after the song ended you spoke, "i never show anyone my unfinished art but-" you reached out for your sketchbook and flipped thru the pages.

"i'll give you exclusive access to my drawing for being such a brilliant tea maker." you joked and opened the page with your most recent drawing right on his lap.

he laughed first then looked at it, what he saw an incomplete drawing of the london skyline staring back at him. he felt you watching over his shoulder at your own drawing while waiting for his reply. you refused to show anyone your art but that day, in the moment with him, it felt right to do so.

"looks pretty and i bet- it'd look prettier when it's finished." he stated while still having his eyes on your drawing.

"i've never been to the city you know and i'd like to be there. that's the dream, living as an artist in london one day." you gave him context to your drawing.

he shut the sketchbook and looked at you with a loveable smile on his face, "you will live out dreams one day." 

"enough about me, tell me a bit about yourself." you said to him.

graham sighed and his eyes darted to the ceiling, he was sat next to you and he couldn't just talk to you without any sort of emotional crutch. he was quite anxious especially because he didn't want to mess up anything with you and be his self destructive self again. he was too shy to be himself with you.

"you talk, i'm happy- being erm- you're listener." he said.

you two's laugh echoed thru your house as you spent the rest of your sunday evening with him.