Life isn’t always what you think it’d be
He is surprised that James is here, the James he swore that he wasn’t going to see for another couple of years, the one he said goodbye just hours before. James is there surprised to see him as well, but his eyes are shining and he looks so lovely.
“James,” Regulus says and he is aware that his voice sounds different than how he was talking to his friends. He can’t help it, alright? This man brings out something in him that he is defenceless against him. And, oh, James’ eyes sparkle. They light up like Christmas tree lights. Just lovely.
He knows that Barty is talking, but frankly? He gives a shit about him. How would he care when James is looking at him? Regulus sees nothing other than the sun. Of course that doesn’t last long because a tall man says something that he wishes not to hear. It is one of those times that he knows he is going to hate to remember.
There are things your brain can’t ever forget like the scent of someone you knew, the laugh of someone you met, the handwriting of a stranger; there are also things your brain can’t ever forget no matter how much you wish to forget, for example: the sound of someone’s voice or the shade of their eyes.
When he hears his name, he turns to see him and he is there. After almost ten years of not seeing him, he is just there. And he is already looking at him, Regulus is surprised to see him, because this wasn’t meant to be. They were never meant to see each other again, that’s what they promised. That’s what he promised. Oh, Regulus remembers that . He made the promise to never see him again, so why is his gaze on him? He takes a deep breath and just watches him, daring him to remember his promise.
“ Reggie ,” he says.
“Shut the fuck up,” he says without really thinking about it, but it works. Everybody is shocked because of his response, does he care? No.
“So you know them?!” Barty practically screams at them.
“I know James,” Regulus says, turning to look at the man in front of him. “I don’t know him ,” he says and he clearly sees the way it affects him in his eyes, the little spark of light turning off, his gaze dropping. The tall man gets closer to him.
“He clearly knows you, Reg,” Evan says, like it is a secret and Regulus needs to know this fact.
“I don’t know how,” Regulus says. “As I understand, it’s like we’ve never known each other,” he can see how his shoulders drop and his eyes come to realisation. Took him long enough to remember the last thing he said to him.
Regulus doesn’t wait for an answer. He just turns around and walks away, needing to be as far away from that man as possible.
But that is just not happening, because he has a job to do and he can’t go back home and curl in his bed and just stay there until the feeling stops. He doesn’t even feel the need to cry, if he’s honest, he is angrier than anything else. Reggie, he said. He said his name as if he was entitled to do it. As if it means anything to him. Reggie. Reggie. Reggie. Who even calls him that anymore? Not even Barty or Evan do, they know better than that. Reg is okay with certain people. But Reggie? Absolutely not. That’s no one’s to call him. No one is allowed, no one was ever allowed, well… Nope. No one anymore.
Regulus is pacing around the backstage room they were assigned, just furious because that man called him Reggie. He shouldn’t even have called him anything, it’s not like they know each other, right? That’s what he said. He should own up to his own promises. He can’t even do that! And then, the first time they see each other he goes around saying his name, not even his name, his nickname.
Oh fuck.
He said his name. He fucking said his name. In front of James.
He wasn’t supposed to know his name, that was the whole point of refusing to tell him. Life is absolutely laughing at him. Taking control of his own destiny? Ha! You wish. Now James knows his name, or well, his nickname which is even worse. Regulus stops pacing just to let out a muffled groan and carries on pacing, thinking about how fucked up the situation is. He can’t stop thinking about the way James saw him and how he said ‘star’ as if it is his actual name. How much Regulus wishes it was.
James.
Fuck.
Did James know about him? Most likely, right? I mean, they were together and they were close to each other. They have to be in the same band, because that is what Pandora said, that they were going to meet the band they were opening to. And if they are the band, then they are friends, following everything he’s learned about James that he’s told him in the couple of times they’ve talked. So, if James knows him, could it be possible that he knows anything about him? Through him ? Did he already know who Regulus was and was just playing with him? But it seems genuine, everything about James seems truthful. Could Regulus have been played? So many questions that he most likely won’t ever get answers, because he just, right now, has decided to never speak to any of them unless it is extremely necessary. It isn’t exactly an ideal plan, but he is not willing to break a promise he had to make years ago.
Regulus stops pacing, realising that it is actually a fucking exhausting thing to do, and just lets himself drop in the nearest couch. He inhales and lets out a deep sigh.
The door opens and Regulus’ body tenses, but as soon as he sees Barty and Evan entering the room he feels safe. They both have a mix of confusion and worry on their faces.
“What was that, Reg?” Evan asks and sits next to him, avoiding touching him, just in case.
“You never told us you knew The Marauders, man,” Barty sits on his left, but unlike Evan, he doesn’t avoid their legs touching and Regulus is surprised that he feels comfort in the proximity.
“I don’t,” he replies. “I only know James,” he sighs again.
“Where did you meet him?” Barty asks. “I mean they are pretty big, you know?”
All Regulus can think about is how James hates the fame he has earned.
“Yeah, I guess I know,” he says.
“So, how did you meet him?” Evan asks.
“I met him in France, around three years ago.”
Evan and Barty look at him, knowingly. Regulus feels embarrassed. Oh, he should’ve never told him about James.
“That’s The James?”
“The one that you were obsessed over for like a year?”
“Oh, fuck off, I wasn’t obsessed ,” Regulus says and both of his friends tilt their head at the same time, Barty lifting up an eyebrow and Evan lifting up both of them. “Whatever. The point is that I saw him yesterday,” he explains and now his friends are surprised.
“Oh, oh, oh,” Barty says and starts laughing. “Holy shit, Reg, you fucked a famous singer,” and he continues to laugh. Then, out of nowhere, his laugh stops. “Holy shit, Reg, you fucked the lead singer of the band we are opening for,” he says more serio- more calmed.
Evan is looking at him and just really looking, Regulus looks back. He feels awkward, like he is looking into his soul or something like that.
“You like him,” Evan whispers, but they can hear him.
“No,” he answers automatically.
“Fuck, you do,” Barty says.
“I do not.”
Evan is about to say something else, but a knock on the door gathers their attention, they all look at each other, not knowing what to expect. It could be anyone behind that door.
“It’s just me, guys!” Pandora shouts from the other side. Regulus feels like breathing again.
“Come in!” Barty shouts back. Pandora comes in and her eyes are soft but her body is not. Her eyes are saying ‘I’m a friend’ but her body is saying ‘I’m your manager’, which is confusing to him, because he is not sure which one to trust, even if it is a single person, the signals are getting mixed.
“I just wanted to know how you are, guys. It was quite a… moment out there,” she says, being careful with her words. She sits in the table that is in front of the couch, exactly in front of Regulus. “What exactly happened?” She asks him, not Evan, not Barty, but Regulus.
“About what? To me it was all normal,” and the thing is that he is not lying. It is as normal as it can be with him . They once knew peace, but now they don’t even know each other.
“It clearly wasn’t,” her voice is not soft anymore. “And I need to know what happened,” it is not a question, Regulus knows that.
“I met James when I was in France,” he says and that’s all she is getting. He is not going to spill all the details to her.
“I know that, I know that you knew James. It was rather obvious,” she says. How on Earth does she know? He is about to ask, but the answer is right there. James. He probably told her or something. Or maybe it was, as she said, obvious. “I want to know how you know Sirius Bla-,” there is no need to tell her more. She connected the dots. He stares at her eyes, daring. “Oh,” is what she says instead, her voice soft again. “You two are bro-.”
“We are nothing,” Regulus cuts her off, it is hard the way the words come out of his mouth. A truth born from a promise. “I don’t know him,” he is still looking at her.
“Alright,” she says and gets up, cleaning her trousers with her hands, even though they are not dirty. “You have to get ready, you’ve already done soundcheck and Emmeline already talked to you about the dressing. Eat something, you can ask anything to eat,” she starts saying, full boss mode on. “Remember that you are the firsts ones to be on that stage, then WOM3N and lastly, The Marauders. If you have any doubt please let me know,” she looks at them yearning. “You are going to be great, guys, just relax and let it flow,” she gives them a soft smile and leaves the room.
Honestly, he wasn’t feeling any nerves or anything like that. He is more accelerated because of his unexpected encounter, but now has to calm down, there’s no point in freaking out, right? It’s not like he knows the person.
-
Emmeline is a nice person and Regulus doesn’t say that often. But she is patient and listens to every little detail and request, but mostly, she makes it happen. Barty has asked for a lot of things so he can try out and Evan has asked for different options of hairstyle. Eventually, she ends up with Regulus and asks if he wants to change anything, because they had already had this conversation with her, he guesses it is the nervousness of getting on that stage that his friends have been asking to change things.
“I’m fine, thank you,” Regulus says and she nods with a smile.
“You’ve now become my favourite,” she whispers and he fights the urge to smile.
“Just don’t tell them, they are going to be jealous,” Regulus whispers back.
“I wouldn’t dare,” she says and winks at him. She tries to do his hair, but he declines simply because he hates when someone touches it. He just leaves it as it is, his curls are messy but at the same time they look like how it is supposed to look.
At the end, Regulus is wearing dark green trousers, with a big belt, a plain black t-shirt and a chain dropping from the belt. Evan opted for black cargo pants and a lighter green tank top. Lastly, Barty chose black pants, with a black shirt and a dark (almost black) trench coat. It is eccentric his outfit, but it works, Regulus is sure it wouldn’t work on anyone other than him. It works, the way they look, he has no idea how, but it does. Emmeline truly has a gift.
They leave the room they were getting ready to get closer to the stage. He can hear people out there, screaming the words to a song he’s never heard before. The mere noise is making him anxious, he has no idea what to expect. He has only performed live with his friends once, and it was good enough because now they are here, but still, he has zero experience in this area. The setlist they chose to perform is only around forty minutes long, because that is what they asked for and even though they have practised a lot, he can’t help to feel like he is lacking experience.
The staff is getting them ready, first Regulus, they put him in his in-ear monitor and hide it under his clothes. When he is finished he takes his bass and puts the strap around his shoulder.
“Hey,” he hears someone calling in his direction, it is Barty.
“Hi.”
“Nervous?” he asks and Regulus just looks at him with unbothered eyes. “Yeah, me too,” he says but still smiles. “You are going to do great, Reg. I know you will.”
He can’t explain the kind of relationship he has with Barty, because it is a completely different dynamic than what he has with Evan. And even Barty has a different one than what he has with Evan. He can say that Barty is a complete idiot but if anyone says the same thing it is over for them, no matter the person, it could be Evan who says it and Regulus would get mad. He believes it is because he met Barty first and he was the first person Regulus opened up to. They have a bond he shares with no one else.
“You aren’t going to be so bad,” Regulus says back and he can see how Barty smirks in response.
“Hey, guys,” Pandora appears from behind them, making Evan get close to them once the staff is done with him. A tall girl is following from behind, she has dark skin but what really captures Regulus’ attention are her eyes, they are light amber eyes, as if they are shining. She is wearing a blue turtleneck and jeans, and her hair is in a tall ponytail. “I want you to meet Dorcas, she is going to be the photographer of this tour,” Pandora smiles.
“Hi,” they say at the same time.
“Hello, don’t mind me when you are up there, I’ll be moving around and taking shots, but just ignore me,” she smiles and Regulus notices that she has a smiley piercing.
“My left side is my better side,” Barty grins and winks at her. Regulus rolls his eyes.
“I’ll make sure to remember it,” she promises.
“Ignore him, he has no better side, he is equally ugly,” Evan teases.
“Oi, that is mean, Ev,” Barty frowns.
“Piss off, he is right,” Regulus intervenes.
Barty is about to protest but Pandora interrupts, making them know that they need to get on stage. Then, Regulus remembers where they are and what they are about to do… He wants to step back and go away, is he ready for this? For this life? And if the fans hate them? He shakes his head and takes a deep breath.
“This is it, lads,” Barty says, sighing too. Evan nods and so does Regulus.
This is it.
The lights turn off and the screams flood the venue.
One more deep breath and before he exhales, he is walking on the stage, following Barty. They take their places, Regulus on the left and Barty on the right, leaving the middle free so Evan can be visible to the public. The screaming continues and Regulus is sure the fans know by now that they are not The Marauders, but they are still screaming their lungs out. He exhales.
Regulus turns to see Barty who is already looking at him, they nod and they hear the beat in their ears, so Regulus starts playing leading the song. The lights are green and follow the rhythm he has. Soon, Barty joins him, playing his part and another set of lights follow his rhythm. When Regulus stops playing, the lights that were following his pace stop and continue to follow Barty’s, but they abruptly stop and start again when Evan steps in with the drums.
“ About time for anyone telling you, off for all your deeds ,” Barty sings with his lips almost touching the microphone in front of him. The screams get louder when they hear him. “ No sign the roaring thunder, stopped in cold to read. ”
“ No time ,” Regulus and Evan sing in the background.
The crowd is cheering them, not exactly singing but definitely screaming. It stuns, he feels a bit dizzy but either way continues playing, enjoying how the lights go according to the sound of the song.
“ So you gotta fire up, you gotta let go ,” the three of them sing at the same time, their voices contrasting the other but mixing in a unique way. “ You'll never be loved 'til you’ve made your own. You gotta face up, you gotta get yours ,” the chorus is one of Regulus’ favourite parts to sing and play. “ You never know the top till you get too low, ” Evan and Regulus’ voices aren’t as high as Barty’s, that’s why the last part of the chorus, his voice stands out. “ A son of a stepfather, a son of a- I’m so sorry ,” the lights of the phones in the crowd are starting to light on, he has no idea if they are recording or just lighting them up. “ A son of a stepfather, a son of a-. ”
“ I’m so sorry! ” Barty sings solo. Only his voice can reach those kinds of notes.
“ No lies and no deceiving, man is what he loves ,” Evan sings and Regulus can’t help but turn to look at him, he is still playing the drums and singing effortlessly. “I keep tryin' to conceive that death is from above ,” he sings, and this time is Barty joins Evan to sing the ‘No time’ part, Regulus gets closer to his microphone.
“ I get mine and make no excuses, waste of precious breath, ” Regulus sings his part, looking around to see the reaction of the people he can see in the front. His eyes go to his right, where the crowd can’t see, the backstage if you will. And there he is. James is looking at him, surprised but amazed at the same time. “ The sun shines on everyone, ” he sings, staring directly at James, making eye contact with him. It only lasts that line, because Regulus looks away just as fast. “ Everyone, love yourself to death .”
After they sing the chorus again, it is time for the bridge. It is calmer and slower than the rest of the song, he turns to see where James was before, but he isn’t alone anymore, he is there
“ Life isn't always what you think it’d be ,” he looks at him and tilts his head, not daring to look away. “ Turn your head for one second and the tables turn ,” he shakes his head and wants to laugh but he won’t.
“ And I know, I know that I did you wrong, but will you trust me when I say that I'll make it up to you? Somehow, somehow? ” Barty sings the second part of the bridge.
When they finish the last chorus, there is an instrumental part, so he gets closer to Barty and they play it together. Fans scream louder than they were and Regulus just enjoys the proximity and the craziness of it all.
“Hello, Basel!” Barty screams and the crowd goes wild. “Thank you for having us, we are The Sekans. I’m Barty,” there’s screaming again. “On the drums is Evan,” he says and points to Evan who lifts his sticks up. “And on my right is Regulus,” he just lifts his chin as a greeting to the public. Well, if James didn’t know his name already, now he does. Great. “We have a couple more songs to sing to you this evening and then we’ll leave you with the lovely WOM3N.”
Once their set is done, the cheering doesn’t stop even when they are out of the stage. It was thrilling and the three of them are sweaty. Barty has a smile so big that Regulus wonders if his cheeks are hurting. Evan is shocked, smiling but shocked, he can’t say a proper phrase because it doesn’t make sense. Regulus is happy, the same happiness he felt the first time he performed with his friends, but is more, different. The screams and the people dancing to their music is possibly why he forgets the problems that are awaiting for him.
“You were amazing! What the bloody hell? Pandora was so right. Shit, guys,” Lily says, approaching them with a big smile. She is wearing a bright green strapless top and matching trousers, her eyes have a green eyeliner that makes her eyes greener than they already are, her hair is dropping off her shoulders and she has red lipstick.
“You think so?” Barty can’t help but ask.
“I think-? Marls!” She screams and another woman he has never seen gets closer. She is wearing the same outfit and make up as Lily, except hers is bright red, she has blonde short hair, not even reaching her shoulders and it is in half a ponytail but she has bangs covering the sides of her face. Her eyes are piercing blue. “They are asking if they were amazing, can you believe that?”
“You were bloody good, guys,” Marls says. “We really have competition now, huh?” she says to Lily and she laughs. “I’m Marlene McKinnon, by the way, couldn’t introduce myself properly earlier,” she says casually.
“Oh, right,” Lily says, making memories of the past events, Regulus wants to disappear. “Mary! Come, come,” she screams in the direction of someone behind them. Another girl with the same outfit appears next to Marlene. This one, Mary, is wearing bright pink, her hair is up in two half buns. Her skin is brown and the pink makes a contrast that makes it impossible to look away from her. “This is Mary,” Lily says with a bright smile.
“I’m Mary,” she chuckles. “You were incredible, must I say what an incredible voice you have, Barty,” she compliments him. “The boys are going to be so jealous,” she tells the other two women.
“Girls, you are up in five,” someone in the staff says. They thank him and give them a smile before they get ready to get on stage.
Regulus watches them, their dynamic is similar to the one he has with his friends, they laugh but understand each other without having the need to talk at all, the mere look on their eyes are enough to make the other understand what they are feeling. Mary is the one who smiles the most, Marlene rolls her eyes the most and Lily hugs the most.
“So, Regulus?”
His whole body flatters. He feels warm all of the sudden. Get closer , he wants to say. Regulus doesn’t even need to turn around to know that James is behind him.
“Won’t lie, removing Star from my mind as your name will be difficult,” he continues talking and Regulus closes his eyes before turning around to face the man.
He shouldn’t have turned around, James is already dressed for when it is their turn. He is wearing a red transparent blouse with white trousers, he looks fancy. But that is not what makes Regulus regret turning around. He is wearing fucking red eyeliner. He can see it even through his glasses. It is not as the girls’ eyeliner, it is less striking, but it is there.
Regulus wants to die.
“It is not that different,” Regulus replies and tries to get away from James but he takes a step closer to him, avoiding him slipping away.
“Where are you going?”
“Away.”
“Why?” James asks, genuinely curious and if he had to guess, he would say that he is even hurt.
“We can’t do this anymore,” Regulus says. “Things have changed.”
“Why? Because of Si-” Regulus doesn’t let him finish.
“Because we work together,” he says instead, what other reason could there be?
The light that allowed him to see half of James’ face is now off, meaning that the girls are going to be on. The cheering and screaming is evidence of that. Regulus looks at the stage, getting closer to see better, feeling how James follows him behind. He tries his best to ignore the growing feeling inside him and the warmth of his presence.
WOM3N are in position on the stage, Lily is on the right side of the stage, while Marlene is on the left, leaving Mary in the middle. Unlike them, they have the microphone on their hands, meaning they will move around. When they start singing something similar happens as when The Sekans sang their first song. The lights shine on them according to the tune of their voices. Their lights are white but make their outfits shine even more.
“ In a whole other life, there was this boy that I knew, ” Mary is the first to sing, the lights only on her, she is squatting and as she’s singing she gets up, but still, the three of them are dancing the same choreography. “ He made me feel like a woman, ” she touches her boobs as well as the other two, the crowd cheers louder. “ We were young and silly fools, ” her voice is nothing of what Regulus would’ve thought it’d sound when singing. The lights quickly change to shine on Lily.
“ Anyway, he was in a band, wrote love songs about me ,” she sings and her Irish accent is still there but not as when she talks. He feels James shifting his weight and coughing awkwardly, but Regulus couldn’t care less right now, the girls are hypnotising. “ I wasn’t crazy 'bout the words, but the melodies were sweet ,” the choreography doesn’t seem easy but they? They make it look pretty easy. “ Went something like, ” and then they are singing the same melody as in the beginning. Lights going one by one according to the sound. “ Every time we'd go dancing, I'd see his straying eyes. Gave him too many chances, pushed my keys too many times, ” Lily continues singing and then the lights are on Marlene.
“ Anyway, he'd start actin' up, and I'd be on my way to leave, ” her voice is similar to Lily’s but not quite. They could be mixed up, but there is a significant difference, Marlene’s is a bit raspy and rough. “ But I stopped in my tracks when I heard this melody. ”
Regulus is amazed with how every step they take are in perfect synchronisation, it is completely obvious that they have rehearsed this a lot. And probably it is not the first time they sing this live because there are people in the crowd following their steps.
“ He used to sing me sweet melodies. He played me, made me believe it was real love ,” the three sang the chorus. Mixing their voice and their ranges. “ Sang me sweet melodies, but the day he did me wrong the song couldn't go on and on and on .”
“ He would lie, he would cheat, over syncopated beats ,” Mary sings again, the other girls harmonising along. “ I was just his tiny dancer, he had control of my feet. Yes, when he came along, that's when I lost a groove .”
The last chorus they sing is slower, Mary and Marlene’s voice uniting and sounding like one, while Lily sings the high notes, which makes Regulus have goosebumps.
“She is good,” he says to no one in particular and soon remembers that James is behind him.
“Yeah, she is,” he says softly and that makes Regulus turn to see him, there was something in his voice. James doesn’t notice that he is watching him, because he is still looking at Lily. He turns to see Lily again, the way her red hair moves around her arms and shoulders, her closed eyes when she hits the high note.
He doesn’t wait for the girls' set to finish, he leaves and goes to find Barty and Evan. He doesn’t care about James right now, he needs safety.
He sees the back of Evan’s head and hurries to get faster to him, but once he is close, he can see with whom he is talking.
“Reg, you should meet Remus Lupin,” Evan says and it is the tall man from earlier. “He is the drummer of The Marauders.”
“Pleasure,” Regulus says awkwardly, the way Remus is looking at him is fucking scary. The man is taller than him -or anyone really-, he has a long scar covering his face, from his left eyebrow to his right cheek and a smaller one parallel to it, but it goes from the left top side to the right bottom side of his nose, and another one crossing the left corner of his lips. His eyes are green, not like Lily’s but they have a little brown on them. He is wearing an absolutely ugly brown sweater but strangely it makes him look more handsome than he already is (because, holy shit, he is giving Regulus a gay panic, besides the anxiety).
The man tilts his head and smiles.
“Yeah, same,” he says and the weird thing is that it is genuine. “You should meet the rest of the band, well Pete, you’ve already met the other two,” he says, he has a deep voice, but it is casual, just manly. Regulus nods. “Are you going to see the show?” he asks and Regulus turns to see Evan. “You can go with Pandora and she will give you seats to watch it from the audience,” he says and pats them on the shoulder before leaving, without saying goodbye or anything.
Evan and Regulus see each other and shrug at the same time.
They go, in fact, to look for Pandora.
She is stressed. She yells at them, but when she notices who they are becomes softer, she kindly explains where to go and with whom so they can find their seats.
Once they are on their seats, WOM3N has already finished their set, so now, the lights are dim and there’s a lot of noise around them which is making Regulus feel anxious. Fortunately, Barty arrives and sits next to him, it calms his anxiety but it is still there. Evan is about to say something when all of the sudden the lights turn off. The screaming is instant, definitely louder than when they or the girls were singing, this one makes him feel dizzy and his balance is off. He turns to his friends and they seem to be the same, Barty however is smiling like a child on Christmas.
The first sound Regulus hears is the drums, then guitars and bass, the lights turn on and out. The screams, Jesus, the screams. However, Regulus would have never thought that they would use pink and purple lights.
The one with the bass plays a melody and everybody screams louder.
When James gets closer to the microphone is when it hits Regulus, James is the lead singer. He is going to sing.
“ I don’t want to think about a moment with you, ” James isn’t only singing he is playing his guitar and that is all that it takes to make Regulus’ legs flatter. “ I’m kinda hoping for forever. I’ve been thinking about a knitted sweater for two, ” his voice is not at all what Regulus was thinking but holy shit, he likes that. “ Godammit, we look good together, ” yeah, he ain’t going to survive this.
“ Would you wait, ” James and the rest (except for Remus) sing together.
“ A moment? Ringing the bell for last call, ” James sings alone.
“ Would you wait, ” they harmonise again.
“ A moment? Just give me a second, that's all. ”
“ Talk fast, ” they sing, and the words ‘Talk Fast’ appear with pink neon lights on the screen in the back. “ Romance. Won’t last, I'm okay with that. Burn, crash, romance. I’ll take what I can get from you .”
“ Leave all of your indecisions with you at home, ” starts singing the bassist and the whole crowd goes wild. “ Don't say you're doing me a favour. Why so complicated, won't you throw me a bone? ” Regulus won’t ever admit that it is nice to hear him sing, it is a familiar voice that he wishes to forget. “ I want your love in every flavour .”
The chorus starts again and it is incredible the way all the people in the venue know the song and sing it along. It almost makes Regulus smile, the energy is outstanding. He turns to see Barty and he can almost see what he is thinking: one day they will be like them. He sees James and he kind of gets why he says he wouldn’t do it without his best friends and he can feel the connection they have with their fans, especially now that James is telling them to sing the next part and the fans do as told.
“I can't hear you, c'mon, hey!” James says.
“ Oh-oh-oh-oh, ringing the bell for last call ,” the synchronisation of the fans amazes Regulus, sounds beautiful even.
“C'mon, louder than that, go!” welp, that brings some kind of flashbacks to Regulus.
“ Talk fast, romance ,” the crowd sings and it is perfect, it is a moment just for them, even though they’re still playing, they sound mystical. It is just the fans at that moment.
“Oh, you sound beautiful,” James says, and it is the way he says it that makes Regulus tremble, he sounds so good. He knows then what he knew already, working with James is going to be hell, but with a voice like that Regulus is sure he is going to mistake it for heaven.
As soon as the first song is over Regulus decides that it is it, he has been postponing his breakdown way too long, so he makes his way through the people, ignoring the questions from his friends.
He is stopped by a girl.
“You are from the first band, right?” she asks over the screams of the people, ignoring completely what Peter is saying in the background. Regulus nods in response. “Shit, you were amazing, can I take a picture?” he wasn’t expecting that.
“Uh, sure,” he agrees and the girl handles her phone to the person on her left and asks if they can take the picture. He doesn’t know what to do, he isn’t a person that smiles a lot. The girl poses next to him and then the flash is blinding him for a couple of seconds. She thanks the person and watches the photo, she doesn’t seem to mind that he isn’t smiling, in fact she looks happy with the result.
“Thank you, can’t wait to hear more music from you, guys,” she says and waves him goodbye to keep enjoying the show.
Regulus knows this is how things are going to be and he isn’t bothered by it, but he is not quite sure if he is made for this, sometimes he can get anxious if there are too many people talking to him or around him.
When he gets to the room he can still hear the cheering and practically the whole show, but he centres his attention in breathing.
Just breathe.
Breathe.
You can do this.