“This next song,” Regulus starts, dabbing a clean towel on his neck. He takes an extra one and brings it to Pandora, handing it to her with a little smile on his face. She returns it and gives him a knowing look. “We wrote a few weeks ago, it’s not out yet.” he continues which has the crowd promptly screaming. He throws the towel on the side of the stage.
He hears Barty laughing from behind the drums. It had been kind of an impulsive choice they -he- had made a couple of days before, to perform this unreleased song that they had barely practised. Lily had given them -him- a compromise: if they could get it right with only two soundcheck practices, they could play it at tonight’s show. And it had to be tonight’s show.
James loves going on the road with them but he simply can’t anymore. He has a job that makes him as happy as singing does Regulus and Regulus knows he can’t take that away from him, he won’t. This had been a conversation they had had multiple times because James would have sold his restaurant if it meant he got to spend every waking moment by Regulus’ side, but Regulus simply refused. James’ happiness meant too much and he refused to be the one to get in his way. So this was the deal : Regulus went on tour and tried to visit James as much as he could, they called each other every day, texted the rest of the time and anytime James could (which was about once a month, twice if they were really lucky), he joined them on tour. Tonight, he’s here, in the crowd and it’s the last time he’ll be able to come for the rest of the tour. There are only three weeks left and James is fully booked for the next month. So tonight it has to be.
“It’s called ‘Wildflower’,” he says, takes a sip from his water bottle, “and it’s about my boyfriend,” he finishes, sending the crowd into a chaos of screams as the lights dim.
Because of course they got it in two soundcheck sessions.
The song starts right away, with Evan and Pandora singing the opening lines. Regulus grabs the mike and walks towards Dorcas, trying very hard not to look into the crowd and lock eyes with James. He’s been doing that for the entire concert and it has been hard not to jump down the stage and kiss him in front of everyone, especially since he already knows the smile that he’ll be wearing. Regulus isn’t sure he’ll be able to resist any longer.
“I hear you calling out my name, I love the sound,” he says, aligning himself so his back is against Dorcas’. They have a smile on their face, partly because Pandora is right in front of them and they’re nothing but weak for their guitarist, partly because they know what Regulus is trying to do. “I love the taste,” he continues and he can’t really hear the fans over his in-ear but he can feel them losing their mind. He gets them.
“And I can see it in your face, you’ve got a side you can’t explain,” he sings while Dorcas drops their head on his shoulder which in turn makes him smile.
This is a very joyful song and they don’t have many of these so he hopes everyone in the room is enjoying themselves. Especially James. Oh, James.
“You’re telling me, telling me, telling me you wanna come over. You wanna be, wanna be, wanna be closer,” he goes on and softly takes one of Dorcas’ fuschia beaded braids and brings it over his shoulder, “I love it when you wear your hair down over your shoulder,” he turns around and Dorcas mimics him, always on the same wavelength as him. They lock eyes and smile, “‘Cause I wanna hold you, ‘cause I know where tonight is going,” he says and with each word, his smile grows and so does theirs.
He walks away from them and goes back to the front of the stage, a slight jump in his step, unable to contain his smile and joy.
“You’re the only one who makes me,” he sings, locking his mike back on its stand, and pushes it to one side at the same time as Barty hits the drums. He knows it’s only in his head but he can hear the drummer’s “come” from how many times he’s sung it in practice and when they were still writing the song. He brings the mike back to his lips “Every time we”, and he does hear Barty’s voice through his own mike this time.
“Tell you what I like”, Barty all but mumbles and this time he sees the way some fans start yelling louder. Regulus rolls his eyes but his smile betrays him.
“My wildflower,” he continues and goes back to singing the same part once more. “You know you are my favourite fantasy, a fatal love song, waterfall is overflowing,” he sings next. His eyes are closed now, he’s not sure when he closed them but this happens often at concerts : he’ll be doing one thing or be at one spot on stage and the next thing he knows, he’ll be in a different place, singing a different song. “You’re the only one who makes me, everytime we,” he goes again. Despite it being Barty’s third “Tell you what I like”, the fans are still screaming as loudly as the first time.
“My wildflower”, he says a third time, like a charm, and just like magic, his eyes open and he’s there. His eyes are on him instantly, as if they were getting ready behind his eyelids when they were closed, taking Regulus by surprise and forcing him to look at and watch his wildflower.
He talked to James before the concert, he came backstage to say hello and kiss Regulus a completely normal amount of times. But he’s always liked being in the crowd, being amongst fans.
“It’s because I’m your biggest fan, Reg,” he’d said one day, “that’s where I have to be.”
He always gets the best seats though and the couple of times where he’s been in the pit, the fans pretty much shoved him so he could be in the front row. He’s in the sitting section today, a bit further back but still visible enough since Regulus thinks he might be able to make out his facial expressions even in the dark. He’s smiling that lovely, foolish, mesmerising smile of his, his hair is a mess, all ruffled on top of his head which lets Regulus know he’s been dancing. He’s wearing an “I Love My Boyfriend” t-shirt with Regulus’ face on it; a gift from Sirius.
“I see the colour in your veins, it makes me smile, it makes me shake,” he starts the new verse. James bites his lips and Regulus somehow feels it. Maybe he’s biting his own lip, he’s not sure. “I see the shadow in my brain, I like its look, I like its shape,” he continues and his smile grows when he sees James laughing, throwing his head back. It does not matter that there are hundreds of people between them, that he has his in-ear, that there’s a guitar, a piano, a bass and drums playing right next to him - he hears him.
He knows it’s half because of the adrenaline of the concert but Regulus has an idea and he feels so giddy with it that he separates the mike from its stand and walks down the small catwalk. “You’re telling me, telling me, telling me you wanna come over,” he says with a small questioning pout, as if he was having an actual conversation with James. James nods, still biting his lip, still smiling. “You wanna be, wanna be, wanna be closer,” he continues, raising his eyebrows to which James shrugs, nodding with a ‘fair enough’ look on his face. “I love it when you wear your hair down over your shoulder,” and James brushes away imaginary hair on his shoulder which has Regulus chuckling directly into the mike. “‘Cause I wanna hold you, ‘cause I know where tonight is going,” he half-sings, half-laughs.
Dorcas wrote that line about Pandora. James hasn’t had long hair in a very long time.
“You’re the only one who makes me, everytime we”, he says and gives James an exaggerated wink that has even the fans screaming. They’re the only thing that can take Regulus’ eyes from James and they do. He looks at them and bends over a little bit, trying to touch as many hands as he can while Barty says his line. “My wildflower,” he continues and the fans are already singing with him which makes his heart burst from emotion. He repeats the chorus a second time, crouching to grab a gift someone is trying to hand him : a trans flag that he very proudly drapes over his shoulders, trying and succeeding at tying it around him with only one hand.
“You know you are my favourite fantasy, a fatal love song,” he sings and his eyes find James in the crowd again. James looks beyond fond, he looks in love and Regulus has to remind himself that he is. He turns around to hide the embarrassing smile and blush creeping on his face at being reminded that his boyfriend of 7 years is in love with him. “Waterfall is overflowing,” he continues, walking back on the main stage.
Pandora and Dorcas are now right next to each other, Pandora’s head leaned on Dorcas’ shoulder and Dorcas kissing their girlfriend’s head. For obvious reasons -Barty being the drummer and Evan playing the piano-, they can’t get any closer to each other but Regulus notices the way Evan’s eyes never leave his fiancé and the way Barty kisses the ring on his finger, winking at Evan everytime he has a spare second to do so.
“You’re the only one who makes me,” he says again, turning back to face the crowd, overwhelmed with love for his fans, overwhelmed with love for his best friends, overwhelmed with love for his James. “Every time we,” he points the mike to the crowd and if it’s slightly pointed towards James well that’s hardly his fault, now is it ? “My wildflower,” he says and runs to the side of the stage as soon as the lights start dimming, letting his band take over for the bridge.
Three seconds later, he’s bent down and asking a security guard to go get James from the crowd. 2 seconds later, he’s locked eyes with his boyfriend who seems to understand immediately and gets up, starting to walk down, leaving Sirius and Remus to themselves. 5 seconds later, James is running in front of the security guard, making his way through the crowd who somehow manage to make space for them. 10 seconds later, James is walking up the stage. One second later, he’s in his arms, his feet aren’t touching the ground and he’s being spun.
“James, I have to sing,” he says in his ear, a smile so wide his cheeks hurt. So James puts him down, shining like the sun, brown skin glowing under the lights, the most beautiful and blinding smile in the room. “You’re the only one who makes me,” he sings, staring straight into his eyes, James’ arms still around his waist. He thinks, at the very back of his mind, he remembers being on stage in front of hundreds of people. He thinks he can feel them all losing their shit. “Every time we,” and he puts the mike in front of James’ mouth who, as always, understands him without need for words.
“Tell you what I like,” he says, simply and Regulus feels weak in the knees. He has half a mind to think about apologising to Barty for stealing his line later. He doesn’t think he minds but still.
(He doesn’t. Regulus is too busy to notice but Barty actually turns his head to face Evan and says it to him instead).
“My wildflower,” he continues, feeling deliriously happy. His available hand goes to cup James’ cheek. “You’re the only who makes me,” he pecks him so quickly it’s almost as if it didn’t happen. James has his eyes blown, eyebrows raised in shock in a way that has Regulus giggling this time. God, the things James Potter makes him do. “Every time we,” and again, he gives James the mike.
“Tell me what you like,” he says and he actually does hear the crowd losing their mind this time.
“My wildflower. You know you are my favourite fantasy, a fatal love song, waterfall is overflowing,” he sings, his thumb slowly caressing James. “You’re the only one who makes me”, and this time James just shrugs, rolling his eyes in an ‘I know right?’ manner. Regulus has no other choice but to pinch his cheek. “Every time we,” but he doesn’t give him the mike this time. He says it himself. “I’ll tell you what I like,” he starts, turning his head to look at the crowd for a second and going right back to James. “My wildflower,” he finishes.
He hears Pandora and Evan again, closing up the song but he’s promptly lifted off his feet and James is kissing him and he’s so distracted he almost drops his mike. It’s a kiss that doesn’t last long simply because they’re both smiling so hard.
Regulus is, again, vaguely aware of the crowd but all that matters to him right now, is his wildflower.