Becoming

Remember Tomorrow

I'm back, with another visit to the same AU as Awakening! Dave and Ade decided they needed their story told as well, so I decided to oblige.

*****

Dave Murray strolled up the road after getting off work and poked his head into the old garage where his old band Urchin, which he and Adrian Smith had started several years ago, still rehearsed.

"Davey! Good to see you, mate," Adrian called to his old friend, waving an empty beer bottle cheerfully. "How's the hunt for a band going, then? I'm s'prised bands aren't falling all over themselves to hire you, since you're bloody brilliant." He wasn't quite slurring his words, but it was obvious he'd put away far more than just the one beer before Dave turned up.

The apple-cheeked blond grinned as he approached. "Blimey, you'd think you missed me or something. Since when do you say so many words all at once?" he teased.

"Wanker," Adrian laughed, flipping two fingers at his friend. He dropped onto one of the crates that served as seats in the garage. "What if I did miss you? Maurie plays well enough, but he's not someone I'm comfortable hanging out with, you know? And then he just wouldn't go away after rehearsal, so I kept drinking cos it was easier to put up with him that way."

"Ah, now I get it. You're drunk. No wonder you're talking," Dave said with a chuckle. "You hardly ever feel like talking when you're sober." He settled onto a crate next to his friend.

Adrian shrugged. "Just don't have a lot to say, most of the time," he said. "S'true that I miss you, though. Like I said, Maurie's good, but he's not you. I can't bounce song ideas with him. No creativity. He just wants to play covers and don't care about songwriting. I know you're not real good with lyrics and stuff, but at least you listen to my ideas and make suggestions for riffs and all, and those are always brilliant. I don't blame you lookin' for a band that you think's a better fit with what you wanna play and all, but I do miss you bein' around."

Dave smiled. "So, I'll come by and hang out more often, then. Truth is, Ade, I miss hanging out with you, too."

"Good," Ade said. "You never told me how your hunt's going."

"I've gotten some session work so far, but nothing that's a good fit," Dave said. "Had a pretty good audition today, though. I'm really hoping this one works out. Band called Iron Maiden."

Ade reached out and slung his arm around Dave's shoulders. "You'll find the right band, mate, I know you will," he said, leaning heavily against the blond. "You're a brilliant guitarist and you're good-looking besides. You'll pull all the birds – they'll all wanna pinch those sweet chubby cheeks."

Dave blushed. "Oh, quit talking bollocks, I'm not that good looking." He also didn't care that much one way or another about getting attention from girls, although he took great pains to conceal that fact from anyone he performed with.

"Sure you are," Ade said. "Y'got the prettiest hair. Makes me wanna run my fingers through it." He proceeded to do just that, then smiled. "Feels as good as it looks, so silky and smooth."

Dave tried not to show how much his friend's closeness and innocent touch was affecting him. He hadn't admitted it to Adrian, of course, but part of the reason he'd left Urchin to look for another band was that he'd found himself increasingly attracted to the other man. "Is that so? It might be from the hair conditioner my sister told me to use when I started lightening my hair. She said the bleach'll mess it up otherwise. Angie's a hairdresser, so yeah, I'll take her advice."

"Maybe I should use it too, then," Ade said with a nod. He looked at his friend very solemnly and asked, "Davey? If I was to do something really stupid, would you hit me for it?"