𝙨𝒕𝙖𝒓𝙙𝒐𝙢'𝙨 𝙨𝒆𝙘𝒓𝙚𝒕 - 𝐥𝐲𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐱 𝐟em! 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

chapter 16 - the curtains rise

Twenty-five-year-old y/n tuned her violin, brows furrowing and forehead sweating as she tried to think through the extremely loud environment, even with the curtains closed. Backstage was surprisingly dim.

"You ready?" Lynette asked, sitting on the stool next to her. "It's your first time doing something like this—well, you've performed before, but I'm guessing not as a soloist. But you don't have to feel ashamed if you're scared."

Y/n glanced up at her best friend and smiled, nodding reassuringly. "I'm sure I'll be fine, especially since you guys will be with me."

Lynette smiled. "That's the spirit."

"How's it going?" Popped a playful voice from behind the duo. "Are you guys excited?" Lyney grinned.

"I'm excited, but I'm also pretty nervous," y/n responded, tuning the E string slightly lower.

"That's good, though! That means you're taking this performance seriously," his glowing expression softened into a gentler smile. "Thank you for joining us, y/n. I hope you—in the best way—don't get too much attention online from the fans. Their behavior can be a little...unique. Hostile? Interesting?"

Y/n laughed. "That's one way to put it. Your fans are nice, though. I doubt they'll do anything that bad."

"We shall hope. We shall hope, indeed."

The glowing pink and teal spotlights from outside crawled their way inside the backstage, different hues crossing the bottom gap of the red curtain.

"You'll do great, love," Lyney lightly kissed her on the head before moving to pick up a head-worn microphone. "We have..." he glanced at a countdown on his phone, "fifteen seconds. Wow."

Y/n stood after she finished rosining her dark wooden bow and prepared her music folder. She inhaled. You've performed in some of the best orchestras in Fontaine. Maybe even in Teyvat. The only difference is that you're the only one here. You've practiced so much. It's time, she assured herself, straightening her posture.

The audience began to count down. Lyney and Lynette readjusted their microphones. The fans' voices echoed throughout the stadium. "Five!"

"Let's do our best," Lyney winked at y/n as the crowd counted "four."

"Three!"

"This is a fantastic way to celebrate our tenth anniversary of our debut," Lynette said encouragingly. The audience counted "two."

"One!" The curtains fell apart, revealing the cavernous stadium, each and every seat filled with a fan of the twins. The stadium cheered thunderously as the performers walked forward, the singers waving excitedly (as y/n couldn't, holding her violin). Y/n smiled brightly. Teenage-her would have fainted if she knew where she was, performing with her favorite celebrity.

"Testing, ABC-one-two-three," the twins said into their microphones simultaneously as y/n walked to the extravagant music stand that had been prepared for her. She set up her elegant music folder, though she aimed to look at the sheet music as little as possible.

"Good evening, Fontaine!" Lyney shouted, and the crowd cheered. His fancy clothes basked in the colored spotlights, which had f/c added to them. "I'm sure you noticed a new performer here with us tonight!"

He chuckled softly as the audience roared with curiosity and more excited cheers. "Well, if you guys listened to my most popular release eight years ago, this is the beautiful, absolutely perfect girl I was singing about." Despite them being together for literal years, y/n still blushed at Lyney's shameless compliments.

At this confession, the fans cheered unbelievably loudly, many of them gushing at the "romanticism."

A few more minutes of talking from Lyney and Lynette, and they began playing the first songs of the setlist. An expensive microphone stood in front of y/n's music stand and picked up the sounds of her violin surprisingly well. The concert continued smoothly, the crowds cheering enthusiastically and encouragingly after each song, fortunately giving y/n ample time to calm down and switch her sheet music in between songs.

During the last song, a slow romantic song, y/n focused with all her might on playing the song precisely, trying to add a few flowing movements to her feet as she played elegantly, the sound of her violin reverberating throughout the stadium. She noticed subconsciously that Lyney had exited her peripheral and a moment later, gasps echoed and rippled throughout the audience. She noticed that her ears could no longer pick up the soft sounds of Lyney's dancing shoes. Worried that something had happened, she set her violin down on a nearby stool during a silence in the song and turned around.

Tears filled her eyes at the sight in front of her. The soft music continued to play as all the spotlights dimmed, except for the one shining on the couple.

Lyney knelt down on one knee, holding a ring box that contained a shimmering, brilliant diamond ring. His eyes were filled with undying emotion, his smile gentle but sincere. "Y/n, the most beautiful, perfect, and intelligent woman alive," he inhaled, "will you make me the happiest singer alive and marry me?"

"Yes! Archons, yes!" Y/n exclaimed, hugging Lyney so tightly she might as well have tackled him.

Lyney fell backward with a squeak. "Wait, y/n! The ring!"

"Oh, sorry!" Simultaneously, y/n had only just then noticed how incredibly loud the audience was shouting.

Lyney slid the brilliant ring onto her left ring finger. "Phew. Okay. Now you can hug me relentlessly." And so she hugged him again, burying her face in his shoulder to hide her tears.

"I love you, y/n."

"I love you too, Lyney."

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I CAN'T END THIS FIC HELP ME IT'S ACTUALLY OVER I'VE REACHED THE RESOLUTION I'M GONNA SOB AND BAWL MY EYES OUT I'M ABOUT TO CRY AHHGHGHGHGHGOIJF WHY DOES IT HAVE TO END I CAN'T BELIEVE IT I'M GONNA BE IN DENIAL FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS

Thank you, dear readers, for seeing this piece of fanfiction all the way through to the end with me. Your comments have brought several smiles to my face and given me many laughs, so thank you very much for those. Your sheer kindness has motivated me and excited me to write this fanfiction and to continue writing. 

Thank you so much, everybody. 😭😭😭😭😭💞💞💞💞💞💞💞