"Honey, all the movements you're starting to make,
See me crumble and fall on my face,
And I know the mistakes that I've made,
See it all disappear without trace,
And they call as they beckon you on,
They said start as you mean to go on"
-A Rush of Blood to the Head
July 21st, 9:00 PM
"Don't be nervous, Jonny Boy!" Chris says to his boyfriend, doing his best to encourage the guitarist. They've been dating since Chris and Gwenyth divorced, and their love has been a constant reminder to love what they're doing now, because it could be taken away later.
When Chris first realized that he was in love with Jonny, he was still married to his wife and Jonny was having better luck dating women. Jonny had been engaged for a short time, but they realized that it wasn't working and they broke up. Jonny had been distraught after that, since they had already had a child, whom they named Violet, and they had another on the way.
It took Jonny almost a year to start dating again, and it was a slow process. At first, the poor guitarist was very selective about the type of girl he wanted. No, she was too thin. No, her voice was too nasally. No, she liked a band that he hated. However, as time went on, he began to accept girls as beautiful and he wanted to try and settle down again, all the while doing his best to maintain a healthy relationship with his kids and their mum. He started dating a number of women, and would be very happy every month or so with a new girlfriend.
It was jealousy that caused Chris to understand his feelings for the younger bloke.
Why wasn't it him that got to date Jonny? Why wasn't it him that got to spend excessive amounts of time with Jonny? Why wasn't it him that got to sleep in the bedroom with Jonny? Those thoughts lead to reflecting upon the past, which lead to understanding. He was indeed in love with his best friend, and the realization both tore him apart and gave him hope. He had to live with those feelings for two years before he was finally able to divorce his wife and tell Jonny about his feelings. As it had turned out, he felt the same about Chris, and thus, their romance was born.
Jonny smiles. "I'm only a bit nervous, but you know how I get!"
Guy bumps Chris' arm. "Yeah, and what about you, Chrissy?"
Chris smirks. "I don't get nervous, Guy! I perform perfectly every time!"
Will scoffs. "Yeah, because we definitely haven't had to start songs over because you fucked them up."
Everyone chuckles. "Nah, that's just me covering for J's fuck up!" He wraps his arm around Jonny and kisses his cheek.
The Charlie Chaplin speech begins and the band immediately tenses up. They jump around to try and loosen their muscles, and practice breathing exercises like they had been told to do.
They're given the cue, and quietly walk onto the stage to grab their instruments. The crowd all cheers at their dark figures now on the stage, and the band all smiles. Moments like this is why they do what they do, why they're here, and why they make music. As Chris looks up into the crowd as he waits for the intro speech to end, and makes eye contact with someone in the front row. The immediate vibe he gives off is eerie, and slightly uneasy to Chris. The man is wearing a black cloak and looks at Chris with a menacing look.
He decides not to point him out to the other band members, but if he gets any more suspicious, he'll let the band know about him without hesitation.
The concert went without a hitch, at least until the very end. The strange man in the cloak kept sharing menacing glances with Chris throughout the entire show, but up until the bow, he didn't care. However, when the man takes something suspicious out of his bag, Chris warns the other band members, who told him that they, too, had been worried about him throughout the whole show.
Chris shares a final look with the man, before he takes a bow with the rest of the band.
"Chris!" He hears, and everything seems to slow down. When he looks up to see who shouted his name, he sees a large ball of light, coming from the direction of the strange man in the cloak, heading right for him. Not knowing what to do, he freezes and braces for impact. Was this really the end?
"NO!" He hears, and suddenly, Jonny is in front of him, taking the hit for him.
"Jonny!" Chris cries, and stands in front of is boyfriend, who's writhing on the stage floor, probably in immense pain. "We need to get him backstage!"
No one was paying attention to the audience, who didn't seem to notice the commotion going on at the stage. Chris looks up just in time to see the man in the cloak angrily walking away. He was aiming for me, Chris thought, and imagines what Jonny is feeling right now. Will helped Chris pick up Jonny and carry him backstage, and so as to not concern the audience, Guy smiles and waves at the crowd.
"What happened!?" Phil asks as Jonny's body is carried by Will and Chris.
"He was hit by some weird ball of light that was heading for Chris!" Guy says.
"It was that fucking man in the cloak. He was aiming for me and the pillock jumped in front of me to save me."
Phil blinks. "Man in a cloak? Ball of light? What the fuck is going on!?"
They set Jonny down on the couch and the guitarist grimaces. "Blanket," he groaned. "Blanket!"
Chris sighs and hands his boyfriend a blanket. He presses his hand to the man's forehead. "He's running a fever," he announces.
"Of course! He was fucking hit by a giant ball of light!" Guy shouts. "It was probably hot!"
"Shit, shit, shit what do we do?" Will asks.
Chris presses a kiss onto Jonny's forehead, and Jonny groans and throws the blanket over his head. The band watches as he tosses around on the couch. "Jonny?" Chris calls, concerned.
Suddenly, the blanket stops moving and the air grows quiet. "Jonny?" Chris asks quietly.
The rest of the band holds their breath, curious, concerned, and confused. "Jonny?" Chris asks again, slowly walking closer to his boyfriend.
"Jonny, are you ok?" Chris holds his breath and stops when the blanket shifts again. "J?"
Chris lifts up the blanket from Jonny's head, and gasps at what he sees.
"Jonny?"
There, sitting in front of him on the couch is a small, blonde-haired boy. He has large, green eyes that are wide-eyed and looking terrified. Chris' mouth drops. It's like looking at a picture of little six-year-old Jonny, but it's real and there he is.
"Oh. Fuck."
YOU ARE READING
Innocence
Fanfiction[Story takes place during AHFOD era] The band had the world at their fingertips. They had millions of screaming fans from all around the world, hundreds of sold out tour dates, and even the haters didn't bother them as much as they used to. It seem...
