30 Seconds To Mars ⨺ *IMAGINES* ₪ Ø lll ·o.

IMAGINE: Jared and Shannon as unexpected guests at your own show

I paced nervously backstage. I had been doing the pubs and clubs circuit in London for just over a year but tonight was the biggest venue of my career so far (and even that wasn't massive). I had seen singers come from nothing to overnight sensations after a gig at the Hoxton Bar, but I wasn't expecting anything to come of it whatsoever.

I could hear the swarm of people out there, eating dinner, mingling... I was bricking it. This could be it, I thought to myself, this is my one shot at fame. 

I looked down at my long red dress and sighed. Did I overdo it just on the outfit? 

"Ready when you are Y/N." The soundcheck guy popped his head round the curtain. I took a breath, and nodded.

"Ready."

I wasn't ready. Far from it.

  ₪ Ø lll ·o. 

 Jared studied his vegan burger. It was enormous, even when he held it in his hands. He grinned over at Shannon who was munching fries, one eyebrow raised.

"Challenge accepted, I think is the phrase..." Jared said, trying to figure out which part of the burger would be best to break into.

Shannon seemed to be stuck in quizzical eyebrow mode. "All those rocks you climb and you're stumped by a mountain of lettuce? Make it your bitch. Take a chunk out of it."

Jared laughed as he bit into his burger and chewed. 

Shannon clapped sarcastically. "Bravo."

"So er..." Jared said, between bites, "Who's this singer that they're all yelling about down there? You heard of her?"

Shannon shrugged. "Nuh uh. She looked pretty cute on the poster, though."

Jared looked around wildly. "Poster? What poster?"

"Nevermind bro she's on." Shannon squinted down the room towards the stage. A small crowd was gathered at the front, cheering. "Those motherfuckers look like they're out for a beer and a little sway."

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"Thank you." I laughed into the microphone. I spied some of my work colleagues in the front row. They seemed more than a little tipsy which surprisingly didn't calm my anxiety.

"I er..." I adjusted the mic. "I just wanted to say first of all thank you all for coming down tonight I'm a little nervous but I am so excited to perform for you all." There were a few cheers and wolf whistles. "You're all too kind." I laughed. "I'll be performing a mixture of covers so you guys can sing along if you want... and also I'll be doing some original material. So yeah just, have fun, I hope you enjoy it and yeah... let's do this."

I nodded to my small trio on the guitars and drums to signal I was ready.

"My first song tonight is an original song. I wrote this song when I was seventeen, and it's called Seventeen if that's original enough for you."

There were a murmur of laughs which relaxed me slightly as I began.

  ₪ Ø lll ·o.

"That was a clever song." Shannon said, applauding with the rest of the crowd.

"We gotta talk to her." Jared urged. "She wrote those lyrics when she was seventeen?! That's fucking insane. I wanna get inside her mind for five minutes."

Shannon raised a hand. "Wait, holy shit she's gonna do GaGa..."

It's been a long time since I came around,
Been a long time but I'm back in town,
And this time I'm not leaving without you...