The Punk Composer (prog/punk fanfiction)

Twists

"Paul?!" Eleanor gasped.
Glen rolled his eyes and looked at him.
The blonde bassist had a very serious expression on his face. He didn't look only concerned; perhaps he was also annoyed to see Eleanor, Glen and the Buzzcocks chilling in the hall while his brother was unwell, alone in his room.

"Well hello..." Glen huffed, breathing out the smoke of his cigarette "Your brother's upstairs..."
"Alone?!" Paul exclaimed, opening his eyes wide.
"Relax! It's not like he's got cancer or...!"
Paul lost his patience; he headed to Glen with firm steps and grabbed his shirt.
"Listen to me, smartass, I know that all you care about is your precious performance gone wrong and that you probably give no shits about him, but he's my fucking brother, understand this?!"
Eleanor's face came to stone in front of her friend's reaction.
Paul looked at her and took a deep breathe.
"Not even you, Eleanor...?"
"He didn't want any of us to check on him this afternoon, he explicitely claimed to want loneliness... so you might as well wait before seing him. Maybe he's sleeping" Diggle intervened, using the calmest voice.
"I don't give a damn about that, I'm his brother and all I know is that he had a fucking breakdown! I have more right to enter his room than you lot!" the bassist snapped.
"Then go to him and stop yelling, for fuck's sake!" Glen ranted, without even looking at him.
"I can't believe it..." Paul shook his head at them "What's the room?"
"106, third floor..." Eleanor replied in a whisper.
She felt intimidated by Paul's behaviour in that moment, but she could understand his aggressiveness was, in reality, just given by fear.
Though, that sentence, "Even you, Eleanor...?" had truly hurt her. She didn't want him to think she'd been negligent about Nick's status. As Diggle'd said, the boy wanted loneliness and each attempt to approach to him felt like an abuse towards him.
But were they really supposed to obey Nick's will in order to have him feel better?
Perhaps Paul's anger was justified; perhaps they all should have insisted more.

"What a dickhead..." Glen scoffed, pressing his cigarette in the ashtray in fury.
"Nick's his brother after all, Glen, understand him..." Pete huffed, seemingly worried.
"He's got no fucking right to insult and mistreat me like that!" the bassist protested.
"True that" John pointed out coldly, having Eleanor frown at him in doubtfulness.
Deep down, she stood on Paul's side. After all, Glen'd been acting in such a rude way lately, she'd never seen this side of him before, but it was surely due to the stress and frustration he had grown after the last happenings.
Paradoxically, Eleanor, the one who'd always been reckoned as "the obsessive member" of her band, was handling that situation with more calm, selflessness and seriousness than her bandmate... even if this didn't mean her waters weren't shaken.
Actually, they indeed were; perhaps the calm and coldness she showed about that situation was nothing but a sensation of desertion coming from her own body, as reaction against the last events that'd disturbed her mind: that letter, Nick, her band, her current situation with John... every certainty she had had just been turnt upside down, leaving her clueless and hopeless...

In particular, she didn't expect John to react in such a way for something so harmless like mentioning the Clash while they were simply talking... but even the way he'd looked at Paul as soon as he walked into the hall, or how he'd rather stand on Glen's side in spite of his rude talks... all of that said a lot.
She was desperately trying to find out why and how he would feel so triggered, especially while she was there by his side, sharing a room, sleeping and exploring around with nobody but him.
If it was just plain jealousy, then she'd feel profoundly deluded by the same guy who she'd always expected to be so mature and rational.
Yet, she was still there, touring with him, in spite of all her difficulties...
... atleast, so far.

Nearly thirty minutes'd past when Paul came back into the hall.
He looked more relaxed, but certainly not happier. After all, Nick was his brother and such a sudden thing like that had entirely shocked him.
Without saying a word, he put a cigarette in his mouth and before lighting it, he handed the pack to Glen, who rised his head with suspicious eyes.
"I just want to apologise for the reaction I had before... so let me offer you a cigarette" Paul huffed, sitting down next to him.
"It's fine mate... thanks for the ciggie, by the way..." the Lespers' bassist replied with apathetic voice. Probably, in his mind it was not "fine" but he'd rather not start another argument and so he pretended everything was alright for real between him and Paul.
"Though... " the blondie continued, passing his thumb on his chin "I want you to apologise too..."
Glen breathed out the smoke all at once, showing an annoyed face.
Eleanor gave him a discreet kick in the ankle to have him behave.
"I'm serious, Glen" Paul added, grabbing the boy's shoulder and looking at him in a firm look.
Now even John seemed to be somewhat annoyed... his girlfriend clearly figured out by whom.
"We were serious too when we said your brother didn't want us around, unlike you said, we have not been negligent at a-"
"Shut the fuck up, John, before it's too late" Paul cut short, glancing at him with threatening eyes.
The drummer crossed his arms and kept on staring at his foe with gelid eyes, in total silence.
"Paul... " Eleanor whispered to him, fearing the worst.
"No, Eleanor. I don't let anyone talk about my brother as if he was a fucking burden" he grunted "So, Glen?"
"Yeah, yeah I apologise, fine... I didn't mean to give you this impression, but yeah... I've been a jackass..." he rolled his eyes, but for his sake the other bassist didn't see that.
Those words sounded clearly forced, but having him apologise in front of everyone felt satisfying enough for him, as well as a bit humiliating for Glen, who wasn't acting as a twenty-three year old like him was supposed to.