Exploding Heart Disorder (Fearless Vampire Killers Fanfic)

Chapter Seventeen

[Drew's P.O.V.]

It's all a very childish thing, when Shane and I blow out the candles on the cake, and even more childish when Kier shouts "make a wish" and we both oblige. Shane is the kind of simple guy that would wish for a set of new artist's brushes or guitar strings, whereas I'm wishing for something more meaningful.

Everyone does the expected cheer as the candles are all blown out, and Shane and I grin and high-five, before Luke decides he's so manly he can carry the cake through to the kitchen by himself. By this time the sky is black, tainted orange from the glowing streetlights outside, and I can see the face-painted figure that is Alyx standing at the window with a beer in her hands. I quickly make my way over to her, leaning against the windowsill as I smile at her in a silent greeting - it would seem silent even if I did speak, anyway, seeing as the music blaring from the speakers is so loud.

"Alyx." I shout in her ear, so she can hear me. "We're going to play a few of our songs in here in a minute, after Kier and Laurence are finished setting up. Come and listen." I take her by her hands and drag her across the room, and Laurence gives me a thumbs-up to say they're finished setting up. I leave Alyx at the front of the gathering crowd, turning and grabbing my bass guitar as I sling the strap over my shoulder. Laurence finishes a quick vocal check, and Shane and Luke surface from only-God-knows where to take their places with their instruments. I find that Kier has tuned my bass for me, and so we decide to start straight up.

"Uh, alright." Laurence clears his throat, speaking into his microphone. "We thought this'd be a good opportunity to play some of our music and get it out there. So, we're Fearless Vampire Killers, hope you enjoy our shit."

He looks towards us all and says "Palace in Flames" quietly, and we quickly start up the chords for our first-written song. As we finish playing, everyone cheers, and it's probably the best feeling ever when I realise that this crowd, they're cheering for me as well as the other four. They're appreciating my music, and not just the rest of the band's. We quickly begin playing a song we wrote only in a few hours, called "Don Teriesto", and again the crowd seems to love it. As we finish up by playing our third and final song, "Faces In The Dirt", we finish in a triumphant flourish, and for our first "gig", I must say I think we've done pretty damn well. The party continues for a while longer, until it hits around 1am and people begin to wander and leave, the steady supply of beer obviously not enough for them. As soon as everyone leaves, it's our responsibility to clean up, which isn't quite so bad as I thought it would be apart from the fact that some guy's thrown up in the bathroom. Even coming from a guy, that's pretty damn disgusting.

The rubbish is disposed of, electrical cables and instruments dumped in mine and Shane's cluttered bedroom, and soon everything is cleared up. We all sit down to discover Mitch fast asleep, lying on Shane's shoulder, and I laugh softly.

"Aw. Pretty adorable. How much alcohol'd you give her, Barrone?" I raise my eyebrows at him, and he grins nervously.

Laurence is playing out chords on the acoustic guitar with Kier, as they've done an awful lot these past few days, and Luke is playing around with his drumsticks again, whistling to himself and tapping his foot to some imaginary beat. I sit next to Alyx on the floor, her face paint streaked slightly and her hair now wavy again.

"You guys are amazing." She tells me, nudging me slightly.

"Yeah, we're alright, I guess." I say. "Not amazing though, not yet."

"Are you kidding me, Wooly? We killed it out there!" Kier says, his voice as exaggerative as ever and his eyes wide with excitement. "We should totally play another gig!"

"We have to be practical, though," Laurence says, sitting on the sofa awkwardly next to Shane and a sleeping Mitch. "No one's going to pay to see a band that they've never heard of. Live gigs first, and then when we get better known, start doing small paid gigs in small venues. Work up the ladder, rung by rung, make merch if we get successful enough, and then perhaps-"