Luke Patterson Imagines (JATP)

The Lead

AU where you are the lead singer of Sunset Curve instead of Luke :)

It's funny- you've been singing and playing instruments since you were a child. You could swear that you learned to read on sheet music instead of books. Every other word reminded you of a song, every tap of your fingers an instrumental beat. Yet in all of this time, you're not sure that any performance has felt quite as good as this one.

You take a moment after you sing your last note to look around the venue, empty now but promising crowds later. You still can't quite believe that you're actually here, at the Orpheum. It's been you and your bandmates' dream for so long that you never quite believed it, even after you finally got the time slot to sing here. Someday, you're going to wake up from all of this, and it's going to hurt so much more to think about how close you were to actually achieving your dream.

You keep waiting for that day, though, and it never comes. You might just be dreaming, but you think you're actually not making up any of this- you're here, at the Orpheum, with your band, Sunset Curve. It's all true. All of it. Isn't that something?

A solitary cheer pierces the quiet aftershock of the performance. You look up from your electric guitar, and grin when you see your boyfriend walking into the venue as well. "That sounded amazing, you guys. And to think that was just a sound check. I'm almost a little nervous to see how well you'll do during the real thing."

You swing your guitar over your shoulder, jumping down from the stage so you can greet your boyfriend. Luke Patterson is dressed in a sleeveless tee and beaming smile as per usual, and he walks up to greet you, fingers tapping absentmindedly against his legs. Sometimes, you think that the two of you may have been cut from the same musical cloth. He shares your habits, your songwriting styles, your want to surround yourself in every type of music possible until even the thoughts in your head are formed in verse and beat.

Luke kisses you before leaning back to take around the building around him. "The Orpheum. We're actually here, aren't we?" A voice comes from the stage behind you. "Yeah, 'we', Luke. Sunset Curve is more than just Y/N." Luke laughs, waving to the boys behind you. "Sure thing, Bobby. I couldn't forget the rest of you if I tried." You can hear the frown in Reggie's voice even without looking at him. "You say that like you have actually tried."

You turn around just to see Alex aim a swat at Reggie's shoulder as he walks past, stretching. "It's a figure of speech, Reg. Luke couldn't forget about Sunset Curve. We push our merch on him too often for him to even think about it." Luke snorts. "That's true enough. I think about a quarter of my wardrobe is literally just t-shirts for your band." You can't help but laugh. "You say that like it's a problem." Luke smiles back at you. "It isn't."

You allow yourself one last moment of this, holding hands with your boyfriend and just being able to be here and be happy with him, before turning back to the rest of your band. "I think that was a good warmup, you guys. We're going to kill this show. How about we take a break to eat and relax, then meet up in about half an hour or so?"

Alex nods sagely. "Of course. We have to give you time to catch up with Luke." You gape at him in outrage, but your blond drummer just flashes you a thumbs up as he walks out the door with Reggie. "See you soon, Y/N! We'll be getting street dogs. Gotta be nourished, you know?" You make a face at them as they leave, but wave back nonetheless. You've been friends with Alex, Reggie, and Bobby for a long time, even before the four of you decided to form Sunset Curve. You don't think you could actually be angry with them for a second.

Bobby excuses himself, likely to try and flirt with Rose, the pretty girl working the Orpheum sound and table checks. When you turn back to Luke, your boyfriend is grinning at you. You raise an eyebrow at him. "What?" He shakes his head, still unable to hide a smile. "Nothing. I'm just excited for you. It's the Orpheum, after all, isn't it? This is the biggest thing to happen to you in forever. Also, I'm looking forward to when we 'catch up'."