Painting Counties Blue!

𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛.

· · ──────·ピシビ·────── · ·

𝟹/𝟻 𝟷𝟷:𝟻𝟻𝙰𝙼

I take my hand away from the large man's. He's very tall. I'm quite tall for the average woman, but still, I'm no match compared to this guy.

"U-uhm.. yeah, I have an amp, did you need to borrow it?" I ask, my social anxiety haunting the back of my mind.

"Yeah, if that's okay? Would you mind?" He smiles, taking his guitar case from his back and leaning it against the nearby wall.

"N-no, no. Not at all" I smile shyly as I turn away.

"Great, thank you so much" The boy grins, rubbing his hands together.

"This is your guitar? I love it, it looks so cool" He traces his finger over the white, pearlescent surface, then over the red, patterned pickguard.

"Thanks..." I mumble, picking up the stages speakers' cords as Wilbur fiddles with my guitar, his fingers dancing over the fretboard as he plucks out a soft melody. I admire his work from afar, silently plugging the chords into the back of my amp, preparing for my stage time.

"So, you singing a song you've written? Playing a cover?" The fluffy-haired boy queries, still absent-mindedly picking at my guitar strings, continuing the melodic loop. I shake my head, shrugging my shoulders. I feel his gaze still upon my cowering figure.

"I don't know. I was going to sing a song, but I'm beginning to get a little more nervous than I'd anticipated. So I'll probably just end up doing a few instrumentals until my time is up" I mutter, changing the amp settings slightly.

"I look forward to hearing you play" He ends his small solo with a string bender, and hands me the instrument, dropping the strap over my head, letting the guitar hang from my neck

"You're starting in a few, good luck" The the corner of his mouth lifts as he turns and disappears through the crowd, leaving his guitar leaned against the wall.

I pull out my tuner and clip it to the end of my guitar, double checking that it's sharply tuned so I'll get the most out of the sound.

♪

As it reaches 12:10, I sit myself on the stool that had been set on the stage, adjusting the mic stand, my guitar still where Wil had placed it, around my neck. I slip one arm through the loop so I can access the strings more efficiently.

I look over the crowd nervously. People have already started to sit down into their seats now, though the chatter is still significantly audible.

Why is this pub so packed? Is day drinking really that popular?

I brush my hair away from my face before nervously tapping the microphone, drawing everyone's attention. I immediately shrink under the burning pressure of the room's stares.

"H-hello everyone" I smile. "I'm Y/n, the f-first performer for today. U-um, so it's not going to be much.. j-just me and my guitar" I laugh awkwardly, fiddling with my sleeve, desperately raking my brain for something to say.

"I-i...- y-yeah I'm sorry about my awkwardness, I'm incredibly nervous, so I most likely won't be singing, but maybe if I grow some balls I might slip a chorus or two" I smile sheepishly when a trail of chuckles echo around the room.

"Anyway. Enough about that. I hope you somewhat enjoy my little show at the very least" To my surprise I recieve a round of cheers and applause. I laugh.

"What are you all doing? How come you're already so drunk? I mean, I haven't even started!" I giggle, only receiving more hollering and laughs. I shake my head with a small smile as I begin to pick out the tune of Disappear by Beabadoobee.

I get a few cheers from the few groups of young females and a few other people as they begin to realize what I'm playing.

After I slow the pace and end the song, I transition into Youth by Daughter, I slowly find my confidence growing as I become slightly accustomed to being in front of this group of people.

♪

I take a gulp of water, stretching before readjusting my posture and position on the uncomfortable stool. I'm going to sing this one. I change my amp setting, turn the delay right down, along with the reverb, and switching to the acoustic setting. Positioning myself back up, I place my fingers in the second and third fret, in the G formation, and begin to play out the strumming pattern, already getting a chorus of praise.

After 4 slow beats I change to Dm for 2 beats and then to Cmaj7 for the last two, repeating this cycle before breaking into the first verse's chords.

"When I was younger I saw.. my daddy cry, and curse at the wind" I sing smoothly, thankful that I'd still done my vocal warm-ups earlier. The bar fills with cheers and whoops and overall really sweet encouragement. I smile, looking over everyone briefly.

"He broke his own heart, and I watched.. as he tried to reassemble it... and my mamma swore that she would.. never let herself forget.." I hit the note perfectly–surprisingly, it was the one thing I was worried about the most. Voice cracks.

"And that was the was the day that I promised.. I'd never sing of love, if it does not exist.. But darling, you.. are.. the only exception" People begin to sing the chorus along with me and I can't help but smile.

The instrumental begins, and that's when I allow myself to look around a bit again. What do I want to eat when I get home? I might go to the café. Yeah sounds like a plan.

"Maybe I know, somewhere deep in my soul, that love never lasts.. and we've got to find other ways.. to make it alone, or keep a straight face" I catch Wil and Lee watching me, so I wink, sending a smile over, watching as Lee dodges behind the tall man, shielding herself from my gaze. I silently scoff and return my focus to the song at hand.

"And up until now, I had sworn to myself that I'm content.. with loneliness, because none of it was ever worth the risk" I break into the second chorus, readying my voice for the next part, straining my voice. Squeezing my eyes closed as I focus. I pause, opening my eyes slightly as the short instrumental comes in, only to see white. I simply close my eyes again, refusing to acknowledge the scary experience.

"I've got a tight grip on reality, but I can't.. let go of what's in front of me here" my face scrunches up as I hold the incredibly high notes refusing to let my voice collapse with struggle.

"I know you're leaving in the morning when you wake up.. leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream.. woah ohhh~" I fight to catch my breath as I lead into a soft last chorus before bringing the song to a close. Extremely quietly otherwise the huffing of my breath would be heard. I catch a concerned glance from Wil but everyone else seems to be enjoying the music.

"Ohh, I'm.. on my way to believing~" I sigh, leaning over as I shrug off a dizzy spell, picking up my water bottle and taking a few long swigs before making myself comfortable again. The volume of the cheering is phenomenal and I think I'm going deaf.

I clear my throat into the mic.

"Okay, okay, thank you. I'm losing my voice now so let's make the most out of this one" I mumble, my voice croaky as I change my amps settings back to more of a rock style, testing it with a quick, loud strum, I begin my song.

"I've just had the craziest week!" I sing through yet another session of yelling as I strum at my guitar strings.

"Like a party bag of lies, booze and then deceit" I swear I heard Wilbur yelling as I look over to see Lee now sitting on the bar counter beside Wilbur who was simply leaning against the structure. They seem to be jamming.

I smirk, changing to a more violent strumming pattern at the part probably everyone will be singing.

"So I'm to New York! Cause I've got problems with my sleep.." of course I'm right. I can barely hear my own voice–which is being amplified through the speakers– over anyone else's.

"And we're not the same and I will wear that on my sleeve!! So I'm moving to New York, cause I've got issues with my sleep! Looks like Christmas came early.." I grin widely as I vibe with everyone else.

"Christmas came early.. for me!"

♪ ───☆彡★彡☆─── ♪