MAY, 2005
It's the middle of the show, one of those rare dreadful days where they play two in one day, and Brandon is really starting to feel his body ache. They've just played Somebody Told Me, which is always hard. Brandon wanders back to the drumkit in the darkness between songs and finds that he's out of water, which is a real shame. There's a beer back here, which he gladly takes and drinks far too quickly. Thank God they're playing Change Your Mind up next, or else Brandon knows that he wouldn't make it.
He meanders back to the front of the stage, which causes a few fans at the front to begin to cheer. It makes him smile as he huffs out deep breaths, but the cheering grows. It strikes him as odd, because he knows the crowd doesn't like him that much. Brow furrowed, Brandon glances to the back of the stage and finds Ronnie has risen from his seat at his kit.
Brandon's heart hammers in his chest as he watches what unfolds next because this was not something that was discussed before the show. The show is out of his hands now which is infinitely stressful. The audience roars louder as Ronnie begins to unbutton his shirt-it's that blue one of Brandon's that Ronnie has been "borrowing" for months.
Ronnie is smiling so big at him. Brandon feels dread.
He's got a microphone-the one that they've set up for him to use if they play All The Pretty Faces, which they've only attempted four times now. Ronnie isn't being mindful of the fact that the mic is on, so it makes horrible noises as it thwacks against his chest while he struggles to unbutton his shirt.
The crowd laughs at how long this is taking. Either that or Brandon is seeing things in slow motion. Glances at Mark and Dave show that they are smiling at Ronnie, so clearly they're in on whatever's happening. This revelation only makes things worse when Brandon realizes what exactly that thing is.
Ronnie's got this shirt underneath the one he stole. It's one that some girl at the barricade threw onstage at the end of their show earlier, and it has a little joke on it about marrying Brandon set to the tune of Change Your Mind.
"Hey, Brandon," Ronnie laughs, having finally gotten the overshirt off without ripping out his in-ear monitors. The spotlight is on Ronnie now as he asks, "Will you marry me?"
It's a joke. It's a joke. Everyone here knows that it's just a joke. But Brandon feels like a deer in the headlights because he knows that deep down, an ounce of it is real. And what if someone else thinks that, too?
"And if the answer is no..." he starts, grinning huge. Everyone is looking at Ronnie but the drummer only has eyes for Brandon. "Can I change your mind?"
Dave starts the riff to the song and the crowd cheers a final time. Brandon only has a moment longer to smile at Ronnie before he has to run back to his mic stand.
"That wasn't too much for you, was it?"
A few hours later, they're in the bathroom of a seedy bar somewhere in L.A.. The two of them are sandwiched in one stall and the music is loud enough that Brandon doesn't need to worry about anyone hearing something they shouldn't. They've both had too much to drink and Brandon has insisted on bringing his cocktail into the bathroom.
"What do you- you mean the shirt?" Brandon asks as Ronnie attacks his neck with kisses. "I mean, it's, you know."
Ronnie pauses and they briefly make eye contact, "I don't, so that's why I'm asking."
Brandon sighs and snakes his hand up through the hair at the nape of Ronnie's neck, "You're cute. It's a nice gesture but you know how I am about this shit." Ronnie doesn't respond and sticks in one spot longer than he should, so Brandon flicks at his ear. "Leave no trace."
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Hopeless Haze - Volume I: Hot Fuss (Remastered)
Roman d'amour"If Brandon cared, he would wonder if Ronnie was also deep in thought about something and has only just absentmindedly found something for his hands to play with. But as Ronnie runs his fingers through his hair, Brandon finds that he does not care a...
