take a chance (on me) | s. filan & westlife

𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛

melodie breathed heavily as she tentatively looked through the backstage curtain of the pub she'd be performing at. all in the hope that her brother's band's manager would sign her and give her a chance, just like her boys had been given. moving back to the music amp she had been previously sitting on, she was absolutely losing her mind. the poor girl was terrified about the fact that she was about to sing in front of maybe a hundred people. when in reality, she had only ever sang to her camera, uploading it for people to watch online. which, if no one noticed, is entirely different to singing in front of people. just like siblings do, shane seemed to recognise that something was bothering his little sister and decided to check on her. 

"--what's wrong el?" shane whispers, slightly startling the girl, the older not even stifling a giggle like he usually would after startling his bandmates or siblings as he sits next to her on the music amp

with a shaky sigh, melodie responded, "this is not the same as singing in front of a camera and uploading it to youtube..." shane smiled softly at his sister as he nodded his head in agreement

"...you're correct, el. this is anything but the same as singing to a camera. however, you will be absolutely fine! if there is anything i can say to calm your nerves, it would be to-"

"-i'm sorry in advance for cutting you off but, don't you dare ask me to imagine louis or simon in the nude, shay. because that is anything but what i want to think about let alone imagine when i'm on that stage singing..." melodie trailed off as shane chuckled, shaking his head 

"...that was not what i was going to say but, good to have the heads up i guess *giggles*. but what i was originally going to say was, the best way to calm your nerves is to look right to the back of the room. don't look directly at your audience all the time, just skim over their heads and perform to the wall behind them, or even to a camera that's filming the show. it may not sound helpful but, it actually really does work wonders when you're still learning and not used to performing in front of large crowds," shane smiled as he moved his hand to place it over his sister's as she also smiled 

"huh, that's actually good advice, thanks shay!" melodie smirked in shock, well, she wasn't that shocked that shane would have good tips and tricks up his sleeve to deal with stage fright but for some weird reason, it did shock her a little bit 

"not a problem, el. just, breathe and if you do feel confident enough, throw a look to one of us in the crowd. i promise you'll be perfect! i'll be watching from right here and everyone else is watching from the crowd. knock 'em dead, sweetheart!" shane smiled, kissing his sister on the head before pushing her towards the stage, handing her the microphone as she nodded her head 

*

once again, taking a big breath in with her guitar, melodie walked to the stage. smiling shyly at the loud cheers she heard as she started playing the chords of the song she'd be performing first. 

and shane smiled instantly when he recognised the chords as her rewritten version of hey there delilah. he knew her version would really get people emotional but, he never realised just how emotional he himself would get at hearing his little sister in the song live. and not just in a youtube video that was filmed by her in her little studio and in her pyjamas. shane was always proud of his little sister but, watching her perform on a stage and having people actually pay active attention to her and enjoy what she was singing was the only thing that shane could have ever wanted for his sister.