𝚁𝚘𝚕𝚕 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚒𝚌𝚎| 𝓔𝓭𝓭𝓲𝓮 𝓗𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓬𝓪𝓷𝓸𝓷𝓼/ 𝓘𝓶𝓪𝓰𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓼

Entertain Us

I slip past the two drunks lingering at the front door, heading back inside the venue to regroup with my band after my cigarette, I can't say my nerves have dissipated but the few minutes of silence made me appreciate the atmosphere tonight at The Hideout. The crowd's bigger than ever for a Thursday night, the buzz in the air makes me want to scream with excitement, I can't fucking wait to be onstage and let it all out. 

"We've got some bad news..." My drummer turns and tells me as I meet them near the bar, I look at my band expectantly, but none seem desperate to spill the news, after some time the drummer finishes "There's been a double booking, apparently some dumb ass band called Corroded Coffin's taking our stage."

I frown and look around as if they'll suddenly appear onstage, but it's empty for now. I shake my head and storm past the crowd, avoiding the hands and cheers as I make my way down the dim hallway backstage, my band follows at my heels. As soon as I burst through the door I come face to face with some dude around my age, his long wavy brown hair hangs freely as he toys with a guitar pick strung around his neck, some other dudes hang back looking slightly younger than him, I appreciate the diversity in his group but I'm not here to watch, I'm here to play. 

"You're Corroded Coffin?" I ask impolitely, the dude nods and holds out a hand. 

"I'm Eddie," when I don't shake his hand he eyes me up suspiciously, "look fans aren't supposed to be back here-"

"I'm not a fan, I'm the performance, you've stolen my stage and I'm taking it back." I say defiantly, raising my chin as Eddie smirks down at me, his fellow band members step forward but he raises up a hand to stop them, never leaving my gaze. 

"Sorry sweetie, but you'll have to find somewhere else, Enzo's is just a few miles away if you wanted to go serenade-" 

"Listen here, sweetie," I begin with a sarcastic tone, earing a few snickers from Eddie's band mates, "we're not a pop band, I am playing that stage tonight, no negotiations." I say. 

Eddie watches me for a moment before taking a step back and nodding, his band begins to argue but he gives them a look and turns back to me. "Alright, entertain us then." 

I narrow my eyes but nod, spinning around and ushering my band out of the door, I turn back to Eddie and mumble a softer "Thank you" before heading straight on stage. 

Our set goes amazingly, the crowd adores us and I so alive playing my guitar whilst singing the songs I put my soul into. The whole time Eddie watches from near the front, a beer in hand as he lazily grins at me, his eyes sparkling with intrigue and wonder, admittedly I wanted to show off to him, but I'm never admitting that to him or my band. 

Afterwards, my band and I head backstage again to sit down and have some time to calm down. Corroded Coffin walks through the door a few minutes after we've settled, all grinning and eager to speak to us, but realistically I notice they just want to flirt with my girls. Eddie takes the empty spot next to me as the room erupts into different conversations. 

"You're better than I thought you'd be." Eddie says meeting my eyes, I huff a laugh and quirk an eyebrow. 

"Thanks I guess, since you've been so nice I'll let you have next week, besides I'm eager to see how your band compares to mine." 

Eddie laughs shaking his head, "Maybe we should play together? I mean take it in turns." 

I stare at him with a small smirk, "That sounds dirty" 

Eddie looks at me as if I've gone mad, or as if he's never met a female so open and vulgar. "You know what I meant, but if the offers there..." He leads off. 

I scoff and playfully whack his knee, "No. We should get going, but I'll be here next Thursday." I smile, standing up as my band gets ready to leave. 

Eddie stands up with me, his mouth opening and closing before he settles on "Have a safe trip home." 

I bite back a grin, nodding as my band and I make our way to the exit. 

"Have a safe trip home? Dude you're so in love with her!" Eddie's bandmate teases, I hear them bicker just as the door closes.