Our Silent Song | a c!tntduo band au fic

•III•

Wilbur stared back at the reflection of himself and looked up and down. He tucked his black, half unbuttoned collared shirt into his trousers.

"You liked him." A girl appeared behind him. She was the bass player, Quackity had been wrong when trying to identify the instrument she played.

"I don't like anyone Charley." Wilbur sighed as he ran his fingers though his hair. He was trying to decide how to style it.

They had another show to play tonight. They didn't usually play back-to-back but as they slowly grew in popularity more offers seemed to appear.

"You have not shut up since last night, you do realise that right?" she gave a half dry smile, staring at him through the reflection. "Look it's not a bad thing I just wish you'd quit with the whining. It's your fault for not giving you his number when you had the chance."

"I forgot!" Wilbur spun around, slightly exacerbated. His shoulders slumped as he walked over to take a seat on the sofa.

They were currently occupying a small room backstage. This was the first proper venue that wasn't just some bar they'd ever played in. Even if it was pretty small capacity, it made the reality of it all start to set in. The sense of pride that filled them as they walked I into the room was strong.

"But I don't have a thing for him if that's what you're implying. I just thought he was cool." Wilbur added.

The person sat cross legged on the floor, guitar laying over their lap looked up, "So your new definition of cool is someone having a drunken panic attack on the floor outside a bar in the early hours of the morning?"

"Finn..." Wilbur started but then thought for a second. "Actually, no. this is addressed to all of you. Can you just drop it? It's not like I'm gonna see him again so what does it matter anyway?" He sounded a little frustrated.

"Hey, I never said anything!" Mei perked up. But the glance she shared between the other two was enough to let him know that she meant she'd not said anything to him directly at least.

Still sitting on the sofa, he just held his head in his hands and sighed loudly. Moments later bursting out into laughter.

"Fuck you guys." He sat back up, "pains in my ass constantly, all of you are."

"it's our job to knock the ego of our pretentious lead singer down a few pegs every now and then." Charley hummed with satisfaction before moving to pick up her own instrument.

The two that now held string instruments sat on the floor and quietly plucked at the strings. Charley checking for the hundredth time that the tuning was correct and Finn just played a simple rhythm he'd made up on the spot.

Wilbur smiled softly to himself as, for once, he allowed himself to feel a warm sense of achievement whilst he sat there with his best friends. He remembered the nerves he felt the first time he ever performed in front of people and the way his voice shook with apprehension. He had stood in the middle of the stage and clenched the microphone till his knuckles turned white.

He let himself, for a brief moment, feel proud of how far he had come.

"Is anyone else nervous as shit?" Finn broke the moment of silence. Or the lack of voices at least, it couldn't be really silent with the two of them still plucking the strings of their instruments.

It was a surprise to them all that they'd managed to pull off getting the gig in the first place.

"Oh absolutely." Mei chimed up. Despite her natural bubbly confidence, she was the one who struggled with preshow nerves the most of them all. She got incredibly conscious of messing up in front of the crowds. "In fact, I was hoping someone would bring that up because..." she let her voice trail off with suspense as she stood herself up.