glycerine -- calum hood

2

"where have you been?" seth shouted, leaping up from his chair.

maisie shrugged. "i was at wendy's."

"and you didn't get me anything?" moses forced a fake scoff, placing in his hand on his chest in mock pain.

she rolled her eyes and shot up her middle finger.

"we agreed we'd start practice at 1:45. it's 2:20." eric said sternly.

"oh, so you've been working this whole time. can i hear something?"

"no, we haven't been working. we've been waiting on you."

maisie raised an eyebrow. "that's been beneficial, i'm sure. listen, i don't need practice."

"you don't know any of our songs yet. you need to practice those."

"none of them have words! what am i supposed to do with that?"

calum chuckled.

"what's so funny?" seth turned to face calum, a look of near disgust painted on his face from his bandmate's amusement.

"she's right, you know. what the hell's she gonna do before we add lyrics to our shit, dude?"

"well, we do play covers that she could have been here to contribute to, thank you."

"so, tell me what they are. i can do that shit right now." she said, fire dripping from her words as they left her tongue.

"you know anything by bush?" eric asked.

moses looked to eric as if he were an idiot. "she's my sister, of course she does."

"alright. start glycerine."

maisie cocked her head to the side slightly. "you ever heard the version of that song that they did with gwen stefani?"

"sorry, guys. gwen's, like, her idol." moses said, shaking his head.

"oh, uh, i have," calum looked over at maisie with a small smile. "it's sick."

"can you sing?" she asked.

seth and eric both threw their arms up in exaspiration. "if he could sing, you wouldn't even be here!" seth groaned.

"actually, i'm not completely terrible."

"then why the hell didn't you say something yesterday before we even invited her down here?"

moses put his hands up, trying to make peace. "can we just listen to maisie's idea or something instead of worrying about calum singing? listen, i know she isn't exactly what you guys imagined for this band, but she's talented. and i think she can really bring something to the table. she knows music stuff. just hear her out."

calum ignored every word that left moses' mouth, and he looked around him to see seth. "i don't want to be the singer. i mean, i can do the whole vocal thing sometimes, but i don't want to be, like, the center of attention."

"whatever, we've wasted enough time. are we gonna do this or not?" maisie's voice was laced with irritation. "do you have a mic for me?"

"uh, yeah," her brother nodded before walking over to one of the amps. on top of it sat two microphones. he placed one securely in the stand before beginning to take it over to place in front of maisie, but she shook her head.

"no, give the stand to calum; he can't play and hold it at the same time. i'll take the other mic."

"wait, how are we doing this exactly?" calum asked as moses set the stand in front of him.

maisie faced him. "you've heard the version i'm talking about. just go with it."

the band members each picked up their instruments, and soon enough, they began playing. calum shyly stepped forward to the mic. he was nervous. he'd never sang in front of anyone before. not even his parents. now, he was looking at four of his best friends, and a pretty girl.

"it must be you skin that i'm sinking in, it must be for real, 'cause now i can feel,"

maisie turned around to look at him again. "step closer!" she yelled over the guitars and bass. "it'll be clearer and louder!"

he did as he was told, making sure his mouth was as close to the mic as possible.

"i didn't mind, it's not my kind. it's not my time to wonder why. everything's gone white, and everything's grey. now you're here, now you're away. i don't want this, remember that. i'll never forget where you're at. don't let the days go by, glycerine, glycerine."

as he took a small step back, he looked up to maisie. she rose the microphone in her hand, and calum watched as her lips moved. one hand clutched the mic, with her pinky raising into the air every few seconds. the other hand rested at her side, but occasionally, she would place it on her diaphragm, or in the air beside her chest. she clutched her eyelids together tightly as she sang.

though she had sang for the boys the previous day, it didn't seem to have any effect. they were still equally as surprised when they heard her voice ring through the basement.

"i'm never alone, i'm alone all the time. are we at one, or do you lie? we live in a wheel where everyone steals, but when we rise, it's like strawberry fields. i treated you bad, you bruised my face, i couldn't love you more, you've got a beautiful taste,"

maisie stepped backwards, coming into the space directly beside calum. "you got this?" she mouthed to him, and when he nodded, she joined in to sing with him.

"don't let the days go by, could've been easier on you, i couldn't change, though i wanted to. should've been easier by three, our old friend, fear, and you and me. glycerine, glycerine. don't let the days go by, glycerine, don't let the days go by. oh, glycerine, glycerine."

she watched calum intently as he sang the next part, the part that had easily become maisie's favorite since she heard it. she felt tiny little goosebumps appear on her arms, and she couldn't stop her jaw from dropping.

"bad moon white again, bad moon white again, bad moon white again, she falls around me. you fall around me, she falls, she falls, she falls,"

once she recovered from her shock over calum's actually extremely great voice, she turned her body to face him as they sang together.

"i needed you more, but you wanted us less, i could not kiss, just regress. it might just be clear and simple and plain, well, that's just fine, that's just one of my names. don't let the days go by, could have been easier on you, you, you. glycerine, glycerine, glycerine, glycerine. oh, my, glycerine."

maisie opened her eyes, which she had once again closed while singing the last line of the song, to find herself only inches from the face of calum hood. she felt her cheeks turn pink from embarrassment, and she inched herself away quickly. 

calum, too, had noticed the almost uncomfortable lack of distance between the two, but somehow, he enjoyed it. he studied the features of her face before she backed away, and a small smile formed on his face, which he hoped no one really noticed. no one seemed to, except for maisie. she had looked over and caught him staring. it didn't make her feel uncomfortable, however, it did make her feel something foreign to her. she felt butterflies stirring in the pit of her stomach.

"well, uh, that's probably good for today. good work, everyone," maisie said quickly, setting her mic down and making her way to the staircase. "see you guys tomorrow."

***

sorry for putting in every single lyric to that song it's just SO GOOD if you haven't been graced with the live version of glycerine by bush featuring gwen stefani, then please go listen to it. when gavin rossdale does the "you fall around me" part my whole body tingles seriously its so good. actually everything by bush is fantastic so listen to them ok