I Think I'm Better For It

Chapter 1

The gig was one of the best Fearless Vampire Killers had performed in a while, Drew knew that. He was fully aware of how amazingly all of them - he and his four best friends - were playing, and how well the crowd was receiving them. There was a brilliant atmosphere up there on stage, and the bassist was loving it with all his heart. 

Drew took the calmer transition between Braindead and At War With the Thirst to look around at his bandmates. Luke looked perfectly comfortable behind the drum set: he looked like he was where he belonged, really at home, and Drew smiled at the thought. Kier and Laurence were all up in each other's space, almost constantly touching somehow; this was pretty normal for them, and had become expected at live shows. Then there was Drew's best friend, Shane - he was stood on the opposite side of the stage, biting a little on his lower lip and looking out into the audience with glittering eyes. Drew felt a little lurch of happiness in his chest looking at the guitarist, clearly pleased with their performance as well. He sort of wished he could go over there on the stage and be with him. 

Soon enough, they started on the next song, and everyone was really into it. He saw their fans singing along enthusiastically with every word, and Drew felt pure pride fill him up. It felt wonderful. 

Laurence and Kier seemed to be very much "into it" as well... Just as Drew looked over, Laurence waltzed over to the red-haired man and latched his mouth onto his neck, taking advantage of the short gap in his singing duties. The guitarist seemed to shudder at the contact, then grin massively and lean back into the singer. Drew held back a laugh and shook his head minutely, amused at his friend's stage antics. 

Then he looked over at Shane. It was his ridiculous guitar solo, reminding everyone just how bloody skilled he is. Drew had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from randomly vocalising his thoughts - his best friend looked so beautiful like this! He seemed to light up as he played, even the colour of his hair becoming more vibrant. The taller Timid beamed over at him just as Laurence came over to highlight just how well he was playing, and Drew answered with a smile that bared all his teeth. 

He'd always thought that Shane was beautiful. It was just an unmentioned part of their friendship; he wouldn't call it attraction, but he supposed he didn't know what to call it. In all honesty, he tried not to think about it too much, since he'd gotten used to it over the many years of knowing his best friend. It was just an unavoidable part of Shane, and Drew told himself he was okay with that. 

A few songs in - around All Hallows Evil - Drew decided to join his best friend on the other side of the stage for a bit, circling around like a madman. Shane was grinning, but kept his head down, focused intently on his guitar playing; the shorter Timid leant in and rested his head on Shane's back to make sure he had at least a little bit more of his attention. 

'Timids, can you maybe not?' Laurence laughed from frontstage. Only then did Drew realise that the song had finished, and he was still leaning all of his body weight onto Shane. The crowd seemed to get considerably louder in their general chatter and cheering at the mention of them, which made all the bandmates smile in amusement. They loved their weirdo fans. 

The rest of the show was excellent, of course, and Fearless Vampire Killers' bassist jumped backstage like a hyperactive child, the rest of his band following in his wake. He heard Shane's chuckle behind him, and turned round quickly to stick his tongue out; Luke rolled his eyes fondly at them.