Terror Twin [Def Leppard] #Wattys2016

IX: On Through The Night

[Fast Forward to January 19th, 1983]

•

"What's the time, Sav?"

"11:05, at the moment, Rick."

"We've got just under an hour. Why don't we play the demo?"

The five men were huddled in Joe's garage, still freezing even with the doors closed, bundled up in coats and scarves.

But for good reason.

At midnight, January 20th, Pyromania would be released worldwide, and the band was in hysterics.

Well, inside. On the outside, they were as close as they would be sleeping in the tour van all together.

Joe chuckled, pulling away from the "group hug".

"That's a good idea, Allen. I'll put it on now." He grinned, ignoring the freezing air of the cold garage as he carefully removed the record from its cover and placed it on the turntable. Joe felt shivers run up his spine as Rock! Rock! began, but not from the cold for the first time that night.

The vocalist returned to his spot in the huddle, being quickly welcomed into Sav's embrace.

The bassist buried his nose in Joe's hair, closing his eyes and breathing in his scent. Joe pressed a kiss to Sav's lips when he pulled away, light chuckles and smiles being exchanged.

The two had 'come out' on New Year's, although Phil and Steve on the other hand were still keeping their relationship hidden for the time being.

The two guitarists were grinning like maniacs at each other, seated so close on the floor that Steve was almost in Phil's lap. The others didn't question it, though; bets had already been placed between the three of them that the Terror Twins were a 'thing'.

Time was passing quicker now that they had their album on play, and Phil found himself drumming along on his lap to the beat of Too Late For Love.

Steve smiled giddily when Die Hard The Hunter began, threading his fingers between Phil's and squeezing gently. Their hands were open to the others' eyes and it felt exposing, but neither wanted to let go.

Steve found himself yawning widely, leaning his head on his fellow guitarist's shoulder. Soon enough he was slipping into a snooze, quietly snoring directly into his lover's ear. Phil couldn't help but laugh, rubbing Steve's back gently.

Rick had been out for at least ten minutes now, his head laying on Sav's thigh. Joe wasn't sure he was okay with that, but allowed it.

Time continued to elapse. Soon enough, both Joe and Sav were out like a light on top of each other. Phil was the only one left awake, and if he fell asleep, they'd all miss midnight.

So Phil stayed up, despite the exhaustion from the past few days at the studio. Stayed up, despite all the energy he had allotted to keeping Steve's mind off alcohol. Stayed up, despite the fact that he had barely eaten the past few days, barely slept, and was beginning to realize the only healthy thing in he and Steve's relationship was the love: both of them were sick in their own ways.

Phil tuned back in to the LP when Action! Not Words began, it suddenly occurring to him that they had timed starting to play the record perfectly; there were a little less than ten minutes left on the album, and almost exactly ten minutes until midnight.

He zoned out again, sleep tempting the corners of his vision, his eyelids heavy.

Once the final track, Billy's Got A Gun, started playing, Phil decided it was a good time to wake the others. Gently, he reached over and tapped Joe on the nose twice.

He knew not to wake Sav first, as he would probably try to strangle him. The bassist may have a very pretty face, but his attitude after being woken up was anything but pretty.

Joe scrunched up his nose, opening one eye at a time, reminding Phil of a cat.

"Five minutes until midnight. Wake
up your boyfriend." Phil teased, turning to gently shake Rick.

"Oh, blast it. Wake up yours." Joe grumbled lightheartedly, chuckling and shifting Sav in his lap.

Phil's entire face had gone beet-red, but he managed to crack a smile and turned to Steve after Rick had officially woken up.

He leaned over Steve from where he was cradling him in his lap, gently brushing a piece of unruly hair off his cheek.

"Hey, Steph'. Time to wake up, sleepyhead." Phil laughed softly, pressing a kiss to his nose.

"Good morning, handsome." Steve grumbled, yawning and sitting up.

"It ain't morning yet. Three minutes to go." Phil chortled, feeling Steve bundle up practically on top of him.

Phil could feel eyes on them, and turned to see Joe staring at them with a knowing look, Sav cradled against his chest. Phil flipped him off, rolling his eyes but grinning all the same.

"How much longer?" Rick asked, exhaustion still showing through his voice.

"About two minutes to midnight." Joe grinned, running his fingers through Sav's curly hair. The smaller man yawned, pulling away from Joe to stretch.

They're a great couple. I'm glad they got together, Phil found himself thinking. He had completely spaced out.

Gone off the earth far enough so that he hadn't even noticed that Steve was pressing kisses up his neck, and the others were staring.

Once Phil realized what his boyfriend was doing, he was overwhelmed with the urge to moan out Steve's name, but held back. Gently removing Steve from his body, he leaned down and whispered.

"Save it for later, lovely."

But apparently he hadn't whispered quietly enough, as the garage erupted with laughter.

Phil felt as if he had lost a chunk of memory, and tried to laugh along anyway, but he and Steve were the thing they were laughing at. And it did not feel good.

Steve felt his face heating up, but he felt no real embarrassment.

That's what the drink did to him, after all.

Phil was staring down at him, his expression screaming, 'Why?'. And Steve didn't know, but he made his lover feel good, and he was sure it wouldn't have been a problem if they weren't around the others.

But they were, and now it was a problem.

He hadn't noticed the others had stopped laughing.

"Fuck, mates, we're sorry." Joe choked out, biting his lip to pause his laughter. "Me and Sav definitely shouldn't be laughing at it, if ya know what I mean." Joe burst out in hysterics again, but now it was Sav's turn to blush profusely and bury his face in his hands. Suddenly, Phil didn't feel so upset anymore.

After their laughing fits had ended, everyone had resumed their sleepy state. The final track on the album was playing out, playing out.. finished. It was only seconds now.

"Eh, mates? Let's raise an invisible toast." Joe chuckled, raising his hand with an imaginary glass in the air.

The others shrugged, following suit.

"To friends who became family, to love, and to Pyromania." Joe grinned, the band pretending to clink glasses with one another.

There was some mild cheering, and they pretended to down their "drinks" as the clock struck midnight.

Steve was sure he tasted real liquor.