The Blue Door (Van McCann Fanfiction)

Van: Forget It If They Talk

"Lads ready? You're up in five," Larry said to each one of us. Benji was rubbing his palms together, alleviating the pre-gig stress on his face. I then rolled my head around to glance at Bondy and Bob behind of me, nodding at each of them, signaling that we were good to go.

"The crowd has doubled since we last played here," Benji spoke up against the eruption of shrieks when the stage lights came on.

"Let's do this!" I clapped his shoulders and we were given the cue to come out to the stage. The crowd was cheering and the volume increased with every step I took towards the mic. I shook my head and chuckled to myself in disbelief. I still couldn't believe that they were cheering for my band. Grabbing the stand, I pulled it up to my mouth.

"Hello, New York! Are we good?" The corresponding screams were so loud my ears started ringing. Smiling, I scanned the fans around the stage and spotted the beautiful brunette I was looking for. Brynn was standing just a couple of rows away from me and she was grinning from ear-to-ear when she saw me looking at her. I winked at her and I immediately heard loud shrieks from those who were standing around Brynn. They probably thought I was winking at them.

I looked back at Bob, and he gave me a thumbs-up. Everyone was ready. Twisting back to the crowd, I said into the microphone, "It feels good to be back." Without looking, I pointed back at Bob, cuing him to start the song. He tapped it out, then started the intro. Bondy, Benji and I came in simultaneously and then we really took off. I loved the reaction of the crowd because we never played the song live in New York before, but that didn't stop the crowd from going nuts.

I fell straight
Into your arms
Like a drunk
Who's been on it
All morning.
And the sun's up
And my head's fucked.

And immediately I grab you
You go all red
Like the first time

I quickly glanced over at Brynn and she was gaping when she first heard the line, then she was laughing, then she buried her head in her palms.

I love it when you do that
God I love it when you do that.

I remember when we
Swapped names and I thought maybe
You'd stay and try to out-drink me
Your friends, all hated it!

Fuck it if they talk
Fuck it if they try and get to us
Cause I'd rather go blind
Than let you down.

Watching Brynn's reaction to my song was outstanding. Her being entertained by one of my songs gave me a weird sense of satisfaction. Cocoon was about her after all. It was a perfect way to start the night.

We played quite a few songs that night, with the crowd singing and dancing, whole-heartedly enjoying themselves. I even joked about how they weren't supposed to know the words to our songs because the album was not out in the US yet.

I spoke into the mic for the last, thanking everyone for coming out to our gig before we ended our show that night. We closed the night with Tyrants and knowing that it was the end, a few fans were already screaming for an encore. That felt so weird to me, honestly.

"Brilliant job, lads," Dan clapped his hand when we each darted backstage. "As usual, you will greet the fans outside and I'm giving you all 15 minutes to do that before I come out to get you boys again."

"Cool-io," Bondy answered, giving Dan a thumbs-up.

"15 minutes is not enough," I told Dan.