classic rock imagines

✨| keith richards

hey nimrod, this is for you jaggerplease

     it was dark -- gloomy even -- in the bar you had wandered into. the stench of alcohol and cheap perfume filled your senses and made you wince just a bit.

it was clearly no classy function.

     you had given into your friend's whining that begged and begged for you to show up on this night in particular. she knew you were into music moreso than the average lady, so she found the perfect opportunity for you in the bar's weekly open mic night. she swore she would be there at the door, waiting for you, but - to no surprise, she was nowhere to be seen and you were forced to walk in by yourself like a lost puppy.

     you were a little late getting there as it was, so the acts had already begun. currently up on the stage was some crazy-colored -hair who was singing notes that were just a bit too high for her. your eyes rolled as a sigh left you.

this is what i left my dog for? you grumbled to yourself in thought.

     luckily, you had found a seat up at the bar within a few moments after someone had up and left. you huffed, your elbows coming to rest on the countertop as you ordered yourself a drink to hopefully make this night go by faster. you knew you couldn't just leave - you weren't one to break a promise. plus, with your luck, the moment you would head for the door, your friend would suddenly appear out of nowhere and you would be stuck there for god knows how much longer.

     you sipped at your drink, praying that this chick would end her performance - if you could even call it that. her scratchy notes seem to crawl on and on, the choruses becoming more and more unbearable until finally, she finished. there wasn't much applause, but those who did clap were surely just being polite. you couldn't stop yourself from clapping too. you weren't a monster.

      you had just taken another sip from your glass after the girl had gotten off stage when a low, gruff voice came through the speakers, and you stopped.

     "this is, uh... somethin' i wrote a while ago," the voice muttered as the body that it belonged to sat down on the creaky, wooden stool in front of the microphone. he held his guitar in his lap; no strap around his shoulder to keep it from slipping, but his grip was pretty tight.

    you turned your focus to the man as he began to sing - knowing that you recognized that voice from somewhere. of course, since it was just too murky inside from all the cigarette smoke and horrendous lighting, you were forced to stand up from the bar as slowly make your way closer to the small stage that was crowded by other folks standing around.

     you hadn't heard the song before, but everything he sang about sounded so... familiar. something about falling love with a girl... fighting... losing said girl and never being able to find her. it made your heart ache... but you were swearing to yourself that there was no way he would have ever found you -

no matter how badly you hoped and prayed he would.

     the dark aurora of lights barely illuminated his face, but his finely cut features were always prominent - you remembered them perfectly. but still... you were reluctant to believe that it could be him.

it had been... years.

      by that point, you were in front of every one and directly in front of him; your eyes trained on him as he sang and expertly moved his fingertips along the strings of his guitar. you couldn't bring your attention away from his face, your heart racing as you realized that it was, in fact, him.

     you were so entirely out of it that you hadn't even realized the song had ended, until his head lifted and his eyes met yours. a crooked smile pinned the corner of his mouth up, his head tilted a little as he twinkled his fingers at you.

     you were taken aback. had he known the whole time? your heart was racing, you daring to take your gaze away from him for a moment just to look around to make sure he wasn't waving at any one else, and as you were doing so, your eyes landed right on your friend. she stared back at you with a wide grin, nodding toward the man once again.

     it was obvious to you then that this was definitely planned, but you didn't even care anymore. the fact of the matter was that he was there and you were there in the same place - something you never thought would happen in a million years. you managed a small chuckle at the expression of your best friend's face and you turned back to look at him, but he had gone from the stage.

your smile dropped instantly.

and you went into a panic.

     your eyes went wide and it felt as though you couldn't breathe, your gaze frantically searching all around until suddenly - a hand came down and wrapped around yours, gently guiding you out of the crowd and off to the side. you were damn near having a heart attack, but as you looked up at who it was, you relaxed. it was him. that lovely smile still on his lips as his dark eyes bored into yours.

     "hey," he said softly, and despite the noise in that place, you heard him perfectly.

     "keith," you whispered, a small smile of your own painting over your lips.

a/n: hA guess who got lazy toward the end??????? M E. but gimme some slack i havent wrote in a whILE.