Please, hide me ~Brendon Urie

Five

Brendon's P.O.V.

"So remember. Keep your sleeves down even if it's really hot in there, 'cause you need to hide your tattoos. Keep your cap and your glasses on, and I think with that beard you have now that you told me you don't usually have, you'll be fine. Just try to stay in the crowd so people won't notice you. I haven't told anyone of the band I'm hosting you, I don't want them to get involved into this or to lecture me. I'll give you my key so you can come back here before I come back with Luka. He has a spare key of my apartment, I'll tell him I forgot mine inside. You can hide in my room until we get back."

"Okay mom!" I laughed. She, on the other hand, was not joking.

"The bar we're playing at tonight is called Le Circus, and you'll see it's... not so small in fact, but it's more long than large so it seems small. And it's crowded on Friday nights. There's a band playing before us, so I'll go with you to show you where it is, you'll go inside alone and I'll come in with the boys after a while. Please don't be mad at me but I'm going to ignore you all night. I don't want them to know."

"I understand."

"We'll play for about 45 minutes, so just enjoy the show!" she smiled.

She took her electric guitar and we left. I tried to remember every obvious detail on our way, so I could come back after the show on my own without getting lost. Actually, it was not that complicated. Just right, left and right.

"Okay it's right there, where people are smoking in front of the door. Take that to get yourself a beer if you want, and I'll be back in about 20 minutes with the boys." she said, handing me a 20 euros bill. "They're all at Tom's apartment right now, he's living just there."

Who's Tom? Ah yeah, their drummer.

"So, tell me more about your band!" I asked with a huge smile.

"Well... We're mostly rock dudes, but the guys like to play jazz too. Adrien plays the trumpet, Tom the saxophone and Luka just started to learn the trombone. But in the band Luka plays the bass, Tom the drums and Adrien the guitar. I play the guitar too when it's needed, and I sing as I just told you," she smiled. "And we're looking for a pianist to play keyboards, but most of the people here are students so it's complicated. Actually less than one year ago we were still students too!" she laughed. "We usually rehearse on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. We'll be playing on Friday night for a 100% Rock event, not far from here. So if you catch me singing around that's completely normal!"

"Don't worry, I'm usually singing all the time too!" I laughed. "I just don't feel like it right now..." I paused. "You know, I have- or I should say had a band too. The thing is that I'm the only member today. All the guys left the band one after another, and now with my disappearance I don't know what's the future going to be... I was supposed to release a new album next month. I don't know if the label is going to release it anyway or just cancel it. I hope they will release it, I really want my fans to hear it."

I missed my fans, really. Not being able to interact with them on social media was driving me crazy. Being cut off from the world was driving me crazy. So being here tonight, around people, outside, it felt really good. I got myself a beer and went to the side where I could easily see the band playing. Holy shit, French and Belgian beers were definitely the best. Soon enough Stella was here with her friends, doing a quick soundcheck. The previous band was not bad, but I couldn't wait to hear her band play. In the blink of an eye, they were ready.

"Bonsoir Lille ! Vous allez bien ? Nous sommes Coeur de Guimauve et ce soir pour vous c'est 100% Rock !" -[Good evening Lille! You're good? We are Coeur de Guimauve and tonight for you it's 100% Rock!]

Oh yes, we were in France... She was speaking too fast, I couldn't get any word. They started playing American Idiot by Green Day, and I knew I was going to love that show. They then played All Time Low, Paramore, and many other band covers*. They were on fire, really into it. She was headbanging to every song, her short dark wavy hair with just re-dyed blue hair tips swinging in every direction. I got myself another beer while she introduced each member of the band, and I guess announced their last song, judging by the reaction of the audience. They started playing Immortals by Fall Out Boy, and I couldn't help but sing along. That song was so catchy. After that, everyone asked for one more, but the boys started to pack up their instruments. Stella took her microphone and went to sit behind the keyboard, taking a deep breath.

"Pour ceux qui nous connaissent, vous savez que nous avons récemment perdu notre chère claviériste, ma tendre Rose... Elle aurait eu 23 ans demain, cette chanson est pour elle." -[For those who know us, you know that we recently lost our dear keyboardist, my sweet Rose... She would have been 23 tomorrow, this song is for her.]

She started playing This Is Gospel on the piano. I never heard anyone else than me playing it. Her voice was so full of emotions, she was on the verge of tears. It was so beautiful. I didn't even notice the tear rolling down my cheek until it found the corner of my lips. Luka came to hug her at the end of the song, and they talked with the other boys before to get out of the bar with all their stuff. I heard Stella telling them to go ahead, she wanted to go to the toilets. That was actually an excuse to come to me.

"Hey, avec les gar- Sorry, with the boys, we're going to drink somewhere else so don't wait for me, you can sleep in my room if you want 'cause we'll be coming home late so Luka won't find you in the couch when we get back. You know where his clothes are now. And by the way, we should get you your own clothes!" she shoved my arm.

"Yeah true," I laughed. "And the show was incredible! But we'll talk about that tomorrow, your friends are waiting for you outside."

"Yep, good night Bren!"

She smiled and rushed outside as I told her to have fun. I waited a couple minutes before to get out, to be sure they were gone. Back at Stella's apartment, I took a shower and went to her room to get clothes for the night. I've never really been there more than half a minute because a bedroom is kind of private, I didn't want to intrude. I took some time to look at all the pictures, most of them were with her sister and her friends. She had a whole wall covered in pictures. I couldn't count how many she had. As I closed the door to go to sleep, I noticed the key in the lock. She had the exact same key on her keyring. Could that be...? I went to the living room to take the keyring and try the key on her sister's room door... and it opened. I knew what I was doing was wrong. She had locked it for a reason. But I was too curious...  

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*The setlist of the concert is available here 

> https://www.deezer.com/fr/playlist/4562473804