Lips Like an Angel

Chapter 3- The Night We Met

[For this Chapter I highly, highly recommend listening to the song that Eren will be performing. It is called The Night We Met, by Lord Huron. I give the artist full credit for the song and the lyrics.]

[PS, this is when the chapters start to get long, I'll let you guys know if the chapters are ever going to be less than 1k]

Eren peered from behind the stage, his voice caught in his throat as he looked at the people sitting quietly in their seats, sipping at their drinks while they made small conversations with the people around them. The atmosphere of the place was warm and gentle and that was exactly what Eren needed. He needed something to help heal the aching in his heart and the fear of never being able to find happiness again.

Glancing down at his phone, the time read 6:45 pm, which gave him 15 minutes to get the confidence to walk on stage and tone his guitar one last time. He only prepared one song, and hopefully, no one asked him to do another...and that's even if the audience enjoyed his music. The brunette took one last deep breath before walking to the front stage, a few heads turning to see who it was but quickly looked back to what they were doing beforehand. 

"Are you nervous?" Hange asked with a grin as they walked up to the other, setting Eren's guitar to the side before taking both of his hands in theirs. "I must apologize, I never got your name," they spoke and frowned only for a moment before their smile returned.

Eren made a mental side note that Hange's smile looked sincere and genuine; he could tell that they were a kind person, and Eren hoped that he doesn't let that smile down.

"It's Eren, and really it's quite alright," he spoke with a smile and eventually took his hands back when they let go, lifting the guitar case and hanging it to him.

 "Eren..what a nice name!" they muttered before offering him another quick smile and stepping up on the small, lowly light stage and waited until another worker brought out a stool and a microphone stand. They gently tapped on the microphone, the noise echoing in the room making the people in the shop stop and turn towards them.

 "Good evening guys, I know you have all suggested some entertainment, so I am happy to announce we have a young man here who is eager to play for you," they spoke and turned towards Eren.

Eren could feel his hands start to sweat the more he looked into the audience. It felt almost as if the nervousness was going to eat him alive, but the best way to get over stage fright was to jump into it, so here he was ready to leap.

Hange turned back to the people in their seats, "So please let us know if you like him and we might just keep him," they added with a teasing smile before stepping away and just about jumped off the stage.

 Eren really did wonder how they had all of that energy. But, now it was just him on the stage and his hands start to shake as he set up his guitar, toning some of the chords. His fingers traced over the dark ivory leaves engraved on the sides of it. He cleared his throat, stepping up to the microphone as he adjusted the height so he could sit down as he played. "G...Good evening everyone," he spoke; the silence coming from the store making Eren regret doing this in the first place, but he couldn't just back down now.

 "Thank you for listening and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do," He finished before sitting onto the stool and looking to the back of the stage to see a man in an apron giving him a thumbs up. That must mean that everything was set to go, and Eren gave him a nod in return to let him know he could queue the music.

The music was quiet at first, as his fingers starting to pick at the guitar, letting the strings of the music work their way into the background. His lips parted before he started to hum into the microphone, his hums fainting turning into a quiet, 'ooh.'