Lacey // (The 1975 / Matty Healy fanfiction)

// C H A P T E R T W E L V E //

Edinburgh Castle had been breathtaking. From the view that overlooked the city and its nearness to the ocean to the craziness of the old prisons - Lacey had loved every single bit of it. She thought back to the feeling of complete freedom that had filled her on top of that hill. Of course, she had only been one of thousands of tourists that came there every week, but still she had somehow been encircled in a feeling of complete independence. It was as if her being at this iconic castle in a culture that may belong to her own in a political sense, but was still so unique and different from it emotionally, was a great achievement for her. After all, she had never travelled much - mainly because her parents didn't have much money and the money they did have went solely into Lacey's education. The only time she had actually left England was for a two week long trip to Germany, where she had taken language classes. It wasn't as if she hadn't enjoyed her time there - she had met tons of lovely new people - but she wished she would have seen more of the country instead of only the inside of the institute she was studying at.

Looking over at Matty and the boys, who were going through their set list for the night, she was almost hit with a pang of jealousy. They had already seen so much of the world through their music and it seemed to be quite normal to them. When they spoke about foreign countries such as Australia or Japan, their eyes weren't filled with a wanderlust that she imagined being in her eyes whenever she thought about other places. For them, it was purely business and surely that made sense. They were always busy with interviews and concerts that they barely even got the chance to explore. She knew that it bothered Matty a lot as well. When she had asked him about his favorite thing about touring a bit earlier, he had replied that he loved gaining wisdom from all these different cultures, but that he wished he had more time to fully explore them.

She watched him then, moving around stage in his floral shirt and his usual black skinny jeans with the rip right over his knee. His movements were so distinct to him - on anyone else the constant hair flipping and turning in circles would have probably seemed ridiculous. But with Matty it seemed just right, as if his otherwise rather feminine movements were exactly the thing that gave him his very own rockstar vibe.

They finished going through their last song, which seemed to be the same one as last time. As soon as the last note was played, Matty hopped down from the stage and came over to the bar where Lacey was sitting with a beer in her hand.

"Drinking this early, eh?" He smirked as he got himself his own beer from behind the bar.

She rolled her eyes, "It's 6pm, hardly early."

He chuckled lightly, "Guess not."

"Are you playing the same songs as last time? It sounded like it, but I couldn't be sure." She wondered.

"Yeah it's the same set list." He nodded, "We usually do the same songs. There are only a few times we play other tunes as well. For example, Woman the song about the prostitute Ross painted?" He waited a bit until she nodded, obviously remembering the drawing and the story, "Well, we never really play that one. I sometimes do it acoustically if it's really hot at festivals or something to give the guys a break."

"Why don't you usually play it?" She asked.

He seemed to ponder it over for a second, "It's just that it's a bit slow and melancholic. I feel like people go to concerts - our concerts especially - to have a good time and that song always quietens everybody down. It would probably be the same with Antichrist, that's why we never perform that one either."

She raised her eyebrows at the title, "Antichrist?"

He looked at her, nodding, "Yeah, it's kind of about my beliefs, or better said, my lack thereof."