Not without your Flaws- A Bastille Fanfiction

Chapter VII-

He loved you. You tried to process those three words in your head but not much came of it. All you could think about was the fact that he said he loved you too. Trying to figure out why he loved you, you stared at him, deep in thought. He lazily stood opposite you with his hands draped by his sides and he was looking around the room waiting for you to reply. You felt like, if you said something, it'd ruin the moment so you put off speaking for a while, still trying to form a sentence. "Wait...you love me? You...you actually love me? Why? I mean...why?"  Dan kind of looked at you for a moment, a look of confusion on his puppy-like face. He squinted one eye and raised the eyebrow of the other. Various sounds of thought escaped the partition in his mouth. "Did you you just ask me why I loved you? How is anyone supposed to answer that other than list everything that perfect about you? Because I will if you want me to- it's just that we don't have that much time before the gig..." His voice trailed off and you still stood in disbelief. Dan Smith, the baby deer that you had bumped into, had just told you he loved you. Was this reality or another one of those stupid dreams that made you cry for the life you had? "You mean it, don't you?" You could see it in his eyes that he did. There was no need to ask but you did anyway. He nodded his head slowly and shoved his hands into his pocket, him now waiting for your reply. "Funny that. Because I love you too. You probably already got that but hey. You suck at picking up hints."  He laughed and walked over to you once you'd finished your deep breathing. He wrapped his arms around your neck and you rested yours on his waist. You both stood there because there was nothing better that realising that a love was mutual. He kissed the top of your head and moved away from you, your arms refusing to let go of the man that had just said that he liked you a bit... Dan looked at his calculator watch and cursed under his breath. "I'm going to be late! You coming?!" He grabbed the keys to the car and a backpack filled with various smaller instruments and so on and took your hand, almost running to the car. 

Once you were at the venue, which was a small pub close to the University campus, Dan hurriedly unloaded the instruments from the boot of his car and took them inside. You followed suit and took hold of a particularly heavy keyboard and lugged it inside. There, you saw that the pub was completely, barring the tender behind the drinks bar. "Right, I'll grab the rest of the stuff from the car and you find us a seat. Watch out, mind you. It's chaos in here!" He walked away chuckling and you stared after him. He was so happy with himself but you couldn't help but laugh at how much of an idiot he was.

Padding over to the bar, the man behind  it smiled warmly at you. Hello love, what'll it be?" You smirked at how typically British it was. "Just a coke please." He nodded and wandered over to the small fridge, bent down and retrieved the plastic bottle. Handing it to you, he spoke softly and directly. "So what's a Londoner doing down here then? Are you in Uni or something?" You shook your head no and replaced the drink with a crisp five pound note. "No, just down here visiting a friend and supporting another I guess." You smiled and felt the cold sting of your change in your palm. "Supporting? That lad you're with going through a hard time or something?"  You giggled underneath your breath and shook your head again. You seemed to be doing that  lot recently and you had no idea why. "Nah, he's in a band. Playing here tonight actually!" A light seemed to turn on in his brain and he looked excited for some reason unknown to you. "Dan Smith, the band? Ah! A friend of mine knows about them, been to seem 'em a couple of times. He told me to watch them any chance I could get but I didn't know where they were going to be! I should tell him to come up; he hasn't stopped raving about the last five shows. Dan Smith...funny name for a band isn't it or is it a thing youngsters dow now? Name a group of people after one particular person?"  Laughing heartily you agreed just as Dan walked through the doors. "You alright mate? Just heard you're playing here! Might stick around to see if you're any good!" He shot me a worried look. Another person watching him singing. Bowing your head slightly, you assured him that it'd be fine. You thanked the bar tender and told him to have a good night and went off with Dan to sit down before the show. 

"The others should be here soon, then we'll play and we'll go back to our room for a while if that's alright? I don't much feel like wandering around Leeds tonight. We don't have to go back home until tomorrow evening so we'll do it then." Dan seemed down and you weren't sure why. Not being very good at this sort of thing, you prompted an answer out of him. "I'm completely fine." Was all he said to you. He was almost cold in the way he said it. Looking up from his hands, he sighed and apologised. You didn't need to force him to answer the question truthfully. "This is scary. I've never been so scared in my life. I'm putting something of mine, of me, out into the world and I have no idea how it'll be received. I mean, people could hate. Really hate it." You lightly punched Dan in the arm and spoke softly to him about the subject that was burning deep in his mind. "Or they could love it. In fact, I know people will love it. Sure, you'll get people who don't like the music but what artist doesn't? It means that you've got attention- people are talking about it. I know that that's part of the problem for you but you're going to have to get over that if you don't want to spend the rest of your life doing crappy jobs that will give you no sense of enjoyment. You see that guy? The man behind the bar? He knows about you because he has this friend who's apparently been do five odd gigs of yours. How amazing is that?! He must like you a bit to follow you around and pay to listen to your music, right?"  Dan looked down and sat quietly as you continued your point. "Look, you don't know where this is going, No one does. What matters is the fact that you'e doing something that you quite like doing. How many other slightly weird Englishmen get to say that? The point is, this thing you've got going here could actually be something if you try hard enough. You won't have to do any thing you don't want to anymore. No more crappy jobs at hospitals. You could have this as a job! How wicked would that be?" You lightly squeezed Dan's hand and he smiled as you rested your head in the crook between Dan's neck and shoulder. You felt him nod and the both of you stayed there for a while, basking in the silence. "Thanks. I mean it. If I'm going on this adventure, then you're going to be with me the whole journey alright?" His chuckle sounded louder as he got closer to your ear. He placed a wet kiss on the top of your head as you nodded vigorously. Just then, Woody and Will swung open the door and walked up to the both of you, ready for another gig.