The Problem-Causing Crush (Powerwolf)

Chapter One

 This entire story began very simply, and that was with one person and one thing. The one person was Roel van Helden, current drummer of Powerwolf. The one thing that started it all was his crush on Charles Greywolf, one of his bandmates. 

 Roel hadn't planned on falling for one of his bandmates; to him, that had always sounded like the kind of thing that could only make things more weird or complicated for the band. Why risk making things more complicated than necessary? But, in the end, that idea wound up going out the window entirely; once Roel met Charles, he completely forgot about it. 

 You might be wondering now what it was about Charles that Roel would fall for him so suddenly, and why him out of all four of his fellow band members. Roel wasn't sure why. He quickly became friends with all the guys in the band, but there was something about Charles that made him gravitate towards him with a connection he just didn't feel with the rest of the band. 

 At first, Roel didn't realize his feelings for Charles (that's why it look some time for these events to actually happen). When he did eventually realize it, it didn't really help much. In the time they'd known each other, Charles had never shown any romantic interest in Roel. Roel liked to think that maybe Charles did have the same feelings and was just keeping them to himself, same as Roel himself was, but it just didn't seem likely. 

 Roel told himself that maybe the best thing he could do in the end was try to get over this crush and maybe things wouldn't seem so grim. But there wasn't anyone else; the only person he wanted was Charles. But he didn't tell him, and he certainly didn't let any of the other guys in on it. At least not yet.

~~~~~~ 

 It was the start of a new tour, and the guys would all be back together on the road again. There was the usual hassle and excitement that came along with getting ready to get back on the road again, and everything was going as it usually did. 

 When Roel arrived, the rest of the guys were already there, packed and ready to go. He thought he felt his something inside him flutter when Charles gave him a smile and a wave in greeting. He nodded and waved back.

 "Here he is." He felt Attila Dorn, the band's singer, clap him on the shoulder. "You ready, van Helden?" 

 "Yeah, ready," Roel answered in a voice that he hoped sounded enthusiastic. 

 While he was distracted, Charles had already turned his attention elsewhere, which meant Roel probably wouldn't get a chance to talk to him until later. 

 "You okay?" Attila asked him. "You don't look too excited." 

 "Yeah, I'm fine," Roel answered, keeping his face turned away. "I'm definitely ready." 

~~~~~~ 

 The next night was the first show of their new tour. During the afternoon, Roel finally got a minute alone with Charles. The guys were usually all together, so it wasn't easy to get some alone time. However, now that they were finally alone together, he didn't know what to say. 

 "So...you ready for tonight?" he asked. 

 "Definitely," Charles answered. "It'll be great to try out new material on stage." 

 "Yeah, it will." Roel agreed, but he probably would have said yes even if he didn't agree if it would keep the conversation going. 

 However, he couldn't think of anything else to keep the conversation going, and something of an awkward silence began to set in between them. 

 "Are you okay?" Charles asked him. "You seem kind of nervous about something."

 "Me?" The fact that he seemed nervous to Charles actually made him start to feel nervous. "Nah, I'm fine." 

 "Oh. Okay. Um, I'm going to go check up on a few things, then. I'll see you in a bit." 

 Roel sighed as he walked away. No wonder Charles didn't seem interested in him. He couldn't even keep a conversation going. 

 This was going to be a long tour, especially if he was suddenly going to forget how to have conversations with people.