Metal Band One-Shots

The Crush (Greyhero)

 Roel van Helden had had a crush on Charles Greywolf for quite some time. Roel would have done something with it: tried to ask Charles out, or at least try to get closer to him. But it didn't seem like Charles had any romantic interest in him, none at all, which didn't give him any encouragement. 

 So, for a while, Roel did nothing. Sometimes, he would try to forget his feelings; if he forgot about them, maybe they would go away. But that didn't work at all, because somehow he would just keep remembering. Other than that, he decided not to do anything. 

 He didn't tell anyone at all about his feelings until an afternoon when he was with Attila and Falk. Charles and Matthew were off doing something else, and Roel was barely paying attention to anything the other guys were talking about. 

 "Roel?" 

 Roel blinked when he heard Falk say his name. "Yeah? What?" 

 "Are you okay?" Falk asked him. "You've been staring off into the distance for all this time, and you haven't spoken to us once." 

 Roel nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." 

 He saw Falk and Attila glance at each other, and Attila shrugged. 

 Maybe he could tell them, Roel thought. They might know if there was a chance Charles would like him back, and he didn't think they would tell anyone if he asked them not to. 

 "All right, it's like this," he began. "It's about Charles. Neither of you happen to know if he's...single, do you?" 

 "Not that we know of," Attila answered, and Falk shook his head. "He hasn't said anything about something like that. Why, were you interested?" 

 "Well...yeah, I was," Roel answered. "I am." 

 The other two glanced at each other again. 

 "I hadn't meant that seriously, but okay," said Attila. "So, we're pretty sure he's single. You're single, and you're interested in him." 

 "Do you know whether or not he might be interested in you?" Falk asked. 

 "No, I don't. Well, what do you guys think?" Roel asked. "Do you think I have a chance? Any chance?" 

 "I think it's possible." Falk looked thoughtful. "But the person you should try to find this out from his Charles himself. He's the only one who could tell you for sure." 

 "And what if that backfires?" Roel pointed out. "I could pour out all my feelings to him just to have him tell me he doesn't like me like that. And then what? It would probably make things really awkward with the band, and I wouldn't know-" 

 "All right, stop." Falk sighed and put his hand to his forehead. "Stop, or I will dare you to go tell Charles everything right now." 

 Roel looked over at Attila, who shrugged again and said, "Well, there's nothing I can do if he dares you." 

 "Look, Roel, I don't think you're ever going to know unless you somehow get the message across to him," said Falk. "I guess the best way to do that would be to just tell him or ask him on a date or something like that, but if you can come up with something else, give it a try." He looked away from Roel, and his widened a little. "Here come Charles and Matthew," he whispered. "Act like we haven't been discussing this." 

 "Hey. What have you three been up to?" Charles asked. 

 "Nothing much," they all said in unison. 

 Charles looked as if he didn't believe that one bit, but he said, "Okay, then. Don't forget we have a show to get ready for. We should probably get moving." 

 "Good idea." Falk abruptly stood up and Attila followed. "Come on, Matthew, let's go." Falk gently pulled on Matthew's arm to get him to walk with him, and Attila went them, leaving Roel and Charles to bring up the rear. 

 "Is there something up with them?" Charles asked Roel. "They seem a little jumpy." 

 "Well, they're both usually a little strange, aren't they?" Roel suggested. 

 Charles shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you're right. What about you?" 

 "Me? I'm fine." 

 "Okay." Charles gave him a small smile. "Just thought I'd check." 

 There was something in the look and the smile he gave him. It made Roel smile back at him, and he felt he had just discovered something wonderful. 

 "Maybe we could hang out just the two of us sometime," he heard himself say. "Without any of them to be a distraction." 

 Charles nodded. "Not a bad idea. Let's do that." 

 Roel couldn't think of anything else to say, but it didn't seem like he had to say anything else.