|Love Bug| A Monster In Paris Fanfiction

Chapter 22: The Backyard Band

I went and watched the movie again U.U mostly because I havent watched it in a while and forgot some of the movie. Francoeur's song hit different after not hearing it for so long- Essentially rekindled my love for the movie and the fandom, so- we bakk boys :D

Also- fuck Spotify & Soundcloud for making the soundtrack unavailable >:L

Now I gotta listen to the songs on YouTube Music TwT

Update: Apple Music has the full soundtrack-

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Otherwise- this chapter jumps back to the present moment in the timeline as opposed to Abi and Lora's backstory, so enjoy.

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Where could she have gone so quickly? One moment she was standing at the cabaret doors, and the next she seems to have vanished into thin air. But- She had to be around here somewhere, and I was going to find her.. hopefully before Lucille realized I had left..

Francoeur crouched atop one of the buildings, overlooking a small portion of the city, which seemed to bustle on endlessly, even in the later hours of the night. Despite this, the particular road below him was rather quiet, with only the humming of crickets to be heard among the distant sounds of shoes clacking against the stone walkways. He stood, jumping over to the next building's roof, and looking around, seemingly with no luck until he turned his head, a curious chirp sounding as he heard- music? That was an odd sound to be heard at such a late hour. Even the Rare Bird didnt stay open this long, so he decided to investigate. Francoeur jumped, leaping across a few smaller buildings, and looking around, before he looked down, at the alleyways between the buildings.

What he saw, was a nice square of space, tucked away behind a few buildings, with people- maybe 10 or 12 of them, he even saw a dog romping around, chasing a small boy around in the space as they played music. Slapping their hands on barrels and empty trash cans, some knocking sticks against brick walls, blowing on empty bottles, or tapping spoons against glass jars, filled with various amounts of water to create different notes. Looking over at a corner of the square, he saw a few people with actual instruments- three guitarists to be precise. It was no professional band- but the music they created was nothing to scoff at either.

Francoeur's attention turned at the sound of heels clicking against the cobblestone paths in the alleyways leading to the square, although he was barely able to make it out through the music. Turning and looking down at one of the alleys- his eyes widened in surprise.

"Lora!" The flea chirped in excitement.

Wasting no time, he jumped down, landing with a thump and looking down at the woman- who eyed him in curiosity, but after a moment a rather warm smile grew on her.

Looking down at her hand, she held a few bags, the contents threatening to burst. He paid little mind to this, and embraced the woman, happy chirps sounding from the flea.

"How did you.. find me?" Lora spoke, gently pulling away from the brief hug.

"Most of it was luck- I was listening to them-" Francoeur gestured in the direction of the music.

"Oh- which reminds me- I have to go give these to them... You could come with me if you want."

Lora smiled as she looked up at him, to which he returned her smile with one of his own. Nodding, he stepped to the side to allow her to lead the way into the square.

The two walked through the alley and into the square in content silence, the music quieting and eventually stopping once the musicians seemed to notice the two of them. Francoeur followed her through the square as they walked up to the three guitarists.

The lead guitarist, an older man, his hair grey and thinning, with a cloudy beard adorning his face. Baggy clothes hung from his bony form as his slender fingers rested on the wooden guitar in his arms.

"Well- it's a pleasure to see you again, Ms. Lora. It's rare to have such... esteemed company in our midst." A wheezed chuckle sounded from the man. "What brings you and your..." The man looked up at Francouer for a moment, a smile growing on his face. "..boyfriend down to our lil' corner o' the world on this evenin'?"

"You're as amusing as always Mr.Bergeron. For the record- this is Monsieur Francoeur, who is not my boyfriend- we're just friends. I stopped by Thomas' and got you some stuff."

Francoeur was rather flustered by the comment- and gave a simple tilt of his hat at his introduction. The man looked up at Francoeur in momentary skepticism.

"Well- if he's the person you so claim him to be- then im sure the two o' you wouldnt mind playin' all of us a lil' song now would you? Give n' old man a moment to relax from playin' all night."

Bergeron didnt give them a chance to deny, as he stood up, handing the guitar to Lora before hobbling off of the makeshift stage and starting to look through the bags Lora brought, and starting to ration the food out to the rest of the group. The other two guitarists stepped off of the stage, allowing Lora and Francoeur to take a seat on the stage.

"Ladies n' gentlemen- we get to take a lovely lil' break to enjoy the food that was brought to us by our friend, Ms. Loralei, n' hear the lady play with none other than Monsieur Francoeur!"

The rest of the musicians clapped softly, looking towards the two excitedly. The boy and his dog made their way to the front of the stage and sat down with a large smile.

"Did you have a song in mind-" Lora was interrupted.

"One of his popular songs?" Bergeron had settled himself amongst the other musicians by now.

"Yeah! Can we hear La Seine? It's always been my favorite song!" The boy spoke excitedly, looking at the two of them.

Lora looked over at Francoeur, who nodded, grabbing one of the other guitars, and giving it a soft strum before he tuned it to fit the song he was about to play. Lora had followed suit, handling the guitar gently- it looked like it would crumble if she held it too tightly. They both gave their guitars another strum, before looking at each other with a smile. Francoeur tapped his foot on the ground to keep the beat, and they both began to play.

————————Meanwhile, back at the Cabaret————————

Lucille paced around her room worriedly. She had known Francoeur wasn't happy about the decision to not let Loralei stay with them, but she had assumed he also got the point that it was for his own safety. But now he had run off- and she had no clue where he had gone, or if he planned to come back.

"You know- It's a shame when people you care about don't listen to you." A deep chuckle sounded from the voice.

Lucille froze, and looked around curiously for a moment before turning towards the window to see- none other than Chaos. She watched him fearfully as he slipped into the room through the window.

"All you want is what's best for him- and still- he brushes aside your warnings to go after a woman he most likely knows will hurt him in the end." The flea sighed, his arms tucked into the pockets of his coat as he looked down at the woman.

"What do you want- he's not here- and you have no business with me. So I dont know what schemes you're planning now, but they dont involve anything here." Lucille stood her ground- as terrified as she was- she wasnt going to let herself be pushed around by him.

"Schemes?" Chaos chuckled. "I have no schemes- no tricks up my sleeves this time around. I simply want to help you solve this.." He gave a soft hum, thinking of how to word the situation, and glancing around the room before he continued. "...predicament... you happen to have found yourself in."

Lucille looked at him skeptically, crossing her arms as she spoke."And why should I listen to you? What do you get out of this? You wouldn't agree to this if it didn't benefit you."

"I want this solved as much as you do- so as much as I'd love to lie to you simply for the fun of it- I have no reason to trick you into anything this time around." The flea extended one of his hands out towards her- for a handshake. "Consider this a temporary truce- aligning for a common cause. We separate those two, and then  we both get what we want, and everyone else is none the wiser."