If You Love Me, Never Let Me Go

Chapter 1 - Voices From The Stereo

'THE NEWEST HIT BAND', read the headlines. The band, Van Goth, had become an international sensation overnight.

Music blasted from Phil's stereo speakers that he had bought on a shopping spree a few weeks back. He had not used it until then. Phil had contemplated putting it in a third installment of his 'things I regret buying' franchise but decided to listen to the band, Van Goth, that was all over Twitter. Many people take Phil as the kind of guy who doesn't really listen to emo music, but as he walked around his flat, listening to Van Goth, he began to feel a sense of completion; like the band was what his ears were craving for the 30 years he had been alive.

First came the intro, the drums and the guitar harmonizing perfectly together. Then the keyboard kicked in and took the song to a whole new level. But it was the voice that tied everything in together, joining the instruments seamlessly as if it was a tool that could be played just as easily as a triangle. The voice was like thunder echoing through Phil's very being. The feeling was intoxicating and Phil found himself wanting more.

Phil guiltily binge played their songs, putting each song on repeat multiple times to satisfy his needs. When he finished his last round of songs, he sat on his sofa and looked at his window. A faint orange glow shined through his day curtains and illuminated his flat with a warm aura, something he looked forward to in the evening. He got up and walked over to his kitchen and filled up his kettle with water and set it on the hot stove. Then, he went over to his cupboard, pulled out his favourite mug and plunked a tea bag in. The adrenaline from listening to Van Goth had not washed out yet. When his kettle let out a loud screech, he poured the steaming water into his mug and drank his tea while thoughts of going to a Van Goth concert circled his mind.

"What are you doing?" The voice startled Phil, causing him to spill some of the hot liquid onto his hand. He turned around, it was his roommate Adrian. He was wearing black sweatpants with a potato sack-esc sweater. Adrian closed the gap between him and Phil, he snatched his mug out of his hands and sniffed it. "Seriously man? Tea? AGAIN?" He walked over to the kettle, still on the stove, and poured himself a cup of tea. "Tea's disgusting, I have no idea why you drink it!", he exclaimed as he sipped his tea. He lowered his tea quickly, splashing a few tea drops on Phil. "Now, where did those crumpets go?"

Phil left the kitchen and went back to his room, where he settled onto his blue and green bed and opened his laptop. He moved his mouse over the safari button and clicked. He searched 'Van Goth'. The band members popped up. 'Samuel Lombard', read the first result. He was the lead guitarist, according to a fan page, created by the user @VanGoth#1Fan<3. He had perfect, creamy white skin. His honey brown, windswept hair perfectly complimenting his sky blue eyes. His silver lip ring made him look tough, and made him look enticing.

The second member listed was 'James Peterson', the drummer. His platinum blonde hair covered half his face. He had incredible peach skin, which played well with his greenish-hazel eyes. He had a smooth, gold nose ring, making his innocent look fade away into the background.

The third was 'Pierce Blume', the keyboardist. His dark skin looked like a delicious chocolate bar that any woman would love to bite into. He had a long face and deep, dark brown eyes. He had extremely short dark brown hair and his lips were plump and ripe like they were stung by a dozen bees.

Phil scrolled down and gasped when he saw the last band member. Adrian walked into the room and looked at him weirdly, until deciding Phil was just being normal Phil, obsessing over silly things. He slowly backed out, afraid he would become infected by whatever disease Phil had.

But for Phil, this was not like any normal celebrity crush or obsession he had ever had. He was looking into the eyes of the most beautiful person he had ever seen. Phil felt something inside him, something he had not felt for anybody else he knew. But the thing that surprised him the most? This gorgeous person... was a man. Phil had to hold back tears as he stared into the alluring face of Dan Howell, the lead singer of Van Goth.