Battle of the Bands - Sanders Sides

Chapter Twenty

The day had finally arrived, the final battle of the bands. Remus was nervous as hell and couldn't stop his bones from wildly shaking. Sure, he had played before. But this was it. This was for all the marbles. Remus didn't want to screw it up. Not for his friends and boyfriend.

He peeked out of the curtains again, seeing his parent and Roman close to the front. He knew Roman was here for Patton, but his parents seemed genuinely excited to see their son perform. It brought a smile to Remus' face. Maybe, for once, they were actually proud of him.

The backdoor to the stage opened. The drummer turned around to see Janus and Virgil come out in their usual emo outfits they wore while performing. "Where's Logan?" Remus asked. As soon as the words left his mouth, Logan came into the room.

The others had dressed him in black combat boots with blue stitching, leather pants with a ripped and torn blue crop top. But the main event was his face. Blue eyeshadow with black lipstick and a natural blush on his cheeks. Remus was speechless.

He wordlessly walked over to Logan, scooping up his hands in his own. "You look incredible, baby."

"I feel ridiculous," Logan commented.

"Hey! We spent hours on that look! You aren't allowed to hate it!" Virgil complained. Janus and Logan laughed while Remus leaned in, capturing a sweet kiss on Logan's dark lips.

"Everyone will love it. And they'll love you more. You're gonna rock it tonight!" Remus assured him. Logan nodded, giving his boyfriend a big, nervous hug.

The back door opened again, Remy and his band coming in. Logan turned around, making everyone's jaws drop at his look. "The fuck are you wearing, Logan!? We go on stage in 5 minutes, now is not the time for dressup!" Remy whisper yelled, grabbing onto Logan arm to take him away.

"Fuck you." Logan said, making everyone stop.

"Language, Logan," Patton needlessly reminded him.

"The hell did you just say to me, punk rock?" Remy threatened, lowering his sunglassed to make direct eye contact. Something he never ever did.

"I said, fuck you. All of you. I'm done playing keyboard for people who only care about themselves." Remus walked up to him, grabbing his hand to give the confidence he needed to continue. "I started playing music becuase I liked it, not because I wanted to be popular. You three play it to exploit yourselves selfishly. And I've finally had enough!"

"So, you and the drunken rat are dating. And he pulled you into the sewers with him?" Remy questioned, looking at the hands that were tightly held together. "Fine, be a fucking rat. We never liked you in our band anyway. And we will win this thing with or without you!" WIth that, Remy pushed through the two lovebirds with Patton and Emile right behind him.

They stood at the edge of the stage just as the music teacher came out to welcome the crowd. "Welcome parents, students, staff, and music lovers alike, to the final battle of the bands!" The audience applauded and cheered, excited for the night of entertainment they were paying for. "If you haven't yet, make sure to buy some concessions to fund our next battle next year. But I shouldn't keep you waiting any longer. Please welcome on the first band of the night!" Again, the audience went wild while Remy's band entered the stage.

Logan, Remus, Virgil, and Janus watched they readied themselves, absorbing the energy from the excited audience. "Is this always how the audience reacts to them?" Logan had to ask which made the others laugh.

"You've never noticed?" Virgil asked.

"No. To be honest, I kinda black out whenever I play," Logan admitted. Remus pulled him close, placing a soft kiss on his head.

"Don't worry, baby. You don't ever have to play that way again. In our band, you play for fun," Remus assured him confidently.

"I'll hold you to that," Logan joked. Remy, Emile, and Patton hit their instruments hard, giving it everything they had. Logan's eyebrows raised, "They're scared."

"What?" Janus questioned.

"This song. Remy said they'd only play this song if they were in danger. They're scared. All of them." It suddenly became clear to the boys how right the nerd was. Patton's eyes were shifting around, Emile was shaking, and Remy was sweating. They were scared. For once, Remus, Virgil, and Janus had the upper hand.

When they finished, they exited on the opposite side of the stage. When the audience's cheers died down, Remus and his group entered the stage. To their surprise, people cheered. Loudly. Virgil and Janus smiled at each other while Remus gave a confident glance at Logan.

Remus got behind his drums, while Janus got behind his the mic with his guitar and Virgil wrapped his brand new electric guitar around his shoulder. Logan stood behind the keyboard, more nervous than ever before to play. But once Janus started, the music followed out of him naturally.

"I take my pills and I'm happy all the time
I'm happy all the time
I'm happy all the time
I love my girl but she ain't worth the price
She ain't worth the price
No, she ain't worth the price!"

They hit the instrumental break and everyone went wild. The group couldn't help but smile and feel the music, including Logan. He never felt better playing the keyboard than he did right now. Maybe Remus was right. This was fun, just when you do it right.

~.0.~

The audience was voting. Everybody backstage was shaking, including Remus and Logan, who stopped caring about who won a long time ago.

The music teacher walked onto the stage, an iPad in her hand with the winning numbers on it. "Could I ask all the bands on stage, please?" She asked. The boys all scooted onto the stage. Remy and his group stood next to them while the third band stood there, just as nervous as everyone else. "First of all, thank you to all of the band for playing tonight. As well as the audience for voting! But, I won't torture you anymore. The winning band that will play at our prom is..."

Everything went quiet. The only thing Remus could hear was his own heart beating louder than any drum he could ever play. Virgil could only focus on the shakiness of his hands while Janus could only feel the the clamy feeling binding his hand to Virgil's. Logan could only see his friend's around him, everything else was lost to the stage lights.

"Remy, Emile, and Patton's band, congratulations! You boys will be playing our prom!" The three on stage celebrated while Remus could see Roman stand up and cheer. Their group clapped for them, not wanting to be poor sports about it.

Although, when they walked back stage, it was hard not to. "Nice job, losers. But my point still stands, we always win with or without you!" Remy bragged. Roman came through the door to the back stage followed by his mom and dad. They immediately came over and hugged Patton, making anger bubble up inside Remus.

"Oh, I knew my future son-in-law would make me so proud!" His mom cheered, cupping Patton's face. Remus cleared his throat, his parents' face snapped over to him.

"Uh, great effort, Remus!" His dad said with the most fake pride he had ever heard.

"I guess it's too much to ask to be proud of your son for once for the one thing he's good at." Remus seethed calmly. "I guess number two will never be good enough. Maybe I should've been born first too." Remus said nothing else before walking out of the room with his chosen family behind him.