I just got home after my therapy appointment and I felt inspired to write something, so here I am.
There are those lyrics of a song called After Therapy (by NOAHFINNCE) that got stuck in my brain for some reason. They are: Life's not shitty, life's so great after therapy. I love playing hide and seek with my anxiety. And it just makes me laugh at the irony.
Another song that I've been obsessed with is Figure You Out by VOILÀ. And my brain decided to make a scenario with it. So here you go. I put the song in the media as well.
Narrator's POV.
"Guys, there is a concert this weekend, do you want to go? Since we don't have to shoot anything." Evans came into the room and asked his friends.
"Sounds nice. Who is playing?" Scar was the first one to ask.
"Some small band. Not that known from what I heard." Evans responds while sitting down on the couch in the main room they were all hanging in.
"And what is their name?" RDJ asked.
"Something with 'Freemium' or something similar." He responded while shrugging. "I'm thinking of going 'cause it's been so long since I went to a concert. I miss the experience."
"Let me google them." Renner said.
"I'll do that too." Scar said, and a few seconds later, Lizzie leaned into her so she could see the phone screen as well.
After a few moments of researching them, Jeremy was the first to speak.
"Oh, they released that song called Could Have Been Me, that's been playing for quite a while on the radio." He says excitedly.
"Oh, I like that song! I've been wondering who plays it." RDJ says.
"They are hot." Scar suddenly blurts out.
"Especially the main singer." Lizzie speaks louder than she intended.
"She does look hot, yeah." Scar agrees with her.
"So, do I buy some tickets?" Evans asks the whole group.
"Yeah, go for it." Renner nods
When she got home, Lizzie couldn't help herself and went and looked at the band's social media. But most importantly, she looked into the singer's social media. Her name was Emma Bartley and seemed to be the goofiest person on the planet, from her uploaded pictures.
Lizzie scrolled through a bunch of pictures with Emma either alone, posing like some model or being a dork, Or with her dog, extra points from Lizzie because puppies are always a plus in her opinion. Or with her friends/bandmates.
She didn't seem to let the fame get to her head considering that after posting a few pictures in which she looked like a perfect goddess, the pictures being taken by professionals, she would post unflattering ones taken from her selfie camera or embarrassing pictures. But she seemed to embrace them instead of shying away. This showed Lizzie that she was really down to earth and wasn't afraid of showing people that she wasn't perfect.
It was a nice change from the media that always tried to make the celebrities look like some perfect human beings, forgetting that all of them are actually just normal human beings with flaws and imperfections.
After that, she got into a rabbit hole and watched a bunch of small interviews they did, but mostly she watched videos/recordings of concerts they did. A lot of them were recorded by the fans which meant they weren't the greatest quality most of the time. But she was willing to look at them if it meant that she got to see Emma.
The actress was growing obsessed with her but refused to acknowledge the fact that she got a crush.
Lucky for her, Saturday came pretty soon so she got ready for the concert. She met with her friends.
"You guys ready?" Scar asked the group and she received nods from everyone.
They all had hats and sunglasses on while waiting for the line to move. They were hoping no one would recognize them.
And they were lucky, they got inside and no one seemed to pay them any attention. In other words, no one cared about them.
"We are sitting closer to the stage." Evans said while looking at the tickets.
It was a small arena but there seemed to be a lot of people.
If Lizzie wasn't so excited to see the band, a.k.a her new obsession Emma, she would have freaked out.
"There are one thousand people here, for sure." RDJ said while looking around.
"If not a bit more." Scar responded while taking in the number of fans as well.
After a little while, they were finally seated in their seats and waiting for the concert to start.
Emma was backstage warming her voice and making sure everything was prepared for the concert. She always feels such a rush of adrenaline before going on stage.
She jumped a bit around, to warm her muscles knowing she will be moving a lot during the concert.
"Are you prepared, Emma?" Her bandmate and friend, Leah, asked.
"Yeah, as prepared as I can be." Emma nodded excitedly.
"Try not to fall this time." Jake, her twin and the drummer of the band, teased her.
"That only happened once. Don't make me kick you out of the band." She retorted.
"You could never. Who otherwise would keep this band together?" He asked.
"We could manage." She said stubbornly.
"Yeah, no offense Leah but you get distracted very easily. You, Emma, are too gay to function so as soon as you will see a beautiful lady you will forget about the band. Brian, over there has a chance at keeping this band some-what okay. But he could scare the fans away with his 'don't bother me' look he always seemed to be wearing." Jake called everyone out.
He might be an asshole 99% of the time, but he was a good leader and kept everyone in check.
"Hey! I don't appreciate that." Emma put her hand on her chest and acted offended, even though she knew he was right. "That's not true." She tried to deny it.
"Emma, we are twins. I know how you function better than you know yourself sometimes. I see the way you lose focus any time a nice lady gets your attention." Jake doesn't back down making his sister cross her arms.
"I honestly am not offended. I know that I'm way too distracted for my own good. But he is right Emma, you do get distracted as well when you see someone you like." Leah takes Jake's side.
"What is this? 'Pick on Emma' day?" Emma grumbled annoyed.
"50 bucks she sees someone she likes tonight." Leah says.
"That happens at almost every concert, so it's no point in taking that bet if I'm going to lose." Jake responds ignoring Emma's offended gasp. "50 bucks that she'll get the number of whoever catches her attention." He says instead.
"So you're saying that she will continue to see that person? Not only a hook-up? You are so on." Leah shook his hand.
"Hey! I'm still here in case you forgot about me."
"Yeah, we know. But you have to admit that we are not wrong." Leah gave her a sympathetic smile while Jake just rose a challenging eyebrow at her.
"It's not my fault that I see ladies that I like, okay?" Emma raises her hands in defense.
"But you should try to settle to only one." Jake says.
"Look, not everyone is lucky enough to find their fiancee at a museum exposition, okay?" Emma referred to her brother and his fiancee. "When I'll find that one person, I'll know. Until then, I'll keep on looking."
"You will find her, don't worry." Jake gave her a supportive shoulder squeeze.
"Guys, where is Brian? We haven't heard from him for quite a while." Leah suddenly asked.
Jake let out an annoyed sigh. "I swear to God if he is getting high again after I told him to stop, I don't know what I'll do with him." And with that, he went to look for their friend.
Brian was always one to get into trouble. Sometimes he would get high before concerts but still manage to play the perfect notes on the bass guitar. He would go into the public and cause chaos before the concert because he won't be able to escape the public afterward. He would try to change the order of the songs in the setlists, but manage to delete all of them (it happened once). Oh, one time he accidentally let some fans backstage and they had to delay the concert for a bit so they could try and convince the fans to go back in front of the stage.
After a few minutes, Jake comes back again with Brian this time. The latter had a scoff on his face and it seemed like he didn't have enough time to start smoking since Jake found him.
"Okay, now that all of us are here, we'll go onto the stage in 5 minutes." Jake said and took the setlist in his hands. "Does everyone know the order of the songs?" He asks and received nods from everyone. "Good. Any last-minute check-ups?" Everyone shook their head.
"You seem like our father." Leah snorted and it made Brian chuckle as well.
"Ew." Emma and Jake said at the same time.
"What? All of those directions and dealing with our asses. He seems like the father figure of this band." Leah explained.
"I mean. He does need the experience for when he and his fiancee decide they want to adopt." Brian concluded.
"Look, this is not the time for that discussion. I just proposed a few weeks ago." Jake tried to move the topic.
"Well, you will have to think about it at some point." Emma shrugged. "Do it soon though, I want to be the godmother."
"We are not talking about this okay? My fiancee and I haven't had that discussion yet so don't you dare bring it up when they are around, okay?" Jake says while his cheeks are red.
"But you want kids though, I can see it." Brian says.
"Of course, I want kids, but that's not for now. And I don't know how my fiancee feels about them." Jake says. "Now let's concentrate on tonight's show. I want everybody to do their best. But don't forget to have fun, that's why we are here. To sing to our fans and have fun while doing that."
Emma arranged her white shirt made from some soft material, making sure the last few buttons aren't opened, then cuffed the sleeves of the suit jacket. Besides that, she was wearing some black trousers and some black boots. She had her rings on and a necklace. Her hair was shoulder length and parted in the middle, with side bangs that were flowing down until they reached her eyes.
She was half-listening to her brother. She was feeling nervous for a weird reason, and couldn't get her twin's words from earlier. He was sure she was going to find the one eventually. And she could only hope he was right.
That's why she doesn't shy away from looking at different women, she is trying and seeing if they feel like 'the one' for her. So far she didn't have any success.
"Okay, we're going now. Let's do this guys!" Jake clapped his hands and got his sticks while everyone got their guitars.
Emma got her electric one and hung it over her shoulders.
All of the lights on the stage were shut and they got out in their respective places.
She heard Jake counting down softly, then he started playing while the lights started working again.
"I heard he got you a penthouse. On the westside. When will he learn? That you're afraid of heights? And heard he got you a new Benz. With the white wheels. When will he learn? That you like to tandem bike?" Emma started singing while also strumming her guitar.
She took in the crown and saw a bunch of people there, but she tried not to let her anxiety take a hold of her.
"Mmmmmmmmmm. And I hate that." All of them sang.
The majority of the crowd started singing as well.
"I could love you with my eyes closed. Kiss you with a blindfold. Figure you out. I might hold you with my hands tied. Show you I'm the right gal. To figure you out." She let out her rasp while singing the chorus.
Lizzie was instantly in awe at the woman standing in front of her. From the clothes that were hugging her in all the right places, to her messy yet perfect hair, to the vein on her neck that was very visible while she was singing. To her voice, the perfect rasp and harmony in it.
"Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. Oooooooh. Ooooooh oooooh." All of them sang the post-chorus.
She was definitely in love, and she didn't even meet her, officially.
"I heard he got you some new friends. With some big dreams. When will he learn? That you already got your own? Oh, I heard he got you the front row. At the rap show. When will he learn? That you like The Rolling Stones?" Emma shook her head getting into the lyrics and pretended to be hurt.
But her eyes were taking in the faces in the crowd. Some fans were singing the lyrics with everything they had while others were moving their heads or bodies to the rhythm.
Then her eyes met some that were already looking at her very attentive.
"And I've been thinkin'. Of all the little things. That you've been missing. When will you learn?" Emma sang this to the mysterious blonde while keeping eye contact.
Due to the distance and the dim light, she couldn't tell what colors were her eyes, but she does seem to have ethereal ones.
"I could love you with my eyes closed. Kiss you with a blindfold. Figure you out. I might hold you with my hands tied. Show you I'm the right gal. To figure you out." The lady continued to keep eye contact while Emma was serenading the lyrics to her, but the blonde didn't seem to mind it.
Quite the opposite, the lady seemed to be as mesmerized by Emma, as Emma is by her.
Now she understands why her friends were teasing her earlier, she completely forgot that she is doing a concert and focused only on the blonde.
"I could treat you so much better. I've known you forever. Figured you out, oh. I could love you with my eyes closed. Kiss you with a blindfold. Figure you out (figure you out, yeah). I might hold you with my hands tied. Show you I'm the right gal. To figure you out." Emma sang the last chorus with her bandmates. She had her eyes close while taking in everything that was going on around her.
When the song stopped the fans went wild which made Emma open her eyes and take it in.
"How are you tonight?" She asked the crowd and got a bunch of screams as a reply.
She waited for them to calm down a bit.
"We are Freemium, for those of you who didn't know that." Emma said while spreading her arms. "But since you are here tonight, you might have heard of us already." She joked and winked at the crowd.
"As always, I'm Jake the drummer tonight." Her twin stood up and started speaking while the public was screaming. "The guitarist over there is Leah." The public continued to be loud. "That guy over there is Brian." The fans didn't seem to calm any time soon. "And lastly, in front of you is Emma." The crowd seemed to be the loudest at her introduction which got them a bow from her. "We hope you'll enjoy our concert tonight." He yelled into the mic before sitting down and starting the next song, as was planned.
All through the next songs, Emma's eyes seemed to go back to the mysterious blonde. They couldn't stay away for too long. She felt a pull in her direction.
They stopped for a bit to talk with the crowd as well, and Emma took it as an opportunity to hydrate.
She took a bottle of water and took a big sip from it, which made fans scream. She looked confused at them and swallowed the liquid before talking again.
"What the heck guys, I'm just drinking water?" She asked confused.
"Spit on me!" A loud voice was heard.
Emma looked taken back by the request while others started laughing.
"Throw water on me!" Another loud voice said.
"Okay, okay. Why would I do that though? Why would I make you wet when you came to our concert?" As soon as the words came out of her mouth she realized what her words implied. She stopped and put a hand on her face softly shaking her head while the fans were going nuts.
Her bandmates were laughing as well. Leah had tears in her eyes.
"What I meant is, why would I wet you with water? After all, you came to see us." Nope, still not good. She shook her head. "Why would I throw water on you?" She tried again but everyone was still laughing. "I give up." She laughed too.
"You can make me wet any day!" Another loud voice said.
"Guys, guys. This escalated way too quickly." Emma tried to say between laughs.
"See what you did?" Jake asked while chuckling as well.
"Emma everybody, and her ability to make people wet!" Leah suddenly said making the singer red in the face and everyone else laugh.
"Leah!" Emma yelled a few centimeters away from the mic, but it was still loud enough to be picked up and heard by everyone.
"I bet the crowd knows best about this." Brian muttered in his mic, but people still heard him.
The fans started screaming once again while a majority of them nodded their heads.
"Can we stop talking about my sister and wet people because of her? Thank you." Jack shook his head.
This only made Emma more embarrassed so she hid her red face behind her hands.
Lizzie was enjoying the bickering way more than she should've. What made it even better was the fact that Emma looked at her once or twice throughout the conversation, but Lizzie only smirked at her.
She likes to think that those smirks got Emma even redder in the face.
"Okay, okay. Subject change. We want to sing a cover next." Emma said after she took a deep breath and let her hands down. "Hope that's okay with you." When she received nods from everyone, she turned to Jake and made the signal that indicates he could start the song.
"I've followed my heart into the fire. Got burned, got broken down by desire. I've tried, I've tried but the smoke in my eyes. Left me blurry, blurry, and blind." Emma started singing on the only beat provided by the drums.
Lizzie turned to Scar and started laughing.
"I can't believe this." Scar muttered with a smile playing on her lips.
"I've picked all the pieces up off the ground. I've burned all my fingers, but that's gone now. Got the glue in my hands and stickin' to the plan. Stickin' to the plan that says." Emma sang while she and the rest of her bandmates started strumming their guitars.
After that, they let it softly again.
"I can do anything at all. I can do anything at all." Emma sang alone.
Emma got a better hold on the guitar and prepared for the chorus.
"This is my kiss goodbye. You can stand alone and watch me fly. 'Cause nothing's keeping me down. Gonna let it all up. Come on and say right now, right now, right now. This is my big hello. 'Cause I'm here and never letting go. I can finally see, it's not just a dream. When you set it all free, all free, all free." She took in the crowd singing this as well.
"You set it all free. (ho-ho-ho-ho, ho-ho, ho, ho-ho-ho-ho). Ho-ho-ho-ho, ho-ho, ho, ho-ho-ho-ho. Ho-ho-ho-ho, ho-ho, ho, ho-ho-ho-ho." Emma sang alongside her friends.
Unknowingly to Emma, the owner of the song was in the public and she was currently singing her heart out to the song.
"I was a girl caught under your thumb. But my stars gonna shine brighter than your sun. And I will reach so high, shoot so far. Gonna hit, gonna hit, hit every target." Emma sang while making eye contact with the blonde that got her so hooked.
As the first time, they slowed down for the next part.
"Make it count this time. I will make it count this time." Emma sang alongside the crowd.
"This is my kiss goodbye. You can stand alone and watch me fly. 'Cause nothing's keepin' me down. I'm gonna let it all up. Come on and say right now, right now, right now. This is my big hello. 'Cause I'm here and never letting go. I can finally see, it's not just a dream. When you set it all free, all free, all free." Everybody was singing this at this point.
"You set it all free (ho-ho-ho-ho, ho-ho, ho, ho-ho-ho-ho). You set it all free (ho-ho-ho-ho, ho-ho, ho, ho-ho-ho-ho). You set it all free (ho-ho-ho-ho, ho-ho, ho, ho-ho-ho-ho)" While she was singing the lyrics, her bandmates were doing the harmonies in the back.
Emma broke eye contact with Lizzie and concentrated on her guitar 'cause this part was harder than the rest of the song.
She was giving everything she had for the solo of the guitar while she could feel her brother doing the same thing for the solo on the drums. She had a secure hand on the handle and she hunched a bit so she could play it better.
When she finally played all the notes, she let go of the guitar and turned back to the mic putting one of her hands on top of the stand.
"This is my kiss goodbye. You can stand alone and watch me fly. 'Cause nothing's keeping me down. I'm gonna let it all out." She sang the part breathlessly without any instruments before she took a hold of the guitar and prepared for another round. "Come on and say right now, right now, right now." Her bandmates started playing their instruments again. "This is my big hello. 'Cause I'm here and never letting go. I can finally see, it's not just a dream. When you set it all free, all free, all free." Emma continued to push through even though she wanted a break. This song was very challenging.
"You set it all free (ho-ho-ho-ho, ho-ho, ho, ho-ho-ho-ho). You set it all free (ho-ho-ho-ho, ho-ho, ho, ho-ho-ho-ho). You set it all free (ho-ho-ho-ho, ho-ho, ho, ho-ho-ho-ho)." She turned the mic towards the public and let them sing the last part alongside her bandmates, while she was still playing the guitar. After a few more moments, she turned it back again and prepared for the final part. "You set it all free. You set it all free."
She turned around and saw her brother hunched over to catch his breath. As she said, this was a challenging song for both guitarist and drummer.
Emma leaned over to take the water bottle once again, but she stopped when she saw that two of her buttons came undone offering a bit more view into her cleavage. Nothing major though, so she didn't freak out while her hands went to do the buttons.
The public let out a whine which made her furrow her eyebrow at them amused.
"You were not supposed to see that." She said into the mic. When she received a bunch of complaints, she continued. "Sheesh guys, take me out to dinner first before you get to see all the goods." Emma winked.
She might have looked at Lizzie while saying the last part, but she would deny it if anyone were to point that out.
Of course, it made Lizzie blush.
The crowd as expected went wild.
"At this point, I'm starting to think that people only come to our concerts to see Emma." Brian wondered out loud.
I mean, he's not wrong. Lizzie thought.
"You guys know that we have the same genes, right?" Jake stood up with his microphone and went to stand next to his sister.
Only now could Lizzie see the resemblance.
"We are twins in case any of you forgot." He joked.
"You are just salty that I can pull more girls than you." Emma said cheekily making everyone laugh.
"Well, unlike you, I'm already in a long-lasting relationship." He shoots back.
"Low blow brother, low blow." Emma said while shaking her head.
"Not my fault that." But Emma interrupted him by putting her hand on his mouth.
"Don't you dare finish that sentence," Emma warned him.
He raised his hands defensively and took a step back. Emma started walking to the drums while making the iconic 'I'm watching you' move with her fingers.
"Anyway. As the last song, we decided to play something soft and relaxing since the last one was pretty intense." Jake explained. "So if you guys don't mind, I'll be the one to sing it."
As expected the fans started screaming since it's not usual to see Jake in front of the stage, singing.
Brian is the first to start playing. He is soon followed by Emma, now sitting at the drums.
She was very grateful that their parents taught both of them to play the same amount of instruments, so in situations like this, she could switch with her brother pretty easily.
But times like this are pretty rare considering Jake prefers to play the drums instead of being out front.
Thankfully, the song is pretty chill so Emma just dances to the song while playing the drums.
"I been away, but now I feel you, yeah. Wonder what made you feel like I could be the one, oh ah. Lately, it's been me, I pissed you off. I let you in my feelings, you really feel, yeah. Uh-huh, sayin'." Jake sang softly.
Compared to Emma, his voice was more chill and relax, not as raspy.
"You been high, I get that. I been at the kickback. Nothing will content me. Doesn't matter." Jake was dancing while singing. "I thought you came from nothin'. Trade, I'll ask my cousin. You should like my sister. Doesn't matter, ah."
Lizzie didn't mean to be disrespectful towards Jake but she completely zoned out on his singing. She was focused on Emma and the way she was playing the drums so casually. She was moving her body from side to side while not missing a bit.
"I like his voice." Scar said to her, but it fell on deaf ears.
Suddenly, Emma turned her head and made eye contact with Lizzie. The blonde gave her a soft smile which was returned by the singer.
Emma pointed her head to the side and looked for her reaction. Lizzie turned her head to where Emma was telling her to look and she saw a door.
She wants to meet. Lizzie realizes.
So she turns her attention back to Emma and nods her head. This gesture made Emma brighten up and act all excited, like a puppy when you mention going outside.
Lizzie let out a soft giggle at the comparison made inside of her head.
"Thank you so much guys for being here with us tonight! We are Freemium and we hope you liked the show!" Jake said before bowing to the crowd.
All of them thanked the crowd before going backstage.
"You coming, Lizzie?" Scar asked after she realized the blonde was not making a move to get up.
"Yeah, but I need to look for a bathroom. You go ahead of me." Lizzie explained.
"Okay, we are all meeting at Chris's apartment. See you there, you know, after you are done." Scar smirked and winked at her friend.
I guess our staring wasn't as subtle as we thought. Lizzie thought with a deep blush on her cheeks.
Lizzie waited a bit more for the room to empty and when she saw that the rows behind were were almost clear, she ran toward the door Emma pointed at earlier.
"Oh, easy." A voice said as soon as she ran into the room.
Lizzie looked up and saw Emma looking at her with a smile.
"Hi!" Emma said.
"Hi!" Lizzie replied with a small blush on her face.
"I'm Emma." The singer said even though she knew that the blonde in front of her already knew her name.
"I'm Lizzie. Nice to meet you, Emma."
"Nice to meet you too, dear Lizzie. Did you enjoy the show?" Emma asked curiously while taking a closer step toward her.
"Yeah. It was awesome. I enjoyed watching you though." Lizzie blurted out.
"Yeah, I could tell." Emma giggled. "I enjoyed the attention that I received from you. And it's fair to say that I enjoyed looking at you too."
This made Lizzie smile.
"Tell me about yourself. Are you free now, by the way? I don't want to keep you if you are busy." Emma rushed out.
"I'm free yes. Freemium." Lizzie made the joke that made Emma laugh so hard, her head leaned backward before she recovered.
"Good one. You are funny, I'll remember that." Emma said after she caught her breath.
"Do you want to get out of here?" Lizzie suddenly asked.
"And where would you want to go, dear?" Emma asked while taking another step forward.
"To a quiet cafe or something like that." Lizzie shrugged.
"I would love nothing more." Emma nodded. "Only if I get to know you better, though." She joked.
"Of course, as long as I can get to know you better." Lizzie winked.
"Lead the way then." Emma chuckled.
After a while, Jake turned to Leah with his hand open.
"She's not coming back. Hand me the money." He says confidently.
"No, no. What makes you think that this won't be just a hookup?" Leah asked while crossing her hands.
"I have a feeling that it would be something that'll last." He says with a big smile on his face.
"Why are you so sure?" Brian asked this time.
"Twin-telepathy." He smirked.
I had fun writing this one, not going to lie. I was vibing to the music and letting the chapter go with the flow. I hope you liked it too!
The songs are Figure You Out - VOILÀ. Set It All Free - Scarlett Johansson. And, Kickback - Omar Apollo.
I love Scarlett's song so much, this is not the last time you'll see me using it for a chapter.
Since I couldn't update last week, you got 2 chapters this week. I'll see how the weekend plays out and if I can write another one or not.
I really hoped this came out as my mind saw it, 'cause I often have ideas but I don't know if my writing can portray them as my brain sees them. I hope it made sense for you as it did for me.
Nobody asked, but I already handled one exam with an awesome grade. I hope the others would be just as good as this one. But that won't be for another 2 weeks.
Anyway, see you guys on the next one! Take care of yourself and remember, if you want to talk with someone, you can always dm me. I'm here if any of you needs it.