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The crowd was going wild. Lights flashed, smoke rolled across the stage, and the beat of the music was intense enough to restart hearts. Screams and proclamations of love could be heard as the band bounded out onto the stage.
Jack felt his chest go tight and excitement tingle along his skin. Butterflies filled the space in his stomach as he looked up. Never, not even in his wildest dreams, did he think he’d be this close to Danny Sexbang. A part of him wanted to explode with joy and shout alongside the rest of the audience.
The other part wanted to curl in on himself and hide away. The first time he’d left his apartment, and it was for something so grand . What if he messed up somehow?
His worries took the back burner when Danny spoke into the microphone.
“What’s up, LA? How’re you all doing tonight?”
Against all laws of nature, everyone screamed even louder than before. Jack simply beamed. If he opened his mouth, the whole room would probably go deaf.
“Awesome! Now how about we lay some tasty jams down for you all, huh?”
In the next instant a familiar melody began to play, and Jack found himself singing along to every word. If he had the room to dance, he would’ve. Instead, he bobbed his head to the beat, no longer worried about making a fool of himself.
After several songs, the stage grew dark. Only a single light on Danny remained, illuminating his serious look.
“For this next song,” he spoke softly into the microphone, “I will need one of you sexy people to stand up here and look pretty for me. Think you can do that?”
Hands immediately shot up into the air as a chorus of pick me rang out. Jack swallowed thickly and took a look at the people around him. Which one would be the lucky one?
Danny brought a hand up to block the light as he scanned the crowd. “Let’s see here… Fuck, there are too many people to choose from!”
Jack chose that exact moment to glance at Danny. Much to his shock, Danny was looking right at him.
“You!” he announced, pointing right at him. “The young man right there with the awesome green hair! Come on up!”
“Oh no,” Jack mumbled, words drowned out by the roar around him. People beside him moved away, allowing for more visibility. Not exactly what he wanted.
“C’mon,” Danny insisted, a hand outstretched and a pleasant smile on his face. “No need to be shy.”
Well, shit. As much as he wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere, he couldn’t let this opportunity pass. So he grabbed onto Danny’s hand- surprisingly soft, in hindsight- and let himself be pulled up onto the stage.
“So,” Danny said, spinning him towards the audience and putting an arm around his shoulders, “what’s your name?”
Every inch of Jack’s body that Dan touched felt hot. The light above was almost blinding . And standing up in front of hundreds of people was an experience he wanted to transfer from the Bucket List to the Fuck It List.
“Er…” He blinked several times, hoping that no one could tell how red he was getting. “M’name is Jack.”
Danny’s eyes lit up with interest. “Bit of an accent you got there. Where you from?”
“Ireland,” Jack answered quickly. “I, uh... I recently moved out here.”
“Awesome! Let’s give this Irish clover a warm, American welcome!” Danny turned his attention to the side. “Ninja Brian, lead us off, would you?”
Jack took a peek past him. His blood ran cold. Was Ninja Brian glaring at him? Or at Danny? Was that real hatred? Or was he just that good at acting?
“Seriously, Brian?” Danny deadpanned. “You’re gonna be like that right now?”
Ninja Brian flipped him the bird in response, then began working at the piano. A soft, smooth melody played out. Jack recognized it immediately.
“You know,” Danny said, releasing him, “I’m really glad you could join me up here. Now relax and let my voice lead you on a sensuous journey.”
If he really expected Jack to do that, he had another thing coming. And Jack almost told him that, but was cut of by his singing.
“The times we’ve had.” As Danny stepped forward, more lights came on, all a soft pink. “The times we’ve missed. The times we’ve embraced-” he turned back to Jack with a sultry look- “and the times we’ve kissed.”
No doubt Jack’s whole head was on fire at that point. If only he could look away and save some semblance of dignity, but something about the whole situation hypnotized him. He remained still, watching as Danny moved closer.
“The times we’ve loved, and the times we’ve laughed.” His expression fell somewhere between sexy and silly. “Now it’s time… To accept my shaft.”
Jack brought his hands up to his mouth, trying his damn best to hide a cheesy grin. To think he half expected, well… Something else.
As the song continued, Jack found himself relaxing a bit more. Really, it wasn’t much different than listening on his phone. It was just in person. On stage. In front of a large crowd. And he could see every little expression that flitted across Danny’s face. The love and sheer devotion he poured into the song, as if he was actually singing this to Jack. For Jack.
Okay, so it was very different. No need to get worked up.
After the final notes drifted off, Danny pulled Jack to his side once more and said to the audience, “Show my clover here some love, LA!”
They whooped and hollered- even threw out compliments. It almost had him rethinking the whole never-get-on-stage-ever-again thing. In the midst of all the noise, a puff of warm breath ghosted over his ear, nearly making him jump out of his skin.
“Meet me out back after the show’s over.”
He could only nod, too dumbstruck to properly respond. His body then went on auto-pilot, hopping offstage and standing in his place once more. The people around him gave friendly pats on the back and words of encouragement.
Time flew by in a daze. Jack couldn’t keep his gaze up for too long without meeting Danny’s eyes, so he spent most of his time either staring down at the ground or risking glances at Ninja Brian.
Finally, it came to an end.
“Holy shit!” Danny grinned, all flushed with curls sticking to his sweaty forehead. “That was awesome! Thank you all for coming out tonight! You guys are seriously the best!” He looked down, directly at Jack no less, and winked. “I’ll see you again soon! Goodnight!”
All the commotion died as the band left. Finally, Jack could think. But did he really want to? No, not at all. Because he had a decision. To go meet Danny, or not. And that was considering the proposal was completely serious in the first place. It could’ve been just some flirtatious joke. That would be in character. Right?
...See, that’s why thinking was awful.
There wouldn’t be harm in scoping it out. So he filed out with everyone else, branching off to head behind the building. The lot looked barren, save for a few die-hard fans chattering among themselves.
Jack took a spot at the back of the group. His hands shook as he pulled out his phone and opened up a game. His cats seemed to be doing well. They needed food, though.
A small commotion drew his attention. Hushed whispers, all heads turned to an out-of-costume Brian approaching them.
“Hey, guys,” Brian greeted cheerfully. “I’m sorry to say, but Danny’s staying inside. He’s a bit-”
“Hold on!”
Jack’s heart skipped a beat as Danny ran out, stopping right next to Brian with a casual smile. The whispers grew louder, spurned on by his sudden appearance.
“I can always spare a couple minutes for the fans,” Danny said, very clearly searching the group. He stopped dead on Jack. The way his expression instantly brightened spoke more for him than anything.
“Alright, Danny,” Brian said, smirking. “They’re all yours.”
Questions bombarded him, right on cue. To his credit, he answered every single one, fully invested in his fans. When he’d get stuck, Brian would chime in, providing some much-needed relief.
Every so often, Jack would catch Danny staring at him. Like, really staring. Kind of like a puppy. A giant, shaggy puppy. Adorable. But also strange, considering the circumstances. It really should’ve been the other way around.
Once the impromptu Q and A session was over, the gathering of people left, leaving Jack all by himself to face his two biggest idols.
Before he could even open his mouth to speak, Brian stepped forward. Something about the way he looked- arms crossed and a hard frown- sent off major protective dad vibes.
It was honestly a little ridiculous. So Jack ran with it.
“Didn’t think I was gonna hafta fight ta prove myself worthy,” he said, unzipping his jacket. “But if that’s what it takes…” After shrugging it off, revealing just how scrawny and twig-like he really was, he took up a stance worthy of a bad kung-fu movie. “I’ll kick yer ass inta next week!”
Brian raised a single brow. “You sure know how to pick the odd ones, Danny.”
Danny snorted with barely contained laughter. “Woah, this is totally different from how you acted on stage.”
Jack’s cheeks grew hot, and he slipped out of his stance. “That’s why ya don’t judge a book by its cover, Danny-boy,” he chided, slowly wagging a finger at him. “I’ve got more energy than you know!”
“He sure is spirited,” Brian commented. A thoughtful look passed over his face, before turning into something soft. “Should be good for you.”
Danny gave him a certain kind of look that definitely meant something, but Jack couldn’t decipher it for the life of him. And the way Brian’s lips only quirked up made him really confused.
“Guess I’ll just go back inside,” Brian said coyly. “Have fun you two.”
Fading footsteps and the soft chirping of crickets filled the air. Jack took the opportunity to grab his jacket and pull it back on.
Silence persisted. Was Danny waiting for him to say something? How should he start? Was his mouth even gonna work for him? Or was he just going to make a bigger fool of himself?
“Hey, uh,” Danny said, then cleared his throat. “Um, shit… Just so you know, you can call me ‘Dan’, if you want. Most everyone does.”
Dan. That sounded right for some reason.
“Er, okay. So, Dan.” It rolled off his tongue a lot better too. “Why’d ya wanna meet me out here?”
“Oh, right.” Dan blushed, but managed to keep an easygoing expression. “I just thought you were really cute, and I wanted to talk to you.”
That couldn’t be true. Cute was long brown curls that bounced with every turn of the head. Warm, hazel eyes that reminded Jack of a springtime forest. A smile that was all white teeth and radiating joy.
Cute wasn’t a short, green-haired Irish punk that had a voice more shrill than a kid going through puberty.
“Okay,” he simply responded. “What do you want to talk about?”
“You,” came the surprisingly honest reply.
Suddenly it grew very hard for him to speak. “Well, I mean… Um…” He cleared his throat and let his mouth run without consulting his brain. “I’m from Ireland.”
Dan laughed. “You told me that on stage. And you just moved here, right?”
“Yup.” His stomach lurched, but he had to power through. “Got my own place and everything. I’m still a bit nervous, though.”
“Oh yeah?” Dan asked, tilting his head. “It can be a bit much, making a change like that.”
Jack let out a deep sigh.“You know it. LA’s nothin’ like home at all.”
A brief moment passed where neither of them said anything. There was no awkwardness this time around, much to Jack’s relief. Just an overhanging air of melancholy.
“You know what I do when I miss home?” Dan asked quietly, head turned upwards.“I look at the sky and I think to myself, ‘Hey, this is the same sky my family’s looking at. So they can’t be that far away.’” His gaze slowly trailed down, locking with Jack’s. “Wanna try?”
Wouldn’t hurt, Jack figured. So he nodded.
Dan stepped to his side and put his arm around his shoulders. For a moment, they were on stage again, light shining down and the crowd all in front, cheering. That memory faded into the night. It wasn’t Danny Sexbang and some random audience member anymore.
It was Dan, Jack, and the millions of stars above. They couldn’t be seen as well as they could from Ireland, but they were still there.
“Wow,” Jack breathed out. “This actually works!”
“Told you.” Dan sounded smug, and rightfully so. “It’s even better if you call your family as soon as possible, too. But that’s optional.”
“I’ll give me mum a call later. She’d like that.”
“I bet she would.” Dan’s voice trailed off thoughtfully. “By the way, there’s another reason I wanted to talk to you.”
Jack hummed, still entranced by the sky. “What is it?”
“When I looked out into the audience,” Dan explained, tightening his hold on Jack just a bit. “Everyone I saw had someone else. A friend, a group, a lover.” He paused, as if carefully considering his next choice of words. “Everyone except you. And it just baffled me, because who goes to a concert alone?”
“A recently moved shut-in with no friends,” Jack quipped. It was especially funny because it was one-hundred percent true.
“No friends?” Dan clicked his tongue. “Nah, man. You’ve got at least one. Two if Brian’s having a good day.”
Those words didn’t register in Jack’s head until he thought them over at least three times. It was like a punch to the gut. A good one that made him feel both winded and all fuzzy inside.
“If you want,” Dan continued, his tone hopeful, “I could maybe show you around town tomorrow, clover.” His face twisted into a grimace. “Sorry, I mean Jack . I’ve got a bad habit of giving people nicknames.”
“I don’t mind.” Jack smiled, hooking his arm around Dan’s waist. “And I’d love that. Just be prepared, ‘cause I’m gonna be chock full of energy tomorrow!”
“Wouldn’t hope for any different,” Dan said warmly.