Prompt: AU where they're in a band, but Marco gets stage fright before their first big show and Jean gets to encourage him and say how super talented he is and the crowd will love him and his adorable-ness?
His bass was perfectly tuned, polished, shiny, ready for the show. Jean had made him some hot tea to sooth his throat, and it left him feeling warm and loose. He'd practiced all of the songs, knew them inside and out, could play them backwards and sing them in at least two different languages. And yet his heart was hammering in his chest, fluttering like twenty birds shoved into one cage and trying to escape. Practicing in Eren's garage was a lot different than playing in front of a huge crowd.
So, maybe the local club wasn't exactly a huge venue, but it was a venue, with a crowd, and god, Marco was absolutely petrified. He couldn't understand how Eren was simply munching away on some hot Cheetos, Armin chancing one every few minutes, drinking from a bottle of water after every bite. And Jean, currently on his acoustic, just strumming away, humming softly to himself. How could they do that?
Marco tried to tell himself to calm down, that everything was going to be fine, that the set would be great. He reached for what was left of the tea, miscalculating how much remained. He thought it was a small enough amount that he could take it all in one drink, but he was mistaken, and the tea messily dribbled down his shirt, leaving dark patches. After quickly glancing around to make sure no one had seen his embarrassing display, Marco got up and scurried to the small bathroom, trying to dab the stains out of his shirt, to no avail. It brought a frown to his face; He wasn't going for the 'sloppy rocker' look. A creaky door startled him, and his head whipped around, eyes landing on a familiar face.
"Marco, what are you doing?" Jean asked, walking over to the sink and glancing at the damage Marco had done. He rolled his eyes, holding his arm out. A new shirt was draped over it, one of Jean's, but it didn't matter, it was better than a stained one. Marco quickly switched, tossing his original shirt into the sink while he pulled the new one over his head.
"Thank you, Jean." He said quietly, offering a small smile. He tried to make it look casual, normal, but it shook a bit, giving away his nervousness.
"Hey, calm down. You've played for an audience before." Jean pointed out, heading back to the backstage area, Marco following behind.
"Y-Yeah, but it was just at your Halloween party! That hardly even counts! And they were all drunk!" Marco replied, wringing his fingers together.
"Dude, we're at a club, do you think anyone is sober?" Jean wondered, opening the door and leading the way inside. Eren and Armin each offered quick acknowledgments before returning to their respective instruments. Marco realised that it must be getting close to time, since they were both fine tuning. He glanced toward his bass, knowing it was already tuned, but wondering if he should check again anyway. But before he had a chance, Jean led him over to a chair, sitting down opposite him.
"Alright babe, come on, talk to me. What's eating you up?" He demanded, and Marco swallowed harshly. He thought about it a moment before offering an answer.
"I just... What if I mess up? It wouldn't be such a disaster on the bass, but since I'm singing too... And what if I forget the words? That's happened before, you know. Remember? And I just kind of made awkward noises into the mic for a whole minute? What if I do that again? This is our big chance, and if I mess it up... God, I don't know if I could live with myself if I screwed this up for all of you!" He gushed, his fingers tangling up in his shirt as he spoke. Jean reached over, removing his hands from the shirt and setting them to rest in his lap instead.
"Breathe Marco." He commanded, not releasing the wrists he'd grabbed. Marco did as he was told, inhaling deeply and letting it out slowly. "You get so stupid when you get nervous." Jean mused, rubbing circles absently against the clammy skin. Marco looked up at him, his expression so pathetic that even Jean couldn't help but sputter. "S-Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I just... I hate seeing you so insecure. I know I've told you too many times, but you're so fucking talented. Do you even realise that this band wouldn't even exist without you? Even if one of us had come up with the idea, I would have killed Jaeger before we could even write the first note." He joked, managing to get Marco's lips tugging up in to a faint smile. He was only half-joking, but his boyfriend didn't need to know that.
"Not to mention how much relies on you. Do you think any of us could write music without you? You know your way around melodies and our instruments better than we do. And your lyrics? You could have been a poet." He continued. Marco's cheeks began reddening at the compliments, though he opted to let Jean finish his little speech. It was rare that the younger male expressed himself verbally, so it was something he never interrupted. "And yeah, you messed up that one time, but no one really cared. Your little noises were freaking adorable." He pointed out. Marco rolled his eyes.
"I think you're the only who thought so, but thanks." He snarked, accepting a small kiss to his cheek. Jean pulled back to look at him fully, just staring for a while, counting freckles on flushed cheeks.
"They're going to love you, you seriously have nothing to worry about. And if they don't love you, I'll kick their sorry, tasteless asses. So just calm down. You're going to be great." Jean promised, leaning in for a real kiss. Marco couldn't help but smile into the affection, returning the kiss, albeit a little shakily.
"Sorry Jean, I didn't mean to freak out. But I'm still nervous." He admitted, and Jean pursed his lips. He thought for a moment, then pulled back, reaching for his acoustic. Marco watched as he strummed a few random notes to make sure it was in tune, then he began playing a soft melody. It was familiar, though Marco knew it wasn't one of theirs. After wracking his brain for few seconds, he remembered the words, and began singing along.
...How easy it would be to show me how you feel
More than words is all you have to do to make it real
Then you wouldn't have to say that you love me
Cause I'd already know
What would you do if my heart was torn in two
More than words to show you feel that your love for me is real
What would you say if I took those words away
Then you couldn't make things new just by saying 'I love you'
More than words...
"You know, I think this was the song you were playing when I decided we should make a band." Marco recalled. Jean continued to play despite Marco not singing.
"Yeah? It's one of my favorites. It kind of suits me, since I'm bad at putting shit in words." He mused, letting his melody trail off. Marco laughed, leaning forward and pressing his forehead to Jean's.
"Believe me, I know. But thank you Jean, I feel a lot better now." He admitted, noting the way his heart had slowed to match the pace of the song, slow and languid. He was glad for Jean's presence, pushing the guitar out of the way so he could straddle the other boy's lap. Jean put his instrument down, using his hands to grab at bony hips instead. But Marco stole one of the hands, bringing it to his chest and pressing it to the spot where his heart beat strongest. He wanted to show that he was telling the truth about his waning nervousness.
"Ah, good." Jean remarked, but his lips curled into a smirk, his hand sliding back down to the other teen's hip again, leaning in close enough that his breath fell against his ear. "But let's see if I can't get it racing again." He rasped, Marco's face immediately going red. He had no chance to prepare himself when Jean's lips crashed against his own, the hands on his hips the only thing steadying him and keeping him from toppling over backwards.
"J-Jean!" He gasped when he was allowed a moment to breathe, looking at the other scathingly. The one in question paid him no mind at all though, diving back in for another kiss. Marco didn't have the heart to deny him it either, so he decided instead to indulge. It was his first big show, why not? His head was spinning before he could even think of the other two boys in the room, but they didn't miss the makeout session in the corner.
"Jesus, get a room you homos!" Eren yelled, unnecessarily, for there was no one else in the room, and it was not noisy inside. Marco yelped, but Jean wouldn't let him go, flashing the bird in Eren's direction, and pulling away just long enough to retort.
"Like you can even talk, Jaeger. How'd Armin like that Cheetos kiss?" He wondered, Eren sputtering in indignation. Marco could practically feel the tension rising, but had no idea how to quell the argument. Thankfully, Armin took care of that.
"That's enough you two, it's time to go to the stage. We've only got twenty minutes before we start, and we still have to set up." He announced, already unhooking his keyboard so he could cart it out to the stage. Marco breathed a sigh of relief as Eren backed off with naught but a little grumbling, helping his boyfriend carry the instrument out of the room. He watched them go, then turned back to Jean, who was still looking a little miffed.
"Hey, come on, we should help too. Eren can't get those drums moving by himself." Marco suggested, stealing a couple more kisses before extracting himself from the other's lap. Jean's spirits seemed to lift from the affection, and he stood, grabbing his electric and some cords, waiting for Marco to fill his hands as well. They both left the room, passing Eren and Armin on their way back, promising to help with the drum set upon their return. They had to go through a door to get to the wings of the stage, and Jean politely held it open while Marco scurried through, putting his bass down and then taking a moment to peek out at the crowd. His stomach dropped when he saw the size. It was a lot more people than he had anticipated, and his nerves were lighting all over again.
Jean noticed the way the taller male's frame had frozen, looking very stiff, and frowned, coming to stand next to him. He glanced out to the crowd as well, pleased with the turnout. But he had other things to attend to at the moment.
"Marco, you're freaking out again." He pointed out. Marco snapped his head to look in Jean's direction.
"N-No I'm not. I'm just... Uh... L-Looking to see if anyone we know came..." He mumbled, knowing that Jean didn't believe a word of it.
"Uh-huh. We just talked about this. It's going to be fine. Great! So just chill out." He commanded, grabbing for the older teen's hand. Marco forced himself to breathe again, trying a smile. "And hey, if all else fails, imagine them naked." Jean suggested, earning a snort and some muffled laughter from the other. "Seriously, I know you can do it. Just believe in yourself a little." He finished, pulling the taller behind him as they headed back to the room they'd been staying in.
Marco couldn't think of what to say. He had very little self confidence, if he was being honest. He was pretty outgoing, sure, but he still worried what people thought of him. And he had the tendency to crack under pressure. So something as important as this? It was terrifying. He wished he could share Jean's feelings on the matter, but he simply couldn't. He was brought back by Jean's voice again.
"And if you can't, just remember that I do."
And Marco's heart fluttered, but for completely different reasons. And when they walked onto the stage seventeen minutes later, he didn't forget the lyrics, and he remembered to strum, and the audience screamed for an encore, and some shady looking guy in a fedora gave him his card. Armin and Eren bought them all a round, and Jean managed to get along well enough with Eren that no furniture was broken. And, when they finally called it a night and piled into the van to head home, Jean leaned over and gave him a kiss.
"I told you, you did great." He mumbled, putting the van in gear and heading home. "But, uh, next time you might want to keep your shirt on." He added quietly. Marco raised a brow, looking over at his boyfriend.
"Why's that?" He wondered. It took Jean a long time to respond.
"You made me nervous."
A/N: First prompt fill of the week! I'm going to use this one as my theme fill for the day too! I almost didn't make it, 12 is looming ever closer! I had to work today though, and unfortunately I must put work before prompt fills. But I just made it, so woot woot. Let JeanMarco week commence! This one was, thankfully, pretty sweet, nothing sad here. But I'm sure there are sad things to come. (Freckled Jesus, save my soul.)
So, I have my reasons for everyone's instruments. Marco is a pretty laid back guy, probably wouldn't like to dominate the music, so I felt the bass just kind of suited him. Armin strikes me as the type to have taken piano lessons from a young age, and kind of rebelling when he got bored with Chopin. Jean likes to be the center of attention, likes to show off, thus guitar. And Eren is aggressive as fuck, hence the drums.
Anyway, prompts are open for JeanMarco week. But I can do them here too, if anyone is interested. Just leave the prompt as a review, or you can PM me with it, and I'll fill it. Please specify if you want it to be NSFW or not. If you don't mention it, I'll assume that it's supposed to be PG-13. Those are pretty much my only rules, I'm up for anything, don't be scared to ask! Happy JeanMarco week, my equally emotionally wrecked friends. Hope to see you soon!
