A/N: This is my first fanfic. So please take it easy on me. I liked the idea of having an Emily/Maxxie friendship fic when I read The Potential To Explode by abc-mno. They first caught my eye when they were briefly hinted in Coin Laundry. So here, I'm venturing into what could be a great friendship. Please leave a review. Much appreciated :p

CHAPTER 1

How bad does it look for a band when their number one fan has stopped paying for concert tickets? Well she didn't pay, I guess. She was still there though. I have to admit, I started looking for her among the crowd of adoring fans. Ha I'm talking like a "rock star" more and more everyday. Tony did say that it will get to me one day and I'm going to finally kick it up and stop being a "funsponge." I seriously don't know where he got that, but I guess we just have to be thankful for that. It is because of his clever, witty words that make our songs quite catchy. Hmm…that girl…I wonder where she is…

I suppose I should properly introduce myself. My name is Maxxie Oliver, "The MAXXster"—according to my FaceBook page and Twitter account, and I was born and raised in Bristol. I grew up with my bandmates and closest friends. I had the time of my life growing up in a quiet sleepy town like Bristol—even if it is dubbed as the "house-party capital of Britain." I am openly gay, and damn proud of that. Tony loves milking that fact too. He does not miss a chance to snap a provocative picture of me and post it up on the site, immediately earning thousands or maybe millions of hits, and of course a few more fans jumping in the wagon. It's kind of a dirty scheme, but hey it works. Any publicity is good publicity…right? Well anyway more stuff about me: I play bass guitar for the band. I also play acoustic and keyboard, but that's just for me, a form of relaxation. I never considered myself a "rock star." I mean sure I've played in a couple of stadiums and everyone screams my name, but nah never felt that I'm actually a rock star before. So I think I'm more grounded than my band mates. And that's what makes me different.

Now it's time for you to meet my band. First up is our charming front man, guitarist, and lyricist. His name's Tony Stonem. He's not really the nicest person around. Well he could be a proper dickhead sometimes. But sometimes I think that's how he reels people in, and usually it works. He's a bit like Brandon Flowers from the Killers (one of my favorite bands, but keep that a secret) in my opinion, except he would hate it if he knew I said that. So that could also be our little secret, alright? Good. Okay, and then there's Chris Miles, our perpetually drugged up drummer. He's always on something so it's good for us because he just channels his drug-induced energy into his sick drumming. He's toned the drugs down a bit though, thanks to his girlfriend Jal—also one of our childhood buddies, but he still keeps the drumming very tight. My best bud Anwar plays the lead guitar for us. Although honestly, he's not really the best at it and he could work on tightening his skills a bit. I think he's the weak link in the band. Sid sometimes joins us on stage and plays the guitar, too. He could relieve Anwar from some heavy riffs that he couldn't really get. But if he isn't on stage with us, he's backstage handling everything else. I'd like to call him our band manager, out of respect. Tony calls him a roadie. But we work. Yeah, we're all good together.

Okay back to that fan I was talking about earlier. Well the first time I really saw her was when we did an underground club gig for Tony's friend's club opening. We were becoming a pretty known name throughout Britain so we decided we needed to play a small set in our hometown before heading out on tour. Well the boys couldn't wait for the tour so right after the gig, they headed out to the hotel near the airport. I wasn't ready to leave yet so I decided to hang around the club after. It was a decent scene, good location, good vibe, lots of fit boys around.

Well I was coming out of the loo when this small, beautiful young lady came out of the ladies' room, she was obviously crying. Her mascara was running and her eyes were red and puffy. I asked her what was wrong and when she looked at me, I swear her eyes almost bugged out of her head. It was the cutest thing ever. Her eyes are a beautiful shade of cocoa brown and it just screamed sincerity. Her hair was a dazzling shade of cherry red, but it betrayingly hid her beautiful eyes. She started sobbing harder so I put my arm around her and lead her to the bar. I ordered her a drink as an attempt to calm her down. After she stopped crying, she shyly looked up at me and whispered, "I missed your set." My heart just sank for this adorable little sweetheart. I just also noticed that she was wearing a homemade Aimless College shirt (that's our band name, by the way. Not my idea, I promise). That was waaay too sweet.

I pulled her into a hug and whispered in her ear, "Meet me in the bathroom in a sec." She grew wide-eyed and turned beet red. It seems like her breath was caught in her chest. I winked at her as I got up and headed out. I turned back for a sec and called out to her, "Just trust me. I'll see you in there, yeah?" She just nodded frantically and headed for the restrooms.

I walked out to the van where the boys left all our gear in, they thought I needed a ride home. Guess they didn't think I'd be drinking tonight. Always leave it to those guys to underestimate me. Well anyway, I grabbed my acoustic from the back and started to head back. I was nervous, to be honest. I never played on my own in front of anybody, well besides my dog Taz. Hmm I miss Taz…

Alright, so I march back into the club, heading straight to the bathroom. I knocked on the door slowly and hear that quiet voice stutter out "y-yes?"

"It's me. Let me in."

"…Okay."

The door clicks open. I grab the handle and look around before I enter, just to make sure no one saw. Everyone was too busy dancing to their own boom boom to notice. Good.

I head inside to find my little redhead nervously fidgeting with her cuffs in the side, looks nervously up at me and gives me a mousy little smile. It was utterly adorable.

Noticing that she's nervously glancing to the other side of the room, I follow her gaze to see another girl leaning on the wall, smoking a fag. The girl's long, flowing brunette hair cascades over her face and her smoky eyes. She brushes her hair away from her face and I could see her completely now, and it hits me.

"Effy? Tony's sister, right?"

"Hello, Maxxie."

I was surprised to see her there. I thought she went away with her mother after Tony left home. She never used to speak, so the sound of her voice shocked me a bit. I could sense a hint of Tony's type of mischief in her voice. I turn back to the small girl perched on the other side of the room.

"Because you missed the last set we're doing here before we leave for the tour, and because I can see that you truly love our band, this is me showing you that we love you back. I'm going to give you a special show. "

She swallows hard once I said that. I laugh heartily at what she might be thinking. I quickly tap my guitar case and wink at her. A wide grin breaks on her face and I swear I could see tears forming in her eyes.

"Feel free to capture this moment in your mobile, hun. I give you the permission."

She nods and her smile grows, a cute little dimple appearing in her cheek. I spot a stool at the corner by the mirror. This really weirds me out—the image of someone just going potty then another person just uhh…watching. But right now I quietly thank the little weirdo who watches as people piss as I sit myself down on the stool.

I carefully place my guitar on my knee and take a deep breath. I was really nervous, but as I start the song with a few plucks of the strings, it starts to become more natural to me. I remember Tony's "Performing 101" lesson for us. Not that, you know, I know anything about performing. I'm just a veteran dancer and the fucking lead in our high school play, but who remembers right? Yep.

1) Make sure you make eye contact with your audience. Make sure they know that you're playing for them.

2) If looking directly at your audience wrecks your nerves a bit, look down at your instrument. This makes you look vulnerable since it looks like you're nervous and you're making sure you're playing it right. Modesty, he said. Pfft.

3) Try to get the audience into the song, also. Make a "connection" or something. Like you're a team and you cannot do this alone.

4) "Look like you're having fun, for fucks sakes. We don't want to look like a bunch of fucking vegetables just swaying away there up on the stage."

Thanks, Tone. Such a buddy.

We'll write a song

That turns out the lights

When both boy and girl start suddenly shaking inside

Don't waste your time

Speed up your breathing

Just close your eyes

We'll hope it's not for nothing at all

I proceed to strum steadily and look up at my audience. She's smiling widely, so I know that she's a fan of this particular song. Good.

The door then slams open and it startles me a bit. A shriek is heard and people started pouring in the suddenly too-small bathroom. I continue the song like the artist I am.

Soft kiss and wine

What a pretty friend of mine

We're finally intertwined

Nervous and shy

For the moment

We will come alive tonight

Secret Valentine

I guess I'm not doing so bad since everyone seems to be smiling and pulling out their phones and recording this…uhh session, I guess you'd call it. I look around for my little admirer but it seems that she was swallowed by the crowd. I could no longer see her adoring eyes and her cherry red hair. I hope she's still here though. This was for her.

I finished up the song and chatted away with some other fans. They were all lovely but I couldn't help myself from scanning the room every five seconds for that little girl. Alas, she was nowhere to be found.

As I was getting myself a bottle of water from the bar, with compliments from the bartender himself, I spotted Little Red heading out the door. She was already almost out and it looks like she was being pulled. She stole one last glance in my direction and beamed at me. I waved at her but she was already out the club. I grabbed my guitar and sighed in relief. But then my stomach dropped in a painful realization-

FUCK! I didn't even get her sodding name!

A/N: How'd I do? Clicky-clicky the button right below... please...?