Track 2: One More Hour
"So, staying in tonight?"
"Yeah, I know it's my first day in town, but I just want to get settled, you know?"
Dorothy nodded, hand gripping the leather on her steering wheel as she drove both her and her friend, Relena Peacecraft, to the latter's new home. "In that case, I'll come over tonight and we can relax over some tea and music, like we used to. I asked Duo to install a quality sound system in your loft before you arrived, so we'll be good there."
"I'll have to thank him." Relena was grateful to have a friend like Dorothy to look out for her like that. She made sure she had a place as soon as she arrived. Relena brought as much as she could, but she still had a lot of her belongings in the process of being shipped out to her new home. "Though I can't believe Duo Maxwell did that favor for you."
"Why would that surprise you?" Dorothy didn't think that was out of the ordinary. She liked to bicker with Duo quite a bit but he was still a friend of hers. Of course he would do that favor. "I told you, I'm friends with all of them. There's no group of people I'm closer with than those guys."
"I know, I guess it's different for me because I only know them through their music. I'm kind of nervous to meet them." Relena definitely had butterflies in her stomach. Dorothy already told her that they would have a bit of a rehearsal with Hilde tomorrow at Peacemillion, the studio where the band had recorded all of their albums, among other notable groups as well. She was also told that the members of Do You Remember? would be there, a band that she liked quite a bit
"Oh, Relena, have some dignity." Dorothy rolled her eyes. "No fangirling, that's beneath you now. Starting today, you are their equal."
"I haven't recorded a single piece of original material yet, I'm hardly an equal." Relena begged to differ there.
"Well, once they see how good of a guitar player, singer and songwriter you are, they will have no choice but to view you as such." Dorothy stated confidently, knowing how much talent Relena had within her.
"That makes me even more nervous, to be honest." It's one thing to meet them, Relena thought, it's another thing to perform in front of them. Well, she was in a band now; that's what you do when you're in a band, she noted.
"You'll be fine." Dorothy responded, whipping her car wildly into a left turn. She still drove at her own speed, Relena thought as she gripped on the handle to her door. "Just imagine that they're naked, which is something you might want to do anyway considering who we're talking about. Don't tell Duo I said that, or Hilde for that matter."
Relena had to laugh at that ridiculous piece of advice. "God, Dorothy. What's wrong with you?"
"What? I mean look at them, they're a boy band disguised as a punk band. I've told them that before; they hate it." Dorothy smirked, remembering how much that annoyed the group.
Relena had to admit, they definitely were quite the collection of men. "I'm sure that's not something they want to hear." She had seen many photos and videos of the band before. Aside from being easy on the eyes, they all had their own unique look to them. Duo had his trademark braid to go along with his easy going attitude that she had heard so much about. Trowa Barton appeared to have that quiet confidence about him that he conveyed simply by that look in his eyes, or eye. Much like Duo, he also had his own signature hair style. Though in his case, it draped over half of his face instead of his back. The drummer Wufei Chang had his hair slicked back in a ponytail and sometimes appeared to be annoyed by something. Dorothy complained about his attitude problems but knew he was softy at heart.
Then there was Heero Yuy. The mastermind behind Do You Remember?
He was strange. For sure he was immensely attractive, but there was always something off about him. He never seemed comfortable in photoshoots, always looking away, never appearing like he wanted the attention. Usually when you see videos or pictures of a band or whatever kind of group, the frontman or woman was always presented at the center. All the attention made to gravitate towards them. Heero on the other hand looked like he actively tried to avoid that. Whether he hated it because it was a cliche or just how his personality worked, she couldn't say exactly which was the case. If she had to bet, however, it would probably be the latter.
You would almost be led to believe that Duo Maxwell was the leader of the band with the way he worked the crowds in live performances. He also handled most of the interviews she had read and seen. Heero only spoke when he felt he needed to it looked like.
It made her even more curious about him. Just where exactly does this come from, she wondered.
"I just hope they like me." Relena's eyes wandered out towards her window, watching the town pass by.
"They will." Dorothy knew those guys would accept Relena. Well.. there was one guy she was worried about. "Relena… I might as well warn you now." Relena looked over to her friend.
"About what?"
"Heero Yuy." Dorothy simply stated.
"What about him?" Relena wondered what Dorothy had to say about the guy who was just occupying her thoughts.
"You see…" Dorothy began. "He still hasn't really recovered from Sylvia leaving."
"Oh." Relena knew they had been in a relationship. Dorothy had told her all about them. It was weird, to leave so suddenly like that must've been a lot to process. She temporarily ended The Jezebels and broke Heero's heart at the same time.
"He had… still has a very high opinion of her." Dorothy continued. "I'm sure if it was his choice, our band wouldn't have continued after she left. And now, here you are, taking her place and playing her songs. So he may be a little reluctant to accept you right away. You'll win him over eventually, I'm sure, but right now he's still getting over his heart break, as pathetic as it is sometimes." Dorothy was getting sick of it if she was being honest. Two months. He needed to get the hell over it.
"I guess it can't be helped. I do feel bad for him. They were together for a while and she just up and left. That would shatter me, too." Relena could see where Heero was coming from. She just hoped that wouldn't mean they couldn't be friendly because of her new role. She always wanted to be in a band and she would cherish this opportunity. This was too good of a thing to pass up, especially since her good friend made her the offer.
"There's only so much more I can take; mopey Heero is not the best Heero, and if he tries to take his frustrations out on you so help me god I will kill him."
Relena appreciated that. She also hoped Heero would understand. She wasn't trying to replace Sylvia Noventa, she was there to be herself, Relena Peacecraft. The new lead singer and principal songwriter of the Jezebels.
Nothing more, nothing less.
The late afternoon rolled around on the next day. Relena found herself in Dorothy's car once again, though this time they pulled up in front of the famous Peacemillion studio where records like Everything Falls Apart, Metal Circus, Call The Doctor, and most recently, Dig Me Out were recorded.
This would be the place where Dorothy, Hilde and herself would play together as a band for the first time together. She had met Hilde a couple of times, though it was very brief. She actually never met Sylvia Noventa, oddly enough.
Relena made time to go to some shows whenever they were close enough. Dorothy always reached out and they got together after performances before she went back on the road. They exited the vehicle and Dorothy led the way through the front door. The walls were decorated with records and even a lot of weird graffiti. She recognized some names written on the wall that belonged to people from other bands that she knew. Dorothy had written her name up there, so did Hilde and Sylvia, all in very noticeable calligraphy.
She saw DO YOU REMEMBER?-DM-TB-WC-HY actually spray painted on the wall. She was curious to find out who did that. Her guess was the guy that put his initials first. Relena heard this place was established a while ago by a man named Howard. He was very much a part of the music scene here and created this studio for any kind of musician or artist that wanted to record something. Sometimes there were even performances and parties here. It sounded like an amazing place to Relena; somewhere she would enjoy frequenting for the foreseeable future.
They walked into the main recording studio in the center of the building. That was when she saw all of them. She saw Hilde sitting behind a drum set while her boyfriend Duo was beside her, being very animated while talking to Wufei. Trowa Barton was putting his bass away and getting things together. They had been working on the new album all day. Duo had to call Hilde and let her know when they were all done before she could go over.
From there her eyes scanned the room and found him at the corner of the room. Heero Yuy stood there with his arms crossed, looking away from the whole scene. He didn't look happy and that immediately worried Relena. She just had to play it as cool as she could.
"Everyone, attention over here." Everyone's eyes moved over to find Dorothy with the new girl right behind her. "Allow me to introduce to you a good friend of mine and new front woman for the Jezebels: Relena Peacecraft."
Relena felt awkward but did her best to not show it. She was still a fan at heart and she was in a room filled with people she respected. "Hello everyone, nice to meet all of you."
Hilde was the first to get up and approach. "Good to see you again. I would have never guessed that this would be the situation when we would next meet." She gave Relena a hug, welcoming her new frontwoman. "Can't wait to get started."
"Thank you Hilde, it's good to see you as well." Relena smiled at her new band-mate, appreciating the warm welcome.
"So you're Dotty's friend?" Right behind her drummer came her significant other. "Duo Maxwell, I'm sure you've heard about me." He winked at her.
'Dotty?' Since when did Dorothy go by that name? Relena smirked. "That I have."
"For the love of god, Duo… Stop." Dorothy hated that name.
"Don't play, I know you love that name. Come here, Dots." Duo slung his arm over Dorothy's shoulder and pulled her in hard enough to keep her from escaping, which she was really trying to do.
"The time will come when I strangle you to death with that damned braid of yours." Dorothy pushed off of him as hard as she could before Duo eventually released her. "Hilde, please, control this animal you call a boyfriend. He's embarrassing me."
Hilde sighed. "Believe me, everyday I try."
"Someday I'll get Heero to kick you out of the band." Dorothy continued to give Duo dirty looks as she removed her coat and handed it to Duo. He took it and looked at Relena.
"I'll take your jacket and go hang it up somewhere."
"Oh, thank you!" Relena removed it handed it to Duo. He walked off and saw Trowa Barton approach.
"Excited to see what you guys do next." He stuck out his hand and she took it. "Dorothy swears by you. So I hope you don't mind if I expect you to prove her right."
"Wow, what an asshole, putting all that pressure on the girl." Duo commented, wrapping his arms around Hilde from behind her as he returned.
Trowa smiled. "Just going by what I heard."
"Well I hope to live up to her expectations. I've never really been in a band before but I have played with Dorothy in the past. I'm sure we can do something that can blow people away and keep with the legacy of this trio." Relena didn't mind the pressure. She was here to do what she always wanted to do and she knew that if she gave it her all, everything would work out.
"You'll do fine, dear." Dorothy looked over and waved Wufei over who sighed and approached the group.
"Wufei." came the simple introduction as he signaled for a handshake. She took it and smiled.
"Your drumming was great on Metal Circus. Really helped make that record sound as tight as it was. I'm glad I have a chance to actually say that to you." She saw Wufei smirk at that.
"This girl knows her stuff." Wufei nodded, appreciating the compliment.
"You ain't gotta lie to him." Duo cut back in. "We've all heard better drummers. Like the one I got right here." He squeezed Hilde and got a squeal out of her.
"Duo!" she yelped.
"Hey Dorothy, let me know when you want him strangled by that braid. I'll do it for you." Wufei's eyes darkened at his band-mate.
"I'll definitely take you up on that offer." The platinum blonde then focused her attention at the last one remaining. "Heero, if you will. Introduce yourself."
Relena kept her eyes focused on him. He continued to stand at the corner of the room, barely acknowledging her presence. Wasn't looking good for her already. Everyone else looked on to see what Heero's reaction would be. They all knew he had a hard time grappling with the idea that someone was taking his ex's spot in the group.
But if you asked them all privately, they would all tell you that Heero needed to get over it. Not that they didn't feel bad for their fearless leader, but after a while it started to get old. Ever since it happened, he was moodier and less open with the group. If there was anything positive out of this, it's that he only poured himself more into the creation of Zen Arcade. They had gotten more work done in this past week then they originally thought they would. Heero was all music all the time. You take the good with the bad, they figured.
"Heero…" Dorothy called for him again, her voice sounding more like a warning this time.
He grunted before looking over at the girl. His Prussian eyes bore into her. Relena could feel the overwhelming intensity of his gaze wrap around her like a rough embrace. It made her feel uncomfortable. That was the look of a man that did not want her around. Well, you know what they say, Relena thought, never meet your heroes… or in this case, Heero.
"Well?" Dorothy placed her hands on her hips. She had no time for Heero's pitiful act.
"Nice to meet you…" Heero finally said, his voice low and reserved, eyes still sending daggers into the new blonde frontwoman. Dorothy sighed, she guessed that would be as good as it got.
Relena nodded her head at him. Well, at least he said something, even if she didn't believe he meant it. "Nice to meet you as well. I'm… a fan of your music." Heero just gave her an up and down look before turning his head away once again.
"Don't mind him, you know how these creative types are." Duo told her, wishing his friend would get the stick out of his ass about this whole thing.
"Yes, well, I expect better from a grown man." Dorothy huffed as she clicked her heels in the direction of her black Gibson Les Paul that she had left here for today. "Hilde, want to head to your station?" Dorothy asked as she began to get her guitar ready.
"Oh? We're starting now?" Duo released his girl as she jumped to head back behind Wufei's drum set.
"Yes we are, Hilde." Dorothy nodded. She hooked up to her guitar and was ready to go, striking the strings with her pick, liking where the sound and volume were. "Hmm…" She looked towards Relena and then at Heero.
Relena stayed in place, still feeling a little awkward from the weird Heero interaction. She looked at him again, still not moving from his spot on the wall. It was tough to know that someone she respected didn't like her, but that was the case here. Well, she would have to get passed that. At least the other guys in the band seemed okay with her.
The sound of Dorothy's heels clicked again as she walked over to Heero. He looked up to glare at his blonde friend. "Heero, darling, my friend over there… her stuff is still being sent over so she doesn't have her own guitar yet."
Heero glowered at her, not liking at all where this was going. "And?"
"Well, I was thinking that maybe you would let her borrow your signature Flying V for today." Dorothy asked, knowing this was pissing him off, but she was going to get him to do something nice for Relena. She cared not for his attitude.
"Why?" he growled. First he had to watch her take Sylvia's position in the group and now she had to use his guitar? "No."
"Aye… Just let her use it, Heero." Duo rolled his eyes at this stubborn friend. The other two felt the same way and headed over to sit on the couch that was set up there. Might as well get comfortable for the show… and whatever this was.
"Shut up." Heero shot at Duo. His attention returned to Dorothy. "Why are you asking me this?"
"Stop being childish, Heero. We want to play and she needs a guitar. We play the same instrument here, so why not let her use it?" His eyes shot up and went back to drilling holes into Miss Peacecraft, causing her to flinch under his angered stare. This was not going well, Relena thought.
"Duo also plays the same instrument as us, you know." Heero sent back at Dorothy.
"That fact isn't lost on me, Heero. But I'm asking you!" Dorothy wasn't giving up. She would make him cooperate whether he liked it or not. "The leader of the band called Do You Remember?" Heero was getting annoyed at all of this. "Show some leadership and let her use it. She's held one before; she won't break it."
"I… can just ask Duo." Relena didn't want to see friends fight over her. She would rather just get through this already.
"Relena… no." Dorothy's eyes remained on Heero. "Signor Yuy here will be letting you use his guitar, because he is a gentleman and a fellow musician, isn't that right, Heero?"
He wasn't happy, but it was also frustrating him to continue this stupid argument. "Okay, fine. But you owe me."
Dorothy smirked. "Whatever you want! Thank you, Heero. See, you really are a nice guy." Heero shook his head with great irritation. "Relena, that cream yellow Flying V guitar… is yours, for today anyway."
Relena sighed and shook her head. Might as well use it now since Dorothy went through all that trouble to get it for her. She headed over to the guitar that Heero had placed on a stand. She tried to be cool as she did so because she still felt Heero's pissed off glare attacking her.
His eyes scrutinized every move she made as she threw the strap over her shoulder. She had to adjust it to her body size, he was hoping she wouldn't break his treasured instrument. This ruined his day of hard work.
Dorothy headed back to her spot in front of Hilde's drums. The drummer was happy all of that was over. Things were getting too tense for her liking.
The two female guitarists continued to test out their gear before feeling comfortable enough to begin. "Now, Relena doesn't need any kind of warm up. She's good enough as is. So, is there anything in our discography that you want to play? You choose the song, love." Dorothy offered to Relena.
"Oh, well…" She thought of all the songs she knew how to play. She figured that she would go off their latest release. Relena adored that album and played along before even getting a call from her good friend. "We'll go with something from Dig Me Out." Relena said.
"Very well. We don't really have much experience playing anything off that record live since we went on break as soon as we finished the album. Might as well give it a shot." Dorothy liked the idea very much. "Which song?"
"Hmm…" Relena thought for a second before coming up with the obvious answer. "I really love 'One More Hour', can we play that?"
Everyone cringed as soon as she said the name of the song. Relena noticed this and looked around, feeling confused. "Um, is something wrong?" Nobody wanted to speak at first and Relena started feeling awkward again. She had no idea what she did to create this reaction. But before Dorothy began to speak, Heero decided to step in.
"Nothing's wrong." Heero's monotone sliced through. He began walking away, eyes focused on the door to the outside of the studio.
"Are you sure we can play this, Heero?" Dorothy asked as she watched him walk away. He paused for a second before leaving, giving Relena one last look.
"It's her band… she can play what she wants." He turned and left.
"Damn…" Duo spoke with a nervous chuckle. "Today is getting crazy." His band-mates nodded.
"Did… did I do something wrong?" Relena was befuddled by what happened. Why the weird reaction?
"I'll tell you later." Dorothy brushed it off for now. "Okay, let's play it, shall we?" Hilde shrugged and Relena, still confused, also decided to get past whatever just happened. "Okay… One, two, one, two, three!"
Like it was meant to be, the band started off well. Their instruments went off. Hilde's drums with an almost clumsy sounding beat while Relena and Dorothy picked at their strings on the familiar riff.
Relena walked up to the microphone and began going off. Dorothy approached her own microphone too, getting ready for whenever she would back up Relena.
In one more hour I will be gone
In one more hour I'll leave this room
That shirt you wore those dirty boots
Are the things I left behind for you
Everyone in the room was already impressed with her singing. Relena didn't try to sound like Sylvia. She brought her own to these vocals. The song started to pick up in volume…
Oh you've got the darkest eyes
Oh you've got the darkest eyes
… before exploding for the chorus with Dorothy backing up.
I needed it! (I know I know I know)
Oh I needed It! (It's so hard for you to let it go)
I needed it! (I know I know I know)
Oh I needed it! (You never wanted to let it go)
Duo gave his boys a look of approval. "So far so good?"
"I think so." Trowa responded. Wufei gave a nod.
If you could talk what would you say
For you things were just night and day
Take off your shirt take off your face
I'll hold you close before I leave
Dorothy smirked at Relena, telling her that 'yeah… this is gonna work out fine.' The honey blonde smiled in agreement. Playing music just felt too good. Relena's guitar pick set itself up to attack the strings once more, her hand so eager to fill the room with blissful distortion.
Oh you've got the darkest eyes
Oh you've got the darkest eyes
I needed it! (I know I know I know)
Oh I needed it! (It's so hard for you to let it go)
I needed it! (I know I know I know)
Oh I needed it! (It's so hard for you to say goodbye)
I needed it! (I know I know I know)
Oh I needed it! (You need is a little more time)
Hilde looked on at the two women in front of her. These two had chemistry and she had to step up to match what they had. Her eyes kept with Relena as she drummed. She looked like a natural. Hilde got the feeling that this band would be okay.
Don't say another word
About another girl
Don't say another word
About another girl
I needed it! (I know I know I know)
Oh I needed it! (It's so hard for you to let it go)
I needed it! (I know I know I know)
Oh I needed it! (I never wanted to let it, let it go)
The song went back to the signature riff and drum beat for a few seconds more before finally closing out the song. Relena closed her eyes and took a deep breath, she wore her smile proudly.
"Good shit!" Duo began clapping. "Voice on point, noise on point. Girl you're gonna be good."
"Have to say I agree. Good thing we'll be here all day and get to see more." Trowa chimed in, impressed with how well Relena handled herself.
"What they said." Wufei added with a grin. Yeah, she looked good up there, he would give the woman her props.
"Thank you guys, means a lot coming from you all." Relena laughed, feeling all giddy that members of a band she liked thought she was any good.
"Well, there's more to come gentleman." Dorothy smirked. "How well do you know 'Dig Me Out'?"
"I have a decent grasp on it." Relena replied, feeling incredible right now. It's a shame that Heero didn't like her, Relena's thoughts going back to the disgruntled frontman. There was something about the way he looked before leaving that made her feel strange. Did the song choice have anything to do with it? She would have to ask Dorothy later.
For now, she would play.
Outside of the studio Heero stood with his arms crossed, leaning on the door. He heard every second of her playing that song. Why did she go and choose that goddamn song? Heero groaned and shook his head. The power Sylvia had over him was bothering him,
He knew she wrote that song about him. She had one last track to record the night she left him. Dorothy told him that was the one. She told him that she reworked the lyrics, but didn't say why. It became clear over time. She wanted to give Heero one last goodbye.
He didn't want it.
He didn't need it.
He hated that song… And he hated it even more because it was so good.
She used her genius to taunt him before she left. It pained him greatly to hear that song. However, he did notice something weird about hearing it this time around. He had listened to it a handful of times after the album was released. Each listen hurt more than the last.
But… this time… it didn't hurt as much. Why that was, he couldn't say. Was he getting over her? Was this a sign of that?
Or maybe… it was...
AN: Had to rework the lyrics to fit with Heero and Sylvia. So if you know the song, then you know I changed some things. Hope you enjoyed it!
Sleater-Kinney - "One More Hour"