I wrote this last year and posted it on Ao3 and I just thought "why not post it here too?"
(Written in my phone's note app and no editing was done, so the sentences and paragraphs might be off)
"I'm surprised you went ahead with getting this, does the university even allow visible tattoos?" Teresa asked, poking the week old lyrics, tattooed horizontally across his left arm, making Thomas wince.
"Yes, they allow it. Now poking it, it's still dried out, and you're just making it itch more" he said, lightly slapping her hand away from the black ink. "I still can't believe you dragged me to this concert, I don't even know the band" she groaned, as they walked towards the small concert hall, already seeing the long line of fans stretched across the sidewalk.
"I didn't have anyone else to go with me, besides they're awesome! You'll love em'" he said, slinging an arm around his sister's shoulder. "What do you mean you didn't have anyone else to go with? Are you forgetting Brenda and Minho, who love this band?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh I didn't tell you? They're meeting us here" he said, with a smirk. "What? Tom! I didn't even have to go then" she whined, making him laugh. "Yeah, you did. They bought their own tickets and the second one
I bought was supposed to be Gally's, but he had to pick Aris up at the airport so he couldn't come" he shrugged.
Teresa opened her mouth, about to say something, before she was interrupted by a loud voice behind them. "What's up fam?!" they heard, turning around to see an overly excited Minho, and a laughing Brenda.
"Yell a little louder will ya' Minho?" Thomas said, glaring back at him, making Brenda laugh harder. "Oh I could, trust me" Minho winked, as Thomas shook his head and laughed. Thomas leaned against the brick wall, lighting up a cigarette, after they had finally reached the end of the line.
"Do have to smoke right here? You're basically blowing the smoke right in my face" Teresa groaned, moving back a few steps. "I went to their concert last time they were here, and the crowd basically crushed me. This takes the edge off my claustrophobia" he said, leaning his head against the wall.
"Why did you come to a concert with a wild crowd if you're claustrophobic?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Cause they're awesome" he smirked. "But if it bothers you that much I'll go over here. Hold my spot" he continued, pushing off the wall and moving a few feet behind his group, before leaning against the wall again, propping his foot against it.
"Your friends made you come back here too, huh?" a voice asked, making him jump and look to his right, where a blond boy had moved his way to stand beside him. "Yeah, my sister claimed I kept blowing smoke in her face" he rolled his eyes, making the boy beside him laugh.
"My sister's like that too" he shook his head. "At first I was gonna ask if someone dragged you here, but from your shirt, I know the answer" he said, eyeing the brunet's Bring Me The Horizon shirt. "What about you? You here by choice or force?" Thomas asked, noticing the boy's plain black shirt.
"Choice, my roommate lost my shirt" he groaned, making the brunet laugh. "I know the feeling" he said, taking in the blond's appearance. He had deep brown eyes, that would be too easy to get lost in, blond hair, almost covering his right eye, fair skin, and a black lip ring on the right side of his lip.
His black skinny jeans, and worn Converse, making the maze sleeve on his left arm even more prominent. He was gorgeous, to say the least. "See something you like?" he teased with a smirk, snapping the brunet out of his daze.
"Uh sorry" he apologized lamely, nervously reaching up to push a dark red hair back into place, making the blond laugh. "Nice streak by the way" he said, nodding towards the lone strand of red hair in the middle of the natural brown.
"Thanks. Cool tattoo" Thomas replied, looking at the sleeve again. "Thanks, you got any?" the blond asked. "Just one, got it last week" he said, showing him the lyrics. "I hate the ending myself, but it started with an alright scene" he read the lyrics aloud.
"My Chemical Romance, great band. Why those lyrics though?" he asked, looking at the brunet curiously. "Long story" he said simply, and the blond could tell it wasn't a story he wanted to tell, so he just nodded.
Thomas put out the last of his cigarette against the wall, when he heard cheers from the fans, as the building's doors opened up. "Well, I guess that's our cue. Nice meeting you, red hair" the blond winked, before pushing himself away from the wall and starting to walk back to the middle of the long line, where his friends waved at him to hurry up.
"You too blondie!" he called back, and he turned and smirked at him once more before disappearing from view. He smiled and shook his head again, before going back to his friends, who were now had about six groups behind them.
"We leave you alone for five minutes and you pick up a guy? I don't know if I should be jealous or impressed" Brenda said, making him laugh. "Well, I leave you guys alone for five minutes and my sister starts making out with one of my best friends" he said, looking over at Minho and Teresa, as they stopped mid kiss.
"You do realize we're in a huge line of people, who are now moving, right?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Oh we're moving?" Minho asked, confused, as Thomas just shook his head and walked forward.
Ten minutes later they made their way into the building, and quickly went to their merch stand, all of them spending a lot more money than a college student should. Even Teresa couldn't deny herself a tour poster and a shirt, while the other three bought two shirts, a poster, a bracelet, and a beanie each.
Minho and Brenda went to find them a good spot to stand, while Teresa went to the bathroom to change into her new shirt, and Thomas went to buy them some waters. He looked at his phone when it felt it buzz and saw a text from Teresa, telling him to meet her near the bathroom so they could find the others together.
He was responding to her text, when he walked into someone, sending both of them falling to the ground. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry" he said, quickly standing up, and offering his hand to the boy on the ground.
"S'alright mate" the boy said, as Thomas helped him up, before recognizing his voice, and seeing his face.
"Well, sorry anyways, blondie" he said, as he let go of his hand. "Don't worry about it, red hair" he laughed, realizing who he was. "Tom! You were suppose to meet me by the bathrooms" Teresa said, stopping beside him.
"And this is my sister who kicked me out of the group a while ago" he said, feeling like he needed to let the attractive blond know she wasn't his girlfriend. 'Huh, that's new' he though, before blinking back to reality.
"Oh boohoo, poor Tom. But seriously, we need to find them before it gets even more crowded" she pointed out as he nodded. "Goodbye again, red hair. Who knows, maybe I'll see you again. Enjoy the show" he smiled, walking into the crowd.
"That was interesting" the raven haired girl laughed, as he pulled him through the crowd, towards where Minho was frantically waving his arms so she'd see him. "Damn, good spot" Thomas whistled, noticing how close to the stage they were.
"Okay, we have thirty minutes before the opening band, who has the highest phone battery? I have seventy-six" Brenda asked, as they all looked at their phones. "Eighty-two percent" Minho said, shocking Thomas.
Minho's phone hadn't had a battery percent that high since the time he forgot his phone in his dorm. "Seventy-four" Teresa said, looking at him expectantly. "Fifty-five" he said, smiling sheepishly, as Brenda sighed.
"Of course yours is the lowest, hand it here, I have my portable charger" she said, as he handed her his phone. "Teresa, Minho, phones off. If you wanna video any songs you need a good battery" she said, fake glaring at Thomas.
"I really hope they play Chelsea Smile" Brenda said, hopefully, as she pulled up a camera on her phone. "Come on, selfie!" she said, holding the phone up, as they all leaned in, and she snapped the picture.
"It took good" she smiled, setting it as her phone background. "Any of specific song you two hope they play?" she asked, looking between Thomas and Minho, knowing that Teresa didn't know any songs.
"I want them to play Doomed" Minho said, looking at Thomas. "Definitely Sleepwalking" he said, as the others nodded. He scanned the crowd, looking for the head of blond hair, before he realized what he was doing, and stoped immediately.
Not long later the lights dimmed and the first band ran on on stage. It wasn't a band Thomas knew, but they were good all the same, and he reminded himself to buy their album at the merch stand if they had time before they left.
It was fifteen minutes before Bring Me The Horizon came on stage, when Thomas and Minho squeezed back out of the crowd to go to the bathroom and buy more waters. Though he hoped he would, he saw no traces of the blond this time.
He shook off the slight disappointment as they made their way back to the girls, and handed them their waters. Thomas took his phone back from Brenda just minutes before his favorite band came out on stage.
To Minho's happiness, the first song they performed was Doomed, and the second song was one of Thomas' favorites off of the new album. Happy Song. "I've had enough, there's a voice in my head, says I'm better off dead.
But if I sing along a little fucking louder to a happy song I'll be alright" Thomas sang at the top of his lungs, bouncing along to the rhythm, as Teresa continued to video it for him, knowing at his pace, he wouldn't be able to get a steady view.
He let himself get lost in the music, ignoring all the bodies pushing against him, as the crowd was squeezed together tighter. By the second to last song, he could barely move, and he was getting pushed against someone every few seconds.
He had lost sight of his group not long after the fifth song, leaving him alone in the massive crowd. He was finding it harder to focus on the music, as he room seemed to spin and grow sixty degrees hotter.
The brunet swayed on his feet slightly, trying to push his way out of the crowd, having no luck. He heard someone talking to him, though he couldn't understand what they were saying, and he saw a blurry face in front of him, along with hands gently shaking his shoulders.
He felt a hand grasp his wrist, and he was suddenly being pulled through the crowd. His vision was splotchy, as he collapsed to the ground, and arm around his waist, keeping him from dropping completely, and helping him sit against the side wall, allowing him to still see the band, as he tried to calm his breathing, with still blurry vision.
He closed his eyes, resting his head against the wall, and breathing in deeply and out slowly. He felt something wet touch his forehead, and he opened his eyes, eyesight back to normal as he noticed a flannel being held against his head. He looked to his right, finally seeing who was holding it there. The blond boy.
"Not good with tight spaces, I take it?" he asked, as Thomas shook his head. "I thought I could handle it this time" he sighed. "Why'd you help me? I mean, I'm thankful, but why?" he asked confused. "You were about to get bloody trampled, besides I was coming back here anyways.
I don't have a problem with small spaces, but I don't feel like getting squished" he said, moving to sit on Thomas' left side, so both of them could see the stage. "I saw a pit opening up towards the left side, and I don't wanna get dragged into it, I made that mistake before" he laughed, as the last song started.
The music seemed maybe even louder from the wall, as they both sang along to the final song.
When it was over they both stayed sitting by the wall knowing their groups would be able to find them there.
"So you gonna tell me your name, or should I call you mine?" the blond asked, with a cheeky smile "Smooth" Thomas laughed, as the blond poured more water on the flannel, and laid it on the brunet's neck.
"Why thank you" he laughed before continuing, "really, what is it though?"
"Thomas" he said, looking over at the blond. "Well then Thomas, it's nice to have something to call you other than red hair. I'm Newt" he said, smiling at the brunet. "Thank you for saving me from being trampled, Newt" he smiled back.
"Seeing as we just met, would it be weird for me to ask your number?" Thomas asked, suddenly feeling nervous. "I'm sure it would be, but weird is good" he smirked, pulling out his phone and handing it to the brunet.
"Enter your number, and I'll text you" he said, as Thomas typed it in. "Thomas! There you are!" a voice yelled, as he looked up to see Brenda running towards him, with Minho and Teresa not far behind.
"We couldn't find you anywhere! What happened?" she asked, looking down at the two of them, as they pushed themselves off the ground. "I couldn't see any of you after Chelsea Smile, and I stayed where we were before until right before Drown" he shrugged, looking at her.
"Why are you here now? I thought you were gonna meet us by the door" she asked confused. "I had a panic attack and Newt helped me" he said, nodding towards the tattooed boy, as be shifted uncomfortably as all eyes turned to him.
"Newt!" a dark skinned boy, around their age, called from a few feet away. "You coming mate? Chuck's mum isn't gonna be happy if we don't bring him back before one" he said, as Newt nodded.
"I gotta go, was nice meeting you, Tommy" he grinned, before walking over to his waiting friends. "Tommy?" Minho asked with a wink, as Thomas shoved him playfully.
"Oh shut up" he groaned, as Minho's smirk grew, when he looked over at the blushing boy. "What?" he asked, confused. "Well for one, you're blushing. But the main reason is because of the flannel" he said, trying to keep from laughing, face already turning red.
"I didn't wear a flannel here" he said confused. "Exactly" Minho whispered in his ear. He looked down to see a checkered sleeve hanging above his shoulder, and then he remembered.
Newt's flannel was still hanging across the back of his neck. He glanced around for the boy, but he was gone. He felt his pocket buzz, he pulled his phone out of his pocket to see a message from an unknown number.
"You've stolen my heart and my flannel. You can keep my heart, but I already miss my flannel. Maybe you could give it back to me tomorrow evening over coffee? 4:00? ;) - Newt" it read, making his smile grow even bigger.
"Sounds great, see you then :) - Tommy" he wrote back, before sliding his phone back into his pocket.
'I don't see how this night could have gone any better' he thought, grinning to himself as they left the concert hall.
All of them with new merch, new photos, new videos, new memories, and for Thomas, a date.