These were meant to be drabbles. Alas, I am incapable of writing them. Features musicsnob!Tomoyo and rocker!Eriol. Also, disclaimer, the song Iris belongs to the Goo Goo Dolls and most definitely not to They Dream in Ink or to me! Also, this was inspired by another fanfic I read long ago in Pride and Prejudice. If you see any similarities, perhaps you could direct me to the fanfic so I could properly credit my inspiration!

xxx

082. Fan

"Seriously Sakura! Can you please turn the volume down!" Tomoyo shouted from inside her room.

When nothing happened after a few seconds, Tomoyo grumbled and huffed, lifting herself off her comfortable position on her bed, and placing a bookmark in her book, proceeded to the living room to give her dear cousin a piece of her mind.

"And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am..."

Tomoyo looked around the apartment she shared with Sakura when she did not immediately spot her cousin in the living room. The stereo was on at full volume though, Tomoyo shot the poor innocent stereo a dark look and grumbled under her breath about absent minded cousins who kept forgetting to turn off the stereo when they went out.

Striding quickly over to the offensive machine, Tomoyo pulled out the plug and sighed happily when immediately silence returned to the apartment. Absent-mindedly, Tomoyo began to rearrange the CDs strewn carelessly over and around the stereo, contemplating whether she should organise them alphabetically or by genre because Kami-sama knows that Sakura would never bother. She picked up one particular CD cover that seemed to have seen better days and realised it was one that Sakura played constantly. In fact, it was the same one that had been playing just moments before.

Squinting, she read the name of the band, "They Dream in Ink." Ah, the band that dear Sakura had been obsessing over for a very, very long time. Tomoyo let out a very unladylike scoff, then almost guiltily she looked around, her mother would have had her head if she had heard such a sound come from her precious well behaved daughter. Remembering that she was alone, Tomoyo turned her attention back to the CD cover in hand. The front of the cover showed a photo of the band and she supposed they were pretty good looking fellows, if one found degenerate rocker types appealing in any way. Tomoyo found herself very familiar with their faces because this particular band had recently enjoyed a sudden spurt in popularity when photos of the band members vacationing (shirtless) in Hawaii hit the news stands. Making a face, Tomoyo dropped the CD cover unceremoniously back onto the stereo because she had no respect for any musicians who tried to sell their music with something other than their voices.

Just as she stepped away from the stereo, the front door flung open with a flourish that could only be accomplished by her exuberant cousin cum room mate, Sakura.

"TOMOYO!"

Tomoyo nearly winced, "Yes Sakura? You appear to be in a good mood."

Sakura, wide-eyed and her ponytail bouncing happily behind her, bounded towards Tomoyo, excitedly she held Tomoyo's hands and twirled them around the living room, "Oh Tomoyo! You'll never guess what happened!"

Tomoyo laughed as she allowed herself to be twirled around the room, Sakura's joy was always infectious, "What is it?"

Sakura suddenly stopped and after some digging around in her handbag, she pulled out what looked like 2 movie tickets, "I got free backstage passes to the They Dream in Ink concert tonight!"

Tomoyo only blinked stupidly at her.

"It was from that lucky draw!" Sakura explained again, "You know the one I entered in last month? I didn't think I would actually win!" Sakura shrieked again and caught Tomoyo in a tight hug, "I never win anything!"

"Good for you Sakura." Tomoyo said, patting her cousin lightly on the back and attempted to extract herself from the hug.

"You're going to come with me right?" Sakura asked, pulling away.

Tomoyo froze, "Er, but Sakura, you know I don't like the band!"

"But...but nobody could not like them! They're gorgeous! And totally talented!" Sakura wailed, tugging on Tomoyo's shirt in her best expression of a wounded puppy. "No one else is going to be free to come with me tonight and I don't want to go alone."

Tomoyo tried her hardest not to look into Sakura's huge unblinking eyes that seemed to be, alarmingly, about to fill up with tears. Sighing a sigh that indicated the long suffering she endured under the same roof as her cousin, Tomoyo found herself agreeing in the most dejected voice she could muster.

Sakura immediately brightened up and hugged Tomoyo tightly, "Thanks Tomoyo! I know you won't regret it!"

Ah, ominous words, surely. Tomoyo could only manage a withering smile in response.

xxx

Tomoyo narrowed her eyes at the long line of girls in silent judgement. It was an outdoor concert! Surely they would have thought to put on more appropriate clothing! Eyeing the 4 inch heels and micro skirts that had no place in a mosh pit, Tomoyo questioned the sanity of the crowd before her.

Sakura giggled when she noticed Tomoyo's semi-disgusted expression. It wasn't difficult to deduce her cousin's general thoughts about the attire of the other concert-goers. They had both put on sensible flats and summer appropriate dresses. After all, the concert was suppose to be the ending show of the summer festival. Looking around the various stalls that were set up around the stage, and thanking the heavens that she had backstage VIP passes and so had reserved places near the stage, Sakura dragged Tomoyo away from the long line of girls in search of food.

Tomoyo grumbled as her cousin pulled her away for she was not done mentally growling at the unfortunate outfits some of the concert-goers had decided to put on. Really, there wasn't any need to be nearly half naked to listen to music! Turning to tell Sakura what she thought exactly about some of the outfits (seriously, leather? In this sweltering heat? And paired with those boots?), she caught sight of a beer tent.

"Oh thank Kami-sama! Beer!" And Tomoyo pulled a bemused Sakura in the direction of the beer tent instead. "Just what I need to get through the night."

Sakura laughed, swatting her cousin affectionately on the arm, "You, are such a music snob Tomoyo!"

Tomoyo pretended to look affronted as she waited in line for her beer, "I am not!"

Sakura smiled back, "They're not that bad really! Their songs are relatable! Unlike some of the classical stuff you listen to written by dead people."

"You take that back Sakura!" Tomoyo said in a scandalised whisper, though her lips twitched at the corners, betraying her own amusement.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Come on Tomoyo, let's get some drinks and get out of here. I still need food!"

"Alright, alright, but don't be surprised if I wind up coming back here again. One beer is probably not going to cut it, if I have to put up with those girls."

xxx

The concert went well, he supposed. Except for the few times he got hit in the face with questionable underwear from the crowd, he had a good time performing at the festival. The vibe was sweet, the crowd was happy and security did not have to cart off any crazy fan from off the stage. So yes, definitely a good night for Eriol.

"Dude, you want some food? I'm going to get some from the food van." Syaoran said from behind him.

Eriol shook his head, "Nah. I'm bushed, I'm just going to head back to the dressing room and get some sleep."

"Alright then, suit yourself." Syaoran shrugged and turned to walk away with the rest of the band. Then he called over his shoulder, "Oh yea, make sure there aren't any groupies lying in wait there before you fall asleep yea? Don't want to repeat Hawaii now do you?"

Eriol flipped him the bird and ignoring Syaoran's chuckling, trudged back to the dressing room, all the while, keeping a lookout for crazy fan girls who might have slipped past Security (damn that Syaoran!). Satisfied he was not being followed, Eriol opened the door of his dressing room, only to find a girl with her back facing him, inspecting a poster of the band rather closely.

Crap, a groupie. He scratched his head, looking around for security to escort the girl out, but finding none, he hesitantly cleared his throat, "Er, miss, sorry but this area is private and we really don't want groupies in here."

The girl, turned around immediately at his voice and wow. Her raven hair tumbled down her shoulders and she had a healthy flush to her complexion. On second thoughts, he did not really mind her staying now.

Then she spoke, "Excuse me?" Mystery girl sounded quite insulted, "I am most definitely not a groupie!"

She wobbled towards him, and Eriol belatedly realised that this girl was sloshed. Ah, accounts for the red cheeks then.

"Er okay, miss. Maybe we should get you home." Eriol shot out an arm to steady the girl as she tumbled towards him.

"I know you!" She hissed at him, shrugging his arm away, and poking a delicate finger right onto his nose, "You're in the band!"

"Yes, I am." Eriol replied, now a little amused with the situation and more than a little intrigued with the drunk non-groupie.

"Well then," the girl continued, swaying in front of him, "I would like to tell you that I think, you suck."

Eriol raised an eyebrow, "We suck?"

"Oh yes. Most definitely." the beautiful non-groupie affirmed.

"We've sold millions worldwide miss, I hardly think we suck. We're awesome!" Eriol exclaimed, a little put out by the non-groupie's declaration.

"Pish posh," the non-groupie waved a hand absent-mindedly in his general direction, "people would buy your music as long as there's a picture of the band on the front cover. You're not selling the music really. You're selling your bodies!" The groupie then took a step closer to Eriol, and he actually found his heart rate increasing, she lowered her voice to a whisper and going on her tiptoes, she breathed into his ear, "like gigolos!"

Okay, Eriol should really not be feeling turned on right now. Calming himself, he attempted to talk some reason into the girl, "Look, miss, we're not selling our bodies. We write our own music and everything! It just so happens that our band is on the good looking side okay!"

"Hmph. I don't think so!" The girl disagreed, crossing her arms across her chest and then nearly falling over. Eriol reached out to hold onto her arm. She wisely let him this time.

"You don't think what? We write our own music? Because we really do. I can show you my notes and everything!" Eriol exclaimed, in half a mind to dig out his top secret music notes from his guitar case.

"No, I mean I don't think the band is good looking!" the non-groupie pouted, hating to have been misunderstood.

"Oh." Eriol scratched his head, that was odd. He had honestly never heard anyone say that before.

"Degenerate rockers aren't my type." The non-groupie continued, leaning heavily onto Eriol's arm, eyes closed as if trying to will her dizziness away.

"What's your type then?" Eriol asked, wincing the moment the words left his mouth. He really, really, shouldn't hit on a drunk girl, no matter how beautiful she was. And especially because she was like an anti-fan or something.

The girl in question, opened her eyes and looked up at Eriol. Then with a little gasp, she asked, "Have you always worn glasses?"

Eriol blinked, he had forgotten he had put on his glasses after the show. He normally took them out while performing because his manager insisted no self-respecting rocker wore them. "Oh, yea, I wear them when I'm not performing."

"Oh." The girl said in a small voice, "I kinda like men who wear glasses."

Eriol blinked and smiled down at the inebriated girl. He could totally work with that. Then suddenly the dressing room door opened and Syaoran entered with a crying girl in tow.

They looked at each other but before either could voice out their questions about the other's situation, Syaoran's crying girl flung herself at his drunk girl and cried, "Oh Tomoyo! You scared the crap out of me! I thought I lost you!"

"S'okay Sakura, I was just drunk!" Tomoyo replied back, flinging her arms around Sakura's neck. "I was just telling him," at this point, Tomoyo pointed to Eriol, "how much he sucked!"

Syaoran sniggered. Eriol elbowed him in the ribs.

"Oh dear." Sakura coloured red, "Er, sorry about that Mr. Eriol. My cousin really doesn't know what's she's saying when she's drunk. She's not normally like this." Sakura winced as Tomoyo protested loudly into her neck. "Thanks for finding her by the way. I think we better get home now." She led Tomoyo out of the room and refused politely an offer from Syaoran to send them home. ("That's alright Mr. Syaoran, we'll be okay on our own. Thank you!")

Eriol could only watch dumbly as the beautiful, drunk, non-groupie (who liked men with glasses) was led out.

"You okay dude?" Syaoran asked, waving his hand in front of Eriol's face, "She sure did a number on you eh?"

Eriol blinked. "I didn't get her number."

Syaoran scoffed, "She was drunk Eriol, she probably wouldn't have remembered it."

"But," Eriol continued, "She likes men with glasses!"

Syaoran raised an eyebrow but commented no further. Eriol frowned as he settled onto the couch. Suddenly, he felt something poking against his back. Turning around, he fished out a small purse from behind the cushions. Opening it, he found a mobile phone and a driver's license. Inspecting it further, he face broke into a smile, yes, somewhere up there, was someone who loved him.

All he needed now was a plan to convince Tomoyo Daidouji that his band most definitely did not suck.