I'm In The Band Chapter 3, a hetalia - axis powers fanfic

Due to my friends badgering I've decided to go ahead and start writing chapter three of this story waaaayyyyy ahead of schedule. And also due to badgering I'll go ahead and put Alfred and Arthur together in this chapter. And as promised some RoChu for you in this one.

Chapter 3: Johnny and June

"So you must be the new boys da?" Mr. Braginski asks with that childish smile on his creepy face. He looked like a psycho killer rather than a producer. It didn't help that Mr. Yao looked the part of a gang member with his fancy business suit and all. "I would very much like to hear you play, Alfred was it?" He asks with a playful giggle. "But first I'd like to know what music genre you prefer."

"Country." I reply shortly as I carefully watch him from across the table. He tilts his head and smiles at me.

"I like country music. Do you mind playing some?" Still watching him I reach over for an acoustic guitar and play through Johnny Cash's song "Ring of Fire" without adding my vocals. At the end of the song the Braginski clapped for me while Mr. Yao bent over a piece of paper. "Very good. I can't wait to hear you perform on stage da. Now where's that silly white haired German? I'm in the mood for harassing someone." I notice Yao's pencil come to a stop but he doesn't lift his head from the paper.

Of course Gilbert had ditched on this meeting, claiming sickness, and left his brother to pick up information for him. Ludwig didn't look any different from his usual mood but his grip on the chair's arm was threatening enough. Lovino was close to losing what composure he was showing. Arthur was keeping his hands folded and trained his gaze over to my chair. Matthew looked unfazed though.

The band converses with Braginski, who had told me to just call him Ivan, as little as possible during this charming little meeting. Yao hardly spoke at all except to put in a tidbit of information here and there. Finally Ivan dismisses us and I wasn't surprised to see people scrabbling for the door. Lovino won that little race though. Who knew the guy was so fast? Once outside Lovino says something about this whole meeting being Ludwig's fault and they walk away, arguing.

"Hey Al, I'm going to go find Gilbert if that's okay with you." Matthew says and I open my mouth to say that it wasn't okay with me but as I get ready to say it Arthur buts in loudly.

"So Alfred, I didn't know you liked Johnny Cash." And taking his cue Matthew runs away and I frown at Arthur who gave me a devious smirk. I cross my arms and glower at him and the smirk falters a little. "Alright, sorry about that. But I did mean what I was saying about Johnny Cash. He's about the only country singer I've bothered to follow. Did a report on him back in school."

Unaware of it I start to smile and motion for him to walk along with me. "Shoot, I forgot my guitar. I'll be right back." I say as I dash back to the meeting room. Muffled noises come from behind the door and without thinking like I should have I swing the door open. Ivan was glaring at me as he drug his hands slowly over Yao's naked body and I start laughing nervously. Yao looks over at me with an annoyed stare and I pick up my guitar. "Sorry, forgot this."

I rush back out and see Lovino walking back down the hall and Arthur leaning on one of the walls patiently. "Don't go in there." I tell Lovino and he stops in his tracks and gives me a confused look. Then he lets out an 'Oh' sound and turns around abruptly. "What were you heading back for?" I ask as I shoulder my guitar.

"Ludwig needed to know they next date we perform but he's busy beating the shit out of Gilbert. Potato bastard owes me lunch anyway." And with these words he storms off and I stand next to Arthur.

"Wait, doesn't he make enough money to buy his own food? I heard he was a model on the side." I ask as we continue walking down the hall.

"Nope, that's Feliciano. Lovino is a writer on the side though. Not that he'll let you read any of his stories though. I bet it's a load of Romance stories. But he likes to be treated rather than treat someone." A snort escapes my nose and Arthur smiles. For a British person he actually had nice teeth. God did I sound racist. "You want to go get some lunch? Anywhere you choose, my treat." Arthur asks suddenly and I glance down at him.

"Sure, why not?" I ask after a moment's hesitation.

~ Three Months Later ~

"You and I need to talk jackass." I hear Lovino say behind me as I head to my room after a trip to the pool. It seemed he'd been after me since two months ago when I had first performed. He unceremoniously flings my door open and shoves me in then sits on one of the beds to glare at me. "You're starting to piss me off."

Confused I sit down backwards on a nearby chair. I had spent enough time with Lovino to know most of his facial expressions, which were mostly angry ones, and what they meant. The current one was his expression for concern so I would try to not explode back when I got too angry. Note I said I would try. "I don't know what you mean."

"This façade of yours. Its so god damned annoying. Even though you swear up and down that you're sooo straight I don't believe it for a second. And you know why that is? Because I've seen you talk with plenty of fuckable women but you turn down every fucking one." He draws a breath to continue and I cut him off with the counter argument I've planned out for this situation.

"I wouldn't be talking if I were you. I don't see you trying to say anything to Ludwig that isn't an insult or a curse." As I speak his eyes grow guarded. "Tell you what, since I know you're a bartering man. Okay, yes, I'm gay, I'll say it, but I'm not about to say anything about it to anybody. But how about a bargain. You tell Ludwig how you feel and I'll tell who I like how I feel."

"Fat chance. How about a bet. If I manage to confess to Ludwig before you can confess to your guy then you get to dedicate a song to him on stage for the entire world to see. Vis versa in my case." An annoying smirk crosses his face. But since I knew he was a coward he would probably tell me he had confessed first so I could embarrass myself.

"Deal, but whoever confesses first has to do it in front of the other so it's legitimate." Lovino looks at me for awhile, his fingers drumming on his knee slowly. He stands up and walks over, holding out his hand.

"Alright then, be prepared to be embarrassed then." Now with any luck neither one of us would win seeing as how I couldn't spit it out that I liked Arthur anyway and Lovino froze up whenever someone asked him about Ludwig.

~ The Next Night ~

Fancy restaurant and creepy Russian didn't really seem to go together. Unfortunately I was stuck at this once a year dinner that Ivan held for each of the bands he produced. One at a time of course so they didn't take up most of the restaurant. Ivan ran quite a few big names in the business including Albion Thunder which was a group composed of Arthur's brothers. Not something you want to bring up around Arthur.

Speaking of Arthur my mind jumps to that bet I had made with Lovino last night. I could do it right now since Lovino was sitting right across from me and Arthur right next to me. But I really wasn't about to create a scene in front of everyone. Looking back at Lovino I found it just a little ironic that he was Italian and currently looked like a mob boss.

He was wearing the fedora I had seen him wear the first day I met him and he was wearing an expensive black suit with a red silk shirt and a black silk tie. Currently he was staring at me evenly, his fedora covering half of his face, and a smirk on his lips. All that was missing was the cigar smoke and his get up would be complete.

Ludwig sits down next to him, scrolling through a checklist on his smart phone. Ever so carefully Lovino peeks at the list over Ludwig's shoulder. Ludwig notices him a moment later and leans away. Something told me I wasn't going to like this.

Like a lazy cat Lovino leaned his body on his chair's arm. "Ludwig, can I ask something?" He says quietly, his voice barely reaching my ears. Ludwig looks suspicious but leans down to hear him better. "If I said I was in love with you would you hate me?" I cough as my soup chokes me and Arthur looks over in alarm. But I was far too concentrated on the scene in front of me to care.

Silence meets Lovino's question and he frowns in sullen disappointment as he pushes himself back up. He reaches for his fork but Ludwig grabs his hand, making him look back over, disappointment shadowing his eyes. Cautiously Ludwig lifts Lovino's hand to his lips and gives it a light kiss. Arthur splutters his tea and they both look over in our direction.

Not wanting to meet Lovino's eyes I turn to Arthur. "Blighter finally did something." He coughs out while laughing. Looking up I see Lovino hold up four fingers. That was when our next performance was. I had four days until I had to tell Arthur I was in love with him.

~ Four Days Later ~

"Are you excited? I heard this is one of our largest crowds and you get to lead a song." I nod nervously as Arthur rambles on. Tilting my Stetson over my face to hide my blush I cast a sideways glance at my music partner. I found it a little ironic that he was dressed in black, although in his style, seeing as it went with my song. Lovino walks past me and pokes me in the back sharply.

Ludwig shows up and ruffles Lovino's hair and he retaliates by snapping at the air where Ludwig's hand had been a moment before. "You guys go on in five." We scatter to pick up our instruments and rush to our places. A moment later we're motioned on stage and proceed to the first song.

After our set of songs with no screw ups Arthur leans over to the mic, lowering his guitar. "Alright, for our last number our newest member is going to perform lead vocals." Swallowing my nerves I step forward and Arthur gives me a reassuring smile. The crowd breaks into loud applause as I step up to the mic.

"Before I start my song I would like to dedicate it to someone close to my heart." Trying my hardest not to look over at Arthur I wait for the rest of the band to pick up their other instruments. We had even brought members from our opening groups to help with this song considering we needed multiple instruments of various kinds. "This one is called "Johnny and June"."

"Ohh there's something 'bout a man in black
Makes me wanna buy a Cadillac
Throw the top back and roll down to Jackson Town"

I glance at Arthur ever so slightly to see a light blush on his face. Did he realize I was singing for him?

"I wanna be there on the stage with you,
You and I can be the next rage two
Hear the crowd roar, make them want more
and kick the footlights out"

Deciding it was probably in my best interest to not screw this up I concentrate on my music.

"I wanna a love like Johnny and June
Rings of fire burnin' with you
I wanna walk the line, walk the line
till the end of time
I wanna love, love you that much
cash it all in, give it all up
and when you're gone, I wanna go too
Like Johnny and June"

As I play I notice two girls from the opening groups were adding their vocals into my song.

"I wanna hold you baby right or wrong
build a world around a country song
Pray a sweet Prayer, follow you there
Down in history

I wanna a love like Johnny and June
Rings of fire burnin' with you
I wanna walk the line, walk the line
till the end of time
I wanna love, love you that much
cash it all in, give it all up
and when you're gone, I wanna go too
Like Johnny and June
Like Johnny and June

More than life itself, no one else
This endless promise
They don't make love like that anymore
is that too much to be askin for

They'll be no tears to cry
Only memories of our lives
They'll remember, remember
a love like that"

I draw the song to a close and try my hardest to not look at Arthur as the notes of his piano drift off. The stadium erupts into deafening applause.

~ An Hour Later ~

The drive back to the hotel was quiet. Probably because it was only Arthur and I in the back of the limo seeing as everyone else used different ones. I had decided to take up the whole end seat towards the front of the car and Arthur sat next to the door. We had been quiet getting out of the car as well and I was starting to worry.

Arthur opens the door to our shared room and walks in first and I follow sullenly. The next moment as the door locks behind me Arthur pushes me into the wall and plants a kiss on my lips. His fingers found mine and locked together and he rested his head under my chin. I open my mouth to say something but Arthur squeezes my hand.

"Even though I love your voice and there's many things I want to say to you I feel that silence says it best." He whispers and I smile then carefully press my lips to the top of his head.

A/N

Good lord! Man, I did this far faster than I thought I would. And you finally got your USUK. Not to mention that this is one of my longer chapters.

Ciao!~