Chapter Text
The view from the window overlooking the night sky looked the same as it ever did.
Sure, the window, resting on his bedroom wall, its crimson curtains pulled to the side, gently allowing the evening glow of the city lights to pour in is a lovely sight the first couple times you see it, but after seeing it every night since they'd been here, Damon couldn't help but get bored of it.
But he wasn't paying that much attention at the moment.
Swiftly, he dug through his cluttered dresser drawers for something he could put on; something casual. Something inconspicuous. He settled on a light gray t-shirt and some faded jeans; the kind of outfit he only wore indoors.
He wasn't sure why he was so nervous. He'd been planning tonight for a while; and it was a mostly foolproof plan; but his heart couldn't help but beat quicker and quicker with each step he took.
“Not too late to forget about it, Damon.” a voice belonging to a boy sitting on the edge of Damon's bed spoke up. Was it that noticeable that he was beginning to worry about it?
“But it's certainly too early to talk like that,” he muttered back as he got his t-shirt on. “I've been telling you about it for days, Jamie!”
Jamie shook his head. “Mum wouldn't be happy at all if she found out, you know.”
Damon furrowed his eyebrows at him. “I'd only be out for an hour or two.” Once he'd fully changed into his comfortable clothes, he looked around the room for a decent pair of shoes, still continuing the conversation as he roamed around the room. “What's gonna happen if she finds out, anyways, is she gonna have me imprisoned?”
“That'd be quite the messy picture,” he admitted. “I can see the headline. 'Famous movie star Damon Albarn gets life sentence for staying out past his bedtime'.”
“It's called a curfew, mind you!”
It sounded silly when put that way, but in reality, Damon had actually never tried going out that late before. In all his nearly 18 years of existing, he'd only ever gone out during the hours of the day, usually with the others in his family, which he quickly grew to dislike. He never got very far without cameras being flashed in his face, people with microphones shouting questions at him. It was enough to give you a lifetime of anxiety. But he supposed it was just something that came with being him, with being so popular, something that was definitely both a blessing and a curse.
Lastly, he put on a light jacket to complete his outfit, and finally he was ready.
“Well, how do I look?
“Could be worse.”
“Perfect.”
With that being said, Damon made his way to the window and began to try and open it.
“Now this is the part I don't get,” Jamie commented, standing beside him. “Can't you just go out the normal way?”
“What way is that?”
“I don't know, the door?”
Damon laughed. “Waltz right out the fucking front door at 10 o'clock at night? Yeah, Mum totally won't hear me or anything.” The latches on those windows had to be made of pure steel. After a moment of clawing at them, they finally came loose, allowing him to lift it upwards. The night air carried a light breeze in through the now open entrance as Damon looked down at the ground below.
The window wasn't that high from the ground. It wouldn't be much of a struggle to get down.
Setting his hands on the windowsill, he turned his gaze to Jamie. “You're gonna cover for me, aren't you?”
“Oh, yeah, um...” Jamie leaned against the wall, glancing up at the ceiling to try and remember what he'd previously been told. “Oh. If Mum asks about you, tell her you're asleep.”
Damon nodded, appreciating that he'd listened. “Right. If anything interesting happens while I'm out, you'll be the first to hear about it.”
“I'm all ears.” Jamie said in a tired voice. He sounded as if he'd rather be taking a nap.
Damon smiled. He hoisted himself up onto the sill, and quickly yet carefully lowered himself out. When he got to his feet, he stood straight, dusting off his pants a little bit and turning around to look back at Jamie. “I'll be back soon, alright?”
“Don't get stabbed.” Jamie advised.
Damon only laughed as he turned back around and began to head off.
“I mean it! Be safe, we still need you in one piece!”
He watched as Damon just kept going until he was out of sight into the night.
He let out a sigh, shaking his head and closing the window. He couldn't help but smile to himself. “Bloody idiot.”
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
There was an oddly calm aura in the air as Damon walked through the city streets.
The light breeze felt cool brushing against his face. It was so quiet out there that night, aside from the sounds of cars passing and footsteps tapping on the sidewalks. People passed him by, but they never gave him a second glance.
For once in his life, nobody recognized him.
His footsteps ceased when he found himself standing in front of what looked to be a local bar. Normally, he wouldn't have batted an eye at the place, but from outside he could hear the faint sounds of a band playing. However, he noticed there wasn't any vocals accompanying the sound. Still, he always liked listening to bands play; it soothed him when he needed it most.
He stood hesitantly by the door, wondering if he should step inside and investigate.
Well, it wasn't like he had anything else to do.
He extended a hand and placed it on the door handle, pulling the door open and slowly entering the bar.
Right away he blinked as his eyes adjusted to the bright light of the inside, and his nose adjusted to the smell of cheap alcohol. He took a second to observe the fairly clean wooden floors and the tan tiled walls that combined to be the perfect mix of modern and outdated. Surprisingly, there was a bit of a crowd in there, but Damon was only looking for the band.
When he walked further inward and looked to the right, he saw them, and immediately walked over.
On a small stage in the corner, where everyone else was looking, stood three boys.
One of the boys was slightly pale, his hair a light shade of ginger, sitting in the back, bashing away at his drums, never even missing a beat. Another was standing tall, focused on the bass guitar in his hands. His eyes were partly hidden under his dark hair, but you could tell where his mind was as his fingers graced the frets with ease. The third boy was the one that, for some reason, stood out to Damon the most. He stood further back from the front of the stage, as if he were too shy to stand closer to the crowd. Behind his glasses, his eyes were glued to his guitar, hardly looking at anything else. Damon observed how the boy would occasionally bring a hand up to move his messy brown hair out of his line of vision and then immediately keep playing.
It was always the little things he paid attention to.
In no time at all, their performance was through, which caused the group to be greeted by an echo of applause. Briefly snapping out of his transfixed state, Damon added his applause to the mix.
For the first time in a very long time, he was actually thoroughly impressed.
When the band was finished packing up their instruments and stepped down off of the stage and onto the bar floor, he knew he wanted to go up and say something.
As the three were walking off, he speedily caught up with them.
“Oi! You guys were great!”
The three stopped walking, turning to face him, which caused Damon to stop in his tracks.
The bass player immediately grinned at him. “Thanks. We practiced that set for ages, you know.”
The drummer stepped forward, looking quite proud of himself. “I think the drum solo was the best part, if I do say so myself.”
“The guitar solo was my favorite,” Damon nodded, looking over at the guitar player. “You've got a real knack for that thing, mate.”
The boy was originally looking away, but quickly looked over at him when the solo was mentioned. Blushing a little, he smiled. “Thank you.”
Damon felt his heart flutter slightly upon seeing the boy's reaction. He thought it was sort of cute how he was so timid.
But why was he thinking that way?
Before he could answer his own question, the bass player extended his hand. “I'm Alex, by the way.”
Looking down at the hand for a split second, he then slowly grabbed it and shook it. “Damon.”
Alex glanced back at the drummer. “And this is Dave. And over there,” his gaze shifted over to the shy guitar player. “That's the only girl in our group.”
“Oh, come off it!” The boy laughed, his eyes darting over to Alex, then back to Damon. “My name's Graham,” he said with a slight smile, looking to the side.
Graham.
What a name.
“I haven't seen you around here before.” Graham spoke, interrupting Damon's thought process once again.
“Oh, I only moved here last week, that's why,” He replied, looking around the room.
Alex's eyes sparked with sudden interest. “Oh, really?”
“Welcome, so glad you could join us.” Dave joked.
“We play here on weekends,” Graham explained. “So we'll be back tomorrow night.” He still had faint traces of a blush tinting his cheeks. “You could come back and see us, if you'd like.”
Damon nodded, smiling at him. “Sure.”
Alex glanced over at the door. “Well, we'd better get going. Graham's mum gets worried if he stays out too late.” He grinned. “We'll see you around, Damon.”
The other two began to walk away, but Graham stayed behind for a moment, shaking his head. For a second, his eyes met Damon's again. “So...We'll see you tomorrow, right?”
He nodded, which caused him to smile.
Graham's smile was a truly lovely thing.
He looked over at the door, noticing his friends had already left. His eyes widened and he quickly started to walk after them. But before heading out, he looked back at Damon one last time. “W-well, I'll see you!”
He watched as the boy hollered for his friends to wait up for him and then headed out of the bar.
Looking down at the floor, he thought about what had just occurred.
He smiled to himself.
There surely would be a lot to tell Jamie when he got home.