Chapter Text
"I'm not gonna wear that stupid costume on stage, I don't care what your or the manager says, I'm not wearing it!"
Emil shouted at his big brother that held the costumes for the Nordic 5 concert they were going to have the next day. The Icelander had very mixed feelings about the outfit which was very tight black jeans and a black sparkly sequin baggy dress shirt that pretty much revealed the entire chest.
"C'mon Emil! The fangirls want to see more skin and we have to give it to them! And it's just showing a bit of chest, it's not like you're naked!"
Matthias came into the dressing room, already wearing the outfit that fitted him perfectly and he felt very confident in it. The Icelander still shook his head, rejecting the idea of wearing such embarrassing clothes in front of thousands of people.
"Emil, I don't like it a lot either but we're all going to wear it, even me."
Lukas was trying to persuade his little brother, he was wearing the costume as well. After all, today was their rehearsal for the next day's big show. They were ending the international tour for their album: Always with You.
"No way! This isn't the Nordic 5 style at all, we used to wear suits for our concerts and now not only the music has changed but our stage clothes too?"
Clearly, the Icelander wasn't just discontent about the costumes, but it has been 3 years since they started the band and many things had changed. It wasn't like in the past anymore when they decided to gather at Tino's garage to fool around and compose silly songs.
"We all knew that death metal wasn't going to take us anywhere, Emil."
Berwald commented, walking inside the room after overhearing the conversation from outside
"And why aren't you changed?"
Matthias asked and that's when Tino walked into the room, wearing his costume which made the Swede the only one not wearing it.
"Oh, the buttons on Berwald's shirt exploded but I'm sewing them on right now, don't worry!"
Tino held the shirt up as he went to sit on the floor as he began sewing the buttons on while humming. The shirt was a bit too tight for the Swede but at this point, it would be difficult to get him a bigger size since all of the outfits were designer made, and to get a size more would have to take a week at least. But if the buttons happened to pop out during the performance, the fangirls would surely love it so Tino told Berwald that to reassure him, which didn't work very well.
"You guys are not getting it! We didn't wear revealing pop idol clothes like this before, we were actually a band with respectable music and appearance, look at what fame and society have done to us!"
Emil was freaking out, what was this? Is Berwald going to appear shirtless on stage? That would have never happened in the past if they continued wearing classy suits for their performances and if they hadn't changed their music style so drastically.
"Like I said, and I'm sorry for saying this Tino, we were awful with death metal."
The Swede spoke again and all of the members nodded in agreement. The first song they ever recorded in Tino's garage was a death metal song called "The Nordic Slaughter House". Thankfully, no one except the band members heard the song and decided that they should probably change genre and nobody should ever hear that recording.
"I'm not talking about that! I mean when we started with pop-rock and made our first album."
The Icelander raised his voice, which was very unusual from him but he had so much frustration built up inside him that was going to come out at some point.
"You mean, The Direction of the Cold?"
Lukas askes, that was their first album and it had all sorts of silly songs that they recorded for fun that unexpectedly gained popularity and before they knew it, they were signing a contract with a studio and were on top of the billboard.
"Yes! Those songs were genuine, it was about us, just us! Not this Always with You crap where we didn't even write the lyrics or compose the songs."
Emil was right, it wasn't about them anymore. Since they became famous, most of the songs were not made by them but by professional songwriters that tried to make hit after hit. Making the change from genre to genre, singing indie and singing rap, and ending up with their last album being a pop one.
"So? We clearly have evolved as a band and we're successful! We have tried almost every genre of music which is what makes us different!"
Matthias argued, getting slightly annoyed by the Icelander's attitude. Emil should be grateful that they were on an international tour and not stuck in Tino's garage writing songs like "Butter Me Up" or "The Mr. Puffin Rap".
"Emil, calm down, we have a concert tomorrow to end the tour. After that, we can all sit down and talk through it."
Lukas was trying to handle the situation pacifically although he was sure that what the Den had said would surely trigger his little brother.
"Talk? We never talk anymore because we're so busy! And I see whose side you're taking now, Lukas."
Matthias wasn't going to have it, he was tired of hearing Emil complain and having to deal with his moody teenager's ass.
"Don't talk to your brother that way! You have no idea how lucky we are to be loved by the world!"
The Den stood in front of the Norwegian and was now facing the Icelander directly as the two exchanged angry glares.
"Hey, break it off you two."
Berwald decided to step in, meanwhile, Tino was still on the floor sewing the buttons of the Swede's shirt as he heard the discussion going on. He wasn't sure if he should intervene as the yelling grew louder, but now it was between Matthias and Berwald while Lukas still tried to calm his little brother down. The Fin was having a hard time comprehending what was going on, they never fought like this before and they never insulted each other, but now it was getting out of hand. Tino knew that many things had changed in the 3 years since the creation of Nordic 5 in his garage. Their music style had changed for sure, their outfits too, their aesthetic and they weren't in charge of what they should sing anymore. Still, the Fin was convinced that they still had a bond of friendship connecting them even if they didn't spend much time together having fun like before. They used to have so much fun coming to the studio and plotting ideas for music videos, but now it was more like a routine, it was simply a job and they were coworkers, no longer the 5 friends that started a band.
"Guys, stop it!"
He shouted now that Matthias was holding Berwald by the shirt's collar. He got so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice that the fight had escalated so rapidly. This was wrong, they were friends, pretty much brothers and they shouldn't be hitting each other.
"That's it, I'm leaving the band."
All the eyes were on Emil now after he made that statement as they all watched him leave the dressing room and slamming the door close once he left. There was silence in the room, an uncomfortable one that was interrupted by yelling.
"See what you've done? Now he left, this is all your fault for getting all aggressive for no reason!"
Lukas hissed at the Den while Tino watched, completely horrified. Emil just left the band and they were back to fighting? Why hasn't anyone chase Emil down? What have they become? Perhaps fame really had changed them because this situation would have never happened in the past. Tino never considered the possibility of the band breaking up or having a member leaving but now it was a reality. What would they do? Change the name to Nordic 4? And what about tomorrow's concert? The Fin had so many concerns now that the Icelander had left.
"You know what? I'm leaving too, I'm not going to stay here without my brother!"
Lukas was now the one leaving, tossing Emil's uniform on the floor before rushing out of the room.
"Lukas, Lukas don't be like this!"
Matthias shouted, attempting to run after his boyfriend but stopped when he hears the Norwegian cursing from the distance telling him to not get any fucking closer.
"Berwald I can't believe you made him leave! And now he's pissed at me because of you!"
The Swede was offended, he didn't do anything to make Lukas decide to leave the band. If they had to blame someone then it would be Matthias for trying to pick a fight and then starting to scream but it was his fault now? All he tried to do was break up the fight and he almost got punched in the face for doing so.
"You were the one who made them leave because you're an arrogant piece of-"
Berwald wasn't able to finish his sentence when he saw the Den raise his arm to give him a fatal blow but then Tino jumped between the two of them, holding Matthias' fist in his hand, stopping the punch that was going towards the Swede's face.
"Stop it! We can't do this to each other, were Nordic 5, not Nordic 4 or 3, there has to be 5 of us or there's nothing!"
The Fin tried to reason with the remaining members of the band. He never would have imagined this day, not even in his worst nightmare but it was happening. Their dream of forming a band was falling apart piece by piece and Tino didn't know what to do to put the pieces back together.
"I guess it's going to be Nordic 2 now."
Matthias said it loud and clear, glaring at the other two angrily before leaving the dressing room.
"Oh no, no no no!"
The Fin shouted even though Matthias wasn't going to hear him or Lukas or Emil. It was too late, all hopes were lost now.
"Tino…"
Berwald spoke up, noticing Tino's teary eyes and the man held him by the hands with a saddened expression he had never seen on the Fin before.
"Please don't tell me you're leaving me too, Sverige."
Tears rolled down from the Fin's violet eyes while he entangled his fingers with the Swede's, not wanting his only friend to leave like the others.
"No, I'm never leaving you, don't worry about that."
The Swede pulled the smaller male closer for an embrace as the Fin rested his head on Berwald's firm chest and wept. Neither of them was sure of what to do next after 3 members of the band left. They still had a concert to give, meet and greets and other events that still had to be handled. The future was uncertain for now but as long as the two of them were together, Berwald was sure that they would figure things out, and sooner or later, the Nordic 5 will return.