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The hot spotlights on the bars above him shone in Kerry's face. It was the second best feeling in the world for him: on stage, in front of him thousands of people singing along to his songs, the guitar in his hand (or sometimes the piano in front of him, since he was married to V he started playing more ballads), the sweat on his skin. His fingers slid over the neck of his Strat while he sang the lyrics to "Dark Matter".
V stood next to the stage, his husband always in sight, arms folded. He had squeezed into one of Kerry's myriad leather pants just for this occasion; V was a bit taller and more muscular than the older Filipino, but fortunately for him, the pants were very stretchy. He wore a red tank top and a leather vest over it. Their closet had become so intermingled by now that no one knew who owned what. The only parts left out were V's work clothes. Kerry shouldn't go on stage in a bulletproof vest, first of all it would look funny and secondly it would remind him too much of Silverhand. Kerry was a musician, not a terrorist after all.
V smirked, his chest almost bursting with pride. "Dark Matter" was his favorite song. Well, second favorite. The song Kerry had played for him on the yacht over 3 years ago was undisputed #1. Kerry had never released it; he had thought about it briefly, but this song was too important to the two of them. He played it only when V was alone with him. There were no lyrics, still not, but they didn't need any, the notes evoked memories that couldn't be put into words anyway.
If V was completely honest with himself, every song on the last 2 albums was his favorite. They were about him, about both of them, or about things they had experienced. As a teenager he never imagined that Kerry Eurodyne would sing about him like that, even after so long he was overwhelmed by it every time.
As he watched his husband leap across the stage (sometimes half praying that the almost 90 year old's hips could still handle it; then again, he knew what this man's hips were capable of doing) his mind wandered to the countless evenings the two of them spent cuddled up on the couch, watching Watson Whore or some other stupid show and filling their stomachs with booze and snacks. Recently, they had been watching an old series from the 2000s. The first seasons were even in 4:3 format, V could hardly believe his eyes that the poor people back then were tortured with such a pity sight. The show was called "Scrubs" and they had just finished the series a few days ago. Kerry had cried a lot during the series finale and V also had to shed a tear or two.
Those were the evenings they both loved the most.
V was torn from his thoughts by the cheering of the crowd outside. The lights went out, which meant the main set was over. Kerry would come to the back; the crowd would call for an encore. So in an hour at most, they were back home. V beamed at the thought.
That's exactly how it turned out. Kerry slipped off the stage and wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel. V pulled him in his arms, lifted his chin and kissed him deeply, not caring that his partner was soaking wet. Kerry smirked against his lips. The two had been married for over 2 years and both wore their wedding rings on their hands, but so far no one had managed to put 1 and 1 together. Except, of course, the roadies and Kerry's contractors, who were urged not to make the relationship public, or they would be fined heavily. So far, everyone had dutifully complied.
Kerry knew that V wanted more though. He had given the rocker boy time, was afraid of destroying his image by being married to the head of Afterlife. Kerry's sudden request surprised him all the more.
"Babe."
"Huh?" hummed V, lips still against his.
"I want to take you outside."
V opened his eyes.
"Take me outside? Are you done yet; you always play an encore. "
"Nah, not yet, besides," Kerry laughed. "I didn't mean out the door. I meant on stage. To the encore."
V looked at him puzzled, tilting his head a little. Kerry laughed briefly and tousled his styled hair.
"I thought," he continued. "I could finally show the world the counterpart to this."
With that, he raised his hand with the gold ring on his ring finger. V looked at his hand, then back into Kerry's eyes. His gaze wandered back and forth a few times, as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard.
"Kerry!" one of the roadies called from behind. "The cue is in two minutes!"
"We'll be right there!” He turned around again, facing the taller man. “So babe... what do you think?"
"And you really want this?"
"I want you to be happy first and foremost. I’ll be fine promise. Everyone out there should see our happiness. So, what do you say?"
"As long as I don't have to sing," V groaned, but his grunt quickly gave way to laughter.
"God, no. It's not like I'm trying to drive the fans away," Kerry joked while taking V’s hand into his own. V smirked.
“ Well, I guess I can’t say no to Kerry fucking Eurodyne right?”
“Absolutely correct. I’ll protect you, promise.”
“I feel like I’m not the one here who needs protection.”
V beamed, his heart racing as he and his husband entered the stage again, crowd cheering and going absolute bonkers. Kerry grabbed the microphone, slung one arm around V’s shoulders, pulled him down and gave him a deep, intense kiss. All while the crowd was going insane, screaming and cheering and calling out for them.
“Hey guys so”, Kerry said as he pulled the mic to his mouth, just seconds after releasing V from his grip.
“As an encore tonight: a very first. May I introduce you to the love of my life, my husband, my everything.”
He looked up lovingly into V’s deep, black eyes.
“V Eurodyne.”