Archive of Our Own ^beta

They all knew Nace from before, at least briefly, but it was a completely different thing to think about him as a part of a band. He had a good voice, and he was an amazing bassist, but still, his presence was unfamiliar and, to be completely fair, a bit awkward.

Bojan hated awkwardness.

"So," he began resolutely as they were packing their stuff after the practice. "What about going to a bar?"

Jure, of course, seemed excited, Kris shrugged his shoulders, and Nace smiled, a bit sheepish, and nodded his head.

Bojan looked at Jan expectantly.

Jan thought about it for a moment, glanced at Nace out of the corner of his eye, then answered, "Yeah, I guess".

Bojan beamed at him and googled the closest bar with gluten-free snacks.

Sometimes Bojan felt as if not a single person in his own band liked or at least respected him. Well, maybe except for Nace, but the others' bad influence was already rubbing off on him. Besides, he wasn't in the studio yet, running late because he was visiting his mom.

The point was, nobody liked him, and Bojan insisted on letting his disappointment about this fact be known, so he flopped on the couch with a dramatic sigh and looked up at Jan, the only person in the studio at the moment, who was typing something on his phone.

"Everyone's ignoring me", he complained, and pouted when his words were received with just an absent-minded "uh-huh". Bojan resigned to his fate of being the most brilliant person surrounded by those who gave him no mind and changed his strategy.

"Who are you texting?"

Jan giggled at the message, then typed a reply and said, "Nace. He says he'll be there in ten".

Bojan raised his eyebrows. Jan rarely giggled.

"Are you making fun of me?"

Jan made the worst poker face the world's ever seen and shook his head. Bojan tried to crane his neck and look at his screen, but Jan quickly snatched the phone away.

"Don't look. That's private".

Jan was always the most guarded out of all of them, after all.

Bojan pushed himself up from the couch and stretched until he heard a loud pop.

"I'll go find Kris".

Jan didn't seem to notice, fully engrossed in the conversation. Rude, Bojan thought to himself as he went out of the door.

The interviews were, probably, the most exhausting thing about Eurovision, Bojan decided.

He absolutely loved being the centre of attention—the band wouldn't have the success they had if he didn't—but the sheer amount and the repeatable content of them became very tiring very quickly. He and Kris were mostly the ones answering the questions, and Jure, Nace, and Jan always had something going on in the background.

As Bojan was scrolling through the comments under some of their interviews, he noticed that this amused a lot of people. The fans loved the intimacy of their band and praised them for being so comfortable with each other, always hugging, standing very close, and even sitting in each other’s laps.

Bojan remembered that interview during the Polish pre-party, where there wasn’t a lot of room for everyone, so Nace pulled Jan towards him, and they sat snuggled the whole time they played a “never have I ever” game. Bojan laughed at the memory—they had a lot of fun that time, and it was definitely better than if one of them was hovering awkwardly while the others were seated.

The pre-parties were cool, though, and it was exciting to meet the other contestants, like the girls from Austria or a Finnish representative.

Bojan looked around to see if, by any chance, he could catch a glimpse of a green t-shirt.

The summer tour, despite its intensity and stress, was probably the best thing that’s ever happened to Bojan. All the venues were sold out within minutes, the fans adored them and sang along in the language they didn’t speak, and the atmosphere during the concerts was truly intoxicating.

The others were completely into it as well, Jure giving his best on the drums, his energy lighting up the audience, Kris strumming the strings as if his life depended on it, and Jan and Nace keeping the fans entertained with the interactions they had going on, leaning into each other’s spaces and blowing the bubbles. That was a good move on their part; it was a lot more interesting to watch, and Bojan was glad that they thought about it.

Although a bit salty that he wasn’t the one to put that idea into their heads.

When Bojan entered the studio—ten minutes late, which was quite unusual for him—he saw that Jan's guitar was already leaning against the chair, which was even more unusual, as he was at least half an hour late to every practice ever since they started the band. Kris was texting something on his phone—probably contacting the interviewer who was supposed to be there in fifteen minutes—and Jure was stuffing his face with sweets. Everything seemed normal, except—

"Is Jan already here?" asked Bojan, putting down his bag.

Kris rolled his eyes. "Yes, he's—"

"He's upstairs!" giggled Jure, and before Bojan asked what was so funny, he added, "With Nace", and wiggled his eyebrows.

As if that explained something.

Indeed, he could hear some muffled sounds coming from upstairs, then a sigh, a smack, a muttered "sranje, Nace", and a low chuckle. A moment later, Jan's head appeared over the rail. His cheeks were blotched with spots of flush, his hair was even more tousled than usual, and Bojan felt his eyebrows slowly rising up. What were they doing up there?

Jan cleared his throat.

"Does anyone have foundation?"

That was the last thing Bojan expected to come out of his mouth.

Kris heaved a sigh and went to his bag to check. "Please don't tell me it's for what I think it's for".

Bojan decided not to ask and instead waved at Nace, who descended from upstairs with a smug smile. Jan followed after him with a bright red spot on his neck and went directly to Kris.

Bojan mentally shrugged. He was also often bitten by mosquitoes.

Perhaps he should invest in a pair of glasses or contact lenses, Bojan mused, because there was no way Nace and Jan just kissed. Made out. Full-on snogged each other’s faces off the second they went backstage. Maybe it was the adrenaline from the gig?

Bojan looked around to see if anybody else was seeing this. They did, but their reaction was… underwhelming. Kris briefly looked up, rolled his eyes, and continued walking towards the dressing room. Jure chuckled and went back to the conversation with the crew. Nace and Jan finally stopped eating each other and followed after Kris as if nothing happened. While holding hands.

Huh.

Maybe he should pay closer attention to his bandmates.