Work Text:
He was a boy
She was a girl
Can I make it any more obvious?
Ban was a boy.
Jericho was a girl.
And that was that.
He was a punk
She did ballet
What more can I say?
Ban was your average punk, down to the clothes, piercings, tattoos and hair (despite said hair being completely natural). Jericho, despite her outside tomboy status, was also secretly a girly girl who loved activities such as ballet; she was very good at it, if she did say so herself.
He wanted her
She'd never tell
Secretly, she wanted him as well
Ban liked Jericho. It was pretty obvious; the way he always stared at her, the way he always wanted to talk to her, to the way he'd sometimes 'accidentally' brush up against her whenever the two passed in the hallway.
Jericho would never tell a soul that, secretly, she also liked Ban. How he always smiled widely, showing off his absurdly sharp canines, how he laughed, and also how he always put his heart into whatever it was he was passionate about.
And all of her friends
Stuck up their nose
And they had a problem with his baggy clothes!
Jericho's friends, however, did not approve of Ban. They didn't like the fact that he was a punk, among many other things, and, if Jericho wanted to stay her popular self, she had to agree.
He was a skater boy, she said, "See ya later, boy!"
He wasn't good enough for her
Jericho chattered excitedly to her friends as they exited the library on campus of Zaratras Secondary School; the students were all buzzing because A Levels were finally over and done with and Jericho was no exception - she couldn't wait to celebrate her newfound freedom from studying in style.
"Oi, Jericho!" Her name being called is what snapped Jericho out of her conversation, causing her to turn to the source of the noise - her eyes lit up when she saw Ban making his way towards her.
"Ew," Guila sneered scornfully. "What do you want, burnout?"
Undeterred by Guila's nasty attitude, Ban continued, his eyes never leaving Jericho's. "My friends and I are throwin' a party at my place to celebrate the end of term," he explained. "I was wonderin' if you and your friends would like to join us?"
Jericho mentally gasped. She couldn't believe that Ban was actually asking her to join a party! She would've said a billion yeses if her friends weren't standing right there, all too eager to reject the albino student.
"Did you eat a brain tumour for breakfast?" Vivian chortled cruelly. "No way would we be caught dead at that!"
"None of us want to be seen with you," Guila added, before turning to Jericho. "Isn't that right, Jericho?"
Jericho's heart sank into her stomach upon feeling Guila and Vivian's eyes burning a hole in her side, but quickly fell into line and screwed her face up into the most disgusted expression she could muster.
"You heard my girls," she snapped, "I'm pretty sure you have your answer now."
Though Guila and Vivian may not have noticed, Ban's face fell ever so slightly upon hearing Jericho's words, though he didn't show it outwardly.
"Yeah, no, that's cool," he said, keeping his voice and body language detached. "You prob'ly have plans of your own, anyway. I'll, uh, see you around, then?"
Jericho scoffed. "Not likely!" she retorted snidely.
Ban nodded in acknowledgement, before throwing down his skateboard and gliding away. Jericho so desperately wanted to go after him, to tell him how she didn't meant what she said, to tell him how she'd love nothing more than to dance the night away with him, but with Guila and Vivian around, she couldn't.
"I don't know why he keeps trying with you," Vivian sighed. "He's nowhere near good enough for you."
"I'll say - you're leagues above that loser," Guila agreed.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Astrid admitted reluctantly.
"We're always right!" both girls jokingly chorused and they all laughed. Well, except Jericho, who could only muster a weak titter.
Inside, Jericho was having a war with herself, chastising herself for constantly shooting Ban down, even though she truly did like him. Part of her wondered whether this time would constitute the final straw and Ban would stop pursuing her for good, but the other part of her hoped that he still would, hoped that he would somehow read her mind and realise that she actually did return his feelings. This thought of him and her eventually getting together is what fuelled and kept her going.
Suffice it to say, Jericho was being delusional, and while it would take a while, she would eventually get a huge dose of reality.
She had a pretty face, but her head was up in space
She needed to come back down to eaaaarth!
-:-
Five years from now
She sits at home
Feeding the baby, she's all alone
"Who wants some more baby food? Who wants some more baby food? You do, don't you? Yeah!" Jericho cooed to the baby boy sitting on her lap, who was named Gustaf, after her late brother.
Gustaf was the result of a stupid little fling that Jericho had on her 22th birthday; she instantly regretted it after she woke up the next morning, sobered up and unable to recognise the man in the bed next to her. The two agreed that neither wanted a long-term relationship, but her fling also conceded that he had to be there for his child and so Jericho received child support payments from him each month. At least I somehow managed to snag a responsible guy, she had thought.
Despite the circumstances in which he was born, Jericho loved Gustaf to the moon and back and was determined to give him a wonderful life.
Very soon, after Gustaf had been rocked to sleep, Jericho put him in his cot, before sitting back on the couch. Being a mother really frazzled her mind; she was still getting used to the tiny bursts of time that she had to herself.
"Let's see what's on TV," she decided before grabbing the remote.
She turns on TV
And guess who she sees?
Skater boy rockin' up MTV!
Jericho flipped through all the channels, until she landed on one that she could always rely on: "MTV! Yes!"
She settled down to the current programme, which seemed to be some sort of in-studio performance from a band that she didn't recognise. She was surprised to see that the band held seven members: a guitarist, a bassist, a keyboardist, a drummer, a violinist, a person on the tambourine and, of course, their lead singer. All the members had their own unique appeal, but Jericho was particularly drawn to the band member currently wailing out a kickass guitar solo on his red and black Fender Stratocaster.
His platinum blue hair was short and spiky, and he was wearing a black tank top with maroon leather pants and black Doc Martens. He also had magenta eyes were seemed so familiar.
Almost . . . too familiar.
She didn't question it until the song was over, and a host was coming up onstage to conduct a post-performance interview.
"Well, wasn't that something?" the interviewer exclaimed enthusiastically, a caption on the bottom of the screen confirming his name to be Pelliot. "That was 'Time' by The Seven Deadly Sins, a song penned by the band's own guitarist, Ban!"
Jericho audibly gasped.
Ban? As in, Ban, the guy who kept asking her out five years ago?
It couldn't be!
But, alas, when she crawled to the TV and got a good look at the guy that was supposedly Ban, she realized that it was, indeed, him!
"Ban, I'm sure all your fans are eager to figure out how you got the inspiration for such an amazing song," Pelliot said. "Tell us: how did you come up with 'Time'?"
"Well, it all happened one night, when I was drunk off my ass," Ban said bluntly, causing his fellow bandmates and Pelliot to laugh, save for one band member - one with honey-brown hair and eyes - who irritably elbowed the guitarist in the ribs, clearly a silent order for him to be serious.
"Nah, I'm totally kiddin'," the albino chuckled, before going to answer the question seriously. "To be completely honest, 'Time' was a product of me losin' my father a couple years ago."
"Wow, I'm so sorry to hear that," Pelliot said sympathetically.
"Thank you," Ban acknowledged, before continuing on. "It was at that moment that I realised that none of us is really guaranteed any day on Earth and so it's up to us to make the most of every day we have so that we don't end up wastin' any second; 'Time' was essentially about all of that."
"Wow, that's beautiful, Ban!" Pelliot beamed.
The interview with the band continued as Jericho started to zone out, still in shock at the revelation she just experienced.
To think, the guy that she had a crush on and occasionally thought about, but conceded she would never see again ended up being right there on her TV screen. As far as she was concerned, he never looked hotter.
"As always, it's wonderful to get the chance to talk the band," Pelliot said. "However, am I right in believing that you guys have some big news for your fans?"
The Seven Deadly Sins looked over each other with mischievous grins, before the lead singer - a blonde guy with striking, green eyes and an infectious smile, who answered to the name Meliodas - stepped forward to answer.
"Now, then; now, then; now, then!" he smiled. "Looks like you blew our cover, Pelliot! But you're right; we do have something to announce!" He then turned to the camera. "The Seven Deadly Sins are . . . drumroll, please, Diane."
The aforementioned female drummer giggled with a nod, before hurrying back to her drumset and performing the task as asked.
". . . headlining our first tour!" Meliodas finally announced.
"Wow, that's awesome news!" Pelliot exclaimed. "Where're you guys headed?"
"Right now, we're just plannin' on headin' up and down the country," Ban explained, having taken the mic out of Meliodas' hands. "But we plan to start in our hometown of Liones, as that's how The Seven Deadly Sins began; that's where we all met."
Jericho did a double take.
Ban's band was going on tour?
And they were performing in Liones?!
She realised this was the perfect time for her to see Ban and, more importantly, meet up with him again to see if he remembered her.
She calls up her friends
They already know
And they've all got tickets to see his show
An hour after the interview aired, and an hour after Jericho had finished processing everything, she quickly texted the groupchat she shared with Vivian and Guila:
J💜
GIRLS DID YOU SEE THAT LATEST MTV UNLOCKED EPISODE
=
BAN WAS ON IT
=
YOU KNOW BAN FROM SCHOOL
=
HE LOOKS SO HOT
[sent: 15:20]
Instead of getting a response from either girl, Jericho's phone vibrated, notifying her of an incoming three-way video call. Wasting no time, she clicked the green 'accept' button.
"Jericho, you don't have to say anything; we know!" Guila squealed.
"You weren't kidding about him being hot," Vivian gushed as she sighed dreamily. "What a man . . ."
Deciding to ignore the irony in her friends seemingly forgetting about the abject horror they held at the idea of even breathing the same air as Ban five years prior, Jericho was eager to join in on the fangirling.
"I've been obsessed with the Sins' music for so long now," Guila admitted. "I'd been meaning to tell you girls about it, but I was worried you'd think I was weird."
"Well, if liking The Seven Deadly Sins is weird, then I'm guilty as charged!" Vivian sang, causing all three girls to laugh.
"Didn't you hear what they said at the end?" Jericho said. "They're going on tour and they're starting in Liones! I'd love it if we all got to see them live!" Her face fell. "Though, I'd imagine ticketing would be a bitch, though."
"Not at all!" Guila chirped. "You guys remember Howzer?"
"What, that guy you dated for, like, two seconds before he dumped you?" Vivian playfully asked.
"C'mon, Viv, I told you before that the breakup was mutual," Guila stressed, before continuing. "Anyway, he's working part-time in a ticketing agency and just got promoted a couple of months ago; I don't think it'd be too far of a stretch to get him to pull some strings and get us front-row tickets to see the Sins when they come to Liones!"
"Shut up," Jericho gaped. "You'd really do that for us, G?"
"Oh, absolutely!" Guila grinned. "In fact, I'll call him tonight and get it all sorted out now!"
"You're the best, G!" Vivian cheered.
"Oh, I know girls," Guila preened, causing all three friends to laugh again.
Meanwhile, Jericho was absolutely buzzing. She couldn't believe her luck - not only was Ban still as gorgeous as he was back in secondary school, but he's also part of an up-and-rising rock band. Jericho knew reunion with Ban was well within reach now; she could almost taste it.
-:-
She tags along
Stands in the crowd
Looks up at the man that she turned doooown!
The days turned into weeks, the weeks turned into months, and before long, The Seven Deadly Sins first headlining tour across the UK was due to start that very evening.
Jericho was embarrassed to admit that she, Vivian and Guila were almost up all night trying to figure out what they were going to wear - it had to be cool, but not forced; edgy, but not try-hard; stylish, but not preppy. Eventually, the trio settled on their respective outfits and were eager to embark on their journey to Liones Stadium.
"Holy shit! Look at that crowd!" Vivian gaped.
Like her friends, Jericho was stunned to see just how many people came to see The Seven Deadly Sins' first show; she remembered a news report she saw a couple of weeks back that stated the band had to add two additional days in Liones due to the first date completely selling out within the first half-hour.
She was thankful she didn't have to worry about where she was going to be. Guila was true to her word and got back in touch with Howzer, meaning that he had the girls' back before the floodgates for the tickets opened for the rest of the public. He hooked the girls up with three front-row tickets and one exclusive backstage meeting with a band member, which they were absolutely thrilled about; Guila even considered giving her relationship with Howzer another go.
It wasn't long before Jericho, Guila and Vivian had made their way to the front of the stage and took their seats, watching in awe as the crowd came in droves, turning the once-empty stadium into a jam-packed venue full of excitable Seven Deadly Sins fans.
"I heard there's gonna be 25,000 people in here," Guila remarked.
"25,000?" Vivian said disbelievingly. "It'll be 30K, at least!"
"That many?!" Jericho nearly exclaimed. 'This band was really no joke, huh'?
Despite herself, Jericho felt her heart begin to race in anticipation. As the stadium continued to fill up, she realised how well and truly excited she was to see the show. In all honesty, she had never been to a concert before, let alone one for a rock band, and her pregnancy and subsequent duties as a mother made it difficult for her to put time aside for leisurely activities as she did before Gustaf was born.
Once the stadium was completely full and the doors had closed, Jericho's heart jumped as everything suddenly became more real. She was this close to seeing Ban in person in five years and in the context of his being a rockstar, no less.
Soon enough, it was time for the show; the lights dimmed and the crowd quietened as they settled for the night ahead.
-:-
He was a skater boy, she said, "See ya later, boy!"
He wasn't good enough for her
Now he's a superstar, s lammin' on his guitar
Does your pretty face see what he's worth?
To say the next two hours were a blur was an understatement.
The Seven Deadly Sins played like it was their last show on Earth (which was funny, since it was the first show in a long list of tour dates across the country), and the crowd responded accordingly, moshing and headbanging and some even crowd-surfing.
Jericho was completely blown away; if she was being honest, she was still in disbelief at the guitarist who was currently on stage, contributing to the electric performance of the song 'Time', the song she recalled was played when she happened across MTV by chance months prior.
Is this really the boy I knew before? she thought, for she hadn't a clue what happened to her crush in the past 5 years. The both of them had changed so much over the years, but she was still in awe of just how much.
Before long, the concert had drawn to a close, not that the crowd would let the band leave the stage. However, when The Seven Deadly Sins were performing their encore song, Jericho could have sworn Ban's eyes locked with hers for a second - just a split second - before singing to the rest of the crowd.
She didn't know whether he saw her for real or not - she knew the chances of him seeing her at all were slim as it was - but she saw him, and at that moment, she knew what she had to do next.
He was a skater boy, she said, "See ya later, boy!"
He wasn't good enough for her
Now he's a superstar, s lammin' on his guitar
Does your pretty face see what he's worth?
-:-
Jericho stood anxiously outside of the door, having just put her makeup mirror away for one, last checkup on her hair and face.
As the girls began to pack their stuff and get ready to leave, Jericho remembered that Howzer had also gotten them an exclusive backstage pass which they could use to hang with a Seven Deadly Sins member of their choice. Suffice it to say, she was shocked when Vivian and Guila offered her the pass to use - "Make sure you actually get Ban this time, okay?"
After her two best friends left, Jericho did what the pass said on the back and alerted a member of staff that she was one of the seven lucky individuals who had gotten the exclusive backstage pass. She was then promptly escorted backstage to her chosen member's dressing room, but not before being given a lanyard that had all the basic rules of the meeting written on it, e.g. no sexual activity, no violence, no staying overnight, etc.
Which promptly brings us back to her in front of Ban's dressing room.
Jericho laid a meek two knocks on the door, hoping that that would be enough to get the guitarist's attention. A couple of moments passed, and Jericho hugged her cropped leather jacket tighter to herself, suddenly beginning to feel cold, though she wasn't sure whether this was because of the natural frigidity of the backstage area or her nerves going into overdrive or a mixture of both.
Just as she was considering knocking again, the door clicked open and, to Jericho's complete and utter surprise, a woman stepped out.
The first thing she noticed was that the woman was petite, and incredibly so, not just in build, but also in height; she looked like she could be no taller than 5 foot - no, 4 foot and eleven inches at least. She had beautiful, golden hair that flowed down her back, and her eyes matched her hair, being gold as well. She wore a white Seven Deadly Sins tour t-shirt, a white pleated skirt and gold ballet flats. If Jericho was being honest, she looked like a stereotypical bookish church girl who grew up in the countryside, which caused her to immediately wonder what somebody like her was doing at such an intense rock concert.
And, more importantly, in Ban's dressing room, of all places.
“Can I help you?” the woman asked politely. Jericho was about to respond, when the woman’s golden eyes went to the lanyard around her neck.
“Oh, I see! You’re here for the backstage meeting thing!” she said with a sheepish smile. “Give us a second . . .”
Before Jericho could say anything else, the blonde woman re-entered Ban's dressing room for a moment. A couple of seconds passed; then the woman returned to the door.
“I’ll get out of your hair,” she said, properly exiting the room and going down the hallway of rooms. “Enjoy!” she called back with a smile and a wave, before disappearing out of Jericho’s sight.
Jericho was watching the woman leave, when she heard the door open once more, causing her to turn back, making it so she was currently face-to-face with Ban.
The first thing she noticed was that Ban had gotten tall, so tall, in fact, that he had to duck slightly so he didn't hit his head on the top of the door frame. He was wearing a black T-shirt with a maroon leather jacket, alongside black ripped skinny jeans and patent black Doc Martens with bright red laces.
However, despite all the years having gone by, his face remained the same. Ban had changed the way he styled his naturally platinum blue hair, opting for a laidback, but spiky, style with a lone strand in front; his silver piercings still stood out against his pale skin and his magenta cat-like eyes seemed like they were staring directly into Jericho's soul. She could scarcely look at them.
"Hey," he spoke casually, and Jericho was immediately taken aback by how deep his voice had gotten over the years. Was it just her, or did Ban hit puberty later, but undeniably harder?
"So you're the fan that won, huh?" Ban guessed, looking down to check over Jericho's lanyard, with Jericho desperately trying not to think about the fact that Ban was almost checking her out.
"Uh, yes, I am," Jericho spoke up, figuring it made sense for her to speak up.
A welcoming grin came to Ban's face. "Nice to meet'cha," he said, before stepping aside. "C'min, before you freeze out here."
Jericho wasted no time in obeying Ban's orders, entering his dressing room with haste. When she entered, she was surprised to see that the dressing room was larger than she expected and was neatly decorated; she could see Ban's stage clothes hanging in the wardrobe, as well as his guitar on a stand in the corner. It was at that point that Jericho realised she'd been quiet for too long and quickly turned back to Ban to make some conversation.
Only . . . Ban was staring at her.
Quite intently too, might I add.
"Uh, what is it?" Jericho asked, immediately feeling self-conscious. "Is there something on my face?"
"No . . ." Ban hummed, though he didn't sound sure, confusing Jericho even more.
"Wait a minute," the guitarist suddenly spoke. "I know you, don’t I?"
Jericho eyes widened. She wasn't expecting this question so soon, if she was being honest with herself. “U-um, w-well . . .”
“I do know you!” Ban said, his face breaking out into a nostalgic smile. “From Zaratras Secondary School! You’re, um . . .” He wracked his brains, trying to recall her name, when it finally came to him. “You’re Janko, right?”
Jericho knew she probably should’ve been more insulted by his forgetting her name, but, in all honesty, she was just glad he remembered her at all.
“Close,” she replied, unable to suppress her smile. “It’s Jericho.”
Ban snapped his fingers, as though kicking himself. "Jericho! That’s it!" His smile broadened, making Jericho's heart race. "How've you been? I didn't think I'd ever see you again!"
"Yeah, I'm doing great," Jericho responded, mentally kicking herself for being so vague. Deciding it was best if the focus wasn't on herself, she quickly remarked, "Didn't expect for you to become a rockstar, though!"
Ban chuckled; it sounded almost bashful. "Yeah, I wasn't really expectin' all that either," he admitted, "but it's been amazing, truly."
"I can imagine," Jericho said. "I'm really impressed with everything you've achieved, especially since I never knew about your apparent passion for music."
She was expecting a response from the rockstar, only he went quiet, a look on his face that she had never seen before. He looked contemplative, like he was thinking really deeply about something. Jericho was planning to ask him what was on his mind, when the guitarist spoke up again.
"Truthfully? I workin' through a lot of shit back then," Ban said, his voice and face now solemn. "I'd always loved music and I'd always wanted to be in a band, but I didn't see it pannin' out for me at the time. I didn't think it'd be possible for someone like me to make it.
"But then I realised, isn't that what rock is all about?" he continued on. "To cast off your chains and any prejudices or judgement and make music for the world? When I started lookin' at it like that, I started to work on myself and improve on my skills and that's when I started to believe that I could truly make it."
Jericho could only look in awe, touched that Ban was opening up and pouring his heart out to her. After a while, Ban noticed that she hadn't said anything and immediately grew self-conscious.
"Shit, sorry, I didn't mean to trauma-dump on you like that," he apologised sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward chuckle.
"N-no, no, don't worry, it's okay!" Jericho quickly reassured. "I'm actually touched that you felt comfortable sharing that with me."
"Uh, thanks, I guess," Ban said, a lopsided smile on his face that Jericho found adorable. "I usually find it very hard to open up to people, but I guess with you, it's kinda different since I know you, in a way."
Immediately, all the past instances of Jericho bullying Ban flew past her head and her guilt suddenly became immeasurable, causing her to sigh deeply, an action that caused Ban to look at her inquisitively.
"Ban," she began quietly, "I just wanted to properly apologise to you for the way my friends and I treated you."
"Hah?" Ban, at first, looked confused, but then he realised what was going on and quickly held out a hand to stop the purple-haired woman. "Jericho, you don't have to do all that; it's fine."
"No, it's not fine," Jericho stressed. "I was horrible to you and, what's worse, it was all in the name of something as worthless as teenage popularity. You didn't deserve that and I want you to know that I'm really sorry for my behaviour."
"Jericho, seriously, it's okay," Ban said, his voice firm but gentle. "I've long since forgiven you for that. To be honest, I can understand why you rejected me - I didn't exactly carry myself in the best way back then - but I don't hold that against you at all." His face saddened slightly. "I hope you haven't been feeling guilty over that all this time."
"Oh, no, I haven't!" Jericho reassured. "But seeing you just made me remember and I just wanted an opportunity to set things right."
"Oh, well, that's great!" Ban said, smiling from ear-to-ear, causing Jericho’s heart to flutter. She knew that if she was going to confess her feelings to him, the time was now. But before she could even begin to think about what she wanted to say, Ban spoke again.
“Besides, it’s not like I’ve just been hung up on you this whole time,” Ban chuckled. “Elaine, the woman you saw outside my room, well . . .” His face softened as his smile became fond. “She’s my girlfriend now.”
Jericho’s entire world shattered.
D-did he just say that he has a girlfriend?!?!
“Well, I say ‘girlfriend’, but we’re actually engaged,” Ban went on, completely unaware of Jericho’s paling face. “If everything goes accordin’ to plan, once the tour wraps up, we’ll be gettin' married.”
Jericho was speechless.
Had she been that arrogant? Was she already too late?
Quickly realising that she was gawping at Ban, she immediately forced a smile onto her face.
“W-wow,” she got out. “That’s huge, Ban, I’m so happy for you.”
Ban beamed at her, which made her heart hurt, but for an entirely different reason now. “Thanks, Jericho,” he said earnestly. “That means a lot.”
Jericho couldn’t believe it. Ban was in love and getting married to a woman who wasn’t her. Ever since the tickets to The Seven Deadly Sins’ concert had been confirmed, she had practised her apology and subsequent confession to Ban an embarrassing number of times in the mirror; the fact that it didn’t even seem like she’d get the chance to confess at all hurt an aggravating amount.
Just then, there was a light tap on the door, before the same staff member who escorted Jericho to Ban’s door appeared. “Jericho, your time is almost up,” she said.
Jericho’s eyes widened upon hearing the staff member’s voice - she didn’t even remember she had a time limit! The reality of the situation was crashing in on her and she began to feel sick to her stomach.
“Shit! I didn’t even ask if you wanted me to sign anything,” Ban realised, before chuckling sheepishly. “You can tell I’m still kinda new to this, huh?”
Jericho forced a laugh. “No worries,” she said, before showing the rockstar the back of her phone case. “Why don’t you sign this?”
“Great idea!” Ban grinned, as he got out a marker pen and wrote his signature across her phone case. “There you are.”
“Thank you, Ban,” Jericho said as she grabbed her bag. “Uh, good luck with the rest of the tour.”
“Thanks,” Ban smiled. “You take care of yourself now, okay?”
Jericho managed to keep the tears at bay long enough to answer Ban’s request with an affirming him before quickly hightailing out of there. The second she left the room, she ran down the hall to a secluded corner and burst into tears, sobbing into her hands.
As she cried and cried and cried, she reconciled with the two major emotions she was feeling in that moment: pure despair and pure rage. The despair came from the fact that she missed her chance to confess her feelings to Ban and will most likely never get the chance to do so again. The rage came from her growing animosity towards the woman who had stolen Ban from her. Who even was she? Didn't she know the first girl always wins in the end?
Jericho was crying so much that she didn’t notice the shadow forming over, her courtesy of a person that had found her.
“Oh, my goodness! Are you alright?” a gentle voice asked, before a pair of arms wrapped themselves around Jericho’s shaking frame. Jericho was about to lean into the touch, when she realised it was probably wise to check who was comforting her in the first place.
It was Elaine, the woman Ban said he was marrying.
The feeling of comfort instantly turned into a feeling of hatred.
“Don’t touch me!” Jericho snapped, shoving Elaine off of her, much to the latter’s surprise.
“I-I’m sorry!” Elaine immediately apologised. “I didn’t mean to overstep any boundaries; I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Well, I’m not okay,” Jericho snapped as she hastily wiped her tears on her sleeve. “And it’s all your fault!”
“My fault?” Elaine repeated in confusion. “How is this my fault? We’ve only met today.”
The calm, steady tone of Elaine’s voice somehow infuriated Jericho even more, and she couldn't contain her feelings any longer.
“So he didn’t even tell you about me?” Jericho scoffed, standing up to her feet. “Fine, guess I’ll be the one to fill you in.
“Once upon a time, there was a boy and a girl in Zaratras Secondary School. The boy loved the girl and the girl liked him back but pretended not for the sake of her popularity and she and him fell out of contact. Fast forward a few years later, the girl rediscovers the boy, now a rockstar, and goes to his show and wins backstage passes to see him. She tries to confess her feelings to him, only for him to tell her that he’s already with someone else and is going to marry her. And that’s how their story ended.”
Elaine was quick to understand what Jericho was saying. “Wait a minute,” she mused, “I remember Ban mentioning something to me a while back about how there was a girl at his secondary school that he liked, only she kept rejecting him. I had no idea that was you!”
“Well, now you know,” Jericho said bitterly. “And thanks to you, I’ve lost my chance with him!”
Elaine's brow creased. "So you're saying because I'm in a relationship with Ban now, that means I ruined your chance with him?"
"Yes! That's exactly what I'm saying!" Jericho snapped.
Sorry, girl, but you missed out
Well, tough luck, that boy's mine now
We are more than just good friends
This is how the story ends
Too bad that you couldn't see
See that man that boy could be
There is more than meets the eye
I see the soul that is inside
“Look, no matter how you slice it, I’m a way better match for Ban! With my chest and height, I suit him far better than a puny, flat-chested girl like you!” Jericho knew she was just being needlessly petty at this point, but she didn't care; she had to vent her anger somehow.
Elaine couldn't deny that Jericho's callous comments wounded her - her appearance was always something she was insecure about, ever since she was a child - but she knew this was just a deflection from Jericho and she needed to stay focused on the pertinent issue, being Ban.
"Jericho, was it?" Elaine folded her arms. "Answer me this: did you honestly think that Ban was going to spend all this time waiting for you?"
Jericho was about to shoot back a retort, but found that she couldn't, the reason being that she didn't want to admit that the answer to Elaine's question was a 'yes'.
"What, exactly, makes you think you're so entitled to his heart?" Elaine asked. "Because you've known him longer? And then you have the nerve to get upset with him because he had the audacity to move on after you kept rejecting him? What was he supposed to think, when that was what you chose to do? Did you honestly believe that he was just going to magically come to the conclusion that you were lying and actually did like him all along?"
Now Elaine was putting her on the backburner. The tables had turned and Jericho didn't like it one bit.
"That's not fair!" she protested.
"Oh, I think it's pretty fair," Elaine countered. "You have no one to blame but yourself for the way this turned out: you had the choice between popularity and love and you chose the former, and that's what matters in the end, regardless of how you really felt. And I know you know what I'm saying is true; the person you're really mad is yourself for blowing your chance with such a wonderful man like Ban, but you don't want to admit that so you're taking out your anger on me.
"Well, y'know what? I'm glad you rejected Ban all those times," Elaine continued. "If you hadn't, we never would've met and I never would've gotten to know the man behind the persona he shows to the world; we never would've fallen in love, nor gotten engaged, so I guess, in a funny roundabout way, we owe our relationship to you."
Jericho tried to think of something - anything - that disproved what Elaine had said. But she couldn't. Because, deep down in her heart, she knew that Elaine was right. She was angry at herself for blowing her opportunity. She was angry at herself for how shallow she was in the past. She was angry at herself for succumbing to peer pressure as opposed to being her own woman. And now she was paying heavily for all of that.
Elaine merely stared back at the woman, silently standing her ground. Part of her felt bad for Jericho - the idea of a love doomed to be unrequited was undeniably painful - but that didn't mean that she had to just sit there and allow Jericho to blame her for her own issues and delegitimise their relationship. The fact of the matter was, it was Jericho's fault that she was in the position she was: she had made her bed five years ago and now she had to lie in it.
"I think you should go now, Jericho," Elaine said, her voice firm, though not harsh. Jericho looked at her and there was a moment of silence as the two women stared each other down, before Jericho hung her head in shame and turned to sadly plod down the hallway.
He's just a boy
And I'm just a girl
Can I make it anymore obvious?
We are in love
Haven't you heard
How we rock each other's world?
Shortly after Jericho left, Elaine went back to Ban's dressing room, where The Seven Deadly Sins' guitarist was waiting for her.
"Hey, you," he said fondly, as he brought her in for hug. Elaine chuckled lightly as she returned her fiancé's hug.
"Congratulations on today," she said, pulling away from the hug. "You guys absolutely smashed it!"
"Thank you," Ban beamed. "That means so much comin' from you, Elaine."
Before Elaine could respond, Ban leant down and captured her lips in a tender kiss; the blonde was all too happy to return the action, gripping onto Ban's shirt as the kiss deepened. The engaged couple would've been all too happy to stay like that for the rest of the night, but alas, air became a necessity, so they broke the kiss, leaning their heads on one another as they smiled at each other.
"I love you," Elaine whispered.
"I love you too, Elaine," Ban returned, his gaze softening. "Now and forever."
Elaine's smile widened at the guitarist's words. He always had a way with them, especially when it was just to her; she loved that about him, among practically everything else about him.
"Gosh, I can't wait for you to do this all over again tomorrow," Elaine said in excitement.
"I know; I've already got a ton of material for our next album!" Ban gushed, before looking as though he just remembered something. "Hey, didn't you say you also wanted to get into songwritin'? What happened to that one song you were workin' on? Did you ever finish it?"
"Honestly, I was stuck on it for a while," Elaine admitted, before a mischievous grin came to her face, causing her fiancé to tilt his head in confusion at her.
"But I think I've finally figured out how I wanna end it."
-:-
It had been a month since The Seven Deadly Sins concert and Jericho's hopes and dreams were shattered. Gustaf was with her mother, giving her prime time to mope and throw a pity party for herself.
She sighed, sinking further into her chair, as she wondered where it all went wrong for her. Her mind immediately went back to Elaine's words to her that fateful day:
"You have no one to blame but yourself for the way this turned out: you had the choice between popularity and love and you chose the former, and that's what matters in the end, regardless of how you really felt. And I know you know what I'm saying is true; the person you're really mad is yourself for blowing your chance with such a wonderful man like Ban, but you don't want to admit that so you're taking out your anger on me."
Jericho groaned out loud upon recalling Elaine's verbal takedown. What made it worse was just how right she was about everything; it really helped to emphasise how much Jericho how fucked up.
Dammit, I need to take my mind off this, Jericho said, grabbing the remote and switching to MTV, in the hopes that some music act would distract her from her self-inflicted depressive episode. On the screen, she saw it was a similar programme to the one she rediscovered Ban on a couple of months ago, only this time, another band was being featured. Jericho paled when she realised she recognised one of the members of the band as Elaine. What the Hell was she doing on her TV, especially since Jericho was trying to forget about her?
Despite her initial horror, Jericho couldn't bring herself to change the channel. Her eyes went to the bottom of the screen to find out what the name of Elaine's new band was and saw that it was called 'Elaine & The Sins'. It was only then that she realised that the other members had been there all along, including Ban.
Jericho wanted the sofa to swallow her whole.
The same host from last time - Pelliot, she recalled his name was - was interviewing the band. In between her angsting, Jericho heard that apparently, the band was a brand new unit of collaboration between The Seven Deadly Sins and Elaine, an aspiring singer-songwriter.
"So I hear you're going to play your debut single today," Pelliot said excitedly. "Can you tell us a little about it?"
"I'd be happy to, Pelliot," Elaine responded. "So this song I've actually been workshopping for a while, but I kinda got stuck somewhere near the middle of it and then it just kinda stayed on the cutting room floor for a while."
"Sounds like a classic case of writer's block," Pelliot mused.
"It really was, Pelliot," Elaine nodded in agreement, before continuing on. "But then something happened recently, which gave me the inspiration I needed to continue writing the song and finally finish it!"
"And, without going into too much detail, what's the 'something' that helped you complete the song?" Pelliot asked.
Elaine looked between the other Sins members and they all shared the same knowing looks which, for some reason, made Jericho feel sick to her stomach, though she had no idea why.
"Well, this song's about a . . . certain someone," Elaine said. "Whoever that someone is, whether you're watching at home or somewhere else, you know exactly who you are, and I hope you know that this song is for you!"
Jericho's heart sank to her feet. It felt like Elaine had stepped through the TV and was directly addressing her. Why did she have the sneaking suspicion that she was not wrong on that either?
"Wow, well, having heard this song, I would not want to be that person right now!" Pelliot laughed. "Well, without further ado, you guys, go ahead and perform your debut single!"
The group of musicians all eagerly got into place before playing the intro to their new single, as the credits for the song appeared across the bottom of the screen; Jericho squinted as she scanned and couldn't help but huff a bitter laugh at the title of the song.
What was the song’s title, I hear you ask?
It was “Sk8r Boi.”
I'm with the skater boy, I said, "See ya later, boy,
I'll be backstage after the show,
I'll be at the studio, singin' the song we wrote
About a girl you used to knoooooow!"