Chapter Text
Three was confused.
More than confused, though, he was worried.
Four had left the apartment hastily, and for the rest of the rehearsal, Three felt as if something was off. He knew that Four wasn’t feeling well— but part of him thought there was something else that drove Four to leave.
Now, here Three was, calling Saiko and ranting to her, while also painting his nails. The usual activities.
“Do you think I scared him off? What if he actually hates my singing?” Three asked desperately.
Saiko groaned over the phone. “Why would he agree to go then in the first place? Just to take a look at Kaizo’s apartment?”
“It’s a nice place,” Three commented.
“Well, Four didn’t know that. You’re treating him as if he’s some supernatural being that can control time and read minds and bring the dead back to life. He’s just some guy, Three. A normal person just like you.” Saiko responded.
Three sighed. He knew she was right, but it didn’t help ease his nerves. He had now finished painting his right hand’s nails, and switched to his left hand.
“You know our last show until you-know-what is this Friday, right?” Saiko said, changing the subject.
Three blinked in confusion. “Uh, yeah, why wouldn’t I know that?” He replied.
“Invite Four to the show. And I mean personally invite him— don’t get me or my girlfriends to be your messenger. Talk to him yourself and tell him that you would really appreciate him going to the concert.” Saiko explained. She then added, “especially because of the announcement.”
“Can he come backstage?” Three asked almost childishly.
“Yes, I don’t care. Just talk to Swag and Chris that way he doesn’t have to argue his way in like last time.” Saiko answered.
Three had finished painting all of his nails, and was now looking at the black polish with admiration. “You don’t think they’d recognize him?”
“Swag is stupid, first of all. Second of all, you know that they’ll treat anyone as suspicious even if they knew them. I mean, think of all the times we’ve had to come save Axol from them.” Saiko responded. There was then a loud bang from her side of the call. “Shit!”
Three stared at his phone, puzzled. They weren’t on video call, so he couldn’t see what she was doing. “What did you do?”
“I just knocked over my bottle of makeup remover liquid, and now I’m all out.” Saiko answered, her voice sounding more distant.
“I have some makeup wipes I can bring to practice tomorrow that you can have,” Three offered.
“Thanks. You should start doing your makeup again, you look good in eyeliner.” Saiko said honestly.
“I’ll think about it.” Three shrugged. After a moment of silence, Three asked, “Axol is going to the concert, isn’t he?”
“I think so? Mel said they were going to be at the one where we do the announcement, since we have to go over art and payments and stuff.” Saiko replied.
“I still wish we could convince Axol to do choreo. Unfortunately for us, he has stage fright, and last time I brought it up they said that they would rather swim in toxic waste from a nuclear power plant.” Three commented. He stood up from his bed and placed the nail polish bottle on his dresser. Out of the corner of his eye, Three recognized the bright alarm clock on his nightstand. It was almost two in the morning.
“Think logically for once in your life. Do you really think he would dance to some rock song all alone? Just there in the middle of the stage, everyone’s eyes on him, while they dance without anybody else. That sounds like a nightmare.” Saiko replied. Three groaned dramatically.
“Why don’t we get Melony to dance with him?” Three suggested, desperately running out of ideas.
“She has to play an instrument, Three. If anyone were to dance, it would be you.” Saiko remarked.
Three placed a hand on his forehead as if he were trying to get rid of a headache. “I like Axol, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think I would want to dance with him. No offense.”
“Maybe we could get a sixth member that you would dance with. Rename ourselves Hexaphobia.” Saiko joked. She added, “I think you should ask Four. You two could dance together.”
Three’s face burned and he sat straight up. “I doubt he even knows how to dance! I’m not any better, either! I can do the Cha Cha Slide and the Cupid Shuffle. That’s it.”
“Ask him then, dumbass.” Saiko responded. Three almost threw his phone.
“Oh, yeah, let me just ask this guy I’ve known for one month to tour with us and dance with me in front of a bunch of people. Great idea. I think you’re quite the innovator, Saiko.” Three said sarcastically.
“Are you more afraid of falling while dancing with him or falling in love with him?”
It felt like Three had just been stabbed in the gut.
“Don’t— don’t say that.” He muttered.
“You have told me multiple times how bad it is to ignore and run away from our feelings. You can’t go back on your own advice.” Saiko stated seriously.
“Those were different situations!” Three exclaimed.
“You are allowed to like someone, it’s not the end of the world!” Saiko replied with slight frustration in her voice.
“I don’t like him! I barely know him! And I doubt that a few months from now, I will have forgotten he existed!” Three shouted harshly.
It hurt his heart to say that. It physically made him wince.
“Then why are you so eager to let him backstage, hang out, and take him home when he’s drunk? What about Four makes it so you perform like a real singer and enjoy what you’ve dedicated the past few years of your life to?”
Three stayed silent.
“You say he’s not important, yet you act like how you used to be when you’re with him. Do you reserve that side of yourself to people that you’ll ‘forget’? Why haven’t you let go of us then?”
Three stayed silent.
“Is it because you know that you would be nothing without us? You’re a good singer, I’m not going to lie about that, but without instruments you don’t sound like you’re performing. You just sound like you’re screaming into the abyss.”
Three stayed silent.
Saiko finally took a deep breath.
“Look, you’re my best friend and I love you. But it’s exhausting to see you ruin your mental health over and over again. You can try to lie to yourself and others for as long as you want, but when the truth comes out, it’ll be messy. And, with the little information I know about Four, I don’t think he’d appreciate a messy breakdown for a confession.”
There were no words said for a long moment after. Right as Saiko was about to speak, however, Three said:
“Goodnight, Saiko.”
He hung up the phone before she could reply.
For a good few minutes, Three just sat there in his bed, staring at nothing specific and letting his mind wander.
Him and Saiko had gotten into arguments before, and they’ve always made up, but something about this one hurt a lot more than the others.
Today was Monday. The concert was Friday. They had four days to sort things out.
Even better, they were supposed to have rehearsal later that day. The thought of facing Saiko— or anyone in his band, for that matter— made Three feel sick. He might have to fake being sick.
Three got out of his bed. He left his phone on the nightstand, and left the room. At first he considered going to the balcony, where he would usually go to contemplate, but he had the urge to be productive. So, instead, he went across the hallway into his “office”— which in reality was a plain room with a desk, speakers, stacks of paperwork, and his computer.
He turned on the light, wincing at the change from darkness to blinding brightness. This room felt less like a part of his home and more like an attached workplace, minus the coworkers and managers and yelling. Three didn’t let anybody in here except himself. He also had no way of telling the time when inside— there were no clocks, and he put a sticky note where the time would should on his computer.
Three sat down in his mildly uncomfortable office chair, and powered on his computer. He hastily entered his password, and opened his notepad on the computer once everything loaded. It probably wasn’t the most efficient place to write things— but it worked for him, so that’s all that mattered.
He stared at the screen with tired eyes. The concert on Friday was when they were going to announce their new album. All of the songs were written and had been rehearsed dozens of times. However, Three wanted to write one more song. A seventh addition to the album.
New Note
The bold letters on the screen glared back at him, waiting. Three already had an idea for the song, but it was hard to actually write it out. He would just start with the title for now.
New Note|
New|
|
Circles|
Circles
He hit enter.
For the rest of the night, until Three fell asleep at his desk, he would write and edit and revise the lyrics for the song. Circles. It felt more personal than any other song that he had made before. He knew it would be a bad idea to announce this to the band last minute, right before they released the album. But he had an idea for what each instrument would sound like— it was vivid.
Before Three fell asleep, he was in that delirious state that people get when they’re sleep deprived and trying to stay awake. He ended up humoring Saiko’s suggestion from hours ago— if Four were to dance with him. It was stupid, foolish, yet even as Three was in a wrecked mental state, the thought of seeing Four with him in front of all of those people— as if he were showing off— it made him smile.
He felt a pang of guilt for arguing with Saiko. Part of Three wanted to go to his room, get his phone, and type out an apology that would suffice until they met later that day. The other, exhausted part of Three, believed the thought of getting up from the chair and typing anything else was ridiculous. So, instead, he just hoped when he woke up, he would be ready to deal with the consequences of his own actions.
———————
It was Wednesday, which meant that Four, Meggy, Mario, and Tari would go to the diner named Dinner. Instead of their usual, lighthearted conversations, things were quiet. It was unusual for the group.
“Four, what is wrong? You’ve been acting like a sad wet puppy all day.” Meggy asked stubbornly.
“Three hasn’t messaged me, and I’m worried that there’s something wrong.” Four answered with a frown.
Mario looked at him with exasperation. “Three days ago you were freaking out, and saying you were going to avoid him for the rest of your life!”
“Shut up! I was trying to think of a logical solution to my problem, and that was the first thing that came to mind!” Four retorted.
“Guys, keep it down, people are staring.” Tari whispered harshly. Four looked around, and saw other customers glaring at them.
“Well, Saiko did say that Three hadn’t shown up to practice on Monday. Four, I think you need to check on him.” Meggy suggested.
“Yeah, have you ever thought maybe you should text him first?” Mario added.
“If he hasn’t texted me, that means that he wants nothing to do with me, obviously!” Four replied.
“Four, think about all the times we’ve had to go to your castle and drag you out of a depressive episode. You never texted us. Maybe Three is going through something similar.” Tari said.
“Are you suggesting I go to his house? What if he isn’t even home?” Four responded.
“I wasn’t suggesting you go to his house, but maybe that’s the best way to fix things.” Tari answered.
“Show up with a boombox and stand outside his window playing sad love songs.” Mario suggested. Four stomped on his foot under the table.
“Text him first before anything.” Meggy advised. Four sighed and reluctantly pulled out his phone.
Four
Hey Three, how are you? It’s been a few days since we last talked
To Four’s surprise, Three replied almost immediately.
Three
Hey Four
I’ve just been busy preparing for the concert on Friday
Four
Ohh yea that makes sense lol
Three started typing, stopped for a moment, and began typing again. You would think he was typing a paragraph because of how long it took for him to message, but instead it was a simple question.
Three
Will you go to the concert?
Four looked up from his phone. Meggy, Tari, and Mario were all looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to speak. He cleared his throat.
“Are we going to the concert on Friday?” Four asked.
“Yeah, we are.” Meggy answered. She turned to Mario. “What about you?”
“Sure! I can go!” Mario smiled. Four gave a sigh of relief.
Four
Yes we are
Three
By we do you mean the last group you were with?
Four
And Mario
Three
Cool
Actually I’ve been meaning to ask you something
Four’s heart sank. He felt the equivalent of being told “we need to talk”.
Four
What’s that?
Three
Do you know how to dance?
Four stared at his screen, dumbfounded.
“What.” He said out loud.
“What happened?” Tari asked. Four frowned with uncertainty.
“He asked if I know how to dance,” Four replied. The rest of his friends shared his confused expression.
“Well, do you?” Meggy questioned.
“Not professionally or anything crazy. Just simple stuff. Things anyone could do.” Four explained. He turned his attention back towards his phone.
Four
A bit yeah
Nothing crazy
Three
Good to know
I’ll see you at the concert, and backstage! :)
Four
Yep!!! :)
Four shoved his phone into his pocket and let out a sigh.
“I’m so fucked.” He said shortly.
“How? Did he tell you that you need to prepare an entire dance routine for the concert and get ready to do it in front of everyone?” Mario asked.
Four glared at him. “Well, no, but—”
“Then you have nothing to worry about!” Mario reassured him.
“For once, I agree with Mario. You’re overthinking things.” Tari added. Meggy nodded in approval.
“What is he going to do with that information though?” Four worried.
“Probably nothing. Maybe he’s throwing a dance party soon and wants to invite you?” Meggy suggested.
“I don’t like parties!” Four exclaimed in horror.
“But if he personally invited you to one, would you go?” Mario asked.
Four didn’t say anything. His friends looked at him with an unimpressed expression.
“Right, okay.” Tari cleared her throat. “So we’ll pick you up around the usual time. Sound good?”
“Yeah, sure, whatever.” Four said. “I’m gonna head out. I’ll see you guys on Friday.”
Four got out of his spot in the booth and went out the door, exiting the restaurant.
———————
“Three, open up. We can’t stay out here forever!” Saiko yelled, banging her fist against the front door of Three’s house.
The entire band was outside, coming to confront Three. He hadn’t gone to any rehearsals, barely answered his phone, and their concert was tomorrow. Everyone had gone from angry and upset to genuinely concerned for Three’s wellbeing.
From behind the door, Three sat on the stairs. He could hear Saiko clearly. He wasn’t sure if they knew that he was listening from the other side. No response came from him regardless.
Belle sighed, and put a hand on Saiko’s shoulder, trying to calm her. “If it really comes down to it, we can cancel. Give everyone refunds.”
“What happened to ‘the show must go on’? That’s, like, our motto.” Kaizo commented.
“The show can’t go on without our lead singer!” Belle argued.
“Forget the show! Forget the concert! What about Three?” Saiko yelled.
“Isn’t this your fault? Weren’t you the one who argued with him?” Kaizo retorted, pointing a finger at Saiko accusingly.
Saiko rolled her eyes. “Oh, because you’ve never fought with Three. Sure, just blame everything on me.”
“We’ve all had arguments. It’s just how life is. Stop being assholes to each other.” Belle said seriously, getting in between the two of them.
“How am I being an asshole? I’m stating the truth! If it weren’t for Saiko making some stupid comment, then we wouldn’t be in this mess!” Kaizo shouted.
“You don’t even know what happened, so shut the fuck up!” Saiko exclaimed.
“Can you all stop fighting?” Melony, who had previously been silent and just watching the situation play out, yelled.
Saiko, Kaizo, and Belle stopped arguing at once. Even Three, who was still inside listening, had perked up. It wasn’t often for Melony to raise her voice.
She gently pushed the others aside to get to the door. Melony knocked on it firmly, but not aggressively.
“Three, I know that you’ve been struggling lately. I think we can all tell that your passion for performing has gone down compared to a few months ago. But, when you met Four, it was like you got that spark again.
“I don’t know if something happened between you and Four to make you like this. I don’t even know what happened between you and Saiko. What matters most is that you know that, even when we have arguments, even when life feels impossible to deal with, we are still your friends and we still love you.
“Becoming part of this band has been one of the greatest things to happen to me. You’ve provided me with opportunities that I only ever dreamt of. You all have become my family, people that I know would always have my back. I appreciate it more than I could put into words.
“As much as we all love to perform, your health matters more to us. If you need to cancel tomorrow’s concert, we won’t be mad. But, please, just talk to us. Let us know you’re okay.” Melony finished her speech.
Belle took her spot in front of the door.
“I’m sorry that I’ve been so tough on you and Four. You know that I don’t take kindly to strangers. I just care about you, and everyone else, a lot. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you guys. You are the core of our band, the heart. We would be nothing without you. You do so much for us, from writing songs to composing music to planning events. Three, you deserve more credit than what both we and yourself give you. Thank you for everything you do, Three.”
Belle moved aside for Kaizo. He gave a sigh, and leaned against the door.
“Look— what I said about how ‘the show must go on’— that was fucked up. Of course your health matters more. I’m so glad that you’re our lead singer and that you do so much for us. If it weren’t for you, I don’t think any of us would have a career in music right now. Hell, even me and Saiko were thinking about quitting before you showed up. You made me a better player and a better person. Ever since you came up to me and Saiko after one of our KS-2 concerts, I knew that you had a passion for singing that I’ve never seen before. I admire your dedication and dedication to our band.”
Kaizo turned around to face Saiko, the last one to speak. She was holding back tears. Kaizo stepped out of the way to give her room at the door.
“That argument we had. . . I’m sorry. I said a lot of mean shit. It’s not right for me to just accuse you of having feelings for someone. It doesn’t matter to me if you like anyone. It’s none of my business. That being said, the reason I was so upset at you is not because of you ‘lying to yourself’. It’s because I felt like you didn’t care about us anymore.
“You seem so much happier with Four. And I’m glad that he makes you happy, I really am. But it feels like we’ve just been forgotten. Besides my girlfriends, you guys are all I have. Losing any of you would tear me apart.
“Three, when you hung up that night, I felt a pit in my stomach that I had fucked up beyond repair. Practice afterwards felt like torture. We got nothing done. When I said that you’re nothing without us, I was wrong. We’re nothing without you.
“It’s selfish for me to just want to keep you to myself because you’re my best friend. You never acted like a jerk about me with Meggy and Tari, so I definitely shouldn’t act like a jerk to you about Four. I don’t even know if you like Four like that. No matter what, I still love you, and I still want to be your best friend. I just hope you still want to be mine.”
There was a beat of silence.
Three got up from his spot inside. He slowly walked to the front door. Gently, he opened it, and his friends stared at him with grateful, teary eyes.
Three couldn’t get a word out before they had all tackled him with a group hug. He was crying now too, yet he was smiling and laughing as he was squeezed by everyone.
Once they had finally allowed Three to breathe, he took a step back to look at his friends. Saiko was crying with a smile, Kaizo had put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly, Melony was beaming along with Belle. Three didn’t expect them to be so happy to see him.
“I hope you guys weren’t just lying to get me out here.” Three said.
“How much did you hear?” Melony asked.
“All of it.” He made room in his doorway, allowing them to come in. Three gestured for them to go inside. “I have something to show you guys.”
———————
Four was practically buzzing with excitement.
In fact, all of his group was. Meggy and Tari were chatting happily as they drove, talking about how there was supposed to be an important announcement tonight. Mario was very eager to meet Three and the rest of the band, since he didn’t get to last time. Four was trying not to give himself a heart attack when remembering the past concerts— the eye contact, the lyrics that felt less like words and more like direct messages suggesting more than what was said out loud, how literally everyone in the room had turned to stare at him.
There were obviously nerves, too. Four was afraid that after a few days, Three actually started to hate him and never wanted to talk to him ever again. Normal worst case scenarios.
“What do you think the announcement is?” Meggy asked, the question directed towards everyone.
“Maybe they’re doing a collab?” Tari suggested.
Mario thought for a second. “Probably disbanding.” He said with a shrug.
Four lightly hit him on the shoulder. “Shut up, don’t say that!” He focused his attention back on the question. “Maybe there’s a new member.”
“No, that ruins the whole point of the name Pentaphobia.” Meggy shut down the thought immediately.
“Wait, he might be on to something.” Tari said. She turned around in her seat to look at Four. “Didn’t Three text you and ask if you knew how to dance?”
Four blinked at her. “Uh. Yeah?”
“Well, maybe it could have something to do with that.” She offered.
“Ooh, SMG4, you’re going to be a rockstar!” Mario cheered, shaking Four excitedly.
“Guys, I think I would know if they were going to make me a new member of the band.” Four stated. He added, “we have no idea what that text was about. It could be totally unrelated.”
“But what if it isn’t?” Meggy grinned smugly. Four saw her facial expression in the rearview mirror and rolled his eyes.
“Woah, are all of those people going to the concert?” Mario asked, shifting everyone’s attention to their surroundings.
They had reached the concert venue, and there were more cars than ever before. It was as if the amount of people who went to the last concert doubled.
“There’s no other events going on tonight, so it must be.” Tari answered.
After a few minutes of looking for a parking space, they parked the car and started heading towards the building. Four observed the other groups of people entering, all chatting away happily and seeming just as excited as he was. However, the thought of there being so many people made Four shudder. He just hoped that the room was big enough for people to not be shoulder-to-shoulder.
“Mario, you stick out like a sore thumb.” Meggy said once they had gotten inside the building. There was a long line for getting tickets and checking in, so they would be waiting for a while.
“I wouldn’t look so weird if Four was wearing his normal outfit!” Mario retaliated.
Four shifted uncomfortably. He was wearing a black hoodie and black baggy jeans, similar to his outfit at the previous concert. He fiddled with the white hoodie strings anxiously.
The group talked to pass the time while waiting for the line to move. However, Four was barely engaged. He tried to focus on their conversation, but the amount of people nearby and loud noises were overwhelming. It felt as if nothing were real— he was dreaming and everyone around him was fake.
This had happened at Four’s first concert— the one that made him so uneasy to go to concerts in the first place.
It was him, Meggy, Mario, Tari, and Luigi at this concert. Four couldn’t exactly remember who they were seeing perform, but it was some band that Tari and Luigi both really liked. There were so many people, it was almost hard to breathe. As the band started playing, everyone around them started to dance. People were knocking into each other, pushing and shoving to get closer to the stage, yelling and screaming both from excitement and from anger of strangers touching each other. It was Four’s worst nightmare.
Then, his friends disappeared. People had replaced their spots and were continuing to cause chaos. Four stood still, frozen in fear. His breathing got shallow and everything around him seemed to blur together. It was as if he was watching his life in the third person.
Next thing he knew, Four was shaking like he was in a blizzard with no jacket. It was then when people started to notice— a few people asked if he was okay, yet Four was in no state to reply. More and more people turned to face him, and eventually even some of the band’s members had seen him.
One of them signaled to somebody behind the scenes to stop the music. It stopped abruptly, and the lead singer of the band had walked to the part of the stage closest to Four. They had asked if he was having an emergency, but once again, there was no answer.
Every pair of eyes in the room were on him. They were mocking him, laughing at him, pissed at him for ruining the concert. Four looked at the dozens of people around, and at last he had found a pair of eyes he recognized.
It was Meggy. Tari was next to her, along with Mario. And, as relief flooded his veins, Four relaxed a bit.
This bit of relaxation was catastrophic, however, because he collapsed right after.
Four didn’t remember much of what occurred between him falling and him waking up at the ER. He distantly recalled people yelling, Tari crying, being carried around as if he were a dead soldier caught in a crossfire. When he woke up, the doctors were relieved.
They had told him that he was lucky there were so many people around. Thanks to them, he didn’t suffer any injuries and was quickly escorted to the hospital. While Four was grateful for the people that helped, he couldn’t help but wonder if there were not as many people, would he have still reacted the way he did.
Apparently, Four had faded in and out of consciousness during the ambulance ride. The paramedics said that he had called out for multiple people, including Mario, FM, X, Tari, and Meggy. They described his voice to be “similar to a lost child crying out for their mom”.
“Four, are you alright?” Tari asked, bringing him back to the present.
“Yeah?” Four replied. He looked around, and people were waiting for him to move as he stood still in the middle of the line. He quickly headed to where his group was ahead, where Tari was calling from.
Four heard whispers from behind him, partnered with side glances and “discreet” pointing. He felt embarrassed for freezing up like that. He just hoped that wouldn’t happen again.
Eventually, they had made it to the end of the line, and got their tickets. They left the entrance area and began to walk to the concert hall. Once the group reached the hall, they entered and were met with the sounds of dozens of people talking.
Four followed his friends through the crowd, making sure not to lose sight of them. Even though he was freaking out over the amount of people, Four continued forward and tried to pay them any attention.
They reached their seats and sat down. Four was relieved from not having to stand anymore. Now that they were in the correct spot and weren’t separated, Four felt a lot better than before.
Then, it was as if the entire room started cheering. Four looked on the stage, and of course, there was Three, Saiko, Melony, Kaizo, and Belle.
Three was scanning the crowd, searching for Four. Once he found him, Three smiled, and took the microphone.
“Good evening everyone! Thank you all for coming to Pentaphobia’s final concert for a few months. There’s a good reason why we’ll be taking a break, but we’ll get to that later.” Three had announced, greeting the crowd with confidence unmatched by anyone.
Saiko leaned over the microphone in Three’s hands. “It’s going to be good, don’t worry.”
“See, Mario! They aren’t disbanding!” Four exclaimed, nudging Mario.
“They still could be! Just watch!” Mario retorted. Four rolled his eyes.
“I don’t want to yap anymore, so let’s get this concert started, yeah?” Three said, grinning at the sounds of approval coming from the audience. He then looked directly at Four. “Again, thank you for coming.”
Four smiled back, feeling his chest tighten as warmth flooded his entire body.
Then, Belle and Saiko began to play their guitars. The lights on the stage shifted from white to blue. Kaizo began to play his drum set, along with Melony pressing different buttons and keys on her synthesizer.
As Three began to sing, Four paid attention to everything about him. How he would move, the confidence practically radiating from him.
Then, Four started to pay close attention to the lyrics.
“So dance
If it moves you
Jump in the fire
If it burns you”
Four recalled the text messages from earlier that week. The word dance sent a particular chill down Four’s spine. It was as if Three had written this song for him— even though they had played it at each concert before this.
Once the song ended, they moved on to the next one immediately. Then the next one. Then the next one. The night went by fast as Four enjoyed listening and watching his favorite band perform.
By the time they finished their final song of the night, hours had passed. Everyone was excited, but more importantly— curious. It was time for the announcement.
“Alright, we’ve been keeping you guys on the edge of your seats for long enough, yeah?” Three had asked the crowd, the fans yelling incoherently in response.
Three gestured to his bandmates, and they left their usual spots with their instruments and stood beside him.
The room went quiet as the members of Pentaphobia looked at each other, nodding and smiling.
Three took a deep breath. He then made direct eye contact at Four.
“We are proud to announce our new album: Circles!” Every member of the band announced simultaneously.
The crowd erupted with cheers and excitement, and Four found himself grinning and clapping. He glanced at Mario, who seemed disappointed that his theory was wrong, but was happy nevertheless.
“This album will include the songs titled: Circles, The Only Heaven You’ll Know, King For A Day, Sextape, Bulls In The Bronx, Beware, and The Ghost Of You.” Three said.
“It will be released in two weeks, so be on the lookout and check our social media for exact times!” Saiko added.
“The cover art has, once again, been done by the talented artist Axol. We will release that very soon!” Melony smiled. Four noticed how she was looking at someone specific in the audience.
“We may also have a special guest at our future concerts. Nothing is confirmed, but it’s possible.” Belle stated, excited murmurs spreading across the crowd.
“Again, thank you all so much for the support. We couldn’t have done this without you. See you all soon!” Kaizo grinned.
With that, they exited the stage.
———————
“That was a great concert. Probably your best yet.” Four said to Three immediately after seeing him backstage. Swag and Chris didn’t give them any trouble this time.
“Yeah! Mario thinks it was super cool!” Mario agreed from beside him.
Three smiled at Four, before turning to Mario. “Hello Mario, I don’t think we’ve officially met yet. I’m Three. Thank you for coming.”
“Of course! SMG4 talks about you all the time—”
“Wow hey that’s crazy. Um. Who is that?” Four placed a gloved hand over Mario’s mouth, before pointing past them.
He was referring to an unfamiliar person who was talking with Melony. They looked like an axolotl, and wore glasses and a blue sweater.
“Oh, that’s Axol. Our album cover artist, and Melony’s partner.” Three explained.
Axol must have heard his name, because he quickly turned around to look at them. Melony did as well, and began to smile even wider. She took Axol’s hand and rushed over to where they were standing.
“Four! I’m so glad you could make it! And, uh,” she turned to Mario.
“Mario.” He said simply.
“Right, Mario. I’m glad you could come too!” Melony grinned. She then pushed Axol in front of her. “This is Axol!”
Axol waved awkwardly at Four and Mario. “Hello,” they greeted quietly.
“He’s only really quiet like this around new people, but once they get to know you, they’re pretty talkative!” Melony commented. Axol looked over his shoulder to look at her with a disapproving expression.
Abruptly, Belle came up and whispered something in Melony’s ear. She nodded, looked at Four, then at Three, and then took Axol’s hand once again. Belle walked away, over to where the rest of the group was.
“Hey, Mario, Meggy was asking for you. Come with us!” Melony smiled.
“Okay!” Mario replied, following the two as they walked over to the bigger group.
Now, it was Three and Four alone. Again.
“You looked like you were having fun on that stage,” Four said. Three laughed in response.
“Yeah, well, I was having fun. I practically feed off the crowd’s energy. They were giving me hype, so I gave hype in return.” Three replied. He then added, “you being there is always the most important thing, though.”
Four’s face warmed up, and he felt butterflies in his stomach. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Three looked at the ground quietly, a solemn grin on his face. “I appreciate that.”
They stayed silent for a few moments, before Three cleared his throat and looked back up at him.
“Can I ask you something as long as you promise to not think it’s weird?” Three asked.
Four stared at him. “Yeah, of course.”
“Would you maybe like to come back to my place sometime soon? We could watch a movie, chill, y’know. . .” Three offered.
Four stumbled backwards slightly, surprised by Three’s question. “Oh, totally! That sounds great!” He answered, sounding probably a bit too enthusiastic than what was considered normal.
Three smiled at him. “Cool.”
Four smiled back. “Cool.”