The velvet curtains are pulled back; the array of rainbow colored lights burn bright on Austin's slightly perspiring face. His expression is cast in stone, eyes lost in space; yet he feels and sees everything around him. The manic roar of the crowd, the playful and slightly incitive cheers from his band mates as they take the stage, the pulse that the air caries every night before a show. Yes, it was certain he felt everything around him.
He started remembering why he loved the stage so much; it was a bittersweet experience though. Austin was as bright as the sun in front of all those people, he played his heart out and sang all of his feelings, his voice becoming a flurry of emotion and melody. That's why they were so captivated by him, it was his life force that carried the stage. But he was always so scared to expose his most precious possessions in front of people; his thoughts and feelings. Regardless of his fears, our boy still got up and did what he was made to do, and he did it in his own dreamy, in-the-clouds kind of way. At the end of each performance, he relished every second spent singing those songs, and regretted the night's end. Then he started thinking about-
"One, two, three, four!!!" Roch counts in the first song of the band's set with the dry tap-tap-tap of his drumsticks before hitting the drumroll that cuts through Austin's previous thoughts. He is dragged back down to reality and positions his fingers for the first chord of the song as he runs the guitar pick over the shiny bronze strings. Oh how he loved the sound of fresh strings on a good acoustic.
Louis drags his bow across the violin's strings, remaining on key with the power chord Adrien strikes on his electric guitar. Roch starts playing a passive-aggressive snare/hi-hat beat just as Austin's voice trails in, followed by his acoustic guitar. The song comes together, everything flows perfectly. The melody is backed by the fierce instrumentals of the band, and the intensity of the lead singer's soft voice.
"...As the storm rolls out, I do as well..." As the final line of the closing song ends, the fans in the audience cheer for an encore. At this, the rock quartet prominently grin at each other, the look in each of their eyes confirming that they had played their best; they were proud.
"Aye, thank you New York for the warm goodbyes. Have a great night!" Adrien speaks into the mic, his slight Irish accent carries with every word. Backstage, the ritual of back-patting and teasing begin amongst the band. The whiskey is pulled out, the girls are let in, and all of their friends start singing in loud, jolly voices. At this, Austin gets up off of the leather couch, and leaves the celebration behind. He goes out the back door and takes the fire escape up onto the roof the fourteen-story building where the Bowery Ballroom, one of the most famed rock clubs in the city, is situated. The aerial view of New York at two in the morning is spectacular, because down below the city lights buzz with the modern day grind, but up above, the stars shine and tell stories of back home, in Ireland.
As Austin was leaving to find his solitude, his brother Adrien notices. "Damn Austin," he gets up and tells his bandmate "Louis, I'll be back, I'm goin' to find me little brother." "Aye." he recieves in response before Louis is back to telling a story not fit for younger lads' ears.
Austin is halfway up the stairs when Adrien catches up with him. "Not in the mood for a party I s'pose?". "Adrien, you know I'm not into tha' sort of thing. I like drinkin', I like girls, I like me band and me friends, but I prefer this-" Austin raises his arms and gestures toward the night sky. "I just need some time alone right now, is all. Parties are for the care-free." "Aye, Austin, you been like this for too long now, withdrawn, alone. It's time to move on man." After a short silence, Adrien understands his little brother's problems, as always. "But maybe not right away. Just don't shut the worl' out too long, or it'll never come back man. We'll meet tomorrow afternoon at the coffeehouse, you know where I'll be." Adrien sympathetically pats Austin's shoulder, and Austin nods, grateful for the understanding his brother grants him.
Back to his thoughts. Maybe his older sibling was right, was it time to get back with his life ? He did have a lot of good people around who cared a lot about him. Adrien, for one. His older brother always understood him, and stuck up for him. One time, when they were younger, Austin was being picked on by some of the older children in their neighborhood, and Adrien ran to help him, and knocked one of the bullies on his ass. He told the rest of them that only one person was aloud to beat on Austin, and it was him! This was true, the Callaghan clan often got into scraps amongst each other, nothing hateful; it was just their nature. It was how they kept sharp and released built up tension.
His childhood best friend, Louis, now the fiddler and pianist for their band, also watched out for Austin's well being. He's the romantic, poetic type, a lot like Austin himself, except Louis was a social butterfly, always the center of everyone's attention. He always told fantastic stories and was the life of every party, it was in his blood, for he was as Irish as Austin and Adrien Callaghan. He was an extra brother to the both of them. He and Austin were the same age, went to school together since they were lads, and spent every spare moment of their youth together; building cabins, catching snakes, fishing in the pond and watching the sun. So when Louis' parents passed away when he was sixteen, it only made sense to move in with the Callaghan family. Since then Louis Hearst has been with them.
Roch Brion, a drummer from Manhattan, was the first friend Adrien made when they moved to New York. He helped them situate themselves in the large city, considering they were used to the open fields and small towns back home. He got them on their feet, and they soon learned that Roch was an extremely good chum amongst the ever so "friendly" faces of the big capital. The trio moved to New York to play music, but they lacked a drummer. Soon after, they decided Roch could fill out their sound, and invited him to join the band.
When Adrien was nineteen, he wanted to move to the city, despite his love for Ireland, so that he could make music. Austin has always carried the same dream, along with Louis, the threesome have played together all their lives. They weren't about to let that change when Adrien left, so they went with him, both of them aged seventeen years old. The Callaghan parents understood this though, and even though seeing their children leave so young, they had faith in them and supported them. They've been in New York for a year now, and already they have made themselves quite the reputation. As mentioned above, they play a lot of the big and popular clubs and bars in the city, but only because they have worked hard for it. They breathed their music. They knew it, too.
At that moment, Austin thought of what he left behind in his hometown. His parents, his childhood hide-aways and favourite places, the village who loved the Callaghan boys... He could deal with being away from those things though, life was something to be explored, you had to live your life like an adventure to really experience it. The thing he left behind that hurt him was his love... Her name was Alice. He had always had feelings for her, since the day they met, and he could have sworn he saw a twinkle in her eye when she looked at him. They were perfect for each other, and understood each other well. They had never confessed these things to each other though, and when Austin announced his departure, she decided to ignore her feelings for him and before he was even gone, she was engaged to another man. This pained him, and ever since, he has been enjoying his life, but through the eyes of sad man. Austin was confused and needed something more in his life, something to get him over Alice...
He shivered at the presence of a fall breeze, and realized he was only wearing a t-shirt, so he took one last look at the stars and the moon, told them goodnight. Told his parents he and his brother were just fine, Louis too. Then he went back down the fire escape, grabbed his jacket unnoticed by the rest of the people in the backroom of the club, and started walking back to their appartment.
/ my profile 
