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Lars was back on Earth. Where he could stand on ground that didn’t hum beneath his feet or plummet towards his death at a moment’s notice. Safe.
Having introduced the off-colours to the crystal gems he’d felt an ache in the back of his mind but pushed on. At his parents’ house he suffered through an emotional reunion involving an embarrassing number of hugs and an unnecessary amount of food he didn’t even need to eat anymore.
Now he was finally in bed and the ache was growing. It had long-since moved from his head to his chest, but no amount of medicine could get rid of it. He had figured this body couldn’t get ill, guess he was wrong. Of course, Steven’s creepy little magic thing would backfire on him eventually.
‘Hey Lars!’
Speak of the devil and he shall appear.
Lars rolled his eyes achingly far back to get a glimpse of Steven’s awful toothy grin and sparkling diamond eyes sprouting from his own head.
Mustering up the enthusiasm of a dead goat Lars greeted him, ‘Hey Steven.’
Taking that as invitation to waltz right into Lars’ life Steven shoved a palm into his face, squishing his features into a pile of dung and using him as unwilling leverage to pull himself out of his hair and onto the floor.
‘I’ve got a surprise for you!’ He announced, sticking his head into Lars’ personal space, and practically shaking with excitement.
‘Right,’ Lars sighed. He didn’t trust Steven surprises, especially when they arrived in his room at midnight, uninvited. ‘What is it?’
Steven beamed so wide Lars worried his dimples would fall off. He kept eye contact as he reached into his pocket and produced a crumpled piece of off-white paper. ‘A ticket to tonight’s Sadie Killer and the Suspects gig.’
Lars’s eyes doubled in size. ‘WHAT!? SADIE’S BAND!?’
‘Yep!’ Steven replied happily before walking over to the dresser and smoothing the ticket over the surface. ‘I’ll just leave this here.’
He stepped back in front of Lars who had been stunned into a trance like a hypnotised fish. ‘Have fun!’
It was only when he made a grab at his hair that Lars finally returned to Earth. Twice in one day, that must be a new record. ‘You. You’re not going?’
Steven shook his head, ‘I’m too busy with gem stuff tonight, but you should go instead. You’ll get to see Sadie.’
He sang the last words and smirked at him, as if there was a deeper meaning they both knew and, yet, Lars must have been terribly misinformed because he did not, in fact, know what that smile and tone meant. Unless it was somehow trying to convey that Steven knew precisely how much Lars wanted to see Sadie which would be impossible because Lars made it his number one priority that no one should know how much he cared for Sadie. How he always wanted to be around her, felt comfortable with only her and missed her most of all when he was soaring through the stars. A blush swelled through his cheeks. No, Steven couldn’t know because Lars never told anyone and certainly would never tell Steven because how much Sadie meant to him was his business and his business alone. If he knew then that would mean it had been obvious AND IT WAS NOT OBVIOUS. RIGHT?
‘I don’t wanna see Sadie!’ He yelped in defence, desperate to keep his feelings under wraps.
Steven smiled, gooey eyes wrapping around Lars’s throat in a chokehold, ‘You don’t need to be shy.’
‘I’m not being shy!’ He spluttered back. Steven gave him a knowing look. When did he get old enough to learn that expression!? It should be saved for village elders and wise old dragons -not fourteen-year-old boys!
‘Just get back in my head already!’ He demanded with a tomato face he wasn’t going to admit to.
‘Okay,’ Steven chuckled climbing onto his bed and stepping into his hair and onward into whatever abyss he travelled into, ‘Enjoy the concert!’
He just couldn’t leave it alone, the little freak. Lars grumbled to himself but still made his way over to where the ticket lay on his dresser. ‘Ends at 1am’ he read. So he could still make it to the end - just needed to sneak in at the back, keep his hood up and lurk like a shadow. Nobody even needed to know he was there. A ghost.
~~><><><><~~
The air was thick with the crowd’s roar as Lars entered the back of the hall. He stuck to the wall like a slug, slipping around until he found a gap in the crowd that framed the main stage, and when he found it, the whole room stilled.
Sadie was at the mic, clad in dramatic red makeup and soul pouring from her and into the crowd. She dragged her hands down the stand, body falling after them as she slumped to the floor like she’d received a fatal wound. The lights cut, everything was pitch black. Lars heard the words ‘we’ve been Sadie Killer and the Suspects, goodnight!’ spoken by her soft toned band mate.
Wait. He’d missed it!?
Lars panicked and jumped at the first person he saw.
‘Was that it!?’ He yelled in their face, but they were frozen with confused fear.
Lars gave up quickly, pouncing on the next passer-by. He grabbed their shirt collar, his own hood falling back with his jittering movement. ‘Has it finished!?’
The person jerked their head away, before slowly shaking it. ‘N-no th-they usually do an encore.’
An encore! He wasn’t too late! Encore. Was there a sweeter word?
He smiled and then suddenly realised his hands were still fisted in a stranger’s shirt. He dropped them abruptly and they immediately scuttled away. So much for not causing a scene.
Lars waited, sticking his head up and down hoping to catch a glimpse of the stage and the return of the act. Stage and crowd had moulded into one and Lars was beginning to question whether it was even there when a single spotlight flashed on.
Sadie was stood, head bowed and decked in a gothic style dress with black veil to match. Her silvery voice filled the room with a mourning song, the audience completely captivated. And then the rest of the band were behind her brandishing featureless masks and adding slow, menacing beats. It was a song of goodbye but a promise of return, something that lingered in Lars’s soul. And as it ended on a single sung note, Sadie suddenly fell back onto the hands of her masked band mates who then carried her off like an offering for the gods.
Lars whooped along with the rest of the crowd. He felt overwhelmingly proud and it took over all his other senses. In the time he’d spent in space he’d forgotten how to hide and upon return it came flooding back like an old skill that lay dormant. But in this moment, he was away in the cosmos, consumed by Sadie’s performance, empowered by her confidence.
He had to see her.
No longer doubting his instincts he ran out and around to the stage door where he found Mr Universe’s van parked and a door resting ajar.
She must be in there.
Swinging around the door frame he flung himself into the grey corridor. Large lights and heavy amps lined the walls and wires snaked across the floor. Voices echoed from ahead and shadows began stretching from beyond the corner like flickering spirits in headlights.
‘Sadie!’ He cried as the familiar vanilla droplet rounded the corner.
‘Lars!?’ She was shocked for a second before a grin spread wide across her face and she lost the ability to form words, only laughter falling from her lips now.
Lars felt his face match her excitement, goofy and free. He tore towards her, not caring that their friends were watching the drama unfold.
He lifted her in his arms, easily spinning them around in a tight circle that only propelled his giddiness.
‘Sadie you were amazing!’ He gushed, squeezing her tight before lowering her to the ground, ‘All of you were!’ He added, only just remembering they had an audience.
‘Aw thank you Lars,’ Jenny responded, beaming at him.
‘Yeah, welcome back to Earth man.’ Sour Cream added beside her.
Buck nodded, keeping his stoic expression as always, ‘You know you’re pretty cool, Lars.’ He then seemed to get an idea, fingers forming guns as he said, ‘Bingo Bongo.’
Lars laughed before enthusiastically returning the practiced gesture, ‘Bingo Bongo!’
Buck’s lip quirked, and he nodded to the two of them, before heading off.
‘We’ll see you in the car, Sadie.’ Jenny called, following the others out.
Sadie nodded, yelling after them, ‘Okay I’ll be out in a minute!’
Then she turned back to Lars, a hundred questions hurtling through her mind.
‘So when did you get back!? How did you know I was here!? And why are you all pink?’
‘Ah yeah, that’s a long story.’ Lars replied shyly, blush adorning his cheeks. ‘We got back just this afternoon. Steven gave me the ticket, said you were performing tonight, and that I should come.’
The girl nodded, ‘That sounds like Steven.’
‘Sadie, you were amazing out there, like really incredible!’ Lars burst, really wanting to tell Sadie his thoughts but having no experience with how to go about it.
Sadie’s cheeks burned and her fair skin grew roses. ‘Thanks, I kind of get lost in it.’
‘It’s so cool that you do!’ Lars gushed, ‘you seemed so natural, like you became the performance.’
Sadie blushed impossibly harder, ‘You seem kind of different today.’
‘I-I do?’ Lars stammered. Was he acting weird? Had Sadie gone off him?
‘I don’t know, it’s not a bad thing.’ She continued, noticing his pause, ‘It’s just, you seem more open, I guess?’
‘Oh.’
The corridor filled with unspoken words. They creeped up Lars throat but were trapped by the nervous energy he tried to swallow down.
‘Sadie I,’ he stopped himself. How could he say this? Maybe he shouldn’t? But Sadie was looking at him curiously and he realised there was no going back now. He took a deep breath before saying the words, ‘I like you.’
Her eyes widened and suddenly the lump in his throat dissolved and words poured uncontrollably, ‘and I know I’m an off-colour and I’m scared of being myself and I have-‘
His words were cut off when his neck was yanked forward, and lips collided with his. Sadie was kissing him! It was awkward and unexpected, and Lars barely had time to respond but it had happened, and his heart was a rocket soaring through space.
As she pulled back she kept him hooked in her hold and spoke with a smile, ‘I don’t know what an off-colour is, but I do know that I like you. And not just the cool guy Lars who tries too hard to impress people but the real Lars. The one who has dorky phrases and watches niche horror movies with me.’ Then she added with a smirk, ‘Even if his skin looks like it could glow in the dark.’
‘It doesn’t glow in the dark!’ Lars yelped in defence, arms finally moving from awkwardly hovering and onto her hips, pushing himself back to look her in the eyes.
‘Yep, still the same Lars,’ she mused, and his eyes rolled on automatic.
‘And still the same Sadie’ he replied, relaxing back down. They were inches apart and he could see the wavy lines around her irises. Her eyes were striking against the harsh red makeup and her eyelids were slowly falling like snowflakes drifting toward snow-covered ground. His own followed suit and he leaned forward, capturing her soft lips in a gentle kiss. It was sweet and chaste like warm donuts from the bakery and his heart beat fast like a hummingbird’s wings.
When they parted, Lars was candy floss wafting through the air along the pier.
‘You need a lift home?’ Sadie asked, smiling bashfully.
Lars nodded and followed her out, clambering into the van with the rest of the band, lemonade flowing through his veins. He was so happy to be home.