bodypaintsculptures

[bodypaintsculptures]

High Priestess | Chapter 4: Who's That Girl There?

A/N: Hey lovelies!!! I'm back with another chapter! For the context, the story does take place during The Car era, although not all the dates are accurate but I have tried to keep it as close to The Car tour as possible! Hope you enjoy! Please like, comment and lemme know if you would like to be tagged! H x

Synopsis: A down on their luck Welsh band, High Priestess, finally get the big break they were looking for - a supporting spot for one of the UK's biggest successes; the Arctic Monkeys. Was this finally the opportunity they needed to kick start their dream careers of being a successful rock band? Or will a tumultuous relationship between the two lead singers and a secret confession of devotion ultimately be too much to handle for the three best friends from Cardiff?

Word Count: 3.6K

Warnings: swearing, drug usage, mentions of death, mental health issues and sexual content throughout this fic.

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Alex's phone buzzed from beside him, pulling his attention away from the foreign language film he'd spent the last hour trying to understand. He glanced down to his phone, careful not to disturb the captivated woman cuddled into his chest and grabbed it. Upon holding it up, he saw Jay's name pop up on the screen, displaying a message underneath.

Jay (email received 04/11/22 11:19pm): 

Media file attached.

For your guys' enjoyment. High Priestess :)

Alex's body jerked forward at the sight of their name, his hands beginning to tremble with excitement. He didn't bother reading the rest of Jay's email, his eyes focused solely on the media file attached to the email, that already had his heart fluttering in anticipation. 

The singer knew that James' assistant has been sent to watch the support act gig tonight and Alex had been eagerly awaiting the email with their performance attached, so much so, that he couldn't even focus on the movie that was flickering away on the screen in front of him. But now that he had it in front of him, he somehow was frozen in time, or at least, that was how he felt. 

He so badly wanted this to be everything that he had dreamt it to be. 

He wanted to be blown away, to be enthralled, stuck in a trance-like state by it, just as he had been ever since listening to the melodic tone of the singer's voice. But now, doubt had started to creep into his mind; the "what ifs". 

What if they weren't as good as he first thought? What if they weren't the right fit? What if the rest of the guys didn't like them? What if he didn't like them after all?

"All okay?" The quiet voice of his girlfriend, Louise, brought him from his trembling trance.

Alex hadn't even realised that he was now leaning forward from his seat until he saw Louise's comfortable slumber being disturbed below him making him mumble a small apology. The woman glanced up at him, giving him a small smile, her eyes growing heavy like his had from watching the film. Although she seemed to be enjoying it more than he had. 

"Fine yeah." Alex smiled happily, laying a lazy kiss on his girlfriend's lips. "Jay's just sent the supporting acts gig through." 

Louise hummed in response, disinterested in that fact and instead focused her eyes back on the film, settling back in. Before she could do so however, Alex started to move to his feet. "I uh...I'm just gonna go and watch this chéri." He mentioned his phone.

The singer didn't understand why he was so nervously eager to watch the performance. At this point, he'd watched thousands of bands perform, but he had never felt like this about any of them before. Apart from the Strokes, obviously. 

Alex could feel an undeniable knot in his stomach forming, as if hundreds of little butterflies were fluttering around. It was making him feel nauseous, his palms were beginning to sweat in heavy anticipation. It was a feeling that had all once been familiar to him, one he had felt the first time he performed all those years ago; the nerves, the anticipation, the excitement. All of which, were now filling him again. 

Louise's sigh brought him from his boy-like trance, the woman now laying across the sofa, hugging a pillow to her small frame. She looked up at her boyfriend watching his nervous stance and furrowed her eyebrows. She didn't understand why he look so eager to watch the performance, especially while they were supposed to be watching a film together.

"You don't want to watch the rest?" Her bottom lip pouted in disappointment.

"Uh..." Alex drifted off, avoiding contact with the tired brunette laying in front of him.

"Are you not enjoying this?" Louise asked innocently, with a casual glance to the film that continued to play. She propped herself up on her elbow, awaiting an answer from the singer. 

Alex's eyes widened. "No, no I am but..." He lied, waving away her question. "I just, I need to get this done, that's all." The singer held his phone up and shrugged his shoulders.

If he was being honest, he hated the film. The characters and plot were too confusing to follow and having to read subtitles was annoying him. That, and he hadn't really been paying much attention to it either, too preoccupied with waiting. But he didn't really want to tell her that, knowing she would get annoyed. He didn't want to tell her that he would much rather watch something interesting, something he was invested in, like, well like High Priestess.

With a roll of her eyes, Louise huffed. Always in the job. She thought annoyedly but she did understand his passion for it. 

She understood when you found that sound that made your spine tingle and hairs stand on edge, you just wanted to bottle it up and keep it safe. Protect it and love it, experience all of its mystical properties.

And the women guessed that that was what Alex had found with this support act or whatever. He had spoken to her about them about a week ago and how beautifully raw their sound was, how it reminded them a lot of the Arctic Monkeys when they had started out. He spoke about how much he was excited to work with them, refine their sound, give them a chance just like they had been given all those years ago. And although Louise was endeared by Alex's excitement over this band, how he would speak about music, his passion, his first love, the reason they fell in love, tonight she just wanted to relax and spend time with her boyfriend away from all of that. Away from his demandingly busy lifestyle.

"Can't you do that tomorrow mon cœur?" She pleaded, her arm outstretching to gently caress him. "It's late."

Alex sighed, knowing he had been busy of late. But he needed to do this. Maybe not straight away like he was eagerly suggesting, but the singer couldn't help but shake the feeling building in his stomach. One that screamed that he needed to listen to them now.

With that determination inside of him, Alex knelt down in front of the brunette with a soft smile on his lip, their hands now interlaced. "I know chéri, but the label wants to know as soon as possible, we need to get it all... y'know." He drifted off lost in thought, or an excuse.

This was something he needed to do and trying to justify an excuse to his tired girlfriend was probably not the best idea. But he just could not shake the feeling of needing to do this, or more so, wanting to. He wanted to lose himself in their music, feel their passion just like his own. 

The label, and mostly James, didn't need an answer until at least Monday as the band hadn't officially decided on their supporting acts  tour yet. But in Alex's head it had been a done deal the second he had heard the melodic tones of the mysterious lead singers voice. And since then, he had not been able to shake her from his mind, unable to stop humming the song he'd heard just over a week ago. Lost Bloody Mary. The title always made him chuckle but the lyrics still lingered on his tongue, like the taste of a cigarette.

Pressing a kiss to the back of Louise's hand, Alex muttered against it; "I won't be too long, I promise chérie." 

Accepting her fate at this point that nothing was going to stop him, Louise agreed. "Okay mon cœur. Just don't be all night, I'll get lonely." She pouted out her bottom lip, knowing fully well that when he usually said that, he'd be locked in that room all night long, writing lyrics, developing sounds, experimenting.

With permission of his love, Alex laid a single soft kiss to her forehead and made his way to his converted studio for his other love; music.

The singer wasted no time in locking himself into his safe space, firing up his laptop and grabbing his headset off the mic stand he'd left them on. He had not done something so hastily unless it was an inspiration that hit him, or a lyric that he needed to note down. Then he became like a man possessed and in that moment that was exactly what he was. Possessed.

Plugging his headset in, Alex covered his awaiting ears, and opened the file. His hands were trembling as he stared at the screen in front of him, dirty finger marks reflecting back off the dimly lit room.

There they were. He smiled, noting the trio of women that stared back at him in a frozen state. 

They looked different to what he imagined, better, he thought, but also not what he was expecting. They had this bohemian punkiness to them that he wasn't expecting but nonetheless liked, it was like 70's flares met glam rock. They looked like a band that was well established, not one that struggled to get a label to listen to them, let alone sign them. All that from just staring at a still on the screen made the singer chuckle, but also left him wanting more. He wanted to know them.

However as he went to press play with a bated breath, the buzzing of his phone beside him stole his attention away.

Monkey Bois 🙊

The notification read, making him roll his eyes amusedly. 

Yes, boys with an 'I'. 

The band's group chat that, Alex would like to note, Jamie had set up. Hence the Bois, part of it.

As he stared at the message starting to come through, he did contemplate ignoring them so he could get to what he really desired. But when he saw the conversation unfolding, he couldn't help but get sucked in. 

Helders III (received 04/11/22 11:25pm): yous get jays email?

Yellamo (received 04/11/22 11:27pm): duh. listening party?

Cookie (received 04/11/22 11:27pm): mate, I've got a two kids and a headache I'm going to bed. yous lot can tell me what they're like tomorrow.

Alex chuckled at his friends' shared enthusiasm, easy some of the doubts that had formed in his head. He considered a response to his band mates, getting as far as typing one out but stopped himself, returning the phone to the desk he'd seated himself at.

He needed to focus.

So, discarding his phone that continued to buzz with messages, the singer pressed play and held his breath. 

Eyes flickering as the lights strobed of the introduction of the band gave way to a softer lighting, Alex watched the three ladies he had been staring at for the past five minutes making their way onto the stage. He watched on in anticipation, eyed wide open and not willing to blink as the short haired blonde he plugged her guitar in and counted in the rest of the band. A familiar tune kicking in, one he had been humming and whistling all week long. Lost Bloody Mary.

As the beat of the drum filled his headset, Alex's eyes instinctively fluttered shut, listening intently for the sound her had craved so much to fill his ears and after what felt like an eternity, he heard it.

Her voice.

It started off soft, matching the melody of the song's intro before gaining gravitas, becoming more harsher and louder as the song reached its chorus.

Alex ran a hand through his messily fluffed hair as she sang into his ears, filling them with a melodic content that he'd not experienced in a long time. It was beautiful.

A smile crept onto his face as he continued to listen, a smile that was a permanent as the Sheffield tattoo on his arm, one thought on his mind; Where has this band been all my life? 

The thought made him chuckle. This was how music was supposed to make you feel, and it was what he was experiencing in that moment.

Song after song played, small thanks and cheering crowds filling his ears as Alex sat and watched the gig unfold in front of his dotting eyes. At some points, Alex found himself tapping his foot against the ground, nodding his head along with each song that passed and even clapping in appreciation just as the crowd did. 

His eyes never wandered far from the nameless blonde in the middle, the singer, the enigma. A woman that seemed to enchant the crowd with her harmonies, had Alex captivated just the same. A natural born performer, effortlessly sauntering around the stage; singing, laughing, playing her guitar and interacting with the audience. A bewitching beauty, the likes of the man had never seen before, leaving him breathless as he continued to watch her.

There was a permanent smile tugging on her dark painted lips as she strutted about. He watched how she would always direct her attention to the drummer or the bassist, playing with them like she had known them for years. A fact that had Alex pondering whether they did or not, whether they were like his band, whether they had been friends since they were young. It was then he realised that he didn't know much about the band apart from the obvious; what they were called, what they sang and what they looked like. But he wanted to know more, so much more. More about them but mostly, more about her.

Alex wanted to know her name. The woman that had stolen his attention with the sound of her voice. 

"Thank you!" The blonde shouted into the microphone, the permanence of her infectious smile now being illuminated by the spotlight.

"We are High Priestess; a local band from right yer in Cardiff." A few cheers and whistles sounded from the crowd when the blonde said that, leaving Alex enthralled by the subtle Welsh accent of her voice.

The cheer however seemed to provoke a breathless chuckle from the blonde frontwoman and upon doing such a mundane action, Alex felt his heart flutter. The feeling caught him off guard. The simplest and most innocent of actions arousing such a reaction within him, making him shift in his seat, uncomfortably questioning why. He didn't know the answer but it had and the fellow singer didn't know what to make of it.

"Lemme introduce you to our band - we've got CJ on drums!" The blonde shouted and pointed to the dark haired drummer behind her.

Alex watched as the drummer began drumming erratically before throwing her stick up into the arm and catching it with a wink and a smirk. It reminded him of Matt and the way he'd drum, completely absorbed into it but also messing around whenever he got the chance, a thought that made Alex chuckle.

"Viola on bass!" The blonde pointed to the left where an equally as blonde woman waved to the crowd. She was dressed in pastel colours, a sharp contrast to her band mates but that didn't take away from her ability as she played a funky little tune on her bass.

"Our good friend Lawrence Fisher on keyboard." Her voice shouted down the microphone again, this time averting the crowds, and Alex's, attention to the tall tattooed man to the right as he played a sweet melody before taking a bow. Alex noticed that he was tucked a bit further back than the rest of the band, indicating that maybe he wasn't an official member, but nonetheless she'd introduced him with her sweet voice.

For each introduction the crowd cheered and whistled, listening to their solos before the blonde walked back up to the mic, finally giving the one introduction that Alex had found himself craving more than any other. Hers.

"And I'm Niko and this is our cover of Mardy Bum by the Arctic Monkeys." A cheer went up in the crowd, and the unmistakable 'do do do's' of the audience drowned out the sound of the instruments. 

It was a feat that Alex had heard many times before when it was him up there playing it but coming from someone else, made him smile giddily, seeing how such a song could transform a crowd no matter who sang it.

"Well now then Mardy Bum... I've seen your frown and it's like looking down the barrel of a gun..."

However, their rendition of his song began to fade into the background as Alex's focused in on the short haired blonde playing the guitar with a smile plastered across those black painted lips of her and the name she had given them, him;

Niko.

The thought of her name crossing his mind had Alex feeling something warm build in the middle his chest, breath quickening ever so slightly in acknowledgement of it. 

There was something about her. A sensation inside of him that she provoked, that he just could not budge, no matter how much he tried to ignore it. Her name, as unorthodox and curious as it was, was different. 

Just like her. 

She was like a warm summer's breeze, a breath of fresh air that he didn't know he needed. One that brought goosebumps to his arms. 

It was unique but it was that uniqueness that settled in Alex with an ease.

"Remember cuddles in the kitchen, yeah, to get things off the ground..." Niko carried on singing, her eyes squeezed shut as she gripped the mic she sang into. Just like he did.

Losing himself in the music yet again, even if it was his own, Alex listened as it reverberated around him, the sound of her voice making his fascination grow. He found himself intently watching her and every little mannerism she displayed as if it was the last thing he would ever see. The jerk of her shoulder as she'd adjust her guitar, the grip she had on the microphone when she sang, the way her eyes would flutter shut as she held a note, the upturning of her lip when singing a particularly poignant lyric, the way she would entice the crowd with the simple wave of her hand.

Alex could just sit and watch every little quirk of Niko's as she performed and never get tired of it. Unfortunately for him however, with her next words, he knew that he couldn't do that and that made his heart begin to ache. 

"We've got one more song to play." Niko spoke into the mic, letting him know the performance was coming to an end. He sighed defeatedly, not wanting it to end, and it seemed as though the crowd didn't want it to either, as boos and applause rang out from the compacted audience, making Niko's smile that had been there all night turn into a pout.

A pout that stuck on his mind just as the final notes of their last song rang out, and the sound of her sweet voice echoed one last time."We've been High Priestess, diolch Cardiff!"

And with that, the picture cut off. 

All that now faced the singer was a black screen and a deafening silence that left him wanting more. 

But Alex didn't move a muscle, instead he sat rooted to the spot. Too afraid to move, too afraid to burst the bubble that he'd found himself tightly sealed in. 

All he could see was his reflection; dumbfounded, smitten with his mouth agape and breathing heavy.

In all his years of being in the music industry, he had never had a reaction like this to a band. Never felt this way about one, and it was a feeling he couldn't quite comprehend.

He was infatuated with them, but especially her.

Niko.

The nameless enigma. Now not so nameless but still so enchanting that even the mention of her name sent a shiver down his spine. 

The way she held the crowd in the palm of her hand as she sang, was... spellbinding.

Her confidence was so raw. So captivating that even the most casual of music fans, could fall under her spell, just as Alex had. 

Questions swirled fervently in his mind as it began to wander just warmth in his chest grew larger, travelling to his stomach and igniting a burning passion he'd thought he had lost.

Because that was what he felt without her now, lost. 

Like a little puppy dog without its mum, a ship without its captain, Alex felt lost without her in his life. 

The feeling made the craving to meet her -- them -- even more significant. He wanted to see what she looked like up close, hear her sweet melodic voice tickle at his ears, stare longingly into her eyes. He just wanted to be in her presence, to breathe her in, in her entirety.

Though as sudden as his trance had taken over him, keeping him frozen to the spot, it had been broken by the buzzing of his phone, now audible in the silence of his studio.

In a state of wonderment, Alex let his bug-like eyes wander from the blackened screen to his phone that had not seemed to stop lighting up and with a heavy gulp and trembling hands, he retrieved it to see who it was.

Of course, it was the Monkey Bois, again, and as quickly as his eyes had glanced over the name, Alex was scrolling through the tens of missed messages that were discussing the band they all seemed to be watching at the same time, minus Jamie.

He continued to scroll through their thoughts and opinion, not really paying much attention to them, until he landed on the last message sent by Matt.

Helders III (received 05/11/22 12:15am): Just finished watching... what we thinking?

Alex smirked down at the question his best friend had posed and without so much as a second thought, Alex typed out his response, hitting send.

Al (sent 05/11/22 12:16am): They're the ones.

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Tag List: @alovesreading @indierockgirrl @ophelisposts

[bodypaintsculptures]

High Priestess | Chapter 3: Now Then Mardy Bum

A/N: Hey lovelies!!! Thanks for all the support of the first two chapters!!! As always, I hope you enjoy the new chapter! Don't forget to like, comment and please lemme know if you would like to be tagged! H x

Synopsis: A down on their luck Welsh band, High Priestess, finally get the big break they were looking for - a supporting spot for one of the UK's biggest successes; the Arctic Monkeys. Was this finally the opportunity they needed to kick start their dream careers of being a successful rock band? Or will a tumultuous relationship between the two lead singers and a secret confession of devotion ultimately be too much to handle for the three best friends from Cardiff?

Word Count: 4.6K

Warnings: swearing, drug usage, mentions of death, mental health issues and sexual content throughout this fic.

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Friday came around too quickly for Niko's liking.

Before she knew it, she was shutting up the bookstore and speeding off towards her flat to get ready for the performance of a lifetime. Thinking about that alone made her shudder in nervous anticipation, made her heart beat erratically and palms sweat uncontrollably the closer she got to her place and ultimately, the performance. 

Usually Niko was excited to perform.

She loved being on stage. She loved being in front of a crowd, allowing herself to get lost in the on-stage persona she had perfected over the years. It would make her feel alive, get her heart racing, blood pumping. It was an exhilaration that no amount of drugs or alcohol could rival. Something that just felt right.

But tonight, she was dreading it. 

So much rested on this one performance and the pressures that brought filled the blonde with a heavy trepidation. It frightened her to know that if this went wrong, then it would more than likely be the end. The endof her dream. The end of their dream. 

A dream that Niko had been more than willing to give up on, only weeks ago. To quit music all together, quit the tireless trying of it all and lead a boring life. 

But now, with this opportunity, her dream had become her sole purpose in life once again, just like it had been all those years ago. It gave her a new incentive, a new vigour and she wasn't going to give up on it that easily. Although it didn't go as far as giving her a spring in her step or flip her melancholy on its head, this opportunity gave her a new sense of hope, a hope that she so desperately needed and wanted to revel in.

That didn't mean she wasn't nervous though. Because she was. 

If anything, she was terrified. 

The band had worked tirelessly over the years to even get to this position. Travelling to perform in the small corners of their home country just to get, night after night, weekend after weekend, earning little to no money, but in the hopes that someone, anyone, would recognise their potential. And Niko did not want to be the one that let them down when they finally it. She did not want to be the one that squandered this amazing opportunity for them, just because you froze under the pressure. 

Although the blonde had never been one to do such thing, even when the spotlight rained down on her and only her, even when she was the only one the crowd could hear, the heavy weight of expectations on her shoulders made her mind reel with the possibilities of it happening.

And that scared her even more.

What if she forgot her cue? What if she hit the wrong note? What if she forgot the lyrics?

It would more than likely ruin their chances, and Niko didn't believe she could cope with that.

But they were the "what if's" and Niko was determined for them to remain just that. Even if the prospect of their performance being filmed intimidated her, knowing who would be judging it, she had to remove those thoughts from her muddled mind and just be herself.

Something that was easier said than done.

By the time her inner worries had settled, Niko had already made it to her flat. The usual fifteen minute walk feeling more like five in her befuddled state. 

Pushing the door to her apartment open, or rather barging into it until it would let her in, the blonde had began the countdown to the inevitable. 

The band had agreed to be ready for pick up at 6:30pm, which had given her an hour to get ready. Enough time for some to get ready but when you were as nervous and as messy as Niko was, coupled with her inability to time keep, it wasn't much time at all. 

Upon her arrival, she had trudged her way through her tiny flat after removing her shoes and made a bee-line to the shower to try and relax collect her thoughts. A feat that had taken longer, way longer, than expected having effectively lost herself in the droplets of hot water mindlessly numbing her body. 

Which led to her running late. Surprise, surprise. 

But not late enough that she did not have time to stand in front of her mirror that was resting against the wall of her small living room, and silently praise herself for her unintentional, panic chosen outfit of choice. 

A sheer white flared sleeve shirt with a white lace bralette underneath, a tight black silk split side skirt that sat half way up her thigh, allowing her tattooed legs to show and a pair of zipped Doc Martens which had seen better days, but they were comfortable nonetheless. 

Maybe I should get dressed in a rush more, she mused, running her fingertips through her short curled blonde locks, some of which was tied up into a half ponytail, as to not get her face while she was performing.

With the final touch up to her make up; a simple smokey look with dark eyeliner and matte black lipstick, Niko stood back and admired her appearance with a small smile on her lips. She felt comfortable but most importantly, confident. And that was a first. She felt and arguably, looked hot. Something she wouldn't usually associate with herself, but as she ran her hand across the silky material that covered her curves, she couldn't help but feel happy.

However, given her poor time management skills, the blonde wasn't given long to admire herself as the sound of a car horn being aggressively beeped from outside, snapped her back to the present. Her head whipped to the open window in fright, not sure if to approach it to see what or rather who was making all the noise, and thankfully, she didn't need to as a loud, but recognisable voice rang out; 

"Niko, come on let's go!" The unmistakable voice of CJ's screamed from outside. It was loud enough to wake up the whole neighbourhood, not just her.

Instead of replying, Niko just rolled her eyes at her friends dramatic and silently began to gather everything she needed for the night ahead. Set list, lyric book, guitar... the blonde ticked her mental list one by one before drifting off as her eyes landed on something laying dormant on the side; a perfectly rolled, untouched joint.

She was confused why it was there, having thought she had already smoked it before her shift at the bookstore this afternoon. Yes yes, getting high on the job wasn't very professional, but it allowed her to deal with the boringness of sitting around and doing fuck all for eight hours.

But she must have forgotten to and now it piqued her interest. She contemplated for a few moments if it would be a good idea to take it with her or not, and although she knew the answer was a definitely a not, the blonde couldn't help but think that tonight, maybe, she needed it. She wasn't one to get high before she went on stage, instead leaving the buzz of the crowd and the vibrations of their music to do the job, but at this point, she was convinced that it may help calm her nerves. 

"Niko come on we haven't got all day!" Another scream came from downstairs, catching the blonde's attentions away from her indecisiveness. 

This time it was Larry who had made a her unintentionally roll her eyes but given that they did have somewhere to be, Niko picked up her guitar case and headed out the door towards the inevitable. Not before grabbing the small rolled joint off the side though. Y'know, just in case..

"Oh! You look stunnin' hun!" Larry cooed as Niko finally joined the rest of the band outside her flat. Niko smiled at the man's words, performing a little twirl for him before he brought her into a hug and pecked her flushed cheek. "You're gonna blow their socks off tonight." He whispered supportively.

Now, Niko wasn't usually one for taking compliments, she was usually the kind of person that would shy away from such things and rather fade into the background. But tonight she was feeling particularly confident in her appearance so she thanked her friend with a small smile and handed over her guitar to put into the car's boot before getting into the already occupied car.

Niko was always thankful that Larry was so supportive of their dreams and would offer to drive them to gigs whenever he could. He had given up a lot of time on his evenings and weekends to help them reach this point and Niko knew she and the rest of the girls owed a lot to him if they ever made it into the big leagues.

If.

Exchanging small hellos with her bandmates as Niko climbed into the vehicle, she could instantly feel air change around her, one filled with trepidation. And although the blonde was confident in herself, she still couldn't help feeling the same way. This was a big night after all.

Thank god I wasn't the only one, Niko sighed in relief, and strapped herself in, suddenly becoming too nervous to speak another word.

"Ready?" Larry asked the collective as he jumped into the driver's seat, receiving small nods of approval before he set off on the road to their latest and most important gig to date.

The car journey wouldn't be a long one. Where they were performing was relatively close but the Friday night traffic in Cardiff was a nightmare to navigate making the trip longer than usual. The car was filled with a quiet nervousness the whole drive there, only slightly lessened by the sound of the radio playing.

Larry was doing his best to make the girls laugh or strike up a conversation on anything other than what lay ahead but after a while they fell silent. He could tell how much this meant to them, and could understand why they all felt so nervous, knowing that this could change their lives forever. He also knew how badly they wanted it, to do something that mattered to them, to be somebody in a world of nobodies, and he wanted it for them too.

Even CJ was quiet, which was a surprise to everyone. Usually she would be chatting their ears off to the point where she needed to be told to shut it. That was not the case tonight, evidently. 

However, after a long while of nothing but radio silence, CJ couldn't take it anymore, and had to fill the silence somehow. And that was with her voice; "I think we should perform one of their songs." She whispered to Niko, sat in front of her. "Y'know get in their good books."

Niko had been staring out the window, watching the traffic fly by and the shimmering lights of the city, but now that aimless staring to keep herself calm had been replaced by fear.  

"What? No no no, tha's a terrible idea." She whispered back with wide eyes. Though in the silence of the car, everyone could hear them as they began to bicker. "Just stick to what we know, C."

CJ frowned, not expecting that response of her friends reluctance. Of course, she could hear the shakiness in her voice as she spoke, and knew she was nervous, don't blame her, so was I, but the drummer was convinced this was a good idea. "No Nik, I think this is something we need to do."

Though Niko just shook her head, eyes falling to her clammy hands in her lap. 

"We've performed their songs before." CJ pressed further. She knew it probably sounded like a corny suggestion to perform a song of the band that they would be potentially going on tour with, but the brunette was convince that covering one of them would help them in the long run.

"Not for years." Niko responded with an uncomfortable gulp.

It was a bad idea. To cover a song of the band that were going to be watching their performance and ultimately judging them, didn't sit right with Niko. It almost felt insulting to do so, to destroy a much loved song of theirs just to "get in their good books". It just seemed wrong, and the more she was thinking about it, the more the confidence she had built up was starting to dwindle.

"But we know the lyrics, the notes, timings..." CJ persisted, her arms now resting on the back of the seat that Niko occupied in front of her.

Niko remained silent, staring at her sweating palms as they writhed in her lap at the idea. Though her continued silence seemed to be CJ's cue to continue to pester the blonde to agree. "I think we should do Mardy Bum." No response. "Our version." She added and pursed her lips for a reaction. One she got, finally.  

The muttering of those words finally snapped the blonde's head to her friend seated behind her, her eyes triggered with fright and head shaking. "That's a bad idea."

CJ chuckled at her reaction, pushing herself back into her seat. "Nah it's not; our version is great." She pointedly said with a cross of her arms. Niko again shook her head, making CJ roll her eyes, tapping the person next to her involved in the conversation. "Vi, tell her."

Glancing up from her phone that she had tried to preoccupy herself with, Viola glanced between the two expectant eyes of her friends and sighed;  "I do think it would be good to do, Niko." She reluctantly agreed with the drummer, much to Niko's dismay. Really? "Your voice always sounds beautiful when you do tha' song." The bassist added sweetly. 

Niko, however, was having none of it and instead turned back to face the front, electing to stay silent on the matter. But, of course, CJ continued.

"Come on Nikola..." The brunette cooed her actual first name coaxingly, grabbing her shoulders and giving them a small shake from behind. 

That did not help. Instead, it just made things worse, it made Niko close her eyes, pained by the sound of her real name being used to guilt trip her into giving in. She didn't want the lingering grief that the call of her name held to add to the nervousness she was already developing, but she guessed it was too late for that now.

Niko hated her real name. She hated hearing it being used in any context, having tried years to get the name to die along with her past. But being friends with CJ since she was young meant that the woman knew everything about her, including all her baggage and the drummer knew the call of her birth name would provoke the blonde. 

And provoke her it did, but not in a good way. All the horrible memories of her past came flooding back with the simple call; the hatred, the heartache, the longing of what was lost, all now at the forefront of her mind and that was something she did not need to be burdened with right now. Especially when it came to one thing, one name, his name; Papa. 

Her heart ached just thinking about him. It ached to think about how proud he would have been of her if he was still here today, even if her life had become a misery. He had died when she was seven in a car crash, and since then Niko had never been the same bubbly little girl she was before his death. She never really smiled after that, and she didn't really speak about him either, the pain too much to handle.

He was just a bad memory she'd tried hard to forget, of the life she had willingly given up.

Feeling the rush of grief taking over her, Niko grabbed the one part of him she still had wrapped around her neck and held it in her grip tightly. Trying to push back down the melancholic grief that her memories held with steady breaths was working, that was until CJ opened her mouth again;

"Don't make me use your full name Niko--" CJ sang into her ear.

"Alright, fine." Niko caved, shuddering at the thought of hearing it again and what memories it would provoke. "We'll do Mardy Bum."

"Yes!" CJ cheered happily behind her, falling back into her seat with a happy smile on her face. "This is gonna be amazing."

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The drive didn't take much longer after that dreadful conversation and before they knew it, Larry was pulling up to the venue they were performing at, aptly named 'The Globe' -- something the band dreamt of taking over. 

It was a small concert venue that held about two hundred on a good night and given the lineup of local bands listed to perform, it was hopefully going to be just that.

The trio silently piled out of the car one by one, their eyes fixated on the venue in front of them already filled the crisp Welsh night with the unmissable sound of booming music and laughter. It was early November after all, and Welsh winters were bitterly cold, just with more rain and less snow. 

But it seemed that they didn't have much time to focus on the weather as, as they began to collect their instruments, they heard a voice behind them.

"Are you High Priestess?" The voice asked curiously, gathering their attention. 

Turning to its direction, they saw a man that looked to be in his late-20's staring back at them with furrowed brows poking over a pair of thick glasses.

"Yes we are!" CJ spoke up happily, always too confident for her own good as she challenged the mans question with her own. "...and you are?" She raised an eyebrow, awaiting an answer.

The man, who remained nameless in those moments, had just tucked his phone into his trouser pocket and was now staring at the four of them with a smile on his face. "Oh apologies, I'm Jay, I'm the representative the label sent." Jay held his hand out for them to shake, and with a little hesitation, the four did just that.

"I have to say, I absolutely loved your demo and the guys did too." He added, trying to keep the conversation going as they got back to collecting their equipment.

Though that once again stopped their actions and within seconds he had four pairs of eyes curiously staring at him

"The 'guys'?" A short blonde asked with a very abrupt tone. One that earned a warning stare from the black haired woman next to her. 

"Oh yeah the band, y'know the Arctic Monkeys." Jay responded happily. 

He was still beaming with pride that he was the one that had put this band on the list to begin with and had insisted he be the one that came and watched them perform. Of course, James had agreed, mostly because he thought he was punishing him for the little stunt he had pulled by putting them there in the first place. But for Jay, it was a journey he happily made, after all, he liked the band, and their sound. 

"They were excited by your sound." Jay added but didn't really receive an answer. They were all just staring at each other, maybe in disbelief or excitement, he couldn't really tell.

Were they always this quiet? The assistant pondered curiously before changing the subject to something he'd neglected to ask so far; their names. "Anyway, names... what are your names? And the instrument you play, that would probably be a good start." He let out a nervous chuckle.

It wasn't the first time he had done this but it was the first time he'd actually enjoyed the band he was going to scout. They looked different from what he had imagined and what they had sounded like but looks aren't everything right? And as the old saying goes "don't judge a book by its cover".

The first to speak up was the confident brunette who had questioned his appearance. "Oh well I'm Cleo or CJ. I - obviously - am the drummer and I also do vocals." She smiled, gesturing to the drumsticks she was holding in her hands.

Jay nodded a smile at the drummer before a long haired blonde spoke up. "I'm Viola, I play bass." Her voice was sweet and innocent just as the wave that she gave him.

With another small nod and reciprocated smile, Jay turned to the shorter blonde, who stood with her back against the car and guitar case in her hand. "And?" He pushed as he was met with a blank stare.

"Niko." She said plainly, her face not moving from the cold reception it was giving him. "Lead singer and guitarist." 

Straight to the point, Jay smirked internally. It seemed like a lead singer kind of attitude to have, though he didn't want to judge. Maybe she was just nervous.

Jay then turned his attention to the man that had accompanied the trio of women, awaiting a name. "I'm Larry... I'm not in the band, I just kinda play keyboard when they need me and lug all their shit 'round." He chuckled.

Jay nodded and noted the small creeping smile at Larry's comment onto Niko's face. So she does smile, just not often.

"Well it's nice to meet you all, I'm excited to see what you got tonight." He smiled, not able to stop doing so. He wasn't lying, he was excited to see them perform, having only ever listened to their demo, like twelve times. "Uh, did you 'ave a manager I can speak with?" He questioned the group, remembering what James had told him. Find the manager, tell him the process, and don't fuck it up.

Larry chuckled at the question as the girls all collectively stared at each other. No, was the answer. Though it was an answer that all of them were too afraid to admit to this "Jay" guy. They didn't have a manager, they were their manager. Though Larry's chuckle quickly died down and the smile on his lips replaced by a tight line when he noticed all three women staring at him.  Initially he shook his head, slight enough for just them to see, but when the stares intensified, especially from CJ, he caved.

Oh for fucks sake. "I guess... me?" Larry coughed out.

"Great," Jay smiled brightly. "I just 'ave a few things I want to discuss with you about the process and then I'll leave you a lot to get ready for your gig." The assistant added and grabbed Larry by the arm, leading him towards the venue for a discussion.

Before he was making his way there with the man, Larry turned around and gave the girls an angry eyed stare, making a mental note to kill them for it later. 

Instead of being intimated, however, the women just giggled and waved him away, as they collected the final piece of the equipment they needed.

"He was cute." Viola happily hummed as she closed the boot of Larry's car.

Though her quip only made the drummer scoff in confusion. "Really?"

The leggy blonde turned towards the disgusted brunette with wide eyes. "What? He was!" She knew why CJ wouldn't think he was, but there was no harm admitting finding someone attractive, like Jay. "Right Nik?"

Niko was still leaning against the side of her car, watching Larry and this Jay guy with squinted eyes, trying to discern what they were talking about but they were too far out of earshot.

She shrugged at Viola's question nonetheless. She didn't really want to be dragged into this conversation but here she was. "He looks more like a man that plays video games in his mam's basement than works for a record label, Vi." Her grumbled grimace earning her a cackle from CJ who had begun to make her way to the venue's side entrance.

Viola rolled her eyes at Niko's comment. "He was still cute, though." The bassist pointed to her with a smile and began following close behind the drummer, but stopped when she saw Niko's unmoving figure. "Come on." She encouraged but the singer just stayed rooted to the spot, shaking her head.

That was enough to grab CJ's attention. "Niko! Come on!" She barked like the loud mouth she was.

But Niko still stayed rooted to the spot, gesturing to the joint she'd already retrieved from her bra while the pair bickered over if a man was cute or not. "I'm gonna..." She reached for her lighter that she'd stuffed down the side of her skirt and was just about to light it when CJ interrupted her action.

Lurching forward, the drummer knocked the roll from her awaiting mouth. "Oh no you don't." She tutted disappointedly, stamping it into the floor before it could be lit.

Now, CJ wasn't one to let good weed go to waste, hell in any other circumstance she would've stole it from Niko for herself. But there was a lot at stake tonight and the last thing she needed was Niko to be off her head and mess up because she was too high to focus. That ain't happening on my watch.

"C! That cost me like ten pounds!" Niko gasped in annoyance at her friend's unwarranted actions.

"Well that's ten pounds wasted then innit!" CJ shrugged smugly as she turned to walk towards the venue again, hoping Niko would follow but apparently not. "I ain't 'aving you high on stage! Now come on--" She ushered her with a grab of her arm trying to push the blonde from her spot. "Niko, come on."

Niko puffed her cheeks, standing her ground. She wasn't that her friend had just wasted a perfectly good joint like that but she also did not want divulge her best friend in why she wanted to have a smoke of it. Though, now with no smoke, she saw no option but to mumble the truth. "I just...I just wanted to settle my nerves."

"Why?" CJ frowned straight away as if it wasn't obvious to the overzealous drummer.

But that's where they differed.

Niko was more reserved, more introverted, she let her singing do the talking -- if that makes any sense -- but boy did she know how to do it. With CJ however, the confidence of her drumming extended far beyond the stage and she was probably as confident and extroverted as it gets. 

CJ was an open book, Niko was not.

But that didn't stop CJ from voicing her opinion. "We've done this hundreds if not thousands of times before, we know what we're doing, we have this! We're gonna rock these mothafuckas and get tha supporting spot, and all because a - we are a great band and b - you are one 'ell of a singer." 

CJ's confidence usually rubbed off on everyone but the silence she was met with and the now closed eyes of the blonde in front of her was enough to tell her that the confidence in this case was not shared. So, with a sigh, the drummer wrapped her arms around her best friend's shoulders and bowed slightly to meet her gaze. 

"Niko... look at me." She coaxed and thankfully, Niko did what she asked, reluctantly meeting the dark eyes of the brunette. "We have this okay?" CJ cooed quietly. "We're all in this together."

Niko let out a bated breath, one she hadn't realised she had been holding onto, and gave her best friend a single nod. "Okay... Troy Bolton." She quipped teasingly.

"We both know I'd prefer Gabriella." CJ winked suggestively, making Niko chuckle at her forwardness. "Now come on, I'm freezing me tits off out yer." CJ complained and laced her arm with the reluctant blonde, dragging her towards the venue for the performance of a lifetime. 

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Tag List: @alovesreading @indierockgirrl @atticssmellgood

[bodypaintsculptures]

(x)

Happy Halloween friends! ✌️🎃👻🍪

[bodypaintsculptures]

High Priestess | Chapter 2: This Is Why

A/N: Hey lovelies!!! Happy Monday! Thanks for the great reaction to the first chapter of High Priestess! Just to let you know that I will posting a new chapter every three days while I work on editing the last edition, so please enjoy! Don't forget to like, comment and please lemme know if you would like to be tagged! H x

Synopsis: A down on their luck Welsh band, High Priestess, finally get the big break they were looking for - a supporting spot for one of the UK's biggest successes; the Arctic Monkeys. Was this finally the opportunity they needed to kick start their dream careers of being a successful rock band? Or will a tumultuous relationship between the two lead singers and a secret confession of devotion ultimately be too much to handle for the three best friends from Cardiff?

Word Count: 3.6K

Warnings: swearing, drug usage, mentions of death, mental health issues and sexual content throughout this fic.

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"Next." Alex mumbled after hearing just three bars of the song. This wasn't it, again. 

The frustration was growing inside of him with each passing minute, and each passing band they listened to. How hard could it be to find a support band for tour? Very, apparently.

They had been sitting there for just over two hours, going through bands like they were cigarettes and evidently, Alex had been doing the same, chain smoking his frustrations away, or at least trying to anyway. 

All they wanted was a band that captured their attention, one that fit their ideals, their aesthetics. They wanted a band that brought their own sound and with it, a new sense of performance.

And so far, nothing that they had listened to, came anywhere near that.

The shredding of guitars and heavy beatings of drums that burst through the speakers was all the band had listened to for the past few hours and it was beginning to become tiresome. Not to mention, that at this pint their ear drums were shot for hearing lyrics being  screamed at them. 

All Alex wanted was on band that captured his imagination like no other. Was that so hard?

He was sick of hearing the same old same old. It was boring him.

Of course, younger them would've jumped at the chance to sign every single band they had listened to so far to their tour, but now it was different. Now, they were older, more experienced. They understood what it took to be successful and how to entice a crowd, and what they had listened to so far would only make their fans ears bleed. Although there was an argument to say that some may enjoy a guitar being shredded for a whole set, it wasn't what they were looking for. So, their search, annoyingly, continued. 

"You can't just keep skipping 'em." James sighed from his position at the mixing desk. 

His back had slumped against the chair long ago, when no after no had began to reign in from different members of the group. He knew they were trying to get it right but they were beginning to vex him at how fussy they were being over this. How hard can it be to find a band for crying out loud?

"Well they're all shit." Jamie piped up from his sprawled position on the settee behind him. Guitar laying over him, he was mindlessly strumming at it, his gaze fixed on the dimly lit ceiling above as his interests began to waver in the process. "Absolute shite." He mumbled underneath his breath with a shake of his head.

James decided to ignore the guitarist's quip, knowing that the band he had played for them,  weren't all "shite". They just weren't what they were looking for.

With a puff of his cheeks, the producer glanced beside him to Alex who looked just as disinterested as the guitarist. His legs up on the mixing desk, head slumped against the chair and cigarette burning between his lips. James was about to tell him off for smoking in the small room but thought better of it, too tired and frustrated to even contemplate starting an argument with the lead singer. 

So, ignoring it, he instead tried to reason with him. "These are good artists, Al-"

"Yeah but they're not reyt for us." Alex cut him off with a huff, knowing where he was going with this and it didn't interest him. At this point the singer was more interested in the cloud of smoke that swirled around the small room as he puffed it out. 

Though that did not mean he wasn't as frustrated as his counterpart, because he was. He wished he could have picked the first band they heard. It would've made life easier on them and James, but that was not who he was, who they were. Instead, Alex was a man that was too invested and too much of a perfectionist. He was a man that was sometimes, too willing to take a risk, something he knew to be his Achilles heel. The singer knew what he wanted and he wasn't going to stop until he, and the rest of the band, found it. 

But at this point, it seems like his attempts to find that were proving futile. So much so that he was ready to give up on their search and just let the label pick whoever they wanted.

"Well you've gotta pick someone soon." James spat in frustration, his eyes scanning over the list of artists they had already said no to. "We haven't got long until your tour starts and so far we've picked one good-ish one and one maybe." His words were met with silence, which made him roll his eyes. "Can you guys please not be so fussy over this?" The producer glanced between the four men, though did not get much of a response for their lazed positions, more than a few hums of somewhat agreement. 

The only one to actually speak up was Alex, who craned his neck to look over at James and raised his eyebrow. "We're not being fussy, we're just trying to find someone, a--a band that..." His train of thought drifted off after that.

Sometimes he struggled to articulate his words properly, especially when it came to what he envisioned in his head. It was easier for him to write it down, in the form of a song or a poem, but he knew James' patience was wearing thin so he thought better of it. Though with this being their first stadium tour in the UK -- their home country -- he wanted everything to be perfect and right now, perfect was not what he was getting. 

Thankfully for the absent minded singer however, Matt seemed to catch on to what Alex was at least trying to express and carried on his friends train of though. "Encapsulates what we're doin'."

At that, Alex silently pointed to the drummer, who was reclining quietly on the settee behind them, in agreement. "We want someone, or summat, that can engage t'crowd, summat new, fresh... good." Matt continued, his thick northern accent laying heavily on the last part of his words as he stared at James, hoping he would understand. 

"Yeah better than the shite we've listened to so far." Nick snickered himself into the conversation for the first time in a while. But when his remark was met with a frosty reception, he wondered why he even bothered. 

Taking that reception as his cue to shut up, Nick went back to scrolling through his phone. He would just leave it up to the rest of the band to decide, it wasn't like his input mattered anyway. 

"Well thank you for insulting the majority of the bands signed on the label guys, it's great to know your opinions on that." James quipped sarcastically with a shake of his head. 

They were easier to work with making an album that was for sure.

Though James' words only made Alex groan loudly in frustration. "We ain't insulting 'em." He pointedly told the producer with the soured expression. Because they weren't, well, he wasn't at least. "They're just not suited to us." He shrugged, running a hand through his fluffy hair in frustration.

At that, James leaned forward in his chair for the first time in a while, glancing over at the lead singer and hushing his voice slightly when he talked. "And they don't have to be Al, you just need a supporting act or two for the European leg, that's it." His tone was almost pleading with him, desperate. "So please, for all the love of the two brain cells I have left, listen to these songs properly before you pass on them."

Puffing out a cloud of smoke, Alex carefully mulled over the producer's words. He could see the mans pained, exhausted expression and it saddened him to know that their indecisions had been the course of it. So, trying to think positively, the singer nodded. "Alryt, who's next 'en?" 

James wanted to punch the air in celebration but stuck with a crack of a smile as he looked down the list, reading off the next name; "Burning Bras."

As soon as those words left his lips however, a chorus of groans came from the band. Guess it's down to 2 bands then, he coldly thought, striking their name off the list. Though, he could see where they were coming from with that one, knowing the name just screamed heavy guitars and drums, it was vexing him further that they wouldn't even give them a chance. 

Running low on patience and more importantly, artists, James made a mental note not to tell them the men the name of the next band and instead, just play their song and see how they reacted. However, as he was about to do so, he stopped short with a frown of confusion. The next band on the list, he'd never heard of, never come across them and frankly, couldn't even remember writing that name down. 

Because that wasn't my handwriting...

Slightly irked, James turned to his assistant who was leaning against the desk to his left and question him; "Jay? Who are these? I didn't put them on the list?" He tone annoyed. 

Jay's eyes widened when he saw which name James was on about and nervously scratched the back of his neck. "Oh uh, I know, I um, I did?" His voice came out high pitched and questioning, slightly afraid of what his boss would say.

He had, in fact, added the band's name last minute, hoping that James wouldn't notice or even that the band would have found someone before now. But it seemed that their fussiness coupled with the fact that he was now being questioned by his manager, meant that the assistant wasn't so lucky after all. Or maybe he was, he wasn't sure. 

"They, um sent their demo to the label about a month ago, I've had a listen and I liked it so I thought I would just um... add it to the list?" Jay explained further, a nervous laugh falling from his lips. Is it getting hot in here?

"But they're not signed?" Jay shook his head. "Then they shouldn't be on the list." James added, his eyebrow raised disapprovingly, just as his words had been. 

Jay gulped at the sight of it, knowing how intimidating the producer could be at time. Hopelessly, the assistant tried to keep his composure at the mans unhappiness of the situation but still tried to fight his corner on the matter. He wasn't lying when he said he had enjoyed the band's demo. It was different, raw and unsolicited and in his humble opinion, exactly what they band were looking for. 

"I know I just thought-"

"Oh for fucks sake, fuck it!" James snapped impatiently. He was annoyed with his assistant and had just had about enough of him, so much so that he waved away any attempts he had of explaining and just decided to it play on the demo labelled; 'This Is Why'.

The band could make their own minds up, James thought, and considering that it was an unsigned band, he knew the answer would be no, but he was past the point of caring. 

Like every other demo they had listened to so far, the same guitar, bass and drum set up kicked in through the speakers but this time it was slight different. It wasn't straight in your face like the rest, instead it was mellowed, a few pulls of the guitar strings here and there, and a quietened thump of bass, while the drums teetered on melodically in the background. Then around thirty seconds in, the singing started.

"If you have an opinion, maybe you should shove it..."

James immediately recognised the song instantly. It was a cover of the new Paramore single that had dropped recently. They couldn't even send in an original piece?  The producer chuckled sarcastically to himself. He knew that this band had no hope in hell of ever getting signed if they did that, and half expected a collective groan to sound from behind him, but those groans never came.

It pleasantly surprised him at first but as time went on, and the song still played without objection, it only served to confuse the producer further. And when he glanced around at the band that had once been sprawled out, uninterested, he saw that all four men were now sat up straight, eyes wide open as they listened intently to the singer. 

The second Alex heard the voice, her voice, he bolted upright. This was it.

Yes, it was a cover, it wasn't an original piece like all the rest had been but it was raw, it was melodic, it was... what I'd been looking for.

"Or maybe you should scream, it might be best to keep it to yourself..."

The more the voice sang into the chorus, the more Alex felt his chest tighten. It was the sound he had been longing to hear, the voice he had been searching for. Right there in front of him.

"This is it." Alex stated as a matter-of-fact. "This is what we've been looking for." He added with a nod of his head, stuck in a trance of the beautiful melody his was being treated to. 

The singers voice wasn't as aggressive as the lyrics suggested. It was soft and gentle yet it got the point across. Her voice echoed around the room, penetrating his ears and danced along his skin, making the hairs stand on edge. It pulled him into the story that was being told through the nameless woman's mellifluous proclamations and made his head dizzy in appreciation.

James chuckled at the singer's reaction. "Well it's a cover-" 

Alex quickly waved that fact. He wasn't interested if it was a cover or an original piece, all he was interested in was the voice, her voice. What he had been looking for. 

Though James couldn't let the man get carried away, there were bigger problems than just finding the "right ones", namely; "They're an unsigned band, Al." He tried to get his point across, but the smile on Alex's face told the producer that he didn't care. 

Alex had found the sound that he'd been looking for and if James knew one thing about Alex, it was when he wanted something, he'd stop at nothing until he got it.

Typical bloody artist.

That didn't dispute the fact that this was an unsigned band and unsigned bands do not and should not be going on big stadium tours around Europe. It was unheard of, nigh on impossible. 

They really should pick another, James contemplated.

But as his eyes drifted between each member of the band, their expressions concentrated and filled with enjoyment, he knew that there was no chance of that happening now. Well, I'm fucked. 

"Lemme get this straight--" James started off, gathering the men's attention. "You want to debut an unsigned band on a stadium tour?"

Waiting for an answer to his ridiculous sounding question, the producer watched the four men looked between each other, all holding the same knowing smile that James dreaded. He could tell from that alone that their answer to his question was a unanimous "yes". They did not even have to affirm it with words but wasn't going to stop them from arguing that case.

"Well, if they sound good enuf-- which they do, then yeah." Matt spoke up first, a devilish smirk on his lips as he spoke. 

Jamie was next to voice his opinion. "We were unsigned once J-man, and now look at us." The guitarist chuckled with an overenthusiastic strum of the guitar on his lap. 

Although James hated the nickname that Jamie had given him of late, and the fact that they all seemed to be gunning for this unnamed, unsigned band, the producer could not dispute that fact. They were unsigned once. The Arctic Monkeys were once an unknown just like this band and now look at them. One of the UK's biggest successes. 

"Give 'em a chance." Nick argued as the song came to the end.

The bassist looked fully invested now, which was the first time today he had been. His eyes were wide with excitement, lips curled up into a smile as he lent forward on his seat, elbows resting on his knees. He usually hated picking bands to support them and would mostly leave that decision up to Alex, Matt and James, while he and Jamie would spend the time smoking and messing around with the instruments in the room. But now hearing what he has just heard, after the countless and painstaking hours of listening to shite, he was fully in this. 

Call him Bill Belichick because he was fully ready to draft this band as if they were Tom Brady.

It was now, after the song had finally come to its conclusion, that Alex, who had quietly been admiring the singers melancholy rendition of song, spoke up with a realisation. "What's their name?"

Right their name, they didn't even know their name. James sighed as he swung in his chair back to the piece of paper on his desk. He hurriedly looked for an answer to Alex's question, having already forgotten himself as his finger traced the line of striked out names until it fell on the one he was looking for. His eyebrow raising at what greeted him, he spoke aloud; "Uh... High Priestess."

High Priestess? Alex frowned as he took the name in, intrigued by it.

"Like the tarot card?" Matt shared the same intrigued look as Alex. 

Though the drummer's smile remained permanent compared, he couldn't say the same for counterpart sitting at the mixing desk, who now seemed deep in thought, stuck in his own little world. Nothing new there then.

James just shrugged and nodded, I guess. 

He didn't even know who they were, where they were from, what the band members' names were. It was, after all, Jay's marvelous idea to put the unsigned band on the list in the first place and James would make sure that he would be having words with assistant afterwards about his little trick.

Feeling his managers stony stare on him, Jay decided it was best to speak up and give the men a bit of knowledge on the band he had so brazenly added to the list. With a clearing of his throat and tripping of his words, he explained; "They're a Welsh band from Cardiff... a trio of girl--uh women."

The assistant could still feel the eyes of his manager boring into his with a disapproving annoyance but the the rest of the band seemed to hum at the little snippet of information that he had provided them with. What he wasn't counting on however, was the barrage of questions to start flying his way from them, questions that Jay did not have the answer to. Not yet anyway. 

"What's their names?" Matt asked curiously.

"We got any pictures of 'em?" Jamie chipped in.

"Can we meet 'em?" Nick poised hopefully.

"Are they fit?" The guitarist remarked unexpectedly. A chorus of tuts and disapproving looks from the rest of the room. "What?" He was just curious. 

Matt silently pointed his ring finger, giving the man a reminder that he was in fact married and probably shouldn't be asking questions like that. Jamie being Jamie, just shrugged amusedly. No harm in asking, right?

But it was Alex's question next that, out of all of them, that Jay seemed to have an answer for. "Did they have any more songs on the demo?"

As usual, the singer had been quiet while the rest of his bandmates had bombarded Jay with questions, while he just sat and absorbed the information that he had just been given. But mostly, he had remained quiet, unable to get the beautiful harmonies of the lead singer's voice out of his head, leading him to want to hear more of it, almost on repeat.

"Uh..." James stuttered on Alex's question. He wasn't sure for once whether they had either and reluctantly turned to Jay for assistance, who happily obliged.

His cheeks hurting from smiling at the fact that his little risk had paid off, Jay pushed himself off the mixing desk and took a seat next to James. "They had, uh, two songs on the demo, I think the other song is an original piece...I can't remember the name of it." He took the laptop from James, as they both searched for the song, stopping when he had found it. "Here it is, it's called uh... 'Lost Bloody Mary'."

"Lost Bloody Mary?" Nick laughed. "I like it."

He liked their style, weird but the good kind. The intriguing kind that made you want more.

"Play it 'en mate!" Matt encouraged happily, ready to hear another of their songs.

Before the assistant could press play, however, James turned to the band with an ultimatum. He was still concerned about the fact that it was an unsigned band. "Look, I know you guys are excited but this band needs to be scouted properly." He started, gauging their attention before he continued. "So, we'll send a representative to one of their gigs, film it and have it sent to you lot to decide whether you want them supporting you or not, okay?"

At James' words, they all nodded in agreement of the plan, apart from Alex, who was too stuck in his own mind to be fully coherent. 

For him, the decision had already been made. He didn't need to see them perform to know that they were the one thing that he had been looking for this whole time. He didn't need to see what they looked like to know that her voice alone was what he had craved. 

They were fresh, raw, uncut and rough around the edges. It was everything he had wanted to have on the tour with them, something different, something... imperfectly perfect.

High Priestess.

Alex smiled as the band's second demoed song, an original composition, began to filter through the studio speakers. 

They were gonna be the next big thing.

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Tag List: @alovesreading @indierockgirrl

[bodypaintsculptures]

I was tagged by @daddy-long-legssss to share 13 songs I've been listening to recently. TYSM for thinking of me!

I wish there was more AM and TLSP but literally these songs are in my heavy rotation for inspiration at the moment!

1. Smile - Wolf Alice

2. Silk - Wolf Alice

3. Don’t Delete The Kisses - Wolf Alice

4. Daylight - Joji, Diplo

5. Weirdo - K.Flay

6. Bad Vibes - K.Flay

7. Hypersonic Missiles - Sam Fender

8. Hot Blood & Way Down We Go - KALEO (couldn’t pick just one lol)

9. Nightmare - PVRIS

10. When The Sun Goes Down - Arctic Monkeys

11. If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know) - The 1975

12. Heavy, California - JUNGLE

13. The Bartender And The Thief - Stereophonics

If you haven’t listened to some of these songs/artists, I would 100% suggest you do, they’re all amazing in their own right!! Andy being Welsh, I obvs had to include a Welsh band (duh)!

Tagging: @alovesreading (I blame her for my Wolf Alice obsession lol) @imagine-that-100 @punk-ravioli @indierockgirrl @skylarbee @musicandotherstuff @alexturner2005

Sorry if you’ve already been tagged!

[bodypaintsculptures]

High Priestess | Chapter 1: Why Now?

A/N: Hey lovelies!!! Welcome to the new edited version of High Priestess!! I have decided to post the full chapters on here as well as on Wattpad! I have made a few adjustments to all chapters. I have also renamed a lot of the chapters as well as adding some new chapters in! The plot has changed slightly but the overall story has remained the same! A big thank you to @alovesreading for being such a big help with the storyline! You are a gem! Please lemme know what you think and if you would like to be tagged!! H x

Synopsis: A down on their luck Welsh band, High Priestess, finally get the big break they were looking for - a supporting spot for one of the UK's biggest successes; the Arctic Monkeys. Was this finally the opportunity they needed to kick start their dream careers of being a successful rock band? Or will a tumultuous relationship between the two lead singers and a secret confession of devotion ultimately be too much to handle for the three best friends from Cardiff?

Word Count: 4.5K

Warnings: swearing, drug usage, mentions of death, mental health issues and sexual content throughout this fic.

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"Letting the days go by, letting the water hold me down..."

The speaker sang, quietly as to not to disturb the customers in the bookstore, well all two of them.

"Letting the days go by, water flowing underground..."

Niko sighed exhaustedly, her tired frame leaning against the glass countertop, watching as the customers came and went without so much as buying a thing.

She was bored.

She always was when it was her turn to close, or even open, or just be here, she thought with a melancholy hum.

That's when she saw someone or rather, her, caught the woman's attention. Sat nose deep in a tattered old book, the cover faded and the title unreadable to the distant blonde sat at her cash register. She was always in here, reading whatever she could put her hands on, alone. But she was always smiling.

Linda.

With a heavy roll of her eyes and lethargic push, Niko got to her feet, wandering over to the gray haired woman that had taken a seat in the reading area. Her presence was enough to make the woman glance up from the book she looked very interested in. There was a moment of silence between the two before Niko spoke up, her tone flat and fed up.

"Look Linda, y'know what I'm gonna say..." Niko drew out, scratching the back of her neck. It was the same thing she always said to her; "You can't sit 'ere and read the whole book and then put it back, you have to at least buy it first." Her tone remained flat as it always did when she told the woman, sick of spitting out the same words.

Linda gave the blonde a small happy smile, the crows feet surrounding her eyes wrinkling in her old age. "My apologies Niko." She sat up, fetching her purse from the bag that leant against the leg of the sofa she had occupied for quite some time. "How much?"

Niko blew out a breath, and shrugged her shoulders. Usually she would scan the barcode of the book to see what the system would say but this book was so beaten up and falling apart at the seams, that there was no barcode, or even really a front cover. Niko shook her head, she couldn't really charge an extortionate price for something that looked like that.

"A pound." The blonde eventually said, piquing the old woman's interest but she didn't question the young lady's decision and fished out some money from her purse.

"Have a fiver, my dear." Linda responded, giving the blonde a folded up five pound note.

Frowning, Niko took the five pound note from the old lady without so much as a complaint, god knows the store needs it, letting out a small 'thank you' ash she did. She pocketed the note in her checkerboard trousers, reminding herself to deposit it into the cash register when she returned to her post in just a few seconds. However, before she could get there, Linda was trying to strike up a conversation with the uninterested blonde.

"How's life been treating you, my dear?" Linda asked with a smile, the book she'd been nose deep in, now folded close on the coffee table in front of her. 

Niko stuttered for a second, muttering something about getting back to the desk but Linda quickly chuckled that away. "There's only one other person in here apart from me dear, I think you've got a bit of time, no?"

With a tentative glance around the store to the only other person in it, a middle aged man lost inside a war book, Niko sighed and decided to take Linda up on her offer of a light conversation. It would make my shift go quicker anyway. 

The blonde took a seat opposite the gray haired woman and with another heavy sigh, answered the question that had been poised to her, with little enthusiasm. "Same shit, different day." Niko almost chuckled at the irony that was her life but before doing so, realised what she had said, and quickly apologised for her cursing; "Sorry." 

 Seeing the young woman flush in front of her, Linda let out a quiet chuckle. "It's no problem my dear."

She had always referred Niko as a dear even though every time they would speak, it was the blonde telling her to either buy the book she was reading or leave. Not usually a very amicable conversation that would warrant such a phrase to be used. 

Though, Linda was a sweet woman. she always had a smile on her face, she always wanted to strike up a conversation, even with Niko's soured personality. But from those conversations, forced or not, Niko had learnt about Linda's life and how she would come by the bookstore to read and enjoy the company of others since her husband had died a few years ago and her children lived abroad. Niko had felt sorry for her, that this was her only solace to feel a sense of togetherness in this world and would usually be happy to converse with her when she first started coming by. But these days, these days, the blondes mood had soured and her patience wore thin, making it difficult for her to hold a conversation with customers in a job she had come to loathe.

"How's the band going?" Linda questioned, snapping Niko back from her thoughts and filling the silent emptiness of the bookstore.

Niko hummed, the band.

"Good." She quipped a small sweet lie. Niko didn't want to burden the gray haired woman with the depressing truth, not when she didn't really want to admit it to herself, so she continued; "Had a few auditions to support a few bands, sent some demo's to some labels..." The blonde exaggerated, slightly, as she drifted off into thought. 

The truth was, it wasn't good at all. They hadn't got one call back from audiences nor had they really sent that many demo's out to places.

And if Niko was being really honest, she had contemplated quitting the band on more than a few occasions over the last couple of months. after years of trying, they weren't getting anywhere. All they seemed to do was play small gigs in pubs and small venues across South Wales and at this point there were just kind of existing. For her, there seemed to be no breakthrough in sight and she was just about ready to give up that part of her life. Of course, Niko had tried her best over the years to keep the band together, for the sake of her sanity, but it was getting to the point where even that was starting to waver. Although the band had become the only solace away from the mundane reality she had come to know as her life, there was no longer any motivation or inspiration for her, now it was more like a nightmare.

"And?" Linda pressed, seeing the vacant expression on the blondes face.

Niko shrugged, slouching back in the chair. "Tha's it... just kinda waiting." She lent Linda a small smile, hoping that would satisfy the older woman. 

But Linda could see the dull emptiness in Niko's eyes. It was the eyes of someone who was ready to give up.

Leaning across the gap between them, Linda grabbed Niko's hand, and gave her a sympathetic smile. "Well, I'm sure someone will pick you up dear, I think you and your friends have a good thing going there." She reassured. 

Though Niko was finding it hard to agree with the optimistic woman, she gave her another forced smile of appreciation nonetheless, pretending as if her words actually mattered in the grand scheme of things. Which, regrettably, they did not. 

"I'm no music connoisseur, but I know something sounds good when I hear it and you, my dear, have a beautiful voice." The gray haired complimented determinedly.   

She had heard Niko singing along with the music in the store on a few occasions and had found appreciating it's beautiful harmonies, so much so that it had stopped her from reading her books. 

The compliment made Niko's cheeks flush and her forced smile turned more genuine on her cherry painted lips. "Thank you, Linda."

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After that quick interaction with the bookstore's regular customer, nothing much else happened for the rest of Niko's shift. Just the boring rigmarole of watching customers come and go without so much as buying anything, all the while Linda sat, reading the book she'd bought for more than it was worth.

When it came to closing time, Linda was the last one to leave the store, as she always was when she came to visit. Niko let the gray haired woman out with a forced smile and a quick 'see you again' on her lips, like they always did. But this time, before the blonde could close the door and lock it up, Linda stopped her short, grabbing her outstretched arm.

"You should believe in yourself a bit more, my dear." Linda whispered encouragingly before giving the blonde a small wave.

Niko just nodded, watching the old woman, with the permanent smile on her face, make her way down the dimly lit street with a sigh. Believe in myself, Niko found herself thinking, what was there to believe in anymore?

From then, Niko did what she always did when closing the store; cleaned up any books people had discarded after reading them and not paying; cashed up the minuscule amount of money they'd taken for the day; turned the lights off and finally locked the store up, always with the same though crossing her mind; I hope it burns down.

Now, Niko wasn't an arsonist per say, but just the thought of one day turning up for work and seeing the place burnt to a crisp brought a sense of ease to her. As if its singed state would finally release her from the boring monotony of her every day, nine to five, life she had fallen victim to.

But, unfortunately for her, that day never seemed to come. No one seemed to want to burn a bookstore down and so, depressively enough, the cycle of Niko's life continued to roll on, unchanged and uneventful.

It wasn't as if Niko hated the bookstore or the thousands of books that it held. Truth was, Niko used to love reading. Well, used to. 

She used to love being sucked in by the characters and their adventures, used  to love being transported to a world where she could tag along for the ride and experience the emotions of the characters would endure on their conquests for love or revenge. She used to love drawing inspiration from the pages of a book or the lines of a poem, able to dream up her own stories in the form of lyrics. But now, well, that inspiration ceased to exist. Those words she would once worship as if their own religion, were now just meaningless. They did not provoke a sense of wonder or a flicker of light inside the stone could heart she had grown over the years. 

It had all become a nothingness to her. Just like her life.

Checking that the door was secure, Niko walked away from the bookstore, hoping that it would finally be the last time she was there, but it never was. She hoped nonetheless, a hoping that was slowly fading. 

The blonde walked down the same dimly lit street that she had watched Linda walk down not half an hour before, but instead of walking straight ahead like her counterpart had, she took a swift left, heading down a familiar side street with only one thing on her mind. I need a strong drink.

She arrived at her preferred destination not two minutes later, staring up at the low lit sign that read 'The Queen Vaults'. It was like every other olde-worlde pub in Cardiff; dark exterior and stained glass windows, but this place evoked something inside Niko that made it seem different. It was her place, their place. And the memories that evoked inside her, brought a well-needed genuine smile to her face. It was a place she did not have to think twice about entering, giving the bouncer, Dave a customary "hello" as she did, as the familiar smell hit her senses and made her heart sing. 

Stale beer and piss.

It probably sounded horrible to anyone else and would probably put them off ever stepping inside, but to her and her friends, it was the smell of home, the smell of memories; the smell of a good time.

Wasting no time at all, the blonde made her way to the bar, her small stature pushing past a group of rowdy lads who had decided to call it home for the night before she reached her destination with a heavy sigh.

"Packed in 'ere tonight." She quipped annoyedly and leaned against the sticky bar, lined with dried beer.

The bartender nodded with a roll of her eyes. "There's a footie game on tha's why, Wales playin' some... other European team." She drifted off not really caring, and neither did Niko. Sport really wasn't her thing. She did not understand why people raved about watching sweaty men chasing after a ball and falling over dramatically. It all seemed a bit too gay to her. "So we're a bit busier-- the usual?"

"Yeah please, CJ." Niko smiled, glad that she was able to get served quickly. 

God knows I needed it. 

CJ, or Cleo, was Niko's best friend and also the drummer of their ill fated band. They had known each other since they were six, they went to school together, grew up together. She had started working at their local when she was eighteen, just as Niko had gotten a job around the corner at the bookstore. Since then, after every shift, Niko would swing by for a drink and another and another, until it was usually those two laughing and drunkenly joking around at the bar until the early hours of the morning. Although, it was to the annoyance of CJ's boss, the man wasn't going to stop them as they paid their way through, even with the little money they had. Their drinking habits at the pub, also seemed to play in their favour, as her boss afforded them their first proper gig, even if it was in front of about ten people, most of which were the locals they begged to attend. 

But that was nearly eight years ago, and since then, not much has changed. Unfortunately.

"One 'double' for the sexist lady 'ere." CJ smirked upon her return, a vodka lime soda in hand. "And a bit extra, free of charge of course." She winked.

Niko smirked at her friend's insistence on adding more alcohol that she was allowed to. If she was going to let her get drunk, she definitely wasn't going to complain about it. 

The blonde let out a small "thank you" to her friend, grabbing two straws from the side and taking a healthy sip of it, immediately being hit by how strong her friend had actually made it. She pursed her lips as the strong liquor burned its way down her throat, almost making her cough, before she began looking around the packed pub. 

"Are the two idiots 'ere?" She questioned the bartender, with a raise of her perfectly slicked eyebrow.

CJ nodded. "Usual spot." Gesturing towards the secluded booth in the corner where two people sat hidden away. Niko smiled seeing them from a distance and began walking over, CJ shouting that she would be joining them in a minute.

Before Niko had even got half way there, one of the idiots was already on their feet, shouting at her with their arms wide open. Larry.

"There she is!" He sang, engulfing his friend in a bear hug, making her chuckle.

Larry was another friend Niko had known since primary school. Herself, CJ and Larry had been inseparable since then. He was also the keyboardist and technician for their band, and although he wasn't officially part of the trio, Niko was insistent that he be the adopted fourth member which Larry was happy enough to accept. He was easy going, didn't really mind having a title or not. Besides, this was a side gig for him, away from his full time job as a tattoo artist, so the whole "being part of the band" thing never bothered him.

Niko slipped in next to her friend and was greeted by the other idiot she mentioned to CJ; Viola. 

The woman with a permanent smile on her face. A smile that was sometimes a nice sight and sometimes the death of her. Niko was convinced that Larry had tattooed the joker-like grin on her because there was no way for someone to be happy all the time, but then she would remembered that Viola wasn't good with needles and had fainted every time Larry or any other tattoo artists had attempted to tattoo her, so that was was just how she was, naturally.

"How was work?" Viola questioned, her perfectly manicured nails playing with the ends of her long, blonde hair.

Viola stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of them. She wore more than monochrome colours they did and her skin was always perfectly tanned, not to mention her flawless hair and make up. But that's what you get for being beauty technician by day and a heavy metal lover by night.

Though was the other didn't have in Viola's flawlessness, they made up for it in tattoos. All three of them were covered. Larry from his leg, to his arms, his torso and neck, CJ -- who had now slotted herself in next to Viola -- had a sleeved arm and tattoos covering her thighs, while Niko herself was covered in them from her arms to her legs and the majority of her back.

They looked like a group of pot smoking goths who had kidnapped one of the prettiest and more popular girls at school and were holding her captive.

"Bollocks as always." Niko tutted in a fed up tone, slumping against the ripped leather seats of the booth. 

She was fed up with everything at this point; her boring life, her boring job, her boring everything. But she wasn't about to start ranting, not again at least. She had done enough of that over the years and although it depressed her, she wasn't about to depress her friends.

Though it always had Niko pondering that surely there was more to life than this. 

That more was yet to be found. 

"Aww well, at least you're getting paid." Viola smiled at Niko trying to be positive about her friend's situation, ever the optimist. 

Although her upbringing had allowed her to be, especially when her dad was famous, well famous in Wales at least. Which, if you play international rugby for Wales, you were considered just that. Now, Niko wasn't that into rugby either but Viola's dad was the sweetest man she had ever met, he had helped his daughters band out a lot over the years, even converting his one of his spare bedrooms into a recording studio for them. 

Anything for his little princess, Niko chuckled to herself, envious of the relationship she had with her father. But that didn't take away from the fact that Viola had had it easier than the rest of the group. She'd been born with a silver spoon in her mouth and not had to endure the same sort of upbringings as Niko, CJ and Larry had.

But she was still a humble girl with aspirations as big as the rest of them and she was a great friend to have.

"And we gotta gig on Friday, so we can get some money from that too!" Viola smiled happily. For someone who looked like a Barbie doll from the 1970's, she didn't half love rocking out on stage.

Fat chance of that, Niko thought as she held her tongue. These days it cost more in fuel money and set up than what they actually got paid, and usually Niko would give them the money before she'd give herself a cut, which would leave her with only enough for one lousy microwaveable meal.

But Niko wasn't going to dampen the mood with that information. Instead the blonde just hummed in response, picking apart the beer mat her drink sat on as the thought of leaving the band became more attractive as time went on.

CJ whooped in her usually chirpy mood at that fact. She wasn't as positive as Viola, but she was more positive than Niko, who was a pessimist at the best of times.

"And check this out... I 'ave some news." CJ wiggled her painted on eyebrows, diving her hand into her apron to retrieve her phone.  

As CJ sat doing whatever on her phone, Niko glanced around the table uninterested. However, that uninterest was quickly curbed when she saw a pair of silly smiles on the faces of Larry and Viola, making her eye them suspiciously. 

Something was going on. They never usually smiled like that, even on a good day, so it confused the blonde on why they both looked so demented. She was just about to voice her curiosities at their psychotic looks, when CJ shoved her phone in her hand with the same unnerving smile gracing her lips, and began to speak up; 

"I had an email today 'bout one of the demos we sent to tha label, uh fuckin' Domino?" Niko nodded remembering. "And they said tha they loved our demo and wanted to send a representative out to watch us 'n potentially being a supporting act for, get this--" The bartender paused, the silly smile still on her lips, and eyes wide with excitement as she blurted out. "The Arctic Monkeys."

Niko's head snapped up at that name. Her heart skipped a beat. Wait... what?

As quickly as her head had snapped up at the mention of the Arctic fucking Monkeys, it had snapped back down again, reading over what CJ had confirmed. It took Niko a few moments as she read it once, twice, three times over, unable to suffice if this was some kind of sick joke or stupid prank they were playing on her. She checked it again, eyebrows firmly knitted together, trying her hardest to debunk its legitimacy but she couldn't. It was true, staring her right in the face in black and white; she wasn't lying.

That was when all the air in Niko's body left, leaving her dumbfounded. She was almost numbed by the truthful information that stared back at her, greeting her with a smile. But the blonde just couldn't seem to be able to accept it, she couldn't seem to understand it. This couldn't be real, she thought in disbelief, not us.

But it was.

Overloaded with it all, Niko's eyes began to pool with tears, blurring her vision. She once again ran her eyes over the email, trying her hardest not to believe that any of this was true. 

Why now? Was all she could think. 

Why now? After so many years of trying, of trying so desperately to get the recognition they wanted or maybe even deserved. Why now? After all the long nights travelling around the small bars and venues of South Wales. Why now? After she had finally been ready to give this empty dream up, after she finally decided that enough was enough, she was going to quit the band. 

Why now?

Niko was speechless, motionless as she finally glanced up from her friend's phone to the rest of them, sat around the table, eagerly awaiting her response. She could tell that they already knew, CJ seemingly had been too excited not to say anything the second they had walked into the bar that evening and with Niko working until late they had agreed to tell her together when she arrived.

Niko didn't know if to burst out crying or laugh. 

She was stuck, confused, overwhelmed, and just as the tears threatened to spill for the woman's usually hardy exterior, she choked out a response. "Ar--are you sure?" As if couldn't believe it and part of her didn't want to believe it.

The blonde didn't know why but she was scared. Scared of what, she wasn't sure. Change? Acceptance? Everything?

"Yes I'm sure." CJ chuckled at her friends hesitance. The drummer was beaming, more than she had in a long time, though that beaming was cut short and the grin on her face fell off when she saw Niko's attention back on her phone, scrolling through it again as if she was trying to debunk it somehow. "It's legit, stop trying to check Nik." She warned, taking her phone back and shoving it in her aprons pocket.

CJ wasted no time in leaning back over the table and grabbing a hold of her best friends trembling hands in her own. She gave them a light squeeze in reassurance as she began to speak. "This could finally be the break we've waited so long for, we could finally make it -- you, me and Viola." She nodded to their friend who sat in the corner, beaming like a Cheshire Cat and one of Larry's arms draped across her shoulder, himself expressing the biggest grin on his face.

Everyone else was smiling, Niko noted, so why wasn't I?

Why couldn't she smile like they were? Why couldn't she believe what they were telling her? Why was she so stuck? She wasn't sure if she had an answer to those questions, but it seemed like CJ knew that.

"Niko, look at me." CJ demanded, seeing the shocked expression on her friends face, feeling her own tears start to well. "This is all we've ever wanted." She whispered into the crowded bar, but Niko heard her nonetheless. "We've worked so hard for this, we deserve to be happy, don't we?"

But before Niko could formulate any kind of response, a shout from across the bar brought them from their heartwarming moment. "Cleo, get back to work!"

The anger-filled shout snapped the group's head to the bar where CJ's manager stood, glaring at the bartender. CJ's eyes rolled at the man's untimely interruption, her hands reluctantly letting go of the blonde's shaking pair as she fell back into her seat with her own shout. "Shut up Tony!" She cursed loudly, before turning back to the group. "Duty calls, but I'll get us a round of shots to celebrate!" The brunette smirked happily as she stood up.

Before she left, however, CJ stopped in front of her best friend, gathering her attention with a whisper; "Smile Niko, our dreams are finally coming true." And with that she left the blonde to process everything that had just happened.

The news. The email. The chance of a lifetime thrust their way.

Their collective dream finally becoming a reality.

They were the undisputed facts, the facts that seem to ignite a small spark inside Niko. One that she had been convinced she had lost a long time ago; hope. And for the first time in forever, Niko felt a genuine smile form on her lips. Maybe this was our chance.

[bodypaintsculptures]

Is that vague sense of longing kinda tryna cause a scene? Guess I’m talking to you now Puncturing your bubble of relatability With your horrible new sound Baby, those mixed messages ain’t what they used to be When you said ‘em out loud

SCULPTURES OF ANYTHING GOES - ARCTIC MONKEYS

[bodypaintsculptures]

w.i.t.c.h_t.i.t.s: It's not everyday you get invited to play for the @arcticmonkeys for their end of tour wrap party. So grateful to these sweet amazing dudes for having us and treating us so nice. Especially bassist @omalley_yellamo who suggested we play their event! So grateful 🙏 True gentlemen all around. (LA, posted Oct 4th, 2023)

[bodypaintsculptures]

High Priestess | Alex Turner Story

An Alex Turner 'The Car' Era inspired story. Synopsis: High Priestess are a down on their luck, struggling Welsh band made up of three best friends; Niko, CJ and Viola. The band have struggled to get themselves the recognition they need to kick start their careers, with no labels wanting to sign them nor bands wanting to tour with them. Contemplating giving up on their collective dream, the band finally get their lucky break; the chance to support one of the biggest successes to come out of the UK. The Arctic Monkeys. Was this finally the opportunity they needed to kick start their dream careers of being a successful rock band? Or will a tumultuous relationship between the two lead singers and a secret confession of devotion ultimately be too much to handle for the three best friends?

Disclaimer: This work of my own imagination and is completely fictional. It in no way represents the real persons involved.

Warnings (Mature Rating) Drug usage Mentions of death Mentions of mental health issues & body dysmorphia Mature sexual scenes

The milky way she walks around. All feet firmly on the ground. Two worlds collide, two worlds collide... - Dr John Cooper Clarke

Coming this Friday... let me know if you would like to be tagged!!

BodyPaintSculptures ©️ 2023

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The end of the US tour @ Kia Forum, LA 1st Oct. 2023, By saltyfruitz

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Arctic Monkeys - Kia Forum, Los Angeles (date 2)

30/09/2023

📸: TimothyNorris

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Alex Turner dedicates the song Do I Wanna Know to Amelia, Matt's daughter at the Kia Forum, Los Angeles (date 2)

30/09/2023

(Source)

[bodypaintsculptures]

Arctic Monkeys - Kia Forum, Los Angeles (date 1)

29/09/2023

📸: TimothyNorris

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this is so eycte alex 😭

last night in Portland.

cr: ajkennedy288 on ig

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Alex Turner + Alignment Chart Part I (Part II)

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new autism collection wahoo [text]

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Alex struggling with wires at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, 18th September 2023.

cr: adventuresofvictoria via tlspmusic