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artificialqueens · 2 years ago

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🏳️‍🌈 Euphoria 1/10 (Greentia) - Juno

Summary: Singing hopeful Veronica Green meets her idol, the retired pop sensation Tia Kofi at a Eurovision party; and her throwaway remark about entering Eurovision 2023 starts her on a journey into what she hopes will be music superstardom. But like her agent Divina says, it’s all about the friends you make along the way.

A/N: this has already gone onto my AO3 page but posting here too! This is a pop star au with Eurovision featured so there will be lots of people from different franchises, but the main ship is this one. Big thanks to everyone who has let me annoy them about this fic, and there is more content on my blog!!

Veronica pouted at her rain-soaked reflection in her pocket mirror, then looked back up at the sign outside the studio that definitely still said PRIVATE PARTY ESC2022: Invite Only. With a deep breath, she straightened her back, forced her best Ginger Spice smile onto her face, and approached the bouncer, flashing her invite and having the rope unhooked for her.

God. Am I officially a celebrity now?

She looked at the flight of stairs up to the first floor of this very exclusive-looking hotel, voices and laughter drifting down it towards her. Nerves started to snake up her spine and branch into her ribcage and she took another deep, calming breath.

I’m already knackered, and it’s only ten in the evening.

If Divina had never sent that text that night, maybe Veronica would never have even contemplated a private Eurovision party. She had been perfectly happy with her prior Eurovision arrangement of sitting in her flat with Joe, along with several bags of Doritos and party rings and whatever strange-coloured cocktails Joe would be mixing on the kitchen workbench.

But her work phone had gone off with the notification just as she was falling asleep earlier that week. Her flatmate Joe always advised her to keep her work phone out the way, hidden in a drawer or something, so she wouldn’t look at work emails while in bed, and she swore to him that she wasn’t reading them. But her curiosity won as usual and she’d read the message over and over, a sense of trepidation building up in her, like a can of Coke that had been shaken up.

Divina @ 23.04: I’ve got you into the most exclusive Eurovision party in London, the one at the studio where they announce the points total. It’s this Saturday. It starts at 7.30 but don’t get there before 8.30, and the word is that it’s fancy dress.

After she’d read it for the fortieth time, she had decided she wasn’t going to be able to sleep, and instead spent the next six hours thinking about who she could dress as until her alarm went off and she had had to get ready for her job.

Her actual job. Not, she’d thought with a sigh, her singing.

But maybe her agent messaging her at almost midnight on a Tuesday night was a blessing in disguise, her first step up the ladder to superstardom

Which was why Veronica was heading up the stairs to this party, dressed as Ginger Spice. She’d spent an hour teasing her hair until she’d simply pissed it off and had slithered herself a Union Jack dress she’d found at a joke shop earlier that day. The brand new white platform trainers were cutting into her toes and the rain had been threatening her hair before she’d even made it here. She’d aimed to get there at nine, but by the time she’d sprinted back home after she’d forgotten her phone, missed the Tube, and lost her way, there was no chance of her getting here before ten.

By the time she’d made it up the steps and into the party, she knew this was a mistake.

Her smile slowly faded from her face as she scanned the room, a huge ballroom tinkling with faint light jazz and crammed with people holding drinks and standing in their small groups. Sure, there were one or two people in fancy dress, but most of the people there were more formal, crowded together, paying almost no attention to anything but their own conversations. Heads turned when she entered, scanning her briefly before turning back to their groups.

And when she squeezed past them towards the bar, derisive whispers drilled into her ears from all sides like needles, heat growing up her cheeks.

“Nice costume, the nineties are so in right now -“

“Straight from Smiffy’s, I ask you -“

“Who takes that shit seriously, for God’s sake -”

Veronica downed her first drink to numb her skin. The second started to taste better the longer she held it. A little more relaxed, she leaned her back against the bar, looking around the room. Eurovision was on the huge screen at one end of the bar, although she’d arrived so late that she’d missed all the acts and it was the interval; but staring into the crowd, she noticed something.

No one is actually watching. No one is even talking about Eurovision. No one cares. They’re just here to … mingle? I guess?

Trying to make it onto the scene since her move to London was annoying, so many secret rules that popped up with every party, every event, every tabloid encounter that she’d had. In Veronica’s head, it should be easy - make music, go to events about music, meet people passionate about what had brought her here. Instead, most of the time Divina was sending her to various events to mingle. As far as Veronica could see, mingling consisted of accepting champagne and turning down coke and standing with very grand people discussing other people’s private lives.

Honestly, it was exhausting.

Veronica liked mingling, when it was with Joe and could technically still be described as fan behaviour, as gossip. But here, in her professional environment, she wanted to work. She wanted to sing and dance and display her talents, but to do that, she apparently needed connections, connections that she didn’t really have yet.

She didn’t recognise anyone in the room, and no one was looking as if they wanted to bring her into their own little groups. So she downed the second drink and ordered a third, taking it to the balcony outside.

The view was incredible from up here. It had been a balmy day for May but the night was cool and clear, even though the lights of the city obscured any thought of stars apart from the odd freckle here and there. Veronica leaned on her elbow, chin in her hand, staring into the distance at the blocks and skyscrapers she could see.

She wondered what Joe was doing, back in their little flat.

He was probably drunk by now, he’d invited Anubis from his D&D group around for Eurovision and they’d have brought snacks and probably plenty of opinions on the contestants -

“Oh my god -“ she heard the voice before she looked, a crash as the person behind her stumbled against the door; the prop slipped away and the door slammed shut.

Veronica froze.

It’s Tia Kofi.

Everyone knew them. They were here? At this party?

They were getting back to their feet with a groan, brushed themself off with their free hand, glancing up; but as soon as they saw Veronica, their mouth dropped open in an oh.

“Hey! Amazing! I thought I was the only Spice Girl here!”

Veronica took Tia in, still brushing dust from the leopard-print jumpsuit, their tight curls, platform boots like her own trainers. When they made their way over to her, towering over her, she couldn’t take her eyes off them.

It’s Tia Kofi. It’s them. They’re the one giving the scores for tonight -

“God, it’s cold.” Tia wrapped their arms around themself with a shudder. “I am so, so, so glad I’m not the only one who read the small print on the invite. It said fancy dress didn’t it? Why is no one making an effort?” They gave an exaggerated eye roll, leaning on the balcony. “At least we look stunning. Right?”

“We do,” Veronica nodded, her voice not rising far above a whisper, but Tia barrelled on.

“I think we’re the only ones. God, why does no one want to have fun and dress up tonight? It’s Eurovision! It’s meant to be fun! I love Eurovision, it’s like the queer FA Cup final, so I don’t get why we don’t celebrate it better than this! It’s like no one’s into it here, you know?”

Tia’s eyes widened as if a lightbulb had lit up over their head. “Hey, do you have any other party invites we can crash? Somewhere more fun than this? I don’t have to be back until they start up the -“

“Tia?” Someone was calling them from the inside, propping the door open. “You need to get ready for the scoring.”

“Already?” Tia huffed, slumping forwards. “Alright, I’m coming, two secs.”

They lifted their head back up from their forearms, propping their chin on both hands. “I wish someone was interested in it. Like me. And you!” They grinned at her. “Sorry, I don’t want to be rude but I didn’t get your name -“

“Veronica Green. Hi.” The words stuttered from her mouth, and she stiffly held out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

They paused, before their smile widened suddenly. “Oh, yeah, you did that song! The viral hit! Oh my god, I loved that song! You have to come on my radio show, babes, it’s an early one but -“

“Tia!” The same person at the door shouted to them. “You’re live with Graham Norton in two minutes!”

“I’m right there!” Tia shouted, then leaned nearer to her. “Who’s your agent, who’s your label?”

“Oh - Meridian Records, and it’s Divina -“

“Oh - okay, I know them.” They nodded solemnly, although with how hazy their eyes were, Veronica wondered if they’d forget by morning. “Got it. Fab. Let me put in some -“

“You’re live on the beeb in one minute, Tia, come on -“

Tia turned with a start, then back to Veronica, then huffed. “Coming!”

They swayed their way through the chairs on the balcony bar, getting back to the door and vanishing inside, leaving Veronica laughing slightly bitterly at the railing.

If they remember a single word of this conversation, I’ll apply for Eurovision next year.

She followed them inside, wondering if this was the start of mingling with them, thinking with their height and their costume she’d be able to see them straight away, but they had vanished into thin air; so she waved her way through the crowd towards the screen that only she and maybe three other people were watching.

The voices behind her were getting louder, more a cacophony than anything discernible, but she focused on the screen, and her mouth went dry when Tia came on, clasping their hands in front of them and trying not to swerve in their position, while they spoke both English and French and even tried some Italian for the host nation.

Veronica didn’t stay much longer at the party after that. The rest of the people there were still avoiding her like a bad smell, and she decided to make it an early night. Finishing the last dregs of her drink, she left, making her way back to the tube.

So much for mingling.

She’d just never be good at it, she decided. But, she could have been the best singer, the best dancer in the room, and if she had no contacts there would be no audience for her, just a stage to an echo chamber. She walked the short distance from the station back to her flat, imagining singing to an empty room, wondering if she’d ever be able to at least convingly make her way around a party, faking it until she made it -

Her phone said otherwise.

Divina @00.10: Nice work tonight Ronnie, I had a message from Tia Kofi through the label. They want to book you onto BBC Radio One’s Kofi Morning, one morning next week. I’ve suggested Thursday, so take that day out if you can. Good job xx

She frowned, reading it again, wondering if she’d had more to drink than she’d first realised and it was making her hallucinate. But no, it was still there, in blue and white, even after she’d rubbed her eyes and put her glasses on and removed her makeup and unteased her hair.

Tia actually remembered? They messaged the label?

Veronica collapsed into her bed, the alcohol still warming her limbs. Her eyes were half closed as she typed her response, at the time a totally serious one.

Veronica @00.19: If it goes ok i want to apply for eurovision next year xx

——

Still, Veronica still didn’t think it was real even when she was making her way to the BBC studios that Thursday morning. Even when she was signing in, taking the lanyard she was presented with, and making her way to the waiting room outside the Radio One studio; even running the pads of her fingers up and down the scratchy fabric of the chair under her; she still thought she was about to wake up in her own bed, the alarm going off, to get ready for her day job.

BBC Radio One’s Kofi Mornings were listened to up and down the country, Veronica reminded herself. This wasn’t just Radio Rochdale anymore. This was nationwide. It wasn’t just TikTok, not just her viral fame, but real, as real as the notebook she was idly tapping with her fingers, jotted with notes, held there in case she suddenly forgot her entire life story.

She was beckoned in just before nine, just before the hourly news, when the radio was playing freely and no one was speaking.

Inside the radio studio was a half-circle desk, upon which sat a huge computer to one side, covered with buttons and controls propping up three screens. One of them had music and one had technical information, but the other was blank. The other side of the half-circle had just a mic on a stand, and three desk chairs next to it.

And there was Tia, sat behind the computer, face in a concentrated frown, tongue worrying their top lip.

It was the same Tia Kofi she’d listened to on the radio since she’d arrived in London, the same Tia Kofi she’d remembered to take off her lock screen before she got here, but … but it wasn’t that same person, as well. She was so used to seeing Tia in those sparkly blue and green jumpsuits from their band days, and the summer dresses and sequins from their official tour photos on their socials. But here? Veronica took in their willowy limbs curled under them on the chair, wide brown eyes with only a quick flick of mascara, black corkscrew curls to their shoulders. The shorts and converse and loose shirt with the French slogan gave Veronica the impression that Tia was merely filling in on the show, and ready to drive to the beach once they’d done the slot.

They looked fresh and new and clean and sparkling with life.

It took a split second for Veronica to regain composure at being faced with someone she’d only dreamt of meeting since they’d gone on X Factor more than ten years ago, and force her face into a smile, even though her feet were stubbornly fused to the spot.

Tia still ignored her for a minute, their face distant with concentration, flicking the buttons and dials, playing a couple of adverts, then glancing up at the clock with seconds to go before nine, and letting the news channel fade in.

Once they were done Tia looked up, gave Veronica a polite smile.

“You’re Veronica Green?”

Veronica cleared her throat. “Yeah. That’s me. At least, it was last time I checked.”

Her hollow laugh wasn’t echoed by them.

“I thought you’d be …” Tia paused, licked their top lip.

Veronica sat patiently, holding their eyes.

But they shook their head. “Never mind.”

The news faded, and Tia leaned towards the microphone. When they spoke, their voice had taken on the familiar chirpy tone that she heard every day at her desk.

“It’s a great morning here in London, welcome to your Kofi Morning here on BBC Radio One, with me, Tia Kofi, and we’ve got the tunes to get you caffeinated -“

Veronica knew Tia’s spiel, the speech they gave every morning. In her day job the radio was on first thing in the office. She’d had to take a half day’s leave this morning to come on here, but part of her wished she could see her manager’s face once he realised that no, she hadn’t been making it up; she really was going on a radio show for her music.

Tia pressed the dials and pulled the little controls on the computer automatically, while talking into their mic, until their voice mingled into the music. When they’d added the second song to the queue after this one, they sat back against the chair with a small sigh, picking up their own mug and shutting their eyes with satisfaction as they put it to their lips.

“Not a morning person either?”

Veronica felt almost embarrassed to have said anything, but Tia opened their eyes, gave her a wry smile.

“Was it that easy to tell?”

“Only a bit.” Veronica matched their sarcasm with a smirk of her own.

But as Tia’s smile widened, their gaze averted, Veronica gave herself a mental slap on the face.

That is tv’s Tia Kofi, Veronica Green. The darling of the music scene. You don’t know them that well to be making daft jokes like that.

“I mean, you - you always sound so cheerful in the mornings when I listen to your show.”

Tia pushed their hair back with an ironic smile. “Thanks, it’s due to a careful blend of coffee and anxiety.“

Even their voice is different now, Veronica thought to herself. The chipper tones on the radio, the sing-song effect to emphasise the bright mood, was now deadpan; their smile ironic and their words lined with sarcasm. Not unhappy, still cheery, just … different.

They raised their mug as if to cheers her, but Veronica motioned to it with wide eyes and a bubbling of nerves that pushed words onto her tongue before she could stop them.

“Hey, I have that mug too!”

“Wait, really?” Tia’s genuine surprise made them frown, turning their own mug round. “You have a mug that’s covered in Shakespeare insults?”

“Yeah - it’s my fave - hang on -” Veronica dug into her bag and pulled her phone out, showing Tia the picture she’d taken of her mug and sent to her friend only a week ago.

Tia looked at it, and then up at Veronica. Their face had changed in that moment, the mask of blasé irony replaced by mischief, a small smile playing on their lips as they tipped their head to one side.

“You have a picture of your favourite mug on your phone?”

Veronica gazed down at them, her body going cold in horror while her face steadily grew hot.

This is all going so wrong.

She was meant to be here for an interview, making a good impression on the country in promotion of her upcoming single, and meeting a person she’d admired since she’d seen them on the audition tapes for X Factor before they’d even been made into the band with the other three -

“Why d'you have a picture of your favourite mug on your phone? Just in case you want to show people?"

Tia’s voice interrupted the steady stream of static in her head, a lilt of humour in the words - are they taking the piss or are they actually laughing? - but the only thought of a response in her head was too embarrassing, completely not something Veronica should say out loud, definitely not anything that would make this scene any better -

"Well. It’s a mugshot, isn’t it?”

Great. Nice one. Very smooth. As the words slipped through the filter between her mind and mouth, Veronica’s face was so warm someone could have fried an egg on it, and she giggled weakly at her own joke, hoping the ground would open up and swallow her sooner rather than later -

Tia spluttered, and then began to laugh, freely and loudly at her remark, slapping the desk in front of them and then clapping a hand over their mouth at the noise.

“Thanks, Ronnie. I needed a laugh this morning.”

What tension had been settling around them like drizzle instantly lifted, and Veronica echoed their smile with one of her own.

The song faded, and Tia put on their radio show voice again, this time with their Kofi Morning Fun Fact, while Veronica looked around the room.

All the walls were covered with pictures in frames, of various musical artists, some of which Tia had quoted in several interviews as being inspired by from childhood and beyond. David Bowie, Spice Girls, Aretha Franklin, Amy Winehouse. Tia’s picture wasn’t there, but Veronica thought they wouldn’t look out of place now.

On the desk was Tia’s computer equipment, their fingers dancing along the buttons with practised expertise - they’d been entertaining the nation on their Kofi Morning show for the last four years, after all - along with lots of tiny personal items that Veronica was intrigued by. A rubix cube on a keyring, a very well-loved copy of The Hobbit, three orange dice with six, twelve, and twenty faces, a desk calendar with a different Spanish word every day (today’s word was martillo, which apparently meant hammer).

But it was the framed pictures she liked the most. Veronica gazed at Tia in frames with their arms around people who were presumably family, looking so relaxed and serene, not like the pictures they always put in their insta feed with the poses and the hands on hips and the -

“… Veronica Green, who sings the song which is at number one this week.” Her name in Tia’s voice brought her back into the room with a shiver. “Veronica, welcome!”

“Hi, nice to be here!” Veronica said with a laugh. Tia’s expression turned to shock and then to amusement, as they waved their hand to indicate for her to move in towards the microphone.

“Hi, hello,” Veronica tried again, this time deafening herself with the shriek of tuning.

“Some technical issues in the studio today folks,” Tia announced into their own mic, “while we’re fixing that, we’ll play you this week’s highest chart entry!”

They flicked the switch for the next song and then turned to Veronica, their face creasing to keep from laughing.

“I take it this is your first show? Never mind, we all do this our first times - let me give you a crash course in not fucking up on the radio!”

They flashed her two thumbs up, and she mirrored them, realising that shit, they said fuck. Since when does Tia Kofi know how to swear?

But while the song played, Tia gently took her through where exactly to put her mouth to speak into it for maximum effect, tips to try to keep her hands still if she got nervous, and a quick signal she could give them if she started losing track or freezing up.

“We’re back on the airwaves, tech is sorted - thanks to the technical folks here, snaps for them -” Tia paused to play the snapping fingers effect, “and welcome to the studio Veronica!”

“Hi,” and this time, she was calm, twisting her fingers on the desk before realising and moving them under to rub the sides of her knees instead. “It’s great to be here.”

“It’s great to have you, thank you for coming on!” Tia was beaming at her, and for a second or two, Veronica found herself believing their words. “How was your journey here?”

“Well,” Veronica frowned, “I don’t live in Rochdale any more so it only took me ten minutes on the tube -”

Tia interrupted her stream of words with a hearty laugh before she could go any further. “Stunning. Amazing. Veronica, I have to say that you’ve been all over the place for the last couple of months, I’ve been asked to play your song at least once a day for the last three weeks by someone on twitter, and I think, correct me if I’m wrong, but I thinkthis is one of your first interviews, is that right?”

Veronica nodded.

Tia raised their eyebrows.

“Oh, yeah - yes, this is my first ever radio interview in London! You get me first, Tia!”

“Oh, stop it,” they gave a dismissive wave, “flattery gets you everywhere with me, hun. So tell us all about the woman behind the song. Who is Veronica Green when she’s not belting out Good Days and doing that viral dance?”

“Oh.” Veronica rubbed her hands up and down her knees. “Well, I’m - I’m from Lancashire originally … living in London now … with my friend Joe who’s the pianist for me … uhm. I’m a Taurus?”

“A Taurus, Veronica is out here trying to get a date I think.” Tia gave her a wink, turning her insides to fireflies. “Gorgeous. Now it’s summer here, have you got lots of things lined up while it’s warm outside?”

“Oh, uhm. Well,” Veronica screwed her eyes shut because yes, yes you do you have lots of things, but the wink Tia had given her was replaying over and over in her mind and words weren’t making it to her tongue. “I - I have a few things on, yes.” She moved her hand, wiggling her fingers under the desk in the signal Tia had given her.

Tia abruptly turned back to the mic. “That’s amazing, Veronica, I’m sure you’re gonna have a great summer. Well, we’re gonna play Veronica’s single Good Days for you now, still at number one folks, and in the meantime Veronica is gonna teach me her dance. No seriously hun, how do you do that thing with your hands? Actually, show me later.”

They flicked the switch, and the opening bars of her own song sounded. Veronica put her face in her shaking hands.

“No, don’t do that -”

“I’m sorry.” Her voice was muffled, and she screwed her eyes closed again, her face growing warm.

She heard a rumble as the chair opposite moved nearer to her, and soft fingertips hooked at her wrists.

She let Tia slowly prize her hands away from her face, meeting a surprisingly soft gaze.

“Hey,” they murmured, “you want to know what happened my first time on the radio?”

They spoke so kindly and earnestly that she couldn’t help but nod.

“Okay, so - and don’t laugh - it was my very first show. I was really excited to get the job. But I’d never done radio before, and the first time I came in here it was … what, just after Christmas last year?”

“You’ve only been here a year?”

“I know, feels like longer.” They inclined their head with a small laugh. “So I was on the radio. First show. I was trying to learn all the dials and things. I kept hitting the wrong one when I wanted to speak though. My friend Lawrence - Lawrence Chaney - they were listening in, they said later that they could definitely hear me saying something a bit … questionable. About Jess Glynne.”

Veronica slapped her hand to her mouth, and Tia rolled their eyes.

“I said don’t laugh, Vee.”

“Sorry, sorry. I’m not laughing, I was just … I had an itch.”

Tia chuckled, averting their gaze downwards for a moment and then back up. “Worse was that I was just getting over a cough that I got over the Christmas hols. And then I missed the button the next time, and I had to actually play a Jess Glynne song but all that anyone heard was apparently me coughing along to the end of it over her singing.”

“I’m -“ but Veronica couldn’t help herself, wheezing with laughter, and thankfully Tia shut their eyes and chuckled along.

“Okay. Fine. I guess it is a little funny. Anyway, she’s still got me blocked.”

“She hasn’t!” Veronica’s eyes widened, and Tia for their part, pulled their own phone from the pocket of their shorts and unlocked it. They showed Veronica their instagram feed, and then put in her name.

“See? Blocked. Oh, and I’m banned from playing her music on my show according to her agent. If I play it, she will apparently ‘have me’.” Tia put a finger under their eye and pouted their lips. “Devvo-ed.”

Veronica screwed her eyes up to try to stop herself laughing. “Alright, I s’pose it could have been worse. But … but people who’ve been tuning in right now -“

"Look,” Tia rubbed the back of her hand, “everyone’s still waking up in the morning. It’s only nine am. And trust me, the ones that are awake, have been absolutely losing their minds about you coming in on my show.”

Veronica let Tia move her hands away to her lap, a little bubble of hope rising in her chest. “You - really?”

“Yeah! Look, you should see my twitter feed.” Tia clicked onto the computer screen and pulled up twitter, showing Veronica the tweet they had sent yesterday with her tagged in it, that she was coming on the show.

Veronica’s jaw dropped at the replies.

@joeblack69: can’t wait to hear veronica tomorrow on the show ….. she’s fit af

@its_just_may: Veronica Green is amazing love your show!!!

@goffikendall:if veronica goes on i will love u and listen to ur show the rest of this year tia i stg

And loads more. Tia showed Veronica glimpses of people she’d never known, leaving supportive messages and replies, and the bubble of air in her chest soared.

“See? People are gonna love it. And they won’t mind that it’s been a bit of a technical mess. You’re only human. Actually,” Tia continued, looking back up at her, “when’s your new single due out?”

Veronica swallowed. “I’ll need to check with Divina. I think it’s mid-June.”

Tia nodded. “Okay. Well, we’ll wrap up for now. It’s been thirty minutes anyway, which I think was how long you were meant to be here for.”

“Oh, okay.” Veronica sighed, slumping down in the chair. “That wasn’t very much, was that alright?”

“Of course! Trust me, my listeners love a surprise.” Tia gave her a wink, as the song started to fade out.

Even after all this time, even after hearing her song so many times on the radio and Apple Music and Spotify, Veronica always winced. Still can’t believe I actually sound like that.

And hearing the clips of the show online was no better. Veronica listened to the radio show again on catch up on the tube on her way home from work, and she screwed her face up at the sound of herself, until she changed the podcast to her music again and tried to forget about it.

“I think you always sound glorious, and I thought you sounded marvellous this morning.“ Joe on the other hand, was far less derogatory than whoever the critic was that resided in Veronica’s head. When she got back to their flat that evening, he had it on loud while he was cooking, frying something in the pan.

But Veronica sighed, joining him at the chopping board and picking up a knife and a bell pepper. "I still don’t believe you.”

Joe shrugged. “That’s fine. I’ll wear you down eventually."

She chuckled in spite of herself. "I just don’t think I really did myself justice. I blew my chance to let people get to know me.”

“I … wouldn’t say that,” Joe mused, “just think of it as a trial run. People are still going to want to know you. Look at twitter.“

This time, Veronica snorted with laughter. "Yeah, thanks for helping me out there. I’m ‘fit af’, am I?”

Joe grinned. “As if you needed reminding. And anyway. Didn’t you see the response Tia put on your tweet from earlier?”

Frowning, Veronica dumped the pepper into the pan and then went to get her phone from her bag. Opening up her twitter, she scrolled down her notifications.

@callmeronnie_x: So good to be on #KofiMorning today with icon @teaorcoffee such a lovely host!!

It had garnered more likes and retweets than most of her posts this year. But one reply made her jaw drop.

@teaorcoffee: @callmeronnie_x So good to have you on, will have you back any time!

Her heart skipped two or three beats.

A little flash of bravery shot through her veins like a bolt of lightning, and she tapped away at the screen with a reply.

@callmeronnie_x: @teaorcoffee if you’ve got a slot on June 16th my new single is coming out x

Joe’s eyebrows almost disappeared into his hairline when he saw it later on, when they had both eaten and he was checking his phone. Veronica didn’t even need to know that was what he was looking at, his wry chuckle and shifting on the sofa into a ball.

“Rodney. You cheeky cow.”

Veronica just grinned wolfishly at him. “Takes one to know one, eh?”

“And it’s worked, have a look!”

But she hadn’t noticed. He held his phone to her, and her heart sped up when she read the reply.

@teaorcoffee: @callmeronnie_x how about June 15th, and you can tell us all about it, check your dms x

Pride Challenge Points: 1366

#rpdr fanfiction #rpdr uk #tia kofi #veronica green #tia x veronica #eurovision au #pop star au #lesbian au #juno #euphoria #fic challenge

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