Lillie would never forget the first time she saw Queen play live. It wasn't in some arena, like she'd thought, but a small rehearsal room, the intimacy making it all the more special.

They'd played three songs, Liar, Killer Queen and Keep Yourself Alive, and those were her favourites. As they moved through those Lillie had found herself lost as to where she should be looking, wanting to focus on each one of them constantly. Freddie had the passion of a frontman, and there was no doubt as to why the crowds loved him, considering he has an audience of one but yet his performance was just as magical as it would be if he was playing for thousands. She'd listened to him on record so many times, to the extent she'd wondered if he was as good live, but if anything he was far superior to how he sounded on vinyl. He truly was a legend in the making.

His energy was matched by the others, Lillie noted. Whilst he strutted about, she watched Roger as he put his whole soul into his drumming, adrenaline clearly coursing through him as he played himself to exhaustion, not to mention him harmonising with Freddie's vocals, hitting notes she thought should have shattered glass.  She'd never really understood what it meant to be a drummer, the significance of the role, but watching Roger, his pure power and control over the instrument, it was magic.

Not to mention John. Lillie had seen John play countless amounts of time, not to mention the fact that she'd played with him more times to remember back when they were in their own band, so she knew how good he was. What she wasn't counting for was the energy he displayed. Sure his playing was great, having the most amazing riffs carry through the whole set as the undeniable heart of each Queen song, but Lillie could tell just how much John loved the music he was playing, and how much he loved playing in general, his head bopping along to the beat, his body moving along in a highly unconventional form of dancing, his passion for the music undeniably endearing. Lillie had always loved the way John danced, and she knew he danced with the most passion when he really loved the music he was playing. Seeing how happy her best friend was whilst performing with the band made Lillie love Queen even more, if that was possible, as well as make her completely proud to call John Deacon her best friend.

And Brian... Lillie struggled to put her feelings towards their playing into coherent thoughts about the others, but watching and listening to Brian on the guitar was spellbinding. In a state of awe, she found herself watching the way he lost all of the surrounding world, caught in his own playing and his bandmates around him as nothing else seemed to matter. He was completely a part of his guitar, as if it was an extension of himself and he was conveying a whole other dimension of himself. For such a shy man, Lillie felt like she was seeing a whole other side to him that he couldn't portray otherwise, like she was seeing the true Brian. It was something she could relate to, the way that he seemed to become one with himself whilst performing. It reminded her almost of the way she could forget herself and become who she truly wanted to be whilst playing.

The previous feelings of nerves and anxiety she'd felt around Brian suddenly became quite clear as she found his playing controlling her mind, as if now she was watching and hearing him, it was no wonder she was so enraptured by him. She'd always admired his playing, from the moment their first album dropped, but since meeting him, that admiration had turned into something more, something dominated by nerves. Perhaps the nerves she felt were the developing of a crush, but as problematic as it was, Lillie couldn't imagine not feeling that way when watching him with his guitar.

As they came to their last song, the guitar solo coming to it's end, Lillie jumped to her feet, applauding before she could stop herself. The four musicians before her seemed completely exhausted, and she admired their dedication, performing their whole hearts out even though she was just one person, the four of them stood, taking in deep breaths as they came down from the high of adrenaline. Freddie stepped forward, taking a low, swooping bow as Roger came out from behind his drums, John and Brian taking the guitar straps off from around their necks.

"That was..."

"Shit, my bitchy vocals were all over the place," Freddie muttered.

"No, no way, that was amazing, if that's you when you think you're being shit then I can't wait to see you play good," Lillie shook her head, amazed that he could even consider that performance anything less than outstanding. "I- I think I'm lost for words, I just can't believe how great you guys are... I mean great doesn't even cover it, I don't know... you were just brilliant, all of you,"

Brian couldn't help but grin, flushing bright red at her praise, his mind wondering if she felt the same way he did when he watched her perform at the pub. He had been so nervous as to what she would think to it that he couldn't help but glance at her every so often when he had been playing, only to notice her eyes were lit up with excitement. She seemed truly enraptured in their performance, and it made him feel so buzzing, as if it drove him to try and play even better, especially when he could feel her gaze fixed on him.  Normally, knowing people were watching him didn't bother him, but for some reason, he found himself feeling almost anxious, willing himself to lay better than ever before in an attempt to impress. He'd struggled to meet her eye whilst he was playing, but now, now he could see how much she had loved it, he felt as if he was on cloud nine, and it felt as though he was dying to get her attention again, to hold her focus the way he had done just moments ago.

Only moments before he had struggled to comprehend being around Lillie. Not that she was a bad influence on him, but he seemed to care about her in a way that made him feel almost overwhelmed. Now though, he felt as though she held his very being, making him feel a new wave of eagerness to play. He was utterly smitten with her so far, but surely that wasn't a bad thing if it made him play his best.

He didn't realise he'd been watching her until he met her eye. She was still grinning from watching them, but when she caught his gaze, her face softened slightly, her wide smile turning into a soft smirk. He bit his lip slightly, smiling back at her. They stayed like that for a moment, until she looked away, letting out a small laugh before turning to John, wrapping her arm around his shoulder.

"So how come you never played like that when we were in a band, huh?" Lillie joked, making John laughed.

"I didn't know you were in a band together," Brian frowned slightly.

"I mean, does it count as being in a band when you're thirteen?" Lillie laughed.

"It does count, we were great," John nodded.

"It was back when I first learnt how to play the guitar, and no one else I knew could play it, so I put out a notice in the school newspaper asking for any guitar or bass players to meet me so we could practice together," Lillie explained. "No one else showed up but Deaks, and he's been stuck with me ever since, even though I carried the weight of the band,"

"Speaking of that," John smirked slightly, moving out of their embrace to go to the sofa. He picked up Lillie's guitar and handed it to her. "Your turn,"

Lillie's eyes widened ever so slightly in nerves, a blush rising in her cheeks. It hadn't really hit her that they'd want her to play as well, but now the moment was there Lillie wanted to hide. The band seemed to sense her nerves almost instantly, even as she tried to hide it as she threw the strap over her shoulder, attempting to be casual.

"It can't be that bad, you've already played for us once," Roger pointed out as he went back to the sofa, throwing himself down to sit.

"Not to mention you were amazing," Freddie commented, squeezing her arm encouragingly as he too went to sit down.

"Yes but the last time I didn't know you were all watching," Lillie reminded them. "Thing is, I played pretty much my whole set Saturday night, there's nothing new I could play... except, well, I've been working on a sort of riff, I came up with it on my cello, but I thought it'd sound better on guitar. It's not much, but..."

And with that, she began to play. It was as if she'd become this whole new person in mere seconds, the performer in her taking over as she stood and began to play. It was a new piece of music she had been working on, and usually it took her a while to get into new stuff, but her fingers seemed to find the cords and the notes so easily, making it seem almost effortless, even if her heart was pounding in her chest.

As Lillie played the melody, a fast paced repetition of the same cords, Brian stood back slightly, crossing his arms as he sighed. He couldn't help but notice the way her forehead frowned gently in concentration, as well as the way she bit her lip slightly to hold back a smile. If he found himself smitten by her normally, watching her perform was a whole other matter. It was as if he had been thrown back to Saturday night, to seeing her for the first time.

The situation of her playing was much more simple, but yet it seemed to have the same overwhelming effect on Brian. He was reminded of how beautiful he thought she was when she was concentrating, the way she seemed to put her whole body and soul into playing music, the way she performed as if her life was depending on it. She wasn't even singing, just playing an undeveloped tune with no lyrics, but it seemed just as thrilling.

Lillie stopped playing, slapping her hand onto the guitar strings to silence the instrument. She glanced up to the band watching, a small smile on her face as she failed to hide the buzz she felt, just from playing that small piece.

"I mean, it obviously needs work," she shrugged casually, making the band laugh.

"That was good, dear, really good," Freddie nodded, clearly impressed and excited. "It would sound like rock and roll if it wasn't on an acoustic,"

"Yeah, that's what I thought," she nodded. "When I came up with it, I tested it on my cello and my violin as well, because why the hell can't rock and roll be played on classical instruments, it sounds best on guitar, and I'd love to hear it on an electric, but..."

Lillie didn't really want to admit that she didn't own an electric guitar. All she had was the acoustic guitar she'd bought herself when she was ten when she first decided to learn how to play. As much as she wanted an electric, she never got round to buying one, not to mention how expensive they were. She'd asked her parents to help her get one, considering she was tight on funds, and they just laughed her out of the room. She'd been saving though, just not saving quick enough.

Understanding what she was implying, Brian didn't even give himself chance to have second thoughts before he took hold of her hand and began to lead her towards the guitar racks. In the back of his mind, his thoughts were going wild as he realised he was practically holding her hand, the gesture not seeming as foreign and scary as he'd expected it to be, but instead it felt right. Not that he had much chance to think about it, Brian stopped, picking up his own guitar, his Red Special, and plugged it back into the amp. He noticed Lillie frowning slightly in confusion, whilst the rest of the band were watching him in shock. They knew him better than anyone else, and he hardly ever let anyone handle the guitar, not even roadies. It was his most precious possession, and no one had ever played it but him and his father.

Until that moment, as he held it out to Lillie.

"Try it on this," he suggested, sounding almost casual despite the gravity behind the gesture.

As much as she wanted to protest, understanding the history behind the guitar from what John had told her, Lillie let out a small sigh as she took off her own guitar. She placed it on the drum riser gently before taking hold of Red Special, her hand shaking ever so slightly. Sensing her nerves, Brian helped her get the strap over her shoulder, grinning as he did so. She seemed to hesitate again, before her fingers found the strings and began to play the same notes.

Freddie was right, it did sound rock and roll. It sounded so different, so much more powerful, and it seemed to sound right. It was as if she was electric too, the current of the music running through her in excitement as she looked up to Brian whilst playing, a grin on her face.

"Here, this guitar is slightly different," he mumbled, moving closer to her as he began to play around with the dials and rollers of the instrument, and Lillie couldn't help but notice the look of endearment Brian gave to the guitar.

The two of them caught in their own little bubble seemed to forget completely that the other three were still in the room, Roger, John and Freddie watching the two before turning to each other. Roger was smirking at Freddie and John almost triumphantly,  Freddie rolling his eyes, muttering something about their bet, whilst John laughed at them quietly before turning back to look at Brian and Lillie.

John noticed the smile on her face, and it wasn't one out of anxiety or nerves or just a smile she put on when performing. It as natural, genuine, and seemed so bright that it came through without her even trying. He'd not seen her look that happy in a long time, and the sight of it made him slightly thrilled, knowing his best friend might just be falling in love.

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