Before you start reading please take a look at Sav in the picture above. You will understand what inspired this story 😂✨

~~~~

Joe's half-opened eyes unsteadily gazed at his four companions while he nursed his nearly empty beer, the buzz of alcohol and the lacking adrenaline after yet another sold-out show of their Hysteria tour slowing down his actions and lulling him into a sleepy haze. He thought long and hard about his answer to Steve's slurred question, wondering what had made him agree to that stupid game of truth or dare once again. They had played it quite a few times on the tour already, with them being more hammered than before every time. The singer had to admit that it was kind of funny but his already aching head didn't approve of the task of putting together proper thoughts and sentences at all. Coming to think about it, the only way to end the stupid game was if he finally answered and he therefore sighed, noticing that he had already forgotten the question.

"What was that again, Steve?", he slurred, squinting his eyes a little in order to make the picture of the blonde guitarist opposite of him a bit clearer. Said guitarist broke out into giggles at Joe's question, taking a swig of his Wodka and leaning even harder into Phil's side before clearing his throat to reply to the completely lost singer.

"I asked if you ever mistook a boy for a girl during some sort of sexual encounter."

Starting his thinking process again he soon came to a pretty clear answer, the picture of him accidentally bending over a petite fluffy-haired dude in a skirt under their "In The Round"-Stage and noticing his mistake too late a few weeks ago coming to the forefront of his mind. He had been freaked out like never before afterward, but at the same time, he was also aroused like never before. It seemed like something forbidden, something that could only happen secretly in dark corners and therefore carried some sort of exciting danger with it. And Joe found himself mesmerized and terrified by the discovery of that side of him. He wasn't so sure if he could deal with it just yet.

"Well, I might have."

"Oh come on, Joe. You need to give us a clear answer!", Steve exclaimed impatiently, waving his hands around to further underline his statement, pouring Wodka over Phil in the process. The other guitarist sucked in a sharp breath and hunched his shoulders at the sudden cold on top of his head, causing Steve to lose his steady pose against the smaller man's shoulder and his upper body to tumble into Phil's lap while he continued to giggle hysterically. Joe could see how the elder guitarist's expression morphed into a fond smile at the goofiness of their mate, Phil finally extending a hand to gently caress Steve's long golden locks. Since Steve seemed distracted at that moment for obvious reasons Joe chose to blurt out his answer while no one paid attention to it.

"Yes, I did mistake one for a girl."

Leaning back again he let his gaze drift over to the two Ricks who had stayed silent so far, noticing that their young drummer had fallen asleep on the couch he had been sitting on, his body somehow turned upside down so that his head hung down in front of the couch with the ends of his feathery curls brushing the floor while his legs were braced on top of the cushioned backrest, his feet dangling off of the couch's back. How could anyone even sleep that way? With a small snort, the singer turned his gaze to his bassist and best friend, seeing him staring back at him with round widened eyes. Uh-oh.

"You have? When?", he asked when he noticed the singer's attention rested on him, one of his eyebrows cocking up slightly.

"Only one question at a time", was the singer's only response before he turned to his beer again, taking a deep gulp before noticing that he was obligated to go on asking. Snapping his head up he let his gaze roam over a snoring Rick, two guitarists that were locked in some sort of intimate stare, and a curious bassist by his right side. His surroundings reduced his options of new question victims drastically and he finally turned to Sav again who watched him with ocean-blue eyes that seemed weirdly awake for some reason.

"Truth or dare, mate?"

Save bit his bottom lip for a second while appearing to be in deep thought before he grinned confidently and made a choice.

"Gimme a dare."

Joe was surprised by that since they had all reduced their choices to truths in the last few rounds due to the lack of mobility thanks to the generous consumption of alcohol. But here Sav was, seemingly fully awake at, what? Five in the morning?

Shaking his head lightly he got back into his thinking process, the picture of his recent sexual encounter flashing through his mind again to send a spark through his midsection. His warped mind then imagined the guy looking back at him but instead of the guy's face, he encountered the strikingly beautiful blue eyes of his best mate peeking out at him from beneath curly bangs, sending him a saucy wink. He couldn't believe the bolt of arousal that hit him right into the gut.

Being too drunk to notice what he was doing, the singer blurted out his thoughts.

"I dare you to dress up as a woman for tomorrow's after-party."

The last thing Joe saw before he passed out sleeping due to the excessive amount of alcohol in his system were two widened ocean-blue eyes boring into his own.

~~~~

Sav thoughtfully stirred his morning coffee while sitting curled up on one of their couches in the bus lounge, his eyes still heavy due to the lack of sleep the previous night. At least his headache was not too bad since he had drunk almost nothing the night before without the others noticing. They had been way too focused on getting themselves drunk so Sav had happily lived up to the prejudice that bassists were invisible most of the time and stuck to his bottle of lemonade.

He hadn't been able to sleep for the whole night due to Joe's dare whirling through his mind all along, leaving him full of questions and imagination. He had always been considered the pretty one, sometimes even the girly one of the band so Joe's dare was not completely out of the blue. But something in the singer's drunken green eyes had told him that there was more behind that request. The singer hadn't presented his dare in a goofy way and giggled his ass off but instead, he had been completely serious, some sort of sparkle being visible in his glazed eyes that wasn't relatable to laughter in any way. Sav wanted to ask him about it if Joe was even able to remember the previous night's events given how drunk he had been.

The part of him that worried him the most though was the part of him that was so interested in fashionable clothes and make-up. The part of him that caused him to wear tight sparkly spandex pants on stage and to rim his eyes with eyeliner each night. The part that made it so hard to keep his homosexuality to himself. He had to work so hard to make everyone around him believe that he was just interested in fashion and that glam rockers wore glitter, proving his point by shagging girls each night just to leave in the early morning hours while everyone was asleep, making his round through the gay pubs in the town they were stopping in. No one knew about his preferences and Sav preferred to keep it that way.

Still, he couldn't help but mull the thought of dressing up as a girl at their afterparty that night over in his head, knowing exactly that he had certain clothes stuffed into the depths of his suitcase. And if Joe, the man that Sav had obsessed over ever since he had joined the band, would like to see him like that, he might seriously consider doing it. God, it could either turn out to be a complete embarrassment or a complete success. Sav was not sure if he should take the risk.

He lifted his gaze from the sunrise outside the window next to him when another sleepy person stepped up to their tiny kitchen counter to cook himself some life-giving coffee, the shaggy dirty blonde hair, and the long legs hinting at the person he had just been thinking about. It was a completely hungover Joe.

Gulping hard Sav tried to ban his previous thoughts from his mind, hoping his gaze roaming the singer's lean body from head to toe wasn't too obvious. Joe struggled with the coffee machine, squinting to be able to see something and wincing when the empty cup he had placed on the counter fell over and hit the countertop with a loud clinking noise. Sav decided that his best mate needed some help since he was a complete mess at that moment, so he silently got up from the couch he had been sitting on, making his way over to hungover Joe.

"Hey mate, need some help there?", he asked softly while gently placing a hand on the singer's shoulder, feeling the surprised flinch running through the strong muscles. The singer turned towards his bassist, his eyes still squinting against the bright sunlight streaming in through the front window.

"God, Sav, you scared me a bit there. And if you're offerin' help I'd gladly take it..."

Joe tried to smile thankfully but Sav could see the pain his headache caused him clearly in his green eyes. Gesturing over to the couch he had been sitting on he successfully made the singer move over and sit down, Joe leaning his head against the backrest with a pained groan.

"I'll never drink again, Sav, I swear."

"You always say that and you never do. I bet you'll be going at it again today after the show", Sav replied with a small chuckle, opening one cabinet and shaking an aspirin pill out of the container and into his open palm, placing it on the small table in front of Joe along with a glass of water. The singer looked like it was his birthday right then, his green eyes lighting up in thankfulness.

"You're an angel straight from heaven, Savy. Sent to save my life", he then said with a small chuckle before swallowing the pill, downing the glass in one gulp with a happy sigh. Sav's insides started to tingle at Joe's comment, his cheeks heating up as if he had just received the best compliment in his life. In order to keep his ridiculous expression from Joe he turned to the coffee machine again, filling it with coffee powder and water before switching it on and leaning against the counter to wait. For a while it was quiet but at some point Joe cleared his throat again, causing Sav's head to snap around to look at him.

"Um, what exactly did we do last night? I can't really remember anything except for emptying beer can after beer can."

Sav's happy expression immediately turned to a frown. Joe didn't remember what they did. Joe didn't remember the dare he gave him. Just to be sure he decided to ask again.

"You really don't remember anything?"

Joe frowned, too, in deep thought, obviously trying his best to remember anything that had occurred the evening before. He came up empty.

"Um, no, not really. I just remember that Rick slept on the couch in a weird way and that Steve and Phil seemed to be all over each other. Other than drinking, there's nothing I can remember. God, please don't tell me I said or did something incredibly stupid."

Sav's frown deepened at Joe's answer. So the whole truth or dare game had vanished from his best mate's mind. He didn't know whether to cheer or cry at that knowledge. Joe watched him with concern creeping into his facial features, his face paling when he noticed that he must have said or done something stupid. Sav would not look like he did right then if nothing had occurred. Had he said something about his newest discoveries concerning his sexuality? Or worse, had he made a move or something similar on his best mate? He wouldn't be able to ever look him in the eye ever again if he had actually done that.

"God, I did, didn't I?"

Sav gaped at him at his question, not wanting to answer it at all. It would only make everything even more awkward. He couldn't bring last night's dare to the table again. Just when he wanted to answer something, anything, the two guitarists entered the lounge area giggling, distracting the two best mates from their conversation temporarily. Joe wasn't sure but he thought he saw a love bite on Steve's neck that hadn't been there before. Mentally shrugging he turned back to Sav with the intention of getting a proper answer to his question from before but the spot Sav had occupied was empty, with only a steaming cup of coffee remaining on the countertop.

Sighing softly, Joe got up to grab the coffee cup, taking a gulp of the life-giving liquid and closing his eyes while letting the warmth spread through his body, his worries and unanswered questions disappearing for a short while.

~~~~

They made their way to the next venue in the bus soon after they had all finally woken up in a way, Sav having disappeared to his bunk, apparently because he wanted to sleep some more. Joe just shrugged it off and focused on getting his voice and physical state back to normal before they finally arrived, chatting a bit with his guitarists and his drummer in between. Their drive wasn't too long but still, everyone seemed to be starving when they finally arrived so they decided to find a café somewhere for some buns or cake.

In order to inform him of the plan, Joe went over to Sav's bunk, seeing the curtain still closed in front of it. So he knocked against the wooden edge of the bed and cleared his throat, succeding in making Sav open the curtain from inside. According to his facial expression he was pissed beyond belief.

"What do you want?"

Joe's eyebrows shot skyward at the question since Sav had never been pissed at him but he hurried to answer before the bassist could decide to close the curtain in his face again.

"Well, we all thought about going to a café in order to get something to eat. You in?"

Sav sighed softly at Joe's words before shaking his head in denial. The singer looked down in obvious disappointment.

"I just don't feel well at the moment so I don't really wanna walk around and possibly get hit by a mob of screeching fangirls. But you're my best mate and you know what I like to eat so I'd really appreciate it if you could take something back here for me", the bassist finally replied, sending Joe a hopeful little smile that made the singer agree quickly, and his disappointment was able to fade a little, too.

So the four remaining mates made their way over to a small café nearby, filling their empty gaping stomachs to the brim before returning to the bus, Joe carrying a small bag of food for his best mate like promised. He really couldn't think of anything that could have happened the day before to make Sav so weirdly distant and annoyed. The singer just wished he could undo it, whatever it was, and make Sav behave as he did before once again. He even tried to ask his remaining mates for the cause of Sav's behaviour but all they replied was that Sav was obviously on his period before they started laughing hysterically again. They were no helpful source at all.

When they finally boarded the bus again and Joe offered Sav the bag, the latter just took it with a small "thanks" before closing the curtain once more. Joe just wished he could remember what had happened.

Soundcheck at that night's venue started just a while later, Sav remaining to be distant and stuck in his head but he at least interacted musically with the rest of the band to be able to leave and crawl into his bunk again as soon as possible. Joe still hadn't figured out what was going on but he was sure that the bassist would tell him at some point. Or at least he hoped so.

Showtime rolled around sooner than later, all of them leaving into the backstage area and warming up their voices and fingers. Joe watched his best friend all the time, mesmerized by the way he moved the eyeliner to rim those pretty eyes so perfectly in black and the way his tight-fitting black jeans hugged his waist, ass, and legs as if they were made just for the sole purpose of fitting him like a second skin. That man was way too handsome for his own good.

To Joe's luck, Sav didn't notice him staring, continuing with his pre-show routine like every other day. He fluffed up his hair with the help of a generous amount of hairspray, fixed his make-up once again, and changed his shirt for the leopard-print jacket with the golden shoulder pads, leaving his lean naked chest on display for the interested singer to see. He really needed to stop staring though since he started to get looks from their young drummer.

Quickly turning away, Joe left for the shower stall, starting his practice tape and warming up his voice with closed eyes to prevent himself from going back to making moon eyes at his best mate. He really didn't need anyone to find out about his obsession with that man and much less about the fact that he was not as straight as it seemed.

"Lads, come on, it's showtime!", one of their roadies announced after about half an hour of waiting around backstage, causing Joe to shut off his tape and leave to the area in which they kept the laundry carts. Normally, he shared one with Sav but he couldn't do so today. He didn't trust himself around that man anymore. So he quickly made his way over to the one Steve already sat in, getting inside without a second thought even though he felt his best mate's eyes boring into his back. Closing his eyes, Joe just let the roar of the crowd consume him when they were rolled out into the arena, trying to keep the image of a certain pretty bassist out of his head for the time being.

~~~~

The show was a complete success, adding up to their successful tour once more. Joe thanked the audience for attending the concert over and over after the final chord of the encore had rung out, giving each of his mates an excited high five as some sort of celebration. Even Sav returned it with some sort of euphoria, making Joe hope that they would be alright again that evening. A good afterparty was surely going to be able to loosen them up a bit.

In the backstage room, they all started to shower and get changed, the adrenaline still at a high level since they were all still filled with the euphoria the crowd's amazing response had evoked in them. Joe chatted enthusiastically with Rick when he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Sav wanted to leave the room already.

"Hey, mate, where are you going? The afterparty is the other way", the singer, therefore, asked, Sav turning on his heel with a shy expression on his handsome facial features. The bassist looked down quickly before raising his gaze to meet Joe's again with a slight smile accompanying it.

"I know that and I'll join you a bit later. I forgot something back at the bus."

Joe nodded understandingly at that answer, letting his best mate go and turning back to his conversation with Rick. He didn't know what Sav could probably have forgotten but then again, it wasn't the first time that had happened. He once forgot his eyeliner before the show so instead of taking someone else's, he ran back to the bus to get it. So Joe knew the bassist would come to the afterparty sooner or later and that was all that mattered to him since they still needed to have a proper talk.

The four remaining Leppards took longer to get ready than expected, since Steve didn't find his cowboy boots for quite a while until they, for some reason, reappeared in Phil's drawer. The other guitarist had to change his shirt a few times since he wasn't pleased with the way it looked in combination with the rest of his outfit and Rick needed to carefully dry his curls to not make them stand from his head in a completely uncontrolled way. Joe was done as the first one of them but patiently waited until everyone was finished before they all made their way to the afterparty under the stage together.

When they arrived, the party was already in full swing, all of them being welcomed by excited screams and female bodies throwing themselves at them. Joe normally enjoyed that immensely but somehow he didn't really feel like following through with screwing girls that evening. His brain reminded him that he could also screw a willing guy but the only person he could even think of when actively doing that was a man that was only willing to join the party later on. So Joe ordered himself a beer and got into a conversation with their lighting tech, talking about the show, the venue, and the shows yet to come. By the time their conversation came to an end, he realized that two hours had passed. Time really seemed to fly by whenever he was occupied with something.

Choosing to get himself another beer at the bar, he spotted a girl sitting in front of it that he hadn't seen before. She wore a glittery dark blue top that was cropped off to leave her belly and lower back exposed to the dancing disco lights and a black mini skirt hugging her slim waist that went up to her midthigh. Her long smooth legs were bare and her feet were clad in silver-glittery stiletto boots, giving her an aura of mystery and utter sexiness while her head was surrounded by a mane of fluffy blonde curls that went down to her shoulders. Joe immediately started to doubt his former choice of not hooking up with someone that night.

Approaching the girl while continuing to check her out from head to toe, he finally came to a halt beside her on the bar, ordering a beer while still not being able to take his eyes off of the beauty sitting beside him. Wanting to see her face since he already knew it was going to be gorgeous he gently addressed her.

"Hey there, you pretty thing. Would you mind it if I bought you a drink?"

The girl looked at him, round blue eyes rimmed with eyeliner and long dark lashes making his knees weak. There was some sparkly highlighter rimming the eyeliner, too, matching the glittery top and the silvery stiletto boots and accenting her female facial features even more. The lush perfect lips accented by cherry red lipstick curved into a blinding smile at his question, the girl batting her eyelashes and nodding softly as a reply. Her gestures did remind him of Sav a little bit but that was just something that made her more attractive in his eyes.

So as soon as he received his beer from the bartender he slid it over to the pretty blonde next to him, gaining himself another one of those heartstopping, sexy smiles as a thank you. The singer had to brace himself on the countertop because he feared his knees giving in in return, his eyes fixating on the sinfully cherry-red lips again. God, he really needed to taste them. But to achieve that he needed to strike up some more small talk.

"Well, where did you suddenly appear from? I'm sure I would've noticed a girl as pretty as you directly when I came into the room."

The girl chuckled softly but then leaned closer to Joe's ear, making his heart stop with what she said next.

"Well, I just came back from the bus."

The voice was slightly raspy and not as girly as he would have expected but most of all, it was a voice that he had known ever since his first audition for that band called Def Leppard.

And suddenly, memories from the night before came rushing back.

Yes, I did mistake one for a girl

I dare you to dress up as a woman for tomorrow's after-party

How the hell could Sav actually have the guts to do what he had done? And for fuck's sake, how the hell could he look so pretty that he made Joe's head spin? The singer was left mouth-opened and starstruck, thinking that he was imagining things because he was so obsessed with his bassist.

But after the truth had dawned on him he noticed the flat chest and the taut belly, the slim hips, and the strong arms, indicating that this supposed girl was actually a guy. And it was also no other guy than Sav, his best mate for about ten years. Joe wanted to say something but he only managed to stutter, his brain failing him.

"Sav? What...? H-How...?"

The bassist just chuckled and flipped back his hair, biting his cherry-red bottom lip before looking back into Joe's starstruck and confused green eyes once more. There was no need to lie about any intentions and backgrounds anymore as soon as it became obvious that Joe was completely entranced by Sav's current presence, even if he wasn't an actual girl.

"I've always wanted to do it, y'know? And you just gave me the perfect opportunity last night. The perfect opportunity to show the world how incredibly gay I actually am."

Joe sucked in a sharp breath at that statement, his world tilting off its axis once more. Sav was gay? Why had he never noticed? It didn't seem logical to him since he had actually seen Sav shagging girls in the past. But when he came to properly think about it, everything else made sense. Sav cared incredibly much about his looks, almost always choosing to wear rather feminine clothing articles. His makeup skills were better than any girl's and he was rather shy and soft instead of strong and masculine. Everything made sense except for the fact that he actually slept with girls. Gay guys didn't normally do that, right?

"But... What about all the groupies you slept with? It doesn't make any sense...", Joe tried, his confusion showing clearly in his voice. Once again, Sav chuckled and batted his dark eyelashes before replying properly.

"It was to cover everything up. None of you guys were awake at four in the morning so I always snuck out to the gay clubs in each city we were in. I've been living a double life ever since I discovered the truth about my sexuality."

His voice was filled with pain and sadness at his last few words, making it obvious that he had been suffering from keeping everything to himself. He had tried to push his passions away, replacing them with something he wasn't into at all. Joe felt like crying at hearing his best mate's words.

"Are you okay with me being a flaming homosexual? I'm sorry but I can't change the fact that I'm a fag at heart", Sav then asked hesitantly, his grip around the beer bottle in front of him making his knuckles grow white from its force, hinting at his nervousness. Joe immediately smiled affectionately at his friend who was just coming out to him and placed a gentle hand on the other man's shoulder, his gaze never leaving Sav's.

"God, you won't ever know how okay I am with that."

Sav only seemed to realize what his singer had indicated with his statement a few moments later because suddenly his eyes went wide and his lips slowly tugged up into a hesitant smile, his hand slowly reaching out to place itself on top of Joe's on his shoulder. Joe's heart was beating slightly off-key at Sav's gesture, his eyes locking on those ocean-blue ones he had developed a slightly unhealthy obsession with, and he once again had to marvel at their beauty, the glitter and eyeliner rimming them making him fall even more under their spell. His gaze then dropped down to the cherry-red lips again, Sav's eyes falling shut in a silent answer.

"God, come on and kiss me, Joe. Please."

The singer started to smile immediately at that request, wetting his lips with the tip of his tongue and carefully placing one of his hands on the side of Sav's skirt-covered thigh, running it upwards until he encountered the slim waist exposed by the cut off top. Snaking his arm around it he pulled the other man from the barstool he was sitting on, making him stand up facing him in all of his wicked beauty. The heels of his stiletto boots made him as tall as Joe and normally the singer would bitch about that not being right but at that moment he couldn't care less. Especially since the heels made Sav's legs look amazing and his ass even more perfect.

Turning the bassist with his back to the counter Joe closed in, taking the plump perfect lips with his own in a passionate kiss. When Sav's arms came up around his shoulders and pulled him closer while their owner deepened the kiss, Joe ran one hand down to his partly exposed thigh again, grabbing the back of it to hook it around his hip in order to get even closer to his best mate, groaning at the discovery of how soft and smooth Sav's skin was. He was immediately hooked beyond belief.

When they finally parted their lips in need of air, they shared another intense gaze, Joe asking himself over and over how he turned out to be so lucky that Rick Savage, the gorgeous tease, was in his arms and kissing him with a devotion that was slightly scary. He wanted that man so much it hurt.

"Well, would you allow me to take you to bed tonight?", Joe asked softly, sending a cheeky wink Sav's way and noticing that he had actually smudged the bassist's perfect lipstick a bit with his kisses. Not that he would tell him because Sav was way too much of a perfectionist and therefore that piece of information would most likely cause him to freak out.

Sav just teasingly twirled one of his blonde curls around his finger, which actually carried glittery nail polish as Joe found out just then, and easily fell back into his girly imitation and manners. With a seductive glance from beneath long dark lashes, he smirked when saying his next few words.

"It would be an absolute honor, Mr. Elliott."