OH HOW IT'S BEEN SO LONG
I'M SO SORRY I'VE BEEN GONE
I WAS BUSY WRITING FLUFF FOR
YOU
(In other words, where are all my fellow emos)
This is going to be actual literal garbage because I am feeling like crap. I'll probably edit this sometime in my life when I'm not suffering on my couch with a chocolate muffin and Frerard fanfiction.
Anyway, considering MCRX is coming out ThE dAy BeFoRe My BiRtHdAy and I'm super excited, I decided to do a band AU because...reasons. So without further ado, introducing Salpy Ketchelian! Thanks for the request, @Salpy_K!

The casual chatter of the crowd turns to a communal wild cheer as Prophecy--the real life members of Prophecy--walk onstage (don't judge. I was trying to get this up fast). It's my second time seeing the band live, but the group has changed since their last tour three years back. Jason Grace (bass), Piper McLean (rhythm guitar) and Frank Zhang (percussion) left the band about a year and a half ago to go to college and whatnot. However, the band released another album featuring three new members, and I, for one, was impressed by them, even if Leo Valdez, the new drummer, does seem completely insane.

"This is gonna be amazing!" Freya, my friend, yells over the crowd.

"Better than those ancient Party Ponies records my dad has me listening to, anyway," I holler back.

The lead singer, Percy Jackson, gestures for silence, and his wish is the crowd's command. He smiles gratefully, then holds the microphone to his mouth.

"Hello, everybody, and welcome to Prophecy's world tour two thousand and sixteen!" Cheers erupt from every corner of the stadium. His sea-green eyes are full of enthusiasm, and it's plain to see that he's experiencing the same high as his audience.

All noise dies down as Annabeth Chase strikes the first chord on the keyboard, accompanied by a bass from Nico di Angelo (over whom many fans had become obsessed when he joined the band. He is pretty good-looking, to his credit). Percy and Will Solace join in on guitar, soon accompanied by Leo, whose curls are going wild as he plays.

The majority of the group's members have changed since the last Prophecy concert I attended, but one thing has definitely remained the same: the tension between Percy and Annabeth. Even on the large screens on either side of the stage, the looks they're giving each other are definitely more than friendly glances every now and then. Nothing has been announced, but everyone suspects that something's going on between them (except those who ship him with ex-member Jason. Or Nico. The list goes on).

They and Will sing in perfect harmony; I can hear it despite everyone screeching out the lyrics.

By the time the interval comes around, my throat is burning, my hands are swollen from applause, and I'll do anything to get out of the wall of people surrounding me.

"I'm just going to the bathroom," I tell Freya, then make my way through the throng into the hallway ... which isn't much less crowded. I can't see any signs, so I blindly push my way around.

Soon enough, I'm hopelessly lost, with no idea where to go, either to get to the bathroom or back to my seat. I'm trapped by a plethora of people; I'm hot and uncomfortable and lost in the crowd. I try to steady my breathing, but I'm terrible in these situations and my attempts are in vain.

"Are you all right? You look kind of lost."

I turn around to see a tall guy clad in a bowler hat, sunglasses and a tan leather jacket. He looks rather like everything my parents have warned me against.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I reply, though my voice is audibly shaking.

"You don't look it," says the man with a slight laugh. "I don't know about you, but I'm getting out of this crowd. I need water." I agree silently; his voice is slightly hoarse, but whose wouldn't be after all that shout-singing?

I exhale shakily. He may be a stranger, but concentrating on his words is helping to distract me.

"Do you know the way back...?" I ask him. Yes, he could be a murderer or something along those lines, but at the moment I'm too desperate to escape this crowd to care all that much.

"I--"

"There you are." A shorter, skinny man appears next to the wearer of the bowler hat.

"Nic--uh, yeah, here I am."

"The others are getting worried. Now come on, you need water pronto."

"Yeah, my throat is burning like hell," the taller of the two agrees. "Good luck getting out of this..." he says to me, and I mentally thank every deity that he's not dragging me to some dark corner and doing goodness knows what.

"You come here in sunglasses--highly unfashionable ones, at that--and then strike up a conversation with an innocent kid?! You utter creep!" the short guy castigates.

"Jeez, Neeks, take it easy," whimpers the tall one in a mock-hurt tone.

I do a double take. "Neeks...as in..."

"Oh, look what you've done now, Percy," the short man--Nico--sighs exasperatedly.

I'm completely frozen with shock. "And Percy..."

He doesn't reply; rather, he simply removes his sunglasses to reveal those famous eyes.

"You complete idiot," Nico mutters under his breath.

"What's wrong with the kid knowing I'm not a stalker?" Percy asks innocently, then turns to me. "We'd best be going now, Nico's getting Solace withdrawal symptoms."

"I am not!" Nico protests, though his face is heating up. "Now let's go before anyone notices us. Then we'd never get back."

"Chill, I'm bringing you back to your boyfriend."

I fail to hide my surprise. "You have a boyfriend?"

"We tried to keep it out of the public eye..."

Percy laughs; it's warm and rich and musical. "Haven't you seen the looks he and Will give each other?"

I'm shocked, but not too much so to respond. "Not with you and Annabeth giving each other those stares."

A blush creeps onto his cheeks.

"He's got it bad for her," Nico whispers, obviously stifling laughter. "Dude, you need to just tell her already. It's plain to see she likes you back."

"Yeah, I don't know," Percy sighs. "We'll see."

"Attention please, the show will recommence in five minutes, so we kindly ask all audience members to retake their seats," a voice booms over the speaker.

"Okay, seriously, we've got to go," Nico says, pulling Percy's arm; it's quite a comical scene due to the height difference. "Will said he needed to ask me something when we got back."

Percy's jaw drops. "Oh my gosh, he did! Nico di freaking Angelo, run like your life depends on it!" He pushes Nico forward and turns to me one last time.

"Good talk, uh..."

"Salpy," I supply.

"Right. Good talk, Salpy. Enjoy the rest of the show."

"Good luck," I smile before following the crowd, which is now moving, back to the arena.

"Where were you?" Freya demands the minute I sit down.

"The queue for the bathroom was massive," I lie. "And there were only two stalls."

We stop our conversation as cheers erupt from all around us. The band members come out once again and take their places.

"Welcome back, everybody!" Percy yells to more wild cheers.

***

"Thank you all so much for coming to see us tonight," Percy says as the applause for the final song dies down. "Before we go, I'd uh, I'd like to..."

He glances at Nico, who gestures for him to continue, and Will gives him his infamous dorky grin.

"Screw it all. Annabeth, will you be my girlfriend?"

Annabeth's eyes go wide. (You could even say they were ThE sIzE oF tHe MoOn. I apologise. I need a life.) The vast majority of the crowd is silently dying of fangirl attacks. When she responds with, "of course, idiot," and pulls him in for a kiss, however, it's like someone has un-muted our maniacal screams. My eardrums are going to be seriously messed up tomorrow, which, naturally, is a school day.

I'm so sorry this is such rubbish, you really don't deserve this dumped on you and I have no effing clue why any of you are tolerating it, but thank you.

In case you got confused, Percy is lead vocals and guitar, Annabeth is keyboards and backing vocals, Nico is bass, Will is rhythm guitar and backing vocals and Leo is percussion.

Until next time! -Rose