Half an hour later, people were starting to come in. Including Tommy. But there was no sign of Mark/Jack, and Nikki was starting to feel anxiety pricking at his chest.

"Is your backup drummer here?" Mick was suddenly behind him, causing him to gasp and disrupt the curtain they were standing in front of.

"He is. I'll call him up if we need him." Nikki was buying his time.

"Dude, we're playing Toast of the Town tonight. If he's playing, someone has to show him the drumming for that song."

Mick had a point. Nikki hissed under his breath.

"Fine, hold on."

He snuck out the stage door into the club, finding Tommy by the bar. He gently grabbed the older man by the wrist and dragged him backstage.

"I can't believe we're doing this." Nikki hissed.

"I can't believe you don't want me to do this. I'm saving your sweet ass tonight, hon," Tommy grinned. "Now, where's the band?"

"Tommy, we're all your students."

"It'll be okay."

Nikki tried to believe that. He led Tommy backstage to where Vince and Mick where hanging out, smoking.

"Here he is. I told you that you'd know him."

Vince stood up, cocking his head.

"I-is that our math teacher?"

"Wow, what a motley crew." Tommy snickered, gazing down on his students. Vince furrowed his brow as Tommy shook himself out and continued.

"Hey, I'm Tommy. I'm literally just a college kid, I'm barely two years older than you guys, so chill. For the record, I'm a student substitute, and no one is to call me Mr. Lee tonight. Are we clear?" Tommy barked the words so fiercely it almost made Nikki's knees weak.

"Uh, sure.. Tommy. You're a drummer?" Mick asked, disbelief shining in his eyes.

"Yep, and a pretty good one, too. Nikki said that we're playing an original tonight? Can someone show me it so I can play it?" Tommy glanced between the three of them.

"I guess I can drum the best out of the three of us. C'mon." Nikki murmured, leading Tommy off to where their kit was. It hadn't been moved to the stage yet, but would be soon.

After making sure all the amps were off, Nikki plopped down and showed Tommy the basics of their song. He watched Nikki's movements intently, leaning against the wall.

After Nikki finished, he glanced up at Tommy.

"Should I do it again, so you can get it down?"

"No, I think I've got it. Let me try." Tommy hopped into the seat once Nikki moved, following the same patterns and getting it practically perfect.

"That's great! Now, I just hope you can remember that for the song. You know the rest of our setlist, though?"

Tommy nodded, grinning.

"I'm gonna chill back here and practice a few more times before they gotta move the kit. Go hang out with your friends, I'm sure they've got some questions." Tommy laughed. Nikki smiled nervously, leaving his boyfriend and the kit.

Mick and Vince were sitting on some disconnected speakers backstage, talking in soft voices.

"Hey." Nikki presented himself, sitting down next to Vince. The others nodded to him.

"Tommy's practically got the song down already, he's gonna practice a few more times and then meet us back here." Nikki grinned.

"Cool.. say, how'd you get our math teacher to be our drummer, anyway?" Vince snickered, leaning forward on his hands.

"Well.." Nikki struggled for an answer. "He's a pretty cool guy, and like he said, he's barely older than us. He's 21, y'know. He's actually been a really good friend to me since he came to the school."

"That's cool," Mick murmured. "I don't know if I'll be able to get used to this, though. Hope Mark doesn't quit the band."

"Speaking of the band, what did Tommy call us when he walked in?" Vince asked, biting his lip. "I liked it."

"I think it was a 'motley crew'." Mick grumbled, gazing up at the clock to check the time.

"Yeah, that! Wouldn't that be a sick band name? Motley Crew." Vince grinned excitedly.

"I guess so." Nikki agreed halfheartedly, wishing he could tell the truth to his friends.

"It kicks more ass than Christmas ever will," Mick laughed. "Let's go for it."

"And here we have Motley Crew, the hottest band on the Sunset Strip." Vince joked, pretending to be an announcer at a concert.

Nikki laughed.

"If we make it with this band, we're going straight to LA. I can't wait." The bassist grinned.

"Hell yeah." Vince threw up horns, already imagining the roar of the crowd. Footsteps behind them echoed, announcing Tommy's arrival. He shoved a pair of drumsticks into his back pocket.

"Hey," He plopped down next to them, stretching. "I think I've got your song down pat. This show is gonna fuckin' rock." He smirked.

Vince and Mick were still hung up on the fact that Mr. Lee was a cursing rock 'n roll drummer as well as their math teacher.

"That's great b-, man!" Nikki faltered, kicking himself. No one seemed to notice, though.

"I'm so ready to go on." Vince was bouncing excitedly in his spot.

"We've still got ten minutes yet." Mick murmured, suddenly lighting up with an idea.

"Hey, we forgot all about doing our stage makeup. Do you have your eyeliner, Nikki? If not, you can borrow mine for your marks." Mick fished a black makeup stick out of his pocket, pausing for Nikki's reply before heading to the bathroom to draw on his face. Vince already had his stage makeup done, it was just his daily pink blush done to the extreme.

"Nah, I've got mine. Thanks, though," Nikki grinned, grabbing his own eyeliner our of his pocket and hopping up. "Do you wanna do makeup, too, Tommy? Mark had a design he was gonna do but he's not here, so.." Nikki winked.

"Sure." Tommy laughed, getting up as well and following Nikki into the bathroom around the corner.

The three of them crowded the mirror as they drew on their faces, abusing their eyeliner.

Mick drew on his cheekbones and down, coloring it in, making his face look like a skull. Nikki added two lines under his eyes, making him almost look like a football player. Lastly, Nikki drew two dark lines off Tommy's left cheekbone, grinning at his work.

"See you guys out there." Mick grinned, exiting, leaving Nikki and Tommy alone.

Nikki kissed his boyfriend without hesitation, pulling him in for a tight hug.

"I love you. Thank you so much for doing this." He murmured, feeling Tommy's arms wrap protectively around his body.

"I love you more. It's no problem, babe. I'm so excited to have a chance to drum again... It's been so long since I was in a band." Tommy laughed.

They left the bathroom after their moment of holding each other, regretfully letting go as they entered backstage once more.

"Ready?" A man wearing a shirt with the club's logo on it popped his head in through a doorway. Vince nodded, hopping up from his spot on the speakers. Mick and Nikki grabbed their instruments. Tommy spun a drumstick between his fingers.

"Ready."