The Best in Town

My name is Ian Watkins, but you all already know that.

You all know who I am.

I am everything.

I am my band, I am an amazing boyfriend, I am stylish, I am arrogant, I am talented, I am a designer and I am an arse. All these things fit nice and snugly next to each other and each side of wonderful person corresponds to the other for me. Nothing leaves wanting. The girls want me, the boys want me, the trannies want me. Everybody wants me.

Everybody wants a piece of me.

This whole arrangement that is currently underway is in some respects a full blown ego trip, because once again everything here is about me.

I chose the bands, I selected the venues and I demanded the bus that we are all so comfortably living in. No one says no to Ian Watkins, unless you’re Matt Tuck of course. But he didn’t turn up because he was intimidated by my sheer presence. I have that kind of effect on people. It’s a powerful tool to get what I want. The only person that isn’t really intimidated by me is Fearne and that’s probably why we’re still dating.

Plus she always looks good on my arm.

The rest is just trivial.

The good thing about going on a tour like this, is knowing that I am the one: the one in charge and I am the one who has everyone wrapped around his finger.

I sensed that the minute I stepped off the tour bus.

Fearne was poring over her suitcase, piecing together an outfit that would be appropriate to wear to meet everyone in. She laid a lot of emphasis on how she appeared to everyone, which in a way was good because I was just the same. But in contrast to her I didn’t care what people thought about me, whilst she was the broody type.

Stretching my long legs out I finally strode off the bus and took in my surroundings. It was a smaller venue that I was used to performing in, a little scabby around the edges. It was time I rounded the guys up in the studio, we needed more money so we could demand better venues. It was unrealistic to expect us to play in venues like this for much longer.

Slightly mollified I scanned the various people that were already flitting around the venue. Kids In Glass Houses had already arrived of course and each member was running around like a child on sugar taking in the sight of the venue, which in their eyes was still awesome. They hadn’t come as far as I had yet.

The actual adults of the tour, Funeral For A Friend, were talking quietly and rather seriously amongst themselves. By the looks of it, it appeared to be an intellectual conversation of sorts but then Iain shouted out to them.

"Nina and Nat want to start setting up the merch stand, where shall we put them?"

All inner dilemmas were sorted. Just another tour clique.

I looked over at the two girls and had to stifle a giggle. One was dressed in an Iron Maiden hoodie and a limited print Funeral For A Friend t-shirt. Her friend was show-casing every piece of Kids In Glass Houses merch that was possible.

In some ways I begrudged the girls their presence. Girls on tour were always nuisances, forever trying to keep order and cleanliness. It was even worse if they were accompanying their boyfriend. Tours should be left to the men.

But then again, this time I had Fearne with me, and looking at the other two girls I was suddenly filled with relief. Fearne wasn’t going to be the only girl on tour this time. Not all of the male attention was going to be on her side.

My thoughts were interrupted when I saw that The Blackout had arrived.

I was doing them a massive favour letting them on the tour, although it might not help their reputation much. They were always accused of benefitting from the fact that they were friends with me. Oh well everybody else was just jealous.

I wasn’t sure if I was happy about The Blackout being on tour. Sure they were fun guys and all but something about Sean made me feel slightly uneasy. Maybe it was the way he would always glare at Fearne and make a point to be unpleasant to her.

Still lost in speculations I didn’t hear Bob approaching until he was stood in front of me with a wide grin.

"Loving the facial fur!"

Ok so maybe I was hitting a small midlife crisis. The handlebar moustache was just part of the fad of the moment. Whatever. I was Ian Watkins. Anything looked good on me.

Everyone else around me was amused by Bob’s exclamation and I grinned widely, up until the point where Sean turned around horror stricken.

"Ian, what did you do?" He wailed at me with his brown eyes very wide.

I grinned at him, glad for all the extra attention that my change in appearance produced.

"Calm down, you woman! I've not grown a third head or something!" I said throwing him a lopsided smile as Fearne joined my side. Unconsciously I wrapped my arm around her waist and carefully watched the reaction this would procure from Sean.

Nothing about Sean was ever subtle, not his hair and not his emotions. He wore them plainly on his face for everyone to see. He usually attempted to mask these things but I caught a quick flash of bitter jealous before he attempted to conceal it.

Fearne laughed at Sean’s reaction.

"Not a fan of the tasche, Sean?" she asked with a slightly cocky grin, "I think it quite suits him!" she said staying loyal to my cause every time.

"Actually, it's just a bit of a shock,” Sean said putting on a different voice entierly "It's not that bad, really."

Fearne laughed again as she took a hold of my hand.

"Sure it is," she said with her small smile before turning back to me. "I'm going into town to buy some clothes. Are you coming, or do you need to sound-check?"

Normally I would have humored her, but my presence at sound checks was crucial, otherwise the show would sound horrible and the audience had paid a hefty price for a ticket.

“I need to sound check,” I told Fearne before giving her a brief kiss to make up for my absence.

I watched Fearne head back on the bus to get her bags, and I was dimly aware that Sean hadn’t moved an inch yet. I sighed to myself and cast one quick but sharp glance around the venue taking in all the different bands and people.

This was definitely going to be an interesting tour, and it hadn’t even started yet.