In The Van With Angels

Scarlet was grinning as she focused her attention on her drum kit, hitting beat after beat, glancing up to see Rivers jumping widely around the stage, strumming his bass quickly as girls screamed his name in the small club. Sapphire was singing into the microphone, her guitar around her neck as she gripped it tightly and Jade played, her hood up so you could just see bits of blonde hair.
For tonight, at least, on this stage, they could forget most of their problems, even as Sapphire sang them aloud. They could forget how almost all of them were close to being out of a job, how they were looking at losing the flat Scarlet and Sapphire lived in, and how in the last few weeks, they'd all been totally screwed over by someone they loved.
Scarlet felt herself hitting the drums harder, as she thought of him. She shook her head, screaming into the mic, in almost perfect unison with Rivers' growl and Sapphire's clear vocals.
Jade spun around on the stage, slamming her foot down as she began to sing, Sapphire stepping back and playing her guitar.
The song finished, and Scarlet tilted back slightly, sweat mixed with tears falling down her cheeks as she ran a hand through her head, tilting her head forward as Jade threw a few lines to the audience.
The last few weeks, to put it simply, had been hell. A mixture of fucked up parties and mainly unsuccessful gigs. But they'd made it through. They were alive, a bit scratched but still alive, just. She looked at Jade, and then at Rivers. Just. She sighed. We're here, all of us, and that's what matters.

Jade met Lucy just as the summer was ending.
It was before many people knew she was gay, she hadn't felt like telling anyone after her experience at University. But after the whole Lucy thing, everyone, including her parents, knew.
It was strange, so much happened between the end of summer and the middle of November.
At the end of summer, Scarlet was happy. Very happy. She had and Nick had been going out for almost seven months, as she kept cheerily reminding them.
Even five minutes before they were going to go on stage for their next show, she was talking rapidly, a sign of her nerves.
"You know, seven months is a long time." She was bouncing on her heels, her drumsticks clutched tightly in her hands as she chewed her bottom lip, her teeth clashing against the metal ring. Her short black hair – reaching to her chin – bounced up and down as she did, her blue eyes sparkling as she looked from one member of the band to the other.
"Scarlet will you shut up?" Faith shook her head, turning around to look at Scarlet, her own long, dark blonde hair tied back, away from her face. "You know some of us don't even have boyfriends, we don't wanna hear how god damn great Nick is, alright?" She crossed her arms across her chest, her hazel eyes narrowed as Jade laughed. "What?" She snapped, turning to look at Jade.
"It's just…you can tell you're both nervous, I mean Scarlet's talking really quickly, and you're so tense." She grinned, showing off her snakebites as she reached behind her shoulders and yanked her hood up, hiding her short blonde hair, except for the fringe, which came out at the front, complete with black streak. Her green eyes shone with excitement. "But we've done this so many times before, you two are bickering with each other…we got nothing to worry about. Except the fact that Rivers isn't here yet."
She added this last part as an after thought, but even so, both girls spun around, shocked looks on their faces. "What?" They screeched, and Jade shrank back.
"He'll be here," She shrugged. "He always is…"
"Guys," One of the men working backstage tapped their shoulder. "Err you're up…"
"Shit." Scarlet muttered, as Jade pushed her forward onto the stage.
"Hey," Jade muttered, grasping the microphone as soon as she and the others were on stage, and she had her guitar. "We're…we're the Fallen Angels…" She looked out at the sea of faces, new faces, these weren't people who'd seen them before, weren't their usual audience…fans of the band. When she said their name, they were met with sullen looks, people looking at them curiously. "And…well…we would be starting now…but…um…we seem to be…lacking…" She sighed, rubbing her forehead, as she heard Scarlet curse Rivers from behind the drum kit. "A bass player…"
"I'm here!" Her eyes snapped up as she saw, emerging out of the crowd with a beer in hand, Rivers, his tall, green Mohican sticking up. She grinned, feeling herself relax as he climbed up onto the small stage, his dark green eyes sparkling as he grabbed his bass and placed the beer down, safely out of the way.
"Where have you been?" Sapphire hissed, away from the microphones.
"Dealing with something." He replied, an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth. He turned, as he attempted to quickly tune his bass. "Scar, light?" He asked, and she rolled her eyes, chucking him a lighter. He lit his cigarette, before turning back around and facing the audience.
Facing a sea of sullen, angry looks.
"Unprofessional." He heard someone hiss.
"Bet they're shit." He heard someone else mutter, before he frowned, narrowing his eyes as he began to play, going straight into one of their own songs, Desire.
They played some more, and eventually the crowd started to move. However, halfway through their sixth song, a half empty cup of beer was hurtled onto the stage, soaking Jade and Sapphire, the now empty cup hitting Rivers.
He whirled to face the audience, pulling the bass of his neck and putting another cigarette in his mouth. "Fuck it." He muttered, and marched offstage.
"Rivers!" Scarlet leapt up, clambering after him and catching him just offstage. "You can't just walk off middle set like that!"
"I can if the crowd's shit." He replied, searching his pockets for a lighter. "Bloody hell…Scar, light?"
She did it without thinking, an automatic response. "So what if they're shit! It's really unprofessional!"
"So what?" He snapped back, inhaling. "We're not exactly professional Scar."
"We're trying to be!" She cried. "And they were not shit."
"Yes they were." He replied, whirling around. "As soon as the first cup was thrown, I saw others lift their's! They had bottles with them Scar."
"Bands get bottled all the time!"
"Yeah well…I can't deal with this kind of shit at the moment." Jade and Sapphire appeared next to Scarlet, before moving swiftly past and straight to the bar. "I got too much crap on my mind."
"Like what?" She sighed, shaking her head. "Don't say you and Mel had another fight?"
Melody was the lead singer of The Lamberts, another band in the Angel's "local scene". The two bands had what could be called a friendly rivalry. They were friends, but the truth was both bands knew they were just as good as the other, and they constantly found themselves in the same situations. Both strived to be better than the other.
Scarlet had, before, affectionately nick named Mel the 'Brody Dalle of Wales', and the friendly rivalry was often fuelled by Mel and Rivers' passionate relationship.
Passionate in the sense that the pair were fighting – constantly.
One glance at Rivers told Scarlet that he had indeed had another argument with his on-off girlfriend.
"Oh Rivers." She sighed, shaking her head. "Come on, a drink might help."
They met the others at the bar, where they stood with Nick, drinks in hand. Immediately a beer was pushed into Rivers' hand, and Nick handed Scarlet a coke.
"You're driving tonight, right?" He asked, to which she nodded before leaning in and kissing him, allowing him to lead her away to the chairs at the back of the small venue.
Rivers rolled his eyes, sipping at his drink as Sapphire looked past him, and smiled.
"Hey Mel." She smiled, before stepping back and towards Jade, taking her hand and dragging her away from the bar, away from Rivers and Melody.
"Hey Mel." He spoke coldly, downing his beer and getting another one from the bar.
"Hey Rivers." She smiled up at him, getting her own drink. He began to move away, but she grabbed his arm, gently stopping him. "Rivers?"
"Yeah?" His voice was still cold, neutral. She dropped her arms, straightened her back.
"Well fine, if you're going to be like that…" She began to walk right past him, and as she did so, he hurriedly put his drink down and grabbed her arm, pulling her towards him and kissing her. "That's more like it." She smiled, putting her drink beside his before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him back.

"Scarlet!"
Scarlet looked up from her seat, Nick's arm still around her shoulder. He kissed her cheek, as she looked at Sapphire.
"Yeah?" She asked, narrowing her eyes. Something was wrong, very wrong.
"I can't find Jade."
"So?" She asked, casting her eyes around for Rivers. She spotted him in one corner, Melody with him. He was fine. Good.
"What do you mean so? Scar, she was really pissed, I turned around and she disappeared, and you know what she's like when she's pissed…"
"She passes out." Scarlet let out a groan, turning to kiss Nick's cheek. "I got to find her babe, sorry…"
"Hey it's alright." He stood up, handing Scarlet her jacket. "I'd better head off anyway, ring me tomorrow?"
"Yeah sure."
"Scarlet!" Sapphire hissed, grabbing her hand. "Right, I think we'd better check outside first, it's the most dangerous place…"

Jade leaned over the toilet, wishing, hoping, praying the room would stop spinning.
She tilted her head back, eyes closed, and heard laughter. High pitched, girlish giggling.
She looked towards the cubicles, and watched as the door swung open and a petite red head with striking green eyes bounded out and stopped, looking towards Jade.
Jade had the impression of a fairy, or imp, maybe a pixie…some type of small, mischievous mythical creature anyway.
"You want one?" She asked, her accent a complete contrast to those in the venue. Instead of a thick Welsh valleys accent, her accent was fairly posh, English. She skipped over to Jade and holding out her hand. On it lay a single, white pill. She grinned up at Jade, who stepped back.
"Err no I…I don't do that kind of thing…"
"Aw come on." She pouted, and Jade felt herself suddenly wishing she had the guts to take the pill. She was also a sucker for a pouting girl. "There's a first time for everything, plus white pills are kind."
"No really I can’t..." Her head was spinning, and she didn’t think she could think straight.
She swayed on her feet, as the girl came right up to her, pressing her body against her's. Jade reached back, grabbing the sink for support.
"Please?" She looked up at Jade with wide, green eyes. "Trust me, you'll feel great. On top of the world, no cares." She leaned towards Jade, making the other girl lean back slightly. Her lips tickled Jade's ear when she spoke. "I'll kiss you, if you take it. And I don't mean a kiss on the lips either, I mean a full-on, sn-"
Before she had even finished the word, Jade had taken the pill and popped it into her mouth.
It took a few moments for it to take effect, but when it did, Jade wrapped her arms around the girl's waist and pulled her towards her, planting her lips on her's. After a few seconds, the girl pulled away, her body still close to Jade's, her hands on her shoulders.
"Wow…" She muttered, leaning in to kiss her again. As she did so, she pulled her towards the toilets, and spun her around. She kicked the door shut behind her, pushing Jade against one side of the cubicle and kissing her fiercely, passionately.
"We got to find her."
Jade pulled away abruptly, hearing Scarlet's voice. She swore under her breath, the girl still in her arms. She looked at her, as she giggled. Carefully, she put the toilet seat down, and the girl sat on it, passing out almost as soon as she sat down.
She stepped out of the cubicle, closed it behind her, and turned, just as Scarlet did so.
"Shit." Sapphire shook her head, as Scarlet stepped towards her, eyes wide.
"What the fuck have you done?" She screeched at Jade. "What the fuck have you done?" She repeated herself, as Sapphire stepped forward to support Jade, who was starting to sway again. "You idiot! What have you taken?" Scarlet was still screeching at her, before her body relaxed at her put her hands to her head. "Get her in the van, I'll get Rivers."
Sapphire nodded, as Jade asked, "where are we going?" Even as they stepped out the door, she glanced back at the closed cubicle door, hoping she, whoever she was, would be OK.
Scarlet found Rivers quickly, and shook her head. He was pretty pissed himself. Melody was talking to him, anger in her eyes as Scarlet approached them.
"Hey Scar." She sighed, stepping back. Scarlet didn't have time right now to question Melody on what the fuck Rivers had done to upset her. Instead, she hugged her, and whispered in her ear.
"Don't worry about it, he's a dick. We'll talk tomorrow alright?" Melody nodded, smiling gratefully at Scarlet as she turned to the bassist. "We've got to go, now."
"Aw why?" He whined, sounding like a spoilt brat.
"Because Jade is completely fucked and we need to get her back to the hospital."
"So? Why do I have to go? We were just getting started, weren't we Mel?" He winked at Melody, his hand reaching for her arse. She slapped it away quickly, glaring at him.
"Go with Scarlet, otherwise you have no lift home and no where to stay."
"Can't I come with you?" He pleaded, stepping towards her. Scarlet sighed, feeling very much like she was intruding on a private argument.
"No you can’t!" She sighed. "Rivers, I explained to you earlier, there is no way in hell you're going to fit in the car we're going, and there won't be room for you at the apartment!"
"You're seeing someone else, aren't you?" He cried, his fists clenched. "Who is he? I'll kill him!"
"Rivers, you're drunk." She sighed, and Scarlet had the feeling this was something they'd fought about hundreds of times before. "You know I am not seeing someone else…"
"You’re just as bad as N…"
"Rivers!" Mel whirled on him, leaning forward and kissing him. "Shut up, go with Scarlet and I'll talk to you tomorrow, when you're sober!" With that, she turned on her heel, and marched away.
Scarlet had to admit, that girl had guts. She was the only person she knew (except for herself) who could tell Rivers exactly what to do when he was drunk, most the time he wouldn't listen to Scarlet, but nine times out of ten he would listen to Mel.
She sighed, taking Rivers hand and leading him out of the club. He got into the front seat, Sapphire and Jade sat in the back. Two hours later, they reached home. Home to Sapphire and Scarlet anyway. The flat they rented, on the outskirts of Cardiff.
Somehow, they managed to reach the flat, where Rivers immediately went for Scarlet's bedroom, falling asleep almost straight away in her bed. Jade fell onto the sofa, and passed out. Scarlet sighed, leant against the wall and rubbed her face.
"Jesus Sapphire, I really don't get those two."
"Aw, she looks so cute when she's in a drunken stupor." Sapphire giggled, as Scarlet pushed herself up.
"She's not just drunk Sapphire, she's fucking high." She sighed, leaning forward. "We were in a public fucking place, for god's sakes. She didn't know what she was taking!"
"How do you know she didn't?"
"Because every time she takes something new," She smiled softly. "She plans it, don't she? She makes sure she's at home, with her parents out, or here, with us…you know what she's like. Being drunk is one thing, but taking drugs? Jade isn't like that."
"Maybe someone hot offered it to her."
"What, a hot guy in the girl's toilets?" They both laughed. "I doubt it."
"Where you going to sleep?" Sapphire asked, and Scarlet's reply was a shrug.
"I'll grab some blankets from the cupboard, sleep on the spare sofa."
"Spare room it is then." She smiled, hugging Scarlet. "Night Scar, don't worry about those two, they'll be fine."
"Yeah, I know, I just hope we're right."