Fifty Shades of Joli

The room was dimly lit with round paper lanterns, lined with long, narrow tables which were sandwiched between rows of benches. The floor and walls were panelled with light beech wood with dragon silhouettes spray painted red on the feature wall at the back. Chatter filled the vast room, intertwining with the thin fog that floated above the dense crowd's heads.

Josh's gaze immediately went to the corner of the room as he and his bandmates entered. A group of scruffy, tattooed lads jeered and yelled among themselves, and he immediately turned the other way, leading his bandmates to an empty bench across the room from the noisy cluster of guys. They ordered drinks and sat down, glancing around at their new surroundings.

Max held a heavy metal K over his head, their first ever award to have received as a band. They hadn't let it out of their sights since they'd left the Kerrang! Awards ceremony earlier that day. Matty B and Max had been waving it around, letting no one else near it.

"Do you like our award?" Matty B asked a passerby, who completely ignored him. "Excuse me, rude!"

Chris rolled his eyes. "Will you two behave? You're acting like idiots."

"Yes, Josh and Dan," said Max, clicking his tongue. "You two really are rather childish."

Chris opened his mouth to speak, but his voice was drowned out by Max and Matt's cheers as their beers arrived. Josh and Dan grinned at the irritated look on Chris' face. He grumbled something about going to get food and stalked off, his long hair falling over his annoyed face. Josh and Dan followed, leaving Max and Matt in unsupervised possession of their precious award.

"There's so much chicken choice," observed Dan, grinning at Josh. "It's like the Matty B Jackpot."

"All you can eat Chinese chicken," agreed Josh. "He won't want to leave!"

They picked up plates, Josh's hand brushing someone else's as he reached for his. He snatched it away, turning to face the owner of the hand, only to find two of the guys from the corner. The one nearest Josh had wavy blonde hair, big teeth and a load of tattoos, and he carried the other on his back like a rucksack. Josh's eyes slowly moved up until they met the other guy's, and for some reason that unwavering brown gaze made him feel self conscious. He had a big brown fringe, a load of tattoos, and a microdermal piercing next to his left eye. He was so skinny his clothes hung off him.

"Sorry mate," said the blonde one in a thick Australian accent.

"No worries," replied Josh, shooting him a small smile and glancing once more at the other guy.

He grabbed a plate and hurried after Dan, who was halfway up the table by then. After Dan and Chris had piled their plates high with Chinese and Josh had helped himself to salad, they returned to their table, where Matt and Max had already finished their first beers.

"Who's hands have you been groping now, Joshua?" Max jeered, waving the award doggedly at him. "Do I need to tell him where to put his hands, eh?"

Josh batted the award away. "They got chicken," he said to Matty B, who in turn leapt to his feet.

"Come on, Maxxie," he squealed, pulling Max's arm.

"Sure thing," agreed Max. "I'm gonna sort that bastard out."

He marched over, still holding the award on his fluffy, dark blonde head and dragging Matt with him. Josh watched him waggle a skinny finger at the Aussie, who still had his friend on his back. He sank in his seat as they looked over. Dan chuckled as Josh pulled his hood up over his mop of hair.

"Dey startin' shit?" Dan mocked, and Josh narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah," he muttered.

"Gonna bang 'em out, innit," Chris joined in.

Josh ignored them, pushing salad around his plate. The nerves of the award ceremony hadn't completely left him, and he didn't really feel hungry. When Max and Matt returned with plates in hand, someone was trailing after them. He was round-faced, with a sweeping fringe and stretched ears, and he smirked as their eyes fell on him.

"How do?" he said in a Yorkshire accent, nodding loosely at Josh and his bandmates.

"Well it's kind of tricky at first," Dan admitted, waving his chopsticks as if to illustrate his point, "but you get the hang of it. You sort of have to-"

"I think he's asking us how we are?" Chris grunted, rolling his eyes, and the stranger grinned.

"Yeah," he agreed, taking a seat beside Josh, "but thanks for the tips. I just saw that you got an award. We got one too." He pointed over to the table in the corner, where the Aussie and the others sat. "Congrats, innit."

"You too," said Josh with a nod.

"What band are you in?" asked Max shamelessly.

"We're in Bring Me The Horizon, innit," the guy said with a grin. "We won t'award for best album."

"Nice one," said Dan.

"We won hottest male," joked Matty B. "It was a joint win, but Chewy wasn't involved."

"Screw you," muttered Chris. "I'm beautiful."

"You're all right," said the guy. "I'm Matt, by the way. My mates call me Pickles cos I like pickles and stuff and it sounds like me last name."

"I'M MATT TOO!" Matty B hollered. "YOU GO, MATT, YOU GO."

"Would you and your fair friends care to join us?" Max invited, and Pickles shrugged.

"Sure."

Pickles called his bandmates over, not bothering to be subtle about it. Just about everyone in the restaurant turned to glare at him, but it didn't seem to faze him. The other band gathered their things and started over, and the You Me At Six boys shuffled up to make room. Suddenly the space next to Josh seemed huge.

Sure enough, the guy with the brown eyes and the microdermal slid onto the bench beside Josh, setting a heaped plate of cake and ice cream down in front of him. Josh wondered if he'd even bothered with a main course, and he envied the way that the stranger could eat whatever the hell he wanted without bloating.

Max ushered the tallest one, who happened to be holding Bring Me's award, over to him, patting the empty place beside him. The guy did as he was told, although tentatively, and set his salad down on the table. Josh was relieved to see he wasn't the only one being sensible.

"We can be award buddies," Max told his new friend. "I'm Maxxie, what's your name?"

"Matt," mumbled the guy. "But my mates call me Vegan."

"MATT!" cried Matty B, and Vegan narrowed his eyes. "WE NEED TO START A MATT CLUB."

"My band members are idiots," Josh muttered, and he heard the guy beside him laugh quietly.

"Maybe we should start an idiot club instead," he suggested with a wry smile.

"They'd probably like that," Josh chuckled, locking gazes with him once more. "I'm Josh."

"Oliver," said Oliver, shooting him a shy smile.