RENTtalia Ch 3- One Song Glory

A/N: Hey guys, here's chapter 3 for you! Just a heads up, there are a lot of flashbacks in this chapter so I tried to make it as clear as possible where it's a flashback and when it's the present. There will be page breaks between present time and flashbacks, also flashback scenes will all be in italics while Arthur's singing during the flashback will be bold. Present singing will still be in italics. Alright, I hope you like it!!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


         Back in the apartment, while Feliks and Francis were getting acquainted in the alley, Arthur lounged back on the couch, cradling his guitar in his arms and plucking out a soft sweet melody. He paused when he saw Alfred standing in front of him.

"I was gonna go look for Francis, wanna come?" he asked while tugging brown gloves onto his hands. The Brit on the couch looked uninterested.

"I thought maybe we could all go grab some dinner," Alfred suggested hopefully.

"Zoom in on my empty wallet," Arthur said with a hint of sarcasm and a roll of his mesmerizing emerald eyes.

"Touché," the American blond spoke as a rueful smile appeared on his handsome face. Arthur resumed his plucking only to be interrupted again.

"Take your AZT," Alfred reminded him. The boy then grabbed his trusty blue bike and walked out the door to go and search for their missing friend. As soon as he was out the door the Brit on the couch strummed a single chord, then proceeded to slowly strum more as he sang softly, almost as if he was whispering the words; new notes filling the air with every few words he sang.

"I'm writing one great song before I…" he trailed off, letting the notes of his last chord fade away into the night. He paused for a moment before once again beginning to play, returning to the sweet-yet-sad melody he was playing just a few moments earlier. Except for this time he changed it up just a bit, adding in a new rhythm towards the end of his original riff. The English guitarist played through his new melody one more time but at the end he paused and replayed the few notes before, trying to get it right. He was so close to getting it just right, until he messed it up by playing just one note that didn't fit in with the rest which made it sound off.

Arthur sat up with a sigh, placing the beat up acoustic guitar to the side. He looked down sadly for a moment, and then sighed again. But when he looked back up he seemed to have gotten an idea. Grabbing his beloved instrument he began making his way to the roof.


Once he was out there, police sirens could be heard in the distance and his breath became visible before his eyes; escaping from his lips like small white puffs of smoke. Arthur moved to an abandoned chair and brushed the seat off before sitting down and looking out at the city around him with his guitar perched on his lap.

"One song, glory…" he started, singing to no one in particular. His only audience being himself, any passerby that might have heard him and any divine being that just happened to be listening.  

        "One song, before I go, glory…" he continued to sing softly, there was a hint of sadness in his raspy rocker voice. "One song to leave behind…"

        The Englishman raised his voice just a bit and with that he went up an octave, "Find, one song, one last refrain. Glory, from the pretty boy front man who wasted opportunity…" And as the last note of that lyric faded out, his mind faded into a flash back as he continued to sing.

-----

        Late at night in a crowded New York club, a younger Arthur Kirkland stood on the stage with his fellow band mates. He had an electric guitar in his hands and his blond hair was much shorter and spikier. The crowd was cheering and pumping their fists in the air. The lights were flashing from color to color in time with the beat of the song. Arthur smiled as he sang into the microphone.

"One song, he had the world at his feet. Glory, in the eyes of a young girl…young girl…"

        As he was belting out the song, Arthur managed to catch sight of perhaps the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She had dark brown hair that was somewhere between wavy and curly and the most striking purple eyes that were accented by the black eyeliner that encased them. She wore a dark purple lace tank top and a silver choker-style necklace. Unlike the rest of the crowd—who were smiling and on their feet while moving their bodies to the beat of the drum—this girl was sitting on a barstool; she wore no smile upon her face, but she was gazing up at the British punk on the stage with a certain kind of intensity. Though, when Arthur looked at her, the corners of her full lips turned up into a smirk.

"Find, glory, beyond the cheap colored lights. One song, before the sun sets, glory, on another empty life…"

        After the show, Arthur sat with the girl in an empty café, a cigarette in each of their hands. They talked for a while, just simply getting to know each other. He instantly fell in love with her smile and the sound of her laugh. It was such a gorgeous sound, like the sweetest music his ears had ever heard; and the girl's smile was one of those that could light up a room each time it appeared on her beautiful face. He could tell that she wasn't the type who laughed often so he couldn't help but feel special for making her smile.

        Fast forward to a kiss. Arthur and the girl, who he had now been seeing for a little while stood in an abandoned alleyway on a bright and sunny summer day. He wore his favorite studded leather jacket, and she a short flowered sundress. Arthur wrapped his arms around her waist, and hers around his neck. They pulled each other closer until their lips met in a passionate kiss.

-------

        "Time flies, time dies…!" Arthur belted out, raspy voice raising higher and higher. "Glory!" He leaned his guitar up against the blue and green lawn chair, stood up, and walked over to the edge of the roof.

        "One blaze of, glory…" he sang, resting his hands on the ledge that encircled the entire roof and looked down at the city below. The orange glow from the street lights bounced off of the Brit's face, making his features become illuminated.

        "One blaze of…glory…" Arthur threw his arms open wide and belted out that lyric before his voice slowly faded back to being quiet. He let his arms drop to his sides and began to sing again.

        "Find, glory, in a song that rings true," the leather jacket clad Brit turned around so he was no longer facing the city streets and half-sat half-leaned up against the ledge of his apartment complex. "Truth like a blazing fire, an eternal flame…"

--------

"Find, one song, a song about love, glory…"

Central park, another sunny day, but this time there was no romance occurring. A secret exchange, a wad of money for a small baggie of drugs. Arthur's brunette beauty slipped the bills into the hand of a shady dealer and he placed the bag of heroin in her palm. She gave him a slight nod as a way of thanks as she walked away.

"From the soul of a young man, a young man…"

Cut to a dark, rainy night in a lone alley way. Arthur looks at his girl with concern written all over his face as he kneels in front of her on the cold, wet concrete. She sits atop a crate, a floppy rubber tube tied tightly around her upper arm as she prepares to inject herself with a syringe full of heroin. The blond boy looks down as the needle pierces her skin, not able to watch the one he loves do this to herself. But he stays there all the same, one hand entwined with hers and the other resting on her leg.

--------

"Find, the one song, before the virus takes hold," Arthur removed himself from his spot on the ledge and began walking back across the rooftop. "Glory, like a sunset…"

--------

"One song, to redeem this empty life…!"

        A piece of paper, containing perhaps the worst news a person could ever receive. It was the results from a medical test, it read:

        HIV Detection Report

        Patient name: Bonnefois, Françoise

        Sex: F

        Report Status: Positive HIV Antibody Test

        The paper went on into more detail about the disease but amethyst eyes froze on the words "Report Status: Positive HIV Antibody Test." A hand flew up to her mouth to cover up her sobs. Arthur stands next to her, looking at the paper in disbelief. He turns his despondent gaze to her before wrapping his arms around the girl tightly, pulling her to his chest while telling her that everything will be alright, even though they both knew that was a lie.

------

        "Time flies, and then no need to endure anymore, time dies," Arthur wailed loudly, but at the last two words his voice lowered in volume and then faded into the cold New York night as it mixed in with the sounds of the city. He walked back over to the metal-topped ledge, resting his hands on it while once again looking out at the multitude of gray, snow and ice covered buildings. Sadness clouded his striking eyes at the memory of the girl he once loved with all his heart.

        Arthur just stood there for a moment before collecting his guitar and returning to his cold—but not as cold as outside—apartment. He walked down the stairs and slid open the door to his living space and went inside quickly. But, little did he know that his pretty neighbor from one floor below had been walking up the stairs to his apartment, and had seen him stomp in. She was carrying a lit candle in her had, for it was the only light she had to see while walking up the dark flight of stairs. An idea seemed to pop into her head as she blew her candle out with a short puff of breath, and a smirk stretched across her face; she then continued on up the stairs.