Aelenor

brian had known mick long enough to know how he acted when he liked a girl. It didn't even have to be for something serious, no; just a pretty groupie and Mick Jagger was suddenly an expert at acting like the sweetest guy in the world.

fuckass.

getting passes for her to accompany him, bragging about just 'wanting company', and always acting like he was the best future husband in the world. If that were the case, mick had about thirty pending weddings.

the problem was that mick actually did had a natural charm, and everyone knew it. They needed to get something? send mick, everyone would say, he would probably talk nice to anyone and he would succeed. extra portions of food? mick would be ordering everything and would probably get the waitresses' numbers too just for fun.

not that they could blame him either — keith did the same thing, brian was an expert at getting attention and if charlie didn't already have a wife, he'd surely do the same (not really). now, when bill joined the band, it didn't take long for him to realize how everything worked.

and of course, he assumed that once they really liked someone they'd leave that life just like he had done when he met his girl. and he really didn't think much when he started taking his sister to rehearsals, 'cause, she's his sister, to begin with.

maybe he's the new one there but codes exist, y'know? even if they're something guys never talk about, picking on a friend's sister is like breaking five rules at once. even if you're mick jagger, bill would break your face.

…. thing is, mick liked danger.

he already had a natural charm that could go unnoticed as just being friendly, so of course when bill left the rehearsal room even if it was five minutes to go get water, he didn't hide a bit.

and that would be when brian's stomach would tighten and he'd get a nausea-like feeling just watching mick be so sweet to you. it wasn't even jealousy, no, brian knew that feeling well — it was something more akin to helplessness at seeing mick pretending to be "himself" when in his goddamn life he'd treat a girl he didn't think was cute like that.

and the worst part was that you didn't even seem to notice it. 'cause of course, mick was so gentlemanly and polite, friendly, as if offering you a seat wasn't the most basic thing in the world. brian was convinced that he could do much more for you if you gave him a chance.

instead, there you were right now, sitting next to mick while talking animatedly about anything — probably nonsense, brian thought more than once — while your knees touched.

such a small thing, but so damn intimate.

"tryin' to hit mick telepathically again?" keith teased from the side, his voice tinged with a certain tone of amusement. brian barely and let out a soft snort.

well, really smooth, both of them. not hiding a damn thing.

"'m not..." brian muttered, pulling the amplifier cable harder than necessary. "… 'm not upset."

keith had to stop his movements for a moment just to look at brian. his expression was saying a totally opposite thing to what his mouth was saying — he wasn't upset? so what the hell was that expression about wanting to throw the guitar at mick's head?

"sure" he ended up muttering to himself, mentally mocking anyway how ridiculous the situation was.

'cause, of course, he didn't know what it was like to have your insides tighten up when you saw the cutest girl you'd ever seen in your whole miserable life laughing with your friend, knowing that he's probably a better choice for her anyway.

and to see them laughing together as if it were nothing, sharing those little jokes that are too intimate to be just 'friendly', with their knees rubbing and none of them moving away 'cause they probably enjoy the feeling... yeah. if brian was having a run of bad days before, this made it worse like a thousand times.

not only for seeing them both together, but 'cause everyone could sense the tension that mick and brian had been carrying for a couple of weeks already. small disagreements when it comes to songs, slight arguments when they disagree on something and the other doesn't give in to listening to other people's opinions, and now this.

mick wasn't dumb either. he didn't see himself as a selfish person, but the more he tried to bury that feeling of satisfaction at seeing brian's slightly irritated face every time he took your attention, the feeling only grew.

'cause he finally had something of his own. groupies? they always ended up hanging around another band member; i mean, that's the rule — nothing serious. recognition? keith was the guitarist and brian had literally founded the band, so obviously he wasn't the only one taking all the credit.

that's what he liked, being the center of attention. not you, of course not. you're bill's younger sister, aren't you? so of course mick is just being friendly with you 'cause he wants to make you feel at ease in the studio when there's only men around.

he himself didn't believe his own words, but he had to try.

to admit that he's attracted to you would be like bleeding in a sea full of sharks. keith richards is the most burlesque person Mick has ever met in his life and he's not willing to listen to jokes about how he became soft and how he's leaving the rockstar life that fast for some chick.

'cause this? this was his. this — whatever the two of you were forming, this little bubble where you laugh together and share such little things that would go unnoticed but for the little glances from both of you, is his. not brian's, not charlie's, not from anyone else.

not even from bill, who now spent his days giving mick silent warnings every time he passed an arm around your shoulders or every time he offered to teach you something you definitely had no need to know.

seriously, what was the point of teaching you everything about a guitar when mick can't even play instruments. and that's not even his guitar 'cause he doesn't have one. it's keith's, for god's sake.

and mick still had the nerve to be showing you all the guitar strings, the design, what each thing was for, how he…

but as much as keith would like to see how this whole silent fight over a girl who clearly already has a favorite ends, they need to rehearse. and if brian gets in a bad mood, the one who'll pay for it will be the first one who jokes about it and everyone has a certain feeling that it's gonna be keith.

just like now.

"oi, lovebirds, would be great if ya return me my guitar."

you felt the shame rise to your cheeks almost immediately, the heat tinting them a soft reddish color. you were barely able to react when mick was already giving keith a warning look.

"shut it, keef. we're just friends. nothin' else to it" he defended as he adjusted his grip on the guitar to get up and pass it to the blackhead. the award for the most inopportune person on the planet, according to him, went to keith richards.

the corner of keith's lips gently lifted as if he knew perfectly well he was lying, receiving the guitar and immediately moving to let mick pass.

"tell brian that" he mumbled low enough for only mick to hear. "you've got 'im fuming."

and he could only give him a little sidelong glance that told him to just shut up, before saying goodbye with a small head movement to you, leaving you for a moment with keith to go with the others.

your gazes crossed for a moment and, god, you felt so small under his gaze. you could feel that little discomfort that he knew more than you about a subject you weren't entirely sure about.

that feeling of being almost insignificant in front of others 'cause you know they are more than you — god, how you hated that feeling.

but the truth is that even keith wasn't entirely sure what was going on between the three of you; the only thing he could assure was that one of you was definitely going to lose out.

and that, of course, would unleash even more tension that there already was in the band.

--

as much as you wanted him to stop consuming your thoughts 'cause you knew it was a random, casual comment, a clarification that you and he were nothing, mick saying you two were just friends let you thinking.

it was as if the universe, god, or whoever, had sent you a reminder that you and mick were friends. you already knew that, for sure, but that little hope inside of you was still burning.

people can change their minds, that was the idea that you clung to every day when you made mick laugh and his eyes formed those cute crescents while showing you his smile that seemed designed especially for you.

life wouldn't be so complicated if you knew brian felt the same way.

but of course, he wasn't the owner of your thoughts — sure, he was kind, cool, funny and nice to hang out, but your mind was still focused on someone who didn't even bother to accept that he liked you.

'cause, for mick jagger, evading his feelings was much easier than accepting the truth and facing the consequences. for him, refusing to listen to his heart just 'cause he didn't want to give up his rockstar life, was logical.

and he won't bother trying to change it.

so you could just keep going there, sitting in one of the random boxes in the studio while you watched them rehearse — his voice filtered through the room too charmingly for the taste of the logical side of your subconscious.

your heart adored him, but deep inside you there was still that little voice that'd been there from the first day telling you not to get in there, now telling you to stop it already 'cause it wasn't worth the damn thing even if he had the most beautiful voice you had ever heard.

too flashy, too captivating that it gave you helplessness towards yourself the fact that you liked him so much. 'cause you had your brother literally on the side and you could be supporting him instead of being fixed on how mick's lips moved when he sang or how he licked them between breaks.

…. what a horrible feeling.

not knowing whether to obey your intuition or heart just 'cause you were a stubborn one who refused to accept things even if they were in front of you.

a soft sigh escaped your lips, finally obeying your brain and averting your gaze only to fix it on someone other than mick.

you've already seen charlie play the drums a thousand times and, honestly, it sounded almost always the same to you. keith was somehow managing to take puffs on his cigar at the same time he was playing, and bill had that face of concentration that was just like the one he had when you two were little and he was busy building block towers.

that left you with brian.

he was the only one who didn't get into that almost monotonous routine you'd noticed when you went to see them play almost every day — mick almost always did the same vocal exercises, keith always smoked a cigar before and after rehearsal, charlie had the same old tic as every time you saw him play and bill always ended up looking at you to the side to make sure you were still there.

brian didn't, brian... there were days when he'd be the most joking person in the room after keith and days when you wouldn't hear his voice unless you talked to him first. unpredictable, maybe that was the perfect word to describe him.

you'd be lying if you said he didn't catch your eye a little. he had a certain flashy charm — not the loud kind like mick, but quieter and somehow more noticeable.

he didn't chase attention like mick; he didn't try hard to get it 'cause he didn't care as much as others, and that made him get even more attention. ironic, isn't it? maybe everything in brian's life was ironic.

sometimes you wondered if it was just your imagination that made you see those soft smiles or those looks that he occasionally gave you, but then you saw him do the same with any groupie that was hanging around that day and you doubted.

if he did that with girls he was clearly looking for more than laughing and joking with, then why was he repeating those behaviors with you?

and god, how that curiosity kept you hooked. curiosity killed the cat, they say, but at least the cat died knowing.

your eyes silently swept brian up and down, your head tilting gently to the side in sign of attention, trying to figure him out, not knowing that mick noticed it too.

oh. alright.

with his hand still around the microphone, he barely gave brian a quick glance before fixing his eyes on you. he wasn't going to let brian be the center of your attention. anyone who knew him well would know that he haves a total competitive ass.

and believe me, you didn't know what you were getting yourself into.

when your eyes returned to fixate on him, you found him already looking at you while he was singing “I can't be Satisfied". the way he was looking at you? it would have been enough for any other girl to not hesitate to pull down her panties.

you, on the other hand, only managed to give him a sideways smile before your eyes went to brian again just to evade mick. not 'cause you were really purposely ignoring him out of the blue, but 'cause you knew that looking at him while you were waiting for him to suddenly change his opinion about what you two were even knowing that he considered you just a friend, hurt.

besides, brian didn't look bad focused.

and the second mick noticed how your gaze was fixed on another guy before him, especially brian, oh. his stomach seemed to become a whirlpool on itself, tightening and giving the feeling of almost sinking deep into his skin.

your attention. that was all.

he'd keep forcing himself to say that it was just about wanting your attention and not the fact that he was seeing how your gaze screamed that you liked how brian played. or worse, that you liked brian.

and to see your eyes looking at him across the room while he was doing something as intimate as playing an instrument, practically showing you in private a side of his life that others were watching just on the telly... god.

he'd never thought before about how intimate it was to see someone play their favorite instrument. 'cause of course, he didn't play an instrument. brian did.

of course Brian did.

--

"bill's gonna take ya to the next performance?"

oh, god. there was his voice again. you'd swear that your heart threatened to melt every time you heard him, jumping up and down in your chest.

you raised your head almost immediately, pausing for a moment when you saw mick so close to you, leaning close as he always did with the excuse of listening to you better.

you gently shook your head, immediately noticing the small expression of disappointment that passed over mick's face before disappearing almost immediately, as if it had never happened. without knowing it, you had the master of masking things in front of you.

he'd been pretending for months that nothing was wrong with him every time he was near you, every time he saw you arriving at the studio with your brother and every time you smiled just for him — but there were moments like this when the truth slipped into his expressions.

little moments when, if you looked hard enough, you'd figure it out.

"not really sure" you clarified quickly, still leaning against the wall behind you. "think 'm gonna be busy."

"busy?" he repeated to himself, before quickly speaking again in an attempt for you not to notice the tone of mild disbelief that crossed his voice. "we won't see each other for a while then, y'know."

a gentle smile tugged at mick's lips, opposite to the way his hands were clenching into fists inside his pants pockets. dammit.

he didn't know if it was 'cause of the fact that he knew he wouldn't see you for a while or if it was the consequences of that bitter feeling of having seen you so interested in brian before. whatever the reason, he didn't like it one bit.

it didn't take you long to reciprocate his smile, but it faded easily no matter how much you wanted to keep it. "yeah, so..."

"yeah" Mick interrupted you, perhaps too quickly. you both looked at each other for a second, before he cleared his throat and looked away while you nodded gently. the silence spread between you two.

... awkward.

you weren't even really busy the day of the performance. you could easily go, see them, delight in watching mick sing and be his #1 fangirl like every time you went to see the band. but something inside of you knew really well that if you went and saw him leave with any groupie after the show, you'd have a bad time.

and you couldn't complain about anything 'cause you were friends. and friends aren't jealous of each other — much less when it comes to a friend who was originally a friend of your brother.

actually, calling mick a friend of yours already made you doubt. you didn't know what you were for him and your heart didn't want to know either. maybe you were just bill's little sister that he got along with, maybe you were a girl that he just got along with, maybe you were so much to him that he felt it like nothing.

you don't know if he even feels you. is-

"oi. i was, uh, thinking..." mick's hesitant voice brought you back to yourself, looking up only to meet with his blue eyes already fixed on yours. "since yer not gonna go to t'show and we won't see each other for a while, i mean, we could go for some coffee."

uh. this is…

probably the universe giving you the opportunity you've been begging for for weeks. but then why does your heart insist on pounding your chest as if the mere thought of being alone with mick, in a cafe, talking about things that had nothing to do with music or the band, gave you irrational anxiety?

you had to clear your throat before sitting up a little in your place, looking at him with some confusion at the sudden invitation. "now? mean, i don't know if... maybe it's too late for coffee."

a totally credible excuse.

…. if it wasn't almost eleven o'clock in the morning, of course. technically, still an acceptable time to have a coffee.

"'f course. sure" mick managed to reply in something like a murmur, before his eyes went anywhere but to you to think about something else. "how 'bout a tea? bill said there's a cafe ya like nearby."

"uh... i..."

"too warm for that? got it" he ran a hand through his hair — the one you'd beg to feel in the morning when he woke you up with kisses on your neck —, still trying to act casual. "lunch? y'know what, we don't even gotta get lunch, we can-"

"mick."

thanks to whoever it was that had put brian jones as your unofficial guardian angel.

mick, on the other hand, was immediately insulting the mere existence of his dear friend and band mate brian. he looked at him over his shoulder, playing disinterested at the sudden interruption, while the blond made a gentle gesture with his head towards the studio.

"the boys are calling ya. charlie's asking about somethin'."

mick was sure charlie wasn't asking about him 'cause he could see him perfectly talking to bill with a smile plastered on his face through the half-open door behind brian. his eyebrows rose in a slight expression of irony, holding his gaze for a moment.

"is he?"

brian hummed softly in response, giving him a smile that would seem almost harmless if mick didn't know him so well, before gesturing back behind him with his hand. "they need ya, superman."

mick had to olympically resist the urge to roll his eyes before looking at you and giving you a soft smile and then disappear through the door behind brian, without even noticing that he closed it right after he disappeared into the studio.

a sigh that was almost of relief left your lungs, before you looked at brian and smiled at him in silent gratitude. his lips stretched into a small smirk, and god — you've never noticed how cute his smile was before.

it was as if it complemented perfectly with his blonde hair and that almost angelic appearance he had, even if you knew well that he was not as holy as everyone painted him.

"alright?" he asked quietly, finally releasing the doorknob to put his hands in his trouser pockets. "mick doesn't know how t'shut up sometimes."

the soft laugh you let out made brian almost blush — almost — before he noticed himself. dammit; it was almost impossible to act normal in front of you.

especially knowing that you'd been looking at him while he was playing before. 'cause, c'mon, he wasn't dumb. and the way you'd been looking at him, looking so cute, while mick was radiating irritation across the room?

it'd been almost satisfactory.

but of course, then they'd finished rehearsing and mick had go straight to you as usual, like a cat who refused to accept that he enjoys company and who pretends that it's a coincidence every time they're in the same room as someone else.

a cat that, by the way, never shuts up.

"yeah, think i noticed that" you teased a bit, noticing how your shoulders seemed to relax on their own as you kept looking at him. now you were wondering why you'd never taken the time to look at him more closely.

"he was asking you out?"

brian regretted asking as soon as the words left his mouth, noticing mid-sentence how that might sound. what was that question? it was perfect for looking like a prick. oh, god.

he saw you pause for a moment, blink as you processed his words, and was about to apologize and correct himself with the first excuse that came to mind, when he heard you respond. and he couldn't deny that the disinterest there seemed to be in your response cheered him up a little.

selfish? maybe. happy? a lot.

"guess so."

'guess so'. yeah, brian could work with that.

"s'just that..." your words hung in the air as you searched for a way to explain what was going through your mind without giving yourself away. "i don't know if i'd really enjoy it. y'know, mick is... mick."

brian nodded immediately, a smirk appearing on his face briefly before he tried to hide it with a gentle cough. he more than anyone else knew what you meant by that. "hm, yeah. so you're not busy later?"

you shaked your head in response, not having idea of the words that'd come out of brian's mouth in a few moments, more focused on the way your body seemed to relax around him like it knew you were safe.

like it was giving you a sign that brian was did you good, totally contrary to how you felt with mick around.

"great. i wanna go try a new food place, ya mind joinin' me? won't be long."

... now, that's the right way to arrange plans with someone.

not hesitating, not getting entangled with your own words and of course not being weird about it. you could perfectly say no and give him a vague excuse about how you were going out with some friends in the afternoon, but what is life if you don't enjoy it?

besides, it's not like you're not open to the opportunities of fate.

and it's... brian. it's not mick. you felt a little bad for thinking that, but it's quite comforting to know that you won't have to be in battle mode the whole time you're together.

"sure."

that was the only thing you answered before nodding gently, sharing a silent look with Brian that you knew was loaded with something else — something you couldn't identify but you were sure would extend for a long time longer.

you didn't know if it was recognition or a spark of something that stayed for the rest of the rehearsal break, but... god. it was a lot.

--

EPILOGUE

"goin' out?" bill asked nonchalantly from his half-thrown spot on the couch, barely moving his head to look at brian, who'd been staring at himself in the mirror for like five minutes.

a soft sigh came out of the blonde, before turning to look at them. keith was solving what looked like a sudoku puzzle — something you rarely saw him doing —, charlie was having some random drink while watching keith pretend he knew the rules of the game, mick was looking for something to watch on the telly, and bill was just... there.

existing, thrown on the sofa, with the forgotten newspaper on his chest.

his little sister had said something about being busy later, and he'd been left to fate as he spent time with the boys.

"... yeah. going out with, uh, a friend."

"that's what you're gonna call them now?" keith commented without taking his eyes off the sudoku, earning a funny little smile from charlie and a bad look from brian.

"shut up, keef" he whined as mick snorted softly. "you gonna be back late?" charlie was the one who spoke this time, arranging the sofa cushions behind him.

"don't know. maybe. don't think so."

seriously, brian had to learn to hide his nerves a little more.

a brief silence formed in the room as bill grunted softly while settling back on the couch, now watching with boredom as mick searched for something interesting to watch.

keith finally decided that sudoku wasn't his thing and passed the magazine to charlie, before finally looking at his other friend, noticing how he was biting his lower lip the way he always did when something was eating away at his mind.

"...what, ya nervous that bill's sister isn't gonna like ya?"

"keith, i swear-"

"what?" bill and mick's voices sounded at the same time in the room — one of them immediately getting up to look at brian and the other pretending that that reaction had not come from him.

THE ROLLING STONES

Covert affair | NSFW (b. jones)

Fanboy!headcanons (b. jones)

Behaving | NSFW (sub!brian jones)

THE BEATLES

Shut that pretty mouth | NSFW (j. lennon)

+ more upcoming!! stay tuned...

THE ROLLING STONES

Covert affair | NSFW (b. jones)

Fanboy!headcanons (b. jones)

Behaving | NSFW (sub!brian jones)

THE BEATLES

Shut that pretty mouth | NSFW (j. lennon)

+ more upcoming!! stay tuned...

Iron Maiden

Fates Warning (Dave Murray x Janick Gers) - Book 1 of Into Darkness (AO3 link)

'Til I Dance With The Dead

Fear Is The Key

Led Zeppelin

Robert Plant

Your Most Sacred Place (smut) - Robert x reader

Submissive Robert (smut) - Robert x reader

What Is And What Should Never Be (crackfic) - Robert x OC

Aftercare (smut) - Robert x reader

Way Down Inside (smut) -Robert x reader

Tea For One (songfic/angst) - Robert x Maureen Wilson

Fire At Midnight (fluff) - Robert x reader

A Little Deal (smut) - Robert x reader

Who's In Charge (smut) - 80s Robert x reader

Daddy, I Just Can't Wait (smut) - Robert x reader

Depollute Me, Gentle Angel (fluff) - Robert x Evanna (OC)

Steal Away Now (smut) - Robert x Evanna (OC)

I'm Gonna Put You Down For A While (smut) - Robert x Evanna (OC)

I'm Gonna Crawl (smut) - Robert x Evanna (OC)

Far Too Long (smut) - Robert x reader

If You Wake Up With The Sunrise (fluff) - Robert x reader

Just Pretend (smut) - Robert x reader Part 1, Part 2

Relaxations (fluff) - Robert x reader

Until You Forget (smut) - Robert x reader

Fool In The Rain (angst) - Robert x reader

Keep You Around (smut) - Robert x reader 

Sun And Moon (smut) - Robert x Jimmy Page x reader

Little Mare (smut) - Robert x reader

Shelter From The Storm (fluff) - Robert x reader

Turbulence (smut) - Robert x OC

Insatiable (smut) - Robert x OC

Crave You (smut) - Robert x reader

Taste You (smut) - Robert x reader

A Warm Comfort (fluff) - Robert x reader

Poolside Pleasures (smut) - Robert x reader

A Viking's War Prize (smut) - Robert x Eira (OC) [Viking AU] Part 1, Part 2

Safe In My Arms (fluff) - Robert x reader

Leave Your Mark On Me (smut) - Robert x Dalya (OC)

John Bonham

Frolics In The Park (fluff) - Bonzo x reader

Jimmy Page

Love Is An Open Wound (smut) - Jimmy x reader

John Paul Jones

Escape With Me (fluff) - Jonesy x reader

Robert x Jimmy

So I Can Die Easy (smut)

Take Care Of You (fluff)

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Loki Laufeyson

Nobody's Fool (smut) - Loki x reader (AO3 link)

And The Gods Made Love (smut) - Loki x reader

For Your King (smut) - Loki x reader

Sweet Rest (fluff) - Loki x reader

Unconventional Remedy (smut) - Loki x reader