Maroon

It had been only a year. A year since John had lost his vision. A hard night of partying, being stupid, and a speeding car was all it took for John to loose his eye sight. No more preening int the mirror. Staring at himself and his gorgeous body. He was still clinging to the memory of his gorgeous self.

John struggled with it everyday. He could see shapes and colors. But it was all blurred together, and no matter how hard he squinted, he just couldn't make out himself or other people.

Mike had been his support through all of it. Mike was like his lover without the complications, they were like twins. So John trusted Mike to help him with anything he needed. Guide him places, pick out his cloths, and take his mind off his disability. John usually avoided using a cane, as he hated people looking at him with sympathy. He couldn't see the looks, but he knew he got them. So he usually held Mike's hand and let his best friend lead the way.

They were at a concert. Mike convinced John to go because 1) He didn't need to see what was going on. He just needed to hear the music. And 2) Mike knew John had been down lately. So he knew dragged the brunette out of the house.

John was sitting in the crowd, looking down as he filed his nails and waited for the show to start. He didn't know the musician, but agreed to make Mike happy. He glanced up into nothingness when he heard the music start, just realizing he was probably pretty close to the stage judging by how loud the music was. He stood with Mike, clapping as he heard the music.

Adam had succeeded. He made in the music industry, like he had always wanted. He had always loved music and learned to play the guitar and sing at a young age. Since then, he had only gotten better, too. He had learned to play the piano and drums.

Many people liked his music because of his unique voice. It was something that drew people in. It had a strange charm to it. And he was glad that people liked it, seeing as he loved to sing and couldn't imagine doing anything else with his life.

Adam was backstage, preparing for his concert.

"Five minutes, Adam," a stagehand informed him.

Adam nodded and smiled in thanks. "Thank you for that," he said and took a sip of water and cleared his throat.

He stepped out on stage to the roar of the fans, which immediately made him smile. He stepped up the the mic. "Are you guys ready for this?!" he asked them. The crowd cheered in response. He smiled as the band began to play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBiPHTtMV2Q

"I really, I really, whoa
I really need to know
I really, I really, whoa
Or else, you gotta let me go, oh
I really, I really," he sang into the mic, smiling at the fans.

"This time I really need to do things right
Shivers that you give me keep me freezing all night

You make me shudder, oh yeah
I can't believe it, I'm not myself,
Suddenly I'm thinkin' about no one else
You make me shudder," he continued, dancing across the stage, full of energy, as he always was onstage.

"Oh I really need to know
Or else you gotta let me go
You're just a fantasy girl
It's an impossible world
All I want is to be with you always
I give you everything
Pay some attention to me
All I want is just you and me always

Give me affection
I need your perfection
Cause you feel so good
You make me stutter, stutter

If I could touch you, I'd never let go
Now you got me screaming and I cannot shut up, oh, shut up, yeah
Now I am lying on the bedroom floor barely even speaking

And I cannot get up, get up
Oh I really, I really, I really need to know
Or else you gotta let me go, ooh

You're just a fantasy girl
It's an impossible world
All I want is to be with you always
I give you everything
Pay some attention to me
All I want is just you and me always

Give me affection
I need your perfection
Cause you feel so good
You make me stutter, stutter, stutter

You knock me down, I can't get up, I'm stuck
Gotta stop shaking me up
I can't eat, can't sleep, can't think,
Sinking under, I'm sinking under

You're just a fantasy girl
It's an impossible world
All I want is to be with you always
I give you everything
Pay some attention to me
All I want is just you and me always

You're just a fantasy girl
It's an impossible world
All I want is to be with you always
Give me affection, I need your perfection
Cause it feels so good you make me stutter

I'll give you everything
Give some attention to me
All I want is you and me always

Give me affection
I need your perfection

Cause it feels so good
You make me stutter
You make me stutter
You make me stutter," he finished. The crowd went wild and it was exhilarating. His eyes scanned the crowd and he spotted John, freezing.

"Johnny," he breathed into the microphone accidentally, eyes wide.

John frowned a little as he heard the voice. It sounded extremely familiar. Too familiar. He shook his head and listened to the song, enjoying it. Mike took his hands and danced with him. John chuckled and humored him, dancing with him. By the end of the song, he heard misname echo through the arena. His eyes went wide. It suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Ace... it's Ace..." He whispered. Mike frowned and looked at Adam.

"You sure?" He asked, never having seen Adam before. Johnny nodded.

"I know that voice..." He breathed, looking up at the sage. He saw a shaped colored maroon. He could pick it apart in the sea of colors surrounding him from a mile away. It was Adam.

Adam quickly caught himself and laughed it off. "Johnny Appleseed, someone I liked to learn about in Sunday School, if you didn't know that," he chuckled. "Anyway. You ready for another?" he yelled. The crowd cheered in reply. "Alright, then. Let's do this!"

He nodded to the beat for a second before he began to sing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNqznxje3FU

Once he had finished that song, he sang a few more before heading back stage for a quick intermission. He sat down and drank his water, staring at the floor.

"Hey man, you okay?" Jesse asked him, sitting next to him. Adam had known the whole band since their days in high school, so they all knew about the Johnny thing.

"I dunno. I saw him, Jesse. John. In the crowd," he said and looked at his friend. Jesse nodded.

"I figured. Well, just get through the concert and then you can go talk to him," Jesse said, patting his back.

Adam sighed and nodded. "Alright. Let's go finish this," he said and went back on stage.


About an hour or so later, they finished the concert and wrapped up with a quick thanks to the fans for supporting them.

Adam went to his dressing room once backstage and hoped that John would come back stage, having told the guards to let any family backstage, including their friends.

"Let's go backstage! I have passes." Mike grinned, taking John's hand like always did and led him to the VIP section to go backstage.

John groaned. He couldn't turn back and run because he had no way of escaping. It was the downfall of making Mike his eyes. Mike dragged him everywhere.

"What if... WHat if I heard wrong? I'll look stupid." John said nervously, walking with Mike as the security guards let them through.

"Just relax, John. You've never heard wring before." Mike said as they reached Adam's door.

John groaned. He and Mike bickered some more before the door opened. John blinked and looked over at the maroon silhouette.

Adam sat on the couch, his head in his hands. He looked up when he heard a knock on the door, his heartbeat picking up.

He got up and went over to the door, opening it, holding back his smile when he saw John and holding back a frown when he saw him holding hands with another man. Is this /my/ Johnny? He looks like him, but something is unfamiliar...

John and Mike stopped bickering when the door opened. John looked at Adam- Well, he looked through him. He looked through everybody, having a space-y, unfocused looked when he looked at people. But he couldn't focus on someone's eyes or face. How could he when all he saw was a colored blur?

"A-Adam... Do you uh, remember me?" John asked nervously, blushing slightly. The white, transparent film coating his green eyes was usually the give away of him being blind. But pretty much everybody missed it, especially since he didn't use a cane or a dog or anything. He wanted to seems s normal as possible. Some people met John, not even knowing he was blind.

Adam nodded, smiling. "Of course I do," he said. You're the brother that I abandoned so I could live out my dream, he thought.

When he left, he had thought that he had his priorities in order, that he knew what I wanted. And maybe at the time, that had been what he wanted. But the longer he spent away from John and the rest of his family, the more he missed them. And he regretted leaving John there by himself with the twins. He hadn't known the struggles that John went through because when he was a teenager, he didn't care. But it's different now. Now, he was glad to have contact with his brother.

John smile da bit. "Good. I missed you Ace... you left me with the twins, you know." HE said, chuckling nervously.

He hadn't seen Adam in such a long time. He missed him terribly. Every day he was picked on by his sisters, bullied at school, and then going blind just a year ago. John hate not having Adam there by his side, like he did when they were very young. Before the twins were born.

"You'r equate successful. And talented. I'm happy for you." John said softly, his hand still holding Mike's like always. It was almost a reflex.

"Yeah, hard work pays off," Adam chuckled awkwardly. "And I missed you, too. A lot," he said, leaning against the door frame and crossing his arms. "I was honestly shocked to see you here. I never thought you were one for my music. You never liked it when we were younger," he said, looking into John's eyes, noticing the white film over them, not able to see John's beautiful green eyes.

"Oh, well, that's what you think. I was a kid, and your little brother. I could never give you the satisfaction." John chuckled. "And Mike dragged me out of the house to see you." He said, gesturing to Mike."THis is Mike by the way." He said, Mike greeting him politely. "So Ace, anything new, aside from... all of this." John said, gesturing to arena and whatnot around them.

Adam chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Not really. Still with the guys. Still single. Not much has changed, really," he smiled at Johnny, only acknowledging Mike when they greeted. "How about you?" he asked softly, his eyes on John's, though his were vacant, blank, empty.

John shrugged a little. "I haven't done a whole not really. I continued gymnastics until about a year ago. Right now I'm just kinda... living." He chuckled as he looked through Adam. "I'm single as well. Haven't had a man in a while, actually."

Adam nodded, smiling a bit. He didn't know why that made him happy, but it did. "Uh, come on in," he said, moving so Mike and Johnny could come in, closing the door behind them and sitting on a chair, letting them take the couch. "So how long have you been living here?"

"Bout a year. I moved in with Mike. I didn't really have anything for me Palos Verdes, so I left." John said as Mike led him to the couch, both of them sitting across from Adam. "What about you? You come straight here after you left?" He asked.

"No. I've been a lot of places, especially since my career picked up. I started out in L.A. and then we moved around a lot, playing a lot of bars and such. Only about a year ago did we come around here and that's when we were discovered, really. After doing a lot of YouTube videos, so we had a fan base," Adam replied, crossing his legs so his ankle was resting on his knee.

John was looking elsewhere, but he was listening intently. "I'm glad you got where you wanted to be." He said, smiling softly. Mike was on his phone, and cursed quietly. "Johnny, I have to go. Some emergency at work. Can Adam drive you home?
John shrugged and looked at the maroon blur. "I don't know. Do you mind?" He chuckled. He was uneasy about his 'eyes' leaving. But he hoped he could manage with his brother.

"Yeah, yeah, of course. I've got plenty of time. Why? You never learned to drive?" Adam chuckled. Johnny was always excited to get another year older, another year closer to being able to drive. It surprised him that John didn't drive himself places.

John chuckled as Mike got up and left to take care of his business. "I learned, of course. But I don't have a car. It's Mike's. Plus, I haven't driven in a while." He said, leaning back in his seat. He missed driving so much. He missed his car. His gorgeous mustang that he sold. He had no need for it. So he had to give it to someone that would take care of it. He hadn't mentioned the fact that he was blind yet. Partly because he didn't really regard or rely on sight. It wasn't like having a blindfold over your eyes. And partly because he figured Adam had figured it out already.

Adam nodded. "Well, mi cosas es tu cosas," he smiled, knowing a bit of Spanish but not much. He tried to use what he could when he could so he didn't lose it. He wanted to keep the little knowledge that he had about the language.

John nodded and smiled. "Yeah, like you used to kick me out of your room 24/7." He chuckled. "Wanna go out and grab something to eat. I'm starving, and I'm sure you are too after your show. It's on me." He said.

Adam chuckled. "Sure," he said and stood up, walking to the door and opening it, waiting for John to follow.

John go tup, following Adam, or the color of him. But, not having any guidance, and in Johnny fashion, he tripped right over the coffee table that was obviously right in front of him. Well, obvious to someone who could see.

"Ow..." John groaned, rubbing his head which was hurting after his clumsy fall. People were colors, but objects? Everything that wasn't living was just grayness and blackness smudged together. He mentally cursed the coffee table as he laid on the floor, rubbing his head.

Adam turned around and faced him, eyes wide. "Johnny!" he exclaimed and rushed over to his brother, kneeling down. "Johnny, what happened? Didn't you see the coffee table there? It's as plain as day!" he said, not mad but worried for his brother.

"No, I lost my sight a year ago." John grumbled, sitting up and fussing with his hair a bit. "I'm fine don't worry." He said, standing slowly, not wanting to bump into anything again. The last thing he needed was another injury. He' been pretty clumsy in the past year.