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It was a lovely evening in February, 1975. Andrew and Pete were sitting together in the studio, after the day's rehearsal came to an end. Andy had just picked up his bag, waved "Goodnight!" to the other two, and left. Andrew was storing his guitar inside of its case when Pete threw himself on the couch with a beer bottle in his hand.
Andrew lit a joint as he sat down next to Pete. "Long day, huh?"
"Mhm" Pete sighed. He looked really tired, even more than any other day, it was almost as if something was troubling him. Andrew looked at him with a concerned expression on his face.
“You alright?"
Pete looked at him, nodded and then looked at the floor "Yeah.. Just tired…"
Andrew couldn't help himself. He stared at Pete's face while he was looking away, even tired, he still looked beautiful.
Andrew always felt safe when Pete was around, loved his company, loved him as a friend.. Or maybe... Even more than just a friend.. From the time they moved together to Devon to write material for "The Snow Goose", having spent so much time alone with him, he was starting to develop romantic feelings for Pete... In fact, he wondered if the feelings kicked in even way back when they first got together on their first rehearsal. The "big buzz" felt more like a "love at first sight" for Andrew... But he wasn't sure if he should express it or not...
Andrew continued staring at Pete, starting to get lost in his thoughts, until Pete turned his body towards him and moved slightly closer to him, enough to knock Andrew back into reality.
Pete crossed his legs and balanced his beer bottle between his thighs as he leaned his head towards his arm. "This album... I'm really enjoying working on it so far... I really do… I just have a sort of... weird feeling about it," he said and proceeded to lift his beer bottle and take a sip.
Andrew tilted his head "What do you mean?"
Pete leaned forward "I dunno... We've put a lot of effort into it so far, and the fans on the last tour seemed really enthusiastic listening to the new material... but I have a weird feeling about how it's going to affect us… as a band. We put a lot of work into it, and yes, the fans seem to like it, but what about the press and all that?"
"What about it?" asked Andrew, before starting to get lost in his thoughts again... he could hear what Pete was saying and understood him just fine, he was just lost gazing at his beauty again…
Pete continued, "The whole discussion about the lack of vocals in it concerned me, quite a lot... What if it doesn't do well in the charts? The press praises singles and songs with vocals... what if they don't like it? I've been in the music business for 15 years and stuff like this worries me a lot, because in the end a lot depends on how the album does on the charts. We've committed so much into it, even with the orchestra... and there's that huge tour incomi-"
Andrew gently interrupted him by moving closer to him. "Shh… Don't worry about it! I think they're going to love it! They love new and experimental things! I think that's the whole concept of prog anyway... they already went insane last tour when we played the excerpts from it! I bet it's going to be great!"
Pete sighed and looked in the opposite direction. Andrew moved closer and touched his shoulder, locking eyes with him. "Hey, hey... It doesn't matter. It really doesn't. We have each other now... The four of us. We'll work a way through it like we have these last four years. Screw the charts! They don't know what they're doing! But we do! And it's the right thing"
Pete let out a little smile and giggled. "I guess... maybe you're right"
"See? Of course! I'm always right!" Andrew said jokingly and laughed.
"Maybe we should stop worrying about the album now… Let's think of something else, yeah?" Andrew winked. Pete saw him laugh and laughed as well. "Yeah, alright, whatever..."
"What are you up to tonight? Any plans?" Andrew asked. He tried to not make it sound suspicious, but really just wanted to know more about Pete and what he did in his life outside of the band.
"Dunno… Might just take the train to Kew and walk home... Walking outside feels really calm around this hour… Might try to clear my mind a bit and then head to bed," Pete replied.
He still looked exhausted, it seemed odd since he was supposed to be the one who never failed to make Andrew laugh, so Andrew decided to try his hardest to make him laugh this time "Awwh, Kew is beautiful and that sounds really Kew-te," he winks.
Finally, Pete laughs "Okay, that was a good one."
"Haha, see? You think you're the only one that gets us in hysterics during the boring times?" Andrew giggled.
"Yeah, once this album is finished I'm gettin' back to it. Don'ja worr-e!" Pete giggled enthusiastically.
Oh how Andrew loved seeing that smile on his face. His eyes seemed as if they were sparkling… But time was passing fast. Pete looked at the clock. "Oh well.. I guess I've gotta go... The train will be here in a little while, I’d better hurry or I'll have to wait at the old station for 30 more minutes!" He got up and headed to catch his blazer. Andrew's daydreaming was interrupted, but it was okay.
"Alright man... I get it... I'll head out too" said Andrew and proceeded to put his joint out in an ashtray. He picked up his guitar case and his jacket and followed Pete along.
They decided to leave together. Andrew had nothing much to do so he decided to wait for Pete's train to arrive. They continued giggling about nonsense on their way to the station. Finally, Pete seemed to feel better. His train came in no time. "Aight... That's mine… See you tomorrow man!" he told Andrew while getting on the train.
"See ya! Goodnight!" Andrew waved at him.
"Goodnight!" Pete smiled at Andrew before getting on the train.
His long black hair waved in the wind and he stood still as he entered the train. He turned to Andrew's direction, still smiling. He waved at him again. Andrew felt butterflies in his stomach, while he was also smiling and waving at him. The train left. Andrew decided to wait to catch the next train to head to Guilford.
Pete felt better. He loved Andrew's company. He was a great friend to him, always supportive, incredibly talented but always humble, in the best way possible. The train ride didn't feel that long, he arrived at Kew pretty fast. He walked around the town for a little while, he wasn't worried about the album anymore. Andrew was right. They'd work it out as a team. Maybe it was rough for Pete, being in the music business on his own in the sixties, but now he wasn't alone. He had the others. He had Andrew. As he entered his house, he headed straight to bed. Maybe he'd give a call to Andrew next morning to hang out before the rehearsal, maybe with a better mood this time.
Andrew couldn't get Pete out of his mind. The train ride to Guilford felt long. He was concerned about Pete, he really cared for him. He didn't want him to worry. He also wanted to somehow show him how he felt about him, but at the same time, he was scared.
"What if he doesn't feel that way? What if he doesn't accept it? What if that ruins our friendship? What if.. What if... What if...."
He finally arrived to Guilford. His flat wasn't far away from the train station so he got there pretty quick. He grabbed a glass of wine and a joint and sat on his balcony, staring at the sky.
"Maybe I should write a song about him."