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conniescove444 · 4 months

Text

FROM THE FIRES

Chapter 5: I Looked Away

Pairing: Sam Kiszka × female!oc

Word Count (this chapter): 3469

Summary: Lana moved to the States a few months ago and has found herself in a small town in Michigan called Frankenmuth. After visiting a local bar on her first night, she begins talking to the bassist of the band that played and by the end of the night she's moved her things into his apartment. This was the last thing she was expecting to happen... but hey, what could go wrong?

(This story is set in 1971 rather than modern day so I've had to play around with some of the bands' story. I've been playing around with this concept for a while and thought it may be interesting considering their vibe is straight out of that era.)

WARNINGS: alcohol use, heavy drug use, tobacco use, sexual content (due to the themes this fic is 18+, please DNI if you are a minor- you will be blocked.)

The sound of the Beatles' Srgt Peppers album filled the living room and Lana was looking through the fridge to pull out a few beers. The song 'A Day in the Life' was playing and Sam was sat on the sofa listening, "This song changed my life you know."

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Lana looked back from the fridge, placing the beers onto the counter, "How come?"

"Showed me that there weren't any rules in music. It wasn't like anything I'd ever heard before."

She smiled softly at him, "The Beatles were who made me fall in love with music."

Sam was about to respond when the phone began to ring, "I got it." Lana said as she moved over to it, picking up the receiver.

"Hello."

"Hey Lana, it's Jake... Lori's had something come up with her parents today so she's not gonna come with us to the beach but if you still want to go then I'd be happy to take you."

"Oh okay... yeah that's fine. I really wanna get some fresh air."

"I'll be outside in 20 minutes then."

"Alright, see ya in a bit."

She put the receiver back down and Sam stood up, walking over to her.

"Who was that?" he leant on the wall next to the phone.

"Jake, Lori's not coming now but we still want to go if that's okay with you."

He nodded, staring at the phone intently "I'm gonna take a shower, I'll see you when you're home."

She watched him as he walked away, "Alright."

Something about his reaction was a little off but she knew he was still hung up on the recording sessions so she put it down to that. She got changed into a pair of bell bottom jeans and a white wrap top, adding her Afghan coat over everything. She then finished getting her things together and went outside to wait for Jake.

The drive wasn't too long and the pair had mostly talked about the different songs on the radio during the drive- they had the most similar taste in music out of everyone in the group.

They'd spent most of the day just sitting by the shore, it was too cold to do anything like swimming or getting ice cream but since it was still the off season it meant it was fairly quiet. They'd shared a blunt at one point and had got to talking about the band.

"Sam seems really stressed about the whole album thing. Is he usually like that?" Lana was sat back, leaning on her hands in the sand.

"He's just got a short fuse, nothing we haven't seen from him before."

She stared down at the sand and then out towards the water, "He was telling me about not feeling like his work was good enough."

Jake sighed softly, "I mean I think he just feels a bit overshadowed. I was the one who got the band started and Josh is obviously our front man so he just wants to find his place in things."

Lana watched as the waves moved back and forth, staying silent for a moment before responding, "I wish he wouldn't put so much pressure on himself. He's so good at what he does, he just can't seem to see it."

"All musicians are like that, he just lets it get to him too much."

"Yeah I suppose so. I don’t like seeing him so miserable though." she traced shapes in the sand beside her as she was speaking.

"Well you were great yesterday. With helping us of course but also with Sam at the start. If any of us had gone in there to ask him to get out of his own world he would have snapped. I think he just feels seen by you."

"You think so?" Lana felt herself blushing a little at the last part.

"Yeah definitely. I was a bit unsure when you guys first moved in together but he needed someone like you."

"Why's that?" She turned her head away from the water they'd both been looking out to in order to face him and he did the same.

"I don't know... I always felt that maybe he was a bit jealous over the fact that Danny has Mary-Jane and I have Lori... Josh is different because he's perfectly happy floating from person to person but Sam was never content doing that."

"It's not like he's never gotten any attention though, he always has girls pining over him and he goes home with them all the time. Surely he's had long term flings or girlfriends before."

"Yeah but it's not about that. I can't speak for you guys but with me and Lori, we can sleep with as many other people as we want but there's never that same connection as what we have with each other. Knowing there's that one person who knows every inch of you and always comes back to you, understands you... no matter what. Having that kind of connection with someone is something that I think most people need but don't always find."

Lana just turned back to the ocean and nodded. She understood what he was saying perfectly.

"I'm glad I found you guys. If I had chosen any other bar that night I'd probably be somewhere else across the country by now." she smiled at the thought.

Jake turned back to look at the water too, "Why were you travelling so much? I mean I get that you wanted to explore but why hadn't you stopped yet before you came here?"

Lana looked down at her feet, her boots covered in sand, "I'm not sure. I guess I was trying to find myself but I didn't really know how. I've never really felt at home with the people I've spent my life surrounding myself with until now."

Jake put his arm around her and pulled her closer. She leaned into him and rested her head into his side.

"I think you've found your home now." He said quietly, rubbing her arm with his hand.

They made the trek back up the beach towards Jake's car and just listened to the music on the way home. They spoke briefly about her time in London but besides that it was mostly comfortable silence. In her time in Frankenmuth so far, Jake had become like an older brother to her. She had no siblings of her own but he was someone she just felt comfortable opening up to around and he was happy to be there for her.

When he dropped her home she came into the apartment to see Sam sat on the sofa plucking at his bass.

"Hi Sammy." she went and took a seat next to him, brushing some hair behind his shoulder to place a kiss on his cheek.

"How was your day?" he put his bass down next to him and turned to face her.

"It was good... maybe a bit cold for the beach though."

He pulled her face closer towards him and placed short a kiss on her lips.

She then pulled away and looked at the phone, "I need to call my parents, I haven't spoken to them since Kansas."

He sighed quietly, "That's seriously what you're thinking about right now?" he looked a rather put out.

"Sorry, it's been on my mind."

"No don't worry about it." he leant back and tilted his head, looking up at the ceiling.

Lana got off the sofa and walked over to the phone, picking it up and dialling the number.

It rung for a few seconds before someone on the other end answered.

"Hi Mum it's me,

... yeah I'm fine, just wanted to let you know I've moved in somewhere for a while.

... I got a job so I can cover the rent,

... no my friend Sam lives here, it's his apartment, I just moved in with him.

... we're just friends."

They spoke for a little while longer and she gave her Mum her new number. She then spoke to her Dad who asked if he could speak to Sam.

She moved the receiver down away from her face and covered it with her hand, "Sam would you mind talking to my Dad? I think he just wants to check you're not a creep."

He looked over at her, "Yeah sure," he stood up and walked over, taking the phone from her.

"Samuel speaking.

... I promise I'll take care of her.

... no, she's no trouble..."

The two spoke very briefly before he handed the phone back to her. While she finished up her conversation he went to the kitchen cupboard to grab a glass before filling it with water.

"Okay, speak to you soon.

... love you too,

... bye."

She put the receiver back down and then leant back on the wall, sighing softly.

Sam took a sip of his water and then looked at her, "Connie."

Hearing the name startled her slightly and she just looked at him with wide eyes, "huh?"

"Don't play dumb. It's what your Dad called you. When were you gonna tell me?" he sounded quite hurt.

She just exhaled deeply and looked down at her feet. "Look I was gonna say something if it came up or if I needed to but it's not a name use anymore."

"Lana you live with me. You should have told me when you moved in." he put the glass down on the side and crossed his arms, leaning back on the counter- the frustration was obvious in his voice.

"I used to hang around groupies Sam, we all change our names and even if I'm not anymore, it still stuck. I didn't see a need to tell you yet."

He stood up off the counter, "It doesn't matter! I need to be able to trust you, if you're not gonna tell me something as simple as your name then how can I?"

"I don't understand why you're so upset? It's not really my name anymore. I don't use it. It's not like you're the only person I've ever met who's never known me as Connie."

He scoffed and rolled his eyes, turning his head away from her, "Wow."

"God it really isn't that big of a deal." she stood up straight and crossed her arms, raising her voice slightly.

He looked at her again, "It is though. I'll take a bet that Turner isn't your last name either."

"...no. It's Smith. Constance Smith."

He didn't respond, he simply walked back over to the sofa and picked up his bass again, messing around with the tuners.

She walked a bit closer to where he was sitting but made sure to keep a decent amount of distance, "What so are you just gonna not talk to me now?"

He didn't respond nor look up from what he was doing.

"Look Sam I'm sorry. I really don't see why you're so upset though." she lowered her voice again and walked closer to him.

He just pretended as though she wasn't there and it was really starting to agitate her. She could understand him being a little hurt by it but this felt like much more of an overreaction.

"You're being so ridiculous right now."

"Oh I'm being ridiculous? What the actual fuck? You've been fucking lying to me this entire time." he moved his bass and raised his voice a little bit.

"Stop it." she had intended for her words to come out a bit more confidently than they had. In all honesty she was trying not to break down crying.

"No. This is such bull shit." with that he stood up and walked into his room, slamming the door behind him.

Lana just stood there paralysed. Why was he this mad about something like that? She'd never ever gotten such a big reaction over someone finding out her name. It wasn't an uncommon thing to change your name, not in the scene that she was in at least. It was mostly done for privacy and safety but for her it was a persona she could hide behind. She felt very vulnerable having people know who she really was and Sam had just made it a hundred times worse.

The only thing she could think to do was go somewhere else, she didn't want to be around him and he clearly didn't want to be around her.

She grabbed her bag from where she'd left it on the counter and got her coat back off the rack before exiting the apartment, slamming the door shut behind her so Sam would know she'd left. She walked a couple of streets until she was at Lori's place and knocked on the door hastily. "Hey hun," Lori had a smile on her face but when she noticed something was off her look quickly turned to concern, "is everything alright?"

Lana just shook her head and Lori took her hand, leading her into her bedroom. The twins were sat on the sofa in the living room but they didn't pay much attention to what was happening, too engrossed in their own conversation. Lana sat on the bed and once Lori had closed the door and sat beside her, she just began to break down. Lori moved closer and wrapped her arms around her, holding her tightly, "hey, hey, it's okay. You wanna talk about it?" she spoke softly and rather quietly.

Lana just shook her head and let her friend hold her. She felt like she was choking on guilt even though she wasn't sure if she should feel guilty. Looking back on the situation, she'd wished she'd just have told him the day she moved in, but it was a different time. It was the 70s. It wasn’t uncommon to not use your real name... Lana was no different. Especially where she came from, people put up barriers and at that point she didn't feel that there was any need to tell him yet. She still however felt like she’d made a huge mistake. It clearly bothered Sam and she wasn't intentionally trying to hurt him, she was just protecting herself.

They stayed in the room together for a few minutes until Lana had calmed down. She was curled up on the bed, holding a pillow close to her chest, Lori stroking her arm.

"I'm gonna go back out to the boys, you can join us whenever you're ready, alright?" Lori stroked her hair and Lana nodded, motioning it was okay for her leave the room.

After a while she'd pulled herself together enough to want to go and join everyone else and she walked back into the living room to see them all in a conversation.

She stood by the doorway, fiddling with her hands, "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to intrude on anything."

"No you're fine, it's always nice having you around." Josh smiled at her and then patted the seat next to him. Lana walked over and sat down, curling her legs up to her chest.

Lori was sat with her legs over Jake's lap and he was resting an arm around her knees.

"Me and Jake were gonna go see a movie but you guys are more than welcome to stay here if you want to." Lori said, swinging her legs round so they were back on the ground.

"Thanks." Lana said quietly. Josh simply nodded then looked towards the girl beside him a bit concerned, he could see something was up. Her eyes were raw and puffy and her body language was so different to usual.

Once Lori and Jake had left he moved to sit crossed legged on the sofa, facing her, "You okay in there?" he cocked his head to the side as he looked at her.

Lana turned to look at him and rested her head on her knees, "Not really... could I talk to you about it?"

"Of course you can." he gave her a reassuring smile.

Lana sighed before thinking carefully about her choice of words, "I was on the phone to my parents earlier and my Dad spoke to Sam at one point... now please don't read into this, you know I’ve had a bit of an unusual few years."

Josh nodded.

"Lana isn't my actual name. I hadn't told Sam that yet. I haven't told anyone that yet because I don't go by my old name. I haven't done for years. I changed it back in London like most of the girls I hung around with did but I never stopped using it because I liked being able to hide behind it I suppose... When my Dad spoke to Sam he used my real name and after we'd hung up he got pretty angry about it for some reason. Like weirdly angry. I can understand him feeling a bit hurt since we live together but never in a million years did I expect the reaction I got. I promise I was gonna tell him at some point... I was. It just didn't feel like the right time yet I dunno." she buried her face into her knees.

He reached his arm over to stroke hers, trying to comfort the girl, "Look, I personally don't give a shit what you wanna go by, at the end of the day it's just how we refer to you but not everyone feels like that."

She looked back up at him, her eyes moments away from releasing another wave of tears, "I know but I've never seen him get like that. It really worried me Josh."

Josh just looked at her apologetically, not really sure what to say.

"Am I overacting? Am I in the wrong here for being upset? I was the one who fucked up." she moved her legs to sit crossed legged, mirroring the way Josh was sitting.

Josh took her hands in his, trying to reassure her, "No. You just have different opinions on the topic and that's okay... what did he say about it?"

She sighed, "Just that I had been lying to him the whole time and that he can't trust me and stuff."

Josh stayed silent for a moment, clearly thinking about how to phrase things, "I think he's upset about something else. That was just the catalyst for him, I can't see why he'd be so angry over that. He may feel a bit upset by you not telling him but that seems a bit extreme."

Lana just looked at him, a bit confused. "What would he be upset about? Is it something I've done?"

Josh rubbed his thumb over her knuckles, "I don't know if I'm right but I think you going out with Jake today."

She was a bit taken aback by his suggestion, "... what? why?"

"I don't want to make assumptions but he was really off with Jake in the studio yesterday. I figured it was probably about that."

Lana just looked down at her lap, "Why would he be upset about that?"

"You have to talk to him Lana, I don't want to say anything that may not be true. Plus, it's your issue. You gotta fix it between yourselves."

She looked back up at him again with a shy smile, "Yeah you're right. Thank you Josh."

He just smiled and pulled her in for a hug, he knew his brother and he was getting to know her too... this was something only they could fix but he was happy to help if he could.

When Lori and Jake got back, the twins left to go to their apartment but Lana stayed over that night. She didn't want to go home yet because the idea of talking to Sam was making her stomach churn. She didn't sleep much, she was just trying to go over what she was gonna say in her head but it wasn't really getting her anywhere. She just tried her best to push through, waiting for the next morning to arrive.

#sam kiszka fic #sam kiszka fanfiction #sam kiszka #sam gvf #greta van fleet fan fiction #greta van fleet #Spotify

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conniescove444 · 4 months

Text

FROM THE FIRES

Chapter 4: Rock & Roll

Pairing: Sam Kiszka × female!oc

Word Count (this chapter): 3044

WARNINGS: alcohol use, heavy drug use, tobacco use, sexual content (due to the themes this fic is 18+, please DNI if you are a minor- you will be blocked.)

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Lana scurried around the apartment in the early morning sunlight trying to get herself put together. It was her second shift at the record store and she was still feeling quite nervous. She'd never had a proper job before and while it was definitely an absolute dream compared to working at a grocery store or something like she'd expected, it was still intimidating. Her interview went really well and yesterday she had her first shift, however it was with the owner of the store so that she could be shown exactly what to do and be introduced to everything. Today she was gonna be working it by herself and she had the opening shift so she'd woken up quite early to make sure she was ready in time. She was trying her best not to wake Sam, he'd been up late rehearsing last night and was still fast asleep. On the days where Lana worked, she knew she wasn't gonna see him very much, by the time she would be home he would already be at the studio and once he got back she was getting ready to go to bed.

She was in the bathroom rummaging through one of the drawers to find her hairspray when Sam walked over and leant on the doorway.

"Morning Lanie," she turned around and saw him rubbing his eyes, clearly he'd just rolled out of bed. He had his hair in a messy bun and was only wearing a pair of pyjama bottoms.

"You're up early." she closed the drawer having found what she wanted and took the cap off, spraying it over her freshly curled hair.

Sam coughed lightly and waved his arm to get the fumes away from him, "God I don't know how you're not dying when you're practically spraying that in your face."

She laughed at his reaction, "I've gotta go Sammy, I'll see you tonight." she walked past him with a smile and made her way over to the front door, grabbing her bag on the way.

"Play some Crosby, Stills and Nash in the shop for me." he called after her, returning the smile. She turned around and nodded, giving him a small wave before stepping through the door.

After the short walk, Lana approached the door to the shop, it was a very small building that had been there a long time and looked quite unassuming from the outside. On the inside however were rows and rows of albums. It had a lot of new stock but there was also a section at the back where people could come in and exchange their old unwanted records. Those were the records the staff were allowed to play during their shift. The walls were covered in posters and the place was lit up by different lanterns hanging from the ceiling. There were also beautiful bohemian rugs covering the old hardwood floors. It had a really homely feel and Lana could understand why the group loved it so much.

As she stepped through the door she flipped the sign to open and put her bag on the desk. She then made her way to the back of the store and began flicking through the used albums. A few stood out to her as candidates to play which she picked up for later but she was hoping to come across some CSN like Sam had requested. In the last row of albums she found their debut record and smiled to herself at the sight. She brought her small stack over to the desk and loaded the album onto the turntable behind it.

The day was going by quite slowly, a few customers here and there but for the most part she had the time to herself. At one point she went out the back to light up a joint, it was one she'd made quite weak, mostly tobacco, so that she wasn't completely high on the job. As she was getting back inside she heard the small bell above the door chime, signalling someone had come in. She quickly made her way back to the desk ready to greet them but she was instead met by Lori.

"Can I smell weed?" she said with a fake shock on her face.

"Lori you scared me! The day's been really slow so I wanted a little pick me up." Lana leant on the desk, a little out of breath from trying to get inside so quickly.

"High on the job, so unprofessional," Lori shook her head, scolding her friend in a jokey way, "I would do the same, I'm only teasing... anyway, me and Jake were gonna head to the beach tomorrow but you haven't been yet so we were wondering if you wanted to tag along? I know you love nature 'n stuff so I thought it may be fun."

"I'd love that but I don't wanna third wheel if you guys wanted to spend some time together."

"You're not third wheeling, I invited Mary-Jane too but then Danny told her he was gonna take her out."

"Okay then, as long as you both don't mind me coming. I haven't been to a beach since I was in Cali." The album she was playing had just finished so she turned around to take the vinyl off the spinner as she spoke, "Got any requests for the next album?"

"Hmmm I don't know... lemme go find something." Lori walked over to the records and started looking through. She returned with Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys.

"Classic." Lana said as she took it from her and put it down ready to play. She cleaned off some of the dust before placing the needle down and turning back to her friend, "you fancy staying for a bit? I'm getting pretty lonely and we're getting a new shipment in at any minute- I heard the delivery driver's pretty cute."

"I was about to grab some lunch but you've got my attention now." they both giggled at Lori's response.

"Lunch sounds really nice right now, I haven't eaten all day." Lana took a seat at the stool behind the counter and rested her face in her hands.

"Yeah or you just want some munchies because of the grass."

"Well yeah that too," Lana rubbed her face as she spoke.

"Okay well what do you fancy? I'll go grab something for us."

"I don't mind, I could use some coffee though."

"I know a place, be back in ten." Lori turned and left the store again, walking quite quickly in an attempt to not miss the delivery.

She returned not long after with her arms full of food. The delivery van pulled up at the same time and a guy with long messy blonde hair stepped out.

"You want a hand with that doll?" he took off his sunglasses to look at her when he spoke. He seemed to be a bit older than the girls but one thing was for sure, he was certainly attractive.

"Yeah, thanks hun," she smiled, handed him one of the paper bags she was carrying and opened the door to the shop, the pair walking in and placing the food on the counter. Lana looked up from the magazine she'd begun to look through.

"I take it our delivery is here." she smirked at the blonde.

"Yeah, where'd you want me to put your order sweetheart?" he spoke with a raspy voice and looked the girl up and down.

"Just on the floor down here would be great, I'll give you a hand." Lana moved round from the back of the desk ready to help while Lori took a sip from her drink, eyeing the man carefully.

"No it's okay, don't want either of you to hurt yourselves carrying those heavy boxes." he gave them a wink before heading back out the store to open up the van.

Lori turned to Lana with a smile dancing on her lips, "Wow."

The pair just stood watching him as he walked back in with a box under each arm, setting them down where Lana instructed then brought in a few more. When he was done he went to make his way back out, "If you need any help with anything you have my number, should be in the staff notes." He then put his sunglasses back on and closed the door behind him

"Lana I swear to God if you don't make sure I'm here next time you get a delivery..."

"Hey watch it, what if I wanted to keep him to myself?"

"Tough luck, shouldn't have let me meet him then." the pair giggled a little before turning to the boxes and ripping them open and looking through.

They were putting away the last few albums when Lori turned to look at her friend, "You know, I'm really glad you're sticking around. It's nice having another girl in the group and the guys all love you."

Lana looked up from what she was doing with a small but genuine smile, "That means a lot, I was a bit worried at first, I wasn't sure how you'd all feel about me suddenly being involved in everything. I know you guys are all super close and stuff and then suddenly I was just there as well."

"Awe honey... why'd you think I asked you to join us that first night? You just have this vibe I dunno, me and Janey just knew when we saw you that we needed to talk to you."

"You're just inflating my ego now." Lana looked back down at the records, adding the last one into the row.

"No I mean it though! Seriously… Plus, I know Sam's really enjoying having you around- I've never seen him so happy."

Lana chuckled lightly, "Well that's good to hear considering I live with him."

"I still can't believe you moved in with him so quickly... I mean I'm glad you did but that was brave of you."

Lana walked over to the desk, getting her things together ready to close up, "well you know, I'd been hitchhiking with strangers for days at a time, nothing bad's happened so far."

After closing, the girls went their separate ways and Lana got home in just a few minutes. When she walked through the door she was expecting to be alone but Sam was sat on the sofa, doing seemingly nothing, with his bass in its case on the floor beside him.

"Sammy? I thought you were at the studio, what're you doing?" she put her keys down on the kitchen counter as it was next to the door.

"Yeah... well... I was waiting for you to get back. Don't take your coat off or anything." he picked up his bass and began walking over to the door.

"Huh?" Lana looked at him, confused.

"We want you to sit in on our session. Josh thinks we need a new set of ears." Sam grabbed Lana's keys from the counter and opened the door, grabbing her hand on his way out.

"Oh okay... why me though?"

"You play music, you'll be able to give us advice." he said it as it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I'm not very good. I play for fun, you guys are professional Sam."

"Doesn't matter, you have a good ear." he opened the car door for her. She was sceptical about the whole thing but was just going along with it. He'd stayed back to wait for her after all.

The drive there wasn't as long as Lana was expecting and on the way Sam explained what the band was struggling with. She wasn't sure how much help she would be but she was willing to try. The pair stopped on the way to grab some food and when they got into the studio the guys were all happy to be getting fed. They'd all already been there a few hours and from the smell of weed lingering in the room Lana could guess they hadn't got much work done. "Thanks for coming Lana, I know this isn't ideal for you but we really appreciate it." Josh said, going over to give her a hug.

"That's okay, not sure I'm gonna be much use though."

"I think you will, Sam told us you were a bit of a musician," Jake said, he was sprawled over the couch with a cigarette between his fingers.

"I'm not sure about that." She laughed as she spoke and took a seat next to him, opening up one of the pizza boxes they had brought and taking a slice- most of the guys then did the same. Sam however went into the recording room and sat down at his keyboard, pulling out a crumpled up sheet of paper and placing it down in front of him. He then began to play, completely consumed in what he was doing. Lana finished her pizza slice and lit a cigarette, standing up and walking over to the glass window that separated the rooms to get a better look at what he was doing. Josh then walked over to stand next to her, grabbing her cigarette and taking a drag before handing it back to her.

"He's been hung up on that song all week." Josh said to her quietly.

"It's really beautiful... what's it called?"

"Flower Power. We've been kicking it around for years."

"I really like it." her eyes were fixed on Sam as she spoke. He was so entranced in what he was doing but she could tell he was tired by his demeanour.

"I'm glad. Not sure why he's playing it though, it's not the song we wanted you to hear."

"I don't mind. I could listen to him playing all day, no matter the song."

Jake then walked over too, "Lori called, you're coming to the beach with us tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it." she turned to look at him and gave him a brief smile before turning her attention back to Sam.

"He needs to hurry up, we have work to do." Jake seemed kind of frustrated by the fact his brother wasn't doing what they had planned and he just stood there, arms crossed, with a fed up look plastered on his face. Lana stepped away and walked into the recording room without saying a word. She put her cigarette out in the ashtray sat on top of Sam's keyboard and took a seat next to him on the stool.

"Hey Sammy." she leant her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arm around him to put her hand on his other shoulder. He continued to play when he spoke back, "Hi Lanie."

"That's beautiful. Is it what you were playing around with the other night at home?"

"Mhm."

"I really love it but I think everyone wants to get on. You wanted me to help you out with another song, right?" she spoke softly, just loud enough for him to hear.

"Yeah... sorry." he stopped playing and just looked at the keys.

"Come get some food and then we can get on. I wanna go home soon, I'm really tired."

He nodded and stood up, taking her hand and walking back to the rest of the band.

"It's okay Sam, take your time, we have all night." Jake said sarcastically.

"Oh fuck off Jake. You were all eating anyway, I wasn't doing any harm." Sam went over to his coat and pulled a joint out of his pocket, lighting it and taking a deep inhale.

Danny stood up from where he was sitting, he looked really tired. "Let's not fall out. We're all exhausted let's just get on with it."

"Yeah because you've all been working really hard all day getting high." Sam passed the joint to Lana as he spoke.

"We've been writing as well actually." Josh sounded a bit offended.

Sam just rolled his eyes, taking the blunt back and walking back into the recording room, everyone else following too.

Josh stood behind the microphone and spoke to Lana, "We'll play the song for you, when you want to talk to us press the button on that control board in front of you because we can't hear you in here."

She nodded and took a seat by the window.

By the end of the night they had got to the root of their issue, Lana had given a few suggestions and they seemed happy with it. On the drive home, Sam didn't really say much and it was beginning to really bother her.

"What's wrong with you today? You were fine this morning." she looked at him as he was driving but he just kept his eyes fixed on the road.

"I'm still fine."

"Sam."

He didn't respond.

"Have I done something wrong?"

"No it's not you."

"Then what's bothering you? You're not usually like this."

"I'm just fed up with everything. I want this to be perfect and it's just not."

She looked down at her hands, "Sometimes it's just like that. Bands always go back and forth before reaching a point they’re satisfied with. Nothing's ever perfect but I think you guys are pretty close. Just enjoy the ride, you don't need to put so much pressure on yourself."

"Yeah I guess." he briefly looked at her and gave a weak smile.

"I think I know how we can make you feel better when we get home."

"Oh yeah?"

"I think you need a release Sammy."

And with that he put his foot on the pedal even harder.

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A/N: I know a lot of these early chapters aren't the best (I'm ashamed to say I have a Literature qualification.) but I wrote the first ten over only a few days because I was tryna get ideas down. I promise they gradually get better tho so stick with me!!

ALSO all the chapters are named after songs so I'll link a playlist once I have more of this published <3

#greta van fleet #greta van fleet fan fiction #sam gvf #sam kiszka #sam kiszka fanfiction #sam kiszka fic #Spotify

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conniescove444 · 4 months

Text

FROM THE FIRES

Chapter 3: Ripple

Pairing: Sam Kiszka × female!oc

Word Count (this chapter): 1534

WARNINGS: alcohol use, heavy drug use, tobacco use, sexual content (due to the themes this fic is 18+, please DNI if you are a minor- you will be blocked.)

Lana had been living with Sam for a couple weeks now and she'd been embraced by everyone. Danny would be over their place a lot of the time to see Sam and out of the girls she'd gotten the closest with Lori. She'd been helping her find her feet and showing her way around. Lana would have been completely lost if it wasn't for her help. Sam would be out of the apartment to practice with the band a few days a week and during that time Lana would usually be with the girls or just out exploring the town.

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When Sam was home, they of course spent some time to themselves but also spent a lot of time together. They'd began to get very comfortable in each other's company and were doing things that friends typically don't do together. Despite that, they were nothing more than just friends. They weren't exclusive in any way but if they went out together there wasn't much chance either of them would go after anyone else. However there were occasions they had gone out separately and one of them hadn't come home that night.

Lana was lying on the floor of the living room one afternoon with her toy, Darcie sat on her chest. Her arms and legs were sprawled out beside her and she had a cigarette between her lips. Sam walked in the door with a grocery bag and put it down on the kitchen counter before walking over and sitting on the sofa, looking down at Lana.

"You okay?" he leant down to brush a strand of hair off of her face and took the cigarette from her lips to take a drag himself,

"Yeah I've never been better." her eyes fluttered open, "Hey! I was smoking that." she looked at him with a frown as she saw him holding the cigarette.

"I think I've found somewhere you can get a job,"

She sat up and Darcie fell into her lap, she had a smile plastered on her face as she looked at him excitedly. She'd gotten bored just doing the same things everyday. "Do tell."

"So the record store that the guys and I always go to is short staffed and Josh managed to get you an interview when we visited today."

"Seriously? Oh my God that's great! A record store too, that's perfect." the words were tumbling out of her mouth faster than she could think.

"I'm glad you're excited, you've gotta go in on Monday morning, I can drive you there on the way to practice."

"Thank you thank you thank you!" she bent forward and rested her upper body on his lap, snaking her arms around him. He rubbed her back and smiled softly.

"Right now though, I want to go out."

She moved back so she could look at him while still resting on his lap. "Noooo I'm still tripping Sammy, Lori gave me some really good shrooms."

"But I know a really good place you can finish that trip... come on Lana I wanna go outside. Just us... we can go and sit by the lake."

"Ughhh fine." she sat back and he stood up, offering her his hand to pull her up. They walked to the door and she grabbed a suede brown coat before they stepped out and walked to his car.

They both stayed fairly quiet on the short drive there and once they arrived he lead her out to a spot she'd never seen before. There was a tree trunk positioned on the ground overlooking the lake perfectly and the way the sun had begun to set on the horizon made the water look orange. It was beautiful.

Sam lead her in front of the trunk and they took a seat on it. Lana looked out at the view, enamoured by it. "Whoa." was all she could muster. Her trip was beginning to slow down a bit now but what she was looking at was far more awe worthy than anything she had experienced all day.

"I wanna tell you something... the guys wanted to hold off from letting people know yet but I'm gonna be out more everyday so I want you to know." Sam spoke as he turned to face her.

Lana tilted her head waiting for him to finish.

"We got signed by a label... we're making an album."

A huge smile began to spread across her face as she heard him speak and she just leant over to engulf him in a big hug, "That's amazing! Oh my God Sammy I'm so happy for you!" she pulled away, holding his hands in her own, "when did you find out? When do you start? Are you gonna tell Lori and Janey?"

"Whoa okay, one thing at a time," he chuckled as he spoke, "I found out last week, we start recording next week and we'll tell the girls soon."

"Wait... where are you recording it? There aren't any studios here."

"There's one in the next town over, it's a forty minute drive."

She nodded and then rested her head on his shoulder, both staring out to the horizon that was growing darker by the second.

After a while Lana stood up and took her boots off, then her coat and made a few steps towards the lake. She then walked forward so she was up to her shins in the water. She pushed all her hair behind her shoulders and tilted her head back to bask in the early moonlight.

"What're you doing?" Sam said as he made his way closer to the water.

"Get in!" she turned her head to look at him before turning back.

He took his own shoes off and began to walk through the water to reach her. When he did he wrapped his arms around her stomach and pulled her back into him. He began placing small kisses on her neck, ear and jaw and she reached and arm up behind his neck. She turned around and placed her lips to his.

They stayed there in the water for a while, looking at the stars- Lana even swore she could see Saturn at one point but that was most likely just the drugs talking. Sam had been pointing out constellations and telling her things about the moon. Once they'd both gotten too cold to stay there for any longer, the pair returned home.

When they got in they both went to their rooms. Lana was looking through some of the stuff she'd brought with her when she found her old song writing notebook. She'd grown up in a music based household and her Dad had taught her how to play the guitar at a young age. Something about that made her want to play again and despite not having a guitar of her own with her, she knew someone that did. She walked down the short hallway to Sam's room and knocked on the door gently.

"Come in,"

She opened it enough to poke her head round the door, "Have you got a spare acoustic I could borrow? Just for a while, I'll bring it back later."

He was sat at his keyboard looking through what she assumed was sheet music that he had been working on.

"Yeah sure, I didn't know you played." he stood up and walked to the corner of his room, grabbing a guitar and giving it to her.

"There's a lot you don't know about me yet Kiszka." she smiled as she took it before walking back into her own room, sitting down crossed legged on the bed. She checked the tuning quickly before beginning to play 'Femme Fatale' by the Velvet Underground, singing the lyrics quietly to herself as she stared down at her hands in concentration.

Towards the end of the song she looked up to see Sam leaning in her doorway as she hadn't thought to close the door. She stopped playing, a bit nervous from the fact he was watching.

"Hey don't stop, that was really good." he smiled at her.

"Thanks, I haven't played in ages, not since London- I'm a bit out of practice."

"You're voice is really pretty, matches that face of yours." he walked into the room at sat on the bed next to her.

"Is that your way of calling me pretty?"

"I didn't explicitly say that." he teased, a smirk on his lips.

"Oh shut up." she blushed a little and looked back down at the guitar, "I tried tuning it but it still sounds a bit off."

"Give it to me." he took it from her and tied his hair back, strumming it and playing around with the tuners. A strand of his hair fell in front of his face as he did so and Lana reached over to tuck it behind his ear. When she moved back he looked up at her with his eyes and gave her a shy smile. Once he was satisfied he gave the guitar back, "try that."

She played the introduction to the song again and looked at him happily, "that's perfect, thank you."

"No problem. I'll let you get on. You can keep that in here if you want to, I have another one." he got up and walked back towards the door.

"Thanks Sammy." he turned around to smile at her when she spoke then walked back through the doorway, returning to what he was doing before.

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A/N: Hi! I kinda hate this chapter but it's just filler really and some fluff- I promise the next one will be more interesting tho, I hope anyone who's read this has been enjoying it <3

#sam kiszka fic #sam kiszka fanfiction #sam kiszka #sam gvf #greta van fleet fan fiction #greta van fleet #Spotify

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conniescove444 · 4 months

Text

FROM THE FIRES

Chapter 2: Crimson and Clover

Pairing: Sam Kiszka × female!oc

Word Count (this chapter): 2347

WARNINGS: alcohol use, heavy drug use, tobacco use, sexual content (due to the themes this fic is 18+, please DNI if you are a minor- you will be blocked.)

The room had one small window opposite the door and the morning sunlight was seeping in. When Lana woke up she just stayed put, laying on her back and staring up at the ceiling. She was trying to figure out what to say to Sam, there was no way he was actually letting her live there when they'd barely known each other twelve hours. She wanted to check that he was okay with it but was struggling to find the right words over her overwhelming hangover. She decided to just get to it because staying put wasn't gonna get her anywhere. She sat upright and slid off the bed, rubbing her forehead with her palm before opening the door slowly. There was a very small corridor that separated the bedrooms from the kitchen and living area and on the opposite wall was the door to the bathroom. The whole place was quite small but from her understanding, Sam didn't have a proper job so it made sense.

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She walked through the arch connecting the hallway to the main space and saw Sam leaning on his elbows on the kitchen counter, flicking through a magazine but not paying each page much attention before turning to the next one. He noticed her looking at him from the archway and turned his head towards her, "morning." The way he spoke left Lana confused. He seemed so calm, as if this was a completely normal situation.

"morning..." she responded, "Sam can I talk to you?" she walked closer to the counter and stood opposite him. He moved his arms so that now his hands were supporting him on the counter and replied with a simple, "sure,"

"Are you sure you're okay with me staying here? I only just met you and it's not a normal thing to just invite someone to live with you."

He smiled and let out a small laugh, "yeah... I may have been drinking last night but I still knew what I was saying. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't mean it."

She was so confused by how welcoming he was being. "But... why?"

"You wanted to settle down and needed a place to stay and I need a roommate. We got along well last night so it saves me putting out an advertisement to find one. I was gonna have a stranger move in either way."

"Yeah okay that makes sense, thank you, I really appreciate it." she smiled weakly at him.

"Plus, you're pretty fucking cool. That's not always a guarantee with roommates." he smirked at her and she blushed a little bit, feeling quite timid in front of him. She was usually very confident but something about him made her feel different.

"Do you not want to interview me or something? You don't even know my full name." she leaned on the counter aswell and looked up at him.

"Ok then Lana, what's your name?" he stood up straight as he spoke.

"Lana Turner."

"Well Miss Turner, I'm Sam Kiszka, it's a pleasure to have you in my home." he smiled and reached out his hand for her to shake. She took it and then the expression on his face changed to a curious one, "wait, Lana Turner like the actress?"

"Yeah... my mum loved her." she laughed a little and looked down at her hands before looking back at him.

"Yeah me too, she was one of my first crushes when I was a kid."

"Seriously?"

He nodded his head and then looked back down at his magazine before picking it up and walking over to the coffee table at the other end of the space.

She watched him as he did so and then decided she had a question of her own, "What are the rules on smoking? Like do I need to lean out a window or anything?"

He turned around to face her, "You can smoke whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want to do so." he smiled smugly, clearly he invented that rule for his own benefit.

"Thank God, I'm dying for a cigarette." she turned back into her room and rummaged through her things to find her box. Then she walked back in to the living room and plopped down on the couch. "Do you have a lighter I could use? I lost mine the other day."

He nodded and got one from the side before sitting next to her.

They had been talking for a little while, mostly about him since all they'd seemed to do so far was talk about her. At some point Sam had gone to his room and come back with a freshly rolled joint which they were now sharing. As Sam exhaled some smoke through his nose, the telephone rang from the other side of the room and he passed her the joint before going over to pick up the receiver.

"Hey man...

... yeah that's fine...

... no not at all...

... sure, shouldn't be a problem...

... see ya."

Lana stubbed the joint out in the ashtray on the coffee table, trying not to choke at having smoked it all the way down to the roach. Sam walked back over to the sofa and Lana swivelled so she could lay her head in his lap. She was already feeling right at home.

"That was Danny, he's gonna drop by later with some albums of mine he borrowed." Sam said as he played with a strand of her hair.

She closed her eyes enjoying the high and just nodded.

Some time passed and Lana stood up from the sofa. They'd been sat there in silence just enjoying some music for around half an hour but she decided she wanted to get changed out of last night's clothes. She walked into her room and began digging through one of her suitcases, growing frustrated with not being able to find what she wanted. "Sam?" she called out. No response. "Sammy? Could you come here, I need some help."

The boy then appeared in the doorway and leaned on the frame. "Everything okay?"

"I need to unpack my things." she looked at him and crossed her arms, still frustrated. "I'm way too high for this shit. I can't find anything when it's all in suitcases."

He just laughed and stepped forward to pick up a case and put it on the bed. "I'll do this one, you do the one you already have open." he said as he opened it and began taking out clothes.

She nodded and continued rummaging through, taking her clothes to the wardrobe and the dresser aswell as finding new homes for her other belongings. Sam did the same but he only put away her clothes, anything else he just left on the bed as he assumed she'd want to find places for them herself. He then picked up a small stuffed toy, stopping to look at it for a moment. It was a black and white cow with a yellow ribbon bow tied neatly around its neck. It was very worn out and he could tell it must have been important to her from its appearance. "Who's this?" he asked as he held it up to show her.

"Her name's Darcie. I've always taken her everywhere with me." She looked genuinely happy to see it and she stepped closer to him to take the toy from his hand before cradling it in her own arms.

"How long have you had her for? She looks like she's been though some stuff." he just watched the way she was staring at it. In her not so sober state she had a look of pure joy in her eyes, just looking at it with a smile plastered on her face.

"I got her for my tenth birthday I think. She's quite possibly the most important thing to me that I own." she walked to the dresser and sat it down on top of it then turned back to take the last couple of things out of her case. Sam finished up the one he was unpacking and then they tackled the last and biggest one together. When they were done he left the room again and she finished clearing the things he'd left on her bed. While she was doing so, she could hear the front door opening and so she stepped out to see what was going on. She was crashing from her high for the most part now.

She saw it was Danny with a stack of albums in his arms and she came into the main space so he could see her, "Hi Danny!" she said happily, a smile wide on her face.

"Oh hey Lana, wasn't expecting you to still be here." he was caught a bit off guard but was happy to see her none the less.

"Oh um well... actually she's living here now." Sam spoke up as he took the albums from his friend and walked to the other end of the room to add them back to his large collection.

"Living here?" Danny sounded surprised by the statement. He'd presumed the two had just slept together last night and she hadn't cleared out yet... her having moved in was the last thing he would have considered.

"Yeah, she wanted to stop travelling for a while and you know... I've been thinking about getting a roommate." Sam said it as if it was the most normal thing in the world and Lana just stood in the archway watching him putting away the records.

"Oh yeah my bad, inviting someone you just met to live with you should have been my first thought." he sounded quite concerned as he spoke to Sam but he noticed Lana staring at him, "sorry, no offence Lana. It kind of applies to you too though."

"No it's okay, I was thinking the same thing but Sam's really good at rolling joints so I'm not phased now."

Danny just raised his eyebrows in amusement of the statement, a bit baffled by what he was witnessing and turned back to look at Sam, "Well if you both are okay with it then I can't stop you."

Sam stood up and walked back over to them both, putting his arm around Lana's shoulder, looking at her and smiling. "I think this is gonna work out just fine, don't you worry Daniel."

Danny stayed for the rest of the afternoon and he eventually grew fond of the idea of Lana sticking around. They hadn't spoken much the night before but he had nothing against her, he was just initially concerned for Sam's safety when he didn't even know the girl. They got on really well though and after a few hours he wasn't worried anymore. After Lana had finally gotten changed, the trio had spent the time smoking another spliff and listening to some albums, taking it in turns to pick. Lana had just put on The Doors' debut album when there was a knock on the door. Lana didn't look up as she was preoccupied fiddling with the volume but Sam noticed so he opened it.

"Is Danny here?" It was Jake's voice at the door and Josh was stood behind him.

"Yeah, why?"

"Good, we stopped at his on the way over here and he wasn't there, we're going out, so are you."

Sam turned around and looked at Danny, stepping away from the doorway just enough for the twins to look inside. "Oh perfect, hey Lana! You wanna come too?" Josh said, stepping inside with a warm smile.

"Sure, where are we going?" she said, standing up from the record player she'd been perched by.

Josh walked in and started looking through the fridge, pulling out a beer bottle and opening it as he looked back at her and spoke, "Same place as last night, it's our usual spot."

Lana smiled and nodded.

"Are Janey and Lori coming too?" Danny stood up and asked.

"Yeah, they're meeting us there" Jake also stepped inside.

Janey was what Mary-Jane was often called, especially by Danny- something she had picked up on the previous night.

When they arrived at the bar, Lori and Mary-Jane were already sitting at a table with some empty shot glasses in the middle of it. The guys all found themselves with their usual pairings, besides Josh. As he had explained the night before, he never really grew attached to one person. From what she understood so far, Lori and Jake had a thing going on but they weren't together nor were they exclusive (not that you would be able to tell when they were around each other) and Danny was with Mary-Jane, they were exclusive but it wasn't something they had established or had labelled, they just were. As for Lana and Sam, they had known each other only for a day but they almost made up a third pairing already. They gravitated towards each other and it was very obvious with the way they interacted.

"It's great to see you again Lana," Lori said after she had taken a seat.

"You too," she responded with a smile.

"I think we're gonna be seeing a lot more of her from now on." Sam pitched in.

Josh looked at him intrigued, "What does that mean?"

Sam looked to Lana and smiled as he spoke, "she's taken my spare room."

"Seriously?" Janey said excitedly.

Josh looked at Lana with a smile, "That's great!"

Lana wasn't expecting to be so welcomed by them all so fast, everything was happening so quickly but she wasn't complaining. She was feeling more at home than she had anywhere in a long time.

#sam kiszka #sam gvf #sam kiszka fanfiction #sam kiszka fic #greta van fleet #greta van fleet fan fiction #Spotify

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conniescove444 · 4 months

Text

FROM THE FIRES

Chapter 1: Take It as It Comes

Pairing: Sam Kiszka × female!oc

Word Count (this chapter): 2293

WARNINGS: alcohol use, heavy drug use, tobacco use, sexual content (due to the themes this fic is 18+, please DNI if you are a minor- you will be blocked.)

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Lana pulled up the zip on her cowboy boot and checked herself in the mirror, ruffling her hair a little, before making her way through the motel room's creaky door. She drifted down the hallway and into the reception that she had booked in at a mere half an hour before.

"You off already?" The man sat at the desk questioned just as she reached the door. He had an off-putting aura about him. Most motels felt dodgy but this place certainly took the top of the list of the ones Lana had stayed at recently.

"Yeah... actually could you help me with something?" she really didn't want to stay talking to him but the swig of alcohol she'd taken in the room had gotten rid of her nerves and asking for directions was arguably better than wandering aimlessly around a town she'd arrived in that day.

"Sure doll,"

"Do you know any nearby bars that have live music?"

"Yeah, go left down the street and keep walking till you see a phone booth. That street has some places." he eyed her up as he spoke so she simply nodded and made a run for it out of the door, taking his directions.

Lana had ended up in a town somewhere in Michigan called Frankenmuth. It was a place she'd not heard of before but it was where the people she had hitchhiked with from Kansas were going and she just went along with it. She had grown up in London but after turning eighteen she'd decided to take advantage of her US citizenship she gained from her father being from the States and flew to California. She had been hitchhiking around ever since then, staying at motels and crashing on strangers' sofas each night. It had only been a few months but she was enjoying the thrill of it all, it was so different from being at home, being on the move constantly without a clue of where she may end up. In hindsight it perhaps wasn't the smartest or safest thing to do but she hadn't gotten into any trouble just yet. It was 1971 and the world was still riding the tail of the rock n' roll scene of the late 1960s. Travelling alone would get lonely but she never felt truly alone when she had her pick of perfect strangers to share a drug trip with- typically a band or someone she'd found in a bar. The free-spirited, trusting nature of the 60s still remained with the youth of the small towns like this one, something she had quickly learnt on her travels, which is why she was happy to come here when given the opportunity.

In all honesty, despite her enjoyment of everything, she was beginning to think about staying a little longer than just a week somewhere. She had no where specific in mind but she knew she would know when it felt right.

She opened the door to the first bar she found after spotting the phone booth and ventured inside. There was a small stage set up at the back which was a good indictor that someone was playing at some point. She preferred live music, getting to watch musicians do the thing they're best at was one of her favourite things to witness and would choose that on a night out over anything else. Lana approached the bar and sat down on one of the stools, it was one seat away from two girls a similar age to her. The bartender approached her and she ordered a drink.

One of the girls turned to look at her and brushed a strand of her dark hair out of her face before speaking, "If you don't mind me asking, how come you're in Frankenmuth? I take it by your accent you're not from around here."

"I was hitchhiking and ended up here I suppose. I've been on the road for a few months actually." Lana responded.

"Sounds like fun, where are you originally from?"

"London. I wanted a change of scene though, I flew to California originally."

"That's a long way to travel," the blonde girl sat next to the dark haired girl then joined in the conversation, "are you here to see the band playing?" She asked.

"Yeah I guess so," Lana responded, smiling, before turning to pay the bartender for her drink.

"They're really good, we're friends with them actually, you should get some drinks with all of us after they go on."

Lana smiled and nodded.

"Well I'm Lori and this is Mary-Jane" the dark haired girl said.

"I'm Lana," she said as she took a sip of her drink.

"Welcome to Frankenmuth Lana!" Mary-Jane smiled at her.

They spoke for a little while longer but when the band began to walk onto the stage, Lori sprung up off of her stool and took Lana's hand, leading her over to them, Mary-Jane close behind.

The band played their set and they played it well. Mary-Jane wasn't lying about them being good. The singer had the most incredible vocal range that Lana had ever heard and they played a lot of original songs that the girls knew all the words to. She noticed Lori staring at the guitarist the entire time and he was looking at her as well, showing off for her at every chance he got which she soaked up every ounce of. Mary-Jane had her eyes closed and she was swaying gently, mouthing the lyrics. As for the band themselves, Lana only paid attention to one of them. She was stood on the left-hand side of the stage in front of the bassist and after their first song she'd noticed him smirking at her. She was looking up at him through her eyelashes and couldn't help but admire how effortlessly attractive he was.

After the band's set the guys packed away and the bar began playing music through their speakers. The girls went over to the bar and Lana helped to carry a bunch of drinks over to a booth where the band was already sat down and discussing their set.

"Guys this is Lana, she just got to Frankenmuth today." Lori said excitedly as she plopped down onto the seat next to the guitarist who put his arm around her and looked toward Lana.

The singer stood up and offered his hand to Lana to shake before introducing himself. "I'm Josh, next to Lori is my twin, Jake, that's Danny," he pointed to the drummer who was sat on the other side of Jake, "and then this is my brother, Sam." he gestured to the guy who was sat next to him, it was the bassist.

"It's nice to meet you all," Lana said with a smile.

Mary-Jane walked round to the other side of the booth and sat down next to Danny, resting her head on his shoulder. Josh sat back down and the only seat left was next to Sam so Lana took it. The group went straight back to their conversation but Sam didn't join in, instead he turned to Lana, "Are you from England?" he said as he picked up one of the glasses the girls brought over to the table.

"Yeah I am," she took a sip of her own drink.

"How come you're in Michigan then?" he took a box of cigarettes from off the table and lit two, offering her one of them.

She took it from him and took a drag, "My Dad's from the states so I thought I'd take advantage of my citizenship. I've been hitchhiking around for a few months now."

"Sounds interesting," he knocked the ash from the end of his cigarette into the ash tray on the table as he spoke, "What made you decide you wanted to do that?"

"I got bored I guess. I grew up in London and before I came here, me and a group of my friends used to hit up the same set of bars every night and I just decided I wanted to see what it was like over here as a change. I went to California at first to spend some time on the Sunset Strip, I'm a huge fan of The Doors so I wanted to visit the Whiskey."

"I'd love to play there one day. Did you see any good bands?"

"A few but nothing notable. I did back in London though, I used to hang around Led Zeppelin before they got big. I mean sure Jimmy Page already had his name out there but my friends somehow knew the band so we got to hang around with them a lot."

"Wow... that's something to brag about."

"I'm not so sure, I was way too young to be doing the kinds of things I was doing with them..." she realised what that implied and quickly tried to fix what she said, "...it was mostly drugs, don't make any assumptions."

"Yeah, sure" he chuckled as he took a sip from his drink and looked at her with a sly grin on his face.

The pair then began talking with the rest of the group, everyone was eager to know more about what Lana had been doing and wanted to get to know her better. She was also keen to learn about all of them. Some time passed and Jake and Lori stood up, she was leaning on him and he was holding onto her tightly, she was quite drunk and was struggling to stand up despite insisting she was fine. "I think I'm gonna get her home," Jake said before they said their goodbyes. Josh was soon to follow and then Danny and Mary-Jane left. Once it was down to just Sam and Lana, their conversation turned back to her.

"If you don't mind me asking, where are you staying tonight?" he asked her curiously. It was a genuine question, he wasn't trying to hint at anything despite the fact that he'd been subtly flirting with her all evening and was putting his hand on her thigh or resting his arm on top of the seat behind her the whole time.

"The motel round the corner." she replied, finishing the last bit of her current drink. She'd lost count of how many she'd had at this point.

"Oh yeah, I know the one. How long are you planning on staying here for?"

"To be honest, I was thinking of stopping for a while. I'd been waiting to find the right place to settle down... not forever, but you know, somewhere to actually live for a bit. I'm sick of travelling. I like it here, more than most of the places I've been to recently."

"I might know someone you could stay with for a while." he said with a smug look on his face, he clearly had something planned.

"Oh yeah?" she wasn't entirely sure if she knew what he was going to say but she had a sneaking suspicion.

"I have a spare room in my apartment and I'm struggling to pay the rent. All yours if you want it." he finished off his drink while she thought for a moment.

"Really? I don't have a whole lot of money though... not sure if I'll be much help with the rent." she looked down at her hands as she began playing with her fingers.

"Well we can take care of that later... as long as you agree to get a job or something fairly soon."

She looked up at him and nodded her head with a smile. It was slightly irrational but in her state of mind she wasn't really thinking about the fact she'd just agreed to live with practically a stranger.

"Could I move in now? The guy running the motel freaks me out a bit." she said rather quickly, she wasn't sure if that was being a bit forward but he was the one who offered her the room in the first place.

He simply laughed lightly, "Sure, we can go get your things on the way home, come on." he stood up and offered her his hand so she could get up as well.

With that they left the bar and walked down the street to where she had initially planned on staying that night. They gathered up her suitcases and made the trek back to Sam's apartment. It was dark in the hallway and it took him a moment in his tipsy state to manage to get the door unlocked. Once he did he showed her to what would be her room and put the case he was carrying on the bed. "My room is the one next door, there's a bathroom back that way. I'll let you get settled in." he smiled and then left the room, closing the door behind him. She could hear him rustling around in the living room before putting on a record. Lana took a brief look around the room, it had the essentials like a bed and a wardrobe but besides that it was pretty empty. She moved the case Sam had put down onto the floor and collapsed on the bed, falling asleep within minutes. So much had happened in the last hour and she hadn't really comprehended how big of a decision she had just made.

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