Work Text:
Mylene is blowing up. Her last video has gotten so many views that she can hardly believe it. Zeke keeps screen shotting pictures of the ever rising number and sending them to her.
She's excited. It's a good song, and she's proud of it. She's proud of the ways she sings, she's proud of the words she and Zeke wrote, but there's something missing. Just her voice isn't enough. There's an empty space there, where she needs more voices.
She doesn't think much of it after she brings it up with Zeke. He thinks of it, though. A few days later, while they had planned to record something but were actually just talking, he sent her a link to another channel.
"You know the Kipling brothers? That's their sister. She can sing."
She could sing. Mylene watched the video of Yolanda and her girlfriend Regina covering a song with beautiful harmony. She tweeted the video, and Yolanda followed her a few minutes later.
Mylene did a fair share of stalking. She watched all of Yolanda's videos (singing, political opinions, fashion, and the occasional ones featuring her brothers. she knew the three of them mostly because they were all good friend's of Zeke's, who'd met them because Dizzee really liked his poetry videos.) then she watched all of Regina's (singing, fashion, dancing, and really insightful advice).
She started talking to Yolanda on twitter, and had to keep reminding herself that okay, Yolanda has a girlfriend, so no flirting. She couldn't bring herself to be jealous, because then she started talking to Regina. Mylene liked both of them too much to feel lonely. It was when they started talking about a collab that she got nervous.
"Zeke, this song has got to be perfect. I gotta be perfect."
"You will be, Mylene. You-" He pauses, and Mylene heard what sounded like a bit of a struggle over the phone.
"Shao says that you need to suck it up about your girl troubles and let me get off the phone so I can pay attention to him."
"But Zeke!"
He started laughing at something that his boyfriend was doing, and a few seconds later Mylene was frowning at the ended call screen. She knew that he would get her her song, but it felt too important to put off until the next day. It was probably time for her to try her hand at writing an original, anyway.
Her song is good. Considering it's her first song, it's amazing, She isn't completely sure where all of her inspiration came from. Some of the lines make her think of the two girls who will be singing it by her side. Some of the lines reflect her journey, and how thankful she is for everyone who's helped her get that far. A few of the lines are for her. She's poured her heart into it, just like she does when she sings someone else's words.
Zeke cries when she sings it for him. He also plays the perfect music to it on the piano. They record that, and with her heart racing, Mylene pressed send.
From: YolandaKiplingOfficial: "This is amazing, girl! Can't wait to sing it with you!"
Mylene can't wait either. The nervousness multiplies when Zeke tells her that he has to work the day they're supposed to record. That gives her two days to learn the song on the piano, which she knows she can do, but she's relied a lot on Zeke's being there to keep her from being weird around Yolanda and Regina.
It turns out, it's easy not to be weird around the two of them. They make Mylene feel like she can say and act like her true self without fear of judgment. The recording turns out really, really good.
"We should do this again sometime. Maybe make it a common thing." Mylene said it like a question. She didn't think they would disagree, but she was still a little afraid of rejection.
"Maybe we can talk about it over dinner." Yolanda suggested.
"I'd rather not talk about business on a date, actually." Regina said. Yolanda smiled at her girlfriend, then at Mylene, who was convinced she had heard that wrong.
"A date? All three of us?"
"Yes, unless you would rather keep this professional."
Mylene smiled.
"I know a really good restaurant that isn't too far from here."
"Then it's a date."