Chapter Text
A TV in a dark room was showing Noel doing an interview on MTV, talking about Beady Eye's recent breakup.
“Well, I was quite shocked when I heard and I was sad as well, because I know how much those guys in particular really wanted it to work, and I don't know what's happened and I don't know why he's decided to call it a day on the back. I am quite sad because I always thought him and, maybe not so much Andy, but I thought him and Gem would be together forever, d'you know what I mean? And that's not to say that they won't be in the future, but I don't know. If I have any advice for Liam? Just don't give up. Don't give up.”
Liam turned off the TV and threw the remote control on the sofa.
“It's easy for you to say, Rkid - he mumbled to himself – It's easy to say when you're up there in your golden castle, surrounded by your posh people, eating sushi and tofu, and with a #1 single after another on every chart...Fucking easy for you to say.”
Liam opened another beer and took a sip, while a few other empty bottles were already piled up on the short table in front of his sofa.
The last year of his life had probably been his worst year ever, even worse than when Oasis split up and he and Noel cut all ties six years before.
His marriage had fallen apart, leading to endless exhausting hours in court and uncountable loss of money, and his new band, the Beady Eye risen from Oasis's ashes, had lost his purpose, forcing him to quit it since neither his heart nor the fans' ones were in it anymore. In the blink of an eye and barely without even noticing it, he had passed from being one of the greatest rockstars ever, fought over by fans and the press, to a useless middle-aged man, rejected by everybody.
Lately, days used to go by slowly, without a meaning, and only alcohol, drugs and old memories seemed to be able to fill the emptiness that the failures in his private life and in the music business had left behind. Most of the time, he spent the days alone, locked in the house, not ready to face public opinion, just rarely visited by his other brother Paul.
And then there was Noel.
Or, rather, there wasn't Noel.
Among all the things that were happening in his life lately, if Liam had to choose what was the worst one, it was definitely having lost his brother for good. More than losing his wife, his job, his band, his fame and prestige, losing Noel was what really had left him lost and alone, without a guidance and a purpose.
Since Oasis' breakup, they had completely stopped seeing each other, or talking to each other, or even more, saying their names out loud, eventually calling each other in random conversations with some cold and generic “he” or, more frequently, with other less polite epithets.
But the worst was happening on social media and interviews, where things between them had fallen apart even more quickly, in a whirlwind of unsaid and snarky remarks that had rapidly escalated into more serious public insults and insinuations, reaching its peak in an attempted lawsuit that Liam had finally withdrawn after Noel's forced apologies.
After that, whatever had been between them was gone for good.
Only the anger, the frustration and the silence remained. The love, the good memories and the unspoken apologies that both of them were too proud to say out loud were left buried under the wall of resentment they had both built over the past years.
Liam took another sip and thought one more time about the words Noel had just said on television. After years of public altercations and insults, it was probably the first time his brother had a nice word towards him. Did this mean anything? It had to. Maybe it was his way to offer him a subtle peace offer. Or maybe he was only pitying him and just didn't feel like beating a dead horse.
Whatever it was, it was something.
A little, maybe meaningless step forward, but still something.
And Liam couldn't ignore it.
After all, Noel had just told him not to give up and if there was one thing he didn't want to give up was his brother.
Almost in an unconscious way, he picked up his phone and started texting.
They didn't have each other's numbers since they had both changed them over the years and Noel had strictly forbidden their mother to give his to Liam. However, a few months before, Liam had tricked his new manager and assistant Debbie, who had been in contact with Noel's team for some legal issues, to let him check it over her phone and she had naively agreed, not thinking it was such a big deal.
Since then, Liam had tried to text him multiple times, seeking advice from his older brother on whether he should quit Bead Eye or not. Despite everything, he still felt that Noel would've known better and could've helped him make this difficult decision. However, every time he had written a message, he had found himself unable to press send, blocked by an invisible force that was making him feel uneasy about breaching the boundary between them.
But tonight it was different.
Maybe it was the amount of alcohol he'd already swallowed, maybe it was Noel's change of attitude in his last interview, but Liam wrote whatever was on his mind in a beat and sent it before he could regret doing it.
Then, he finished the bottle he was drinking, suddenly feeling more relaxed.
Now, everything was up to him.