U-N-I Ch. 10

"Oh come on, give 'em something," he laughed.

The host smiled,

"Ok, I'm really not trying to drag you into a difficult situation here..."

"No, that's fine." I said.

"But, your private life is in the public eye, and one of the hardest decision you have to make when you're in a closeted relationship, is when you decide to come out! So when you did come out, were you prepared for the fact that so many people were gonna comment on it and talk about your relationship?"

I sighed,

"I don't care, I don't give a shit," I answered, "I think people's private lives are their own thing, and if people wanna comment on it, that's fine. I don't mind. I love Rob, and I don't give a toss what anyone else thinks you know."

Rob continued,

"Yeah that's something we don't really care about that much anymore. It was scary when we had to take the plunge to come out, but now, we're feeling a lot better about being out. People commenting on other people's lives, you know, it's just part of the times we live in! And that's why we decided to come out on social media, because now, with the internet, you can just see what people really think!"

He looked at me and I added,

"Yeah, I think that's normal. Young people can't be too fascinated in the real news, 'cause it's kind of ... a downer. And they can't really have that much faith in the world's number one men, I don't think! So, it's just more fun to talk about famous people's relationships, it's just nice you know. We do it all the time!" I chuckled,

"So I don't mind people talking about it. I don't want to talk about it myself but I don't have any problem if someone wants to talk about our relationship when they're having their coffee, I don't care, it's fine."

Rob added,

"Yeah, but it's still disturbing that so many people think it's okay to just say whatever they wanna say about our private lives... to our face, like, almost! And it's one thing, when you become a little bit famous or successful, you realize how much bullshit you're being fed, and it's really kind of annoying. I think we came at a time in our lives when it suddenly hit us that, wow, we can't necessarily trust everybody like we thought we could."

The host nodded and asked,

"Yeah, the tabloids didn't really give you a choice in the matter, did they? Are you saying that you now have to be wary of everyone?"

Rob answered,

"No, I don't think... maybe. But we are more and more aware that we can't trust everyone. It probably has to do with traveling around, or just being five years older than we were five years ago. I think we just weren't ready to face all that before. We were really young and it would have been hard to deal with being openly gay when we started the band. I'm glad that we didn't have to deal with the media wanting to out us before you know, because it would have been a lot more difficult, I think. But now that we're older and our relationship's also stronger, we feel like we can share it with others, and maybe, through our music, make people more tolerant and open-minded."

"Yeah, you've got a role to play here!" the host said.

"I suppose we do, yeah," Rob said with a smile.

"Bono said - I think, of your music, "A great melody can make even the hardest heart soar. Do you think that music actually has this capacity to change people?"

"Not some people no," I said, thinking of my 'father'.

"No?" he asked surprised.

"No." I repeated, shaking my head, "I think some music can accentuate people's personalities, you know? If you're a bastard, there's music that can make you more of a bastard... and if you're sweet, there's music that can make you more sweet."

"Yeah... and if you're romantic, well, then... there's 'One Direction', " Rob joked.

Everybody laughed.

"And U-N-I is for who?" The host asked inquisitively.

We looked at each other and grinned. I tried to find good things to say that would flatter our fans and be fun at the same time as I started saying,

"U-N-I 's for people with great taste... Intelligence... Incredible good lookingness. Talent. Ability. Success... Grabbing of life." I looked at Rob again with a smile, slightly raising my eyebrows and he continued, because I was kinda running out of ideas.

The audience was laughing and clapping.

"Yeah, U-N-I is for people who know what life's about. They're always entertaining. Delightful to talk to."

"Sweet. Charming." I added

"Incredibly good in bed," he said with a grin.

I let out a chuckle,

"Virile. And they have incredible success with girls... or boys!"

"Or both!' Rob added.

"They're generally just the world's best citizens." I simply said gazing at Rob, "Maybe we're biased, but..."

"But we're definitely right!'' he finished my sentence.

I nodded as he smiled at me and placed his hand under my chin, before giving me a peck on the lips, which I knew was going to keep our fans talking for a while. There were a few whistles.

"And here I thought you were down on yourselves boys, thank you very much," the host joked, and we thanked him as well.

"We'll see you at the O2 arena in December! I think everyone here is very excited about that special date!"

"So are we!" Rob answered.

We were to play just one gig at the O2 arena, a venue of 20,000 people, which meant that it would hopefully be a more intimate gig with our fans, and we were hoping to make it very special. Then, we were to start a stadium tour in April, including headlining the Glastonbury festival in June, as well as other famous festivals. Now, it was time to rehearse. The fun part was about to start!