Impress Me Not: The Architect

Chapter 13

"He's going on tour again?" the man asked, looking around the living room for the bag of chips that Valentino always had lying around. His best friend new this place too much. Leo had been close friends with him since they were little. Somehow, someway they had managed to stay in touch with each other, even through moves and all the drama that they both had to go through.

He was one of the groomsmen that didn't make it the week before. Working for a gossip column of a newspaper meant that he didn't have too many weekends off. Valentino usually took up most of his weekends as they went out to go drinking whenever they could. It was a great time to catch up. But this weekend, they weren't going to be able to do that unfortunately.

"Yup," Valentino sighed, trying to make sure he had everything ready. They were going out to another party that Sunshine and Nikita had planned. It was the party that everyone was invited to, not just the bridesmaids and groomsmen. And, surprisingly, Leo could actually get the time off to come. He just stopped by Valentino's first after driving all the way from Miami so that they could catch up a bit.

"Where's he going to this time?"

"Japan."

"Sweet," Leo smiled, finding the chips that he had hidden in one of the drawers next to the couch. "If only you could go with."

"I wish I could," Valentino sighed again. "I just hope nothing bad happens."

"I've heard that they're a great crowd," Leo stuffed his face with the chips. He must have gotten hungry from all the driving or something. "Oh! And I heard that there's a place where you can eat sushi off from hot babes!"

Valentino rolled his eyes. He didn't mind the comments, just like Leo didn't mind when he talked to him about guys. They usually talked about stuff like that when they were drunk though. And he was still nervous about the fact that his brother was on tour.

"Thanks for the support, asshole."

"Come on, man," Leo looked into the chip bag. "It's not gonna happen again. Your brother just wants to feel young again or something."

"What if it does?"

"Jake and Ken know this time, dude," he assured him. "They'll make sure nothing happens. They're all friends, after all."

Valentino sat down next to him on the couch. He really needed to stop worrying about this. It had just been a while since his brother had been on tour. And the last time was so bad, he could still remember all that happened like it was yesterday. He still had nightmares about it every once in a while.

"This is going to suck."

"I think you're just upset cus you're going to be home alone, dude," Leo told him, emptying the remains of the chip bag into his mouth. If he were anyone else, Valentino would be grabbing their wallet to get cash to pay for another bag of chips. Leo could scarf down anything in a matter of seconds. He still remembered hearing his mom yell at him so much about it. She yelled at Leo for a lot of things back then.

"Probably," he huffed. His brother had left early that morning. He just dropped him off at the airport so that he wouldn't have to pay for his car to sit in the airport parking lot until he came back. That was bullshit when Valentino could easily just drive him.

He seemed like he was excited to get back into the music. It was clear to see from the smile on his face and the excitement in his voice. Valentino just didn't want anything bad to happen. Especially with his hands messing up, it could be a recipe for disaster. Lou was the only family he had.

"Come on, man," his friend hit his shoulder to snap him out of it, getting off the couch. "Let's just go and have fun for now. You sit around and worry too much."