After a workout and quick run, I return to the hotel. I get a coffee for Mike and I from the lobby's café. Heading back to my room, I wonder if Mike's awake yet. Once opening the door, my answer is quickly answered as Mike is standing just outside the bathroom in only a towel. My cheeks immediately heat up.
"Hey, sorry about this. I took a shower, but forgot my clothes in my room. Guess in my tired haze, I only grabbed a phone charger and toothbrush," He laughed. "Do you mind getting some for me?"
"Yeah, no problem," I take his room key from him, then offer the coffee. "Brought you something to help wake you up."
"Awe, Thanks, Ches," He happily accepts and starts sipping as I leave the room. I don't know why it felt so weird seeing him like that, it's not like this is the first time. For some reason, it seems different. He even apologized for it, which he didn't need to. Things feel strange between us and I can't explain why or in what way.
I was a little nervous going into Mike's room, remembering the flash I saw last night/this morning. After I enter and take a look around, I allow myself to relax a bit. It really must be in my head. I grab a full set of his clothes and debate on packing the rest of his things. He has quite a bit, however, it'd probably be best to let him do it. I have a little packing to do as well before leaving anyway. I head back to the room.
"Thank you," He smiles, taking the clothes from me and heading to the bathroom to change. I decide to start packing my stuff until he's done.
I wish I understood what changed between Mike and I. Perhaps it's because I opened up more to him. We feel closer than before, which seems strange considering we were already best friends. How can we be closer than that? I feel the word 'brother' only works for my other bandmates, not Mike - it's different with him, deeper. Soulmates?
"Thank you again, seriously," Mike smiles when he comes out fully dressed. "And for the coffee."
"No problem," I stop packing my things for a moment to focus on him. "What's the plan for today?"
"Well, we should be hitting the road by noon. I have to pack the rest of my things and make sure the band is ready to go," He fills me in, I laugh about his comment on the others.
"Let management sort them out, they're too much of a handful," I joke, which he chuckles at.
"Hey, you're not the easiest either," He pokes, I roll my eyes. He takes a drink of his coffee. "I'm going to finish packing now. Will you be okay?"
"Yeah, of course," I reassure him.
"I love you," He smiles, a familiar sparkle in his eye. We've said this so many times to one another, yet lately it seems different.
"I love you too," I reply and he kisses my head on his way out the door. I stand there for a moment after he leaves. He's done this before, yet rarely in such a casual setting - usually, it's during a show at an emotional song.
Things are rapidly changing between us. It seems Mike's aware of it as well, yet says nothing about it. I suppose we're both just moving with the ways of life. Perhaps he doesn't understand the change either, the closeness that continuously grows. Our friendship was strong, but it's reaching unknown heights.
I decide to take a shower before finishing my coffee and the rest of my packing. By the time I'm done, it's nearly noon. Grabbing my things, I head to the lobby, wondering if Mike had any luck getting the others gathered in time.
I notice everyone near the service desk, but something seems off. Everyone has a serious look on their face, Mike even looked angry and so did our small management crew. Slowly approaching them, I notice something on the counter. It seems to be a camera. Stiffening, I question if it's why my bandmates are angry and if that was the light I saw.
"What's going on?" I ask Brad quietly after gently nudging his elbow. Mike was talking with the hotel employees, I didn't want to interrupt them.
"Mike found that in his room while he was packing, the hotel claims to not know how it got there," Brad rolled his eyes.
"Why would they do that?" I ask, he shrugs.
"I don't know. Except, who could've known where we'd be staying - let alone what room? Mike's asking them to check all of the rooms we used, see if it was specifically targeted at us," Brad explains, causing me to bite my lower lip. "He said you saw a flash in his room early this morning?"
"Yeah, I wasn't sure if my brain was playing tricks on me," I admitted.
"Let's get on the bus while Mike and management deal with this, there's nothing much we can do anyway," Brad suggests, I nod. I'd rather be on the bus, it's my home away from home. Brad quietly lets Rob, Joe, and Phoenix know where we're going. They decide to come with and follow us out of the hotel.
Our driver greets us as we toss our luggage down below into the storage. We climb in, immediately Phoenix and Joe go for the tv while talking about what games they want to play - Brad and Rob start digging through the pantry.
I decided to just lay in my bunk. Even though I had some coffee earlier, I always feel so exhausted. I close my eyes for what feels like just a few minutes. Something softly pushes my arm and I open them, confused why it seems so dark out and wondering when we started moving. It seems I slept longer than I thought and Mike was the one who woke me.
"Sorry for waking you, but you've been sleeping since you got in the bus. Have you been feeling alright?" He asks sweetly, I nod my head. My eyes feel heavy.
"I honestly didn't realize I passed out," I yawn and stretch my sore limbs. "What happened earlier? At the hotel?"
"While I was packing, I noticed something weird on the tv. When I got a closer look, I recognized it was a camera pointed at the bed. I took it down to the desk when I finished packing, assuming they put it there. They seemed surprised by the discovery and claimed to know nothing. I asked to get the rest of our rooms checked and they agreed."
"Were more found?" I was honestly afraid to ask.
"Two more, both in your room," He frowned and grabbed my hand. "Please don't freak out, but one was in the bathroom. The other was the same place as mine, pointed to the bed. Management is calling up our lawyers back home to get it all sorted."
"Okay," I choked out, afraid that I'll start crying if I say more. I started trembling and suddenly just wanted to go back to bed.
"I'm so sorry, Chester, seriously. Anywhere we stay from now on, we are checking every inch. This will never happen again, I promise," He tries to reassure me. I give him a half smile, not able to bring full effort.
"I love you," I sigh, but the words feel so good to say. Somehow, saying it to him just relaxes me.
"I love you too," Hearing the words back envelopes me with warmth. While this situation has me overwhelmingly freaked out, I'm so thankful for Mike and the way he makes me feel.
