Star-Crossed ✔️

5

- 5 -

Alcohol made me chatty.

Well, it depended on what kind of alcohol. Hennessy made me horny. Tequila made me aggressive. But pretty much any other kind of liquor made me talk too much.

That's how I ended up talking Noah Russo's ears off while we waited for Dustin to get back. It wasn't very long, but I had practically told him my life story in the ten minutes he was gone and Noah appeared visibly uncomfortable. I had no filter, unfortunately, so I just kept going.

Luckily, Dustin saved Noah from his misery when he came back with another glass of bubbly soft drink and a huge smile on his face.

"I just met into Casey Elliot," he breathed out, his voice higher from the excitement. "I'm gonna die."

"Hells yeah, brother," I said, giving him a fist bump. I loved the way he got so excited about these people. To me, they were just colleagues. It would have to be someone I'd idolized since I was young to make me fanboy like that.

We drank and chatted for the most of the night. Dustin and I's favorite game to play was Name That Boob Job, where we guessed who had and hadn't gotten plastic surgery. Noah even cracked a smile at a few of our antics, but he just sat there quietly. Gwen did come by and say hello, not even trying to hide her surprise at the sight of Noah, who just thanked her for having him without an invitation.

"Don't look now--" Dustin hissed, his eyes facing forward. I knew that look. He was star struck yet again. "Jax Mayfield is coming our way. This is not a fucking drill. I'm gonna piss myself."

The aforementioned lead singer of indie band Severe was walking towards us. Noah turned his head and met Jax with a bright smile, who reciprocated it easily. I eyed the newcomer curiously.

Jax was a good looking guy. I didn't know much about him other than the few songs I'd heard. I thought he may have been in the news for something recently. A scandal, maybe? He had nice eyes, a greenish shade, that caught my attention as soon as he was close enough. He hardly acknowledged me, which was fine, and focused solely on Noah. I found it strange, but it wasn't my business.

"Hey," Jax said.

Noah's cheeks were pink as he leaned a bit closer to the guy, his voice a bit timid. "Hi, Jax," he said softly. I was so confused.

"Didn't know you'd be here," Jax said. "It's good to see you."

Dustin cut in. "I'm so sorry, Jax, but I'm a huge fan and I would love to get a picture with you," he blurted. Jax looked amused as he nodded. I pulled out my phone to take the photo and raised an eyebrow when Jax pulled Noah in for the photo, too. They all smiled for the picture, both Dustin and Noah blushing for unbeknownst reasons.

"I love the new song," Noah said to Jax when they'd all pulled apart. "It reminds me of your old stuff."

Jax nodded coolly. "Thanks," he said, leaning in. "I actually wrote and produced it. You're gonna love the album."

My jaw almost dropped when Noah reached over and touched Jax's wrist, a familiar look in his eye. Holy shit, was he flirting? It then dawned on me that the scandal I thought I remembered about Jax wasn't a scandal at all, it was his coming out. I excused myself to get another drink and tried to process what I just learned.