Star-Crossed ✔️

7

- 7 -

I thought having a sort of gay epiphany would make me feel different. It didn't.

The bed was empty when I woke up, which was kind of a relief. Looking my demons in the eye after having sex with them wasn't on my agenda first thing in the morning. We had to get back on the bus in two hours, so I texted Dustin to see if he was up and then called Chris, my assistant, asking him to bring some clothes up from the bus.

After a long, warm, thought-filled shower, I found my clothes folded neatly on my bed with an energy drink beside them. I had to give that man a raise.

Dustin texted back, saying he was barely awake. I decided a complimentary breakfast was in order. With one last attempt at grooming my hair, I headed out of the room and knocked on Dustin's door. He answered after a moment, looking absolutely thrashed.

"Free bagels?" I said and he nodded solemnly.

I hesitated while Dustin pulled his shoes and hoodie on, not bothering to shower like the disgusting slob he was, and finally decided to just do it. I knocked on Noah's door and waited.

After an extensive wait, he finally opened the door. I wasn't sure why, but the sight of him was rejuvenating. It was like a breath of fresh air. He looked so lively and had color to his face that I hadn't seen in my own in a while.

"We're going to get some breakfast," I said.

"Cool, give me two seconds," he said and I tried to smile, but it was forced. I was feeling kind of shitty.

Eventually, the three of us had gathered ourselves enough to head down to the lobby. It wasn't the most high class hotel, so I was sure the complimentary breakfast just included store-bought bagels and bitter coffee. It was breakfast, nonetheless, and I never ate it as often as I should.

We sat down in silence. Conversation would probably shatter Dustin, judging by the look of discomfort on his face. He always took it too far and regretted it in the morning.

I turned to Noah and spoke softly. "Have you thought about it any more?" I asked, knowing he'd understand what I was referring to. He bit down on his lip, nodding down at his bagel.

"I have," he said. "I'll come if I can bring my cat."

Man, what?

Just when I thought I was starting to get an idea of who Noah was as a person, he continued to boggle my brain. I stared blankly at him, not even knowing how to respond to that. Who the fuck took a cat on a tour bus? I supposed it was better than when Dustin took his dog Lucky with us the one time. It didn't last a month. We had to stop too frequently to walk her.

"Your cat," I deadpanned.

"Yup. I can't leave him alone for that long," Noah shrugged. "He's really old and really chill, you won't even know he's there."

Dustin started giggling. As the one person who knew me better than anyone else on the planet, he knew I wanted to say no. I was not an animal person. I didn't like dogs, I didn't like cats, I didn't even like zoos. Lucky the dog was required to stay three feet away so I didn't feel her hot breath or get slobber on my pants.

Noah also looked like he wasn't going to budge on the subject, his eyes passively sliding between both Dustin and I expectantly as he chewed on his bagel.