Star-Crossed ✔️

8

- 8 -

Touring with my best friend and my former best friend was going surprisingly great. We all three got along really well and bonded over obscure meals at late night diners, old Pokemon reruns, and Fleetwood Mac.

We sort of made a routine when it came to shows. Dustin always watched from the crowd unless he wasn't feeling well. Noah would join him on occasion, but normally would sit in the wings or in the green room. I cut a lot of the hard drugs and partying out of our nights and stuck with alcohol, mostly. It didn't really make as much of a difference as I thought and Dustin didn't object, either.

Things were going well. Until they weren't.

"Bad news," Dustin said with a frown.

I glanced over at him from the TV. Noah and I were currently head to head in Smash and I fully intended on beating him. "Tom Rule ignored your DM again?" I said, landing a combo shot on Luigi that made Noah scoff.

"My grandma's in the hospital again," Dustin mumbled quietly, making me abandon the game completely to look at him. "I gotta go home."

Beside me, Noah obliviously cheered at throwing me off of the map. When he realized what Dustin said, he lowered his arms and loosely dangled the controller between his legs.

I loved Dustin's grandma. She was the sweetest woman and always baked us pies when we were kids. There was just something about Nana with her pies, but we couldn't complain. Dustin looked genuinely worried, so I knew it wouldn't be good.

"I'll tell Joey to get you a flight," I said. "Did they say what it was?"

He shook his head. "Just said she probably won't make it this time."

Dustin always had a much better relationship with his family than I ever dreamt of. While Lina and I were tight when we were younger, it was nothing compared to the way Dustin was with his immediate family. His mom was warm and kind and worried. Nothing like mine. I didn't know what that felt like.

The vibe changed in the bus after that. We were on our way to Florida. It was a long, extended drive. Joey responded and said he booked a flight at an airport somewhere between wherever the fuck we were in Texas and Louisiana.

Poor Dustin looked so dejected the whole way there. I tried to cheer him up by cracking stupid jokes. He wasn't really into it though.

Soon enough we were saying goodbye to him at the airport. I hugged him tight and told him to keep me updated. We didn't go in with him because being recognized was more trouble than it was worth, so we all bid our goodbyes on the bus.

He held his bag tightly and saluted Noah and I on his way out. I collapsed on the couch with a sigh after the door shut behind him.

And then there were two.

"I hope his grandma's okay," Noah said softly beside me.

It was the crack of dawn. Joey never picked flights at decent hours, always arranging for us to get on the plane half-asleep and grumpy. If I had to be awake before the sun came up, I wasn't interested.

"I think she's gonna die," I said, making him look at me in surprise. "She's been in and out of the hospital with cancer since we were kids."