DREAMER: A Noah Sebastian Story

Chapter Four

You didn't speak much to Noah the rest of the night. You didn't have to really talk. The looks you got from him throughout the set were plenty. He wants you, but you refuse to get attached just yet. You're scared as hell of getting wrapped up in him just as Alice warned. It seems sort of wrong, knowing you were pining over him before he even knew you.

You feel like you're in a predicament now and part of you hopes the kiss was just a fluke thing that won't cause any awkwardness. On the other hand, maybe he wants it to go somewhere and you're lying to yourself if you try to say you're against that. Hard to believe something you fantasized about for years could happen to you – it almost doesn't seem real. It's all so terrifying.

You made your way out of the venue almost immediately after the Bad Omens set ended to return to the hotel for the night to shower and work on your photos. It's almost like you were afraid to face Noah, or anyone else for that matter. You try your best to avoid any thoughts of what happened on that picnic table but every so often, visions push their way through. A butterfly here, a butterfly there. It's hard to concentrate. You close your eyes and feel his hands on you again, his lips on yours... You fall back onto the bed with a disgruntled groan.

You grab your phone to scroll Instagram, trying to just focus on something else for a while. You scroll and scroll, looking at your friend's pictures and things. Then, you see it: a post by Bryan with you tagged in it. He posted the picture of them all standing together during the encore break from the first night. You recognize it as the one he sat and stared at for a while when you met with him after that show. You are in awe at your own work and how he looks on your screen. You scroll around to text Bryan.

"OMG I just saw my pic! Thank you for posting it on your page... I'm flattered!" You said. He responds rather quickly.

"I was looking for you after the show to tell you, but Myles said you headed out, so I'm glad you messaged me. And I should thank you! I'm running it by the guys to make it a feature photo for the Bad Omens socials."

This text has your heart bursting, you hardly know how to respond.

"No way! That's incredible. This doesn't even seem real!"

"Well, your talent is exactly what we've needed. A breath of fresh air for us all. I'll let you know what the consensus is when they decide. See you tomorrow!"

"Sounds great. See you!"

The text conversation ends. You're happy right now and wish desperately that you had a way to contact Noah to talk to him about it. Instead, you dial in to tell Myles, though he already knows. He congratulates you and jokingly begs you not to leave him for Bad Omens. Of course, you would never. Not long after the conversation ends, you gently fall asleep on your hotel bed, surrounded by your photography gear, with a smile on your face.

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You wake up to a chime on your phone. It's an invitation from Alice to come down for breakfast in 15 minutes. You groan and roll over to see the sun hasn't even started to come up as evidenced through the crack in your curtains. You check the time: 6 AM. Then, look through your calendar and see there isn't anything on it. No shows, no plans, no shoots. Then you realize that's why you had a hotel last night. A whole day off. Scared of seeing Noah in the dining room, you ask Alice who else is down there.

"It's just us. I believe it's fair to assume everyone is still sleeping." She replies. You breathe a sigh of relief and get decent enough to head down. Hair up, clean clothes, and teeth brushed.

Once you get to the dining room, you grab some juice and a bowl of cereal. You sit with Alice, still wondering why the hell you're both up this early.

"How's it going, Alice?" You ask between bites.