Superstar (boyxboy)

Chapter 11: We Go Down Together

To say it was awkward after their make-out session, was an understatement. It has been a few days after their kiss, and things were not as good as Matthew hoped would be.

Carl has been fully intent on ignoring Matthew for the last couple of days. Every time Matthew thought of practicing their lines together, the musician would avoid the actor at every chance he got. He would always come up with an excuse to stay away from him, like how Julian needed him in the studio for his music—wherein Matthew knew that it was just an excuse to avoid him.

Matthew thought they were doing great, but Carl thought otherwise; and it was driving Matthew insane. They haven't had a proper line reading ever since the kiss happened. Hell, even the slightest amount of action he made, got Carl into a frenzy; walking away from him like he had a deadly plague. He didn't even sleep in the same bed with him anymore, but he did still sleep in the same room, probably to avoid Prince asking if something was wrong.

But Prince did know something was wrong because; one, he wasn't blind, and two, he wasn't deaf. He wanted to ask about what happened with them, but he figured it wasn't his business to pry, at all—and both Matthew and Carl were grateful for that.

It was just a kiss, so Matthew didn't exactly know what was bothering Carl, and he didn't know why this situation was bothering him when it shouldn't even be a big deal.

"Hey," he started to say when he saw Carl come out of their bathroom, all dressed-up looking like he was going somewhere. He was standing behind the door as he just got inside of their bedroom, a small smile on his face.

Carl ignored his presence and all he said was a nonchalant, "I got to go. Sorry," before he rushed to get out of their bedroom without so much of a glance.

Rolling his eyes at the persistence of the said musician, Carl was adamant on ignoring him that Matthew wished it was for a different reason than the one his mind insisted. He flopped on his bed, face first as he sprawled out his limbs across the queen-sized bed. He turned his head on his side a few seconds later when he had difficulty breathing, heaving a sigh as he tried to think of a way to talk to Carl—which was stupid, because it was the young musician who initiated and kissed him the second time that night.

"Knock knock," Prince said from the other side of the door, before he opened it and came in. "I just saw Carl leaving, no practice today?"

"Yeah," Matthew answered, dragging out the word as he stared at the ceiling, not even bothering to look at his assistant manager.

"That's the—what, fifth time this week?" his assistant manager pointed out as he leaned on the wall beside him, eyebrows raised in question. "What's going on with you two? You were hitting it off nicely—"

Prince was asking the right questions, but unfortunately for him, Matthew didn't have the answer he was looking for because he was also asking the same questions in his head the past few days since Carl started ignoring him.

"I have no idea, Prince," the actor said in all honesty, his eyes unblinking as he kept his gaze on the ceiling of his room. He was in a daze; a subtle frown on his face, lips pursed and eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Prince sighed at the hopeless state Matthew was in, and knowing that he wasn't going to get the answers from him, he left his room and shut the door behind him, muttering indistinct words Matthew couldn't bother to care.

A few hours later, orange sunlight beamed through the penthouse tapestry. It was already dusk, and Carl hasn't come back from wherever he went. Matthew was beginning to worry, because it was unlikely of the musician to be gone for more than three hours.