Haunted

Break Myself

"Maddox, we have to take a break," Tim interrupted as Maddox was trying to walk through some choreography with his dancers.

"Just let us finish this section," Maddox begged. He wanted to learn the whole song before they stopped.

"Dax, you have to call Brent," Tim lowered his voice rather than shouting for everyone to hear.

"Now's not a good time," Maddox protested.

"If you don't talk to him now you may not get to talk to him today," Tim pointed out. "Time zones, remember?"

"Have Eli move stuff around," Maddox suggested. Eli was exceptionally good at messing with Maddox's schedule. Sometimes it seemed like he could create time where there wasn't any.

"Eli has more important work to do. I'm not getting involved, Maddox, I just want you to be aware this is the third day in a row you've blown off your phone time with Brent."

"Fuck. Okay, we'll take a break," he decided and went into his dressing room so he could get on FaceTime.

Since Brent was so far away their managers had set up scheduled time for him and Maddox to talk on the phone every day. Even with his app to help him keep track of the time wherever Brent was Maddox never felt like he knew what Brent was doing or where he was.

"Hey," Brent's sleepy voice was deeper than usual. "I was scared I wouldn't get to talk to you today."

"We're learning all the choreography," Maddox felt less irritated just looking at Brent. "Are you okay? You sound stuffy."

"Just really homesick," Brent sniffed. "And my body has no idea what I'm doing to it."

"What are you doing?" Maddox asked. Brent pushed his computer away so Maddox could see he was tucked in his bed.

"Adam just woke me up." There were still creases on his face from where he'd been lying on the pillow.

"Right, cause it's already morning there," Maddox remembered. He sighed. "I would really like to crawl in that bed with you."

"I can't tell you how much I would pay to have you here right now," Brent sighed too. "I miss you so much, Dax, it's killing me."

"I'll be there soon," Maddox promised. "You probably have tons of work stuff to keep you busy, right?"

"Three weeks is not soon," Brent protested. "Being busy doesn't mean I don't miss you, Maddox it just makes everything suck."

"Babe, it's always going to be like that," Maddox pointed out. "There's not that much time when one of us won't be on tour."

"I hate thinking that," Brent sniffed again but it didn't look like he was crying. "I hate feeling like we'll never just get to have a life together. As soon as I get back you're leaving."

"But you get to come with me."

"That's not the same as having you all to myself," Brent yawned which made Maddox yawn too.

"I don't know how to fix this."

"Maybe I should come home. Maybe I can't do this. Not if we're going to be together."

"Whoa, what?" Maddox gasped. "No, Brent, you can't just come home."

"Why not?" Brent sat up and picked up his laptop.

"You can't leave the band," Maddox told him. He was sitting down but he was starting to feel a little dizzy.

"Being away from you is killing me. I just miss you so much, Maddox, I don't want to do this if I have to be away from you to do it."