Fanboy (boyxboy)

Haunted

"Something isn't right."

Eli looked up, his eyes flying to Maddox first and then to his boss. Tim and Mack were watching Maddox on stage, arms crossed. They gave each other looks and, as much as he hated it, Eli looked at Hunter. Hunter was looking at him.

"Do you think it's-" Mack started to ask something but Tim silenced him.

"Don't go there. Not again," Tim shook his head and smiled as Maddox stopped dancing and motioned for everyone else to keep going. Dax came off the stage and headed their way.

"Shit. I can't lie, gotta go," Mack patted Tim's shoulder and walked away.

"What? What am I missing?" Hunter asked.

"Shut up," Tim hissed. Eli bit his tongue. He knew it was awful to be happy about someone getting scolded but he didn't mind seeing Hunter have a break from being constantly praised.

"It's looking really awesome," Eli recognized the frustrated look on Maddox's face. "This show is going to be amazing."

"I think so too," Maddox nodded but he held his thumb up to his mouth and stared at the stage. He bit off a piece of his cuticle. "I don't know, maybe the arrangement is wrong."

"It's exactly right," Tim spoke up. "Let it go, Dax."

"Okay," Maddox took a deep breath and looked past Eli at Hunter. "Hey, when are we having dinner?"

"Tonight," Hunter had obviously expected the question, which meant he and Maddox had already discussed it. Without Eli. "Your place. I'm cooking."

"Bad idea," Eli muttered, mostly to himself. He prayed Hunter hadn't heard. Then again, maybe Hunter was a good cook. He couldn't be as good as Maddox though so Eli wondered if he should warn Brent to pick up take out.

"Great," Maddox said. "I'll let Brent know."

"I already did," Hunter smiled.

"Of course you did," Eli muttered again. Maddox elbowed him. Eli raised his eyebrows at Maddox, hoping he would get the message. Hunter was overstepping. A lot. But Maddox didn't seem to notice or care.

"Okay, I'm going to focus," Maddox insisted and hopped back up on stage with his dancers.

"Can you tell me now?" Hunter looked at Tim.

"Nah, don't worry about it. Mack and I are just...cautious. Hey, I gotta take this," Tim picked up his phone before Eli or Hunter could say anything else.

"Why is he lying?"

"I don't know," Eli looked at Tim. He was talking to his wife so he was smiling but before that he hadn't looked happy at all.

"Okay, well, I guess they'll tell us if we need to worry. I need to go grab Dax's afternoon coffee. Do you want anything?"

"Yeah, actually," Eli reached for his wallet.

"I got it," Hunter smiled.

"No, it's fine," Eli handed him the only money he had with him. "Same thing as Maddox, only I take cow's milk and caffeine, no matter what time of day."

"Real milk, got it."

"Soy milk is still milk," Eli rolled his eyes.

"Ooh, sorry," Hunter laughed but stopped when Eli didn't laugh with him. "Okay, be back as soon as I can."

Eli turned back to his work and his ever-growing to-do list. He had a few texts from Logan and sent him a quick message before he put his phone aside. They were just 3 weeks away from Maddox's opening night.