As Long as You're with Me

EPISODE 07: Warfreaks

JAXON

THE FIRST QUESTION in our IG Q&A Livestream was, How did you two first meet?

My mind instantly drifted to a memory four years ago—the night Ramil took my breath away without even realizing it. The snowy December night Martin and his Broadway-obsessed girlfriend Evie forced me to watch Aladdin back in New York, knowing I wasn't fond of theater in the first place!

But they convinced me to watch one show with them for our last night in the city before going back to Hollywood. We were on a trip; why not make the most of it?

I was known to have the attention span of a hamster, so to sit there watching a 3-hour long musical was a massive achievement for me. But if it wasn't for Rami's enchanting performance in the very beginning, I would've walked out after the prologue.

(I remember rolling my eyes every time that damned princess Jasmine would appear for a solo, and my mind would just yell, "WHERE'S ALADDIN, DAMMIT?!")

If I could go back to watch Rami reenact it again, I would. (I didn't even have the balls to get an autograph from him.)

But I wouldn't confess this story out loud, hell no! It's embarrassing even speaking about this to Martin or Gage or Luke. (I have to pretend it wasn't that good so they wouldn't grow suspicious of me. Like that time when Evie asked if I liked the show I just simply shrugged and tried to make a nonchalant reply of "It was okay.")

But it wasn't the time we the first time Rami and I met personally. It was more one-sided back then; Rami barely knew I existed, until—

I was sucked back to the present by Gage's annoying laughter and Ramil's persistent nudging. "Hey! They asked the question."

"Oh," I said, blinking. "What was it again?"

Ramil shook his head, making Gage cackle even louder. "Sorry guys," Ramil explained to the thousands of people watching. "He's been tired from our late night practices, so I'll be the one who'll recall..."

For a quick moment Rami glanced at me, that's when I remembered last night.

Right. The night when he boldly danced for me while I shamelessly indulged in it—to the point where I have to stay up all night thinking about him and the way he made my body quake with need. Fuck!

Neither of us has spoken about it because it's easier to pretend nothing happened. Well, not nothing. It was just a dance and Rami was simply doing his part to show me his role for his next project. So why am I overthinking about this? Jesus!

"Get a hold of yourself, man!" Gage shouts over his headphones. "I'm more present than you are and I'm the one who's playing here!" He was busy ranking in Call of Duty in the background, fingers on the controller with dizzying speed. "Focus, bruh!"

I never wanted to be a part of this livestream. Heck, all I want to do is go back to the beach and get sun burnt all day long. But looking up at the clock—which says nine past ten in the evening—made it impossible. I blew out a breath.

Rami forced Gage and I to practice our lines with him all afternoon for the next episode because Gage keeps fucking up his dialogues. And after being good boys for the day, Rami promised to let us chill.

My boy Gage and I would've played videogames all night when Carla and Misoa just have to ruin our fun after dinner.

"You guys need to boost your social media presence," Carla said bluntly. Gage wasn't part of the conversation but he eavesdrops as he was setting up the game for himself. That bastard. "Take advantage of this time while you guys are still trending."