Make Me Your King

Chapter 4

I'm not gay.

I'm really not gay.

I'm anything but gay.

I'm so straight.

I think.

By the end of the concert, tears were streaming down Katelyn's face, ruining her glitter makeup. As we waited for people to move, she held my hand and talked about how amazing the show was through her little sobs. It was so sad to watch. Once the crowd dispersed, she looked up at me. "AIDAN AIDAN WE HAVE TO GO MEET HIM."

"What."

"AIDAN HE'S GONNA GO OUT SOON WE GOTTA MEET HIM."

"Meet."

"YES, MEET, LET'S GO, LET'S GO."

She took my wrist and led us out of the crowd, down the stairs, and outside of the venue. Most people were heading to the parking lot since it was getting pretty late, but there were clusters waiting to meet Declan. We walked to the sidewalk bordering the venue, sat, and waited.

I sat there reassuring myself. No, Declan hadn't looked at me during the show. No, he and I hadn't made eye contact. There was no "moment" between us, because I'm not gay. I'm not gay. I have a girlfriend, I love my girlfriend, and I am only here because of my girlfriend. Girlfriend. I turned to Katelyn.

"Katelyn, I'm not gay."

She sighed and looked at me, smiling. "Aidan," she took both my hands, "I love you. bUT EVERY TIME YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THIS OUT OF THE BLUE, THE LESS STRAIGHT I THINK YOU ARE."

"Okay, but-."

"And it's okay to be gay." She laced her fingers through mine. "We accept you."

I smiled and shook my head "I'm not gay."

"Mmmm, suuuure, Jannnn."

"KATELYN JANE-."

Screaming. Running. Katelyn stood up and started dragging me towards the crowd. She and I joined the other post-emo indie kids, jumping, trying to get a glimpse of Declan like an orchestra of caffeinated crickets.

"SINGLE. FILE. LINE. BACK UP, NO TOUCHING. LINE. FORM A LINE. BACK UP." Security waved the crowd into a line. Katelyn, being as unnecessarily nice as she was, let everyone go in front of us.

"Katelyn, have some backbone. You don't have to let every single person go in front of you."

"Listen." She looked up at me. "If we're last, that means more Declan time. He doesn't have to leave until 6 am tomorrow morning for Georgia, and they're about 30 minutes away from their hotel. It's..." she checked my watch. "10:37 and each fan or fan group takes about 3 minutes. He can stay until 1:30 before the band starts getting tired and everything is packed up." she looked up at the front. "And all those people up there are just taking pictures. So we'll get up there by about... 11:30 or 11:45 at the earliest."

"Katelyn, how much free time do you have."

She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'm just a Declan enthusiast."

"Yeah, okay."

Katelyn was right. In half an hour, we were about halfway through the line. Most people in the front were just taking pictures and giving quick hugs to the band members. I was still hungry. And tired.

"Hey, babe-."

"I'll drive us to Taco Bell after."

"Okay but-."

"I'll take you home, don't worry about it."

"I don't really want to go-."

"Drive-thru."