Crescendo

Chapter 29

DANTE

Sky swallows nervously, his throat dry, as he peeks into the door's window. He's arrived at the Do-Re-Mi label's headquarters and is about to meet with the guys. Unfortunately.

Through the glass, he can see Alex and Christian sitting across from each other at the long oval table. Jer is seated next to Christian, watching Marcus Williams, one of the record label's head executives, pace back and forth in front of the room. Damn it. Not Marcus! Sky doesn't think he can face him too.

Then again, of course, Marcus is going to be here. Do-Re-Mi is mainly his company. One of his lead singer's having a massive breakdown also affects him. Sky frowns briefly, thinking about Marcus's response. How he'll most likely be worried about financial and PR shit, instead of Sky's health. Yeah, he's definitely not looking forward to dealing with his BS. He takes a shallow breath, braces himself, and opens the door. Of course, everyone immediately looks up, causing Sky to be visually assaulted by four pairs of accusatory eyes. Well, they feel accusatory at least.

"Hey," Sky greets them awkwardly.

"St. James. Good. You're here. Please take a seat," Marcus says in a booming voice more commanding than Jer's. In the assertive department, Marcus is worse than the band's manager—which is saying something. Sky obeys without a word while trying to avoid eye contact. However, out of his peripheral vision, he sees Marcus check his watch.

"Where the hell is Turner?" Marcus asks out loud, not expecting an answer but Jer speaks up.

"It's not quite time for us to start yet, Marcus. Under the circumstances, I think we can spare the kid some leeway." Marcus's scowl softens at his reply. He shakes his head in sympathy.

"You're right, Johnson. I almost forgot. The poor bastard."

"What do you mean? What circumstances?" Sky glimpses the grim looks on everyone's faces. Christian's tight expression is positively livid. Alex remains stunned as he glances down at his hands.

"You don't know? Isn't he your best friend? You haven't talked to him?" Marcus's scowl is back in place. Before Sky can open his mouth to defend himself, Alex clues him in on the situation.

"Some pictures of Turner got leaked on the internet."

"You mean..."

"Yup. And they're not just any dirty pics, Sky. Ones where Turner is hooking up with a man. A. Man." Christian enunciates. "Turner's gay!"

Sky doesn't say anything, but his facial expression must give him away.

"You knew. You knew this whole time," Christian growls.

"You did?" Alex whispers. "What the hell, Sky."

"He didn't want anyone to know. I wasn't even supposed to until..." Realization strikes. Sky turns to Jer. "Ryan Peterson did this. Jer—"

"I'm aware. Trust me, I'm taking care of it." There's a dangerous gleam in Jer's eyes that Sky finds kind of terrifying. At the same time, Jer being on top of things makes him feel better. Man, he suspected Ryan was trouble!

Someone clearing their throat interrupts the men from talking further. Turner's standing in the doorway. He's having a hard time looking at any of them, his shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Clarke, come in." Marcus's voice is much gentler this time around as he guides Turner to the empty seat beside Sky and Alex.

"We were—" Jer begins.

"I heard you." Turner cuts him off. His statement causes everyone in the room to flinch with either embarrassment or guilt. Christian is the first one to recover—with one of his usual tactless reactions.