The Dip and the Resurface

Part 18

Josh
~ Three weeks later ~

Tour was over and I was feeling kinda indecisive about it. On one hand, I was relieved that it was over. Tyler and I had worked really hard for a long time and I was looking forward to go home. On the other hand, however, I was a bit sad that it was over. It had been a fun tour and it had been fun hanging with Tyler day and night - no matter his mood.

On the morning of the 3rd, Tyler and I flew from Malta to London. We had spent a few days in Valetta doing nothing but exploring the beautiful city and sleeping by the pool. Tyler's mood was almost back to normal again, and I could tell that the stress of moving around all the time definitely had been a factor that had escalated the entire thing.

Even though he was happier than he had been for a while, I could tell that he was gradually becoming more and more nervous. I had no idea whether it was due to the fact that he was about to get close to Ivy again after all this time - or whether it was because he was going to meet - and perform - with his childhood hero. Either way, he was zoning out all the time even though he was clearly trying not to let his nervous demeanor show.

-

"That went well!" I said as Tyler and I were on our way back from rehearsal for the big show that was to take place the next night.

"Well doesn't even cut it!" Tyler smiled at me, "he was much cooler than I expected - and the solos...I mean, just, wow! I'm so glad we're doing this!"

"Yeah, I'm quite happy about that too, buddy!" I smiled at him. We were doing a Car Radio/Starlight mashup and I was really impressed with the outcome, "I can't believe he let you play his guitar!"

"I can't believe I messed up so badly," Tyler groaned, "I mean; you'd have to be either extremely unlucky or extremely idiotic to break the string just by barely touching it."

"I'm going with extremely idiotic!" I laughed at him.

"Yeah probably - I mean, if I had been unlucky, I would have run into Ivy too," he sighed before he added, "which I'm glad I didn't."

"Hey man, I've been wondering; how come you don't want to run into her? It could be your opportunity to actually explain yourself."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure that me walking out on her wasn't the biggest loss for her. I probably saved her from a lot of heart ache and pain by not letting her get too attached before she experiences what I battle with."

"Yeah, bla bla bla, you keep saying that but I don't believe that's why you don't want to see her again. When you and I first met, I didn't know either," I argued, "and I'm still here."

"You expect a medal or something?" Tyler said in a voice that was half mock, half irritation.

"Nah dude, just saying," I said before I continued my sentence from before, "All I'm saying is that it's worth a shot. If it goes to shit, you never have to see her again if you don't want to."

"I think it's best if I don't," Tyler said while looking out the window of the town car, "for all of us."

We sat in silence for a few seconds before Tyler decided to break my flow of thoughts: "Hey, there's something I've been thinking about."

"Yeah?"

"Do you think you're gonna hook up with anybody with that abomination of a mop you call hair?" He pointed to my neon yellow hair that I had worn proudly since the day I had dyed it in Lisbon.

"Chicks dig it," I laughed, "plus, that Emma-girl who was helping us around today complemented me on it more than once!"

Tyler rolled his eyes at me, "she was pregnant, you pig!"

"She had nice eyes," I smiled.

"Sure, her eyes were what you were staring at," Tyler laughed and I joined in.