On With The Show

7

Nikki blinked as he let his eyes adjust to the light. He looked around, squinting at the nearly blinding sky. He looked down, smiling when he saw Tommy curled up against his chest. His neck was stiff – but that's to be expected considering he slept on a concrete roof with the giraffe of a drummer curled up against him. He pried out one hand from under Tommy, using it to remove his hair from his eyes as he tried to sit up. It was still morning, but only so in the vaguest definition of the word. Tommy was snoring softly, seemingly unaware that he was using Nikki's chest as a pillow. He held Tommy's head in his hands as he shifted slightly, not wanting to wake the younger one up just yet.

Propping himself up on his elbows, Nikki took another look around. It was a clear day, and the streets were busy. At the moment, he was just glad he had the day off. He stared off into space, absent-mindedly stroking Tommy's hair as he slept. He tilted his head back, looking up at the sky again, the way he did last night with Tommy. He didn't know what was happening – he wasn't this soft with anyone except him. Clearly, he hid it well enough; though he couldn't help but wonder why this maybe-drummer had such a profound impact on him.

He looked at Tommy, curled up against him. He winced slightly at the sight of the stab wound on his shoulder, though from the way Tommy was sleeping comfortably, Nikki assumed the other bruises Honey had left had mostly healed – something he was grateful for. He watched Tommy sleep for a while, before closing his eyes again. He stroked Tommy's hair in his sleep, smiling slightly as Tommy made a slight noise of contentment while moving closer to him. Nikki zoned out, staring off the rooftop as Tommy slept.

Nikki had lost track of time; he thought about Tommy, the band he wanted, life on tour if they ever did. It seemed so far away, yet so real at the same time.

He finally had a shot at making it.

He felt Tommy stir against his chest, before suddenly feeling his head lift off his chest. "Hey, Nikki," Tommy mumbled, still completely disoriented. "Did I fall asleep on you, man? Shit," he said, sitting up slightly. "Where's your house, dude?"

It took all of Nikki's strength not to laugh at that. "We're on the roof of the building, Tommy," He said, "After last night..."

Tommy nodded, "The Great Penis," He said with full seriousness. "Right."

At this point, Nikki couldn't help but laugh, to the point where his sides started hurting. Tommy smiled as he laughed, eventually joining in.

"Yeah, man, that's one hell of a constellation." Tommy yawned at the end, putting his head back on Nikki's chest, his hair spreading out around him.

"Hey, Tommy?" Nikki said as he made eye contact with Tommy. "I could make breakfast today – I have the day off work. It won't be anything as good as French Toast, but I could make a grilled cheese or something, if you'd like-" He was cut off by Tommy nodding enthusiastically.

"Yeah, man, that sounds great! Oh and another thing – I have a bit of cash in my jeans pocket, I just remembered – enough for a trip to this one backyard party. It's today at four, I thought you'd want to come. There's an open bar, too."

Nikki sighed a bit. What was the harm, anyhow? "Yeah, okay. Where are we going?"

Tommy grinned. "Covina. We can get my drums, too," He said, smiling. "If the band thing is still gonna happen. I mean, I get it if it's not, I royally fucked up, dude."

Nikki laughed. "Sure, we can go to Covina. You got the money for a round trip, plus drums?" He said, raising one eyebrow.

"We'll only need to pay for the trip there – my parents got me a van, I left it there because – uh, she – figured we wouldn't need it. I think it's got enough gas."

Nikki nodded, "Okay, T-Bone. Sounds great, we'll just need to figure out where to park. Today, four o'clock, we'll head to Covina."

*

The bus was cramped – Nikki was sure he'd smell like shit when he got off despite the fact that he'd just put on fresh clothes. That were actually fresh, not just relatively. The saving grace of the journey was the fact that – thank god – the two of them managed to get seats next to a window that opened. Tommy sat next to the window, and Nikki was next to him, leaning back in the seat. Tommy had been talking about something, but it was too cramped for Nikki to focus. He'd settled for the good old smile-and-nod.

"You know, what, Nikki?"

Nikki was caught off guard; Tommy had gotten his attention. "What?"

"I've always been good at reading people."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, my mom said it was a gift. She said I could always see things about a person they didn't show too much."

"Prove it, drummer," Nikki laughed.

"I'm serious! I can figure things out about people."

"Okay, and I'm asking for proof."

Tommy took a deep breath in. "Fine, I'll do that about you, yeah?" he said, looking at Nikki who just nodded in agreement. Tommy let his head roll a bit to the side, so he was staring Nikki in the eye – not in a threatening way, but more of a comforting way. Nikki stared back into Tommy's eyes, letting a slight smile form on his face.

Tommy started talking. "You feel things very intensely."

Nikki couldn't hold back a laugh. "I barely feel anything at all, Tommy. Much less intensely – shit, are you high, dude?"

Tommy looked exasperated. "You didn't let me finish," he said, his lower lip sticking out.

Nikki looked at him – that expression alone made him feel guilty about cutting Tommy off so soon. He sighed; turning slightly to face him again. "I'm sorry – but I'm serious, Tommy. I don't really feel that much – it's just a fact at this point. I don't feel intensely at all."

"What I meant to say is when you let down the armour that you almost always have up, you tend to feel things very intensely because of how much you hide it. You're a sensitive guy; you just don't like showing it. You hide it behind song lyrics and being angry when someone finds a vulnerability of yours."

Nikki fell silent for a second; he bent his head down till his hair covered his eyes. "That much of an open book, am I?" he said, laughing a bit. "Your mom's right. You're good at this."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Nikki put his hand on Tommy's, shaking his head a bit. "Don't need to apologize."

They spent the rest of the ride in a comfortable silence.