MELODY

MELODY 06

┏ 𝚒 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 ┐

When he woke up, it was with a start. The sunlight that streamed through the windows above him casted the image of an empty room. Staring at the ceiling, Bryan held his breath. Aching muscles forced him to sit up, scratching the back of his head. For a few seconds, everything was blurry before one by one, reality began to sunk in.

Then, events from yesterday night flashed through his mind. His heart skipped a beat when he remembered the ghost of those warm fingers on his face and his grip on his body. Bryan's eyes landed on his bed, for a brief second thinking he would be meeting with the guitarist and almost panicking about it.

And then disappointment washed over him when the sheets, while messed up, Jackson wasn't here. A frown etched on his face when his heart throbbed once, unpleasantly.

He pushed himself to stand, moving to the bed and staring at the emptiness. Sleep hadn't greeted him while he tried to think of ways to explain the situation to the guitarist come morning but he supposed he didn't have to worry about that now. He had planned on what to say, even what to do. There had been scenarios crafted in his head starting from how he would introduce himself to then giving Jackson the chance to clean himself.

But all he got now was this quiet.

Well, he supposed any sane person would freak out if he ended up in a room they didn't recognise. He patted his chest. It wasn't because of him. They didn't even know each other. And yet, the disappointment continued to linger.

Sighing, he sat at the edge of his mattress, rubbing a hand over his face. From his peripheral vision, he caught something glinting from the light streaming through the windows. Reaching to grasp the item, he blinked when it was a bracelet. Made out of aesthetically pleasing grey strings and a charm hanging in the middle of it, a guitar, he was sure he didn't own this.

He brought it to his palm, caressing the metal charm one by one and taking in the picture it made. It seemed pretty and if he squinted, he could almost see holographic glitter etched in them. Standing up, Bryan walked to the windows and held it upwards just to watch it glint and sparkle.

He knew who this belonged to.

"Jackson," Bryan whispered. He closed his eyes for a second, clutching the bracelet between his fingers. "And you left this in my room when you left in a hurry. Great."

How was he going to return this now?

It wasn't like he could keep it with him. A part of him was gleeful enough to suggest that he indeed keep it as a hostage so Jackson would come and talk to him. But the rest of him chided in disgust. That was too obsessive. And while he found himself attracted to the guitarist in ways he couldn't comprehend, this was going too far.

He opened his eyes, glancing at his fist that held the bracelet between his fingers. There was his Instagram. He could send him a message and see what he would say. His heart skipped a beat that and nervousness bubbled within him at the idea.

But he had to do this. It was the right thing.

"I should return you," Bryan said as he carefully placed it on his study table, searching for his phone.

Once he got his device, he opened Instagram, finding Jackson's profile. With only a brief hesitation he hit on the message button. Heart beating miles per minute, he typed out a message.

'Hey, I think you left this bracelet with me last night. I, uh, I was the one who helped you out yesterday night, by the way!' He hoped that would suffice.

He reread the message a few times and then took in a deep breath. At the count of three, he hit send. For a minute or two, he was simply staring at the white background. Logically, he was sure that Jackson was busy and he wouldn't be responding so soon. But still, it messed with his nerves with every ticking second it passed and he didn't answer. Deciding to take a picture of the bracelet, he sent that to the guitarist as well and then forced himself to put down the phone on the desk.

"I'll just take a shower and check later," he said to himself.

Only the response he got once he was done with his shower and picked up his phone was something that he didn't think he would get.

'Ah, you can keep it. Throw it away, I don't care.'

He raised an eyebrow before a frown etched on his lips. Without thinking twice, he replied back with a, 'What? No way. Come and get your stuff back. I don't want it.'

'I said keep it.' Jackson responded faster this time, within just a second or two.

'It's not mine!'

'Look, just throw that thing away then, okay? Leave me alone.'

Bryan frowned deeper, the brief nervousness he had felt over texting the guitarist vanished like it was never there. At that moment, he was beginning to see the cracks in the image he had crafted about the other man. He huffed a breath, tossing his phone on the desk with a clank.

"Leave him alone?" Bryan whispered, looking at the bracelet sitting on his desk. "Yeah, right."

He was tempted to reply back but he wasn't sure what to say to that. Biting his bottom lip, he picked up the jewellery. He couldn't leave it there. It looked important. While he had expected the lead guitarist to demand his stuff back, what took him off guard was the pure dismissal. He glanced at the bed. Jackson Star was different from how he presented himself to be.

Bryan quickly realised he might have been fooling himself all this while.

┏ 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝙼𝙴𝙻𝙾𝙳𝚈 𝟶𝟼 ┐