Wait For Me to Come Home (Noah Schnapp x Gay Male OC Story)

Part Eleven

Noah

I'm finally face to face with the guy whose intrigued me since I first found out about him, and oh my God it's kinda cute seeing how awkward and star struck he is. His eyes have widened as he looks from Millie to me, and we grin. He's drenched in sweat and his hair is starting to stick up a bit, but if anything it makes him look even cuter. I freeze a little. I shouldn't be thinking about guys this way.

'Hi Robbie! We thought we'd pop by and say hi, and thank you for an amazing show!'

Millie has taken the lead, as I'm still trying to pry my eyes off of this guy, watching how he shuffles slightly awkwardly, and fiddles with the bottom of his left sleeve.

'I'm sorry I'm a bit of a mess, I always get sweaty during gigs so like, if you don't wanna shake hands or something then that's fine -'

I've already stepped forward and wrapped him in a hug. His arms stay limply at his side as I see his mind racing until he recovers, moving his arms around me too, and I feel like I'm being enveloped with comfort. Although he's quite a bit shorter than me he's seriously comfortable to hug.

'Thank you so much for playing the song.' I'm able to murmur into his shoulder.

'That's... that's more than okay. I'm so glad you asked for my favourite song.'

We pull out of the hug, and I look at him with excitement.

'Wait, you mean Photograph is your favourite song too?!'

He nods a little awkwardly, and briefly bends across to the table in the room to grab the water bottle standing on it. He reaches across with his left arm, and I notice the sleeve ride up just a little bit as his arm grasps the water bottle, and I see some fierce red cuts on his skin. I see it only for a second, but I want to hug him again, even tighter. For some reason part of me wants to comfort him and just make sure that he's alright.

He grabs the water bottle from the table and doesn't open it, instead just fiddling with it to keep his hands busy. Seeing his little quirks like that make my heart race again. I think I'm the only one who saw those cuts, and I really want to tell him that he shouldn't have to suffer through stuff like this alone.

Millie's launched into a bunch of praise and is asking questions about how long he's been playing guitar and singing for. He's taken a little bit by surprise, but he answers the questions politely, and his grin is slowly growing throughout. It's obvious he loves what he does, and it lifts my spirits seeing someone else who enjoys the creative arts as much as Millie and I do.

'How much longer are you in Atlanta for then?'

Robbie shrugs.

'This was the only night I was supposed to play here, so I guess we'll probably spend the weekend here before moving on to our next gig.'

A thought crosses my mind, and I grab at it.

'Would you wanna hang out with us tomorrow?'

Both Millie and Robbie look at me with varying degrees of confusion. It's kinda cute to see Robbie's face has lit up a little at the thought of being able to hang out. Millie's giving me her politest death stare possible.

'I'd love to, just as much as you Noah, but do you think the crew would let us make the journey?'

Robbie looks over in confusion. Millie's eyebrows are furrowed as she thinks about something.

'The crew?'

'The crew of Stranger Things. We're still in the middle of shooting season three, but we've technically got the weekend off.' I inform him.

Robbie raises his hands slightly.

'Look, I know you're both super busy and of course the show is really important so I understand if you're not free. I appreciate the offer.'

Millie seems to have stopped thinking, and turns to us excitedly.

'I'm sure we could talk to them when we get back tonight. There's not many huge scenes left to do and the weekend has been cleared in advance so I don't see them making any changes at such short notice.'

I look at Robbie with a huge grin, and he's smiling a little awkwardly but I can see the excitement in his eyes.

'Okay! That's really... really cool. Are you sure you actually want to hang out with me?'

'Of course we do! Dude, you were amazing tonight so consider this a thank you.' I mean every part of what I just said. Robbie's eyes are lit up with excitement and I honestly wish I could see him like this all the time.

Millie's phone buzzes and she swears under her breath. She turns to me.

'The driver's waiting for us outside, we should probably get going.'

She turns to the door, but then stops, turning to face Robbie.

'Before we go, do you mind if we get a picture with you?'

I see Robbie's mind whirring to process this. It must be his first time being asked for a picture with fans, and it just so happens to be Millie and I. He must be overwhelmed right now.

'I.. uh yeah! Sure thing.' He grins, and Millie and I pull our phones out. I notice the photographer, Quinn, from his instagram account and he comes over without being asked, taking our phones and getting ready to take the photos.

We go on either side of Robbie, wrapping our arms around him. We're all beaming bright smiles, and I can feel Robbie shaking a little as I hold onto him. I squeeze him a little bit and I feel him relax. Quinn takes a few photos on each phone, before switching to the camera he has around his neck, and snaps a few more pictures.

He hands mine and Millie's phones back and shakes our hands too, obviously downplaying his own excitement at seeing me and Millie. I open my phone again, switching it round to the selfie camera.

'Say cheese guys!'

I snap a few photos off, before Robbie has a chance to react and I catch him freaking out in the first photo, but by the final one he's right up behind me and rests his chin on my shoulder as he poses, smiling wide. I turn off my phone and turn around to Robbie, hugging him tightly again.

'Thank you again for playing my request tonight. You don't know how much it meant to me.'

Robbie pulls out of the hug, face reddening a little.

'It's really no problem. It meant a lot to me as well, to be honest.'

I find myself staring at him, and he catches my eyes briefly before his gaze shoots to the floor in embarrassment. Millie is already heading towards the door.

'I'll message you later once we get everything sorted out!' I promise him, and I mean it.

'Come on Noah, give the poor guy some space.'

It's my turn to redden as I walk away from Robbie and towards the exit. Millie and I shake hands and hug Robbie's manager, who thanks us ecstatically for the support and for taking the time to come and see Robbie.

We're soon out of the building and into the car, but I'm not really paying attention anymore. Something... weird was building up inside of me the entire time I was in the room with Robbie, and I can't describe it. It wasn't something bad though, I'm certain of that. My head leans against the car window as we start driving back, and I didn't realise how tired I was until now.

I struggle to keep my eyes open as I watch the passing lights on the street. I don't want to close my eyes, in case this is a dream. I look over at Millie, whose busy putting together an Instagram post for tonight. She looks up from her phone and sees me looking at her, and we share a smile. My attention returns to the slightly blurred view of the streets. Tonight was phenomenal.