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

Part Six

Robbie

5:58pm

Quinn and I are waiting in the reception of the hotel. I'm practically unchanged from earlier, all I've done is slap on some fresh deodorant and ran my fingers through my hair a couple of times so that it wasn't sticking up as much as it was when I got out of bed about ten minutes ago. And also double - no triple - checked that my sleeves won't be riding up to show my arms anytime soon. Quinn's carrying a rucksack with his camera and a whole assortment of lenses he's going to be using tonight.

'Let's go people!' Cade announces, bursting out of the elevator. Quinn and I share another worried look. Cade is a great manager but even they show stress sometimes. I guess a big show like this is a lot of stress on their back, and I don't want to add to it at all. They usher us out of the doors of the hotel as some people stare at us, into the back of a waiting car.

It's one of those slightly larger than normal Ubers where you have the usual front facing seats, but then a couple foldable ones in the back too, facing the other way. Quinn opts for one of the rear facing seats, and I'm packed in next to Cade facing forward or 'the normal way' as Cade puts it. Quinn's camera is out of his rucksack and he's already got the right lense attached, aiming the camera at me.

This is when it starts getting real for me. Quinn starts all his photosets for a gig in the car journey to every venue. I'm used to it now but there's a growing bit of nervousness starting to gnaw away in the bottom of my stomach. I opt to just stare out the window and watch the passing streetlights. It's a beautiful sunset today, but it won't last long before it gets dark.

Noah

6:15pm

'Noah! Get your basic bitch ass out here, the car is here!'

Millie's charming beckoning call rips through my closed door. I'm just putting on my favourite pair of designer white sneakers, coupled up with some light blue skinny jeans and a similarly coloured hoodie. I'm not dressing too flashy tonight as I don't really want to get mobbed at the show.

'Coming!'

I grab my phone off of my bed side table, slap on a baseball cap and fling open my bedroom door, barrelling down the stairs to the front door and Millie's unapproving face. I grin at her cheekily as I head past her and open the front door and am greeted with the twilight sky and waiting car.

Once we're inside the car and on the move, Millie plugs her phone into the car's aux cord.

'We've got a little bit under an hour till we get to Atlanta, so what better time than to listen to Robbie's album so we'll at least know some of the words to his songs.'

I just nod, Millie making sense as always. She loads up the album, titled 'Homesick' as she mentioned earlier, on Spotify. She hits play and I lean back in my seat, and gaze out of the car at the sky. The first few acoustic chords play through my head and I start to lose myself in my mind. I feel the same sort of butterflies I get before I get in front of a camera, and I realise. I'm really fricking excited.

Robbie

7:15pm

Crew and technicians run around me as I sit on one of the sofas in the room designated for performers at the Tabernacle. Well, I say "sit" as loosely as possible cause my legs are curled up underneath me as I perch on the worn material of the sofa. I'm just trying to relax, listening to my hype playlist, trying to pull my focus away from the craziness around me.

Quinn has his laptop open next to him on the other sofa facing my one, and I know he's snapping some pictures of me in the calm before the storm. He hasn't said anything to me though - headphones in is part of my pre-gig ritual and it means I'm taking some time to myself and he knows that.

I shut my eyes briefly to try to visualise the steps up to the stage. I don't want to do something stupid like tripping over, especially in front of my biggest crowd. Although I was standing on the stage a few hours ago, my mind is racing and I can't remember what it looked like.

There's a tap on my shoulder which I flinch from, and I wheel around in shock, only to see Cade accompanied by the band opening up for me tonight. I always try to get local bands who are also up and coming as the exposure is great for them and I love supporting other artists - we all need a helpful boost sometimes and I'm sure they're grateful for it.

I remove my headphones from my ears and get up from the sofa. Cade introduces me to the band, called Walking Amongst the Stars, even though I already know them as I picked them to open for me. I shake hands with each of them, and although they're only in their late teens I feel so much younger compared to them. I almost feel like I should be the one opening for them.

They all thank me a lot for the opportunity and I blush, not really sure of how to respond. I'm just glad I'm giving these musicians a chance to live out their dream. They're taking the stage in a few minutes, so they head off to get geared up. I sit back down on the sofa, and it looks like Cade is going to say something but I stare at them and it's like a shared understanding flickers between us. I slip my headphones back in and restart my music, but I still can't focus. I stop the playlist and just stare blankly at my phone. Cade has gone over to Quinn and says something to him, which makes him spring up from the sofa and dash over to the door that leads out to the stage.

I pull my headphones back out and place them on the small coffee table in front of the sofa, staring off after Quinn, intrigued. I look over to Cade, my eyebrows raised.

'The doors are opening. I thought it'd be a good idea for him to get some photos and videos of your fans as they run for the barrier at your biggest gig.'

I just nod, kind of freezing up a little at the mention of the crowd entering the building. All these people, and they're here to see me. Although we're in quite a well sheltered room, I can hear a few faint shouts from what I can assume are the people who want to get barrier - the idea of having fans, yet alone 'superfans' is another scary concept for me. I know there's no fan accounts of me yet, and I'm kinda scared of if or when they'll start popping up.

I just start scrolling aimlessly through my Instagram feed, trying to put all these thoughts out of my mind. Try to turn them into positive energy, build up my excitement. I get an itch on my left arm, and I scratch at it gingerly and it still stings without me even touching it. Another reminder of how stupid I've been.

Luckily I'm distracted from the spiralling negative thoughts by Quinn reappearing in the room, red faced from running up to the stage. He grins at me, flopping down in his place on the sofa.

'There's so many people here already man. It's really cool.'

I'm about to say something, but then a few shouts come from the stage, and then the familiar sound of an instrument being plugged in comes wafting in. 'Atlanta! We are Walking Amongst the Stars! Are you ready to rock?!'. A roar comes from the slowly filling room, which I can worryingly hear rather clearly. I gulp, checking the time on my phone. Their set is going to be about 30 minutes long, then there's a short reset as Connor and the techs set up my equipment and then it's the real deal.