The Best Deceptions (Want You Bad sequel)

Chapter 24

*** This chapter ended up being a bit of a longer boi than usual, but I dig the way it turned out. There's roughly ten or so chapters left of this sweet lil bean of a story. Thank you all for being so patient with me as I've been writing it, and thank you to Kae, as always for being my storyboarding buddy. You can find Kae and her brilliant works at @unnknown_       AAAAAAANYWAY. Enjoy!

"I am so excited for my next guest! I wasn't sure I'd ever get to have them on; everyone help me give a warm 'Late Late' welcome to Silent Playground!"

As the audience cheered and clapped, Garrett, Chase, and I walked across the stage to greet James Corden before taking our seats on the couch. I was closest to the desk, and Garrett was between Chase and I.

"Thank you guys so much for coming on!"

"Thank you for having us," I smiled brightly.

"You're just about done with your tour now, right?"

"Yeah," Garrett nodded. "We've got three shows left, all here in beautiful California." A few members of the audience cheered.

"I think we'll see those people there," Chase chuckled. "Are you coming to a show, James?"

James looked sheepish for a moment. "I might be," he held a finger up to his lips to indicate a secret. "Now, I've got an interview to do." We all chuckled. "Fans of Silent Playground may notice that there are only three of you now. Is it weird touring without Delia?"

I spoke, keeping a smile on my face as I answered. "Delia is focusing on her personal life and education, and we're all very proud of her, though we do miss her a lot. It was definitely an adjustment while we were in the studio, and now touring has been a little different, because she was usually the one helping Rick keep the rest of us in line, and now Garrett has turned into the responsible one and it's weird."

Garrett laughed. "Someone had to do it."

"Garrett Daniels, responsible?" James chuckled.

Garrett laughed again. "I know, it's weird, but I kind of like it. Now that I'm sober, it's more fun for me to not cause chaos." The crowd clapped wildly at the mention of his sobriety.

"Yes!" I cheered. "Let's give it up for Garrett!"

Garrett ducked his head, blushing. "Thank you."

"Garrett, a little birdy tells me you're going to be publishing a book about your battles with addiction soon. Is that right?"

"Yes. It is very honest and real, and probably not for the faint of heart. It uh, it dives deep, but you know, if my story can help anyone, I've got to get it out there."

"Have either of you read it, Chase or Natalie?"

"I've read snippets, and I've helped him with dates, places, things like that if they were fuzzy for him, but it's honestly really well written, and it has definitely made me cry a few times."

"I want to wait for it to be completely finished and published before I read it," Chase said. "But I have had to give my permission for a couple of stories that involved me to be published. We were kind of insane for a couple years there."

"You're all pretty settled now, though. You seem to have matured nicely. Chase, you've got a long-term girlfriend, Garrett is private about his romantic life but has admitted to being in a relationship, and Miss Natalie over here is a mum, on top of dating Sutton Monroe for a couple years now." We nodded as the audience clapped. "Natalie, what's being a mom like? I've read a couple interviews you've done, but now you've got a toddler. How are you finding it?"