Was It a Dream?

Wow, I’m probably the biggest loser I know. I nodded slowly, not sure how to react. I really liked Gerard, I mean, really liked him; and now it seemed all he wanted was a fuck buddy. I awkwardly sat up, ignoring the whimper of protest I heard from Gerard.
“I should go,” I mumbled. “I… I have to catch my ride ho-ome,” I scrambled to get dressed and left the room before he could see how hurt I looked.

“Jared?” A voice came out of nowhere and it made me jump with surprised fright. It was Shannon. “Dude, are you okay?” he asked, placing a hand on my back. I shook my head, there was no use hiding it; he’d get the story out of me eventually. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I fished it out, it was Gerard. I didn’t bother to read it, I just shoved it back into my jeans and walked with Shannon back to our hotel room, he’d been nice enough to pack my shit up for me.
“Thanks,” I sniffled and took my bag, slinging it over my shoulder. It was a half hour drive home. I didn’t want to leave. My home was empty and boring, there was no Gerard there.
“Jare, what happened? Who do I need to beat up?” Shannon asked as we made our way out of the hotel.
“Gerard,” I mumbled. “He just wants to be friends, with benefits.”
Shannon cringed but pulled me into a hug, “He’s a drunk little bastard, you can do better Jay, I know you can.”

My phone buzzed again, it was our manager.
“Hello?” I said into the phone.
“Hey Jared, have you given any more thought about dating Gerard?”
I grimaced, thanks, this was the perfect time to bring this up. God, our manager…
“Um,” I bit down on my lip, “Yeah, I have and I think it’ll help, a lot. We could defiantly use the publicity.” I can’t believe I just said that. Shannon was gawking at me, he couldn’t believe it either.
“Good, because I was talking to Brian, My Chem’s manager and he thinks it’s a great idea. So, we’ve arranged for you and Gerard to go on a little date tonight at Bennihana’s.”
“Oh, okay. Sounds good. What time?”
“Seven, and there will be cameras so look hot.”
I snorted, “Yeah, yeah. See you later.” I hung up.

I spent my afternoon getting ready; for some reason I cannot fathome I was actually excited for this “date.” I rushed down to Bennihanna’s on time and sat down. Ten minutes later, Gerard slumped in.
“I thought you said you weren’t going to do this,” he growled.
I shrugged, reaching for the glass of ice water that was in front of me. I took a sip and casually looked over the menu. “I changed my mind,” I hissed back at him and was momentarily blinded by a camera flash. My instinct was to smack it away, or give it the finger but I had to restrain myself.