Something Sweet to Get You By

"Maybe he didn't want to scare you off. Not all girls think being a musician is a solid career choice, you know? He'll tell you soon. He just has to figure out if you're the type that can handle it first."
Charlie thought over Amanda's words as she watched the Asian lady at her feet begin to paint her big toe nail a bright blue. She and Beau had gone on their first date a few days before and after countless texts and hours spent on the phone since then, he had yet to mention anything about the fact that he was in a semi-famous band. She hadn't had the courage to just ask him straight up about his career, but waiting was beginning to get tiring.
"Well, I woulda thought he'd say something by now, yanno? It's not like I haven't been dropping hints here and there. Maybe he just doesn't like me that much."
"Um, excuse me," Nikki interjected. "Are you crazy? Get the fuck out, he does too."
"Yeah, why the fuck else would he be calling and texting you all the time?"
Charlie began to smile but quickly shook the happy thought from her head. She let the subject drop as Amanda and Nikki launched into an argument about whose job it was to cook dinner when they got home.

Beau found himself bashing his head against a Red Box repeatedly. Nothing was going right today. He'd kept forgetting the lyrics to his own songs during practice, the lady at Yogurtland had mixed his order up with someone else's, and now he couldn't rent The Hangover to watch with Eric and Mike. All that was left was for Charlie to call him and tell him that she fell in love with someone else and never wanted to see him again. Was she even awake? Beau checked his cell phone for the time: 2:13 a.m. Maybe she was up.
Without even thinking, Beau found his finger pressing the call button when her name was highlighted on his screen. He heard the phone ring a few times before a familiar voice answered.
"Hello?"
Beau exhaled deeply, "Hey Nikki. Is Charlie around?"
"Yeah, she is. She's actually waxing her butt right now but-"
There was a big thud and a bunch of screaming, mostly from Nikki. Charlie was swearing, using every name in the book and some, he knew, were Spanish, while Nikki laughed and swore back. After a few minutes, Beau heard Amanda scold both girls for being rude and making Beau wait on the other line. There was rustling and then Charlie's voice.
"Hey Beau, sorry."
"Hey Charlie. Am I interrupting your waxing time?"
"What? No! Oh my God, shaddap! Nikki was being stuuupid. We're watching a movie. What're you up to?"
"Well, I was trying to rent The Hangover but it didn't come out. My friends are waiting for me back at their place."
"Oh, did you call because you wanna borrow it from me?"
"I called because hearing your voice would make any bad situation better."
"Shaddap, you're gonna make me all cheesy," Charlie laughed, "Do you wanna borrow my copy or no?"
"Sure. I'll be at your place in fifteen."

"I don't know who this chick is, what she looks like, or anything, but if she's willing to lend The Hangover to you this late at night AND give you a big bag of homemade cookies to give to us, I approve," Mike said as he stuffed a cookie into his mouth. Eric grunted in agreement.
"She's great, isn't she?" Beau asked, smiling so hard that his cheeks were beginning to hurt. He, Mike, and Eric were settled in Mike's living room surrounded by junk food and (mostly empty) water bottles. They were hardly paying attention to the movie, having had seen it so many times before, and were instead getting themselves worked up for the tour they were about to kick off in a few days. They discussed who they were going to visit and which places to try out in each city. There was a lot of stress when it came to being on tour, but Beau loved every bit of it. To him, there was nothing greater than traveling the country with his friends and playing shows. He could do it for the rest of his life as long as the guys were with him every step of the way.
"How are you going to tell Charlie about the tour?"
"I don't think I want to tell her, dude. What if she doesn't like the idea?"
"Dude, you gotta tell her. How the heck else are you gonna explain not seeing her for the next five weeks?"
"I'll figure something out."
"I'd tell her."
"Shut up, shut up; Alan's wolf pack speech is coming!" Beau hushed Eric and Mike, pretending to care more about the movie for the first time that night. He watched Alan talk about how he'd felt so alone and how at that very moment, he didn't anymore. Beau understood. He'd felt the same connection when he met his band mates. It was them for life and no girl would ever change that. Charlie might deserve to know, but not yet.
He could feel the side-glances Eric and Mike were sending. He ignored them. He wasn't going to give into their pressure - not this time.
Charlie was amazing. He loved her rough edges. He loved the fact that she was independent enough to never smother him. He enjoyed being with her and he loved her choice in friends. He enjoyed the fact that she could switch in and out of 'hood talk; she was a lady when she had to be, but tough and straight up intimidating when she had to be. There were a lot of things about her that made him crazy, but he wasn't sure to trust her with the burden of a traveling musician. It wasn't the simple kind of trust that she had with him, the kind that allowed her to lend movies to him or to drive her car when they went out. Pushing the subject to the back of his mind, Beau set his full attention onto the movie. There was all day tomorrow to think about the subject.