Robert and Monte: A Forbidden Affair

Michael sat in the hotel cafe wondering around. He was waiting for Ashley. Why? He himself had no idea. She had sent him a text message saying she wanted to talk to him. It probably was about his brother Monte. He and Ashley used to go out until Monte dumped her. For good reason.
You see, Monte has recently come to terms with his sexuality. He came out to Michael about a month ago and has been going out with his friend Robert who is also the drummer in the band Monte's in.
Monte, Robert and the other guys in the band, Craig and Max, were in band practice. Michael didn't tell anyone about his little meeting with Ashley. The counter girl, Paige, rang a bell.
"Michael Money, your coffee's ready," she said softly. Michael went up to the counter and as he tipped Paige, he realized that he had seen her before.
"Wait," he said. "Weren't you the counter girl from New York?"
"Excuse me?" she asked.
"Well, it's just I'm pretty sure I've seen you before. I mean, you even knew my name."
"That's because you placed an order, Mr. Money." Paige laughed.
"Okay," Michael became very confused. "Thanks for the coffee." He tipped Paige and went back to his table.
Just then, Ashley appeared. She was a pretty girl. She had long brunette hair, piercing blue eyes, and a very bitchy personality. She went over to the counter girl and asked Paige for a cappuccino. After she got her order, she sat with Michael. She looked angry. That's not a shock.
"Hi," Michael said weakly.
"Hey. Look, I just wanna know why Bryan dumped me. I mean, we dated for almost a year and poof. We're broken up." Ashley said.
"Well-" Michael started.
"I bet it was someone else," she said sharply. "It had to be."
"That's not exactly it-"
"Then what?" Ashley grew very angry. She took a sip from her cappucino and glared at Michael. "Is he gay or something?" Ashley started to laugh. Shit! What should Michael say? He took a big gulp of his coffee and stared at the floor.
"Michael?" Ashely snapped at him. "Michael, I was just kidding. I mean, Bryan can't be gay, right?"
"Uh," Michael was at a lost for words. "Ashley, it's complicated."
"Omigod!" Ashley hissed. "He's a fag?"
"Ashely-" Michael warned. Ashley got up from her seat and nearly darted out the cafe. "Don't tell anyone!" Michael begged.
"Oh, I won't tell anyone," Ashley said. And then, she was gone. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK! Michael really messed up this time.
Later, Monte and Robert were going over their instrumentals in the studio. Michael poked his head in and the two smiled.
"Hey, bro." Monte said. "What's up?"
"Uh, nothing. Oh, Bryan, Craig wanted to see you. He said he needed help with his vocals." Michael lied.
"Can't he get Max to help him?" Monte asked.
"He insisted that you help him."
"Alright," Monte nodded toward Robert. "I'll see you later,"

When Monte left the room and was out of earshot, Michael grabbed Robert.
"Dude, we're in deep shit!"
"Did Max fuck with the microphones again?" Robert asked.
"What? No!" Michael snapped. "It's Ashley." Robert shudder a bit. He didn't want to hear about that girl again.
"Well, what about Ashley?" Michael sighed out loud and tried to get his nerves together.
"Ashley. Ashley, uh." Michael started. "You see- She knows."
"Knows about what?" Robert's voice suddenly got angrier as if he were moments away from killing Michael.
"She knows about Monte. That he's gay."
Everything was silent. Michael was afraid to look Robert in the eyes. Robert tightly gripped his drumstick in his hands. This was not good. Not good at all. Shit, this was bad.
Monte came back into the room totally oblivious to the pile shit that was just bestowed to Robert.
"Michael, Craig said he didn't need help with his vocals."
"Oh, I guess I'm just losing it. I'll be back. There's something I've gotta take care of." Michael went over to Robert. "Don't tell Monte anything. I don't want him to worry,"
Robert nodded and Michael inched out of the room. Monte gave a confused smile and poked Robert's stomach.
"Anything going on?" he said.
"No," Robert faked a laugh. "Everything's fine, dude."
Monte looked a bit skeptical, but he trusted Robert. "Okay, then. I'm gonna go get some food. Lord knows Max is gonna forget. You wanna come with me?"
"I would love to, but I think I'm gonna work more on my drum solo. Uh, rain check?" Robert said.
"Sure," Monte smiled. After a little kiss on the lips, Monte left. Robert hated lying, but he wasn't sure what to do. He knew that bitch was going to tell people about Monte being gay. It would kill him if anyone found out.

The next day it seemed that their little secret was still a secret. Robert grabbed Michael by the arm and dragged him off the tour bus.
"Dude, we gotta fix this, okay?" Robert said. "If that bitch tells people that Monte's gay, we're fucked."
"Why? Why is this so bad?" Michael asked.
"Because, Monte said he wasn't ready to come out yet and I want to honor that."
"Wow," Michael said. "You really do care about him." Robert nodded. "Well, maybe you could talk to him about it again. Y'know, maybe he changed his mind?"
"It's worth a try. Yeah, I'll do it. But you go find Ashley and make sure she keeps her mouth shut." Robert ordered. As he was walking back to the bus, Michael called out after him.
"Do you want me to kill her?" he joked.
"Whatever it takes!"

Monte was the bunk area where the guys slept. He was on his bunk strumming on his guitar. He was so passionate about what he did, it was kinda beautiful to watch him. Robert took a deep breath. He can do this. He's just asking a simple question. What harm could it do?
"Hey, Monte?"
"Hi." he greeted. His bright smile quickly faded. "You look tense. What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. I just wanted to ask you a question."
"Then, ask. Stop being all cryptic." he laughed.
"Okay, so do you want to come out any time soon?" Robert blurted out.
"Why?"
"It's just a question,"
"It's not just a question, Rob. Is there something going on? Something you're not telling me?" Robert stared at the floor and sighed.
"Trust me, it there was something going on, you're the first person I'd talk to." he lied.
Monte smiled and they kissed. This sucks. Robert hated lying to Monte like that, but what choice did he have?

Later that day, Michael finally got Ashley to meet up with him. He was sitting on a park bench smoking a cig. He heard footsteps and looked up. Ashley was there, but she looked less cold. Her face seemed sincere and kind. The icy blue eyes that once stared into your soul looked warm and caring. It was shocking.
Michael scooted over on the bench and offered Ashley a cigarette when she sat down. She turned it down and laughed.
"Hello, Michael." she said. Even her voice sounded different. It was less shrill.
"Hey. So, could we talk about Monte? You didn't-"
"No, no. I was going to, but then-" she looked up at him and grinned. "I didn't."
Michael was relieved. "Thank you," There was an awkward silence between the both of them.
Ashley got up and started to walk away, but Michael stopped her.
"Wait, even thought I'm totally glad you didn't tell anyone, why didn't you?" Ashley laughed.
"As much as I hate the fact that Monte's gay. I do love him. We were happy together and I ruined it because I was a bitch."
"Ash," Michael said.
"Look, as long as Monte's happy, it's none of my business. So, good bye, Michael." Ashley turned and walked away. Michael couldn't believe it. Maybe there was some good in her after all.

Bzzt, bzzt. Rob fished his cellphone out of his pocket and looked at his text message. It was from Michael.
Evrythin is alright. monte has nuthin 2 worry about. you dnt even have 2 tell him :)
Rob laughed and Monte gave him a quizzical look.
"What's up?" he asked.
"Monte, how about we go get something to eat. You, me, and no distractions." Robert said. "Hmm? Sound great?"
"Seriously? I would love to!" The guys left the bus and headed out. A big weight was lifted off of Robert's shoulders. Maybe someday he could Monte about this whole situation, but for now, he wanted nothing to get rid of that smile.