Stay With Me

“Rhi!” Max grinned waving frantically at me. It was so good to see him again, even if it was through a tiny camera on my laptop.

“Hey! How’s things?”

“Alright, it’s so good to be back home again though. We’ve missed you love,” Max replied as Josh walked in.

“Rhi? Hey lads, Rhi’s on Skype!” Josh called. Matt, Chris and Dan walked into the room then and they all squished in next to Max on the couch so I could see them better.

We chatted for a while about work and the band and what not before Max said he had to go, Josh, Matt and Chris all agreed and followed him out of the room. I had a feeling that Max had done it on purpose so that Dan and I could be left alone. We hadn’t really spoken properly since he kissed me at the concert. Even when they left to continue their tour we just hugged and said our goodbyes and that was it. I’d been on Skype with Max a bunch of times since and he’d been telling me how miserable Dan was that we hadn’t spoken, which only made me feel worse.

“Hey,” Dan smiled awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. Seeing his face and hearing his voice for the first time in weeks was the best thing ever.

“Hey,” I replied playing with the sleeve of his hoodie. I’d practically lived in it and my bed since they left. Many considered my behaviour unhealthy; Noah had forced me out of bed to shower most days and Marky had agreed to let me work from home so long as I actually did something.

“Look,” Dan and I both said at the same time.

“You first,” he said.

“Okay, here’s the thing. I’m sorry, for everything. I was just confused and when you didn’t talk to me after your show all those weeks ago I thought that I’d done something wrong or that you regretted kissing me, it hurt. But, I like you Dan, and not being able to talk to you or see you has been killing me. I never thought that one person could affect me, both in a good and a bad way, as much as you did in a week,” his face was a picture of guilt and sadness and I couldn’t help but feel terrible for telling him how he’d hurt me. But, I never thought that I had the courage to come straight out and tell him how I felt. I’d never really been good with telling people that sort of thing, even Noah. Although, most of the time I didn’t need to tell him, he just knew.

“I’d never regret kissing you, love. I’m so sorry if that’s what you thought. I feel like utter shit for making you think that you did something wrong. It was me that did everything wrong. After I kissed you I should have just told you how I felt. Aside from being a part of this band, meeting you was the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” I sat there dumbfounded. I had this nagging feeling that he was just going to tell me it was a mistake and that he shouldn’t have done it. I’d been playing scenarios in my head for days, where I never see him again, or he tells me that he’s got a girlfriend. I was just about ready to go crazy.

“Aww.”

“Fuck off mate,” Dan yelled throwing a pillow at whoever it was. There was laughing in the background and Dan disappeared off screen. A door slammed and Dan reappeared on screen. I had to bite my lip to stop from laughing at him. “Wait a minute, are you trying not to laugh?” He chuckled.

I shook my head in reply, I had a feeling that if I opened my mouth I’d just laugh at him. I felt light all of a sudden, the tension between us had evaporated and the weight that had been sitting on my shoulders heavily for the last few weeks had pretty much lifted. I still wasn’t sure whether Dan and I were okay though. I hoped with everything I had that we were.

“Are we okay?” Dan asked suddenly. The way he asked shocked me a little, it seemed almost desperate. Though, I couldn’t blame him; I was desperate to find out too.

“Yeah,” I smiled.

“Great,” he grinned back at me, his blue eyes lit up and my heart fluttered at how relieved and happy he looked. We chatted for a while before he and the boys had to go to some in-store acoustic show and signing. We said our good byes and both signed off and for the first time in weeks I shut my laptop with a smile on my face.

The next morning I got up early, showered, dressed and bounded downstairs for breakfast. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. When I reached the kitchen the smell of pancakes filled my nose and my stomach growled loudly. My plan was to make Noah breakfast but he obviously beat me to it.

“Morning,” I smiled walking into the kitchen and grabbing a plate of pancakes.

“Morning,” Noah replied. “Why the good mood?”

“Dan and I talked,” I shrugged trying not to smile as I took a bite of the fluffy goodness.

“Yes!” Noah yelled pumping his fist in the air. “It’s about damn time. So everything’s good then?”

“Yeah, it was just a huge misunderstanding. We talked about our feelings and apologised and now everything is great.”

“Well, I’m happy for you, really,” Noah smiled wrapping his arms around me.

“Thanks,” I smiled returning his hug. “Anyway, I have to go to work, I’ll see you tonight.”

“Okay, see you then.”

I grabbed my bag and slipped on my shoes before heading out to my car. I stopped at Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts on my way to work. I had a lot of apologising to do today. I made it in an hour early. Marky was already in his office but no one else was in yet. I knocked on the door to his office before walking in and sitting down opposite him.

“I bring coffee and donuts,” I said placing the Starbucks and the box of donuts in front of him.

“A vanilla latte and cinnamon coated donuts?” Marky asked raising an eyebrow.

“Of course, what would be the point of bringing apology coffee and donuts if they weren’t your favourite?” Marky just nodded and took a sip of his coffee. I settled back in my chair and sipped my caramel cappuccino.

“So, why the change in mood?” Marky asked.

“We sorted things out,” I shrugged taking a donut.

“You and Dan, you mean?”

“Yeah,” I smiled. “Look, I’m sorry for the way I acted these past few weeks. It was stupid and work should always come before my boy problems.”

“Don’t even worry about it, Rhi. You’ve been working for me since you were 16 and you haven’t taken a day off in those 3 years. I think you deserved a few weeks away from the office,” Marky replied taking a bite out of a donut. “Oh my god, these are so good,” he sighed.

“Thank you, Marky, for everything.”

“Don’t sweat it. What happened anyway?”

“With Dan and I?” he nodded, “it’s a long story.”

“We’ve got time.”

So, Marky and I sat in his office eating donuts and drinking our coffees while I told him the whole story. He just sat there and listened while I replayed everything from the way Dan looked after me when I was drunk, to the way I nearly choked when his arm brushed mine in the meeting room that day. I told him about the kiss and all the shit stuff that happened after that.

“Whoa,” Marky said when I’d finished.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “But, everything’s great now.”

“Knock, knock,” A voice said from the door. I turned in my seat to see who it was.

“Vinny!” I squealed jumping up and launching myself at him.

“Long time, no see,” he laughed picking me up.

“What are you doing here, Mr Petrocelli?” I asked as he put me down.

“The boys and I were just in the neighbourhood, thought we’d drop by and say hi,” he grinned.

“Awesome,” I grinned back. “So, where is everyone?”

“Follow me,” he smiled and stepped out of the office.