Baby Steps

I spent that night in the hospital and was released the next day. Dr. Collins told me that I should be able to play my drums in a day or so but that I needed to take in easy on moving because of my ribs. I thanked him for all of his help and left with the guys. When we got back to the bus, the entire crew was there waiting to welcome me back. It was a nice surprise and I was grateful for all of them being there.
We headed to our next venue in New Mexico later that night. Vic told me that we had postponed the shows in Phoenix until the end of tour. I felt bad about it, but he assured me that the fans were just happy that I was safe and relatively unharmed. I still spent the next day moping in the back lounge. I must have been there too long because Tony came to find me in the afternoon.
“Mike, you okay?” He asked as he sat down next to me on the couch.
“Yeah,” I half lied. “I’m just in a little pain.”
“Do you want your meds?” He went to stand but I grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down.
“No,” I leaned my head on his shoulder. “I just want to stay like this.” He didn’t complain or move away. We stayed like that for a few minutes, just enjoying each other’s company. A few minutes went by and I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.
*Hey Tony told me what happened. How are you feeling? –Taylor*
*Better than yesterday.* I responded. Tony looked up at me, a questioning look on his face.
“Taylor?”
“Yeah.” My phone vibrated again.
*That’s good. I’m glad. –Taylor*
*Me too.*
*How’s Tony? I know he was pretty worried about you the other night.*
*He’s alright, but he doesn’t leave me alone for long anymore.*
*Good =) That’s to be expected.*
*Yeah.*
*Alright well I have to go. I have a client. Txt me if you need anything.*
*Will do. Thanks Tay =)*
“So what did Taylor want?” Tony sat up and turned to me.
“She wanted to make sure we were okay.”
“We?”
“Yep.” I reached over and took his hand in mine. “She was worried about you.” He smiled before leaning over and kissing me gently. I reached up and cupped his face, pulling him closer to me. He moved over me so that I was laying back against the couch with him on top of me, being careful of my ribs.
He pulled back and stared into my eyes. His brown eyes were a deep chocolate color, stormy with his want and desire. We stayed like that for a few moments, just staring, before he spoke again.
“Come on. We better get back into the front. I know Vic was worried about you.” He stood and helped me to my feet. I cringed slightly at the pain in my side and followed him a moment later. We ventured towards the front lounge, but stopped as soon as we got to the end of the hall. Tony held his hand to his lips, indicating to stay quiet.
Out on the couch in the front lounge were Jaime and my brother. Usually we wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but they weren’t just sitting. Jaime had Vic pinned underneath him with Vic’s hands above his head, and his lips attached to Vic’s. Vic had his eyes closed and was eagerly kissing him back. I was too stunned to have said anything.
Jaime soon released Vic’s mouth and moved to his neck, biting him. He was working on what I assumed to be a hickey by the way he was latched onto him, but when Vic let out a low groan, I had had enough spying. No matter how much I wanted to embarrass my older brother, I would not listen to his moaning. It was just a little too creepy for me. I cleared my throat and Jaime jumped away from my brother. He and Vic both looked at us with embarrassed faces, and Tony started chuckling lightly.
“Uh… hi guys.” Vic was blushing furiously.
“Hello there.” Tony managed between laughs. The looks on their faces were truly priceless. You would think we had caught them having sex or something. I walked past Tony and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. I then proceeded to sit at the kitchenette table and stare at Jaime. He began to squirm uncomfortably.
“Bout time guys.” I laughed. Jaime and Vic just looked at each other.
“How?” Vic managed.
“Really guys?” Tony joined me at the table. “Mike and I aren’t the only predictable ones.” We watched as a matching pair of blushes crossed their cheeks. There really was no way to describe how cute they were.
“Wait until fans find out we’re all a bunch of homos.” Jaime chuckled.
“Well I’m fairly certain most of them think we’re gay for each other anyway.” Vic leaned his head onto Jaime’s shoulder.
“Yeah, you should see the stuff they say about you guys on Tumblr.” Tony laughed.
“Ugh, I don’t wanna know.” I whined. We all laughed at that.

It wasn’t long before we reached the next venue in Texas. I had had enough time to rest and playing didn’t hurt quite as much as before. Tony still stuck to me like glue and Vic would text me every half hour when we weren’t together. I appreciated their concern, but I’m an adult and they were making me feel like I was a child.
I was inside the venue overlooking my kit. Tony was standing a little ways off, setting up his pedal board. I don’t know what exactly it was, but something about him seemed off. He was not as cheerful as normal. I mean, he wasn’t acting completely off, but just enough to where I knew something was wrong.
Watching him carefully, I walked over to him, sliding my arms around his waist.
“Babe, is everything okay?” I whispered in his ear. I felt him shudder in my grip and he turned his head towards mine.
“I’m fine.” He tried to give me a smile, but I could see through it. I didn’t want to press the matter. If I knew Tony as well as I’d like to think, then he would tell me on his own time. Although, I knew that it would be bugging me until I knew what was going on.