- 10 -

I was right. We saw so many dolphins.

With the tour guides chirpy voice overhead pointing out different landmarks and terrains, we had at least twenty sightings. Happy, dancing dolphins leaping over the horizon, the morning sun reflecting on the water. As much as I genuinely enjoyed seeing the creatures swim up to the boat curiously, I had the pleasure of getting to see Noah through it all.

He ditched the sunglasses and peered over the edge, letting his arms dangle loosely. His eyes looked less brown and more blue with the aqua reflection from below, scanning the depths to try to catch sight of a fin above water.

The best part was when I saw the biggest, widest grin on his face when one of the dolphins jumped three feet above the water's surface. I pulled out my phone and started taking pictures.

"They're incredible," he said softly, catching my eye as if asking for agreement. When he saw I had my phone raised, he stuck his tongue out and posed goofily.

I sat down while Noah kept staring out at sea, just enjoying the sun on my bare arms. It had been a while since I just did something, something that wasn't getting fucked up with strangers in loud places. This felt so . . . peaceful. Even after a baby started crying and some rowdy teenagers were pretending like they were going to jump off the boat. I felt calm.

It ended all too soon.

We returned to the docks and waited patiently while almost everybody got off. Noah held onto my backpack handle so as not to get lost in the crowd. I was all too aware of how his fingers grazed the back of my neck, sending a shiver down my spine every few seconds.

There was a busy burger shack in walking distance to the tour hut. The tables outside were full of people and I could only assume the indoor seating had a similar fate.

We ducked into the restaurant, our eyes adjusting from the bright sun to the dim, fluorescent lighting inside. A few people sat in the foyer, presumably waiting for a table to open up, fanning themselves with menus. Noah stayed behind me as we walked up to the hostess' podium.

"Hi," I smiled behind my sunglasses. "How long a wait for two?"

The girl looked between Noah and I and replied without skipping a beat. "We're looking at about thirty to forty-five."

I glanced around. No one seemed to be paying us any mind. I lowered my sunglasses to the bridge of my nose and caught her eye, fighting a smile when I saw her entire expression change. Her thick eyebrows raised and mouth slightly parted.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Oh, I–" the girl glanced around desperately, then down at her expo board below. "Um, let me talk to my manager and see what we can do for you, Mr. Thorne. I'm sorry. I can't believe . . ." Her voice trailed off as she walked away.

I chuckled to myself while replacing my sunglasses. Noah shifted beside me. "You don't have to pull the celebrity card everywhere you go, you know," he said with an eye roll, leaning against a wall full of picture frames. "I don't mind waiting half an hour for a table."

"But it's so fun," I said honestly, not hiding the giggle that vibrated from my throat.

"Yeah, maybe when we were twelve," he said, laughing himself now. "Do you remember . . . when we went to that festival? The, uh, what was it?"

"Hippie festival?"

"Oh, God," Noah snorted. "When we walked around in those stupid outfits just letting all the booths give us free shit. We were such douchebags!"

I pulled out my phone and searched for a few moments, eventually pulling up a photo from that very day. He turned red when he saw it, shaking his head. There we were, in the middle of a corny Hippie Fest with three or four half-naked women that were definitely twice our age, surrounding us.

He shoved my phone away. "That is so bad."

"Your little cheeks," I cooed, just as the hostess walked back up. She smiled timidly at me, holding two menus in her arms as she gestured for us to follow. Some people that were seated at the entrance expressed their distaste for our skipping the line by huffing loudly and muttering amongst themselves. We ignored them.

We were sat at a nice table for two that had an amazing view of the vast ocean beside us. Noah hardly took his eyes off of it from the moment we sat down, but I didn't mind. I was fond of these silences.

One our orders were placed and I was promptly playing on my phone while Noah stared off into the distance, I relaxed a bit. Hanging around other celebrities often put my guard up, never knowing anybody's true intentions. It was refreshing being around someone who hated the spotlight. I was often drunk off my own status, seeing it impossible to avoid the reality of the fact that I was a household name.

"So what's after Florida?"

I looked up from my Twitter feed. I think I could confidently say I found Noah extremely attractive. I had said it before, of course, but I fully accepted it now. He was just really nice to look at. Like, better than your favorite painting, nice. Like, I could stare at him for hours, nice.

I think it was his eyes. While the rest of his face read his wares clearly, displaying all that he'd been through like an open book, his eyes were soft. His cheeks sunk in slightly, his skin was pale, there were lines by his eyes and forehead indicating years of expression. But his eyes. They just reminded me something pure, something fragile.

I cleared my throat, looking out to the ocean. "Next two are in Atlanta, two in North Carolina, then, like, a week in New York and some other states up there," I said, taking a moment to think. "Then Ohio and then– oh, shit, man. Did Joey tell you about Missouri?"

Noah sipped his iced tea and shook his head. "No?"

"My family's in Missouri so we'll be there for about three weeks," I explained. "I'm staying with my sister and she's expecting Dustin to come so there will be plenty of room for you, but if you wanna go back home by then, I get it."

His face lit up. "Lina Ballerina?" he exclaimed, his voice an octave higher. I fought a smile. "I miss her. Haven't seen her in, what, ten years? God, how old is she now?"

"Nineteen," I said, shivering at the thought.

"Jesus," he mumbled. "Are we old?"

"I think we are," I said solemnly.

Lina hung around on the set of Road to Serendipity almost every chance she got. She was obsessed with Noah (and I mean obsessed). And he was equally as fond of her, if not more. He didn't have siblings, so for a younger sister type of prospect to cling to him so easily meant a lot to him, I think. They had a similar bond as Lina and myself.

"If she would have me, I'd love to see her," he said, sitting up in his chair. Our waitress came by and set our food on the table, earning a genuine smile from Noah. I know I said I liked his eyes, but his smile was pretty good, too.

I pulled out my phone to text and ask, but I was almost certain she would say yes.

We only had about two hours to get back to the venue. I wish I had the kind of job that I could just call out of work and take a breather day. I supposed I could, but I'd piss a whole lot of people off.

"So tell me the truth," I started, popping a fry in my mouth before continuing, "are we holding you hostage on this tour?"

Noah's eyebrows furrowed. "No," he said quickly.

I nodded, though I didn't quite believe him. While I didn't know exactly what Noah Russo was up to in the days leading up to our reunion, I was positive he had plenty of better things to do than just ride along with me, touring the states. I thought about what Jax had said about his 'bucket list' and how this could possibly be something he'd check off.

He must have sensed my hesitant disposition because he pat my hand from across the table and said with a silky smooth voice, "Trust me, Theo. Today was the best day I've had in a long time."

This made a warm and fuzzy feeling creep up my stomach and arms. I was going to make an effort to do more of what Noah wanted to do, rather than just ride in the bus together. I would ask him what he wanted to do at every stop we made. This would no longer be Theo Thorne's tour, it was Noah's, too. I wanted to make up for all of the turmoil he'd seen in the past few years.

I didn't know much about Noah's history. All I could really go by was the one time I saw his mugshot floating around Twitter for public disorderly and assault and the fact that he was evidently deep enough in substances to cut it cold turkey. And that was only the tip of the iceberg.

"So what are we thinking for our Atlanta outing?"

He smirked, two little dimples appearing just under the corners of his lips. "I'll have to look into it."

We ate our food quickly because grey clouds approached from the distance, casting a dusky blue tint over the beach. Families were packing their things and calling for their sunburnt kids to rally up. I called the driver to pull the car in front while we waited for our server to return with my credit card.

Noah stacked our plates at the corner of the table, a habit I noticed when we went to the Mexican joint last time, and sat back with a contented look. I left a hefty tip for the sweet girl that accommodated our every request with a smile and we headed out.

The whole ride, I kept sneaking glances. I couldn't help but notice how much more chipper he seemed compared to the beginning of his accompaniment on the tour. He looked out the window with a satisfied sigh, presumably thinking about the dolphins or maybe Jax or (I could only hope) me. It was after the third time he caught me staring that he chuckled. "What?" he asked. "Quit looking at me like that."

"I wasn't," I said, feeling heat creep up my neck.

His gaze returned to the window. I stopped looking at him, but I didn't stop thinking about him.

Noah's phone rang suddenly, making both of us jump. It was quiet in the car and the shrill ringtone was alarming, cutting through the peaceful silence like a knife. He fished it out and looked at it, glancing at me with a different expression.

"Yeah," he answered plainly. I didn't stare, but I tried to catch what the person was saying. "I'm in Florida right now."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Noah raise a hand to his mouth and when I glanced over, he was nibbling on his thumbnail. I bit my cheek and clasped my hands together in my lap, not wanting to look too interested in his phone call. Was it MacNeil?

He sighed a quiet breath. "I'll call you back tonight. You know I'm with him," he said softly, turning his head away from me. "Alright, yeah, whatever."

Without another word, he hung up. I looked away, not wanting to be caught. He sounded so defeated. It was safe to assume he was talking to MacNeil, but I had no idea what about. What the fuck would he want from Noah these days? Their contract was sure to have ended ages ago.

I wasn't going to ask him about it. It wasn't my business.

But I really fucking wanted to.

—

Noah felt a bit sick from being out in the sun and decided to take a nap on the bus instead of watching the show. I felt a bit off my game.

During soundcheck, I didn't bother yelling at any of the sound tech's about anything. The stage manager seemed to flinch when my background singer's microphones picked up feedback, sending squeals across the stage, waiting for me to throw something at him. I simply waited patiently for them to fix it.

My guitarist, a cool dude named Chris, made a comment about it and I didn't snap at him. I was feeling mellow. My mind kept wandering to Noah. Inside, I was trying to think of some excuse to go back to the bus just to see him.

When we successfully sound checked and had everything ready for my show in about two hours, I had a bit of time to kill.

On my way backstage, I stopped at Kailey's drum set. I always liked the way my band and I looked aesthetically; all of the instruments incorporated the same look with a glittery, metallic black finish over the bases, we coordinated our outfits subtly, and we positioned ourselves to each get our own spotlight. My band was as important to the show as I was.

Kailey's drums were up on a platform so she'd be seen from behind me. I stopped beside the staircase, catching her eye. "I want you to do the drum solo in Fever Dream," I said, making her eyes go wide.

"Really?" she asked, her mouth agape.

She had done the drum solo in one of my songs, Fever Dream, last tour at every show. It was incredible and her passion was intoxicating. Naturally, I dulled her spark.

After we'd hooked up, I went on the offensive before she could even do anything. I didn't want her to get attached, which we both knew wasn't going to happen. But I attacked anyway. I embarassed her in front of the band with some accusatory jokes and cut her solo. Even though she didn't say so, I knew she was devastated.

She didn't quit, though. The money was too good.

I felt this urge to right my wrongs. So I simply smiled at Kailey and walked away, not sticking around to see her reaction. One wrong down, nine-hundred and ninety-nine to go.

Joey bombarded me and made some suggestions for the show, explaining that some influencers would be in the crowd so I had to give it my A-game. I always tried to be on my A-game, but it didn't always work out. I just nodded and uh-huh'd until he left me alone.

Out on the bus, I tip-toed aboard so as not to wake up a potentially napping Noah. If he was awake, I would just say I needed my charger, or something. I normally just sat in the green room and pre-gamed or took a nap or something. Killed time until my set started.

But this time I went straight out the back door to the bus. I stepped on carefully in case Chester was waiting near the doorway, but he was nowhere to be seen.

I peered around the corner at the couch, which was vacant. He wasn't in the living area, so I assumed he was in the bunks. I tip-toed through to the small hallway and peeked into the bunk he normally slept in.

Empty.

Worry flashed in the back of my mind, but I pushed it away just as quickly. He was a big boy, he could come and go as he pleased. I stepped into my room, ready to just watch some trash TV to kill time. But I froze when I saw what was in front of me.

Noah was laid, stomach down, dead asleep on my bed. His cheek was pressed to the comforter, his legs hanging off the edge. He had his arm stretched out over his head, hand resting softly on Chester's back, who was fast asleep as well. It appeared Noah had come in here to pet Chester and ended up crashing by accident.

I couldn't fight my smile.