Follow The Music

Chapter 12: Party

The music was so loud that before I reached Alex's place, it sounded like I was already there amongst the others partying. But I wasn't. I was in my own apartment.

Walking into Alex's place, the first thing is see is River. He was on the other side of the room but still I noticed him first. And I knew why. He had recently told me that he has feelings for me and I can't help but be a little curious about why and how. He was holding a can of Double black and was looking around the room rather like someone watching the fun around him but not quite in sync with the ambiance. There was something that was preventing him from having fun and I hoped it didn't have to do with me.

"Em, you came." Mary, Alex's girlfriend, attempted to be a contorted version of nice. "And you brought..." Her face dropped as she saw what I was holding my hand. "A bottle of Jack Daniels. How... classy."

"Oh don't worry." I said. "I got you a drink too."

Her face brightened up. "Really? What did you get me?"

"Close your eyes and put your hands out."

She did so and I put the drink in her hands. She opened her eyes and frowned. "What the heck is this?"

"Moonshine."

"Ew. But I don't like moonshine."

"Really? Well then thanks." I said as I took it back from her hands and walked off. I knew she wouldn't want the moonshine. I really didn't bring it for her but for River instead. I decided to walk straight over to River. I needed to make things right or at least close being right. When he saw me coming he seemed to be a little surprised.

"I've got you a peace offering." I said to him as I gave him the moonshine.

"But we weren't fighting. Were we?"

"No I guess we weren't. Well here's something to show how sorry I was for not handling what you said the way I should have."

"You don't need to apologise for anything."

"Just take the damn moonshine."

A small smile formed on his lips but it disappeared rather quickly. "Alright." He took it from me. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I replied. "The point is just that we don't need to be awkward about it and we can move on."

"You mean the thing about me telling you that I have feelings for you."

"Really? I thought you were just attracted to me. I didn't realise there feelings involved."

He scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, is that a problem?"

"No, of course not. I still desperately want you to join the band, I mean we all do.  The only thing we haven't done is begged on our knees."

He chuckled. "Well, I'll think about it a bit more then."

"I'm glad." I smiled. There was a little silence between us for a little while so I then spoke up. "So if you don't mind me asking, I kind of don't understand why you see me in that way. I mean you're surrounded by pretty girls all the time so why me? I don't really get it."

"Being with a bunch of one night stands begins to lose its depth. And we get along well. I don't have to be a macho rockstar around you. I can just be me. It's really relaxing. Oh and also you're really hot so that kind of helps". He blushed and I all but melted. I knew how hard it would be for him to tell me his feelings. It was never something I got to hear about from him often.

I didn't care how it would look. All I cared about was giving River a hug. At first River had his arms out probably looking at me a bit shocked. But then thankfully he wrapped his arms around me too. "Thank you." I said into his shoulder. He was much taller than me so I only reached up to his shoulder on him. "I know that it is probably a little hard for you to say."