How Can I Love You If I Can't Love Myself?

-Chapter 10-

Noah

"Hey, dudes!" Geoff greeted as Cody, Izzy, Heather and I walked in. I just nodded at him with a small smile. "Hey, Cody! Heard you joined The Drama Brothers!"

"Wow, I didn't realize how fast word got around," Cody said with an awkward chuckle.

"Gotta get to know the band that's gonna be playing tonight!"

I grabbed Cody's wrist and pulled him away from Geoff. "Try not to get into conversations with Geoff," I warned. "Takes a whole to wear him out."

Cody nodded, and I sort of forgot I had grabbed his wrist. He didn't seem to mind, though. I saw Harold start to approach us, so I quickly let go of my grip on Cody's wrist.

"Hey, Codes," Harold said, giving Cody a fist bump. "We're gonna be on in 10. Just be ready dude. We're starting with Baby, then When I cry, and then we'll take a short break. After that it's just covers of songs."

"Alright, cool!" Cody answered with a smile.

"I'll fill everyone in on the covers we'll be playing during our break."

"Gotcha."

"You just cannot catch a break, can you?" I asked Cody with a small grin. He grinned back.

"I'm famous."

"Sure you are."

I watched his face as he laughed. God, he was so pretty.

"Hey, wanna go get something to drink?" he asked me.

"How about we wait until after your gig is over?" I told him. The last thing he wants is to he up on stage...drunk. He nodded in agreement.

We walked over to the living room, where I noticed a stage had been set up. How much money does Geoff have? How are his parents even okay with this?

We sat down on the couch and started to talk, just making small conversations. He even asked me about books!

"Alright, everyone!" Geoff announced from the stage. "In just, like, five minutes The Drama Brothers are gonna be on stage! Drama Brothers, that's your cue to get together."

Cody chuckled a little bit, and then turned to me.

"I gotta go become a celebrity," he said with a smile. "Seeya later, alligator!"

I gave him a small wave as I watched him stand up and walk over to where Justin, Trent, and Harold were huddled. I saw them talk for a bit before getting up on stage to set up all the instruments and microphones.

As stated, they were ready to start in five minutes. And as stated by Harold, they had started with "Baby." Surprisingly, they sounded better than when they had practiced. I couldn't take my eyes off of Cody the whole time...

He saw me looking once, and we kind of just held eye contact and smiled at each other. Then he looked away as they started "When I Cry."

The sing finished, and the partygoers seemed to really enjoy their music. I walked up to the stage to meet Cody and found him talking to Gwen, a cool goth girl. I've talked to her a couple times, and when I say she's cool, I mean it.

"Oh hey, Noah!" Cody greeted me when he saw me walking over. "I found a cool goth chick!"

Gwen rolled her eyes, but smiled. "I found him," she corrected.

"I'm very sorry, Gwen," I joked. Cody showed a look of hurt and disbelief, making us all laugh. Even himself.

"I'm sorry for you having to put up with me too," Cody said, giggling. That got us all laughing again.