Push to the Limit (the sixth book in the Glee series)

Chapter 11: The Next Day

Another chapter, yay! This is to make up for taking a whole week to update--it was so unnecessary but I just did not feel like pressing the darn publish button even though the chapter was ready. 

Shane Harper just released a new EP called "Like I Did" and I'm obsessed. If you're not too busy already buying and streaming Dangerous Woman, take a break for Shane and come back to Ariana later!(: 

Julie will be back next chapter, I promise. She's just THAT busy that she can't make an appearance in her own story. See, Ryder, she had legitimate reasons for not calling all the time.
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When Sam woke up the next morning and found Cleo lying beside him, still fast asleep, he smiled. It was his first night without either of the girls in quite a while—Izzy was on tour with Julie and Alex had watched Gaby overnight—but it didn't feel so lonely with someone to share the bed with. And it had been quite some time.

He looked at Cleo's back, bare and uncovered, and let out a deep sigh. Her skin was perfect porcelain and he was afraid to move, not wanting to disrupt her fragile sleep. Tyler was also in the condo, though in a different room, so Sam reached for his phone to make sure he wasn't going to be out and about when he and Cleo left the room.

Before he could send Tyler a quick text, however, Sam saw that his phone was filled with messages from his band mates and Sebastian. He started shifting through them and saw that they all said generally the same thing: it was late and he was supposed to be at his final meeting before the guys flew out to start their promo for the new single and the upcoming album release. 

That's when Sam remembered Eva and the fact that he had left her at Adonis. "Shit," he mumbled, wondering if she had seen him leave. He got out of bed as carefully as he could, not wanting to wake Cleo anymore than he had when he'd just woken up. He grabbed a sheet of paper from his writing desk and left her a quick note before getting dressed and leaving for the label.

"I am so sorry for my tardiness," Sam said as he sat down on an empty seat in the board room. Sebastian, Blaine and a few other employees were there already along with the rest of Crystal Army and Gaby. The latter was lying on her portable carrier on the ground beside Alex's chair, so Sam had sat down beside him to be able to have a look at her as Sebastian spoke.

Once they were done going over the details of the promotional tour they were about to embark on, Sam picked up Gaby's portable and proceeded to leave the room along with everyone else. "So we leave tomorrow then," he said to the other guys. "That's... soon."

"Not soon enough," Alex said. "I can't wait to start putting out the music for this album." He looked at John and added, "Though I'm sure some of us don't want to leave now that they have someone to stay home for."

John laughed. "Nothing compares to having you, bae," he said.

Alex nodded in agreement as Tyler said, "You guys have each other at least. When I leave, I can't take Morgan with me and there's no one who can replace her."

"We'll be gone for like a month," Sam rolled his eyes at them. "It's not like we're leaving forever. Just until, like, Christmas or something."

"Are you sure it won't be difficult to travel with the kid?" Tyler asked, looking down at Gaby with trepidation.

Sam shrugged. "Julie's been taking her on a legitimate tour. I think I can bring her along for a small promo tour. No biggie."

"If you say so," Tyler responded, unconvinced. 

Sam was about to say more on the subject when he saw Eva walking with Dani down the hall. He called out her name and she looked up, smiling, so he figured she must not be mad at him for the Cleo thing. Ready to go apologize for leaving like that, Sam almost went to her until John stopped him and said, "Don't. I told her you had diarrhea and according to the detail I gave, you're still a little sick right now. Just... Let it be."