life & death | jack wilder ✓

IV

IV

"under pressure that burns a building down,
splits a family into two,
puts people on streets."

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Listen to Under Pressure by David Bowie and Queens for this chapter.

Dedicated to George Michael.

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O N E Y E A R L A T E R
L A S V E G A S

I STEPPED INTO THE HOTEL with a bright smile plastered on my face as a gush of cold air welcomed me. I nodded at the bell boy, who opened the hotel door for me, as a sign of gratitude and walked into the elevator. Tapping my room card and pressing the floor button to my penthouse. My whole body was sticky due to the sweat. I bobbed my head to the music blasting in my ears and the elevator halted to a stop. I made my way out and pass the corridors and stood outside a wooden door, tapping my card on the sensor and opened the door.

"How was your run?" Henley asked as I entered the room, making my way to the living room area. She was sitting on one of the couches with a laptop on her lap. The coffee table infront of her was filled with stacks of paper for our show tonight. The final plans.

"T'was great." I replied, plucking off my Bluetooth earphones and dropping them on the table.

She looked up from her laptop screen and faced me. "I don't get how you managed to actually run in Las Vegas."

I replied with a shrug, grabbing my water bottle and chugging it.

"Did you give Marc his ticket?" She leaned back on the couch.

"Yep. He's really excited to watch us." I smiled, recalling the memory.

Henley gave me a smirk. "Does little Rae Rae have feelings for Marc?"

My eyes widen in shock. "No. Woah. NO. He's like a brother to me." I explained.

"Hm..." she replied, the smirk remained.

"So, where are the boys?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Last minute shopping," she said, her smirk was replaced with a disappointing look on her face. "I told them to get everything ready last week and they didn't listen!" Her fingers curled into a fist before slowly releasing. Her flustered look was replaced with a smile. "Anyway, the show starts in 3 hours. You better head for the showers and get everything ready." Henley told me as she placed the device on her lap on the table. "Geez that laptop's killing me." She rubbed and squinted her eyes.

"Lower down the brightness!" I told her as I made my way up the stairs to shower.

-

I stared down at the clothes settled on my bed in disbelief. Almost loosing the grip on the towel wrapped around me. A wave of regret washed over me.

"I should've gone dress shopping myself." I muttered.

"Oh quit gawking at it and start putting it on!" Henley rolled her eyes as she entered my room, closing the door around her.