Darkness in the Neon Lights (H2OVanoss)

Chapter 31

"So how did they take it," Ze asks as he walks to the back to pull out a box of liquor for the bar.

"As well as you could guess," I tell him as I lean against the doorframe. "They were pissed off that neither Tyler nor I told them sooner, but after an hour they calmed down."

"I'm surprised they calmed down at all," Ze says as he walks out with a box. "Mike still hates it when I text him, telling him I'm coming here."

"Oh believe me, when I was trying to leave, they didn't like it. I literally had to fight my way out of that apartment because they didn't want me to leave."

We start laughs as we take out the bottles and start stocking the bar, but soon stop when someone walks over. "Hey Evan," Tyler says loudly to get my attention. When I look over to him, I can clearly see that he's pissed. "Where the hell were you all day yesterday and today?"

I feel a knot quickly form in my throat. "What," is all I can squeeze out.

"Where were you yesterday and today?"

My mind goes completely blank as I try to think of something to say. Any excuse. Any lie. SOMETHING! But it just stays blank. The entire time I was with Jon and Luke, I never thought of what I could tell anyone, so, this is just my punishment for not using my head yesterday.

"He was with me," Ze quickly speaks up. I look over to him in shock, and Tyler does the same.

"What do you mean he was with you?"

"I started seeing someone, and I didn't want to meet him alone. Evan said he would go meet him with me. We went to my old apartment in the downtown area, spent the day hanging out just him and I, and then we had dinner with him and one of his friends. Then he spent the night at my old apartment with me."

"Old apartment?"

"Yeah. Before I started working for the club, I lived in a one bedroom apartment. I didn't want to break the lease, so my friends and I split the rent and hangout there whenever we're in the area. When I told Evan about it, he wanted to check it out."

Tyler then looks over to me. "Is this all true?" I nod, trying to keep a straight face. "What did the guy look like?"

"The guy Ze was meeting? Really tall, somewhat fit, black hair that was somewhat fluffy and did that weird superman thing where it curls on his forehead."

"Do you have a picture of him, Ze?"

I gulp, hoping Ze has a picture of him without him and out of uniform. Looking over, I watch as Ze just pulls out his phone, pulls up a picture, and shows it to Tyler. After a few seconds, Tyler looks between us and says, "Alright. Next time you guys decide to go out through, let us know. The last thing any of us want is for something to happen to anyone here. We already have had enough shit happen right now. We don't need another tragedy."

We nod and watch as he walks away to help get something else ready for the day. When he is out of earshot, Ze and I start laughing.

"Holy shit," I say, trying not to be too loud. "Did you have yesterday off?!"

"I did," he laughs back. "I spent the night with Mike since he was off too!"

"Oh my god, that was just perfect! And the apartment you mentioned; that's the apartment you share with Mike, right?"

"Of course! Whenever I have a day off, I like to go back and relax in a place that feels more like home, and sleep in my own bed. It's even better when I get to couple up with my boyfriend."

"Have things been better or worse in the relationship since you started working here?"

"I'll answer that after you tell me about you spending the night at Jon's. I thought you were just seeing him."