Just Off the Key of Reason

Chapter Nineteen - I'm a Liner Away

Friday, 6th of July , 2007 - Denver, Colorado

Their show in Texas went well, the crowd ate up their energy and nothing was able to stop them from putting on hell of a show. Things seemed to be back to normal, at least for the mean time. They made their way through to Colorado over a couple of days of driving, leaving them with three full days before their show on Friday. There were only two shows left until their big home town show so the five of them were filled with an odd mix of homesickness and excitement. As a result of this, they spent most of their time in the hotel, lazing around or calling family and friends. They always told people that they were calling to get them to come to shows, they'd never admit that they had been missing them and were calling just to hear their voices again. Patrick had dropped his flirting tactics, deciding that they were more effort than reward. In fact, they had worked out to be quite the opposite of rewarding in the end. He also strangely enough seemed to be having more luck in his romantic attempts without actually doing anything. Since she'd had the chance to see him working on a song she hung off his every word and he was fairly certain that she almost looked at him differently. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he was pretty sure she didn't stare at him like that last week. He had absolutely no clue what he'd done, but he wasn't going to object to her wanting to hang out again like they had on the first leg of tour. Her ankle was still giving her the occasional trouble. Sometimes when she stood on it wrong she couldn't quite hold the weight and the joint would give out under her. It was an excellent excuse for Patrick to stay by her side, just in case he had to catch her.

As much as it all appeared to be slow but sure progress for the potential romance between them, it only infuriated the other three members of the band. They were sick of the constant heart eyes that they stared at each other with, the incessant being attached at the hip and they were so done with all of the half-flirty comments that they threw at each other. The afternoon before their Denver show they had managed to escape the suffocating cupid atmosphere of the hotel and devised a way to get a lunch without the two of them. They found themselves crammed into a diner booth, all happy for the temporary peace.

"We need to do something about them." Andy said firmly as his eyes scanned over the menu in front of them. He was instantly met with a few mumbled sounds of agreement.

"I just wish they'd stop dancing around the subject and shack up already." Joe groaned with an eye roll. "They know they're into each other, why haven't they?"

"It's so damn annoying." Pete huffed under his breath. He had managed to score one side of the booth to himself so he settled his back against the window and had his feet propped up on the empty bench space next to him.

"We just need to shove them in a room together until they fucking sort it out." Joe said, nodding to himself. He already started planning how to get them to agree to a game of seven minutes in heaven. The cogs in Pete's brain kicked into gear at the suggestion of locking them in a room. He suddenly realised he was formulating a plan.

"Guys, I might have an idea."

Later that evening before they left the hotel to head to the venue, Pete spotted Patrick leaving their room, guitar case in hand and on his way to the stage. Depending on the price of their hotel rooms, sometimes they ended up with one each, sometimes they ended up having to share. Fortunately for Pete's plan, he knew everyone's sleeping arrangements for the night. "Hey, 'Trick?" He called, trying his best to make it look like he hadn't just been waiting for an hour in the hallway. That he definitely hadn't been waiting for Patrick to leave their room and he had very casually bumped into him.