A Crush

Chapter 25

Jon's point of view

When we opened the studio door, Dave and Alec greeted us both with a hug. "Hey, where's Tic?", I asked and they shrugged. "We wrote a song this morning, but there's still missing a verse. Maybe we could write a little bit on it til he's there", Richie suggested and we all agreed, sitting down on the big couch in the middle of the room. We were discussing about the song for about ten minutes before Tico came in, with his sunglasses on. "Hey Tico, where were you?", Al asked him and he just shrugged, not saying a word. "Everything's fine with you?", Richie asked, now a bit worried. "Why are you bothering me? What do you want?", he yelled and got out again, slamming the door behind him. "What the fuck happened to him? I'll go and talk to him", I said and left too, finding Tico on the parking lot with his face in his hands. "Hey Tic, what's up?", I asked softly and sat down next to him, patting his back lightly. "Leave me alone Jon", he replied coldly and shook my hand off his back. "Really Tic, I'm fucking worried about you", I said and stared at him. He took off his sunglasses and locked his eyes on mine. His pupils were extremely little and his eyes were surrounded by dark circles. "My... my girl cheated on me with one of my best friends", he finally whispered and looked down, a tear running down his cheek. "Fuck Tic... I'm so sorry for you", I replied and hugged him tight. "But that's not all", he whispered and gulped. "What else? You can tell me everything", I replied and looked him firmly into the eyes. "I-I... I'm a heroin addict", he whispered and my jaw dropped. "You're... you're joking, right?", I asked and he shook his head as a no. "Will... will you kick me out of the band?", he suddenly asked, catching me off guard. "What? No, of course not!", I almost yelled, making him look at the floor. "Jon... I can't stop anymore, I'm too hooked on that fucking drug", Tic said desperately and looked at me, like I knew something to help him. "We'll go to the rehab if you want, then we're gonna kick that drug in the ass", I tried and he nodded, pulling me up. "Really Tic, if you want we will beat that together", I whispered and pulled him again into a hug as he nodded. "Should we rehearse a bit now to get the problems out of your head?", I asked and he nodded, following me inside again.

When we got inside, Richie directly ran to throw his arms around me and hug me. "What's up?", I asked him and slowly parted from him. "We did the song! The lyrics sound awesome and I think it'll go big!", he squealed excited and I chuckled at his excitement. "Ok, then let's try to play it all together!", I replied and kissed Richie softly. "C'mon, get your guitar babe", I mumbled against his lips and he kissed me once again before he parted from me and took his guitar out of its case. "Good, everything's ready?", I finally asked Richie and he grinned, giving me thumbs up. I took the sheet with the lyrics on it and went to one microphone. The others soon joined me there and we recorded the intro part. Just when we were done with that, Doc entered the studio. "Hey boys!", he greeted us and joined Richie and me on the couch. I was cuddled into Richie's chest with my eyes closed and one hand resting on his chest, while he had one arm around me and let his fingertips slide over the naked skin of my arm. "Hey Doc", I finally mumbled into Richie's shirt, breathing in the soothing smell. "So, how are you two love birds?", he asked and I smirked, a little blush creeping up my cheeks. "We're fine, thanks. I think we're gonna tell the public about us soon", Richie replied and surprised me with his words. "Wait, what???", Doc choked out, his face getting pale. "I said, we will tell the public about our relationship soon", Richie repeated, causing Doc's eyes to bug out even more. "You...you can't do that", he finally managed to whisper, causing me to raise one eyebrow. "Why?", I asked, sliding my hand over Richie's chest and down his arm, taking his warm hand in mine. "Because..." "Because what?", Richie asked, now getting curious. "Because the leader of your record company is a homophobe", Doc whispered, facing the ground. My eyes widened in fear and everything around me numbed for a few moments. Richie also looked pretty shocked, his mouth was halfway open and his eyes were wide, desperation and disbelief in them. "No", I managed to whisper, almost failing because of my dry throat and mouth. "I'm so sorry", Doc said, his voice falling into a whisper. Richie looked down and closed his eyes, then he took his arm off of me and got up. I looked up at him and he locked his eyes on mine, then looking away and leaving the room. That was when I couldn't hold back the tears anymore. "Jon...", Doc tried, but I just got up and left too. Outside I saw Richie leaning against the wall of the building, tears streaming silently down his face. He stared somewhere into the distance, hurt and desperation in his beautiful eyes. "Rich..", I whispered and laid my hand on his shoulder, hoping he wouldn't reject me. He didn't say anything and it broke my heart, but I know it was his right to say nothing. "Rich, I know it's hard but we will make it through that together", I tried again, still not getting an answer. "Jon, we have to talk", he finally replied, his voice weak and broken. He turned to face me and locked his eyes on mine. "Jon, I'm done. I can't play that hiding game anymore. The only way it wouldn't break me would be to tell the public. But now we can't do that if we don't want to loose our job. So, it's better to end it. For both of us and for the band." His words were ringing in my ears. I couldn't believe them. We were done. "Rich?" "Yes Jon?", he replied, his voice still weak. "Let's seal it with a kiss", I whispered and he nodded, pulling me closer by my waist. For one last time our lips collided on each others, causing both of us to let out a sigh. In that kiss there were so many emotions and memories, more than there had ever been. After a while we pulled apart, looking deeply into each other's eyes. "I will never stop loving you, even if we aren't a couple anymore", I whispered and tangled my hand in his locks for one last time. "I will love you always and forever, you'll be in my heart even if you give yours to someone that isn't me", he replied, pecking my lips once again. Then Doc came out of the door and we parted, going inside again.