Page 88 of Inevitable
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!”
Drew’s voice rang loudly through the quiet, dark street as he shot up from the stairs and whirled toward Bas.
“When have you ever wanted to tour? You’d have to be in close quarters with those guys for almost a year. You’ve shot down every single offer from every other band. You once said touring would be your worst nightmare. And what about your studio? What about composing your own music? What the actual fuck, Bas?”
“Calm down.” Bas got up as well. “I’m allowed to change my mind, aren’t I? I can hire somebody to take care of the studio, and I can still compose while on the road. Bands do that all the time. Would it really be that difficult to be supportive of me?”
It was easier to sound pissed off. Maybe that way Drew wouldn’t see what was beneath Bas’s annoyed exterior. Maybe that way he wouldn’t see the pain and regret.
Drew stared at him, still with that disbelief written all over his face.
“What about us?” he gritted through his teeth. “Are we going long distance?”
Bas couldn’t meet Drew’s gaze for a moment longer, so he fixed his eyes on his shoes.
“Maybe… maybe it’d be wise to put on the brakes for a while. I mean, between the three of us. You two will still have each other, but maybe it’d be better if I’ll just… be your friend for now.”
Bas had never known silence could be quite this deafening.
“It makes sense. You have to admit it,” Bas continued. He couldn’t look at Drew nor Ezra, choosing to stare at some distant point above Ezra’s head. “Plus, this way, you’ll have time to patch things up with your family. They’ll accept you if it’s just the two of you…”
Bas’s voice dropped off. He’d already spoken more than he could really handle. Now he just needed to wait for Drew and Ezra to agree, and then he could—
Drew’s loud, bitter laugh stopped him midsentence.
“Unbelievable,” he said, shaking his head.
Bas stayed quiet as Drew rounded on him.
“Are you breaking up with us?”
“I wouldn’t—”
“Wouldn’t call breaking up with us a breakup?” Drew demanded. “Because it sounds like a breakup to me!”
Bas licked his dry lips.
“You’d still have me in your life. We’d just be friends.” He looked to the side. “You have to admit, it wouldn’t really be that much of a change.”
Drew narrowed his eyes as he advanced on Bas slowly. Bas could practically see Drew’s thoughts moving.
“Well,” he said slowly. “I didn’t know you were such a hypocrite.”
That one cut.
“How am I a hypocrite?”
“You’re telling me that our relationship isn’t real! You were the one who said we shouldn’t make sex into this big thing that defines our relationship, and now you’re standing in front of me, telling me that because we don’t fuck, we’re not in a relationship. Might as well call ourselves three friends, huh? Three amigos! Or, hey”—he snapped his fingers in mock excitement—“three musketeers! You know what? We’ll think of the name later. It’ll be like a couple’s name, only for friends, huh? Or will Ezra and I get a couple’s name since our relationship is the real one, and you’ll just kind of tag along? Tell me, how does it work exactly in your mind?”
Drew had stalked practically in Bas’s face by then. Anger was burning in his gaze.
“You’re so fucking sad all the time!” Bas’s hands balled into fists. “And I have a solution for that. If we do it this way, you can have it all.”
Instead of realizing what a reasonable thing Bas was suggesting, Drew got even angrier.
“Of course I’m sad!” His voice echoed from the walls of the silent buildings, filled with barely controlled rage. “Of course I’m fucking sad, but you don’t solve that by breaking my heart! You solve that by being there for me.”
“I’m not—” Bas tried to interject, but Drew didn’t let him get a word in.