Starlight Express, Part 3 of 10

Jun 21, 2009 07:27

Chap 3

It wasn’t one of those good days, apparently.

Adam watched quietly as Kris stalked across the bus’ dressing area, one of his hands jammed furiously into his pocket, another hand gripping a mobile phone so tightly it seemed likely to break apart. He hefted it in one motion, then quickly threw the handset towards the cushion where it bounced and fell.

Kris shrugged his shoulders deliberately, pulling his head in, stretching, as if the stretch could help him calm down. He flopped himself down on the couch, cradling his face into his hands, drawing a deep breath.

Adam couldn’t resist. “What’s up, man?”

Kris looked up, almost as if he was surprised to see Adam there. His face relaxed slightly, then he shook his head. “Believe me, you don’t wanna know.”

Shifting his tall form so he could inch his own chair nearer to Kris, Adam hunched over and put a comforting arm on the younger man’s shoulders. “I’ve heard worse. Seriously, I can handle practically anything, you can tell me, I won’t be shocked or anything. Did I tell you about that time I was performing in a bar in LA, and someone stood up and shouted, hey, you faggot, right in the middle of my…”

“My mom called,” Kris interrupted Adam’s rambling, shutting him up effectively. The hurt and heaviness in his voice was so raw, Adam couldn’t help but clutch Kris a bit more protectively, instinct telling him to cushion the blow for him. “She said … she said … she … they’d been watching every interview, you know … and she told me to be careful … to be freaking careful …”

Adam watched Kris absently rub his upper lip, a habit he usually fell back to when he was unsure or nervous. It made Adam suddenly nervous. What did Mrs. Allen say that upset her son so much?

“She said …” Kris closed his eyes. “She said I should be careful of my … association with you. Association.” He laughed, bitterly. “Like it’s some formal thing. She says you and I have been talking way too much about the other in our interviews. And she says people have begun to ask her, about that. About whether we’re just covering something up. About whether I’m really married or maybe if it was just a front. Like Katy was someone I could hide behind.”

Adam said nothing, just kept his arm around Kris.

“And I told her, he’s not a problem, mom. Adam’s wonderful. He’s a wonderful person, a force you can’t sometimes help but be swept along with. He’s not some heathen monster or anything. He’s cool.”

They both sat there, Kris shaking his head in disbelief, Adam biting his lip to keep himself from saying something he would regret later and just letting the younger man bleed it all out. There were too many speculations about them, too many, more than there ever should be. And Adam knew that, if he were just a wee bit honest with himself, he would admit that he still wished the rumors were at least somehow true.

Lots of people found the unlikely friendship they’d forged between them strange. None more so than Adam himself, who fully expected Kris to shun him. But Kris was a naturally affectionate, cheerful, laid-back sort of guy who seemingly had not outgrown the need to hug everyone he wanted to, and was never shy about it. Adam was hesitant to hug back at first, afraid of what the media, the fans, and Kris’ family would say, but he couldn’t help it. He loved hugging Kris, and it wasn’t his problem that a billion other people envied him for it.

And of course, it helped that Kris was such a looker, such a sweetheart, and exactly his type. It helped a whole lot.

Kris sighed. “I told her Katy understood. I mean, I’ve always been like that. She used to tease me, Katy, you know, asking me if I’d hugged every woman from Little Rock to Louisville, and I told her no, I’d hugged every guy and every kid, too. I hugged Katy everyday, my mom, my dad, Dan’el, my friends. Everyone. I don’t understand why my mom is making a big fuss of this now. ‘S like … like she doesn’t trust me.”

Adam nodded mutely.

“Darn. I mean, no one used to care that I hugged everyone. Now everyone does. And I’m so sorry, Adam. You got dragged into this stupid idea because of me.” Kris rubbed the back of his neck in a characteristic gesture of bewilderment. “Sorry. But what do they want me to do? Stop being me? Stop being Kris Allen because he won American Idol? Stop hugging? Stop being humble? Stop being quiet? Tell me, Adam, what am I supposed to do, reinvent myself?”

Forcing himself to grin, Adam regarded the younger man. “Fuck, no. That’s what America voted for. Who you are. How you sing. How you smile, how you hug, how you talk. Stop apologizing for everything, honey, and don’t you reinvent yourself for anyone, you hear me? Don’t.”

“So what do I do? I don’t like upsetting people either, that’s what I am, too. Especially not my mom.”

Adam sighed, suddenly feeling older than his twenty-seven years. “Well. For starters, we will do something about the interviews.” He picked up Kris’ mobile phone, dialing a number swiftly.

“What are you doing?” Kris asked, watching him.

“Calling Julia, you remember her? Your PA. Telling her that she should look both our schedules over, and get her to keep pair interviews down to a minimum. That should at least keep people from saying we make googly eyes at each other or anything.” He tapped his feet impatiently as he waited for the pick up. “And I’ll also have her look through the interview questions before they ask us. We’ll tell them we don’t wanna answer anymore questions about the other person, it’s a tired routine anyway.”

Adam had just turned away from Kris for the phone call when he felt Kris’ arms encircle his stomach in a hug. The younger man laid his cheek on Adam’s jacket for a moment, and Adam could swear he heard his own heartbeat speed up to about a thousand per minute - so much so that he had to distract himself a bit before his body’s reactions embarrassed them both.

“Thanks, man,”  Kris whispered, oblivious of Adam’s inner torment, into his back. “You don’t have to, but thanks. We both know who we are. Those people who don’t, well, too bad. My mom’ll just have to understand, ‘cause Katy does. And beyond everything else, I think it’s her opinion that really matters anyway.”

Kris let him go with a final back pat, then left the room.

Adam sat down, heavily, breathing deep, slow breaths to get himself under control. It might not affect you, Kris Allen, he thought, but it fucking affects me. And for both our sakes, I think I should still make that call.

He stared at the phone, now blinking as the other party picked up his call. Sighing, Adam put the handset to his ear, pulling the most cheerful voice he could from deep within himself.

“Hey, Julia, darling? No, it’s not Kris, it’s Adam. I have a bit of a request to make…”
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