Trying to... - 1. Trying to Uncomplicate

Tyler stood alone in the semi darkness, silently sipping his tea; trying to soothe his throat for he had yet to perform another set when Rhea was done with hers. He was having a tough time not looking at the man that had been showering him with attention for the past six weeks.

Stop thinking about him! He chided himself. He knew he shouldn’t, he couldn’t, not with the pair of arms he had to disentangle himself from every night. But the heart wants what the heart wants.

‘Ty!’

Tyler squeezed his eyes shut, hoping... no, almost praying for Scott not to find him. He didn’t want this, not now. Not before he had to go up on stage and sing the most emotional songs.

‘Ty, are you feeling okay?’ Scott’s concerned gaze met his in the dimly lit corridor as Tyler finally opened his eyes to find the former standing right in front of him. Close, too close!

‘Yes,’ Tyler was surprised to find his voice huskier with the unspoken emotions, the ones that the green shining eyes always evoked in him. He quickly cleared his throat and nodded at the tea in his hand. ‘I needed this, thank you. What’re you doing here?’

‘I was looking for you,’ Scott looked over Tyler’s shoulder, into the room littered with dancing couples. ‘I figured, with Rhea singing,’ he paused, looked into Tyler’s eyes and took a step closer, ‘I would ask if I could have a dance.’ His voice trailed off at the last word, the whisper barely reaching Tyler. It probably wouldn’t have, were they not standing so close that Tyler could feel Scott’s breath on his cheek.

‘Scott,’ Tyler drew in a sharp breath, begging his heart to slow, ‘please don’t. I’ve told you a thousand times, I can’t.’ He took a step back, regret etched on his face, but he made sure he looked into Scott’s eyes so that the latter saw the sincerity in his words.

‘I know,’ Scott whispered, his shoulders slumping. He looked down at the floor a moment and when he took in a huge breath and looked back up at Tyler, his eyes glistened more than they did a moment earlier, ‘I wish... I just wish you’d tell me why.’

Scott tentatively reached out to touch Tyler’s cheek, but Tyler arrested it midway and brought it to his lips instead.

‘I wish I could,’ Tyler whispered, kissing the nimble fingers before dropping his hand and returning to the hall.

* * *

The speeches done, the special dances all danced, the wedding reception was almost over. The caterers were cleaning up the tables, and there were hardly twenty people whom the Peters’ called family that still lingered. The bride and the groom were ready for their departure when Tyler decided to pack up. When the bride walked up to the stage, to make an unusual request, he was surprised.

He took the piece of paper Mel handed to him and his vision blurred. He couldn’t believe what she’s just asked him to sing. Hugging his smiling friend tight, not bothered about wrinkling the perfect white gown that took her only a month to find, he whispered into her ear, ‘You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met, Mel.’ He pulled back and saw tears in her eyes too; trying to lighten the situation he smiled, ‘Well, maybe the second most.’

That earned him a swat on his arm. Kissing Tyler’s cheek, Mel nodded towards the stage and smiling, she made her way back to her table where her Greg was waiting for him.

Tyler picked up his guitar, sat on the edge of the stage and decided to make the final dance as special as he could for his two closest friends.

‘In the arms of an Angel fly away from here,
From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear...’

Tylerlooked around to see most of the remaining guests dancing and had to tear his eyes from Scott sitting solemnly at the table, looking at him longingly.

‘You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie,
You're in the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here...’

* * *

He didn’t look at Scott again; his voice was already too laced with emotions. The ones he was feeling: the ones he did not want to feel, the ones making him rethink the rules he’d laid out for himself in the last few years. After Sarah...

His feet dragged on the floor of the hotel lobby as he made his way to the front entrance. The doorman smiled at him.

‘Ty!’

Tyler knew it would be best to pretend he hadn’t heard that call, so he just hurried the next few steps, ignoring the sound of running feet behind him. Blessing his lucky stars when he saw a taxi, he climbed in and almost yelled at the driver, ‘Go, go, go!’

Once they took off, he turned to look back; he wouldn’t, he’d never admit to even himself that his heart broke a little at the look of Scott standing there, an arm raised as if to call him back. Tyler told himself it was raised in goodbye.

Maybe this is how it is supposed to end, Scott doesn’t need more complications. And I cannot be who he wants me to be.

He made the rest of the trip in silence; smiling when he thought about the face he would invariably see looking out the window.

Chuckling at how right he was, he unlocked the front door, only to have an armful of bubbling energy envelop him in the most beautiful of hugs; making all his pain bearable and his face light up in pure, unadulterated joy.

‘Missed you, daddy!’

‘You too, Angel!’

Please visit the topic in the forum. It's not just a discussion thread. I need help on the story.