Black Fox: The Awakening - 2. Chapter 2 - The Hammock

Fuck them all, I thought to myself as I lay on my bed and stared at the ceiling. And to think I'd expected my brother's reaction would be better. He ended up pissing me off even more than Dad did. I was angry at Dad because he didn't ask me a single question. The only thing he had to offer was his homophobic rant with no regard for me. But maybe it's a good thing he didn't ask questions because if they were as sensitive as Chris's… fuck them all!

I dialled Owen's number.

"Hey, babe."

"Hi, Owen. Look, my dad and brother were already home when I came back."

"Oh, okay," he said. "You're all having fun?"

"No."

"Why? What happened?"

"I told them. About us."

"Oh. How did they react?” There was a long pause, then, “Alex, you there?"

"They can all go fuck themselves," I gritted through my teeth and briefly told him about what happened.

"I'm so sorry, Alex. I had no idea your dad was like that. Maybe he will start making sense after he gets some sleep."

"I don't care anymore. I'm pissed off because I'm stuck with him for another few weeks. I'm starting to understand Mum much better now."

"Damn, it sucks. So why is she even sticking with him in the first place?"

"It's a long story," I sighed. "Sometimes I think the only reason my parents didn't get a divorce yet is that Dad is away for most of the year. Put them under one roof for more than a few days and they're at each other's throats. I'll tell you some other time," I added when I felt tears fill my eyes again.

"Sure thing babe, I want to know all about you, including the fucked up stuff. You know I love you even though I might not be able to help."

"Thanks, Owen. You’re helping without even trying, you know? You're such a good boyfriend," I sobbed. "And thank you for last night… it was so… so amazing…"

"Wait, Alex, are you crying?"

"No, I'm good," I lied because I was totally crying now. "I'll call you later. I need to sort it out myself now."

"Okay, but do call me later. Maybe we could hang out this evening."

"I'd like that very much but I really gotta go now. I miss you."

"I miss you, too."

I put the phone away. I shouldn't have called him when I was like this. I hoped Owen would give me strength - and he did, in a way - but he was making me feel too emotional. And I knew I was draining him, too.

I just barely managed to pull myself together when I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!" I said.

"Hey," Chris said as he walked into my room and closed the door behind him. "Can we talk for a minute?"

I didn't answer but just shrugged. I didn't want to act like that but I felt the need to show him I'm still mad.

"I'm sorry for what I said. Bad timing. And bad wording."

"Okay," I just said.

"Soo, is he handsome, at least?" He smiled weakly.

I shrugged again. "Owen? I guess."

"Got any photos?"

I rolled my eyes and reached for my phone. I wanted to be mad for a little longer but at least now Chris was showing some genuine interest… or maybe he just wanted to get on my good side.

"Here," I showed him a selfie I took of us in the park the other day.

"Now look at you. I won't lie, you're lucky!"

"Why so?" I looked at him suspiciously.

"Well, he looks like a teen model, doesn't he?"

"So you mean I don't deserve him?"

"No!" He laughed. "Not at all. Stop trying to nitpick everything I say. You actually look very… you know…"

"What?"

"... Fitting I guess. You look good together."

"Thanks, I guess."

"And since he's bigger and clearly older, then I guess you must be…"

He didn't finish because I snapped my phone away and started punching his arm.

"You're. So. Fucking. Dumb!" I shouted, emphasising every word with a punch.

I had to admit that Chris's arm had gotten bigger since I'd last seen him and my assault was only making him laugh.

"Alright, I'm sorry! I was just curious!"

"Then be a little less curious, at least for a while," I said once I calmed down a little bit.

"But I wasn't wrong, was I?" He teased me.

"Oh shut up already!"

***

I was practising drumrolls on my new snare drum when Mum called us for dinner. I practically didn't come out of my room for the entire day. I felt safer in my little lair and didn't want to witness the argument between my parents that has surely been raging out of my earshot.

When I came downstairs, everyone was already seated. The silence was palpable and when I moved the chair it sounded louder than thunder.

No one looked at each other except for Mum who was staring at Dad. I didn't know the outcome of their quarrel but I was kind of guessing.

Finally, Dad spoke up. "I'm sorry Alex. I was tired. I didn't mean to say all that."

"But that’s what you think," I parried. I knew that would piss him off but I couldn't help myself.

"Some of that, yes. Am I disappointed? Yes. But you're my son and I will respect your choices."

"You think I chose to be gay, Dad?"

"I don't want to start that argument now, Alex. You're still young and I think you should follow your heart even if it means…" he paused, weighing his words carefully. He acted as if Mum was holding him at gunpoint and it was hilarious in a way. "Look, your Mum told me about Owen's birthday party next weekend and we agreed that we should all come and meet your boyfriend."

The emphasis he put on the word boyfriend made me want to stab him with my fork. Now to think of it, nobody even touched the food yet. Chris and Mum were watching us like we were in a movie. Chris was tapping the table with his fingers, clearly waiting for the commercial break. Mum was calm but looked like she was ready to behead Dad with a swift mantis blade cut if need be.

"Sure, you're all invited," I said carefully. "But you will probably meet him earlier. He comes over a lot, you know."

We were staring at each other for a few seconds, both barely stopping ourselves from escalating it further. Dad looked like he was coming up with a sarcastic comeback but Chris came to the rescue at the last moment.

"Yeah, we all can't wait to meet Owen, can we?" he interrupted. "Should we eat now?"

Everyone thought it was a good idea. Maybe it wasn’t a victory for me but at least it was a stalemate. Enough to celebrate with a meal.

***

Once dinner cleanup was done, I told Mum and Dad I was going to see Owen and left the house in my white t-shirt and brand new blue shorts I bought to match Owen's style. He had way more sports clothes than I did and when I realised they were looking good on me too (yeah, by that time I was notorious for stealing everything from him), I decided to buy a few pieces for myself that weren't oversized and could make Owen horny.

I was getting close to the park when I noticed a black boy about my age walking in my direction. He was a little taller than me and pretty good looking. He was holding a leash in his hand and there was a cute little York attached to the other end.

"Koby, c'mere you little rascal!" The boy yelled at the dog who stopped to sniff a piss stain on the street lamp pole. Then the boy looked up and as soon as he noticed me, a huge smile crept onto his face that startled me. It was a happy smile, sure. But it was also a smile of someone who knew your deepest secret; or someone who has just been talking about you behind your back. So yeah, it was a happy smile but it was also a nasty smile. I didn't know how to react so I looked away and passed him without a word.

It took me five minutes to realise who he was.

***

A few moments later I was chilling with Owen on the hammock in his backyard. It wasn't a double hammock but I was pretty much weightless and I fit right in, sprawled on my back on top of my boyfriend. Don’t ask me how long it took us to set up like this up there.

"Okay, so at least there's some progress," Owen said when I told him about the talk I’d had with Dad.

"I guess but I keep wondering what would happen if Mum didn't bully him into making amends with me."

"Give him time, Alex. He probably grew up in a homophobic environment. You know, forced to silence all homoerotic thoughts and programmed to hate everyone who's not straight. Once he gets to know me and sees that you're happy, he'll have a change of heart in no time."

"I hope so. See, even Chris isn't on his side so he's out of options."

"Yeah, you're probably right, babe. Anyway, you never told me what they do. I mean, your Dad and your brother.”

I sighed. "They have this small business and they build playgrounds for kids all over the country. They go from place to place and live in cheap hotels."

"Is it good money?"

"I think it is. I don't know exactly but Mum couldn't even afford groceries with her job. And she's always buying all this expensive organic crap, you know. And my brother got this fancy car just a few months in."

"How often do they come back home?"

"Well, it's July now and it's only the second time they came back this year. Dad is happy living in hotels and Chris can use the money. And no one misses the shouting."

"Shouting?"

"Ugh, Mum and Dad never got along very well ever since I can remember. The last couple of years before Dad effectively moved out were unbearable."

"I'm sorry to hear it."

I shrugged my shoulders. “In a few weeks, they will be gone and all will go back to normal. Uhm, Owen?"

"Yes, babe?"

"Remember that fox boy Ryan?"

"Yeah, rings a bell, why?" He answered and ruffled my hair playfully.

"Does he happen to have a little dog named Koby?"

"Yes he does," Owen said and readjusted himself underneath me. "Why?"

"I think I saw him on my way here."

"Oh. Did he see you?"

"Yes. Actually, he smiled at me. I didn't connect the dots until a few minutes later. By that time I had walked past him."

"Smiled at you, huh?"

"Yeah, it was a weird smile, too. Did you show him my pictures?"

"I might have, but I don't remember. He could’ve seen you in the band photos."

"Yeah…" I said and drowned myself in thoughts. It felt good being here with Owen, swaying on the hammock and feeling the light summer breeze on my skin. The backyard was pretty secluded but his neighbours could easily see us if they really wanted. I didn't care.

"Don't you wish you could change it?" I asked after a while.

"Change what, babe?"

"The name of the band. It feels weird for me to say it now. Black Fox."

"Yeah, it is a bit weird. But what would I say to the boys?"

"Exactly. Do we ever tell anyone? About what's happened?"

"I don't think we should, Alex. We have no proof. Without proof, this story would get us committed to a mental asylum at best."

"Yeah, you're probably right. But it doesn't feel right. Shouldn't we push Ryan for more answers?"

"I think I'm fine with blissful ignorance after everything that happened. But he'll be at the party. You can ask him yourself."

"I'll think about it."

Suddenly, I had an idea and I took out the phone from my pocket. I opened the camera and extended my hand upwards to take a selfie.

"Smile!" I said and made a few shots of us cuddling.

"Send them to me later," he said.

"Sure," I replied. Then I opened Instagram, added a few filters, cropped it and added it to my profile.

"What did you just do?" Owen asked.

"Just posted a new pic with my boyfriend, why do you ask?"

"Did you pin me?"

"Of course."

"Jesus…"

"What?"

"Nothing… it's just… are you sure we want to make us public? I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with it."

"Hey, it's just my private profile this time."

"I know but now you and I got like hundreds of new followers this week and our private profiles aren't that private anymore."

"Okay, I won't do any more until we figure it out, okay?"

"Yeah, I guess," he said without conviction.

I didn't have anything to say to that so I made myself more comfortable on top of Owen and made soft swaying motions. A few seconds later, I felt something growing under my butt. The scene had been so innocent so far that I almost forgot about the thing. I started moving my hips a little more.

"You're giving me a boner, babe," Owen complained.

"Isn't that what boyfriends do?" I asked.

"Yeah but now I’m horny and I'm too lazy to get up. Also, there's one hundred pounds of hot boy laying on top of me."

"Okay Owen, now whatever happens you gotta promise me you don't move. Not until I let you, I mean"

"Alex…" he started, probably suspecting I was up to no good. Indeed, I grabbed the waist of my shorts and pulled them down with a quick move, just to uncover my dick and butt. Then I lifted myself and reached between my legs to fish out Owen's dick which was at full mast by now. I raised my butt again and aimed his head at my hole. I didn't have any lube with me but he was already oozing precum and I was still stretched out after last night's lovemaking.

"Alex, please. Someone can come any minute."

"Wouldn't that be exciting?"

"I'm not joking. We can do it in my room if you want."

"Too late," I silenced him and pressed his dick harder against my sphincter. "I'll make it look all innocent, don't worry."

As of now, my hard dick was out in the open and so was Owen's. It was very far from looking innocent. Thank God, Owen was a wild horndog at heart and I already made him too weak to protest.

"Aah," I moaned when his cock entered me. As I hoped, I was decently loose down there and half a minute later it was all the way in. Then I lifted our shorts back up as far as it was possible, leaving only a small breach through which we were docked.

"Aah, so good…" I moaned as I started fucking myself on Owen's hard dick.

"I swear, you're a crazy little bitch," he said but I felt his hips moving below me to match my tempo. The Sun was shining, the birds were singing, we were making love. It felt incredible.

Then I felt something bite my ear and it was Owen.

"Mmmmmm," I moaned, overwhelmed by waves of pleasure coming from two fronts now. I don't know how we did it but even in this weird position, he was able to retract his dick almost all the way out before shoving the full length back in. I was very close to cumming. We were getting very good at it. I was also proud because I almost made it look like we were fully dressed and cuddling innocently. Almost.

And just as I thought that, basking in the feeling of self-admiration, Owen's sister, Sarah entered the backyard and ran straight to us with a silly grin on her face. We froze in panic.

"Owen, can I bring three friends to your party? Or four!"

"No," Owen grunted, "now get lost!"

I panicked. I knew it was all my idea but it no longer seemed so good. My dick wasn't huge but it was tenting my shorts very visibly. I felt Owen's pole twitch inside my ass with every heartbeat, stimulating my prostate. Was it possible… Anyway, luckily Sarah seemed focused on our faces and didn't seem to notice anything strange.

"But Mum said I could!" She protested.

"So why do you even bother asking me?" Owen blurted. "Now go away, we want to be alone."

"Were you kissing?" She asked curiously.

"Yes, we were kissing, now go away," Owen said but his voice started breaking near the end and I swear to God, his dick twitched once, then twice and then he started cumming inside me. I heard his breathing quicken and shot after shot of hot juices filled my butt. Just after the first shot, I knew I couldn't hold it any longer and a powerful orgasm overwhelmed me. My dick was twitching and shooting and I have no idea how Sarah didn't notice the wet stain growing around my dickhead.

"I want to bring Amy, I want to bring Natasha, and Kevin and Ian…" Sarah started counting on her fingers.

"Aah, fuck…" Owen moaned, "you can bring anyone you want," he said out of breath, "but if you don't leave now, and I mean NOW, I will tell Mum that the party is cancelled. Get lost, now!"

"Yaaay!" She yelled and ran back toward the house.

We didn't say anything for a few minutes, lying there and regaining our breaths.

I reached back with my hand to touch his hair. "That was…"

"... Incredible," Owen finished for me.

***

The next few days were uneventful. I had two rehearsals with the boys before the Friday gig. Owen kept practising at home but only twice a week because he started feeling pains after that London gig we played together. The doctor told him to take it slow until his arm is fully healed.

We arranged for Owen to come over on Thursday so he could meet Dad and Chris but he got stomach aches and we had to cancel at the last minute. As a result, we didn't have sex for five days straight and I can't say I liked it. The hammock session was extremely powerful but not powerful enough to satisfy my teen horniness for very long. Every time I opened the fridge, I gave the XXL cucumber a lustful look, but I wasn't going to cheat on my boyfriend with a vegetable. Eventually, I talked Owen into sending me a video of him simulating intercourse with a pillow and that got me through the weekdays.

Friday came and we left in Drew's car to a venue in Northampton. Cayden's dad was listening to some old-school rock band I didn't recognise and it was loud enough to make any conversations impossible. Anyway, the boys were strangely quiet today. Then, Mike surprised me when he approached me after the soundcheck.

"Hey Alex, I need to grab some stuff from the store, can you come with me?"

"Yeah, sure," I said.

"How's Owen? We haven't seen him for over a week."

"He's good. He's been told to rest a lot and take it easy for a while."

"I saw your photo on the hammock. It looks like you're good for each other."

"Ah, the hammock. It was a nice afternoon," I said and blushed.

"And the photo exploded on your Instagram, too."

"Yeah, pretty much. Owen wasn't very happy with me posting it though."

"Why am I not surprised," he chuckled. "When it comes to social media, Owen is like my grandma. Still can't see past his Facebook account."

"Maybe, but most of all I think he'd like to keep us private, you know. I can't blame him.”

"Yeah, sure, but I think you know that it’s fine to share with the world. And what's more, it's good for business."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that we've been getting lots of attention and views ever since I posted that photo of you two kissing. And now we had another boost after the hammock photo even though it was posted on your private profile."

"Yeah, I noticed. My profile is exploding right now."

"Don't underestimate this, dude. You can make a living these days with this level of attention."

"Yeaah… but I want to play drums and not be some instaboy."

"Why not both? I can see you’re enjoying it, just by looking at the hammock photo. You're super cute and talented guys with a crazy backstory. Why not build on that?"

If only he knew the whole backstory.

"Yeah, I enjoy it a lot. It’s just that I don't want to do anything against Owen. And we're still only playing covers anyway."

"If we get enough attention, we'll have the best producers in the country writing the songs for us."

"Uhm, I never looked at it that way," I said and our convo was interrupted when we walked into the store. "What did we come here for anyway?" I asked.

"Chocolate."

"Chocolate?"

"Yup, chocolate."

"Why chocolate?"

"For the munchies."

"Ah okay."

"Yeah, grab as much as you can."

"You know I'm not smoking pot though, right?" I looked at Mike who was stocking up on all kinds of chocolate and throwing in some packs of chips for good measure.

"I know. But you can carry chocolate, right? Now come on and help me."

We ended up buying more than we could carry and surely more than we could eat through the entire weekend.

"What I wanted to say," Mike said as we were going back to the club, "Don’t hold back. If you feel like showing your love to the world, just go for it. You two have something special. Owen might be pulling you back but it only means that he needs you to give him courage."

"I do want people to see us," I said, looking straight in front of me.

"See? Just follow your guts. It will make you happy. And more - it will make Black Fox famous!"

"It all sounds good but I’m not in Black Fox. Owen is and I’m just substituting."

Mike gave me a strange smile when suddenly a car honk sobered me. We almost walked right in front of a car and I felt the wind on my face. Fuck, that was close. As if one cripple drummer wasn’t enough!

The gig was pretty amazing. The boys got stoned afterwards and that’s when I started feeling like I don’t belong. I texted Owen goodnight and waited for Drew to pick us up.

***

"Hey Chris, you busy?" I asked after knocking at the open door the next morning.

"No, what's up?" He replied. He was watching something on YouTube on his laptop, sitting only in his boxer briefs. It was only 7 am but it was already getting hot and I was going bare-chested myself. When Chris turned to me, I almost gasped. He looked like an athlete, no jokes. Chris had never been skinny and when he was my age you could even describe him as chubby. Now, he seemed to have zero excess fat on his body and his biceps and six-pack were almost ridiculous. Also, he had an interesting tan line halfway down his thighs, giving me an idea that he was working only in his shorts. The rest of his skin was evenly tanned and well… I had to remind myself to look up at his face. He was my brother, damn it!

"I, uh," I said, trying to compose myself, "see, I wanted to get Owen a birthday present but the case is, I'm temporarily broke and I thought maybe we could get him something together?"

"You? Broke? How? Do you play in this little band of yours out of the goodness of your heart?"

"No, not at all. They're paying me well but I won't get any money until after the weekend and uh, I just invested all my savings."

"Invested, huh?"

"Yeah… I bought a new snare for my drum set and it cost me arm and leg… don't tell parents or else they'll freak out. Anyway, I spent almost all my money and I thought I could borrow from you or maybe buy him something together. What do you think?"

"But you do realise the party is in ten hours?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, so what? Plenty of time to visit all the shops in the centre."

"My little bro, always doing everything last minute."

"Oh come on," I whined, "you didn't get him anything yet either. Will you help me or not?"

"Alright alright. Let me get dressed."

I watched him as he stood up from his chair and opened his closet to grab some fresh clothes. Then he grabbed the waistline of his briefs and I froze. But he froze, too and before I knew it, he was looking back at me.

"You still here?" He asked.

"I…"

"Don't tell me you've got the hots for me, little bro."

"No… no! I was just thinking… it looks like you lost a few pounds…"

"Yeah, so what?"

"I just thought… your job must be pretty tough, that's all"

He laughed. "Alex boy, you're really something. Yeah, it can be tough, but I also hit the gym five times a week. I wouldn't get these abs just from unloading stuff from the car."

"Oh… right… I guess I'm just stupid."

"You said it, bro. You should consider coming with me sometime. I mean, you're not fat but Owen would appreciate you more with some extra definition if you get what I'm saying."

"Do you think so?"

"I know so. Actually, let's go tomorrow and I'll show you around. I don't think we have enough time before the party today. Especially that a certain boy forgot to buy a birthday present for his boyfriend."

"Geez, give me a break, I didn't forget anything. I just had other things on my mind. I'll be ready in a bit."

"Okay, I'll get Mum's car."

***

"What happened to your car anyway?" I asked as we were driving downtown.

"I sold it recently. Didn’t you hear?"

"No! Why would you sell it?"

"It was just a burden. We’re always on the move with dad and it made no sense for us to drive two cars and spend a fortune on gas."

"I see. Doesn’t that suck in the long run?"

"What?"

"You know, living in the hotels, on the road all year. You can’t even have friends or get a girlfriend."

"Don’t you worry, there’s plenty of girls wherever we go. I’m getting laid all the time. I’m too young and too hot to commit to a single pussy."

That comment made me go all red. I’ve had plenty of dick in my life recently but somehow pussy was making me nervous.

Shortly, we reached the mall and spent an hour browsing and perusing. Finally, we ended up buying a nice Bluetooth speaker.

"I think Owen will be happy," I said, "I’m sure he doesn’t have one."

"Cool. But… is that it? You’re his boyfriend and you’re getting him a speaker you bought him together with your brother?"

"Uhm, yeah, I guess. What’s wrong with that?"

Chris sighed. "Clearly you’ve never been in a relationship. If you want it to last, you have to make him feel special, you know? Buy him something more personal, something only a boyfriend could buy."

"Like what?" I asked, a little offended but I had to admit, I had no clue how to be a boyfriend.

"There’s plenty of choices. Underwear, jewellery."

"Sounds boring."

"Because you’re young and clueless," he summed up. "Want something less boring? You’re lucky I know a shop at the top level, follow me."

"It’s a sex shop!" I said with resentment when we got there.

"Yes, it is. Don’t tell me you haven’t had sex yet."

"We’ve had sex. But, in case you forgot, I’m fourteen!"

"Have no fear, I know a guy who works here. Or at least worked here two years ago… now come on," he said and pulled me by my arm against my protests. I started sweating. What if someone I know sees me? An aunt or a teacher…

"Hey lads, have a look around. I’m here if you need me." I heard a male voice from behind the counter as soon as we entered through the door. The guy it belonged to was the most obnoxious gay person I’ve ever seen in my life. He was a balding skinny dude in his forties. He sported a carefully trimmed moustache and a goatee and his clothes were so tight he could’ve just as well been naked. I’m sure he got a lot of dick or ass or whatever it was that he liked but he made me even more uncomfortable than I was in the first place.

The only reason why I didn’t blast out of there was that Chris was still holding me by the arm. I rolled my eyes from left to right, intimidated by the sexy lingerie, dildos, bottles with… who knows what.

"For the record," Chris whispered, "That’s not the guy I knew."

"Okay, whatever," I said, examining a glass cabinet filled with arousing perfumes.

"So, Owen, what does he like?" Chris asked.

"I don’t know. I think he likes me."

"Ugh, dude, you’re not helping. Think out of the box. Does he like bondage or ass play?"

I sighed. "He’s a top if you really need to know and I don’t know what else he likes. We didn’t try anything kinky."

"Every guy is a top until you stick something up his butt."

"And how the hell would you know that?" I whispered.

"Told you. I meet lots of girls. Some of them have really crazy ideas, especially the older ones. I’ll tell you another time."

"Don’t bother," I said, looking at a huge black dildo that made me instinctively clench my buttcheeks.

"Okay, since you’re both saint-like flower boys, I have an idea. It’s gonna cost you, but tell you what. I’ll chip in a bit to make up for all the lost brother time, how about that?"

"What's gonna cost me?" I said, full of bad feelings.

"Hey, mister!" Chris yelled and my jaw dropped.

"Yes? How can I help?" He said as he comically trotted our way. Thank god we were the only customers.

"My little brother here is looking for a nice, fitting butt plug for his virgin boyfriend. Could you recommend something?"

"Why sure!" He said, “let me show you around.”

While the guy was showing Chris butt plugs in different colours and shapes, I was pretty much having a seizure. I’ve never been so ashamed in my life. Was my brother always like this?

When I shook off the trance, Chris was smiling at me, holding a transparent, plastic box containing a weird plastic shape that I had no idea what to do with.

"Okay Alex, we got it. He'll love it! And if not, he can use it on you. We’ll also take this automatic masturbator…"

"This is over a hundred quid!" I hissed.

"You have to pay for the quality, Alex. He’ll love that thing even more. But they will work best combined. Trust me."

I just waved at him and we approached the guy again to pay for the stuff.

"Have fun lads!" He shouted after us as we were leaving. Being back in the mall corridor was comforting but I looked around restlessly to check if someone was looking.

"Why did you do that to me?" I hissed at Chris once I made sure we weren’t followed or anything. I genuinely felt like I just committed a crime. Which actually might’ve been the case, I don’t know.

"You’ll appreciate me sooner than you think. Now let’s get out of here, I’m starving."

***

I was idly checking Instagram on our way back, ignoring hundreds of notifications and messages. I found it pretty hard to quantify the amount of attention the band was getting out of this. Cayden’s dad was handling legal and promotional stuff while Mike handled social media marketing. I wasn’t sure what were the plans for the future and whether or not they involved me. Mike seemed pretty happy with the value our relationship was bringing. I wouldn’t refuse if they offered me a position as the drummer’s boyfriend if it meant smiling and looking cute on Instagram photos. I promised myself not to do anything without Owen’s approval, though.

Then my train of thoughts stopped because I saw a drawing. It was a rather crude, pencil drawing but it was clear what it depicted. It was me and Owen, bare-chested and kissing. It was added by a profile named owenxalexfox. Oh my god, we had our first fangirl. Or a fanboy. Or maybe even a fan club. I clicked to see the profile and indeed there were even more drawings of us in different romantic settings. Some of them were actually very good. Just great. I was getting my first fans and it wasn’t because of the music. I put my phone back into my pocket and got lost thinking about the party for the rest of the drive.