Dreams and Clipped Wings - 5. Chapter 5

5:When Worlds Collide
: edited by viv :

Cody hung up the phone and tossed it aside in disgust. The temp agency had assured him the job tomorrow and Saturday night was a sure thing when he applied, but now there was a change; he had to show up at the building and undergo a final interview before being accepted for the position.

He'd been careful with his finances for the last week, ever since the... the thing he didn't want to think about. If it weren't for that issue, Cody would have decided to skip out on the opportunity altogether, now though, things just didn't look good money-wise if he didn't.

It sounded like an interesting way to spend a Friday and Saturday night anyhow, even if he wouldn't be particularly able to enjoy the event, he would still be able to be there, and getting paid on top of it. Now, Cody just hoped he would pass muster in the final interview, if not, he'd be out the bus fare and maybe have to put off other things for another semester.

The whole thing could use a lot more thought. Thinking took time, and time was not something Cody had in fistfuls between now and then, so he figured he'd just show up, pass in hand, and hope for the best. Tonight though, he had to head over to the Rec Center.

Cody was pondering the idea of getting off the couch and heading down to the Rec Center when Joe strolled through the door and unceremoniously dumped his hard hat and lunch pail on the coffee table before collapsing on the couch next to Cody, a cloud of plaster dust billowing off of him as he did.

"I'm ditching tomorrow," Joe announced after an extended sigh, before turning his attention to Cody who was watching him with a small amused smile.

"What? You actually had to work today, instead of spending eight hours sweeping up and bullshitting?" Cody asked, maintaining the smile which Joe was finding more and more curious.

"Just because the few days you helped out I was sweeping doesn't mean that's all I do," Joe retorted, a little annoyed by the implication of Cody's jest, but understanding that's exactly what it was.

"I know," Cody replied, "I was just screwing around with you. Long week?"

Joe huffed. "Yeah, the dumbass sheet rockers screwed up, so I spent the whole day swinging a sledge hammer and tearing it all down," he said patting his hands against his chest, brushing off more of the white dust that clung to his shirt. "I swear, this crap is all over the place, prolly up my ass as well."

Cody snickered at the last bit of Joe's statement, as his instinct was to grab a hold of the line and use it to his advantage. He didn't though, opting instead to let the line dribble in one ear and out the other. "Shower should take care of it," Cody mentioned turning his attention back towards the TV which had just been adding noise to the empty apartment.

Joe was disappointed that Cody let the line go without making comment. Cody's little flirtatious comments had been missing for the last week, ever since he had crawled into Joe's bed. It wasn't as if Joe hadn't given Cody plenty of opportunity to make them, he even found himself peppering what brief conversations they did have with statements that Cody would have latched onto in the past to no avail.

Maybe, Joe figured, it was time to up the game a little. "Join me?" he asked, trying to sound as casual as he could.

Cody turned his attention back to Joe, thinking he couldn't have just possibly heard what he did. However, the smile on Joe's face, no matter how much he was trying to stifle it, gave him away and clued Cody into the game quickly. "I like my men dirty," Cody replied nonchalantly after stumbling on the catch.

Joe smirked, glad to see Cody was still willing to play the game. "That doesn't give me much incentive to shower."

Cody laughed. "And you call me a Ho."

"Spade is a spade," Joe smiled. "What are you doing tomorrow night?" Joe asked, thinking they could do something instead of staying in on a Friday night like they had been doing for the last few weeks, or at least like he had been doing.

"Working," Cody answered.

"Working?" Joe asked, unsure of what Cody meant by the simple answer and not liking where his mind automatically took him.

"Yeah," Cody answered and seeing that is was going to take more than a single word to please Joe he elaborated. "I have a temp job over at The Stick for Friday and Saturday night, may fall through though, but I won't know till about mid-day tomorrow."

"That kinda sucks," Joe said relived that his worst thoughts were baseless. "Not knowing if you'll get the job until the day of."

"No shit, they said it was a sure thing when they gave me the jacket and the pass," Cody shrugged. "They just called and said there will be a final interview by the company there now, but whatever."

"Maybe next week," Joe offered, more a reassurance to himself, than to Cody. "You mind if I use your computer?" Joe asked, pushing himself off the couch.

"Yeah I gotta hit the Rec Center anyhow," Cody said standing up as well.

"Alright, well I'll hit in a little bit, gonna grab that shower first," Joe said over his shoulder as he walked away.

"So much for not having any incentive," Cody called after Joe with a wide smile, thinking, if only Joe had been serious. If he had, the kiddies at the Rec Center could wait. Joe replied, saying something that Cody couldn't hear as it was muffled by his bedroom door. Shrugging off his curiosity, Cody grabbed his jacket and book bag and headed out the door.

Out the door of his and Joe's apartment, Cody was about to make his usual mad dash down the steps, but halted as he recognized the figure climbing them. "Hey Julie," he said smiling. "You're still around?"

The innocuous question halted Julie on the steps. She would have been perfectly content in just saying 'hi' in passing, but the question made it sound like Cody knew something he wasn't supposed to know.

"Where else would I be?" she questioned with a furrow of her brow.

Cody gave her an easy shrug, "Studying, I guess, you seem to be doing a lot of that lately."

Julie, for her part, couldn't tell if Cody was just making conversation, or if he, in some way, was attacking her. The first thing she wanted reply with was that some people have hopes of a brighter future, but she knew Cody was attempting to go to school, so she kept her claws retracted.

"Is Joe home yet?" she asked, trying to derail the current topic of conversation, which had already left a sour taste in her mouth.

"Yeah," Cody smiled, "He's in the shower. If you hurry you should still be able to catch him," Cody offered, suddenly sore that he hadn't wet his hair before he left the apartment. "Anyway, have a good one, Julie."

Thundering the rest of the way down the stairs, Cody felt a twinge of regret for the slight digs he had been using on Julie. Only a slight one, the young woman had been getting on his nerves lately. Showing up only when she had the time, blaming everything on her hectic course-work schedule and studying. If Cody was in her position, he would be damn sure to make time, find it where ever he could, to just be with Joe in all the ways he physically could. If only he could be in her position, or have her out of the way. That triggered something else though, Cody couldn't be responsible for Joe and Julie calling it quits. If they did it on their own, so be it; he just didn't need that on his shoulders along with everything else. As Cody made his way out the front door, he promised himself to keep whatever he let get out of control on the stairs, in control in the future.

Julie watched Cody disappear through the glass door at the bottom of the steps. She honestly didn't know what to think of the brief encounter. Shaking her head, she wiped away the worry that he had possibly seen her in the club, dancing with the guy who let his hands roam over every inch of her torso. Then again, as far as she knew, Cody never went to that particular club.

On auto-pilot, Julie used her key to gain entrance to the apartment and made her way to the bathroom where the sounds of the shower running could be heard. Finding that door unlocked, Julie opened it and walked in.

"Change your mind?" Joe asked as he rinsed the shampoo from his hair. "I told you the invitation still stands, but you're too late," he continued as he reached out and shut off the water. "I'm done."

Julie leaned against the basin, a whole new flurry of worry racing through her head as she listened to Joe speak, watched as his hand reach out of the shower to grab a towel that was at the ready.

The large smile on Joe's face fled into where ever bad jokes, and bad timing, go when they die as he pulled the shower curtain open on to find Julie staring back at him, her arms crossed curtly over her chest.

"Should I be worried?" Julie asked, feeling nauseous.

"What?" Joe asked, still dumbfounded by her mysterious presence after not hearing from her for the past two days.

"First, Cody gets all queeny with me on the steps, and now you're saying rather suggestive things and sure the hell not expecting me, so let me rephrase it. Should I get tested?"

"What?" Joe fumbled again, suddenly feeling more exposed in her presence then he did the first time he took his clothes off in front of her. "No," he stated bluntly as he climbed out of the tub, though her implications were stirring anger in him; more the implication of Cody being dirty, than the implication of the two of them screwing around underneath her nose. "It's nothing like that, it was just me and Cody screwing around like we always do."

"Okay... first, stop," she said holding a finger in the air to warn Joe's advance off. "You don't even want to know how I just took that."

"It's nothing like that," Joe panicked, "Honest just razzing each other like always, I swear."

"What am I supposed to think here, Joe? Tell me?" Julie pleaded as she allowed Joe to wrap her in his arms, arms that she found less and less comfort in every time they swallowed her frame.

"Hey, Cody!"

Cody had been sitting at the bus stop for twenty minutes, annoyed with the digital sign that had read his bus was coming in ten minutes for the last fifteen. Hearing his name shouted he looked over his shoulder and saw Damon jogging up at a quick pace.

"Hey," Cody offered as a greeting, accentuated with a warm smile. A smile which brought the color to Damon's cheeks and not the jog Cody had written it off to. "What you been up to?" he asked taking the opportunity to stand off the hideously designed folding metal seats the bus stand offered.

"Looking for you, actually," Damon answered, trying his best not to fidget through the butterflies that were swirling like a tornado in the pit of his stomach.

"Oh?" Cody answered, curious; even if the way Damon was fingering the metal support of the bus stop was amusing.

"Yeah," Damon offered, chancing a look in Cody's eyes. "My friend is in a band and they are playing a show over at the Petting Zoo off Market and Diamond tomorrow. I was wondering if you wanted to stop by," Damon said in a single breath. "If you want to," he added to finish before waiting for a response.

Cody smiled, Castro... Damon hadn't said it, but he implied it well enough by giving the area where the club was. "Actually," Cody said, as his smile faltered. "I kinda have to work tomorrow night and Saturday night."

"Oh," Damon answered, looking down at his feet as he kicked at a piece of trampled gum. "It's okay, I guess, I just figured you'd enjoy it."

"Next time," Cody offered, as he pulled out his cell phone. "What's your number?" he asked. "Do you still have mine?"

Damon's eyes brightened up as he pulled his own phone from his pocket. They swapped numbers just as Cody's bus pulled up to the stop.

"I have a meet next Saturday," Damon offered as a last ditch attempt to get Cody to say yes to something.

"Wrestling, right?" Cody asked, remembering Damon talking about it last year in the fall when he said he could take no more integers and exponents.

"Yeah," Damon beamed, the smile puffing his cheeks with pride.

"Give me a call about it later, my ride is kinda here," Cody mentioned as he motioned at the bus as its air breaks hissed impatiently.

"Oh, yeah, sure," Damon blushed as he shoved his hands in his pockets, but made no attempt to walk away.

"Cool, I'll catch you later, Damon," Cody said before he hustled onto the bus.

Damon was still standing in the same place, hands shoved into his pockets and smiling, as the bus pulled away. Cody knew because he watched him as long as he could. Innocent certainly summed Damon up, but now it demanded a second word; persistent. Perhaps it was a dash of both which Cody needed in his life. If he did or not, standing on the bus as it moved down the street, Cody found himself looking forward to a phone call from Damon, and even going to the meet next weekend.

His pocket vibrated as the bus turned the corner. Pulling his phone out, Cody smiled down at the single word text message Damon had sent:

thanx

By mid-afternoon Friday, Cody was leaning against a wall just inside gate E watching as the thirty or so guys, all outfitted in identical nylon windbreakers, joked around to pass the time as they waited for the final interview. He didn't have much else to do, having already wandered down to the field to watch final preparations for the stage, some sound and lighting checks. He had even attempted to make conversation with another prospective temp employee. He, however, had the personality of one of Mrs. Black's leaky faucets, as all he could talk about was how he had gotten way too wasted last night to be standing here now.

Giving the mixed crowd one last glance, Cody found the scream of a guitar in the distance more tempting than this group. Pushing himself off the wall, a loud bark, reminiscent of the sea lions down at the wharf, halted any thoughts Cody had of watching the sound checks.

"Just what do we have here?" the man barked. "This isn't a Sunday brunch. Now, one at a time, you will approach me and tell me why, exactly, you think you are qualified for this job."

Most of the guys stared at the new arrival for a few moments, not knowing what to think. Cody just wanted to know if he was getting the job or not; if he was, it would definitely be cool. If not, well if not he wanted to be out of the place as soon as he could be. With this in mind, he moved forward and fell into the line that was forming, ready to get this over with.

"This man has just quit," the guy barked after someone had said something to him. "Anyone like-minded can follow him out and save themselves the time."

There were five guys in line ahead of Cody, one of whom was removing the jacket and handing over his pass before Cody reached the front. "For the best," Cody muttered to himself, figuring the hangover had done the guy in more than anything else.

Cody was nervous as he stepped up to the guy barking the orders, but he was just as determined as he was nervous. It was an immensely surreal feeling, keenly reminding him of the before-game jitters that he remembered feeling what seemed like a lifetime ago.

"Cody Williams," Cody said, pleased with the authority he heard in his own voice. "I worked concert security last summer up in Klamath Falls-"

"I guess they have some pretty big concerts up there in Klamath," the guy said. His interjection dripping with obvious sarcasm that wiped what Cody was going to continue with from his mind.

Not knowing what else to do, Cody shrugged. However he found humor in the comment. Humor which was more evident on his face, than it was in the nervous chuckle he offered. "It was a band playing the county fair. I was working security at the fairgrounds," he offered with a subsequent shrug.

Cody watched as the guy nodded, digesting what Cody had to offer. "You're in," he said simply before breaking eye contact with Cody.

He had never served in the armed forces, never even given the commercials a second glance, but this guy reminded him of all the colonels and generals he had ever seen in the movies wrapped into one impressively imposing individual, and when he broke eye contact with Cody, Cody somehow knew that the small gesture warranted his dismissal.

"That guy is a hard ass," one of the four guys retained before Cody had commented. Cody didn't answer, but he didn't agree, he just seemed like someone who wasn't going to take shit from anyone, even if it was himself who was dishing it out, and Cody had to respect that.

The next five hours were spent in a crash course of concert security and all over crowd control, as Günter, who had finally introduced himself to the assembled group, told them cameras and camcorders where to be confiscated and turned over to the venue's lost and found. Any glass bottles, or metal containers, were to be disposed of. Basically, he didn't want anything that could be hurled at the stage on the stadium field. Crowd surfers were to be helped down and herded along the crowd control gates to the sidelines.

Günter then went into hypothetical scenarios advising the separate teams he had formed them into, how to react, and more importantly, he stressed, how not to react. Cody was assigned to right field at the front end. His job, he was told, would mostly be grabbing the items Günter had listed as contraband and getting them out of the crowd, and directing the occasional crowd surfer back to where they belonged.

With an hour left before the gates opened and an hour before he had to be at the base of the stage on right field, Cody figured he would wander around and possibly see what he could get into. His curiosity took him to the area he would spend the night 'policing'. From there, he watched the stage, and the guys scurrying around upon it getting the concert's last minute preparations done. From there, he wandered off to the side of the stage and down an access tunnel which already had two ambulances parked inside.

Following the tunnel through to the other side, Cody emerged into a covered loading dock which had three semi trailers parked in it, their rear doors open. There were a couple of guys buzzing around carrying wires, and two more pushing a fully assembled drum kit which was mounted on a rolling platform, into the tunnel towards the stage.

Curiously, a laptop computer sat alone at the end of the dock. Figuring it probably had an equipment list, or, even better, a play list for the show; Cody walked over to the computer. Running his finger along the plastic exterior, Cody angled his index finger under the partially closed lid.

"That is my laptop, what do you think you're doing with it?" a guy shouted as he came running up with one hand tucked securely in a side pocket of the jacket he wore.

Cody didn't know the guy from Sunday; nothing he wore identified him as having anything to do with either Instinct, or their opening act. That, coupled with the frazzled, jittery nature he was displaying put Cody on his guard.

"Leaving it out in the open is a good way to get it stolen," Cody said as he made sure his security credentials were clearly visible. "You should be more careful," he continued, trying to be helpful, even if his tone was a touch on the mocking side.

"Get out of here," he snapped, swatting the air in Cody's direction, as if Cody was an annoying insect. "I'm the road boss for Instinct, and you're in my loading area. This is not part of your venue, so get out or I'll have you fired and thrown out."

There were precious few people Cody would tolerate being talked down to by, and this prick was not one of them. However, Cody raised both hands, palms out, as he reigned in his own feelings of indignation. The gesture effectively telling the asshole Road Boss that Cody wasn't here for a fight, even if the prick was no longer paying Cody any more attention.

The concert that night was amazing, more the assembly of humanity, than the concert itself. Cody had never seen so many people in one place, never felt the wind of ninety thousand cheering voices rush over him like a summer breeze. He had never seen so many people appear to be a undulating sea of flesh, complete with swirling whirlpools and bared chests.

He had collected cameras, and helped more than a few crowd surfers down from their trek across the sea earning him more than one appreciative grope in the process, always from a petite girl who offered the squeeze in concert with a suggestive wink, as if he could get them any closer to the band then they already were. Then there were the massive speakers, which made the sound of his telling them they were barking up the wrong tree lost in a thundering drum solo.

Joe was already fast asleep by the time Cody managed to get home the first night. The thought of joining him was tempting, just not as tempting as the thought of sleep, period. While the concert was fun, he had no idea it would turn into a thirteen hour day, which had left him exhausted. That along with the ringing in his ears, in spite of wearing the ear plugs, had Cody crawling into his bed fully clothed as soon as he entered his room.

The concert Saturday night was, by far, more eventful. Not as many cameras as the first night, but the amount of outside alcohol the concert goers had managed to smuggle in had doubled, if not tripled. That, and Cody had been caught, more than once, paying more attention to Instinct on stage, than he was to the crowd before him. Perhaps that was because he had been enamored with the crowd the previous night, or that this was the last night Instinct would be in town.

Truth was, Cody knew the reason he'd rather watch the stage - the bassist in particular - than the crowd. What it was about Eric Carlisle? That was what Cody didn't know. Usually a celebrity was just another annoying twit parading themselves before a litany of cameras and releasing 'private' sex tapes; just another pretty face with a smile and an empty stare for whichever camera they could find. The bassist up there, he was different... there was life, mischief, in his blue eyes in every picture Cody had ever seen.

As the drummer broke into a thundering solo that vibrated Cody's backbone, he turned his attention to the crowd. He scanned the writhing mass, watched as hands popped over their heads to clap in time with the percussion. Their collective roar of excitement, and the ensuing wind, pushed his attention back to the stage, just in time to catch Eric Carlisle shedding the impossibly tight t-shirt he was wearing and then fling it into the audience.

Like a deer lit with the glare of a semi's headlights, Cody was caught, enraptured in the shower of red and blue light that washed across the slick skin of Eric's bare torso not more than forty feet away. The light caused shadows to frolic across the defined features of Eric's torso as it slipped over his chest, and traced the contours of his abdomen. If that sight wasn't enough to rile Cody as he was supposed to be watching the crowd, the self assured grin the bare-chested bassist tossed at the lead singer, as he slipped his bass back on, certainly did the trick.

The lead singer mimicked the shirt move in the middle of the next song, and surprisingly the reaction from the crowd was even greater than it had been when the bassist had tossed his into the abyss. How such a reaction could be justified, Cody could not comprehend. Sure the lead singer was nice looking, but he couldn't hold a match to the bassist as far as Cody was concerned.

Annoyingly, his partner managed to nudge Cody's shoulder while he was trying to comprehend the audience's reaction while lost in watching the bassist's fingers pluck the strings of his instrument. Turning to look at the other security guard, Cody leaned in so he could hear what he was saying.

"Bottle," he shouted, pointing out a guy in the crowd.

Regrettably Cody followed the lead as they pushed their way through the crowded aisle so they could approach the guy from behind. Cody stood there waiting for the other security guard to do something, but all he managed to do was bulk up his frame to look imposing. Shaking his head in annoyance, Cody reached out and rapped the fan on the shoulder several times. As the guy turned, all he saw was Cody's open palm and a look which demanded the bottle.

"Damn it," the guy shouted, not that Cody could hear him over the music and the pair of ear plugs he was wearing. "I never even had a taste."

Whether he had or not didn't matter to Cody, all that mattered was the glass bottle. Had the guy gotten a plastic cup used by every beer vendor in the place, there wouldn't have been anything happening right now, but no, he had to go and try to be some sort of quasi rebel about the whole thing.

Bottle in hand, Cody offered no thanks, just turned and fought his way back through the bodies that crashed into him. He likened the whole thing to rushing the defense, except these people so caught up in their own good time had an occasion to swing their wrists right into his face without care that they could have just hit someone, much less a member of the event staff.

Cody arrived back at his station relatively unscathed, except for a sore shoulder which had taken a particularly hard slam as he maneuvered through the audience. Rotating his shoulder in an effort to deaden the pain and loosen the joint back up, he was about to drop the bottle when the golden faux-parchment label caught his eye.

It was a snap decision as he looked from the bottle up at the half naked bassist trotting around the stage. One which Cody knew could cost him his paycheck, but as his gaze lingered on the torso of Eric Carlisle, on the rivulets of sweat that slid effortlessly down his sides, Cody figured it was a now or never again chance.

Breaking the visual trance he was in only long enough to glance around and make sure nobody was watching him, Cody slipped the pint of tequila into the pocket of his nylon jacket and spent the remainder of the show watching the audience, wondering just what it would take to get past Instinct's permanent staff backstage.

Cody was about to give up on the idea as the concert drew to a close and Instinct wrapped their final encore. Figuring the bassist was just another in a line of impossible crushes, he ran headlong into a sort of divine intervention. If he was a praying man, he would have thanked God; he did even though he wasn't. As the lead singer was thanking the city for turning out in force, Günter showed up.

"Go keep an eye on the backstage admissions," he said, eliciting a hidden smile from Cody. "That can get pretty hectic. If a band member points at someone, let 'em in, but keep the rest back."

He didn't need to be told twice, and there was still ample security to protect the equipment that was quickly being scuttled off the stage and most of the audience was flooding out into candlestick point anyhow. Günter must have mentioned getting reinforcements, because Cody and the two other temps were quickly allowed access through the first barricade at the mouth of the tunnel.

Running down, Cody noticed the egress into the loading dock was blocked with a chain link fence covered with black cloth before he turned to the right. There he found another set of barricades and a barrage of local press. Before long, fans were funneling into the tunnel, most had passes to make it this far, some did not, that however, wasn't Cody's problem, he was on the wrong side of the second barricade with dozens of frantic fans eagerly waving fan club cards, teddy bears, posters, magazines. Their combined cheers were bouncing off the concrete walls and amplifying to the point of lunacy. Cody understood what Günter meant by the word 'hectic', he'd never seen such fanatical chaos squeezed into such a small space.

Just when Cody thought it impossible for them to get any louder, they did; followed in quick succession by hundreds of flashing strobe lights. Turning around to see who had appeared to cause such a fuss, Cody caught sight of Jon, the lead guitarist for Instinct, and a member of the band that had opened for them, chatting with a few girls that were practically hanging over the barricade.

Watching Jon, because as far as Cody was concerned he was his employer, Cody fixed the four people in memory that Jon had pointed to; three girls and a guy. Muscling his way through the assembly, Cody guided the four selected people up through the barricade and watched as they disappeared through the door into the backstage area.

Chase, Instinct's drummer, came strolling out of the door next, along with the remaining two members of the other band. They did pretty much the same thing, as they approached the barricade and shouted over the constant din that had somehow seemed to be less accosting than it was a few minutes earlier. It didn't take long for the few girls Chase had been chatting with the most to be ushered through the barricade and disappear with the band members through the door.

Finally, Eric popped out of the door, along with Brandon, the lead singer for Instinct. Eric for the most part hung back, while Brandon busied himself signing autographs and chatting with the clamoring fans. As he watched Brandon, Cody lost sight of the one person he had been trying not to stare at all night. Seeing the lead singer point out two girls Cody moved to gather them, but his movement halted as he felt a hand fall on his shoulder.

"See if you can get the one that Brandon was talking to the longest," Cody heard Eric Carlisle's request, but was too busy trapped in his eyes to respond to the request quickly. Their twinkle, their rich shade of blue, was so much more alluring than in photographs, Cody decided. Giving the bassist a small nod as he chewed on his bottom lip, Cody moved off in search of the girl Brandon had been the chattiest with.

With the young woman safely escorted through the barricade, Cody approached Eric, in case he had any more requests.

"Thanks for getting her, dude," Eric smiled, seemingly pleased.

"No problem," Cody said, chancing a small smile before he turned his attention back to the crowd. Cody's earlier idea had been forgotten with the shuffle and madness of backstage, but now as he stood there, impossibly close, feeling the weight of the bottle in his pocket Cody saw his opening and chanced a grab at it. Gathering his nerve, he again chewed on his lip and tried to smile. The net effect was the sly lopsided smile he delivered briefly as he turned to Eric. "What do you look for when you're inviting someone backstage?" Cody asked, angling his body just a little more so he could produce a glimpse of the bottle in his pocket. Cody watched as Eric looked and smiled when he uttered the words Cody wanted to hear.

"You're with me, come on," Eric said, angling his head towards the door as he moved in that direction. Cody followed without hesitation. "Don't mention the tequila to anyone," Eric said in a conspiratorial lowered voice as soon as they, along with the four girls Eric had picked out, were through the door.

"Don't worry," Cody smiled, his voice equally as hushed as Eric's request. "I doubt Günter will like me drinking..." Cody said, leaving the statement, and its meaning, open to Eric's interpretation.

"Wait here for a few," Eric grinned. "I'll take care of it," he finished before moving off into the crowd. Wait is exactly what Cody did, as he propped up against the wall and watched Eric meander through the crowd, mingling and taking pictures with his fans. It would be an interesting life, the life of a rock star, Cody allowed that much, but he didn't know if he would adore being the focus of everyone's attention. At some point, you would have to realize it was all shallow, Cody figured.

Lost in his thoughts, Cody wondered if he could reconcile fame with all of its negatives when Eric walked up. "We need to check security on the instruments, follow me," Eric said, trying to sound professional.

Cody followed as Eric led the way, meandering through a labyrinth of corridors in the general direction of the stage, but not using the main access route Cody had used when he first walked backstage. Eric glanced around quickly, ensuring no one was around and spying a door to the right, Eric opened the door and motioned Cody to follow.

"Break out the tequila..." Eric paused, raising a brow, not sure of his new friend's name.

"Cody," Cody said in answer to Eric's unasked question, as he pulled the bottle from his pocket and twisted the cap, listening to the seal snap, before he handed the bottle off to Eric.

Eric gladly accepted the bottle and took a swig before handing it back. "How did you know I liked tequila, Cody?" Eric asked as he watched Cody take a tentative sip. "You can do better than that," Eric cajoled, enticing Cody to take a larger drink of the amber liquid.

Coughing as the heat of the drink warmed its way down his throat and into his chest Cody handed the bottle back to Eric. "I read about it somewhere," he shrugged. "I've read a lot about you guys."

It was endearing, the curl of Eric's lips as he smiled around the bottle while taking another drink, the way he maintained eye contact with Cody, which made Cody not want to look anywhere else. Beyond that, the whole scene was curious, being tucked away in a utility closet, sharing a bottle of tequila with Eric, away from fawning fans.

"Don't tell anybody, especially my manager, about this." Eric said as he lowered the bottle. "We better get back or she will come looking for me," he continued looking put out by the thought, before his face brightened with another. "Come back to the party; just hang out and have fun, then we'll break away for some more tequila," he finished, celebrating the idea with a third, even larger, drink before passing the bottle back to Cody.

"Damn, slow down," Cody smiled as he accepted the bottle from Eric and took one last drink before capping the elicit spirit and returning it to the safety of his pocket. "I don't know if I can," Cody said in response to Eric's plan. "I'm working, so I shouldn't be drinking; they'd probably chase me out anyway. I almost got fired once already."

"No way," Eric shook his head. "You're working for Günter right? Well, Günter works for my band, and I say I want you at the party." Eric smiled confidently. "Don't worry; I'll clear it with Günter, you're going to the party and it won't hurt your pay any, I promise." Eric's brow furrowed as he thought of something. "Was it Günter who nearly fired you? He's usually a pretty good guy."

Cody shook his head. "Nope," he said. "Günter seems okay, it was your road boss who threatened me. I took one look at a laptop I thought was left lying around, and the guy went ballistic."

"That would be Jerry," Eric said, looking as if the name left a bad taste in his mouth. "Mid forties, brown hair, condescending, a flamer, and has a temper, right? I hate him."

Flamer, the word stuck out, almost as much as the statement Eric ended his comment with. Cody wondered if the two were connected. "That's him," Cody admitted, "but he sure didn't seem like a flamer. Do you think he's gay?"

"Nah," Eric chuckled, finding the answer obvious. "I think he's faking it. I tried flirting with him a few times and he didn't even give me a second glance." Eric chuckled, remembering the attempt. "Anyway, we better get back or my manager will have a posse after my ass."

Cody's surprise at the mention of flirting wasn't as easily masked as he would have liked it to have been. Perhaps, Cody figured, this was not an exercise in futility after all. Before Cody could investigate the possibility further Eric was already checking the scenery outside of the utility room door.

The hallway must have been clear from prying eyes, because it didn't take long for Eric to pop back in and grab Cody by the arm and lead the way back to the party going on backstage. Once back in the throng of the party, Eric wandered off leaving Cody to find to find a beer and fend for himself in a group of people who didn't know him from the gum on the bottom of their shoe.

He stopped briefly to talk to a member of The Shadows, the band which had opened for Instinct, and the Goth girl he had pulled from the crowd earlier. That ended in a confrontation with another member of The Shadows, who had treated Cody much like said piece of gum on the bottom of his shoe. Deciding on keeping things as civil as he could muster, Cody backed off, even if he would have rather decked the guy and taught him a thing or two about respecting everybody, no matter what walk of life they came from.

It was all forgotten though, as he caught sight of Eric's tan and toned back slinking off through the crowd, stopping here and there to laugh or lay a kiss on a fluttering girl's cheek. Eric's aim was clear though, through the dodgy route he took, and the fact that he stopped pausing as his name was called.

Cody followed at a respectable pace, garnering none of the attention that Eric had, or so he thought; then again anonymity had its perks. Perks which were readily evident as he ended up standing outside the utility room door, where Eric grabbed hold of him and slammed the door.

"Tequila," Eric exclaimed with a wicked grin as he spun around to face Cody.

Considering that the most innocent of requests that Cody would willingly give in to at the moment, Cody closed the short distance to a tool chest as he pulled the bottle from his pocket, pleased that Eric was shadowing him so closely.

"So what do you do when you aren't working concerts?" Eric asked, stirring conversation after they had passed the bottle between them a few times.

"I work at a bagelry," Cody shrugged, thinking Eric wouldn't find any of it terribly interesting, "and some other jobs besides going to school, or trying to," Cody finished, hoping the words didn't sound as bitter coming out as they did in his mind. "We make some good ones though," Cody mentioned, focusing on the bagelry. "Bagels, I mean, you should stop by sometime."

Eric listened intently as he took another swallow of tequila. "I'm real happy with the tequila," he mentioned, first looking at the bottle, then Cody. "Real happy," he added a grin for emphasis, before he launched into his next question. "How come you've read so much about me?"

"I like your guys' music," Cody answered honestly, even if he found the abrupt subject change a little jarring. "So I read when I see an article," he continued looking down as another thought flooding across his alcohol slicked mind. "Besides, you guys are easy on the eyes; especially you." Cody's cheeks burned as he realized he had uttered his thought out loud. "And no tequila flavored bagels..." he quickly added hoping it would cover the last statement. "Sorry."

Eric laughed, and as much as Cody wanted to shrink from the sound, he couldn't; it was just too nice, too jovial a sound to find threatening. "Thanks," Eric offered with a grin. "It's cool. I like the ladies, but I don't have any hang-ups."

Hang-ups, it was an interesting turn of phrase, coupled with the fact that Eric didn't find the first excuse to bolt out of the utility room had a little voice inside of Cody's head screaming for answers; demanding clarification. "Have you ever been with a guy?" Cody asked, mentally performing a countdown, assuming Eric would high-tail it at the first opportunity.

Eric chuckled as he flew from his seat beside Cody. He, however, didn't run out of the room. Instead, he grabbed the handle of a mop and slid it, and its bucket, around the room, performing an impromptu dance.

"Nope," Eric admitted as his fingers slid up and down the handle of the mop. "Girls are what push my buttons."

Cody let out a small laugh, as he watched Eric while preparing the next question. He already knew what it would be, just didn't know how to phrase it. "If you've never..." Cody started, "how do you know for sure?" he finished leaving a chunk of the question dependent on earlier comments.

Eric sent the mop and bucket flinging to the side, and crashing into the wall, with an easy flick of his wrist before he dropped back onto the tool chest where Cody sat, watching him intently with a small encouraging smile. "I just know I like girls, and if that's an offer," Eric said, leaning in so his shoulder collided with Cody's playfully. "I'm flattered, but no thanks."

One good turn deserves another. "That's what they all say," Cody laughed as he jabbed Eric lightly in the ribs with his elbow, all the while maintaining eye contact. "What can a kiss hurt?" Cody asked, the smile on his lips faltering for an instant before he forced it back into place. "If you don't like it, at least you'd know. Come on, I dare ya," Cody finished adding a playful wink to the fray.

Eric pondered the notion, evidenced by the way the smile fell from his lips. Cody took that as a sign that it was a no go. While that was disappointing; the night, being in a utility room, drinking tequila, with Eric, more than made up for the loss he felt more prominently in his loins, than anywhere else.

Cody's breath caught in his chest as Eric's arm slithered over his shoulders and pulled him in. He had missed the small smile that had blossomed on Eric's face and couldn't see it now, as his eyes were closed, his mind concentrating everything on the feeling of Eric Carlisle's lips pressed against his own.

To say Cody was caught by surprise would be an understatement, that however didn't last long as Cody explored the muscle mass of his biceps before moving a hand forward to trace down the ridges of Eric's spine as he parted his lips.

The intention was clear and Eric didn't shy away from it, as he slid his tongue into Cody's mouth. Eric deepened the kiss, pressing harder into Cody, as his fingers strummed their way down Cody's sides.

He knew Eric was not a novice at kissing. What rock star is? However, he displayed an adept skill at kissing another guy, taking to the practice like a fish to water. Admittedly, there was little that separated the sexes by way of lips and tongues, but whatever mental block that had existed had surely crumbled.

What was next, Cody wondered as he allowed his hand to sink to the small of Eric's back, allowing his pinky finger to drag across the cotton waistband of Eric's shorts.

"What the..." a female voice stuttered, shattering the moment.

Afraid more for Eric, and his reputation, than anything else; Cody pulled away breaking the kiss. He tried to hide the panic he was feeling at again being caught, when the obverse was more desirable.

"Young man, are you responsible for that?" the female intruder's voice demanded, as she stabbed Cody in the chest with one sharp finger while aiming another at the empty tequila bottle.
"I think you should leave," she demanded, leaving no room for argument on Cody's part, only compliance.

Looking sorry, even though he had doubts about Eric's earlier statements, Cody turned to Eric. "Maybe you were right," Cody mumbled, doing the only thing he could think of to get Eric off the hook. "But, it was something to remember."

"That was a first for me, so I won't forget it either," Eric grinned genuinely.

Oddly enough, Cody found perfect reassurance in the easy grin Eric offered, yet still found it best to make his exit, so as not to further aggravate the woman who looked even more stern than his boss, Günter.

That is exactly who Cody ran into, literally, as he slipped out of the utility room and dashed down the hall. For his part Günter didn't say much of anything, opting instead to watch Cody intently.

"Sorry," Cody mumbled, likening the man more to a coach from his past, than a high ranking military official now. "Just..." Cody started as he backed away, holding his arms wide. "Just forget about the check," he surrendered, before dropping his hands and turning around.

It had been an interesting week, Cody conceded. Joe had actually initiated the whole flirtatious banter they had going. Additionally he found himself more open to the idea of Damon than he had been in the past, and tonight; well, tonight had contained probably the most amazing kiss he had been part of in the last three years, even if it was destined to be just another, in a long line of impossibilities.

Unlike the previous night, Joe was awake when Cody strolled in through their door; awake and apparently waiting on him.

"We need to talk," Joe said flatly, leaving no indication of what it was that he felt they needed to talk about.

*Authors Note*: Eric Carlisle, Gunter and assorted other characters from Let the Music Play, appear courtesy of CJames. Scenes containing these characters can also be enjoyed from their perspective in Let the Music Play 34, "When Worlds Collide". Which, coincidently, went online at the same time as this chapter. Thanks CJ for letting me test drive Eric for part of a chapter... Can i keep him? Please??

SPiCE Disclaimer: No Erics were maimed, dropped from a cliff, placed in mortal peril, injured, or otherwise caused irrevocable mental duress in the production of this chapter.