Once they were done with the rehearsals for the day, Scott booked himself an uber to get home. He declined his friends' offer to go out once more and waved as they left minutes before he was picked up.
He arrived at home half an hour later, already looking forward to spending the evening with his boyfriend.
"Honey, I am home!" Scott called through the house while he was taking off his shoes.
No reaction.
"Nick? Love?" Scott stepped into the living room and sighed when he saw his boyfriend sitting on the sofa. "There you are" he spoke up and leaned down to press a kiss onto his forehead.
"You're late" Nick simply said, his eyes glued to the screen of his iPad.
Scott dropped down next to his boyfriend. "I know" he replied. "And it's been a long day. Lots of rehearsing and talking..." He closed his eyes and leaned his head against his boyfriend's shoulder. "How was your day?"
"Stressful. Lots to do, but I'm done with the tenancy situation now. The contract is signed and the keys are with the tenant." Nick said and only then put his iPad away. "Anyway. Do you still want to cook or shall we just order something tonight?"
"Ordering would be lovely" Scott replied and fished his phone out of his pocket. "Indian?"
"Yeah. You know what I'll get?"
Scott chuckled. "Yes. By now I know." He placed the order and then put his phone again. "Twenty minutes. Do you mind if I take a shower? All this choreography rehearsing has left me sweaty."
"Hmm, or we could take a bath together after dinner?" Nick asked. "The past days have been stressful... all this renovating we did, we deserve a break, don't we?"
Scott smiled slightly. "Would be lovely," he said. "I want to be done with the other rooms once I'll leave for Europe, though."
"Tomorrow is another day, Scotty," Nick said. "And about Europe..."
Scott looked up. "Yeah?"
"I thought about taking some time off and join you" Nick stated. "Could be fun, right? We could spend the evenings together in hotel rooms, order room service, do sightseeing on off days."
"I..." Scott hadn't expected this to happen, so he didn't know what to say. "Nick, that's a lovely idea" he therefore stammered. "For how long do you want to join? I'll ask Esther if she can take care of flights and amend bookings tomorrow."
"The whole tour" Nick answered. "I mean why not? I have the opportunity right now and I thought why not join my boyfriend on his tour?"
"Well of course you can join. It... it's just going to be a bit different because usually, we don't have partners travelling with us for more than a week, but we'll certainly work something out. I was just wondering, though. For how long can you take off? After all, I will have a month off after the tour and I definitely wanted to go on a vacation. Kirstie and Mitch are talking about Mykonos and I thought about joining them? It's going to be a lot of fun" Scott offered.
"You'll spend enough time with them on the tour, don't you get tired of one another?" Nick said.
It was supposed to sound like a joke, but Scott noticed the strange undertone in Nick's voice. "Those two are my best friends, Nick. We don't get tired of one another" he replied.
"Still, I don't know why you want to travel with them. I want some time with you, too" Nick said.
"But we will have a lot of time together. Just because we're travelling with other people doesn't mean we'll do everything together" Scott argued.
"Still. I'd rather spend some time with you alone, Scott" Nick said. "Is that too much to ask?"
"Of course not, Dear" Scott replied. He pressed a soft kiss onto his boyfriend's cheek. "I don't want to fight and it was just an idea. We'll find somewhere else to go. I just want to have a nice vacation with you."
Nick nodded. "Me too."
"Mmhm and about the tour... I don't know if it's a good idea if you join for the whole leg if I am honest" Scott pointed out.
"So you don't want me around?" Nick said and crossed his arms in front of him.
"No. I mean I want you around, Nick. It's just that touring is a lot of work and even though we get to explore a lot, you'll be stuck in busses and backstage areas most of the time and I don't want you to spend your precious time like this. I mean you're always welcome to join, but it is not as exciting as you make it out to be" Scott explained patiently. He looked at his boyfriend and when he saw the stony expression on his boyfriend's face he sighed. "Nick..."
"I just want to spend more time with you, Scott. You're travelling all the time without me while I am home alone" Nick said.
"Yes, I am, Nick, because it's part of my job. Me travelling to Europe is the equivalent of you having meetings and everything, you know. It's what I do. And you've been visiting us before, so it's not like I am forbidding you to do so" Scott explained.
Nick sighed. "You're right. Still, I hate the idea of you leaving."
"I know. I love touring a lot, but I'd love to be able to come back home after the concerts. But that's not possible, you know..." Scott said and when Nick didn't react, he put an arm around him. "Why don't we both think about the tour and talk again tomorrow. As I said, I don't want to fight with you tonight. All I want is a nice curry and a hot bath with my wonderful boyfriend."
Nick sighed. "Me too, Scott" he replied. "It's just a lot to process right now. We're finally living together and I imagined it to be different. With more time for us..."
"I know it's stressful right now. But once I'm back home everything will be calmer, I promise" Scott said softly.
"I really hope so, Scott" Nick replied and leaned his head against his boyfriend's shoulder. "It's really important to me."
Scott smiled. "Spending time with you is important for me, too," he said softly and pressed another soft kiss onto Nick's head, feeling a spurt of joy when he saw the soft smile on the brunette's face.
~~~~
