Everything I Never Told You ( Conan Gray )

XXVIII. Half Bad

"Conan?" he repeated as he froze. All he could feel was the terrible hangover, coursing through his veins. "Conan, are you awake?"

His heartbeat steadied when he opened his eyes, not hearing the dreaded question. Heath was looking at him with groggy and exhausted eyes golf eyes that seemed a light brown because Cone was blocking most the light. They traced his face and he felt self-conscious suddenly. He must look terrible, half naked and in a hangover. 

"Yeah," he said, trying to use his best awake voice. "It's really hot."

Heath seemed to have snapped out of his trance and pulled his arm back and minimizing contact. He got up quickly and patted himself down. He grabbed a fresh shirt off a chair and made his way to the bathroom. He didn't even look at Conan. 

He sighed, feeling stupid again. The more forward he tried to be with him, the more he pushed him away. Maybe he didn't want to get close to him. This was his way of telling him to stay in his boundaries. He could never like him. A part of him did feel like he should give up. Chasing his sun like eyes too much would end up burning him, like Icarus. But he couldn't. The more he looked away, the more Conan ended up staring at him. 

Shaking off the laziness, he groaned. He felt so weak and trembly. 

"Do you have painkillers?" he asked and Heath replied after a pause. 

"I don't but maybe ask Lim?" 

He felt like he had been smacked. Another try. 

"I will leave for Texas in two days, wanna come?" he asked, hoping for a reply. 

"Not really," he said through the door and he did sound truthful. 

Well, he thought, might as well get the painkillers. 

Karla

Karla: Hey, kid. I got off with Dan yesterday. He said he really liked the song and he wants to start production immediately. If you come back by afternoon and start working by evening, you can finish by two days and leave for Texas for two week. Then back here to record and shoot. Call me, if this doesn't work.

Conan: Shore. we will leave in fifteen minutes. Yeah, that works. At my place?

Karla: No, at mine. Ofc at yours!

Conan: jeez okay

Conan and his friends reached by nine in the morning. Conan dropped off Lim and Heath at their apartment, partly sad that he would no longer live with him. Lim hugged him once, thanking him for driving them home. Heath just murmured a 'thank you' and quickly left for the door. He got the message loud and clear. Stay away. I don't like you. The drove to his own home, thinking about the awesome coffee he would make and the passive-aggressive songs he would write to him. 

Stepping into his apartment, he stopped at the kitchen first and started clearing up for Dan to come over. Though they wouldn't produce in his room, he felt odd about him thinking of him as as some unhygienic dude. 

Dan came over by the evening and they begun figuring out the cords to the song. He wanted it to be sad but oddly cheering and likable. Using major cords for a sad song was a concept Dan enjoyed talking about. The instrumental continued, they stayed around for at least four hours to figure out a quarter of the song. Usually it would be much faster because Conan would already have rough line of the tunes. 

Dan also had this weird habit of suggesting him about the aesthetic of music videos and how he pictured them to be. 

"One worth: aesthetics," he said for the particular song. "Pastel and dark coloured clothes, sunsets, rain and woods."

Usually he didn't feel it but this time he totally was. 

"I will tell that to the creative team," he promised. 

Limca 

Limca: yo

Limca: Did something happen between you and Heath?

Conan: idrk. He has started ignoring me tho. Always looking away

Limca: that's kinda cute

Conan: I won't take advice from someone who doesn't know what to get aL

Limca: :/

It so turned out that the creative team did like Dan's idea. Karla did too and she didn't like anything much. She had been acting really odd lately. Tearing up at the smallest of things. like, Daisy calling for her. She had also gotten a nanny for her which he found. Karla and her wife did things together, didn't they? Managed their schedule in way that at least one of them were with Daisy. 

He had asked her non-chalantly but she had brushed it away and started talking about the creative team's decision to shoot in Texas. Yes, Texas. He felt so happy when he got the news that he jumped to tell Ashley. He would be a week late but it would totally worth it since he would get to spend a month in Texas. 

She jumped at the idea and made a list of things she wanted to do with him. Caroline, Gus, Hannah and Ellie liked that too. He could feel things coming together for him. 

Around Thursday, three days before leaving and after recording, he got a call from Karla. 

"Guess who is your assistant fashion designer from now?"

"Who? Daisy?" he joked, thinking of the little girl sewing and coming up with sketches. 

"It's Heathcliff Charles," she said, sounding a little dry. So, she still didn't appreciate him.

Conan's insides went mushy and soft. 

"But he hasn't graduated," he said though he didn't seem to like the idea of protesting. 

"Well, he hasn't," she said, sounding sorry. "But it was more like we hired him on spot during his college interview. It's just two weeks in Texas. If he passes, he gets the job. If he doesn't, he will still get paid for the current orders."

"Thank you," he said, bitterly. 

Now, I will have to face rejection again. The worst part is I am still not over him.

Look on the bright side, he chastened himself after a while, at least you will get to see him and that doesn't seem to be half bad.