Fanboy (boyxboy)

Still Into You

Eli was never quite so happy to get home from touring as he was when his first tour with Starry Night ended. He'd gotten used to working for a band and really liked the girls but it wasn't at all what he wanted to do. There was something very different about managing a solo artist that Eli missed. He sat down the day after he got home to apply to college.

"Hey, you need to go see Dax today," Hunter told him on his way out the door.

"I was going to," Eli got up from his computer so he could kiss Hunter goodbye but Hunter just kept walking. "Okay," Eli turned around and sat down again and noticed that the trash was still sitting by the door.

He wasn't going to say anything, but Eli couldn't let it go. He texted Hunter and told him he'd forgotten to take the trash out. A few minutes later the door opened.

"Anything else you need before I leave?" Hunter looked super annoyed.

"No, sorry," Eli bit his tongue as Hunter rolled his eyes and left again.

That was how half their conversations had gone for weeks. Eli wasn't even sure Hunter missed him while he was gone since they seemed to fight so much. He didn't even know why they were fighting. Hunter just seemed...different.

Eli finished his application and went to see Maddox and Brent's new house. They'd moved in while Eli was on his flight home so he hadn't missed much, but more important was that Eli and Hunter woke up to a text from Brent that one of Dax's fans, a girl Maddox met in the hospital while he was visiting Wes, had died earlier that morning.

It was still early, so Eli wasn't sure if Maddox would be out of bed yet and he was right. He had to call to be let in and when Maddox opened the door he still had pillow creases on his cheek.

"Hi, remember me?" Eli joked. "Or are you done having friends now that you're married?"

"Ugh, don't start," Maddox shook his head.

"Aw, Dax, come here," Eli took his sunglasses off and gave Maddox a big hug. "Doesn't this palace of yours have a pool? Let's go sit by it and drink until we can't feel feelings anymore."

"I don't want to drink," Maddox protested.

"Fine, then just give me a tour. Or do we need a golf cart to get around?"

"It's not that big."

"Seeing as how my apartment probably fits in your kitchen, yeah," Eli looked around. He made Maddox show him the entire house, commenting on every last detail. When they got into the bedroom Eli made Maddox pick up his bagel and take another bite. "No, bring that, you're not done."

"I don't want it," Maddox set it down but Eli picked it up for him.

"So when are you getting a baby?"

"Never, as long as Brent keeps going on tour," Maddox sighed.

"Ugh, Dax, come on," Eli groaned. "I'm trying really hard, work with me here."

"I don't want to cheer up," Maddox told him. "I'm sad, I'm allowed to be."

"Yeah, you are," Eli reminded himself it was only the first day, he had to give Dax more time to grieve. "Fine, let's go lay on the floor and be sad."

"Thank you," Maddox took Eli into the sunroom, which was the only room on the first floor that didn't have boxes in it. They sat down on the bare wood floor and Maddox stared up at the ceiling.

"Seriously, this is amazing," Eli looked around. He could only imagine how Maddox would decorate. "I'm so tired of only having one bathroom."

"You'll get your dream house someday," Maddox told him. "I know Hunter wants to buy you a house."