Wait For Me to Come Home (Noah Schnapp x Gay Male OC Story)

Part Two

This perks my attention. Sure, Atlanta is a little under an hours drive from where we're shooting series three, but we can get Ubers there and back and I'm sure the crew will be fine with us going into the city to unwind after a tough week of shooting. Plus, I've always wanted to go to the Tabernacle.

'I mean if you're offering. Wait. Who is it?'

'A fellow Brit. Robbie Pearce. You saying your homesick reminded me of him, cause his album is funnily enough, called Homesick. He's relatively new on the scene so he's not too mainstream for you, if you're one of the people whose worried about that.'

I roll my eyes again. I don't care if stuff is indie, mainstream or whatever. If you like something, you like it, and no one can judge you for liking it just because of how popular it is.

'What's he like?'

Millie consults her phone. 'Lots of people saying he's similar to Ed Sheeran. Some saying he's ripped him off et cetera. He's just turned 16, but he's amazing live and uses a loop pedal with no backing band.'

No backing band? He definitely sounds interesting.

'That sounds pretty neat, if people say he's good live then that's something.'

'Check it out'

Millie hands her phone over to me, where she's pulled up a video taken in a crowd which the video title says is from Brighton 2 months ago. I watch as this short spectacled kid with messy dirty blonde hair starts beating out a backing beat on his guitar, smacking his feet on some pedals at his feet and builds the backing track for a cover of 'Don't' by Ed Sheeran.

He's pretty good. Amazing actually. I watch the whole video, appreciating the skill needed to do vocals, guitar AND managing a loop pedal at the same time, and I realise I didn't give Ed Sheeran as much credit as he deserved.

I hand Millie's phone back to her, but something feels different after watching that video. It's like when you hear a new song with your headphones in and you get goosebumps on your skin and you just zone out and let the music wash all over you. Robbie had that effect on me and it was a video. So imagine what he'd be like live.

'Okay, you've sold me. He seems really cool.'

'I'm glad you think so, I had to go through a lot to get the tickets.'

'Thanks Mills. I'm sure this is gonna be a really cool night. This has actually given me something to look forward to now.' I pause for a moment, considering.

'Have you got his instagram?'

'It's Robbie dot m p three. Why? Are you gonna follow him and watch all your loyal followers spam him with follows and messages asking about how he knows you?'

'Not exactly. I wanna DM him.'

'Why?'

I take a breath.

'I want to know if he takes requests.'

'Requests?' Millie looks at me curiously.

'Yeah, requests, you ever heard of them?'

Millie flips me off again, and I swat her hand away with my nearly empty water bottle.

'Seriously Mills. I want to ask if he'll play Photograph.'

Millie sits up.

'I'm assuming you mean the Ed Sheeran one, not the nickelback meme spectacular?'

I fix her with a warning glare and its her turn to swat me with her bottle.

'Obviously. Well it looks like he likes Ed Sheeran and covers a lot of his songs in his gigs. And you know... with the way I'm feeling, I normally listen to Photograph whenever I'm homesick.'

Millie fixes me with a genuine look of intrigue.

'Wow. I didn't know you listened to much of Ed's stuff.'

'I don't. But that song has always kinda had a special place in my heart for me, and I think hearing it live tonight would be amazing.'

The bell rings for a new take in a couple minutes, and Millie stands up from the sofa.

'It's worth asking him. He's not got millions, or even hundreds of thousands of followers so I don't think he gets spammed with requests. And besides, an attractive, popular boy like yourself should be more than enough persuasion.'

'Shut up.'

She laughs, downing the rest of the water in her bottle and walking over to the recycling bin just off the set piece.

'Go for it. It'll be interesting.'

'Thanks for this though Mills. I'm sorry if I've been a bit depressing today.'

Millie wraps me in another hug.

'It's alright, everyone here understands. Besides, it keeps things interesting.'

The first A/D skitters back onto the set as Millie and I pull out of the hug.

'Alright guys, let's get this scene wrapped up and then we'll be ready for lunch.'

I chug the rest of the water into my much more hydrated throat and stretch my arms above my head a bit as I slide off of the sofa. As I hit the floor, I bring my phone out of my pocket and quickly type out the message as departments start rushing around me for the next take.

Pressing send I hand my phone over to one of the assistants on set. I rejoin Millie and the others in front of the cameras, a bit of a spring in my step. Knowing I've got this to look forward to has given me the boost I need to bash out all the scenes we're doing today. Millie was right. Tonight is gonna be a great way to unwind.