Richards POV.
"Hi Richard. I realised you left your hoodie and I've been meaning to bring it for ages now but haven't had the chance. Family and friends being around a lot and all. I wondered whether you wanted it back but then just wanted to come see if you wanted to hang out as well? I'm getting a bit bored of being home alone now everyone has visited." Till seemed to ramble on stood in the doorway about how he had no one at his house. No one to talk to. It honestly made me think he was lying but I couldn't question it, I needed to decide what to do right now. There's a lot at stake here. "Oh yea. I mean we can hang out if you want Till. Erh come in, I need to get dressed, obviously." I gestured Till into the house, instantly regretting my decision as he passed me. I should have just rejected his idea. I like hanging out with Till but right now mine and Pauls thing could be found out. All it'd take was Till walking into my room, or Paul coming out of the room not knowing Till's here. Fuck, think Richard.
"What have you been doing with this time off then?" Till asked sitting down on the couch, making himself comfortable knowing I still needed to get dressed. I wasn't actually sure if he wanted to go out or stay at my place and just hang out here. "Oh, erh just the same as you. My kids and a few friends to visit, after that I've not really been doing anything." I just kind of standing there in the doorway to the living room. Why am I awkward in my own house? Awkward about Till when he's my friend? Because I know that any second, one mistake could mean a whole new problem occurs. "Do you, erh, want a drink or something Till?" I said trying to talk loud enough so Paul could possibly hear but also not too obvious to Till. "Hmm, go on then. What you got?" I walked into the kitchen and looked in the fridge, listing through the options and he asked for a beer. "Okay, be back soon just going to get dressed." I said handing him a beer and the lid opener.
Pauls POV.
I sat on the bed waiting for Richard to come back, tell me it was some door sales person or something. Today has been a good day, the only way to end it now would be going to bed together again. I should be home now really, I said I'd stay here for a night but something tells me Richard doesn't mind me being here either. It had been a small while now since Richard went to the door and I wanted to make sure everything was okay so I got up, ready to go to the door. When I got to the bedroom door though I heard the apartment door close and a heavy set of footsteps enter the apartment. Definitely not Richards... "What have you been doing with this time off then?" I heard someone very familiar say from the living room. "Oh, erh just the same as you. My kids and a few friends to visit, after that I've not really been doing anything." I heard Richard reply. Even from here I could tell something was going on, whoever was here was making Richard very uncomfortable. "Do you, erh, want a drink or something Till?" Till?! Oh fuck no. I stood still in my tracks at the door, ear pressed against the wood, waiting to hear what was happening next. Then I heard footsteps approaching the bedroom, Richards I hope.
Richards POV.
When I walked into the bedroom Paul was stood, obviously as if he had his head against the door before I came in, listening carefully. I shut the door quickly behind me so Till wouldn't peek in and hopefully wouldn't hear. "Shit, Richard what do we do? Do you think he'll come in here?" Paul asked whispering but doing that whisper yelling thing when you need to be quiet but your also scared or worried. I shrugged as I grabbed some jeans, putting them on quickly, nearly tripping over my own legs. "I don't know Paul. I don't think he'll come in here honestly. But then again it's Till, you never really know what he's going to do." Then a knock at the door and I instantly thought to yell back, "Wait Till, I'm not decent just yet, don't come in please."
"Okay Richard, but who are you talking to?" I looked at Paul and gestured to get under the bed. Paul looked at me as if I was crazy but I just gestured again. He got down and shuffled under just as I yelled back, "Oh I'm.. I'm on the phone that's all." I pulled a hoodie over myself while grabbing my phone and pretended to be on it as I looked to see if Paul was hidden. He was, besides the fact that you could still see him slightly until I moved the duvet to cover his head. I walked over to the door, putting the phone to my ear to try and prove to Till it was just that. When I opened it I smiled at him, "Sorry, didn't know they would call me right now." Till nodded his head as he looked from the phone to me, "Oh, who is it?" Who is it? Who is it? Fuck, who is it? It has to be someone he wouldn't want to talk to... Oh! "Its just a guy from the bank." This way Till couldn't talk to the guy on the phone, the one who didn't exist. Till again nodded his head and walked away, "Oh, okay. Sorry didn't mean to interrupt."
"It's okay, I'll be out in a minute." I called out as I shut the door behind him. Paul moved the sheet out of his face and glared at me. I shrugged my shoulders, "What? What was I supposed to do? Come on I'll help you. I don't think he'll come back in." I kneeled down and helped pull Paul out from under the bed, brushing him slightly to get the bits of dust and fluff off. "Okay, I'll see if I can convince Till to go out with me to the shop or something and you can leave if you want." Paul nodded his head but then shook it, "How are you going to get him to leave? He'll probably just say he'll wait here."
"Well, I have to try. I'll message you to tell you what's going on."
I left the room, quickly shutting the door behind me only to be met with Tills face, staring at me. I jumped, visibly jumped and my hand flew to my chest, "Fuck Till! Jesus! What are you just stood there for. You nearly gave me a heart attack." I took a breath trying to steady myself as he just stared at me. It made me really uncomfortable but I just laughed, "Damn, come on Till. I need to go to the shop, I need a new packet of cigarettes, then we can hang out. How about that?" Till nodded his head yes slowly before replying, "Okay, but why don't you invite Paul as well?" I froze. Does he know? Or is he just thinking about extra company? Quickly answer before he works out somethings wrong. "Okay, yeah we can. That'll be nice, I haven't seen him yet since we started break." Play it cool. I walked past Till going to get my jacket before he stopped me, grabbing my arm, not tight just to stop me. "Where are you going?"
"To get my coat?" I sound so lost right now. Even if I try to be confident it just isn't working, my nerves are too shaky. "Shouldn't you ask Paul first?" He asked me, straight faced like Till usually is but it was unsettling right now. I took a deep breath, just trying to keep any level of composure I have left. "Oh, well yea I can do." I pulled my phone out of my pocket but Till just shook his head. "Come on Richard. I'm not that stupid. Go get Paul." He let go of my arm and went into the living room, probably sitting down.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.... Fuck. I went back into the bedroom where I saw Paul had sat back on the bed and I just stood there for a moment. This is happening very fast, I'm not sure how to deal with this. "Till knows... Or well he knows somethings going on. He knows you're here and wants you to come out." Paul jumped off the bed and walked over to me, almost as if he's judging if I'm being truthful or not. "Richard-" I just turned away and gestured for him to follow, "Come on, we best just do this." I think right now I'm in a state of slight shock. Such a good day could all be ruined right here, right now. Paul followed me, his eyes watching the floor as he stuck close behind me. Till was sat on the couch which faces away from the hallway to the rooms, waiting I'm guessing. Me and Paul sat down on the couch across from him, Paul still sticking close to me. I can't blame him, this is a problem. Nerve racking. If he wasn't so close to me, I'd be sticking close to him.
For maybe two minutes the three of us just sat there, me and Paul having our eyes trained on the coffee table in front of us, avoiding Tills gaze as he didn't take his eyes off of us. Then he spoke, "So.. Why were you hiding from me Paul? Didn't want me to know something? Didn't want me to know you were here, why?"
"Oh, urm, I don't know Till. I was just, um tired. And I didn't feel too well. I was taking a nap, Richard let me. He was just, urm, giving me time to wake up and checking I was okay before I came out and said hi." Not convincing Paul, but decent. I hope if I reinforce this argument he'll believe us. "Yea, sorry for lying to you Till. I was just making sure Paul was good."
"Bullshit. Come on guys I'm not an idiot. If that was true, Richard you'd have just told me. We know you would have. And Paul, if you were so ill you had to take a nap, how are you fine now? And if you were taking a nap where were you when I came into the room. Come on guys, I want you to tell me the truth. Now please." Till replied, taking a drink of his beer. I hesitated, contemplating our options. I looked over at Paul and we just looked at each other for a moment, almost as if we were talking to each other through our minds. Both trying to come to some silent agreement while Till, surprisingly patient, waited. I sighed out loud, more of a groan really before looking back at Till. He wants to truth, fine. I'm not going to hide it anymore. "Me and Paul have a thing we're exploring right now. Not necessarily a relationship, not properly, not yet. Just a feeling we want to understand. It's been going on for maybe a month now, not like this because we've been on tour obviously. That's why I didn't tell you he was here because you surprised us by just arriving and we didn't have time to get a story straight. I guess all we can say is, sorry for lying to you. But this is what's going on." Did that make sense? I think it did. Till sat there still and quiet, I think this confession had surprised him honestly. He then put his beer on the table and lent forward, his elbows resting on his knees, still observing us. "So, you've been.. dating?" I shrugged my shoulders and glanced at Paul nodding slightly, "You could say that. I know it's a dangerous thing, for the band I mean. But trust me when I say, this wasn't planned. And I tried my best to stop those feelings but I couldn't."
"Me neither, it was a mutual thing we both wanted." Paul chipped into the conversation slightly. I nodded, showing I agreed with Paul and tried to give him a reassuring smile even though I wasn't sure myself. "Well, I knew something was going on but I didn't think it was that. A month?" We both nodded our head yes. "Do any of the guys know beside me?" We shook our head, not much communication of words going on. "Flake worked out I liked Paul, but he doesn't know anything actually happened." Till had some sort of reaction, I can't describe what exactly, but something in his body language just changed for a second at the mention of Flake. It was silent again and I couldn't stand it. What is Till thinking about so much that's taking so long for responses. "Okay. Well, you need to tell them. I'll call them all and organize a meeting tomorrow." Both mine and Pauls head shot up to look at Till. He's being serious. Tomorrow? "Tomorrow? Till no. I think both me and Paul understand we need to tell the guys but not tomorrow. You can't expect us to do that."
"Why not?" Till simply replied, straight faced.
"Because that's too soon." Paul started, "We don't even know what's going on, only that we like each other in some way other than friends. We go telling the guys it'll be more and more questions which we can't even answer ourselves. We need more time to work it out as well." Very well put Paul. I couldn't help but nod my head in agreement. "If we push these feelings they may get... confused?" Till huffed and sat back in the couch, running his hands through his hair as though he was thinking. He took another look at us both before standing up and grabbing his coat, "Tomorrow, our usual band meeting spot. Be there or not. But either way, the guys need to know. They deserve to know. I'm sorry Paul, Richard. But this has to happen." Till left the apartment and it was silent again.
"Fuck."