When I pull away from the guard station, I follow the directions he told me until I get to the visitors parking garage. Pulling into a open spot, I get out of my car and text Jon, letting him know that I'm here. He never told me what his apartment number was, so I have to wait for him to text it to me.
After a few minutes, I lean against my car as I stare at my phone, waiting for him to text back. However, I get nothing. I start to get annoyed by how long he is taking to text me back.
Maybe this is a sign or something. Maybe I should just leave now.
Just as the thought starts to come into my head, I feel someone lean against my car beside me and hear them say, "You a watched phone doesn't ring, right?"
I look to the person and gasp, now seeing Jon right next to me. "What are you doing here?"
"I live in this building," he laughs as he slides his arm behind me. He then pulls me closer to him, and I turn to him completely before I hug him, wrapping my arms around his neck as he wraps his around my waist.
"You know what I mean, jackass," I laugh.
"I wanted to walk you up to my apartment." He lets me go and I do the same after him. With a small smile on my face, I take his hand and walk with him as he leads the way up to his apartment, which is on the fifth floor, of the building.
Once we walk in, I instantly scan the room. Three bar stools along an island in the kitchen, couch and chair around a coffee table, desk and chair behind the couch, and a tv on the wall with a stand under it. Overall, it's not what I expected to see.
"Did you decorate this place?"
"Nah, I just got the money for it. My sister bought everything and placed it wherever."
That makes sense.
"So, you want to tell me what happened," he says as he walks us over to the couch.
I sit next to him and bite my lip. "Not really."
"But you're going to tell me anyways, right?"
"Not like I have a choice," I chuckle. I sigh and shut my eyes, trying to think of the right things to say.
I don't want to talk. I don't want to say it. If I say it... I have to accept that it's all true. And... I don't want it to be true. I want Bryce to be alive, fighting to get over his addiction, trying his best to live a normal life. I want Ohm to be here now, teaching me how to be an amazing dancer like him. One that Panda would be proud of to have on his team.
"Evan," Jonathan says, putting one hand on my shoulders and the other on my forearm. "I only want you to tell me because I can tell that this is hurting you. Your voice on the phone, it sounded like you were done."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, whenever I hear someone talk like that in person, it makes me worry that they are going to do something stupid to get away from what is bothering them. I care about you too much to see you do something that you're going to regret later. So, please, tell me what's wrong."
I look over to him and we lock eyes. I can see how much worry is brewing in them, and it makes the shattered pieces of my heart ache. The last thing I want to do is make him worry, but if I stay silent, that's all I'm going to do... This is going to kill me... But I have to. I really don't have a choice in this. At least, not one that will help me in the end.
I take a deep breath and shut my eyes again, turning away from him as I gather up any ounce of courage I have, and I find the right words to say. Though, the words are swirling around in my head, and getting caught in my throat as I make myself say it.
"Yesterday... There was a thing that happened at work."
"Yeah, Tyler told me," he says, worry hiding behind in his words. "I thought that that had something to do with you after our call."
"It wasn't really me. More of the people I cared about the most at the club... My friend, Bryce... He died yesterday at the club."
"Oh god," he almost yells, taking one of his hands off of me, but keeping the other on my shoulder.
"I... I didn't know... He... He was addicted..." The words struggle to get out. I don't want to say it. I don't want to think of Bryce like that, and I don't want it to be true. It's bad enough that I had to admit that he was gone, but to admit that he had a unknown drug problem...
I fight back my tears that are trying to dig their way out, and I force the words out as hard as I can, causing my aching heart to hurt so much more. "He was addicted... Addicted to Xanax."
Jonathan stays silent, but he tights his hand on my shoulder a little, telling me that he heard me. "Everyone knew but me. No one told me for some reason, so I didn't know what he was doing... I... I knew he had a drinking problem. But... But I didn't know he was mixing-"
I get cut off by him pulling me close and hugging me. "Don't say anymore," he whispers to me. I wrap my arms around him and hold onto him tightly as I continue to fight back my tears. "I'm sorry that happened. I don't know who this Bryce guy is, but I know that if one of my friends died, I would be just as depressed as you. If they died in the same place as me, I don't know what I'd do."
I shake my head and wipe away a few tired that had forced their way out. Then I say, "That's... That's not all that happened."
He pulls me out of his chest and looks at me with a shocked and confused expression. I take a deep breath before I ask, "Do you remember my friend that told you my name?"
"Yeah, he was the dancer that wore a mask and bunny ears, right?"
I nod before I look away from him. My throat quickly dries up, making me have to drag the words out. "A-after the police left... My boss and him got in a fight... He and Bryce use to date, an-and they were roommates, so he... He took it really hard... I don't know what happened, but... But next time I saw him he was getting pushed out the back door. He... He quit."
"He quit?"
I nod. "And... There's a rule that says after we quit, we can't talk to anyone from the club anymore."
"What?!"
"We're the best gay club in the city," I say, tears starting to stream out of my eyes. "We had some former dancers try to talk our dancers into leaving the club for another. To stop it, Panda made a rule. If you quit or are fired, you are to leave the club, move out of the apartment in the next six hours, and never speak to the current dancers."
"Well, what would they do if you did talk to them?"
"They would be fired. Hard to call someone a friend when they get you fired."
"Evan, that's bullshit. You guys should be allowed to talk if you want to."
"It doesn't matter," I say, pulling my phone out. I dial his number for the millionth time today. "I know I could have gotten in trouble, but I at least wanted to talk to him one more time. But, every time I called him, I got this."
I put the phone on speaker just in time to hear the message. "We're sorry, you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service. If you feel that you have reached this recording an error, please check the number and try your call again."
He blinks and stares at the phone in silence as it just ends the call without me having to press anything. "... I... I thought he just quit last night."
"He did. And I texted him yesterday, so I know that it was working then. He turned off his phone so fast, and I don't know what to do now." I put my phone back in my on his coffee table and curl up on the couch, bringing my legs up and hugging them close to my chest. "He was the only person I felt like I could turn to. And now... I just feel so lost."
The two of us stay silent for a while before Jon stands up and walks to a room in the back of his apartment, not saying a word to me. My eyes follow him as he leaves, leaving me alone.
Soon however, I hear him talking through the wall. "Hey, question. Was Tyler going with you guys tonight?... Would it be cool if Evan and I joined you guys?... No, and I swear to god, Luke, if any of you touch him like how Brian did-... Alright. And where was it at?.... Alright. See you at ten."
After a few seconds, he walks out, and I see that he's doing something on his phone. He pushes his back against the wall behind him and continues to mess around on his phone, not once does he even look up to me. After a minute, he starts to walk over to me, but he doesn't get off his phone until he is right in front of the couch. He then puts it in his pocket and sits next to me, putting his arm around me and pulling me over to him.
I pull away however and ask, "What was all that?"
He gives me a half smile and says, "Well, my friends were going to hang out at a club tonight, so, I asked them if we could join."
"What?"
"Look, normally, I wouldn't do this or even think about going out. But with all of this going on, I think one night out will help you. Just to take your mind off of it."
"I work at a club. I don't-"
"It's a different club, babe. This is a night club. All we'll be doing is drinking and dancing. No clothes will be removed... Well, unless some hoochie randomly decides she's too hot, but, chances are low for that happening."
"But you said you don't drink."
"I don't. But, tonight, I think you should at least get a little tipsy. Just to help you relax."
"But Bryce had a drinking problem. Why would I want to drink after my friend died thanks to that stuff?"
"You act like I would want you to drink regularly. No, this is a one time thing to get you to stop thinking about it for one night. After this, I want you to go talk to your boss or your friends and let all of this out. Maybe have a cry with them to get your emotions out. Bottling them up won't help you, you know."
I look down again and sigh. "You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?"
He pulls me close to him again and kisses my forehead. "It's just for tonight, baby."
I take a deep breath and look up to him, locking eyes with him. Soon, I give him a little smile and say, "Fine. What time will we be going?"
"Ten. That gives us some time to relax, wait for the pizza I just ordered, which should be here in an hour, and watch a movie," he says as he turns on his TV and putting on Netflix. He then looks over to me and smirks. "Although," he starts, running one of his hands up to my thigh before he starts gently rubbing it. "It will take an hour for the pizza to get here. I think that's plenty of time for us to have a little fun."
I feel my face heat up and I quickly push his hand off of me. "Maybe another night."
He chuckles and shrugs his shoulders. "Hey, it didn't hurt to ask. Alright." He wraps his arm around me again and pulls me close to him again before he starts scrolling through the list of movies on Netflix. "So, what do you want to watch?"
I smile and rest my head on his chest as he scrolls through each of the recommended movies in his list.
Time quickly gets away from us, and by the time we get half way through the third movie we were watching, it was time for us to start heading over to the club to meet his friends. He grabs his keys and leads me to the parking garage again, leading me to his designated parking spot. However, I feel my blood turn cold when I finally get to see his car. Or, should I say his truck.
Black, four door truck... Is it the same on that followed me after our first date?
"Is something wrong," Jon asks. I hadn't even noticed, but when I saw the truck, I had stopped in place.
I quickly snap back to reality and force a smile. "Oh, it's nothing," I lie. "I've just- I've never seen your car before."
"Oh yeah, I normally walked you to your car after our dates. Well, what do you think?"
"It's... It's really nice. How long have you had it?"
"A few months. Though, I try not to drive it too much. Gas is a pain in the ass."
He and I walk over to the car and I can't help but feel more and more nervous as we step closer to the car. He opens the passenger side door for me, and just as I'm about to step into the truck, he turns me around and locks his lips with mine. I'm shocked at first, but soon feel more relaxed as the kiss goes on.
My eyes slowly shut as I rest one foot on the side of his truck and wrap my arms around his neck. His kiss admitted drives me crazy. His hands travel all over my body, rubbing my thigh and grabbing my ass, causing me to gasp in the middle of our kiss, which he takes advantage of, slipping his tongue in. However, he doesn't keep it in my mouth for too long. He pulls his tongue back for a few seconds and adds it back in when our lips part.
He soon slides his hand onto my leg again as he starts to push me into a the truck, and before I can react, he locks his hand under my thigh and pulls my leg up, making it rest against his. He then breaks our kiss, and as I let out a gasp for air, he quickly starts kissing along my jawline and down to my neck. I feel him start to lightly nibble and suck on my neck, and without even really wanting to, I let out a few low moans.
"J-Jon," I say through my shaky breath, and Jon finally stops and pulls away. We're both lightly panting, and we just stare into each other's eyes as we both calm down.
"Sorry," Jon then says before he lets go of my leg. "I just wanted a quick little make-out session before we left." He then chuckles before saying, "I just got a little too into the kiss."
I laugh and playfully push him, shaking my head before jumping into the truck. "Come on, your friends are waiting."
"Right, friends, got it." He shuts the door and jogs around to the driver side door, jumping in and stealing another kiss from me before starting the car.
I can't help but stare at him and smile as he starts to drive us out of the garage. Just being around him, kissing him, talking to him... It makes me happier than I want to be.
There's no way he was the one following me that night... Right?