Midge was sitting with Marley in the corner, covered with a blanket. Kelly had given him her Ipad to use while they rehearsed and on it was a game that was helping him with his letters. He'd thought that everyone would make fun of him for not knowing how to read but Kelly and Scott seemed to really want to teach him.
He'd met Avi and Kevin briefly. They'd simply said polite hello's and that had been it which was a huge relief to Midge. Scott had been right, everything was fine. They had been working on the same song for about an hour when he started to sing it under his breath.
He didn't see everyone's head turn at him, or Scott urging them to keep going, he simply sang. He was quiet but his sweet, high tenor pierced through the room as if he were in an opera house. He clicked buttons on the Ipad and didn't realize for several minutes that it had gotten very, very quiet in the room.
He looked up and then to Scott for reassurance when he realized everyone was staring at him.
"You have a beautiful voice Midge" he said, smiling.
"Damn, instead of the Quarnerstones we need to be the Quin...... somethings!" Kevin exclaimed.
"I don't know......" Kelly panicked. His voice was amazing but he was a CAT! BOY! Catboy, whatever, Neko. "Um, Scott, maybe you could talk to him about it later?" She tried to give him an out because this was NOT easy or anything like a done deal.
"Yeah, get him listening to some of our other stuff and see what he can do" Avi said. "If he's interested, maybe he can come audition, not that he really has to if he can sound like that all the time."
"Exactly, no pressure" Kelly offered. "But I would LOVE some help trying to balance out all this baritone and bass, that's for sure!"
"What do you think Midge? Weird name though, maybe we could call you Mike, or something?" Kevin asked.
"Okay, okay, that's enough" Scott said, finally coming to his rescue. "Are we done here? Cause I'm starving."
"If you're hungry, we're done" answered Avi. "Everyone's set to leave Friday morning, right? We're meeting at me and Kev's place, noon sharp."
Everyone confirmed and Scott said good-bye to Avi and Kevin, who were heading out, before he got a chance to sit down next to Midge. "Hey, no pressure or anything, I don't want you to worry. Are you okay?"
"Yes."
They headed home, Midge staring out the window and Scott's brain going in 100 directions. When he parked he looked over to see if Midge was sleeping because he'd been so quiet but instead of closed, his eyes were wet with tears. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I am sorry."
"It's not nothing, but let's go inside, okay?" He held his hand walking up to the apartment and opened the door. "Want a drink?"
"I will get it." he answered, stepping lightly into the kitchen. "What would you like?"
"Water please." He accepted the glass Midge handed him and walked over to the couch. "What's wrong? Was it everyone hearing you sing and going a little crazy? I promise you that it was all meant as a compliment, you really are amazing."
"No. I just thought... but I was stupid. When do you want me to go?"
"Go? Go where?"
"You are leaving, right? On Friday? When do I need to go?"
Scott put his drink down and grabbed Midge's, putting it on the table as well and then pulled him close. "I'm just going to do a show. It's one night, I'll be back Saturday. You can stay here, you don't need to go."
"Oh, I thought..."
"I'm not leaving you Midge, you're stuck with me, okay?" He placed his finger under the smaller boys chin, lifting it up so he could look into his eyes. "You don't need to worry." He kissed him on the forehead, then ruffled his hair. "Now, I really am starving. Let's order." He jumped up and grabbed the menu and handed it to Midge before pulling it back. "I just got it. You didn't order Chinese because you can't read. And you were so confused in the dressing room because you couldn't read the sign. I'm the stupid one for thinking you were just slow. Okay, I'll read it to you and you tell me what sounds good."
"Wait, what are you getting?"
"I'm getting fried chicken. I LOVE fried chicken."
"ME TOO!! Please?"
"Okay, that was easy. They have fries, and curly fries, ooh and sweet potato fries, or mashed potatoes. Biscuits, corn on the cob---"
"No, it gets stuck in my teeth. But anything else is fine. I just want chicken."
"Not hard to please, are you? I'll order and then I'm going to try to teach you how to use the television."
The remote wasn't too hard, it just required a little bit of tape, some tiny pieces of paper marked with 1, 2 and 3 and a little drawing of an ear for the volume. Once the tiny pictures were taped in place, Midge spent 15 minutes turning the television on and off, and going through every channel twice. Scott turned on the captions for him, thinking that it might help to see what he was hearing and they settled in to watch Curious George, Midge's choice, until dinner arrived.
After dinner they headed to Wally world for a few things and then, unsatisfied with the selection, they headed to a craft store for paper. Midge felt each booklet of paper, running his fingertips over the weave and smelling each one until he decided on the one he couldn't live without. He picked out 3 charcoal pencils, and Scott insisted on the special sharpener and a case to keep them in. And then, Midge spotted the pastels. He tried to insist that he'd never used them and didn't need them, but they ended up in a bag as well.
Once home, Scott was faced with the dilemma of sleeping arrangements. Making him sleep on the couch felt like a slap in the face and he knew Midge wouldn't understand. But what happened this morning could NOT happen again, it just couldn't, not until he'd figured out how to say no to that boy and make sure he would say it back if necessary and how they ... no, it just couldn't. Ever. He was still running it through his head when he was interrupted.
"Sir?"
"Scott."
"Scott?"
"Yes?"
"Where would you like me to sleep?"
"There's not an easy answer to that question Midge, because what I want and what I think should happen are two very, very different things. I'm not sure what to do."
"What would bring you joy?"
He grinned then, somehow, despite himself. "You may sleep in my bed, but no... no pleasure, okay?"
"It does not bring you joy?"
"We'll talk about it tomorrow, okay?"
"Can Marley come too? She is small and does not need much room."
"Absolutely."