Page 76 of Hard Rock Love
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When the celebrations finally wound down and everyone trickled out, Everly went home with Julian, as I had imagined she would. Seth told her that he and I would share a cab.
“I’ll make sure she gets home safe before heading to my place,” Seth said.
Of course, the taxi didn’t drop me off at home. We went straight to Seth’s apartment.
Although we wanted to take advantage of every spare moment we had together, the two of us had consumed a few too many drinks to think about getting frisky right away. Instead, Seth poured us glasses of water and we settled onto the sofa, snuggling.
“I like your friends,” I told him. “They seem like good people.”
“You sound surprised,” he teased. “What did you expect them to be like?”
“They’re world famous rock stars,” I said. “I didn’t think they’d be so down to earth.”
“I don’t know if I’d call them that,” Seth said. “Cerise can be high-strung and a demanding perfectionist, and Gael is sort of an attention hog who never takes anything seriously.”
“But you love them anyway,” I noted.
“They’re like family,” he said. “You can’t help but love them, even the difficult, crazy ones.”
“That kind of explains things,” I said.
“Explains what?” Seth asked.
“You said once that you’re an only child. That you would have liked having brothers and sisters. That’s what it’s like with you and Cherry Lips, isn’t it?”
“I supposed that’s exactly it,” he said.
“I noticed, when we got to the bar, you were so cheerful and full of energy.”
“I’m always cheerful and full of energy,” he replied.
“Not always. Sometimes you get sad, and I have to wonder why. Then I see you with your friends and I understand.” I turned to face Seth on the sofa, tucking my legs underneath me. “You really love them. You like to see them happy. You like tomakethem happy.”
“Of course I do,” he said.
I needed to approach this subject carefully. I didn’t want Seth deflecting.
“You said before that everyone was dealing with stuff. That it’s been hard for them.”
“We’re not exactly the most well-adjusted bunch,” he said. “But everyone’s doing great now. I’m actually worried it’s going to start affecting our music.” He grinned to show he was kidding. “Can’t write that dark, angsty emo shit if life is just peachy. Everyone’s too happy.”
“Exactly.” I shifted closer to him on the sofa. “I can tell you’ve been sort of upset about how things have changed.”
“What do you mean?” he asked. “I’m really happy everyone’s doing so well now.”
“But where does that leave you?” I asked.
Seth’s mouth turned down into a frown, his eyes dropping to the floor.
“I just want you to know you can talk to me about your feelings,” I said. “I won’t judge. I’ll understand.”
“There’s nothing to understand,” he said stubbornly. “I’m fine.”
“You’re always the joker, always the one who lightens the mood. But they don’t need that anymore, do they?”
He huffed out an incredulous laugh. “Are you saying I want my friends to be miserable?”
