Chapter 23
23
Jasper
The waiting room was filled with stifling tension as we all awaited word on Silas’s condition. It seemed Jesse and Malachi had reached an unspoken truce for the time being, but it felt as though it wouldn’t take much for things to pop off again since everyone was on edge.
Malachi and I had come straight to the hospital from the venue, and Jesse, Olivia, Elliott, Savannah,and Rina had shown up only a few moments later. It seemed word had already gotten out that Silas had been taken away by ambulance, as indicated by the horde of reporters waiting on the sidewalk near the emergency room.
“Can’t security do anything about them?” Elliott hooked his thumb toward the window where we could see the paparazzi standing around.
Rina shrugged. “Unless they come onto the hospital property, there isn’t much anyone can do.”
“I’m going to see if I can find some coffee or a vending machine around here. Any of you want something?” Olivia asked.
“I’m good. Thanks,” I replied as Malachi, Elliott, and Savannah shook their heads.
Jesse stood. “I’ll go with you.”
“While you do that, I’m going to see if I can get an update.” Rina followed them out.
I reached over and squeezed Malachi’s hand. “How are you holding up?”
He’d been quiet on the drive over and hadn’t said a word since we’d sat down. I could only imagine how scared he had been when he’d found his friend unconscious.
He shook his head. “Not great. I should have paid more attention to what was going on. All the signs were there, but I didn’t help him.”
“Hey, you’re not the only one,” Elliott said, leaning forward and bracing his elbows on his knees as Savannah rubbed his back. “I think we all wanted to believe he had things under control.”
“This isn’t anyone’s fault,” I stated. “Instead of blaming yourselves, you should focus on helping him through whatever comes next.”
Malachi nodded as Elliott said, “We should probably listen to your boyfriend.”
The words were spoken without a hint of judgment, and I was grateful Elliott seemed to accept us being together so easily. At least it appeared we had one of the guys in our corner.
Jesse and Olivia returned, and with them, so did the silence. After arguing with Jesse earlier in the day, I understood some of his reasons for being upset with Malachi and me. However, he was going to have to get over his shit soon because they were all going to need to work together to help Silas.
I didn’t know how much time passed before Rina joined us again. She took a seat next to Olivia and let out a sigh. “Silas is awake, and he gave the doctor permission to talk to me.”
“How is he? Do they know how he overdosed so fast?” Eli asked.
“It sounds like his coke was laced with fentanyl. He’s stable now, so they’re going to release him in a couple of hours.”
“That soon?” Malachi balked.
Rina shrugged. “I was surprised too, but the doctor assured me it was standard procedure.”
“He can’t go home by himself,” Jesse said, worry etched all over his face.
“He agreed to let one of you stay with him tonight,” Rina explained.
“I’ll do it,” Elliott offered immediately.
“Okay, great.” Rina gave a small smile.
“Can we go back and see him?” Jesse looked hopeful.
“No.” Rina shook her head. “They said they would only let a family member in, but the doctor made an exception when he heard me at the nurses’ station. You guys should go home and get some rest. He seems receptive to getting some help, and I want us all to meet tomorrow to figure out where to go from here.”
“What about San Diego?” Malachi asked. “We’re going to need to cancel, right?”
Rina nodded. “Yeah, I’m going to take care of that right now. As far as the other shows, that’s part of what we need to discuss tomorrow.”
After confirming Elliott would call if anything changed, we begrudgingly got up to leave. The second we stepped outside, the paparazzi swarmed around us, and we were nearly blinded by flashes from the numerous cameras pointed in our direction. They started shouting questions about Silas, and our group hurried across the parking lot to our various vehicles, ignoring the reporters’ demands for information.
Malachi unlocked his SUV, and I slid into the passenger seat. Once inside, he started the engine and reversed out of the parking space. “Those fucking vultures have no shame. Why can’t they give us a moment of peace?”
I placed my hand on his thigh. “They’re assholes looking for a story. The only thing we can do is ignore them.”
He blew out a breath. “So, are you staying with me tonight, or am I dropping you off at Jesse’s?”
“Do you want me to stay with you?”
He gave me a small smile. “I figured that was the plan when you hopped in the car with me, but I didn’t want to assume.”
I squeezed his leg. “I want to go home with you.”
“Good. Do you want to hit up somewhere to get a bite? I don’t know about you, but I’m starving, and I don’t have much at my place.”
Normally, I would have offered to make him some food, but after the night we had, I wasn’t feeling up to it.
I shrugged. “I could eat.”
We spotted a twenty-four-hour diner not far from the hospital, and Malachi turned into the parking lot. We were seated right away and placed our orders. Since it was two in the morning, there weren’t many other customers, and the few who were eating didn’t seem to recognize Malachi.
“When we’re done, can we stop at Jesse’s?” I asked, as I dug into the pancakes the server had brought over.
He took a sip of orange juice. “Why?”
“I didn’t really think about anything other than coming to see you tonight, so I didn’t grab any of my stuff when we headed to the theater.”
“You don’t need clothes to sleep in, and I’m sure I have something you can wear tomorrow.”
I arched an eyebrow. “I don’t have a toothbrush.”
“We can stop at a drugstore.”
I knew he was trying to avoid running into Jesse, but with any luck, he and Olivia would already be in bed, so I could sneak in and out quickly.
“It will only take a minute, and you can wait in the car.”
“Fine,” he huffed. “But you need to keep all that shit at my house when we get back to LA.”
I ignored the implications of what he said. It wasn’t the time to talk about what was going to happen after the tour. But that didn’t stop the happiness I felt deep down that he was making plans for us in the future.
When we pulled up to Jesse’s, Malachi put his Mercedes in park but didn’t make an effort to get out.
“Give me five minutes, and I’ll be right back.” I leaned over and gave him a kiss before climbing out.
I could see lights on inside, and I sighed. So much for hoping they’d gone to bed already. It pained me to feel disappointed that I might see my brother, but we’d had enough drama in the last twenty-four hours to last a lifetime.
As soon as I opened the door, I came face to face with Olivia.
“Hey,” she greeted. “I assumed you were staying with Malachi?”
“I am. I just needed to get a few things,” I replied.
“Is he waiting in the car?”
I nodded. “Yeah. We thought it was best not to get Jesse worked up again.”
Olivia sighed. “This is ridiculous. The two of them need to sort out their issues now, especially with everything going on with Silas.”
I wasn’t sure if talking right then was best.
“I don’t know. Everyone’s tired. Maybe we should wait until after we all get some sleep,” I suggested.
She pinned me with a look. “Just go get him. The sooner they talk, the quicker we can all move on.”
“Fine. I’ll be right back.” I headed back outside. Opening the car door, I peeked my head inside. “Olivia wants you and Jesse to talk.”
“Right now?” Malachi asked.
“Yeah.”
“I’m not sure?—”
“We might as well do it now because you know when Olivia decides something needs to happen, she won’t let it go.”
“Fine.” He got out of the car. “But if he swings at me again …”
“He’s not going to punch you.”
“He better fucking not,” he muttered as we entered the house.
Olivia and Jesse were sitting in the living room, and I pulled Malachi over to the couch opposite where they were sitting. My brother had a scowl on his face but didn’t immediately start yelling, so I took that as a good sign.
“Malachi, thanks for coming in,” Olivia said, taking control of the situation. “I think we can all agree everyone here has a lot of hurt feelings right now, but you guys have been friends for way too long to let things fester instead of just talking it out.” When neither Jesse nor Malachi responded, she rolled her eyes and turned to my brother. “Why don’t you start by telling Malachi why you’re upset?”
Jesse huffed. “It pissed me off that you two were sneaking around behind my back and it sucked finding out because photos of you two kissing were posted online. Then when you”—he lifted his chin toward me—“told me how it also happened years ago, it made me see red. It’s like I don’t even know either of you as well as I thought I did.”
“C’mon, Jesse, that’s not true.” Malachi sighed.
“Really? Then why didn’t you tell me you were into guys?”
Malachi ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know, man. It probably sounds stupid now, but at the time, I thought being known as the flirt and player of the band was important to our success. I worried if anyone found out I was bisexual, I would somehow ruin things for us before they even got started.”
“Okay, but you could have told all of us. We would have kept your secret if that’s what you wanted us to do. You’re our best friend and should have known we would have had your back, no matter what.”
I could understand why my brother was bothered by Malachi not being open with him. They’d shared everything growing up, so Jesse probably didn’t think there was anything he didn’t know about his best friend.
“I’m really sorry. Looking back, I know I should have told you. Maybe I had my own hang-ups about it, and I assumed you all would be disappointed if who I was affected the band in any way.”
Jesse nodded. “Okay, I guess I can understand your reason when we were younger, but we’ve made it now. Why the hell didn’t you tell me about the two of you instead of sneaking around?”
“Do you remember that day in the locker room when that kid Dustin was giving Jasper a hard time?” Malachi asked.
I cringed, remembering how embarrassed I felt knowing Malachi had witnessed that humiliating moment.
Jesse shrugged. “I think so.”
“You told him you needed to approve of anyone Jasper wanted to date,” Malachi continued.
“Sounds like something I would say.” Jesse let out a small chuckle.
“Well, I happened to have a small crush on Jasper back then.”
“You did?” I asked, my eyes widening because I had no idea. “I didn’t think you saw me like that until the camping trip a year later.”
Malachi smiled at me. “That’s when I finally told you, but it started long before the night we kissed.”
Jesse’s brow furrowed. “You kissed during our camping trip? Where the fuck was I?”
“Sleeping next to us.” I winced.
“You sleep like the dead, dude,” Malachi added.
“Whatever,” Jesse grumbled. “But you still haven’t answered my question. Why didn’t you tell me you wanted to be with my brother?”
“You always gave me a hard time about moving from girl to girl. I didn’t think you would approve of Jasper dating someone with a reputation like mine.”
“Guess we’ll never know because you didn’t trust me.” Jesse rolled his eyes.
Olivia cleared her throat. “I think we can appreciate why you didn’t tell anyone before, but that doesn’t mean Jesse wasn’t hurt by the fact you didn’t trust him enough to share that part of yourself. And Jesse, as much as you’re upset with Malachi for not confiding in you, let’s not forget how poorly you reacted when you found out.”
Jesse shifted uncomfortably, his gaze dropping to the floor. Olivia continued. “You lashed out and couldn’t control your anger to the point you punched your best friend. We all make mistakes, but you need to take some accountability if you want to move forward.”
“Olivia’s right,” Malachi agreed. “I messed up, and I’m sorry about that. I should have trusted you more and been honest with you.”
“And I’m sorry for hiding our relationship from you,” I added. “We wanted to be the ones to tell you and never meant for you to find out the way you did.”
“I’m sorry too,” Jesse sighed. “Obviously, the way I handled everything only proved you had a reason to worry about my reaction.”
“Thanks.” I gave him a small smile. “I hope going forward you can accept that we’re together and be happy for us.”
“All I’ve ever wanted was for you to be happy. If being together does that for you, I’m all for it.” Jesse stood and pulled me in for a hug.
“Really?” Malachi stood.
“Really.” They did their bro hug thing. “But if you hurt my brother. I’ll kick your ass.”
“You can try.”
We all laughed, and it felt good knowing we were all okay.