Love Is Always Write Volume 4

was the shy ones Zeb made sure to talk to just a little sweeter.
    They walked away giggling and he smiled to himself as he found the seat his ass had barely touched all night, sighing as he sat. The crowd was thinning, the end of the night in sight. He loved this part of the night almost as much as performing, but he was exhausted and it was starting to hit him. After a few more autographs, Zeb looked over to see Todd and Laser doing group shots, big cheesy grins in place.
    A CD slid in front of him drawing his attention. "Who should I…" he started to ask, grabbing the marker before it rolled off the table. But then he looked up.
    Zeb just stared. It would be considered a blank expression on his face if it wasn't for his jaw hanging open just slightly. He snapped it shut and swallowed, barely believing what he saw. Chad… his Chad, stood in front of him. Zeb had absolutely no idea what to say.
    When the silence stretched to awkward, Chad shoved his hands into his pockets. "Hey, Zeb." Chad had this shy half smile on his face.
    "Hey." Zeb broke eye contact first. "So, you want me to sign this I suppose." He took up the marker again, hoping Chad hadn't noticed he'd actually dropped it the second he saw him.
    "That would be nice, yeah. But that was… well, it was more of an excuse I guess. To say hello and…" Chad trailed off, biting his lower lip and looking down at his feet.
    Zeb wasn't willing to look directly at his ex but was unable to force himself to look away completely. He took a shallow breath and wrote out a generic, 'To Chad, Glad you enjoy the music, Zebulon Reynolds' without any rush.
    Chad had to yank a hand out of his pocket to take it.
    "Well, thanks for coming. Hope you enjoyed the show." Zeb forced the same smile on his face he'd been wearing all night but knew the cold dismissal came off exactly as intended. He saw a little bit of the light in Chad's eyes dim. Bingo! Now take the hint and go away .
    Instead Chad moved from one foot to the other, both hands gripping the CD. "I was hoping we could talk."
    Zeb leaned back in the chair and lazily looked around the room, pretending his heart wasn't pounding out of his chest. "In case you can't tell, now's not exactly the best time to chat."
    "Then when is a good time?" Chad asked in forced whisper. "When you're back in California, not returning calls? I figure it's now or never."
    "And what would we have to talk about?" Zeb sneered and let the chair drop down loudly onto all fours.
    "Unfinished business."
    "Unfinished business? God, you sound so formal. What, did I leave a bill I don't know about? Something to do with the lease on the apartment? You coulda sent anything like that to my agent years ago."
    "No. Nothing like that." Chad looked down and squeezed his eyes shut. Zeb took the second to let his eyes sweep over the other man, nostalgia taking over briefly before he told it to shut the fuck up. He wasn't blind, so he also noticed the white knuckles as Chad gripped the CD so tight he was surprised it didn't snap. Then Chad looked back up, directly into Zeb's eyes, and a rush of heat went through his body like a wave.
    "Please, Zeb. This is important," Chad pleaded.
    There was something in his ex's eyes, something Zeb found impossible to say no to; that's the only reason he could explain why he did what he did next. "Yeah, fine," Zeb looked around the room, not wanting to look back into those eyes. Nick wasn't too far away and when Zeb caught his eye he waved him over. "There's a back room here-" Zeb heard Chad chuckle and his attention was yanked back to his ex's face. "What?"
    Chad smiled and shook his head a little. "Nothing. Just… I think that's one of the first things you ever said to me – the back room." He bit his bottom lip and looked like he was trying not to laugh again.
    Zeb couldn't help it, the quick flash of memory hit him and he started to smile before he could catch himself. Luckily, that's when Nick reached them.
    "Hey, what's up?" Nick looked from Chad to Zeb expectantly, probably thinking he was wanted for a group picture or autograph.
    "Nothing. Was hoping you could do me a favor."
    "Yeah, sure."
    "Could you show Chad here back to our dressing room?" Zeb asked Nick, then directed the next comment for Chad, but barely glanced his way. "You can wait there for me. I have some more stuff to take care of out here first." He waited for Nick's answer, partly hoping the man would say no.
    "Oh, ummmm." Nick looked back at Chad