Rhythm: Chapter 8

Zanes POV:

Rhodes clung onto me as I rubbed his back gently. I could feel warm teardrops fall onto my shirt as Rhodes took a deep breath in. I lowered my head down next to Rhodes’ ear before whispering to him gently.

“It going to be okay, I’m here for you.” I felt his grip on the back of my shirt tighten.

Rhodes stood up straight and released my shirt, regaining his composure.

“Come on, go sit down, I’ll go get you something to drink.” I walked with Rhodes to the couch slowly. He sat down with a heavy thud and leaned his head off the back of the couch. I stared at the older man for a few seconds before proceeding out of the room to the kitchen. I reached to the nearest cabinet and opened it to find an array of mismatched glasses. I picked up one of the cups and started to fill it with cold water. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t wipe away the image of the hurt on Rhodes’ face. She really didn’t deserve him. He was too kind for her.

I walked back into the living room and set down the glass of water on the small side table next to the couch. . Rhodes took a deep breath before lifting his head and looking at me. This was the first time I looked at his face since Roxy had left. His golden, usually sparking eyes looked dulled and bloodshot.  His silky, thick brown hair was disheveled and his cheeks were a soft pink from the few tears he had cried.

“Thanks, man.” Rhodes said before picking up the glass of water and gulping it down.  I sat down next to him, pulling one of my knees to my chest and wrapping my arms around it.

I looked over to see Rhodes staring at me. I felt my heart start to throb just by looking at him. Rhodes broke the eye contact and looked away, as if focusing on something in the future.

“Are you okay?” I said, Rhodes’ gaze returning back to me.

“Yeah,” he mumbled, I looked down at the floor before continuing.

“I really am sorry,” I heard Rhodes chuckle at my words.  

“W-what?”  Rhodes laughed at me for a little longer.

“I told you, don’t worry about it. We had only been going out for four months. It’s not a huge deal.” What? How was it not a huge deal?

“In truth, I think she went out with me out of pity. She never looked at me seriously.”

“Did you love her?” I tried to hold my tongue, but the words just slipped out, almost as if my body was willing me to do so.

There was a long pause. I looked over to see Rhodes had leaned over his knees. His hands were clasped, part of his hands covering his mouth.

“Yeah, I did,” I felt my chest tighten in pain. “But, not in the way that a boyfriend and a girlfriend should love each other. We grew up together and we were friends for most of our school years. She was more like a sister to me than anything else. And I think that it was just the fact that she would do that in the first place is what surprised me.”

I nodded my head softly, relief flooding my body. He was not in love with that girl. Rhodes looked over at me, wearing his usual smile, but a dull pain still darkened his eyes.

“Well, let’s forget about that. Wanna play some X-Box with me?”

I sigh before replying, “sure, but what game?”

“Let’s play Halo.” Rhodes smiled as he popped in the disk.

“I suck at Halo!” I complained as the screen on the TV lit up.

“Don’t worry,” Rhodes said, “I’ll help you!”



Rhodes POV:

I woke up on the couch the following morning, the smell of eggs and toast emanated around the room. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the clock to see that it was 9 o’clock in the morning. Me and Zane ended up playing Halo for 5 hours, and by the time we both passed out, it was around 3 in the morning.  I rubbed by sore shoulders before standing and walking into the kitchen to see Zane working over the stove. He looked up at me and smiled kindly.

“Morning, sleepyhead!” Zane said happily.

I nodded my head in reply as I scratched the back of my head. His normally cold, ice blue eyes looked very kind. It was as if the ice in his eyes had melted, just as the snow melts in the spring. Zane’s hair stood up messily on his head, making him look more like a child than the 19-year-old self sufficient person that he is. He truly was very cute.
“When did you get up?” I asked, truly curious.

“About 2 hours ago.”  He looked at me before he continued to cook.

“What? How could you sleep for such a short amount of time?” He shrugged lightly.

“Do you need help?” I asked after he did not say anything.

“Sure, do you want to prepare some coffee?” I nod in reply and walked over to the cabinet to pull out a bag of coffee beans and started to prepare the coffee. By the time I was pouring the coffee Zane had already plated the food and taken it over to the table. I followed close behind him, setting down the mugs of coffee.

“I didn’t know you could cook.” I said as I sat down across from Zane and took a bite out of the omelet Zane had prepared for me. It was delicious.

“Well, I sort of had to learn after I moved out of my parents’ house.” He said, taking a bite of his eggs.  I thought about that statement a second before asking Zane a question.
“Why did you move out of your parents’ house? I mean, you are only 19.” I looked up at him. He hesitated, his fork hovering inches from his mouth before he set it down on his plate.

“It’s a long story.” He warned, his eyes looking at me seriously.

“I think I got the time.” I replied, smiling widely at the younger boy. Zane sighed and started to tell his story.

“Well, I was born into a very rich, very strict family. We were higher up in society than most of the other families and my parents were also very religious.” Zane stopped talking momentarily to take a swig of coffee. I could tell that the conversation pained him.

“I am their oldest son, and their only son. When I was 15 I found out that I was gay after my best friend at the time forced a kiss on me. Although I did not like him like that, it was still better than any kiss I had ever gotten from a girl. I rejected him, and soon after he had to move because of his parents. He moved back 2 years later and confessed to me once more.  So, we started going out. My parents caught us kissing one night, and they practically blew up. They banished him from my house, and even put a restraining order on him. Then they came up to me and said that they would get me ‘fixed up’. They sent me to countless therapists, and even to rehab for a month.”

Zane rubbed his hand against his forehead, as if trying to collect his thought. I stared at him in shock. Zane was gay?! Why hadn’t he told me? Well, we really never talked about his relationships… I could feel a war raging in my head- switching between anger and hurt for Zane not telling me such an important detail of his life.

“When I got back from rehab, my parents thought I would be ‘cured’, and so they arranged for me to be married to one of my childhood friends, her name is Amy.”  I snapped out of my inner conflict to see Zane looking just as conflicted as I was.

“An arranged marriage? Isn’t that a little out dated?” I said with a nervous laugh, trying to lighten the conversation. This made him smile.

“Yeah I guess, but not for my parents.” A small chuckle escaping his lips.

“Are you two still engaged?” I said, feeling my insides twist at the thought. What was this feeling? Why did I feel so hurt?

“No. I broke it off a couple months ago. But my mother won’t leave me alone about it.” I let out a soft sigh of relief as the uncomfortable feeling went away.

“Well, continuing, after I got back from rehab I tried to oppose my parents, saying Amy was not the one. They would respond with ‘She’s a nice girl’, or ‘We need you to marry someone that is worthy of our standards so they can continue the family line.’ So I kept quiet. But then, with only a month left before graduation, I told my parents the truth. I was still gay, and they couldn’t change that. When I said that, they were furious, and said that until I cleaned up my ways, I couldn’t live with them. They said that I needed to trust in god to heal me of my disease. So I left, and I never went back."

I stared at Zane, still in shock. Had he really been thought such painful things at such a young age? Makes me look like I was a spoiled brat, even though my parents weren't rich.

Zane then picked up his fork and continued to eat, as if that conversation was completely normal, maybe even on the verge of boring, for him to talk about. I stood up from the table, my chair scraping against the ground loudly as I walked over to Zane and stood in front of him.

“Rhodes? Whats wro-?” I hugged Zane suddenly yet gently.

“I am sorry that happened to you.” I whisper into his ear. I felt Zane’s arms wrap around me before quickly releasing. I stood back to see Zane sitting there, his face blushing a soft crimson.

“I-It’s okay…” Zane looked away from me, his hair covering his eyes to where I could no longer see them.

“Come on,” I said, tugging Zane’s arm. “We have practice today, and we need to get ready.

"You can borrow some clothes if you want.” Zane nodded his head softly and stood up.

“Thanks.” Zane looked up at me with a smile.  Zane followed me as I headed off in the direction of my bedroom. I opened the door gently to reveal my very plain room. A bed rested in the center of the room, along with a nightstand next to it. There was a tall dresser made of oak, and many guitars hung on the wall. The walls were a pale blue and a plush, white carpet covered the floor. I walked into the small space and walked over to the dresser and pulled out a gray shirt and a pair of black skinny jeans. I hope they fit him.

“Will these work?” I said, tossing the clothing to Zane. He caught the clothing and checked the sizes.

“Yeah, these will be fine.”

I turned back around and returned to rummaging through the dresser until I found a red wife beater and a pair of loose fitting denim jeans. I hear the soft rustle of clothing behind me and I looked back to see Zane standing there shirtless, his pale skin glowing from the light in my room.  His face turned a deep red as he picked up the shirt and quickly put it on, embarrassed.  I laughed at him, and his face darkened even more.
“No need to be nervous,” I said, stripping my shirt, “We are both guys after all.” I smiled at him while I put on the fresh shirt.

“Y-yeah, but you must remember from my little story just now…” Zane mumbled. Oh shit. How could I let that slip my mind so easily? I looked at Zane, his face burning a bright red as he averted his gaze from me. Since when has he been so innocent?

“Oh, I’m sorry. Does it bother you?”

“No...  I’m just not used to having a friend that I am close enough to that I can change in front of them…” I blushed as he said that. Is he saying that I am one of the best friends he has ever had?  We both finished changing and left my bedroom. I picked up my guitar case and slung it over my back.

“Let’s head to the studio.” I said, Zane adjusting the bundle of clothing in his hands before he looked at me and nodded.

We left my apartment and headed to the small elevator. The ride down the elevator was rather quiet. As soon as the elevator stopped, we headed outside  and got into Zane’s Camaro.  I watched out the window as the city zoomed by, the buildings melting into a blur.  I looked over to Zane, his eyes transfixed on the road. I stared at his face. His lips were a soft pink, and his jet black hair was ruffled, yet neat. His eyes had returned to looking harsh, but there seemed to be a kind of feeling in them. Relief? That’s what it looked like.

“Hey, Zane.” The younger man furrowed his eyebrows, but kept his eyes on the road.
“Yeah?”

“Was I the first one you have ever told your story to?” He smiled lightly.

“Yeah, you were. And I thank you for listening to me.”  I smiled, even though he could not see me.

“Well, that’s what friends are for.” I saw he pouted a little at my words. Why was he pouting?

Before I realized it, Zane had stopped in front of the studio. We both headed to the trunk of the car and Zane unlocked it, revealing our guitars. Zane shut the trunk, both of us with our instruments on our backs.  The warmth of the lobby enveloped me as I stepped into the studio.

“What songs will we be working on today?” Zane ask, following close behind me.
“Well, we will probably be working on that new song we started last we-” I stopped abruptly when I saw a figure hunched over in a chair. The man lifted his head slowly to look at me, his green eyes full of hate.  His blonde hair reached a little past his shoulders, and his mouth looked as if it had been forever transfixed in a permanent scowl.

“J-Jaden?!”  I exclaim, recognizing his face. Jaden stood up to his full height. He was taller than me, and he used that to his advantage as he came up to me and looked down his nose at my face.

“Long time no see, how’s my band treating you?” I scowled up at the man. Jaden had been the vocalist for Liquid Rage before I was, he was kicked out due to his negative attitude. I saw Jaden’s gaze leave my face and fall onto Zane.

“And who is this?” Jaden said, walking up to Zane.

“Leave him alone!” I practically shouted, putting my body between Zane and Jaden.

“But why? He’s so cute….”  Jaden’s smooth, intoxicating voice murmured, his gaze never leaving Zane. I pushed Jaden away from Zane, hating the thought of someone like Zane being looked at by such an unclean man. Was this jealousy? Jaden sigh and put up his hands, faking innocence.

“Calm down, little boy.” He chucked, “oh yes, did you hear? My new band and I are entering a battle of the bands. And I just so happened to hear that you are participating too.” Shit, I had forgotten all about it! How could I forget? I hadn't even told Zane!

“Just look out for the band name Venomous. That will be me.” He said to me with a smirk on his face. Jaden headed towards the door, and I turned my body to face Zane.

“That is where we will be kicking your ass!” I looked at Zane as Jaden left.

“Don’t get close to him” I practically growled.  Zane looked at me, a touch of surprise in his eyes from my anger. Had I scared him?

“Why?” Zane said, his gaze not leaving mine.

“Because... He’s one of the worst men you will ever meet in your life.”