Catch My Breath (36 page)

Danny kissed Elliot, wrapped his arms around his long, lean torso, and burrowed in, trying to get the morning out of his system and Elliot back in. “Wanna give me another one?”

Elliot laughed. “Nah. Let’s wait until Chelsea leaves.” He chuckled. “It’ll make ’em talk more that way.”

“True.”

Danny giggled and attacked Elliot’s neck with kisses and bites. Let all the girls wonder where the marks came from. Danny would at least know it was him.

T
WO
weeks later, they were in Charlotte doing a signing and a private show for some fans who’d won a radio contest or something. Danny wasn’t exactly sure what the deal had been for this group of fans. Everything had been a huge blur since the tour started—a happy blur of new cities and long bus rides and pranks and kisses from Elliot, but a blur all the same. They barely tried to hide anymore. Not at all to be truthful, beyond the cursory efforts of not kissing on stage (at least not visibly, he hoped) or saying anything irreversible out loud in front of fans or press.

“Hey, D. Where do you want to sit?” Elliot asked.

“Wherever. As long as I’m next to you it doesn’t matter.”

He and Elliot usually had fun at signings, texting each other under the table and if there was enough cover, playing with each other’s hands and tangling their feet together. The girls online liked it, at least the ones who apparently had skills like the CIA and noticed the way he and El were together even when they thought they were being sneaky. As long as not too many people noticed, they’d continue to get away with it. Danny went to guide Elliot to the two corner seats.

Peter, who’d been on the phone, gestured to Elliot. “You can’t sit together,” he whispered.

“What?” Elliot looked pissed. “We’re at a band event. We can be together at band events,” he whispered furiously.

“Not anymore.” Peter shook his head. “You guys pay too much attention to each other. It’s noticeable.”

Danny didn’t hate Peter. He was just the messenger, and Danny knew for certain that he was cool with him and Elliot as a couple. At that moment, though, it was hard not to want to punch him. Elliot glared mutinously. He took the seat at the end of the table and gestured for Danny to sit right next to him. The other three boys had left room for them to be together, as usual. It really was the only seat left. Danny sat.

“Webb,” Peter whispered. “Can you trade with Danny today?”

“Why?” Webb asked with a frown.

“Just do it.”

Webb obviously didn’t want to make a scene, so he stood. Danny and Elliot traded a long glance before Danny also sighed and stood. He didn’t want to make a scene either. Apparently, Elliot had no such problem.

“This is bullshit,” he said quietly. Even though it was quiet, his voice was still angry.

“We’ll talk about it later. The fans,” Peter reminded him. Elliot ground his jaw. Danny willed him to chill out.

“Okay.”

Danny knew it was the thought of the fans in the end that did the trick and calmed Elliot down. Elliot, and all of them, knew that these kids had been waiting to see them, some of them looking forward to it for months. He wouldn’t want to ruin it for them. Danny sent him a text under the table.

“Love you <3”

Elliot smiled grudgingly from his side of the Webb wall.

“Love you too <3”

They stared at each other across Webb until he elbowed Danny in the side. “It was dumb to separate you two since you can’t seem to stop freaking staring no matter how far apart you’re put,” he whispered, “but pay attention!”

“Yes, sire,” Danny mumbled sarcastically. Webb smirked at him and lined his set of permanent markers up on the table. Webb always liked to have everything neat and orderly, at least until Reece started stealing pens and making a mockery of Webb’s system. The rest of them thought it was funny. Webb never did.

T
HE
signing went off smoothly, as did their mini acoustic concert. Everything was fine until later that night when videos of Elliot’s showdown with Peter surfaced online. It got worse when fans caught wind of them.

Cara D @Dellyisreallove

@Tarheelsbaby I saw your vid on youtube where they got separated at the signing. Holy crap is that for REAL?!?!? #DellyVid

Nikki G @Tarheelsbaby

@Dellyisreallove 100%. I was recording my little sister. She was gonna sneak up to say hi to Reece (I think??). They got separated and told off. WTF? #DellyVid

Cara D @Dellyisreallove

@Tarheelsbaby Anything else happen?

Nikki G @Tarheelsbaby

@Dellyisreallove Not really. They just flirted with each other around that hot guy who was between them. It was super cute. What’s the problem??

Staticgrl4life @Ellysbaby

Do you really wanna know? @Tarheelsbaby This so proves we’re right!?! Mgmt jerks! @Dellyisreallove #itsnotevenasecret #theyretogetherokay?

Alyssa Jones @ILuvStatic

Awww I just saw the #DellyVid. Our poor babies just wanted to sit with each other. #TeamDelly for life!!

Nikki G @Tarheelsbaby

@Ellysbaby Yeah, I wanna know! I felt really bad for them. Screw it. I’m joining #TeamDelly

StaticFan#1 @Rateisgreat

Welcome @Tarheelsbaby. We’re the few, the “deluded”, and the ones who are right! #TeamDelly

StephSteph @IShipChelly

That #DellyVid proves nothing other than Elliot was having a tantrum. Danny was probably annoyed with him. #ChellyNOTDelly #deluded

Nikki G @Tarheelsbaby

@IShipChelly Don’t you know, the word for that is “delusional”, not “deluded”? #SchoolWorksIPromise

Cara D @Dellyisreallove

LOLOLOL!!! I <3 @Tarheelsbaby. Welcome to the madhouse :)

Chapter 19

T
HINGS
got a bit tighter after the signing event debacle. Lots of girls online took that as proof something was being hidden. Of course, they were right, but nobody could acknowledge that, and everything had to look sunshiny and very platonic just so life could go back to normal, whatever normal happened to be. Danny and Elliot tamed down their stage show. A lot. And they had help doing so. A very pointed reminder from side stage would send Elliot scurrying away from Danny when he got too close. Hand gestures from the front row would let them know they needed to spend more time joking with Tate, Webb, or Reece. It wasn’t as fun as the beginning of the tour had been. But it was still better to be on the road and performing than stuck back where they’d been in LA. Danny didn’t want that ever again. So they watched what they said in interviews, watched even more how they acted in public. Elliot was amazing and strong and tried so hard to act like it didn’t bother him.

Danny knew it did.

Every night they held each other, kissed, made love. Elliot smiled and laughed and seemed to be handling things beautifully. Danny just hoped it lasted until some sort of solution to the mess they were in could be found.

“O
KAY
, time to break some hearts. Which of you boys has a girlfriend?” The interviewer asked. Tate raised his hand. “Just Tate?” she prodded.

Webb elbowed Danny in the side. “Oh, I have one too,” he said and raised his hand as well. Tate rolled his eyes. “Sorry, I didn’t hear the question.” Elliot smirked at him. Danny tried not to look at Elliot too long or he’d start smiling too.

“How long have you two been off the market?”

“Nearly three years,” Tate answered with a smile. He always smiled when he talked about Felicia.

“Almost a year,” Danny answered absentmindedly.

“Really?” the interviewer asked. “I thought I just started reading about you and Chelsea around Christmas.”

Shit, shit, shit.
He’d thought of Elliot. Danny thought of not being single, and he freaking thought of Elliot.

“Oh,” he laughed. He hoped his laugh didn’t sound awkward as all hell. “I’m not very good with dates.”

Which was so not true. He sometimes swore he remembered every single moment with Elliot, milestones, tiny things… the first time they kissed, the day they finally said they loved each other. Everything.

The interviewer laughed and gave him a “boys will be boys” look.

“Any special plans while you’re in New York?”

Seeing as though none of them had ever been there other than Danny, the boys burst into lists of things they wanted to try. Danny was relieved the attention had been taken from him. He let his mind wander over everything he’d like to show Elliot in the city—the park at sunset, the Rainbow Room for a really good dinner, Times Square with all the lights lit up. Danny loved that he’d get to see all of that again through Elliot’s huge wondering eyes. Elliot had changed him so much.

Elliot reached over and pinched the side of Danny’s leg. He smirked when he got his attention. That quirky little smile said “I love you.” Danny reached down and ran his fingers over the back of Elliot’s hand. They were covered by the other boys’ backs. It wasn’t a big deal. “I love you too,” his hand said.

Their freedom had been restricted, a lot, but things were still good with them. Danny couldn’t wait to get out of the press room and show Elliot the city.

TROUBLE IN PARADISE?!?

A Candy Scoop Exclusive

Seems like our resident STATIC sweetie-pie, ELLIOT PRICE, might not be so sugary sweet after all. Gasp! Candy Scoop’s oh-so-close to the boys’ source says that ELLIOT got so jealous of bandmate DANNY BRIGHT’s time when his girlfriend CHELSEA (from THE PIXIES) came out to visit on tour that he told DANNY he wasn’t to bring her out to visit again. He even threatened to go to their tour managers and tell them she was disrupting their work schedule.

ELLIOT! That’s not very best friendly of you. DANNY already let us know that the “Delly Girls” have put a strain on his relationship with CHELSEA as well as his friendship with ELLIOT. Is ELLIOT joining the Delly girls in their quest to break DANNY and CHELSEA up for good?

“I really hope not,” our source says. “But it looks like Elliot sure doesn’t like Chelsea getting in the way of the friendship he has with Danny and the other boys. I hope he doesn’t end up breaking the band up with his temper.”

Yikes! Well, there you have it.

—CS

E
LLIOT
hadn’t ever been to Toronto before. He’d never been to a lot of the places they’d blurred their way through so far that summer. He had a little notebook where he kept a running list of places he wanted to revisit later, when they weren’t on tour. With Danny.

So far Toronto was one of them. Not because of the actual place; it was a nice city, he imagined. But because of that morning. It had just seemed different for some reason. They’d woken up in a hotel, just like most days that summer. Danny had kissed him and held him and said he loved him, just like he always did, but it felt
different
. The kind of different that had Elliot thinking about jewelry stores and very serious questions.

That afternoon, they trailed into another interview, this time for another music TV channel. Elliot felt like he’d seen the lady before on television. His parents had satellite TV back when he was in high school. It was possible.

The boys were all shuffled onto a few stools around what was supposed to be an inviting round table. He knew they were meant to feel comfortable. He didn’t. Elliot hadn’t ever been one for bad omens, but he’d felt like something was coming in the Chelsea department ever since articles about him being jealous and getting between Danny and Chelsea started surfacing. They’d promised Danny that the tour had meant the end of his fake romance. But after Miami it was like that promise just disappeared. Chelsea and Danny were back in the tabloids, pushed on the fans, pushed on Elliot. He tried to ignore the press’s accusations; things were so great with him and Danny. But it was out there. And yeah, the articles were crap, but Elliot knew they had an ulterior motive. They always did. The question was, what was the motive? Were they trying to set him up as the bad guy when Danny and Chelsea ultimately “split”? It was possible, he supposed. He was fine with it as long as they
did
actually make the split happen eventually. Elliot just wanted it all to be over—he regretted his antics in Miami if they really were the cause for all of it. He wanted to get back to how amazing he’d felt that morning with Danny, back to the future and the possibility of forever.