(no subject)
big love, waiting to catch the big one
David Cook had always thought he was a happy man; he had everything he could have ever wanted, and probably more - he had an apartment downtown, a good job at a radio station and a dog. He had friends who loved him and supported him no matter what. But he was going to murder one of said friends in a matter of seconds if no one stopped him.
Tulsa International Airport was bustling with life and noise around the four of them. Neal and Andy were looking like they didn't actually belong there, while David was desperately trying to disguise the taleteller tears that kept prickling at his eyes. Archie seemed oblivious to all of their reactions as he got his luggage checked in and his plane tickets in order.
"This is really happening!" he exclaimed again, startling Neal who had been seriously inspecting his new tattoo - a quote by Kurt Vonnegut on his knuckles - and making Andy flinch.
"Hush now, anyone could hear you," David tried to admonish his best friend through his own heartbreak. "And we don't want a whole horde of people staring at us while we say goodbye."
"What, you sensing you'll cry?" Neal teased him. It was a running joke in their group - David was overly sensitive, and he was known for wearing his heart on his sleeve, and not being ashamed of that, at any inconvenient moment.
"What if I would?" he defended himself.
"Then we'd know that our very own David Cook, is finally back in the house!" Andy chided in with his best gangster impersonation, which wasn't that good at all.
David shook his head and chose to ignore them in favor of Archie, who was fiddling uncomfortably by his side.
"Take care, Arch," he whispered.
"Come here, David, give me a hug, you're dying to," Archie said shyly, opening his arms, the duffel bag he was holding bouncing at his side. David just complied, too moved to speak. He relished in the feeling of the slim and thin form in his arms, heart beating fast and hard as if it wanted to go over to Archie, as if his own heart already knew who he belonged to.
"Guard your carnal treasure," he muttered, half as a joke and half as a serious advice. "And come back to us. To me."
"I will, David, you know that," Archie promised him. "Now I have to go. C'mon, guys, I have to board that plane!" he continued excitedly. Neal shook his hand longer than necessary, a glint of something similar to sadness in his eyes, and Andy smiled at Archie before joining him in a bone crushing hug.
And with that, Archie was walking away, into the airport security line, away from them and away from Tulsa, from that one city that had gathered them together by chance or by fate, whichever they wanted to pick. David was left there, hanging to the thread of a promise that had been barely whispered into his ear.
When Archie came back, a couple of days later, the stars in his eyes and the smile on his lips told David everything he had to know about that particular weekend - about his very own downfall and his latest failure at keeping the one thing that mattered the most to him.
David had been stoically putting up with the various and diverse versions of the same tale his friend had been telling over and over again, but there was just so much a man could stand, and David reached his limit that very same Wednesday, when after three complete days of hearing nothing but praises to Danny Noriega, who apparently was an eligible candidate to become Saint of the Year, he had enough and exploded.
"I swear, Archie," he said in a pitchy voice. "If you don't stop right this moment, I'm going to throw up."
"Just because you are the Scrooge of love doesn't mean the rest of us can't enjoy a little of secondhand romance!" his friend Andy chided him.
"There's only so many times one can hear the tale of how perfect a date with Danny Noriega is, honestly."
"Stop ruining the mood!" Neal said, pointing with a guitar pick at him. "You don't like it; you don't need to listen to it. Go sulk in another studio."
"Could you guys stop talking as if I weren't in the room?" Archie interrupted. "Break's almost over."
As if on cue, Michael Johns, the DJ of the morning program, walked in. everyone turned to him when the door opened and closed noisily. "Who among you will be my techs for today?" Michael asked, his Australian accent dragging some vowels. "Any of the Davids?" he added with a wink.
David hated when Michael acted as if he was in on some super secret no one else knew. And that was the exact attitude he adopted whenever he wanted to get Archie and David working together - as though Michael knew about David's crush on Archie, but it wasn't that much of a secret. Everyone knew how David felt about his best friend ever since he was four and Archie was three.
Well, everyone except for oblivious, adorable David Archuleta.
"I've just got off Abdul's hour, dude," Andy replied. "Neal here's been requested to work for Seacrest's new whatever in-"
"-ten minutes," Neal finished the sentence. "Sorry, guys. That leaves you to help Mike."
Archie glared at them but sighed and accepted anyway. David knew he hated working with Michael because of the issue his program dealt with - Archie was a sheltered boy who had never said a swear word in his life. That was why David had been so surprised when Archie's father had allowed him to fly to Los Angeles for a weekend with Danny Noriega, the five-time Grammy winner.
"It's for charity," Jeff Archuleta had said. "Besides, I trust my son not to do anything that could taint his soul."
David hadn't been so trusting in Danny Noriega, though. The singer had a fame that preceded him - arrogant, flirtatious, overbearing - and David didn't want Archie to be hurt; his best friend Archie who had had a crush on Noriega for the longest time and who had seen his dream come true.
"Dave, you comin'?" he heard. He snapped back to reality; he nodded to Michael and stood up to follow him and Archie. He only had to focus and stop thinking of Danny Noriega, who had kissed Archie, who was so perfect and tender, who was-
-walking into the studio they were trying to leave.
Archie had almost had a heart attack when he had known he was going to meet Noriega, but it was nothing compared to what David went through when he saw his best friend's living wet dream making an entrance worth of an Oscar in his life.
"Sorry, do you know where I can find David Archuleta?" Noriega asked seemingly unaware of Archie's presence, half hidden behind Michael. Archie made a nonsensical noise in the back of his throat, and Noriega notices him at last. "Oh, there you are!"
"What-Danny, what are you doing here?" Archie questioned, stepping in front of the singer. "Oh, that sounded rude. I mean, aren't you supposed to be filming your new video or recording your new songs?"
"I've taken a breather," Noriega explained, almost bashfully. "I wanted to see you."
David thought he was going to faint, and Andy and Neal didn't make it better when they began snickering behind their backs. However, it was Michael who gave David the killing shoot.
"Well, Archie, I guess this means it's only going to be Dave and me today," he said gingerly. "Go on and show our current celebrity around."
David Cook had never wanted to die more in his whole life, but when he saw the light in Archie's eyes, all he could do was fake a happiness he didn't feel and smile warmly. He then followed Michael out of the studio. He kept messing up the low keys and the music Michael had chosen for his hour of music brought to you by your only authentic Aussie in town, as he loved to refer to himself in the motto opening of his radio show. David even feared that he was going to be fired at the end of the day, he was so out of it, distracted by the giggling sounds he could swear he heard coming from every corner of the studio - but it was all in his head, Michael had kindly reminded him.
David had wanted to treat Archie to some mid-afternoon snack, just like every other day, after work, but the younger man was nowhere to be found. When he had finished mixing for Michael, Archie had already left with Noriega, and all David had known was that people had seen them walking around town hand in hand. David looked dejectedly around the whole building, until he ran into Andy, who was tuning his guitar in one of the studios in the basement, where the heater system was still broken and, despite it being almost spring, it was still freezing. David could see his own breathing as he exhaled.
"Andy," he called softly. He knew how his friend hated to be disturbed while playing, and even though he was only getting his instrument ready, David was sure Andy would never forgive him if he interrupted. "Andy, man, have you seen Archie?"
Andy lifted his head, his dark chocolate eyes boring into David's. "Hey, Dave, good to see you too. How has your day been since we last talked?" he greeted mockingly.
"C'mon, dude," David whined. "Help a man here."
"I don't see any man," Andy counteracted. "I see a pussy who has yet to tell his best friend that he's in love with him, and who has seen how said best friend was swept away by a celebrity."
"Okay, if you want to go on those terms," David conceded, fully entering the room and taking a seat next to Andy. His eyes caught sight of a notebook sitting in between Andy's legs. A ballpoint pen was lying across the sheets, some handwritten lines scribbled all over the page. David frowned. "Have you been writing?"
"Yeah," Andy shrugged. "Kinda helps me pass the time, you know? Plus, I can't write at home, Jennye has to study for her exams, and you know how that goes."
"I totally do," David agreed. He remembered his own time at college, when he had had to cram millions of notes in one night while Archie was sleeping the peaceful's sleep since he had studied dutifully every day for three months. "Need any help with that?" He pointed at the notebook as Andy picked the pen and placed it between his teeth.
"No, but thanks," Andy declined politely. "I know you're busy with your own side project."
David sighed. He had stopped writing for a while, because he had had enough to work on and record and burn demos with, and after those few weeks he felt as if he couldn't get back on track with writing. But maybe that was his depressed self talking. "Yeah, well, you know-"
"Andy, here you are! And with Dave, thank God!" Neal interrupted them bursting through the door. When they turned around to face him, Neal had his everlasting cigarette hanging from his half-parted lips. "Randy and Kara have been looking for you everywhere. Something's up with their mix for the A Night Out With tonight, they need some new music live like now."
"Live music?" David and Andy asked at the same time.
"C'mon, guys," Neal urged them, walking over their spot and winging Andy's guitar. "You really need to get going. They need live music, I think their guest star for the tonight has actually bailed on them, it's our chance!"
David nodded as he followed them out of the empty studio and into the cold hallways. They had been part of the same band, Mid West Kings, for four years. They had some gigs here and there, Archie being their principal cheerleader, but they hadn't hit the big stages yet - they had the feeling they wouldn't ever. They reached the studio where Kara and Randy were waiting for their engineers to show up.
"Finally!" Randy exclaimed. "So, how are we going to do this tonight?" he continued.
"Have you thought about new songs we could play?" Kara questioned. David resisted the urge to roll his eyes - Kara was known for being a complete useless waste of space in the radio station, but she had a fantastic voice and her music taste was pretty terrific. That didn't cover the fact that she didn't know how things went around a radio program.
"Actually, Kara, that's not our-" Neal started saying, but Andy elbowed him, effectively cutting whatever he was going to say.
"Neal told us your guest has decided not to appear tonight?" he said in a questioning tone instead. When he got both nods of confirmation from Randy and Kara, he breathed in deeply and went for the kill. "Well, I know you're not that keen on promoting local bands, but we thought-I mean, we're a band," he gestured between the three of them. "And maybe we could save your night."
Randy shared a glance with Kara, and David knew it was over before it even began. He didn't even have it in him to sigh his defeat when Randy opened his mouth to go on a sweet, but firm, tirade about how they hadn't even prepared a set of questions for anyone who wasn't Daughtry. They were doomed not to fulfill their dreams, he was sure of that, and he could tell his friends did as well, if their slumped shoulders and sad faces were anything to go by.
"-And you actually have been called to help us fill some space until we can get Danny Noriega back into the building," Randy finished.
"Wait, what?" David spluttered in what he hoped wasn't an undignified squeak. By the looks Andy was giving him sideways, and Neal's elbow jabbing his side, he hadn't succeeded at all. "You're calling Noriega to fill in?"
"Of course, what did you expect?" Kara counteracted, a little exasperated. "He's already been contacted, and since he's in town apparently visiting our very own David Archuleta, he accepted. It's just a matter of time before he gets here, and we get started in five, so you better begin mixing whatever song choices you're playing for us tonight."
It sounded more like an order than anything else, and David knew he had to take it. Neal had put Andy's guitar on the floor, supported against a wall by their side, and the two of them were walking towards the mixing booth. David followed them with his head hung low. He rubbed his nape slightly, a tick he had developed when he had still been a child, before taking a seat and surfing through the archives to find something that could put the listeners into the mood they wanted to keep that night, which was, based on Noriega's visit, very pop-like. They hadn't even been five minutes into the program, Randy announcing the change in the interview theme and making it sound like a deliberate adjustment while Kara giggled by his side, when Danny Noriega made his Oscar-worthy appearance, Archie strolling beside him. They weren't holding hands, but to David it could very well have been like that - he was about to lose it, and when Noriega kissed Archie goodbye right before entering the booth, David couldn't take it anymore.
He made some lame mumbled excuse and scurried off out of the booth, out of the studio, and out of the damned building, into the cold air of the early night, without even chancing a glance to Archie.
When David went back to his apartment that night, Dublin was the only one waiting for him. The small Scottie greeted him with sloppy kisses deposited on his shoes before David could pick him up and snuggle him. "I'm back home, buddy," he whispered against the soft fur. The day had been boring and never ending and David hadn't seen Archie again after escaping the studio. He could only assume the activities they would be sharing together after Noriega had finished answering some questions from Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi. David wanted to murder someone.
It was common knowledge that Archie was gay, and everyone was aware of Noriega's sexuality, so not even Jeff had been fazed by the fact that his son might be having a fairy tale romance with a guy. It bothered David to no end, though, for as much as he tried to deny it his heart broke when he first realized that Archie had fallen hard and fast for Danny Noriega.
He settled with a beer on the couch in front of his twenty-year-old television. He picked up the mail from the table, the letters he hadn't bothered to open the day before because he had been in such a hurry to go receive Archie from his trip to Los Angeles. There were bills and publicity, and then two envelops seemingly official. He opened them both and left them sprawled on the tea table. He was shaking.
The first one was from the Missouri State University. They had accepted him in the post-graduate program he had requested a couple of years before and that he had been rejected then. He had applied later on, and had been expecting and dreading that letter in reply for months. David sighed - the offer implied leaving Tulsa and going back to square one.
The second letter came all the way from New York. As he read it several times, he felt his limbs shake. One of the multiple record labels he had sent his demo to had replied affirmatively. They wanted to meet him when he could squeeze them in. David didn't know what to do - music was his life, and he wanted to live off his talent. But he had always wanted to do it with Archie, and with Noriega in the field for the remainder of the game, David knew that all his chances - if he ever had any - had vanished in thin air.
head over heels, the big one >>
David Cook had always thought he was a happy man; he had everything he could have ever wanted, and probably more - he had an apartment downtown, a good job at a radio station and a dog. He had friends who loved him and supported him no matter what. But he was going to murder one of said friends in a matter of seconds if no one stopped him.
Tulsa International Airport was bustling with life and noise around the four of them. Neal and Andy were looking like they didn't actually belong there, while David was desperately trying to disguise the taleteller tears that kept prickling at his eyes. Archie seemed oblivious to all of their reactions as he got his luggage checked in and his plane tickets in order.
"This is really happening!" he exclaimed again, startling Neal who had been seriously inspecting his new tattoo - a quote by Kurt Vonnegut on his knuckles - and making Andy flinch.
"Hush now, anyone could hear you," David tried to admonish his best friend through his own heartbreak. "And we don't want a whole horde of people staring at us while we say goodbye."
"What, you sensing you'll cry?" Neal teased him. It was a running joke in their group - David was overly sensitive, and he was known for wearing his heart on his sleeve, and not being ashamed of that, at any inconvenient moment.
"What if I would?" he defended himself.
"Then we'd know that our very own David Cook, is finally back in the house!" Andy chided in with his best gangster impersonation, which wasn't that good at all.
David shook his head and chose to ignore them in favor of Archie, who was fiddling uncomfortably by his side.
"Take care, Arch," he whispered.
"Come here, David, give me a hug, you're dying to," Archie said shyly, opening his arms, the duffel bag he was holding bouncing at his side. David just complied, too moved to speak. He relished in the feeling of the slim and thin form in his arms, heart beating fast and hard as if it wanted to go over to Archie, as if his own heart already knew who he belonged to.
"Guard your carnal treasure," he muttered, half as a joke and half as a serious advice. "And come back to us. To me."
"I will, David, you know that," Archie promised him. "Now I have to go. C'mon, guys, I have to board that plane!" he continued excitedly. Neal shook his hand longer than necessary, a glint of something similar to sadness in his eyes, and Andy smiled at Archie before joining him in a bone crushing hug.
And with that, Archie was walking away, into the airport security line, away from them and away from Tulsa, from that one city that had gathered them together by chance or by fate, whichever they wanted to pick. David was left there, hanging to the thread of a promise that had been barely whispered into his ear.
When Archie came back, a couple of days later, the stars in his eyes and the smile on his lips told David everything he had to know about that particular weekend - about his very own downfall and his latest failure at keeping the one thing that mattered the most to him.
David had been stoically putting up with the various and diverse versions of the same tale his friend had been telling over and over again, but there was just so much a man could stand, and David reached his limit that very same Wednesday, when after three complete days of hearing nothing but praises to Danny Noriega, who apparently was an eligible candidate to become Saint of the Year, he had enough and exploded.
"I swear, Archie," he said in a pitchy voice. "If you don't stop right this moment, I'm going to throw up."
"Just because you are the Scrooge of love doesn't mean the rest of us can't enjoy a little of secondhand romance!" his friend Andy chided him.
"There's only so many times one can hear the tale of how perfect a date with Danny Noriega is, honestly."
"Stop ruining the mood!" Neal said, pointing with a guitar pick at him. "You don't like it; you don't need to listen to it. Go sulk in another studio."
"Could you guys stop talking as if I weren't in the room?" Archie interrupted. "Break's almost over."
As if on cue, Michael Johns, the DJ of the morning program, walked in. everyone turned to him when the door opened and closed noisily. "Who among you will be my techs for today?" Michael asked, his Australian accent dragging some vowels. "Any of the Davids?" he added with a wink.
David hated when Michael acted as if he was in on some super secret no one else knew. And that was the exact attitude he adopted whenever he wanted to get Archie and David working together - as though Michael knew about David's crush on Archie, but it wasn't that much of a secret. Everyone knew how David felt about his best friend ever since he was four and Archie was three.
Well, everyone except for oblivious, adorable David Archuleta.
"I've just got off Abdul's hour, dude," Andy replied. "Neal here's been requested to work for Seacrest's new whatever in-"
"-ten minutes," Neal finished the sentence. "Sorry, guys. That leaves you to help Mike."
Archie glared at them but sighed and accepted anyway. David knew he hated working with Michael because of the issue his program dealt with - Archie was a sheltered boy who had never said a swear word in his life. That was why David had been so surprised when Archie's father had allowed him to fly to Los Angeles for a weekend with Danny Noriega, the five-time Grammy winner.
"It's for charity," Jeff Archuleta had said. "Besides, I trust my son not to do anything that could taint his soul."
David hadn't been so trusting in Danny Noriega, though. The singer had a fame that preceded him - arrogant, flirtatious, overbearing - and David didn't want Archie to be hurt; his best friend Archie who had had a crush on Noriega for the longest time and who had seen his dream come true.
"Dave, you comin'?" he heard. He snapped back to reality; he nodded to Michael and stood up to follow him and Archie. He only had to focus and stop thinking of Danny Noriega, who had kissed Archie, who was so perfect and tender, who was-
-walking into the studio they were trying to leave.
Archie had almost had a heart attack when he had known he was going to meet Noriega, but it was nothing compared to what David went through when he saw his best friend's living wet dream making an entrance worth of an Oscar in his life.
"Sorry, do you know where I can find David Archuleta?" Noriega asked seemingly unaware of Archie's presence, half hidden behind Michael. Archie made a nonsensical noise in the back of his throat, and Noriega notices him at last. "Oh, there you are!"
"What-Danny, what are you doing here?" Archie questioned, stepping in front of the singer. "Oh, that sounded rude. I mean, aren't you supposed to be filming your new video or recording your new songs?"
"I've taken a breather," Noriega explained, almost bashfully. "I wanted to see you."
David thought he was going to faint, and Andy and Neal didn't make it better when they began snickering behind their backs. However, it was Michael who gave David the killing shoot.
"Well, Archie, I guess this means it's only going to be Dave and me today," he said gingerly. "Go on and show our current celebrity around."
David Cook had never wanted to die more in his whole life, but when he saw the light in Archie's eyes, all he could do was fake a happiness he didn't feel and smile warmly. He then followed Michael out of the studio. He kept messing up the low keys and the music Michael had chosen for his hour of music brought to you by your only authentic Aussie in town, as he loved to refer to himself in the motto opening of his radio show. David even feared that he was going to be fired at the end of the day, he was so out of it, distracted by the giggling sounds he could swear he heard coming from every corner of the studio - but it was all in his head, Michael had kindly reminded him.
David had wanted to treat Archie to some mid-afternoon snack, just like every other day, after work, but the younger man was nowhere to be found. When he had finished mixing for Michael, Archie had already left with Noriega, and all David had known was that people had seen them walking around town hand in hand. David looked dejectedly around the whole building, until he ran into Andy, who was tuning his guitar in one of the studios in the basement, where the heater system was still broken and, despite it being almost spring, it was still freezing. David could see his own breathing as he exhaled.
"Andy," he called softly. He knew how his friend hated to be disturbed while playing, and even though he was only getting his instrument ready, David was sure Andy would never forgive him if he interrupted. "Andy, man, have you seen Archie?"
Andy lifted his head, his dark chocolate eyes boring into David's. "Hey, Dave, good to see you too. How has your day been since we last talked?" he greeted mockingly.
"C'mon, dude," David whined. "Help a man here."
"I don't see any man," Andy counteracted. "I see a pussy who has yet to tell his best friend that he's in love with him, and who has seen how said best friend was swept away by a celebrity."
"Okay, if you want to go on those terms," David conceded, fully entering the room and taking a seat next to Andy. His eyes caught sight of a notebook sitting in between Andy's legs. A ballpoint pen was lying across the sheets, some handwritten lines scribbled all over the page. David frowned. "Have you been writing?"
"Yeah," Andy shrugged. "Kinda helps me pass the time, you know? Plus, I can't write at home, Jennye has to study for her exams, and you know how that goes."
"I totally do," David agreed. He remembered his own time at college, when he had had to cram millions of notes in one night while Archie was sleeping the peaceful's sleep since he had studied dutifully every day for three months. "Need any help with that?" He pointed at the notebook as Andy picked the pen and placed it between his teeth.
"No, but thanks," Andy declined politely. "I know you're busy with your own side project."
David sighed. He had stopped writing for a while, because he had had enough to work on and record and burn demos with, and after those few weeks he felt as if he couldn't get back on track with writing. But maybe that was his depressed self talking. "Yeah, well, you know-"
"Andy, here you are! And with Dave, thank God!" Neal interrupted them bursting through the door. When they turned around to face him, Neal had his everlasting cigarette hanging from his half-parted lips. "Randy and Kara have been looking for you everywhere. Something's up with their mix for the A Night Out With tonight, they need some new music live like now."
"Live music?" David and Andy asked at the same time.
"C'mon, guys," Neal urged them, walking over their spot and winging Andy's guitar. "You really need to get going. They need live music, I think their guest star for the tonight has actually bailed on them, it's our chance!"
David nodded as he followed them out of the empty studio and into the cold hallways. They had been part of the same band, Mid West Kings, for four years. They had some gigs here and there, Archie being their principal cheerleader, but they hadn't hit the big stages yet - they had the feeling they wouldn't ever. They reached the studio where Kara and Randy were waiting for their engineers to show up.
"Finally!" Randy exclaimed. "So, how are we going to do this tonight?" he continued.
"Have you thought about new songs we could play?" Kara questioned. David resisted the urge to roll his eyes - Kara was known for being a complete useless waste of space in the radio station, but she had a fantastic voice and her music taste was pretty terrific. That didn't cover the fact that she didn't know how things went around a radio program.
"Actually, Kara, that's not our-" Neal started saying, but Andy elbowed him, effectively cutting whatever he was going to say.
"Neal told us your guest has decided not to appear tonight?" he said in a questioning tone instead. When he got both nods of confirmation from Randy and Kara, he breathed in deeply and went for the kill. "Well, I know you're not that keen on promoting local bands, but we thought-I mean, we're a band," he gestured between the three of them. "And maybe we could save your night."
Randy shared a glance with Kara, and David knew it was over before it even began. He didn't even have it in him to sigh his defeat when Randy opened his mouth to go on a sweet, but firm, tirade about how they hadn't even prepared a set of questions for anyone who wasn't Daughtry. They were doomed not to fulfill their dreams, he was sure of that, and he could tell his friends did as well, if their slumped shoulders and sad faces were anything to go by.
"-And you actually have been called to help us fill some space until we can get Danny Noriega back into the building," Randy finished.
"Wait, what?" David spluttered in what he hoped wasn't an undignified squeak. By the looks Andy was giving him sideways, and Neal's elbow jabbing his side, he hadn't succeeded at all. "You're calling Noriega to fill in?"
"Of course, what did you expect?" Kara counteracted, a little exasperated. "He's already been contacted, and since he's in town apparently visiting our very own David Archuleta, he accepted. It's just a matter of time before he gets here, and we get started in five, so you better begin mixing whatever song choices you're playing for us tonight."
It sounded more like an order than anything else, and David knew he had to take it. Neal had put Andy's guitar on the floor, supported against a wall by their side, and the two of them were walking towards the mixing booth. David followed them with his head hung low. He rubbed his nape slightly, a tick he had developed when he had still been a child, before taking a seat and surfing through the archives to find something that could put the listeners into the mood they wanted to keep that night, which was, based on Noriega's visit, very pop-like. They hadn't even been five minutes into the program, Randy announcing the change in the interview theme and making it sound like a deliberate adjustment while Kara giggled by his side, when Danny Noriega made his Oscar-worthy appearance, Archie strolling beside him. They weren't holding hands, but to David it could very well have been like that - he was about to lose it, and when Noriega kissed Archie goodbye right before entering the booth, David couldn't take it anymore.
He made some lame mumbled excuse and scurried off out of the booth, out of the studio, and out of the damned building, into the cold air of the early night, without even chancing a glance to Archie.
When David went back to his apartment that night, Dublin was the only one waiting for him. The small Scottie greeted him with sloppy kisses deposited on his shoes before David could pick him up and snuggle him. "I'm back home, buddy," he whispered against the soft fur. The day had been boring and never ending and David hadn't seen Archie again after escaping the studio. He could only assume the activities they would be sharing together after Noriega had finished answering some questions from Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi. David wanted to murder someone.
It was common knowledge that Archie was gay, and everyone was aware of Noriega's sexuality, so not even Jeff had been fazed by the fact that his son might be having a fairy tale romance with a guy. It bothered David to no end, though, for as much as he tried to deny it his heart broke when he first realized that Archie had fallen hard and fast for Danny Noriega.
He settled with a beer on the couch in front of his twenty-year-old television. He picked up the mail from the table, the letters he hadn't bothered to open the day before because he had been in such a hurry to go receive Archie from his trip to Los Angeles. There were bills and publicity, and then two envelops seemingly official. He opened them both and left them sprawled on the tea table. He was shaking.
The first one was from the Missouri State University. They had accepted him in the post-graduate program he had requested a couple of years before and that he had been rejected then. He had applied later on, and had been expecting and dreading that letter in reply for months. David sighed - the offer implied leaving Tulsa and going back to square one.
The second letter came all the way from New York. As he read it several times, he felt his limbs shake. One of the multiple record labels he had sent his demo to had replied affirmatively. They wanted to meet him when he could squeeze them in. David didn't know what to do - music was his life, and he wanted to live off his talent. But he had always wanted to do it with Archie, and with Noriega in the field for the remainder of the game, David knew that all his chances - if he ever had any - had vanished in thin air.
head over heels, the big one >>