The Music Brings Us Together (9/?)
Title: The Music Brings Us Together
Chapter: 9/?
Pairing: Adam/Kris
Rating: R (For later chapters)
Summary: The behind-the-scenes story that we never saw, as I imagine it, anyways.
Beta: Adamgrrrl
Disclamer: Unfortunately, I do not own Kris, Adam, or anyone else in this story. Nor do I own any of the songs, or anything recognizable from American Idol or Ford. I barely own the plotline, as its based on the show. Adam and Kris belong completely to themselves, and each other.
It was a Monday, and Adam’s rehearsals had just ended. A few of the other contestants were still in the rehearsal room, the others outside by the pool. Adam, on the other hand, was sitting cross-legged on the couch in the red room, staring undecided at his laptop. He’d heard from so many previous contestants, "Never Google yourself." They probably had a point. All the rumors and crap that the media made up probably really got to a lot of people.
Adam picked up his cell and glanced at the text he’d received from his friend, Jessie, a few hours ago. He decided to trust her more than the other contestants. Besides, he’d never been one to get embarrassed easily. And whatever the media had to say, he was sure he’d heard worse. So, per Jessie’s request, he pulled up google, clicked on the Image tag, and typed in his name. The row of pictures that popped up weren’t surprising. One from his first audition, one from an interview, a couple from pre-Idol performances. His eyebrows rose slightly when he scrolled down to find a picture of him kissing Brad. He clicked on the picture to bring up the website, finding more pictures below it. He glanced at the title of the website and snickered when he read the name, "The Inquisitr."
"Hey, whatchya doing in here?" Kris’ voice made Adam look up quickly. Kris walked over to him, a glass of lemonade in hand. "Why don’t you come outside with the rest of us?"
"Maybe later," Adam muttered, glancing back down at the screen as Kris came closer. He was tempted to shut the laptop before Kris could see it, but decided against it. Kris stood in front of him, looking at him quizzically for a moment, and finally Adam spoke again, gesturing to the screen. "The press finds everything, I guess," he laughed weakly. "But I don’t even remember these pictures."
"What, were you drunk or something?" Kris asked with a laugh, sitting down beside Adam to look at the screen.
"No," Adam said, rolling his eyes. "I just don’t remember anyone having a camera." He turned the screen so that Kris could see it, watching the man’s face carefully for a reaction.
Kris stared at the screen for a moment, and made a sort of disgusted face. Adam closed his eyes and sighed, waiting for the backlash. Waiting for… "You... kinda look like a clown." …well, not that.
Adam opened his eyes, choking out a laugh. "What?" he asked, grinning in amusement.
Kris gestured to the first picture, "Seriously! Red shirt, blue scarf and purple hair? And what’s with all the glitter? Seriously, dude: Clown College 101!"
Adam just laughed, shaking his head as he turned the laptop back toward himself. "You're sitting here staring at pictures of me making out with another guy, and that's all you have to say??" He was unable to hide the incredible amount of amusement in his voice.
Kris just shrugged and leaned back. "Well, I already know you’re gay," he said, pointing out the obvious. "It’s not like I expected you to be a monk, too, or something." They both laughed for a moment, eventually lapsing into a comfortable silence, during which Adam closed the page and shut his laptop. "I wonder if there are any gay monks?" Kris wondered aloud after a few minutes.
"Well, why shouldn’t there be?" Adam asked, raising his eyebrows.
"I don’t know," Kris shrugged. "It’s just like, everyone thinks…" His voice trailed off and Adam nodded, filling in the blanks in his head.
"Gay men are whores," Adam stated bluntly, an edge of bitterness in his voice, "which is really hypocritical, if you think about it."
"Stereotypical, yes," Kris replied, with a skeptical look. "But hypocritical? I’m not following."
"Well, everyone says that guys have a one-track mind, right?" Adam pointed out as he shifted to face Kris, his elbow on the back of the couch.
"Riiiight," Kris said slowly, clearly not eager to hear Adam go on one of these pro-gay rants.
"So what? Straight guys," Adam emphasized his point by poking Kris’ chest lightly, "are allowed to have a one-track mind, but gay guys aren't?" He sighed and leaned back against the armrest, his head falling back. He raised a hand and gestured to nothing in particular. "My deepest apologies to anyone who would put two one-track minded, gay guys in a relationship and expect nothing more than a conversation about the day’s weather."
Even with his eyes closed, he could hear Kris struggling not to laugh. Kris finally couldn't hold it in anymore, and Adam smiled and joined in the hysterical laughter. It hadn’t been his intention, but the musical sound made him feel better after his short rant. Adam chuckled softly, allowing a small smile to stay on his lips after Kris’ laughter had died away. "So," Kris started, "Those monks, huh? Asexual?
"Yup."
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By six o’clock, Adam was pretty sure everyone in the mansion had seen the pictures. He made a mental note to thank Brad later for calling him the other night, if for no other reason than that it maybe softened the shock value a bit for everyone. But somehow, he was sure there would still be some people in the house who weren’t happy. His first clue had been when Alison came by their room earlier, for the sole purpose of hugging him and saying that she loved and supported him, "No matter what anyone else thinks." Yep, he was definitely in for it when he faced the other guys.
He wished that Kris hadn’t already gone to the kitchen to eat while he was taking a shower. As lame as it sounded, it would’ve made him feel a lot stronger to have someone by his side when he walked in there to face everyone. Adam took a steadying breath, started up the stairs and down the hallway to the kitchen. He paused around the corner when he heard a disgusted voice mention "those pictures." Adam hid the hurt on his face relatively well, as he leaned closer to hear who was talking. He was usually good at identifying when people were lying to him, but he wanted to at least know who hated him so he could call them on it when they tried to act all buddy-buddy with him as usual.
"Seriously, man," Adam recognized the deep Southern accent immediately. Sarver. "Since Jorge left, Anoop doesn’t have a roommate. He’d let you room with him."
He heard a sigh that sounded familiarly like Kris, then another voice. "You can’t stay in that room with that fag." Adam’s fist clenched as he heard Danny’s voice spit the last word.
"He is not a fag," Kris’ voice came out in a hiss so low that Adam barely picked it up. "I’m not switching rooms, either." Adam smiled despite his desire to punch the wall, feeling a swell of pride.
"Didn’t you see the pictures?" Sarver's voice barely squeaked out, sounding surprised.
"Yeah, I did," Kris bit back angrily. "Adam showed them to me himself. Cause guess what? He's not trying to hide anything, not from me, and not from ignorant assholes like you!"
"Kris, are you crazy? Adam is-"
"Still the same guy he was when this competition started!" Kris’ angry voice cut off Danny’s words sharply. "He’s still the guy that can make someone laugh when they’re about to cry. Still the guy that loves music, and is here for the same reasons you are. And he’s still the same guy that can outsing either of you any day of the week, whether you’d like to admit it or not!" Adam froze at the words coming out of Kris’ mouth, and judging from the silence, he was sure Danny and Michael had too. He didn't know if Kris had meant every single word, but already he could feel the anger, the uncertainty, everything ebbing away. The negativity was like water being evaporated by the sunlight that was Kris Allen.
Whether it was Kris’ attitude, or Sarver and Gokey’s, Adam wasn’t really hungry anymore, so he just headed back to their room. Flopping down onto the bed, he pressed a pillow over his face, pushing away thoughts of the brunette that inhabited the room with him. Didn’t mean anything. He was only being nice. He was just acting like a friend, right? Nothing more, nothing less... But as much as Adam tried to convince himself of it, the less he actually believed it. Kris wasn’t a confrontational person. Even if someone said something that annoyed him, he was the kind of guy to just sit back and take it, roll his eyes and possibly flip them off once their back was turned.
Adam removed the pillow from his face when he heard a door slamming shut. Kris had stormed into the room without glancing at him. Adam just watched him head for the closet, roughly pushing aside one shirt, then another, and vaguely wondered if he was actually looking for something or just trying to find something to do.
"What’s wrong?" Adam asked carefully after a moment.
"Nothing," Kris growled angrily, walking back from the closet and plopping unceremoniously onto the end of his bed.
"Doesn’t look like nothing," Adam pointed out obviously, sitting up and wrapping his arms around his knees.
Kris inhaled deeply, sighed heavily, and ran a hand roughly through his short hair, tugging at the ends. "It’s really nothing. Just some crap Sarver and Gokey were saying."
Adam noted with slight surprise the way he spat the names of the two men with such disgust. Adam raised his eyebrows. This was definitely not a side of Kris he’d seen before. Kris was never one to be angry. Ever. Mildly flustered? Frequently. Annoyed? Occasionally. But thoroughly pissed off? Never. Adam had to hide a slight smile at this thought. He hated seeing Kris so angry. Why would anyone want to upset someone so sweet? But, at the same time, he was slightly proud that he was reason for it. Kris would never get angry if someone said something so horrible about himself, but apparently he was incredibly protective of his friends. But then again…
"What could they possibly say that would make you this mad?" Adam asked in surprise. "I’ve never seen you like this…Didn’t know it was possible, to be honest…"
Kris gave a bitter laugh, then shook his head. "It’s really nothing. They were just talking about those stupid pictures you showed me," he said, gesturing angrily to nothing in particular. "Practically demanded that I change rooms and stay with Anoop."
Adam shifted so he could sit with his legs hanging over the side of his bed and face Kris. "Well, you can if you want to," he muttered quietly. "I wouldn’t be offended or anything." He knew before he got the words out of his mouth that Kris wouldn’t switch, but he felt like Kris had a right to the option.
Kris just stared at him incredulously. "I am not changing rooms!" he yelled, and Adam said a silent prayer in thanks for Michael and Matt being upstairs instead of in thier room next door. Kris swallowed and took a breath, and his next words came out more calmly. "I am not going to switch rooms because of those pictures, and certainly not because those assholes tell me to."
"Language, language," Adam said with a smirk, shaking his head. His attempt to lighten the mood didn't work, however.
Kris just rolled his eyes. "I’m serious, Adam. They have no right to talk about you like- You should’ve heard what they were saying!"
"I’m sure I’ve heard much worse," Adam said gently, not completely willing to tell Kris that he’d actually heard the entire thing.
But this statement only seemed to make things worse, as Kris stared at him, scandalized. "Why?! Because you’re gay, people think they automatically have a right to treat you like shit?!"
"Basically," Adam said, completely unfazed. He tilted his head and looked at Kris for a moment. Kris just held his gaze, both content to keep the silence, until Adam broke it again. "Why are you so worked up about it?"
Kris ran a hand through his hair again and shrugged. "I don’t know," he mumbled, and Adam saw a flicker of something in his eyes. Hurt, regret, uncertainty, confusion. He couldn’t quite tell, but it was something that wasn’t there before. "I’m gonna take a shower," Kris said under his breath after a moment.
"Wait," Adam said quickly as Kris stood and started for the bathroom. Kris stopped and turned to face him, that same fore ign look in his eyes. Adam didn’t quite know what he was doing, and wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He didn’t have a reason, other than that he simply wanted to. But reason or not, he closed the distance between them in two quick strides, took Kris’ face in his hands and kissed him soundly on the lips.
The first thing that ran through his mind was that he’d wanted this. For so long. Since he’d first laid eyes on the man during Hollywood Week. This was quickly overrun by panic, however. He was kissing Kris. He was kissing Kris. He was kissing Kris. He was kissing Kris! No matter how he said it, it never sounded any better. Which only made him wonder… Why wasn’t Kris pulling away? Granted, he wasn’t kissing Adam back, either, but he wasn’t pulling away, like Adam was sure he should be doing.
Unwilling to break the kiss for fear of seeing the look on Kris’ face, Adam held on for as long as he could; as long as the breath of air in his lungs would let him. He finally pulled back, but didn't step away. He could laugh it off as a joke. He could say it was to lighten the mood. But whatever he said, they would have to talk about it. They would have to say someth-
"I’m going to take my shower." …Or maybe not. Kris turned and walked into the bathroom before Adam even had enough sense to try and register the look on his face. Maybe they wouldn’t have to say anything. Maybe it would just be… Well, Adam wasn’t sure what to call it, but, for the time being, at least, it was something that could remain unspoken, and he was happy with that for now.