Look At Me Now
Trinita: Did you like the first chapter? Well, here's the second one, hot and ready! 3
Chapter #2:
"Good show, everybody!"
"Thanks, Silv!"
Wiping his face, a grayish-white hedgehog takes a deep sigh, extremely happy with the night.
"Excuse me, Silver."
Turning around, the 21 year old asked, "What is it, Linda?"
The stagehand replied, "A group of fans is waiting backstage. I told them you'd be with them shortly."
"I'm on my way" Silver promised, "Just give me a second, alright?"
Linda nodded, and left Silver in his dressing room to relax.
It had been seven years since Silver had been in this part of Mobius. Honestly, he couldn't say he missed it. The teasing, the beatings...it was too much. Now, though, he was grown. He could take it if it came back.
Walking down the hallway, the black leather on Silver's fur glistened and his electric blue birthmarks glowed like radioactive decay. His chest fur was short and silky, slightly poking out of a transluscent shirt. All in all, Silver had become quite the catch.
"Ohmygod, it's HIM!""
Silver waved as a bunch of fangirls rushed towards him, shaking his hands and crying in excitement.
"H-Hi" Silver stuttered cutely, "It's nice to meet you all!"
"AHHHH!" the fangirls screamed in reply.
Silver couldn't help but laugh. He loved his fangirls. He loved them more as little sisters, though, rather than potential lovers. That's just how he was.
Out of the group of women and girls, there were three echidnas, two kitsunes, a dog, four hedgehogs, and...a cat.
"Blaze?"
"Wuh-what? You know my name?"
The other fangirls looked at the cat in shock. SHE knew SILV? How?
"Do you remember me, Blaze? In middle school? 8th grade? I was being made fun of, and you helped me."
"Um..." the Mobian cat muttered, searching through her memory, "The son of the former Mobian leader Dorkus?!"
"Yeah, that's me!" Silver cried out excitedly, amazing his fans, "Blaze, it's been seven years! What are you doing here?!"
"If I had known" Blaze whispered, "If I had...you're okay. I mean, you-you just up and gone, but you're alright. What happened, Silver? Where did you go?"
Sensing they needed some private space, Linda shooed the other fangirls away. Silver and Blaze were taken to his dressing room. Once the door was shut locked, Silver sighed happily.
"Blaze, you have no i-!"
SLAP! Blaze's eyes were filled with hatred as Silver stumbled backwards, his hand on his cheek.
"Seven years, Silver" Blaze hissed, "SEVEN! NO one email, not one call?! NONE?! Why, Silver? Why?"
"It hurt" Silver admitted, his eyes wet with tears, "I left because a group of boys had beat me and stripped me naked. I was embarrassed. I could never face you like that. I never got the courage to call. I didn't mean to leave you hanging, Blaze. I liked you. I really did. You were the only person who ever cared about me! But...I'm sorry!"
"For the past five years, I've been obssessed with your music" Blaze chuckled sadly, "I got every CD, every fan poster, every concert ticket. This was the first concert where I ever bought a BSP, and I find out that who I've considered one of the greatest singers of all time is the boy who disappeared from my life seven years ago. God, I feel like an idiot!"
"Why?" Silver asked, ticked off, "Am I not so glamorous anymore to you, Blaze? Now that you know that this famous Mobian was that little bastard child who was picked on?"
"No, you jerk!" Blaze scoffed, "I feel like an idiot because if I had known it was you, I wouldn't have fallen in love with SILV!"
"What?"
Blaze chuckled, sitting down on the couch.
"When I was seventeen, I developed a crush for SILV, your stagename. I swore on your CDs I'd be your wife, we'd have kids...it would be awesome. I've had thoughts about SILV I wouldn't never had about you, Silver! It's so-GOD! It's embarrassing. I've been in love with you all this time, and I didn't even know it!"
Silver blushed as he remembered the kiss Blaze gave him in the back of the limo.
"Blaze, do you remember-?"
"-the kiss?" Blaze interrupted, "Yeah, yeah, I do. I was an idiot then, too, but a smarter one than now. I mean, how did I not know? Your quills, your fur, your eyes...your eyes..."
Blaze stood up, staring into Silver's eyes. They still held so much sadness in them, yet they had a brighter confidence Blaze had never seen.
"Can you believe it, Silver? I knew you for 48 hours. That was all it took for you to become my best friend and my biggest worry. Being a kid is something, ya' know."
"Blaze, I'm sorry" Silver whispered, "However, you found me, so that must mean something after seven years. Blaze, we can be friends now. We're older, no doubt, but it can still be done. Please, Blaze. I left you, I know, but I'm begging that you won't do the same to me."
Blaze flinched as Silver embraced her, trying to avoid taking in his scent. However, she couldn't stop herself, and the aroma of vanilla smoke intoxicated her.
"Silver..." Blaze said, her voice muffled by fur.
"Yes, Blaze?"
"I wanna' go home. We should talk later. Want my number?"
"I couldn't ask for a better gift."
RINGG!RIIINGG!
"Hello?"
"Hey, SILV! You awake?"
"Now I am."
Silver yawned as he stretched in bed, his abs showing lightly.
"Morning, Blaze. What's up?"
"Is there a place we can meet for coffee without fangirls killing us?"
"Haha! I know just the place. Get ready and then call me back, 'kay?"
An hour later, Silver had on jeans, a tee, sneakers, and a leather jacket. As he slipped on his dog tags, his home phone ranged.
"Hello?" SIlver answered.
"I'm ready."
"I'll come pick you up, Blaze. Where do you live?"
"Same place I did seven years ago, only, this time, no parents to nag me, so hurry it up!"
Silver pulled up in front of MobeSquare Condominiums. The place looked exactly the same, but now it has an odd feeling to it, like a building that looked ok, but was about to be blown sky high.
Blaze came outside and quickly slipped into the Hummer waiting for her. Silver gave her a smile as Blaze buckled up in the passenger's seat.
"Where to?" Blaze asked.
"Gangnam's Coffee House" Silver answered, "I have connections with the owner, so she'll get us in and out in one piece. No fangirls added."
"Awesome!" Blaze scoffed, "Little Silver has connections!"
"Don't tease me!" Silver sneered playfully.
Gangnam's Coffee Hourse was booming with customers. Luckily, it wasn't because of Silver or Blaze. It was just a normal day.
"Welcome, Silver" a white echidna purred at the back entrance, "and, look. You have a girl with you. How scandalous!"
"It's nothing like that, Mrs. Si" Silver purred in reply, "She's an old friend of mine, that's all. Now, did you save us a room?"
"Of course" Mrs. Si chuckled, "This way."
Silver and Blaze followed the echidna up a flight of stairs where they could see the Mobians conversing below them. They were led inside a room with a clear, glass door.
"Don't worry about the door" Mrs. Si explained, "It's one-way glass. You see out, but nobody sees in."
"You're a genius, Si" Silver commended, "Now, how about grabbing me and Blaze two white chocolate macciatos with extra chocolate."
"Always the sweet toothed one" Mrs. Si giggled, "Alright. You two sit tight, and I'll be back."
Once the owner was gone, Blaze stepped in, saying, "Alright, Silver. You have some explaining to do."
"I know, I know" Silver agreed, sitting down, "What do you want to know?"
"Well, for one, where did you go? I searched for you all over town. Did you come here?"
"No" Silver admitted, "I went to Westin Hotel. It's in this town. I needed a place to stay, and because my dad's loaded, finding money was no obstacle. I paid for two weeks stay and crashed at the hotel. Then I moved to the next town. I kept doing this until I was over the border in the next Mobian region. I just couldn't stay here."
Blaze's eyes filled with sadness. Silver had been picked on so long. Her prescence hadn't really changed much. In fact, it might've made things worse.
"Silver, how'd you become a singer?"
"That's a funny story" Silver laughed, "I was sitting on a street curb one day, waiting for the transit. Since I was bored, I started singing to myself. Before five minutes had passed by, people were surrounding me, asking me to sing more songs and throwing money in my backpack. Happily, I sung more and more. By that time, my bus had been passed, but I didn't care. Here was this group of people who liked me. Not only that, but one of the people was a recording engineer for Black Mam Records. She wasn't a recruiter, but she told me she couldn't pass me up. I sounded too good."
"You agreed to go with her?" Blaze asked.
"It was better than searching for the next hotel" Silver reasoned, "I had nothing else better to do, really. The producers listened to me, liked me, and asked me when could I start. I told them immediately. When they asked who my parents were, I said, 'Nobody important. If they were, I'd be home.' They took that as an answer, and signed me on."
"Huh" Blaze thought out loud, startled a bit as Mrs. Si came back with two steaming coffees.
She left in flash once she realized Silver and Blaze were having an important conversation.
"Blaze" Silver wondered, "What's happened to you in the past seven years?"
"Bad grades, bad boyfriends, and whole lot more" Blaze chuckled, "Honestly, nothing special, unlike you. I don't know many kids who run away and become megastars. What's the chance of that? 1 in 1,000,000,000?"
"I think the chances are bigger than that" Silver giggled, "If they weren't, there's six other people running around out there with a life just like mine. God's not that cruel."
Blaze smirked as Silver took a sip of his coffee.
"Silver?"
"Yeah?"
"Will you ever come back home? For good?"
"No" Silver answered, "Never. I hate it there. I can never go back."
"You think I'd leave you hanging?" Blaze replied, "Silver, things are different. More than half of the idiots that went to our school have died or moved away."
"Died?" Silver asked.
"Yeah" Blaze explained, "There was a fire at our high school. Six of the students were killed. Fifteen were badly burned. I was lucky. I had been sick that day, so I was at home."
"...wow" Silver said, "I can't believe it."
"You see?" Blaze assured, "Your worries went up in flames, Silver. The people who teased you and made your life hell? Half of them are dead! What can they do?"
"I don't know" Silver shrugged, "but my father's still there. Him and my mother. I hate them both. They made my life hell, too. No kid should be punished for what their parents do."
"That's true" Blaze agreed, "but do you really think that at 21 years old, anybody's gonna' care? You're a grown Mobe. You're your own person, Silv. The opinions of our town don't matter anymore."
"You say that, Blaze, but you aren't me. You weren't beaten half to death and stripped naked time on end because your father banged some random woman! You have no idea how that makes someone feel about themselves. They start thinking that all they are is dirt. A useless piece of trash that's not good for nothin'. That's how I felt, Blaze. Have you ever felt that way? Ever? Be honest!"
Blaze was speechless. The worst that had ever happened to her was that her boyfriend broke up with her. She had never had a hand laid on her, not even by her parents.
"I will never go back" Silver growled, his eyes wide open in anger, "I can't."
"How will we stay in touch?" Blaze pressed on, "You being on tour, doing concerts...what time will there be for us to be friends?"
"I'll work that out. Don't worry" Silver said confidently, "We'll stay close, I promise. I have no intention of leaving you hanging again."
Blaze took Silver's face with her hands, stared him down, and hissed, "Promise me...you won't leave for good this time. Please, Silver."
"I promise" Silver whispered, "I'll call, write. We'll meet up. I promise we'll always keep in touch."
"Good" Blaze sighed, satisfied. Then, romantically, she kissed Silver on his lips. Just like before, Silver blushed beet red and his heart sped up in shock.
"What an idiot" Blaze snorted, looking at Silver's face, "You act as if a woman's never kissed you before."
"No woman has" Silver admitted, "I've never dated anyone."
"Anyone?!" Blaze shrieked, grabbing her coffee.
Silver shook his head, embarrassed. He wasn't exactly the type to look for girls.
"Well, that's alright" Blaze replied softly, "You'll date when you're ready. All people do."
Silver smiled gently. The two decided it was time for them to head off.
Mrs. Si got the two Mobians back out to the car, and bid them adue.
"Take care of her!" Mrs. Si called out to Silver.
"I intend to!" Silver called back, driving off.
Like a gentlman, Silver drove Blaze home and escorted her to the door of her condo.
"Thanks for the coffee" Blaze murmured, "It was good. So was the talk, ya' know?"
"No problem" Silver smirked, "I needed to talk. So...see ya' soon?"
"How soon?" Blaze asked, worried.
"No later than this Friday" Silver assured, "I'm taking a two week break and then the caravan's heading off again. Today's Wednesday, so it won't be a long wait."
"Oh. Well, see you soon, Silv."
"You, too, Blaze."
Driving back to the library, Silver smiled to himself. He had reunited with a friend. He couldn't be happier.