“I don’t plan to spend any actual time at the house,” Trevor said.
“That’s fine,” Maggie said. “We can make sure you’re spotted coming and going from there occasionally. Justdon’tget spotted spending the nights with Skyler. And we’ve been letting you skip interviews while you dealt with things, but we need you to resume your full obligations to the band now. When you get asked in the next few interviews how you are since your mom’s passing, you can tell them you’re living in her house to feel close to her.”
Trevor whimpered, so softly Skyler might have been the only one to catch it.
“They’re obviously all going to ask you about your mom,” Maggie added.
“Or you could tell themnotto ask,” Skyler argued.
“I can’t control what they ask. They’ll want to know how he’s doing and offer condolences.”
“You can prevent them from asking questions about us”—he gestured angrily between Trevor and himself—“so I know you’re capable of banning topics if you want to.”
Maggie sighed. “Yes, but why would we want to with this one?”
He opened his mouth to keep arguing, but then he noticed Trevor subtly shaking his head. Like this wasn’t worth fighting for. So he shut his mouth, frustrated because all he wanted to do was protect Trevor from anything that would hurt him.
He couldn’t have prevented what happened to Trevor’s mom, but he could do his best to take care of him from here out. Trevor had done so much to take care of Skyler over the last few years. It was his turn now.
But he didn’t want to make things unnecessarily difficult for him, so he remained silent as Maggie went on about some other things, ready to get out of here and get through soundcheck so he and Trevor could have a measly half hour alone together.
When Maggie told them Sierra would be joining them in a few days, though, Skyler shot out of his seat. How could she even think about having Trevor carry on that ridiculous stunt while he was in the middle of grieving?
Trevor reached for his wrist and tugged him back down. “It’s fine, whatever. I don’t care.”
Skyler bit his tongue to keep from shouting. He wanted Trevor to care. He needed him to care when it concerned their relationship.
But Trevor was already dealing with so much. Skyler couldn’t add to his stress by turning this into a thing right now. He needed to help Trevor work through his pain, and then they’d deal with the Sierra issue afterward. She probably wouldn’t last too much longer anyway—none ofhisfake girlfriends had.
Before Maggie dismissed them, she stood and leaned across the table to place her fingers gingerly on Trevor’s forearm. She seemed to force a consoling look. “I really believe this is what’s best for you. And remember, we’re all here to help you through this.”
Trevor made a small noise of assent, and Skyler held his tongue as he got up and gently urged Trevor out of his seat. He put a hand on Trevor’s back toguide him out of the room, and then he led him out to the stage, where Trevor stood at his microphone and went through the motions of their soundcheck.
Later when it was time to perform, Trevor sang when he was supposed to, danced when he was supposed to, and moved across the stage when he was supposed to. The show ended, they were driven back to their hotel to go to sleep, and the next day it started all over again.
Every step of the way, Trevor insisted he was fine, but Skyler knew better.
He missed the warmth. He missed the sunshine.
This had quite possiblybeen a ridiculous plan. Trevor was coming back to the hotel from a “date” at a nice restaurant with Sierra, and Skyler had cooked him dinner. Great timing.
But he hadn’t had enough free time without Trevor to do it until now. And he was getting desperate. He missed Trevor. He wantedhisTrevor back, not this robot version of him. More than that, though, he’d wanted to do this for Trevor’s sake. Trevor needed a release from everything he was holding in.
Hopefully, this would prompt Trevor to talk to him. But there was also a chance he’d severely miscalculated. That him using Stacey’s lasagna recipe to make it for Trevor was the last thing Trevor needed right now. Maybe it’d be way too much.
So yeah, all in all, this may have been a ridiculous plan, but it was too late to call it off. The room service cart was already set up in the middle of the room, with candles and flowers and a covered metal serving dish, and Trevor had texted that he was on his way back.
When Trevor came through the door, Skyler ran over and pulled him into a hug. Trevor’s arms wound around him, but it was almost like a reflex with no actual intent behind it. And that killed him, but this wasn’t about him.
It was about finding a way to bring Trevor out of the darkness so he could start healing. Skyler wasn’t foolish enough to think Trevor would one day be over his mom’s death. Grief was a never-ending process. He just wanted to be there for him, to help with the process.
“Did you eat?” he asked as he entwined his fingers with Trevor’s and lead him toward the small table.
“I ordered the fish.”
“But did you eat it?”
Trevor’s eyes flicked up to meet his questioning gaze. “I—I guess. I don’t know.”
