A Mean Tongue and Codeine

Chapter 11

Maia and Andrew sat in the latter's hotel room, Andrew plucking out some melody on his guitar, lightly humming and writing stuff down whenever something clicked, Maia clicking and dragging and undoing various edits on the photos from last night's concert. They'd found this system worked well for the pair. Whenever they had down time, in a hotel or on the bus, they'd miraculously find each other in one of their rooms working away. Andrew found the repetitive clicking along with Maia's sighs of frustration helped keep him focused, and Maia used Andrew's music as a way of relaxing when she got too tense.

"What are you thinking about dinner tonight? There's this cool restaurant Lauren told me about here. Maybe we should go check it out?" Maia broke the silence, barely looking up from her computer.

Andrew almost fell out of his chair. "You want to go out? Like in public?" Maia had become a professional at finding excuses to not leave the hotel unless it was a group event. She didn't like all the cameras and fans, she tried to explain after she shot down Andew's third attempt at going out together.

Maia shrugged, hands pulling her hair out of that tight braid at the back of her head. "I like Boston. Could be fun. Unless you don't think it's a good idea then we can always-"

"No! No, I think it's a great idea. What's the name? I'll see about getting us a reservation."

Andrew felt himself melt under the warm smile that Maia tried – and failed – to fight off. He texted his manager the name of the restaurant, praying to everything he did or didn't believe in that Caroline would be able to get them on the list.

Things had gotten better between the two since Kansas City, since she came back on tour, although there was something different about her that Andrew couldn't quite pin down. They were still together every second they could be. So much so that when Maia caught the stomach flu in North Carolina, Alex couldn't stop making jokes about how it was only a matter of time that Andrew fell ill. She was still the first person he ran to after a show, her opinion being the only one that mattered to him. Nobody dared sit between them, the unofficial seating charts on planes, busses, at tables, always had them next to each other. But there was still a weird distance between them, like when the group went out in Baltimore. Andrew and Maia danced together, as they normally do, but when he wrapped his arm around the front of her waist and bent down to whisper something – who knows what – to her, she laughed and almost skipped away from him.

She'd made him promise to not bring up that kiss. The kiss he was an idiot to end. She wasn't going to stop, even though the last thing he wanted to do was be the responsible one, with how much she'd had to drink that night... He wouldn't let their first time be anything less than perfect. But he'd promised not to bring it up, not to "give her hell", so he'd wait until she was ready again. He'd be ready this time, he promised himself, and then everything between them would make sense. In the meantime, he was more than happy to listen to her frustrated clicking until she got the edit just right.

"What are you working on?" Her voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "It sounds good."

"I've had this melody stuck in my head for a few weeks now. I've just got part of the first verse, I think. Not sure if it'll go anywhere."

"Can I hear it?" Maia closed her laptop and angled her body towards him, hands in her lap expectantly.

Who was he to say no to the beautiful woman in front of him?

Starting the melody he'd spent hours perfecting, he ducked his head and began to sing.

You know the distance never made a difference to me