Page 48 of Stay A Little Longer
“Lem…”
“No. Don’tLemme. You need a reality check even if you don’t want one. The real world is coming and you’re gonna have to face it. Whatever this is with you and Lance, it exists in a bubble.” She held her hand up when he started to speak, to tell her exactly what it was, a relationship, even if he couldn’t be sure Lance knew that yet. “You two have been hiding out in his trailer for the past few days. Ignoring the world like it doesn’t exist. And your bubble is going to burst, soon Trent, and I don’t think you’re in any way ready for that. Not either of you.”
Lemon trailed off and Trent shoved his hands into his hair. She was right of course. She usually was. It was something he’d learned about her a long time ago. Lemon saw through him. She had from the very start.
She’d taken one look at him and somehow known that he was hiding. That the image he presented wasn’t the real him. She knew him and she was right. He owed his fans the truth and an apology for lying to them for all these years. They were the ones that had given him the career and the life that he’d always wanted and he owed them an explanation at the very least.
More than that, Lemon was his family. She was worried about him. And, by extension, she was worried about Lance now too. She was trying to look out for them by telling him the hard truths and forcing him to face the hardest truth of all.
“Lance isn’t ready to come out.”
“He may not have that choice.” She shrugged, “You didn’t.”
“No. No way. I won’t let that happen. I can’t.”
“Trent, the media is going to find you here. Sooner rather than later. You can’t stay here.”
“I’m not leaving him.” He gaped at her in shock.
“Then you have to be prepared for them to figure out you’re involved with him. That he’s the reason you’re staying.”
“No.” He instantly shook his head, his stomach turning, “I won’t let that happen to someone I love. Not if I can help it.”
He couldn’t. He wouldn’t. He’d promised Lance that he wouldn’t out him. By extension that meant he couldn’t let the press find out about them.
“Trent…” Lemon sighed again, “Are you sure that’s what this is? Love? I mean… you thought you were in love with Heath a week ago.”
He glared at her for bringing that up, “I wasn’t in love with Heath. I see that now. I know the difference now.”
“Do you?”
“I was infatuated with Heath. He was my best friend and he was the only person I let close. I wanted him to be the one to get me because I was so comfortable with him but he didn’t. Lance does. He gets me, Lem. It feels like I’ve known him forever. He sees me, the real me, not the superstar or the persona or the image. Me.”
Lemon didn’t look convinced, “He knew the truth before you met him. You’d been outted. There wasn’t anything left to hide with him.”
“That’s not true.” Trent gave her a pointed look, “Knowing I’m gay doesn’t equal knowing me. I’m not just that one thing.”
“I know. That’s not what I meant.”
“He gets me, Lemon. Every part of me. Parts I’ve never shown another human being. I’ve told him things I’ve never told anyone and he’s told me things that… It’s like he was made for me, Lem.”
The perfect fit. The missing piece of him that he’d been looking for as long as he could remember. Lance could make him feel whole with nothing but a look.
He was submissive to Trent’s dominant. Sweet when Trent needed sweet and strong when Trent needed strong. He was real. He was a fan but not a fanboy. He was complicated but not so much that he wasn’t worth the effort.
He was. Trent was sure of it. Lance didn’t have any more baggage than he did and Lance accepted him so he could accept Lance in return, if only it was that easy.
“But he won’t come out for you.” Lemon stated the obvious.
“No. And I don’t want him to. I don’t want him to do it for me. I want him to do it for himself. But he’s not ready. I don’t know if he ever will be. All I know is that he’s nowhere near ready right now.”
Lance’s freak out when faced with Lemon more than proved that. He’d all but hyperventilated. He’d tried to run away to hide. He’d been more than scared. He’d been terrified. So, no, Lance wasn’t ready to tellanyonehe was gay, let alone the world.
“But time isn’t your friend. Not with the media on your tail.”
“I have time.” He argued, “I’m in hiding, remember?”
“Oh, come on Trent. You’re a smart man. You know Rick isn’t going to let you hide here forever. He’s probably already chartered a plane to come and get you himself and drag you back to Nashville.”
