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"You are not thinking of coming out of the proverbial closet are you?" Adam asked.
"I don't think I’ve been in the closet since my knees buckled under the force of your on-stage kiss that first time, however determined you were to shove me back inside," Tommy smiled.
"I suppose. More like a glass closet of sorts," Adam winked.
"Only you would think of dialing up the stage play to deflect reality," Tommy laughed.
"At least, the media hype in this case makes me sounds vaguely interesting. If I wasn’t me, I might actually be mildly interested in a convention-busting musician. Much better to be hounded by the press for being an unconventional performer, than to join the dregs of the tabloid celebs infamous for amorous indiscretions," Adam rambled on.
"So I am an indiscretion?" Tommy asked, head cocked to the side.
"A very delicious and irresistible one, that I adore," Adam smiled.
Tommy smiled at Adam’s words, but the smile masked the vague twinge of his heart at the non-committal declaration, especially because he was in the process of hitting the floor, after he'd jumped off the building of falling in-love.
**
Riding in a limo is just one of those things Tommy is never going to get used to. That, and Adam’s off-stage kisses. So, riding in a Limo while kissing Adam was one those mindfuckingly-unbelievable, pinch-me, wake-me-up-from-this-dream, moments Tommy seemed to be experiencing a lot these days.
Suddenly, Adam’s voice blasted through the radio...so I got my boots on…got the right amount of leather
Tommy had to break away from the kiss to laugh. It wasn’t one of those this-is-so-funny kind of laughs either, more like the that-did-not-just-happen variety. Adam must have mirrored his thoughts because he burst out in laughter too.
“You know what?” Tommy asked, eyes fixed on Adam. “When they play your songs, it makes me want to listen to radio again.”
Adam bent to kiss him. “You make me want to listen to music again.”
Tommy let himself get lost in the kiss this time, while Adam’s voice wailed if I had you through the speakers. He knew Adam had never really not listened to music, but he understood the sentiment. Your ears hear music so differently when the words of the song clench around your heart, and don’t let go. He knew this was Adam’s way of saying whatever they had together was priceless, maybe even love.
If Adam was not yet ready to say it out loud, he said as much every day with his actions: With his blue eyes, that lighted up like a sapphire catching the sun when Tommy walked into the room. With his hands, that touched Tommy like he was the most valuable thing in the world to Adam. With his kisses, that told Tommy there was no such thing as enough. One day, Tommy hoped, Adam would get round to recruiting his voice to the sentiment.
**
Adam sang the last notes of Aftermath while Tommy stood in the shadows off-stage and watched. Those high notes make Tommy think about his life before Adam, and about the aftermath of realizing what he’d found in Adam – the love of his life. His chest tightened with the hope that love would be enough to face the future, and survive whatever life threw at them. Words still unspoken thundered in his heart --- and no, the friendly “I love yous” of the yester days when they really were no more than good friends didn’t count.
As Adam walked off the stage, Tommy accosted him in the dark corner drunk on the braveness inspired by Adam’s ballad. “I love you!” Tommy said before he kissed Adam. He crushed their lips together to silence whatever Adam had to say. He didn’t want to hear those words now - not as a me-too gesture. If Adam loved him, Tommy was certain Adam would figure out a way to say the words on his own schedule. So they kissed until the stage called, silently, but powerfully, as it’s wont to do. There was more costume changing and performing to be done that night.
**
Tommy watched as Adam pranced across the stage towards him. “You make me want to listen to music again.” He thought back to earlier that day, in the limo, when Adam had said those words to him. He noticed the love tattooed into Adam’s face in the form of a smile. Then Adam did something unexpected, he touched their heads together, with a tenderness that made the public moment somehow even more sacred.
“I love you Tommy.”
Tommy heard the words, saw the love in Adam’s eyes clearly too, and found himself mouthing, “I love you too.” His heart wanted to soar to the heavens. Adam had made a believer out of him - a believer in love, and life, and all its strappings. He’d known Adam was going to outdo his own unromantic copping to love easily, but what Adam just did was… unexpected, and so very Adam.
**
“Adam!” Tommy chided Adam with his tone as they walked off the stage after the encore, a loving smile still plastered on his face.
“Hiding in plain sight,” Adam winked.