“We will,” Jon says. There’s not a trace of playfulness in his voice, either.
“Just don’t get too cutesy, okay?” Angel says, turning slowly in the middle of the room like he’s performing a dance solo for us. “I don’t like it when I’m not the center of everyone’s universe, so I’m gonna need you to be mindful of my feelings.”
“Don’t worry,” Zach says. “You’ll always be the center of Jon’s universe.”
Jon rolls his eyes and Angel doesn’t look impressed. “Yay. But for real. No dates without me, okay? I get an all-access pass to dates.”
“Watch what you wish for,” I say. “Some things work better with two people.”
Zach suddenly becomes very interested in the ceiling, and shuffles away from me on the bed, his entire face deepening into an unflattering shade of ketchup-red.
Angel blinks, looks between Zach and me, then mimes gagging. “Nope. This is already too much for me. Jon, it’s not them we need to worry about. This is weird for me.”
I shrug. “Well, don’t talk about our dates if you don’t want to hear about it!”
“Keep it PG, at least,” Angel moans. “Jesus.”
“What dates did you think you’d be joining them on?” Jon laughs. “It’s not like they can go for brunch at a local café at the moment.”
I try to keep my face neutral, but apparently I fail, because Angel pounces on me immediately. “What don’t we know?” he demands, grabbing the head of the bed frame.
I look over at Zach helplessly. This seems like something I shouldn’t share on his behalf. He only told me about the canals, after all.
Luckily, he doesn’t look uncomfortable. In fact, he’s wearing a conspiratorial grin. “We may have snuck out in Amsterdam one night.”
“What?” Angel yelps. “How?”
“Are you for real?” Jon asks at the same time. “You could’ve gotten caught!”
I catch Zach’s eye and we grin at each other. His smile is soft and affectionate. “Ruben thought to use the fire escape,” he says. “Nobody saw us, it’s fine.”
Jon looks stricken, but Angel bursts out laughing. “Holy shit. I feel like I’m seeing a whole new side to you two.”
“I feel like you’re more shocked about us sneaking out than us hooking up in secret,” I say dryly.
Angel folds his arms. “Well, neither of you have ever asked me to sneak out with you.”
“Presumably,” Jon says, “neither of them has ever asked you to make out with them, either, though?”
“Unfortunately, you’ll never know the answer to that one,” Angel says with dignity. “I don’t kiss and tell.”
Zach glances at me and raises a questioning eyebrow. I shake my head no, biting back a laugh.
“And to be fair, Zach didn’t ask me to make out with him, per se,” I start, but Angel shoves his fingers in his ears and starts singing his part in “Guilty” loudly enough to drown me out.
* * *
I can’t say that it didn’t occur to me it was a bad idea to put the idea of escaping the hotel in Angel’s head.
It seems unlikely that it’d never occurred to him, given we literally caught him using a fire exit only last week. But I guess ducking outside to meet a dealer for five minutes is a different ball game than escaping at night to go on an adventure. Still, it’s been days since we told him about our escape, and as far as I can tell, he hasn’t tried it himself. Or, at least, if he has, he hasn’t been caught.
In fact, Angel has been pretty low-key since he got into trouble for messing with the choreo in Cologne. I have no idea if it was escalated to Geoff, or if Erin’s disapproval was inexplicably enough to set him straight, but he hasn’t made a peep.
Which is why, when he sends a group message to us telling us about the “few friends” he has in his room tonight, I’m actually a little taken aback.
Zach, whose phone buzzed the same moment mine did, pulls his blanket to his chin and burrows deep into his mountain of pillows. “I don’t want to, I just want to stay in and watch movies.” Suddenly, his head snaps up. “Unless you want to? We can totally go if you want to. I’m easy.”
“No, I’m happy to stay in,” I say, putting my phone on his bedside table and snuggling in beside him to steal his body heat. It’s an especially cool night in Berlin, and even though the rooms are all climate controlled, the steady pattering of light rain on the windows is enough to make me feel sleepy and cozy. I feel sorry for the group of fans huddled outside the hotel hoping to catch a glimpse of us. I hope they have blankets. And umbrellas.