Chapter Text
Cody could still remember the way Guy smiled when they were kids—wide and unguarded, like the whole world was theirs to conquer. That smile used to be the best part of Cody’s day, back when their worries were nothing more than who could kick a football the farthest or whose turn it was to buy sweets from the corner shop.
He thought about it now, leaning against the side of the stage while Coldplay sound-checked for their latest tour. Guy stood across the stage, his bass slung low, fingers gliding effortlessly over the strings. His head bobbed slightly to the rhythm, that same half-smile tugging at his lips—the one Cody hadn’t seen in years, not like he used to.
Cody’s stomach tightened. That smile was the reason he was here, wasn’t it? Why he’d stuck around all this time, even when every glance at Guy felt like a knife twisting a little deeper.
“Hey, Cody,” Chris’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. The frontman waved him over from where the rest of the band was gathering. “You good?”
“Yeah, fine,” Cody replied quickly, brushing his hands on his jeans as he moved toward them.
It wasn’t a lie, not exactly. He was fine in the way you could pretend to be when the person you loved most in the world was also the one you could never have. Fine in the way you had to be when your best friend didn’t notice the way you watched him like a dying man clings to sunlight.
The rehearsal dragged on, each note dragging Cody deeper into his own head. By the time they called it a day, the stage was dark except for the stage lights, now dimmed to a soft glow. Guy stayed behind, tinkering with his bass, oblivious to Cody’s lingering presence at the edge of the stage.
“Still here?” Guy’s voice startled him, low and easy, like they weren’t worlds apart. He glanced up, his hazel eyes catching Cody in the half-light.
“Yeah,” Cody said, his voice barely steady. “Thought I’d wait for you.”
Guy smiled—that same smile that had haunted Cody for years. “You didn’t have to.”
But I did, Cody thought. I always do.