Chapter Text
It was the day of the show and Ahk and Larry were on their way to meet the rest of the band at the venue. Ahk had told Larry it would be best for them to get there early, as he suspected a fair amount of his more hardcore fans would be queuing up in order to get a good position when doors eventually opened, but even so Larry was surprised by the sight that greeted them when they drove past the venue on the way the VIP parking lot. There were already at least a few hundred fans crowded up against the wall of the venue and further down the street.
“What the hell?” Larry muttered under his breath, glancing in the wing mirror at the crowd as he pulled the car into the tunnel to the parking lot and waited for security to buzz them in.
Ahk laughed, “Get used to it, Larry,” he smirked. “That’s normal for one of my shows.”
___
The rest of the day was hectic, to say the least; there were so many different stage effects Ahk wanted to run through to make sure everything when smoothly that night as well as the usual soundcheck Larry was used to from working at The Other Side. Then Ahk had to make sure his three different outfits for the show were all ready to go for his quick changes. It was certainly a busy life being Ahkmenrah, and as his bodyguard Larry was kept pretty busy all day too. It wasn’t until around 5.30 that they got a minute to sit down. It was an hour before Ahk was due in hair and makeup and he was lounging on the couch in his dressing room, scrolling lazily through Twitter on his phone while they waited for their dinner order to arrive.
“This is crazy,” Larry exclaimed, gesturing out the window to the queue of fans on the street below that had at least tripled since that morning, looping round the block and back. “When I was your age I was married with a kid on the way…” He mused, running a hand through his hair absentmindedly. “I mean, don't get me wrong, of course I love Nicky, but he wasn’t planned. None of it was and I kinda felt like, in a way, my life ended that day, you know? From then onwards, everything I did was for him… But look at you: 20 years old and you're practically taking over the world!” He paused again before continuing, unsure if it was out of line. “I know it's not really my place to say this but don't make the mistake I did, you know? Kids are awesome and I adore Nicky, but I wish I'd not had him so young.”
Ahk looked up from his phone, a slight smirk gracing his beautiful features. “Don't worry Larry,” He said solemnly. “I don't think there's really any chance of me getting a girl pregnant.”
“Well, that's what I thought you know - but it happened! I'm just saying be careful,” Larry remarked, sitting down next to Ahk. It was slightly embarrassing really, saying all this to Ahk; he felt a bit like a dad lecturing his kid (a fact which emphasised to him all the more just how young Ahkmenrah was), but he just didn’t want Ahk messing up his life! He wanted to protect him in any and every possible way, despite how jealous the thought of Ahk with anyone else still made him feel.
Ahk gave a dry laugh. “No, what I mean is, I'm not really in the habit of sleeping with women.”
“Oh? You must get hundreds of women throwing themselves at you! You seriously turn them all down?” Larry raised his eyebrows dubiously, though he would love to believe Ahk was different for many reasons, both selfless and not so much, he knew a lot of celebrities slept with their fans. Ahk just looked at him, as if waiting for the older man to realise what he had just said... And then it clicked; ‘not really any chance of me getting a girl pregnant’, ‘not in the habit of sleeping with women’… Larry's heart started pounding in his chest while he silently willed himself not to get his hopes up - did Ahk really mean what Larry thought he meant? Surely not? “You’re…?”
“Gay?” Ahk finished, nodding at Larry with a shy smile and looking slightly tense all of a sudden.
“Oh!” Larry tried very hard to keep his expression relatively neutral, but it was a fairly overwhelming piece of information to be told so casually and out of the blue. “Oh!” he repeated, “Well, that's fine, of course!” he grabbed Ahk’s arm in an effort to emphasise just how okay he thought it was and Ahk relaxed slightly. “Just, you know, be safe with that too, yeah?” Larry muttered, his face bright red.
Ahk grinned at Larry, a light blush covering his cheeks, but clearly relieved that he had been accepted for who he was. “Of course, Larry,” he murmured, putting his hand on top of where the other man’s rested before Larry had the chance to move it away. “But I’m not like that - just so you know,” he added softly, a strange look in his eyes.
“Noted,” Larry managed to choke out, his heart hammering against his ribcage at the prolonged contact. There was something so intimate and special about this moment between him and Ahkmenrah; the young man had just trusted him with a piece of information that could potentially ruin his career and Larry felt like he should say or do something that reflected just how much he respected and cared for the other man, but he didn’t know how.
There was a loud band from behind them and the two men sprang apart, both still blushing slightly. Jed stood by the door, having clearly just kicked it open, precariously balancing several pizza boxes in his arms.
“Dinner time, amigos!” he exclaimed loudly.
Ahk and Larry shared one last private glance before rushing to help Jed unload the food onto the small coffee table.
___
The next hour went by quickly and soon enough it was time for Ahk’s turn in hair and makeup. Larry waited outside his dressing room as the young man freshened u and changed into the outfit he was starting the show in and soon after Ahk’s makeup artist headed in. Larry took the opportunity to phone Nicky to check that he was on his way and that he knew where to go to meet Larry for the show. Nicky assured his dad that he did and soon after Larry hung up, Ahkmenrah was bounding out the room, looking drop-dead gorgeous in a silky gold button up and tight black jeans, his ringed with dark eyeliner and a light dusting of glitter on his cheeks.
“You’re due on stage in 40 minutes,” Larry said quickly, trying not to stare at the younger man who was currently grinning with excitement. “Nick will be here in about ten and I have to go meet him so do you want me to walk you back to the band?”
“Don’t be ridiculous Larry! I’m coming to meet Nick of course.”
Ahk grabbed Larry’s hand before he could say anything and began dragging him towards the nearest flight of stairs. He didn’t let go as he lead him down the stairs and towards the VIP entrance where Nicky had agreed to meet.
When Nicky caught sight of Ahk and Larry coming to meet him his face lit up and he bounded forward, embracing his dad before shooting Ahk a shy smile.
“Hey, Nick, I’m Ahk,” the young man smiled, sticking his hand out for the boy to shake.
“Lovely to meet you, Ahk,” Nicky said politely, shaking his hand.
Larry let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding; he had been so nervous to have these two people who were so important to him meet each other, but just from the introduction he knew it was going to be fine. Ahk and Nick chatted animatedly as they all walked back up to the backstage area so Ahk could warm up for the show. Larry was so pleased they were getting on and it really eased some of his anxiety about having Nicky come visit his new apartment.
-
Larry and Nicky watched the show from side of stage and Larry tried his hardest to keep his thoughts PG-13 with his son around, and not to stare too much at Ahk, but he knew that images of the show would definitely be visiting him in his dreams. Especially the bit where, partway, through the show Ahk turned and winked at Larry. The crowd went crazy when, before the last song of his encore, Ahk announced the new album release.
When the final song was over, Ahk bounded off the stage, sweaty and beaming, makeup streaked down his cheeks, and immediately embraced Larry excitedly.
Larry was surprised, to say the least but went with it, pulling Ahk close and whispering in his ear. “You were incredible, Ahk. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Ahk semi pulled away, still in Larry’s arms but looking at his face - smiling but with a strange look in his eyes. The moment was broken when Nicky cleared his throat loudly from below them. Ahk immediately jumped away from Larry, blushing slightly, before crouching down to talk to Nicky.
“Did you enjoy the show, Nicky?” Ahk asked sincerely.
Nick nodded enthusiastically. “Best show I've ever seen,” he smiled up at Ahk. “Thank you so much for inviting me!”
“Absolutely no worries, little man,” Ahk grinned. “Was a pleasure to have you here. I hear you’re coming to visit your dad at his new apartment soon? You’re both welcome to drop into mine while you’re over and play some video games. I have most recent releases.”
Nicky squealed at this and tugged at Larry’s sleeve, “Can we, Dad? Can we?”
“Of course, Nicky,” Larry smiled at his son, before flashing Ahk an appreciative smile. “But right now we gotta get you outta here, your mom’s waiting to pick you up.”
The boy groaned playfully and grabbed his dad’s hand. They walked Ahk to his dressing room so he could freshen up while Larry took Nick down to meet Erica. When they got to the front of the venue and saw Erica in her car across the street, Nicky hugged his dad tightly.
“Thanks so much for tonight, Dad, it was amazing,” Nicky grinned as he pulled away.
“Ah, it was all down to Ahk, you don’t need to thank me.”
“He’s a great guy,” Nicky replied with a smile.
“Yeah, he really is,” Larry said, and he could tell he had a ridiculous love-sick expression on his face, he tried to turn it into something more neutral before Nick said something. But Nicky just flashed Larry a knowing look before crossing the street to get into the car with his mom.