“Come on, Lyn, pick up,” Blaine whispered to himself as he dialed the phone for the third time. He had explicitly told Lynsael never to answer the phone, but he desperately needed to get a hold of him. With fingers crossed, he prayed Lynsael would disobey, at least just this once.

After the fourth ring, he heard the click. “Hello?” Lynsael's hushed voice answered.

“Lyn. Hey, it's Blaine.”

“Blaine?”

“Yeah. Um, Raz, the new guitarist, is coming over to go through some songs with me. Can you, you know, throw some clothes on?” the last few words whispered from Blaine's lips. He wasn't about to try and explain why he had a naked angel running around.

“You're okay with having company over?” Lynsael asked.

“Sure. But if you can throw on a coat to cover your wings, that would be best.”

“All right.”

Blaine paused a moment. Something caught in his throat. It had been another long day at practice with the band, and though he loved every minute of it, he couldn't wait to go home and see his angel. He'd have Raz with him, though, so he would have to make sure to save what he'd wanted to say for later.

“See you in a bit, okay?” Blaine said after clearing his throat.

“Okay.”

The phone clicked, and Blaine lowered the handset back on the base. Katlinne and Raz were in the middle of going through one of her songs. As Blaine approached, Raz immediately stopped and turned to him.

“You got everything cleared up with your roommate?” he asked.

Blaine nodded.

“Good, so let's head—“

“When did you get a roommate, Blaine?” Katlinne interrupted.

Shit, he never told Katy or the rest of the band about his new roommate. He'd never thought the topic would come up. Besides, it was just a one bedroom apartment; he'd hoped that Katlinne wouldn't get suspicious.

Blaine flicked his eyes to his band mate. “A couple of days ago. It's easier to share the bills, and everything.” He gulped down the uneasiness building in his stomach. How else should he refer to Lynsael but as his roommate? But he wanted to distinguish him as so much more than that.

“Right,” the tone in Katlinne's voice was skeptical as she furrowed her brows. “Well, Raz has been looking for a place to stay.” She curled her arm around Raz's shoulder and softened her face. “I'm thinking of asking the folks if he could have Vince's old room.”

Raz stood with an all to easy smile on his lips, seeming to enjoy Katlinne's grip on him.

“So Vince finally moved out, huh?” Blaine asked.

“Yep. Got himself a little efficiency apartment above Schnooker's Place downtown.”

“That nasty place?” Blaine chuckled. “Damn, he had it made living here compared to there.”

“He can keep it. Besides, I'd rather Raz be my neighbor.” She smiled wide and batted her dark, mascara lined eyelashes. Yep, she was definightly hot and bothered for their new guitarist. Blaine laughed to himself at the thought.

“Come on, Katy, you know relationships between bands members never work out,” Blaine said with another chuckle before turning to Raz. “So, you ready to go?”

“Lead the way, man.” Raz unfolded himself from Katy and motioned for Blaine to go first.

Blaine led Raz to his car parked out in the driveway and they both hopped inside. He cranked up his new stereo, the loud music drowning out the revved up engine, before pulling out of the driveway and on to the street.

Patting his hands in beat with the music, Raz looked around the car's leather interior. “Nice ride,” he hollered out.

“Thanks.”

“Where did you get it?” Raz asked again, making Blaine turn down his stereo.

“The shop on the corner of Harrison Street downtown. Buddy of mine owns the place,” Blaine answered, proud that he'd gotten a good deal on the car because of his connections.

Raz nodded. “Sweet. Can't wait to get a car.”

“Yeah, it beats walking everywhere.”

Another block, and Blaine pulled into the parking lot in front of the apartment complex. A bit of apprehension seized through him as he began to hope Lynsael had done as he asked. He didn't know how he'd answer the question of why his roomie had wings.

“Here it is.” He swung the driver's door open, and twirled the key ring around his finger as he led Raz up to his apartment. As a precaution, he had always locked it up before leaving Lynsael alone.

Just as the lock clicked, Raz leaned in, his arm wrapping around Blaine's shoulders. “You always keep the door locked when someone is home?”

Blaine clenched his jaw and took a deep breath, “Yeah, it's just for the peace of mind, you know.”

Raz pulled away. “Okay, I get that.” A smug look weaved in his face.

Blaine flicked his eyes back to the half opened door. That was a weird thing for Raz to question, don't normal people lock the door of their own homes, even if someone was inside? He shook it off and stepped inside.

A faint light shined from the living room, and it was too quiet. Blaine began to wonder where Lynsael was. Had he been studying the base of the statue again? Or had he gone to the bedroom?

“Hey, Lyn?” Blaine called out.

“Yeah?” Lynsael's voice echoed back from the darkened living room.

Raz stepped by Blaine as they both entered the room. “Nice place. Hey, how ya doing?” He nodded towards Lynsael.

“Good,” Lynsael spoke with a similar head nod to Raz.

Sitting cross legged on the couch, Lynsael had done exactly what Blaine told him. Wearing the same blue jeans that he had loaned him, with the white sleeveless shirt underneath Blaine's black leather jacket. Who said he could wear my jacket? Just seeing Lynsael in his jacket irritated him. The black leather looked ten times better on Lynsael that it did on him. Blaine narrowed his eyes and focused on Lynsael; the thought of the angel in just the jacket and nothing else flashed through his mind.

The flicker of the television had Blaine even more surprised. Lynsael had never sat down to watch the TV before.

Raz stepped to the end of the coffee table and extended an offering handshake to Lynsael. “Name's Raz. New guitarist in your roomies band.”

At first, Lynsael began to reach out. “Um, Lyn...” but something passed through his eyes, and he pulled away. “Sorry, I'm... feeling like I have a cold, you know,” he said as he settled back on the couch.

A cold? Blaine began to feel his stomach bubble with concern.

“Sure.” Raz stepped back. “That's cool. Nice to meet you.”

Lynsael seemed to force a smile before turning back to the television.

Blaine felt a tremble run through him. Something wasn't right about the situation, but whatever that was, he couldn't quite figure out. With a cough, Blaine turned to Raz. “Well, you ready to check out those tabs?”

“Sure, man.” Raz slid around the coffee table and plopped down on the couch next to Lynsael.

Lynsael moved to the opposite side, a smug look on his face. Blaine paused a moment, still unsure of what was wrong. “Hey, Lyn, can you turn the TV down?” he asked, and Lynsael tapped the remote, turning the television off. “O-kay.” Blaine shook his head and walked into the bedroom to retrieve his song book.

He'd kept all of his tabs in a notebook under his bed, along with everything else. As he knelt down, he paused as Raz's voice spoke up. “So, Lyn, you from around here?”

“Um, no. I guess you could say I just moved to town,” Lynsael had answered, though Blaine could clearly hear the distress in his voice.

“I see. Same here.” The was a rustle of clothing, followed by, “It's been fun. Kinda like it here.”

Moments of silence before another stirring.

“Hey, Lyn, can you grab me a drink while you're at it?”

Blaine grabbed his book and peered out into the room; Lynsael had walked into the kitchen and hovered over the refrigerator, his hand gripped on the handle. There wasn't any emotion in his face as he stared hard into the white of the fridge door for the slight moment. Soon, he furrowed his brows and said, “Sure.”

“Hang on,” Blaine said and Lynsael froze before reaching into the open refrigerator. Raz looked in shock at Blaine. “He's not a waiter, man. What do you want?”

“Just a beer,” Raz said with a shrug.

“Yeah, we don't drink.”

“No shit? Well, how about a soda, then?”

Blaine started for the kitchen, and slid past Lynsael, grabbing a soda can. He flicked his eyes to Lynsael, and sighed, “You okay?”

Lynsael turned to Blaine, his mouth trembling. Blaine didn't know if it was true that he was feeling ill, or if something else was wrong. “Maybe you should go lay down?”

“Blaine,” Lynsael whispered. Instead of finishing the sentence, he nodded and sauntered his way to the bedroom.

Whatever was eating at the angel, Blaine wanted to know. Lynsael hadn't been acting right since Raz showed up, and while Blaine could understand that he wasn't used to company, it didn't call for this kind of treatment. He worried that he'd done something terribly wrong by inviting Raz over.

“Here you go.” He handed Raz the pop can along with the song book. “Take a look at those, and let me know what you think.” Blaine was determined not to let Lynsael's attitude bother him.

***

An hour later, Blaine knocked on the open bedroom door and announced he was going to take Raz home. Lynsael had curled himself up on the bed, surprisingly on his side. It could only mean one thing; Lynsael's wings had become smaller, and that sent fear running through his already busy thoughts.

“You gonna be okay?” Blaine asked, his tone soft.

Lynsael nodded.

“Okay. Well, I'll be right back.”

After grabbing his coat from the back of the couch, Blaine headed for the door with Raz close behind. They were back in the car, with the song book in Raz's hand when Raz shook his head. “You know, I don't think your roomie likes me.”

“Ah, he's just not used to having company,” Blaine said.

“He seems like a cool guy, though; wouldn't have minded to get to know him a little better.”

Blaine tightened his grip on the steering wheel; his shoulders tensed. How much better did Raz mean?

Silence followed and Blaine fought to not to grab Raz by the shirt collar and ask exactly what he meant by that comment. Maybe it was just something friendly; he'd wanted to hang out with Lyn more, maybe listen to some music, or talk about sports.

“Well, anyway, maybe next time, huh?” Raz interrupted the calm.

There wasn't going to be a next time if Blaine had anything to say about it.

After the seemingly long, quiet drive, Blaine dropped Raz off at Katlinne's garage and took off; passing the speed limit in order to get back to Lynsael and finally hear what was going on. There was something about the entire thing that fueled some strange tension Blaine never thought existed.

“Lyn!” he called out as soon as he was back in the door. “What the hell was all that about earlier?” Blaine stepped into the living room to find Lynsael back on the couch with his hands to his lips, brows creased in deep thought.

Lynsael flicked his eyes to Blaine a moment. “It's Raz...” Lynsael stuttered.

“Yeah I kinda figured that.”

“The-there's something about him,” Lynsael choked out.

“He was kind of an ass,” Blaine said, matter of fact. “But that doesn't mean—“

“No, that's not all.” Lynsael shook his head, and then stood up. The baggy leather coat hung low over his waist, a corner stuck to his jean pocket. “I just have a weird feeling about him.”

“Wait. Are you,” Blaine crossed his arms. “Jealous?”

“What? No! It's just... maybe you need to find a different guitar play—“

“Stop.” Blaine went rigid. “Okay. Just stop. I'm not going to go through having to find a different guitar player because you have some weird feeling about the guy,” his voice shook. He just couldn't believe Lynsael was doing this.

“But what if—“

“I said stop.” Blaine grabbed Lynsael by the collar, knuckles turning white with the irritation boiling through him.

“Blaine?”

Blaine pulled Lynsael forward then back again, letting go of the coat in the process. The back of Lynsael's leg hit the edge of the couch and he struggled to balance himself.

That moment of anger turned straight to shame and Blaine lowered his head. He clenched his fists tight at his sides. There was no way in hell he was going to search out someone else this close to their first gig. Tomorrow, he'd wanted to be up on stage with the entire band, Raz included, bringing in hordes of people to watch them play.

“I'm sorry,” Blaine whispered. “But Raz is our guitar player now. If you have something to say about it, keep it to yourself.” He flicked his eyes to Lynsael.

“But—“

“No. I don't want to hear it.” Blaine stepped around the coffee table and hovered in front of the bedroom door. “I'm going to practice a bit, then I'm going to bed.”