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It had been a couple of weeks since they had celebrated their 30th anniversary and were in serious talks about letting the rest of the band know. They had that secret for decades and only a couple of people knew about it, mainly their parents and close family. As much as they loved their little bubble of privacy, they were tired of hiding for so long. They agree to tell them the next time the whole band would be gathered in the studio, which was scheduled two weeks later. It was a stressful decision, but they hoped that no one would have a problem with them being a couple. Closer the day was coming the more they felt the stress.*** The day had finally come, James and Chris just landed in Los Angeles, the older man was driving to the studio. His right hand rubbing his boyfriend's tight to reassure him. He wasn't really in a better state of mind. ''How do you think they will react?'' that was Chris who asked the question they had both on their mind. ''I'm kind of scare to tell them, I don't want them to kick us out of the band because of it''. They stopped at a red light and Jim looked at his lover, smiling somewhat reassuringly ''I don't know, but I'm pretty sure they won't kick us out. They might need some time to adjust to that, but they should be ok with it, at some point if not right away”. He looked back at the road as the light turned green and the rest of the drive to the studio was awfully quiet. Jim pulled over at the studio building, making sure there was no one around, he leaned over and kissed Chris reassuringly. “It's gonna be ok, if they have a problem with it, it's them that need to get over it, I'm not letting you go after 30 years just because someone doesn't agree with us”. Chris smiled and they got out of the car to join the others in the studio. Once they were they were in front of the closed door, James squeezed his boyfriend's hand and opened the door. “Hey guys, it was about time you get here you two,” that was Corey talking “something wrong?” he asked when he notice the nervousness clearly in Chris's body. The taller man avoided the singer's gaze and looked around the room to see that everyone were there and now looking at him.“Err, well, umm... we......” Chris started and couldn't add more. He looked at James completely panicked as seven pairs of eyes was looking at him. The taller man grabbed his hand and pulled him against his chest.“What he was trying to say is that we are together”, the silence fell in the room and everyone were looking at them. “It was about damn time”, Shawn was the one who broke the silence. He had a big smile on his face, and everyone proceeded to congratulate them and joking about it. The couple was shocked at the reaction they caused. The only two remaining mostly silent were Jay and Alex. They didn't look disgusted, just very surprised, which wasn't a problem. “I guess they were less blind than we thought” Jim whispered into Chris's ear. The slightly shorter man relaxed. He kissed him tenderly on the temper. They took place on the empty couch and waited for the other to calm down. “We support you” that was Shawn talking “nobody is really surprised, but there's one important thing to discuss...”Chris cut him “Don't worry, we are old enough to know what's happening in our private life stay there and shouldn't have an impact on the band...” he stopped when someone interrupted him.“Hey guys, since they told us they are together, that mean some of us won that bet...” Sid shouted out loud. Everyone was looking at him.“What the hell? You guys made a bet on us, jeez...” James was completely flabbergasted about it and Chris was mouth hanging next to him. “What was that bet about exactly?”“We mostly made a bet on if you were going to get together or not at some point, totally noticed you were into each other.” Corey added with a smile. “Though, it's been a long time ago and I don't know we still have the notes where it was written who said what and for how much money.”“I'm pretty sure me, Shawn and Corey were the ones that said yes, so here comes the money” Mick grinned devilishly at the others. “We might call Brenna, Paul was the one who kept those notes, plus don't forget there was a third category.” Craig added in a neutral tone and blinked at the couple. He looked like he knew something the others didn't. He took out his phone and called the deceased bassist's wife and put it on the speaker.Chris and James looked at each others. If Paul was involved in this bet, that meant it happened almost ten years before. “Hey Craig, what's up?” the widow answered.“Hey Bre, I was wondering if you kept Paul's personal notes about the band, we are looking at a bet we did years ago.”“Let me check, I'm sure I kept that notebook somewhere. I'll call you back when I get it.”“Great!” The line went dead and he looked at the other. “while we are waiting her to call back, let's talk a bit about it”.“I guess we are the only one that didn't see it coming,” said Jay, who stayed quiet before that. “How did you get together exactly?” Corey asked almost jumping on his seat.Chris laughed before answering, “Oh well... one of my friend knew I had strong feelings for him, he dared me to go kiss him, I did, he invited me on a date, and voilà! nothing special, I was scared as fuck he would punch me in the face.” At that James saw a very triumphing look on Craig's face. And he whispered something in Chris's for only him to hear “Craig seems to know more than he let on” Craig phone rang, he answered, it was Brenna calling back “Hey guys, I got that notebook, what was the bet about?”“About Jim and Chris” Sid said.Brenna laughed before continuing “They finally got together? It was time” Everyone laughed while they heard the sound of turning pages through the phone. “Got it! On the yes side: Shawn, Corey, and Mick for fifty dollars each. In the no category we have Sid, Joey, and Paul for fifty each. And there's Craig for bet two hundred dollars that they were probably already together ... the bet was taken on June 13, 2009, at download festival.” “Here comes the money.” Corey exclaimed loudly. “If I calculated this good there will be two-hundred fifty, divided by three of us. Eighty-three dollars each for me, Mick, and Shawn. I took out Joey and Paul money for obvious reason. Spit the money guys” “Not so fast” that was Craig talking with an evil smile on his face. “I think I actually won two-hundred from all of you” “What are you talking about?” it was Shawn asking, he turned to the couple “were you already together when the bet was made?” and turned to the sampler” and if yes, how did you know about it” “I have my sources”James sighed, “yes, were already together when the bet was made, so yup Craig won, I think he actually knew from the beginning, seeing the face he made when Chris explained how it happened ” Everyone wereshocked at the announcement.“You've been together for like at least ten years without us knowing, damn it guys... When's the wedding date now ?” Sid asked jokingly.The couple looked at each other with an accomplice look and laughed hard for a moment. When they got their breath back, James looked at them all for a second before dropping another bomb “May, 23th...”“Are we invited?” Sid added excitedly“of the year two-thousand... and... nine” Chris finished what his boyfriend started to say. They let the info sinking into the others head.“You mean that you actually been married for ten years already?” That was Alex talking for the first time since they were all reunited in the room. “Yup” the tallest member of the band said.Everyone were shocked. Except Craig again, well he was a bit surprised that they were actually officially married, he needed to ask “You just got married like that, does someone actually knew about it?”“Well, our parents and some close family members did know. As for the wedding, we simply went to the court to make it official, filed the papers and that was about it. No ceremony, nothing special... we don't even have rings” the guitarist said. “When they made it legal in Iowa, we just discussed about it and agreed on doing it. No one had actually popped the question in the normal way.”“You married about ten years ago, then how long exactly have you been together?” Corey asked, trying to figure out some clues that would give him an answer... “I always thought both of you always been single... But now that I think about it, you did had a girlfriend when you joined Stone Sour right ?”James shook his head “Never had a girlfriend nor been interested in girls in my whole life, I don't remember talking about having one. The only girl I went on a date with, was because you were fucking annoying me to do so, I just did to make you all shut up about it.”“Maybe you never explicitly said it was a girl, but you had someone and called him baby over the phone. But after you join us here, never heard about it again or someone else for that matter...”“Yeah, he's right, when did you two get together exactly? I guess you got together sometime after Jim joined the band” it was Mick asking the question.“Well...” Chris started “we've actually been together way longer than being single...”“How long? Answer the damn question that we can start working on the album” That was Shawn that was starting to be impatient.“We got together in high school... back in 1989...” James finally spitting out the info. Everyone was looking at them completely shocked, even more than before. Craig burst into laughter, “seriously, I knew it back then, but never thought it would have lasted. I was actually sure it had ended when he joined the band and you both acted like you barely knew each other. But with the others speculating on things, well, I came to the conclusion you were just hiding.” “Are you going to make it public?” Jay asked.“I don't know, it took us thirty years before really telling it to people, maybe some time, maybe not. Actually, I always thought about coming out about my sexuality and having your support, I might do it soon.” The percussionist said. “But now, like Shawn said, we need to work on the album.”The rest of the day was spent into a good mood, they were excited for when the album will come out.