The drive back from the Wal-mart was practically in silence. AJ shook his head sadly as he thought about the fact that less than an hour ago Nick was acting like the old Nick, wanting to play PS2 games. He glanced at his friend noticing that he was staring out the window; index finger in his mouth. AJ bit his words when he wanted to tell the young blonde to take his finger out of his mouth.
"Fingers Nicky!"
AJ looked over when Brian Littrell corrected his best friend as he drove. He was staring at Nick from the rearview mirror as they sat at a stop light.
"The kid’s had a rough day, I think this one time would be okay," AJ said.
Brian glanced at the tattooed rebel with his eyebrows furrowed. "You are saying it's okay? You are constantly harping on Nick for sucking on his finger."
AJ shrugged his shoulders as he mumbled. "I don't think it matters that much anymore."
"Nick is 23," Brian started.
"Twenty-three physically," AJ corrected.
"Please don't fight," Nick cried out from the back seat.
"I'm sorry Nick, I'm not fighting with AJ, we're just disagreeing," Brian replied.
"I don't like it when you fight," Nick continued. "We get in trouble for fighting at home."
Brian grinned. "And AJ should get in trouble for fighting with me too."
AJ's face soured. "Ass."
"That's a bad--"
"Word….yeah I know Nick, ass is a bad word but that is the best description of Brian," AJ interrupted.
Shaking his head, Brian pulled into the parking lot of the hotel. "I know that there’s two of you that need to go to bed."
Yawning, Nick shook his head. "I don't want to go to bed."
"You're tired Kaos, I can tell you need your sleep," AJ agreed.
"But I thought we were gonna play games!" Nick whined as he struggled to unfasten his seat belt.
"We've got all day tomorrow to play video games," Brian said as he turned off the engine.
Letting himself out of the front seat, AJ walked over to Nick’s car door. “Here, let me help you,” he said as he reached in to unfasten the seat belt. Tears pooled in the tattooed rebel’s eyes as he helped his young brother unfasten the seat belt.
“Are you sad?” Nick asked innocently.
AJ jerked away. “Huh?”
“You look like you’re crying,” Nick said softly.
“It’s just allergies,” AJ mumbled a lie. “Nicky, can you hand me that bag?” he asked quickly as he gestured to the wanted item on the backseat.
Brian reached into the backseat from the opposite side of the car, looking at AJ as he retrieved the other bag. He knew exactly why Nick was concerned; he had seen the sad look in AJ’s face ever since Nick had been found unconscious in the hotel room when he accidentally overdosed on medications. It was a depression that the tattooed rebel had never been able to shake.
As they entered the lobby, Nick left AJ’s side and sprinted toward the elevators.
“Nick! Get back here!” AJ hissed.
“Can I push the button?” Nick called out excitedly.
“Settle down,” Brian asked with a shake of his head.
The two older men arrived to where Nick had been impatiently standing.
“Took you all day,” he grumbled, then he smiled. “Can I push the button?”
“Sure, go ahead,” the Kentuckian grinned.
Nick stared at the call button for the elevator. “Which one?”
“Up…”
As soon as the blonde pressed the button, the doors slid open. Nick quickly stepped into the car. He looked at the panel. “Which one now?”
“Our room is 829,” Brian said.
“Which button??”
“Eight Nick,” AJ spat.
“You don’t have to be mean about it,” Brian corrected.
“Which button??” Nick asked impatiently.
“If our room is 829, we’d be on the eighth floor….”
“Eight, Nick,” AJ growled.
”Which one is eight??” This time it was Nick that was growing irritable.
AJ scowled as he reached around the blonde and pressed the button for the eighth floor. “This one.”
“I was s’posed to do that!” Nick whined as he backed himself against the corner of the elevator and slid down the wall to the floor.
Brian’s face soured as he stared at AJ. “Are you satisfied? C’mon Nick get up off the floor, it’s dirty.”
“Kaos get up off the floor,” AJ pled.
Nick crossed his arms shaking his head in defiance, ignoring Brian and AJ’s request. The elevator stopped on the 3rd floor, opening the door for two young teenaged girls.
“Just fucking great,” AJ muttered under his breath.
The older of the two, reached over and pressed the button for 12. AJ rolled his eyes when he saw their selection.
“Is something wrong with Nick?”
“Really fucking great,” AJ growled.
“Pardon me?” the girl asked.
Brian flashed a forced smile. “He felt a little dizzy so I told him to sit down,” he lied.
The elevator stopped on the eighth floor and AJ grabbed a hold of Nick’s arm, jerking him upwards. “C’mon we’re here.”
The two girls looked at AJ and Nick and then shook their heads. “You could be a little nicer to him when he doesn’t feel good,” the older girl said.
“And you could mind---“
”AJ….” Brian started to correct the rebel.
“I’m sorry, I just over-react when I get nervous, right Kaos?” AJ said as he threw an arm across Nick’s shoulder.
As soon as the doors closed, Brian’s cell phone rang. Checking the caller ID Brian sighed.
“I forgot to call Kevin back…you take Nick down and help him get ready for bed, I’ll be there in a minute,” Brian said as he flipped the phone open.
“But I don’t wanna go to bed,” Nick’s whiney voice carried down the hall.
“Hey Kev…I’m sorry I didn’t call you right back.”
“Is everything alright?” the older Kentuckian asked.
“Yeah we were just getting back to the hotel…”
“So what exactly is happening? You said when I called you earlier that Nicky wanted to play PS2 games?”
“Yeah, we went to Wal-mart because Nick all of a sudden talked about how he used to kick our butts playing PS2 games and he started looking through the drawers in the room looking for a play station. When we said we didn’t bring one along, he wanted to go out and get one. It was weird…he was like Nicky,” Brian recalled.
“And??” Kevin pressed.
Tears welled up in Brian’s eyes. “That only lasted for an hour.”
Kevin sighed. “Only an hour?”
“Yeah, he..he’s back to where he was when you saw him the other week,” Brian replied, his voice thick with emotion.
“I’m catching a flight back tonight.”
“We’re okay, Kev. Finish what you went back to California to do,” Brian begged.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” Kevin replied, quickly ending his side of the conversation.
As Brian turned to let himself into the hotel room, he could hear the bathroom door slam shut and footsteps running toward the bathroom and Nick's voice. "I told ya I have to go! Lemme in!"
With a sigh, he slid the room card into the door. This was going to be a long night with AJ and Nick!