Han walked up the back steps, arms full of shopping bags. Although the girls had only gone out for less than an hour surprisingly she had been able to find everything she'd been looking for. The sound of the phone ringing incessantly met her ears as she walked inside. "Anyone going to get that?" she yelled. No one answered her so she set the bags down on the floor and picked up the cordless from the counter. "Hello?"
"Hey Han, it's AC I made it home."
"Hey AC. How was the flight?"
"Not bad. Lis around?"
"She should be." Han answered, looking around. "I'll go look and see. I know she came in the house before me." Han walked into the living room seeing Brian standing at the door, shaking. "B, where's Lis?"
Slowly Brian turned around and Han dropped the phone. "She's gone." he said quietly.
"Gone? What happened to your face?" she stared at him in shock.
"Lis left..." he saw the phone of the carpet. "Who's on the phone?"
"Aaron."
Brian went over and picked the phone up. "Aaron, it's B...we gotta talk."
"What happened?" He asked, having overheard the entire exchange between Han and B.
Brian walked downstairs and shut the door, sitting on the steps. "He knows about the baby AC, he thinks it's mine and he blew up...Lis walked in, he left and then she ran upstairs and threw some things in a suitcase and left, said she didn't want to come between me and Nick."
Aaron groaned. "Shit! I knew that would happen."
"I wanted to tell him but...I promised Lis."
"I know." Aaron felt bad, he knew what his brother must be going through. He knew they were married and he did still care about Lis. Aaron suspected he remembered more then he was telling anyone, and now he thought Lis and Rok were having a baby. "You should have told him everything from the beginning."
"That's what I wanted to do but Lis thought it would put too much pressure on him."
"Would have made everything easier." Aaron said softly, knowing what they had both gone through in the last few months.
Nick paced through his beach house. His eyes went over everything, he saw none of it though. He went down the stairs and into his studio, he needed to get rid of his frustration and the drums would do that. Nick sat down behind his drum set but there wasn't any drumsticks around. He walked into the booth and went over to his desk, remembering thats where he usually kept them. He went to open the drawer but found it locked. What the hell, he thought. Nick looked at the keyhole on the drawer and realized it fit the key on his key ring. Quickly Nick pulled his keys out of his pocket and tried them all, finally finding the one that fit. He turned the key and opened the drawer, staring in shock at everything in front of him. A jewelry box, a video tape, pictures, all inside a box. Nick lifted the box out and sunk onto the leather chair. The very first thing he opened was the jewelry box and he found his wedding ring staring up at him. He slid the ring on his finger and went through the pictures, all were of their wedding and the reception. He read the label on the video tape, "Nick and Lis, January 31, 2003"
Lis walked through the airport, she stopped and stared at the departures. All she knew was she had to get out of Tampa as soon as possible. A flight to New York was leaving in an hour, that was good enough she thought as she headed towards the ticket counter.
Han picked up her cell phone and dialed the beach house, instinctively knowing that would be where Nick was. The phone rang twenty times and no one picked it up. She dialed his studio line and heard his voice pick up on the third ring. "Yeah?" he asked softly.
Han could tell he'd been crying. "Nick are you okay?"
"No..." he answered honestly.
She disappeared upstairs into her room. "Nick, Lis left."
"Left where?"
"Here. Brian said she packed a bag and left. Didn't want to come between you two. What happened?"
Nick felt a pain go through his chest and he rested his head in his hands. "She's pregnant...Brian......" he couldn't speak.
Han couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Bri's?"
"I gotta think Han...I'll call you later." and with that he hung up.
Nick put everything back inside the box and went upstairs to his bedroom. He threw himself on the bed and set the box next to him, crying himself to sleep. By the time he woke up, he remembered everything.
~~ 3 hours later ~~
Everyone was sitting around the living room staring blankly at Brian. Kevin spoke first. "You're telling me she just up and left?"
Numbly Brian nodded. "And I have no idea where she went."
AJ jumped up. "Great, just great. Why the hell did we all decide to go along with hiding the marriage?"
"We thought it was best..." Jenn said softly. "Lis had good reasons."
Alec looked Brian over. "The baby...it's yours?"
D saw Brian go pale. "The truth B."
Brian sighed. "It's Nick's..."
AJ looked confused. "How far along is she?"
"Two months."
"That's after the accident." Jenn stated.
"I guess it was one night when he first came home." Rok replied.
"Well duh." AJ muttered.
Lisa sat alone in her hotel room, unsure of anything. She'd left Tampa on implse and now here she sat alone. The only people she knew there were friends of Nick. She reached over and pulled her address book out of her purse, flipping through the pages. Her eyes read over the names, more than half her friends were in Florida or close to it. Not good when she wanted to be as far away as possible. Los Angeles, she thought, staring at the page, that was far enough away from everyone and close enough to both her friend from high school and AC. Perfect. It was too late to call her now but first thing in the morning she'd call and then get on the next available flight. Lis smiled, everything was starting to work out she thought as she climbed into bed.
Han walked away from the conversation that was going on in the living room. She was growing worried about Nick, it had been hours since she'd talked to him and she hadn't heard from him since. She grabbed her keys in the kitchen and went out the back door. Twenty minutes later she pulled her beetle into Nick's driveway alongside his Durango. The house was dark and silent as she used her spare key to let herself in. "Nick?" she called, turning on the hall light. Everything was just as she remembered it.
Han checked the studio and found nothing. She stood there confused for a minute then realized he was probably asleep upstairs. Quietly she went up the stairs and down the hall, peeking in his room expecting to see him there sound asleep. Instead she was met with a freshly made up bed and an envelope laying in the middle. A sinking feeling formed in her stomach as she went over and picked it up, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
Guys,
I'm leaving...for a lot of reasons but mainly because right now everyone's better off without me here. Brian, buddy...thanks for keeping your promise you made me to look after Lis. She couldn't find a better guy if she tried.. Go find her and bring her home, she shouldn't be alone right now. You two deserve all the happiness in the world, I'm sorry I made things bad for you two the last few months. I'll make it easier with a quick divorce... Lis those seven weeks we were married were some of the best weeks of my life. I'll remember them for as long as I live. And if Bri ever hurts you...I'll come back and knock some sense into him. Just know I loved you with my heart and soul, and hopefully Brian will love you just as much. I know you're going to make a great mommy...don't let B try to play basketball with the baby too soon! Han, I'm so sorry...that's all I can say right now. AJ, Kev, D, my brothers...right now I need time away from the group...from everything, but I want you four to go on and record, make music it's what you were meant to do, who knows maybe I'll come back and join you soon. I don't know where I'm going or how long I'll be gone, just that I have to get away...The Durango's in the driveway, give it to
BJ when she comes out to visit in a few weeks. Show Lis the letter when she comes home, I need her to know everything that's in my heart right now and I understand everything everyone did...
The sound of the front door opening startled everyone and they looked over to see Han standing there.
"Han, when did you go out?" D asked surprised.
"A while ago. I think you guys should know...Nick left."
Kev leaned back against the couch. "He didn't."
"He did. He left us all a note." she passed it to AJ and walked into the kitchen.
They watched AJ read it over.
"What's it say?" Brian asked, playing with his watchband nervously.
AJ looked up with tears in his eyes. "I think you should read it for yourself."
