"I promised Andi I'd call tonight. We haven't been able to talk to each other for over a week."
"So what's another night then? It's not like you're married to the chick." No, but JC would mind at all if he were married to Andrea.
"Dan...what are you...put me down!" He could hear his cell phone ringing as he was carried out the door, slung over Dan's shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"Hey, Josh, I guess I caught you at a bad time. We seem to be playing phone tag a lot lately. I just wanted to let you know that I really need to talk to you and that...I miss you. I love you, Blue Eyes."
Andi set the phone back in the cradle and snuggled under the down comforter on her bed. They'd been an official couple for eight months now, and the fans were dealing with the situation well. While Andi slept, JC was handed drink after drink at the bar he'd been dragged to. That's when he met her...Alexa. He wouldn't remember the name though. Her original plan had been to seduce him into a night of pure sin, but the minute he'd mentioned Andi, "his girl," she'd changed her mind. She wished someone would speak as lovingly of her as JC was speaking of Andrea. Alexa brought him back to his hotel, making sure that he got to his room safely.
"You didn't have to do this, but thank you. Would you like some coffee?" Alexa agreed and not even half an hour later, he'd fallen asleep. She set down her mug, took off his shoes and covered him with the half of the comforter that he wasn't sleeping on already. JC mumbled Andi's name in his sleep as Alexa turned down the blankets on the other bed and switched off the lamp.
He groaned, rolling over as the sun peeked through the curtains. He was confused by the figure sleeping on the other bed, not to mention why he was still in yesterday's clothes. Sitting up, he stretched his tired muscles.
"Andi? Andrea, why are you over there?" The woman stirred, rolling onto her back and JC gasped. As quickly as his body and his hangover would let him, he changed, grabbed his cell phone, wallet and key card and ran out of the room in search of a body guard.
"C, where's the fire man?"
"Dre, I need you to make sure the other person in my room leaves within the hour."
"Other person? You dawging on that beautiful woman you have at home?"
"Dre, not now, please. I just need to find some place quiet so I can call Andrea."
"Conference room at the end of the hall, it's the last door on your left."
"What the hell have I done," he whispered walking away. He just sat there at the conference table and stared at his cell phone, knowing he needed to call and explain, yet not knowing how to do it. He couldn't seem to get his fingers to dial the number and in the end he didn't need to, for it rang.
"Andi?"
"Hey, Blue eyes, you didn't call me back last night."
"Andi, are you sitting down right now," JC asked already feeling a sharp pain in the area of his heart.
"You're scaring me, Blue Eyes, what's wrong?"
"I need to tell you something, Andi. Dan and Mark took me out last night caused they said I looked lonely and they got me hammered. When I woke up, I was wearing my clothes from the night before, but I wasn't alone in the room. There was a girl in the other bed." It was a full minute before she could find her voice and even then it scared JC because it sounded so lifeless.
"So they brought you out and got you drunk because they're such good friends and at the end of the night, you went back to your hotel room with some woman?"
"Andi, I swear to you on my life that nothing happened. I don't even remember her name. She saw the picture of the two of us that I always have with me and started asking me about you. I must have fallen asleep because I woke up fully dressed."
"This isn't something we should be discussing over the phone. Your family and I will be at the show in two weeks. I think it would be best if we don't talk until then. I need time to process everything." Things were crumbling at JC's feet and he was powerless to stop them.
"I love you, Andrea," was the raw whisper that escaped his lips.
"I'll see you in two weeks." The click of the phone echoed in his mind.
"C, we're going out for brunch, you in man?"
"Dan, get Justin for me. I need to speak to him...now."
"Sure, are you okay?"
"Go get Justin and leave me alone, Dan." He didn't even turn to look at him. He just sat there staring at the phone in his hand, willing the tears not to fall.
"Hey, man, what's up? Dan said you wanted to talk to me."
"I think I just killed my relationship with Andrea, J."
"You what? Hold up man, you need to explain this to me first."
"I'm not sure what you want me to tell you, C," Justin said after hearing the whole story.
"You told her the truth. You made a mistake and now you need to figure out how to get back into Andrea's heart and fix the damage."
"Thanks for listening, Justin. I know how close the two of you are."
"Look, I know you love her. You know you love her. Make her see that love. Prove it to her when she get's here." JC switched rooms with Chris and Joey and stayed hiding for the rest of the day. Andi had barely moved from her position on the kitchen floor where she slid down the wall after hanging up the phone. Why and how were the biggest questions she had. Why did this happen now and how was she going to tell him about the baby?
"Our baby," she whispered lightly resting her palm on her still flat abdomen. Andi never heard his brother walk into the house.
"Andrea? Andi, where are you girl?" Tyler knew about the pregnancy because he'd driven her to the ER the night they did tons of blood work to figure out why she'd been feeling so ill lately.
"Andi! Are you okay? What happened?"
"He went home with some other woman, Tyler. Last night while I was home in bed, he was out drinking and bringing strange women home." Her voice still sounded dull and lifeless.
"Come on, let's at least get you somewhere comfortable."
The two weeks JC and Andi went without speaking to each other were nearly unbearable. It allowed JC to formulate a plan though. They were still going to share a room while Andi was there. Her plane wouldn't get in until he was already on stage that night, so he'd left an envelope waiting on the bed for her. Inside it were the lyrics he hoped best conveyed everything he was feeling. The minute she set her bags down, Andi noticed the stark white envelope on the dark bed spread. It was addressed to her and she recognized the penmanship as JC's unique scrawl. She opened it and found a note.
"Andrea, I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am for what has happened or how much I truly love you. These lyrics are as close as I can come to expresing myself. The cd is already in my stereo. Listen to the emotion in his voice as he sings. It's the same emotion I'll be singing with tonight. Love, Blue Eyes." Tears sprang to her eyes as she began reading the lyrics and she walked over to press play before taking one of his shirts and curling up with it on the bed.
***************
Sitting here wasted and wounded, at this old piano
Trying hard to capture the moment, this morning I
don’t know
‘Cause a bottle of Vodka is still lodged in my head
And some blond gave me nightmares, I think that she’s
still in my bed
As I dream about movies they won’t make of me when I’m
dead
With and ironclad fist I wake up and french kiss the
morning
While some marching band keeps it’s own beat in my
head while we’re talking
About all of the things that I long to believe
About love and the truth and what you mean to me
And the truth is, baby you’re all that I need
I want to lay you down in a bed of roses
For tonight I sleep on a bed of nails
I want to be just as close as, the Holy Ghost is
And lay you down, on a bed of roses
Well I’m so far away, each step that I take is on my
way home
A king’s ransom in dimes I’d given each night just to
see through this payphone
Still I run out of time, or it’s hard to get through
Till the bird on the wire flies me back to you,
I’ll just close my eyes and whisper, baby our love is
true
I want to lay you down in a bed of roses
For tonight I sleep on a bed of nails
I want to be just as close as, the Holy Ghost is
And lay you down, on a bed of roses
Well this hotel bar's hangover whisky’s gone dry
The barkeeper’s wig’s crooked, and she’s giving me the
eye
I might have said yeah, but I laughed so hard I think
I died
When you close your eyes, know I’ll be thinking about
you
While my mistress she calls me to stand in her
spotlight again
Tonight, I won’t be alone, but you know that don’t
mean I’m not lonely
I’ve got nothing to prove for it’s you that I’d die to
defend
I want to lay you down in a bed of roses
For tonight I sleep on a bed of nails
I want to be just as close as, the Holy Ghost is
And lay you down, on a bed of roses
***************
Andrea didn't notice JC's return because her back was to the door as she lay on the bed.
"Andrea," he called softly, not wanting to startle her. She held her hand out to him and he walked over to sit on the bed as she turned over.
"Look me in the eye and tell me nothing is going to happen to us, Josh."
"Nothing, Andrea. Nothing will ever happen." She pulled him down to lay beside her and placed his hand over her stomach.
"Blue Eyes, we have a lot to talk about. It's not just you and me anymore." JC eyes grew wide before a small smile graced his features.
"When?"
"I'm six weeks now."
"We're having a baby..."
(**song used is written and performed by Bon Jovi**)
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