Chapter 9

 

                Sam lay in the bed she’d been assigned looking at the ceiling.  She hadn’t had a chance to talk to Justin since she’d picked up her family, and she was sure it was better that way because she had absolutely no idea what she would have said to him if she had seen him.   The fact that he’d flown her family to her definitely told her that he wasn’t ready to give up on the relationship and that he would at least try to mend the riff between them, but he hadn’t actually talked to her family since they’d gotten there, so whatever was between all of them was still there.

                She rolled over on her side and stared at the empty bed next to her as she thought.  Christalee had been designated the other bed in the room, but she rarely slept anywhere but with JC.  Justin, fully aware of that, could have simply chalked that bed up to Brady for his visit, but instead he’d made sure Brady had a room of his own.  Sam hated that he was so thoughtful when she was trying to stay mad at him.

                She had to talk to Justin.  She had to get Justin to talk to her.  She had to . . .  fall asleep, she realised as she spotted the clock next to her bed claiming it was past two in the morning.  Brady had told her that her parents were going to be there all week, and as much as she loved her family, what a long week it would be.

 

                Joey cradled the phone between his head and his shoulder as he listened to the voice on the other line.  Brianna had been cranky that night, and she’d insisted that her daddy sing her to sleep.  She wasn’t usually indulged to the point of disrupting Joey’s schedule, but Kelly had told him she’d call him that night and it had a whole day since the little girl had heard her father’s voice over the line, so Kelly finally decided to give in.  Once Joey was done soothing his little girl, he waited for Kelly to take the phone so her voice could sooth him.

                “What about next week, baby?”  Joey asked after he’d listened to her tell him about her day and Brianna’s, though the child had tried to explain it herself a few moments earlier.

                “Joey,” Kelly answered in more of a whine than anything else.  He knew she’d been avoiding the subject all night but he hoped that bringing it up would either get him the answer he wanted or at least help him discover why she didn’t want to come down.

                “Kelly, just,” he searched for words to tell her what he was thinking, but nothing was coming to him.  Finally, he said the only thing he could think of, “please.”

                He could hear her sigh over the line.  It was heavy and he wasn’t sure if she was disappointed by what he’d said or by the fact that he was saying it from so far away from her.  She finally answered him. “Fine.”

                “Really?”  Joey asked, not wanting to press his luck but having to make sure he’d heard her right.

                “Really,” Kelly giggled at his reaction and for a moment, Joey forgot about all his earlier worries.

                “Great, I’ll get someone to book your flight and everything.  Are you bringing the munchkin with you?”

                “Yeah,” she answered through a yawn.

                “Even better.  I’ll get everything set for you two.  See you next week,” he whispered to her.

                “Talk to you tomorrow,” she answered before they both said their good-byes and hung up.

                Christalee lay in bed staring at the ceiling.  She knew it was late and that she should be sleeping, but there was too much on her mind.  JC had asked her that night if she wanted to go to the award ceremony with her the next week and the idea of their first public appearance was keeping her from some much needed sleep.  The worse part of it all was that she knew this was coming.  As soon as she saw the article in that trashy paper even, she knew this was coming but she had been unable to prepare herself adequately.

                She had no problem admitting to herself that she was scared of going to the show with JC.  The real problem was that she wasn’t sure why she was scared.  Everyone already knew they were going out, the press wouldn’t get to talk directly to her on the red carpet, the boys’ bodyguards would keep everyone away from her and she’d already attended events of this sorts when representing the charity.  Somehow though, this was different.

                “You should be sleeping Tee.”  She froze mid turn when she heard JC’s voice.  She’d been sure he was asleep and never before had he woken because of her moving around.  The boy could sleep through an explosion, never mind his girlfriend having a night of uncomfortable rest.

                “What’s wrong, baby?” he asked as he reached out for her.  She’d just flipped on her stomach when he’d first spoken and now his right arm reached around her, gently grabbed her hip, and pulled her so she lay on her side, her back securely leaning against his front.  He kissed her shoulder and traced her right arm with his hand until he found hers and secured their digits together.

                “I just can’t sleep,” she answered with a shrug that slightly jolted his chin that had just been propped on her shoulder.

                “You don’t have to come Tee,” he whispered to her and she could hear in his voice that it was the last thing he had wanted to say.

                She heaved a heavy sigh and momentarily unclasped their hands to turn on her other side so she could face him.  He thought that once she was flipped she’d grab his hand again, but instead she moved her body even closer to his and wrapped her arms around him.  Her face buried itself against his chest and she took quick calming breaths.  JC was a little lost as to how to comfort her seeing as he’d already used the only thing he had, so he simply wrapped his arms around her slightly trembling body and slowly rubbed his hand up and down her back.  Christalee took another shaky breath before she spoke.

                “I’m scared,” she whispered to him surprising both of them with the confession.  Christalee was not one who usually admitted fear.

                “Of what?”  JC asked as he slightly pulled her away from him so he could see her face.

                “I don’t know,” she answered honestly her big eyes meeting his.  JC could see the tears that threatened to fall and knew that if she had no idea what was scaring her, there was nothing he could do to help.

                “All right,” he simply told her.  He kissed her forehead then pulled her body against his again.  Her head rested against his chest and she listened to the rhythmic beating of his heart as his hand continued to travel up and down her spine.  A few minutes later, Christalee was sound asleep.

 

                Leslie’s eyes popped open to stare at the ceiling.  She could feel a slight sweat trickle down the side of her face and bit her lower lip to stop the scared whine that was trying to escape her body and would inevitably wake the person in the bed next to her.  She slowly and as quietly as possible, rolled over on her side.  Her eyes widened as she noticed that the bed next to her own was empty. She should have been happy because now she could whimper and whine as much as she wanted to, but instead, she was caught with a tremor that took over her body and made her wish she never had to sleep again.  No sleep, no nightmares.

                Somehow, she forced her eyes to shut themselves.  She repeated over and over in her mind that it had been nothing but a nightmare.  That it couldn’t hurt her.  That she may not have another one if she fell asleep again.  She knew the last statement was completely false.  She’d been having nightmares ever since that fateful day and there seemed to be no stopping them.  Her doctor had prescribed sleeping pills, but they only made it harder to wake from the horrible dreams once they’d started.

                She tried her hardest to fall asleep, but every time she’d start to fall into that dark oblivion, images of her last sleeping thoughts came back to her and she’d force herself to awaken.  This would never do.  She got out of bed and grabbed a sweater from her bag to pull over her tank top.  Maybe all she needed was a good walk.

 

                Lance knew in the back of his mind that it wasn’t normal for a concert to be held in the cafeteria of his old school.  He also knew it wasn’t normal for the audience to consist of all the crew members that were accompanying them this tour, and only the crew members.  He was also aware of the fact that usually, the guys didn’t perform while wearing coveralls.  Somehow, his mind was convincing him to just go with it however.

                Even though the band was in the middle of a song, the audience exploded with applause.  Applause that actually sounded more like knocking than clapping.  It would sound a few times, then stop, then start again, then stop.

                Lance sprang up in bed as he realized that the knocking was not coming from his dream, but actually coming from the door to his hotel room.  He got out of bed quickly, one hand reaching down to make sure he was wearing something appropriate for answering the door and the other scratching his head at the fact that it still seemed to be dark out.

                The knocking hadn’t been heard for a while by the time he reached the door, and when he pulled it open, he wasn’t all that surprised to find there wasn’t anyone on the other side.  He stuck his head out and looked both sides of the hallway, finally spotting the most likely culprit to his right.

                “Leslie!” he called after her retreating body. 

                She obviously wasn’t expecting him to answer the door and even less to call after her as the sound of her name made her falter her step and almost fall.  Slowly, with a more than prominent blush on her cheeks, she turned to see Lance. 

                “Hi,” she said with a very quick wave.

                “Hi,” Lance replied with a slight chuckle for her embarrassment.  “Did you need something?”

                “Well, um, I, you see, the um, well,” as her stammering persisted, she slowly walked back in the direction where Lance patiently waited for her, keeping his body leaned against the door so it wouldn’t close and he wouldn’t be locked out of his room.  He was sure that none of the bodyguards that were planted around the floor would appreciate having to find him the extra key to his room at this time of the night.

                Lance wanted to chuckle again as he watched her timidly walk back to him like someone who had just been caught in a game of ring and dash, but when she came close enough for him to see her eyes, and see how truly frightened she was, all thoughts of laughter left him.

                “What’s wrong?” he asked, reaching out for her.  His body left the door, but somehow, he had enough sense to stick out his foot to stop it from completely closing.  His hands reached out and latched on her upper arms to steady her in front of him, making sure she couldn’t go anywhere until he got his answers.

                Leslie looked down at his hands holding her there.  Just moments ago, one of the bodyguards had reached out to tap her shoulder and ask her if she needed anything.  Leslie had barely been able to hold back the scream of fright that had taken over her at the touch.  Somehow however, Lance stopping her entirely from moving wasn’t frightening at all, it was kind of comforting.

                She looked up at him, prepared to tell him that nothing was wrong and that she would simply be heading back to her room, but then she made the mistake of looking him in the eyes.  He looked so concerned for her and ready to help.  She took a deep, shaky breath and said something that she hadn’t known she had the courage to say.  “Can I come in?”

                Lance didn’t even bother to answer and simply opened his door for her, first kicking it open, then holding it there for her to enter.  She slipped in through the small space between him and the doorframe.  Her eyes nervously travelled the room and when they started their second perusal, she felt them try to close.  She was so tired.  Slowly, she made her way to sit on his bed and face him from the spot he’d chosen, directly in front of the door.  Actually, between her and the door, eliminating any chance of an exit.  This didn’t make her nervous either.

                “So, what’s up?” he asked.  When he judged that she looked too comfortable to leave the room suddenly, he made his way to the bed and sat next to her.

                “I’m so tired,” she said within a yawn that took over her entire body.

                Lance chuckled at her and stole a quick glance at the clock.  “Well, that’s pretty natural for this time of the night.  This is the time when most people sleep.”

                “I don’t want to sleep,” she told him, looking down at her hands fiddling on her lap.

                “Why not?”  Lance asked.  He himself was well aware that were his head to hit that pillow he would be out like a light, but if Leslie needed him now, he’d manage to stay awake for her as long as it took.

                “I have dreams,” she admitted hesitantly, “real bad dreams.”

                Lance was distracted by the way her hands kept fidgeting, so he reached out with one of his hands and stopped hers from moving.  “Can the doctor give you anything for it?”

                “He can,” she nodded in agreement, “but then I’d just be taking it forever or something.  It’s kinda something you either face or live with.”

                “Forever?  You think you’ll have bad dreams forever?” he asked, giving her hands a soft squeeze of encouragement.

                “Nah, just during the bad times.  Like now when it’s still all there and stuff.  I just,” she looked up at him, tears threatening to spill from her eyes, “they’re really bad dreams.”

                “They’re really bad dreams,” Lance repeated lowly to himself.  He wanted to do something, anything he could to help her, but there was nothing he could think of.  He tried hard to think back of when he was young and what his mother would do when he had nightmares.  “Do you, um, well, do you want to stay here?”

                He didn’t know where he found the courage to ask her, but somehow he did.  All he could think of was the fact that the last time she’d had a nightmare he’d stayed with her, and she seemed to sleep relatively peacefully with him there.  Maybe it would work again.  He was sure however, as she didn’t say anything for a while, that she would simply turn him down.  Just as he was about to tell her it was only an offer and there were many other options, she interrupted him.

                “You don’t mind?”  Her voice was soft and he hated that she was being so timid even with him.

                “Of course not,” he told her.  His eyes whirled around the room, looking anywhere but at her as he tried to figure out how exactly they would make this work.  “I can sleep, um, well, you have the bed and I’ll sleep . . . ”

                “In the bed,” Leslie finished for him.

                “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, I mean, you can have the bed,” Lance stumbled over his words as he tried to reassure her and himself at the same time.

                “I won’t be comfortable if I know that you aren’t sleeping comfortably,” Leslie insisted as she looked longingly at the comfortable pillow at the head of the bed.  She scampered up and slithered under the sheets as she continued to convince him.  “We’re both adults Lance, I’m sure we can handle sleeping in the same bed.”

                “I guess,” Lance answered.  He turned the light off since he was so close to the switch, then made his way over to the bed where Leslie was already making herself comfortable.  He could hear her shifting next to her and feel the sheets pull from him as she tossed and turned.  “Are you going to be okay?”

                “I just . . .  I keep thinking the nightmare will come back if I close my eyes,” she told him in a quiet voice that almost broke his heart.

                “It won’t,” he reassured her.  His hand reached out for her and he stroked her hair in an attempt to calm her.

                “Everything’s going to be fine Leslie.  In fact, everything’s going to get better,” he told her.

                “Promise?” she asked as she moved closer to him.

                “Promise,” he agreed softly.

                “Lance?” she mumbled, her voice muffled as she rested her face against his chest.

                “Yeah Leslie?”

                “Will you talk to me?  Just until I fall asleep so I know you’re there?”  Even though it was dark, he knew she was looking at him because he could feel her eyes on him.  He leaned down and planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

                “Yeah,” he acquiesced.  He talked to her softly about nothing in particular, jumping from one subject to another in mindless jumbles just to have something to say.  When he couldn’t think of anything else, he hummed to her some melodies he wasn’t sure he could identify but that he remembered from somewhere in his childhood until he was more than sure that she’d fallen asleep.  When her breathing was deep and steady, he shrugged down and let himself fall asleep as well, one arm around her body and her hair tickling his throat every time his chest rose.

 

                Chris looked down at Meghan.  They had been working through some FuMan dates while sitting on the bed for hours now.  When Chris had taken a short bathroom break, he returned to the room to find that Meghan had fallen asleep.  He’d shut off the main light and left only one bedside lamp aglow, then slithered his way next to her on the bed and watched as her face lost all the stress and worry it held every day.

                He wasn’t quite sure what he should do now.  Should he wake her from the rest she herself had recently admitted she wasn’t getting enough of, because she kept thinking Leslie needed her to be awake?  Should he slide her under the covers and find somewhere else for the night?  Should he just sit there and watch her, maybe put his arm around her, as his body was so desperately longing to do?

                When he saw her shiver, either from the cold or maybe from a dream she was having, he forgot all the questions and simply reached out for the comforter that he had thrown to the foot of the bed the night before, to pull it over her body.  When he leaned over her to tuck the blanket snugly, she shifted and somehow threw her arm over his stomach and landed her head on his chest.

                Chris doubted he could move without waking her and to be completely honest with himself, he didn’t want to move away from the warm contact her body provided.  Instead, he reached out to flick off the lamp that was creating the only light in the room and gently scooted down until he too was lying on his back.  Meghan snuggled closer to him in her sleep and gave out a content sigh before her rhythmic breathing began to lull Chris to sleep.

 

                Justin stared up at the ceiling, refusing to let sleep take over him until he found a solution to his problem.  Flying her family over was one thing, he knew she missed them and wished they could come see her more often, but the gesture wouldn’t automatically make everything all right.  He had to do more this time.  He’d have to actually put himself in the line of fire and take whatever her family fired at him with a smile.

                Was it really worth it?  Did he really have to put himself out there as an open target?  It wasn’t that Sam shouldn’t see her family, it just wasn’t necessary that she see her family with Justin there all the time.  Why couldn’t she just separate those two parts of her life?  Would this little endeavour even get him anywhere?

                He turned over as he contemplated the situation, and reached out his arm before him.  Nothing.  There was nothing next to him and the spot wasn’t even warm from the heat of someone who was supposed to be there.  He hated sleeping alone when he knew Sam was nearby.  He hated sleeping alone when he knew Sam was anywhere else.  He curled his arm around himself and closed his eyes.

                This was definitely worth it and it was something he had to do.  Sooner than later.

 

                Brady closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but the fact that his body thought it was still four in the afternoon was keeping him awake. Besides, he was still bothered by what he’d seen in Justin that day.  Or actually, what he hadn’t seen of Justin that day.  He knew that his parents and his sister’s boyfriend had never gotten along - and there was absolutely no doubt in his mind that this was his parents’ fault - but Justin rarely spent an entire day away from Sam, especially when they were in the same building.  To make things even more suspicious, he was sure that Sam hadn’t left for Justin’s room for the night.  She’d headed toward her own room where she would most likely be sleeping alone. To his knowledge, that wasn’t something that ever happened when the pair was on tour together.

                Something was definitely awry in paradise, and if Justin felt the need to fly him and his parents out to iron things out, it probably involved the unspoken feud between boyfriend and parents.  Brady would have to make a note to talk to Justin tomorrow, because quite honestly, he liked the kid and knew he treated his sister right.  He’d definitely have to find out what was going on.

 

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