After leaving the hotel room, Brian takes the back stairs down to the hotel lobby. He needs to get out of here – away from Jade and AJ and Nick. It had been so bad to spend the afternoon with Nick, knowing what he knows about his lost baby. He stops dead when he sees Marcus and Tay chatting by the hotel desk.
“Shit,” he mutters.
He wants to go drown his feelings in alcohol. The last thing he needs is an escort. He ducks behind a potted tree just as Marcus glances his way. The big guy doesn’t see him and turns back to his conversation with Tay. Brian runs across to another potted plant and hides behind it just as Marcus and Tay walk over to a noticeboard. He takes a deep breath, eyes up the exit and runs for it. He gets outside and keeps on running. Nobody comes after him and he stops when he gets out of breath. He looks behind him and sees nobody that he recognises. He grins and bends over to get his breath back before flagging a taxi down and asking for a decent bar.
“Ya want me to do WHAT?!” Brian asks wide-eyed as his new companion giggles.
“You heard.”
“I did, I just thought I’d stumbled into a fantasy or somethin’,” he grins at her. “Another drink?”
“Oh yeah,” the blonde nods and Brian orders for them both.
After spending two hours drinking in the bar he is now decidedly drunk. As is his companion – a girl called Tara who had joined him after an hour. She’s real pretty with long blonde hair and a killer body clothed in a tight black dress.
“There ya go cutie,” Brian grins and the two clash glasses before downing their drinks.
“Mm, I needed that shot,” she licks her lips. “Let’s go dance.”
“I’m a BAD dancer,” he shakes his head and wobbles slightly on his barstool. “Oops!”
“C’mon!” she jumps off of hers and reaches to pull him of his. She holds onto his hand and leads him onto the dance floor. The DJ is playing a slow Usher song and Brian wraps his arms around Tara’s waist. She smiles and rests her head against his chest as they dance.
I check my watch for what seems like the millionth time since Brian left. And it seems to have moved no faster. It’s still just gone 2am and there’s still no sound of Brian. After he had left I had taken a long shower, figuring he needed some time to cool down a little. After two hours I had gotten worried and called around the other guys – nobody has seen him since this afternoon. Then I got Marcus involved. Big mistake I guess – he had just about hit the roof and then called out a search team. At least they’ll find Brian but Brian is gonna be in BIG trouble when he’s found. I check my watch again. It’s still 2am. Damn, where the hell is he? He never stays out this late alone! I push out the pictures of him lying half-dead in a gutter somewhere and start pacing the room. When he gets back, I am gonna kill him myself.
“I really like you Brian,” Tara looks up into his eyes as the third song finishes.
“Well thanks,” he chuckles. “Another drink?” he starts to head off the floor but she pulls him back to her.
“Not yet…” she whispers and kisses him softly.
“Whoa…” he pulls back and looks at her. “Tara, I…”
“Shush,” she says and kisses him again, slowly deepening the kiss with her tongue. Brian’s arms slip around her waist, pulling her closer to his body. “Mm,” she moans into his mouth and runs her hands through his hair. She presses her hips up against his, feeling him stir slightly. “Oh,” she breaks the kiss with a breathless whisper. “Could we go somewhere?”
“God yes,” he says, feeling that he needs her so much. Not necessarily HER, just anybody.
“C’mon. My place isn’t far,” she kisses him again and then takes his hand to lead him outside.
“BRIAN LITTRELL!” booms out a voice and they both jump. Marcus is standing by a car, glaring at them. “Well FINALLY,” he says, walking over. “You SNEAKED out man!”
“So? Last time I checked this was a free world and I AM over 21 y’know,” Brian responds.
“You’re also kinda recognisable and…drunk,” Marcus says after sniffing Brian’s breath with a wince. “Jeez, what have you been ON?! Paint stripper?!”
“Just beer and whiskey and vodka and… tequila,” Brian supplies with a smug grin.
“That all?”
“And a pack of nuts and some chips and…” Brian stops and his face completely loses its colour.
“Looks like you’ll be seein’ it all again real soon too,” Marcus comments wryly. “C’mon, let’s get ya back to the hotel before you redecorate the sidewalk.”
“Hey, he’s comin’ with me!” Tara says as Marcus starts to walk Brian over to the car.
“He is? You are?” Marcus looks at Brian.
“I’m goin’ back to the hotel with you,” Brian says and climbs into the car without looking at Tara.
“But he said we would…” Tara starts. “I mean, we kissed and I thought…”
“I guess you were wrong,” Marcus tells her shortly and climbs into the car himself, shutting the door before she can say anything else. He nods to Tay to drive and glances in the mirror at a slumped Brian. “Been playin’ away huh?”
“I only kissed her.”
“But what would ya have done if I hadn’t found ya?”
“Dunno,” Brian shrugs.
“Well I’m mighty glad we found ya,” Tay says.
“Me too,” agrees Marcus.
“Me three,” Brian says miserably. “I’m gonna throw up!”
“Hell it’s a rental car,” Tay says. “We can dump it and run.”
“Or auction it off on Ebay,” Marcus jokes.
“I found him outside a bar,” Marcus declares as he walks into the room. A very sorry looking Brian follows him in. “He’s drunk too much and threw up once already.”
“So I see,” I wrinkle up my nose at his appearance.
“Sorry,” Brian mutters.
“He’ll feel like hell tomorrow,” Marcus chuckles.
“HE is here y’know,” Brian complains.
“I know,” Marcus laughs. “Good luck,” he tells me and leaves, closing the door behind him.
“Well…”
“Don’t start,” Brian mutters.
“All I was gonna say was you better get outta those clothes and take a shower,” I tell him.
“Oh. I thought you were gonna yell me out.”
“Would there be any point?” I ask wearily. “You got me back. I worried all night about ya and you’re drunk. But you’ll feel like hell tomorrow and I will feel fine,” I add wickedly as he groans. “That’s good enough for me. Now go take a shower.”
Brian throws himself down on the couch with a muffled groan. The other four Boys give him amused looks but he tries to ignore them. He feels awful. No, scrap that, he feels like hell and worse. First off, he has a killer of a headache. Like the entire Philharmonic set up home inside his skull. He can’t keep any food down yet – something he found out right after breakfast in the hotel lobby. If that potted plant is still alive tomorrow he will be amazed. Second, he feels so incredibly bad about kissing that girl. What had been her name? Tania, Terri…? Something like that. And if Marcus hadn’t come along when he did, he woulda ended up at her place doin’ god knows what. He wants to think that nothing would’ve happened but he doesn’t know for sure. He’s sure he would’ve remembered Jade at some point – but before or after he got naked? Hell, he WAS steaming drunk… He smothers a groan and rubs his head. Well, nothin’ too bad happened and Jade will never find out and he will never get that drunk again.
“Those shades dark enough bro?” Nick decides to open the teasing.
“No,” Brian responds.
“Well they sure look it. What’d ya do – mug a blind dude?” Nick laughs.
“Naw,” Brian shakes his head then makes a mental note to not shake his head ever again.
“What’d ya drink? Absinthe?!” laughs Kevin.
“Did ya make out with the lil green fairy?!” adds AJ with a chuckle.
“What green fairy?” asks Howie.
“Ya never have absinthe?” asks AJ incredulously.
“What’s that?”
“Green shit. REAL potent,” AJ informs him. “It has a lil green fairy chick on the label.”
“Like in Moulin Rouge,” Kevin adds.
“Oh, okies,” Howie nods.
“You and me are goin’ out tonight,” AJ tells Howie. “Gonna get you some absinthe.”
“AJ, you’re not…?” Kevin starts worriedly.
“Naw! Somebody’s gotta carry Howie home,” AJ says wickedly as Howie starts looking scared.
“Maybe get him a tattoo first?” suggests Nick.
“Good plan. I mean he’ll be so out of it he won’t have a CLUE,” AJ says conspiratorially as Howie looks even more scared.
“And then maybe we could cut his hair all spiky and dye it red… Or blue…” Nick muses.
After suffering through three interviews with journalists with seemingly loud, high-pitched voices Brian finally makes it back to the hotel. All he wants to do is take as many Tylenol as he can and fall asleep until his headache passes. He unlocks his room and walks in. Jade is sat on the balcony with a few sheets of paper. Brian pulls his jacket off and walks outside to sit by her.
“Hey,” he greets.
“Hey, you’re done?”
“Yup.”
“How do you feel?”
“You don’t wanna know,” he groans.
“I probably don’t,” she laughs lightly.
“What you doin’?”
“Makin’ notes on the NSync interview before I fax it off,” she goes back to her work and he watches her a while. After a few minutes she looks up. “Honey, go take some pills and sleep it off. You look like the walking dead.”
“Gee thanks,” he mutters and she giggles.
“Ya know I love you really.”
“I love you too,” he tells her. “And I’m sorry about last night. The stuff I said…”
“Ah, it’s over with,” she waves her hand at him and goes back to her notes.
“Cos I really do love you and I couldn’t be without you.”
“I couldn’t be without you either,” she looks at him again. “Now go sleep it off.”