Chapter 8
AJ peered across the aisle of the plane to where Brian and Nick were
sleeping. Brian was snoring loudly, his head pressed against the window and
drool dripping down his cheek. Nick was leaning against Brian's shoulder, his
mouth wide open and his tongue sticking halfway out. AJ couldn't help but smile
at the sight. He reached over and nudged Howie who was seated beside him in the
ribs with his elbow a little harder than he'd meant to.
"Ouch! Damn what was that for!" Howie said turning his head
to face AJ, an annoyed expression on his face. He rubbed his ribs tenderly.
"Sorry man. But hey, check that out." Aj said pointing over
to where their bandmates were snoozing.
"Awww," Howie replied taking in the sight of his brothers
napping peacefully, "isn't that sweet."
AJ nodded and smiled, but his smile quickly vanished and was replaced
by a more serious and somber expression.
"Hey Howie," He said looking over at where Howie and gone
back to reading his newspaper.
"Yeah Aje?" He replied without taking his eyes away from his
reading.
"I'm worried about those two. I mean... did you feel like this
tour was really weird. Really different?"
AJ had noticed the difference as soon as they'd left the states. He'd
expected it, but it didn't make it feel any better. Nick and Brian were the
pranksters of the group. They were the ones who made the tours fun... the lives
of the party. This time around it had been AJ and Howie who were left to
lighten the mood. Nick had understandably spent most of his time on the phone
with Grace or with someone else at home checking up on her and Brian had been
especially somber. Leighanne had stayed home with Baylee this time and AJ felt
that a combination of their absence and his worry over his sister's health was
starting to affect his own health. He'd kept mostly to himself and spent his
days off in his hotel room refusing to go out with them. AJ thought he'd heard
him crying several times in the middle of the night when they had to share a
room but he never talked about it. Nick and Brian had wanted to cancel the tour
back when Gracie was first diagnosed with cancer, but she was determined that
they should go on... now, looking over at the two of them across the aisle
exhausted and emotionally drained, AJ was wondering if they'd done the right
thing.
"I know what you mean. It was definitely a completely different
experience. They have a lot on their minds though AJ. I mean... I remember when
my sister was so sick, it was hard to have my mind on anything else for a long
time," Howie stated thoughtfully.
"Yeah. I just hope they can get some rest now that we're heading
home. I know I'm ready to sleep in my own bed for a while."
"Agreed."
Howie took another glance at the two sitting across from them. He'd
definitely noticed the change as well. Grace meant a lot to all of them. He
remembered the first time they'd met her after the group had started. She was
just a little girl at the time, only 2 years younger than Nick. And then he
thought back to the Black and Blue Tour when she'd spent the summer with the
guys and they hadn't seen her in a while. Howie couldn't believe how much she'd
grown up and changed. She'd gone from being a shy, withdrawn little girl to a
beautiful, outgoing and spunky college student, the girl Nick had fallen in
love with. She had so much going for her at the time and the two of them had
spent many late nights sitting on the tour bus talking about life and love and
the world in general. He'd been amazed at how mature she was. Like all of the
other guys he'd been devastated when he'd heard the news of her diagnosis. He
loved Grace like a sister and it hurt him more than words could say to know
that they could be losing her... he knew what it was like to be in Brian's
position, the possibility of losing a sister and that was painful enough, but
he couldn't begin to know what Nick was going through. When he'd met Leigh he'd
known that she was the woman he was meant to spend the rest of his life with.
The thought of anything ever happening to her was too much to bare.
He looked over at AJ who had also fallen asleep now and leaned his own
head back against the seat. They should be back in the states in a few hours
and they would all be going their separate ways. He and AJ would head to LA and
Brian would fly to Georgia. Nick would board a plane to Kentucky and in a week
they would all meet up there for Grace's birthday party.
He said a silent prayer that everything would be okay until then.
***
