Swollen Issues - Chapter 19
AJ leaned heavily on the sink, staring in the mirror.
His life was slowly starting to go down the drain.
Here he was stuck in some restroom, where Nick had
re-decorated the bathroom in a not so nice way. It
smelled like a fucking cloak and on top of it he
hadnīt time to be with Sarah the whole night.
Instead he was stuck playing nurse, taking care of
Nick all evening. All that he needed was some fucking
silly nurse hat and the picture would be perfect.
AJ grinned, maybe the nurse uniform wasnīt that bad...
he could actually picture Sarah wearing it!!! There could be lots of fun.
He sighed again, his thoughts drifting away towards
his life. Recently he had been really tired over the
bad boy image that he got. At first it had been really
flattering and AJ did everything to live up to that
rumor. He had played the role as the bad guy very
convincingly and pretty soon he couldnīt leave the role
and he became a part of it. His one and true love Amanda
had left him when partying and clubbing had taken a
too great part of his life and when she was gone AJ
was broken. His whole world started to fall apart.
He had used girls and screwed them in more than one
way. He had screwed with their body and heart and heīd
left more broken hearted girls all over the world than
he cared to count. Playing the role of the ladies
man. He ended up partying and using both alcohol and
drugs until one day when he woke up feeling like shit.
His whole life was a big fake. AJ was a BIG fucking fake.
His salvation had been that the boys had convinced him to go into
a drug rehab center. At first he had been very pissed
over the situation, but as time passed on he had
started to re-think his own life. For the first time
he was totally tired of being the bad boy. But an
image was hard to wash away and even if he was a nice
guy he would still be known as a ladies man.
He had met Sarah shortly after his rehab program and she
was good for him. Sarah was a college student, studying
to become a lawyer and he really liked her a lot. Not the same as Amanda, but she was coming pretty close to that.
His grandmother, who was very close to him, use to say
that Alexander was such a nice boy and that he was
great with handling children, sick animals and old
people and that he would make a great nurse! How was that for a bad boy image?
"AJeeee," Brian called out from one of the stalls
that him and Nick had been hovering over ever since
Nick had puked the last time. That boy had been pretty
sick and AJ had started to wonder how much alcohol he
had drank since he had hurled non stop since they
came into the restroom in the first place, more than forty-five minutes ago!
"Yeah!" AJ opened the stall door.
"Can you go and see if you can find anything for Nick to
wear since he didnīt make it the last time?"
Brian looked tired, Nick slumped at his shoulder, looking
really dazed with a sickly green shade on his swollen chins.
"Oh no," Nick moaned as he slumped over the toilet,
his stomach heaving. Brian sighed heavily while he
started to rub Nick's back as he had done so many times before.
"Fuck not again," AJ winced as he saw the scene
repeating itself again. Remembering Brian's request he
stuck out his head from the restroom and was instantly
met with lots of flashes. The riot had slowed down and
the press were the only one waiting outside.
AJ called for some attention to one of the security
men. An rather big Japanese guy came up to him and AJ made his request.
The boy's own bodyguards had the night off having their
own party back at the hotel. The nights security team
were arranged for the dinner guests by the hotel.
AJ was rather pissed that neither Kevin or Howie were
anywere in sight. Both Leighanne and Sarah had been at
the door, but not getting allowed to enter an men's room they had gone back to the dinner instead. Trying their best to keep the facade.
Neither Kevin or Howie had any excuses not to come. AJ
figured out that Kevin was still pissed over Nick's
behavior and therefore wasnīt appearing. Kevin had been
a great support for AJ during his hard time with the
drugs and he sincerely hoped that the older band
leader would be there for Nick if and when he needed
help. Howie was another matter. He was a great guy,
being the nice one. But Howie had another side too.
Whenever girls or clubbing came to the topic Howie was
in another world. He was the REAL ladies man.
AJ had several times tried to talk Howie into stop
partying so much. He was met with no response. Even if
he thought that Howie could handle the situation he
wasnīt sure that Nick could do that. Not after seeing him getting this drunk.
There was a knock on the door and the security man
came in with a shirt. AJ took it and walked over to the
stall where Nick and Brian were stuck.
"Here man," he said while opening the stall door,
getting a sight that he would rather forget. Nick more
or less was leaning against Brian, crying over the
mess heīd made, bawling his eyes out like a real drunk!
"Bri Iīm sorry," he sniffed while Brian was gently
stroking Nickīs sweaty hair. Soothingly whispering that it would be ok.
If Brian hadnīt been married the scene AJ had witnessed left much
to wonder. It was obvious to AJ that Brian would make a great dad some day.
"Youuuureee my beeestt friennnnnndddd," Nick cried,
wiping his tears on Brians sleeve.
AJ grinned. A filming camera would have been perfect. Catching a Kodak moment.
As AJ hanaded Brian the shirt, Brian mouthed to him to
be quiet and he slowly started to undress Nick from
his soiled shirt. Nick was too drunk and sick to cope
and he had to have help to lift his arms to get the shirt off. All the while Nick was murmuring that Brian was the
best and that if he was a girl he would marry Brian onthe spot.
AJ laughed. This he would remember until some time that
Nick was being a pain in the ass.
Another knock on the door caught AJīs attention. It
was Kevin deciding to make an appearance. Finally.
"How is he?" he asked with a touch of concern in his voice.
"How the fuck do you think he is???" AJ growled back.
"And where the hell have youīve been all night?" he
continued being really upset.
"Hey man, calm down. I just came to tell you that the
Limo is outside and you are free to leave the party at
anytime." Kevin sounded very upset and AJ could see
that he was trying hard to calm his raging temper. The
vein on the side of his neck bouncing up and down.
"About time," Aj snapped, then he shouted to Brian the news.
"Alright," Brian responded. "Come and help me
get Nick out of here. He has almost passed out." Brian's voice sounded tired and defeated.
*~*~*~*~*
The drive back to the hotel felt like hours. Brian,
Leighanne, AJ and Sarah had gone back with Nick. Party feelings long gone.
Kevin and Howie were staying. Kevin hed to since Bruce needed
him for support. Howie because he had met a beautiful
model and when it came to women Howie was often in for
a score. This was the case this time too and Howie had
no intention of letting her go. Not even for Nick.
The official excuse for the boys exit was that Nick
had a case of food poisoning. As if the press would
buy that after him getting so drunk.
As soon as the boys had left the rest room the press
had been waiting for them. Journalist asked questions
while they were rushing through the crowd to the limo.
Nick had sobered up a bit, quietly following Brian and
AJ. He didnīt look up at the press, instead he kept
staring at the ground as he walked along.
Now he was slouched in the limo, stuck between Brian
and AJ. He felt his life slowly returning since most
of the alcohol had already left his body. His churning
stomach was replaced with a weird feeling in his groin.
It was a feeling of being horney as he was also
feeling like his balls were burning. Strange. Could it
be the car seat that was too hard?
Thinking back at the evening made him want to cry. He had
difficulties remembering what had happend. All he was sure of was that he had offended some high up
person. That Kevin had filled him in when he had come
to the restroom. He had also been singing. What was that song?
Nick thought for a while. Great Balls of Fire!!! Yeah
that was it. He would have sang the song if his head
hadnīt hurt so much. Could it be the hangover kicking
in so soon? Nick doubted that since he felt like the
migraine he had fighting all day was starting to come out in full bloom.
His whole body ached, not to mention his throat. It
felt so sore, due to severe heaving as well as the
cold heīd been fighting all week.
Cold. Flu. A bit pissed Nick had figured out that all
Jeagermester was great at was cleaning out his system.
So much for medical purpose.
The group rode in silence. Too tired to talk. After awhile Nickīs eyes drifted shut and he was out to La Laland.
"Frack, wake up, we're here," Brian shook Nickīs
shoulder gently causing the young man to stir. He had
fallen asleep awhile ago and now they had entered the hotel driveway.
"Hmm..leave me alone Mom, I wanna sleep," Nick
murmured, turning on his side, still sleeping.
AJ grinned. MOM. Nick was dreaming about his mom. This
was getting better and better. Now he had so much stuff
for black mailing that he was all set for a year. Nick could be such a prankster. Especially to Howie.
AJ would share some information about Nick with him
and together a sport was to get Nick's temper a work out.
"Come on Nick," Brian shook his shoulder a bit harder
and Nick opened his eyes sleepily. "Wha..What?" he asked a bit grumpy. "Weīre here at the hotel."
"Good, now let me sleep," Once again Nick's eyes
drifted shut. Normally he was very hard to wake up,
but being drunk made it almost impossible.
"NICK," Brian shouted. He was a patient man, but
staying at Nick's side all night long, being stuck with
him in a stall had Brian's temper tested.
"Get the fuck up," AJ was helping out, he was also being
tired to act like Nick's babysitter.
"Yeah, yeah." Nick sat up, rubbing his eyes. He
looked a bit better which was good since they were
about to face a crowd of fans that had stalked
outside the hotel ever since the boys left for the dinner several hours ago.
They made a quick exit from the Limo. Walking
briskly through the cheering crowd and into the
lobby. Leaving disappointed fans as they did not stop
to talk or write any autographs.
If the silence in the Limo had been bad, this was
nothing compared to what it was in the elevator.
All the boys and their partners were leaning against
the wall. AJ was holding Sarah around her shoulders,
while closing his eyes. He was dead to the bone. As badly as AJ felt now, the play with the nurse costume would have to wait.
Brian stood opposite side as AJ, leaning his back
against the wall, keeping his eyes closed. He was
thinking about last nights events. As soon as he would
hit the room he would go into the shower since he
reeked after Nick had vomited on him. Leighanne stood
opposide him, looking at Nick. Concern shone in her eyes.
Nick was leaning against the elevators mirror. His
eyes were closed and his stomach had stopped churning
again. As soon as the elevator had start to move he
felt sick again. A cough escaped his lips, gagging in
the process. Nausea threatening to take over again.
Everybody looked with concern at Nick.
"Are you ok man?" Brian asked, afraid that the
re-decorating scene would be repeating itself again.
Nick nodded, not wanting to open his mouth as he was
sure that something else besides words would leave it.
The car stopped at the floor and Nick hastily left the
elevator running towards his room. 'Let me make it, Let
me make it' He chanted inside his head while he ran. As soon as he got
into his room Nick rushed to the bathroom. Slamming
the door behind him, wanting some privacy.
Brian who had followed, sat down heavy on the bed. It
was going to be a long night.
Chapter 20