I Will Buy You a New Life
Chapter 2
Brian walked aimlessly back up the street. He couldn't believe he had just done that. It was way out of character for his normal, shy self. It was something he could imagine AJ doing but not himself. He shoved his hands in his pockets and pondered everything. Ever since his fiancée left him at the alter, he had been a miserable, detached, unsociable kind of guy when it came to women. He kept all of his emotions on the inside, praying no one would be able to see through his facade. Lately, though, he had been having other feelings. Not those of heartbreak and loneliness, but ones of joy and happiness. It still hurt unbearably when he thought of his heartbreak, but somehow when he was near or thinking of the girl on the bus his melancholy mood turned gleeful. It was a sensation he didn't know how to comprehend. For Christ's sake, he didn't even know her name. He glanced up seeing Nick's spacious house up the street ahead of him. His destination was set. He needed to get his mind off of everything and what better way to do it then to play a few rounds of basketball or a few games of Tony Hawk Pro Skater -Nick's current favorite Nintendo game.
"Hey man, come on in," said Nick, surprised to see Brian again. It had been about a month since he had last talked to him since the guys weren't on tour at that moment. Brian didn't say anything, just walked past Nick into his house. He looked around. Everything was still the same as the last time he was there. A few new plaques, magazine covers, and pictures on the walls and a few more awards set strategically on Nick's homemade shelf that he was so proud of. "What brings you here?" Nick continued, leading Brian into the living room. Brian shrugged.
"I was walking by and thought I'd drop in." Nick looked at him like he was a couple Excedrin tablets short of a full medicine cabinet. Brian didn't "walk" anywhere unless there was a specific reason. He especially didn't "walk" all the way across town. Ever. Reason or no, it was virtually impossible for a human being to walk all the way from Brian's house in Windermere (a small town just southwest of Orlando) to Nick's house in Winter Park (just north of Orlando). Forrest Gump couldn't even make it.
"Oh, you were just walking by since we live in the same neighborhood and all, huh Brian?" Brian bowed his head and looked down at his shoes. He really didn't want to explain everything to Nick. "Hey, I may be a bit slow at times, but I'm not dumb. You'd be dead right now if you had attempted to walk that far."
"Well, I took the bus part of the way, then walked the rest of it."
"You took the bus? Mr. I-have-four-cars."
"Hey, I just felt like taking the bus, ok? Get off my back, man." Nick rolled his eyes and continued walking through the kitchen, to the living room. He plopped down on the couch, picking up the Nintendo controller from the floor in front of him and unpausing the game. Brian sighed and sat down in a bright blue chair beside the soft white couch. Nick's house was very vibrantly colored. Everywhere except in his "green room". The decorator detested the shade of green that Nick liked, so they compromised and allowed Nick one full room of dark green. Nick made the room his office/studio.
Brian watched Nick play for a while, groaning along with him when Tony Hawk fell off his skate board, then breaking into laughter every time. After a while, Brian got bored with watching him, and looked around, finally resting his gaze on the sky outside the huge glass doors that led outside to the screened-in pool area. Brian's mind again began to wander. He thought about Leighanne, his ex-fiancée. He smiled thinking back over all of the wonderful, love-filled memories they'd shared. Thinking about it always made him smile. He wished that's all he had to remember her with. Happy times. His face fell when he thought about their wedding day. For most people, it was the happiest day of their lives, but for him, it was the worst. He could vividly remember the entire day. Every word uttered, and every suit or dress worn was permanently inscribed in his mind.
-=Flashback=-
Brian's head quickly lifted off the pillow as he threw the covers back and literally jumped out of bed with a smile the size of Texas plastered across his face. He ran downstairs to go see Leighanne in the guest room that her bridesmaids had made her stay in. They wanted the "bride and groom can't see each other until the wedding" tradition in effect. Brian's smile increased w/ each step he took. He ran around the corner about to fling open the door when someone stood in front of him, putting their hand on his chest to stop him. He looked up to see Leighanne's best friend, Susan standing there.
"Don't think so, Bri." She said shaking her head at him. "Not until the wedding and that's not for another," she paused and looked down at her watch, "12 hours. Jesus you get up early."
"That's cause I'm so damn excited! Is she awake?" Susan nodded her head. "Great, then let me go see her!" He tried to push past her, but soon felt someone else holding him back from behind.
"Brian, calm yourself. It's only 12 hours. You've been away from her for longer then that," he heard Kevin's voice. Brian groaned and mumbled his surrender, then walked into the kitchen with his head lowered. Kevin walked in after him and took a seat at the breakfast table. "I can't believe you're getting married. Actually, I can cause it's Leighanne and all, but I mean...I remember when you were like this tall on me," he said placing his hand to the middle of his chest. Brian walked by him, not really paying attention and sat down. "Cool, you're still this tall on me," said Kevin, trying his hardest to break the tension.
"Shut up, Kevin. I'm not that short. Besides, aren't you supposed to be nice to me? It's my wedding day damn you!" he said pretending to be mad. He balled up his fist for emphasize.
"Wedding or no, you're still a shrimp." Brian playfully glared at him. "Yeah, yeah, yeah...so you excited?"
"Gee Kev, ya know actually I'm not at all. I was kind of hoping that I don't know, she'd get cold feet and leave my ass at the alter or something. That's what I really want to happen. Actually I don't even really like her all that much, but she's cute, so it's okay," said Brian sarcastically. Nick walked in the room then, humming the wedding song. Brian bit his lip, not wanting to laugh at how cliche that was.
"Hey Kev. So, Brian, you excited?" asked Nick, grabbing a cherry flavored Nutri-Grain bar out of the cabinet and sitting across from Brian and Kevin. Brian looked at him like he was stupid. "What?"
"Would you be excited if you were marrying a Nintendo?" Nick looked at him like he was insane.
"A Nintendo? Why would I marry a Nintendo?" he asked, taking a big bite of his cereal bar, practically finishing it in one bite. Brian shook his head.
"Forget it, I don't feel like explaining." Brian watched Nick shove the rest of his food in his mouth then attempt to say something. Brian made a disgusted face and turned towards Kevin. "So, have you and Kristin set a date yet? It's been like forever." Kevin shook his head.
"No, but we're working on it. We both want the day to be perfect, ya know? We're thinking about having it on my Dad's birthday." Brian lowered his head. Any mention of Kevin's father brought down everyone in the room, no matter how happy they were. It especially brought Brian down. He could remember his uncle so healthy and happy, never sad or sick. That is, until about a month or two before he passed away. There was a long awkward silence between the three of them. Nick stood up and walked over to the cabinet and grabbed another Nutri-Grain bar.
"That would be really nice if you did, Kev," Brian said, his eyes still locked on his hands resting on the table. He wasn't really sure what else to say. He knew Kevin still had a really hard time dealing with his father's death, and it was even more hard for him to have to talk about it. Kevin sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Yeah, so we'll see," he said quietly. Brian glanced at him, and saw his eyes begin to get a little misty. Kevin glanced up and caught Brian's eyes. "Don't look at me like that, Bri, I'm fine." Brian nodded, not really knowing what else to do, and looked over at Nick who was devouring his 2nd cereal bar.
The day seemed to crawl by like they always seem to do when something exciting is supposed to happen. Brian stood in his room, looking himself over and over again in the mirror, making sure every hair was in place, not wanting anything to go wrong with this day. He could hardly wait for tomorrow to start his new life with his love. He sighed, something he very seldom did. He was ready. He couldn't think of any better way to spend the rest of his life then with the one woman he knew would always be there (with the exception of his mother, of course). He looked down at himself once more, praying silently. He prayed for a lot of things in that time period. He prayed for himself, for his family, his friends, even his fans, but he mostly prayed for his new life on the horizon. He heard a soft tap on the door, then the creaking of the knob turning. He raised his head to see his brother, Harold walking towards him.
"Almost ready?" he asked, wiping at his cheeks. Brian pulled his brother into a tight hug. He had seen his tears, he knew he was getting all sentimental. It didn't come as a big surprise however, their whole family was like that; the men and the women were equally "hypersensitive" (as Nick called them).
"Almost? Hell no, I am ready! It's now or never baby!" The two laughed awkwardly for a few brief moments, soon ending and both becoming very earnest. Harold smiled at his brother.
"I can't believe my baby bro's goin off and getting married. You should have seen mom and dad in the car on the way here. I've never seen mom cry so hard in my life. I'm not really sure the direct reason for her tears, but my guess is it's the same as mine: our little boy's growing up," he said batting his eyelashes. Brian grinned and nudged Harold lightly in the arm.
"You ready, Rok? Everyone's waiting," said Nick poking his head in the door. Brian nodded his head and motioned for Nick to come in.
"How do I look? Honestly?" asked Brian stepping back from the two and smoothing out his jacket. They both sighed wistfully. Brian jokingly glared that them. "Stop being stupid and answer me! Do I look ok?"
"You look like a guy who's about to break millions of girls' hearts," said Nick teasing him. Harold and Brian both chuckled. "But I mean really, it's just a few million, not that many." Brian shook his head and began walking towards the door.
"It's go time, my lady awaits!" he said walking out the door with his head held high. He had never been more sure about anything in his life. Harold and Nick followed him down the hallway.
Brian stood anxiously at the alter. He could hardly wait to see how beautiful Leighanne would look. He'd seen her in the dress already; he had been there to help her pick it out, but he knew today there'd be some type of extra flair about her. He was more nervous now then he ever was for any concert he could remember. He could hear his mother whimpering from the pew she sat in just to his left. He watched as Harold and Leighanne's best friend, Susan; Kevin and his fiancée Kristin; Nick and his girlfriend (at the time) Mandy; AJ and his girlfriend (at the time) Amanda; and Howie and his girlfriend Sandra make their way down the aisle following Leighanne's niece, Jennifer the flower girl. Tears began to dance behind Brian's eyelids. So far everything was running completely smooth. It was so beautiful. Everyone in the building stood up when the pianist (Tommy Smith from the Backstreet band) began to play "The Wedding March." Brian closed his eyes and took a deep breath, knowing that in just a matter of minutes his soul would be complete. He reopened his eyes expecting to see Leighanne's smiling face as she strutted down the aisle, but instead he saw the doors still closed at the end of the aisle. Brian figured she had just missed her cue like she had in rehearsal the day before, so he stood up straight knowing in a few seconds someone would tell her to come out. Seconds turned into minutes. Tommy played and replayed "The Wedding March" at Brian's request. He denied to believe the inevitable...more like he didn't want to believe it. Susan walked over to him with tears in her eyes and rubbed his back lightly.
"Brian sweetie, I don't think she's coming," she said before she broke down crying. He looked at her emotionless as she clinged onto his arm as she cried. This wasn't happening. She would be there, he knew she would. He didn't reply to Susan, just looked back towards the aisle envisioning Leighanne walking towards him. Harold was next to try to get through to Brian. He stood beside him and stared at the aisle beside him for a while, then turned his head.
"Brian...umm...Mandy just went to look for her. Maybe you know she got locked in the bathroom or something." Brian nodded his head.
"Yeah...maybe she's locked in the bathroom..." he said absent mindedly. At this point, everything was a blur around him. All he could hear was the quiet hum of the wedding guests whispering to each other, his mother's faint weeping, and his heart beating slowly, at a snail's pace, in his chest. Suddenly the reality of what happened hit him and he broke down crying. He fell to the ground startling everyone as he sat on the floor, knees between his legs as he sobbed. His mother and father jumped to their feet and ran to Brian's side along with Harold and the guys. Everything around him whirled around as he sat in his sorrows and hysterically cried. He could hear a million different voices from above him asking if he was ok and if he needed any water--then suddenly everything went black.
-=End Flashback=-
Nick watched his friend carefully as he stared out into space. Nick had a pretty good idea of what he was thinking about, but didn't know what to say or do to help Brian feel better. A few tears lightly trickled from Brian's eyes before he wiped them away and took a deep breath, looking over at Nick. He tried his hardest to smile. Nick just nodded and put and comforting hand on his friends back, trying to calm him down a bit. Brian looked at him and shook his head.
"Don't worry about me, Nick. I'm fine," he paused and looked down at his hands. "We've been friends for a long time now."
"7 years and counting."
"Yeah, and we pretty much tell each other everything, right?" Nick nodded his head. "Well, I really need some advice, but you have to have an open mind about this one, ok?" Nick nodded again, readying himself for anything Brian was about to tell him.
-=Chapter Three=-
-=I Will Buy Chapter Index=-
-=Story Index=-
-=Back to BoNe RoKin' KaoS=-