Chapter Twenty-five

A week and a half passed since Megan’s breakdown in the bathtub. She almost forgot where the bus was taking her. . . almost. AJ did his best not to ask about her mother, and he warned the rest of them to do the same. He didn’t want to upset her if he didn’t have to.

Leighanne left the tour to visit her parents for a little while. She would return in a couple weeks. Brian wandered around with his dog, as if unsure of where to go. Megan truly believed his other half was missing when Leighanne wasn’t around. She still hadn’t extracted revenge on him and Nick, but now she didn’t really feel like it. Revenge just didn’t seem as sweet when there was the chance she was going to come face to face with her mother.

AJ snuggled closer to her on the couch in their hotel room as they watched a movie of his choosing. He had looked at their tour schedule earlier, and saw that Phoenix was their next stop. He wanted desperately to talk with Megan about her troubles, but was unsure of how to approach the sensitive topic.

A short knock came at the door and AJ jumped up to answer it. Megan quickly swiped the tv remote control from where AJ had set it and sat back against the soft cushions, flipping channels at a breakneck speed.

“Hey! We’re not done with the movie!” he exclaimed, hand on the doorknob.

“We are now,” Megan retorted gleefully.

AJ shook his head and opened the door.

“Hi, Mom. What’s up?”

Denise took a step inside and looked up at her son. “I just wanted to say good-night. And to remind you that we have to be up and outta here at 5am.”

“Good Lord! Five in the morning? Why?!”

“We have to get to Phoenix by noon because you guys have to go through a rehearsal, and then you have a fan conference at four-thirty.”

“Okay, we’ll be up.”

“And moving?”

“Yes, mother. Sheesh.”

Denise just smiled and stood on tiptoe to hug him. “Fine, everyone’s meeting in the hall. Sleep tight, you two. See you in the morning. Good night, Megan.”

“’Night, Denise!” Megan called, waving to her.

AJ closed the door and rejoined his girlfriend on the couch, trying and failing to get the remote back.

“Hah! You left it, it’s mine!” she cried, waving it in the air like a trophy. “Loser!”

AJ crossed his arms and pouted like a child, but secretly, he was happy to see her in such a good mood.

“You know, your mom is an angel,” she said, still trying to find something interesting to watch.

“Oh, I know. I’d be lost without her.”

“I envy you.”

“For what?”

“You have one of the greatest mom’s in the world, and your relationship is so strong.”

“She’s always been there for me. She’s my rock.”

“I wish I had that sense of security with my mom,” Megan muttered.

AJ cleared his throat and decided to ask her about her mom.

“Say, when do I get to meet this estranged parent of yours, anyway?”

“If you’re lucky. . . never.”

“You’re not going to visit her while we’re in Phoenix? You’ll have three days you know.”

“Three days to stay away from her, hmmm. . . Not impossible, but tricky,” she mused.

Frustrated, AJ reached out and plucked the remote from her hands and threw it across the room.

“Hey you booger!”

“Come on, Megan. I’ve told you every dirty little detail about my life, including the shit about my father. And you haven’t told me anything.” He paused, allowing her to jump into the conversation anytime.

After a minute of complete silence, except for the television, he cried, “Megan!”

“What?!”

“Talk to me, please,” he said softly, taking her hands in his. “I know you have issues with your mother, but I want to help you through them.”

“This coming from someone more messed up than me,” was her curt response. “You still have major issues with Bob. What makes you think you can help me?”

“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “But I hate feeling helpless with you. I care about you.”

“Look, AJ, the problems with my mother don’t have anything to do with you. So why, exactly, do you want to be bothered with them?”

“Because, Megan, if it’s affecting you, it could affect us, our relationship. And I want us to have a solid one, without ghosts from our pasts causing trouble.”

Megan pursed her lips and thought about this for awhile. Finally, she let out a huge sigh and squeezed her eyes shut.

“All right. What do you want to know?”

AJ was greatly relieved that she hadn’t smacked him for pushing her.

“Anything you want to tell me, preferably all of it, from the beginning.”

Megan opened her eyes and stared at him. “Nosy much?” she teased. “Okay, first, get me something alcoholic, and something for yourself too. This is gonna be a deep conversation.”

“AJ?” she called from the bathroom.

“Yeah?”

“What if I see her?”

AJ laced up his shoes and went to stand in the doorway. He watched her brush her hair, still slightly damp from the shower, and thought she looked absolutely beautiful.

“What if I see her and we have a fight?” Megan continued. “I don’t think I want to go through that.”

AJ stepped closer to her and rubbed her shoulders. “You’ll be fine,” he assured her. “And I’ll be there with you, and so will the others. We won’t let you go through this alone. When are you going to tell the others?”

“I’d rather not tell them at all. But they are my friends, granted, they are weird ones, but they deserve to know. Tonight maybe? After your business is done?”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Okay, then let’s get the hell outta here.”

They grabbed their luggage and made it out to the hallway. Nick and Brian were already out there, propped up against each other, dozing. Howie stumbled out of his room a minute later, grumbling to himself under his breath.

“Aren’t we a cheery bunch this morning?” Megan said loudly, causing them to cover their ears and groan.

“It’s freaking five in the morning,” Nick moaned, burying his face in his hands.

“Actually, it’s quarter till,” Megan informed him.

“Oh shut up and go away. I hate happy morning people.”

Denise came out of her room, her carry-on bag hanging from her shoulder, and her suitcase-on-wheels ready to roll.

“Morning all. Are we all set to go?”

“Kev and Dana haven’t come out yet,” Brian said softly.

Denise frowned and looked at her watch. “We’ve got to get moving. The bus is ready to leave, and there are fans waiting for us.”

Megan’s mouth dropped. “This early in the morning?”

Howie nodded. “I don’t think they ever sleep.”

“Well, who’s going to get Kevin and Dana out here?” Denise asked.

Megan jumped up and down. “Ooh, ooh! Me! Let me do it!”

Without waiting for an answer, she hurried to Kevin and Dana’s door and pressed her ear to it. She listened quietly and then began pounding wildly. She didn’t realize that the door was being yanked open and that she ended up pounding on Kevin’s bare chest.

He glared down at her through narrowed eyes until she stopped. She finally looked up and giggled.

“Oops. Hehe, um. . . “

Dana, wearing a pastel pink negligee, peeked around Kevin’s massive form. “We were coming out, just give us a sec.”

Then she slammed the door in Megan’s face.

“Hmm. Think I interrupted something?”