"Why aren't you in there with your man?" Brian yelled to me across the table. I turned my head to the thick dance floor in the middle of the downtown Lexington club.
"He's having too much fun without me," I laughed, spotting his curly frizz bounce this way and that with the music.
"Besides, it's my last night with you until the tour ends, and I told him that I wasn't gonna drink tonight," I said to Brian.
"And you don't care if he does?" Brian asked, looking around our table and the many empty glasses.
I shrugged, "As long as he's having fun, so is JC, and that's what's important at the moment," I said, and Brian nodded in agreement.
"Jace needs his best friend with him, and I respect that... Just like Justin respects that I want to spend time with you tonight," I smiled at Brian's soft expression.
The Lexington concert had gone great, as usual. And as much as I wanted to relax and have fun with all the guys, I knew I needed to spend time with Brian before we left to continue the tour the next day. The loud atmosphere of the club wasn't helping, and neither was the fact that almost all the guys, including Kevin, who was coincidently visiting home at the same time that Brian was, were piss drunk.
"Well, you know I'm glad that you love me so much," Brian said with a big grin, taking a sip of his 7-Up, "But we're not just gonna sit here and watch everyone have fun 'til the wee hours of the morning, are we?" he laughed.
"No, we don't have to... What do you want to do?" I asked.
"Well for one thing, I want to find my cousin... who seems to be having about as much fun as Just is," he laughed, getting up and gesturing to the dance floor.
"You got that right," I said, shaking my head. I slid out of the booth, took Brian's hand, and we headed towards the crowd.
Half-way there, I was almost knocked over by two leather pant claded blondes. "Oomph!" I slammed into Brian as the two ran into my side.
"What the-? Are you okay?" Brian supported me up, looking puzzled. I nodded a silent "yes" to him, as I realized who the couple was.
"Hey guys!!!" Eric screamed at us, the stench of vodka and orange juice heavy on his breath.
"Jesus... hey," I said, regaining my composure.
"Are you guys gonna dance?" Lance yelled over the music, throwing his sweaty arms around Eric's neck. Eric giggled as Lance began to tickle his ear with his tongue.
"Uh... yeah, we were," I said to them, but looked at Brian, trying not to laugh at the fact that they were all over each other.
"Have you guys seen Kevin?" Brian avoided my eyes to keep from cracking up.
"Huh? Mmm... Uh- I think so..." Eric mummbled as Lance proceeded to move down his neck with increasingly larger kisses.
"Wasn't... he... in... there... somewhere..." Lance said lazily between his erotic kisses on Eric.
"...Yeah..." Eric finally replied, grabbing Lance's collar and kissing him forcefully on the mouth. My eyes widened as I cleary saw their tongues wrestling.
"Um, ok... well we're just gonna, um..." Brian covered his mouth, not able to control his laughter any more. Lance and Eric were oblivious to us as they continued to grope at each other wildly.
"Go. We're gonna go... and look for uh... Kevin," I quickly grabbed Brian and jogged towards the dance floor, laughing uncontrollably.
"My GOD... I can't believe those two!" he said when we had caught our breaths.
"Yeah, seriously... At least they're not that bad when they're sober," I said, leaning into Brian's ear so that he could hear me over the increasingly loud music.
"I'm just glad that this is a private party... The press would be all over them in a second!" Brian said, leaning in even closer to me. I laughed, agreeing with him.
"Just our luck... We decide not to drink, and because of our maturity, we have to witness sex acts between two of our friends," I cracked up even more, and my head fell onto Brian's shoulder with my laughter.
Another popular remix began to spin, and the crowd of people roared with movement. Brian swung an arm tightly around me and began to dance. I wrapped my arms round his neck, still laughing, and moved with him.
A few songs later, we were still dancing, and I had completely forgotten about Brian wanting to find Kevin. Apparently, so had Brian.
"Hey, I have something that I want to talk to you about... I wasn't going to tell you until after the tour, but..." Brian looked at me with a smile.
"What is it?" I asked, brushing a piece of hair from Brian's forehead, as he loosened his grip on my waist.
"Well... I've been talking with Johnny Wright since you started the tour... and I kinda suggested something to him... and he kinda liked the idea..." Brian's voice was getting softer and softer.
"Bri, tell me! What were you talking to Johnny about?"
"Um... ok, well Johnny loves you, you know that right? I mean, he wouldn't be your manager if he didn't," Brian started out.
"Yeah. I mean, I guess so..."
"Well, he does. He thinks your incredibly talented, and that you're so much more than just a back-up singer for Eric. And, of course, so do I... And with all the tour promotion, and your whole 'going public' thing with Justin... You're gaining a lot of popularity out there... And we both think that it would be in your best interest to, um... well, to go solo."
Brian's last words re-played in my head for what seemed like years. "Are you serious?" I finally said, not blinking.
"Completely. Johnny didn't want to meet with you until after the tour, so that it wouldn't interfere with your schedule... Plus he wants you to finish the tour with Eric and everyone... but I had to say something," Brian smiled widely at my still shocked expression.
"I never... I mean, how did he... when did-" I stopped myself from incompleting another sentence. I looked up into Brian's eyes and let out a loud sigh.
"Shelly... Johnny wants me to produce for you. So do I," Brian said excitedly.
"Produce for me? Like on an album? MY album?" The words that came out of my mouth made no sense to me, but they kept spilling out.
Brian laughed, "YES, Shell. YOUR album. Johnny is really confident about this. He's already got me working on material for you."
"Oh my God... I can't bel-"
"Well, believe it, hon," Brian said wrapping his arms around me again, "Oh, and DON'T say anything to anyone yet. You're not even supposed to know," Brian said into my ear as the noise around us pulsated.
"Ugh... can someone get his feet??" I yelled at Joey, Chris, Brian, JC, and Kevin. Lance and Eric had already gotten in a cab, and were probably jumping each other on their way back to the hotel. My arms were enclosed tightly around Justin, as he hung limply from my shoulder, grumbling undistiguishable phrases.
"I would... If JC here would stop puking... Ugh! Oh, gross..." Chris said, stummbling back from JC's convulsing body by the dumpster.
"Oh shit... not again," Brian ran to Chris's side to help.
"Hey, Shelly... I called Kevin, Joey, and Chris a cab," Brian informed me as he patted JC on the back softly, "It'll take Kevin back home, and get Joey and Chris to the hotel."
I looked over at a drunken Kevin, who was trying his best to keep an even drunker Joey on his own two feet. The two were laughing at absolutely nothing, and wouldn't be of any help.
"Baby, c'mon... TRY to stand up, ok?" I said to Justin as we made our way to Brian's Lexus SUV.
"I can't, Shell... I'm so sorry, baby-" Justin hoisted his lifeless body as much as he could, and sloppily tried to kiss me.
"You look so beautiful tonight... I love you-" Justin sputtered, trying to keep his eyes propped open.
"Justin... sweety, stop-" I said, turning my head from his lips. He continued to push his lips on me, connecting with more of my cheek and chin than my mouth.
"Justin, come on... Stop!" I stopped walking him closer to the car, and he took the opportunity to pull me into a loose embrace.
"What's wrong, baby?... Why- Why can't I kiss my girl?" Justin said, trying to hold me tight, and landing a wet kiss directly on my mouth.
I tried to get him more towards the car, letting him kiss me, but Justin's wandering, cold hands found their way up my thigh, and underneath my skirt. I jumped, surprised, and pushed Justin away from me roughly.
"Justin, STOP!" He hit the cement with a thud.
"What the hell is your problem?" Justin began yelling, fumbling at the damp ground to stand himself up.
"My problem? My fucking problem is that you're all drunk as hell, JC's puking, and I can't get your ass into the goddamn car without getting felt up!" I spat at Justin, who glared at me with glassy eyes as he pushed himself off of the pavement.
"Whatever..." Justin was finally upright again, and swaying back and forth with drunkeness.
"Will you please just get into the car?" I asked, noticing that a cab had arrived.
Justin shrugged his shoulders lazily, and pivoted, stumbling towards Brian's silver SUV.
After less than five steps, Justin's listless body fell over, and he passed out, hitting his head on the hard ground.
"Oh my God..." I said, rushing to Justin, just as Brian wisked past me. I stopped short, and Brian calmly rolled Justin onto his side, trying to revive him.
"Don't worry, I got him," Brian assured me. I looked on as Brian managed to get Justin half-alive, stand him up, and then proceeded to try his best to get Justin into the passenger side of the car.
"'Night Shell..." Joey hobbled past me, climbing into the cab.
"'Night Joe," I said. Heaving a sigh of relief that things were settling down.
"Bye Shelly... It was great seeing you again, girl," Kevin gave me a warm, slightly exaggerated hug, smiling hazily at me.
"You too, Kev. Take care of Brian for me for the next few months, will ya?" I said, looking at Brian, who was still reviving Justin in the car. I patted Kevin's broad shoulder as he walked towards the cab.
"Will do, hon. See you soon," Kevin waved as he scooted into the cab next to an already asleep Joey.
I turned back to see how Chris was doing with JC, and saw that they were headed my way. Chris held JC up with both arms, and JC's head drooped downwards as his feet dragged along.
"I think he's puked out," Chris said to me. I started to laugh, but wasn't sure if it had been a joke or not.
Chris transferred JC onto me, and boarded the cab last. "Bye, Rok!" Chris called to Brian, who was still standing at the passenger side's door, and finally buckling in Justin. Brian stuck his head out of the car, giving a smile and a wave to the guys in the cab. "I'm kinda tied up at the moment, sorry!"
"Don't worry about it, man. See you in a few months, alright?" Chris waved goodbye, closing the cab's door.
As the cab pulled away, I slowly walked JC to the SUV, and Brian opened up the back door.
"Ok, Jace. You gotta get in the car now..." I said to JC, who nodded with puffy red eyes. I held down his head so he wouldn't hit it on the car, and JC successfully made it into the back-seat.
Brian closed both of the passenger side doors, and we walked around to the other side of the car, hoping to make it to the hotel in as little time as possible.
After I had tucked a dazed JC into his cozy hotel room, I went back to my room where Brian was with Justin.
"Tell Shelly I'm sorry..." Justin repeated to Brian for the millionth time, as his covers were pulled over him. Brian had helped him get his clothes off and put him to bed, and Justin had no clue that I was there as well.
"She knows, Just. It's ok," Brian said to Justin, comfortingly. He then turned towards me and smiled.
"I love you, man..." Justin reached up blindly for Brian, and jerked him down into a hug. I giggled, seeing Brian's shocked expression.
Justin's arms fell dead onto the bed, as he fell immediatly into a deep sleep. Brian stood up, laughing, and walked over to me.
"Well, well... Looks like he loves me too! What do ya know..." he smiled, jokingly. I laughed, lightly slapping his chest.
"Come on... I'll walk you out," I said, grabbing my room key.
"No, you don't have to... You should get some sleep, girl," Brian smiled.
I sighed, knowing what was coming... "Well, I guess this is good-bye?" I asked.
Brian grabbed me and wrapped his warm arms around me tightly. "I'm gonna miss you like crazy," he whispered, pressing my forehead to his chin.
"I'm gonna miss you too..." I said, getting choked up. "Thank you so much for tonight. For helping me handle this idiot over there," I laughed through my tears, motioning to Justin.
"Hey... Don't even worry about it," Brian continued hugging me, not letting up on his grasp.
"And I can't even begin to describe to you how I feel about the whole album thing..." I pulled back, looking into Brian's toasty blue eyes.
"Shhhh... You don't know about it, remember?" Brian put a finger to my lips and smiled.
I rolled my eyes at him. "I know, I know... But I just wanted to say-"
"You're welcome, Shell..." Brian gently wiped a tear that was hanging from my eye before it could fall down my cheek.
I smiled, letting tears fall freely down my cheeks, as Brian drew in a large breath and pulled me back into an even tighter embrace.
We hugged each other for a long time after that, but it seemed like only seconds had gone by before he walked out of the door.
