Chapter 11

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He lay awake, having been so for the past two minutes, listening to her footsteps walk
around her room.  It was almost five am and he had been in a fitful and uneasy sleep for
most of the night so he was easily awoken when she dropped something in her room.  Her
door opened and he heard her go downstairs, followed by more muffled sounds.  The
house fell completly still again and he wondered if he should go check on her.  As the
silence grew, so did his unease.  Nick finally got up and slipped on his robe against the
cool airconditioning.  Walking quietly across the hall, he peered in her room, the
darkness causing trouble in focusing on anything.  Her room was obviously empty so he
took the rest of the stairs down to the first floor.  After searching, he found her outside,
seated on one of the patio chairs by the pool, eyes thoughtful as she seeked answers to
whatever questions she had hidden from him.  She didn’t hear him; she was too deep in
solicitude to hear him.  He stared at her, taking in the tears, taking in the forlorn look. 
Anger slowly filled in and he was torn between letting her know he was watching her or
just leaving her privacy untouched.  The latter one, his guilt from searching her things
having returned as he moved from the doorway and entered the house again.  Why was
she doing this?  What reason did she have to be so despondent?  He went back to his
room, perplexed over what to do with a situation over his head...


					*****
	“ Geez, you look like you were up all night,” Nick sat at the table silently, not
bothering to acknowledge her presence as he poured himself a cup of coffee.  She studied
his face curiously.
“ What’s the matter?” She asked.
“ Coffee’s cold...” He replied, making a face as he stood up to put some more in the
coffeemaker.
“ I didn’t think you’d take this long to get up.”  He glanced at her.
“ How long have you been up?”  She shrugged.
“ I don’t know.  Since around 8:00...”  She lied.  She would seriously lie to him, despite
what they had told each other over the years; despite the fact he would never lie to her.
“ It’s 9:30,” He snapped, slamming shut the filter compartment.
“ So?  Coffee cools fast,” She said, a bit taken aback by his anger.
“ I don’t give a shit about the coffee,” He said pointedly.
“ Christ, then why are you so mad?” She asked, her tone raising to a defensive one.
“ Forget it, April...” He sat back down at the table as she returned to her morning paper. 
He stared at her, watching as her eyes scanned over the headlines.
“ Yes?” She lifted her eyes and met his, annoyance evident as he tapped his foot on the
tiled floor.
“ Nothing...I’m gonna get going...I’ll be home late,” He said abruptly and stood up,
forgetting about the coffee completly...


					*****
	“ Nothing’s wrong...I’m just worried about April,” Nick said with a sigh, causing
a skeptical look from Brian.
“ April?  Why?  I think you’re taking AJ’s comments too seriously,” Brian answered,
taking a bite of his sandwich.  They were in the break room, having been in the studio for
a couple of hours straight and finally allowed a break.  
“ Do you think so?  It’s just that she’s...changed so much, she’s not the person I
remembered,”
“ Well, Nick, you’ve changed from who she used to know.  I don’t think that’s credible
enough for you to make accusations-”
“ I didn’t...” Nick interrupted, thinking about that morning.  AJ chose to walk in at that
moment so the conversation was cut short.  Aj noticed the quiet when he walked in and
glanced at them as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
“ What were you guys talking about?” He inquired, looking at the table for creamer and
sugar.
“ Nothing...Just the songs we’ve been working on,” Nick said.  AJ, being in a bad mood,
didn’t persist but obviously knew it was something other than the songs.
“ So how’s April?”  He struck a nerve because an angry look crossed Nick’s face and he
threw AJ a glare.
“ Don’t start with that shit again, AJ.” AJ feigned an innocent shrug, opening his mouth
to say something when one of their producers walked in.  AJ chuckled at Nick before he
strolled out of the room...


					*****
	The night was late, the house dark when he finally made it home around
midnight, his nerves cut short because of the stress at the studio.  He entered the house,
greeted by the silence that had become familiar to his home.  Assuming April was asleep,
he kicked off his shoes and tossed his keys onto the foyer table, just wanting to get some
sleep.  He went upstairs and paused at her door, seeing the light filter from the slit at the
bottom.  He knocked and waited, wondering if she’d wanna talk to him after the shit he
had given her in the morning.  The door opened and she stared at him questioningly.
“ Hey, I just got back from the studio...” 
“...Ok...” 
“...I just thought-...You’d wanna know...So what were you up to tonight?”
“ Hmmm...Let’s see, I talke to my parents, went shopping, came up with a list of
different approaches to suicide...” She said the latter pointedly and he looked at her.
“ Next time, Nick, instead of trying to make me figure out what the hell is wrong with
you and your damn mood swings, why don’t you  tell me what your thinking. 
Isn’t that what you’re always telling me to do?” 
“ April-”
“ And how about instead of believing what your friend, a complete stranger to me, says
about me, you believe what I say to you?” She shut the door in his face angrily and he
heard the lock catch.  
“ April, open the door,” He called, tired and weary.
“ Forget it, Nick.  Go to sleep, you can lecture me tomorow,” She said, her voice muffled.
“ Fine!” He let out a frustrated sigh and turned to go to his room...