LEARNING HOW TO FLY
Chapter 10 ~ Aftermath ~
And the Saga continues. Special thanks to Drow and everyone else who gave me helpful input. As always, comments, praise and criticism should be sent to Pandora0071@lycos.com.
Disclaimer: This is all fictional and in no way represents the true beliefs/opinions/sexualities of any of the celebrities mentioned. If you are underage or reading this kind of stuff is illegal in your neck of the woods, please leave. Or lock the door. Whatever.
Nick opened his eyes carefully, squinting in the bright early-morning sun. It took him a moment to realize where he was, but then it all came back to him. Flashes of skin on skin, an eager mouth, pure ecstasy. With a smile he looked at Colin, curled up next to him, wrapped in twisted sheets. Nick settled back on his pillow, snuggled closer to his lover and closed his eyes. The room enclosed him like a cocoon and he wished he'd never have to leave, never have to face the rampant chaos that was waiting for him outside these walls.
"You know, you could just call one of them Dragonfly people. I'm sure Nick is with them. More specifically, with Colin." Howie suggested for the millionth time. But Kevin just shook his head. He had not slept all night and he looked worn out. But lack of sleep was the least of his problems. He wrapped his hands around his coffee mug and stared into the rising steam as if it would reveal the secrets of the universe to him.
"The truth is, I don't know what to do." Kevin finally confessed. Howie sighed. The recent developments were leaving their mark on him, too, but at least he had been prepared for it. If anything, he was impressed that Nick had been able to deal with Brian for as long as he had. But Kevin had been taken completely by surprise and his mind was still reeling from all that he had found out yesterday.
"Nick is gay, Alex is bi and Brian hates both of them for it and oh yeah, he left the band." Kevin said, ticking off each item on his fingers, then shaking his head.
"What I fail to see is how I could have gone a whole year without noticing that Nick is gay and obviously suffering under Brians ignorance." Leaning back into the couch he closed his eyes and rubbed his throbbing temples.
"Don't beat yourself up over that." Howie offered. "Nick didn't tell me until a few months ago and I hadn't noticed either. He really wanted to brave this out, to keep the band together."
"And then things fell apart anyway." Kevin stated. And he was fighting to keep tears at bay.
"Would you stop pacing like a fucking caged tiger? You are driving me nuts." AJ complained. Brian whirled around.
"I have no idea what you are even doing in my room. If I am getting on your nerves you could leave." He spat.
"What I am doing here is trying to talk some sense into you!" AJ flung back. He'd known from the beginning that it would be a lost cause, but somehow he had been unable to just watch things happen. There had to be something he could do! And now the anger it had taken him all night to fight down was flaring up again. He'd been trying to contain it yesterday, but now he saw no more reason to hold back.
"I don't understand how you can do this! How you can just stand there like some self-righteous bastard and pass your judgment on us as if you'd been spoon-fed wisdom and morality. Don't you see what you are doing to us? Nick is hurting, Kevin is torn between his friend and his cousin, and you just destroyed our whole fucking band! Who the hell do you think you are?" Though he had started out with a quiet fury, AJ was almost screaming when he reached the last sentence and Brian looked at him with a mixture of disgust and pity.
"I wouldn't expect you to know the first thing about morality. I held my tongue when you started drinking. I even over-looked your drug habit. Heck, I never said anything about your frequent adventures with male groupies. But you don't really expect me to remain silent now that you are trying to pull Nick down ..."
"What?" AJ almost laughed. "Run that last part by me again because I don't think I'm catching what you're trying to say."
"Alex, I deeply care for Nick. He is almost like a brother to me and I simply will not stand by idly as he is letting you lure him into sinful behaviour like this." Brian had taken on an almost condescending tone, standing before AJ and lecturing, no, admonishing him like some half-wit. AJ let the silence settle for a while, staring into his friends eyes, searching for something that would promise some last fiber of hope, finding nothing but coldness, hardness. Finally he took a deep breath and pushed himself out of the chair as if it required a large physical effort.
"Brian, you are full of shit." AJ said as they were face to face. Then he walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Dave was not quite sure what the next step should be. Yesterday morning he had woken up full of energy and with the certainty that his career was finally taking off, that they were finally getting somewhere. This morning all hope and optimism had left him and he was left with an empty feeling and the bitter taste of disappointment. The band he had admired for years had gone to pieces and it had taken him down with it.
When Kevin had called him the previous afternoon to explain the situation, Dave had had to resist the urge of storming into Brian's room and yelling at him. But it was not his place to meddle. They would simply have to deal with this blow. They would reorganize, regroup and start again. For Dragonfly, this was just another setback, one of many on the long, hard road to success.
With a sigh he hoisted himself up out of bed. It was time for breakfast, he decided. He'd take a shower, then order some food. Call Jamie and Nicky, asking them to come over. He'd wake up Colin. And probably Nick, too, Dave mused with a smile.
Things were not so bad, after all. They would simply have to adjust to the new situation.
Here we go. Yet another chapter.
Hope you like it. And I know that I am giving Brian a bad rep. I swear, this was not entirely my intention. But he sort of took it and ran with it. Fellow writers will know what I mean ... sometimes these stories write themselves. We shall see.
joey