Nick felt horrible. Clear-headed, but horrible. Brian�s declaration that his time was running out confused him. Roaming aimlessly around the upper floor of his beachfront mansion, he let his thoughts spin. Angel had to be okay. Brian would have told him if she wasn�t, wouldn�t he?
The number 214 floated through his consciousness as he reached the open door of the guest room A.J. had made into his temporary home. After Kevin�s single call, this area code remained in his memory, hoping for something to give it meaning.
Staring at A.J.�s sleeping form, a vivid memory from nearly a year before took over his sight. A nondescript backstage area, stage hands readying things for that night�s show�
Dude, leave Brian alone. He�s kinda upset.
Why?
You know that girl he�d been so eager to meet the past few days?
Yeah.
She�s running late. Won�t make it in time to come back here before the show starts.
What about after the show? Why doesn�t he get Q or Mike to bring her back here during the finale?
Can�t. We leave for Louisiana right when we get off stage.
Oh� that sucks. He�s been looking forward to this show for weeks because of her.
Yeah, I know.
What�s so special about this girl anyway? Have we met her before?
Don�t think so. She just means a lot to Bri I guess.
The memory faded and he tried to place its significance under his current situation. Could the girl he�d been hoping to see be Angel? Where had they been? The setting of his and A.J.�s conversation could have been a number of places, but Louisiana. Where had they been before Louisiana during the last tour?
Groaning, Nick leaned against the doorframe, closing his eyes tightly against the throbbing that threatened to cause his head to explode.
�Too much thinking�� he mumbled to himself, opening his eyes slowly while rubbing his temples.
As his sight returned to normal, he noticed a pile of nondescript objects sitting on the nightstand next to A.J.�s bed. Without thinking Nick carefully walked towards him, head once again clouded by some unknown force. Standing next to his friend�s head, his hand reached towards the mound of objects that typically filled A.J.�s pockets, noiselessly moved a heavy personalized key ring, and uncovered a black leather wallet filled with credit cards and assorted scraps of paper given to him by random females on their travels around the world.
�A.J.�s wallet is always full of surprises�
Nick picked it up, holding his breath as he ran his fingers over the smooth, broken in leather. Carefully opening it, his eyes followed as a folded piece of hotel stationary floated back down onto the pile of A.J.�s possessions. Not even bothering to look at the remaining contents, Nick tossed the wallet back onto the table and snatched up the note, unfolding it with shaking yet deft hands. His eyes filled with tears of anger and relief at the sight of the now familiar handwriting, and his heart caught in his chest, skipping a beat at the sight of a phone number scrawled at the bottom with that infamous area code.
Nick didn�t notice when A.J. rolled over onto his back, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes when he saw him standing there.
�Hey, man, how are you��
His face blanched as Nick turned to him, simply holding up the note in his hand.
�Oh, shit��
Nick licked his cracked lips and tried to contain his angry excitement.
�Why didn�t you tell me?�
�Nick, man� she didn�t want me to. She doesn�t want you to go after her.�
�Brian does.�
A.J. sat up and stared at his friend, confused and finally believing that the doctor was right about Nick being delusional.
�It was her. In Dallas. She was supposed to come meet him before our show, but she ran late. It was Angel.�
�What does that have to do with now?�
A possessed sheen overtook Nick�s clear blue eyes as he looked into A.J.�s.
�Everything. You�ve talked to her.�
�No. I�ve called her once - a few days ago. No one picked up, so I talked to a machine. I don�t even know if it�s hers.�
Glancing down at the note once more, he folded it up and stuffed it into his pocket.
�What necklace?�
A.J. tried to swallow around the growing knot in his throat, this was becoming bad, very bad. Looking away, he carefully pulled the simple chain from underneath his tank top. Instantly Nick gripped a hold of the charms and A.J. had to jump to his feet in fear the clasp would break or he would be strangled. Nick�s eyes hungrily took in every detail of it, running his fingers over every tiny surface, before returning to A.J.�s face.
�Why you?�
He wished Nick would stop looking at him like at any moment spiny blue monsters with large, sharp knife-like teeth would shoot from his eyes and consume AJ�s soul.
�I don�t know,� he whispered. �Kevin told me she�d given it to him to give to me. I didn�t even know she�d left.�
Satisfied, Nick pushed A.J. back down on the bed before rushing down the hall to his own bedroom, making A.J. flinch at the sound of the slamming door. But Nick simply walked onto his balcony, allowing the sunshine to drench him as he watched the ocean dance against the sand. Letting out a deep breath, hesitating slightly at the pain in his ribs, he allowed relief to fill his body.
�I guess A.J.�s wallet is a little more interesting than I thought.�
*~*
�What the hell happened to Leslie?�
Albert had done his best to avoid any of Leslie�s friends and had been successful for the first four days after the accident in the middle of the hallway; now they had found him
�Albert, what�s going on?�
Now they were ganging up on him, cornering him after football practice, when he most wanted to leave campus to see his baby sister. She�d refused to speak to him, or anyone he�d been told, since the first day she�d woken up after being readmitted to the hospital, but he didn�t mind sitting in silence with her. It seemed strangely reassuring.
�I don�t know Zach.�
He looked up at the younger boy, still covered in sweat and red dust from the field. Three other boys whose faces seemed vaguely familiar stood around him, making an escape impossible.
�What do you mean �I don�t know�? You were the one who was with her. You�d brought her to school. You have to know something.�
Staring into his bag of athletic equipment, he allowed all the anger he�d tried to work off during practice to bubble back to the surface.
�All I know is when Leslie showed back up, she�d been in pretty bad shape and spent a few days in the hospital. Her parents claim it was a car accident. She won�t talk about it. Her ribs had been broken and she�d only had two weeks to recover since it�d happened. They weren�t healed and you re-broke them. That�s all I know.�
The boys began to back off when Albert stood up, slammed his locker shut, and maliciously stared at Zach, who flinched in response.
�Is she still in the hospital?�
Sighing, he let his shoulders drop, instantly becoming less threatening.
�She goes home tomorrow, but there�s no telling when she�ll be back to school.�
Zach stepped out of the way as Albert flung his bag onto his shoulder before walking away.
�Tell her I�m sorry. And to feel better soon.�
Albert nodded, never stopping as he exited the field house, not very sure that Leslie would even care that other people were concerned about her well-being.
*~*
�Angel, I don�t know if you ever got my first message, but� uh, this is A.J. I should probably tell you that Nick found your letter to me, and well, he was pretty upset. He kept saying that Brian wanted him to find you. Hell, he�s probably already called you since he found your number, but I just� I thought I�d warn you.�
*~*
�What the hell are you waiting for now??�
�I don�t know. I call, but then a machine picks up and I freeze. I just� something�s holding me back. Maybe I should just show up one day.�
�Nick, you�re the biggest moron I�ve ever met. You whine about her leaving you and now that you can talk to her again, you won�t?�
�What if she won�t talk to me?�
�Don�t give her the choice.�
�Then she�ll hate me.�
Silence
�Do you love her?�
�What?�
�Do you love her?�
��I think so� yes.�
�Then trust that she�ll want to see you again as badly as you want to see her. Trust me.�
*~*
Dr Ryan, after driving her close to homicide, had released Leslie from the hospital to rest in the comfort of her own home. Armed with potent painkillers, she didn�t fight her mother when she created a makeshift bed on the living room couch, so she didn�t have to climb the stairs to her room.
�Just until you get back on your feet again, sweetheart,� Charlotte had said upon her arrival home.
Now, Leslie spent her time feigning sleep whenever someone walked into the room to avoid the inevitable frustrated glares when the conversation would remain one-sided, and she thought of how she�d feel when Nick returned to her life.
She heard her mother click on the answering machine which instantly went into a long relay of bleeps and times as empty message after empty message played. The calls had come every hour or so since yesterday afternoon it seemed. In the midst of the hang-ups, a timid raspy voice, amplified through the machine, floated from the kitchen.
��since he�s found your number��
Sighing, Leslie shut her eyes tight as the tears threatened to spill. So this is how it begins? Multiple empty phone calls from Nick�s Florida home?
�And Brian said he has my address too. I wonder how long it�ll take him to convince Nick to come here�
She paused her thoughts as the machine�s recall ended. How many had that been? Eleven, twelve hang-ups? And A.J.�s. That came earlier this morning.
�That�s the second time that guy has called for �Angel�. It�s always out of area, so I don�t know how to tell him he�s got the wrong number. Maybe you should change the message,� she heard her mother say.
�If he calls again, I will. And what�s with all the hang-ups? I thought we�d finally gotten rid of the solicitors,� Bryan responded.
�Apparently not.�
Letting out a deep breath, Leslie closed her eyes and begged for sleep to overtake her. She had to pass the time somehow.
*~*
Leslie had slept hard, despite the demonic nightmares that plagued her dreams, until the shrill peal of the phone broke through the fog from the painkillers. Groaning she rubbed her face, grimacing at the tug on her ribcage. Her mom ignored the ring and continued her compulsive cleaning, moving into her bedroom as the answering machine picked up.
Silence fell for a moment before a small voice crept into her mind and brought tears to her eyes.
�Ang� Pick up the phone please. I� I really need to� talk to you. Please� I��
A small scuffle pursued on the other side of the line.
�Let go! I need her. She might be hurt because of��
�Leave her alone Nick. Calm down.�
And the line died.
*~*
The phone calls continued off and on for the next week despite a change in the answering machine message itself, and then stopped completely. Dr. Ryan had given Leslie a type of brace before sending her back to school to face her fate.
A.J. returned to his own home after being forcefully removed from Nick�s beachfront manor. After numerous unanswered phone calls to his unstable friend, he found himself standing in front of Nick�s house. When no answer came from him pounding at the door, A.J. pulled out the key ring he�d found while helping Kevin clean out Brian�s bedroom in his house. Using the one marked �Nick�s house #4�, he let himself into the house, finding its silence oppressive.
��Shit,� he muttered, finding an unfamiliar address and phone number scribbled on a notepad near the phone in Nick�s kitchen.
*~*
�Welcome back to normal life.�
Groan
�I need sleep.�
�What are you doing right now?�
�Talking to you.�
�And sleeping.�
Groan
�Shut up.�
Laughter
�You�re so cheerful, aren�t you Leslie?�
�I hate school.�
�Why do I not believe that�s the reason you�re being so� moody?�
���
�You know Nick�s not at home any more, right?�
���
*~*
�Hey buddy.�
�Why are you so damn cheerful?�
�No real reason. Just glad that you�ve finally decided to wake up.�
��?�
�You�re doing the right thing. Don�t let her convince you otherwise.�