Away From Here
~*~
At last, while choking back tears, Nick finally nodded his reluctant consent. A.J. knew the last thing he wanted was to continue touring in a country he didn't even speak the native language of, but what could he do? Nick was a kid and the youngest in the group. Besides, the group didn't make major decisions. Lou did.
Howie saw his younger band mate's pain easily. Howie had a very perceptive sense of hidden emotions and knew when his friends were suffering. He saw pain in his friend's eyes. Like Howie saw A.J.'s when he couldn't sleep and had nightmares or Kevin's when he had an argument with his girlfriend Kristin or when Brian cried because he was homesick, Howie saw Nick's pain glowing like a bad omen in his grayish blue eyes.
Breaking the condemned silence in the room, Howie cleared his throat, persuasive determination in his dark brown eyes. Lou turned his fat, ugly head to stare at Howie through his beady, narrowed eyes. Some of Howie's courage drained, but not enough. "Do we really have to tour so close to Christmas, Lou?" he asked softly.
"I mean, we've been on the road for a while and we haven't seen our families in a long time[!]" Lou's dagger-riddled eyes silenced him.
Lou blew incensed air through his nose. He approached the couch where Brian and Howie sat. Brian scuttled back a little. They were all scared of Lou when he was like this, but Howie looked up at the enormous man with nerve A.J. was proud to say belonged to _his_ best friend.
"Do you want to make it, Howard?" inquired Lou quietly. "Or do you want to shrivel up and die like all the other failed groups out there?" Lou's voice grew louder. Howie shrunk a bit. "They don't give up in this business, Dorough! And if you do, they trample you. The weak don't live long in Hollywood, boy. You remember that. Your mommy isn't here right now and you're what, twenty-two? Toughen up, Howie, it's time you acted like a man for once and stopped sticking to your fucking mother."
Howie's expression was livid. In an instant he was up on his feet. Though Howie was barely 5'6, he was pissed, and he seemed to grow when he was pissed. His fists began to ball up. "Leave my mother out of this, you bastard," he snarled, his voice more venomous than A.J. had ever heard it.
Lou punched Howie, his face puffing and red. "Don't you talk back to me!" he roared. He punched him again in the chest and the much smaller Howie fell to his knees, gasping.
That broke A.J.'s restraint. No one touched Howie. No one touched _his_ Howie. He leapt to his feet and circled round Lou, diving straight to Howie's side. He pulled Howie into his arms and held Howie's trembling body, glaring furiously at Lou while Howie clung to him tightly.
Kevin stood up carefully. "You can't hit him, Lou," he said, his voice dangerously low. "If you dare touch him or any of us again we're suing you. We're not your fucking dolls. We won't tour if we don't want to. We've been on the road too fucking long. Howie's right. And if you try and punch me, I'll slam a chair over your head," he said, seeing Lou's face begin to purple.
A.J. ran his fingers deftly through Howie's hair, murmuring comforting words to his older band mate, rocking him reassuringly.
"I won't let him touch you, D, I promise. Shh, calm down. It's okay. It's goin' to be okay." He kissed Howie's temple before pushing Howie's head onto his shoulder.
Lou turned back to Howie to find A.J.'s arm shielding Howie's face, his other arm laced around his friend's waist. A.J. glared poison at their manager. "Touch him and I'll kill you," he growled.
Suddenly Lou smirked. "If you don't destroy yourselves, I will," he said wickedly. "Oh Howie, how would your mother react if she knew you and Alex were screwing? Hmm?"
Howie turned his face to look up at Lou, his eyes wide and his complexion white.
Lou's eyes danced with greedy mirth. "Or the police? How old is Alex? Seventeen? And you are[!]twenty-two. Hmm. I don't believe that's legal in America, Dorough."
A.J.'s jaw was set. "No one would believe you. You don't have any proof and none of us would ever admit anything." He squeezed Howie's shoulder. "None of us."
Lou gave a loud bellow and launched a foot at A.J. Luckily A.J. was agile and small and managed to move out of the way, Lou's foot smashing into the couch between Howie and A.J. The large man hollered out a very distinguishable curse and began hopping back, his mouth fluttering out curses like they were streams of carbon dioxide.
A.J. got up and grabbed Howie's wrist, hauling him over to the other side of the room where he immediately drew his shaking angel to his chest. Howie unsteadily circled an arm around A.J.'s waist, his breaths wavering against A.J.'s neck.
Throughout all of this, Nick and Brian had joined at the wall farthest away from the couch. Brian had his arm around Nick's shoulders comfortingly, as if Lou might go crazy and start taking badly aimed punches. Kevin watched Lou look to each of their faces, fuming.
"And what are you going to do when the public realizes they're fucking gay, huh?" he yelled. "What fucking then?" He whirled on the pair of brown-eyed singers, knowing perfectly well the deranged look on his face was scaring them both. "You're not to see each other anymore, you understand that?"
Howie caught A.J.'s gaze, asking him silently what they should do, what they should say. A.J. kissed his forehead and glared at Lou.
"Fuck off," he snapped, tightening his arms around Howie. "We'll see each other when we fucking want. I love him, you bastard. And if that means I'm damned to hell, well, damn me then."
Howie smiled softly and buried his face into A.J.'s shoulder, hugging him tightly. "I love you," he whispered.
A.J. pressed his lips against the top of Howie's head, shutting his eyes and murmuring, "Love you, too, angel."
Lou's face wrinkled with disgust. "You both revolt me," he sneered.
A.J. laid unimpressed eyes on him. "The bathroom is right behind you, fatass."
With a rumbling growl of fury, Lou took a step forward. So did Kevin. Kevin was younger than Lou and stronger. He was also a witness to Lou's punching Howie. And he had been witness to other such physical abuse. Deciding it was dangerous to mess with A.J. and Howie while Kevin was still around, Lou turned on his heel and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him with all of his blubbery strength.
Kevin sighed and looked at A.J., since Howie's head was still lying peacefully on A.J.'s shoulder, the blissful smile still touching his lips.
A.J. cradled Howie for a moment, a protective air evident in the way he held him. He sensed Kevin's stare and glanced over Howie's neck at him, grinning impishly. "Well[!]he said he was revolted," he said defensively, snickering.
Howie smirked. "You're such a nut, Alex," he muttered.
A.J. kissed him with a benign smile. "No one touches my angel."
Howie looked up at him with glowing eyes. But just as soon as the humor had come, a glimmer of grey flashed through his eyes. "What are we going to do?" he asked softly. "I mean, we can't do this anymore. Not here. It's too dangerous."
A.J. stroked his face, gently pressing Howie's head back against his shoulder. "Shh. Then we'll fight it."
Howie sighed. "I just wish we could go away from here," he said quietly.
No one spoke. Kevin motioned for Brian and Nick to leave. When the three of them were gone and the door had clicked announcing their departure, A.J. nudged Howie's cheek with his nose. "Hey," he whispered.
Howie opened his eyes and looked up at him. "What?"
A.J. smiled. "What say we do get away from here?" he said, his eyes dancing.
Wishful hope lightly pressed Howie's lips into a gently curving smile. "How would we do that?" he asked, lifting his head, his face mere millimeters away.
A.J. rubbed his nose against Howie's, grinning as he gave him an Eskimo kiss. "You're an angel, D. Take me to Heaven with you." He pulled Howie closer and tenderly pushed his lips against Howie's.
Howie shut his eyes with a warm smile, reveling in the feel of A.J.'s lips caressing his own. He kissed back, murmuring, "I will."
"Love you."
"Thank God."
The End
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