A Little Relief
Howie stood just outside the patio doors, staring at the scene in front of him. It was getting late, and the way the sun appeared to be sinking into the ocean was simply breathtaking.
Not that Howie noticed. He was too busy keeping a watchful eye on the lone figure sitting on the beach. The figure with his knees drawn up to his chest and arms wrapped securely around himself, watching the waves break gently on the shore.
Howie was so busy watching that he failed to notice the figure that had silently slipped out of the house and now stood beside him, so he jumped as he felt a hand rest lightly on his arm.
"D?" AJ whispered softly, surprised by Howie's reaction.
"Sorry Jay, you scared me."
AJ smiled softly at Howie, his fingers lightly skimming over Howie's arm, raising goosebumps. Howie closed his eyes and shuddered lightly at the sensation, before opening his eyes and focusing back on the figure on the beach.
AJ followed Howie's gaze and sighed.
"He's not any better, is he?" AJ asked.
Howie shook his head, and AJ sighed again. Both men were at a loss as to what to do with their friend.
"I thought getting him away would help. But he's just closing in on himself. He's barely said a word in days. Even Nick can't get him to talk." Howie told him.
"Shit. We need come up with something else. This just ain't working." AJ replied.
"I know babe. But what?" Howie whispered. AJ slipped his hand down and entwined his fingers with Howie's, squeezing gently.
"I don't know angel. I don't know."
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Inside the house, Nick stood by the patio doors, listening. He had seen AJ go out and had been about to join them, but something had made him stop. He stood hidden in the lengthening evening shadows, listening to their conversation.
He knew they were worried about Brian, all four of them were, and they were also right about needing to try something else.
Brian had dropped into a deep depression after Bitchanne had dumped him four days before their wedding. What made it worse was that she had done it in front of the four of them. Nick knew that that one single factor made things so much worse.
Along with Brian's heartache, pain and misery, he also felt humiliated that the woman who he had loved enough to ask to marry, had turned around and hurt him so badly, had been so cruel to him, in front of his four closest friends.
Trouble was, this meant that none of them had been able to get through to him since. It seemed as if Brian thought that they were all laughing at him behind his back or that they actually believed that line of bullshit she had fed him before she left about how he was a terrible boyfriend and that no-one would ever love him.
That last line made Nick's blood run cold, even now, three weeks later, he had to resist the urge to track Leighanne down and rip her cold heart out for saying that to Brian. At the time she had said it, AJ and Kevin had to physically grab him to stop him from doing just that.
Not that Brian had noticed.
Nick closed his eyes at the pain he had seen in his best friend's eyes. Those blue eyes normally sparkled with joy and laughter, but Nick swore that he had seen that spark die when Leighanne had turned around and left the room.
He had just stood there, as if fixed to the spot, staring at where Leighanne had been standing. He didn't scream and shout, or start trashing the room; he didn't even cry. He just stood there for a while, before turning around and locking himself in his bedroom, not letting any of them in, not even Nick.
Only in the relative comfort and safety of his room did Brian cry. Nick knew this because he had sat slumped against the wall outside his room all night listening as with each tear that fell he heard his best friend's heart brake into little tiny pieces.
They had been unable to get him to open the door for almost two days. When they finally got in the room, they found him curled up asleep on the bed surrounded by photos and momentos of him and Leighanne in happier times, clutching the rings that he'd had made to exchange during their wedding vows.
After that, they had made the decision to get him out of that house, and away to somewhere that had no connection to him and Leighanne. That led them here. Nick had only just brought this beach side retreat, and none of them had ever been there. That, coupled with the peace, tranquillity and the absence of prying eyes, made this the perfect place.
Nick smiled ruefully at the thought. 'Perfect it maybe, but it's not helped us yet.' On the contrary, all that had happened was the Brian had taken to sitting out on the porch, or on the beach, staring at the ocean for hours on end. None of them could get him to talk much, and frankly it was starting to scare them.
Nick watched and listened to AJ and Howie, not missing their soft caresses or their whispered words. He knew they were in love, they had trusted him with this information already, in fact, they had been thinking about telling Brian and Kevin. But then all this had happened, and they had shelved the idea, knowing that now was not the right time.
Nick smiled as he watched them fall into silence and stare out at Brian, their fingers entwining at their sides. They were perfect together. They balanced each other out, and they absolutely worshipped each other. 'If only we could express our love to Brian physically like that.' He thought to himself. 'He's not listening to us when we tell him, but maybe he would if we showed him. At least then he would know how much we love him.'
Nick's smile widened. It was crazy, but it might just work. A small voice inside of him told him that his reasons for this weren't entirely selfless, after all, he was, and had been Bisexual himself for a long time; and he had always wondered what it would feel like to be with his band mates. This was the perfect chance.
A noise from the kitchen brought him out from planning his little scheme and he turned and looked in the direction of the sound. 'Shit. Kevin.' Nick sighed as reality dawned on him. Kevin would never in a million years go for this. He would just as soon rip Nick's dick off and feed it to the sharks as let him go through with his plan. No way on Earth.
Nick sighed loudly, drawing the attention of the pair outside, and they jumped apart, not aware of having an audience. Nick stepped out of the shadows and joined them, watching as they relaxed as soon as they realised it was him.
"Hey Guys." He said softly.
"Nick." "Kaos." Came the soft replies. Nick leaned against the railings, staring out at Brian on the beach, who still hadn't moved, and he sighed again, long and deep. He felt Howie and AJ move and stand either side of him, both laying a comforting arm around him to show their support.
"You okay Nick?" Howie asked softly, rubbing his hand over Nick's back in a soothing motion.
"I guess." Came the soft reply.
"I hate this." AJ told them. "I hate feeling so fucking useless."
Nick sighed again. "Me too. I mean, just now I thought I had it all worked out. But then… I realised I was just being delusional. It'd never work."
"What wouldn't?" Howie asked, curious.
"Nothing. Forget it." Nick told him.
"C'mon Nick. Tell us. Maybe together we can figure something out." AJ persisted.
"No way. Kevin would never go for it."
"But we would?" Howie asked him, arching an eyebrow.
Nick blushed. "I don't know, but Kevin definitely wouldn't. So forget about it."
"Nick. Just tell us." AJ told him, getting impatient. He knew that out of all of them, not only was Nick Brian's best friend, and therefore the most likely to know what would work; but he also had the wildest imagination, and was likely to come up with something that none of them would think of in a million years. For that reason, AJ was gonna make damn sure that he found out what Nick had thought of.
"It's just, well. I was watching you two, and I wondered if we could show Brian how much we loved him by well… showing him." Nick flushed bright red, and ducked his head. When spoken out loud, it sounded like the dumbest idea he had ever had.
There was silence, and Nick wasn't sure whether or not that was a good thing. When he finally dared to glance up, he was not entirely surprised to see both men staring at him in complete shock.
"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" AJ asked incredulously.
Nick ducked his head again and nodded.
"Woah." AJ breathed out in a rush. He knew Nick was prone to wild ideas, but this one really took the biscuit.
"Nick. I really don't know what to say." Howie told him.
"Don't say anything. It's a stupid idea. I couldn't ask you to do it. And Kevin would never go for it either. So just forget about it. I'll have to think of something else."
AJ opened his mouth to reply to that, but he closed his mouth again as he spotted Kevin walking through the living room towards them.
"Hey Kev." He greeted the older man, alerting Nick and Howie of his presence.
"Guys." Kevin nodded his head in greeting, his eyes immediately drawn to the figure on the beach.
"He still out there?" Kevin asked, only half surprised. After all, Brian had been out there almost all the time since they had arrived.
"Yeah." AJ replied softly.
"Dinner's almost ready. You wanna call him in?" Kevin asked them.
Nick stood up straight and moved towards the steps down to the beach. "I'll go get him." He told them, before jogging off out of earshot. AJ and Howie took one last glance at Brian before turning and following Kevin back into the house.