Chapter 6
A ringing sound woke Howie, and he groaned as he rolled over in the bed, getting tangled in the sheets in the process, to answer the phone.

"Morning D. Breakfast in my room in 30 minutes."

"Okay Kev." Howie answered, before hanging up the phone. He got up, and headed into the shower, needing to wake himself up fully before he joined the others. He groaned again. He knew that the second that either Brian or Kevin got him alone, he would be questioned about last night, asked yet again if there was anything they could do to help. He knew it was inevitable, there was nothing he could do about it. He smiled, those guys were so predictable, they would fuss  and worry over him, whilst Nick would goof off, attempting to take Howie's mind off of things.

He got out of the shower, and dried himself off, before slipping into sweats and a T-shirt. No need to dress up- it was only breakfast with the guys. He quickly dried his hair; happy that it was so much easier to manage at this length, and grabbed his keycard as he left his room. He was early, and he knew it, but he didn't see the need to postpone the inevitable, this way maybe he could get the inquisition out of the way before breakfast, and then maybe they would leave him alone for the rest of the day.

Howie knocked on Kevin's door before walking in. He knew he didn't have to do it, but it was just habit. Especially since he was early. One time he had forgotten to knock, and had walked in on Kevin, who had the habit of wondering around his room naked. He knew it didn't bother him, seeing them naked, after all, they had all seen each other naked countless times over the years, but still, he knocked. It was safer that way.

Brian's voice shouted for him to come in, 'Oh, shit' he thought, 'Brian AND Kevin, there going to double-team me. This may not be good.' He took a deep breath and prepared himself.

Brian was sat on the sofa, flicking through the T.V channels, and looked up as Howie walked in. The sound of running water told him that Kevin was in the bathroom.

"Morning D. How are you this morning?" Howie looked at him and smiled.

"Fine thanks, how 'bout you? sleep well?" This was small talk and they both knew it. Kevin walked out of the bathroom, pulling a top over his finely muscled chest.

"Hiya D. you're early."

"Aren't I always?" He replied.

"Usually, but you were out late last night, so I thought..." Kevin trailed off. Howie smiled to himself. 'Here we go, so predictable.' He thought.

Brian took Kevin's cue. "So, we miss much last night?"

"Nope. We left 'bout half hour after you did." "Both men looked at him

"And..."

"And I think I worried AJ, he knows there is something wrong, but he doesn't know what." The cousins looked at each other.

"So you okay?" Brian asked.

"I don't know." Howie thought about it for a moment. "I mean, he's worried about me, and he thinks it's his fault, so he's not going to settle now until he knows what the problem is."

"So, tell him." Nick added, walking in through the door. Howie jumped and spun around, his hand on his chest.

"Jesus Nick, give a guy a heart attack won't ya." Nick just smirked at Howie.

"Yeah, just be grateful it was me and not AJ that walked in." He said.

Nick walked over to Brian on the sofa and plonked himself down, taking the remote and switching over to find some cartoons. "Hey. I was watching that." Brian said, pretending to be annoyed.

"So." Nick replied, "The news will rot ya brain. Stick to Tom and Jerry re-runs, much better for ya." Brian just rolled his eyes at Nick before grabbing for the remote. This quickly degenerated into an all out wrestling match, which had all four in fits of laughter.

Another knock on the door signalled the arrival of room service, and Howie avoided Brian and Nick, who had rolled off of the couch and onto the floor, to answer the door. He gave the boy a tip, and wheeled the cart into the room, before helping himself to some breakfast.

Kevin came over and got himself something as well, and they both sat on the bed, well out of range of the flying arms and legs on the floor. Howie picked at his food, Nick's advice rolling around in the back of his head 'I can't tell him.' He thought, 'He will hate me.'

"He won't hate you, he might even surprise you." Howie looked up at Kevin, who was staring intently at him.

"I didn't think I spoke that out loud." Kevin smiled.

"You didn't have to. It's written all over your face."

"That obvious huh?" Kevin smiled softly.

"Only to someone who knows what's goin' on." Howie tried to smile but failed. Kevin reached over and rested his hand on Howie's arm.

"It'll be okay Howie, you'll get through this."

"Yeah, we'll get you through it D." Howie turned and looked at Nick and Brian, who were now sat on the sofa eating their breakfast, Howie hadn't even realised they had stopped fighting. He smiled at them, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

He looked around the room, suddenly aware that there was someone missing. "Where's AJ?" He asked. Kevin glanced at his watch.

"I dunno, I told him what time breakfast was, it's not like him to miss out on food." Howie got up from the bed and walked towards the door.

"I'll go see what he's doing, he probably fell asleep again."

"D..." Brian started. Howie swung back around.

"Don't start Brian. He is my best friend, and I'm not going to start avoiding him just because of how I feel, he already thinks he's upset me when he hasn't, I don't want him to blame himself any more." With that he turned and left the room.

Nick looked back at Brian, a wry smile on his lips "Nice going Rok." Brian just glared at him before hanging his head. Howie had raised his voice; he never raised his voice, not unless he was really close to the edge. Brian looked at Kevin, a silent acknowledgement passing between them. They had better keep their heads up, one way or another this was all going to come to a head, and soon.