Chapter 22
Howie went back to his room, and slumped down on the bed, burying his face in the soft pillows. Finally alone, he allowed himself to cry. He cried tears of loss and frustration, of repressed feelings that he thought had now been rejected by his love. AJ didn't want him. Why would he, no one else did either. He wasn't good enough for him, yet he couldn't love anyone else.
AJ finally got off of the phone with Leona. He wasn't happy that she was coming, but she was practically there anyway, so he agreed to see her. He got up and threw on some clothes, before padding down the hall to Marcus's room. He knocked on the door and waited for him to answer. The door opened and Marcus looked out at his young friend.
"AJ. Wassup man, you're up early aren't ya?"
He opened the door wider and let him in. AJ walked in and turned to face his friend.
"Marc, I need you to do me a favour…"
"Oh God, anything but that." Marc joked. AJ didn't even crack a smile, and Marc got slightly worried. AJ was being serious. That didn't happen very often.
"What's wrong J?"
"Leona's coming. I've gotta go get her from the airport."
Marcus looked surprised. "But I thought you two had split?"
"We have. She wants to get back with me tho. Said she made a mistake." He snorted, obviously unimpressed.
Marcus bit back a smart remark at that. He didn't like her one bit, but he didn't think it was his place to tell AJ that- AJ needed to figure that one out for himself. He looked up at AJ.
"You wanna meet her at the airport, or you want me to go get her?"
AJ thought about it for a moment. He hadn't thought of just sending Marc. He wasn't in any hurry to see her, in fact he didn't really want to see her at all, but she had made sure that she didn't phone him until she was practically there, so he couldn't tell her not to come. He also knew that he had to see her, because if he refused then she would just kick up a stink about it, and he didn't want the hassle. She was being clever, she figured if she got to see him, she could wrap him back around her little finger and he would take her back. He needed time alone to sort things out in his head.
"Can you get her Marc. I don't wanna get into this with her in public." He handed Marcus the flight information Leona had given him.
Marcus nodded. "Sure thing. Don't worry about it. Look, go take a shower or something, you look like shit man."
AJ shrugged. He didn't really care, if he looked good or not, after all it wasn't like he was trying to impress her or anything. He didn't want to see her anyway. Marcus grinned. "Relax. I'll phone you when we get near, so you have some warning 'kay?"
"Thanks Marc, I owe you one."
Marcus smiled at the relief on AJ's face. "I do believe that you now owe me 253... But who's counting."
AJ finally smiled at that. Trust Marcus to make him feel better.
AJ turned and returned to the door as Marcus opened it and let him out. "Go on J, shoo, go doll yourself up. I'll be back later."
AJ turned and went back down the corridor to his room, not noticing Kevin coming the other way. He stopped as Marcus came out of his room, pulling his jacket on.
"Hey Marc. Wassup?"
"Oh. Hey Kevin. I gotta go get Leona from the airport. She's flying in to see AJ."
Kevin was surprised. "What does she want?"
"I dunno, but I don't think he's too happy about it." He glances at his watch. "Look man, I gotta shoot, else I won't be there to meet her, and I don't any of her attitude because I'm late. I'll get enough flack off of her cos AJ's not there as well."
Kevin snorted, well aware of her attitude problem. Right from the start she had treated all the security guards and the rest of the tour crew as less than human, thinking she was better than they were because of her who her boyfriend was. It was one of the many reasons why almost everybody on the tour hated her, the other boys included. It was also one of the reasons why nobody would be sorry to see her kicked to the curb. In fact they could probably sell tickets for it.
"He should be going with you."
"He was gonna. I told him to stay here. He don't know which way's up at the moment. Told him to go sort himself out before we get back. Give him some time ya know?"
"Oh. Okay. Thanks Marc."
"Any time Kev. Any time."
Marcus disappeared down the corridor, leaving Kevin standing there. He wasn't sure what to do. If he had his way, Leona wouldn't be coming at all. If he had his way she wouldn't be coming at all. And what did Marcus mean about AJ, what had happened last night for him to seem so confused. Too many questions and not enough answers. As he was deciding what to do, Brian and Nick came down the corridor with their security, sweaty from a trip to the hotel's basketball court. They were laughing and joking with each other, oblivious to Kevin.
Nick noticed him first, and elbowed Brian in the side, nodding in Kevin's direction. Brian looked up, and groaned inwardly, spotting the look on Kevin's face as one which showed he was somewhere between being confused and pissed off as he stared at AJ's door. He sighed before turning and waving off the security guards, thanking them for the game, before heading towards his cousin.
"What now?" He asked resignedly.
"Leona's on her way here."
"WHAT!" Brian and Nick shouted together in disbelief.
"What the fuck does she want?" Brian asked angrily.
"And what does AJ think he's doing letting her come?" Nick asked.
"It's obvious what she wants. Him. And I don't know what he was thinking."
"She didn't give him much choice." Came a voice from behind them.
The other three swung around to find Howie standing in the doorway of his room. He looked tired and upset, and his face was pale and drawn, his eyes red rimmed. It was obvious that he had been crying, even though he had tried to erase the signs. He turned and disappeared into the shadows of his room, unwilling to answer any questions in the corridor. The others shared a worried look before following him inside.