Kevin heard the door slam to the room next to
him. Dread settled over him when he remembered it was Nick’s door. He jumped to
the phone and was about to pick up when he decided to give his cousin a little
while to regroup himself. Besides, He had promised to call as soon as Nick had
left. He just had to trust him to do that.
After a few minutes Brian still hadn’t called.
That was when Kevin lost it. He jumped to the phone and was about to pick it
up, when it rang. Snatching it off the hook he pressed it firmly to his ear.
“Brian?” He yelped. “What happened.”
“It’s not Brian.” AJ’s voice answered softly.
“He’s asleep. But I suggest you get down here fast. I don’t think things went
to well with Nick.”
“I know.” He sighed. “I heard Nick storm into
his room. Damn kid. I’ll be right down.”
Hanging up the phone, he ran down to Brian’s
room and knocked. Howie answered the door and quietly let him into the room.
“We heard yelling and ran out.” Howie
explained. “We found him curled up in the hallway crying. It looked like he had
hit his head. He didn’t seem to realize it was us so we carried him in here. He
fell asleep right after.”
Kevin sat down next to sleeping cousin and
gently shook him. AJ and Howie stood near by waiting for an explanation to what
they had stumbled upon.
“Brian.” He called softly. “Please wake up. We
need to talk to you.”
Brian groaned and rolled over. He opened his
eyes slowly and made contact with Kevin. His head still hurt and he knew that
it was because of Nick.
The name brought a tear to his eyes. He quickly
fought them back and smiled weakly at him.
“Hey Kev.” He whispered. “I told him. I let him
know my secret.”
“Good job buddy.” AJ said, coming up beside
him. “We are proud of you for doing that.”
Brian nodded and sniffed quietly. It was getting
hard to keep a straight face and not break down. He knew he needed to cry, but
he was tired of being weak.
“How’d things go?” Howie asked the dreaded
question.
Brian lost all his composure then. He forgot
all about trying to be strong. Tears streaked down his face as he buried his
face in his pillow.
“He hates me!” He sobbed. “He called me so many
bad things and pushed me down. He hates me so much it hurts.”
Kevin hugged his sobbing cousin close and
smoothed down his hair. Guilt ate away at him. He had made Brian tell Nick, and
now he had lost one of his closest friends.
“I’m so sorry Brian.” He whispered. “I made you
do this. It’s all my fault.”
“No it isn’t Kevin.” Brian told him through his
tears. “It’s my fault for being something that Nick doesn’t like or approve
of.”
Kevin pushed Brian away from him and forced him
to look into his eyes. Brian saw anger in his green eyes, but he knew they
weren’t towards him.
“This is not you fault.” Kevin said firmly,
grasping Brian’s chin. “Listen to me. You can’t be what your not. And if Nick
can’t except you for that then too bad for him! He lost someone very special
today.”
Brian grinned slightly as he glanced up into
his watery green eyes. He felt the warmth in them for him and sighed.
“It’s no ones fault but Nick’s.” He told Kevin.
“Nick’s the only one that can control his emotions and thoughts. I’m just sorry
that he has them on such a tight leash.”
Howie sat down on the other side of the bed. He
reached over and patted Brian’s shoulder. Brian looked over at him and noticed
he had tears slowly rolling down his cheeks.
“We still love you.” Howie whispered. “I know
you love him more than anything. But know you still have our love. You will no
matter what.”
Brian nodded and gave the guys a watery smile.
He did love them, with all his heart. They were his brothers, his shoulder when
he needed to cry. Now they felt he was forgetting them because of his problems
with Nick.
“I know.” He gently touched Howie’s hand. “And
I’m sorry if I gave you guys that impression. It’s just that I have lost one of
the things I treasured most.”
AJ patted his head like a person rewarding a
puppy. “We know Rok.” He smiled. “But there will be other guys.”
Brian smiled at AJ’s attempt to make him feel
better. It did in same strange familiar way. But that wasn’t what he was
missing.
“I don’t care if he never loved me.” Brian
whispered. “I just lost my best friend.”
With that final thought, he rolled over in bed
and began to sob. None of the guys comforted him. He needed to cry. It was the
only way to relieve as his pain. Either that, or they win Nick’s friendship
back.
But the later of the two seemed damn near impossible.