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Chapter Fourteen


That night, I couldn't stop taking the ring out of my bag to turn it over in my fingers and make sure I'd really gotten it. It was so perfect it was almost too perfect, if that was even possible. I put it back in the box, in my bag. I sat for a couple minutes, watching TV with Kevin, and then I reached into the bag, took the box back out, opened it, and stared at the ring.

"Okay you gotta stop with the ring petting," Kevin said, turning the TV volume down and looking over at me. He was sprawled across his bed on his back, a hand over his chest, where he'd balanced the remote, and his other hand up behind his head. He looked like an Abercrombie model because he wasn't wearing a shirt. "You're like that creepy lil dude in Lord of the Rings," he said.

"They're making a movie of those books," I commented.

"Yeah I know," Kevin answered. "But seriously Brian you're getting creepy with that ring. Put it away before I feel the need to throw it into the fires of Mordor." He turned back to the TV.

I stared at it for a couple extra seconds, then closed the lid on the box and put it back in my duffle bag. I leaned back, too, the same way Kevin was, and thought about how funny we'd look to someone peeking through the ceiling. A couple Kentucky boys, posing in a hotel room like they were underwear models or something. I sat up and restlessly fluffed my pillow up, then laid back down.

"It's weird to think about," Kevin said, "Getting married."

"Yeah," I answered.

"All the responsibilities," he mused, flipping the channel from CNN To NBC to FOX to ABC News. I closed my eyes, bored with the news. "...you can't hit on women who aren't your wife, and she doesn't hit on any other guys... and you eat her meatloaf even when it's dry..."

"Yeah," I answered.

"Owning house... taking out the trash..."

He was beginning to sound like Nick. I peeked over at him. He was staring blankly at the TV as he flipped, but I could tell he wasn't really seeing the TV. He was seeing his future.

"So when are you gonna ask her?" I asked.

Kevin swallowed. He looked over at me. "I dunno," he answered, his voice nervous now. "When the timing's right." He looked away, "When I can."

I glanced at my duffle bag, wanting to look at the ring again.

"When are you gonna ask?" Kevin questioned.

"I don't knw. Soon," I answered.

"See you're just as scared as I am," he accused.

"Am not," I replied.

We fell into silence and soon the rhythmic sound of Kevin's breathing told me he'd fallen asleep. I crawled out of bed, stole the remote from his chest, turned the channel to Nickelodeon, and grabbed the ring out of my duffle bag. I settled back into the cushions as Ahh! Real Monsters played on TV, and stared at the ring, picturing it on Leighanne's finger.

I wanted the moment I asked her to be just right. So the next day when I went to meet her, I brought it with me, just in case the perfect moment manifested itself sooner rather than later. I sat at the restaurant, feeling nervous, and looking around. I rearranged the silverware like three times. Then I felt a touch on my shoulder and I jumped about nine miles before I realized it wa the waiter bringing Leighanne to the table. I stood up quickly, knocked the table, spilling a cup of water. The waiter apologized - not that he was the one that spilled the water or anything - and dashed off to get paper towels.

Leighanne smiled, "You okay, sweetie?" she asked as she lowered into her seat.

"Yeah, yes," I answered. I sat back down.

Leighanne opened her menu and the waiter came back and we sopped up the water and he refilled my glass, and poured Leighanne a glass, though he kept glancing at me as though wondering if he should've brought me the no-spill cups they use for kids or not. Then, promising to be back for our orders, he dashed off and I was alone with Leighanne.

I gazed across the table at her. She looked so pretty with her blonde hair pulled into a loose braid that hung over her shoulder. She was wearing a simple pink dress with a sweater. She looked up at me and smiled. "Did you order already?" she asked.

I shook my head.

"Do you know what you want?" she asked.

I realized it was weird I wasn't looking at the menu, just looking at her. I grabbed my menu - almost knocked over the water again, but managed not to - and started scanning the entrees. I felt so awkward. Leighanne smiled my direction and I smiled back.

The waiter returned and took our orders and whisked away the menus, disappearing once more. Leighanne leaned forward, placing her chin on her palm and stared into my eyes for a long moment. "What's wrong, Brian?" she asked quietly.

I took a deep breath and reached out my hand for one of hers. She slid it into mine and I wrapped my fingers around it. Her eyes were filled with concern. "When I was born," I said quietly, "The doctor found a murmur on my heart."

Leighanne shifted her seat to be closer so she could hear better.

"I spent a lot of my childhood in and out of hospitals. They didn't wanna do a surgery because they were hoping the thing would close itself as my heart grew with age, you know? But it was always really dangerous because whenever I got sick there was potential that the heart could become sick from overworking and I could die. So I went to the hospital every time I got sick. Which was a lot when you're a kid and you spent everyday outside and everything," I half-smiled. Leighanne's eyes were searching mine, they were wide with questions. "Then, when I was in first grade, I was playing and I fell down off my bike and I scraped my knee on the sidewalk and I got an infection. I went to the hospital and I had a bacterial infection that had reached my heart and they didn't expect me to live through the night."

Leighanne's fingers clasped mine more tightly.

"They told my parents to start making funeral arrangements, that's how certain they were that I would die."

"Your poor mother," she whispered.

I stared down at our entwined fingers. "I tell you this because... and I don't mean to scare you, I just need someone to talk to about it..."

"What?"

I swallowed back the nerves that were rising up inside me. "Last week, in Los Angeles, Nick and I were playing basket ball one night and I was about to make a break down the court and suddenly there was this really tight feeling that just..." I grabbed the chest of my shirt and squeezed together, tugging the material to give her a visual of how it felt. "And I couldn't think straight or hear right or see right or anything, and Nick helped me go inside."

"Was it a heart attack?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"I don't think so," I answered honestly.

She closed her eyes for a moment, and a tear squeezed out and ran across her face. She wiped it away quickly. "Brian, you need to go to the doctors, you need to have that checked. Especially given your history."

"I know and I do plan to," I replied. "I have a couple weeks off next month --"

"Next month?" Leighanne squeaked. Several people looked over our direction. "Oh no, no, no... You expect to tell me all this, then wait a month before you go to the doctor's?"

"I didn't have enough time in Kentucky to go see my doctor there," I replied.

Leighanne shook her head, "Why didn't you ask for time?"

"I did ask for time," I answered.

"And?"

"We have a really tight schedule," I said.

Leighanne stared at me, jaw dropped, aghast. She shifted in her seat, sitting back and looked away, ruffled. I looked at her profile, at the curve of her chin and the way the lighting of the restaurant diffused against her blonde hair. My hand went to my pocket and I patted the little box with her ring inside of it. The moment wasn't right, but it was like I wanted the assurance that the moment would be right at some point.

She turned to look at me again. "Promise me you'll go."

"I promise."

Leighanne nodded, "Okay then." She squeezed my hand and, although there was some serious fear on her face, she forced a smile through it at me and she whispered, "You just mean so much to me, I don't want to lose you before I've even had you." Her eyes welled up.

My heart ached at the words, at the thought. "I'm not going anywhere," I answered.

Leighanne moved her chair until we were sitting beside each other and rested her head on my shoulder. We stayed that way until our meals came, and I asked for them to be boxed to go. The waiter looked peturbed so I said, "I'll leave a big tip, I promise," and winked, and he was off at top speed. I turned to Leighanne and kissed her forehead.

We went back to the hotel. Kevin was, thankfully, still out doing whatever Kevin does on a free night, so I stuck a little note on the door asking him to please room with Howie. I stuck a sock out there, too, just for good measure, and I hoped he got the hint. Leighanne and I laid on the bed and ate the food we'd ordered and we turned on the TV and watched cartoons and laughed and told each other jokes. We shared French fry kisses and turned out the lights and talked into the dark.

And then she leaned over and kissed me and I pulled her closer and we started slipping each others clothes off. We were pressed against each other, me in my boxers and her in her panties and bra, and I was thinking about how I was the luckiest guy in the entire world... and the fire alarm went off.

Leighanne gasped in surprise at the sound of it. My mouth was on her shoulder. "Fire - fire alarm," she gasped.

"It'll go off," I answered, "Probably a drill."

"We can't rely on that," she replied, panicing.

We got up and she looked around, "Where is my dress?" she panicked, "I can't find it. I can't go out like this!"

I handed her my t-shirt,which she tugged on as we rushed into the hallway. My fingers found her free hand as her other hand pulled the hem of the shirt down as far as it would go. We walked quickly to the elevator. "I can't believe I couldn't find my dress," she muttered.

Howie and Kevin suddenly appeared behind us. "Excuse me, Brian, but in emergency situations you take the stairs, not the elevator," came Kevin's voice. We both stopped and turned around. Kevin was thumbing over his shoulder, at the stairwell entrance. "Hello Leighanne," Kevin said in a knowing tone.

Leighanne tugged my t-shirt hem harder as we walked back toward them and the stairwell. "Hi Kevin," she answered.

Howie was smirking, the twitch in his eye going about a thousand blinks per second.

"Where's AJ and Nick?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah because I'd know that now," I answered, nodding towards Leighanne. "Isn't Nick at home with his family?"

Kevin shook his head, "He came back early. He didn't say why. Go down, I'll be right there." But we all waited there in the doorway of the stairs while he went and knocked violently on what must have been AJ and Nick's door. Neither answered, so he yelled their names and knocked again. The fire alarm's shrill ring was still going off. Kevin turned back to us, shaking his head as he strode quickly, "They better not be off getting into more shit."

Howie led the way down the stairs and we emerged in a crowded lobby a couple minutes later. Bright red lights flashed out in the street through the front doors, and we hastened to join the flow of the crowd as it pushed for the doors. I held onto Leighanne's arm so we wouldn't get separated while we worked our way out of the hotel.

We were standing on the sidewalk across the street. A chill had settled into the air, and Leighanne pressed against me. Kevin and Howie stood a couple feet away from us, as we all waited. Firefighters ran into the building. Leighane shivered.

"Intense huh?" AJ and Nick appeared, emerging from the crowd. It was AJ that had spoken.

"Sure is," Howie agreed. "See they aren't in any trouble," he said to Kevin.

Nick came to a stop next to me, a sick-from-nerves expression on his face. I nudged him. "Hey, dude, it's okay, it's just a fire alarm," I said. "We're all out safe." Nick nodded.

It took them a full forty minutes to come to the conclusion that the hotel wasn't burning down before they started letting people back into the hotel. Johnny and Lou, who had found us after about twenty minutes of standing and waiting, led the way and as we passed by a fireman, I heard Kevin ask, "What happened?"

"Someone pulled an alarm in a stairwell up on the sixth floor."

"Who in the world would be dumb enough to do that?" Kevin asked of us as he fell into step on the far side of Leighanne.

"Some kid probably," Howie piped up.

Upstairs, we split into our separate rooms. Kevin went in with Howie, no questions asked. Leighanne picked up the forlorn sock that I'd hung on our door handle but now was on the floor. She looked at me, an eyebrow raised. "It must've been stuck to my foot when we left," I tried.

A smirk crawled across her face. "Oh is that it?" she asked, laughing.

"It must be," I replied. I snatched it from her and stuck it back on the door handle, winking, and closed the door behind me.

Leighanne shook her head, "I'm sorry Brian, but not tonight now. I still have to drive home don't forget. It's really late."

"You could stay over night," I suggested.

She smiled sadly, "Not if you want me to have time to come to the show tomorrow," she replied, "I have that commercial I have to film tomorrow, remember the one I told you about?"

"Yeah," I replied. Stupid fire alarm.

Leighanne kissed me softly. "Now help me find my dress."

We located it bunched up under the bed and she tugged it on over her head and pulled her sweater back on. "Can I keep the t-shirt?" she asked, smiling and leaning against me. "It smells like you."

"You say that like smelling like me is a good thing," I teased her.

"It is," she answered.

I gave her another kiss. "Ah why not."

"Thank you," she whispered.

After she'd left and I'd retrieved my sock from the hallway, I sat down on the bed and stared at the wall for a few minutes in silence, thinking about how pretty she was and how happy I was that I'd gotten to spend time with her. I got up and pulled the ring out of my pants' pocket and put it on the night stand. I stared at the little box.

A knock at the door interrupted my reverie and I opened it and found Nick standing there. He was wringing his hands. "Can I come in?" he asked.

"Yeah, might as well, Leighanne left," I replied, pulling the door open for him.

Nick sat on Kevin's bed, crossed his legs, and stared at me while I lowered myself onto the edge of my own bed. He stared at me for a long moment, then he said, all in one breath, "IPulledTheFireAlarmBecauseISawYourSockAndIGotJealousAndI'mSorry."

"Whoa, hold up there," I said, my mind only wrapping around half the sentence. "You pulled the fire alarm?"

Nick hung his head. "Yeah."

"If Kevin or Lou find out you did that, you're gonna be in so much trouble..."

Nick looked up, his eyes wild, "You won't tell'em will you?" He flung himself forward off the bed and onto the floor, on his knees, he gruvelled up at me. "Right? Bri? We're best friends, you won't tell 'em?"

"I might not have to, Nick!" I exclaimed, "Did you look to see if there was a security camera there?"

Nick's face paled.

"I don't know but I'm pretty sure pulling a fire alarm is really, really bad."

"I DON'T WANNA GO TO JAIL!" Nick wailed. The phone rang on the night stand and Nick ducked to the floor like it was a gunshot. "Oh God," he trumpeted, rolling onto his back, "I'm too sexy to go to jail."

"Shut up," I said as the phone rang a second time. I snatched it off the cradle. "Hullo?" I asked. Nick groaned and I kicked him.

Kevin's voice was dark. "Is Nick over there?" he asked.

I looked down at the floor, "Kind of," I said.

"So Leighanne left?"

"Yes."

"Good. Can I come back and room with you? Howie's obnoxious."

I breathed deeply, "Sure." After I'd hung up with Kevin, I looked down at Nick. "Kev's on his way over."

"HE KNOWS," Nick gasped.

"I don't think he does, he just is finding Howie obnoxious is all," I answered, thinking that Kev was gonna find Nick even more obnoxious.

Nick wheezed on the floor. "What am I gonna do?" he asked me.

"Well for starters, not pull any more fire alarms again - ever."

Nick nodded, "Yeah I know that. I mean about this one," he replied.

I shrugged, "I don't know, Nick." I paused. "Why in the hell would you pull a fire alarm?"

Nick's cheeks reddened. "Because I saw your sock in the hallway."

I stared at him, letting this sink in. "You pulled a fire alarm because you thought I was getting sex?" I asked.

Nick hung his head. "I thought you might be proposing. Kevin said earlier you found a ring yesterday for her and... I... I think you should think about the marriage thing some more... before you do it and stuff," he said, his voice getting shakier and shakier as he went on. He sat up and leaned against the bed. "I don't wanna lose my best friend," he added quietly.

The hotel room door opened and Kevin came in. He stood in the doorway for a moment, staring at Nick on the floor at my knees, his eyes watery, and me sitting on the edge of the bed. He paused. "I'm not... interrupting anything... am I?" he asked.

I looked down at Nick, and realized the oddness of our position and backed up onto the bed. "We were just talking."

Kevin waved my sock at me, which he'd carried in from the hallway. "Socks on the door indicate more than that," he joked. He tossed it onto the bed and went to his own bed. "Eventful night, huh Nick?"

Nick looked at Kevin as he laid down and nodded pitifully. I could tell he was just waiting for Kevin to start bellowing about the idiocy it took to pull fire alarms. Particularly for the purpose of interrupting one's friend's sexual encounters.

But Kevin just turned on CNN and leaned back into the pillows.

Nick looked at me.

"Go to bed, buddy," I said. He nodded and dashed off, muttering a quick night before the door slammed shut behind him.

Kevin glanced over, "What's the matter with him?"

"He's freaked out over the fire alarm," I replied, shrugging.

"The way he's acting, you'd think he pulled it," Kevin commented, rolling his eyes.

I nodded, "You'd think that, wouldnt'ja?"