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Chapter 21: Discussions and Messages

AJ flopped down on his bed, laying there sprawled out on his back as he looked around, trying to take in the silence that took current residence in his hotel room. For once he was actually getting a moment of privateness, the first time during the whole day where someone didn't come barging in on him to make sure he wasn't doing something "stupid". He had to try to enjoy it while he could, for he knew he only had a set time limit before one of them did come in to get him, a time limit that was set for only a mere five minutes. AJ was surprised that they had given him that much time.

He allowed his eyes to wander around the room as he continued to lay there and his mind found it's way back to what he and Kevin had been discussing earlier that day. Management had already gotten in contact with a therapist and AJ was scheduled for his first therapy session when they arrived in their next city. Afterwards, the therapist would continue on tour with them, meeting daily with AJ. He wasn't sure about the whole idea of that, but he figured if that's what he needed to do to get help, then he would have to get himself to deal with it. Afterall, nobody was going to take any chances...and niether was he. He was tired of fighting something that he knew he couldn't win, a losing battle.

Several other things were floating around his mind at that moment also, thoughts that caused his eyebrows to furl. Kevin told him that the therapist had been clearly explained to that the therapy sessions AJ would be going through were to be kept strictly confidential, but still...AJ couldn't help but worry that his issues would some how be leaked out into the hands of the press, and then make it's way into the interest of the public. AJ could only imagine what would result in that happening and he prayed that it never came down to that. He would hate to have that kind of guilt resting on his heart. The group did not need anymore problems then they already had.

Sighing, AJ shook his head and sat up, taking a second as the room began to spin with dizziness. He had sat up way too fast and now his head pounded, protesting. Once the room was standing stationary again, AJ reached over to the nightstand for his cell phone, to make the phone call he had planned on making when he requested the time alone. 'Thank God for speed-dial' he thought as he pushed a single button and brought the small phone up to his ear. Sitting there, he listened as it continued to ring.

Three rings...

Four rings...

*Click* "Hey there. You've reached Jenny and Jameelah. Obviously we're not home right now to take your call, so we'd really appreciate it if you would leave us a message and call back number so we can get back to you as soon as we can. Thanks!"

AJ frowned; he always seemed to be getting the answering machine whenever he tried to call Jameelah. It was something he disliked, considering the times he did call, he really wanted, or rather really needed to speak to her. "Jaymee, hey, it's Alex. I, uh, just thought I would give you a call," he began, scatching his temple as he tried to think of what he was going to say now. Then he got an idea.

"Yeah, Jenny...hey! Ok, I know the last time I spoke to you on the phone didn't go over very well, so I want to apologize and say I'm sorry," he suddenly rambled, completely changing the subject quickly. He had been meaning to speak with Jenny and apologize for his rudeness a few nights ago when he had called to speak to Jameelah, but so far, he hadn't had the chance. In his mind, now was the perfect time to do so, before he forgot. "I guess I'm saying that I hope you'll forgive me. It wasn't intentional, and if you are still mad at me, you have a right to be. But I'm sorry."

As if that didn't sound lame, AJ took a few moments to collect his thoughts. 'C'mon, Jaymee...pick up!' he mentally begged, letting a few moments of silence lapse over. It was no use, he knew she wasn't home. "Anyway, Jaymee...seems like I can never get a hold of you when I call. You're never home, or maybe you're just avoiding me? ...Nah, I'm just kidding-"

"AJ, open the door!" Kevin's voice suddenly boomed from the other side of the hotel room. AJ's eyes shot to the door, his heart skipping a beat as he hadn't expected Kevin to yell out like that. Was his five minute really already up? It obviously was as Kevin proceeded to pound on the door. "AJ!"

'Hold on!' his mind growled as he slowly stood up from the bed and began to walk over to the door, taking his time as he continued talking. "Hopefully, I'll talk to you soon, Jaymee, and you'll have to let me know your schedule so we can talk about hooking up."

"AJ! Open the damn door!"

"Give me a call back whenever you get the chance. Hope to hear from ya soon-"

Right at that moment, as AJ was reaching for the door handle, the door flew open and Kevin, Howie, and Brian came busting in, knocking AJ down in the process, his cell phone flying from his hand. He lay there on the floor in shock for a minute, staring up at the ceiling and blinking. It wasn't until his four bandmates peered down at him did he finally focus on them and what had just happened. Still, he didn't say anything.

"You alright, Aje?" Howie asked carefully as he held out his hand to help his friend up.

AJ hesitated before taking hold of Howie's hand. He stumbled into the standing position, rubbing the back of his head and finally answering, "Yeah."

"Hey J," Brian began as he bent over and picked a black object up. "Did you know your cell phone is on?"

AJ looked over at Brian just as his shorter friend proceeded to push the 'off' button, and his eyes bulged open. "No, 'Rok! Don't hang-" But it was too late. "...up..." AJ sighed in frustration as he shook his head.

"Um...oops?" Brian shot AJ an apologetic look."Important phone call?"

"Yeah, important..." AJ nodded.

"Who?" Howie asked.

"A friend," AJ shrugged.

"Do I know her?" Brian piped up.

"Why do you automatically think it was some girl I was talking to?"

"Because, pimp boy," Brian replied immaturely.

AJ rolled his eyes. "No, you don't know her."

"See, I told ya."

"Grow up."

"Kev-"

"Grow up, Cuz," Kevin scolded, shaking his head. "Anyway, you ready to go AJ?"

"Go where?" AJ asked, absentmindedly.

"Out to dinner. Remember, your mom insisted we all go out to dinner tonight before we head out for the next city?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really...your mom is counting on you."

"Damn, alright. Let's go."

*****

"Man, Nick-" Brian howled in laughter as he rolled around on the floor of the tour bus, cradling his stomach in a mad manner as his facial features scrunched into a humorous setting. He gasped for breath inbetween his bouts of laughter, but it only caused him to laugh even harder. Kevin looked at his younger cousin and just rolled his eyes, sitting back and watching in amusement. Howie looked at the shorter Kentuckian and shook his head, also in amusement. All the while, Nick sat on the floor with his back resting against the couch, arms crossed against his chest.

"Iss nob funny!" Nick glared, rubbing at his red nose, his cheeks still extremely blotchy. The tall blonde had been extremely sick the past few days and was still pretty sickly, only recently feeling well enough to sit up for a while, ignoring the protests of his bandmates that he needed to stay lying down so he could get his rest and become better for their next concert. But stubborness was his specialty.

"Yes it is!" Brian cackled, trying to sit up. He pointed at his friend. "You sound like a dying cow when you talk!"

"I do nob!" Nick argued, his face turning red as Brian was sent into a fresh set of laughter.

"Now all you have to do is start mooing!" Brian replied. "MOOOOO!"

"Shud ub, Brine!" Nick growled.

"Dying cow!"

"Wow, this is a first," Howie commented to Kevin. "Brian's being a jerk."

"Nah, he's just paying Nick back for all of the times that Nick made of fun of Brian when he was sick," Kevin answered back, still watching the scene before him. It would be hard to miss how badly Nick was becoming mad at the moment, but on the other hand, Kevin couldn't help but to find humor in his cousin's harmless teasing antics against their younger friend. The blonde deserved it for all of his merciless poking fun at his bandmates whenever they fell ill. This was no doubt "pay back" for all of those times. So...Kevin let the scene proceed.

"Bri's 27 now..." Howie began again, studying what was going on before him. He cringed at the immature shots cracking between his two bandmates. "You think he will ever grow up?"

"Let's look at it this way, D," Kevin replied, motioning with his hand. "Nick is Brian's best friend, right?"

"Right."

"And will he ever grow up?"

"Probably not until pigs learn to fly or Hell freezes over."

"So, no?"

"Nope."

"Well, there's your answer then."

"True, true..."

"I'll bead you ub iv you don' shud ub!" Nick coughed out in an even more nasaly-tone then before. He was more then displeased when Brian only laughed harder at his dispense. Nick's eyes narrowed as they grew darker in color. "Dat's ib! You goin' doub now!"

"What the?!" Brian yelled out in shock as Nick suddenly jumped up and lunged at him. He brought his hands up to his face in order to defend himself as he saw Nick grab one of the pillows off of the couch. "Ouch, Nick! C'mon! Stop! Ouch! I was only- ouch! STOP!!!"

"I tolb you to shud ub!" Nick yelled at him as he continued to whack at him with the pillow.

"I'm sorry! Ouch! I mean it, stop hitting me with the dang pil- ouch!"

"Whad's dat? I can' hear you!"

"STOP HIT- OUCH!!! STOP HITTING ME WITH THE DANG PILLOW!!!" Brian finally shouted out in one drawn out breath. He mustered up all of the strength he could and pushed Nick off of him, grabbing the pillow out of the blonde's hand in the process. Smacking Nick across the head with it once, he placed it on the floor and sat quickly on it so his friend couldn't make a grab for it. "HA!"

"You're a jerg!" Nick went back to glaring as he rested his back against the couch again and crossed his arms against his chest.

"Ahem, Nicky?" Howie questioned. "What's a 'jerg'?"

"Shud ub..." Nick pouted.

Kevin chuckled as he just shook his head at Nick. He continued to smirk though. "No Nicky, really...what's a 'jerg'?"

"Shud ub..."

"C'mon, Nicky...it's only a simple question."

"Don't call me Nicky..."

"Tell us what a 'jerg' is and we won't call you Nicky, Nicky," Brian piped up with a grin.

"Nah cuz, back off the poor blonde. He's sick," Kevin answered with a lazy yawn, leaning back in his seat. "I suppose we should discuss other matters anyway."

"Like what?"

"Like what's been happening lately."

"Should I go get Aje?" Howie asked.

"No, I think he said he was going to take a nap or something. Better not disturb him..."

*****

AJ walked towards the back room of the bus in a lazy manner. He had just finished up another easily won card game of five card-draw poker with Jeff and now he was on his way to see what the fellas were up to. He was exhausted to say the least, having not slept well the night before, but on the other hand, he was more intuned to hanging out with the fellas at the moment. Upon reaching the door, he was a bit curious to find that it was shut. It was which that caused him to hesitate before deciding to open the door.

The closer he leaned towards the door, though, the easier it was for him to hear the conversation taking place inside.

"You're a jerg!" Nick shot.

"Ahem, Nicky?" Howie questioned. "What's a 'jerg'?"

'Yeah Nick, what's a 'jerg'?' AJ thought.

"Shud ub..." Nick pouted.

Kevin chuckled. "No Nicky, really...what's a 'jerg'?"

"Shud ub..."

"C'mon, Nicky...it's only a simple question."

'He can't comprehend simple questions, Kev.'

"Don't call me Nicky..."

"Tell us what a 'jerg' is and we won't call you Nicky, Nicky," Brian piped up.

'Yeah, like that's gonna work' came another sarcastic thought from AJ's mind.

"Nah cuz, back off the poor blonde. He's sick," Kevin answered. "I suppose we should discuss other matters anyway."

"Like what?"

"Like what's been happening lately."

"Should I go get Aje?" Howie asked.

AJ paused.

"No, I think he said he was going to take a nap or something. Better not disturb him..."

'Oh really?' AJ raised an eyebrow as he leaned against the wall casually.

"Wad iv he's stanin' oudside da door listenin' ride ad dis bery momen'?" Nick asked. "'Cause dat's alweady happened once. Member, Howie?"

'How could he forget? He got some foul words dished at him from me because of it' AJ thought with a frown.

"I doubt he is," Howie answered, sounding sure of his answer.

"Lets stop worrying about whether he's listening or not and start worrying about how we're going to manage the weeks to come," Kevin interrupted.

"I agree with Kev," Brian added.

"Obviously the past few days have been...well...stressful. That could be more or less of an understatement, but we need to realize that that stress is probably only going to get worse, more so for AJ. We've been through alot together since we became a group and we've all had our share of personal problems, but we've prooved successful in sticking together through everything. What I'm trying to say is this is more then ever one of those times where we need to band together stronger then ever and show AJ that we are here to support him. That just like when he was going through his alcohol problem, we aren't going to desert him. We need to make him know that we're here to stand by him."

"I agree whole-heartedly. I can't even begin to imagine what this is first-handedly like for Aje, but he needs as much support as it is possible for him to get."

"Exactly. This time period is going to probably get pretty stressful, but like I said, more so for AJ.

"Didn' you say dat he's supposed to stard theraby as sood as we reage the negs towd?"

"Yeah, meaning he has his first therapy session today. Um...I talked to his therapist on the phone earlier this morning-"

"Has J talked to he or she yet?"

"She, and no. I only talked to her briefly over the phone to verify that AJ was indeed starting the therapy sessions today."

"What's her name?"

There was a moment's silence before Kevin finally answered.

"Um...Jeanie McGuire."

"And he knows that?"

"No, because he hasn't spoken to her. But there is one thing I want to bring up, that Miss McGuire wanted me to discuss between the group. One part of a person's therapy is group therapy. She thinks it would be a good idea if we all, as a group, participated in a few of AJ's sessions. The support added in a group session has shown to help the person subject to the therapy greatly. I agree very much with that and I feel it would be a good idea if we did follow that suggestion and participate. It would be a way of showing our support and it might just help him get better sooner."

*****

"Hurry up an unlock the door, would ya Jaymes?" Jenny complained, standing impatiently beside Jameelah outside their apartment door. "My arms are about to fall off from all of this weight!"

Jameelah shot a sideways glance at her friend, raising an eyebrow. Then she eyed the two heavy suitcases that Jenny was carrying. "Um, hon, maybe that's because of all the unecessary luggage you are carrying?" she suggested, her eyes hinting her sarcasm. Jameelah struggled with getting the key into the lock once more, as she too, held a suitcase of her own, and finally succeeded in getting the door open. Jenny rushed past her. "Geez, impatient, are we?"

"Yes, very!" Jenny grinned and headed straight for her bedroom. "It's because my arms are about to fall off!"

"And you've got nobody to blame but yourself!" Jameelah called after her friend, before dropping her suitcase in the front entry way. Jingling her car keys at her side, she headed towards the living-room for the answering machine, to check for any new messages. "You are the only person I know who, when packing for a over-night trip, packs for a two week trip!"

Jenny stuck her head out of her bedroom doorway. "Better pack safe then be sorry! You never know when something might happen, Jaymes!"

"Oh, get real, Jen!" Jameelah laughed, placing her car keys on the coffee table. She walked a few feet across the room to where the answering machine was. "Tell me, how much could possibly happen during a three hour drive?"

"Alot!"

Jameelah rolled her eyes, thinking of all the unecessary things Jenny had actually packed. Her and Jenny had taken the three hour drive downstate to visit Jameelah's parents the day before. Jameelah, being smart and only packing a few things, had no trouble, while on the other hand, Jenny packed like crazy, stuffing full two large suitcases. Jameelah thought it was insane and didn't pity her friend one bit when it came to unpacking it all. 'Oh well...' Jameelah thought and reached for the 'play' button on the machine.

*BEEP* "Yo Jaymes, it's Becky! I'm back in town visiting the relatives! Ha ha, fun huh? Give me a call, you have my cell number! We need to get together sometime!"

Jameelah let out a small laugh at the enthusiasm in her friend's voice. She made a mental note to indeed give her friend a call, then deleted the message.

*BEEP* "Jen, it's Shawn. Listen, I'm sorry about the other night-"

Jameelah quickly deleted the message, shuddering. 'Get it through your head buster, she don't like you!'

*BEEP* "Jaymee, it's your mother."

Jameelah rolled her eyes.

"I was calling to make sure you and Jenny got home alright. Give me a call when you get home. Oh, and Jaymee, your brother, Matt, isn't very happy about the fact that you didn't stay long enough for him to come and see you. You better give him a call. Love you dear. Buh-bye."

'So what?' Jameelah thought playfully. 'It ain't my fault his slow butt ain't fast enough to make it to your house before I left.' Jameelah deleted the message and was about to turn the machine off, only another message started playing.

*BEEP* "...Jaymee, hey, it's Alex. I, uh, just thought I would give you a call."

There was a long pause, making Jameelah wondering if he had actually hung up or what not, but to her relief, he began to speak again.

"Yeah, Jenny...hey! Ok, I know the last time I spoke to you on the phone didn't go over very well, so I want to apologize and say I'm sorry. I guess I'm saying that I hope you'll forgive me. It wasn't intentional, and if you are still mad at me, you have a right to be. But I'm sorry."

Jameelah laughed, not really understanding for what reason why AJ was apologizing to Jenny, but she knew she would have to let Jenny listen to it.

"Anyway, Jaymee...seems like I can never get a hold of you when I call. You're never home, or maybe you're just avoiding me? ...Nah, I'm just kidding. Hopefully, I'll talk to you soon, Jaymee, and you'll have to let me know your schedule so we can talk about hooking up. Give me a call back whenever you get the chance. Hope to hear from ya soon-"

AJ's voice was abruptly interrupted and Jameelah could hear a bunch of emotion erupt in the background. Though she was confused by it in the long run, it still caused a curious smile to form on her lips.

"You alright, Aje?"

"Yeah."

"Hey J, did you know your cell phone is on?"

"No, 'Rok! Don't hang-"

Silence invaded the answering machine as she heard the click of the phone. 'Uh-oh...' she thought with a silent laugh. Whatever the heck had just happened before AJ's phone was hung up...she didn't know, but it sounded hilarious. She was happy to hear his voice, surprised that he had called her while she was gone. She would defenitely have to give him a call back, as soon as she was done un-packing.

Jameelah turned around and walked back into the front entry way to retrieve her suitcase, then she headed towards her own room, yelling out, "Hey Jenny, you got a message!"