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Downtime - Chapter 4


More than an hour later they arrived at the Littrells house. It was midnight and pitch dark outside as Harold pulled up on the driveway. “ Finally home.” He breathed out loud. It had been a very long drive since they had to make one more stop for Nick so he could be sick. Now the teen was seated in the back, snoring soundly together with Brian.


“ Harold, donīt talk too loud the boys are finally asleep.” Jackie said as she looked over her shoulder. Smiling she nudged her husbands arm, “ Look Harold, they look so peaceful.”


“ Mhm..” Harold grunted, as he opened the door letting in the chilly november air into the car. This had Nick stirring in his sleep and soon he mumbled, “ Are we there yet? At the venue” He was a bit disoriented.


“ No,” Jackie answered lightly, “ Weīre home.” She followed her husbands action and stepped out of the car, opening the cardoor to Nick side.


“ Uh? In tampa?” Nick didnīt follow the lines. His head felt all mushy. It didnīt make it any better that an forceful headache tried to blow himself into pieces. The only comfort was that that the nausea was on the retreat after last stop and now he felt a tad better.


“ No honey, In Lexington.”


“ Oh,” Nick opened his eyes, looking a bit confused.


Brians mom was peering down at him, with a concern frown. “ How are you feeling?” she asked. “ Is the nausea any better?”


“ Eh...Yeah” He knew that he didnīt sounded too convincing, but that was true. He felt better. All that was left was a hollow and empty feeling in his stomach. In other words he was hungry. He sat up straighter in the seat looking at his friend who was sawing timberlogs. “ Brian,” he said, “ Brian, wake up, weīre at your folks place.”


There were no movement as the young man slept soundly away. Nick sighed. It was more than one time he had trouble waking up his friend. He on the other way was a very light sleeper. There had been moments at the Backstreet bus when Nick couldnīt sleep beacuse of all the strange noises. He often woke up constantly as someone turned in the bed or coughed.


“ He wonīt wake up?” Mrs Littrell asked as she patted her sons shoulder, gently. Nick shook his head as he stepped out of the car, shivering slightly.


Jackie took over the hard task to waking her son up and she murmured softly, “ Brian..Brian honey..wake up.” Her eyes were soft and warm as she looked at her youngest son. Nick felt a bit jelous. He could see the certain connections there was between Mother and Son. His own relationsship with his mom wasnīt like that. Ok, it was not bad, it wasnīt heartly either. More on a natural level and a bit shallow.


“ Mom?” Brian rubbed his eyes, “ Are we there yet?” He yawned loudly.


“ Yes..” His mother smiled, “ Yes honey, we are home.”


“ Awww..awesome.” In less than three seconds, Brian went from totally dazed to wide awake. He jumped swiftly out of the car and set his pace towards the entrence, “ Cool it feels great to be home!” Enthusaism shining in his eyes.


Nick trudged after his friend. He felt a bit off in an odd sort of way. Feeling a bit left out and alone as he often did in new situations. The good part was that it never lasted so long and once he got settled he became more and more comfortable.


The first thing that struck him when he stepped into the hallway was how clean and tidy, yet homely the Littrells home was. It had a bit of country style over it and wasnīt flashy at all, It was a two floor house with an basement. A rather ordinary look where Mrs Littrell had managed to make it cozy and nice.


Nick had been here once before. That time it was a shorter trip over a day when he had celebrated Brians 20th birthday. He couldnīt say that he knew the place very well and felt a bit lost as he stood in the hallway. Brian on the other hand was not. The house cat, a black and white one, called Missy came to see who was making a visite.


“ Oh Missy baby, I missed you soooo much,” Brian cuddled as he picked up the black cat. Nick stroked the black fur and the cat licked him back.


“ How cute,” he commented as he stepped aside as Harold made an entrence.


“ Iīm taking the suitcases upstairs,” he said as he jostled the heavy cases upstairs.


“ Hold on..” Nick called out, “ Iīll help you.” He moved towards Brians dad who shook his head, “ No Son, I can manage..you go and make yourself comfortable in the livingroom or kitchen.”


“ Yeah,” Brian filled in, “ Iīll help you dad.” With that father and son went upstairs. Nick was left alone, but not for long as he felt a hand on his shoulder.


“ Nick, you think that you can eat something?” Mrs Littrell asked as she was trying to judge his condition, healthwise.


“ Hrm..ye..yes..I think so.” Nicks stomach made an growling response which had Jackie grinning, “ Iīll see that you feel better already.” Go sit down in the living room and I will make you boys hot cocoa and a sandwich. Afterwards you can go to sleep.”


“ Thank you, Mrs Li..Jackie.” Nick said, as he made his way into the large livingroom. Sinking down in the brown leather couch he closed his eyes. Exhaustion dwelled over him. Suddenly he felt so small and alone. Tears burned in his eyes, both from fatigue, but also for missing his home and family. Thanksgiving was something special and even if he felt thrilled and happy for being invited to spend the holiday at Brians he still felt a bit sad. Thanksgiving was a family holiday and deep inside he wished that his mom had said that they were going to share it together. But Aarons carrier was much more important and as he recalled it his mom hadnīt been the slightest sad that he couldnīt be there with them. Even if it was close to a month since he set his foot back home last time.


“ Frack, youīre spacing out man?” Brian said as he sank down beside him on the couch, wavering his hand infront the blondes eyes. To get his attnetion


“ Eh..huh..nah..”


“ Yeah sure.” His friend closed his eyes, “ Iīm totally zonked. You?”


“ A bit.” He stretched his limbs.


“ Boys I have made something small to eat,” Jackie said as he she came in with a tray. The smell of home cooked bread filled the room as well as hot cocoa.


“ Great Mom, Iīm starving.” Brian smiled as he made room on the table for the tray.


Nick nodded. He was hungry too, but to say he was starved would be an overstatement. His stomach had finally settled down, it usually did once he was off the plane or the car. Traveling was not something he enjoyed, unless it was by boat. The bad part was that in this line of business it came with the territory.


Brian and his mom started to talk about life back home and soon Harold joined in to the conversation. Nick sat silent. Listening. He was getting more and more sleepy and soon he had a hard time keeping his eyes open. After nodding off and waking for the umpth of time Mrs Littrell said, “ Oh no here we are talking all the time. You boys need your sleep. “ She stood up to take away the cups and the bread. Frowning she noticed that Nick had mostly nibbled at his piece, but she thought nothing more about it as Brian interupted her.


“ Yes Mom, Iīll take Nick upstairs and show him to my room. Iīll take it that we are rooming with each other.”


Jackie nodded, “ Yes. I have made the sparebed.” Turning to the pale teen she asked, “ Nick are you sure that youīre allright?” There were something with the teen that had her worried. Nick was usually not this quiet. Being in a new situation could make anyone feel uncomfortable, but there were something more..her instinct told her so.


“ Huh?” He jerked as he had been in his own world. “ Yeah..sure..Iīm fine.” Nick stood up, stretching his arms, yawning. “ Sorry,” he applogized.


“ Are you coming, Frack?” Brian called out for him as he was already up the stairs.


“ Eh..sure..well good night then,” he said as he followed his friend. Stopping in the stairs he turned to Mrs Littrell“ Thank you Jackie. Thank you for taking care of me..eh..you know.” He blushed slightly. He was still embarressed for being sick infront of Brians parents.


“ Oh Nick, it was nothing.” She smiled towards him, “ Iīve done the same for Brian many times. Iīm used to it”


“ You have NOT,” her son objected from the top stairs.


“ Yes..Brian remember that time when you were at the fair and ate too much sugar candy and threw up on aunt Martha and....”


“ Mooooom!! Iīm sure that Nick doesnīt want to listen to THAT! Goooood night moooom. “


Jackie chuckled, “ Honey there are many more stories to tell..” Nick grinned. Had Brian, who always seemed so perfect, been in embarressing situations too? This could be good.


After saying good night to the elderly the two boys went into Brians old teenage room. It was almost left the same as it was before he had moved to his own appartment. The walls were plastered with basketball stars and it looked like an ordinary boys room.


“ Youīre going to be fine?” Brian asked as Nick had settled down on the sparebed.


“ Aha..hey B..where is your bathroom?” he asked as there were a pressing matter at stake.


“ Oh..I forgot to show you.” The young man slapped his hand against his forehead, “ Itīs the second door on the left..” He stood up,. “ Wait Iīll come with you.”


“ No, No I can manage.” The teen said as he left to prepare for the night.


As he was inside he heard Jackie call out from the other side, “ Nick?”


“ Eh..Iīm in here.” Could this be any more embarressing?


“ Honey, I left some towles in Brians room, you can use them.”


“ ok,,fine...thank you.” Nick tried to be polite.


There was a brief silence before Mrs Littrell continued, “ Nick, I want you to know that you can come to me about anything while youīre here.”


“ Thanks,” Nick didnīt know what to say. It felt wierd.


“ And if you need anything, donīt hesitate to come and wake me up. " Jackie wanted to make Nick as comfortable as could be. He seemed so lost!


" Eh..I will do that..Good night."


"Good, Goodnight then Nick." With that she left.


Clad in only his briefs he ran down the hallway to Brians room. His friend had already fallen asleep as he jumped on the sparebed. It was dark in the room and he felt scared for the dark. It was always strange spending the night at other peoples houses. Different sound, different smells. Even though he had been so tired a while back he was clear awake now.


After tossing and turning for several hours Nick was starting to feel restless. He had gone to the bathroom one more time and soon it was dawn. The house was awfully quiet and all that was heard was Brians snoring. With a sigh he decided that he couldnīt bare to lay here in bed. He was also thirsty and after thinking twice he went down to the kitchen. Opening the cuboard he picked out a glas and poured milk into it. After drinking it in a gulp he went into the living room. If he couldnīt sleep he could at least watch tv. Laying down on the couch he turned on the tv, picking up the remote control just to see that the Littrells didnīt have cable. A bit surprised he concluded that he didnīt know that there were still people that didnīt have MTV. The Tv program on the four ordinary channels had all stopped for the night. All but one which showed Tv shop. After watching endless of commercials about miracle cures and trimmers he was bored.


Remebering the sportsbag in the hallway he picked it up. In there lay his Nintendo and favorite game “ Kid Nicky.” Ok if he couldnīt watch tv he could at least play Nintendo. It would settle his nerves and make him feel comfortable. After rigging up the game, sitting down infront of the tv, he started to play. His eyelids was getting heavier and heavier and soon he fell asleep.


It was in this position with handcontroller in hand, laying on his stomach that Mr and Mrs Littrell found him. Three hours later.