~July 2001~

By now, the gang had seen their fair share of bad luck for this tour. The pyrotechnics didn’t work every night, Felicia sprained her ankle and had to go home for a month, and Nick just broke his wrist. Not to mention AJ has been getting worse with his drinking and drugs. The rest of boys know something is up but don’t know the extent of it. Felicia was coming back to the tour today and decided to surprise them at the hotel. She already dropped her belongings in her room and went to the room she was told was Nick’s.

“Hellooo,” Felicia knocked. “Anyone in there?”

Nick opened the door and smiled at her. “Your back!” he said before pulling her into a kiss.

Felicia kissed back, not realizing there was a small audience behind Nick.

“Ow ow!” Lenni cat called as the other guys rolled their eyes at her.

Felicia broke away from the kiss and blushed. “Lenni, I think the only way to cure your obnoxiousness is to find you a guy,” she said, not letting go of Nick.

“No objections here. Anyone in mind?” Lenni asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Not yet, give me time and I’ll find someone for you,” Felicia laughed and looked at Nick’s arm. “Sweetie, what happened?”

“Huh?” Nick asked before looking at his arm. “Oh, that. I just got mad when I played basketball.”

“Aww,” she said and kissed his cheek before looking over at the table seeing many playing cards and poker chips. “Oh oh oh! What game are you playing?” she asked as she and Nick sat down.

“Omaha eight,” Howie said, reshuffling the deck.

“Aww…I suck at that version,” Felicia pouted and looked around. Hm….Alex is M.I.A. “Guys, where’s Alex?”

“Probably his room,” Kevin said. “Are you in for this hand?”

Felicia shook her head. I think the receptionist said he was in 510. “I think I am going to go bug my big brother,” she smirked before kissing Nick and going to search for room 510.

Brian looked at his cards and folded. “Do you think that was smart letting her go by herself? What if A.J is in one of his moods?”

Kevin sighed and raised the pot. “Well, I think she can take care of herself. And maybe she is what he needs to snap out of it.”

510, here we go. I hope this is the right room otherwise I will look like such a dork. Felicia knocked on the door, bouncing on her heals. She heard things falling and breaking, along with some cursing going on before a disheleved A.J. opened the door.

“Hey Felicia,” AJ said before hugging her.

“Hey big bro. I missed you,” Felicia smiled, returning the hug. She couldn’t help but notice the smell of alchohol on him, but didn’t mention it. “Why aren’t you with the others?”

AJ closed the door and brought her inside to his little suite living room. “I didn’t feel like it. Have a seat,” he said as he sat down. “When did you get in?”

“Oh, about an hour ago. But I just got to the hotel,” Felicia said, looking around. She saw that there were things thrown around with more than the occasional empty bottle of Jack Daniels.

“That’s good, that’s good. How’s the ankle doing?”

“It hurts every now and then, but I can dance on it.”

“That’s good. Hey, I’m going to go get something to drink, do you want anything?” AJ asked, standing up.

“Naw, that’s okay,” Felicia said, leaning back on the couch.

AJ shrugged before going back to the mini bar. Felicia glanced around, still shocked by all the empty bottles. AJ never drank that much before…Maybe someone else was here and he just didn’t clean up. She saw the remote to the T.V. stuck between the couch cushions and went to get it. When she pulled it up, a small bag of powder came up with it. “What in the world….” Felicia mumbled, looking at it.

“Mm….gotta love the JD,” AJ said as he came back, not noticing what Felicia was holding.

“Alex, what…what is this?” she asked, afraid of what she thought it is.

“Hey! Put that down! That coke cost me a lot of money!” AJ said, looking pissed.

No, no, no… Without thinking, Felicia took it with her to the bathroom and flushed it down the toilet.

“What the fuck did you just do?” AJ asked coldly, taking up the bathroom doorway.

Felicia shuddered when she heard him speak in that tone. She turned around and for the first time saw the real condition he was in. The disheveled look she first saw now looked even worse. His eyes were glazed over, and instead of the usual shade of chocolate brown, they were almost jet black. He had extremely large bags under his eyes, and the way his cheeks sunk in made it look like he hasn’t eaten in days. What happened to Alex?

“What, the fuck, did you just do?” AJ asked harsher, coming closer to Felicia, causing her to jump out of her shocked state.

“A-Alex….why?” Felicia asked, trying to find her brother thru his eyes.

“Because I god damn felt like it, okay?!” he yelled, stepping on her bad ankle by accident.

Felicia bit down on her bottom lip, trying not to cry. “What happened to you?”

“Stop with all the questions!!!!” he yelled, pushing her into the wall.

Felicia winced when her shoulder went into the towel rack. Because of the setting and the drunk man, Felicia flashed back to when Jono attacked her. I’m not going to let it happen again, she thought, forgetting that this was AJ and that Jono was dead. Before AJ could hit her again, she kicked him with her good foot.

“AHH!” AJ screamed before falling to the floor and holding himself.

Felicia saw this as the perfect opportunity to run out the door, not caring about the pain in her foot as she put pressure on it or the swearing coming from the bathroom. She made it to the elevator to go back to the floor Nick’s room was on. As soon as she pressed the button inside she collapsed to the floor, sobbing in pain from her ankle and what AJ is becoming. I want my brother back.

“Hey Nick, do you have any more Sprite?” Lenni asked as she stood up from the table.

“Nope, that was the last one,” Nick said, nodding to Lenni’s empty can.

Lenni sighed and grabbed her wallet. “I’ll be back then. I gotta have my Sprite.”

“It’s aaaaalways about your Sprite,” Brian said while looking at his cards.

“Ha ha, not,” Lenni said before smacking him upside the head and leaving. “So what if I love my Sprite? Its good. And now I’m talking to myself, oy,” she sighed. She was walking to the vending area when she saw the elevator doors open with Felicia sitting against the wall of the car, crying her eyes out. “Felicia?” she asked concerned before running over to check on her. “Felicia, what happened?”

Felicia looked up, her eyes red and puffy. “AJ,” she said softly.

AJ? She never calls him AJ. “Come on, lets get you out of here,” Lenni said pulling Felicia up.

“Ow…” Felicia whimpered, trying to take the pressure off the ankle.

“Shit…Come on, wrap your arm around me,” Lenni said, trying to give her support while pressing the door open button.

Felicia managed to do so and Lenni helped her off the elevator. Lenni pretty much carried her back to the room and knocked on the door very hard. “Guys! Let me in!” she yelled.

“You should have taken a key with you,” Kevin chuckled as he opened the door. “Are you ha---what happened?”

“I don’t know. I was going to get my pop and the elevator opened and there she was,” Lenni said as she moved faster to the now empty couch as Brian, Nick, and Howie all stood up when they saw the condition Felicia was in. She managed to lay Felicia down with a minimal amount of pain and put a pillow under her foot.

“Felicia, sweetie, what happened?” Nick asked, kneeling down next to her and taking her hand.

“A-AJ,” she said, her ankle getting worse.

“I’ll go get some ice,” Howie said before leaving the room.

“AJ? You never call him AJ,” Brian said, confused.

“That’s what I was thinking,” Lenni said. “I’ll be right back, I have an Ace Bandage in my room,” she said before making her exit.

Kevin kneeled down next to Nick. “Felicia, what happened with AJ?”

“D-did you know h-he is d-doing drugs?” she asked, her back acting up on her now. Howie came back in with the ice and handed it over to Nick.

“WHAT?!?!” Kevin yelled, now standing up. Felicia winced when he did so. “I’m going to kill him….” he said before storming off to AJ’s room.

Felicia started to cry again. “Nick, what happened to my brother?”

Nick hugged her gently as to not hurt her anymore. “I don’t know baby,” he said kissing her lips softly. “Come on, lets get you to the bed. This couch isn’t big enough,” he said before picking her up and carrying her to his bedroom with the others following him.

* SLAM *

“Bastard,” AJ mumbled under his breath, holding his head from the killer headache he had. Most of it was from the drinking he was doing, while some of it was from the yelling Kevin just did from the other side of the door. “He can’t tell me what to do. It’s my god damn life. Why does everyone need to butt into it. Thank god I have the second door, he would of killed me.” AJ started to pace, trying ro remember why Kevin came to yell at him. He knew it was because he was drinking, that much was obvious. “He said I hurt Felicia. I would NEVER hurt Felicia. Maybe he’s the one doing dru- AH!” AJ cried out in pain, his headache coming back even stronger.

“A-Alex….why?” Felicia asked, trying to find her brother thru his eyes.

“Because I god damn felt like it, okay?!” he yelled, stepping on her bad ankle by accident.

Felicia bit down on her bottom lip, trying not to cry. “What happened to you?”

“Stop with all the questions!!!!” he yelled, pushing her into the wall.

“Shit…” AJ trailed of, sinking to the floor when he realized what he just did.

Thirty minutes later AJ was heading to Nick’s room, thinking he had the right number. 710, 710….maybe it was 720…no, it was 710. Before he left his own room, he called a rehab place in Arizona and his mom, leaving out the details of hurting Felicia. When he reached room 710, AJ knocked quietly and looked down at his feet, ashamed of what he had done. After what seemed like a few minutes, the door opened and looked up at Howie who gave him a look.

“You really screwed up man,” Howie said, not sure if he should let AJ in just yet.

“I know. I’m…..I’m going to get help,” AJ said softly.

Howie gave him a smile and hugged him tight. “Good.”

AJ smiled back before frowning again. “Felicia probably hates my guts.”

“No, she hates AJ’s guts. She wants Alex back,” Howie said pulling him into the living room where the other boy’s were. Nick glanced up before glaring at him and then looking back at his magazine.

AJ sighed. “I’m sorry guys…I really am. I’m going to get help. I know this means we need to post-“ before he could finish the four other guys pulled him into a big group hug.

“That’s okay, we will let you take as much time as you need to,” Brian said.

AJ smiled back. “Thanks, that means a lot to me. Um….do you think its safe to see Felicia?”

“Felicia, yes,” Nick said while leading AJ to his bedroom area. “Now Lenni on the other hand…” As Nick opened the door AJ saw Lenni and Felicia chatting softly. He also saw Felicia’s ankle wrapped and iced, as well as her shoulder being iced as well. When Nick and AJ walked in both girls looked up with two different looks. Felicia looked like she had been crying and now looking at AJ, looking for her brother. Lenni on the other hand looked like she could kill him right there.

“What do you want?” Lenni asked coldy, standing up in front of Felicia.

“Can I talk to Felicia?” AJ asked.

“As long as you don’t hurt her again, asshole,” Lenni mumbled. She turned to Felicia. “Do you want him to be here? I mean, I will be glad to kick his sorry ass out of here.”

Felicia looked at AJ real fast. “Yeah, I’ll be fine,” she said.

Lenni bent down to give her a hug. “If he does ANYTHING, just scream.”

Felicia sighed. “Okay, I will.”

“Come on Lenni,” Nick said standing at the door.

“Yeah yeah,” Lenni said before pushing past AJ.

Nick sighed. “Told ya man.” With that he left and closed the door behind him to leave brother and sister alone.

AJ just stood there, not sure of what to say. The chances of her forgiving me are slim to none…

“So, are you just going to stand there?” Felicia said, bringing him out of his trance.

AJ sighed and sat next to her on the bed. “I am really sorry about what I did to you. That…that wasn’t me.”

“I know…”Felicia trailed off, trying to read face again. He still wasn’t the same Alex she loved, but he looked better, even if it was only thirty minutes.

“I’m going to Arizona tomorrow. To get help,” AJ said, for the first time crying since this whole thing started.

Felicia gave him a small smile before bringing him down into a hug. “So is Alex back?” she asked, starting to tear up as well.

AJ smiled sadly and hugged her as tight as he could without hurting her. “Not completely, but he will be, very soon.”

I am SO sorry for the wait, i just had, once again, a bad case of writters block. I have a quick favor to ask, and it is very short notice. Go here http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/mbsbfcfanficawards/vote.html . I am nominated for an award, and TODAY is the last day of fan voting. I wanted to get the chapter out earlier but I just couldnt. So if ya can ya can, if not, its okay, its my own fault. Now i must go to services, so ttyl!