Nick smirked back. “Yeah, it’s Art Crenick.” The alias was one of many that he used to sign into hotels; this one was not as creative as some, only the letters of his name rearranged. But it worked.
“Okay, Mr. Crenick. Welcome to the Revelation. Here’s your room key. Suite 8B.”
“Thanks.” Nick took the key card from the woman’s hand and flashed her his infamous half-smile; he was well aware of the fact that that smile worked wonders on many women and used it to his full advantage. Now it was one of the few aspects of his looks that he still had left; his blonde hair was nearly gone, its sorry remains hidden by a baseball cap pulled low over his face.
His face... yeah, the “baby face” the teenage girls all thought was so adorable was no longer full and vibrant, but thin and pale. And that was not the only place his weight loss over the past few months was showing. His clothes all hung on his frame. He figured people would talk about that when they saw him on TV. Some would think he had been taking care of himself, dieting and exercising to lose the weight. But he knew otherwise; this weight loss was not healthy.
For once, he was glad they had make-up people; they would be able to cover his sallow complexion and make him look as close to his old self as possible for the TRL appearance. But at the moment, he looked pretty grim, and he just hoped no one would find out what hotel they were staying in. He really didn’t want to be seen this way, not until the news was out. Then they would understand. But if they got a good look at him now, rumors would run rampant... drugs, alcohol, eating disorders... God knows what the press would say about him.
A bellboy came immediately to take his suitcase. Normally, Nick would have waved him off and carried the luggage himself, especially with it just being one suitcase and the carry-on duffel bag from his flight. But, tired and weak from the after-effects of the chemo, he gratefully surrendered his burdens to the hotel employee, who escorted him to his suite.
“You can just set them down here,” said Nick as they reached the door to his suite. Pulling out his wallet, he gave the bellboy his tip, and when the man had left, stuck his keycard into the slot, unlocking the door. Clutching the knob with one hand, he hauled up his suitcase and duffel in the other, grunting at the effort of it, and started to open the door. He was completely shocked when the door quickly swung open from the inside, almost pulling him down with it.
“Nick, there you are!”
It was AJ, standing in the doorway with a wide smile spread over his face.
“AJ! Jesus, you scared the hell outta me! I’m gonna have a heart attack!” Nick cried, his heart racing from the startle of having someone else open the door from inside his suite.
AJ’s eyes widened, and Nick could have sworn his face paled a shade or two. “I’m sorry! Are you okay??” He looked truly worried, and Nick stared at him in surprise.
“Dude, I’m fine! I was just kidding about the heart attack thing...”
“Are you sure?” AJ asked warily, studying Nick as if he expected to keel over at any minute.
Nick just stared. “AJ, what the hell? Cancer doesn’t give you heart attacks, you know.”
“Shh!” came a hiss from behind AJ, and then Kevin appeared. “Cripes, Nick, don’t say that in the middle of the hall! What if someone heard you?”
Nick checked quickly; the hall was empty. “It’s fine, Mr. Anal. Anyway, they’re gonna find out tomorrow, so who gives a shit. And what the hell are you two doing in my room anyway? Not that I’m not glad to see you, but-“
“Actually, this is our suite,” corrected AJ. “All five of ours.”
“What?! We’re sharing? Where the hell is Howie?”
“Uh, actually, it was my idea, Nick.” A meek Brian appeared between Kevin and AJ, smiling sheepishly at Nick. “I just thought it would be nice if we all shared a suite, like old times.” He shrugged, offering Nick a cheesy grin.
AJ snorted. “We didn’t share a suite in the old times anyway, Rok, it was a room. A tiny, crappy room with two double beds if we were lucky. And you want to recreate that experience because...?”
Brian rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “So sue me. I just thought it would be fun, and Howie agreed, so there.”
“Well, what does Nick think?” AJ shot back, and of course, they all turned to Nick, even Howie, who had come up with the other four.
“Uh... I dunno, I think it’s cool,” Nick said finally. Really, he had to admit that he did like Brian’s idea... he had fond memories of the “old days,” the nights they would spend cramped all together in dingy hotel rooms, staying up talking and playing Nintendo into the early morning hours, almost like a slumber party. Of course, anal Kevin would eventually try to force them all to go to bed, and then Brian, AJ, and Nick would tease him and purposely disobey and annoy him further, but hell, that was half the fun of it.
Now that he thought about it, he actually missed those days... back when things were simple and uncomplicated, when he was just a teenager with nothing on his mind but girls, money, and the lifelong dream of fame that seemed on the verge of coming true.
“See? Ha!” Brian gloated, laughing in AJ’s face. Playfully slinging an arm around Nick’s shoulders, he led his younger friend into the suite. “It’s a little more swanky than what we had in the old days, huh?”
“Yeah...” Nick agreed, checking out the bedroom, where there were two queen size beds. “Wait,” he said suddenly. “We’re not actually gonna sleep together, are we? That’s so...”
“Gay?” offered AJ with a smirk.
“Uh, yeah, very. I think I’ll take the floor.”
“Aw, Nick, you don’t have to do that,” Brian said quickly. “You take one of the beds, and somebody else can have the other one. Then the couch in the living room is a hide-a-bed, so someone can have that. And the other two will just sleep on the floor. We did that in the old days, too, no big deal.”
“I call bed!” AJ and Kevin both shouted at the same time.
“Sorry, J, I’m older, I get it,” Kevin claimed, crossing his arms over his chest smugly.
AJ rolled his eyes. “Yeah, whatever, old man. I’ll just take the couch bed then. Rok and D, guess you’re stuck on the floor.”
“That’s fine,” conceded Howie with a shrug, and Brian nodded.
“I can sleep on the floor too if one of you guys wants the bed,” Nick offered.
“No, no, Nicky, take the bed,” Howie insisted, and Nick scowled. In ordinary circumstances, he would have been forced on the floor simply because he was the baby of the group. Now he was being treated differently... and he knew exactly why.
“No way, you take it. I’m the youngest, and Howie, you’re gonna be hella stiff if you spend the night on the floor, old man.”
“Old man?!” Howie exclaimed, mouth dropping open in indignation. “That’s Kevin!”
“You’re gettin’ up there too, dude. Who’s turning the big 3-0 this year, huh?”
Howie rolled his eyes. “You’ll be there too before you know it, kid.”
Nick laughed lightly, but no one else did. As silence fell, he couldn’t help but notice the looks exchanged between the others. What, did they think he wasn’t going to live to see thirty? Wow, way to be optimistic, guys. Well, he would show them. He wasn’t going to let the cancer take his life, oh hells no. He was gonna beat Ewing’s sarcoma’s bitch ass. Yeah... take that...
Sure... right... as if he really had any control. Like it or not, he couldn’t help but admit that he really had no say in what happened to him. His future now lay in God’s hands alone, and only He could decide whether Nick would win the fight for his life... or lose it.
***
