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Author's Chapter Notes:
Well, this is it guys. The very last chapter. I just wanted to say thanks so much for sticking by me and this story for such a long time. It really meant a lot to me!

 

 

Friendship isn't a big thing - it's a million little things.  ~Author Unknown   

~ 15 ~  

A Million Little Things   

 

We sat at the top of the mountain admiring the scene below us. As much as I hated hiking, and this one was particularly not fun at all, Kevin was right. The view was worth the trip. Not that I’d ever say that out loud. The clouds were just translucent and low enough to look like melting ice cubes over the adjoining mountaintops. That thought made me go into my backpack and once again pull out my camcorder.

 

“Here we go again…” I heard Brian say in the background.

 

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Kevin said as he came and sat beside me, pulling his legs up and wrapping his arms around them much the same way I used to sit when I was a kid.

 

“It is,” I answered, pointing the camcorder at him before he had time to protest. “So Kevin, tell me one great thing you are taking away from this trip.”

 

He gave me and the camera one of his long reflective looks and then put his hand to his chin. “Well, this for one.” He motioned to the view with his hands, but I took that answer as a copout.

 

Before I could call him out on it, AJ came and sat down beside me on the other side. He was still huffing and puffing from his ‘harrowing journey up the mountain,’ as he called it. I can see him writing his memoirs and using that as a title. People would think he was talking about his long climb back from addiction, but only we would know how literal he was being. To make his point even more dramatic, he began to cough as if he was just about to hack up one of his lungs, finishing his attack most poignantly by pulling out a cigarette and lighting up.

 

At the sound of the lighter igniting the flame, I glanced over at Kevin who silently shook his head in protest. Before standing up to leave, he used my shoulder as a crutch and gave me a small smile, “Just sit here and take in this gorgeous view. I have a feeling this is what heaven will look like.” AJ’s coughing made him shake his head once again before continuing, “Seems like some of us might see it before others though.”

 

I laughed before turning back to AJ who didn’t even register that conversation. He seemed to be in some far off place. Just he, his cigarette and his thoughts. Since he broke up my moment with Kevin I thought I’d pose the same question to him. “So AJ, tell me one thing you’ve taken away from this little camping trip of ours?”

 

“Nick, get that thing out of my face.” He protested.

 

“Come on Jay, just answer the question.”

 

“I’m not a mountain climber.”

 

“You just realized this today?”

 

“No, but today it was confirmed.”

 

“What else?”

 

“Next time I go camping I need to pack better shoes and lots of bug repellant.”

 

I put the camera down. For some reason he was making me mad. I know that’s weird because I probably would be saying the same smartass things he was saying. I was looking for honest answers though. “I didn’t ask you what you learned from camping in general, man. I asked you what’s one thing you’re taking away from this trip, one great thing.”

 

He laughed at me, “I can’t think of anything at the moment. Maybe because my heart is still beating so fast it’s pulsating in my brain.”

 

“Jesus, forget I even said anything.” I was rather pissy which made him take his sunglasses down to his nose and give me a look with his bare eyes.

 

“Nick, relax, why are you getting so bent out of shape?”

 

“Because it pisses me off that you can’t think of one thing that made you happy about this trip. If it was going to be so awful you could have just stayed home.”

 

“This way you could have had Kevin all to yourself buddy? Awww….so cute.” He reached over and pat my head. What a stupid ass! “Okay Nicky, I’ll play…” as he took his hand away from my head, he clutched my shoulder in a loving way. “One thing I thought was great about this trip was the fact that we even took it. You know? I mean we’re with each other pretty much all the damn time but yet on our rare days off, here we are all together once again. I think that’s pretty special and awesome. Even when you get all pissy and act like a friggin’ five year old sometimes.”

 

I looked down at the ground as I smiled at what AJ had just said, “How I act like a five year old? Please…takes one to know one.”

 

“Hey, I never said I didn’t act like a five year old, did I? I am older than you though, so by default I act more 7 or 8.”

 

“Whoopdee doo.” I exclaimed twirling my finger in the air.

 

“You know I love you man and this trip was a lot of fun.” He stood up and stomped on his cigarette butt. “Now, will you carry me back down the mountain?”

 

“Sure thing Bone…”

 

“Jizzle…” He interrupted.

 

“Bonejiggedyfizzledizzle.” I countered.

 

“I like that…”

 

“I figured you would…” As he walked away I realized I hadn’t captured our moment on video, “Damn! AJ, come back and say all that again!” I said holding the camcorder up so he could see it.

 

“Sorry Carter, the moment has passed.”

 

“Well, shit on me!”

 

Brian suddenly bounded out of nowhere. I swear the guy was part man and part puma. He jumped onto my lap, “Did someone say sit on me?”

 

“I said shit on me!” I giggled as I tried to throw him off my lap.

 

“Do you really want me to do that Nickolas Gene?” He placed his arms around my neck so this way I wouldn’t be able to shake him off that easily.

 

“Get off me! AH!!! I have a Brian on my neck!”

 

He rolled off my lap, “I am offended by that remark young man.”

 

After being freed from Brian’s weight, I stretched my legs in front of me with my arms behind; you know the lounge chair look as BJ liked to call it. “It really is something else up here, isn’t it?” I asked him when I noticed he was staring at the view ahead of us.

 

He nodded. “So, what were you and AJ doing?”

 

“I asked him what’s one great thing you have taken away from this camping trip.”

 

He nodded and smiled, “Let me guess. He couldn’t think of anything?”

 

“Wow, you’re a regular Sherlock Holmes. Although, he did say something nice but now I can’t even remember what it was.”

 

“I can tell you what my answer would be.” He said to me with a longing voice, “That is if you want to hear it.”

 

“Of course I do. I was going to make my way over to you eventually you know.”

 

“There used to be a time when you’d come to me first.”

 

I couldn’t help but smile. Did I sense just the slightest tinge of jealousy coming from that statement? Probably not the real kind, you know, like how I felt when his wife came into the picture forever ago. Whatever the case, even if he was pretending, I still enjoyed it. “I decided to save the best for last.” I assured him, patting his back in a mocking way. “So, I’ll let you go before me.”

 

He laughed and backhanded my head. Biting his lower lip I could tell he was trying to find just the right words to say. Not that it even mattered because it was just the two of us, but everything concerning Brian and his thoughts has to always come out perfectly. It’s amazing to me how people really didn’t know that about him. He rehearsed pretty much everything that came out of his mouth before he said it, running through things in his brain before allowing his mouth to share it with the rest of us. I used to think he was some kind of lunatic, like my great aunt Rose. She would always sit at the kitchen table and mouth silent words to herself. I mean the lady would have entire conversations and most times they must have been hilarious because she would just sit there and laugh and laugh and laugh. She had a thing about mimicking her favorite lines from shows word for word as if she had written them herself and then out of nowhere she’d just start blurting them out. Ah, good old great aunt Rose. She’s in a nut house now.

 

“Hello?” Brian waved his hands in front of my face. “Is anyone in there?”

 

“Sorry, I was thinking about how much you remind me of my great aunt Rose.”

 

“Isn’t that the aunt who went crazy?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Nice…” He shook his head at me, “so, you want to hear my answer or what?”

 

“Of course.” I answered, focusing my full attention on him as he spoke.

 

“I am amazed at how much everyone has grown, that’s what I’m taking away from this. That if we had tried doing this even one year ago, it would have probably ended badly. One of us would have most likely left angry, one of us would have left drunk, and the rest of us would have had to clean up the mess.”

 

“Which one would I have been? The angry one or the drunk one?” I asked in all honesty, knowing full well that I would have been one of those two.

 

“I don’t know, why don’t you tell me.” He said, giving me the smallest smile.

 

“Probably the angry one.” I said after a few minutes of quiet contemplation, “Yeah, most definitely angry.”

 

He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in tight, “You know what you’d do now?”

 

“No,” I sighed. “What would I do now?”

 

“You’d clean up everyone’s mess.”

 

I pulled away from him slightly and smiled. “Thanks Brian.”

 

He stood up to leave. Why did everyone feel like making an exit after saying something honest and profound? “I only speak the truth kiddo.”

 

“Where are you going?” I asked him, kind of sad that our moment was ending.

 

“I gotta go take a crap in the woods.” I nodded at him. Yup, way to end a moment.

 

I decided to once again turn my attention back to the scenery and the view. When I’m old and finally decide to slow myself down, I think I’m going to build a cabin on top of a mountain like this one. I mean, I know I’m more of an ocean boy but this is kind of cool as well. I can see myself living somewhere like this. Maybe I’ll get a goat. That’s what mountain people do, right? They buy goats.

 

Now to my question, what was I taking away from this experience, besides my new conquest to buy a goat or two? There were so many great things that happened on this trip. I loved my time alone with Kevin. We haven’t really had much time to just hang out like that in awhile. I was so afraid that it would be awkward but it wasn’t. It showed me that no matter how much time goes by between visits like this one, we’ll always have something to talk about. I guess that’s the mark of a true friend. You can let years go by without saying a word and then suddenly you just pick up where you left off.

 

What else? The fishing, that was pretty kick ass too!

 

Talking to Brian about things, trying to heal old wounds and seeing where he was coming from. I wonder what took us so long to clear the air. I guess what better place to do it than the woods. I realized on this trip that our friendship would never be what it used to be when we were kids. Those days of me spending 24/7 with him and telling him every little detail of my life are long over. I used to look at that as a bad thing, but I don’t know, somehow this trip made me realize that growing apart isn’t always a horrible thing. When it comes down to it, he’s always going to be there for me just like I’ll always be there for him. Instead of midnight rendezvous to play videogames, it might be a short lunch in-between taking Baylee to karate and recording for our album. We’ll always make time for each other because that’s what friends do.

 

I learned that the reason that AJ and I get on each other’s nerves so often is because we are so damn much alike. There have been times in my life when I’ve wanted to flat out strangle him! But he is the one I call when I need advice on things, not because he’s the most knowledgeable but because he’s the most like me. The two of us have always been competitive with one another but that’s also been a great motivator for him and for me. Out of all of us, our friendship is the most complex but yet the easiest to understand. Weird, huh?

 

“Hey you.” I was startled out of my thoughts by Kevin who once again came and sat down beside me.

 

I looked at him seriously and put my arm on his shoulder, “Thanks for inviting me out here Kevin. I had a great time.”

 

“Anytime Nick, you just say the word and we’ll plan another trip. I have all the time in the world now.”

 

“And I’m jealous.” I admitted, but not really. If I had all the time in the world, I’d be one restless Nick.

 

“We should get going. I talked to Howie and things aren’t looking good. He said his dad can go at anytime. We should be there for him.” He stood up and lent a hand to me as I did the same.

 

“Poor Howie.” I said, sadly feeling my friend’s pain from so far away. Another thing I’ll take away from this trip. Even when someone is absent, they are never that far away from your heart.

 

So, I guess this whole trip was less about getting away and more about friendship. Our friendship, the kind I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.

 

“I hope going down is easier than coming up was.” AJ’s first of many complaints to come I suppose.

 

“It’s always easier walking down a hill than coming up one, I mean didn’t we learn that in Kindergarten, Bone?”  I love being a smartass.

 

“Sure, tell that to Jack and Jill who went friggn’ tumbling down the hill. I have an idea, why don’t you walk in front of me so this way if I fall I’ll land on you!”

 

“Yeah right, if you start tumbling I’m moving the hell out of the way!”

 

Kevin and Brian were getting a kick out of our fighting. “Okay kids, break it up and let’s get going.” Kevin said as he passed us both to take the lead, always the natural leader that one.

 

“Hey Kevin, now that you’re retired, are you thinking of buying a goat?” I asked him.

 

“What the hell?”

 

“Ignore him Kev, we all do. It’s the only way to remain sane.” AJ stated as if Kevin didn’t already know this. Hey wait...did I just diss myself?

 

Brian walked passed AJ, who was of course bringing up the rear, and caught up to me. “Hey, you never did tell me what your answer was.” He placed his hand on my shoulder as we continued to make our way down the mountain.

 

“To what?”

 

“What’s one thing great thing you’ve taken away from this trip?” He asked.

 

“Oh, it’s more than one thing Brian, it’s a million little things…you want a list?”

 

Brian laughed at me and ruffled my hair, “Sure why not? We have a nice long hike ahead of us.”

 

“Don’t remind me!!”  Was heard coming from behind us as we ventured down the mountain and back to civilization.