Thirty-Six

~ Washington DC… Day two… Concert # 8 ~

After Kevin and I rigged the busses all hell broke loose between the six of us. We were completely nuts. The afternoon that we showed up in DC was spent running around like wild animals sneaking up on one another and playing pranks. There wasn’t a show that night which just made matters worse because we were stuck with nothing better to do than torture one another all night. Pillow fights, wrestling matches on the beds, hiding behind corners and jumping out to scare someone, truth or dare, water fights… you name it, we probably did it that night.

We were so into our child-like play that we all ended up crashing that night in the same room scattered about. I woke up to the familiar sound of my camera and opened my eyes to see Nick standing in the corner taking pictures of the roomful of passed out friends. I smiled and waved as he snapped another picture. He giggled and smiled, "I figured if you were the first one up you would have been taking pictures of us, so I took over…"

I sat up and yawned as I ran my fingers through my messy hair, "You’re right… this is too priceless not to capture on film." I looked around the room and chuckled, "Did you get them?" I pointed to AJ and Brian on the couch practically cuddling with one another.

"Heck yeah…" Nick laughed.

I got up and reached my hand out for the camera as an idea came to me. I stood over Kevin and took a picture of him from above as his head hung off the edge of the couch he was sleeping on and his hair was sticking straight up. "That one is for Mrs. Richardson…" I giggled again at the sight of the room and stood next to Nick. "God we made a mess last night…"

"Yeah… whose room is this anyway?" he chuckled.

"I think its Howie’s…" We both laughed at the idea of Howie, our resident neat freak, waking up and realizing what a mess we’d made of his room. I ran my hand through my hair again and groaned, "Having long hair and playing with you guys just doesn’t go together… I think I still have food in it from the food fight."

"Look at D’s hair though…" Nick snorted.

I cracked up. Howie and I had very similar hair types. Both naturally curly and thick, but with all of the shit that he put in his to "manage" it, his always looked worse than mine in the morning…especially after a night like we’d had. "I’m gunna cut it all off…"

"Howie’s hair?"

"No!" I laughed. "Mine… Yeah, Nick, I’m gunna cut Howie’s hair off…" I snorted.

"Oh…" he laughed. "Well that’s what it sounded like… shut up…"

I made a kissy face at him and smiled. "What time is it?"

"Ten…"

"Okay that gives me… four hours before we’ve gotta be at the MCI Center. I’m gunna go. Tell AJ I’ll be back before we’ve gotta go to the venue okay?"

"Sure, but where are you going?"

"To cut Howie’s hair off…" I teased.

"You’re not really gunna cut your hair off are you?"

I nodded, "Yup… I can’t survive the rest of this tour with this mess every morning…" I smiled as shook my hair for him. "See you in a few okay?" I turned and headed for the door to go shower and find a salon.

"I wanna come with you…" he said as he followed me to the door. I turned around and smiled at him. "Emotional support you know… you’ve had long hair the whole time I’ve known you…"

I laughed and shook my head, "You sure it’s not for your own emotional support?"

"That too… I love your hair…" he smiled.

I looked at him and smiled, "Alright… Give me ten minutes to shower and throw on some clean clothes…"

"Cool… I’ll meet you in your room."

~~~~~

So we were late… it wasn’t anything new. I was habitually late to everything, and when Nick was with me, it was only worse. What can I say? When we got together and goofed off, time had no bearing on us. The salon that we found to get my hair cut was great. They closed the place down for us to avoid a fan mishap and in exchange we paid them a lot of money. While we were at it I not only got my hair cut but also both of us got facials, pedicures, and I got a manicure, Nick refused that one. A few hours later we’d been pampered very well and went directly to the venue to meet up with the rest of the guys.

"Who is going to be more upset? Kevin because we’re late, or AJ because I cut my hair?" I laughed.

"Hmm… good question. Probably Kevin, AJ would love you if you shaved your head…"

"Aww…" I smiled. "That was really sweet. And trust me, I’m not going to shave my head, this is short enough." I ran my hand through my new short hair still not believing that I cut it after so many years.

"It’s true though. I was watching you guys last night. There’s no doubt in my mind, he’s head over heels in love with you."

I kept smiling as we walked through the venue toward the dressing rooms. I wasn’t sure what to say in response to Nick. I was glad that he was able to talk to me again, but I couldn’t help but wonder what he was really feeling in his heart. "Yeah I think he is…"

"You in love with him?"

I looked at Nick, surprised that he’d asked, but also relieved, "Mmm hmm… I think so…"

"Cool…"

"You okay with that?" I asked cautiously glancing at him sideways.

He was silent for a minute while we walked and then nodded, "As long you’re happy…"

I smiled, my eyes beginning to tear up and then heard AJ, "Finally! Where the hell have… oh… my… GOD!"

Nick and I laughed then looked at AJ who’d stopped dead in his tracks. Brian, Howie and Kevin all followed him out of the room to see what was wrong and they all mumbled assorted holy shit’s and whoa’s. "Hi boys…" I giggled.

"You cut your hair…" AJ whined.

"Yes, baby, I did…"

"It’s gone…"

"Yes, baby, it is…"

"It’s short…"

I laughed and looked at Nick, "I think he’s in shock…"

AJ reached out and ran his fingers through what was left of my hair and sighed, "Oh god…"

"Honey…" I smiled. "Stop or you’re gunna make me cry. I had to cut it off. It was driving me nuts…"

"But…"

"I love it…" Kevin smiled.

"Me too…" Nick added.

"Yup I think it’s cool…" Brian said with a grin.

"Going to be much easier to do," Howie said and I laughed as he shrugged. "Shut up, you know it will be… I’m just stating the facts."

"I know, honey…" I smiled then looked at AJ. "You’re next. You like or hate?"

AJ circled me and looked at my hair then stood back in front of me, "It’s gunna take some getting used to… but baby, I’d love you even if you shaved your head…"

Nick grinned and I grinned back at him before kissing AJ, "Thank you…"