I only half listen to Kevin’s endless tirade and try to keep an annoyed expression on my face. It’s getting harder by the second as I try not to pay attention to Brian, who’s carefully crept up behind Kevin and pulls the strangest faces as he tries to dramatically imitate his older cousin. I make a weird noise as I try to stifle a snicker and Kevin stops mid-sentence.
“Do you think that’s funny?” he barks, slowly turning to follow my gaze. Brian flashes him a wide, innocent grin.
“Ugh, grow up you two,” Kevin grumbles, though I sense a hint of a smile tugging at his lips. He shoots Brian an accusing glare and stalks off to the back of the bus.
“Hey, it’s not our fault you were born old!” Brian calls out to his retreating back.
“Thanks,” I say as soon as I’m sure Kevin is out of earshot.
“De nada,” Brian states as he slaps a hand on my back, “I mean, he could just say, don’t leave the bus again or I’mma cut off your balls, but no, instead he goes on and on and on and-”
“On?”
“Exactly my point,” he nods, “You are gonna act normal again now, right?”
“What fun would that be?” I shrug, grinning madly.
Brian laughs, slapping me on my back again, “That’s my boy! Hey, if you want, we could catch a movie together again some night.”
I frown, surprised at his offer, “Are you asking me on a date?” I ask tentatively. To be honest, I cannot remember the last time Brian and I watched a movie together, or did anything together outside of work for that matter. I don’t say that, obviously, because this Brian doesn’t know anything about that. In fact, as a nineteen year-old, this Brian was the closest thing I had to a brother, or any relative.
“You’re hilarious,” he mutters, “No man! I just… kinda noticed I kinda, you know… neglected you since I got a girlfriend… you know? We should definitely catch a movie… or something… kinda…”
I smile, remembering this Brian was also a grammatical mess whenever he wanted to express something he felt important. I nodded my approval and saw Brian do the same.
“I missed this,” I muttered, being careful to not let my friend hear it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The rest of the afternoon consisted of us arguing over which movie we would go to, and three interviews in which I had to do my absolute best to be able retrieve all of the memories that would go along with the current timeline. Apparently it was May 1999, one year after the heart-surgery, one month before the start of the Millennium Tour, which the world was growing more and more nervous for. It was beyond my wildest imagination to have this kind of attention drawn to the group again and frankly, I had no idea how to handle myself, and I’m not sure I did have an idea when I was nineteen.
After three days of interviews, in which I got various uncertain looks from both hosts and bandmates, we were finally off work. Brian decided to drag me to go see Fight Club with him, under weak protest. To him, the movie might be brand new, but I have already seen it countless times on TV as well as on DVD. There’s no such thing as DVDs in ’99, so I decided not to express my annoyance that much.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get over that plot-twist!” he exclaims when we walk out of the cinema’s back door, carefully disguised as to not draw attention to the fact we were in world’s most famous boyband. I only shrug, my head in overdrive, but not because of the movie. I nervously fumble with the damp note in my jeans’ pocket.
Three days. He said to call me after three days. It’s been three days. I wonder what he’s done in those three days. Would he have already gotten his hands on whatever he wanted from Brian in just three days? Can I finally go home?
Do I want to go home?
Brian doesn’t really notice my disinterest in the movie and gives me an incredulous look as I fail to match his excitement of the plot-twist. “Come on man, don’t tell me you saw that coming! I mean, he wasn’t real! He was just all in his head, he was like… you know… basically two people! Nobody could have seen that coming!”
I shrug again, getting a bit uneasy, “I kinda did,” I comment curtly.
“Yeah right, in your dreams!” his voice resounds through the empty alley behind the theatre. My eyes scan the darkness tentatively. We should have brought security.
“Could you keep your voice down? You wanna draw a herd of teenage girls our way?” I say, trying to sound jokingly, but knowing I’m failing, as I’m not really talking about teenagers. I don’t really know what would happen to me if I got myself killed right now, but I do know enough about time-travel to know what would happen if Brian got stabbed tonight. The future would be one big mess.
“Right, what’s a crowd of teenagers gonna do in a back alley at 11.30?” Brian jokes nervously, finally noticing my intense gaze, “Oh… I see,” he mutters eventually.
“Just stay here, I’mma call us a cab, kay?” I announce, swiftly walking around the theatre before he can follow me. With my hands shaking, I retrieve the small note from my pocket and dial the number in a telephone-box, not really wanting to use my own cell-phone. A mechanic voice informs me of the terms of the telephone’s use and I smile vaguely at the nostalgia. The smile fades as the call swiftly connects and a gruff voice answers.
“You’re late.”
“How’d you know it’s me?”
“Not important, where are you?”
“In front of a cinema.”
“Good. Come and meet me at the Grunloff Park in thirty minutes,” he orders, and I get the instant feeling he wants to hang up right away.
“Wait! What? Tonight?”
“Yes.” His short answers do nothing to calm my nerves and I bit my lip hard, tasting the coppery tinge of blood.
“But… I can’t! Brian’s with me!”
“Good.”
“But I thought-” I trail off, hearing the dial tone flooding my ear. My heart hammers in my throat and I try to take a deep breath to coax it to calm down, but to not much avail.
Something is not right. Roland told me to keep Brian away, but now he doesn’t mind that my bandmate is with me. Maybe he just wants to talk. Maybe it’s too important to wait until Brian gets dropped off at the parking lot were the busses are parked.
I tread around the cinema carefully after calling a cab company, seeing Brian sitting exactly where I left him.
Before he can berate me for walking out on him, I put up a hand, cutting him off.
“They said someone will be here in five minutes,” I announce, trying to ignore his burning stare into the side of my head. We walk quietly to the front and sit down on the small railing at the edge of the street in silence.
After exactly five minutes, a taxi pulls up in front of the cinema and I sigh in relief, finally freed of the tense silence between me and my bandmate. I swing open the front door to talk to the short, Asian looking driver.
“To Grunloff Park please,” I say and notice Brian turning to look at me instantly.
“Dude, the parking lot is the other way,” he calls, as if I don’t know that.
“I know, there’s just something I have to do first,” I answer mysteriously, looking at my watch. We have exactly fifteen minutes to get there and I feel a sweat that has nothing to do with the warm night’s air forming on my forehead. Brian backs away uncertainly, his frown growing deeper.
“Are you in trouble, Nick?” He asks me, giving me the intense gaze that always used to make me give in and tell him everything. It doesn’t work this time though, mainly because I have no idea in just how much trouble I am. I shake my head quickly, not looking him in the eyes and motion for him to get in the cab, noticing the driver is getting impatient. Brian tentatively enters the car, because this Brian trusts me.
He has no idea. And neither do I, I realize as we drive in silence to our unknown destination. I could fool myself, I could say I’m free to do what I want, but in fact, I’m just being held hostage, having no choice but to do whatever I’m told to.
And it stinks. It gives me a bad feeling. Whenever I look over at Brian, I’m feeling guilty for some reason, as if I know something bad is going to happen. Something I got him into.
Author's Chapter Notes:
I too wonder where this is going
