Nick made his way up to the door, knocking before walking in.
“Mom!”
There was the sound of feet pounding down the stairs and then his Mother appeared.
“Nick! Honey what are you doing here?” Jane asked, walking over to pull him into a hug.
“I thought I’d surprise you with a visit, how are you?”
They made their way over to the couch and sat.
“I’m doing good, well, as good as I can be considering.”
Nick nodded; damn he hoped coming here wasn’t a mistake. Looking around, the house seemed emptier than usual, it wasn’t until then he realized that all his Dad’s stuff was gone. Squinting, he saw that the boxes had his Dad’s name on them and felt his stomach turn, maybe it was finally starting to sink in.
“So umm, where is everyone?”
“BJ’s in her room and Leslie’s out with some friends. So how was London? Did you get a lot of work done? Get some things set up for more promotion?”
He sighed inwardly, he was twenty-four years old and his Mom still tried to act like manager. Their strained relationship had been a result of her managing him amongst other things. She never seemed able to stop herself, she just sort of flipped into that mode all the time, which was why he avoided talking to her whenever possible, it was hard, but he didn’t want to have to go down that road again.
“Things went fine Mom, we got a lot done, I’m still tired and a little jet lagged, but you know how that is.”
“I do, I remember how when you were with the guys, you used to get so sick when we came home, do you remember that?” Jane pressed.
Nick nodded, not really wanting to talk about it. A heavy silence fell over them, clearing his throat, he looked around again, trying to reacquaint himself with the surroundings, he always felt like a stranger, this wasn’t the house he’d grown up in, but he never really felt comfortable anywhere but at his own home. He had to laugh, weren’t parents supposed to make anywhere feel like home?
“Where’s, where’s Dad?”
He watched his Mom stiffen before clearing her throat.
“He’s not here, he’s living some where else with your Brother and Angel.”
“Oh,” Nick whispered softly, he should’ve known better than to ask.
“Yeah well, your Brother and Sister thought they’d be better off with your Father so that’s that. So you can call your Brother if you wanna know where they’re staying, because I don’t know.”
Nick looked away; it was obvious that his Mother did not want to know where they were either. Squirming under her intense gaze, a heavy silence descended over the room. Maybe he should just leave, he couldn’t deal with his Mom when she was like this, he couldn’t deal with any of it. He went to stand, when there was the sound of someone pounding down the stairs. Nick looked up to see BJ making her way down, a slow smile spread over his lips as she stopped at the bottom.
“Hey girl, long time no see.”
BJ looked over at Nick, her eyes narrowing.
“It’s you.”
Nick chuckled, “Yeah, it’s me.”
“So where have you been?” BJ asked, her voice cold.
His smile started to fade.
“BJ stop that, I told you he went away for the month,” Jane responded.
“Oh yeah, for album promotion, right. Well then what about before then? Where’s he been for the last three or four months huh? What’s his excuse for that?” She spat, glaring at Nick; “It’s always something with him isn’t it?”
“BJ, I’m sorry, I’ve just been…”
“What? Busy? I’ve heard it before Nick, save it, I’m sick of hearing it. I’m going out,” BJ muttered, turning and heading for the door.
“BJ! You get back here and apologize to your Brother!” Jane yelled.
The door slammed shut and quiet settled over the two. Nick rubbed at his forehead; he definitely shouldn’t have come.
“Sorry Mom, she’s right. I don’t ever come by to see you all much anymore, it’s just…” just that he really didn’t want to, just that sometimes he liked to pretend they didn’t exist, that they weren’t related. Guilt tore at him, he hated to think like that, but he couldn’t help it.
“I know Nick, it’s ok, don’t worry about it. She’s been like that lately, you can’t say anything right where she’s concerned.”
“Yeah but I should make some kind of…” he shook his head, he didn’t want to deal with it right now. “Well I’m gonna get going,” Nick stood quickly, making his way to the door. He couldn’t take it anymore, his family was falling apart and he didn’t want to have to see it. He had to get away.
“Oh, ok, well I guess I’ll see you later then.”
“Ok, tell Leslie I was by alright and that I’ll be by sometime soon to see her. I’m gonna try to stop over and see if I can get in touch with Aaron or Angel.”
Jane stared at him for a moment, her eyes glittering with something Nick couldn’t quite place.
“Fine.”
“Bye Mom.”
“Bye Nick.”
He left, no kiss goodbye, and no hug. Getting into his truck, he grabbed his phone, calling Aaron.
