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Chapter 17

Chapter 17

“Hello?” Nick said as he answered the phone in his room.

“Hey bro, it’s Kevin. Do you guys want to get an order of food with us? We are sending one of the roadies next door to get some.”

“Oh, hey Kevin. Actually Annie and AJ went next door to get some food for all of us, they should be back any minute,” Nick responded, feeling bad that they didn’t offer to get the rest of the guys anything when they went over there.

“They went by themselves?” Kevin asked, getting very nervous. “Do you realize there are about four hundred girls running around all over the hotel trying to get a glimpse of us? How do you know they even made it over there without getting mauled, or without another fan attacking Annie?”

“I looked out the window and saw them walking out of the restaurant with bags of food in their hands, that’s how,” Nick responded sarcastically. “Calm down dude, it’s not that big of a deal.”

“I just don’t want another incident like yesterday. That wasn’t cool.”

“I know, neither do I, but they are okay. Can I let you go? We are actually in the middle of something right now.”

“Oh, really? I am not going to ask. I’ll talk to you later; remember to be on the bus by 3:00, okay?”

“Yeah Dad, I’ll remember,” Nick joked. He always called Kev that, mainly because that’s how Kevin always acted. “Later.”

“Bye.” As soon as Nick hung up the phone Annie and AJ walked into the room.

“Who was that?” AJ asked, making sure he didn’t miss any official BSB business.

“That was Kev, he wanted to know if we wanted some food,” Nick replied, looking inside the bags that Annie and AJ had set down on the table. “What’d ya get me?”

“Something that’s not on your diet,” AJ chided. “But I didn’t think you would really mind!”

“Yeah, as long as it’s pizza I don’t!” He pulled out the single serve pizza boxes, opening each one until he found the one with his favorite toppings. “Thanks guys for getting the food.”

“No problem,” Annie replied, looking over at her cousin who was sitting on the couch. “How did it go?” Annie asked quietly.

“As well as can be expected,” Nick replied, he too looking over at Andrea. “I think she is just trying to let everything sink in. Give her a few minutes.” Because I know I am still trying to let it all sink in too, he thought to himself.

“And you? How are you doing with everything?” Alex asked as he grabbed his pizza and soda. “It was a lot to take in, huh?” Nick just nodded his head. He took the picture of Andrea and her family off the table and showed it to AJ.

“This was taken a week before they were killed. How am I supposed to compare to that?” he asked sadly, feeling very insecure about his future with Andrea.

“Nick, you can’t do that,” Annie said, jumping into the conversation. “What you and Andrea have will be different than what she had with Michael, and not in a bad way. People become widows and widowers every day, and they fall in love and get married again, but they don’t love their new spouse any less, just different. It wouldn’t be any different if she were divorced, would it?”

Nick thought for a moment, yes it would, because they don’t want to be together anymore, she would still be with her husband if he hadn’t died he said to himself, but out loud he said, “It would still have its problems, but we would deal with it, just like we will deal with this. I just don’t want to get sloppy seconds, you know?” He realized after he said that how insensitive it sounded, but luckily Annie and Alex knew what he meant.

“Bro, it will be okay,” was all AJ could say. Andrea had gotten up from the couch and walked over to them. She picked up the container of Buffalo wings and the ranch to dip them in and sat down at the table. Her face was red and streaked with tear stains, and her eyes were swollen and puffy. She looked absolutely exhausted emotionally and physically, efficiently and accurately illustrating the way she felt.

“Are you okay with telling him?” Annie asked, leaning closer to her cousin. “I’m sure this isn’t how you pictured telling him.”

“I am okay with it, and surprisingly I was ready to tell him. I’m glad that AJ broke the ice so to speak, it made it easier. I feel better that’s its out,” she said, giving her cousin a slight smile. It was the closure I needed to move on, she admitted to herself. And I think Nick is the right direction to move in.