Chapter 7
Joe's POV
Kevin was talking to the band- about something boring I'm sure. Nick was leaning over the keyboard with his phone in his hands, and I was sitting on the stage with my legs dangling off the side. We were waiting for Mom, Frankie, and Aly to get back from Burger King. It was rather boring without Aly there, because I had no one to talk to. I actually missed her. This feeling was what I felt for months after camp was over, but that was when I thought I'd lost her forever. Now, I knew she was coming back, or at least I hoped, but I still missed her. I looked out into the rows upon rows of empty seats and imagined them being filled tonight with hundreds of fans, all with different stories of how they got there. Some won contests, others got tickets as presents, others saved up their hard-earned money for months, to get a seat in the nosebleed section just to see us perform. It was those people that I looked forward to performing for. I wanted to give them a show that they'd remember.
I sighed and looked back at my brothers who had not moved from their previous positions. I wonder who Nick's talking to. I thought. I pulled my legs back onto the stage and jumped up. I casually made my way over to my younger brother, and snatched the phone from his hand when he was least expecting it.
"Joe!" Nick shouted as he whipped around, causing the band and Kevin to look over to see what was going on.
"Who are you talking to?" I asked as I tried to get to the text messages.
"None of your business!" He yelled as he reached for the phone, but I quickly moved it just out of reach.
The phone vibrated in my hand and I glanced at the screen. "Oh! You have a text message." I smirked, and opened the phone to check the message.
"Joe! I'm serious! Give it back to me!"
"From Chelsea." I said as I read the text message. "'Did you ever like Miley?' Why would Chelsea care if you liked Miley?"
"I don't know." He said as he continued to reach for the phone.
"Oh! Does she like you? You may need to tell her that you already have a girlfriend." Nick kept trying and failing at grabbing the phone and suddenly it hit me. "Unless…Chelsea is your girlfriend."
Nick stopped and looked like a deer caught it headlights, and I knew I had nailed the target on the head.
"Joe…please don't say anything. She wants it to stay a secret. She doesn't want to be bugged by fans or paparazzi."
I sighed. "I won't tell anybody."
"Great, now give me my phone so I can text her back."
"No, let me read the messages." Nick sighed, defeated. I smiled to myself and read over the last few messages. I glanced up and saw Nick sort of pouting as he plunked out a few notes on the keyboard. "Fine." He looked up and I tossed him the phone. It wasn't any fun anymore now that he wasn't trying to steal it back. I turned to walk back to my spot on the stage when I heard Aly's voice.
"We're back!" I looked up and saw Aly and Frankie holding two bags each and Mom holding two cup holders that held four drinks each.
I ran over to them. "Here, let me help you with that."
"Thanks." Aly said. I rummaged through the bag and found my burger, then went to Frankie's bag and grabbed my fries and pie, then grabbed my drink from my mom, and took off to the edge of the stage again.
I unwrapped my burger and began to stuff my face. I felt somebody next to me and looked up to see Aly setting her stuff down and sitting down next to me.
"Im schlo gload urrr bach." I said with a full mouth. Alyssa raised an eyebrow.
"Come again?"
I smiled and continued chewing my food. When I had finally swallowed it, I started again, "I said…'I'm so glad you're back."
"Oh…well, it couldn't have been that bad without me here."
"Oh believe me. It was."
She laughed. "I'll take your word for it." I loved her laugh. I honestly believed that if I was having the worst day in the world, her laugh would make it all better.
Alyssa's POV
It felt like all I did was blink my eyes, and suddenly the tour was almost over. There was one show left and I had mixed feelings about going home.
I was typing up my blog on my laptop when I heard my phone begin to ring. I glanced down at the screen and saw Mom.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Alyssa," Her tone was worried. "Don't panic too much."
I sat up in my bunk. "What happened, mom?"
"It's Chelsea."
Nick's POV
I had fallen asleep in my bunk and when I woke up I heard my family and Alyssa, who was practically family anyways, talking in hushed tones.
"Well what are we going to tell Nick?" Kevin asked in a whisper, but loud enough for me to hear when I walked into the room.
"What do you need to tell me?" Everyone glanced around the room at each other, then I noticed Alyssa. Her head was on Joe's shoulder, and it looked as if she'd been crying. I knew only one thing could have happened. "What happened to Chelsea?"
"She went into a diabetic coma." Joe spoke up. I felt my body go numb and he continued to explain what had happened and that she was in the hospital now.
"Let's go!" I finally said.
"What?" Everyone asked me at the same time.
"I don't care about the show tonight. We'll reschedule it. I need to be with her, and I'm sure Alyssa wants to be there too."
We discussed the matter a little further, and finally figured that the fans would understand that we had a friend in need. The bus took a detour and the next thing we knew, we were headed for Connecticut.
Kevin's POV
Alyssa called her mom when we got into town and she told her they were still at the hospital, so the bus dropped us off there. We walked inside and Alyssa was immediately met by Elizabeth and her mom. Nick went over there as well to hear what her mom had to say.
Joe came up beside me and stood there watching her. "What's on your mind?" I asked him.
"It just bugs me because I can't help her." He said.
"What are you talking about?" I asked him, rather confused.
"She's completely upset and all I can do is let her cry on my shoulder. I can't make it better."
I sighed and put my hand on his shoulder. "You're in love, man."
He stared longingly after her. "Yeah…and it kind of sucks right now."
The doctor came out and said something to them. I saw Alyssa slowly back away from the group, then Elizabeth, her mom, and Nick all followed the doctor.
Alyssa came over to us and wrapped her arms around Joe's waist. Joe was caught completely off guard but he put his arms around her and let her cry into his chest.
"I can't go in there." She mumbled. "Please…just take me home." Joe nodded, then the two of them walked over to our dad and got some money for a cab from him.
Joe's POV
Alyssa and I walked out of the hospital and hailed a taxi. We climbed into the first one that stopped and Alyssa told them the address. She laid her head on my shoulder as we started the journey back to her house. Before I knew it, she was asleep. When we finally stopped, I kindly paid the driver, got out of the cab, and pulled Alyssa out of the cab as well.
She was still asleep as I carried her inside- that is, after I looked several minutes for her key ring, then another few minutes trying to figure out which key opened her front door.
I shut the door behind me with my foot, then tried to remember how to get to her room. As I walked up the stairs I couldn't remember if I had actually been to her room before, as I thought about how last time I slept on the couch then when we woke up only hung out downstairs. The dead give away to her room though was the dry-erase board on the outside of the door with the words, "Alyssa's Room: Keep out!" I opened the door and walked over to the right hand side of the bed and laid her down. I leaned over and kissed her forehead.
I turned to walk away when I heard her say, "Joe, please don't leave me."
I looked back at her and I thought she was going to start crying again. I walked back to the bed and sat down. She turned her back to me and curled up on her side. I laid down as well and wrapped my arms around her waist. I felt her hands grab mine and begin to play with them.
Alyssa's POV
I lightly stroked his hands. After laying like that for several minutes, I finally couldn't stand it anymore. I just wanted one kiss. I rolled over and faced him. He smiled at me and smiled back. I leaned in and kissed him, then laid my head back on the pillow. We stayed like that just staring into each others eyes. He reached his hand up and slowly tucked a loose strand of hair out of my face and behind my ear.
"I love you." He told me. Did he just say what I think he just said? We'd never told each other that we loved the other one.
I froze for a split second, before smiling and saying, "I love you too." He grinned from ear to ear before kissing me again. With every second of the kiss I was losing my inhibitions, until pretty soon I had none left and my mind let my body take over.
Nick's POV
We walked back to Chelsea's room, and I saw her hooked up to several machines. Her mom and sister said a few words to her unconscious body, before walking out of the room and letting me have my time alone with her.
"I don't know what to say." I told her, hoping that maybe she'd hear me. Then suddenly, it hit me. I could sing to her. But what song? Her favorite song was 'Hello Beautiful", so I decided to sing that.
Hello
beautiful But
tonight 'Cause
I could comb across the world, Hello beautiful But tonight 'Cause I
could comb across the world,
How's it going?
I hear it's wonderful in
California
I've been missing you
It's true...
I'm gonna fly
Yeah tonight
I'm gonna fly
And see everything
And never be
satisfied
If I couldn't see those eyes
It's
been a long time
Since my phone's rung
And you been on that
line
I've been missing you
It's true
I'm
gonna fly
Yeah tonight
I'm gonna fly
Oh yeah
see everything
And never be
satisfied
If I couldn't see those eyes
"Nick?"
Alyssa's POV
What was that dreadful ringing noise waking me up from the best dream I'd ever had? I was about to reach over to the bedside table to silence my phone when I realized, that what I thought was the best dream I'd ever had, was actually reality. Joe's arm was draped across my bare stomach as he laid on his. His shirtless back was exposed. I took a few deep breaths to stop myself from hyperventilating. I couldn't believe I had actually just done that. Heck! I couldn't believe Joe had actually just done that! My phone had stopped ringing by the time I had finally taken everything in, then it began to ring again.
"Hello?" I answered.
"She's awake!" I heard Elizabeth say.
"Are you serious?" I exclaimed. Joe began to move around from underneath the covers.
"Yes! Come back to the hospital!"
"We'll have to call a cab, unless somebody can come get us."
"Well, mom will be leaving the hospital at 11, then she'll be on her way home. You can take her car when she gets home."
"Alright. That sounds good." I told her. We said our goodbyes then hung up. I looked at the time. 10:03.
"What's going on?" I heard Joe mumble.
"Chelsea's awake!" I told him happily.
"Really?" He asked as he propped himself up on his side. "That's great!" I think that what we had done, had finally registered with Joe, and I saw an uneasy look form on his face as he glanced down at his ring. "I guess I should give this to you." He said softly.
"Don't worry about it." I told him. Part of me was beginning to regret it.
Joe raised an eyebrow "What?"
"I just…" I trailed off. "I don't want anyone to know. If people see your ring is gone, then they'll start asking questions…and this time, you won't have an answer."
"So, basically, you just want to forget it happened?" He sounded sort of annoyed.
"Joe, please. I don't want to forget. I don't know how I ever could. But, I just don't want anybody to know. I just want it to be our secret."
Joe sighed. "Okay."