Swallowed in Grief, Healed by Time

The new morning Jordan woke me up saying my father wanted to speak with me. Slowly I took the phone from her and was greeted with a slightly panicked father. During the night something had happened but he kept skirting around the issue and not telling me anything. I knew that he wanted to tell me what was going on but something kept holding him back. I was trying to be patient with the man but he was slowly driving me insane.

“Dad, what is going on?” I snapped trying to figure out what he was going on about yet not actually telling me about.

“Alright, I got a call last night,” dad said as he took a deep breath.

“And?” I questioned not sure where the panic was coming from.

“Aaron’s been spotted,” dad said.

“Oh my god,” I whispered and nearly dropped the phone.

I knew the nation had been searching for the man as he was now one of the most wanted criminals, but to actually know that he was spotted was something I never thought we would find out. He had gone off the radar until now, no one knew where he was. Now he’s been spotted hiding somewhere. Maybe this nightmare will finally end and I can sleep with both eyes closed at night, not having to worry about him coming in.

“Baby?” dad questioned bringing me back to him.

“Sorry, where was he spotted?” I questioned.

“Long beach,” dad whispered.

“What?” I asked.

“He was spotted in Long Beach. He must’ve somehow found out that you and Braden were with me and he knew that we lived in Huntington so he goes to one of the biggest cities near by,” dad said.

“Oh my god, dad what are we going to do?” I questioned.

“You are not to go anywhere without Zander or Braden. Not even with one of the girls. Explain this all to them, since you know more about him than I do. After the awards tonight the guys and I are coming back. We are cutting tour short,” dad explained.

“You don’t have to do that,” I whispered.

“I am doing it and you aren’t going to talk me out of it. All of the guys agree and want to be there with him being so close to everyone,” dad said.

“But your fans-“

“Will understand. Our fans are one of a kind and understand that we have personal lives outside of the band. They respect us and we respect them back,” dad explained. “I’m not worried about them, I’m worried about my family.”

“Alright,” I gave in knowing that I was not going to win this in any fashion.

“Thank you, now go talk to everyone and I will see you all tomorrow evening,” dad said.

I hung up the phone with my father and laid in bed trying to think about how I was going to explain this without their being a panic. Then I decided that there really was no way to do this without a panic. Once Braden and Zander found out they were going to want to find Aaron and kill him before dad and the guys get a chance to. Maybe I should just wait until the guys walk through the door to explain everything.

“Are you alright?”

I looked towards the door to see Jordan standing there with a curious expression on her face. I sighed and beckoned her in. Cautiously she walked in and took the phone from my hand as she sat on the bed next to me. She slowly started rubbing my back as she questioned me again, trying to make sure that I was alright. Weakly I smiled at her and nodded my head. That’s when everything hit me. Aaron was merely miles away from me and no doubt he was after revenge. I hugged my stomach as tears filled my eyes. Jordan freaked a bit thinking that I was in pain until I assured her that the baby was fine. She knelt down in front of me and forced me to spill everything to her, which after a few moments of coaxing I did.

She held me in her arms as I cried to her and explained the entire story. Once I reached the part about Aaron being in Long Beach I heard gasps and looked over to see Val and Leana. They both had slightly panicked eyes as they quickly pulled out their phones and called their husbands. I started to stutter and try to apologize as this was not how I wanted them to find out. Soon Braden and Zander were in the room demanding to know what was going on. At this point I was too emotional to talk so I picked up my phone and called dad before handing it to Braden. They had a rather quick conversation before the phone was passed to Zander who’s eyes never left me.

Zander and dad’s conversation was a little longer than the one Braden held but not much. As soon as Zander hung up the phone he came over and pulled me gently from Jordan. Zanders arms wrapped tightly around me and I lost all form of control that I had just gained on myself. Zander gently rocked me back and forth as Jorden rubbed my back. Leana and Val got off the phone and quickly left the room leaving just us kids. Zander laid back on the bed with me in his arms and gently brushed my hair with his hands. Jordan and Braden quietly slipped from the room and left us alone. Slowly my eyes closed and I fell into a nice safe warm sleep. Zander sighed and followed my example.