It's A Roller Coaster Ride We're On

“Nick?” I asked, pulling away from Joe slightly. I quickly glanced at Joe; he loosened his grip on me, pressed his lips together in a thin line, and stared straight ahead. “What are you doing here?”

“We left the venue not too long after Joe but your plane took off before we got to the airport. We had to wait four hours until the next plane left and then… here we are.” He said pulling me into a hug. He gave me a kiss and ran his fingers through my hair. “How’s your Dad?”

“He’s good. They’re going to keep him overnight; the doctor said it was a touch of angina.” I said, looking over his shoulder at Joe. His arms hung loose by his sides and he still kept his back to us.

“How are you?” Nick asked, pulling away to stare into my eyes. He brought a hand up to my cheek and stroked it with his fingers.

“I’m fine. I was just a little… overwhelmed. Joe helped calm me down.” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

“Oh.” He said, his eyes narrowing when I mentioned Joe. “Mel, can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?”

“Um, yeah, sure…” I said, taking his hand in mine and walking down the hallway past his parents, Lauren, Kevin, and the others. We walked to the end of the hall where there was a little seating area and we sat next to each other on the couch. “So… what’s up?”

“What’s going on Melissa?” he asked coldly, staring at his hands.

“What are you talking about?”

“You and Joe… I’m not stupid. I saw how you two were holding each other just then.” He said, looking up at me with those deep brown eyes of his.

“Nick!” I gasped, leaning away from him to stare at him with shock. “I can’t believe you’re saying stuff like that. Nothing is going on between me and Joe. We’re in the hospital because my father has a heart condition. I went into his room to see him and it upset me. I walked out because I couldn’t take it anymore and started to cry. Joe was comforting me. I’m sorry if getting a comforting hug from my best friend who cares enough about me to ditch a concert and disappoint thousands of people for such a purpose makes you feel uncomfortable. But that’s how it is! We didn’t do anything to hurt you. I can’t believe you would think that.” I said, fresh tears making their way down my face. I stood up to go find Lauren when he grabbed my wrist.

“Mel! It’s not like I had a choice! I didn’t know what was going on!”

“I know you didn’t but… no one has ever done something like that for me before. I know you would have if you could but you were performing. Joe just had a breather and ditched everyone. I told your mother and Lauren to wait until the concert was over to let you all know so something like that wouldn’t happen but obviously…”

“Yeah…” he said softly, pulling me onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I rested my head on his shoulder. We sat like that for awhile, locked in each other’s embrace.

“Thank you.” I said quietly, kissing his cheek.

“For what?”

“For coming… For believing me,”

“Of course I believe you.” He said, pulling my face close to his and kissing me.

****

Joe’s POV

“Joe! What the hell were you thinking?” Lauren asked, storming her way over to me. Kevin was following her, he looked… unsure of how to feel.

“What Lauren? Why don’t you tell me what I’m thinking?” I asked turning around to glare at her. I really wasn’t in the mood for this right now.

“Okay… fine.” She said, putting her hands on her hips and glaring back at me. “I think you left the concert to come and take your chances with Melissa; to try to get her away from Nick.”

“I can’t believe you!” I shouted, throwing my arms up in the air and grabbing the sides of my head. I turned to walk away.

“Joe, come on.” Kevin said softly. Taking on his brotherly duties…

“What do you want from me Kevin?” I asked angrily. “My best friend’s father was put in the hospital. I heard about it and was concerned and I followed her because I love her and I knew she’d be upset. I love her more than a friend too and it sucks because she’s with my baby brother! And I can’t do anything about it. She chose him. It sucks for me, I know but guys… I can’t help it.”

I finished my rant… feeling a burning in my eyes. Tears? Lauren and Kevin both backed away from me a little. Finally, it was Lauren who broke the silence.

“Joe…” she said softly, her eyes warm with concern. She laid her hand on my arm and I pulled away. I put my hands up defensively and closed my eyes.

“Just… I need to be alone. Okay?”

“Okay.” She said; almost a whisper, backing up into Kevin’s arms now.

“Why don’t you just… walk around here? We’ll come find you when we’re done.” Kevin said.

“Thank you.” I said quietly before turning on my heels and walking away.

****

After Nick had calmed down, we spent time together, just the two of us. We walked back to the waiting room to join his family, Lauren, the band and Rob. Soon my mother came out and I introduced her to everyone. She greeted everyone, not quite smiling… I think she was just surprised by the amount of people who showed up.

“Where’s Joe?” I asked.

“He’s walking around somewhere.” Kevin said.

“He said he wanted to be alone.” Lauren whispered in my ear. I nodded and stood up.

“I’m going to go look for him.” I said, looking at Nick. His eyes were soft but his jaw locked. “I just need to talk to him okay?”

“I understand.” He said, nodding his head. He stood up and wrapped his arms around me. “I’ll be here.” He said kissing me.

“I’ll be back.” I said, smiling at everyone as I walked out of the waiting room.

****

It seemed like I had walked through every floor of the hospital. I’d been to the E.R., the surgical ward, the I.C.U…. everywhere. Still no Joe… I was about to give up and go back down to the waiting room when all of a sudden… there he was; standing in the maternity ward, at the viewing window of all the newborns. His right hand was on the glass, as well as his forehead, his left hand running through his hair.

“There you are!” I exclaimed with a sigh, walking over to him. He looked up at me then back at the babies.

“Hey,” he said quietly.

“What are you looking at?” I asked, standing next to him and staring into the bright room. He pointed to a baby in the very front.

“Her, she’s beautiful… Her name’s Hayley.” He said, smiling slightly.

“Yeah, she is beautiful. She’s so… pink.”

“Yeah, yeah I know what you mean,” he said, letting out a laugh. He continued to stare at her. Her little mouth opened to a wide o as she yawned. “Lyss… why are you here?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, looking up at him.

“Why did you come to find me? I would’ve thought my mother would be the one to look for me.”

“I felt like I had to.” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

“Why?”

“Because you’re my friend… my best friend aside from Lauren and I care about you. You seemed upset and I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“You’re my best friend too.” He said, looking up at me under his long eyelashes. “You know, Lauren thought that the only reason I left the concert to come after you was to try to like… steal you from Nick.”

“Mm, Nick thought the same thing sort of.” I said, nodding.

“Figures.” He said, scoffing. I wrapped my arm around his torso and squeezed into his side. We stood there, staring at little Hayley and how perfect she looked.

“We should get back,” I said quietly. We kept our arms around each others’ backs and walked down to the waiting room.