It's A Roller Coaster Ride We're On

The notes stopped. The last day I received a note was the morning of the breakup so then I knew they were from Nick. The last note said “Every little thing that you do, baby I’m amazed by you.” The tour went on as per usual. We were going to repeat a few major states now. Florida… Disney World... Fourth of July celebrations in Disney World…

“Alright boys, you have the whole day off today before the concert in Magic Kingdom tomorrow so you can enjoy yourselves. Just be careful.” Denise said.

“We will Mom, don’t worry.” Kevin said.

“So where do you guys want to go first?” Lauren asked, looking at the boys and myself.

“Magic Kingdom!” I shouted.

“Yeah!” Joe shouted from his seat next to me.

“Is that okay with you two?” she asked Kevin and Nick.

“Fine by me...” Kevin said.

“Actually…” Nick said, and then turned to his mother. “Mom, how about I take Frankie around so you and Dad can just enjoy yourselves?”

“Aw come on Nick. Come with us.” Lauren said, pouting.

I swear he glanced over at Joe and me and frowned at Joe’s arm around my shoulder. He gets so upset about seeing us… Joe and I aren’t dating! Joe’s just watching out for me, being my best friend, and I’m so thankful that he is. I feel if he wasn’t there to comfort me, to protect me, I’d fall apart.

“No thanks.” Nick said. “Come on Tank.”

He and Frankie walked off the bus. Denise gave us all an apologetic look then she and Kevin Sr. left as well.

“And then there were four.” I muttered under my breath.

“Cheer up Lyss. This makes seating on rides easier because now we have an even number.” Joe said.

“Yeah, whatever… let’s go.”

****

Nick’s POV

Why? Why does Joe have to do that? It’s not like they’re even dating but he’s around her constantly! Does he even think about how that makes me feel? How it pains me to see her go to him for comfort? How I hate it when she curls into his chest now and falls asleep? I know I was the one who broke it off with her but… crush my heart even more why don’t they?

This is how my thoughts seemed to be nowadays. I wasn’t even really paying attention to where I was leading Frankie. Somehow we ended up at Tom Sawyer Island which he didn’t seem to mind. I sat on a rock while he climbed up on the tree house and just stared at my hands. A few minutes later I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked up.

“Hey Tank.” I said, glumly.

“Nick, why are you so mad at Melissa? You don’t even talk to her anymore.” He said, pouting and sitting on the ground in front of me.

“She doesn’t love me Frankie.” I sighed.

“Yes she does! She just… loves Joe more.” He stated. I scoffed and stared at him.

“Geez Tank, you sure know what to say to make a guy feel better.”

“Nick… think about it. Would you rather just be sad now and have time to get over it and find someone who does love you and let Joe and Mel be happy together? Or… would you rather still be with Mel and be happy but her and Joe wouldn’t?”

“Whoa Tank. That’s deep for an eight year old. How do you even come up with this stuff?”

“Dude… we have Kevin for a brother.”

I laughed.

“Good point.” I said, ruffling his hair. “Thanks Frankie.”

“Anytime. Now come on! Have some fun already!”

****

“So, what ride first?” Kevin asked.

“Splash Mountain,” Joe and I said at the same time. Lauren and Kevin turned around to look at us.

“What?” I asked.

“That was weird.” Lauren said.

“You guys spend too much time together.” Kevin said.

“Yeah, well, you stole my best friend.” I said, sticking my tongue out at him. “I barely see her.”

“Geez,” Kevin said, rolling his eyes. “Mel, do you have your camera?”

“Is that a serious question?” Joe, Lauren and I all asked at the same time. Now that was weird.

“Seriously, stop. And yes.”

“Of course I have it with me Kevin. Why?”

“So you can take pictures for the book.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, honey, we’re missing a very important piece to the equation.” Lauren said, gesturing around to the four of us.

“Oh, yeah.”

“You can still take pictures though.” Joe said. “But they’ll be for pleasure instead of business.”

“Dirty!” Lauren and I exclaimed at the same time.

“Oh you know what I mean!” he said.

****

The day went on with minimal fan disturbances. We were surprised. Of course they did take pictures from a distance, only a few asked for actual pictures with Kevin and Joe but… they all wondered where Nick was.

“Where do you want to go for dinner?” Kevin asked.

“Epcot?” Lauren asked.

“Yeah, the World Showcase?” I suggested.

“That sounds good. There’s a lot to choose from. Come on, let’s go get the monorail”

“Yes! The monorail!” Joe exclaimed. “Come on Lyss!” he said, grabbing my hand and running to the monorail station.

We climbed into our car and he sat down pulling me onto his lap. Kevin and Lauren walked on and sat across from us. Lauren raised her eyebrows at me and I slightly shrugged my shoulders as Joe wrapped his arms around my waist. Joe and Kevin were discussing what kind of food they were in the mood for and Lauren and I had a silent conversation.

“What’s going on with you two?” she mouthed.

“I’m not sure.” I replied.

“Are you two going to get together anytime soon?”

“I don’t think I’m ready for that… I mean… I do want to be with him… but I don’t think it will ever be possible.”

“Oh please. You need to stop worrying about Nick. You and Joe were practically made for each other.” She said, nodding her head to our position.

Joe’s arms were still wrapped around me and I was leaning into him. I looked down at his face. Ever since we started hanging out more… more like clinging to each other… he seemed to have a permanent smile on his face. I couldn’t help but smile and I looked back up at Lauren.

“Told you so.” She mouthed, smirking at me. I rolled my eyes.

“Alright, here’s our stop.” Kevin said. I slid off of Joe’s lap and followed Kevin and Lauren out of the station with him trailing behind me, my hand still in his.

“Well, I don’t know about you three… but I want Chinese.” I said.

“Yeah, well, I want some fish and chips.” Lauren said.

“Okay, so, Lyss and I will go to China while you two go to London. Then we go to Paris for dessert.” Joe said.

“No way! Germany.” Kevin said.

“Fine we’ll just split now and meet up later and go back to the hotel.” Lauren said. “You two have fun.” She added, winking at me.

“Alright Joseph, lead the way.” I said.

On our way over to China, he made us stop at every, and I mean every country before it and take a picture there. Well… multiple pictures.

“To capture our trip around the world.” He said.

“You’re so corny.” I said, rolling my eyes and he draped his arm across my shoulders and pulled me into him.

“But you love me.” He said, kissing the top of my head. I sighed.

“Yeah…”

China was great. Authentic Chinese is way better than the stuff we normally get. It was getting dark now… around 8 o’clock.

“Joe we have to hurry in Paris. The fireworks start at 9 and I want to get a good viewing spot.”

“Don’t worry Lyss we will.”

“We better.” I said, glaring at him playfully.

“Trust me… we will. Now come on, let’s go get you some fancy Parisian chocolate.”

“Ooo, I like chocolate.”

After meandering throughout the Parisian shops, Joe finally settled on buying us an (expensive) box of chocolates to share. We sat at a table outside, the night time summer breeze engulfing us in its comfort, and talked and ate. He picked up one chocolate and leaned across the table.

“What are you doing?” I asked, trying not to laugh.

“Open your mouth.” He said, smirking at me.

“What?”

“Open your mouth.” He insisted. I opened my mouth and he popped the chocolate in. I chewed slowly as he sat back in his chair and stared at me. His gaze was so intense… I turned away.

“Oh, the fireworks are starting soon!” I exclaimed, noticing the people starting to gather. “Come on!” I said, grabbing his hand and jumping up from the table.

I pulled him towards the throng of people and we found a spot facing the Showcase Lagoon. Joe stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. We were so close; my back was against his chest. He placed his chin on top of my head and rocked us back and forth. I gave into the warmth and folded my arms on top of his. After a few minutes of watching the fireworks he moved his chin from the top of my head to my shoulder.

“Lyss,” he whispered.

“Mm,” I said, turning to look at him.

He stared into my eyes for a minute before leaning in. As soon as it clicked what he was going to do, I turned my head so he kissed my cheek. He pulled away from his hold on me and turned my body so I was facing him.

“Lyss, what are you doing? Don’t you want this?” he asked

“Well…” I hesitated, “Yes, of course I do...”

“But…?” he prompts.

“But… I just feel like it’s still too soon. It’s only been a week.”

He sighed.

“I don’t know how much longer I can take this Lyss.” He said, shaking his head. I brought my hands up to his face and softly stroked his cheeks.

“I know. It’s hard for me too… but we need to think about Nick. I can’t handle hurting him anymore.” I said.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. But, come on… one kiss?” he begged. I sighed and looked around. I spotted Kevin and Lauren standing about ten feet away from us. Kevin’s eyes were on the fireworks; Lauren’s were on Joe and me. I looked back up at Joe.

“One kiss” I agreed quietly. He smiled and brought his hands up to cup my face. He slowly leaned in and placed his lips on mine. I kissed back, glad to feel the softness of his lips on mine again. After a minute or so I slowly pulled away and returned to our original position. I glanced back over at Lauren and she was smiling at me. As we watched the rest of the fireworks, Joe kept placing delicate kisses on my shoulder. Why does everything always have to be so complicated?

****

The concert the next day went off without a hitch and afterwards we were able to spend a bit more time in the park. We all went around together this time and I noticed, Nick was laughing again, smiling, and talking to Joe. At one point, he went ahead to talk to Kevin and Lauren and Joe turned to me.

“What has gotten into him?” he asked.

“I don’t know but he seems happy now.” I said, observing how even his walk seemed different… more energetic.

“It’s because I talked to him.” Frankie said, grabbing my other hand in his and swinging our arms back and forth.

“Oh really?” I asked, smiling down at him.

“Yeah, yesterday when he took me around we were on Tom Sawyer Island and he just looked so… sad or whatever and it was annoying me so I talked to him. I told him it was better this way because now he can find someone who loves him like you love Joe.”

I stopped walking and stared at Frankie.

“What did you just say?” Joe asked, having picked out the same fragment I had.

“I said he can find someone who loves him like Mel loves you.” He said, shrugging his shoulders. He looked up at our faces. “You guys do love each other right?”

Joe and I looked at each other. He was trying not to laugh. I was trying to gain the ability to speak again.

“Well, yeah…” I croaked out. “I love all you guys.”

“No, Mel, I mean, you guys love each other like Lauren and Kevin. I mean you’re always together. Joe’s always smiling now and he’s stopped bugging me because he’s with you all the time. And Mel… you look different than when you did with Nick.”

“What do you mean Frankie?” I asked, kneeling down to his level and placing my hands on his shoulders.

“I don’t know it just looks like… you really know what you want now. You know what I mean?”

“Tank, you have got to stop hanging around with Kevin so much.” Joe said, shaking his head back and forth.

“Yeah, I know. Well I’m going to go talk to Mom now.” He said, walking away. I stood up and stared at Joe. He just laughed and draped his arm around me.

“So, do you think Frankie knows that we’re in love with each other before we even know it ourselves?” he asked.

“He probably does.” I said trying to process the conversation I just had with an eight year old in my head.

“Do you think he’s right?” he asked, stopping to look in my eyes. I looked back, thinking of all the time we’d spent together and all that Joe’s done for me.

“I think… there’s a high probability that he could be right.” I said. He smiled at me and we kept walking.

****

“Mel, can I talk to you?” Nick asked, sitting next to me on the couch on the tour bus. Joe tensed up next to me.

“Uh sure Nick... Did you want to talk alone?”

“No this is fine.”

“Okay, shoot.” I said.

“I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting. To both of you.” He said, looking over my head at Joe. “I’ve been a real jerk. I should have just understood where you were coming from Melissa. I mean, you’re four and a half years older than me; it never would have worked out. Frankie talked to me and I realize he’s right. There’s someone out there for me. It’s just not you. You and Joe should have your chance now.”

When he was done he smiled at us and then stood up and walked to the bunks. Lauren and Kevin looked over at us, awe etched upon their faces. Denise and Kevin Sr. also looked at us, Denise looked slightly shocked. Frankie then came over and stood in front of Joe and me.

“See? It’s so obvious.” He said.

“Franklin.” Kevin Sr. said.

“What Dad? It’s true!”

At that moment Joe and I looked at each other. We were both confused. Trying to process the past 24 hours in our head was proving complicated. Could this really work?