Heroes...And The Rest Of Us.

All the vertical blinds in my bedroom are closed and all the lights are off, except for the lamp on the computer desk. I roll over in bed and grab my cell phone, and dial the home phone number. Jack answers on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Come in here."

"OK." I hang up and a few seconds later, he knocks on the bedroom door and comes in. He's dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, and has a coffee cup in his hand. He sits in the desk chair facing me, with his feet up on the end of the bed.

"What day is it?" I ask him. He smirks.

"Think about it."

"Don't be a douche lord."

"It really shouldn't surprise me that you called me a douche lord when you called the whisk a man whore, but it still hurts." I raise an eyebrow at him. I have a flashback to slamming the door in my mother-in-law's face, and throwing the whisk across the house.

"Please tell me that I didn't call Adam's mother a bitch to her face."

"No, but you might have kicked her in the shin."

"Oh my God."

"Thats not what she said, but it was a pretty rad kick."

"You are a douche lord." He laughs.

"No, you didn't say anything stupid. But, she does think that you and I are secret lovers. And, she's planning on telling Adam our dirty little secret as soon as possible."

"Ewww."

"Secret Lovers." He whisper/sings repeatedly. He stands up and walks back out to the living room. He's in the kitchen pouring more coffee when I get there.

"What are you gonna do, when your husband finds out that we're secret lovers, and kicks you out on your, wait for it...."

"Douche Lord." I say.

"Ass... Secret Lovers." He sings loudly. I roll my eyes at him. He starts doing a little shuffle dance across the kitchen. I turn around and see a large box on the dining room table.

"What is this?" I ask him.

"Oh yeah, that came for you while you were sleeping. Secret Loversssss!"

"Hmm, I can't remember ordering anything this large. I ordered Janin some gifts for her baby shower."

"I don't know what it is, it had a shit ton or papers that I had to sign, though." He claps his hands together once.

"When you husband kicks you out on your ass, Secret Lover, don't blame me, blame his m-m-m-mother." He sings. I roll my eyes again and start opening the package.

"Oh I know what it is now." I tell him.

"What?" He stands behind me and looks over my shoulder.

"It's Adam's birthday present. I had to order it right after our wedding so it would get here on time. I forgot all about it." I open the box to reveal a black guitar case with the word 'Gibson' on in in while cursive lettering.

"Ooh fancy." Jack says.

"You don't want to know how much I paid for this. He has a nice Christmas gift coming too." I flip open the latches on the case, and open it. Inside is a beautiful, brand new Gibson ES-335 guitar. Jack lets out a low whistle when he sees it.

"Wow. I'm kind wishing we were secret lovers, you give good gifts." I punch him in the shoulder.

"Shut up. Can you tune it for me, so it's perfect when I give it to him?"

"Tune it?"

"Yeah. Adam said you're really good at that stuff."

"Yeah. I can do that." He carefully picks up the guitar out of its case, and sits down with it on the couch. He grabs a pick from out of a little dish that Adam keeps on the coffee table filled with them, and strums it once.

"Well?" I ask.

"You might have to order Adam a new guitar."

"Why?"

"Because, when you wake up in the morning, neither it nor I will be here."

"Is it that good?"

"Mama, it's an ES-335, of course it's that good. This is a fucking beast." He turns the knobs a little and plays it a little more until he gets it just right. Then, he stands up and puts it back in its case, carefully closing the lid and relatching it.

"Hmm."

"Wanna go get some dinner somewhere?" I ask him.

"Fuck yes, I'm starving. Why aren't you cooking?"

"I guess I could. But, we have to go to the store."

"Make a list. I'll go and get the stuff if you don't want to leave."

"Fuck the list. We'll both just go and wing it."

"OK."

"I have to change my clothes first though."

"Hurry up, woman." I go into the bedroom and take off the shorts and bandeau top that I put on this morning and slept in this afternoon, and change into a pair of white short shorts, and a faded, bleached, and ripped up denim shirt. I roll up the sleeves on the shirt to my elbows and put on a pair of black flip flops. When I'm done, I walk back out to the living room to see if Jack is ready to go.

When I get there, I see him leaned over the kitchen counter with his head against it, in between his arms which he has outstretched across the counter. He's dangling a cigarette in his fingers.

"You ready?" I ask him. He doesn't move or say anything. I walk up beside him and put my hand on his shoulder gently. He turns his head and looks at me.

"Are you OK?" I ask him.

"Yeah, I just need another cigarette, that's all." He says, standing up and taking a long drag from the cigarette he already has lit, then he puts it out in the ashtray on the counter.

"Are you ready?" He asks me.

"Yeah. Do you have cigarettes, or do we have to stop and get some?"

"We can stop on our way home. It's fine. I'm fine." He says quickly, leading us out the front door. I'm a little unsure if he was just in need of a cigarette, but I don't say anything. We haven't had any issues since he's been back from rehab, but I don't want to just ignore something that may be right in front of me.

When we get to the store, he pushes the cart around, while I walk alongside. We buy stuff to make lobster stuffed raviolli and garlic french bread. I buy a bottle of wine for myself since Jack can't drink. I pay for all the groceries and we leave, stopping by a convinence store on the way home to buy cigarettes for Jack. When we pull into the driveway, I see Daisy and Shaun's cars in the driveway. They're both standing in the driveway waiting for us, smoking pink cigarettes.

"What's up, guys?" I ask them as I get out of the car.

"Not a lot. I guess we both just had the same idea." Shaun says. They walk over to us and help us get our bags of groceries out of the car. Daisy snoops in one of the bags.

"What's for dinner, Sophie?" She asks.

"Lobster Raviolli. Are you guys staying for dinner?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely." I laugh and hand Shaun a bag.

We go in the house and unpack the bags. Shaun and Jack hang out in the living room while Daisy and I start dinner, and the bottle of wine. I pour Shaun a glass of wine, and Jack a glass of water, and take them to them in the living room. Daisy and I set the table and wait for the raviolli to boil, still drinking the wine, getting a nice little buzz on. For a cheap bottle of wine, it's doing it's job well, I must say. We eat and sit at the dining room table chatting until 1 in the morning. Before they leave, Shaun hands me an envelope.

"I wanted to give you this." He says.

"What is it?" He shakes his head at me and motions for me to open it. I do, and see four tickets and four laminated backstage passes for Seether's upcoming show in Chicago.

"Whoa, what is this?" I say to him.

"I thought you and Jack might like a night out while your boys gone." I hold the tickets out for Jack to see from where he's standing in the living room talking to Daisy.

"Thanks, Man." He says.

"No problem. I get four free for each show."

"Who are the other two for?" I ask him.

"Whoever you want."

"Daisy, you wanna go to a Seether concert?" Shaun and Jack both laugh.

"Uh, yeah!" She responds.

"Thank you so much, honey." I reach up and give Shaun a hug.

"Like I said, no big deal. I get them free because of this special clause. You see, I'm in the band." I laugh at him.

"Alright, well I'm gonna split. You guys have a good night. Daisy, do you want me to walk you out to your car?"

"Yeah, hang on just a second." She says. She gives Jack a hug and a kiss on the cheek, then she comes over and hugs me tightly.

"Hang in there, chicky." She tells me.

"I will."

"Take care of you."

"OK. I love you."

"Love you, too. Love you, Jack!" She yells.

"Love you." He says back. She smiles and gives me a kiss on the lips, then runs out the door with Shaun. After they leave, I turn back to Jack.

"Are you drunk?" He asks me.

"No, not at all." Now that the alcohol has worn off, I feel fine. A couple of hours ago, not so much. We sit down on the couch.

"OK, you. What was the deal with you earlier?" I ask him.

"What do you mean?"

"When I walked up on you in the kitchen."

"I was just jonesin'. Don't worry about it." He says with a little smile that melts my heart.

"For drugs?" I ask quietly. He doesn't say anything, which gives me my answer.

"Does that happen often, or was that the first time?" He kind of shrugs.

"I guess its not the first time. I just have a cigarette or five whenever it happens, and I cool off."

"You should have told me, or Adam when he was here."

"Yeah I know. That's what my sponser told me in our private meeting. Can we just not talk about this right now? I'm tired."

"Thats fine, baby." He gets up and leans down to give me a kiss on the cheek.

"Night." He says.

"Night, honey." He goes into his bedroom and shuts the door. I hear my cell phone ring in a text in the bedroom. I get up and go in to answer it, since I figure its from Adam.

"R U still up?" It says. I smile and crawl into my bed.

"Yes. How R U?" I send back.

"Tired. Voice hurts. How R U?" Hows Jack?"

"We're fine. How was the show 2nite?"

"Amazing. Crowd was excellent."

"That's awesome, babe."

"How R the dogs?"

"Fine, they slept with me lastnight. How R the guys?"

"Good. I miss you."

"I know. I miss you, too."

"I'm gonna go to bed now. I'm fucking beat."

"OK. I'll talk 2 u tomorrow."

"I love U."

"I love U 2. Sleep well."

"U 2." I doubt it highly. I put my phone back on the nightstand, and put some pajamas on. Then, I get back in bed and turn the lamp off. I roll over and fack Adam's side of the bed. I really have to get used to this, sleeping without him. I miss him more than I ever thought I would, and he's only been gone a day.

I miss the butterflies in my stomach the most...