Rhythm of Love

Alex's Point Of View

I watched my brother storm into his hotel room and I sighed.

It happened.

Conner let me in and left, heading for the pools with everyone else. I flinched as the door slammed shut and looked around to see Eli on the couch, decked out for the pool but not obviously not in the mood for it.

"I didn't mean to blow up like that," he said angrily. "But what am I supposed to say? Along with all this Diabetes crap and..." He let out a yell from his throat and looked away. "I just- I figured as much. The way she acted whenever your name was brought up... And just the way she acted in general."

"We didn't mean to-" He laughed.

"Don't give me that shit right now, Lex. I won't believe you, not now, not ever. I'm sure at some point, you've always planned on sleeping with Nora. I just got in the way." I flinched again at his words. "It's over and done with. Now was just a bad time to tell me."

"You might want to tell her that, then." He looked at me.

"What, you've talked to her already?" I shook my head.

"Do you even know Nora?" He laughed, this one a little less tense and a little more like my brother.

"Good point." He stood and slung his arm around my neck. "If we make it through the year, we'll go to India and follow some spiritual track. Clear our heads and stuff."

"You bet," I said with a smile.

But that pain from earlier crept back into my heart.

My little brother is dying.

We took the elevator downstairs and walked out into the pool area. Our group had claimed their own spot in the pool, and occasionally some tourists would approach my band for an autograph. I smiled and saw Nora next to Nicolette, Damien standing angrily next to her.

"Ahh," I said, eyeing Damien. "Maybe we shouldn't--"

"Eli!" he shouted.

"Fuck," I said plainly, startling a mother and her three underaged children. She left in a huff as I pushed Eli behind me and Damien started running to us. "Don't, Damien, not here, not now!"

"Don't tell me what to do! This dick cussed out my cousin, and he's going to pay for it!" he shouted back. I pushed Eli into the pool, where he would be safe with the thousands of little kids, and pushed Damien back with all my strength. He came to a screeching halt and I grabbed his arms, feeling them flex angrily under my hands.

"You don't get it!" I shouted in his face. "Eli wasn't ready to hear it! He's dying, okay!" Eli surfaced after my words were said, blissfully ignorant to the fact that I had just blurted out his secret when he probably didn't want Damien or Nora to know. Nora stared at me with shock on her face and Damien stopped struggling, dumbfounded. "I tried to tell Nora now wasn't a good time, but she wasn't able to hear me. Now's a bad time for Eli, alright! It's bad enough he's telling Nicolette, not me. Just leave him be. He came down here to apologize, not get punched in the face."

Damien clenched and unclenched his jaw, then looked at Eli, who was soaking top to bottom. The look on Damien's face as he stared at my brother made me want to burst into tears.

It hit me once more. I'm losing my baby brother.

I clenched my eyes shut, turned on my heel, and started into the hotel.

"Lex!" I heard Damien yell.

"Don't bother!" I yelled back. "I need to be alone." I pulled on my shirt and left the building, walking back into the grounds of Disney. I pulled my ipod out of my pocket and blindly chose a song, immediately singing along. I'd done a cover for this song with Eli when we were ten.

"Sing it for the boys, sing it for the girls!" I shouted out. Suddenly, I was flocked.

"We love Welcome to Paradise!" one girl shouted in French. I smiled and gave autographs and took pictures and one asked if she could sit next to me on the mountain ride, because she'd never been on it and she was afraid. The girl was maybe nine years old. I smiled, reminded of Beech, and followed her into the line.

She talked in rapid French about all her favorite songs and how when she first saw Eli she screamed and jumped up and down on her couch. I laughed at her cuteness and shook my head. If Eli were here now, she'd be freaking out even harder.

"How is Eli?" she asked me. I froze.

"He's fine," I said finally. "Feeling a little down." All of her friends focused their attention on me. They ranged from her age, nine, to about sixteen, and with all of them staring at me like they were now, I was afraid.

"What do you mean?" they all asked at once.

"Oh, you know," I said, waving my hand vaguely. "Jet lag and all that." They nodded slowly, as if they didn't believe me, and we were ushered onto the ride.

Getting off, one of the girls got a text from her parents and said they had to leave. I nodded and waved. The nine year old stopped me.

"Whatever's wrong with Eli," she said seriously, "tell him we're all behind him, praying for him. Okay?"

I nodded. "I'll tell him just for you." She smiled.

"Sing it for the boys, sing it for the girls, everytime that you're lose it sing it for the world." She walked away.