When the Walls Come Crashing Down

Joe’s POV

“Here,” Joe said, handing Faith a disk. They were sitting on the bed in their room for a private goodbye while everyone said goodbye to Charlotte downstairs.

“What’s this?” she asked, taking it from him.

“A DVD. I kind of did some vlogging this past month. Mainly when I was out in the cities by myself during the day. I saw a lot of things I thought you’d love so I wanted to show you,” he said, shrugging his shoulders and Faith smiled.

“Joe! That’s so sweet!” she cried, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“There are also some messages for Bryson in there so he can hear and see me.”

“I’ll show it to him every day,” she said softly. Joe reached up to wipe her tears away and kissed her.

“We can do this, Faith,” he said and she nodded.

“I know, I know,” she said. “We should probably head downstairs.”

“Yeah,” Joe said, taking her hand as they stood and headed down the stairs.

“Oh good, we were just about to call up to you,” Denise said, walking into the entryway, wrapping her arms around her son.

“Bye Mom,” he mumbled into her shoulder.

“Be safe,” she said, kissing his forehead.

“Hey Dani,” Joe said, turning away from his mother. Danielle turned to him and walked over with Kevin, a smile on her face.

“Yes?”

“Take care of my nieces and/or nephews, okay?”

“Oh please, the house is already baby proofed and she’s got 6 more months to go,” Kevin said and Dani smacked his chest with the back of her hand as he laughed.

“He’s exaggerating,” she said and Kevin rolled his eyes. She stepped forward to kiss his cheek and Faith took a step back to let Joe say goodbye to his family.

“Can I ask you to do something for me? Both of you?” Joe asked his brother and sister-in-law after he was sure Faith was out of ear shot.

“Within reason,” Kevin said with a smile.

“Just… keep an eye on Faith. With both Lizzy and me leaving in the same day it’s going to be different than last time and…”

“And you also want us to keep an eye on Nick?” Dani asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms.

“Yes… I mean… only if you feel you have to. Things are still kind of awkward enough I don’t want him to think everyone is spying on him or something,” Joe said and Dani stepped forward to hug him again.

“Don’t worry, we’ve got this.”

“Thanks guys. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a baby to hold,” he said, walking toward Faith to see her talking to Charlotte. He tilted his head in confusion as they hugged and managed to catch the end of their conversation as he got closer.

“Thank you, Faith,” Charlotte said, stepping closer and hugging her.

“You’re welcome,” she said, genuinely hugging back. “I’ll call you if I notice anything.”

“Notice anything about what?” Joe asked, reaching out to take Bryson from Faith.

“Nothing,” Charlotte said quickly. “I’ll meet you at the car.”

“Yeah,” he said, bouncing Bryson in his arms.

“Not too long, Joe,” Kevin Sr. said and Joe nodded.

“I’ll see you again real soon, buddy, okay?” Joe asked, pressing his lips to Bryson’s temple. “I love you.”

Faith hooked her arm in the crook of Joe’s elbow and rested her head on his shoulder. She held a finger out for Bryson to grab onto and Joe tilted his head to rest on top of hers. Joe sighed and turned to kiss the top of Faith’s head.

“Let’s go,” he said, heading to the door. Meg took Bryson from him once they stepped outside so he could hug Faith again.

“Call me when you’re back on the bus,” Faith said and Joe nodded.

“I will. I love you.”

“I love you too,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. Joe stepped away and into the driver’s said of the car while Charlotte strapped into the passenger’s seat.

“Ready?” he asked. Charlotte turned to looked out the window for Nick and found him talking to Frankie, not even looking to wave goodbye.

“Yeah,” she mumbled and Joe pulled away, beeping the horn as Lizzy had less than 2 hours before.

***

“Hey,” Joe said, walking into the bunk area after hanging up with Faith. Charlotte was sitting on her bunk with her phone in her hand and red eyes. She sniffed and wiped at her eyes with her sleeve, letting out a nervous laugh.

“Hi,” she said, moving over so he could sit next to her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and Charlotte shook her head.

“I’m fine,” she said.

“Char, you’re crying and staring at your phone. I’ve seen this before. Nick’s not answering, is he?” he asked. Charlotte hesitated before shaking her head no and letting out a sob.

“I don’t understand,” she said as the tears came again, turning her head to look at Joe. “Things were great until we left to do this.”

“What’s different?”

“Before we would talk all the time, about everything and he was genuinely interested. But now, I’m lucky if I get one-word responses out of him. If he even picks his phone up at all, that is.”

“My brother is a complicated man, and that’s about all I can tell you,” Joe said.

“No kidding. I cannot believe he put the album on pause! It’s all he’s been talking about for months,” she said. “And I know Bryson’s important I think it’s great that he’s stepping up but to not work on the album at all in between? It’s not like him. He’s so… distant.”

“Try not to worry about it,” he said, squeezing her to him.

“But I do. And not just for my sake but yours too,” she said and instantly froze. Joe pulled away and stood up in front of her.

“Why does Nick’s behavior make you worry about me?” he asked and Charlotte bit her lip.

“Come on, Char,” he sighed and she took a deep breath.

“Because I feel like sometimes… it seems as though Nick’s falling for Faith again,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. Joe’s eyes widened and he dropped to his haunches.

“Even if that’s so why does it make you worry about me?” he asked, taking her hands.

“I know Faith would never do something in return but that would be it. Your relationship with your brother would be gone; probably never to be fixed again like Faith and Lizzy’s was. And nobody wants that for anybody,” she said.

“Is this what you were talking to Faith about earlier when I interrupted?” he asked and Charlotte hesitated before nodding.

“I asked her to let me know if he started acting differently or if she just noticed anything weird,” she admitted. Joe leaned over and kissed the top of her head.

“Give it a few hours and try calling him back. If he doesn’t answer let me know and I’ll give it a shot, okay?” he asked and she nodded her head.

“Thanks,” she said as he stood.

“Anytime,” he said with a smile.

Charlotte lie down and held tight to her pillow, letting herself calm down. Joe closed the doorway between the bunks and the front of the bus to give her some privacy. He sat at the table and pulled his phone out, contemplating whether to call Nick right then but decided he’d let Charlotte try to work things out first. This was her battle to fight, not his. But something nagged at him, what if Nick was falling for Faith again like his dream a few weeks ago? He shook the thought from his mind and set his phone down, trying to think of anything but that.

***

Nick’s POV

Nick looked at his phone when he felt it vibrating in his pocket. Once again he saw Charlotte’s name on the screen on top of a picture of the two of them. And once again, his thumb hovered over the green button to answer, but instead, he pushed the button on the top of the phone to send her to voicemail.

“Everything okay bro?” Kevin asked, walking into the kitchen with the Chinese food that was just delivered.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he answered, grabbing plates from the cabinet.

“It must be weird for you… bring the one to stay at home instead of being on the road, “Kevin said and Nick nodded.

“Very weird.”

“Well, you can always talk to Dani if you need some advice on how to handle it,” Kevin said as Faith, Dani and Meg came into the kitchen.

“What could I possible give Nick advice on?” Dani asked.

“How to be fabulous, of course,” Faith said, causing everyone to laugh.

“Kevin says I should come to you if I need to if I don’t know what to do with Charlotte gone and being the one staying at home,” Nick explained.

“Oh sure, any time,” Dani said with a smile. “But you have Bryson and music and stuff to take your mind off it. I didn’t have anything extraordinary. Just work and my family who, don’t get me wrong, are amazing and did their best to distract me, but it didn’t work all the time.”

“I agree. Having a baby makes it different,” Faith said. “It’s like having a part of them with you even when they’re gone.”

“Faith,” Dani hissed as Nick cleared his throat. Faith’s eyes widened when she realized what she said and she looked at Nick who was looking at his feet.

“Oh my God, Nick, I’m so sorry,” she said frantically. “I didn’t mean it.”

“I’m gonna um… take a walk,” Nick said, a lump forming in his throat as he choked back tears.

“Nick, please…”

"I’m fine, Faith. I’ll be back,” he said, heading through the foyer and out the door. As soon as he closed the door behind him he let out a sob and ran his hands over his face.

He walked down the path to the sidewalk and couldn’t believe how stupid he felt. He thought Faith had accepted the fact that he was Bryson’s biological father, but he was wrong. It was always Joe in her mind and maybe it should just be that way. For everyone.