Nothing Personal

Do was gone. Zo was a complete mess. Jack was being and idiot. And Alex was overwhelmed.

That’s pretty much how the rest of the day went. As soon as Alex had heard the news about Do, he had called his mom and canceled their plans. He didn’t need to be in a bad mood while he was with his parents. They would know something was up and he couldn’t even begin to explain what was going on. Besides, he wanted to be there for Zo, even though she wasn’t talking much at the moment.

Penny had taken her home after they had been at the hospital for about a hour saying their last goodbyes. Zo’s mom had some things to take care of at the hospital and didn’t want Zo to be there so she had asked Penny to take her home and stay with her. They had no clue where Colter was at that point. Zo’s mom had tried to call him to tell him what happened and to get to the hospital, but he wasn’t picking up. They didn’t even know if he knew.

Of course her mother had left voicemails but it was sort of horrible to leave a voicemail telling a person that their brother was dead. So all they could do was continue to try and get a hole of him and pray that he was ok. For all they knew he could have gotten the voicemails and realized Do was gone and then disappear without telling anyone where he was going. But that wasn’t anything Alex was going to mention to Zo. She was worked up as it was about one brother, she didn’t need to be worrying about the other.

“How’s she doing?” Jack asked as he took a seat next to Alex on the couch. He was watching some random program on tv that he wasn’t even paying attention too since he was too busy worrying about Zo.

He shrugged, “As well as she can be. She’s not really talking to anyone at this point. All I can really do is leave her alone until she’s ready to talk.”

Jack just sighed and nodded turning his attention back to the tv. He gave a frustrated growl as he snatched the remote from Alex and began to flick though the channels to find something better to watch. When he found that Home Alone just started on one of the movie channels Alex had, Alex couldn’t help but laugh despite the moment as Jack started to freak out.

The boy had probably seen that movie a couple hundred times already and knew the whole movie by heart but still acted as if it was the first time watching it whenever it was on. His eyes would get big at certain parts and he would still laugh at all the stupid things that happened. Which he was exactly what he was doing right then.

Alex was thankful for the distraction since whenever Jack started to quote the movie line by line, he would get really annoyed. When Jack did start quoting it when as they got ten minutes into the movie, Alex rolled his eyes and glared at his best friend and couldn’t believe that it was actually helping keep his mind off things. He caught a knowing glance from Jack and figured that this had been his plan all along.

A halfway through the movie, Jack was still quoting almost every line and Zo was beginning to calm down a little. He would check on her every so often to make sure she was ok but didn’t bother trying to have a conversation with her. She would start one when she was ready and Alex knew that she was comforted in the fact that she knew that he was there waiting for her. This was one of the times Alex was really glad that he could talk to her in his head. That he could feel like he was actually helping Zo instead of always annoying her.

*You’re not annoying,* Zo mumbled making Alex jump. He hadn’t expected her to say anything for a while longer and had been so engrossed at glaring at Jack that she had scared him.

*God Zo, don’t scare me like that!* He replied as she gave a weak laugh.

*Sorry,*

*Don’t be, I’m glad to hear from you. How are you doing?*

A few images of Do flashed in her head but she quickly pushed them away and willed herself not to cry. *I don’t know,*

*Is there anything I can do? I know I’m all the way in Maryland but I still have to ask.*

She paused, *fly out here for the funeral?*

Alex knew the answer as soon as he heard it. He stood up from the couch catching the look Jack gave him and just gave him a small smile as he headed to his room. He went to the closet and grabbed a bag from it and then threw it on his bed. *Of course, I’ll be out there as soon as I can.*

*Alex no, don’t worry about it. I don’t know why I asked that. Don’t feel like you have to come.* She said as he started to grab some clothes from his floor that he still hadn’t put away from tour.

By then Jack had followed him to his room and saw the small smile on his best friends face as he saw what he was doing. *No Zo, I’m coming. I don’t want you to be alone during all this. And seriously, I don’t mind. You know I was planning on coming out anyway sooner or later. Why not now?*

All she could do in reply was give a small ok before starting to cry again. He sighed as he looked up to his best friend and gave a weak smile. “Could you do me a favor and find the first flight out to Minnesota? I’m going to be with Zo.”

Jack smiled again. “Took you long enough,”

“What?”

“Took you long enough to realize that you were going.” Jack explained as Alex just raised an eyebrow at him.

“You knew I would go?”

“Yeah, I was just waiting for you to realize.” Jack laughed as Alex just rolled his eyes and continued packing. “What’s the town Zo lives in called? I’ll go find the flight.”

“There is no airport in her town; you’re going to have to find one that goes out to Duluth. It’s the closest place with a airport to her town.” Jack just nodded and disappeared back into the living room where Alex kept his computer.

He finished packing and then went to the bathroom to grab his toiletries and stuffed them in his bag also before making sure he had everything. Once he was sure, he went back out to find Jack sitting on the couch with his laptop clicking furiously at the keys.

“Aleeeeeeeeeeeeex!” Jack yelled as he just rolled his eyes.

“Jack I’m right here,”

Jack looked up and gave a lopsided grin, “Oh hi,”

Alex paused waiting for Jack to continue but he just sat there smiling at him. His best friend could be such air head sometimes. “What did you need Jack?”

“Oh right, your credit card. I found a flight that leaves at 2 and you have a fifty minute layover in Detroit and then you’ll get to Duluth at around seven.”

“There has to be a layover?” Alex asked as Jack nodded.

“It was the only flight that didn’t leave after five. It’s the best I could do.” Alex just nodded and thanked his friend. He glanced over to the clock to see that it was almost noon. They had to get to the airport yet and he had to check in. The drive was going to take at least a half hour and they needed to go as soon as possible.

“Get some pants on and lets go.” Alex said as Jack just rolled his eyes and finished ordering the ticket. Handing Alex his credit card back, he headed into the other room to grab a pair of pants and his shoes before following Alex out to his car.

As they drove, Alex told Zo when he was coming and she said that she would get a hotel and be in Duluth when his plane landed. Alex let Jack drive since he knew that they would get there sooner if he did, and Alex’s mind was on too many things to actually pay attention to the road. They were playing music lightly in the background and Alex was watching the busy city pass by out the window as they went through town.

When they got to the airport, Jack pulled off to the side of the drop off area and turned off the car and followed Alex to the back where his bag was. He only had a bag full of clothes and a carry on with his computer and a few other things to entertain himself on the plane.

“Tell Zo I love her,” Jack said as Alex smiled.

“Of course,” Alex replied as he gave his friend a sympathetic look. “Are you sure you’re ok with handling the boys while I’m gone? I can stay back a extra day if you need me too?”

Jack just waved him off, “Nah, I’ll be fine. Just go, make sure Zo’s ok.”

Alex just smiled and nodded as he hugged his friend tightly and said goodbye as he grabbed his bags and then headed into the airport. He stood in line checking the time every now and then to make sure he wasn’t going to be late. By the time he checked in and got his ticket, he had about a half hour to get through security and get to his plane.

He rushed through the airport and through security and made it just in time as the last passengers were boarding the plane. When he walked on, he found his seat and settled down waiting impatiently to take off.

*Calm down kid, geez. You’re making me jittery.* Zo muttered as Alex laughed and rest his head on the head rest.

*Haha sorry, I just can’t wait to see you. How are you doing?* She sighed and he was instantly regretting asking.

*Don’t start freaking out. I’m ok, I’m dealing. I had to get out of the house though; I’m already at the hotel. You don’t mind sharing do you? I didn’t want to be at home right now, since his things are there and there are too many memoires.*

Alex smiled, *That’s fine, it would have been a little weird being alone in a strange town.*

*What about when you’re on tour?*

*I’m never alone on tour, there’s always someone around. I’m always sharing a hotel room with Jack and have absolutely no privacy.*

*So when you’re on tour, you hate the fact that you have no privacy, but when you’re off tour you don’t like being alone? You are one strange person.*

*What can I say, I’m weird like that.* He replied and he actually got a small giggle from her.

The plane was already in the air and he had about forty five more minutes before they landed and he had a fifty minute layover. He spent the rest of the trip talking to Zo until she fell asleep mid in conversation, but he didn’t really care. She had had a long day and he had a feeling that she wasn’t going to sleep that well that night so he let her be and went to read the book he brought with him.

His flight ended and he followed the rest of the passengers off the plane into the Detroit airport and went to find his next gate. Zo was still sleeping by the time his next plane came and he ended up spending the time while he had waited texting Jack and listening to music. The second plane was longer than the first and by the time it landed, he was a mess. He had been completely bored the entire trip and nothing seemed to entertain him.

He had tried watching a movie on his computer, reading, and even a nap. But nothing had worked. And by the time they landed, he figured it was just because he was nervous. Zo had been sleeping the entire time and he actually had to wake her up when the flight attendants annocunced that they were going to land in a half hour.

She had been hilarious to wake up. She was disoriented and started yelling at him to shut up when he ended up nearly screaming her name to get her out of the deep sleep she was in. After he calmed her down, she grabbed her things had headed out to the airport to pick him up in a little less than a half hour.

When they were finally able to get off the plane, he made his way through the crowded airport to the baggage claim to find his bag. He ran into a few fans along the way but it didn’t take him too long to find the carousel and wait for his bag to come.

*Ugh I really hate this traffic. Remind me again why I didn’t just demand Alex to get his own car?* Zo asked herself as she drove closer to the airport.

Alex found his bag and was about to say something back to her when he realized that he couldn’t hear her anymore. Like she had never even been in his head. Just like what had happened when they had first met. His phone started ringing a few minutes later and he checked the caller id to see that it was Zo.

“Hey girlie where are you?” Alex asked when he answered the call.

“I’m really getting annoyed with the fact that you randomly disappear out of my head at the worst times possible. Seriously, I’m driving in traffic and tourists are all around not knowing where they are going and I’m also on the cell phone. It’s times like these that I’m thankful that I can talk to you in my head. But the one time I need it most you’re gone.” Zo ranted as Alex just laughed.

“Not my fault Zo, I have no clue why this happens. And where are you? You said that you were in the airport?”

Zo started to swear followed by a horn honking in the background, “Yeah, I’m in the pick up area. Get your ass out here so I can get the hell out of here.”

“Ok ok, I’m coming.” He walked through the sliding doors out onto the sidewalk where a bunch of people were standing waiting to be picked up like he was. He kept the phone up to his ear and told Zo which airline he had come on so she could find him easier.

He looked around and finally found her car and she nodded her head at him as she continued forward to where there was an open place to park. When she stopped the car, she got out and ran around the front of it and wrapped her arms around him tightly. He let his bags drop to the floor and pulled her close, holding her for a few moments knowing that’s what she needed.

“Hi,” She whispered into his neck and he gave a soft laugh as he began to slowly rub her back. She was shorter than him so he was trying to hold her up the best he could since she was already on her tippy toes to hug him and didn’t want her to strain.

“Hello cutie,” he whispered back into her hair and he heard her give a small sniffle. “Do you want me to drive?” She nodded against him in response and then slowly let go of him and gave a weak smile. He saw a small tear falling from her eye and he gently ran his thumb across her cheek to whip it away.

She handed him the keys without saying anything and he grabbed his bags and shoved them in the backseat as they got in the car. He had seen images of the town from Zo’s mind so many times that he didn’t have that hard of a time getting out of the airport and heading to the same hotel that Zo had stayed at a month ago for the concert.

When they got there, he wrapped one arm around her waist and carried his bags with the other as they walked inside and up to the room that Zo had already gotten. She unlocked the door and he walked in to see two beds in the room and laughed when he saw the one by the window was unmade.

“Do you need me to do anything?” Alex asked as he set his bags down and walked over to Zo and saw the sad look in her eyes.

“Just hold me,” was all she replied as she went over to a bed and curled into a ball. He kicked off his shoes and went over to the bed and lay behind her pulling her protectively to his chest as she began to cry…