The Road Ahead of Us

The next morning, the couple met up with their friends at the airport. None of them spoke much as they made their way through security and to their plane.

"So, I was talking with Keith and he said that we each get our own room." Rian told them after they had all taken their seats. Rian and Zack were in front of Isabelle and Alex, Jack sat behind them with Micky beside him as she too was coming along. "Well couples of course have to share. But he has this entire house rented out for us for the next month, it's gonna be pretty sick." They all agreed before it was then time to take off.

About 8 hours later they landed in LA and went to retrieve their luggage and the rental van that Keith had purchased for them. They followed the GPS instructions and soon arrived at a very nice house in the suburbs of Hollywood. It was two stories with a ton of large glass windows. They went inside and picked their bedrooms. They then found the large pool out back and decided to go for a swim as they didn't have to go and do any work until the next morning.

"Would it be okay if I hung out with Adam tomorrow? I told him that I was in LA and he wants to meet up for lunch." Isabelle asked Alex as the two of them sat on the edge of pool, dipping their feet in as everyone else swam in front of them or in Micky's case lounged out in the sun.

"Yeah, I guess that's fine. I'm not going to control who you hang out with." Alex told her, making her smile and lean over to kiss her cheek. "I thought that maybe tomorrow night me and you can go together when we get back from the studio."

"Yeah, that would be nice." He smiled and leaned over and pecked her lips. "You know, I'm really tired, traveling wears me out. I think I'm going to go lay down." She told him, lifting her feet from the water.

"Are you alright?" He questioned her worriedly, making her smile and bend down to kiss his forehead.

"I'm just tired. Wake me up for dinner." He nodded and watched as she grabbed her towel and disappeared back into the house. She slept until 8 that night when he woke her up to tell her that they had ordered pizza. She rushed downstairs and downed 6 slices of pizza all by herself, claiming that she was completely starving. The group then settled around the living room and watched some movies, first choice was Jack's, so it ended up being of course Home Alone. Isabelle fell asleep on Alex's shoulder twenty minutes into the movie. He ended up carrying her upstairs to their bedroom rather than fully wake her. He had to admit that she was worrying him. Sure, it could just be travel like she claimed it was but traveling had never effected her that badly. He'd never seen her eat that much before either.

The next morning, Isabelle woke up feeling sick to her stomach and with a massive headache.

"Are you sure you'll be okay here? I can tell the guys to go get started in the studio without me for today or I can go in later if you start feeling better." He told her after she finished getting sick into the toilet. She shook her head as she brushed her teeth and washed her face in the sink.

"Go on, Alex. I'm fine. Just something I ate probably. Go to the studio, I'll see you later." He sighed and walked across the bathroom to take her in his arms.

"Okay but I'll be calling later to see how you are, alright?" She smiled and pecked his lips.

"Fine, now go." She lightly shoved him in the direction of the door as she made her way back towards the bed, ready to go back to sleep.

"I love you." He said when he was at the door and she was once again curled up in the warm blankets of the bed.

"I love you." They exchanged one last smile before he left the room, going out to meet everyone else in the kitchen.

"Where's Izzy?" Rian questioned, seeing the brunette man without her.

"She's feeling kind of sick, she was throwing up. Micky, could you keep an eye on her today for me?" He asked the girl who smiled and nodded.

"Of course, Alex. Don't worry about her, she's in good hands." Alex smiled and picked up the car keys.

"Shall we go then?" With that the guys left the large house and made their way towards the studio while Isabelle laid in bed, going in and out of sleep before it was around 11 and she was too meet Adam for lunch around 12:30 so she got up and headed into the shower. She found that she now felt fine. Still a little tired but didn't have the urge to throw up anymore, which was good. After getting ready she ventured out into the living room to find Micky watching TV.

"You going somewhere?" She questioned the girl who nodded.

"I'm going to meet Adam for lunch. I won't be gone long." She told her friend as she grabbed her purse.

"Alex said you were sick." Micky said, standing up as she frowned at the girl who seemed just fine.

"I wasn't feeling right this morning, but I'm alright now. I'll see you later." With that Isabelle left the house. She walked down the street to a small diner that was a few blocks away, which was where her and Adam had agreed to meet up.

"Iz!" She heard someone call from a table across the small diner. She saw Adam sitting there, smiling at her. She smiled back and made her way towards him, greeting him with a hug before sitting across from him. "Well you look nice. So Baltimore is treating you good?"

"Baltimore is fantastic. Me and Kara have our own place together, I have a job at a law office, who are amazing. I'm going to be gone for a month and they said I could return to my job when I got back." She explained, smiling.

"Oh, well that's great. So things with Alex are still good?" He wondered, kind of hoping that they weren't all that well. Maybe he could win her back but judging by the smile on her face, that wasn't going to happen.

"Alex and I are better than we ever have been. He's absolutely fantastic." She said, grinning widely as her boyfriends face appeared in her thoughts.

"Oh, well that's good." Adam responded, trying to smile but knew it looked obviously fake.

"So how about you? Anything in the love department?" She questioned after they ordered their food.

"Not a single thing. I've been focusing on work, I work at a book store. I try to work as many hours as possible. I don't really have much else to do." They then spent the next half an hour or so catching up while they ate. Just as Isabelle finished her food, she felt that feeling in her stomach again.

"Excuse me." She said, standing up before rushing off to the bathroom. She made it into one of the stalls just in time before she threw up. As she finished, her phone began to ring. She pulled it from her pocket to see that it was Alex. She sighed, flushed the toilet and answered.

"Hey, Alex. How's the studio?" She questioned, trying to sound as normal as possible.

"You're sick, why did you go out to lunch with Adam?" He immediately questioned, ignoring what she had said.

"I felt fine when I left, Alex."

"You felt fine, meaning you don't anymore?" He continued to question, making her sigh.

"I think I have food poisoning or something. I just finished eating and got sick again." She told him as she looked at herself in the mirror. She had dark circles under her eyes and she looked bloated. She looked as bad as she felt.

"Where are you at? I'll come get you."

"Alex, it's fine. I'm only a few blocks from the house, I can walk back." She told him, running a hand through her hair.

"Isabelle. Where are you?" He demanded, making her sigh. She gave in and told him the name of the diner. "I'll be there in five minutes." With that he hung up, making her sigh and put her phone away.

"Everything alright?" Adam questioned when she returned to the table.

"Yes, everything's fine. Alex is actually on his way here so I have to go." Adam nodded, tossed a few bills down on the table and stood up.

"I'll walk you outside." She nodded and led the way from the dinner. Right as they stepped outside the van pulled up and Alex jumped out, rushing over to her.

"Are you alright? How do you feel now?" He immediately questioned, pressing a hand to her forehead which she pushed away, glaring at him.

"Alex, I told you I'm fine. Say hello to Adam." She told him, gesturing to the man standing beside her frowning.

"Hey." Alex said impatiently, looking back at Isabelle quickly. "You are sick, you shouldn't be going out anywhere. Even if it is just food poisoning-" Alex was cut off as Isabelle gasped, clutching at her abdomen as a sharp pain rippled through it. "What? Babe, what is it?"

"My stomach just hurts. We should get home." She told him as the pain eased back a little, she suddenly felt sick to her stomach again. Alex saw her pale and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Of course." He started to pull her towards the van. She turned and smiled at Adam softly.

"I'm sorry. I'll text you later, alright?" He nodded as Alex opened the passenger side door for her, helping her in.

"Does your stomach still hurt?" Alex asked her after he got in and started to drive off.

"Not as bad." She told him honestly. She had never experienced a pain like that. It felt like a cramp, but intensified to the 1000th degree. She just wanted to lay down. "Aren't you supposed to be at the studio?" She asked him, leaning her head up against the cold window.

"They let me leave early, I was too worried about you I couldn't focus and then I called Micky because I figured you'd be asleep and I didn't want to wake you but she said that you left. So I dropped the guys off at home and then called you. They are going to go back to the studio when we get back." She simply nodded and they road the last minute or so in silence.

"Iz, you alright?" Jack questioned her when they entered the house. The pain had returned in her abdomen, making her wince and clutch at it.

"Just food poisoning, Jack. I'll be fine." She reassured him and everyone else. Alex led her to the stairs but she could only make it up about four steps before the pain in her stomach got to be too much. "Alex," she gasped. "it hurts and I think I'm going to be sick again." Alex quickly nodded and grabbed her up in his arms. He quickly rushed up the stairs and into their bathroom. He put her down by the toilet just as she got sick. He held her hair back and rubbed her back while she threw up.

"I should take you to the hospital." He said, watching as her face shown with sweat, but she shook her head.

"I told you, it's just something I hate. As soon as I sleep some more and rest, I'll be fine." She insisted, standing up with the help of his hands gripping at her to steady her.

"Fine, but if you still feel like this tomorrow, I'm taking you to the hospital, I don't care what you say." He told her as he lead her back to the bedroom and made her sit on the bed.

"Alex, I'm fine though." She protested as he helped her take off her jacket and shoes.

"You might not be though, Izzy and it terrifies me to think that you are sick, even if it is just a stomach bug. I still don't like you sick." She smiled softly and shook her head, resting her hand on his stubbly cheek.

"I'm fine, Alex." She reassured him, but he still just sighed. He instructed her to lay down and then pulled the blankets up to her chin.

"You feel alright?" He asked, rubbing her temple gently. She sighed contently and snuggled deeper into the blankets.

"Sing to me?" He smiled and nodded.

"This is a song for our newest album. It's called No Idea. I wrote it for you actually, during the roadtrip, before the whole Adam and Carrie fiasco happened." With that he began to sing to her softly, smiling as she slipped off to sleep...