In Love With My Brother's Best Friend

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking. We will be landing in Indianapolis within five minutes. Don't forget your carry ons and thank you for flying with us," the intercom squawked.

I let out a sigh of relief and slapped Aaron on his shoulder. He awoke with a jolt, his eyes droopy and tired. He let out a groan before giving my arm a light punch.

The plane landed and everyone stood up and stretched happily. I turned around and saw Nick and Billy doing the same. Zak had his phone out and appeared to be typing away at something important, most likely Twitter knowing him.

Aaron and I were the first of our group out of the plane, since our seats were a few rows ahead of the others. My goofball of an older brother skipped into the terminal alongside me, causing the two of us to receive multiple questioning looks.

I looked around the Indianapolis airport. Like many that we had been in, it was nice and modern. Outside, the January sky was white and appeared to be ready to snow. I groaned and pointed to the clouds when the crew turned to look at me.

"I didn't pack for snow," I complained.

"Looks like Ape is going to blow her check before she's even earned it," Nick laughed.

Aaron, Zak, and Billy laughed in agreement while I scoffed. "Fuck you Groff," I snapped.

"Ah, go easy on 'im, April," Aaron warned.

We began our trek through the airport to find where we could retrieve our luggage. Once we were all loaded down, Billy led the way towards the car rental office.

I was behind, dreading heading into the cold weather. I had no problem with snow, I loved it. When I had proper clothing.

"I wanna go back to Vegas," I complained to Zak who was walking with me.

He shifted his luggage and offered his right hand to me so I adjusted my luggage so I could hold his hand with my left. "I know doll, but this is a sweet location. I read all about it on the flight here while you were asleep. It's called the Roads Hotel, located in Atlanta, Indiana. Right in the middle of nowhere," he explained, his eyes twinkling like they did when he was excited about a location.

I grinned in anticipation and gave his hand a brief squeeze. Zak was like a kid in a candy shop when it came to locations like this.

By this time, Billy had already gotten our cars and began loading stuff into them. Billy was driving one car, with Aaron riding. Jay joining them. In the other car, Nick was driving while Zak and I rode along.

"How long is the drive?" I questioned Nick.

He stole a glance at his phone, which had the GPS on, before he answered. "Like 45 minutes."

"Not bad, not bad," I mumbled. "Hey, where are we staying?" I asked. I hadn't seen our hotel plans, which made me slightly nervous.

"We're staying there sweetie," Zak told me.

I gave him a thumbs up and hopped into the front seat, sticking my tongue out at Zak. He grinned and shook his head.

He crept up to my right side and whispered into my ear, "That's fine, sit up front. But I'll get you back later." He gave my cheek a kiss before he made his way to the back seat.

Nick began the drive to Atlanta and I plugged my headphones into my iPhone and began listening to NecroFusion. The album was my guilty pleasure. I listened to it through at least once before a lockdown. I remember the first time I heard every EVP, the goosebumps that crawled their way up my flesh. I had even been lucky enough to hear a few live.

I had been behind the scenes for years now. Aaron allowed me to tag along every now and then during the first and second seasons. Then, in the third season, the guys allowed me to join them on whenever I wanted. Of course I jumped on that opportunity!

My phone buzzed, slightly quieting my music, signaling that I had a text.

From: Zak <3
Is that NecroFusion I hear my baby listening to? ;)

I rolled my eyes at his message before responding.

To: Zak <3
Yes, yes it is.

I heard his phone chime and I knew he got my message. A few minutes passed before I received his response.

From: Zak <3
That's my girl. I'm going to take a quick nap, wake me when we get there?

I smiled, he was good to me.

To: Zak <3
I'll wake you with kisses ;) Sleep tight princess

I turned my music off and glanced at my boyfriend, who was lounging in the backseat, hood up and earbuds in. I let out a soft laugh before turning to face Nick.

"Have you told them?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "I- I don't want them to be distracted during the lockdown," he said.

"Nick," I placed my hand by his knee, "you gotta tell them. It kills me to see you go through this alone."

He captured my hand and smiled, "but I'm not alone. I've got you. You're my best friend and I love ya. I couldn't imagine anyone else being there for me."

I smiled back and gave his hand a squeeze. He released my hand after a few moments, the pain that was on his face when he originally told me the news was now gone. It was replaced with a lopsided grin.

"Damn, we're a couple minutes away. Wake 'im up, Ape," he jerked his head in Zak's direction.

I unbuckled my seatbelt and crawled into the back seat and removed one of his earbuds, hearing dubstep blasting. Nick stopped the van and stepped out, stretching his limbs.

"Zak, sweetie, wake up," I cooed, gently rubbing his cheek with my thumb.

He groaned and pulled his hood lower. I lifted his hood a little and found his lips, pausing before I gave him a peck.

"Wake up, princess. We're here," I whispered against his lips.

"No," he complained, "I'm not gettin' up 'till more kisses."

I rolled my eyes and gave him a kiss on the cheek before grabbing his phone and exiting the van. I heard him protest and get up. While I was waiting for my boyfriend to hurry his ass up, I looked at the location.

It was beautiful. It was two stories, brown paint with white trimming. The front porch was large and the windows were wide and long.

Billy, Aaron, and Nick were already on their way to the door, Jay tailing behind them.

"Jason!" I called out.

He turned around and grinned, "April!" He motioned for me to follow them and a gave a nod.

"Let's go, it's too cold," Zak whined. I rolled my eyes and lead the way.

We were greeted by a tall man with short spiked black hair. He appeared to be in his late thirty's or early forties. Behind him, there was a teenage girl with black hair holding back a beautiful sandy colored pitbull mix.

"Hi, I'm Chris! Welcome to the Roads Hotel!" He spoke, he had a loud voice. He motioned to the girl behind him, "This is my daughter, Marissa, and our dog, Cinnamon." The girl gave a shy wave, brown eyes large and gapping.

"Do you want me to lock Cinn up?" Marissa asked the guys.

"Nah, she shouldn't get in the way," Zak reassured the girl once the dog was out of her grasp. He quickly went over to the dog and began petting her.

"Ready for the tour?" Chris asked us.

Aaron shook his head, "Give us a few minutes. We need to get out cameras out of the vans." Chris nodded his head in understanding.

The five of us; Billy, Jay, Nick, Aaron, and myself; went out to grab equipment while Zak played with the dog. Chris' daughter came out and offered her assistance, which we gladly accepted.

Aaron had her carry in a couple cases of equipment, unphased by their weight.

"You want the audio equipment on one table and the visual on another?" The teenager asked.

Aaron stared at her for a moment before answering, "Yeah, that'd be perfect. How do you know so much about equipment?"

The girl blushed a little, "Well, my dad is in a group and I've just always kinda've known about stuff like this," she laughed, "My dad and I are, uh, well, we're not your typical family."

Zak came in the room, clapped his hands and announced, "Lets get this tour started!"