Once in the car, Richie let out a deep sigh. It'd been a long night, in more than one way. As he turned the car on, the dashboard lights came on, revealing the time to him. A few minutes past 6 am. He'd been home for about 12 hours and already felt as if it had been an eternity. He had to get home before Sarah woke up and would notice something was wrong.
"Call Jon." He said to the car, feeling a tad weird to be talking to a vehicle but the technology was definitely useful as he started backing out of his parking spot.
"Calling Jon." The car responded in a robotic voice, a moment later he could hear the familiar tones.
"Hey man, how's it going?" Jon asked right away as he answered the call.
"I'm just leaving the hospital, just trying to figure out where the exit to this parkade is."
"You're driving?" Jon asked, sounding slightly surprised but a little excited as well. "Me too, just dropped everyone off for their last day of school before Christmas break. You better be using hands-free."
Richie shook his head, way to change the subject. "Same for you."
"Always, I'm a very safe driver." He chuckled for a second before turning back to their serious conversation. "So what happened?"
"They're making him stay for a few days," Richie sighed, "Noah didn't like the sound of that but it's mandatory and I think that's a good idea."
"You think so?"
"Sure, he didn't like it but they want to do a psych evaluation and I think that's probably a good thing after last night."
Jon took a moment to reply. "Yeah, I guess that would be. Figure out what happened and why."
"Exactly. I don't get why he would ever do something like that though." Richie sighed deeply again.
Jon copied him and sighed as well. "I don't think anyone ever understands. It's all in his head."
"Which is why it's good they're making him stay there."
"Mhhmm" Was all Jon mustered.
As he took the next right turn, Richie groaned. "How the fuck do I tell Sarah this?"
"I don't know. Just tell her straight forward, be blunt, I suppose. There's no point in stalling, you just have to tell her."
He groaned again, not wanting to be the bearer of bad news.
"Better from you than a receptionist at the hospital." Jon added on.
"True." Richie sighed, he knew Jon was right about that, at least the bad news would come from him instead of a stranger. He'd be able to provide more comfort than a person over the phone would.
They both went quiet as they continued their ways home.
Richie had mixed feelings when he took the highway exit, only a few more minutes and he'd be home. What was he supposed to do?
"I'm almost home." He said to Jon.
"Alright." Jon replied. "Just tell her straight up, you wouldn't want anyone to be beating around the bush if you had to get news like that."
He supposed Jon was right about that when he slowed down the car to turn into the drive way. "True."
"And you can call me again when you need to."
"I probably will." Richie said, shifting the car into park. "Guess I'll go inside and tell her."
"Call me if you need to." Jon repeated quickly, knowing their conversation was ending. "Just looking out for you man."
He let out one last sigh before agreeing. "I probably will. See ya." He heard Jon say bye before disconnecting the call and turning the car off.
This time he did the opposite and took a deep breath before getting out of the car. It was 6.30 by now, Sarah would most likely get up soon, as she did every morning to make sure everyone was on their way to school, besides that, Daniel was always an early riser when they were home. He felt exhausted.
He tried his best to be quiet as he opened the front door but as he closed it and could see into the kitchen, he realized it was useless to do so. Sarah was standing in the kitchen, dressed in her pajamas as she pressed down the lever on the toaster.
She turned around as soon as he walked into the kitchen. "There you are." She sounded relieved, leaving her toast to toast, she walked across the kitchen and wrapped her arms around him, then looked up at him. "I woke up and I couldn't find you. Where did you go?"
"I'm sorry." He just said, not wanting to tell her right away. "Are you making breakfast?"
"I was just about to start it for Noah and Ava."
Richie simply nodded and walked into the kitchen, to the island where he could sit down for a moment.
"You look tired sweetie." Sarah said as she stood in front of him, reading his face. "Were you not able to sleep?"
He shook his head. "I couldn't sleep."
"Do you want some coffee?"
He shook his head again. "No." He reached for her hands and gently pulled her a little closer. "Come sit with me for a minute." He let go so Sarah could get onto the bar stool.
She frowned as she watched him, he looked tired and exhausted but also sad. "What's wrong?" His behavior was starting to make her worried about him.
Richie took a deep breath before he started. "I couldn't sleep last night so I got up to get some snacks 'cause I was hungry, then I heard Noah down the hallway." He told his story quickly, but wanted to make sure she got all the details she would need about their son. "He finally went to sleep so I came home so I could tell you what happened." The look of shock on Sarah's face hurt him so much. He never wanted to give her any kind of bad news and this was very bad news. It hurt to be the person to tell her this. "I'm sorry." He stood up from his bar stool and pulled her into an embrace, holding her close as he could feel her start to sob.
He held her as she cried against his shoulder, before he knew it, he was sniffling himself. It had been a long and scary night and he finally felt the aftermath of it now that he had retold the entire night to his wife. As he felt Sarah pull away, he quickly reached up to wipe at his own eyes.
"I have to go see him." Sarah said urgently as she looked up at her husband.
"He's asleep." Richie reminded her. "He probably won't even wake up til noon."
"I don't care." Sarah slid off her chair and started walking out of the kitchen, toast long forgotten. "I've got to see him." She walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
"Sarah." He said as he followed her into the bedroom and Sarah went straight to the closet to get dressed. "We can go see him together this afternoon once he's awake."
"No." She said unyielding. "I'm going now. You need to go to sleep." She told him sternly once he had followed her into the closet. She traded her pajamas for a pair of jeans and a sweater.
He wasn't going to argue, he'd gotten the message. "Okay." He said, accepting Sarah's need. "I'll watch Daniel."
"Thank you." She quickly kissed him before heading out of the closet again.
Richie walked out of the closet, he watched Sarah walk out of the bedroom at the same time. She had to go, he knew that. He would feel the same way if he hadn't been able to be with one of their children during a crisis moment. With a sigh he sat down on the bed. He was more than ready to sleep but wasn't sure if he even could right now. Not to forget Daniel and Ava were still around.
A short knock came from the bedroom door, then squeaked as it opened. "Papa?"
He smiled when he heard her voice, it was always comforting. "Come here princess." He said, watching his daughter walk into the room, she joined him on the bed.
Her face turned to worry and question as soon as she did. "What's wrong?" She asked him.
Richie padded the bed next to him, urging her to come closer. "Come here." He pulled her into a hug once she was close enough to do so. "I don't think you're going to school." He referred to the school uniform she was already wearing, ready for the last day of school before Christmas break.
He released her from his hold as he started telling her what had happened last night, he tried to be as open as he could be and tell her everything she needed to know but also still wanted to protect her from the reality of it even though she was hardly that much younger than Noah. 16, 17 how much could their issues really differ at that age?
"We'll join Sarah later to go see him, okay?" He asked of her.
Ava nodded shortly, unsure of what else to do. "I can watch Daniel when he wakes if you want." She offered, at least she'd be helpful to her dad.
"That'd be nice." He admitted, all he wanted to do right now was sleep.
"Can I stay here?" Ava asked as she pulled away and moved over on the bed.
"Of course." He answered, some company would be nice after all.
Ava reached for the TV remote and turned it on, switching it to Netflix as soon as it turned on. "We can watch Friends since you missed it last night."
He chuckled a little and smiled. "Sure, otherwise I won't be able to follow tonight's episodes." He agreed, they had already watched every episode together before at least once. He wouldn't be watching for long now but also knew Ava just wanted to comfort him.
The room was bright when he opened his eyes, he could feel a weight on his legs and looked down to spot a black cat curled up in a ball on top of him. "Good morning Sirius." The cat looked up briefly then put its head back down. "We have to get up." He continued as if the cat would care what he said. Carefully he tried to sit up, wanting to move the cat but before he could even do so, it jumped off of his lap and walked away. "You could have slept on the bed." Richie pointed out to him.
Shaking his head, he followed the cat out of the room and sneaked into Daniel's room. When he found the boy's room empty, he continued down the hall to Ava's room. He quickly knocked before pushing the door open and walking in. Ava sat on her bed, Daniel on the floor with some toys.
"Morning." Richie said as he walked over to the bed and sat down with Ava. "Thanks for watching Daniel."
"No problem." Ava smiled at him. "He woke up a while ago so I made him some toast and then he wanted to play."
"Thanks." He said again, glad he had been able to get some sleep. "I don't suppose Sarah has texted you or anything?" He said as he pulled his own phone from his pocket, not expecting anything.
"No."
He frowned when he didn't see anything on his phone either, a little disappointed.
"Are we going to the hospital too?" Ava asked, looking up expectantly at him.
Richie nodded quickly, if only he wasn't hungry. "We will. Let's have lunch and we'll go, okay?" He noticed how Daniel looked up at him as soon as he heard the word lunch. The boy must be hungry as well.
In the kitchen he made them a quick lunch, not wanting to take all that long. As he made the food, he sent Sarah a text asking for an update but waiting for a reply turned out to be of no use.
After lunch, he kept his word and they were off to the hospital.
Once he got out of the parked car, he opened the back door to get Daniel out of his car seat. Holding him, he headed into the hospital, Ava following him as he remembered the way to the room he had left Noah in this morning.
He was happy to see Sarah as soon as he walked into the room. Letting Daniel down from his hold, he embraced Sarah with a hug instead. Immediately he forgot about the texts she never responded to, from the change in her it was obvious compared to how worried she had been this morning. The same went for Noah, if he hadn't known, nothing seemed wrong with him at all.
That made him feel slightly worried as he joined Sarah and Noah in the TV show they were watching together. Conversation was kept fairly light and his mind wandered to the night before. The contrast between the middle of the night and twelve hours later seemed so surreal.
Last night Noah had been in serious distress and looking at him now, everything seemed fine. If he hadn't experienced the night first hand, he might not have believed it compared to how he saw Noah now.
Now, Richie realized how easy it could be to not notice the mental health issues people were going through. Had Noah consciously hidden this from him and Sarah or had they simply just not noticed what they should have? Had Noah given him plenty of signs that he didn't notice or might have waved off?
Could noticing Noah's signs, if he ever gave him any, have prevented all of this?
Monday, December 30, 2019
Wednesday, December 25, 2019
Chapter 114
He had only just started pacing past the vending machine when he already felt his phone vibrate in his hand. He stopped and quickly read it, then immediately went for the call button instead of texting back.
"Two seconds." He heard before he heard rustling over the phone, footsteps and a door closing. "What's going on? I literally just got into bed."
"I'm sorry man, I need to talk to someone." Richie looked around him, the hallways were empty, a seating area across from him.
"It's the middle of the night for you, what's happening?"
He walked over and sat down in one of the chairs, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "I'm at the ER with Noah." He sighed, letting that fact sink in again, "I just don't know."
"Know what?" Jon urged, trying to get some kind of answer that would make more sense to him. "You've got to give me something here man."
Richie took a deep breath, leaning back in his chair instead. "I got up 'cause I was hungry and I heard something down the hall, then noticed his light was still on. He sometimes reads all night so I went to go tell him to go to bed but he wasn't reading." He paused to sigh again.
"What was he doing?"
He took another deep breath, gathering his thoughts to continue, or maybe it was courage. "I found him in his bathroom with razor blades. He was bleeding pretty bad so I took him to the ER cause what the fuck do I do?"
"Oh fuck man. He was cutting himself?"
Richie nodded, then realized Jon wouldn't be able to see that. "Yeah."
"Is he alright?"
"The cuts, yeah. They've stitched it up but mentally, I don't have a fucking clue." He ran his free hand over his face, frustrated and confused at what was going on.
"I'm sorry man, he's going to be alright though. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I went to get us some snacks from a vending machine when I texted you. I should probably get back to him, don't want to leave him alone for too long I guess."
"Yeah."
"Fuck man, I knew he had issues but these kind of issues?" He started to feel angry about the situation they had ended up in tonight.
"There's no way you could have know." Jon pointed out, which Richie sort of agreed to, "You weren't even there til last night."
"That's just it." The anger built inside him. "I should have been here, maybe I would have known or would have been able to do something to prevent this shit."
He could hear Jon sigh on the other end of the line. "There's nothing you could have done to prevent it. You can't stop what's in his head."
Richie groaned, he made sense. "I know."
"So don't start blaming yourself. Being home or on the road, wouldn't have changed what goes around in your kid's head."
"But I would have been here to talk to him."
"Has he talked to you now then?" Jon countered quickly.
"No."
"He wouldn't have before either then."
"I know." Richie sighed, he knew his friend was right, nothing would have changed for Noah.
"So, go back to your kid and keep me updated on what happens."
"Alright." He sighed again but he did want to get back to Noah and see how he was doing. "I'll talk to you later."
"Alright, just call or text when you need to, okay?" Jon asked to make sure.
"Okay." Richie agreed before ending the call.
He sat up in his chair, putting his phone back into his pocket, looking ahead of him he remembered the vending machine he was supposed to get snacks from. With a sigh, he stood up and walked over to pick out something to eat for the both of them.
The hallway lead him back to the ER, a larger waiting room with a lot more people and sounds going on. Immediately, he felt the stress again.
"Richie." Noah said, panic in his voice as Richie walked back into the room.
"Yeah?" He asked as he dropped the bags of chips and granola bars on the bed, before passing Noah the bottle of Sprite he got him.
Noah accepted the bottle but didn't acknowledge it. "One of the nurses just said they're looking for a room for me."
"What?" He asked confused at what Noah meant.
"She said they're looking for a room for me." Noah repeated, which wasn't very explanatory.
Richie frowned for a second before cluing in. "They want you to stay here." He concluded, feeling even more sure of it when he watched Noah starting to shiver again.
"I don't want to stay." Noah said, his teeth started to chatter towards the end of his sentence.
He frowned in thought, understanding how Noah felt but understanding the nurse even more. Perhaps a hospital would be a safer environment for Noah. He'd be taken care of and most likely have someone to talk to.
"Mr. Sambora?" He heard from behind him, he looked over his shoulder to notice the nurse wanting to speak to him. "Can we talk privately for a moment?" She asked gently.
Richie nodded, turning back to Noah, "I'll be right back. You're okay." He reminded him again as he watched Noah's worry clear on his face before following the nurse out to the hallway, where Noah wouldn't be able to hear them as easily.
"We've found Noah a room upstairs. Your insurance covers private rooms and considering Noah's situation we went along with that."
He simply nodded, he didn't know what to say to that but it seemed fair. "He doesn't want to stay though."
"I know." The nurse agreed. "A 72 hour stay in required after any kind of self harm. We'll want to do a psych evaluation and just make sure he's really okay before we let him go home."
He nodded again, it just seemed fair to him. "That's probably a good idea." He agreed even though he didn't want to disappoint Noah and make him stay here while he didn't want to. It'd be better for him in the end. "He might have a panic attack before getting to a room though." He warned the nurse before heading back to Noah.
He walked back in with Noah alone, still clutching the Diet Coke he had gotten himself earlier. Finally he opened it and drank, although he was stalling what to tell Noah as he looked at him expectantly. At least he had stopped shivering for now.
He sat at the end of the bed, making Noah frown at him with worry, catching on to what was going to happen.
"So they got you a private room upstairs so you'll be alone." His tone was firmer than he wanted it to be but he wasn't going to beat around the bush with Noah, it'd be easier to be straight with him. Although it didn't hurt any less to see Noah's reaction as tears started to well up in his eyes. "They want you to stay for three days so you can talk to a psychiatrist and make sure you're alright."
"But I don't want to. I'm fine." Noah said, the tears weren't holding back as the shivers returned.
"This isn't fine Noah." Richie said sternly as he gently turned Noah's foot to show him the bandages on his ankle. "I'll go upstairs with you and get you settled but then I'm going home and tell your mom about this." He hated it but he also understood this was for the best. He moved over on the bed and pulled his son into a hug, ignoring the crinkling sound coming from the chip bags. "You're going to sleep and when you wake up, I'll be here or your mom will be here but I've got to go home so I can tell her." He could Noah sniff loudly on his shoulder and it hurt him even more to have to leave him but he didn't let go until he noticed Noah stopped shivering.
Slowly he pulled back from the hug to face Noah, his eyes the same shade of green just like his mother's, now all red and puffy from crying. He didn't need to ask to know his panic attack had passed.
Moving upstairs went easily as an orderly came down with a wheelchair to take Noah to his hospital room. Being only 17, they walked through the children's ward which reminded Richie way too much of the last times he had spent in the hospital. It wasn't the same here as at the children's hospital but the walls were still decorated in pleasant colors and cartoon figures that many children loved.
"Is this bed at least more comfortable?" Richie tried to lighten the mood once Noah had moved to the bed and the orderly had left them alone.
Noah simply shrugged in response.
Richie pulled a chair closer to the bed, just like in the children's hospital even the walls inside the room had some decals on the wall. The room was large enough to fit a couch by the wall, he was sure many parents had stayed the night here with their child. He wouldn't be able to do so tonight.
They both looked up when they heard a knock from the door, announcing her entrance, the nurse continued on into the room. She carried a cup of water along with a smaller container.
"I got you something to help you sleep, it's up to you if you want to take it though, it's past 5 now so getting some sleep would be a good idea." The nurse said gently as she placed it all on the small table next to the bed. "You've got an alarm button if there's anything you need urgently," she pointed it out to Noah, "but it's not a toy." She told him sternly. "Get some sleep and we'll see you in the morning." She said before walking out again.
He looked up at Noah wondering what he'd decide on but Noah stared down at his lap. "Noah?" He tried carefully, not wanting to cause any more panic attacks but he wanted Noah to go to sleep, for his own sake, to get some rest and maybe calm his mind but when Noah looked up at him, his words changed. "You know I love you, right?"
Noah nodded slowly. "Yeah." He said quietly.
"And you know I would never want you to hurt yourself, right?"
He looked away from him.
Richie didn't press it, he understood how Noah felt about what he had done now. Instead he continued, "I think if you take that," he pointed over at the side table, "it'll let your mind leave you alone so you can have a clear head and fall asleep." He could see how it sounded appealing to Noah. "I'll stay til you're asleep." He added on, hoping it would convince him.
Noah grabbed the little cup and looked at it. "I've never taken sleeping meds."
Richie leaned over in his chair, his arms resting on the bed. "Well, it's just going to let you relax. It's the same as falling asleep but you sleep better and get a much better sleep with it." He grabbed the bottle of Sprite he had bought earlier and opened it up to pass to Noah.
"Does it work fast?" Noah said after he swallowed the pill and drank his Sprite.
"It'll still take a while." Richie said. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you're asleep before I go." It felt strange to be looking at a 17 year old in front of him but feeling as if he was being as gentle and careful as he would be with a 7 year old.
"Mom's going to be mad."
Richie shook his head in disbelief. "I think she's going to be anything but mad." He saw the slight relief on Noah's face, sure the medication didn't work that fast. "She's going to be worried and scared for you about what happened and what's going on."
"I'm scared." Noah whispered.
"I know." Richie sighed, grabbing his hand and it giving it a squeeze in support. "I'm here."
Slowly Noah shook his head.
"What do you mean then?" Richie asked as he scooted a little closer again, not wanting to miss it if Noah whispered again.
Noah leaned back in the bed, seeming more comfortable when he did so. "Of everything."
"You don't need to be." He kept his voice gentle, wanting Noah to feel relaxed so he would go to sleep. "I'm always going to be here to help you."
He leaned back in his chair when he didn't get a response and let out a deep, shaky sigh.
He waited a few more minutes before standing up from his chair. He quickly padded his pockets, making sure he had his phone and keys, he found the ebook in his left pocket. Remembering why he had brought it in the first place, he pulled it out and placed it on the side table, sure Noah would find it there when he needed it. He looked back at the kid and for the first time really let himself feel the pain he was feeling tonight. Disbelief was still prevalent, that something like this would happen to Noah. That Noah would feel or think anything to make him want to hurt himself. His heart hurt at the thought of what kind of pain Noah must be in but right now he looked fairly peaceful as he slept. Noticing how much he looked like Sarah, he wiped his bangs out of his eyes even though they were closed. Right now, he seemed more fragile than Richie ever thought he had been, he knew he was more fragile than he had thought. He leaned over and kissed the top of his head, the same as he did whenever he laid Daniel in his crib to sleep. With regret, he finally walked out of the room.
"Two seconds." He heard before he heard rustling over the phone, footsteps and a door closing. "What's going on? I literally just got into bed."
"I'm sorry man, I need to talk to someone." Richie looked around him, the hallways were empty, a seating area across from him.
"It's the middle of the night for you, what's happening?"
He walked over and sat down in one of the chairs, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "I'm at the ER with Noah." He sighed, letting that fact sink in again, "I just don't know."
"Know what?" Jon urged, trying to get some kind of answer that would make more sense to him. "You've got to give me something here man."
Richie took a deep breath, leaning back in his chair instead. "I got up 'cause I was hungry and I heard something down the hall, then noticed his light was still on. He sometimes reads all night so I went to go tell him to go to bed but he wasn't reading." He paused to sigh again.
"What was he doing?"
He took another deep breath, gathering his thoughts to continue, or maybe it was courage. "I found him in his bathroom with razor blades. He was bleeding pretty bad so I took him to the ER cause what the fuck do I do?"
"Oh fuck man. He was cutting himself?"
Richie nodded, then realized Jon wouldn't be able to see that. "Yeah."
"Is he alright?"
"The cuts, yeah. They've stitched it up but mentally, I don't have a fucking clue." He ran his free hand over his face, frustrated and confused at what was going on.
"I'm sorry man, he's going to be alright though. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I went to get us some snacks from a vending machine when I texted you. I should probably get back to him, don't want to leave him alone for too long I guess."
"Yeah."
"Fuck man, I knew he had issues but these kind of issues?" He started to feel angry about the situation they had ended up in tonight.
"There's no way you could have know." Jon pointed out, which Richie sort of agreed to, "You weren't even there til last night."
"That's just it." The anger built inside him. "I should have been here, maybe I would have known or would have been able to do something to prevent this shit."
He could hear Jon sigh on the other end of the line. "There's nothing you could have done to prevent it. You can't stop what's in his head."
Richie groaned, he made sense. "I know."
"So don't start blaming yourself. Being home or on the road, wouldn't have changed what goes around in your kid's head."
"But I would have been here to talk to him."
"Has he talked to you now then?" Jon countered quickly.
"No."
"He wouldn't have before either then."
"I know." Richie sighed, he knew his friend was right, nothing would have changed for Noah.
"So, go back to your kid and keep me updated on what happens."
"Alright." He sighed again but he did want to get back to Noah and see how he was doing. "I'll talk to you later."
"Alright, just call or text when you need to, okay?" Jon asked to make sure.
"Okay." Richie agreed before ending the call.
He sat up in his chair, putting his phone back into his pocket, looking ahead of him he remembered the vending machine he was supposed to get snacks from. With a sigh, he stood up and walked over to pick out something to eat for the both of them.
The hallway lead him back to the ER, a larger waiting room with a lot more people and sounds going on. Immediately, he felt the stress again.
"Richie." Noah said, panic in his voice as Richie walked back into the room.
"Yeah?" He asked as he dropped the bags of chips and granola bars on the bed, before passing Noah the bottle of Sprite he got him.
Noah accepted the bottle but didn't acknowledge it. "One of the nurses just said they're looking for a room for me."
"What?" He asked confused at what Noah meant.
"She said they're looking for a room for me." Noah repeated, which wasn't very explanatory.
Richie frowned for a second before cluing in. "They want you to stay here." He concluded, feeling even more sure of it when he watched Noah starting to shiver again.
"I don't want to stay." Noah said, his teeth started to chatter towards the end of his sentence.
He frowned in thought, understanding how Noah felt but understanding the nurse even more. Perhaps a hospital would be a safer environment for Noah. He'd be taken care of and most likely have someone to talk to.
"Mr. Sambora?" He heard from behind him, he looked over his shoulder to notice the nurse wanting to speak to him. "Can we talk privately for a moment?" She asked gently.
Richie nodded, turning back to Noah, "I'll be right back. You're okay." He reminded him again as he watched Noah's worry clear on his face before following the nurse out to the hallway, where Noah wouldn't be able to hear them as easily.
"We've found Noah a room upstairs. Your insurance covers private rooms and considering Noah's situation we went along with that."
He simply nodded, he didn't know what to say to that but it seemed fair. "He doesn't want to stay though."
"I know." The nurse agreed. "A 72 hour stay in required after any kind of self harm. We'll want to do a psych evaluation and just make sure he's really okay before we let him go home."
He nodded again, it just seemed fair to him. "That's probably a good idea." He agreed even though he didn't want to disappoint Noah and make him stay here while he didn't want to. It'd be better for him in the end. "He might have a panic attack before getting to a room though." He warned the nurse before heading back to Noah.
He walked back in with Noah alone, still clutching the Diet Coke he had gotten himself earlier. Finally he opened it and drank, although he was stalling what to tell Noah as he looked at him expectantly. At least he had stopped shivering for now.
He sat at the end of the bed, making Noah frown at him with worry, catching on to what was going to happen.
"So they got you a private room upstairs so you'll be alone." His tone was firmer than he wanted it to be but he wasn't going to beat around the bush with Noah, it'd be easier to be straight with him. Although it didn't hurt any less to see Noah's reaction as tears started to well up in his eyes. "They want you to stay for three days so you can talk to a psychiatrist and make sure you're alright."
"But I don't want to. I'm fine." Noah said, the tears weren't holding back as the shivers returned.
"This isn't fine Noah." Richie said sternly as he gently turned Noah's foot to show him the bandages on his ankle. "I'll go upstairs with you and get you settled but then I'm going home and tell your mom about this." He hated it but he also understood this was for the best. He moved over on the bed and pulled his son into a hug, ignoring the crinkling sound coming from the chip bags. "You're going to sleep and when you wake up, I'll be here or your mom will be here but I've got to go home so I can tell her." He could Noah sniff loudly on his shoulder and it hurt him even more to have to leave him but he didn't let go until he noticed Noah stopped shivering.
Slowly he pulled back from the hug to face Noah, his eyes the same shade of green just like his mother's, now all red and puffy from crying. He didn't need to ask to know his panic attack had passed.
Moving upstairs went easily as an orderly came down with a wheelchair to take Noah to his hospital room. Being only 17, they walked through the children's ward which reminded Richie way too much of the last times he had spent in the hospital. It wasn't the same here as at the children's hospital but the walls were still decorated in pleasant colors and cartoon figures that many children loved.
"Is this bed at least more comfortable?" Richie tried to lighten the mood once Noah had moved to the bed and the orderly had left them alone.
Noah simply shrugged in response.
Richie pulled a chair closer to the bed, just like in the children's hospital even the walls inside the room had some decals on the wall. The room was large enough to fit a couch by the wall, he was sure many parents had stayed the night here with their child. He wouldn't be able to do so tonight.
They both looked up when they heard a knock from the door, announcing her entrance, the nurse continued on into the room. She carried a cup of water along with a smaller container.
"I got you something to help you sleep, it's up to you if you want to take it though, it's past 5 now so getting some sleep would be a good idea." The nurse said gently as she placed it all on the small table next to the bed. "You've got an alarm button if there's anything you need urgently," she pointed it out to Noah, "but it's not a toy." She told him sternly. "Get some sleep and we'll see you in the morning." She said before walking out again.
He looked up at Noah wondering what he'd decide on but Noah stared down at his lap. "Noah?" He tried carefully, not wanting to cause any more panic attacks but he wanted Noah to go to sleep, for his own sake, to get some rest and maybe calm his mind but when Noah looked up at him, his words changed. "You know I love you, right?"
Noah nodded slowly. "Yeah." He said quietly.
"And you know I would never want you to hurt yourself, right?"
He looked away from him.
Richie didn't press it, he understood how Noah felt about what he had done now. Instead he continued, "I think if you take that," he pointed over at the side table, "it'll let your mind leave you alone so you can have a clear head and fall asleep." He could see how it sounded appealing to Noah. "I'll stay til you're asleep." He added on, hoping it would convince him.
Noah grabbed the little cup and looked at it. "I've never taken sleeping meds."
Richie leaned over in his chair, his arms resting on the bed. "Well, it's just going to let you relax. It's the same as falling asleep but you sleep better and get a much better sleep with it." He grabbed the bottle of Sprite he had bought earlier and opened it up to pass to Noah.
"Does it work fast?" Noah said after he swallowed the pill and drank his Sprite.
"It'll still take a while." Richie said. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you're asleep before I go." It felt strange to be looking at a 17 year old in front of him but feeling as if he was being as gentle and careful as he would be with a 7 year old.
"Mom's going to be mad."
Richie shook his head in disbelief. "I think she's going to be anything but mad." He saw the slight relief on Noah's face, sure the medication didn't work that fast. "She's going to be worried and scared for you about what happened and what's going on."
"I'm scared." Noah whispered.
"I know." Richie sighed, grabbing his hand and it giving it a squeeze in support. "I'm here."
Slowly Noah shook his head.
"What do you mean then?" Richie asked as he scooted a little closer again, not wanting to miss it if Noah whispered again.
Noah leaned back in the bed, seeming more comfortable when he did so. "Of everything."
"You don't need to be." He kept his voice gentle, wanting Noah to feel relaxed so he would go to sleep. "I'm always going to be here to help you."
He leaned back in his chair when he didn't get a response and let out a deep, shaky sigh.
He waited a few more minutes before standing up from his chair. He quickly padded his pockets, making sure he had his phone and keys, he found the ebook in his left pocket. Remembering why he had brought it in the first place, he pulled it out and placed it on the side table, sure Noah would find it there when he needed it. He looked back at the kid and for the first time really let himself feel the pain he was feeling tonight. Disbelief was still prevalent, that something like this would happen to Noah. That Noah would feel or think anything to make him want to hurt himself. His heart hurt at the thought of what kind of pain Noah must be in but right now he looked fairly peaceful as he slept. Noticing how much he looked like Sarah, he wiped his bangs out of his eyes even though they were closed. Right now, he seemed more fragile than Richie ever thought he had been, he knew he was more fragile than he had thought. He leaned over and kissed the top of his head, the same as he did whenever he laid Daniel in his crib to sleep. With regret, he finally walked out of the room.
Friday, December 20, 2019
Chapter 113
Having Sarah sleep on his chest was exactly the homecoming he needed. The time difference from Australia was messing up his schedule with her. It was midnight and Sarah was sound asleep on his chest, he was sure everyone else was sound asleep as well but here he was, wide awake watching late night talk shows on stations that were ahead of California time. Not that late night talk shows were bad, he just preferred the Craig Ferguson show. The others just weren't the same. At least, after this there'd be two reruns of Friends and two of Two and a Half Men so he was set for at least two more hours of tv shows to watch. After that, he might have to switch to Netflix. His attention wasn't exactly invested in any of these shows and he hoped he would drift off to some sleep but so far he had not been successful of that.
Eventually the talk show ended and he needed a snack before watching Friends, his tummy grumbled and he agreed with it. Very carefully, he moved from underneath of Sarah, trying not to wake her up but also knowing that was futile.
"I'll be right back." He said as he saw her eyes open sleepily. "Go back to sleep." He said.
Quietly he walked out of the bedroom. Once in the hallway, he noticed light at the other end by the teenagers their rooms. Perhaps Noah had fallen asleep with the light on again. He started heading down the hallway when a door slammed and took the light with it. Who was awake past midnight?
Richie reached the staircase and contemplated just getting his snack from the kitchen and heading back to bed but something told him to investigate. During school vacations Noah and Ava, even Caleb turned into night owls but it was a little too soon for that. It was two more days before school let out for Christmas vacation.
He flicked on the light switch, now noticing the linen closet door open and pushed it closed before continuing down the hallway to check on who was awake in the middle of the night.
Light peeked from underneath Noah's bedroom door, he proceeded to knock on the door but didn't get an answer. Perhaps Noah had just fallen asleep with the light on.
Quietly he pushed the door open, not wanting to wake his son up. He reached into the room to switch off the light but noticed Noah's bed was empty. Richie looked straight to the bathroom, of course he'd be in there. He walked over and knocked on the door.
"Hey Noah, straight back to bed, okay?" He said. "You've got school in the morning. Don't get sucked into late night Instagram."
"I won't"
Richie walked back out of the room and closed the door behind him as he headed downstairs to get his snack so he could go and catch up with his Friends.
In the kitchen, Richie poured himself a glass of water at the sink first. He didn't realize he had been thirsty until he downed the glass. Next, he went into the pantry and looked around for what would soothe his craving. The dried fruits and fruit and veggie snacks were turned down quite easily when he found a bag of Munchies. Exactly what he needed, variety so he didn't have to pick a snack. He grabbed the bag and pulled a bottle of water out of the flat stored on the floor where he found a black cat looking at him.
"Hi there Sirius." He stroked the cat's back. "Did I wake you up?" The cat meowed at him, as if it was responding to his question. "Well then get back to sleep man." He walked out and instructed Sirius to do the same so he could close the door behind him.
Leaving the cat behind in the kitchen, he headed back upstairs with his snacks. At the landing he looked down the hallway to make sure Noah's light was off but found the opposite to be true as he could still see the light sneak out under the door. Once again he went back down the hallway, a little frustrated Noah hadn't listened to him about going back to bed. The least he could do was be sneakier about staying up and turning off his lights. He knocked on his door a little louder this time but didn't wait for an answer and he opened the door as he wasn't pleased with Noah right now.
"Noah, it's almost one-" The room was still empty, his eyes darted over to the bathroom door that was still closed. His frustration turned to worry, their household was never spared of a cold or flu around this time of year, he put his snacks on the desk beside the bathroom. "Noah?" He knocked on the bathroom door again. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." Came his answer quickly.
"Are you sure?" Richie asked again, having an uneasy feeling.
Noah didn't respond.
"Noah?" He asked again, this time more worried and more sternly. "Are you okay?" The longer it took Noah to answer, the more worried Richie became.
Finally, after what seemed like minutes. "I need help."
In the same second Richie turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. His mind hadn't processed what he could possibly find but he had to help Noah out regardless of what it was he needed.
As he saw Noah sit on the bathroom floor, leaning back against the shower stall holding his foot in a bloodied towel his heart sank and his mind stopped. Noah was shivering with tears in his eyes. The broken razor with it's blades on the tiled floor were enough to piece it all together.
He gathered his mind back together; right now Noah was safe from himself, but he needed to stop that bleeding.
Richie kneeled down in front of Noah and reached for the towel. Noah let go of it so Richie could lift it.
"You're okay." He had meant to ask him but it came out as a statement.
Noah nodded shortly and leaned back against the shower's glass walls as Richie finally lifted the towel.
He covered it back up almost instantly, the cut was bleeding profusely.
"Keep putting pressure on it." He instructed Noah, who grabbed his ankle tightly again.
Richie reached over to the cabinet under the sink and opened the doors to look through the stock of toiletries before reaching the back of the cabinet.
"Luckily your mom thought of putting a first aid kit in every single fucking bathroom in this house."
He pulled the small box out and opened it, finding everything he needed to help Noah out.
Richie took out some sterile gauze pads and medical tape. He reached for Noah's towel again who let go of it once again. With a clean corner of the towel Richie tried to wipe away the blood which was almost futile. The cut was too deep to simply stop bleeding. He ripped open the first piece of gauze to cover the cut with but as he tried to tape it to Noah's skin, it had already soaked through. He added another two over top and finally a third he could tape in place securely. From the first aid kit, he retrieved a tension bandage and wrapped it over the gauze pads, applying continuous pressure. Lastly, he picked up the bloodied razor blades and put them in a gauze pad to cover the broken razor head with, then wrapped tape around it before unceremoniously throwing it in the garbage can.
"Alright." He concluded, standing up again, reaching a hand out to help Noah up.
His mind caught up in a fraction of a second as he let his arm down again. Instead, he moved to Noah's side and knelt down. He grabbed Noah's arm to put around his shoulder, holding on to his waist with his right arm so he could pull him up as Richie stood up again as well.
With Richie's help Noah made it out of the bathroom. Richie pulled the door closed behind them, turning the lock from the outside, he didn't want anyone to accidentally walk in there.
"Where's your wallet?" He asked Noah.
"In my backpack." Noah gestured to it by his desk.
Richie grabbed the backpack, pulling the zipper open but only found books and a pen box and the ereader he had bought Noah only a few months ago. He held on to it the found another zipper to unzip and recovered a well hidden wallet to put into his pj pants' pocket, happy that the pocket was big enough to fit the ereader.
He continued to help Noah hop through the hallway to the staircase.
Looking down the stairs, Noah shook his head. He hadn't argued through the entire ordeal.
"I can't hop down the stairs. I'd trip and fall."
Richie contemplated his comment for a moment, finding truth in it. "Sit down and scoot like Daniel does?" He suggested as he helped Noah to do so.
Richie walked down the stairs and headed towards the closet where he quickly put on his shoes and found Noah's for him. From the hangers above he found a hoodie he wasn't sure of if it was Caleb's or Noah's but grabbed it anyway. Back at the staircase Noah had made his way down to the last two steps. Richie passed him the sweater and his right shoe.
"Thanks." Noah said.
From the side table by the front door, Richie grabbed his car keys then helped Noah up again and supported him to the car.
As Noah got situated in the passenger seat, Richie realized he was still carrying his left shoe and passed it to Noah. He closed the car door carefully and walked around to the driver's side where he got in. As he turned the car on, he looked at Noah to make sure he was okay. The boy was still shivering but otherwise looked fine. Richie turned up the heat and started backing out of his spot.
"Are we going to the hospital?" Noah asked softly, worry was obvious in his voice.
Richie parked at the ER entrance, as close as he could anyway.
"I can go find a wheelchair so you don't have to walk on you foot." He suggested to Noah, who only shrugged in return.
Richie stood next to Noah, watching it all happen. There wasn't much else he could do right now for Noah anyway. Richie knew that like a lot of children his age, including his sister, Noah had anxiety issues. He just had to make sure Noah made it through this with as few panic attacks as possible.
Eventually the talk show ended and he needed a snack before watching Friends, his tummy grumbled and he agreed with it. Very carefully, he moved from underneath of Sarah, trying not to wake her up but also knowing that was futile.
"I'll be right back." He said as he saw her eyes open sleepily. "Go back to sleep." He said.
Quietly he walked out of the bedroom. Once in the hallway, he noticed light at the other end by the teenagers their rooms. Perhaps Noah had fallen asleep with the light on again. He started heading down the hallway when a door slammed and took the light with it. Who was awake past midnight?
Richie reached the staircase and contemplated just getting his snack from the kitchen and heading back to bed but something told him to investigate. During school vacations Noah and Ava, even Caleb turned into night owls but it was a little too soon for that. It was two more days before school let out for Christmas vacation.
He flicked on the light switch, now noticing the linen closet door open and pushed it closed before continuing down the hallway to check on who was awake in the middle of the night.
Light peeked from underneath Noah's bedroom door, he proceeded to knock on the door but didn't get an answer. Perhaps Noah had just fallen asleep with the light on.
Quietly he pushed the door open, not wanting to wake his son up. He reached into the room to switch off the light but noticed Noah's bed was empty. Richie looked straight to the bathroom, of course he'd be in there. He walked over and knocked on the door.
"Hey Noah, straight back to bed, okay?" He said. "You've got school in the morning. Don't get sucked into late night Instagram."
"I won't"
Richie walked back out of the room and closed the door behind him as he headed downstairs to get his snack so he could go and catch up with his Friends.
In the kitchen, Richie poured himself a glass of water at the sink first. He didn't realize he had been thirsty until he downed the glass. Next, he went into the pantry and looked around for what would soothe his craving. The dried fruits and fruit and veggie snacks were turned down quite easily when he found a bag of Munchies. Exactly what he needed, variety so he didn't have to pick a snack. He grabbed the bag and pulled a bottle of water out of the flat stored on the floor where he found a black cat looking at him.
"Hi there Sirius." He stroked the cat's back. "Did I wake you up?" The cat meowed at him, as if it was responding to his question. "Well then get back to sleep man." He walked out and instructed Sirius to do the same so he could close the door behind him.
Leaving the cat behind in the kitchen, he headed back upstairs with his snacks. At the landing he looked down the hallway to make sure Noah's light was off but found the opposite to be true as he could still see the light sneak out under the door. Once again he went back down the hallway, a little frustrated Noah hadn't listened to him about going back to bed. The least he could do was be sneakier about staying up and turning off his lights. He knocked on his door a little louder this time but didn't wait for an answer and he opened the door as he wasn't pleased with Noah right now.
"Noah, it's almost one-" The room was still empty, his eyes darted over to the bathroom door that was still closed. His frustration turned to worry, their household was never spared of a cold or flu around this time of year, he put his snacks on the desk beside the bathroom. "Noah?" He knocked on the bathroom door again. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." Came his answer quickly.
"Are you sure?" Richie asked again, having an uneasy feeling.
Noah didn't respond.
"Noah?" He asked again, this time more worried and more sternly. "Are you okay?" The longer it took Noah to answer, the more worried Richie became.
Finally, after what seemed like minutes. "I need help."
In the same second Richie turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. His mind hadn't processed what he could possibly find but he had to help Noah out regardless of what it was he needed.
As he saw Noah sit on the bathroom floor, leaning back against the shower stall holding his foot in a bloodied towel his heart sank and his mind stopped. Noah was shivering with tears in his eyes. The broken razor with it's blades on the tiled floor were enough to piece it all together.
He gathered his mind back together; right now Noah was safe from himself, but he needed to stop that bleeding.
Richie kneeled down in front of Noah and reached for the towel. Noah let go of it so Richie could lift it.
"You're okay." He had meant to ask him but it came out as a statement.
Noah nodded shortly and leaned back against the shower's glass walls as Richie finally lifted the towel.
He covered it back up almost instantly, the cut was bleeding profusely.
"Keep putting pressure on it." He instructed Noah, who grabbed his ankle tightly again.
Richie reached over to the cabinet under the sink and opened the doors to look through the stock of toiletries before reaching the back of the cabinet.
"Luckily your mom thought of putting a first aid kit in every single fucking bathroom in this house."
He pulled the small box out and opened it, finding everything he needed to help Noah out.
Richie took out some sterile gauze pads and medical tape. He reached for Noah's towel again who let go of it once again. With a clean corner of the towel Richie tried to wipe away the blood which was almost futile. The cut was too deep to simply stop bleeding. He ripped open the first piece of gauze to cover the cut with but as he tried to tape it to Noah's skin, it had already soaked through. He added another two over top and finally a third he could tape in place securely. From the first aid kit, he retrieved a tension bandage and wrapped it over the gauze pads, applying continuous pressure. Lastly, he picked up the bloodied razor blades and put them in a gauze pad to cover the broken razor head with, then wrapped tape around it before unceremoniously throwing it in the garbage can.
"Alright." He concluded, standing up again, reaching a hand out to help Noah up.
His mind caught up in a fraction of a second as he let his arm down again. Instead, he moved to Noah's side and knelt down. He grabbed Noah's arm to put around his shoulder, holding on to his waist with his right arm so he could pull him up as Richie stood up again as well.
With Richie's help Noah made it out of the bathroom. Richie pulled the door closed behind them, turning the lock from the outside, he didn't want anyone to accidentally walk in there.
"Where's your wallet?" He asked Noah.
"In my backpack." Noah gestured to it by his desk.
Richie grabbed the backpack, pulling the zipper open but only found books and a pen box and the ereader he had bought Noah only a few months ago. He held on to it the found another zipper to unzip and recovered a well hidden wallet to put into his pj pants' pocket, happy that the pocket was big enough to fit the ereader.
He continued to help Noah hop through the hallway to the staircase.
Looking down the stairs, Noah shook his head. He hadn't argued through the entire ordeal.
"I can't hop down the stairs. I'd trip and fall."
Richie contemplated his comment for a moment, finding truth in it. "Sit down and scoot like Daniel does?" He suggested as he helped Noah to do so.
Richie walked down the stairs and headed towards the closet where he quickly put on his shoes and found Noah's for him. From the hangers above he found a hoodie he wasn't sure of if it was Caleb's or Noah's but grabbed it anyway. Back at the staircase Noah had made his way down to the last two steps. Richie passed him the sweater and his right shoe.
"Thanks." Noah said.
From the side table by the front door, Richie grabbed his car keys then helped Noah up again and supported him to the car.
As Noah got situated in the passenger seat, Richie realized he was still carrying his left shoe and passed it to Noah. He closed the car door carefully and walked around to the driver's side where he got in. As he turned the car on, he looked at Noah to make sure he was okay. The boy was still shivering but otherwise looked fine. Richie turned up the heat and started backing out of his spot.
"Are we going to the hospital?" Noah asked softly, worry was obvious in his voice.
Richie parked at the ER entrance, as close as he could anyway.
"I can go find a wheelchair so you don't have to walk on you foot." He suggested to Noah, who only shrugged in return.
That didn't really get him an answer so Richie got out of the car and walked around to help Noah out of the vehicle. No answer must mean no he figured.
As he had done at home, he helped Noah to walk. His parking job close to the entrance definitely made it easier. Once inside, he spotted a payment machine for parking. Better pay beforehand.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket, glad he had his ID and credit card handy like that because he had not thought of bringing his wallet with him. He let go of Noah so he could go through the process of payment. Inserting his card as instructed, picking how long he wanted to pay for, may as well take 6 hours he figured. Hopefully it wouldn't take that long but he didn't want to come back to top this up. Then, it asked for his license plate.
"Fuck." He swore, making Noah look up at him in question. "I don't know my license plate number." Richie explained.
"7CJT834." Noah responded.
Richie frowned. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
He punched in the number and letters, trusting Noah had this right. The machine processed the payment and printed out a receipt for him to take.
"7CJT834." Noah responded.
Richie frowned. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
He punched in the number and letters, trusting Noah had this right. The machine processed the payment and printed out a receipt for him to take.
As he turned away from the machine, he noticed the wheelchairs across the walkway. It would be much easier than supporting Noah every time he would have to get up or walk. Instead of asking this time, he took the wheelchair and made Noah sit down in it before he proceeded to follow the signs to ER registration and triage.
Noah didn't say another word, even when they arrived at the line up for registration. There were a few people ahead of them but other than that the main waiting area didn't seem too full for this size hospital.
About ten minutes later they were next.
A triage nurse waved them through the doors to a smaller private area.
"He can come in alone." The nurse said when Richie pushed the wheelchair in.
He looked down at Noah, noticing how his facial expression had changed. "He's under 18, I'm staying with him."
"Alright." The nurse said as she sat down at her computer to take Noah's information.
Richie pulled his son's wallet from his baggy pj pants pocket and found his learner's permit and his health insurance card to pass over to the nurse.
She copied his information into the computer, then turned to Noah. "Can you tell me what happened?"
Noah looked up at Richie for reassurance or maybe he was just scared. "Go ahead. You can tell her." Richie told him. "You're okay." He reminded his son, trying to help him find some confidence.
Noah looked back at the nurse, then looked down at his lap. "I cut myself."
The nurse spoke as she typed. "What did you cut yourself with?"
"A razor."
"Okay." The nurse confirmed before she asked a few more questions. "We'll take your temperature and blood pressure." She said next as she started rolling on her chair to get her equipment. She used her no touch thermometer, wrote down the results and then picked up the sphygmomanometer and unwrapped the velcro strap to put around Noah's arm.
"He can come in alone." The nurse said when Richie pushed the wheelchair in.
He looked down at Noah, noticing how his facial expression had changed. "He's under 18, I'm staying with him."
"Alright." The nurse said as she sat down at her computer to take Noah's information.
Richie pulled his son's wallet from his baggy pj pants pocket and found his learner's permit and his health insurance card to pass over to the nurse.
She copied his information into the computer, then turned to Noah. "Can you tell me what happened?"
Noah looked up at Richie for reassurance or maybe he was just scared. "Go ahead. You can tell her." Richie told him. "You're okay." He reminded his son, trying to help him find some confidence.
Noah looked back at the nurse, then looked down at his lap. "I cut myself."
The nurse spoke as she typed. "What did you cut yourself with?"
"A razor."
"Okay." The nurse confirmed before she asked a few more questions. "We'll take your temperature and blood pressure." She said next as she started rolling on her chair to get her equipment. She used her no touch thermometer, wrote down the results and then picked up the sphygmomanometer and unwrapped the velcro strap to put around Noah's arm.
Richie stood next to Noah, watching it all happen. There wasn't much else he could do right now for Noah anyway. Richie knew that like a lot of children his age, including his sister, Noah had anxiety issues. He just had to make sure Noah made it through this with as few panic attacks as possible.
He watched as the nurse started applying the pressure to measure his blood pressure, at the same time he saw Noah's face lose color and his eyes roll back in his head. "Noah." He said, reaching out to grab him by the arm before he would slip out of his seat.
Richie held him in place, making sure Noah was steady. It didn't take long before Noah blinked his eyes a couple times and color returned to his face. "Alright there?" Richie asked him carefully.
"Yeah." Noah said slowly. "What happened?" He asked confused.
"You fainted buddy. Are you feeling okay now?"
"I think so."
The nurse interjected her own question. "Has he ever fainted before?" She asked Richie.
"I don't think so." He said, looking at Noah who slowly shook his head.
The nurse went back to typing on her computer, then stood up. "We've got a bed ready to check your cut out." She put a hospital bracelet around Noah's wrist before instructing another nurse to take him to the bed she had just assigned him.
Richie held him in place, making sure Noah was steady. It didn't take long before Noah blinked his eyes a couple times and color returned to his face. "Alright there?" Richie asked him carefully.
"Yeah." Noah said slowly. "What happened?" He asked confused.
"You fainted buddy. Are you feeling okay now?"
"I think so."
The nurse interjected her own question. "Has he ever fainted before?" She asked Richie.
"I don't think so." He said, looking at Noah who slowly shook his head.
The nurse went back to typing on her computer, then stood up. "We've got a bed ready to check your cut out." She put a hospital bracelet around Noah's wrist before instructing another nurse to take him to the bed she had just assigned him.
Again, Richie wheeled Noah, this time following the nurse that guided them. He felt a little out of sorts not knowing Noah's medical history but how was he supposed to know everything about his son he had only known for a few years and had always seemed healthy. Maybe he should inform Sarah after all. She would be better at this.
He sat with Noah, waiting patiently. His stomach growled at him, still wanting the snacks he had grabbed earlier but never got to eat. In the bed Noah looked very bored as well. After the nurse had left them, they had not seen anyone else.
"You okay?" He asked Noah, unsure of how else to start a conversation in this tense situation.
"Yeah, just bored."
"Oh." Richie remembered what he found earlier. He moved in his chair so he could retrieve Noah's ebook from his pocket. "Here" He passed it over. "I thought you'd like this."
Noah's face did slightly light up. "Thanks." He said.
"How about, I go and find us some snacks and maybe you can find us a book to listen to or whatever book you're reading now, you'll just have to catch me up."
"Okay." Noah said.
"You okay?" He asked Noah, unsure of how else to start a conversation in this tense situation.
"Yeah, just bored."
"Oh." Richie remembered what he found earlier. He moved in his chair so he could retrieve Noah's ebook from his pocket. "Here" He passed it over. "I thought you'd like this."
Noah's face did slightly light up. "Thanks." He said.
"How about, I go and find us some snacks and maybe you can find us a book to listen to or whatever book you're reading now, you'll just have to catch me up."
"Okay." Noah said.
"I won't be long."
Richie got up from his chair next to Noah's bed and walked out of the room. Once in the hallway, he pulled out his iPhone and sent off a text.
Richie got up from his chair next to Noah's bed and walked out of the room. Once in the hallway, he pulled out his iPhone and sent off a text.
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Chapter 112
Packing up his suitcases that morning felt somewhat like a bittersweet moment. He was happy to finally go home and looked forward to time off with his family again but being on the road had also been a lot of fun. Last summer he might not have thought so but he was glad he had made the decision to go back on tour. There were a lot of family moments he knew he missed out on but there were great memories on tour as well. He had a good time with his friends, now he was ready to go home and have an even greater time as they celebrated Christmas and the end of the year.
"Are you ready for this one?" He asked Jon as he followed him on the stairs to the plane cabin.
Jon's groan made him chuckle. "How many hours is this one?"
"This one, 13 hours." Richie reminded him, loving it when Jon groaned again. "Then 6 more hours after that." He added on.
They found their seats and got comfortable for the long haul.
"Can I have a layover at your house?" Jon asked, not looking forward to a total of 19 hours in the air and knowing it would take much longer than that.
"That would mean you get home even later." Richie pointed out to him.
Jon sighed, not liking that idea either.
Richie shrugged his shoulders at that, it was true, and they both knew that. "Just looking out for you man."
Once in the air, he decided on the easy way out. Being able to sleep anywhere or anytime truly was a wonderful gift especially when combined with the ability to function perfectly fine on a lot less sleep as well. Knowing jet lag would throw him completely off schedule anyway, he decided to kill his time with a nice nap.
When he woke up the cabin was dark and quiet. Jon was still next to him. Tico had moved away and David sat across from him. Carefully he tried to stretch his legs, not wanting to disturb anyone but also needing to get up. Being stuck in the corner by the window, he knew that was going to be very unlikely.
Trying to find something to do, he pulled out his iPad from his bag by his feet. There had to be some sort of games on there.
"You must be bored." He heard after a while from his right. Richie looked over to see Jon watching his iPad.
"You fell asleep on me." Richie said to him.
Jon slowly sat up, getting back in a more comfortable position. "You're the one that went straight to sleep when we got into the air."
"You weren't entertaining me."
It wasn't long before everyone else woke up as well, which led to them having breakfast or lunch. It wasn't much longer now and Richie was getting more than ready to disembark this plane and not look at one for a long while.
Travelling back from Australia was always more fun than returning from Europe. This was the only time, he didn't have to get on an extra flight to make his way home. That surely was the best thing about going to Australia.
Richie was more than happy to get off the plane and leave his friends on it to continue their journey home. Thirteen hours of flight was enough for him, if the guys wanted to add on an extra six just to get home, he would let them do so by themselves.
Once in a car in the way home, he grabbed his phone and decided he needed to point that out to Jon and David. What was a friendship if he couldn't tease them a little bit?
After that, he sent Sarah a text, letting her know he would be home very soon. Then, enjoyed his drive home from the backseat of the SUV. Although he hadn't been away that long, it felt good to see all the familiar places around him.
The driver pulled up to the house. Once the car was parked, Richie opened the door and got out of the car, ready to be home. He quickly helped the driver with getting his bags out of the trunk of the SUV and started to move them to the front door. By now, Sarah had figured out he was home and he was happy to see her waiting in the door with Daniel for him.
Leaving the bags for what they were, he went over to his wife and kissed her deeply. So happy he could do so again. Twenty days had been much too long to go without a kiss. When he finally pulled back, he held his arms out for Daniel to come to him.
"You started Christmas decorating?" He asked when he was finally inside. The railings on the stairs had been decorated with colorful garland and bows.
"Not everything." Sarah said quickly. "Ava came over last night wanting to get it ready for you but we left the living room and the tree." Sarah continued, hoping that would make him feel better.
"It looks great already." He said, happy to be home in a half decorated house.
He happily spent the rest of the morning with Sarah and Daniel, playing with his son as he caught up on the last few weeks with his wife. Sharing stories when he got home was something he always enjoyed. There were many to tell and many to hear about.
After Daniel napped and the three of them were back in the living room, he started going through the boxes of Christmas decorations.
"Ava will be home soon." Sarah reminded him as he opened a box.
He looked up briefly. "I know, just looking for something."
Sarah watched him for a moment as he riffled through the box. "What are you looking for?" She finally asked, curious about what couldn't wait.
"Got it!" He exclaimed as he pulled out a small item that was wrapped in tissue paper. Carefully, he unwrapped it and placed it on the mantel piece above the fire place. "How's that?" He asked.
"Looks good." Sarah agreed, recognizing it now that he had put it down. "What about Ava?" She asked carefully, remembering last year.
He waved it off quickly. "She doesn't actually mind, just acts like she's embarrassed by it. It's cute and it reminds me of how little she was."
They both looked over when the front door opened to see Ava and Noah walk into the hallway. Ava happily dropped her bag by the staircase and headed into the living room to great her father back home.
"Missed you." She said as she hugged him tightly.
Richie loved tight hugs from his daughter and all too happily returned it, he had missed her as well.
"Are we decorating now or later?" He asked her as he let go off their hug.
"Now." Ava answered adamantly.
Richie nodded shortly, liking that idea very much. "Okay. Let's get started so we can have hot chocolate after and watch a movie."
"I'm sure we can have hot chocolate whenever we want."
He shook his head. "No, only after Christmas decorating."
"Okay." Ava slightly rolled her eyes as she followed Noah up the stairs.
Richie unstacked the boxes as he waited for them to come back, then ripped off the tape he had used last year to seal the boxes. Sarah watched him do so from the couch, happy to be watching instead of being part of the decorating for now as she kept Daniel occupied.
Not much later Ava returned to the living room, changed from her school uniform and ready to start decorating the Christmas tree and the rest of the house.
Every year he loved watching Ava being creative and turning the entire house into a picture perfect Christmas decor. Just about as good as what they'd see in the movies they'd watch for the next couple days. Richie followed the instructions she was giving him on where to place certain ornaments on the Christmas tree and helped her reach for the top branches when she was just a little too short to do so herself. Once the tree was finished, Ava continued on to the rest of the living room, taking each items as Richie unwrapped it from its tissue paper or from the box it was kept in for safekeeping.
Sarah watched them both, enjoying how Daniel exclaimed little oh's and ah's whenever he noticed something new that he liked.
"It looks great." Sarah said when it looked like they had finally finished.
"Just need the star." Ava watched as Richie took it out of its box and reached to put it on top of the Christmas tree, finishing it off. "Perfect." Ava smiled.
"I suppose it's time for hot chocolate then?" Sarah asked, getting up with Daniel in her arms.
With cups of hot chocolate in their hands, the four of them sat down on the couch in the living room. Richie had made sure the fire place was on, adding to the experience of Christmas even though it wasn't all that cold outside. He sat close to Sarah, an arm wrapped around her shoulders as he held her close against him, watching the Christmas movie Ava had picked out for them. Having his family close by like this was exactly what he needed today. Nothing would ever beat the feeling he felt when they were all together and sharing a wonderful family moment.
Their excitement for decorating and preparing for Christmas next week, had occupied them so much, they forgot about dinner until Noah came downstairs asking when dinner would be.
After dinner, Ava decided to follow Noah upstairs, as happy as she was her dad was home again, she did still want her own time. Her phone had been exploding with text and other kind of messages for the last few hours and perhaps she would take some time to reply them.
Once again, Richie happily sat down on the couch with Sarah, this time holding Daniel close and hoped the little boy would be off to sleep soon. Some time alone with Sarah was just what he'd need to finish off his lovely homecoming.
When Daniel had been sleeping in his arms for almost half an hour and Sarah's tv show ended, they decided to take him to bed and do the same for themselves. Carefully carrying Daniel to his bed, Richie tried his best not to wake him. With care he laid his son down in his crib, as always, he took his moment to watch him. The boy looked so peaceful when he slept, he cherished that.
"I'll meet you in bed?" He asked Sarah as they walked out of the bedroom, leaving Daniel's open by an inch.
Sarah smiled and reached up for a quick kiss from him. "Sounds good. I'll be waiting." She said, knowing it sounded suggestive.
Richie watched her go into their bedroom, enjoying his view before heading down the hall to say goodnight to his teenage children as per his usual at home ritual.
Having that quick chat before saying good night to Ava was something he held dear very much. It had started much the same as he did now with Daniel, making sure he was asleep before leaving him. Now he knew Ava wasn't going to sleep straight away but having those few minutes to talk and end their day always made him feel better. He knew she treasured it to, on the rare occasion that she went to bed before him, Ava would always come and find him to catch up on their day before saying good night. He loved that he had built that relationship.
After saying his good nights and stopping by Daniel one last time, he opened the door to his own room. He didn't feel anywhere near tired but after being away for almost three weeks, there was nothing he looked more forward to than sharing a bed with his beautiful wife.
"Are you ready for this one?" He asked Jon as he followed him on the stairs to the plane cabin.
Jon's groan made him chuckle. "How many hours is this one?"
"This one, 13 hours." Richie reminded him, loving it when Jon groaned again. "Then 6 more hours after that." He added on.
They found their seats and got comfortable for the long haul.
"Can I have a layover at your house?" Jon asked, not looking forward to a total of 19 hours in the air and knowing it would take much longer than that.
"That would mean you get home even later." Richie pointed out to him.
Jon sighed, not liking that idea either.
Richie shrugged his shoulders at that, it was true, and they both knew that. "Just looking out for you man."
Once in the air, he decided on the easy way out. Being able to sleep anywhere or anytime truly was a wonderful gift especially when combined with the ability to function perfectly fine on a lot less sleep as well. Knowing jet lag would throw him completely off schedule anyway, he decided to kill his time with a nice nap.
When he woke up the cabin was dark and quiet. Jon was still next to him. Tico had moved away and David sat across from him. Carefully he tried to stretch his legs, not wanting to disturb anyone but also needing to get up. Being stuck in the corner by the window, he knew that was going to be very unlikely.
Trying to find something to do, he pulled out his iPad from his bag by his feet. There had to be some sort of games on there.
"You must be bored." He heard after a while from his right. Richie looked over to see Jon watching his iPad.
"You fell asleep on me." Richie said to him.
Jon slowly sat up, getting back in a more comfortable position. "You're the one that went straight to sleep when we got into the air."
"You weren't entertaining me."
It wasn't long before everyone else woke up as well, which led to them having breakfast or lunch. It wasn't much longer now and Richie was getting more than ready to disembark this plane and not look at one for a long while.
Travelling back from Australia was always more fun than returning from Europe. This was the only time, he didn't have to get on an extra flight to make his way home. That surely was the best thing about going to Australia.
Richie was more than happy to get off the plane and leave his friends on it to continue their journey home. Thirteen hours of flight was enough for him, if the guys wanted to add on an extra six just to get home, he would let them do so by themselves.
Once in a car in the way home, he grabbed his phone and decided he needed to point that out to Jon and David. What was a friendship if he couldn't tease them a little bit?
After that, he sent Sarah a text, letting her know he would be home very soon. Then, enjoyed his drive home from the backseat of the SUV. Although he hadn't been away that long, it felt good to see all the familiar places around him.
The driver pulled up to the house. Once the car was parked, Richie opened the door and got out of the car, ready to be home. He quickly helped the driver with getting his bags out of the trunk of the SUV and started to move them to the front door. By now, Sarah had figured out he was home and he was happy to see her waiting in the door with Daniel for him.
Leaving the bags for what they were, he went over to his wife and kissed her deeply. So happy he could do so again. Twenty days had been much too long to go without a kiss. When he finally pulled back, he held his arms out for Daniel to come to him.
"You started Christmas decorating?" He asked when he was finally inside. The railings on the stairs had been decorated with colorful garland and bows.
"Not everything." Sarah said quickly. "Ava came over last night wanting to get it ready for you but we left the living room and the tree." Sarah continued, hoping that would make him feel better.
"It looks great already." He said, happy to be home in a half decorated house.
He happily spent the rest of the morning with Sarah and Daniel, playing with his son as he caught up on the last few weeks with his wife. Sharing stories when he got home was something he always enjoyed. There were many to tell and many to hear about.
After Daniel napped and the three of them were back in the living room, he started going through the boxes of Christmas decorations.
"Ava will be home soon." Sarah reminded him as he opened a box.
He looked up briefly. "I know, just looking for something."
Sarah watched him for a moment as he riffled through the box. "What are you looking for?" She finally asked, curious about what couldn't wait.
"Got it!" He exclaimed as he pulled out a small item that was wrapped in tissue paper. Carefully, he unwrapped it and placed it on the mantel piece above the fire place. "How's that?" He asked.
"Looks good." Sarah agreed, recognizing it now that he had put it down. "What about Ava?" She asked carefully, remembering last year.
He waved it off quickly. "She doesn't actually mind, just acts like she's embarrassed by it. It's cute and it reminds me of how little she was."
They both looked over when the front door opened to see Ava and Noah walk into the hallway. Ava happily dropped her bag by the staircase and headed into the living room to great her father back home.
"Missed you." She said as she hugged him tightly.
Richie loved tight hugs from his daughter and all too happily returned it, he had missed her as well.
"Are we decorating now or later?" He asked her as he let go off their hug.
"Now." Ava answered adamantly.
Richie nodded shortly, liking that idea very much. "Okay. Let's get started so we can have hot chocolate after and watch a movie."
"I'm sure we can have hot chocolate whenever we want."
He shook his head. "No, only after Christmas decorating."
"Okay." Ava slightly rolled her eyes as she followed Noah up the stairs.
Richie unstacked the boxes as he waited for them to come back, then ripped off the tape he had used last year to seal the boxes. Sarah watched him do so from the couch, happy to be watching instead of being part of the decorating for now as she kept Daniel occupied.
Not much later Ava returned to the living room, changed from her school uniform and ready to start decorating the Christmas tree and the rest of the house.
Every year he loved watching Ava being creative and turning the entire house into a picture perfect Christmas decor. Just about as good as what they'd see in the movies they'd watch for the next couple days. Richie followed the instructions she was giving him on where to place certain ornaments on the Christmas tree and helped her reach for the top branches when she was just a little too short to do so herself. Once the tree was finished, Ava continued on to the rest of the living room, taking each items as Richie unwrapped it from its tissue paper or from the box it was kept in for safekeeping.
Sarah watched them both, enjoying how Daniel exclaimed little oh's and ah's whenever he noticed something new that he liked.
"It looks great." Sarah said when it looked like they had finally finished.
"Just need the star." Ava watched as Richie took it out of its box and reached to put it on top of the Christmas tree, finishing it off. "Perfect." Ava smiled.
"I suppose it's time for hot chocolate then?" Sarah asked, getting up with Daniel in her arms.
With cups of hot chocolate in their hands, the four of them sat down on the couch in the living room. Richie had made sure the fire place was on, adding to the experience of Christmas even though it wasn't all that cold outside. He sat close to Sarah, an arm wrapped around her shoulders as he held her close against him, watching the Christmas movie Ava had picked out for them. Having his family close by like this was exactly what he needed today. Nothing would ever beat the feeling he felt when they were all together and sharing a wonderful family moment.
Their excitement for decorating and preparing for Christmas next week, had occupied them so much, they forgot about dinner until Noah came downstairs asking when dinner would be.
After dinner, Ava decided to follow Noah upstairs, as happy as she was her dad was home again, she did still want her own time. Her phone had been exploding with text and other kind of messages for the last few hours and perhaps she would take some time to reply them.
Once again, Richie happily sat down on the couch with Sarah, this time holding Daniel close and hoped the little boy would be off to sleep soon. Some time alone with Sarah was just what he'd need to finish off his lovely homecoming.
When Daniel had been sleeping in his arms for almost half an hour and Sarah's tv show ended, they decided to take him to bed and do the same for themselves. Carefully carrying Daniel to his bed, Richie tried his best not to wake him. With care he laid his son down in his crib, as always, he took his moment to watch him. The boy looked so peaceful when he slept, he cherished that.
"I'll meet you in bed?" He asked Sarah as they walked out of the bedroom, leaving Daniel's open by an inch.
Sarah smiled and reached up for a quick kiss from him. "Sounds good. I'll be waiting." She said, knowing it sounded suggestive.
Richie watched her go into their bedroom, enjoying his view before heading down the hall to say goodnight to his teenage children as per his usual at home ritual.
Having that quick chat before saying good night to Ava was something he held dear very much. It had started much the same as he did now with Daniel, making sure he was asleep before leaving him. Now he knew Ava wasn't going to sleep straight away but having those few minutes to talk and end their day always made him feel better. He knew she treasured it to, on the rare occasion that she went to bed before him, Ava would always come and find him to catch up on their day before saying good night. He loved that he had built that relationship.
After saying his good nights and stopping by Daniel one last time, he opened the door to his own room. He didn't feel anywhere near tired but after being away for almost three weeks, there was nothing he looked more forward to than sharing a bed with his beautiful wife.
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Chapter 111
He woke up to the soft touches of Sarah's lips on his chest. The gentle brushes were exciting him as he enjoyed the feeling of her soft lips against his skin. She reached up and kissed his lips, gladly he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeply, loving waking up like this. With his wife next to him, any morning was perfect. He sighed when Sarah pulled away from their kiss and made her way down again, placing a few kisses on his collarbone as she made her way back down to his chest. A small gasp escaped him when he felt to warm wet of her tongue over his nipple excite him. Softly, he stroked her back, to the curve of her bottom as Sarah continued her trail of kisses downwards. He knew where it was leading, the thought excited him even more.
When he felt Sarah's lips close around him, feeling the warmth of her mouth enclosed around him, he slowly opened his eyes, wanting to see her as she did so.
As he looked down to see her beautiful face on him, he had to blink a few time before he realized all he saw was his own hand wrapped around himself.
He let go and pulled his hand back, thinking of what he had dreamed. Waking up from a realistic dream like that was certainly disappointing. Now he was alone in a hotel room in Perth, Australia instead of in his comfortable bed in California with his wife next to him. Not perfect.
Regretfully, he pulled back the sheets on the bed and with a sigh, he got up. Heading straight for the bathroom. Knowing there'd be no way to get the image out of his head now, a shower would help.
He had slept longer than he had intended, then had gotten distracted, leaving him now with not that much time left before heading for soundcheck. Tonight was a fairly small concert compared to the last three shows they had played. By now he had missed a good time to call Sarah, he didn't like calling her this late and risking the chance of waking her up. Instead, he got ready to head to the venue. He'd call her after the show. A few more days, then it would all be over again and he'd have to figure out what to do with his time. Perfect.
After soundcheck, he lounged on the couch in his dressing room. David was sitting in the chair, his feet propped up on the coffee table between them. Richie had his iPad in hand, browsing Amazon as he looked for Christmas presents, alternating with eBay when Amazon didn't have what he was thinking of. Some people were easy to shop for but for others, it was a very hard task.
"What are you getting Jon?" He asked, making David look up in question. He clarified, "For Christmas?"
David shrugged. "Five dollar Starbucks gift card?"
"What?"
"I don't fucking know, he's got everything he needs." David sighed, a little frustrated at having to figure something out on the spot.
Richie nodded slowly, that was true. "But a gift card?"
"Fine, I'll get him a McDonald's one too."
That made him wonder. "What are you getting me?"
"Two Starbucks gift cards."
"You're such a generous soul."
"Thank you." David smiled at him even though the sarcasm wasn't lost on him.
Richie shook his head and turned back to his iPad, so far he had found several gifts for Daniel. He did not care at all if that meant the boy was spoiled. There were too many adorable clothes to get for him and so many wonderful toys he would enjoy. As a parent, what else was he supposed to do? Not buy him Christmas gifts? He always knew what to get his mom as her Christmas gift and had been able to finish that up in advance. Caleb was another easy one, the boy needed to expand a guitar collection and he gladly assisted in that. With Ava it was divided, he could do what she really wanted or he could just buy whatever she hinted at him for the last few weeks. Sarah would be another easy one because he knew all she wanted was time and he had lots of that to give now. Which left him with Noah. Technically it could be very easy but he didn't want the easy way out unless he had to, that left him with continuing to browse Amazon.
"If I'm getting you two Starbucks gift cards, what are you getting me?" David asked curiously, watching his friend stare at the iPad in his hands.
Richie looked up, giving it some thought. "In 'n' Out gift card?" He suggested.
"The fuck am I supposed to do with that? Jersey doesn't have those."
"I don't see how that's my problem." Richie shrugged, looking at his iPad again, scrolling down the page.
"At least get me Starbucks."
He looked up, frowning. "Why bother then?"
"I like Starbucks. I'm sharing the gift of Starbucks."
"I'm sharing the gift of burgers." Richie pointed out just as smartly. "Burgers are much more giving than coffee."
"Starbucks has muffins and cakes." David countered smartly.
He locked the screen on the iPad before looking up at David. "Seriously though, I don't think there's really anything I need so maybe we can skip it." He suggested instead.
"Like last year?"
"And the year before." He added quickly.
"And the one before that?"
He frowned in thought at what David said, he was right. "When's the last time we really got each other Christmas presents and celebrated together?"
David sighed, trying to think back in time as well.
Neither of them could come up with an answer, they'd spent their Christmases at home, with their family. Knowing they didn't really need to exchange gifts, they all let each other have Christmas privately. Birthdays were different but Christmas was for family. A few moments later, they agreed to continue their tradition of not bothering with Christmas gifts. Besides, if he really found something for David, his birthday wasn't that far away.
Finishing up on Christmas shopping, he kicked David out of his dressing room so he could start getting ready for the show. There wasn't much time left and he wanted to get into the right head space before heading out to the stage.
While on the road, he didn't often finish his day in the same way he started it. Excitement and climaxes.
Their next two shows would be in Sydney, leaving them with a travel day the next day and a four hour flight from one end of the island to the other.
The phone ringing on the night stand next to his bed woke him up, it rang five times before going silent again. Confused, he reached for his iPhone. Anyone that would need him would phone him on there, who would call the hotel room? With a swipe, he unlocked the screen, displaying the time. He groaned as he realized he had only gone to bed a few hours ago. The only person calling him at 5am, would be in California where it was yesterday afternoon. Deciding his phone didn't have any kind of missed calls or texts, it was probably just a mistake. He turned around in bed again and tried to get back to sleep. There were only a few hours before he had to get up and head to the airport.
An hour later he was disturbed by the phone again. Just as last time, it rang times and stopped again.
Noticing the time, he groaned again, he had to get up at 8am which was only two hours away. He just wanted to sleep, and didn't want to deal with the hotel screwing with his phone. The quiet persisted and he decided it was safe enough to get a little more sleep.
At 7am he realized he should have known it wasn't safe.
Frustrated, he got up from the bed. An hour of sleep wasn't going to make a difference at this point anyway. Finding some clothes, he started getting dressed, just as the phone rang again. Being awake this time, he reached to answer it before it stopped but only heard a click as someone hung up.
He knew it, he should have known from the get go.
As he headed to the door, to do as he suspected, he was stopped by a knock. Instead, he opened the door.
"Is that you?" Jon asked, seeming just as annoyed as he was feeling.
"Am I me?" He wasn't awake enough to figure out what Jon was getting at without any clues.
Jon rolled his eyes. "I've been getting phone calls for the last few hours. The front desk claims it isn't them, so is it you?"
"No." Richie answered, why would he be doing that? "But I know who."
"Who?"
"David, duh." Richie said, wanting to head straight to David's room across the hall.
As Jon realized Richie was right, he grabbed him and he pushed past him to get into the room. "You're right." He said as he walked over to the couch and sat down, a pensive look starting to form on his face.
"Of course." Confused at what was happening, Richie closed the door and turned to follow Jon.
Not much later, Richie had all his bags packed and had them standing in the hallway, watching as Jon did the same at his own door. They were ready to go.
"Ready?" Richie asked Jon as he walked over to meet him.
"Oh yeah." Jon said, crossing the hall to pound on David's door.
Richie had to stop himself from chuckling as he watched Jon pound loudly on the door, surely everyone else would hear him too. Especially when he shouted for David to get his ass in gear.
"What the hell?" David asked as he pulled the door open, seeing Jon angry.
"You're fucking late, everyone's left already."
David squinted over at Richie. "Late?" He asked, looking at Jon again. "We don't leave for another hour."
Jon sighed heavily, his frustration clear. "We adjusted the itinerary yesterday, you got the updates." Jon pulled out his phone to show David the adjusted schedule that showed they were leaving at 7am instead of 8am and it was 7:30am by now.
"I've been texting and calling you all morning." Richie chimed in, unlocking his phone to show David the calls and texts he had sent.
David looked at his phone, seeing the fake texts. "I didn't get any of that."
"Well, get your ass going." Jon said sounding thoroughly annoyed with him. "We'll meet you outside."
"Alright. Alright." David turned to go back in the room. "Fuck."
As the door closed, Jon and Richie smiled at each other. Quickly, Richie unlocked his door again and moved his bags inside, letting Jon do the same.
"I think he bought it." Jon said once they were safely inside Richie's room again.
Richie could only agree to that. "Even with your acting skills."
"Shut up, we're on the same side here."
He shrugged, Jon had a point with that.
They headed over to the balcony where Richie had a view of the entry way to the hotel. They weren't that high up and would surely be able to see David from the balcony.
To their delight they didn't have to wait long before they could spot David pulling his luggage out the door, looking confused.
The more David looked around, the harder it was for Richie to contain his laughter, which set off Jon as well. They were too high up for David to notice their laughter but that only made it better.
After a while David finally noticed their movements on the balcony. He shook his head, flashed them the finger and headed inside again.
"That was good." Jon said as they also went back inside the room.
Richie finally composed himself again as he closed the balcony's sliding glass door. "How did you think of that so quickly? Are you being tempted by the dark side?"
Jon shrugged. "I have kids."
"Don't let them influence you so much."
"They have an Uncle Richie and an Uncle Dave."
"Exactly so be weary."
Jon shook his head and rolled his eyes.
"Just looking out for you man."
Their flight to Sydney went as smoothly as most flights, which gave Richie time to catch up on sleep. The three hours of solid sleep he had had before being woken up every hour, would not be enough to get him through the day and tonight's show. Up in the air, on a plane, he didn't have all that much going on. He reclined the back of the seat and got comfortable.
From the airport in Sydney, they went straight to the venue. There'd be two different venues in Sydney. Tonight would be the large stadium and tomorrow they played a smaller indoor arena. After travel, it meant straight to soundcheck for them. As soon as they landed, everything started rolling.
And it didn't stop until they got to their hotel after the show.
With a sigh he sat down on his bed for the night.
At least he now finally had time to give Sarah a call at a decent time for the both of them. He picked up his phone and looked for Sarah's contact before pressing the button for Face time, much preferring to actually seeing her than to just a regular phone call. It'd been a few days since he had the time to do so, he needed to see her face.
When he felt Sarah's lips close around him, feeling the warmth of her mouth enclosed around him, he slowly opened his eyes, wanting to see her as she did so.
As he looked down to see her beautiful face on him, he had to blink a few time before he realized all he saw was his own hand wrapped around himself.
He let go and pulled his hand back, thinking of what he had dreamed. Waking up from a realistic dream like that was certainly disappointing. Now he was alone in a hotel room in Perth, Australia instead of in his comfortable bed in California with his wife next to him. Not perfect.
Regretfully, he pulled back the sheets on the bed and with a sigh, he got up. Heading straight for the bathroom. Knowing there'd be no way to get the image out of his head now, a shower would help.
He had slept longer than he had intended, then had gotten distracted, leaving him now with not that much time left before heading for soundcheck. Tonight was a fairly small concert compared to the last three shows they had played. By now he had missed a good time to call Sarah, he didn't like calling her this late and risking the chance of waking her up. Instead, he got ready to head to the venue. He'd call her after the show. A few more days, then it would all be over again and he'd have to figure out what to do with his time. Perfect.
After soundcheck, he lounged on the couch in his dressing room. David was sitting in the chair, his feet propped up on the coffee table between them. Richie had his iPad in hand, browsing Amazon as he looked for Christmas presents, alternating with eBay when Amazon didn't have what he was thinking of. Some people were easy to shop for but for others, it was a very hard task.
"What are you getting Jon?" He asked, making David look up in question. He clarified, "For Christmas?"
David shrugged. "Five dollar Starbucks gift card?"
"What?"
"I don't fucking know, he's got everything he needs." David sighed, a little frustrated at having to figure something out on the spot.
Richie nodded slowly, that was true. "But a gift card?"
"Fine, I'll get him a McDonald's one too."
That made him wonder. "What are you getting me?"
"Two Starbucks gift cards."
"You're such a generous soul."
"Thank you." David smiled at him even though the sarcasm wasn't lost on him.
Richie shook his head and turned back to his iPad, so far he had found several gifts for Daniel. He did not care at all if that meant the boy was spoiled. There were too many adorable clothes to get for him and so many wonderful toys he would enjoy. As a parent, what else was he supposed to do? Not buy him Christmas gifts? He always knew what to get his mom as her Christmas gift and had been able to finish that up in advance. Caleb was another easy one, the boy needed to expand a guitar collection and he gladly assisted in that. With Ava it was divided, he could do what she really wanted or he could just buy whatever she hinted at him for the last few weeks. Sarah would be another easy one because he knew all she wanted was time and he had lots of that to give now. Which left him with Noah. Technically it could be very easy but he didn't want the easy way out unless he had to, that left him with continuing to browse Amazon.
"If I'm getting you two Starbucks gift cards, what are you getting me?" David asked curiously, watching his friend stare at the iPad in his hands.
Richie looked up, giving it some thought. "In 'n' Out gift card?" He suggested.
"The fuck am I supposed to do with that? Jersey doesn't have those."
"I don't see how that's my problem." Richie shrugged, looking at his iPad again, scrolling down the page.
"At least get me Starbucks."
He looked up, frowning. "Why bother then?"
"I like Starbucks. I'm sharing the gift of Starbucks."
"I'm sharing the gift of burgers." Richie pointed out just as smartly. "Burgers are much more giving than coffee."
"Starbucks has muffins and cakes." David countered smartly.
He locked the screen on the iPad before looking up at David. "Seriously though, I don't think there's really anything I need so maybe we can skip it." He suggested instead.
"Like last year?"
"And the year before." He added quickly.
"And the one before that?"
He frowned in thought at what David said, he was right. "When's the last time we really got each other Christmas presents and celebrated together?"
David sighed, trying to think back in time as well.
Neither of them could come up with an answer, they'd spent their Christmases at home, with their family. Knowing they didn't really need to exchange gifts, they all let each other have Christmas privately. Birthdays were different but Christmas was for family. A few moments later, they agreed to continue their tradition of not bothering with Christmas gifts. Besides, if he really found something for David, his birthday wasn't that far away.
Finishing up on Christmas shopping, he kicked David out of his dressing room so he could start getting ready for the show. There wasn't much time left and he wanted to get into the right head space before heading out to the stage.
While on the road, he didn't often finish his day in the same way he started it. Excitement and climaxes.
Their next two shows would be in Sydney, leaving them with a travel day the next day and a four hour flight from one end of the island to the other.
The phone ringing on the night stand next to his bed woke him up, it rang five times before going silent again. Confused, he reached for his iPhone. Anyone that would need him would phone him on there, who would call the hotel room? With a swipe, he unlocked the screen, displaying the time. He groaned as he realized he had only gone to bed a few hours ago. The only person calling him at 5am, would be in California where it was yesterday afternoon. Deciding his phone didn't have any kind of missed calls or texts, it was probably just a mistake. He turned around in bed again and tried to get back to sleep. There were only a few hours before he had to get up and head to the airport.
An hour later he was disturbed by the phone again. Just as last time, it rang times and stopped again.
Noticing the time, he groaned again, he had to get up at 8am which was only two hours away. He just wanted to sleep, and didn't want to deal with the hotel screwing with his phone. The quiet persisted and he decided it was safe enough to get a little more sleep.
At 7am he realized he should have known it wasn't safe.
Frustrated, he got up from the bed. An hour of sleep wasn't going to make a difference at this point anyway. Finding some clothes, he started getting dressed, just as the phone rang again. Being awake this time, he reached to answer it before it stopped but only heard a click as someone hung up.
He knew it, he should have known from the get go.
As he headed to the door, to do as he suspected, he was stopped by a knock. Instead, he opened the door.
"Is that you?" Jon asked, seeming just as annoyed as he was feeling.
"Am I me?" He wasn't awake enough to figure out what Jon was getting at without any clues.
Jon rolled his eyes. "I've been getting phone calls for the last few hours. The front desk claims it isn't them, so is it you?"
"No." Richie answered, why would he be doing that? "But I know who."
"Who?"
"David, duh." Richie said, wanting to head straight to David's room across the hall.
As Jon realized Richie was right, he grabbed him and he pushed past him to get into the room. "You're right." He said as he walked over to the couch and sat down, a pensive look starting to form on his face.
"Of course." Confused at what was happening, Richie closed the door and turned to follow Jon.
Not much later, Richie had all his bags packed and had them standing in the hallway, watching as Jon did the same at his own door. They were ready to go.
"Ready?" Richie asked Jon as he walked over to meet him.
"Oh yeah." Jon said, crossing the hall to pound on David's door.
Richie had to stop himself from chuckling as he watched Jon pound loudly on the door, surely everyone else would hear him too. Especially when he shouted for David to get his ass in gear.
"What the hell?" David asked as he pulled the door open, seeing Jon angry.
"You're fucking late, everyone's left already."
David squinted over at Richie. "Late?" He asked, looking at Jon again. "We don't leave for another hour."
Jon sighed heavily, his frustration clear. "We adjusted the itinerary yesterday, you got the updates." Jon pulled out his phone to show David the adjusted schedule that showed they were leaving at 7am instead of 8am and it was 7:30am by now.
"I've been texting and calling you all morning." Richie chimed in, unlocking his phone to show David the calls and texts he had sent.
David looked at his phone, seeing the fake texts. "I didn't get any of that."
"Well, get your ass going." Jon said sounding thoroughly annoyed with him. "We'll meet you outside."
"Alright. Alright." David turned to go back in the room. "Fuck."
As the door closed, Jon and Richie smiled at each other. Quickly, Richie unlocked his door again and moved his bags inside, letting Jon do the same.
"I think he bought it." Jon said once they were safely inside Richie's room again.
Richie could only agree to that. "Even with your acting skills."
"Shut up, we're on the same side here."
He shrugged, Jon had a point with that.
They headed over to the balcony where Richie had a view of the entry way to the hotel. They weren't that high up and would surely be able to see David from the balcony.
To their delight they didn't have to wait long before they could spot David pulling his luggage out the door, looking confused.
The more David looked around, the harder it was for Richie to contain his laughter, which set off Jon as well. They were too high up for David to notice their laughter but that only made it better.
After a while David finally noticed their movements on the balcony. He shook his head, flashed them the finger and headed inside again.
"That was good." Jon said as they also went back inside the room.
Richie finally composed himself again as he closed the balcony's sliding glass door. "How did you think of that so quickly? Are you being tempted by the dark side?"
Jon shrugged. "I have kids."
"Don't let them influence you so much."
"They have an Uncle Richie and an Uncle Dave."
"Exactly so be weary."
Jon shook his head and rolled his eyes.
"Just looking out for you man."
Their flight to Sydney went as smoothly as most flights, which gave Richie time to catch up on sleep. The three hours of solid sleep he had had before being woken up every hour, would not be enough to get him through the day and tonight's show. Up in the air, on a plane, he didn't have all that much going on. He reclined the back of the seat and got comfortable.
From the airport in Sydney, they went straight to the venue. There'd be two different venues in Sydney. Tonight would be the large stadium and tomorrow they played a smaller indoor arena. After travel, it meant straight to soundcheck for them. As soon as they landed, everything started rolling.
And it didn't stop until they got to their hotel after the show.
With a sigh he sat down on his bed for the night.
At least he now finally had time to give Sarah a call at a decent time for the both of them. He picked up his phone and looked for Sarah's contact before pressing the button for Face time, much preferring to actually seeing her than to just a regular phone call. It'd been a few days since he had the time to do so, he needed to see her face.
Thursday, December 5, 2019
Chapter 110
He woke up to the sound of a knock on his bedroom door. Momentarily he was confused but his brain caught up quickly to remind him he was in a hotel room in Osaka.
"What?" He reached for his phone that was charging on the night stand to check the time.
"Gym time." Jon responded.
His phone read past 11am, at least he had gotten a decent amount of sleep. "Alright, give me a minute." Moving the sheets, he started to get up.
"Just looking out for you, man."
Richie rolled his eyes as he got up and found his suitcase. Last night, he had only rummaged through it to find toiletries, not needing anything else yet. Now, he searched for some gym shorts and a t-shirt to wear there.
By now, going to the gym in the morning had become a routine to him. Still, he didn't last as long on the treadmill as Jon did but he didn't care about that. After half an hour of running, he stopped the treadmill to get off of it and headed towards the weight rack, gauging which weights he should go for today before picking them up.
As he waited for Jon to finish up his shower in the bathroom they were sharing, he got comfortable on the couch and Facetimed Sarah. It was disappointing to find out his little guy had already gone to sleep but Richie was glad he was behaving for his mom and not giving her any trouble. This way, he could catch up with her before he'd have to head to the arena.
"Is that Sarah?"
Richie looked up at Jon who had just walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. He was sure it was obvious who he was talking to but answered anyway, "Yes, it is."
"Hi Sarah!" Jon called as he crossed the room.
Richie looked down at his phone to see Sarah laugh.
"Hi Jon. Are you guys having fun sharing a room?" She asked them both.
"I'd be having a lot more fun if Jon wasn't naked." Richie told her, watching as her happy expression turned to a question.
"You've seen worse." Jon responded. "At least I'm wearing a towel."
"I have indeed seen worse." Richie agreed.
"We used to share backstage showers." Jon reminded him.
"That's what I meant with worse."
Soundcheck went fairly smoothly. Jon was still working on the setlist but insisted on practicing a wide variety of songs. Richie knew it mostly would be the same as it always was, there was no way to leave out the classics and more and more songs were starting to become classics that had to be played during a concert.
"Why don't you do vocals on In These Arms?" Jon asked, looking over at David behind him.
What he said made Richie look up in surprise from fiddling with his guitar.
"Absolutely." David agreed easily, adjusting his equipment to do so.
Jon turned around again to look at Richie. "Ready?" He asked, getting a nod before counting down to start the song.
It wasn't far into the song that he felt the guitar string snap. He pulled his right hand back, shaking it at the sting he felt.
Jon stopped playing, confused, he started to get agitated at the mistake he heard but then looked over to his right to see what had happened. "You alright there?" He asked.
"Fuck." Richie swore, it stung a lot. He held his hand still to check it out.
"Did it cut?" Jon asked, walking over to him.
He used his left hand to put pressure on it, trying to ignore the sting he felt. "Yup."
Backstage, in his dressing room, Richie watched Jon open the first aid kit they had found. Finally he took his hand off of the cut, it looked like the cut had stopped bleeding by now. Disregarding that, he still cleaned it out with the disinfectant Jon passed him, making sure it would be alright.
"Do you want a band aid?" Jon asked him, going through the kit, looking for one.
"I'm good." It would only be in the way later and it had stopped bleeding.
Jon looked up at him. "Are you sure? I could probably find you a Hello Kitty band aid somewhere."
"I'm sure." He said, resisting the eye roll.
"Just looking out for you man."
That made him roll his eyes. "Thanks, you could be more useful and find superglue."
The actual show that night went a lot better and was without injuries or faulty guitar strings. Shows in Japan were always a little extra special. They had a lot to owe to their Japanese fans.
As they started In These Arms, Jon introduced David to the audience before leaving the stage and taking a break himself. Richie was too lost in the moment to even consider thinking if his guitar's string would do the same as it did during soundcheck.
Backstage, he took his time showering. They'd be on a plane in just a little while, he'd take his time enjoying his freedom before being stuck in cars and an airplane.
The flight was fairly quiet, it was almost midnight and everyone was fine with having some quiet downtime during their short flight. Their hour flight was spent by talking about the show and what they should repeat or improve for their show tomorrow night. Tomorrow would go by fast, Richie was sure he'd sleep in, by the time he got up, ate and would be ready to go it would most likely be time for soundcheck and then the show afterwards. At least they wouldn't travel until Thursday morning, their first show in Australia wouldn't be until Saturday. Thursday would be a travel day, Friday would be his day off to enjoy Melbourne, the weekend would be more concerts.
By the time they arrived at their new hotel, it was past 2am. Getting to their rooms was a lot easier than it had been on Saturday, no complaints.
"Are you going to be okay in a room on your own?" Richie asked as he walked up to his room with Jon next to him.
Jon gave him a confused look, wondering what he was on about.
"I'll just be next door if you get scared or anything, okay?"
"You're still on about that?" Jon asked him.
In response, Richie shrugged. "Just looking out for you man."
Jon pushed his door open and walked inside without giving a reply.
Richie smiled to himself, feeling accomplished in annoying Jon as he opened his own room and walked inside.
Not bothering with anything else, he started getting ready for bed. It wasn't that late but he looked forward to sleeping in.
He brushed his teeth and undressed before sitting down on the bed, leaning back against the pillows covering the headboard. Making sure his phone was plugged in, he started a video call to Sarah.
It didn't take Sarah long to accept the call.
He smiled at his phone screen. "Hey baby." He knew he sounded excited.
"Hi, how was the show?" Sarah asked right away.
Richie could see from the background that she was in the living room, he could imagine Daniel was playing in his corner. "Show was good, just got to Tokyo. Thought I'd phone you and show you my battle wound before going to bed."
She gave him a questioning look, confused at what he meant by that. "What? Battle wound?"
"Yeah." He sounded more excited than he should be as he switched to the back camera, knowing full well that would be showing the boxers he was wearing before he moved it to show her his hand. "A guitar string snapped and hit me." He showed her the red cut on the back of his right hand.
"Ouch." Sarah said as she saw the red line next to his tattoo. "Does that happen often?"
"Nope. One time I sliced my thumb doing the windmill though." Richie almost sounded proud at his injuries, or accomplishments. "I don't even know how it happened today, never done that before."
"Don't do it again, it looks painful."
"It was painful, stung like a bitch when it happened."
Their conversation changed topics as Sarah told her husband about her day so far, it was only mid-morning, the previous day for her. Doing the same as Richie had done, she switched her camera to the back one to show Daniel playing on his own in his little corner. The boy was happily occupied by all of his toys, playing nicely. Sarah only had to mention daddy once before he looked up and understood what was going on. Richie watched as Daniel crawled over to the couch where Sarah picked him up to say hi to him as well. Seeing Sarah with Daniel in her lap made him happy. The two of them always made him happy.
The next day was almost a repeat of the day before, when he finally got out of bed, he had a small breakfast before meeting up with Jon for some gym time. After showering his work out sweat off, he had lunch, then was ready to head to the arena for another soundcheck. Luckily, this time it was without injuries to cut it short for them, leaving them with the usual hour they took to complete soundcheck.
Backstage, he kept himself busy with various things. There was a lot of time before the show and he was waiting on a good time to give Sarah another call, knowing it was still early at home or she would be busy. Instead, he made sure to text Ava, making sure she was getting ready for school. Surely she had some time to text in between getting ready and having breakfast, that phone was mostly glued to her after all.
Around 5, he left his dressing room and went to knock on Jon's door, as he did so, he pushed the door open. He didn't need to wait. Seeing Jon sitting down on the couch was what he had expected, he walked over and joined him. A frown formed on his face as he saw what Jon was working on.
"That's the same setlist as last night." Richie pointed out.
Jon looked up agitated at his comment, "It's not."
"It looks exactly the same." He knew it was hard to play around songs if there were so many that were songs they had to play. There was no way they could leave out the hits or the new songs but at least mix them up a little.
"There's a few differences."
Richie looked more closely. "The ninth song is different."
He pulled out his phone that still had a picture of last night's setlist, taken before he was given a paper copy of it and showed his phone to Jon. How much clearer was he supposed to make his point?
"Yeah, well, fuck it." Jon grumbled frustrated with it.
Richie shook his head. "That's not very nice."
"Fuck that too."
"What the fuck's wrong with you?" His question was more annoyed than actually worried.
He watched Jon's face turn serious just before he went off into a rant.
In the end, there wasn't enough time to actually change anything more about the setlist and they stuck to what Jon had so far. This time, Richie didn't bother taking a picture of it to remember it before seeing the one taped to the floor next to his mike stand.
Regardless of the setlist's lack of quality, in his opinion, the show still went well. The crowd loved it and was just as excitable as last night's. On stage, no one noticed Jon's bad mood, except for the rest of the band. They knew all the little signs when Jon tried to hide how he felt on stage, the show didn't have to suffer because of it.
Not until they were back at the hotel, getting to their rooms did Richie try to catch up with Jon. During the drive they both simply had wanted some peace and quiet but now at the hotel, they had that.
"Do you want to talk or something?" Richie asked, not bothering to take his room key out just yet, depending on Jon's answer.
"No."
"You sure?" He asked. "Talking can be helpful." He wanted to add the running joke they had had for the last few days but thought better of it.
"No."
Richie watched as Jon went into his hotel room, then decided to do the same. If Jon didn't want to talk, he wasn't going to insist on it. The man could deal with his issues however he wanted, although Richie knew it would be a bottle of wine.
Inside his room, he went for another shower. They had rushed out of the arena to get to the hotel as quickly as they could and a hot shower after a show always felt good.
The next morning, he slept in, knowing it was a travel day so what else did have to do? Figuring Jon was still grumpy like the day before, he wasn't going to bother with getting up early and going to the gym with him before travelling. Especially on his day off and having to be on a plane for ten hours later on.
When they got on the plane, everyone steered clear of Jon, leaving Richie more choice of seats when he joined Jon at the table. Instead of going for his usual window seat, he sat down opposite of Jon.
He sat down quietly, then looked up at Jon. "You okay?" He asked carefully.
Jon nodded. "Fine."
"Alright." Richie agreed, at least there was no snapping. That was a good sign so far so he added on. "Just looking out for you man."
It made Jon chuckle just that tiny bit for them both to know he was alright. "Thanks."
Richie didn't question anything else and decided to let it be. Not because he liked to express his feelings that Jon was the same way. He knew that. While he liked to talk things out, Jon preferred to deal with them privately. It had been like that for the last thirty years, it definitely wasn't going to change now.
From his shoulder bag, he retrieved the book he had finished on their last flight and passed it over to Jon. "Want to finish it?"
"What?" He reached for his phone that was charging on the night stand to check the time.
"Gym time." Jon responded.
His phone read past 11am, at least he had gotten a decent amount of sleep. "Alright, give me a minute." Moving the sheets, he started to get up.
"Just looking out for you, man."
Richie rolled his eyes as he got up and found his suitcase. Last night, he had only rummaged through it to find toiletries, not needing anything else yet. Now, he searched for some gym shorts and a t-shirt to wear there.
By now, going to the gym in the morning had become a routine to him. Still, he didn't last as long on the treadmill as Jon did but he didn't care about that. After half an hour of running, he stopped the treadmill to get off of it and headed towards the weight rack, gauging which weights he should go for today before picking them up.
As he waited for Jon to finish up his shower in the bathroom they were sharing, he got comfortable on the couch and Facetimed Sarah. It was disappointing to find out his little guy had already gone to sleep but Richie was glad he was behaving for his mom and not giving her any trouble. This way, he could catch up with her before he'd have to head to the arena.
"Is that Sarah?"
Richie looked up at Jon who had just walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. He was sure it was obvious who he was talking to but answered anyway, "Yes, it is."
"Hi Sarah!" Jon called as he crossed the room.
Richie looked down at his phone to see Sarah laugh.
"Hi Jon. Are you guys having fun sharing a room?" She asked them both.
"I'd be having a lot more fun if Jon wasn't naked." Richie told her, watching as her happy expression turned to a question.
"You've seen worse." Jon responded. "At least I'm wearing a towel."
"I have indeed seen worse." Richie agreed.
"We used to share backstage showers." Jon reminded him.
"That's what I meant with worse."
Soundcheck went fairly smoothly. Jon was still working on the setlist but insisted on practicing a wide variety of songs. Richie knew it mostly would be the same as it always was, there was no way to leave out the classics and more and more songs were starting to become classics that had to be played during a concert.
"Why don't you do vocals on In These Arms?" Jon asked, looking over at David behind him.
What he said made Richie look up in surprise from fiddling with his guitar.
"Absolutely." David agreed easily, adjusting his equipment to do so.
Jon turned around again to look at Richie. "Ready?" He asked, getting a nod before counting down to start the song.
It wasn't far into the song that he felt the guitar string snap. He pulled his right hand back, shaking it at the sting he felt.
Jon stopped playing, confused, he started to get agitated at the mistake he heard but then looked over to his right to see what had happened. "You alright there?" He asked.
"Fuck." Richie swore, it stung a lot. He held his hand still to check it out.
"Did it cut?" Jon asked, walking over to him.
He used his left hand to put pressure on it, trying to ignore the sting he felt. "Yup."
Backstage, in his dressing room, Richie watched Jon open the first aid kit they had found. Finally he took his hand off of the cut, it looked like the cut had stopped bleeding by now. Disregarding that, he still cleaned it out with the disinfectant Jon passed him, making sure it would be alright.
"Do you want a band aid?" Jon asked him, going through the kit, looking for one.
"I'm good." It would only be in the way later and it had stopped bleeding.
Jon looked up at him. "Are you sure? I could probably find you a Hello Kitty band aid somewhere."
"I'm sure." He said, resisting the eye roll.
"Just looking out for you man."
That made him roll his eyes. "Thanks, you could be more useful and find superglue."
The actual show that night went a lot better and was without injuries or faulty guitar strings. Shows in Japan were always a little extra special. They had a lot to owe to their Japanese fans.
As they started In These Arms, Jon introduced David to the audience before leaving the stage and taking a break himself. Richie was too lost in the moment to even consider thinking if his guitar's string would do the same as it did during soundcheck.
Backstage, he took his time showering. They'd be on a plane in just a little while, he'd take his time enjoying his freedom before being stuck in cars and an airplane.
The flight was fairly quiet, it was almost midnight and everyone was fine with having some quiet downtime during their short flight. Their hour flight was spent by talking about the show and what they should repeat or improve for their show tomorrow night. Tomorrow would go by fast, Richie was sure he'd sleep in, by the time he got up, ate and would be ready to go it would most likely be time for soundcheck and then the show afterwards. At least they wouldn't travel until Thursday morning, their first show in Australia wouldn't be until Saturday. Thursday would be a travel day, Friday would be his day off to enjoy Melbourne, the weekend would be more concerts.
By the time they arrived at their new hotel, it was past 2am. Getting to their rooms was a lot easier than it had been on Saturday, no complaints.
"Are you going to be okay in a room on your own?" Richie asked as he walked up to his room with Jon next to him.
Jon gave him a confused look, wondering what he was on about.
"I'll just be next door if you get scared or anything, okay?"
"You're still on about that?" Jon asked him.
In response, Richie shrugged. "Just looking out for you man."
Jon pushed his door open and walked inside without giving a reply.
Richie smiled to himself, feeling accomplished in annoying Jon as he opened his own room and walked inside.
Not bothering with anything else, he started getting ready for bed. It wasn't that late but he looked forward to sleeping in.
He brushed his teeth and undressed before sitting down on the bed, leaning back against the pillows covering the headboard. Making sure his phone was plugged in, he started a video call to Sarah.
It didn't take Sarah long to accept the call.
He smiled at his phone screen. "Hey baby." He knew he sounded excited.
"Hi, how was the show?" Sarah asked right away.
Richie could see from the background that she was in the living room, he could imagine Daniel was playing in his corner. "Show was good, just got to Tokyo. Thought I'd phone you and show you my battle wound before going to bed."
She gave him a questioning look, confused at what he meant by that. "What? Battle wound?"
"Yeah." He sounded more excited than he should be as he switched to the back camera, knowing full well that would be showing the boxers he was wearing before he moved it to show her his hand. "A guitar string snapped and hit me." He showed her the red cut on the back of his right hand.
"Ouch." Sarah said as she saw the red line next to his tattoo. "Does that happen often?"
"Nope. One time I sliced my thumb doing the windmill though." Richie almost sounded proud at his injuries, or accomplishments. "I don't even know how it happened today, never done that before."
"Don't do it again, it looks painful."
"It was painful, stung like a bitch when it happened."
Their conversation changed topics as Sarah told her husband about her day so far, it was only mid-morning, the previous day for her. Doing the same as Richie had done, she switched her camera to the back one to show Daniel playing on his own in his little corner. The boy was happily occupied by all of his toys, playing nicely. Sarah only had to mention daddy once before he looked up and understood what was going on. Richie watched as Daniel crawled over to the couch where Sarah picked him up to say hi to him as well. Seeing Sarah with Daniel in her lap made him happy. The two of them always made him happy.
The next day was almost a repeat of the day before, when he finally got out of bed, he had a small breakfast before meeting up with Jon for some gym time. After showering his work out sweat off, he had lunch, then was ready to head to the arena for another soundcheck. Luckily, this time it was without injuries to cut it short for them, leaving them with the usual hour they took to complete soundcheck.
Backstage, he kept himself busy with various things. There was a lot of time before the show and he was waiting on a good time to give Sarah another call, knowing it was still early at home or she would be busy. Instead, he made sure to text Ava, making sure she was getting ready for school. Surely she had some time to text in between getting ready and having breakfast, that phone was mostly glued to her after all.
Around 5, he left his dressing room and went to knock on Jon's door, as he did so, he pushed the door open. He didn't need to wait. Seeing Jon sitting down on the couch was what he had expected, he walked over and joined him. A frown formed on his face as he saw what Jon was working on.
"That's the same setlist as last night." Richie pointed out.
Jon looked up agitated at his comment, "It's not."
"It looks exactly the same." He knew it was hard to play around songs if there were so many that were songs they had to play. There was no way they could leave out the hits or the new songs but at least mix them up a little.
"There's a few differences."
Richie looked more closely. "The ninth song is different."
He pulled out his phone that still had a picture of last night's setlist, taken before he was given a paper copy of it and showed his phone to Jon. How much clearer was he supposed to make his point?
"Yeah, well, fuck it." Jon grumbled frustrated with it.
Richie shook his head. "That's not very nice."
"Fuck that too."
"What the fuck's wrong with you?" His question was more annoyed than actually worried.
He watched Jon's face turn serious just before he went off into a rant.
In the end, there wasn't enough time to actually change anything more about the setlist and they stuck to what Jon had so far. This time, Richie didn't bother taking a picture of it to remember it before seeing the one taped to the floor next to his mike stand.
Regardless of the setlist's lack of quality, in his opinion, the show still went well. The crowd loved it and was just as excitable as last night's. On stage, no one noticed Jon's bad mood, except for the rest of the band. They knew all the little signs when Jon tried to hide how he felt on stage, the show didn't have to suffer because of it.
Not until they were back at the hotel, getting to their rooms did Richie try to catch up with Jon. During the drive they both simply had wanted some peace and quiet but now at the hotel, they had that.
"Do you want to talk or something?" Richie asked, not bothering to take his room key out just yet, depending on Jon's answer.
"No."
"You sure?" He asked. "Talking can be helpful." He wanted to add the running joke they had had for the last few days but thought better of it.
"No."
Richie watched as Jon went into his hotel room, then decided to do the same. If Jon didn't want to talk, he wasn't going to insist on it. The man could deal with his issues however he wanted, although Richie knew it would be a bottle of wine.
Inside his room, he went for another shower. They had rushed out of the arena to get to the hotel as quickly as they could and a hot shower after a show always felt good.
The next morning, he slept in, knowing it was a travel day so what else did have to do? Figuring Jon was still grumpy like the day before, he wasn't going to bother with getting up early and going to the gym with him before travelling. Especially on his day off and having to be on a plane for ten hours later on.
When they got on the plane, everyone steered clear of Jon, leaving Richie more choice of seats when he joined Jon at the table. Instead of going for his usual window seat, he sat down opposite of Jon.
He sat down quietly, then looked up at Jon. "You okay?" He asked carefully.
Jon nodded. "Fine."
"Alright." Richie agreed, at least there was no snapping. That was a good sign so far so he added on. "Just looking out for you man."
It made Jon chuckle just that tiny bit for them both to know he was alright. "Thanks."
Richie didn't question anything else and decided to let it be. Not because he liked to express his feelings that Jon was the same way. He knew that. While he liked to talk things out, Jon preferred to deal with them privately. It had been like that for the last thirty years, it definitely wasn't going to change now.
From his shoulder bag, he retrieved the book he had finished on their last flight and passed it over to Jon. "Want to finish it?"
Saturday, November 30, 2019
Chapter 109
He woke up a few hours later, he looked to his right where Jon was still sitting as if he hadn't moved at all, except he was holding a book. Richie sat up and stretched, then looked at Jon again.
"Are you reading my book?" He asked.
Jon looked up from the book. "Good morning to you too."
"Time?"
Jon turned his wrist to check for the time. "5, means we're almost there."
"Thank fuck." Richie started getting up, feeling the soreness of being cooped up for so long.
He waited for Jon to move so he could get into the path and walk to the washroom. He needed to stretch after sleeping in a chair for almost 4 hours.
On his way back he stopped at David's seat for a quick chat, glad to be standing for a little longer before he returned to his seat again. A private plane was definitely more comfortable but in the end, it was still just a plane and that didn't change all that much about a 15 hour flight.
Returning to his seat, he sat down across from Jon. "Enjoying my book?"
"It's pretty good."
His phone read 2:15am when the plane finally landed but they were told it was 6pm locally. That was by far the longest time difference he had had in his relationship with Sarah. He couldn't wait to get to the hotel and give her a call. It would wake her up, he knew that but he wouldn't be able to do anything with his day if he didn't at least let her know he had arrived.
Before entering the hotel, their road manager stopped them from going any further as soon as they were out of the cars.
"They fucked up." He said, already noticing everyone's moods changing as soon as he said it.
"How much did they fuck up?" Jon countered with his question.
Richie looked at him, noticing how angry he sounded already.
"They got the rooms wrong. Someone miscommunicated and they've got us all in rooms with two bedrooms in them instead of two separate rooms."
"So we're sharing?" Jon sounded even more angry.
Richie looked at their road manager, seeing how he knew they messed up but wasn't able to fix it for them. "It's fine man." He looked at Jon. "We'll be roomies."
"Why do you get to pick roommates first?" David countered quickly from his other side.
Richie looked at him, confused at why he would protest. "Did you want to share with Jon?"
"Hell no."
"Then what the fuck are you complaining?" He asked.
"I just want the option to pick."
Richie sighed at how little sense that explanation made. "Then decide if you want to share with Tico, Hugh or Bobby?"
Jon took his key cards and walked away, done with everything and everyone.
"Hey," Richie said, catching up to him, "I need a key too."
Jon kicked the door closed after Richie opened it for them and they made their way into the room. Richie shook his head and walked to the main room, dropping his shoulder bag on one of the chairs. The room was pretty big, there was a living room with dining area and a wet bar, no full kitchen this time. By the looks of it the two bedrooms were separated with the bathroom between it. He walked over to the bedrooms, looking inside both, deciding which one he wanted for himself but finding them almost exact.
He turned around when Jon was still continuing his hissy fit by the entrance to their room.
"How can they fuck up booking rooms!"
Richie rolled his eyes and walked back to him. "Work on your Japanese and book them yourself next time." He pointed out smartly.
"It can't be that hard."
"Maybe not but just calm down, will you? It's not that big of a deal, it's only a couple nights, we're leaving on Tuesday after the show and we still have separate rooms. We've done worse."
"I doubt it."
"You doubt?" Richie questioned him. "We used to share a fucking bed so get over yourself."
Jon just glared at him in response.
"Go pick out a bedroom and go have a nap or something so I can call my wife."
He ignored Jon after that and sat down on the couch, pulling his phone from his pocket as he did so. With a swipe he unlocked the screen and opened Sarah's contact, then touched the phone icon to call her. Once he heard Jon close the bedroom door, he stretched out on the couch and put the phone on speaker phone, waiting for a reply from Sarah instead of the ringing tone. As he waited for a reply, he opened messages and started a text to Ava. In the middle of it he heard the ringing tone stop as his call was answered.
"Sarah?" He asked when a reply didn't come right away.
"I'm here." She mumbled.
In her voice, he could hear he had woken her up. "I'm sorry." Quickly, he apologized first. "I just wanted to let you know I got to the hotel."
"What time is it?" Sarah asked sleepily.
"For me or for you?"
"You."
He looked at the corner of his phone as he continued typing his text to Ava. "7:35, pm, he clarified." Then he heard Sarah trying to do the mental math as she didn't answer him right away. "16 hours." He added on, saving her from calculating it.
"Wow."
"Yeah."
"How's Japan?" Sarah asked him quickly.
Easily he could start to hear the difference in her voice, he was waking her up. He didn't mind. "Not all that great so far. They messed up the rooms so I get to share with Jon. He's very angry about it. I sent him to bed like the 5 year old he was acting like."
Sarah chuckled at that. "That's because he doesn't sleep on planes."
"The boy needs his naps." Richie agreed with his own chuckle.
It had only been a day and he already missed her so much.
After a little while, he decided to let Sarah go back to sleep. Surely she was tired as it was the middle of the night for her. Time didn't make much sense to him right now.
Once he said goodbye, Richie attempted keeping himself busy but the TV was too Japanese and after browsing on his phone for a while, he felt bored. He looked up at the bedrooms, one door closed as Jon had most likely gone to sleep.
Just as he though of going to check what everyone else was up to, he heard noise outside of the room and got up to investigate. Unlike he had expected it was just their bags being dropped off after the mix up the hotel had made. He helped out hauling them into the room, then took his own to his room, leaving Jon's outside his door. He regarded his suitcases for a second until his guitar case made the most sense to him. Picking it up, he carried it back to the living room and took it out of the case.
Jon sighed when he walked out of the bedroom, finding what had woken him up. Knowing it was useless to say anything, he walked over to the couch where Richie was sat playing his guitar. It took a moment before Richie looked up at him, he always got lost.
"Yes?" Richie asked when he noticed Jon staring down at him. Realizing that meant Jon was awake, made him change his answer. "Oh, did I wake you up?"
"Kind of, yeah."
"Sorry, I was killing time until dinner."
That one caught Jon's attention. "Want to go for dinner?"
"Sushi?"
"Duh."
They easily found a sushi place in the large city, even if it was close to 10pm locally. There would never be a way that his first meal in Japan would not be sushi. It'd be the same as going to Italy and not having pizza, it did not make sense.
The restaurant was fairly small which was always a good sign. Generally Japanese people respected their privacy more than fans at home or in Europe. It was easier to sneak away here than it was in many other cities. After the long day they had, it was nice to be able to go out for dinner peacefully and not be overwhelmed by everybody.
When Richie's sushi craving had been satisfied, they headed back to the hotel. It was getting late, although it really didn't feel like that at all.
That feeling was confirmed when Sarah texted him a good morning. Not much later he finally got his reply from Ava as well. Glad she had not woken up in the middle of the night for him. As they were driven back to the hotel, he continued his text conversation with Ava and Sarah. Noticing Jon next to him was doing the same on his own phone. When he finally got a response to his text to Noah, he gladly told him all about the book he had read on the plane. He'd hang on to it for Noah to read as well.
Not much later, the car parked outside of the hotel and Richie and Jon headed for the elevator. Looking up for a second, Richie found the perfect moment to bug Jon again.
"Do you need me to hold your hand in the elevator?" He asked as he pressed the button to make the doors open.
Jon's eye roll was almost audible. "Fuck off." He said as the doors slid open and he stepped inside.
Richie shrugged, still enjoying his joke. "Nothing wrong with claustrophobia."
"Then why are you being annoying?"
"I'm not being annoying. I'm looking out for you." He followed Jon into the elevator and watched him press the button for their floor.
"Pretty sure I've been taking elevators for years now."
"I remember when we used to have to take the stairs."
"Was good for you." Jon pointed out.
"Calling me fat again?"
"Just looking out for you man."
Richie laughed at that, knowing Jon was trying to annoy him in return but he didn't mind it. "Thanks, we should hit the gym again tomorrow morning, get a run in." He didn't actually mind that idea at all.
Richie used his key card to let them both into their hotel room. His texts from Sarah had ended as she had to start get ready for the day, then take Noah to school. He had wished her a good night, just in case he did go to bed and didn't have a chance to do so again.
Jet lag was definitely going to bother him. It was past 11pm by now but he still felt as if it was yesterday afternoon or something. His nap on the plane had been short but all together, it surely didn't feel as if it was close to midnight.
On the other hand, that wasn't a terrible feeling either. Tomorrow they would be coming back from their show around this time. He could try to catch up on sleep or keep busy for a little longer and make sure he would be able to sleep.
"Want to watch a movie?" He asked Jon as he moved his guitar off the couch where he had left it and into its case for safekeeping.
"Sure." Jon responded, not sounding too sure about it.
"Did you want to go to bed?" Richie asked, making sure before starting up a movie. "I just don't think I can sleep." He picked up the remote so try and search for a movie.
"I'll be fine. Which movie."
"Not The Godfather." Richie didn't really care but it was always the same movie with Jon. "Broaden your horizons for once."
"Whatever. Pick a movie." Jon went over to the mini fridge in the bar area and found some snacks and drinks to bring over to the couch.
Richie got himself comfortable on the couch as he accepted what Jon passed him, then watched Jon get settled in the chair next to the couch before turning on the movie.
A while into the movie, Richie couldn't help himself, knowing Jon hated whenever someone started talking during a movie but he just had to say it.
"This brings back memories." He said, looking over at Jon.
Jon finished the handful of popcorn he had just stuffed into his mouth before agreeing. "Yeah, it kind of does."
"We had good times." Richie reminisced about their early days.
"We still have good times." Jon pointed out, wiping his hand on his jeans.
Richie nodded at that, it was true. They'd gotten older but it was still fun. "We're not sharing a bed though."
Jon raised an eyebrow in question at him. "Don't want to cuddle up with me?" He teased.
"I think we're both too married for that." Richie reminded him quickly, he knew they were only joking around but he was definitely too old to share a bed with another man. Unless it was a little man named Daniel.
He focused on the TV and the movie again but his mind wasn't all there. It had gotten stuck in 1988 where Jon and him did this often in the middle of the night or trying to live through jet lag like they were now. Everything was so different back then, they always shared rooms back then. There became a point where they could afford to get separate rooms for everyone but back then it was fun to share and keep an extra room for other, more private needs when needed.
Nowadays, they all enjoyed their downtime in a different way which lead to private rooms for everyone.
He tried to think of the last time they really had shared a room, he knew it was back in the 80's but couldn't pin point a time where they decided to spend the extra money. All he knew for sure was that touring in the 90's with Keep The Faith was when he got his own room. Generally always right next to Jon. Not that it really had mattered or made a difference but that's just how it went. These days, he didn't care all that much. As long as he had a bed to sleep in and could spend his free time the way he pleased.
A slight noise to his left, brought him back to the hotel room. Looking over, he noticed Jon had fallen asleep in the chair next to him. The time on his phone showed his mind had wandered for the last half hour. He was clueless about what the movie was about and decided to leave it that way. Grabbing the remote, he turned the TV off and sat up, reaching out to Jon next to him.
"Dude." Richie got up from the couch, ready to head to bed himself as he reached out to shake Jon's shoulder.
It took him two more tried before Jon looked up at him. "What?" He asked confused.
"Just though you might want to go lay down in bed." Richie clarified.
Jon yawned as he stretched before standing up from the chair. "Thanks."
"No problem." Richie headed towards the bedroom that he had moved all of his stuff into earlier. "Just looking out for you man."
"Are you reading my book?" He asked.
Jon looked up from the book. "Good morning to you too."
"Time?"
Jon turned his wrist to check for the time. "5, means we're almost there."
"Thank fuck." Richie started getting up, feeling the soreness of being cooped up for so long.
He waited for Jon to move so he could get into the path and walk to the washroom. He needed to stretch after sleeping in a chair for almost 4 hours.
On his way back he stopped at David's seat for a quick chat, glad to be standing for a little longer before he returned to his seat again. A private plane was definitely more comfortable but in the end, it was still just a plane and that didn't change all that much about a 15 hour flight.
Returning to his seat, he sat down across from Jon. "Enjoying my book?"
"It's pretty good."
His phone read 2:15am when the plane finally landed but they were told it was 6pm locally. That was by far the longest time difference he had had in his relationship with Sarah. He couldn't wait to get to the hotel and give her a call. It would wake her up, he knew that but he wouldn't be able to do anything with his day if he didn't at least let her know he had arrived.
Before entering the hotel, their road manager stopped them from going any further as soon as they were out of the cars.
"They fucked up." He said, already noticing everyone's moods changing as soon as he said it.
"How much did they fuck up?" Jon countered with his question.
Richie looked at him, noticing how angry he sounded already.
"They got the rooms wrong. Someone miscommunicated and they've got us all in rooms with two bedrooms in them instead of two separate rooms."
"So we're sharing?" Jon sounded even more angry.
Richie looked at their road manager, seeing how he knew they messed up but wasn't able to fix it for them. "It's fine man." He looked at Jon. "We'll be roomies."
"Why do you get to pick roommates first?" David countered quickly from his other side.
Richie looked at him, confused at why he would protest. "Did you want to share with Jon?"
"Hell no."
"Then what the fuck are you complaining?" He asked.
"I just want the option to pick."
Richie sighed at how little sense that explanation made. "Then decide if you want to share with Tico, Hugh or Bobby?"
Jon took his key cards and walked away, done with everything and everyone.
"Hey," Richie said, catching up to him, "I need a key too."
Jon kicked the door closed after Richie opened it for them and they made their way into the room. Richie shook his head and walked to the main room, dropping his shoulder bag on one of the chairs. The room was pretty big, there was a living room with dining area and a wet bar, no full kitchen this time. By the looks of it the two bedrooms were separated with the bathroom between it. He walked over to the bedrooms, looking inside both, deciding which one he wanted for himself but finding them almost exact.
He turned around when Jon was still continuing his hissy fit by the entrance to their room.
"How can they fuck up booking rooms!"
Richie rolled his eyes and walked back to him. "Work on your Japanese and book them yourself next time." He pointed out smartly.
"It can't be that hard."
"Maybe not but just calm down, will you? It's not that big of a deal, it's only a couple nights, we're leaving on Tuesday after the show and we still have separate rooms. We've done worse."
"I doubt it."
"You doubt?" Richie questioned him. "We used to share a fucking bed so get over yourself."
Jon just glared at him in response.
"Go pick out a bedroom and go have a nap or something so I can call my wife."
He ignored Jon after that and sat down on the couch, pulling his phone from his pocket as he did so. With a swipe he unlocked the screen and opened Sarah's contact, then touched the phone icon to call her. Once he heard Jon close the bedroom door, he stretched out on the couch and put the phone on speaker phone, waiting for a reply from Sarah instead of the ringing tone. As he waited for a reply, he opened messages and started a text to Ava. In the middle of it he heard the ringing tone stop as his call was answered.
"Sarah?" He asked when a reply didn't come right away.
"I'm here." She mumbled.
In her voice, he could hear he had woken her up. "I'm sorry." Quickly, he apologized first. "I just wanted to let you know I got to the hotel."
"What time is it?" Sarah asked sleepily.
"For me or for you?"
"You."
He looked at the corner of his phone as he continued typing his text to Ava. "7:35, pm, he clarified." Then he heard Sarah trying to do the mental math as she didn't answer him right away. "16 hours." He added on, saving her from calculating it.
"Wow."
"Yeah."
"How's Japan?" Sarah asked him quickly.
Easily he could start to hear the difference in her voice, he was waking her up. He didn't mind. "Not all that great so far. They messed up the rooms so I get to share with Jon. He's very angry about it. I sent him to bed like the 5 year old he was acting like."
Sarah chuckled at that. "That's because he doesn't sleep on planes."
"The boy needs his naps." Richie agreed with his own chuckle.
It had only been a day and he already missed her so much.
After a little while, he decided to let Sarah go back to sleep. Surely she was tired as it was the middle of the night for her. Time didn't make much sense to him right now.
Once he said goodbye, Richie attempted keeping himself busy but the TV was too Japanese and after browsing on his phone for a while, he felt bored. He looked up at the bedrooms, one door closed as Jon had most likely gone to sleep.
Just as he though of going to check what everyone else was up to, he heard noise outside of the room and got up to investigate. Unlike he had expected it was just their bags being dropped off after the mix up the hotel had made. He helped out hauling them into the room, then took his own to his room, leaving Jon's outside his door. He regarded his suitcases for a second until his guitar case made the most sense to him. Picking it up, he carried it back to the living room and took it out of the case.
Jon sighed when he walked out of the bedroom, finding what had woken him up. Knowing it was useless to say anything, he walked over to the couch where Richie was sat playing his guitar. It took a moment before Richie looked up at him, he always got lost.
"Yes?" Richie asked when he noticed Jon staring down at him. Realizing that meant Jon was awake, made him change his answer. "Oh, did I wake you up?"
"Kind of, yeah."
"Sorry, I was killing time until dinner."
That one caught Jon's attention. "Want to go for dinner?"
"Sushi?"
"Duh."
They easily found a sushi place in the large city, even if it was close to 10pm locally. There would never be a way that his first meal in Japan would not be sushi. It'd be the same as going to Italy and not having pizza, it did not make sense.
The restaurant was fairly small which was always a good sign. Generally Japanese people respected their privacy more than fans at home or in Europe. It was easier to sneak away here than it was in many other cities. After the long day they had, it was nice to be able to go out for dinner peacefully and not be overwhelmed by everybody.
When Richie's sushi craving had been satisfied, they headed back to the hotel. It was getting late, although it really didn't feel like that at all.
That feeling was confirmed when Sarah texted him a good morning. Not much later he finally got his reply from Ava as well. Glad she had not woken up in the middle of the night for him. As they were driven back to the hotel, he continued his text conversation with Ava and Sarah. Noticing Jon next to him was doing the same on his own phone. When he finally got a response to his text to Noah, he gladly told him all about the book he had read on the plane. He'd hang on to it for Noah to read as well.
Not much later, the car parked outside of the hotel and Richie and Jon headed for the elevator. Looking up for a second, Richie found the perfect moment to bug Jon again.
"Do you need me to hold your hand in the elevator?" He asked as he pressed the button to make the doors open.
Jon's eye roll was almost audible. "Fuck off." He said as the doors slid open and he stepped inside.
Richie shrugged, still enjoying his joke. "Nothing wrong with claustrophobia."
"Then why are you being annoying?"
"I'm not being annoying. I'm looking out for you." He followed Jon into the elevator and watched him press the button for their floor.
"Pretty sure I've been taking elevators for years now."
"I remember when we used to have to take the stairs."
"Was good for you." Jon pointed out.
"Calling me fat again?"
"Just looking out for you man."
Richie laughed at that, knowing Jon was trying to annoy him in return but he didn't mind it. "Thanks, we should hit the gym again tomorrow morning, get a run in." He didn't actually mind that idea at all.
Richie used his key card to let them both into their hotel room. His texts from Sarah had ended as she had to start get ready for the day, then take Noah to school. He had wished her a good night, just in case he did go to bed and didn't have a chance to do so again.
Jet lag was definitely going to bother him. It was past 11pm by now but he still felt as if it was yesterday afternoon or something. His nap on the plane had been short but all together, it surely didn't feel as if it was close to midnight.
On the other hand, that wasn't a terrible feeling either. Tomorrow they would be coming back from their show around this time. He could try to catch up on sleep or keep busy for a little longer and make sure he would be able to sleep.
"Want to watch a movie?" He asked Jon as he moved his guitar off the couch where he had left it and into its case for safekeeping.
"Sure." Jon responded, not sounding too sure about it.
"Did you want to go to bed?" Richie asked, making sure before starting up a movie. "I just don't think I can sleep." He picked up the remote so try and search for a movie.
"I'll be fine. Which movie."
"Not The Godfather." Richie didn't really care but it was always the same movie with Jon. "Broaden your horizons for once."
"Whatever. Pick a movie." Jon went over to the mini fridge in the bar area and found some snacks and drinks to bring over to the couch.
Richie got himself comfortable on the couch as he accepted what Jon passed him, then watched Jon get settled in the chair next to the couch before turning on the movie.
A while into the movie, Richie couldn't help himself, knowing Jon hated whenever someone started talking during a movie but he just had to say it.
"This brings back memories." He said, looking over at Jon.
Jon finished the handful of popcorn he had just stuffed into his mouth before agreeing. "Yeah, it kind of does."
"We had good times." Richie reminisced about their early days.
"We still have good times." Jon pointed out, wiping his hand on his jeans.
Richie nodded at that, it was true. They'd gotten older but it was still fun. "We're not sharing a bed though."
Jon raised an eyebrow in question at him. "Don't want to cuddle up with me?" He teased.
"I think we're both too married for that." Richie reminded him quickly, he knew they were only joking around but he was definitely too old to share a bed with another man. Unless it was a little man named Daniel.
He focused on the TV and the movie again but his mind wasn't all there. It had gotten stuck in 1988 where Jon and him did this often in the middle of the night or trying to live through jet lag like they were now. Everything was so different back then, they always shared rooms back then. There became a point where they could afford to get separate rooms for everyone but back then it was fun to share and keep an extra room for other, more private needs when needed.
Nowadays, they all enjoyed their downtime in a different way which lead to private rooms for everyone.
He tried to think of the last time they really had shared a room, he knew it was back in the 80's but couldn't pin point a time where they decided to spend the extra money. All he knew for sure was that touring in the 90's with Keep The Faith was when he got his own room. Generally always right next to Jon. Not that it really had mattered or made a difference but that's just how it went. These days, he didn't care all that much. As long as he had a bed to sleep in and could spend his free time the way he pleased.
A slight noise to his left, brought him back to the hotel room. Looking over, he noticed Jon had fallen asleep in the chair next to him. The time on his phone showed his mind had wandered for the last half hour. He was clueless about what the movie was about and decided to leave it that way. Grabbing the remote, he turned the TV off and sat up, reaching out to Jon next to him.
"Dude." Richie got up from the couch, ready to head to bed himself as he reached out to shake Jon's shoulder.
It took him two more tried before Jon looked up at him. "What?" He asked confused.
"Just though you might want to go lay down in bed." Richie clarified.
Jon yawned as he stretched before standing up from the chair. "Thanks."
"No problem." Richie headed towards the bedroom that he had moved all of his stuff into earlier. "Just looking out for you man."
Monday, November 25, 2019
Chapter 108
Tomorrow morning he would have to leave for Japan. Knowing that made him a little sad. The last few weeks at home had been wonderful. He got to spend them exactly how he wanted, he got a lot of family time with everyone. Several times he had the chance to take Ava out for lunch or dinner just to spend some time alone to talk and catch up on everything that was going on in Ava's life, which was a lot. With Noah, he had tried to do the same, although not as successfully as it was with Ava but he still felt like he had gotten to know him better in those few weeks. Their trip to the bookstore had really sparked it all and he could kick himself for not doing something like that before when he reminded himself that he had done exactly that before without the same results. He was happy to look back on their afternoon as a real bonding moment. Their drives home from school were a little more talkative as Noah would actually tell him about classes. Noah wouldn't say so but Richie started to get the idea that Noah wasn't having the best time of his life in high school like Ava was. Being gone for almost all of the first school semester, did not make him feel better about that, he should have noticed how Noah was feeling. Instead he thought Noah was fine and spent his time with Ava and Daniel. He hoped that the small moments of hair styling, playing clue, discussing Daniel's new picture books and judging movies on their books during the last few weeks meant something to Noah as well. Maybe once he got back, he'd get on those drive lessons again.
"I'm going to miss you so much." Sarah said as she got into bed next to him.
He turned off the TV he had forgotten about a while ago and moved to cuddle her. "I'm going to miss you too. It won't be long." He assured her.
"I know, but you'll be so much further away. With the time difference, I won't get to talk to you as much."
Sighing, he agreed. "I know but we'll figure it out. It's only about two weeks."
Sarah nodded and cuddled closer against him, not wanting to let go of him tonight.
The next morning, he was up early. Ava had already gone to Heather's house the night before but he was still determined to make breakfast for everyone before he left.
It was looking to be a very long day. He had to fly to New York first before meeting up with the rest of the guys to head to Japan tonight on the band's airplane. So far, he planned to catch up on sleep and try and not be too jet-lagged by the time they arrived in Japan tomorrow.
He didn't look forward to it.
Trying to make breakfast, and the day, a little more fun for everyone, he decided on making pancakes for a change. One could never go wrong with pancakes after all and he knew Daniel loved them. As he baked his pancakes, he had Daniel in his high chair next to him. Sarah was still upstairs getting ready for the day and he wanted to get as much time as he could with his little boy before he had to leave him behind.
To his surprise it was Noah that walked into the kitchen first instead of 10 minutes before they had to leave for school. Except, today he would be taking Noah to school as Ava wasn't there to carpool with. Richie had planned to drop Noah off at school, then head straight for the airport and to New York.
After breakfast he had to remind himself that it was only a short time. Exactly like how he wanted to tour, a few weeks at a time instead of months at a time. It'd be less than two weeks, he knew that, and two weeks would be over very quickly. Then, he would have a nice long break to be at home, work on his own stuff and be with his family. Time for himself.
"I'll miss you." He said as he held Sarah in a close hug, not wanting to let go just yet.
Sarah sniffed against him as she held onto his embrace.
"Please don't cry."
She pulled her arm back to wipe her eyes. "I try."
"I know." He soothed, rubbing her back.
Saying goodbye to Daniel he felt a little thorn, knowing Daniel didn't fully understand he would be gone for two weeks. Knowing he didn't understand entirely made Richie feel bad for leaving him, even if he wasn't upset about it at all.
He knew his son would miss him. Even if he couldn't say so.
Together with Noah, he walked out of the house to the car he had rented for the morning. Before walking out the door, he gave Sarah one last kiss before giving Daniel a quick kiss on his cheek, making him giggle and squirm. Richie loved it.
Sarah held Daniel in her arms as she stood in the doorway, watching her husband get in the car as the driver loaded the last bag into the trunk. She waved at them, at least she would be able to go pick Noah up after school. It wouldn't be the same without her husband around the house. From inside the car, she could see him wave as well, it made her smile and wave at him again until the car got onto the road.
"You'll make sure your mom's okay, right?" He asked Noah, worrying about leaving Sarah while he was in Japan and Australia. He didn't want anything else bad to happen while he was so far away.
Noah shrugged. "We'll be fine."
Richie sighed, the boy had a point, but he couldn't help but think of her episode last month. "I know."
"I'll make sure she's happy." Noah agreed.
It made him smile. "Thanks."
The driver parked at the school not much later.
It didn't take Noah long to grab his backpack and open his door, Richie had to stop him. "Wait a second."
Noah dropped the backpack and looked up at him expectantly.
Richie shook his head in thought, he would be on the other side of the world for two weeks and his son didn't seem to have any objections to that.
"You know you can always call me if you need me, right?"
Noah nodded, unsure of what he would need. "Sure."
"If you need to discuss a book or something."
"Yeah."
"Or just talk." Richie continued.
A knock on the car window made him look over his shoulder. He smiled as he pushed the door open.
"Hey baby girl." He said, quickly getting out to give Ava a hug.
She hugged him tight. "Are you heading to the airport after?" She asked.
"Yeah, just dropping Noah off but I'm glad I got to see you." He let her go from his hug to take a good look at her. "I love you."
"Love you too daddy."
"I have to go." He apologized but Ava nodded, and let him go.
He smiled as Ava took a step back so he could get back in the car to say goodbye to Noah but once he sat down to do so Noah had already gotten out. He sighed, as he looked out the window, he could see Noah walk up to the school building. Sometimes he just didn't understand him.
After checking in at the airport, he went through security and searched for his gate. Not wanting to spend too much time lingering around. He stopped at a Starbucks for a coffee and looked for a store to get a snack.
He bought himself a chocolate bar and looked at the magazine stand, reading titles as he tried to make a choice on what to read. As soon as he spotted a guitar one, he picked it up, not minding much what the articles inside would be about as long as it would keep him busy for the next few hours. Having time to kill, he browsed the book shelves as well. Noah had inspired him in doing so. He picked up a book with an interesting title and decided that he would have enough time on the way to Japan to read a few pages in it.
Before boarding the plane, he sent a quick text to Sarah and Ava, letting them know he would be taking off soon. He didn't expect an answer from Ava, as he hoped she was a good student in class but was happy to see Sarah answered almost right away. Reminding her he loved her very much, he sent off his next text. He knew he would do exactly the same when he arrived in New York and again by the time he would be leaving New York.
As they announced boarding for business class, he put his phone in his pocket and retrieved his ticket from his shoulder bag and headed over to the desk.
On the plane, he grabbed his guitar magazine before putting his shoulder bag away for now. He pulled his phone from his pocket, checking if he still had reception and sent Sarah an update. This flight wouldn't be too long, he knew that too but he would still rather not be on it at all. He loved to tour, he knew that as well but he loved being home with his family more. Only two weeks, he had to remind himself. After that, he had as much time as he wanted. At least, he hoped so. There was no way he would be able to do nothing for a long time.
Before they landed, he finished his magazine. In the end, it wasn't as interesting as he had hoped and he decided to leave it behind for the next person.
When he got off the plane and was back inside an airport, he sent Sarah a text to update her. Then, sent another one to Jon to let him know he had arrived and just needed to get his bags.
Not much later, he walked into the lounge Jon had told him to meet him in.
"How was your flight?" Jon asked when he spotted Richie.
Richie shrugged at his question. "It was alright, not that exciting."
"When is flying exciting?"
"When we get turbulence." Richie stated quickly.
Jon glared at him in return. "Don't even bring that up."
"You scared?"
"Fuck off."
"I think you're scared." Richie teased. "You've been doing this for like thirty years, how are you still scared of flying?"
"Fuck you, I'm not scared." Jon defended himself. "Sometimes I get a little nervous."
Richie laughed at him. "You can sit next to me later, okay? I'll hold your hand when you get scared."
"Fuck off."
"Just looking out for you man." Richie shrugged.
It wasn't long before he was back on a plane, at least on this one, there was better company than on the last flight. Maybe he would actually get to read his book during this flight. He'd already flown for five hours and he felt very sorry for his ass that he had to fly again and sit on it even longer. For his own entertainment, he had made a big deal to sit next to Jon.
Before the plane started taxi-ing he sent his last text to Sarah for a while. Continental, he'd have WiFi to talk to her but since this was going to be a long international flight for them, it would also lose service. Instead, he remembered the book he had bought and reached for his bag from the floor to retrieve it. Along with it, he got his glasses, ready to do some reading.
Halfway through the first page, he heard Jon next to him. "What are you reading?"
Richie rolled his eyes at the question and looked up. "I don't know."
Jon frowned at him. "Then why are you reading it?"
"'Cause it looked interesting when I saw it but then someone started asking questions when I started reading."
"Fine. Read your book then."
"Thanks."
He opened the book again and started back at the top of the page to read it again, not finding where he had been cut off just a minute ago.
A few pages into it, he got sucked into the story. Just as he had hoped it would be.
Once he was about halfway through, he folded the corner, thinking of how Noah would scold him for damaging the book like that.
He put the book on the table and looked at Jon next to him. "What time is it?" He wasn't wearing a watch himself and wasn't going to look for his phone if Jon was absorbed in his own.
"Almost 5.30."
"Oh dinner time." Richie responded cheerfully, although according to California time it wasn't nearly time yet.
"Isn't any time dinner time for you?" Jon asked him, locking his phone and putting it down.
"That's pretty bold."
Jon looked confused. "What?"
"Calling me fat like that while you definitely eat just as much."
"I also run a lot more."
"But I don't have messed up knees."
"For fuck's sake." David chimed in. "The both of you shut up. Some of us are trying to watch TV."
Richie had been right and it wasn't long before they had dinner which was fairly alright according to him. Better than what they served on regular airlines but still a microwaved meal. In the end it was a lot better than not having dinner at all.
Around 8, he pulled out his phone, wanting to text Sarah but remembering he wouldn't be able to do so. The last text he had sent her had been about 5 hours, just before the plane took off. He just wanted to talk to her, see what she was up to but instead just re-read the last few texts he they had sent to each other. Without WiFi his phone was almost useless, he exchanged it for the book he was reading and continued the story.
Deciding to leave the last 75 pages for later, he picked up on the heated conversation David and Jon were having next to him. Their talking was starting to distract him anyway.
It was around midnight when they decided to turn off to lights and try to get some sleep. They'd be landing is just under 6 hours. He watched everyone disperse in the cabin to find a quiet and comfy spot to get to sleep. Except Jon didn't move from next to him. He knew Jon wasn't going to sleep unless he was exhausted but instead of picking up a conversation again, he picked up his book to finish reading.
The last pages were intriguing and made him read faster to finish the book.
He turned the last page and closed the book. Pretty impressed he had finished it during the flight and how he had liked it. He'd have to tell Noah about it once they arrived in Japan.
"You going to sleep?" He asked Jon as he put the book back on the table.
Jon gave him a look that showed he should know better than to ask.
"Thought so." Richie said. "Well, I'm going to nap so I'm sorry if I snore." He apologized in advance.
"You could just go lay down." Jon told him.
"I have to make sure nobody opens the blinds and freaks you out." Richie said, making sure the blinds were down.
Jon's eye roll was almost as impressive as the ones Ava did.
"I'm just looking out for you man." He tried to sound more sincere this time, he was only half joking.
"Go to sleep." Jon grumbled at him but Richie took his instructions and did so.
"I'm going to miss you so much." Sarah said as she got into bed next to him.
He turned off the TV he had forgotten about a while ago and moved to cuddle her. "I'm going to miss you too. It won't be long." He assured her.
"I know, but you'll be so much further away. With the time difference, I won't get to talk to you as much."
Sighing, he agreed. "I know but we'll figure it out. It's only about two weeks."
Sarah nodded and cuddled closer against him, not wanting to let go of him tonight.
The next morning, he was up early. Ava had already gone to Heather's house the night before but he was still determined to make breakfast for everyone before he left.
It was looking to be a very long day. He had to fly to New York first before meeting up with the rest of the guys to head to Japan tonight on the band's airplane. So far, he planned to catch up on sleep and try and not be too jet-lagged by the time they arrived in Japan tomorrow.
He didn't look forward to it.
Trying to make breakfast, and the day, a little more fun for everyone, he decided on making pancakes for a change. One could never go wrong with pancakes after all and he knew Daniel loved them. As he baked his pancakes, he had Daniel in his high chair next to him. Sarah was still upstairs getting ready for the day and he wanted to get as much time as he could with his little boy before he had to leave him behind.
To his surprise it was Noah that walked into the kitchen first instead of 10 minutes before they had to leave for school. Except, today he would be taking Noah to school as Ava wasn't there to carpool with. Richie had planned to drop Noah off at school, then head straight for the airport and to New York.
After breakfast he had to remind himself that it was only a short time. Exactly like how he wanted to tour, a few weeks at a time instead of months at a time. It'd be less than two weeks, he knew that, and two weeks would be over very quickly. Then, he would have a nice long break to be at home, work on his own stuff and be with his family. Time for himself.
"I'll miss you." He said as he held Sarah in a close hug, not wanting to let go just yet.
Sarah sniffed against him as she held onto his embrace.
"Please don't cry."
She pulled her arm back to wipe her eyes. "I try."
"I know." He soothed, rubbing her back.
Saying goodbye to Daniel he felt a little thorn, knowing Daniel didn't fully understand he would be gone for two weeks. Knowing he didn't understand entirely made Richie feel bad for leaving him, even if he wasn't upset about it at all.
He knew his son would miss him. Even if he couldn't say so.
Together with Noah, he walked out of the house to the car he had rented for the morning. Before walking out the door, he gave Sarah one last kiss before giving Daniel a quick kiss on his cheek, making him giggle and squirm. Richie loved it.
Sarah held Daniel in her arms as she stood in the doorway, watching her husband get in the car as the driver loaded the last bag into the trunk. She waved at them, at least she would be able to go pick Noah up after school. It wouldn't be the same without her husband around the house. From inside the car, she could see him wave as well, it made her smile and wave at him again until the car got onto the road.
"You'll make sure your mom's okay, right?" He asked Noah, worrying about leaving Sarah while he was in Japan and Australia. He didn't want anything else bad to happen while he was so far away.
Noah shrugged. "We'll be fine."
Richie sighed, the boy had a point, but he couldn't help but think of her episode last month. "I know."
"I'll make sure she's happy." Noah agreed.
It made him smile. "Thanks."
The driver parked at the school not much later.
It didn't take Noah long to grab his backpack and open his door, Richie had to stop him. "Wait a second."
Noah dropped the backpack and looked up at him expectantly.
Richie shook his head in thought, he would be on the other side of the world for two weeks and his son didn't seem to have any objections to that.
"You know you can always call me if you need me, right?"
Noah nodded, unsure of what he would need. "Sure."
"If you need to discuss a book or something."
"Yeah."
"Or just talk." Richie continued.
A knock on the car window made him look over his shoulder. He smiled as he pushed the door open.
"Hey baby girl." He said, quickly getting out to give Ava a hug.
She hugged him tight. "Are you heading to the airport after?" She asked.
"Yeah, just dropping Noah off but I'm glad I got to see you." He let her go from his hug to take a good look at her. "I love you."
"Love you too daddy."
"I have to go." He apologized but Ava nodded, and let him go.
He smiled as Ava took a step back so he could get back in the car to say goodbye to Noah but once he sat down to do so Noah had already gotten out. He sighed, as he looked out the window, he could see Noah walk up to the school building. Sometimes he just didn't understand him.
After checking in at the airport, he went through security and searched for his gate. Not wanting to spend too much time lingering around. He stopped at a Starbucks for a coffee and looked for a store to get a snack.
He bought himself a chocolate bar and looked at the magazine stand, reading titles as he tried to make a choice on what to read. As soon as he spotted a guitar one, he picked it up, not minding much what the articles inside would be about as long as it would keep him busy for the next few hours. Having time to kill, he browsed the book shelves as well. Noah had inspired him in doing so. He picked up a book with an interesting title and decided that he would have enough time on the way to Japan to read a few pages in it.
Before boarding the plane, he sent a quick text to Sarah and Ava, letting them know he would be taking off soon. He didn't expect an answer from Ava, as he hoped she was a good student in class but was happy to see Sarah answered almost right away. Reminding her he loved her very much, he sent off his next text. He knew he would do exactly the same when he arrived in New York and again by the time he would be leaving New York.
As they announced boarding for business class, he put his phone in his pocket and retrieved his ticket from his shoulder bag and headed over to the desk.
On the plane, he grabbed his guitar magazine before putting his shoulder bag away for now. He pulled his phone from his pocket, checking if he still had reception and sent Sarah an update. This flight wouldn't be too long, he knew that too but he would still rather not be on it at all. He loved to tour, he knew that as well but he loved being home with his family more. Only two weeks, he had to remind himself. After that, he had as much time as he wanted. At least, he hoped so. There was no way he would be able to do nothing for a long time.
Before they landed, he finished his magazine. In the end, it wasn't as interesting as he had hoped and he decided to leave it behind for the next person.
When he got off the plane and was back inside an airport, he sent Sarah a text to update her. Then, sent another one to Jon to let him know he had arrived and just needed to get his bags.
Not much later, he walked into the lounge Jon had told him to meet him in.
"How was your flight?" Jon asked when he spotted Richie.
Richie shrugged at his question. "It was alright, not that exciting."
"When is flying exciting?"
"When we get turbulence." Richie stated quickly.
Jon glared at him in return. "Don't even bring that up."
"You scared?"
"Fuck off."
"I think you're scared." Richie teased. "You've been doing this for like thirty years, how are you still scared of flying?"
"Fuck you, I'm not scared." Jon defended himself. "Sometimes I get a little nervous."
Richie laughed at him. "You can sit next to me later, okay? I'll hold your hand when you get scared."
"Fuck off."
"Just looking out for you man." Richie shrugged.
It wasn't long before he was back on a plane, at least on this one, there was better company than on the last flight. Maybe he would actually get to read his book during this flight. He'd already flown for five hours and he felt very sorry for his ass that he had to fly again and sit on it even longer. For his own entertainment, he had made a big deal to sit next to Jon.
Before the plane started taxi-ing he sent his last text to Sarah for a while. Continental, he'd have WiFi to talk to her but since this was going to be a long international flight for them, it would also lose service. Instead, he remembered the book he had bought and reached for his bag from the floor to retrieve it. Along with it, he got his glasses, ready to do some reading.
Halfway through the first page, he heard Jon next to him. "What are you reading?"
Richie rolled his eyes at the question and looked up. "I don't know."
Jon frowned at him. "Then why are you reading it?"
"'Cause it looked interesting when I saw it but then someone started asking questions when I started reading."
"Fine. Read your book then."
"Thanks."
He opened the book again and started back at the top of the page to read it again, not finding where he had been cut off just a minute ago.
A few pages into it, he got sucked into the story. Just as he had hoped it would be.
Once he was about halfway through, he folded the corner, thinking of how Noah would scold him for damaging the book like that.
He put the book on the table and looked at Jon next to him. "What time is it?" He wasn't wearing a watch himself and wasn't going to look for his phone if Jon was absorbed in his own.
"Almost 5.30."
"Oh dinner time." Richie responded cheerfully, although according to California time it wasn't nearly time yet.
"Isn't any time dinner time for you?" Jon asked him, locking his phone and putting it down.
"That's pretty bold."
Jon looked confused. "What?"
"Calling me fat like that while you definitely eat just as much."
"I also run a lot more."
"But I don't have messed up knees."
"For fuck's sake." David chimed in. "The both of you shut up. Some of us are trying to watch TV."
Richie had been right and it wasn't long before they had dinner which was fairly alright according to him. Better than what they served on regular airlines but still a microwaved meal. In the end it was a lot better than not having dinner at all.
Around 8, he pulled out his phone, wanting to text Sarah but remembering he wouldn't be able to do so. The last text he had sent her had been about 5 hours, just before the plane took off. He just wanted to talk to her, see what she was up to but instead just re-read the last few texts he they had sent to each other. Without WiFi his phone was almost useless, he exchanged it for the book he was reading and continued the story.
Deciding to leave the last 75 pages for later, he picked up on the heated conversation David and Jon were having next to him. Their talking was starting to distract him anyway.
It was around midnight when they decided to turn off to lights and try to get some sleep. They'd be landing is just under 6 hours. He watched everyone disperse in the cabin to find a quiet and comfy spot to get to sleep. Except Jon didn't move from next to him. He knew Jon wasn't going to sleep unless he was exhausted but instead of picking up a conversation again, he picked up his book to finish reading.
The last pages were intriguing and made him read faster to finish the book.
He turned the last page and closed the book. Pretty impressed he had finished it during the flight and how he had liked it. He'd have to tell Noah about it once they arrived in Japan.
"You going to sleep?" He asked Jon as he put the book back on the table.
Jon gave him a look that showed he should know better than to ask.
"Thought so." Richie said. "Well, I'm going to nap so I'm sorry if I snore." He apologized in advance.
"You could just go lay down." Jon told him.
"I have to make sure nobody opens the blinds and freaks you out." Richie said, making sure the blinds were down.
Jon's eye roll was almost as impressive as the ones Ava did.
"I'm just looking out for you man." He tried to sound more sincere this time, he was only half joking.
"Go to sleep." Jon grumbled at him but Richie took his instructions and did so.
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