Then there was only darkness.
Chapter 45
Amy
Deployed time: 10 weeks + 2 days
With legs folded underneath me, I sat back on the couch in Amber’s den, grinning, while Mia’s mouth hung open. She’d flown in from interstate for the weekend, and Amber had convinced me it was the perfect opportunity for me to tell her my news. Sitting there, watching her eyes widen with each ticking second, I gathered she was a little shocked.
“Holy shit,” she finally managed to say.
Out of all the people I’d told so far, this seemed to be the general reaction. It actually made me laugh now.
A grin began to spread across her lips. “Oh my God, Amy. That’s incredible.” She bounced up and down a little in her chair, her eyes sparkling. “I’m so excited for you. I love babies.”
Kaeli and Jess both laughed, while Amber threw her a taunting look. “Are we going to see a little Jace running around soon, then?” she said.
Mia shuddered. “No freaking way. There’s no way I’d bring a baby anywhere near what goes on around those boys. I’m sure it would come under some kind of parental abuse or neglect or something.”
Giving Mia a sympathetic look, I sighed. Even though I’d seen a small snippet of what life was like for them off the stage, I’d hoped for Mia’s sake it wouldn’t be too much worse while they were on tour.
Amber’s expression soured. “Oh, God. Don’t tell me. I nearly lost my shit over those bitches on campus last year. I don’t even want to think about what it’d be like now they’re on tour.”
Turning the pillow over in her hands, Mia sighed. “It’s not that so much. The girls I can handle. It’s the guys.”
“Guys?” Jess said, sitting forward in her seat. “As in our guys?”
I smirked at that. It was funny how we all thought of the guys in the band as ‘ours.’
Mia gave a little nod and rolled her eyes. “I’m ready to smack them all. Matt screws anything that moves. Dean walks around pretending Lila’s perfect, which just pisses everyone off. And Aiden . . . ” Glancing down at the pillow in her hands, she pursed her lips. “I don’t even know what’s going on with Aiden. Something’s changed with him. He’s withdrawn most of the time, and he . . . ” She glanced up at Amber. “He drinks. Like, all the time.”
I frowned. That didn’t sound good.
Amber’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Seriously?”
Sitting forward, Mia placed the pillow beside her. “I mean, I knew they’d all get caught up in the sudden fame in some way. I just didn’t think they’d be suckered into it so much, you know? But Aiden . . . ” She shook her head sadly. “It’s hard to watch. I just wish he’d talk to me and tell me what’s going on. It’s like watching a car crash in slow motion. It makes me feel so helpless.”
Amber huffed. “I’m tempted to get on the plane with you and go smack some sense into them. Jace isn’t being an ass, is he?”
Lucky for Jace, Mia’s answering smile told us all we needed to know. “No, Jace is just as irritated as I am. Probably more. He won’t say anything, but I see how worried he gets. And frustrated. I mean, all of them need to be on point for the band to succeed as a whole. If one of them falls, they all fall.”
We all gave Mia a sympathetic smile. I couldn’t say I’d like to be in her shoes with all that going on.
“I can’t say I’m that surprised about Matt, though,” Jess said sardonically. “The dude loves his women.”
The distant sound of a knock on the front door came amidst the giggling that followed. Sitting forward, I glanced at Amber. “Do you want me to get it?”
Waving a hand in a dismissive way, she shook her head. “Nah, Mom will get it.”
“What’s the deal with Aiden, though?” Kaeli said. “That doesn’t sound like him at all.”
Mia sighed. “I really don’t know. I feel like he’s trying to hide something from me. My twintuition meter doesn’t freaking stop, so I just feel sick all the goddamned time. It’s really starting to piss me off.”
After talking to Daniel about the whole twintuition thing with Ryan, I wanted to ask her to explain it a little more, but Kathryn walked into the room, pausing my words mid-thought.
Her gaze found me in the corner. “Amy,” she said, her expression hesitant. “There’s some people here to see you, sweetie.”
Surprise came first. No one came to see me. Well, no one that Kathryn wouldn’t just invite straight inside. Then came confusion and curiosity.
