Why Wait?

5

~~~tour bus~~~
I groan and stand up from the bathroom floor as soon as I hear the tour bus door open.

"Kelli," I hear Austin call. "Are you in here?"

I flush the toilet, grimacing at the smell of vomit, and go to brush my teeth.

Using febreeze spray to drown out the smell, I turn on the bathroom fan.

Austin was waiting on the counter with Luke and Ty Flemmings. They all turn to look at me once I walk out.

"Hey, baby sis," Austin says, giving me a smile and a wave.

I give a small wave. "Is rehearsal over already?"

Ty shakes his head. "We left because we wanted to."

I nod. "Sounds like fun."

Luke looks at my crutches. "What did you do to your knee?"

Taking a seat beside Ty, I laugh a little. "I had a volleyball accident."

Austin nods. "I was in choreography when I get a phone call saying my sister is in the hospital."

"Did you break it?"

I shake my head. "Almost. It's dislocated. The doctor thinks I tore something important."

"Would you rather be on tour or playing volleyball?" Ty asks.

My phone vibrates in my pocket as I open my mouth to answer.

It's Cody. Saying he needs help.

Austin and the guys were giving me curious stares.

I force a smile and ignore the message. "Probably volleyball," I say, answering the question Ty had asked moments earlier.

"What was that about?" Austin says, sounding annoyed.

Before I could reply, my phone starts ringing. It's impossible to ignore when your brother is shooting poisonous death glares at you and your phone.

"Hey," I say quietly.

I hear a string of curses before he finally speaks.

Austin notices me flinch and takes my phone from me. He doesn't wait for me to say anything. Just leaves the tour bus with my phone pressed against his ear.

"He's really protective of you," Ty says after a while.

That's the understatement of the century. "You have no idea."

"Did something bad happen?" Luke asks, sincerely curious.

I sigh. "It's not something I'm ready to talk about."

They nod. "That's fine."

I turn to face them. "So tell me about yourselves."

Luke snorts. "There's not really much to know about us."

"Oh, come on," I say, elbowing Ty. "There's nothing the least bit exciting about you guys?"

Ty pretends to think then shakes his head. "Nope," he says, popping the 'p'. "Not really."

Austin finally walks in, his shoulders tense and his jaw taut. He hands me back my phone. "He won't be calling you for a while," he says, a scowl on his face.

"What did you say," I demand.

He shrugs. "Just forget about it, Kelli," he says angrily.

I shake my head. "Austin, he needed help. What did---"

"He doesn't care about you," he talks over me. "Can't you see that? Just let him go."

I glare at him for a while before getting up. I limp over to the back of the tour bus.

~~~stadium~~~
The concert is going really great so far. I hadn't gotten to meet Skyler Grand yet but she's an amazing singer with a really pretty voice. I mentally remind myself to set her up on a duet with my brother.

Austin's set went exactly as rehearsed. Except for one part when he forgot the lyrics to his song. It was funny, though I still felt bad for him. But I'm sure the fans didn't even notice. They sang through the whole song until he remembered the rest of the song.

Austin thinks I'm still mad at him. He also thinks I called Cody and apologized.

Which I didn't do. I'm not an idiot. I'm not that desperate. I know he probably needs some money or something. But I'm not going to call him. And that decision has nothing to do with what Austin said because, yes, I am still very mad at him.

"We know exactly how you feel," a voice says from behind me.

Turning around, I see Ty with Luke and Alex behind him.

"What?" I ask, turning my back to the show.

Ty shrugs. "With Chance being the oldest, we're used to the whole overprotective stuff."

I give a wry smile. "Really?"

Alex nods. "Definitely. I mean, the dude's insane."

I start to smile but then feel myself grow dizzy. My hand goes up to my forehead and I let out an involuntary groan.

"Whoa," Luke says, catching me. "What just happened?"

Ty holds me up. "Are you okay?"

I start thinking back to last time I've eaten. Not since the day before yesterday. I skipped six meals. I haven't eaten in two days. That's not good with my pills.

Austin's set was already over. Meaning that in a few moments, he's going to come backstage and see me almost passed out.

He won't be to happy with me.

"What happened?" I hear Austin ask. "Why is she laying on the couch?"

I had no idea I got taken over to the couch.

Ty quickly explains what happened.

"Austin!" dad calls. "The crowd is waiting on you."

"Not now, dad," Austin growls, checking my forehead. "Why on earth did you not eat when mom told you to?"

He walks away for a few moments then comes back with a smoothie. "Drink this," he snaps. "I'll be back after the show."

I press my lips against the border of the cup and take a sip. The people backstage were all shooting me curious glances.

Luke hands me a pizza. "It's all we could find."

"Thanks," I tell him.

Alex sits on my right side. His brothers all stood around me. They all looked at me with worried looks.

"Kelli," mom says. "Let's take you to the tour bus."

I shake my head. "I'm fine now."

She gives me a grave look. "Honey, you are---"

"Fine," I fill in for her, shooting her a glare.

She looks at me for a while before simply nodding and walking away.

"Do you need anything else?" Ty asks, watching me as I slowly eat the pizza.

"No," I say, removing my arm from my face so I could look at them. "I think I'm good now. Thank you."

But they didn't leave like I thought they would. Instead they stayed. And we had what could've been the funniest conversation of my life.

HEY!!! WHAT DO YOU THINK SO FAR? WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE WAY AUSTIN ACTED WHEN CODY CALLED?

OR THE WAY THE BOYS ACTED WHEN SHE NEATLY PASSED OUT?

IT HONESTLY SHOULDN'T TAKE THAT LONG FOR ME TO UPDATE THE NEXT CHAPTER. SINCE I ACTUALLY STARTED THIS STORY OUT ON A NOTEBOOK.

THANK YOU FOR READING!!! PLEASE COMMENT!!

YOUR FEEDBACK IS GREATLY APPRECIATED. I REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS THINK.

UNTIL NEXT TIME!!!!