West Chester Beauty Queen

Chapter Eleven - Goodbye Town

I talked to Johnny and told him everything Josh told me over the phone. He wasn't all that happy about how long I was going to be gone, but he really didn't say much.
The next part...was telling Bam and the others.
I called a 'family' meeting in the living room. I figured I had to do it soon, or I'll never do it.
The guys were sitting at the table talking and laughing. I stood at the top of the stairs thinking about what I have to do. It shouldn't be this difficult but...if you'd spent as much time as I had with these guys you'd understand.
Johnny grabs my hand and I look at him and he smiles weakly at me, "You ready?" he asks
"As I'll ever be." I say with a sigh
We headed down the stairs and stood at the head of the table and all at once the guys stopped talking and looked at me.
I sigh and say, "I've called you all here today...because..." Johnny squeezes my hand reassuringly, "I have been offered to go out on tour."
They stay silent for a moment and I continue, "My friend from Nashville and agent, Josh, called the other day saying that a famous musician wants me to go out on tour with him."
"Who? Who's the musician?" Ryan asks
"Luke Bryan." I say
"And what did you say, to Luke and Josh?" asks Novak
"I told them...I'd do it." I answer avoiding all of their eyes.
"Wait...you're leaving again?" Bam asks
They all start chattering and then the question I was dreading comes up from Chris, "How long is the tour?"
Johnny puts his arm around my waist and I say,
"Six months." I answer quietly
"What?!" All of them say at the same time
They continue to chatter and I just stand there, not really knowing what to say or do. "Guys," says Johnny, "Guys!"
They all stop talking and Johnny continues,
"This is a great opportunity for Joey. We need to support her through it all."
"But wait...what about...Christmas?" Ryan asks
I look down and Bam says, "You are going to come home for holidays...right?"
"I...I don't know. Maybe...maybe not." I say
"Bullshit!" Bam exclaims standing up hitting the table with his hands, "This is all bullshit! You can't leave again! You just got home!"
"Bam..." I say, "You know I've been waiting for this chance."
"Doesn't fucking matter!" he exclaims, "You've been home a month! Call whoever the fuck organized this and tell them to fuck off! This isn't fucking fair! I can get you your own tour, you don't have to open for some hick!"
"Bam, please-" I say getting frustrated and tears were forming in my eyes.
"No! You can't do this again! I'm not going to let you!" Bam says
"You can't control me Bam! I'm capable of making my own decisions without you criticizing me the whole way!" I yell back at him, "I'm no longer that little twin sister you used to look out for!"
"Yes you are! After your fucked up judgement about that loser back in Tennessee I'm not so sure you can look out for yourself." Bam says
My heart shatters at his words and tears escape from my eyes and I wipe them away. Bam was being such a jerk about this.
I look at Bam and a few of the guys say, "Bam!"
I wipe tears away and turn away.
"Zak-" Johnny says but I pull away from him and go upstairs to my room and slam the door shut.
I plop down on my bed on my stomach and cry. I felt like shit even thinking about leaving again, Bam didn't need to make it worse.
After awhile I get up and sit out on the balcony and just look out at the scene in front of me.
I thought through this situation. I have a chance of a lifetime, to go out on tour like I've always dreamed, and follow my lifelong dream of becoming a musician. And now I'm torn between tearing apart my relationship with my brother, my new friends, and possibly the love of my life.
I smiled to myself when I remember Bam and I sitting together in our treehouse and we'd talk about our dreams. Bam would talk about skateboarding in just about every city in the world, and I'd talk about singing in front of my fans.
"Hey." says a voice and I look up and see Steve-O.
"Hey." I say
He sits next to me and says, "So...six months, huh?"
"Yeah." I say looking away from him.
He reaches over and grabs my hands and says, "Look. I know we've only known each other for a month, but it feels like an eternity. I feel like I've known you my whole life. And I'll support your decision on this tour thing, no matter what. And I'm sure the guys feel the same, too. Especially Bam."
I scoff, "From what he said earlier, I don't think he's up for supporting me." I say
"Hey." Steve-O says, "He's just...stubborn in his ways. Think about it, you were gone since you were 15 in Tennessee, he only got to see you a handful of times. He missed you. And now he has you back and now you're leaving again-"
"It's not for good." I say
"I know," Steve-O says, "But six months is a long time."
I sigh and Steve-O continues, "Your brother loves you very much, Joey. He just wants the best for you, and he thinks that he has to protect you on every turn because A) that's what he does and B) you're his sister and he'll do anything for you. We all would. Bam will come around, don't worry about him. You just do you."
I don't respond for a moment and then say,
"I hate it when you go all fortune cookie on me."
He laughs and says, "Bam will come around, Joey. You just don't worry about it, he'll love you if you're down the hall or in Colorado. Follow your dreams. You'll have our support the entire way."
I smile and he kisses the side of my head and adds, "Nothing will change here, not much anyway. And when you come back, we'll fill you in."
I look at him and hug him, "Thank you." I say as he hugs back
"No problem, hun." he says
He lets me go and says, "I can easily say that we all are proud of you."
I smile at him and say, "Thank you."
He stands up and kisses my forehead and leaves again, leaving me there on my balcony.
I stand up and go over to the railing and continue thinking about my choice here.
I felt someone wrap their arms around me and hold me tight and I automatically knew it was Johnny.
I relax in his arms and he kisses my head and says, "Hey."
"Hi." I say
"Are you okay? After...that?" Johnny asks
I sigh, "Yeah."
"So, what are you going to do?" he asks
I turn around so I was facing him and say,
"I don't know."
He smiles sadly at me and then tucks some hair behind my ear and says, "I love you. And always will. I'll be there for you every step of the way."
I smile at him and he leans in and kisses me sweetly and it made everything that happened with Bam and the confusion of this decision melt away.
We pull away and I say, "And I love you Johnny."
"I am really proud of you Starr. I know you'll do great, if you decide to go on this tour." he says
I smile and he smiles too and he leans in and we kiss again and my heart flutters.
He slides his hands from the small of my back to my ass and I wrap my arms around his neck and we deepen the kiss.
Johnny slides his hands to my hips and turns me around, while we still kissed, and guided me back into the bedroom.
We fall onto the bed and I move my hands down his chest and we pull away from the kiss and I say, "You locked the door right?"
He chuckles and says, "Right now, I don't care."
I giggle and he leans down and kisses me passionately.
We kiss for awhile and finally I start to unbutton his red flannel and when I had it unbuttoned and I slipped my hands underneath his t-shirt and I could feel his well toned stomach and I moaned.
I reach back up and slipped the flannel off and he sits up and takes his t-shirt off and I bite my bottom lip and he leans back down and whispers in my ear, "Like whatcha see, huh?"
"Mhm." I respond
Johnny kisses my neck and makes his way to the corner of my mouth says in between kisses, "Can't wait till we take your shirt off."
I giggle again and he claims my lips again.
I put my hands on his stomach again and he sits me up and just pulls my shirt off when my phone rings.
We both sigh and collapse on the bed.
"Damn it." Johnny says but neither of us make a move to get up.
He finds my hands with his and laces our fingers together and stretches both our arms and kisses my shoulder and collarbone.
And moves down to my chest and then to my stomach.
He makes his way back up and just before he kisses my lips again I say, "I love you Johnny."
He smiles a loving smile and says, "I love you too."
We kiss and that's when my phone rings again.
Johnny groans and rolls off of me and I pull my phone out of my pocket and see that it's Josh.
"Talk to me." I say putting the phone to my ear.
"Joey Starr!" exclaims Josh over the phone, "How are you?"
"Fine." I say and Johnny lays on his side facing me and puts a hand on my hip and leans in and kisses my neck, "Uh, Josh, this isn't really a good time."
"I know, I know. But I need a definite answer to whether or not you're going to do the tour." Josh says and Johnny stops, guess he forgot about it too.
Johnny pulls away and says quietly to me,
"Do it. I'll still be here when you get back. We all will."
I sigh and look into his eyes as if waiting for him to start laughing like he said that as a joke or something, but he didn't laugh and by the look in his eyes he was serious.
"Yeah," I say to Josh, "I'll go on tour with Luke Bryan."
"Yay!" Josh exclaims, "I'll call Luke's manager and let him know. This is going to put Joey Starr on the map!"
He hangs up on me and I put the phone down and Johnny laces his hand with my now free one and pulls me closer to him and hold me tight.
Neither of us say anything, we just lay there clinging onto each other, as if we'd never see each other again.