The Butterfly Project (Sequel to A Cutter's Lullaby)

Chapter 7

I had the whole tour to think about what happened back in Los Angeles and yet I still feel almost completely lost. I went over what I knew in my head for what seemed like the millionth time in a row. Nicole is alive, she didn't fake her death, and we have a son together. It wasn't much, but they were still answers. Now I was on a plane on my way back to spend December with her and Tommy.

Usually my fear of flying would drown out most of my other worries, it was kind of an oddly relaxing thing. This time that was not the case at all. Along with my private issues, something else was stirring shit in my public one as well. Right before I had boarded this flight I was scrolling through Twitter to see that asshole reporter had still managed to write about what I had said about the June Drowning song. Now practically half of my fan base was freaking out over the news.

Any other time gossip about me or the band didn't really faze me. I would just clear the air with the truth and be done with it, but this was totally different. The things that happened between Nicole and me weren't something that I am readily willing to talk about yet, if ever. On top of that finding out that the girl the song was about wasn't even dead added insult to injury. There was no proper way to explain that song to other people now and I had never even planned on doing it in the first place, I had just slipped up because I was under so much stress right then. To be honest I still am.

All of that had been eating away at me for the past several hours, so when I finally fell asleep I was extremely grateful. That peace was only short lived since three hours later the plane began to land and there was no way I can sleep through that. After lots of tedious airport routine, I finally grabbed a taxi and was off to the girl's apartment. I wasn't surprised to have Hannah be the one to answer the door, but I was a bit taken aback at the mess in the little living room and kitchenette. Suitcases and clothes were everywhere on the furniture and several boxes of Chinese, soda, and alcohol containers littered the table and counters.

"Have you seen my purple push up bra?" Shelby shouted from somewhere in the back.

"Come on in Chris, excuse the mess. Shell and I are in the middle of packing." She tells me, snatching up a small article of clothing from the tan carpeted floor that I assumed was the bra her sister was searching for.

I shut the door behind me as she ran off down the hallway before quickly return to roll up some shirt and place them in an empty suitcase. I walked over to her, handing her a tank top she had just been reaching for.

"So where are Tommy and Nicole?"

"Nicole is at school still I think and I had put Tommy down for a nap about an hour ago, so he should be waking up soon." She explains rolling up more clothing as she spoke.

As if right on queue soft crying could be heard and Shelby stepped out of the bedroom on the right muttering, "I really hope Nick gets here soon or he'll never stop."

"Only Nicky can calm him down." Hannah tells me as she gets to her feet to grab some more things to pack.

I moved swiftly back to the bedroom Nicole and the baby shared to find Tommy fussing, kicking his tiny onesie covered feet. I reached into the crib to carefully lift him out, hoping that me holding him wouldn't cause him to get more upset. He stared up at me, almost looking confused, but then again don't most infants always look that way? I breathed a sigh of relief that he slowly began to calm down.

"Did you actually get him to stop?" Shelby question as she popped her head in the room and I could have sworn she had a slight smile on her face. 

 "I guess so."

She shrugged, "I guess kids have a way of knowing who their parents are."

"Maybe."

"Look, I need to say something." She begins and fully steps in the room. "I want to apologize for the other day, I thought you knew about him and that you just didn't care. You spending a month of your break here with the two them makes it obvious that isn't the case. Also, I talked to Lily a week ago and she cleared the air for me a bit, so things make a bit more sense to me. Hopefully next time we see each other we can make amends, that is if you want to."

I smiled softly at her words, nodding, "That sounds great, I'm sorry if I was ever rude to you."

She shook her head remarking, "No, you're actually a pretty good sport when it comes to other people's negative behavior."

I laughed, "Well thanks."

"Shelby hurry up! We don't have that much time left, Adam just texted you saying he was on his way!" Hannah called sounding somewhat frantic.

Shelby nodded at me saying, "I'm just going to leave you with him then."

A moment later I heard Shelby say, "Why are you looking through my phone?"

I chuckled and moved to sit on Nicole's bed with Tommy gently cooing in my holding. A picture frame caught my attention and I saw a photo of Nicole and the guy that was here the other day, Derick. It didn't take a genius to gather that he was her boyfriend. I despised the slight tinge of jealousy and sickness that I immediately experienced looking at that image. Then again, I knew I honestly shouldn't feel that way, I should be pleased that Nicole had found someone that made her happy. Her smile was the brightest I had ever seen it in that photograph and her eyes shined bright. Why should I want that to stop? Selfishness? I shook my head and turned my focus back to Thomas, the one that I was here for.

"Guys, what did you do to this place? It's trashed!" I heard a voice that suddenly grabbed my attention and I knew it was Nicole.

"Don't worry I'll help them." A male voice speaks as well and I'm hoping that it's Adam.

Then I hear, "Thanks Derick."

Well so much for hope. I stared down at Tommy and whispered, "Here we go."    

**************************************************

Hey you all! Sorry this took awhile to get out to you, I had to get a new laptop. So I went out and bought myself a macbook yay! I hope you liked this chapter, after this is where things are really going to start happening! I'm super excited!