Home Sweet Home (REVISED)

Chapter 35

That night, not unlike all the other nights, Nikki woke up, but this time in the arms of Tommy. He carefully removed Tommy's arm from his waist, and put it on the pillow, which Tommy tightened his grip around. Nikki quietly went out of bed, and snuck into the living room. He peeked around the dark room, searching for something to write on. Tommy had a bunch of unused paper on the counter in the kitchen, so Nikki grabbed one of them, and found the marker Vince had used to draw on Tommy's face some nights back. He had to wipe away some tears as he wrote, and when he finished, he folded it in half and put in on the pillow next to Tommy, so that it would be the first thing he saw when he woke up.

The next morning as Tommy woke up, he was confused as he noticed that Nikki wasn't lying there next to him, but a note was resting on the pillow instead. He sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes, picking up the tiny note with torn ends, and unfolded it. He yawned as he read out loud: "Tommy, I know I'm right when I tell you that we both think that last night was awful. Don't misunderstand: I loved what you did for me, but not what it turned out to be. I know that if I stay here, things will only get worse and worse until I can't take it anymore. I hope you understand that. So I decided to leave L.A. I'm truly sorry, but I only need some time. Yours forever, Nikki". Tommy's first thought was that seriously? Wasn't he overreacting a bit? But then it hit him that Nikki always did that. In Nikki's head, everything was way worse than how everyone else was seeing it, and Tommy had known him for so long that he had begun to finally see that. He read the note once more, but got stuck on the last line. "Yours forever, Nikki". He read it at least fifty times over in his head. "Yours forever". Tears were starting to form in his eyes, and he had to put his hand in front of his mouth to muffle the sobs. "Forever".

"...I'm truly sorry, but I only need some time. Yours forever, Nikki", Mick read out loud. Tommy was still crying, frantically trying to wipe the tears away. "Well, leave him alone then, if that's what he wants. He'll come back eventually if he really is 'yours forever'", Mick said, dropping the note so it fell on the floor, and went into the kitchen. Then Vince came into the living room, brushing his teeth with Mick's toothbrush. He had been sleeping there last night. As he crossed the floor, he noticed the little note, and picked it up. He laughed as he finished the last sentence. "Is it April 1st?", he chuckled. Tommy just glared angrily at him. "Don't you remember anything from last night?", he spat. Vince shook his head, sitting down next to Tommy on the couch. "Nope", he said, the toothbrush still in his mouth. Then Mick came back in from the kitchen with a cup of coffee in his hand, just looking at those two idiots in his livingroom, discussing nothing. "You picked on us for being gay, just because we were holding hands!", Tommy yelled at him, even though Vince was sitting right there next to him, and would have heard him even if he whispered. The toothbrush fell out of Vince's mouth. "What? I really did that?" He held his hand to his head. "Oh, God, I'm so sorry, I could only imagine how Nikki must feel". Mick rolled his eyes from Vince's own stupidity. "He left L.A.!", Tommy screamed. "Oh, no...", Vince said worryingly, "We have to find him, we're gonna record an album soon..." "No fucking shit!", Tommy shouted, almost interrupting Vince, "Of course we have to find him you jerk! This is your fucking fault!" Mick sighed, and took a sip from his coffee. "Did you two even read the note? He wants to be left alone, and you should let him", he explained, "He'll come back". Tommy and Vince just looked at each other, both worried, but Tommy more than Vince. "I sure hope so", Tommy sighed.