Survive You

Chapter 10.

At Big Bens last stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, the phone rang and everyone watched as Lizzy ran to answer it. No one else bothered. They all knew who the caller would be.
Lizzy ran up the stairs to the privacy of her room to take the call. "Hey baby," she greeted breathlessly. Jordan chuckled.
"Do you always answer calls in the middle of the night with 'hey baby' and heavy breathing?" He teased. Lizzy flushed "I knew it was you." She countered, and he chuckled some more, before asking "still miss me babe?"
Lizzy sighed, "every day, though ted helps." She could almost hear Jordan smiling as he replied "I'm glad."
A cheer suddenly rose up in the background at Jordan's end of the line, and she asked "are you having a party?" she winced and hoped that the question hadn't come across as badly as it sounded to her ears. Jordan didn't seem to notice as he said "nah, well, not intentionally, we're at Danny's loft. A few of the guys from school showed, then they called a couple of guys, and they called for pizza, and the delivery guy was another school friend and so on, until a party was born."
Lizzy heard a shout of "Jordan, another beer?" down the phone line, the hiss of a bottle cap followed by a rustling sound and then Donnie and Jordan's muffled conversation as one of them put their hand on the microphone part of the handset. Donnie was asking who was on the phone, Jordan told him, Donnie asked to speak to her, Jordan said no. More rustling then Donnie's voice was clear. Hey Mouse, Happy Early New Year!" More muffles as the hand once again covered the receiver, as she heard Jordan telling Donnie, "it's not early for her you idiot, London time zone, remember?"
Donnie grunted and returned to the phone "so, Mouse, you mind if we keep my man Jordan here for a few brews, a little party with the guys, one last blow out before his lil wifey comes back from England and you guys are back to playing happy families in that cute lil apartment of yours." Lizzy laughed, she loved Donnie's madcap humour. She did struggle sometimes to differentiate whether he was drunk or sober at parties sometime though. The tussle for the phone had started again, and she heard Jordan saying "I told you, I don't wanna stay, I'm not in the mood to party." and Donnie's reply of "miserable bastard, fuckin old man on the block you are." His voice getting softer as he moved from the phone.

Lizzy knew she had to step in. Her choice to spend New Years quietly with her family had been because she had lost touch with many of her old friends while she had been touring, and those who had stayed in touch had only done so because of her connection to the New Kids. She'd become fed up early on with these false friends early on, and so had dropped them.
"Baby, you still there?" Jordan's voice came back on the line.
"I'm here," Lizzy told him before asking "babe, why do you wanna leave the party?" He sighed.
"It doesn't feel right without you." He answered simply, then argued "you didn't go out either."
She shook her head. "You're right, I didn't, because the few so called friends I have left are total bitches. They're only interested in me for what they can get, be it New Kids tickets or merchandise or gossip, and when I give them none of the above they call me a whore and walk away. You on the other hand have amazing friends in Donnie and Danny. Party with them babe, have fun. You're acting like I died, I'll be back in a few days. I love you so much, but it hurts me to think of you so alone and lonely when you have friends there wanting to spend time with you and cheer you up. Go to your friends, have your drinks, have your laughs and I'll call you tomorrow, OK?" He sighed down the phone, then asked "are you sure you don't mind?"
"I don't mind" she reiterated "now go, have fun. I love you."
"I love you too babe," he replied, "more than you could ever know."

Several hours later Donnie went in search of Danny. He found him in the kitchen area of the open planned, three bed roomed converted warehouse loft that Danny had purchased three months earlier.
Separating Danny from the group he'd been talking to Donnie asked "you mind if I dump Jordan in one of the spare bedrooms tonight?"
Danny looked concerned "he ok?" He asked. Donnie nodded and smiled.
"Yeah, but too much happy juice has made him melancholy. He's been sat on the couch for the last half hour telling some pretty Latina girl all about his Lil Mouse. I think she's getting bored of it" he added with a wry laugh. Danny looked over his shoulder at the couch and said "Evelyn Melendez"
Donnie looked thoughtful. "Evelyn Melendez, I know that name." Danny nodded.
"She and Jordan dated in high school, she dumped him for the quarterback."
Donnie looked at his friend. "Dirty Dawg?" he asked, referencing a song on the new album about someone who had cheated. Danny nodded again. Jordan had said his input had been inspired by an ex.
"Damn" said Donnie. He watched as Evelyn ran her hand up Jordan's arm to rest on his shoulder. He nudged Danny "I'm gonna go sort that room for him before he gets caught in that dirty trap again. Keep an eye on him?" Danny nodded his assent and Donnie left for the bedroom.

When Donnie returned several minutes later Jordan was gone, Danny's attention having been taken by a girl vomiting in the corner of the apartment. Donnie did a circuit of the room and realised Jordan was gone gone.

He debated calling Jon to go check that his brother had made it home safe but a look at his watch told him it was closing in on three am, too late to call the Knights home now. He'd call Jon first thing in the morning.

When Donnie woke up, it was gone 11am. His head fuzzy he sat up on Danny's couch, a button from a discarded shirt catching in his hair as he rose. Angrily he freed it, about to throw the shirt across the room, when he noticed the label, John Richmond. It was Jordan's shirt.

The events of the previous night came back in a rush, and he raced to the phone.
After getting Jon's assurance that he would go and check on Jordan right away, Donnie hung up and wandered to Danny's fridge, wondering if any pizza had survived from the night before.