Obvious

Chapter Four

            Our conversation this morning had really gotten me thinking.  I realized I was on borrowed time.  That I had escaped death twice.  None of the other guys could say that.  Sure Danny could say he had come close.  Being almost frozen to death, needless to say he was spending quite a bit more time outdoors in the sunlight, but it had only been once.  Matt’s car wreck could have been classified as a close call as well.  Though Aron’s intentions as to whether or not he had planned to kill him or just hurt him was up in the air.

            Aron was in no rush to give the location of Dylan.  Saying he had plenty of air.  And George and I had gotten to him with plenty of time to get away.  If anyone asked Dylan his side of the story, he would say we narrowly escaped.

            Aron had no intentions of killing Jordon, just Ronnie and Bear.  That meant I had the closest connection to Ronnie and Danny.  Since the incident, both had remained pretty quiet about what had happened.  Answering only the questions that were given to them by law enforcement.  They always declined comments to fans and the paparazzi.  I mean, I too had declined any statements, but…I wasn’t as calm and collected as they appeared to be.  I would wake up several times in the middle of the night, in a cold sweat, my heart racing to keep up with the adrenaline that now coursed permanently through my veins, sometimes even yelling.  One of the reasons I had been so reluctant to return to the touring home.  Sooner or later someone would hear me.

            I had been standing at my bedroom window for quite some time now, watching as Danny sat at the picnic table, his feet inches from the bed of flowers that grew greedily towards the sun.  I watched as he stared lifelessly at them.  Something was on his mind, just like mine.

            The closer I got to the picnic table the more I noticed the blank expression on Danny’s face.  His mouth slightly agape, his fingers red from the surplus of blood that rushed to them.  He barely moved when I sat next to him.

            I opened my mouth, in an attempt to say something to him but was interrupted.  “You ever think about flowers?”  He asked.

            I waited in silence.  He continued.  “How simple they are.  They ask for very little.  Dirt to grow in, water to eat and sunlight to do all that science crap.”  I wondered where he was going with this.  “So simple.  And yet they blossom into such beauty.”

            “I guess I never really thought of it that way.”  My voice was raspy.

            “I didn’t either.  Not ‘til now anyway.  I wish I had been more like them.  Asked for very little.  I really enjoy the sunlight.”  His face had started to take on a pink hue from how much time he was spending in the sunlight.  “What about you?”

            “I don’t know.  I’ve always preferred snow.”  He shivered under my comment.  I tried to change the conversation quickly.  “Are you ok man?  You’ve been out here for a long time.”

            “I don’t really wanna spend time in that house.  Not with Ronnie and Samantha there.”

            “What’s wrong with Samantha?”

            He chuckled.  “Nothing.  Just all those memories.  All those times I should have been there for Ronnie.  I’m glad that she had such a wonderful older sister.”

            “Do you ever get tired of beating yourself up?”

            “No.”  His voice was flat and emotionless.

            “Dude, there’s no point in beating yourself up anymore.  What’s in the past is in the past.  She’s happy and safe now.”  I don’t know who I was trying to convince, Danny or myself.

            “I’m over that.  I think.  I just can’t help but wonder that maybe if I had been there before, maybe listened to her.  I mean…I don’t think it would have worked out between us…but maybe…maybe I could have at least saved her those years…those hurtful words…maybe she could have met Jordon sooner.  I don’t know.”

            “There’s too many what ifs.  Maybe this happened for the best.”

            “I’m just tired that’s all.  Like Ronnie says…sleepless body does crazy things to a wandering mind…er something like that.”  He smiled at the distant memory.

            “You don’t sleep?”  Something else I had in common with Danny.

            “I’m use to it.  What I’m not use to is when Ronnie can’t sleep…I mean I wake up in the middle of the night and there is no one there.  I miss my wife.”  The first time I had ever heard those words out of his mouth.  “I’ve considered going home.  I think that’s where I need to be.”

            “Hey man, do what you need to do.  I don’t understand why you wanted us all to be here anyway.”

            “I thought it would be good…help us do some healing.  Everything had been so great, before I found out about the bet.”  My shoulders dropped at the memory of hurting Ronnie.  He stood up and placed his hand on my shoulder.  “Hey man, I figured out where I needed to be.  Where my life was going.  And how I can be in her life.  Maybe…maybe it’s your turn.  Find your place.”  He turned on his heel and made for the touring home.