Eleven Eleven

Lean On Me

To say Blake wasn't at all happy with my decision was an understatement. He paced the living room for over an hour questioning my sanity. He was reacting just as I thought he would; logically. He was throwing every reason for me not to do this right back in my face.

It wasn't like I hadn't spent all of last week tossing and turning. I had gone back and forth over the entire thing in my head for hours on end. The thoughts continued as I had packed what I thought I'd need for the trip; a trip I hoped would be no more than a weekend.

"Willow, think about this." Blake insisted now, crouching down at my feet. "Alexander hurt you, he broke your heart. Do you want to experience that pain again?"

I pushed my index finger into my temple and began messaging it. "Blake, I'll be fine."

"You'll be rushed by thirteen year old girls at every stop."

"They'll want the boys, not me." I retorted immediately.

It was then, head bowed and my cheeks flushing, my brother finally realized I wasn't going to budge from my decision.

"Please be careful, Willow." Blake rested his hand on my knee. "I don't want to pick up your broken pieces again."

The second I stood, he engulfed me in a bone crushing hug. I dug my nails into his shoulder blades, feeling them relax against my touch. "Promise me you'll be okay."

I shut my eyes and nodded into his chest. "I'll be alright, Blake. I'll be alright."

*

It didn't come as a surprise that the doctors and hospital staff were hesitant in releasing Xander. They pounded their orders into my father's head, and when they were sure he wasn't hearing a word they said, they turned their attention to the boys. By the time the discharge paperwork was in my hand, the boys had already made one thing clear.

We were to not overwhelm him with information under any circumstance.

I decided it was in my best interest to wait in the RV while the boys and Jack signed Xander's release papers. I didn't have any desire to be mauled by fangirls when I was trying to wrap my head around why I had chosen to do this in the first place.

If there was one thing I had to give my father credit for, it was his outstanding ability to hire great security guards. They held the girls back for a good ten minutes while Ryan and Mason helped Xander into the RV. Haiden and Ashton trailed behind, flashing their fans dashing smiles before climbing in after their bandmates.

"Willow." the cold expression on Xander's face faltered at the sight of me in the back of the van.

Realizing every pair of eyes in the RV had fallen on my hunched figure, I waved shyly at him as he fell into one of the small recliner's pushed against the wall opposite of me.

The van purred to life seconds after the door was forced shut. In the blink of an eye, the girls were beside the car, pounding repeatedly on the windows as if it'd get the boys attention. Ryan and Ashton were rolling around in contagious fits of laughter, as if this was far from the first time this has happened.

"Are you two high or something?" Haiden shot the two boys at his right an amused look.

I leaned forward for a better view out the window, gasping when I saw how close some of the girls were to the van. "Wow, wait! You're going to run over their feet!"

My father threw his head back and laughed. "Don't worry, sweetheart. They'll move."

He wasn't wrong. The girls parted and watched after us as the bus sped out of the parking lot. I had just turned my head back toward the boys when Mason fell on to the seat beside me, stretching his arm over my shoulder with groan.