Chapter 9

I was the first to wake up the next morning. After our exhausting but very satisfying bedroom antics, we had all ended up sleeping in the one double bed. Hardly enough room for two let alone four. I woke up on my side with my arm over Sarah, reaching far enough to lie on Gabi and Ellie's arm and leg were draped over me.

Extracting myself as carefully as I could, still caused a sleepy protest from Ellie, but I put her arm on Sarah and saw her shift herself to cuddle up and put her leg over Sarah's sleeping form. I got the coffee on and then made a start on preparing breakfast. It wasn't long before everyone joined me with similar tired but happy smiles. I took careful note of Gabi as I think she was still the most fragile of us. Her smile was heartwarming in its sincerity.

We had just about finished breakfast when we had a knock on our door. Gabi jerked up at the noise and scooted off to the bathroom, presumably to change into Drew. I waited until she was out of sight before answering.

Standing in front of me was a very sheepish looking Damon. I suspect my face changed into a bit of a scowl. My feelings towards that man were extremely hostile. He had hurt Drew for no reason whatsoever.

“What do you want?” I asked curtly, trying to keep some civility to my voice.

“I came to apologise.” He looked me in the eye and then dropped his gaze like a naughty schoolboy.

“Apology not accepted,” I told him.

“Huh?”

“We had to take Drew to the hospital yesterday. His hand is bruised and swollen and we had to make sure it wasn't fractured. He still can't use it without pain. What on earth possessed you?”

Damon sighed. “I can be a jealous prick at times. I know I have no reason to be and my logical brain can agree that I shouldn't have reacted.” He scratched his chin. “You know the walls to these RV's are pretty thin, right. You guys were pretty loud last night, so I know I have nothing to worry about. Drew must be pretty exhausted to manage all three of you, and Lisa assured me that he wasn't flirting with her, just being friendly.”

I could feel the blush on my face and felt a little flustered at the thought that our activities were overheard. Last night was not the issue here, it was his behaviour with Drew. “That is no excuse,” I said, trying to get back in control of the conversation.

“No, no it isn't. I promise not to overreact again. Is Drew available? I would like to apologise to him directly and I have a gift for him, to say sorry. Lisa would like him to visit whenever he likes and has promised to give me a beating if I even look at him wrong.” Damon tried to give me a winning smile.

“Hmmm...” I was not impressed. “Wait here, I will go and check on Drew.”

I shut the door and checked that Gabi had retired and Drew was available. Then I told him what was going on and stood next to him, giving him support as he faced Damon.

Damon apologised again and offered Drew backstage passes for the rest of the tour. Drew thanked him quietly and took the passes with an uncertain look on his face.

When Damon had left I asked him, “don't you want to go to the show with us?”

He smiled gently at me. “I love the idea of being with you, but the sad songs talking about loss or missing someone would bring me down. I would be a crying mess.”

Even just talking about it I could see the sadness beginning to cloud his eyes. I cuddled him. “You don't have to go. If you would like, I can go and talk to them and explain why you won't be using it. They will understand, I'm sure.”

“Thanks,” he answered.

I got myself dressed properly, and went over to Damon and Lisa's RV. I knocked on the door. Lisa answered and immediately invited me in. Their RV was huge compared to ours and even though it only needed to cater for the two of them and baby Mia, it was crowded with baby stuff. It's amazing how something so small can take up so much space.

“I'm so sorry,” Lisa said, apologising again on behalf of Damon, “is he alright?”

“Sort of. Nothing is broken, but it is bruised and swollen. Using it is still causing him some pain. That's not what I came round for. Thank you for the backstage pass, but he is unlikely to use it.” I sighed. “Drew is going through a lot at the moment. You have probably heard about the plane that was lost going from New York to London.”

“Yeah, that was terrible. Does he know someone who was on board?” Lisa asked.

“His whole family.”

“No! That's terrible. Poor Drew. The whole family?” Lisa looked distraught.

“Parents, grandparents and sister. He doesn't know of any other relatives, so he is feeling very alone. We are all he has now. Anything that reminds him of that tends to reduce him to tears and The Bleeding Heart Boys' songs could do that, so he doesn't want to risk it.”

“Understandable. Bonny, Chloe and I will look after him while you go. Do you mind me telling them, then, hopefully, we will be less likely to set him off and if he gets upset and knows that we already understand, he won't get embarrassed,” Lisa said earnestly.

Lisa seemed a lovely person. Caring and kind with a good heart. It felt good knowing Drew would be in good hands. “Thank you, please do.”

We arranged for Drew to come round shortly after we had left for the show.

The rest of the day passed in a very relaxed way. It was laundry day and Drew didn't have many clothes, but he needed it all washed so everything except what he was wearing that night and the next morning was in the wash. We would get it all back the next day at the next location so it wasn't too much of an issue.

Sarah, Ellie and I wanted to support High Notes, so we all left a couple of hours before The Bleeding Heart Boys needed to go. Bonny and Chloe usually spent that time with their men, but Lisa wanted Drew to join her then as that was the time when Mia played up the most and she could do with the help. I think that was partially true, but really she just didn't want Drew to be alone when he didn't need to be. Learning that Drew was suffering emotionally had brought out the protective mother aspect of her personality, but she was wise enough to know the best way to get Drew to join her was to suggest that she needed help.

We kept Drew with us as we went through our preparations and then walked him over to Lisa when it was time to go. Outside Lisa's RV a set of tables and chairs had already been set up, with food and drink available. Lisa and Mia were already outside enjoying the good weather.

Lisa examined Drew's hand with an angry frown on her face and I knew Damon was going to be in further trouble. That didn't bother me at all. We left Drew cooing over the baby, which I found adorable, and after he gave us all a quick kiss goodbye, we headed off to the show.