Chapter 20

Jerome

       After Nolan's panic attack, I was starting to worry about him even more than when we were apart. At least when he wasn't on the tour, he didn't have to be around so many people. Now, he was sititng in front of a large audience and while it didn't bother him at first, I think it really was.

       Things weren't as stressful for him during the meet and greet portion, mainly because one or two people came at a time so it wasn't like hundreds of people were watching him.

       My favourite part of the meet and greet definitely had to be when Reuben and Alison ended up showing up. I really shouldn't have favourite fans, but they were definitely up there. They were the sweetest girls ever, and they even bought a teddy bear for Kingsley. It was the cutest thing ever.

       I even posted the picture Nolan and I took with them online with the caption, So glad I have fans like you to support me. Love you all.

       And I had to follow them since Reuben told me the two of them had actually been subscribed to me even before I reached a thousand followers. They were the OG fans, and the fact that they were still supporting me meant a lot.

       We weren't going to head off to the next stop until the next day, so we were spending the night here in Miami, which meant we didn't even have to stay at a hotel. We were able to stay at our own house. Well, technically Nolan's parents house since his and Kingsley already had their stuff there.

       And that sucked because it meant no....late night activities.

       When we got to the house, Blizzard was really excited to see me. Finally. When we only had Snowball, I had to suffer watching him be excited when Nolan came home and not me.

       Tulip, surprisingly, ran over to me and gave me a hug. "I actually missed you for once, Jerome," she said.

       "Aww, I missed you too," I said, hugging her back. "So, any new ships?"

       "Nope," Tulip said. "I'm too busy having to deal with my NOTP." She glared at Alan standing behind Jerome.

       "Hey, Tulip, guess what?" Alan said.

       "Unless you're saying that you broke up with Trixie, I don't want to hear it."

       "I broke up with Trixie."

       "Are you serious?" Tulip asked. "Or are you pulling my leg? Becuase if you're pulling my leg, I'll never forgive you again."

       "I am serious," Alan said. "Ask Nolan. He'll confirm it and he won't lie because he's the horrible liar of the family."

       "It's true," Nolan confirmed. "Alan broke up with Trixie."

       "Yes!" Tulip said, hugging Alan. "Oh, I'm so happy! You deserve way better than that horrible person!"

       Poppy appeared in the archway between the kitchen and the living room as she dried her hands on a towel. "Aww, my favourte son is back," she said before walking over and giving Nolan a hug. "Are you feeling better?"

       "Yeah, a lot better," Nolan said.

       "Hey!" Alan said. "I thought you disagreed with having favourite children!"

       "I was kidding," Poppy said. "I don't have favourites. I just have a stronger bond to Nolan since he is the only one of my eight children that ended up like me. The rest of you ended up like your dad."

       "What about Tulip and her shipping?" Alan asked.

       "Just her shipping is like me," Poppy said. "The fact that she has attitude and isn't afraid to speak her mind is a lot more like your dad."

       "Ooh, speaking of, my NOTP is finally over," Tulip said. "Alan dumped Trixie."

       "Wait, seriously?" Poppy said. "Alan, why am I just hearing about it now?"

       "Because I don't want to ever speak of that she-devil again," Alan said. "You know what she decided to do? She was angry that I went with Nolan, Orchid, and Atticus and didn't invite her, even though I tried but there wasn't enough room for her, so she decided to cheat on me. Twice."

       "Oh, Alan, I'm so sorry," Poppy said before giving Alan a hug. "Grayson! Come here and make your son feel better!"

       Grayson soon walked down the stairs. "Which son? I have too much to remember. How many do I have again?"

       "Ha ha, you're so funny," Poppy said. "Come hug Alan. He's sad."

       "I'm not sad," Alan said. "I'm both happy and angry."

       "What happened?" Grayson asked.

       "Trixie cheated on me because she was mad that I went with Nolan, Orchid, and Atticus," Alan said. "So I dumped her. I'm mad that she cheated, but I'm happy we're over now. She was horrible, and me not being with her is helping me actually realize that. Now can we take the focus off of me and on to someone else? Like Kingsley. Aww, Mom and Dad, look at your grandbaby. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go pack more things for the tour."

       When he was upstairs, Grayson looked at Nolan. "How is he holding up?"

       "Actually pretty well," Nolan said. "He was a bit upset at first, but he's actually really happy that they're over now. He doesn't have to worry about a single thing he does that might make Trixie angry. And the best part is that he can join the tour without Trixie getting mad and demanding that he stays here."

       "I'm just happy he's taking it well, especially considering what Trixie did," Poppy said.

       "Yeah, me too," Nolan said.

       "And me," I said. "He really has been doing really well. Atticus has been doing a good job at keeping him company since Orchid is usually the one to wants to watch Kingsley."

       "Speaking of, how is the tour coming along?" Poppy asked.

       "Amazing," I said. "Well, partly. Something did happen at today's show that I'm still worried about, but Nolan assures it was a one time thing."

       "It was," Nolan said.

       "What happened?" Poppy asked in a worrying tone.

       Nolan sighed. "I just had a panic attack, but I swear, it was just a one time thing. Nothing really even caused it. I was doing perfectly fine being in front of all those people."

       "I told you, you could have felt that way on the surface but deep down, you didn't," I said.

       "And I told you, it was a one time thing," Nolan said. "I promise, it won't happen again."

       Nolan was pretty good at keeping his promises, but I had a feeling he wouldn't be able to keep this one.

____________________

I sense a bromance coming along. *cough* Atticalan *couch*

*insert lenny face*