something was wrong, but that she would tell him later.
Before long, they sat down at the table, ready to eat the meal that Ashton and Jayden had prepared. Not wanting to get into a fight while Brittany was there, no one mentioned a word about the missed recording sessions. They knew that it was something they needed to speak to Noah about when she wasn't around.
After dinner, Kaylee excused herself and went to her room. Ashton followed not too far behind, needing to know what was going on. Once they were in Kaylee's room, they turned on some music to drown out their voices, and sat on the bed, close together.
"What the hell is going on?" Ashton asked anxiously.
"Well, I went into Noah's room to see if I could find anything on Brittany, and did I ever find something!" Kaylee shook her head, almost unbelievingly. "I found a bunch of drugs in her suitcase."
"What?" Ashton said. "She had drugs lying around in her suitcase?"
"No, they were hidden in a statue, but I found the way into it. There was a cooked spoon and some needles too." The thought of it all made her sick.
"We need to find a way to get rid of this chick!" he said, his head lowered into his hands. "If she tries to get Noah hooked on that shit, we're in huge trouble."
"No kidding!" Kaylee sighed. "What are we going to do?" She refused to lose her brother to drugs. There had to be a way to get Brittany out of their lives for good. One way or another, she'd make sure that happened.
Chapter 16
"So here's the deal...we need a way to get Brittany away from Noah, at least for a little while so that you can talk to him," Kaylee told Ashton.
"And how are we going to do that? The girl is a leach and she doesn't leave his side for a minute," he reminded Kaylee.
"Just leave it to me," Kaylee said, grabbing Ashton by the hand and dragging him to the living room, where Brittany and Noah were watching television.
"Hey Brittany, I was thinking. We really don't know each other all that well, and since you're so close with my brother, I was wondering if maybe you and I could go to lunch today to change that?" Kaylee asked so innocently as she sat down on the love seat across from Brittany and Noah.
Three sets of eyebrows rose. It was no secret how Kaylee felt about Brittany, so everyone was surprised when she was not only speaking to her civilly, but also extending the friendly offer of lunch.
"Um, sure. I guess," Brittany muttered, after she got over her momentary shock.
"Hey, maybe you and I can get something to eat too, Noah," Ashton interjected before either he or Brittany had a chance to figure out what was going on.
"Sure man. Let's go," Noah said, rising from the couch. He figured that he'd better get out of there before anything else weird happened. And besides, he had hoped that Kaylee would come around - now that she appeared to be, he didn't want to stand in her way.
He leaned down and kissed Brittany on the cheek. "I'll see you later. Have fun."
"Let's hope," Brittany said softly.
Half an hour later, Noah and Ashton sat at a booth in a sports bar. Both were silent, feeling the tension between them.
Ashton knew he'd be the one who had to start, so he figured he'd just go for it and put all his cards on the table. He cleared his throat and waited for Noah to look at him before he spoke.
"Why are you doing this man, not only to yourself, but to the band too?" he asked. "What kind of hold does she have on you, that you're willing to throw away everything the band has accomplished and is on its way to accomplishing, as well as all your self respect?"
Noah sighed. Not only did he know that this talk was coming, he knew that Ashton was right. "You don't understand man. I finally have another chance with Brittany, and I can't mess up this time."
"So you're willing to risk the future of the band on some girl who treats you like shit?" Ashton bit back.
"You guys just need to understand..." Noah started.
"How can we understand if you don't tell us? You don't talk to us anymore, you don't show up for recordings...how are we supposed to understand?" Ashton implored.
Noah was silent for a minute, then slowly nodded his