Bed of Roses

Jon was out and about the country promoting his first solo album. He wasn’t touring it but he was doing all the routine interviews, and the rest of the bull **** that comes along with the release of a new album. As much as he hated the horse and pony show he thought at least it kept him busy since Richie was out touring his first solo album. Jon was very proud of Undiscovered Soul and admired Richie’s talent and work on it. With Richie’s touring schedule though Jon missed him terribly. They had never really been apart like this before. After they came off the New Jersey tour they settled down, bought a house together and had woken up most mornings in each other’s arms. There were of course those mornings when one of them was in the dog house and woke up with a stiff neck on the couch. But for the main part they had been inseparable.

Jon had a rough night last night. He missed Richie so much it hurt. He couldn’t get Richie on the phone. He knew Richie must have gone out after the show and that didn’t make Jon feel any better. So in Jon’s slightly skewed logic he thought it was appropriate to go downstairs to the hotel bar and buy himself a bottle of vodka. This was the thing about not being on the road with the band. You needed your best friends at a time like this to stop you from buying and drinking a bottle of vodka on your own. Jon however was sitting at the baby grand piano in some high class hotel enjoying his bottle of vodka. Drinking it straight from the bottle watching the coming and goings of the hotel and playing around with the piano. Jon could do this because he was ****ing Jon Bon Jovi and who the hell was going to tell him not to. There was a wedding reception occurring in the hotel and Jon was watching the bridal party take their pictures, this just made him feel lonelier and miss Richie twice as much. Jon had a bit of a tune flowing through his head and he knew it was the beginnings of a song. He concentrated on that.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well it was now noon in Denver and Richie just got his messages from the previous evening and sees that Jon called. He cringes because he knows that Jon only called at that hour if he was upset and since Richie wasn’t there for him he could only imagine how Jon coped. He decides to dial Jon’s hotel room before he gets busy for the day. The early riser Jon should be up and almost out by now.

In Jon’s room in Los Angeles he slowly becomes conscience of a loud banging wait no that would be ringing noise that he eventually recognizes as a phone waking him. Quickly sitting up and smacking his hand to the left of him where the noise is coming from he answers.

“Yeah,” Jon grumbles into the phone.

“You don’t sound too good babe,” Richie says a little too cheerily for Jon’s liking.

“Rich,” Jon says recognizing the voice on the other end as his lover’s.

“Yeah babe,” Richie reassures.

“Oh God. My head is going to explode,” Jon says in pain while grabbing his head with his hands as the phone rests on his shoulder.

“It’s okay baby. Just lay down.” All he wanted to do was be there to take care of Jon now. Jon did as he was told. “Feel better?”

“Not really.”

“What did you do to yourself?”

“No whiskey…bottle of vodka…hotel bar…bartender with a crooked wig…wedding…”

“Good night, eh?”

“Shut up. I missed you. Your fault.”

“Yeah, it’s my fault,” Richie said sarcastically, clearly not taking the blame for Jon getting himself crushed. “You have today and tomorrow off don’t you?”

“I think.”

“Meet me in Denver,” Richie said as more of a statement than a question.

“What,” Jon asked confused as hell.

“Get up now, take a shower, I’ll get you booked on a flight, and meet me in Denver for the night. Come to my show,” Richie said as if he has this all planned out already.

“This is crazy.”

“Come on baby, it’s not that crazy,” Richie almost pleaded; he really wanted to see Jon and knew this is what Jon needed also.

“Alright,” Jon gives in, “I’ll call you when I get out of the shower.”

“Okay babe, I suggest a cold one, and some Advil.”

Jon ignored the comment and hung up on Richie. Richie chuckled as he heard the dial tone. He then went about making the transportation arrangements for Jon.