Tommy shook his head. “This was on me. It started before all of that. During the last tour I was drinking a lot. Had trouble sleeping, sought meds, and not real help. That was my doing. Do not take the blame for this. I thought I was taking the easy fix.” And he’d been so incredibly wrong. He could have died, and now he battled for some return to normal.
“But we should have pushed. Maybe gotten you help sooner?” Bas wrung his hands.
“We don’t should on ourselves or each other,” Tommy said.
Bas smiled. “Already taught you that one? Cognitive Behavioral Therapy 101.”
“Yep. I need to see Ru. And I think he needs to see me.” For both their wellbeing.
“Adam is working on him. He’s in therapy,” Bas said. “I know he’s working through it. The tour put everything on hold for two months. But he couldn’t put it off any longer. I’m hoping we can all find a new normal? A way forward, and healing.” Bas reached out to grip Dane’s hand and smiled at him. “I think Dane has been handling this the best out of all of us.”
“Tool box is full,” Dane said eating his pizza with his free hand.
“Yeah?” Tommy asked. “Helps that much? I’m filling mine. Long way to go. It was empty.”
“An empty tool box is bad. You have to tell someone when it’s getting low,” Dane agreed. “The pizza is okay? I can make something different next time. When we called, they asked for nothing with gluten or sugar. Said it makes you a bit queasy, increases your anxiety.”
“It does, thank you. This is good. I don’t know what else you make. Paige said you got an air fryer for her.”
“Oh! That reminds me.” Bas said. He pulled out his backpack. “Bag has already been searched four times. I always forget about that search thing… But this stuff is for you.” He pulled out a new spread of coloring books, more swear words, which made Tommy smile, and a little hoop of fabric with the finished cactus. The edges had been cut and glued down so he could prop it up or hang it somewhere. “Paige said it’s for you. A reminder?”
“Don’t be a prick,” Tommy agreed, picking up the ring. “I’m trying.”
“Good. Finish eating. You’ve got us for the day. Let’s hang. I haven’t colored in ages. Maybe movie and coloring?” Bas offered. “I could use a brain break. Two weeks into classes and my eyes are crossing with all the reading.”
“Sure. I’ve been going through the Disney backlist.” Tommy put his hands together in a prayer style and with a nice tenor vibrato sang “A dream is a wish your heart makes.”
“Wow, boy…” Bas shook his head, eyes wide. “Keep singing like that and you’ll outshine Ru.”
“Never,” Tommy said. He didn’t have the range or the drive to outperform his friend. But he really hoped to see Ru soon.
