Chapter 5: I've Gotta Go Home

Innominate debuted their new single from the upcoming album titled Bromance. The song has a new, edgier feel, and the fans agree it's a hit! It's already blowing up the charts. If this is any indication of what's to come, we predict that it will be their best yet.

"Happy Birthday!" Austin yelled when his sister picked up the phone.

"Thanks, asswhipe. I didn't need that ear."

"Sorry I didn't call earlier. We've been busy in the studio, and it's been nuts."

An exaggerated sigh filled the line. "I guess I'll forgive you."

"Tell me, what wild and crazy things you've done so far for your big day?"

"I'm sure your birthdays are way more exciting even when you're doing nothing than they are here. Hello! I'm in nowhere Nebraska."

"Want me to fly you out here to celebrate? We could do whatever you want," he offered.

"I can't."

"Why not? You know you want to." Austin wanted it too. He loved his older sister, Dani, like crazy.

"Reece needs me," she said speaking of her daughter.

"Mom would watch her for a couple days, or hell, bring her with you."

"Yeah cause carting around a baby in L.A. will make for a wild kind of birthday. We could totally hit up the petting zoo, a splash pad, and a park. Sounds like fun times."

Austin chuckled. "Or we could go to Disneyland. We could even dress up like characters. She'd love it, and I know you would too."

Dani hummed on the other end of the phone. "Would you dress up too?"

"Sure, I'd do anything for Reece."

"What if she wants you to dress up like a princess?"

"Hey, I'm secure enough that I'd put on a dress for her. Bring it."

"Maybe this summer I'll take some time off. Thanks, Austin, she'd love it."

That brought a smile to his face. "So what have you been doing today?"

"Oh you know, the usual. Woke up at the butt crack of dawn, went to work, got puked on, and now I'm trying to make it home before this storm hits."

"You guys in for a big one?"

"They have storm chasers in the area, but I'm not sure it's going to be anything major. You know how it goes, every day from March to October is a tornado watch."

Yeah, he did, and he hated that his family could be in danger. "Just stay safe okay?"

"Aww, you better watch it, that actually sounded like you love me."

"I do love you, Dani. Don't forget it."

"Love you too, bro."

Austin pocketed his phone and his stomach growled wanting attention. Not one to say no, he went looking for something to eat. He had his head buried in the fridge so when someone behind him started talking, it made him jump. He was always jumpy, and the people who knew him well knew that. Most of the time they did it just to mess with him. Standing there laughing his ass off was Wil, one of his bandmates.

"That was awesome! You should have seen how high you jumped."

"Whatever."

"Aww," Wil sang in a baby voice, "Austin's all ass hurt."

"Real mature." Austin scolded trying not to smile. He didn't mind the occasional joke at his expense. Hell, he'd been known to pull a few pranks himself.

"Never said I was. Find anything good?"

"You over here raiding our fridge again? What's wrong with yours?"

"It's more fun to eat your stuff. So, whatcha got in there?"

The fridge was in serious need of restocking. They needed food bad. "Nothing I want. Wanna go grab a bite someplace?"

"Hell yeah."

"What's Wil 'hell yeah-ing' about?" KT asked as he rounded the corner.

"We're gonna go get dinner," Austin told him. "Think Nate wants to come?"

"He said yes," Wil supplied looking up from his phone. "What? When you asked KT, I sent him a text. This wasn't a date, was it? Aww, Austin, do you love me? How would Bren and Amanda feel about that?"

KT was laughing hard. "Or your dad."

"I don't give a shit about what he thinks. That makes it more appealing." Austin said wagging his eyebrow at his buddy.

Wil sobered up, "Hell no! I see the wheels turning, and just cut it out. Don't get any bright ideas. To each their own, but I'm not pretending to be your boy toy just to piss the old man off."

"Eh, it wouldn't work anyway. You're not my type. Now, where are we going? I'm starving."

A couple hours later they were all seated at a little hole in the wall sports bar they'd found a few years earlier. They weren't sure how they'd been able to go there and not be found, but Austin wondered if the owner had something to do with that. Where most guys would capitalize on it, Randy, the owner of Suds and Spuds, never mentioned who they were or that they even came. For that reason, the guys always made sure to go regularly and leave big tips.

When Patty, Randy's wife, brought over their food, silence surrounded them as they started digging in. She asked if they wanted another round, and when they all gave her a thumbs up, she went off to get them all another beer.

"So, we got that benefit gig next week," Nate said after he swallowed a bite of burger. The guys all groaned. "What?"

"One time. Can we eat in peace just one time?" KT asked.

"Here you are boys," Patty said as she passed the beers around. "You leave that sweet, young man alone. He's just looking out for you."

The table busted up laughing before Wil said, "Sweet? Ms. Patty, Nate might look and act sweet around you, but he's anything but."

All the guys minus Nate clinked their glasses together and said, "Word!"

A phone ringing broke them from their laughter. All the guys had the same standard ring so they all looked down at the table to see if they could decipher who's phone it was. Austin saw his screen lit up, grabbed it, and after seeing who was calling, he took the call.

Smiling he answered, "Admit it, you couldn't go another second without hearing my voice."

"Austin King, you are a smug S-O-B."

He gasped. "What would all the church ladies think if they knew you called your son a son of a bitch? For shame, Ma."

"I guess they'd have to just get over it. We are all sinners in this life."

"You know I love you, right Mom?"

She chuckled. "I do."

"Good. Now, what are you doing this fine evening? Are you guys doing anything big for Dani?"

"If by big you mean sitting in the basement, then yes, we're having a blasty blast."

Cringing Austin wrinkled his face. "Good god Mom. Blasty blast? What the hell is that?"

"It's what all the kids are saying these days."

"Uh, no. It's not. You should probably never say it again."

"Blasty blast? I think it has a nice ring to it. Maybe you should add it to one of your songs. Oh! It could even be a song title."

"I'm pretty sure that'll never happen," he deadpanned.

"Promise you'll run it by Nate. If you don't, I will."

"I promise." He never would. "Hey, why are you in the basement? You getting those storms Dani was telling me about?" he asked changing the subject before his mom decided to rename every song on their upcoming album.

"Yes, they're pretty bad. We didn't go to the basement right away, but when the hail started, we came down. Some of it was baseball and softball size. Dani isn't happy her car is out in it, but I'm just glad she was here. I'd hate to think of her and Reece over at her place without a basement."

"Tell Dani I'll take care of the car."

Austin pulled the phone back as Dani yelled, "No you won't!"

"She can hear me?"

"Yes, I can hear you, and I can take care of my own car. I don't need my baby brother riding in on his noble steed to fix everything for me."

Austin could tell Dani was getting worked up. She usually talked loud, but she was yelling at him, and even though it wasn't on speaker, all the guys at the table could hear her loud and clear. KT and Wil were chuckling, and Nate just raised an eyebrow at him. Sisters. What could you do? Not a damn thing. He'd learned that a long time ago.

"Whatever you say, sis. Offer's there, though, okay?"

Reagan, his younger brother, spoke up next, "What about my car? Can I just say it was wrecked and get a new one? John got a new car last week, and I still have my P-O-S Chevy."

Austin smiled at his brother's question. He and Reagan had an interesting relationship. There were times that Reagan didn't want anything from him, and he didn't want to be associated with him because he hated the attention he got simply because of Austin. He got it, so he gave Reagan his space.

"You know the rule, bud. As soon as Mom gives the okay, I'm taking you out to buy a new car. Gotta have the okay first, though."

Austin was horrible at keeping secrets, and he was shocked that he hadn't spilled the beans that Reagan was getting a car for graduation. In a couple months, Reagan would be graduating from high school, and Austin had talked his mom into letting him buy Reagan a car. There were a couple rules she'd put in place, but it was going to be fun taking him out.

"Whatever."

"Did you hear that?" he heard his mom ask.

"Holy shit!" his sister yelled.

"Maybe I should go up and-"

"NO!" his mom yelled cutting Reagan off. "Don't you dare leave this basement. It sounds like a train is-"

The noise got so loud that Austin had to pull the phone away from his ear, and suddenly it just went silent. He looked at it to see if maybe his mom had hit mute, but the phone went dead. Austin was hoping he hadn't heard what he thought he did. Surely it wasn't that bad. When he tried to call back, he got a message that all circuits were busy. His heart rate picked up as he kept trying.

"Come on... Come on, dammit."

"Everything okay?" Nate asked.

"Yeah, phone disconnected. There's a bad storm, so I'm sure that's it."

Clicking on the weather app, he brought up his hometown and saw the tornado warning. He checked out the radar and didn't like what he saw. "Fuck! Come on..." When it didn't connect the call again with any of their numbers, he started searching the web on his phone looking for any information he could find. The longer it took, the worse Austin felt. It was like he'd swallowed a bunch of rocks. He was sure they were fine, and it was just the cell towers in the area, but until he knew for sure, he wouldn't feel better. There wasn't anything to be found online right away. As time passed, the feeling of dread got worse. Why didn't he know anything? Half an hour later his heart stopped and dropped to the floor.

"Did you find something?" Wil asked.

Austin couldn't speak. He didn't want to actually say out loud what he'd found. Maybe it wasn't as bad as they said. The guys were looking at him expecting him to say something, but he couldn't. He couldn't say the words. Instead, he turned the phone around with the headline showing, "Town of Horace, Nebraska Leveled by a Tornado." He'd seen a few pieces of information that were reported, and everything he saw made his gut tighten. All anyone was saying was that the town was destroyed, and they didn't know how many survivors there were. There was only one thing left to do.

"I've gotta go home."