What Would You Do If...?

At first I thought Nick was going to walk out of the apartment building, he appeared really mad at Mike for some reason, which I thought was a little strange since it seemed like he was excited at first about seeing him again. I guess I sort of understood his point of view; Mike hasn't been out to visit since New Years even though he had promised that he would come out more. But if what Jordan said was true, and Mike was really struggling to keep his head above water, I wasn't surprised that he hadn't come out more.

"Let's get this over with," Nick mumbled as he started to move towards the elevator. "I want to get home to Amy."

The walk over to the elevator only took a minute, one long minute, as Nick bitched and complained about being there. "It's not like he's the only one who's having problems," Nick grumbled while we waited for the elevator.

"Fine!" Jordan snapped as the doors opened up to reveal an empty elevator. "Here!" He reached behind him, grabbing his wallet from his back pocket. "You don't want to be here, then go!" Flipping open his wallet, he pulled out his Visa card. "Find a cab, a bus, or walk back home for all I care! Just go! Mike needs your support, not your bitching and complaining." He flung his card at a shocked Nick.

Jordan turned to the elevator as it closed. "Fuck!" He drew back his foot and kicked the doors. "Are you happy now?" He spun around, glaring at Nick.

"Jordan calm down," I slipped my hand onto his forearm. "What is going on with you today? You seem really cranky."

"Nothing," he snapped but he started to punch on the 'up' button with such force that I didn't believe him. "I just wanted us to be there for Mike, he's our brother and he deserves our support when he's down. Damn it!" He hit the 'up' button once more. "Is it too much to ask that we try to cheer him up? I didn't realize that you both were so tied to your ball and chains that asking you for one day would turn into such a bitch fest."

"Ball and chain?" I gasped. "Jordan what's going on with you?" I hadn't seen him like this in a long time, something was definitely wrong.

"Nothing!"

"Bullshit!" Nick finally regained his composure enough to speak. "Who the hell do you think you are? You drag us out of bed in the early morning hours without warning, you drive us out here telling us nothing and when we finally get here, you start biting our heads off when we question why we are here! That's fucked up Jordan! What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you so determined to 'fix' Mike's problems?" Nick paused, glanced at me and the asked. "How do you think that you can do that? Throw your Visa at him?" Nick slapped the card against Jordan's chest. "Let me tell you something, little brother, money doesn't fix everything! And neither can you!"

"No?" Jordan chuckled, shaking his head. "It never stopped you from taking every single cent that you needed when I offered it, has it?"

"Why you -" Nick went to grab for Jordan but I had enough.

"Stop it!" I stepped between them, hand pressed against both of their chests, trying to stop them from getting any closer. "For the love of God! What the hell is wrong with the both of you?" I looked from one defiant face to the other. "Are you both PMSing or what? Was this what you had in mind when you decided to hang out? To fight in the lobby of your brother's building?"

No one said anything.

"Oh come on," I turned to Jordan. "What's biting you?"

"Of course you start with him," Nick snorted. "It's always about Jordan with you."

Jordan reached pass me, hitting Nick in the shoulder. "Shut up! You are just jealous that we are closer than you two are."

"Oh my God!" I dropped my hands. "You know what guys, I can't take this." I turned towards the elevator, punching the button, I glanced at them. "Tell me what's going on, don't tell me what's going on, frankly I don't know if I really care."

"Where are you going?" Jordan asked me as Nick mimicked him. "Stop that!" He went to lash out at Nick again but I grabbed his hand.

"I'm going up to see Mike; he might be the only sane one out of the three of you right now."

I started to walk away when Jordan spoke, “Anna just wait a minute.”

“Why?” I didn’t turn around but I stopped.

I heard him sigh, “I didn’t decide to drag you guys here just because Mike is going through some difficult times…”

Turning around, I saw him glance at Nick, who looked suddenly looked concerned for his brother; Jordan looked away, stared up at the ceiling as he said, “…I needed this.”

Taking a step towards my two best friends, I was concerned. “Why did you need this Jordy? Please tell us what’s going on with you.”

“Yeah,” Nick also stepped closer to Jordan. “What’s up with you?”

“It’s nothing really,” Jordan shook his head. “I just think…I mean, I just feel that…” He shrugged his shoulders, lowering his head until he was staring at the floor. “I don’t feel anything.”

I shifted my eyes from Jordan long enough to meet Nick’s confused look. “What do you mean by that?”

He responded with another shrug.

“Come on,” I lifted my hand to his shoulder with the intent to reassure him, hoping to get him to explain further but when I touched his shoulder, he moved away from my touch.

“I don’t feel anything,” he repeated. “Empty.”

“Jordan we don’t know –”

“Let’s just go see Mike,” Jordan cut in. “I don’t want to talk about me; I want to help Mike.” He started to walk away, “He needs us now.”