Chapter One

Adonica put her hand behind Rich’s head and pulled him down. She kissed him warmly on the lips, as sweat glistened off of his entire body.

“Great show,” she said, grinning, “As always.”

“Thanks, babe,” he said, breathing heavily from exhaustion, kissing her back, as he reached for his bottle of iced water and a clean, dry towel. He wiped his forehead off, and took a big gulp from the bottle before poring it all over his overheated body, to try and cool off, “You too.”

Adonica made a face, scrunching up her nose. Rich laughed, thinking how cute she looked when she did that.

“I’m just a dancer,” she protested, feeling slightly self-conscious over his compliment. She knew that she shouldn’t, because they’d been dating since shortly before the tour had started back in April. It was now July, and the tour was a little over half over. They still had a few more cities in the US, before they started overseas. She knew that she couldn’t be happier. She was, after all, hooked up with Rich Cronin, from LFO. He was caring, funny, attractive, nice and best and most of all, sweet.

“You pull it off well though,” he said, “All the guys out there go to the show to check you out.”

Adonica threw her head back and laughed, grabbing the water bottle out of Rich’s hands and taking a quick drink herself.

“Hey girl,”

Adonica turned her head and saw her two best friends, Dulcina and Alaura coming toward her.

“As always, great job.” Alaura complimented, “We so rock.”

She started in on some of their dance moves, swaying her hips jokingly, with Dulcina joining in. She smiled, and rolled her eyes at how crazy they were.

“You too,” Adonica told her.

“Have you seen Devin?” she asked, “I haven’t seen him since after we went out on stage.”

“Yeah, and Brad too,” Dulcina said, “How do you rate. You’re man stuck around and waited for you. He always does” She stuck her tongue out, and smiled, to let her know that she really wasn’t mad.

Adonica shook her head, as Rich wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in closely to him, nuzzling her neck with his nose. She squirmed, for his actions tickled, yet felt so good to her.

Both girls’ shoulders slumped slightly, as they wondered where their boyfriends had run off to.

“Hello, ladies,” Kevin said, walking past them, with the other four members of the Backstreet Boys right behind him.

“Hey!” Dulcina said, enthusiastically.

The other two smiled, and waved, and he nodded a hello in their direction, his eyes lingering on Adonica a little too long. He shook his head, to clear it, and quickly walked away.

“Goodnight,” he said, to nobody in particular, “Don’t forget we’ve got to get up early to get to Detroit by noon.”

Everyone groaned, including Kevin’s band mates. They were in Dallas, and that meant getting up soon in order to make their flight at five in the morning. Dulcina saw Brad in the shadows, and perked up immediately.

“Yeah, yeah,” she said, eyeing him to make sure that he didn’t move out of her line of vision, “You remind us all the time. Now if you’ll excuse me…”

She slipped in between Alaura and Nick, making her way over to Brad. It was a matter of seconds before they were out of view, and everyone knew that they were long gone for the night. It was minutes later that Howie, Nick, A.J. and Brian were gone too, saying that they were going back to the hotel to get some sleep.

“Yeah, well…anyways,” Kevin finished, “See you in the morning. And don’t forget, or else I’ll be pounding on your doors.”

Kevin left, leaving Rich with Adonica, and Alaura standing alone, still looking around for Devin, her posture uncomfortable.

“Oh well,” she sighed, “Maybe he’s waiting for me back at the hotel.”

She picked up her gym bag, which contained an extra change in clothes, and her water bottle, heading out to the dressing room to put on something dry.

“Wow, its crazy after shows,” Rich smiled, “Maybe one day, someone will be opening for us.”

“You know that it will happen,” Adonica told him, punching him playfully, “After all, you’re just starting out. Gotta start somewhere. Might as well be with someone extremely well known.”

Rich nodded, knowing that she was right. He, Brad and Devin were very lucky to get the position as opening act for the Backstreet Boys. To be honest, he never thought that they’d ever be on a real stage. Coffee shop gigs were the farthest he’d ever thought they’d make it. But Devin had sent in a demo tape to a record label, and they’d liked them enough to offer them a record contract. Ever since then, their career just kept building and building.

“We really should get back too,” Adonica told him, “Kevin’s right. We need some sleep. How cute would it be if I slept-danced my way off stage.”

“I would catch you before you fell,” he said, kissing her on the lips, “Maybe one day, we’ll have our own hotel room, instead of having to share with Devin and Alaura.”

“Maybe,” Adonica said, staying positive for his sake. She admired how much he dreamed, and knew that they would go far in the music industry if only he kept his dreams alive and didn’t give up in rough times. She believed in him and the other two men. They had a lot going for them.

Walking hand in hand, they walked to the limo awaiting them, and crawled into the back seat. Another night was gone. They still had another five months of the same routine ahead of them, and they looked forward to every moment of it.

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

Adonica, Alaura and Dulcina were helping the Backstreet Boys with their stage setting plans when three males walked into the room. Adonica recognized them right away as being LFO. The Boys introduced them as the opening act, and got right back to business. They had a busy schedule to follow by. But none of the girls were paying much attention to the plans. Their minds and eyes were on the three fine new men that sat before them. They’d been dancers for the Boys for three year now. This would be the beginning of their fourth. But another boy band was never the warm up band before. It was considered competition, to a certain extent. This was new. Adonica continued to stare, mainly at Rich, looking him up in down in approval. Their eyes locked for a moment and he smiled warmly at her. It was then that she noticed how soft his features were. From then on out, their relationship progressed slowly and smoothly. The tour would be starting in a month, and the members of LFO would be around a lot to help with the pre-tour planning and setting up. That meant that he would be hanging around a lot, and she could get to know him…very well.

At first, they casually talked, as Alaura and Dulcina started to notice and take interest in Devin and Brad. But before long, Adonica had committed herself to Rich and Rich to her before the tour even started. Meanwhile, there were two new relationships taking off.

It wasn’t long before all three couples were serious, and the tour was starting. Every night, they went through the same routines, but this year, all three girls were more into what they were doing, knowing what was waiting for them on the other side of the stage. They’d never been more willing to cooperate and do everything that they knew that they had to, when it was needed to be done.

A few months later, and now each girl was with one guy from LFO still. They all had strong, healthy relationships, which were nowhere near about to end any time soon. For the first time in years, Adonica was truly happy…

“Adonica,”

Adonica continued to stare off into space, with a silly grin on her face. Rich couldn’t help but laugh.

“Adonica, baby,”

He gently reached over and shook her a little. It did nothing, so he waved his hand in front of her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, looking over beside her at Rich.

“Huh?” she asked, confused, and then looked around her, realizing where she was “Oh…”

“You all right?” he asked, concerned. He’d obviously broken her trance. He was used to losing her to those every once in a while.

“Yeah, just thinking,” Adonica told him, “Guess more like daydreaming, but it’s all the same.”

She smiled at him, and stretched, looking out of the small window at the land that stretched out thousands of feet below her. She tried to stifle a yawn, wanting to kill Kevin for making her get up so early. Sometimes, she felt she couldn’t do this anymore. Deal with the stress of being a dancer, being awake at strange hours. But if it weren’t for that, she wouldn’t be with Rich. That was one of the things that kept her going and not giving up and getting a normal job.

“What were you thinking about?” he asked, not knowing why he bothered. He loved his woman, but it was hell trying to get her to talk about what she daydreamt about. He’d yet to succeed.

“Nothing much,” she told him, “Same as every other time.”

She really didn’t want to get into it. If she did, he might think that she was overly obsessive over him and didn’t have a life. She didn’t want Rich to think that about her. They hadn’t been together THAT long. She wasn’t about to take a chance on losing him over her falling hard too fast.

“Which is?” he pushed, tickling her in the side. She squealed a little, squirming out of his grasp, giggling, “You’ve yet to tell me what you were thinking about every other time.”

“Us, of course,” she told him, and he drew back, giving her a look. Did she just tell him what was on her mind? “What else would I be thinking about, silly boy.”

“What about us?” Rich asked

He didn’t know if this was good or bad. He’d always been slightly worried that she’d change her mind about him, and decide that he wasn’t worth the time and effort. There were, after all, thousands of millions of guys that she could choose from. Why him? He was slightly well known now. She, as a dancer, most of the time, was just looked past. He’d always thought since he met her that the dancers didn’t get the credit that they deserved. They worked almost just as hard as the actual performer to make sure that they put on a good show.

“How happy I’ve been since I met you,” she sighed dreamily, and then leaned over to kiss him on the cheek quickly, “I wouldn’t change these past five months for anything in the entire world.”

“Good,” he replied, “Cuz I wouldn’t either.

Meanwhile, Dulcia and Brad were two rows behind them. Brad’s eyes kept drooping, as he struggled to stay awake. Every now and then, his head would jerk upward for a few seconds, before falling again. Dulcia had her headset on, bopping to her Osbourns CD, mouthing the lyrics. She soon broke out into “Papa Don’t Preach”, singing it loud and clear. Brad sleepily looked over at her, and her energy made him all the more tired and exhausted.

“How can you be like that with so little sleep?” he muttered, getting no response from her. She was completely oblivious to him and her surroundings. Tapping her on the shoulder, Dulcia looked over at him blankly, slipping the headphones off, letting them drape around her neck. He could hear the music blaring easily now. He wondered how she hadn’t gone deaf.

“Yeah?” she asked

“How do you have so much spunk so early?” he managed to get out, his speech slightly mumbled.

“I am an insomniac, Brad,” she explained to him, “You know that. I couldn’t sleep right now if I tried.”

Shaking his head, he leaned back, resting it against the back of the seat. He willingly closed his eyes this time. Giving him a kiss on the corner of his mouth, Dulcia put the headphones back on, firmly pressing them in place. She didn’t know what it would be like to be tired enough to sleep that easily. Sure, she slept, but she lived off of a mere two or three hours of it every night. It was what she was used to, so it didn’t bother her.

Across the isle, Devin and Alaura sat side by side, holding hands. Devin was fast asleep, with Alaura thinking about the night before. She’d gotten back to the hotel room, and flipped on the lights, expecting to be alone until her roommates got in. She was startled to see Devin, already fast asleep, with a pillow over his head to block out the light from the parking lot light poles which was coming through the small window. Her heart accelerated a little bit at the sight of him. She hadn’t expected to find him there already in bed, but rather out partying. She was happy to know that he’d stayed in. Now, she sat, gazing at him, looking so peaceful. She personally couldn’t wait for the plane to land, so that she could talk to her boyfriend, if he even woke up for that. Half the time, the guys had to drag Devin off of the plane and carry him to wherever they had planned to go.

“Hey, Alaura,”

Alaura looked over and saw Dulcia leaning over Brad, and looking at her. She got up, and struggled to step over his lap, and into the empty seat on the other side of him. Alaura laughed at the sight of Brad, with a small string of drool emerging from his mouth as he slept.

“Aren’t men such babies?” Dulcia asked, then looked ahead at Rich and Adonica laughing and having a good time, “Well, ours are. Hers is like, nocturnal or something, I swear.”

“Or maybe he’s an insomniac too,” Alaura suggested, with a shrug of her shoulders, “You never know.”

“If he is, then maybe I belong with him,” she said thoughtfully, they shook her head roughly at the thought, “Nah. I enjoy mah Brad and his sexy body. Oh baby, he looks good.”

She looked behind her at her own sleeping prince. He sighed and tried to turn over in his seat, but his seat belt restricted him, not letting him get anywhere. Dulcia laughed at him, wishing that their schedules weren’t so wacky. She really didn’t think that it was necessary for them to leave so early, but Kevin always liked to get everything done in advance. She’d become accustomed to his ways and her, Adonica and Alaura had easily befriended the guys, even though then did get on each others nerves sometimes and argued to the point of not speaking to one another for days. But they always made up and things were back to normal again. Looking out the small window, she sighed, hoping that they would be to Detroit soon. One thing was for sure, she would never get used to the long plane rides.

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

Kevin eyed Adonica longingly, watching her limber body stretch to touch her toes, and then jog in place to warm up for the show. When she turned around, he quickly whipped around the corner, his heart accelerating a bit, his breath coming out heavily. Did she see him? He sure hoped not. Peeking back around the corner, he spied on her, watching her every flexible move. He’d forgotten all about the sound check that he’d disappeared from and four other guys waiting for him. Kevin didn’t even hear them come up behind him until one of them spoke.

“Whatcha doing?” Howie asked, “You stranded us.”

Kevin spun around, startled, “Oh, um, nothing,” he replied, giving a nervous, self-conscious laugh.

“Uh huh, sure,” Brian replied, rolling his eyes, “Come on, what were you starting at?”

Kevin could feel his face starting to turn red from humiliation. They had caught him. There was no denying it. But he could try, and he planned on trying as hard as he was capable of.

“Nothing,” he lied again, “I thought I saw something.”

“Was it A-don-I-caaa,” Nick sang out playfully, knowing his shameful attraction to the girl.

Kevin mocked horror, then got angry, “I said that it was nothing,” he shouted, “What are you? In the fucking CIA or something. Stay out of my business.”

The guys smirked, knowing that Kevin wasn’t being honest with them. They knew that he only got mad when something went wrong or when he was confronted with something he was embarrassed of. They were going to get to the bottom of it this time though. A.J pushed past Kevin and he started to stop him before realizing that if he did, it would prove him guilty. So he stood back and waited for the Latino to figure him out. It was only a matter of time now. A.J rounded the corner and stopped dead, a confused look on his face. Kevin cringed, waiting for him to announce it, but he didn’t. He came back, shaking his head, looking dumbfounded.

“Nobody there,” he informed them all, “He was telling the truth.”

Kevin breathed a sigh of relief and composed himself to hide the guilt upon his handsome face. He silently thanked Adonica and her friends for deciding to leave before he was caught. It was no use trying to deny something that wasn’t even true, if the guys would tease and harass him for it and not believe him. OR was it true? He shook his head, startled at the thought. He did not just think that, did he? He couldn’t like one of his dancers like that. It was ridiculous. So he decided to deny it to himself.

“I told you that it was nothing,” he told him, still acting mad, “But ya’ll wouldn’t listen to me.”

A.J still looked greatly confused, as if he thought that his eyes had deceived him of some vital information. Kevin couldn’t help but chuckle, and quickly started to walk away so that they would not see him. It would only cause more suspicion. That was the last thing that he needed and wanted.

“Anyways, you kind of left us at sound check. So we took a break to see where your ass ran off to.” Brian told him.

If it had been anyone else talking like that to him, Kevin might have gotten mad, but since Brian was his cousin, he knew that at least part of him was joking around.

“Yeah.” He said lamely, “ How is everything?”

“So far, so good,” Brian informed, giving a thumbs up, “Although, there was a slight problem, but we got it figured out and fixed.”

Kevin nodded, yawning, not really caring at the moment what the problem was as long as it lo longer persisted. He trusted the technicians had it all taken care of. Yawning again, Kevin wanted nothing more than to get back to the hotel to catch a couple of hours of sleep. Maybe everyone was right and they should start leaving a little later into the morning. He looked at his watch. They had for hours before they went on. What could an hour hurt?

“Hey, guys, I’m going back to the hotel. Think you can manage without me for a little while?”

“Sure man. Go ahead,” Nick permitted him, “We’ll be fine.”

Kevin nodded, and patted Nick on the back before leaving. An hour was all that he needed. Before he knew it, he was at the hotel and the last thing that he remembered was his head hitting the pillow.

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

“I think I’ve got a problem,” Rich said to Brad and Devin, “I don’t know if it’s a good thing or bad thing.”

His two band mates looked at each other before pushing their friend for details. They could tell that something had been on his mind lately and he was finally coming to them for help over it.

“What is it?” Brad asked, anxious and willing to help Rich out. He knew that Devin was too.

“It kind of has to do with Adonica,” he told them, looking down, refusing to make eye contact of any kind.

Again, his friends gave each other a quick, worried look, not knowing and wondering what this could be about.

“Would you quit doing that?” Rich asked.

“You aren’t thinking of breaking up with her, are you?” Devin asked incredulously.

“No, not at all. It’s nothing like that,” Rich replied, keeping his gaze locked on the ground, “The thing is...I…I…”

“C’mon, spit it out,” Brad pushed

“I…I think that I love her,” Rich finally finished.

His friends laughed, not believing him at first. Rich looked up for the first time, and his eyes told hem that he was completely serious. His friends straightened up, and their expressions turned into ones of support.

“Wow,” Devin managed to get out, “Have you told her?”

Rich looked at Devin as if he’d lost his mind, “No,” he told him, “Of course not. I don’t want to scare her away or make her feel tied down.”

Now it was Rich’s turn to get looks as if he were crazy, “Chicks love that kind of thing. They wait forever to hear their man say those three words. Believe me, you tell her, I guarantee that she’ll feel the same way back.”

Rich offered a thankful smile, glad that he’d talked to them about his problem. He felt much better. Next time he saw her, he was going to tell Adonica just how he felt about her. He just hoped that it would turn out all right.

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

Kevin woke up to the phone blaring in his ear. Not even bothering to open his eyes, he reached over and grabbed the phone, lazily and clumbsly bringing it to his ear.

“Hello?” he muttered

“Where the fuck are you?”

It was Nick’s voice yelling into the phone at him. He groaned, and rolled over onto his back.

“You knew I was coming back here to sleep for an hour. Now let me sleep.”

He started to hang the phone up when he heard Nick yelling something about looking at the damn time. Kevin opened one eye and peered over at the clock beside him, and thought nothing of it.

“Nine thirty-eight, big deal,” he said sleepily, then sat up straight with a jerk, fully awake now, “Please tell me that is not the real time. Please”

“It is,” Nick informed him, “You should have been here hours ago. The show should have started ten minutes ago. Get your ass here now. The fans are getting impatient and restless.”

Kevin quickly dressed into his stage clothes and ran to the car, speeding the whole way to the venue. He felt much more relaxed, but because of his need of sleep, he had set the show back, and for the first time in his life, he was going to be the cause of it. He knew what was in for him as soon as he got there. He just hoped that the guys weren’t too mad about it, but by the sound of Nick’s voice, they would be.

Chapter Two

“I look so fat in this,” Adonica complained, looking in the full-length mirror in total disgust.

Alaura and Dulcia rolled their eyes, knowing just where this conversation was going. They’d been through it a million times before and knew that there were hundreds of times to come.

“No you don’t,” Alaura informed her, calmly, “You’ve lost so much weight. You look amazing.”

Dulcia nodded in agreement, “Exactly,” she said, “If you still weighed what you did five years ago, do you really think you would be a dancer right now? No offense or anything.”

Adonica stuck out her bottom lip in a hurt pout. The comment had stung her, but she knew that her friends were right. She’d lost over fifty pounds in the past year. Even she had to admit that she looked all right…most of the time. But there were still some times when she was unsatisfied with how she looked and felt like a buffalo. But those times were getting further and further apart. She just hoped, along with her friends, that those times would vanish completely sooner or later.

“What should I do with my hair tonight?” she asked, pulling it all up with her fist into a high ponytail, leaving a few strands framing her face, and then letting it all fall gently back to below her shoulders, its long, silky curls falling perfectly back into place.

“I say leave it down,” Alaura advised her, “It’s to pretty to hide behind you in a ponytail.”

“Up,” Dulcia instructed, making things difficult, “You know how hot it gets. Besides, does it really matter? It’s not like we’re being paid attention to. We’re just there to help put on the show.”

“More than you realize,” Adonica said, deciding to put it into a French braid, so she wouldn’t have one friend mad that she didn’t take their suggestion.

The girls worked on fixing themselves up to go on stage. They’d been in a rush before, but since Kevin was running late, they decided to take extra time that night. Dulcia whipped out her blue glitter lip-gloss and applied it for the tenth time that hour, while Adonica and Alaura carefully put eyeliner on.

“I wonder where Kevy disappeared to,” Dulcia asked, “I swear, since we’re always running late, I bet he is getting back at us now.”

They could make out the routy fans chanting “Backstreet Boys” over and over again, screaming it at the top of their lungs. She knew that they were getting impatient, and didn’t blame them. LFO had gone back out twice now to sing additional songs just to keep the mob of girls entertained until Kevin arrived. Every second that passed, the commotion seemed to get louder and louder. Adonica looked up at the clock on the wall and sighed.

“Yeah, but we’ve never been a half hour late,” she said, “This is totally unlike him.” She started to nibble on her bottom lip nervously. It was a habit she did when she felt something wasn’t right or was worried, “I hope nothing bad happened. I mean, jeez…normally he is right on the second. He’s usually on our ass trying to get us out of here on time. He hates making the fans wait. We all know that. I don’t think that there is anybody who doesn’t know that.”

“She’s right,” Alaura said, “Kevin wouldn’t purposely make us this late. Something isn’t right.”

Walking out of their dressing room, the three friends rounded the corner to backstage, meeting the three other guys. The girls groaned inwardly as they noticed that Nick was now missing.

“Any signs of him yet?” Dulcia asked

The guys shook their heads, as Nick ran over to them, breathless.

“He’s on is way,” he told them, “It sounded like he’d still been asleep.”

Anger boiled in Dulcia’s veins. He’d forced them to get up early, to catch the first flight of the morning, direct to Detroit, and then he had the nerve to go and find a place to sleep himself.

Adonica could feel a pair of strong arms wrapping around her firmly from behind. She could immediately identify it as Rich, as he kissed her neck. She could feel sweat dripping off of him.

“Damn, you look good,” he whispered huskily in her ear.

Turning around, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him down for a kiss, and then looked into his eyes, and smiled at him. He was always complimenting her, even though half the time, she didn’t think that she deserved it. He always told her that she didn’t give herself enough credit.

“You too,” she replied.

Seconds later, Devin and Brad ran into the room together, scanning it, as if looking for something. Brad’s eyes spotted Dulcia and he grinned, jogging over to her, with Devin right behind him on his way to see Alaura.

“I’m so glad I caught you before you went on,” Devin told Alaura, scooping her up into his arms.

Brad took Dulcia into his arms, and she ate up the attention. She normally wasn’t one to fall for somebody, but there was something about Brad that was hard to resist. They were a lot alike and he seemed different from most guys that she had dated in the past…caring being the main attribute. She hoped that he didn’t do anything to ever betray her trust in him, and she trusted that he wouldn’t.

“Kevin still not here?” he asked her.

Dulcia shook her head, “Nope. Nowhere to be seen since about four or five. Apparently, he went somewhere to rest.” Anger flashed in her eyes for a split second, but then it was gone, “He’s going to pay for this later. Me and the girls are coming up with a plan.”

“Oh really,” Devin asked, a mischievous tone in his voice, “Care to let me in on this one?”

Dulcia gave him an evil grin, and paused, before saying, “Nope. But if you’re lucky, once we have all the details worked out, you and the rest of the guys can help us out. Maybe.”

He could see the wheels turning in Dulcia’s head, knowing that it was full of ideas, which he knew were all bad. He loved her creative imagination and the kinds of things that she thought up. He knew that her payback on Kevin, whatever it might be, would be good.

Devin looked over at Rich embracing Adonica still, and Rich looked over at him. Devin gave him a look that said to hurry up and tell his girl what they’d been discussing just hours before. Rich scowled, and shook his head, motioning with one hand for him to go away. Adonica pulled back slightly, and looked up at him, with a questioning look in her deep brown eyes.

“Everything all right?” she asked him.

Startled, Rich looked down at her, and smiled, “Of course,” he told her, “Perfect. Everything is perfect.”

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

“Damnit,” Kevin cursed, “Just MOVE. The speed limit is sixty five…not forty you old fuck.”

The person in front of Kevin continued to drive at his own leisurely pace, and he laid his hand on the horn, blaring it for the whole highway to hear. Traffic in the left lane whizzed past him, as he tried for the fifth time to get over and pass the guy. Nobody let him in though, and he soon gave up, wanting nothing more to rear-end the guy, and speed off, leaving him for the cops to deal with.

“Fucking learn to drive,” he screamed, knowing that his patients was wearing very thin at that moment, “Or get off the road. Take a cab. Anything…just get out of my way. NOW.”

A group of girls drove by him, and slowed down, to stay at a steady side-by-side pace with him. Traffic began to back up in both lanes, and blares came from all directions. But the car of females didn’t seem to even notice or care that they were causing problems. The driver honked, and Kevin looked over, seeing all five of them giggling and waving, blowing kisses in his direction.

“So much for dark tinted windows,” Kevin muttered under his breath.

He gave them a quick, short nod, as one of them scribbled something onto a piece of paper, and held it up for him to read. He took a quick glance at it, making out exactly what it said. His face flushed a new shade of crimson, slowing down even more, so that the girls would be forced to pass him by. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with a bunch of fans. All he cared about was getting to the show at the quickest moment possible. The three in the backseat turned around, and waved to him, as their small red Hyundai disappeared from view.

Checking his rear-view mirror, Kevin could see an opening forming and prepared to take action and switch lanes. The gap came, and he quickly swerved into the lane, flying past the old man who was hunched over the steering wheel. Guilt came over Kevin for being so impatient with the guy, but he was in a hurry like he’d never been in before. He saw his exit coming up, and switched back over in front of the guy, cutting him off by inches, but was soon too far ahead of him for it to count. He looked at the time, and panic seized him. It was nine forty. The show should have started almost an hour ago. How could he have been so stupid? He could have lived without the sleep. Now, he knew he was going to pay.

Before he knew it, Kevin was pulling into the amphitheater parking lot. He was stopped by security and forced to show ID to prove who he was before being let back to the parking lot that was meant for bands and crewmembers only. He quickly got out of his car, and ran backstage, meeting the group of ten. They all saw him coming, and didn’t look pleased with him at all. His cousin had a scowl on his face the size of the state of Kentucky, while the girls stood, their arms crossed, tapping one foot, looking as if they wanted to kill him.

“I know, I screwed up,” he said, before anybody could speak, changing into his stage clothes right there as quickly as possible. He pulled up the pair of pants, and buttoned them, slipped on his shoes, and jumped up, “Okay everybody, it’s show time.”

“We’ve got a lot to talk about,” A.J. said, shaking his head, and running out onto stage for the intro song, “The Call”

“We’ll discuss it later.” Kevin promised, as he turned on his headset microphone, and A.J. started singing the first lines.

The girls started to leave, to take their positions, when Rich stopped Adonica.

“Good luck,” he told her, giving her a quick kiss on the lips.

“Thanks,” she said, joining her friends before they missed their part.

“And Adonica,” he called after her.

She turned her head to see what he wanted. He hesitated a little, and she wondered what he had wanted. She gave him a look with much question in her eyes, and he opened his mouth to speak.

“I love you,” he yelled

“What?”

“I LOVE YOU,”

Adonica smiled, and mouthed, “I love you too” back to him, as Dulcia drug her away to the edge of where the stage began. They lined up, Alaura, Adonica and then Dulcia, and one by one, walked out onto the stage to the beat of the music. Once all out on stage, they moved in sync with one another, putting on the show of their lives. They all knew what they had to do to make it up to the fans for being so late. Adonica couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear. Rich loved her. It was the best thing she’d heard in a long time, and the words had sounded like sweet, harmonious music to her ears.

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

After the show was over, the guys quickly ushered Kevin away, to speak to him, while the girls went into their dressing room to change and clean up. They all wondered what the guys were saying to the older man. Four against one didn’t give him much of a shot, even if he was a good six foot two and pure muscle. Dulcia started to laugh to herself, making her friends wonder what had happened.

“What?” Alaura asked.

Dulcia began to laugh harder at the thought of all that had gone on that night. Looking back on it, it was pretty funny.

“What?” Alaura and Adonica asked together this time.

“This will definitely be a show that none of us will forget,” she said, after her laughter had subsided.

“No, it certainly wont,” Alaura agreed.

Dulcia knew that it wouldn’t be either. She had a feeling that it would be a story that she could pass down for generations to come.

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

“You look so beautiful tonight,” Rich told Adonica, reaching across the candle lit table for two to hold her hands.

Adonica blushed a little. After the show, Rich had taken her to a fancy restaurant across town called Mitchell’s, that was open well into the early hours of the morning. He’d managed to get the guys to let him take her out for the special occasion.

“You look pretty gorgeous yourself,” she said.

She looked around the extravagant place in awe. She’d never quite been to a place this nice. Being a dancer didn’t bring in the kind of money that most people thought that it did.

“So, why did you bring me here tonight?” she asked him, “I really appreciate it, but there has to be a reason.”

A wounded expression came upon Rich’s face. The smile that he’d been wearing all night faded into a frown.

“I can’t believe you forgot.” He said sadly, loosing his grip on her hands, but not letting go completely.

Adonica looked at him, totally confused, “Forgot what?” she asked, hoping that it was nothing important, but knowing by his reaction that it was.

“You forgot that it is our five month anniversary,” he told her, looking deep into her eyes.

“No, it’s not…our anniversary is on the sixteenth. It’s only the…” she counted in her head for a moment, and her face fell, “The sixteenth.” She finished off lamely, “I’m so sorry baby. Time has been getting away from me lately.” She offered him a small smile, “Do you forgive me?”

Rich tried to keep a straight face, but couldn’t. A smile broke out, as he gripped her hands tighter again, “You know that I can’t be mad at you. Of course I forgive ya. Just remember that when I forget one of our anniversaries.” He joked.

Adonica laughed softly as their waitress came to the table and set down their meals.

“Now, I want you to forget about your diet and enjoy yourself tonight, all right?” Rich told her, “What you eat isn’t even enough to feed a family of birds.

Adonica nodded, fully intending on finishing the meal. She knew that the menu was extremely pricey and didn’t want him to pay for her only having a few nibbles of salad and a bite of steak.

“I really can’t believe that we’ve been together for this long already,” she said, “It’s been the best months of my life. I really couldn’t ask for a better boyfriend than you. You’re perfect.”

“You are too,” he told her, “I’ve never met anybody quite so amazing as you are. How do you do it?”

Adonica shrugged, as her stomach felt as if it were about to explode. She forced herself to take another bite, as her body started to reject it. She wasn’t used to eating so much, and felt bad for her small appetite ruining the meal.

“You okay?” he asked her, seeing the expression of pain on her face. She looked up to see concern in his eyes.

“Yeah,” she said, “Just getting full. I’ll be fine.”

“You don’t have to eat any more if you don’t want to,” he told her, “Take the rest home for tomorrow or something. Besides, at least you had more than your measly half of a cup of soup.”

“Hey!” Adonica defended jokingly, “I like my soup…besides, my grandma just sent, like, two hundred new cans of it. I’m gonna be living off of the stuff for awhile, I suppose.”

Rich threw his head back and laughed. He had yet to meet her grandma, who Dulcia referred to as being evil and crazy. Alaura had no comments about the old woman, so nobody really knew what her opinions were on her. For all they knew, she loved her to death.

“So, I overheard Dulcia telling Brad that you guys are planning revenge on Kevin,” Rich said, a look of interest in his eyes.

Adonica looked shocked at the bit of information, not knowing what he was talking about.

“She hasn’t mentioned anything to me about it.” She said, “Probably talk about it tonight.” She shook her head, and rolled her eyes, “With her, who knows what her plan is. For all I know, she is just all talk.”

The waitress came back to the table minutes later, and set their check down on the table. Adonica snuck a peek at the bill and sucked in her breath at the price of it, but didn’t let her shock and disapproval show. Rich was always doing nice things for her, and didn’t like it when she protested. She’d learned to keep her mouth shut about it really quickly and just let him do what he wanted. He paid the bill, and they left the restaurant hand in hand. They’d survived another month together, and Adonica knew that they had many more months together to come.

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

Kevin sat, feeling guilty and miserable for being so late to the show. He knew nothing he could say or do would help him out of the mess that he’d put himself in. The guys had cornered him and there was nothing that he could do to save himself.

“Ten years,” Brian finally said, “We’ve been touring for ten years, and you’ve never been so much as a second late. Then, the one time you are, its astronomical. Fifty minutes. And LFO had to go back out to perform many times just to keep the fans from leaving. There were small children out there staying up past their bedtime for us. Some of them probably had no choice but to leave.”

“I said I was sorry,” Kevin defended, “I was up until god knows when making business arrangements while everybody else was fast asleep.”

“Ah-ha, so you were sleeping,” Howie said, “One hour my ass. This isn’t going to look good, you know that, don’t you.”

Kevin looked up, and glared at his band mates. They’d been late hundreds of times, yet when he was, it was if a crime had been commited.

“Yes, I know that,” Kevin spat out, “Jeez. Lay off of it, okay?”

Dread filled Kevin’s stomach though. Howie was right. Their show starting so late wouldn’t look good on their reputation. If tabloids got a hold of the fact that he’d disappeared for several hours, who knew what kind of scandalous story they’d come up with. He couldn’t believe he’d been so stupid to leave. This was just an added stress to his already everyday hectic life. Nick could tell that Kevin was worrying and wanted to help get the other guys off of his back.

“Guys,” he said, “Give him a break. I’m sure it won’t happen again.”

“This coming from he who makes us late every other time,” A.J. joked, slapping Nick on the back playfully.

“I’ll try harder too,” Nick promised, fully intending to keep it this time. He just hoped that he could.

Kevin’s mind couldn’t help but wander to Adonica. He didn’t know why he was suddenly so attracted to her. He’d gone three years without noticing her as more than a friend, and now that she had Rich, he was jealous. But jealousy didn’t quite fit what he was feeling. It was more of a longing. He took in a deep breath, and sighed. He wished that things weren’t so complicated.

“What are you thinking about?” A.J. asked him.

“Adonica,” Kevin slipped, then cringed, “I mean…nothing.” He said, trying to cover up his slip.

“I told you so,” Nick triumphantly stated.

Kevin knew he couldn’t deny anything anymore. They’d caught him and there was nothing he could do about it. He offered them a weak, embarrassed smile, hoping that they wouldn’t razz him about it until the end of time.

“Woah,” Brian said, “I don’t think anybody saw that coming.”

“I did,” Nick spoke up.

“Nick, shut up,” A.J said, and then turned back to Kevin, “How long have you liked her?”

Kevin shrugged, “I don’t know. I guess for about four and a half months now. Pretty much ever since her and Rich hooked up.”

He felt miserable. All he wanted was a special someone he could share his life with, and the one person he wanted was taken. He’d waited too long to make his move all because he’d found his feelings too late.

“Adonica is happy with Rich,” Howie told him, “Try to be happy for her. If you notice, she’s been doing better on stage this year. Don’t ruin it for her, okay? Just keep your mouth shut.”

Kevin nodded, knowing that that was what he had to do, and it was what he intended on doing. He prayed that the task he had to take on would be as easy as he thought that it would be. If not, things could get ugly between him, Adonica and Rich really quickly. And if he messed up things between Adonica and Rich, he would have Dulcia to deal with, and that was the one thing that he didn’t want to have to mess with.

WARNING: This chapter contains mild sexual content.

Chapter Three

“Brad,” a girl screamed frantically at the top of her lungs in his direction, “Devin! Rich!”

The guys continued walking, not hearing her desperate pleas for them to stop. Dulcia could hear her footsteps running, clapping against the cement with every step that she took. She took Brad by the arm and tugged on him, trying to get him to move faster to get away from the fan. She took it as her job to protect her boyfriend, and sometimes the other guys, from the fans who stalked them. He spun around and stared at his girlfriend in confusion.

“What,” he asked, and then looked up, seeing the young girl charging at him like a stampede.

“Stop,” she yelled, waving her arms in the air to ensure that they wouldn’t miss her coming at them.

“Guys,” Brad yelled to his friends, who’d continued on their way, “Come back. We’ve got a visitor.”

The two guys rejoined him as the girl reached them, out of breath. She knelt down on her knees to catch her breath for a second before opening her purse and reaching inside, rummaging around. After a minute, she pulled out an old, crumpled up receipt that was about five feet long and handed it to them.

“Can you please autograph this for me?” she asked

“Sure,” Brad replied, “What’s your name?” he asked, reaching into his shirt pocket and pulling out a pen, and clicking it open, ready to write.

“Jessica,” the girl replied eagerly, trying to catch an early peek as to what he was writing.

Dulcia grabbed onto Brad’s arm and clung to him, hanging off of him like a tree ornament to let Jessica know that it was very clear that he was taken…by her, and that nothing was going to cha
nge that. She was not about to lose her man to a needy, drooling fan. Jessica’s eyes narrowed in Dulcia’s direction, a scowl set upon her face, her features hardening like a chiseled stone sculpture. She then turned back to the guys and smiled sweetly up at them, acting as innocent as a newborn kitten, and not the spoiled, rotten girl that Dulcia could see right through her to really be.

“Are you going to be at the show tonight?” Devin asked her, not noticing the envy flashing in Alarua’s eyes. She hated this Jessica girl, along with all other fans that thought that they could steal Devin from her. It happened at every meet and greet. Girls acted as slutty as possible to try to win the guys.

“Yes,” she replied, “It’s only lawn seats though. I probably won’t even be able to see what is happening, even with binoculars.” She hinted, with a little pout, trying to bum better tickets off of them out of pity. Little did she know, the guys had very little say in who got the first through sixth row seats that were always held for friends, families and last minute special guests.

“That’s not too bad,” Rich commented, “Some people say the view from the lawn is actually better than arena seats. Just be sure to get there early enough to get right up next to the stage.”

Adonica’s insecurities started to surface as her boyfriend talked to the girl. Jessica frowned at their inability to take a hint.

“Well, here ya go.” Devin said, handing the paper back to her, “Enjoy the show.” He grinned at her widely.

Jessica grabbed the receipt from his hand, “Thanks,” she offered a tight smile and glared at the girlfriends one last time before taking off in the direction she had come from. As soon a she was out of hearing range, Brad turned to Dulcia. The look on his face told her that she had done something very wrong that had made him mad and that he was not happy with her

“What was that little scene all about?” he demanded, shaking her off of him and folding his arms across his muscled chest.

“I didn’t like the way that she was looking at you,” Dulcia bluntly stated, not shy to expressing her feelings to him. Keeping it in would get her nowhere. Telling him how she felt might.

Brad rolled his eyes skyward and let out a loud sigh of annoyance and exasperation. He really did not want to get into this conversation. Especially when she should’ve known that there was absolutely no chemistry between him and the fan that no longer had a name to him.

“And she was giving me evil looks,” Dulcia continued, “Admit it Bradley…she was after more than just an autograph, and you know it just as well as I do. So don’t even try to play dumb. I hate being lied to.”

“Dulcia, Jes…that girl was nothing but nice to all of us. What did you want me to do? Just blow her off?”

“Hence the whole reason I was pulling you away before she had a chance to reach us.” Dulcia muttered under her breath.

Brad rolled his eyes again, not at all liking the new side of her that he was seeing. She was usually so collected and confident. At that moment, she was acting jealous and clingy. It was an attitude he had been almost positive the tough girl would never even think of picking up. It was the type of behavior she normally scorned against, begging people to shoot her if she ever got that way. Here she was, that way now, and Brad wasn’t going to fulfill her wish.

“You’re being ridiculous,” he told her, “This conversation is through.”

“But,” Dulcia began.

“Over,” Brad interrupted, silencing her before she could say more and argue with him more over it.

“If there is nothing to is, then why are you avoiding the subject?” she muttered so low that nobody could hear her. She crossed her arms and walked ahead of her boyfriend. He knew all about her past relationships and her lack of trust in people…especially the male population, but wasn’t doing anything to comfort and assure her of anything. She found it rather suspicious.

Alaura shook, wrapping her arms around herself, as if she were out in the middle of a blizzard, trying to keep warm. She too was reading too much into Jessica. She came off as being easy and extremely skankish. She looked over to Adonica, who was shifting from foot to foot, an uneasy expression upon her face. She could very well read into what her other friend was thinking. Jessica had affected her in the worst way as well. She thought it sad that one girl could make their entire confidence drop to a new low. Adonica kept stealing glances up at Rich to see what he was doing. Dulcia suddenly turned around, getting a good glimpse at her friends.

“I advise you two,” she remarked, pointing a finger at Devin and moving her finger across toward Rich, “to take a really good look at your girlfriends. I doubt that it’s just my imagination that they look pretty insecure too.”

The guys turned to look at their women to see if Dulcia’s predicament was right. They were shocked to see that she was. Then again, Dulcia was always right. They couldn’t remember a single time she’d been wrong. Devin pulled Alaura in close to him, stroking her hair, and Rich wrapped his arms around Adonica.

“Baby,” he said, “You have no reason to feel intimidated by her. I promise you, nothing was going through my head except for thoughts of you.”

Adonica could feel hot tears begin to cascade down her ivory, soft cheeks. She hoped that her mascara wasn’t smearing, but then again, she really didn’t care at that particular moment in time. She cared so little that she didn’t even bother to wipe the tears away, even though they kept coming.

“She was so pretty though,” she sniffed.

“And you’re gorgeous,” Rich cut in, before she could cut herself down any more, “What did I tell you the other night?”

Adonica pretended to play stupid, as if she had no idea what he was talking about. She shrugged her shoulders, an innocent look on her face.

“I told you that I love you,” Rich told her, “I wouldn’t have told you that for nothing, ya know. I meant it with all my heart.”

“I love you too,” she whispered, realizing that she’d been foolish to worry about him liking Jessica.

Rich pressed his lips firmly against hers and dug in for a long, sweet, lingering kiss. Adonica felt as if fireworks were going off as her entire body started to tingle with longing for more.

Alaura looked at Devin with sad eyes. He caught her gaze and smiled at her warmly to let her know that everything was okay.

“You’re the only one for me,” he informed her in an assuring tone.

Alaura didn’t look so sure, looking at him skeptically. She wanted to believe him, but when another woman was involved, she needed much more than trust in him, as much as she hated to be that way.

“She came off as a little whore. Who’d want that? You’ve got so much more than she did…and you’re all mine.”

Alaura smiled, finally convinced that he meant what he said. Devin took her by the hand, pulling her in as close as she could get, and kissed her tenderly on the lips, just in case he had to prove himself more than he already had.

“Dulcia,” Brad called out, “Come back here honey.”

Dulcia stopped, but she didn’t even turn around and stayed where she was. If he wanted forgiveness, she was going to make him get down on his knees and beg for it, and he was going to have to beg hard.

“I’m sorry for being so insensitive,” he said, “Please don’t be mad,” he added when she still didn’t budge.

Dulcia stood there, knowing that she was being evil, treating Brad the way that she was. He was a male, and men made those kinds of mistakes. It wasn’t like he could help it or anything. She could feel his sincerity, but liked the feeling of knowing he was squirming in anxiety behind her, wondering what he had to do to get her to forgive him.

“You know about my mistrust in people,” she finally said, followed by a short sigh, “And then you go and pull that kind of shit on me. How am I supposed to know if you mean what you say?”

She spun around, and faced Brad, a look of sadness mixed with annoyance and a dash of anger. He hated it when he disappointed her. It always made him feel like an unworthy, bad boyfriend.

“I know just how I can make it up to you,” he said

“You can’t fix everything with sex, you know.” Dulcia replied, but she was smiling in spite of herself. Brad knew that she loved their bedtime games. They were her most favorite hobby. She couldn’t stay mad at him for long. He was just too hot and sincere for her to. She knew by looking into his eyes that he’d never hurt her or do her wrong like her past experiences.

“Wanna bet?” Brad asked, wiggling his eyebrows at her. She laughed, and took off running in the direction of their hotel.

“If you catch me, I’ll think about it,” she called back behind her

“That’s not fair,” Brad yelled, but he was laughing good-naturedly too. He took off after her, gaining quickly on her heels.

The four that were left stared off after them in bewilderment, wondering what had just happened.

“Well,” Adonica said, “We won’t be seeing them for the rest of the afternoon.”

Everyone laughed, knowing just how right she was.

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

“Hey, Adonica,” Kevin called.

Adonica spun around, and looking in the direction of where the voice had come from and saw a shadow creeping along the wall in the next room. She could recognize the masculine voice from anywhere though. She’d known it for almost a fifth of her life now. Definitely Kevin. The shadowed form looked like his too, which told her that her prediction was correct.

“Yeah,” she replied.

“Could you come and help me for a moment?” he asked her

Adonica walked in the direction of the room, always willing to help out one of her best friends. She saw him standing by a large piece of equipment, leaning against it.

“Could you help me move this?” he asked, giving her the cute puppy dog face that he pulled off so well. Little did he know, he didn’t have to use it on her to get what he wanted. She was willing to lend a helping hand to anyone, any time, as lone as they were civil toward her.

She looked from him, to the large box shaped object though, wondering why he was asking her for help. She knew that he was very strong and well toned and was aware of the fact that he should have no problem moving it by himself, but decided not to argue and tell him her thoughts, which had gotten her into trouble a few times. Her newly found boldness sometimes came out at the worst possible moments. Now she was working on keeping her mouth shut.

“Sure, where do you want me?”

She gently tossed her purse into the corner, ready to tackle the thing, knowing that it would be quite a bit of work. She silently wished she’d spent more time working on her upper body strength instead of just jogging. It would come into use right about now. But all she had were weak spaghetti noodles for arms with just enough muscle to make her look like she tried.

Kevin pointed to the other side of the object, telling her where to stand so that he could get his task done quickly.

“I’m going to lift it,” he instructed, “Just guide it along, so it doesn’t fall or anything. Think you can manage that?” he joked, winking at her.

Adonica nodded, knowing that there was more purpose to her being there than just “helping” him out. She could feel the object being lifted, and she gently walked along with him, as if playing follow the leader. She could feel a slight strain forming in her neck and back, but didn’t want to complain. Her job was easy. It would make her seem like a helpless invalid if she let out the slightest cry. As soon as Kevin set it down, she let out a silent sigh of relief, and discretely wiped away a single bead of sweat that had formed. She could see sweat pouring off of Kevin’s body and stuck her tongue out, scrunching up her nose. He threw back his head and laughed at the expression on her face.

“What?” she asked, defensively, “It looks like you’re raining or something. It’s disgusting.”

Kevin smiled, but deep down, his heart sank. He was a turn off to her. Especially when he’d just had a slight workout. Imagine what she’d do if she saw him after an intense one. He was afraid to know. Probably start to gag and throw up at the sight of him. He’d never be more than a friend to her. He figured it was time he got over her already, but still had some hope.

“So,” he began, walking over to the small refrigerator and grabbing a bottle of water. He unscrewed the cap and took a large drink, finishing almost half the bottle, “How are things with you and Rich?”

“Good,” she replied, and them a smile started to slowly form on her lips, “Couldn’t be better, actually. He’s wonderful. We get closer with every day that passes. I don’t think I could ask for better, to be honest.”

Kevin nodded, finishing the bottle in one last gulp. He turned around to throw it away, to give himself time to hide the disappointment he could tell was on his face and to force the tears away that he could feel coming. But didn’t he want her to be happy? Did he really want her to be miserable and alone? He really didn’t know.

“That’s good,” was what he replied with, forcing himself to look as if he meant it, and part of him did. He decided that there was no use dwelling over a woman that was taken and out of his reach. It was time he finally searched for someone that he could call his own.


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

“Oh, baby,” Dulcia moaned, “You can’t torture me like this any more.”

She slowly started to strip off her clothes, one garment at a time. She walked toward Brad, staring seductively into his eyes. She couldn’t wait any longer. Her body was throbbing for the feel of his flesh against hers. Her breaths were coming out short and hard. When she reached Brad, who was already nude, she pushed him onto the bed, with one hand, and crawled on top of him, strattling his hips. She leaned forward, kissing up his well-defined abs, up his chest, his neck, and to his mouth. Then started to nibble on his earlobes. He groaned in pleasure, and she could feel his body tense, back arching. His breathing, too, deepened, and she could tell that she was turning him on, just the same as he was doing to her. Grabbing her from around the waist, he gently rolled her over onto her back, and laid on top of her, staring into her green eyes. He could tell by her face that she was ready to get this on with. She’d waited long enough, and so had he. Brad found the right spot, and went inside of Dulcia. She closed her eyes, taking in the heavenly feeling of them being united as one. Moving in sync with one another, the two of themoaned in pleasure. With Dulcia’s okay, he started to move faster, holding her close to him, their bodies moistening slightly with sweat from the intensity if their love making session. Brad looked deep into her eyes, and kissed her passionately on the lips, not slowing down for a second. Dulcia knew that their fun was over though when he slowed down and could feel a warm liquid-like substance coming out inside of her. He pulled out, letting his breathing get back to normal. He rolled over, and pulled her in close to him, not wanting to let go of the feeling of her body against his. She laid her head on his chest, and closed her eyes, wishing that the sex hadn’t ended quite so soon. Soon, she fell asleep with a tingling sensation shooting throughout her body at the memory of what had just gone on minutes before.

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


Alaura and Devin walked hand in hand through the wooded trail. The leaves cast shade and shadows across the dirt path, making it cool and comfortable. She breathed in the fresh air, sighing happily. It was so much nicer than her hometown of Ohio. You breathed there and felt as if you were being suffocated by pollution and humidity. And the whether changed like a manic depressants mood swings. One day, it would be hot without a cloud in the sky, the next, cold and rainy…and would stay like that for days on end, or even for the rest of the day. It never seemed to clear up. There, in North Carolina, it would rain for maybe an hour, and then it would clear up, with the skies blue, and cloudless, and it would be warm and sunny once again. She loved it, wishing that they could tour within that state forever.

“What are you thinking?” Devin asked her, distracting her deep thoughts.

“Not much,” she replied, “Lets move here.”

“Excuse me?”

Devin looked at her, and Alaura blushed, realizing what she’d just said. They’d barely been together for five months. Why would he want to move in with her this soon. It wasn’t even a possibility, especially since he had to tour and there was no way that he could move. It would just cause problems and maybe even for the band to break up if they were apart during their non touring. The whether, she assumed, was clearing her mind along with getting her thoughts out into the open. She wasn’t sure if she liked that effect.

“Nothing. I just said how nice it would be to move here,” she said, fixing her mistake smoothly, “Permenantly. I hate where I am from. The humidity sucks. I’m just happy that I only live there for like, half the year.”

“Yea,” Devin agreed, looking around, taking in the peaceful surroundings, “It would be nice to live here. Maybe one day, we can move here together. Once the tour is over. Or whenever. We have the rest of our lives.”

Alaura beamed from ear to ear. He was having the same thoughts as she was, which thrilled her. The feelings weren’t one sided. She wondered what her friends were doing at that moment. Ever since Brad had chased Dulcia down, there’d been no word from them, and Adonica and Rich had gone their own separate ways, each having different things to take care of. She’d always been jealous of Adonica’s relationship, but it seemed that she had a very strong one of her own this time, and she wasn’t about to let go of what she had with Devin.

Chapter Four

“We have yet to find a plan to get back at Kevy with” Dulcia said, tapping her freshly painted black nails on the marble counter of her hotel suite. It had been almost two weeks since the incident and she wanted to get going on the revenge plan before it was too late to count and still be funny. She’d invited the girls over to hang out while the guys were all in press meetings all morning. The small blonde looked to be deep in thought, which was unusual for the girl who normally thought up things off the top of her head without any problem.

“What,” Adonica asked in mock shock, “Dulcia Wilhelmi has no ideas? What ever will we do.”

“Shut up,” Dulcia laughed, picking up a fork and chucking it at her.

Adonica ducked, and the fork hit the wall, leaving the slightest marking of three tiny holes.

“If they ask, those were there when we checked in,” Dulcia said. The girls looked at her skeptically before she defensively remarked, “Hey, it’s always a possiblility, ya know.”

She went back to thinking while Adonica and Alaura chatted among themselves. So far, all of their ideas hadn’t impressed Dulcia, therefore, they decided to leave the thinking up to her. Adonica thought that telling that something bad had happened to Brian, but they’d all quickly decided that that would be too cruel and that he would never forgive them for that. They all knew how hard it had been on he guys years before when he’d had to go in for surgery. Alaura came up with the idea of putting something under his covers that he was afraid of, but nobody knew what he feared. As far as they knew, the man was fearless. Dulcia was still coming up with the ultimate plan. They could tell by the way her face kept changing that the wheels were turning at full speed up in her head. She was close to completing and working out all of the details.

“So, what do you think she’s gonna come up with?” Alaura asked

“With her, God only knows,” Adonica shook her head, and smiled slightly, thinking back to Rich. Her sweet Rich.

“Girls, I’ve got it,” Dulcia finally exclaimed. She told her friends what she had in mind. She had every detail worked thought up except for a place for the plot to take place. She told them everything from beginning to end. Alaura and Adonica’s mouths drew into a smile the more she explained the plan, “All we have to do is get all of the guys to agree, or work with who we can get to agree. Howie or Brian will be the best bet to tell him, because they’re the most honest and will be the most believeable. You know what I’m saying?”

“That’s perfect,” Adonica said, glad that she had a creative friend.

They both looked to Alaura to see what she thought. Unless they all agreed, it would never work out.

“I like it,” she said, “Nobody gets hurt, but its great revenge. And we can tell him that it was payback afterwards.”

“I think he’ll figure it out,” Dulcia said, “He’s pretty smart. As soon as he finds out that it was us, he’ll know that it was to get back at him.”

The girls knew that she was right. And even if he didn’t up front figure it out, they knew that somewhere in the back of his mind, he would know what the whole point of the prank was really about. Now all they had to do was plan everything out perfectly. None of them could wait to get the guys in on the plan. If carried through efficiently, it would be the time of their lives.

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

“So, when do you think we should release the new album?” Kevin asked the guys, wanting to know their input on things.

“It’s July now, and we’re still recording,” Brian said, “If we hurry, we can have it done by late September and release by November and start off with a new tour by early next year.”

The guys all nodded, knowing that Brian had a good plan.

“We don’t want to rush it though,” Kevin said, “Or else the album will turn out to be shit. As it is we’re recording while touring this year. It’s hard and stressful on all of us and not really working out. The tour will be over in another couple of months. Our other option is to forget the album and record like crazy when we can focus only on that.”

“I like that idea,” Howie said, “That way, maybe the tour will go more smoothly.”

Kevin’s mind started to wander off to Adonica while the other guys discussed the album and tour. The longer time went on, the more he liked her. He couldn’t help it and knew that it was wrong since she was stuck on Rich. He thought that Rich was the luckiest guy in the world. He had the only girl that Kevin wanted and would probably never get. He wished that he had a shot with the girl. He thought that he could treat her way better than Rich ever could, and that was saying a lot because Rich treated her like she was the most precious gem on earth. It was getting harder and harder for him to concentrate with each and every passing day. The thought had crossed him to let her go, so that she wouldn’t be around anymore to distract him, but then he’d quickly decided against it. She was a great dancer and did a lot of good for the band, along with her friends. And if he fired her, then her friends would quit, no questions asked. He didn’t want to lose any of them. But he had to do something about his attraction toward her, and quickly. He’d tried liking somebody else, and even blind dates set up by his band members, who had all eventually found out that he liked her, but nothing was working. He called every date Adonica and had no interest in them at all.

“Earth to Kevin,” A.J. called out.

Kevin snapped out of his daze and looked around. All of the guys were staring at him oddly.

“Tell her already. Maybe she likes you too, but is sticking with Rich because she doesn’t think you like her back.” Nick suggested

“Nick, that is the single most dumbest thing I have ever heard you say. Have you noticed how bright she lights up whenever he walks into a room? She’s crazy about him. Besides, it would never work out. I am way older and if we broke up, she would most definitely leave. Someone as good as her would be hard to replace.”

Nick knew that he was right. It had taken them a full summer just to find girls that were as wonderful as they were. They’d only had two spots open, but had made room for the extra girl when they’d find out it was either all or none. The show seemed to do better with one girl too many. They’d found the trio when they’d auditioned one week after the group had given up, deciding to try and make due with a short number of dancers. It was extremely late noticed, but they’d wowed them with their ablilities and amazed the guys even more with their willingness to learn all the dance moves so quickly. It was an answer to all of their prayers. Especially since Kevin been stressing over how it would go with two girls short. But now they had one extra.

“Then get with it,” A.J. said, “We have a show tonight. You need to get your head out of the clouds and focus for once.”

Kevin started to protest, but then realized that he’d said the same thing to all of the guys on several accounts. It would be hypocritical of him to say anything to A.J. about the comment, so thought better of it and kept his mouth shut. A.J was right. They did have a show, and he wanted to make it the best that they’d had in months.

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

“Okay guys,” Dulcia said, “I know we all agreed to get back at Kevin for being late that one night, and I’ve finally come up with something.”

One by one, the girls had gathered the guys together to inform them on the plan, leaving Kevin in his . They had two hours before they had to be at the show, and the girls wanted to get their idea out in the open and under way as soon as possible. The sooner, the better because if they waited too long, Kevin would forget all about being late and not know what their cruelty was about.

“Yeah,” Nick said, “What is it?”

The girls each took turns explaining in full detail what they had in mind. Dulcia did most of the talking because it was her plan and she knew exactly what she wanted to do and how to pull it off. Alaura and Adonica willingly let her take most of the spotlight so that they wouldn’t mess up any details. Most of the guys nodded, small smiles forming on their lips letting them know that they liked what they were hearing. But a couple of them kept a straight face making it so that the girls could not read what they thought but knew that Dulcia wouldn’t be shy about finding out.

“So, what do you think,” she asked once she was finished telling all.

“I think that we should do it,” Nick said, his eyes glowing mischeviously, “He deserves it.”

“It’s good,” Rich said, “A little cruel, but, it will teach him not to be late anymore…if he gets the point of it.”

“Cruel is right,” Brian said, shaking his head “He’s my cousin. I don’t like the idea at all.”

“You don’t have to go,” Adonica told him, “But I think that everyone else here is willing to help out.”

“Actually,” Devin said, “I don’t like it so well either.”

“Devin,” Alaura said, putting her hands on her hips, staring her boyfriend square in the eye, “Don’t be such a pussy. It’s a joke. It’s not for real. It’s not like we’re actually going to hurt him.”

Devin sighed, “I don’t know…” his voice trailed off.

“ I’m doing it no matter what,” Alaura told him.

“Fine,” Devin said, after some hesitation, “I’m in. But we better not get our asses arrested.”

Dulcia smiled smugly, happy that they’d gotten one more person to agree. Now all they had to do was work on Brian.

“What do you say,” she asked him, “Want to help out, or be a stick in the mud.”

Brian thought for a moment, “It’s just too mean,” he said, “Kevin is my cousin. I just don’t want to do anything to him.”

“But he affected all of us by being late,” Alaura said, “C’mon. Please”

“Brian, everyone else is in. It’s all up to you. But weather you help out or not, you’d better not even give Kevin a clue as to what we’re up to.” Nick told him

“We could really use your help,” Dulcia stated, attempting to lay a guilt trip on the man.

“Fine. I’ll do it,” Brian finally caved, “But just so you know, I don’t agree with it.”

Everyone cheered and slapped high fives. All ten of them were in on the plan, and it would take all ten to carry it through.

“Alright everyone,” Dulcia announced, a smile as wide as Texas plastered to her face, “As of now, Operation Payback is officially underway.”

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

“Okay guys, we’re on,” Kevin shouted above the mass of screaming fans on the other side of the stage, “Is everyone ready?”

“Looks like it,” Brian said, “Hey, Kevin. An emergency meeting has been called for Monday afternoon at three o clock at the Mariott Resort here in town. It’s in the Presidential Conference Room.”

Kevin stopped and looked at Brian confused, “Why didn’t I know about this. Monday is just three days away.” He looked enraged and ran a hand through his hair. Brian felt like backing down right there, but knew that he couldn’t let the other nine people down.

“We got the call while you were in the restroom. I took it.” Brian lied.

Kevin patted Brian on the back and thanked him. Brian again felt guilty and bad, not believing what he was going to his own cousin. But it was too late now.

“Is that all of the surprises for tonight?” Kevin asked.

Everyone nodded, keeping straight faces.

“Okay then, lets go,”

Adonica went over to Rich and kissed him passionately on the lips, “I love you baby,” she said, rubbing his face, “Monday is going to be the time of our lives.”

“I love you too,” Rich murmured, looking deep into her eyes and smiling, “Good luck out there. Like you need it though. You’re amazing.”

Adonica rolled her eyes, but she loved the compliments that he gave her. Kevin was watching them as the other guys were preparing to go out on stage. Jealousy boiled in his veins and he couldn’t stand to watch them for one more second.

“Adonica,” he barked, “Come on. Let’s move it.”

Adonica smiled apologetically into Rich’s eyes as she got up on her toes and kissed him one last time.

“See you after the show,” she waved, following the other girls out onto the stage to begin the concert.

The first half of the show went smoothly with no mistakes. The boys sang their songs and the girls danced with all that they had in them. During the second half though, Kevin couldn’t keep his eyes off of Adonica. She looked so sexy in her tight pants and tight shirt, her midriff showing. He kept tripping up and losing sync with all of the other guys. He could tell that they were getting irritated with him, but didn’t say anything and things kept on getting worse. During one of the more upbeat songs, Kevin kept tripping, not able to concentrate at all. Adonica just looked so tempting. He kept dancing closer and closer to the edge of the stage, and further and further away from the guys. A.J shot Howie a look that said “What is he doing?” But all four knew that they had to do something, so made up moves as they went to go get Kevin back on track. It was too late though. He’d hit the edge of the stage, his foot going half way off. He looked down, startled, and tried to regain his balance, but it was too late. He took one last look around before toppling off of the stage. A mass of screaming girls surrounded him as the music stopped. Brian jumped off of the stage and the crowd just got larger.

“Everybody stay back,” he yelled, “One of you,” he said, pointing to everyone on stage, “Call for an ambulance.”

Brian yelled again for everyone to back off and they slowly did. Eventually, there was just enough room for Brian to see Kevin lying on his stomach. His arm was at an angle that wasn’t normal, a gash on his head. A knot formed in the pit of his stomach as he prayed for an ambulance to get there quickly, before the crowd formed again and made things worse than they already were.

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

The group waited in the hospital for word on Kevin. It had taken over half an hour to fight the heard of girls away from the injured member, but they’d eventually cleared space when the paramedics came. Rich held Adonica close to him, and the other two sat in their boyfriend’s laps’. A.J. shook his head in disgust. He knew that Kevin had been eyeing Adonica the whole time. If he’d just been able to concentrate instead of losing his cool, he’d have been fine. But things kept getting worse with every show and now he was injured and nobody knew how badly.

“If Kevin EVER mentions to us again about slacking,” Nick said, “I’m going to rub this in his face. Especially if it’s over a chick…and someone he knows yet.” He shot Adonica a look and she wondered what it was about but decided that she’d imagined the whole thing.

“This really sucks. There’s about every fan in the state outside waiting to get in.” A.J. complained, “And its not even because they’re concerned. That’s the sick thing about it all.”

Everyone was quiet, not knowing whether he was right or not. Some didn’t really care about what had happened. The majority of them just wanted a chance to get close to them and would take any excuse to do so. Minutes later, a doctor came out. Everyone looked up, waiting for him to explain.

“Nothing serious.” He informed them, “You’re friend broke his arm, but that’s about all other than a bruised ego.” He chuckled, “Tell him to keep his eyes on the stage next time.”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief happy that everything was okay. They’d feared the worse, but the damage was close enough to nothing.

“He’ll be out soon. We just need to finish bandaging him up, but that should be it. He’ll be released tonight.”

The doctor left and everyone just looked at one another, everyone beginning to smile one by one. The didn’t know how they got into these messes, but always managed to somehow.

“Hey Nick,” Brian laughed, “Not even you break any body parts when you fall off of the stage. You should feel privileged.”

Everyone laughed and Nick flipped Brian off, but it was all in fun. Not more than forty five minutes later, Kevin emerged in the door way, his arm in the cast, a self conscious, sheepish look on his face.

“Look who is gracing us with his presence,” Nick joked.

Kevin laughed good naturedly, “I really need to get my head out of the clouds.” He said.

“At least you weren’t injured any more that you were,” Adonica said.

Kevin looked at her and smiled, thanking her with his eyes. But it was her who’d caused him to fall anyways. She was just so…addicting. As the others engaged in conversation, his eyes lingered on her. Nobody noticed except for Nick.

“Well, what do you say we get out of here,” Kevin said, “This is just one experience that I want to put behind me. The good news is that we can still perform with me like this.”

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

Kevin sat in the conference room, looking at the clock in impatients. Monday afternoon had rolled around and it was now 3:15. Nobody had shown up yet and he was beginning to wonder if he’d gotten the place right. He looked down at his casted arm. It was slightly sore still, but nothing too painful. He couldn’t believe that he’d let distractions cause him to dance off stage. It was something he’d never done before. He shook his head and laughed, knowing that it was bound to happen sooner or later. In fact, he’d seen it coming for a while. It had just been a matter of time. Looking up at the clock, he saw that five more minutes had passed. Getting up, he realized that he must have gotten the building wrong. After all, his mind had been a jumble when Brian had told him about the meeting. He went to leave, knowing that he’d better find out where the group really was, and fast. He knew that they weren’t very organized and couldn’t coordinate well without him.

“Well shit,” he muttered, “Just wonderful.”

Just as he was about to leave the room, five people dressed in all black crashed through the door. All of them were pointing guns at Kevin. His he stood there, shaking, not knowing what to do, wishing that they weren’t wearing the masks so that he could see their faces, but realized that criminals didn’t want to be recognized.

“Give me all of your money, now.” One barked with a deep voice.

“I don’t have any,” Kevin said, knowing that it was the wrong thing to say, even though it was true.

“That’s a lie,” another said, with a more feminine voice, “You’re a pop star. You’ve got enough to last you four life times. Now give it.”

Kevin didn’t know what to do. He looked down at his arm again, wishing that it was usable. His left arm was no good, considering he was right handed, and that was his stronger side. He was weak and had no way to defend himself, even if he was the strongest member of the group. In a way, he was glad though. If he tried to fight, they’d shoot him for sure, and if he yelled for help, it wouldn’t help his case much either. He quickly decided that his best chance to live was to be quiet and go along with as much as he could.

“I don’t carry any with me,” Kevin said, “I swear.”

“Give me your wallet,” said a third voice.

Kevin shakily dug in his pocket and pulled his wallet out, throwing it at them. One of them picked it up and opened it, finding nothing but three dollars and his drivers license. He, or she, looked up and snorted.

“I have more money digesting in my stomach.” He said, chucking the wallet back at him.

All five brought their guns back up and pointed them at Kevin.

“Should we finish him off?” a different female asked.

“I think we should.” Said another voice.

Kevin started shaking and fear filled his eyes as his life flashed before him realizing that they were going to kill him right then and there. He wished that he had paid better attention to where the meeting actually was going to be. Chances were, these lunatics had found him alone and followed him there, watching his every move. He hoped that Rich took care of Adonica and was happy that she had him. If he’d been the one with her, then nothing but heartache would come to her from this incident. He also hoped that the band would find somebody to replace him or go on with just the four of them. He knew that they could go on with out him and make it just fine and be successful without him if they really tried. He knew that his death would be hard on them though since they’d been family for a little over then years.

“Please, don’t kill me,” Kevin tried, begging, “I won’t tell anyone about this. Just please leave me alone.”

“Shut up and don’t delay this any longer.” One of them snarled.

All five aimed at Kevin, an evil laugh coming from the pit of the one with the deep voice’s stomach. Kevin closed his eyes and winced, waiting to be done with, not able to look and watch himself being shot over and over by five people. He heard the guns click, cringing, knowing it would only be a matter of seconds before he was dead as the evil laughter got louder.

Chapter Five

The laughter continued to grow and Kevin could tell that the other four were joining in with the “evil” one. But the laughter wasn’t cruel anymore, but rather the kind where you think something is hilarious. Kevin was shaking so hard that he was surprised that his legs were still supporting him. He sure felt like he could have collapsed many times by now. He could feel his heart continue to race, and his anxiety kept growing with every second that crept by waiting to be done with. The waiting was the most torturous part, knowing what was coming next. Within seconds, the laughing began to die down and then completely stopped.

“I think we got him,” he barely made out somebody whispering.

Kevin jolted back in surprise, wondering what was going on. He slowly opened one eye, then another, staring at the five people in confusion. Their guns were now at their sides, pointed downward, no longer directly at him.

“Totally,” another one, a female this time, said, glancing at him, “It worked. We scared the living shit out of him.”

It took a moment for Kevin to find his voice, through all of the fear he’d undergone in the past minutes, but when he did, it came out shaky and raspy.

“Wha…what’s going…on?”

The five all looked at each other and slowly peeled their masks off revealing their faces for the first time. Kevin jumped back in shock. He was staring right into the eyes of Dulcia, Adonica, Nick, A.J. and Brad.

“Surprise,” they all yelled at once, starting to laugh again, slapping high fives with one another.

Kevin stared at his friends for the longest moment, trying to comprehend what had just happened. He could feel his heart beat starting to slow back down to its normal pace, but he could feel himself growing angrier with every second that passed, his face growing hot, his hands clenching into fists. He could even feel the vein on his neck starting to bulge out. It only did that when he was extremely mad.

“What the fuck,” he said, trying to keep his voice under control.

The group suddenly quit celebrating and looked to Kevin, their smiles dying quickly when they saw the look on his face. It was a mixture of hurt along with hatred. They realized that they hadn’t thought through very well what his reaction would be when he found out that it had been them.

“Were the rest of you in on this too?” he asked, shaking his head, afraid to hear what their answer would be.

The rest of the group sheepishly walked into the room, joining the five who had been the ones to take action and make the plan happen. They all looked at Kevin, giving him puppy dog eyes. Adonica stuck her bottom lip out in a sorry, please forgive me, pout, but he wasn’t about to develop a soft spot in his heart for any of them.

“It was payback for being over an hour late to the show,” Dulcia explained, “You work us so hard, get us up early, and then you go and have a nap and make us late. We all agreed to get you back, and we did. It was all my idea. They all just helped carry it though,” She proudly grinned.

“I don’t care what it was for,” he yelled, “I was scared out of my mind. All I could think about was the group, and you dancers. How you would cope after I was murdered. How much I hoped that you would continue as a group without me. All I thought about was all of you the whole fucking time. And Brian, you agreed to this? You of all people? I can’t believe it.”

“I’m sorry,” Brian apologized, “I didn’t want to.”

Brian got death stares from everyone else, but he figured the plan was over, so it didn’t matter what he said or did. He’d carried through and hurt someone he cared a lot about because of a stupid prank.

“But you did do it,” he said loudly, “You know what, I don’t want to speak to any of you for a very long time. This was below low and you all know it. We’ll continue the tour, but other than on stage, I want no communication with any of you guys. I won’t be here to help you out, so it’s up to you to get to the shows on time and know where we have to be and when. It’s time all of you start being more responsible and I quit fathering you.”

Kevin started to walk away, pushing past everyone, heading toward the door to get away from them all.

“We didn’t mean to…” Adonica tried.

Kevin whipped around, glaring at her, “I said I didn’t want to speak to any of you, including you Adonica.” He shouted.

He couldn’t even stand looking at her at the moment. He figured that was a good thing though. Maybe because of this, he could get over his attraction towards her once and for all. He turned around again, and quickly walked out of the room leaving all of his former friends looking dumbfounded and confused. Everyone was silent for a while, looking at one another, not knowing what to say.

Meanwhile, Adonica was trying to figure out what his comment had meant. He had said he didn’t want to speak to anyone, including her. Why would he treat her any differently in the first place? What made her so special that he would give her better treatment over the whole situation?

“Wow,” Nick stated, running a hand through his blonde hair, “I think we really screwed up.”

Everyone slowly nodded in agreement. Nick had said something that made since and was right.

“I didn’t think he would react that badly,” Alaura said, “ I feel really bad now. He won’t even give us a chance to explain.”

“I guess we’ll just have to give him the time and space that he needs until he gets over it and forgives us.” Rich stated, knowing that the rest of the tour would be hell until he did.

“IF he forgives us,” Adonica stated, biting her bottom lip nervously, “Kevin can hold grudges for long periods of time.”

Nobody argued with her point. Last time somebody had done something to piss him off, he wouldn’t speak to them in over a month. It wasn’t until the guy had been in a live or death situation that Kevin had saved him from that they were on speaking terms once again.

Brian gave everyone a look that said he was very angry and wanted to speak his mind, but was debating weather or not he should. Nobody still said a word and the silence was getting to him

“I can’t believe I let you fucking talk me into this,” Brian said, almost yelling, “It’s going to take a miracle to get my cousin to talk to me again. I thought that ya’ll were my friends. I’m outta here.”

With that, Brian briskly walked out of the room, not even turning back to give them a second glance. The room was quiet once more. Everybody was uncomfortable, the reality of how cruel the joke really had been.

“Oh my god,” Dulcia exclaimed, trying to lighten the mood, “Did we just get to hear Brian cuss. That’ll happen once in a lifetime.”

Nobody laughed at her, and continued to just stand there. One by one, the group started to leave the room, not saying a word to anybody as they walked out, feeling bad for what they had done. Dulcia was the last to remain in the room. She looked around, realizing that she’d been left alone. Her shoulders slumped as she looked guiltily to the ground. Operation Payback had failed, and it was her fault that the group wasn’t speaking since it had been her idea in the first place.

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

Kevin sat in his hotel room, wondering where he’d gone wrong that the group would go behind his back and plan something like that. He was so mad at them all that he’d gotten his own room, moving his things out of the old one that he and Howie shared. He couldn’t believe that Adonica, the girl that he had been crazy for, would even agree to take part in something so cruel. And she’d been a part of the action. He didn’t know if he’d ever be able to look at her in the same way again. He knew that for a while, all he would see was someone who he’d thought was a good friend who’d never hurt him in any way, but had.

“Don’t know who anyone really is anymore,” he muttered unkindly to himself, letting himself fall freely onto the bed. He was so mad at everyone, her especially, but in the back of his mind, he knew that Adonica was still the sweet, beautiful girl that he wanted to be with but couldn’t have.

Kevin wished that his friends hadn’t done something so mean to pay him back. He wished that it had only been everyone being late for a show, or locking him out of the dressing room in his underwear, like they’d done to Nick many years before. But the thing that they’d chosen to do was crueler than any prank that and of them ever been played on anyone. It was even cruel for someone like Nick, who was the king of doing stupid stuff. He had a feeling that Dulcia had put Brian up to participating. He knew that his cousin would never willingly agree to anything like that unless he was feeling pressured. Now though, he wanted nothing to do with any of them, including Brian, because he had agreed to it. It would be hard, but he was determined to try and avoid all of them, speaking to them only when it was absolutely necessary at shows, and even then, he would try to ignore them. Kevin wished that he could do something to show them how practical jokes like that aren’t funny because they are dangerous and there was a chance that something could have gone wrong and he really could have been hurt in the process of it. Or if he had yelled for help, all of them could have ended up in prison, weather it had been a joke or not. The hard part would be finding a way to show them and prove his point, getting it through their thick skulls.

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

“Kevin, the set up crew wants to know where we should put the new amp,” A.J. said, pointing towards the stage, “It’s about twice as big as the old one and they’re having a hard time figuring out how to fit it in.”

Kevin shrugged, without even giving A.J. a glance and walked away, making A.J. know that it was up to him and the rest of them to figure it out.

It was almost a week after the whole prank had taken place and Kevin hadn’t spoken a word to any of them. The Boys knew that it was serious because he normally couldn’t lay his eyes off of Adonica. In the past week, he hadn’t so much as given her one sideways glance. His performance was better than it had been in weeks, as if he were giving it his all once again. It was also as if he were trying to make the rest of them look worse, but the Boys didn’t know if that thought was crazy or not. He’d insisted on continuing the tour despite his broken arm, which relieved the guys. But the silence between them all was enough to kill. The only time that Kevin did talk to any of them was when they were on the stage in front of the audience, when it was inevitable. But even then, his tone was cool and full of disliking, his words forced. They all knew that the fans were catching on to his actions, but nothing had been said or brought up about any of it.

“Kevin,” A.J. yelled after him, “You can’t ignore us all forever. We all have business matters to discuss. How will we do that with you giving us the cold shoulder?”

Kevin continued to walk away and disappeared behind a door, leaving A.J looking confused and dumbfounded by his hatred. In all the years they’d known him, Kevin had never been so hateful to any of them, for any reason.

“Still not talking to you either,”

Startled, A.J. looked up and saw Nick standing next to him. He shook his head, wondering what he could do to get the oldest member to talk to anybody again. So far, he had come up with no ideas.

“I don’t know what I was thinking when I agreed to Dulcia’s idea,” A.J. remarked, “I guess I thought it sounded like it would be fun at the time.”

“So did the rest of us,” Nick reminded him, “I never knew how much he helped out until now and how much I need him. I never know what’s going on any more.”

“Nick, you never knew what was going on,” A.J. joked with a laugh.

Nick was about to protest, but then realized that A.J. was right, so instead said, “I need him there to put me back on the right track when I am about to mess something up,” Nick sighed, “I can’t tell you how much I’ve screwed up since he’s been giving us the quiet treatment. Nothing is the same any more.”

A.J. watched as Kevin came back though the door he’d disappeard into and walked across the stage to tell the set up crew something. He agreed with Nick. Nothing was the same, and he too had messed up a few times.

“It’s only been about a week,” A.J. said, trying to sound confident, but not quite pulling it off, “Give him time. He’ll come around…I hope.”

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

Adonica sighed as she packed her suitcase, getting ready leave the hotel for their next destination. She was deep in thought, thinking about how much things had chanced in the past week. As she folded her silk nightgown, she heard a knock on the door, causing her to jump, distracting her from her train of thought. She finished folding the nightgown before walking over to the door. She opened it and Rich was standing in the doorway, his hands behind his back.

“Hi baby,” he greeted, leaning in to kiss her. She willingly let herself melt into the kiss, taking in the sweet smell of his cologne.

“Hi honey,” she said softly, “What are you doing here?”

“I miss you,” he pouted, sticking out his bottom lip to prove his point, “Tell me again why we can’t share a room anymore like we always did?”

Adonica sighed, knowing just how he felt. Alaura and Dulcia weren’t happy with the new rooming arrangements either, nor were their boyfriends.

“Kevin’s rule. He says that if we aren’t mature enough to respect him, then we aren’t mature enough to live with our mate.”

She shook her head in disgust. All six of them had tried to sneak and room with their significant other, but Kevin had quickly caught on when he’d needed to ask Devin a question, but had gotten Brad’s voice instead on day one. Ever since then, he was making all three girls share a room and all three guys share a room, and checked several times a night to make sure they were obeying him.

“Who does he think he is anyways,” Adonica grunted, “I mean, jeez. He isn’t my keeper or my boss…or any of us for that matter.”

“Because everyone looks up to him because he’s older,” Rich reminded her, “He’s respected and has more say over what happens to us than the other guys. What he says goes. He’s kind of taken position of head of the group.”

Adonica had to admit that he was right. Kevin did have a lot of authority. But it didn’t mean that he had to act like an old geezer over it. She felt that he was being immature ignoring all of them for so long and it was a double standard of him to criticize them for acting like children.

“So, whatcha hiding behind your back?” Adonica asked, trying to get a small peek. He backed up and smiled a little, “What is it?”

“Just a little something I got you because I missed you so badly,” Rich grinned, as if he’d done something extra special. He pulled his arms from behind his back revealing a medium sized teddy bear. It was kind of scruffy looking. Adonica had seen the kind in gift shops and knew that they were not cheap. He handed it over to her, and she felt like she could start to cry at any given moment.

“Oh Rich,” she breathed, taking it and hugging it close to her, burying her face into its soft fur, “It’s adorable. I love it. Thank you.”

She opened the door wider, and invited him inside, shutting the door behind him. She wrapped one arm around him as she kissed him tenderly on the lips.

“Squeeze its stomach,” Rich instructed.

Adonica looked at him cautiously, doing as instructed. She jumped a little when Rich’s voice came from the stuffed animal.

I love you Adonica. It exclaimed.

“Oh my god. That’s so sweet,” she said, tears welling up in her eyes, “How did I ever find someone so considerate?”

Rich blushed a little, and shrugged, “I hoped that it would make you feel better because of everything that has been happening lately. I know how that it’s been stressing you out a little.”

“It does make me feel better,” Adonica smiled, “Thanks baby. So are you about ready to get out of here?”

She set the teddy bear beside her suitcase delicately, and continued packing the last few things into it which she’d collected from the bathroom.

Rich nodded, “I’m all packed up. The only thing missing is you.” He sighed, “Damn Kevin. I’m not going to blame Dulcia because we all agreed. We’re all at fault. He needs to realize that it was a harmless joke and that we would never really hurt him over anything.”

“I don’t think he does know that,” Adonica pointed out, “I think that he thinks that if it had been real…I don’t know.” She shook her head in confusion, closing the suitcase and latching it shut, “If this continues for too much longer, I think I might look for another job elsewhere. I can’t take the silence.”

Rich looked at her in horror, “You can’t quit and leave me.”

Adonica laughed, “I’ll wait until the tour is over. Maybe I’ll even join your tour next year and follow you.”

Rich smiled at her, “I would love that more than anything. I love you Adonica.”

“I love you too Rich,” she said.

She leaned up to kiss him but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Hold that thought,” she whispered.

Running to answer it, she flung it open and saw Kevin standing there. His eyes looked past her, past Rich, his tone still icy.

“Just making sure you’re ready to leave,” he informed her in monotone, knowing that he was going against his own promise, but having to see Adonica, even though he was still irate with her.

“Yep. Just finished,” she said, trying to sound happy.

Kevin started to walk away but Adonica stopped him.

“Please forgive me,” she begged, “Don’t ignore me, or any of us any more. You’ve made your point crystal clear.”

She was surprised when he didn’t cut her off, and had some hope that he had considered her words, but his response shocked her.

“I still don’t want to speak to you,” he said, without turning around, “You’re lucky I came to tell you we need to leave. In the rare occasions I do speak to you, don’t say anything back. Just listen.”

He briskly walked away, not giving her a chance to talk again. Tears stung her eyes as she slammed the door shut. She turned around to face Rich. He comfortingly took her in his arms and held her as she cried. She felt as if she’d lost one of her best friends because of a small mistake that was supposed to be taken lightly and didn’t know if she could ever get their friendship back.

Chapter Six

Adonica sighed dramatically. It had been three days since Kevin had pretty much told her to stay out of his life and she was doing just that. She’d decided to not make any contact in any form with him. If it was the way he wanted it, then it was the way it was going to be. So why was she so depressed about him not wanting to speak with her? She quickly decided that it was just because she’d become close with all of the Backstreet Boys and they were all good friends to her. She didn’t want any of them to be mad at her. The joke that they had all played had been funny, but she realized that as hilarious as it had been, it wasn’t worth hurting a friend over. Rumor had been going around that Kevin was asking about getting a new warm-up band. Nothing had happened yet, so she figured that nothing was going to be done.

“Kevin needs to get the wild hair out of his ass and speak to us already,” Dulcia muttered walking into the room, “I tried asking him a simple question and she completely ignored me. This has been going on for way too long.”

“For real,” Alaura agreed, “Oh, and by the way, Dulcia, you were wrong for once in your life. Everything about this didn’t turn out fine.”

Dulcia jokingly flipped Alaura off, “Bite me,” she said.

Adonica got up and heatedly walked out of their hotel room and down the hall to Kevin’s. She was sick of everybody being miserable over him and she was going to put a stop to it once and for all. Pounding loudly on the door, she stood with her hands on her hips waiting for him to answer. Seconds later, the door flung open and Kevin looked down at her, a scowl forming on his lips. He began to shut the door in her face but Adonica held her hand out and stopped it, struggling to keep it open with the small muscle that she had.

“You are not going to shut that door,” Adonica demanded, staring him in the eye, “This has got to end, starting now.”

Kevin glared at her for going against his wishes, but he stepped back, “Come in and get it over with.” He said, not too kindly.

Adonica took his offer and stepped inside the darkened room. She walked over to him and stood in front of him, crossing her arms and then sat down. Kevin sat down a few feet away.

“Well?” he asked.

“Well,” Adonica started, “I think that you’ve made your point. We know that we were wrong. Now lets move on and start over…or start from where we left off before what happened. Whatever. Lets just forget it though.” She said in all one breath.

“It’s not that simple,” Kevin replied coldly, but she could sense some softness in his tone.

“And why not?” she asked.

Kevin was silent for a moment trying to figure out just what he was going to say to her. It was simple really, but complicated all at the same time.

“If you were in my situation, you would
understand,” he finally said, “But you weren’t, so you can’t completely.”

There was no anger in his voice, just sadness this time and Anna was happy that she was at least getting somewhere with him.

“Try to explain,” she urged, “And I’ll try my best to put myself in your shoes and understand what you went through.”

Kevin hesitated. He knew that he needed somebody to talk to about it. It might help him get over it if he had somebody to dumb everything out on. But one of the people who was in on it wasn’t exactly his idea of somebody he wanted to tell. But she had always been good at understanding people, so he decided that he had nothing to lose and gave it a shot.

“I thought that I was going to die,” Kevin said, “I was so afraid, and yet all I could think about was you and everybody else. I didn’t want any of you to be hurt by what happened to me. I was putting you guy’s feelings ahead of my own. When I found out that it was you, something inside me snapped. It was like, I couldn’t believe that I’d spent my time worrying over the people who had hurt me.”

Adonica, for the first time, actually understood why he was so mad. The people who had done it were the ones who he cared about the most. She’d been to upset over being ignored that she hadn’t even considered thinking about his own feelings, and for that she felt like the biggest bitch ever to be born.

“I’m really sorry,” Adonica apologized, “I would take it all back in a heartbeat if I could. I guess that we weren’t fair to you at all. I mean, all you did was go and get some sleep, which made you late. I think we were all just mad because you drug us all out of bed early, but then you snuck away for a nap before the show and nobody knew where you’d gone off to, but what we did was no excuse.”

Kevin smiled at her and it was the most beautiful sight that she had ever seen. It had been so long since she’d seen him smile.

“Well, I’d better get going,” Adonica said, standing up, “Thanks for talking to me. And please don’t ignore us any more.”

Kevin stood up too, “I won’t,” he said.

He hugged Adonica goodbye and as they were letting go, he looked deep into her eyes. Kevin’s breath caught in his throat and he felt as if he could not breath. She was so close to him, and he was so close to her. He could not take it any longer. She looked so beautiful with her hair spilling over her shoulders and her eyes so big and bright. She looked so irresistable. He grabbed Adonica by the shoulders and pulled her in, pressing his mouth firmly against hers in a long, passionate kiss. She pulled away and he saw the startled look in her eyes and he immediately felt bad, not knowing what had come over him.

“I’m so sorry,” he apologized, “I don’t know what I was doing. I…I guess that I just…got caught up in the moment.” He stammered, trying to make up excuses for his actions.

Adonica backed up towards the door, thinking about Rich and how upset he would be if he ever found out about Kevin kissing her. She felt around for the door handle and found it. Kevin saw the panic in her eyes and knew that he had blown it. Slowly turning the handle and opening the door, Adonica turned around and ran back to her own room, trying to shake the image out of her head.

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

Adonica walked back into her hotel room in a daze staring ahead blankly. What had just happened? It had been there and passed by so quickly that she wasn’t sure if it had just been some sort of mind game or really had shared a kiss with Kevin. She ruled out that it really had happened by the feeling that she still had on her lips.

“What happened,” Dulcia asked, “Did you get him to talk to you?”

Adonica nodded, her eyes still wide and staring at what was right in front of them, trying not to look at her friends.

“And,” Alaura pushed, wondering if his moody days would finally be over or if they would still be treated like chopped liver.

“He kissed me,” Adonica said in monotone.

“Who?” Dulcia asked, giving her friend a questioning look. Her friend was acting weird and she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

Adonica didn’t say anything. If it got back to Rich, he would be so mad at her. After all, it wasn’t her fault. She didn’t want to risk losing him. He was everything to her. Why would Kevin do what he did anyways? It made no since to her at all. She looked over at her friends for the first time and saw the expectancy in their eyes. She knew that she could tell them and trust them with it. They wouldn’t tell anybody if she didn’t want them to, and she definitely didn’t

“Kevin,” she finally told them
.
Alaura and Dulcia looked at Adonica as if they hadn’t heard her right. Their full attention was now on their friend instead of what they’d been doing before she’d come back.

“What did you say?” Alaura asked, with a small laugh, “I think that I heard you wrong. Did you say that KEVIN, as in one of our bosses, Backstreet Boy, one of our best friends Kevin, kissed you?”

Adonica nodded, feeling dirty and guilty. She felt an urgency to see Rich, and to kiss him. She wanted to be in his arms and to have his lips on hers to wash away the feeling of Kevin’s. She wished that she could forget the whole thing. She’d finally gotten Kevin to talk to her again and then this happened. She wanted to avoid him all together, but knew that in order to keep people’s suspicions down, she would have to act normal around him. She’d have to act as if nothing had ever happened.

“Wow,” Dulcia stated, “He knows you are taken.”

Dulcia had always suspected that Kevin had a thing for Adonica. She’d thought it since their first year as dancers for them, and it had started to get worse as soon as LFO had gotten on board with them and she’d become an item with Rich. She didn’t know how Adonica was so oblivious as to not see it. She figured that her friends was just so in love with someone else that she was blind to what was right before her very eyes. But the fact that Kevin had actually acted upon his liking made her mad as well as surprised her. She thought that he’d had more decency than to pursue something with somebody he knew was happy with somebody else. On a positive note, he was she had obviously gotten him to talk to her, and she guessed that he was going to talk to them now, for the first time in a long time.

“Want me to go kick his ass?” Dulcia asked with a grin, “I have my handy baseball bat under my bed.”

She winked to let her friend know that she was joking and Alaura laughed at her, but Adonica looked troubled.

“Don’t worry,” Alaura told her, “Rich will never find out. Not from us, anyways. If you ever want him to, then it’s up to you to let him know. Until that day comes, it never leaves this room.”

Adonica smiled in appriciation. She honestly didn’t know if she should tell Rich or not. They had promised each other that they’d always be truthful. She wasn’t sure if not telling him would be a lie or not. She was just confused and didn’t like the feelings that were going on inside of her. One question kept coming back to her mind though. If she detested the kiss so much, and loved Rich and wanted to be with him, then why had she kind of enjoyed it?

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

“I kissed her,” Kevin said in shame, “She came to talk to me and I kissed her. I kissed Adonica.”

“You WHAT?” A.J. asked, “Kevin, what were you thinking? She’s happily involved with Rich. You know that.”

“I know,” Kevin insisted, “But she looked so irrisistable and perfect and was just standing right before me. I don’t know what happened, but I just grabbed her and BAM. We were lip locked.”

Nick snickered a little. He had been wondering when something like this would happen. He was just surprised that it had taken so long, but he knew that it eventually would. Every time Adonica was around, he saw the way that Kevin looked at her. It was as if her presence lit up his life. And when he’d been ignoring them all, he could tell that the man missed her. Suddenly Nick’s head snapped up though, question written in his blue eyes, confusing on his face.

“Wait a minute,” Nick stated, “Since when are you talking to us?”

Kevin laughed a little. It had taken the guys long enough to realize that he was, in fact, speaking with them.

“Since today,” Kevin told them, “Adonica came to talk to me about the situation, and I promised I would give trying to put it all behind us a try.”

“Thank god for that girl,” Howie joked, “If it weren’t for you being so completely in love with her…god knows how long you would still be ignoring us. She’s the only one you even gave a chance.”

“Not right away,” Kevin informed them, “Before today, I wouldn’t give her the time of day. She demanded she come in and I just went along with it so she’d leave. But, it turned out okay…kind of. She didn’t come out and say it, but she helped me see that I was overreacting.”

“I still can’t believe you kissed Adonica,” A.J. said, shaking his head, and then laughed, “You’d better not ever tell Rich, or let it get back to him. If it does, I think it’s safe to say that it’d better be through Adonica directly. She is, after all, his girlfriend.”

“And you know how things get spread around. Everybody somehow gets one detail wrong, and then by the time it gets back to the person it’s was originally meant for, the facts are all wrong and it makes things worse.” Brian said, “By the time Rich hears the story, word will be going around that you slept together.”

The guys all laughed at the memory of one of their older dancers from when they’d first became dancers. She’d had a doctors’ appointment because of stomach pains. Somehow, by the time she’d heard about it, rumor was going around that she was pregnant with one of the set up crew guy’s baby. She’d been furious and quit then and there because she’d just had the flu and was going in to see about getting medication to help her feel better.

“Yeah,” Nick said, “Let’s leave the decision up to Adonica whether or not Rich finds out.”

The other guys agreed to that too and also to not tell anybody else. They still found it funny what Kevin had done, but knew that it could also get him into a lot of trouble with friends and the boyfriend.

“And Kevin,” Brian said, “Do us all a favor and don’t ever do anything like this again. It will only end badly, and I think that you know it as well as we do, kay?”

Kevin nodded. If there was one thing he wanted, it was to not cause problems with and interfere with other relationships. He knew all too well how that felt and didn’t want to be like the other shallow guys who did this kind of thing to hurt people and get what they want purposely.

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

Rich pulled Adonica in a little closer to him and started kissing up her neck, slowly reaching her mouth. Adonica squirmed a little. His kisses tickled her neck and she giggled.

“Rich, that feels funny,” she whined, but was laughing in spite of herself. He always knew how to be romantic and it flattered her. He made her feel good all of the time all over.

“I know,” he said, stopping what he was doing and grinned at her.

Adonica changed her position and snuggled into his side. Kevin had finally told them that they could share a room again, along with everybody else and their boyfriend or girlfriend. She was happy for that, but she still couldn’t shake what had happened earlier out of her mind.

“It’s great being with you day and night again,” Rich said aloud, as if he’d been reading her mind.

“Mmm-hmm,” Adonica replied, still thinking about the kiss she’d shared with one of her best friends.

Rich leaned forward and looked at Adonica funny and she stared back at him and forced a smile.

“Are you okay baby?” Rich asked, “You’ve been acting different all day.”

Adonica froze, wondering what she was going to do. She had hoped that she wasn’t acting strange, and if she was, that Rich wouldn’t catch on. But he obviously had. She searched her mind for a valid excuse and said the first thing that came to her mind, even if it wasn’t the best.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just really tired. I’ve had a long day.” Adonica said lamely, hoping that he would believe her. She even forced on a yawn to seem more convincing. Even if she was going to tell him the truth, she figured that now wasn’t the time. Not when she had an unconfident gut feeling that she’d end up losing him over it. She would wait until she felt more confident.

Rich seemed satisfied with the answer and gently pushed Adonica’s head onto his shoulder where she could rest it.

“Just close your eyes and get some sleep.” He urged, “I’ll be right here staring at your beautiful face when you wake up.”

Adonica swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and picked up her head to kiss him one last time before laying her head back down. Why did he have to be so sweet to her? She loved it, but under the circumstances, she wished that he wasn’t the best thing to ever come into her life. Then again, maybe because he was such a doll, he wouldn’t take it so hard when she finally did tell him. Adonica closed her eyes and let a few tears fall out of her eyes, hoping that Rich wouldn’t feel them soaking through his shirt. She had a lot of thinking to do, and not nearly as much time as she knew that she would most likely need

Chapter Seven

Dear Kevin,
The Backstreet Boys are the greatest band ever, but dude, ask out the one dancer chick already. It is SOOO obvious that you dig her. Maybe if you just admit it to yourself, you can get your act together again.
Love Always
Nikita

Kevin finished reading the note and sighed. It had been the fourteenth one that day alone that had said pretty much the same thing. He tossed the letter into the large pile and reached over to his unopened stack to get another to read. He ripped open the envelope and pulled the letter out. He unfolded it and read it.

Kev
Okay, first off, I saw a show of yours back in Detroit, and you guys are absolutely amazing. But I have to tell ya, you suck at hiding your feelings towards the one dancer…I think its Adonica. I can tell by the way you look at her that you are majorly attracted. I know that she is dating Rich, the LFO guy, but who cares. You and her would be a much better match. Ask her out on a date, tell her how you feel, do something. I can guaruntee that she’ll feel the same.
Love, Kisses and Hugs
Brandi

A small smile formed on Kevin’s face. Was he looking past the fact that Adonica was attracted to him too and would rather be with him than Rich? Maybe he should ask her out to dinner and tell her how he felt. But Kevin roughly shook his head, ridding his head of the idea. It was ridiculous. Adonica was in love with Rich. Rich was in love with her, but so was he. But Adonica and Rich were very happy together. He couldn’t complicate the relationship any more by making her feel guilty or making her feel like she had to choose. It would be wrong of him. He frowned, throwing the note aside and began to open another one. He’d give one more note a try. If it so much as mentioned Adonica and him dating, then he would scream.

Kevin
Not like you will actually read this, or it will ever actually be opened, but I just wanted to say that I know about your kiss with Adonica.

Kevin threw his hands in the air in protest and frustration. Did everybody know that he liked the girl? Was he not as secretive as he’d once thought? He knew that he used to do a good job of hiding it, but it was becoming harder and harder every day. Kevin sighed and decided to finish reading the letter and then quit for the day.

Do everything you can to destroy her relationship with Rich. You deserve her. After the tour is over, do you really think that old Richie will stick around? I think not. But she’s been touring with you for years now. You could have a relationship that lasts. I doubt that she’ll give up on dancing for you guys, so break them up now, before she gets hurt later on.
I know what I am talking about
Amanda

The Amanda chick did have a good point. What were the chances that Rich and Adonica would stay together after the tour? Sure, they would talk and be all mushy for a few weeks, but then the phone calls would grow further and further apart as they became busy with their own things. And then they’d only talk on occasion, and eventually the calls would stop and they’d have nothing but memories of their summer fling. And eventually, they’d forget all about each other. He knew the pattern. He’d seen it happen a dozen times. Ah, hell, what was he thinking. Not all relationships turned out like that. He just hoped that theirs would so he would have a chance. Kevin knew that he was being selfish, but he couldn’t help it. Then a sudden thought came to his mind. How could Amanda possibly know about the kiss? It was confidential and he’d been so careful as to make sure that it stayed between him and the guys. How did a fan know anything about it? Dread filled the pit of Kevin’s stomach. If this got back to Rich, he’d have a confrontation that he’d be tempted to run from. Kevin scanned his mind trying to remember if he’d said anything about it in front of somebody who’d rat him out? He couldn’t think of anything. But maybe the guys had been talking about it and it was overheard and put into the wrong hands. Kevin put his head in his hands, shaking it in anguish. He didn’t know what he was going to do. Why did he have to like her in this way? He wished that he could rewind his life back a few years and make it so when Adonica and her friends had first shown up, he thought nothing of it. He couldn’t though. He would either have to deal with the attraction, or take all of the fans advice and destroy her relationship and take her as his own.

“What am I going to do?” Kevin groaned,

squeezing his eyes shut. He was in such a mess and he’d dug the hole himself and had a feeling that before the end of it all, he’d only make it deeper.

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

“Hey, Adonica, you alright?”

Adonica looked up and saw Alaura staring at her. It was three days later. Three days since the kiss and it consumed her every thought. She honestly didn’t know how much longer she could live like this. Live in this lie.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she told her friend.

Alaura looked at her skeptically. Adonica didn’t look fine. She looked anything but. Her eye’s were bloodshot and had dark circles underneath of them. She’d turned a pale color and looked as if she’d lost ten pounds in the past few days. Her movements looked strenuous and like they took more effort than they should. Plus, she could barely keep up with the dance moves during shows anymore. No, Adonica definitely wasn’t fine.

“Girl,” Alaura said, “You need to eat something, lay down and get some rest. Real rest. You aren’t yourself and you are worrying me and Dulcia…the guys too. They’re all asking about you.”

Adonica raised an eyebrow. Why were her friends worried about her? Better question, why were the guys? There was nothing wrong with her. She did admit to herself that she wasn’t with it lately, but there was no need to tell anybody else that. Seconds later, Dulcia walked in the door with a grin plastered to her face. All it took was one look at her and the attention was off of Adonica. She drew in a sigh of relief.

“What’s with you?” Alaura asked her.

“Brad and I just had the best time,” Dulcia said, “He’s soooo amazing.”

“Please, spare us the details of your private romances with your boyfriend,” Adonica said, sticking her tongue out.

“I wasn’t talking about that, smartass,” Dulcia told them, “We went out to a club. But just for that comment, next time we do get wet n wild, you’ll be the first to know every single thing that went on.”

Adonica and Alaura laughed at their friend, “You should really try dating Nick.” Adonica joked, “You’d look really cute together and would be a better match, in my opinion.”

Dulcia drew back in astonishment. Her and Nick? “Nick is so immature. Sure, he is adorable, but he hasn’t grown up. Brad, on the other is older, mature, buff, sweet, and is so more my type than Nick.”

“Dude, I was joking.” Adonica said, “Besides, we all love our LFO men, do you not agree with me?”

Her friends nodded in agreement. Suddenly, Dulcia’s head whipped around, staring at Adonica, “Are you okay?” she asked

“Yes,” Adonica screamed in frustration, “I am FINE.”

“Okay, okay,” Dulcia said, “You don’t need to bite my head off.”

Adonica rolled her eyes, a sick feeling coming over her. Why couldn’t she just forget what had happened and move on? She had Rich, the best boyfriend that anybody could ask for. The thought came to her that maybe she liked Kevin more than she was letting on to, but quickly discarded the thought as being ridiculous. There was no way that she liked Kevin in that way.

“Anyways,” Dulcia said, catching Adonica’s attention, making her realize that she’d missed part of a conversation, “Me and Brad are going to an amusement park tomorrow. The other guys, LFO and Backstreet are all going and I so don’t wanna be the other chick. Will you guys go with me?”

“Sounds like fun,” Alaura said, “I mean, I wont ride anything, but, if you and Adonica do, then I’ll walk around and wait. It’s fun doing that.”

“I’m up for it,” Adonica replied, “I love coasters.”

“Okay then,” Dulcia said, “I’ll go let the guys know, and they’ll make reservations or something…whatever they do.”

Adonica nodded and Dulcia walked out the door again in search of the nearest Backstreet Boy that she could find. Adonica hoped that everything went well the next day. She’d been doing a good job at avoiding Kevin for the past couple of days, for the most part. But at the amusement park, she’d be around Rich and Kevin. She hoped that she didn’t feel awkward or that anybody would let on to what had happened. Adonica tried to fight the nervousness in her stomach. All she could do was take things as they came and hope for the best.

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

The next day rolled around before any of them had time to blink. They all had agreed on waking up early and get to the park an hour before opening to avoid long lines to get in and get on a few rides before they got overly crowded.

“So, are we going to split up or all hang together?” Dulcia asked once they were inside the gate, “If we all hang together, hell, we’d take up an entire coaster train between the eleven of us.”

Everybody laughed at her statement. They all knew that they wouldn’t take up the whole train, but a good third of it would consist of all of them. And if they all stayed together, it would get too confusing to keep track of everybody.

“I say that we split up for awhile, meet here for lunch, split up again with someone different…maybe couples, for those of us who have someone,” He gave Adonica a sideways glance, “Then meet for dinner and then do some group things.” Kevin suggested, being organized as always. He always seemed to have a plan for everything already thought out.

“Sounds good,” Alaura replied, “Hey, girls, you wanna all go around together first?”

“Sure,” Adonica and Dulcia agreed together.

“I guess its gonna be us three,” Devin said to his band mates, looking at the other two of them to get there assurance that it was alright with them, or to see if they’d rather split with someone in the other band, “Sound okay to you guys?”

Rich and Brad nodded, agreeing for the three of them to stick together for the first portion of the day.

“Okay,” Kevin piped up, “Nick, you wanna come with me? Bri, Howie and Aje can do their own thing.”

Nick’s shoulders slumped. He wanted to have fun the whole day, not go to historical plays and other boring things. He was hoping to spend the day with his best friend, Brian. But he knew he’d feel too bad if he told Kevin that he didn’t want to spend a few simple hours with him. Sure, Kevin would never admit that he was hurt, but Nick knew him well enough to know that he really would be.

“I guess so,” he replied sullenly, forcing an enthusiastic smile, “Sounds like it’ll be fun.”

Kevin nodded in satisfaction looking down at his watch, “It’s about nine. Want to meet in this area at two?”

Everybody agreed and broke off into their own separate ways.

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

“Okay, so where to first, ladies?” Dulcia asked, “Ya know, it’s a good thing that we aren’t hanging around the guys for a few hours. Now we can have fun without being mobbed by fans. I mean, they all may be disguised, but there’s always that one crazed fan who can recognize them no matter what.”

“Lets just walk around. If we see anything that interests us, then we stop.” Alaura said, “I don’t think any of us have been here before, so, that’s all we really can do…to avoid running back and forth.”

The girls walked around for a while enjoying their day off. It felt so good to not have to think about being up on stage in a few hours for once. Adonica planned, or at least hoped, to get a serious tan while she was out all day. If she did, then everybody would quit complaining about her looking so pale and pasty white and sickly. She didn’t want to hear it anymore. She was pretty sure that everybody had said something to her at one point or another on the two-hour ride to the park that morning.

“Adonica,” Alaura asked, “Have you talked to Kevin since the, um, one thing happened?”

Adonica shook her head, “I’ve tried to act like nothing has happened, but its hard. I just can’t face him.”

A sudden thought made Adonica’s head jerk up. The time that Kevin had asked her for help moving the piece of stage equipment that he was perfectly capable of moving himself…had that been because he liked her? Adonica shuddered. He had stared at her for far too long. Adonica wondered how she could have not seen it before then. Was she really that blind, or was she just ignoring or looking past all of the signs?

“You can’t do that forever, you know,” Dulcia said, “Rich will catch on that something happened. He’ll know something is up.”

“I know,” Adonica whispered, “But god, what would you do if Nick kissed you, Dulcia. Or, Alaura, what would you do if A.J. kissed you?”

“I admit, it would change everything,” Alaura said.
A completely disgusted look came over Dulcia’s face that the others caught rather quickly, “That is so wrong.” She said, shaking the vivid image out of her head, “Ewww…yuck.”

“Now watch her end up with him,” Alaura joked.

Dulcia scowled, “That is never going to happen.”

Alaura snickered. She would rub it in Dulcia’s face like there was no tomorrow if she did end up with Nick instead of Brad.

“Anyways,” Dulcia remarked, “I think the point that Alaura is trying to get across is that you need to act normal around Kevin, until you figure out what you want, exactly. That way, LFO won’t get suspicious. They are close, like the Boys are. One of them catches on, he will tell Rich.”

“What’s to figure out?” Adonica asked with innocence.

“I think you know exactly what I mean,” Dulcia said, “You can’t pretend that you don’t.”

Adonica bit her bottom lip out of nervousness. She knew exactly what Dulcia meant and sadly, she didn’t know what she was going to do about it yet and wasn’t even close to figuring it out.

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

“So, are ya as bored as you thought you’d be?” Kevin asked Nick as they stepped in line of Speed-Demon, which had just opened three weeks prior to their visit. It was supposedly the tallest, fastest and largest coaster at the park and Nick couldn’t wait to get on it.

“Not at all,” Nick replied with an impish grin, “Actually, I’m having a great time with ya.”

Kevin chuckled to himself looking at a sign that said they’d have a sixty-minute wait. He figured that it wasn’t bad, considering what the wait could be like. In fact, the line was rather short for what he’d heard it normally was. He was glad that his early arrival plan was paying off for at least one coaster.

“What?” Nick asked in defense, “You love history shit. I figured you’d drag me to the Civil War play or some boring crap like that.”

“Nick, I know how to have fun,” Kevin laughed again, “Jeez, you make me sound like some sort of dork or something.”

“Sometimes you are,” Nick kidding with a hint of seriousness in his tone.

Kevin playfully swatted Nick on the back of the head, “Look who’s talking. The king of dork.”

Nick acted wounded, but he couldn’t imitate being angry for long. He was having such a good time for the first time in months. And it was especially nice to be hanging out with Kevin and him not on his back. It had been less than a week ago that Kevin was ignoring them all and now things seemed perfectly normal. Like nothing had ever happened between them.

“Hey, Kevo,” somebody shouted, “Nicky.”

Kevin and Nick looked over and saw A.J. and Brian waving at them one line over diagonally with goofy grins plastered to their faces.

“Wut up, bro?” A.J. yelled.

Kevin shook his head, “Where’s D?” he asked, wondering where the other member of their group was at.

“He ate too much cotton candy and is feeling sick to his stomach,” Brian explained, “He decided to sit out on this one.”

“And now his nickname really does fit…” A.J. trailed off, “Sweet D…except, the sweets made him green.”

Nick made a face at the thought of Howie spewing all over the face. It wasn’t a very nice image to have in his mind. Brian and A.J. advanced in line and begun talking amungst themselves again.

“So, Kevin,” Nick asked, “Have you been feeling okay lately?”

Nicks question had shocked him causing him to choke, “Excuse me?” he asked in wonderment.

“Well, I mean, ever since you kissed Adonica…you just don’t seem like yourself, man. You’re out of it. You look sick half the time.”

Kevin thought for a moment. Was it really that obvious that he just was not with it lately? He supposed that it had been.

“I don’t know,” he admitted, “It’s changed everything…yet I don’t regret it at all. It was…an amazing experience.”

“I know that you’ve liked her for a long time,” Nick said knowingly.

Kevin admired the boy’s sharpness, especially since half the time, he was clueless as to his surroundings.

“I have liked her for a long time,” Kevin admitted openly, not denying it any longer, “I just wish that something could happen between us. I would treat her so much better than Rich, and that is saying a lot because he treats her like gold.”

Nick nodded in agreement. Rich was really good to her. It would take a lot to pass him up, but he knew for a fact that Kevin would if given the chance.

Before they knew it, Nick and Kevin were watching Brian and A.J. get onto the ride. Less than a minute later, they were off.

“Well, we’re up next,” Kevin announced as they begun to step up to the yellow painted line to await stepping on to the next train.

Just then, two boys about thirteen years old ran in front of Nick and Kevin, ditching them in line.

“Hey,” Nick protested, “It was our turn.”
“Nick,” Kevin said through gritted teeth, speaking semi-quietly, “They’re little. Just let them go. Be a grown up about this, okay. Show them that we’re mature. What will an extra two minutes do?”

Nick crossed his arms stubbornly and pouted as he watched the two kids step onto the ride into the spots that were rightfully his and Kevin’s. He hated little kids. What right did they think they had pushing ahead of them? The train took off and another came up and unloaded. The new bunch stepped on. Nick buckled the seatbelt and pulled down his shoulder harness. The announcer came on beginning her before-ride commentation when she was cut off as everybody quickly grew silent at the sudden sound of shrill screeching of metal and frantic screams followed by a loud sickening crash.

Chapter Eight

“Hey guys,” Rich asked, pulling his friends aside. He dug into his pocket and pulled out a small box and opened it, “What do you think of this?”

Devin and Brad looked in the box and their eyes widened at the sight of a 1karat diamond ring that sparkled as the rays of sun bounced off of it. Brad let out a low whistle at the sight of it.

“Whatcha gonna do with that?” Devin asked.

“I’m thinking…no, I know that I’m going to propose to Adonica,” Rich replied as his band mates eyes grew wider at his idea.

“Okay, I know you like her a lot and all,” Brad told him slowly, “But dude, you’ve known her for six months. Don’t you think it’s a little soon?”

Brad and Devin saw Rich’s face fall and immediately felt bad for discouraging him and not giving him their full support, which they knew he was looking for in them. But the truth of the matter was, they did feel that he needed to take things slower and get to know the girl better before rushing into things. If anything, they felt that he should wait until at least a whole year and see where their relationship stood.

“I just want to do it before I lose the chance,” Rich replied softly, closing the box and sliding it back into his pocket.

“What are you talking about?” Devin asked, “Adonica is crazy for you. If you could see the way she looks at you the same way we do…that girl has got it bad. Trust me. She isn’t going anywhere.”

“She’s acting different lately,” Rich argued, “Almost distant. Besides, there’s something else that’s worrying me. I just want to ensure that she’ll always be mine and know that I love her. I know she loves me but…” his voice trailed off and he got a far away look in his eyes.

Devin looked at him expectantly to go on and Brad waited to hear what he was about to say next. He had a feeling as to where the conversation was headed toward. It was almost too predictable. Rich took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. The thought had been bothering him for a few weeks now, an he’d tried not to make a big deal of it, but he had to let it all out now before he went crazy.

“I have this feeling that Kevin likes her,” Rich finally said, “And I’m afraid that if I don’t show her that I love her and want to take our relationship to the next step, that she will leave me for him. I want to be assured that our relationship is secure and not going to worsen”

“You must not have much faith in the girl if you think that,” Devin told his friend, “Don’t you trust her?”

Rich nodded furiously, “Of course I trust her,” he said, “And I trust Kevin. He’s a good guy. I know better than anyone that you can’t fight attraction to somebody so easily. He can’t help it…I just want to propose before he acts upon his attraction.”

Brad and Devin didn’t argue with him. They could see too that during shows, as they were watching behind the scenes, Kevin staring longingly at Adonica. There was no use trying to deny it for Riche’s sake because it was so obvious.

“Do what you want,” Devin said with a smile, “But we’d better be your damn best men.” He added with a wink.

“Of course,” Rich laughed, “I wouldn’t have anybody else. You’ve been my best friends for years now.”

“Ya know what we have to do now,” Brad said, not waiting for a reply, “Plan the best fucking bachelor party ever.”

Rich smiled at his friends, knowing that they would plan something crazy for him. He just hoped that Adonica would say yes to his proposal and make him the happiest man alive. He was sure that she would, but there was always that small chance that she would turn him down. He figured that all he could do was ask and wait to see what she said and hope for the best.

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

“What the fuck was that?” Nick asked breaking the silence that was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop.

Nobody answered, waiting to hear for sure what had happened. One of the ride operators quickly walked by and unlatched the shoulder harnesses as others frantically ran in all directions, speaking rapidly.

“Everybody, please step off of the ride,” somebody else announced, “Please step off of the ride and step away from the track to give room for those getting off of the ride.”

All thirty-two people slowly and unsurly unfastened the safety belts and crawled out of the cars. Everybody did what they were told, but curiously stayed close to the ride to find out what was happening. The empty train slowly begun to roll away and went down on a separate track that went underneath the ground.

“What’s going on?” Nick asked again, “Why’d we have to get off?” he whined.

Kevin elbowed Nick in the side telling him to shut up. Everybody waited in silence, too afraid to speak. Nobody had any clue as to what was going on, but had a feeling that it wasn’t good. The only sound was everybody’s breath coming out short and heavy and hearts pounding. Suddenly a screeching noise filled the air as somebody came on over the intercom.

“The ride seems to be experiencing technical difficulties. Please don’t be alarmed and stay calm. I repeat, the ride is experiencing difficulties. Please stay calm.”

Everybody began chatting, wanting to know exactly what had happened and what the horrible shrill noise had been. Kevin gulped, wondering why the three other trains hadn’t begun to move in yet. Fear gripped his stomach and he knew that there had been much more than just plain technical difficulties. He was going to find out. He quickly jumped down onto the track and climbed back up on the other side of it.

“Where ya going?” Nick asked, starting to follow him.

“Nick,” Kevin warned, making the mistake of saying Nick’s real name, “Stay there. I’m coming right back.”

Nick pouted a little as he watched Kevin walk into the control room. He was jealous and felt left out and like a little kid. Kevin was quickly ushered out though and Nick grinned. He could soon hear Kevin shouting though.

“We deserve to know what is going on, damnit,” he said, “Now tell me.”

“Sir, lower your voice,” a young girl said, “Please go back on over to the other side of the track.”

“Not until you tell me what’s happening,” he growled.

Nick watched in curiosity as the girl rolled her eyes and pulled Kevin down. He could hear her talking softly, but couldn’t make out what she was saying and he wanted to know. The girl released Kevin’s arm and walked back into the control room. Kevin stood still for a moment in a daze before crossing the steel track again to get back to Nick. Nick could tell that Kevin had paled a few shades and he swallowed the lump of fear that had formed in this throat. He’d never seen his friend so distraught and look so frightened before in his life. Nick looked at him with question in his eyes, silently urging Kevin to speak and inform him of the information he’d just been fed. Kevin just stared straight ahead, his eyes wide, his breath coming out shaky.

“Wha…what happened?” Nick asked, almost afraid to find out.

Kevin stood there for a moment without answering making Nick wonder if he’d even heard his question. But Kevin soon opened his mouth to speak and Nick had to listen closely just so that he could hear Kevin’s soft, quiet words coming out choked and forced.

“One of the trains de-railed,” he nearly whispered.

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

Dulcia looked at her watch and sighed, “We still have three hours before we meet everyone,” she said, “What do ya’ll want to do.”

“I dunno,” Alaura replied, “I miss Devin. I can’t wait until we spend time together this afternoon.”

Dulcia stepped back, acting wounded, “What? We’re not good enough for you anymore?”

Alaura laughed, shaking her head, “I haven’t been alone with Devin in I don’t know how long. I just really want to see him.”

“Eh, I know how you feel,” Dulcia laughed, “I miss my Bradley too. Maybe we can sneak off to some hidden place and get creative.”

Alaura and Adonica groaned loudly. Adonica’s mind soon wandered off to other things. She wondered what Rich was up to with the guys. She wondered if he had even thought about her the entire day, or if he was being attacked by hot female fans and she hadn’t even crossed his mind in all of the attention that he was receiving. It bugged Adonica at how insecure she was sometimes. She wished that for once, she could feel like she did matter to Rich, instead of always doubting him. She figured though that it was the scars that were left over from her past failed relationships which made her slightly weary of all men.

“Poor Nicky,” Dulcia laughed, changing the subject out of nowhere, “Stuck with Kevin all morning. I wonder how many historical exhibits he’s been to. Ohhh, I wonder if he was drug to Cowboys and Indians town to learn the past of the old wild west. How exciting!”

Alaura started to laugh really hard, doubling over holding her stomach. Dulcia’s sarcasm and wit had struck again at the best time. Adonica on the other hand, was less than amused. Normally, she would be laughing along with them, but this time, her heart went out to the older man. She felt like defending him, but decided to keep her mouth shut before it got her into trouble. There was no use in leading her friends to believe things that weren’t even true and accusing her of being in denial.

“Nick has the attention span of a gnat,” Dulcia then said, “He probably wandered off after a butterfly or something.”

Alaura’s laughter grew harder again as tears grew in her eyes. Adonica couldn’t help but smile this time, but felt bad for Nick always being picked on, even though she contributed to it a good bit.

“You make him sound like Ethan from Lizzie McGuire,” Alaura pointed out, “I don’t think our Nicky is that bad.”

Dulcia raised an eyebrow, “We love him to death. Hey, Adonica…maybe you two would make a good match. Ya both are blonde and well…slow.”

Adonica playfully slapped Dulcia, “Who are you to talk?” she asked, then her eyes grew wide, “What the hell is going on there?” she asked, pointing ahead of her.

Alaura and Dulcia looked at where Adonica was pointing towards and saw a huge crowd gathered around one of the rides.

“I don’t know,” Dulcia replied, “But I’m going to find out.”

The three girls ran towards the crowd to see what was happening but were too far back to see and everybody was so close together that they couldn’t squeeze through people to any closer to the front. Dulcia started jumping to try to see above everyone’s heads, but was having no luck.

“Come on, people. Some people aren’t six foot something.” She shouted, “Make a little room here.”

Just then, Howie came walking up to the girls, his eyes full of question. He looked around for a moment and then began to speak.

“What’s going on here?” he asked, “I went to get something to drink, was gone for twenty minutes, and I get back, and everyone and their extended family is gathered around.”

“We don’t know,” Dulcia answered irritably, then raised her voice, “But I wish someone would god damn tell me, or at least let me through.”

“The ride is having problems,” somebody shouted, “Looks like one of the train’s derailed, probably about eleven minutes ago.”

“Thank you, finally,” Dulcia replied, “Sucks for whoever was on that train.”

A look of panic suddenly came over Howie’s face as he looked down at his watch taking no time at all to do so. He started to shake uncontrollably when he saw the time that was staring him right in the face.

“What now?” Dulcia asked him.

“Aje and Brian were in line for that ride.” He choked out, “They were due to get on ten minutes ago.”

All three girls eyes grew wide with horror as they fought harder to get closer to the front of the crowd that was continuing to grow by the second.

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

The first of the three trains that were on the track pulled up to the unloading station to let the passengers off. Thirty-two pasty white people stepped off of the ride. As they individually pushed past those who remained at the top of the ride, Nick and Kevin scanned each face, growing more and more anxious with every second that passed.

“Where are Aje and Brian?” Kevin wondered out loud as the last of the people filed past quickly, “Why the hell aren’t they getting off of the ride?”

Anxiety grew in Kevin’s voice as his breathing grew heavier. Nick just stood there dumbfounded. No words came to his mind as he stared blankly ahead. He was literally speechless. Kevin’s question made his own come up in his head. Where were A.J. and Brian? Why hadn’t they been on the train that had just unloaded? A knot formed in his stomach. Had they been on the train that had had problems? Nick felt like he was going to be sick. More and more people on the other side of the track began going down the stairs to get to the bottom. Nick figured that they probably wanted to find a ride that wasn’t defective instead of waiting around wasting good time for one that would close for the day, or even months.

“Where are they?” Nick asked meekly, finally finding his voice for the first time, “They can’t be hurt.”

Now it was Kevin’s turn to be silent as he watched the train join the other underneath the building. He wondered if there would be another train coming up to unload and if there was, if their friends would be on it. He hoped so. He couldn’t deal with losing two of his best friends and band mates. He could hardly deal with the mere thought of it. This day of fun, their day off, was turning out to be a complete disaster. Kevin didn’t know exactly what to think. His mind was a jumble, his body frozen in one spot. He was paralyzed by fear and the thought of possibly losing two people who were extremely close to him.

A minute later, another train slowly rolled through the station and halted to a stop. Nick and Kevin took no time at all to walk straight up to the track to wait for it to unload. Again, all thirty-two people quickly jumped out of their seats and pushed to get away from the defective coaster.

“Do…do you see them?” Nick asked nervously, scanning the area over.

Kevin shook his head, “No,” he choked, “I...I don’t.”

Nick could feel himself beginning to lose all control. His knees began to buckle beneath him as he sunk lower and lower to the ground. Kevin continued to frantically look around as the people continued to unload. He thought he caught a glimpse of the two shorter Boys’, but they disappeared just as quickly as they had appeared. With his heart pounding in his chest, he stood up on his toes to see if he could spot them again. He saw them again standing still in one place looking completely bewildered and in shock. He wondered what was causing them to look so distraught. Once everyone had cleared, Kevin quickly walked over to them.

“Aje,” he called, “Bri.”

The two men looked over and saw Kevin. They jumped back a little at the sight of him, but quickly started walking toward him. Nick looked up confused at all of the commotion and saw his other two best friends, He quickly picked himself up off of the ground and met the three reunited men who were all giving each other hugs. Once they finished with their hugging rounds, Kevin was the first to speak.

“Thank god you’re all right,” he gasped, “When you didn’t get off of the first train…I…I didn’t know what to think.”

“And when we didn’t see you get off of the second…”Nick’s voice trailed off.

“And when we heard that horrible noise,” A.J. began, “And looked behind us and saw the train just…soaring through the air. We thought that you were on that one. I swear, I think me and Bri both just started to bawl.”

Kevin looked around and noticed for the first time that all four of them in fact had been crying. He felt good to know that they all cared about one another that much.

“So, why weren’t you on that train?” Brian asked, “Thank god you weren’t, but.what happened?”

“Some kids pushed us out of the way,” Kevin replied, “So we had to…or were going to wait for the next ride.”

The guy’s all did another round of quick hugs when Nick pulled away, his eyes full of pain.

“What is it?” A.J. asked

“Kev,” Nick started, “We were supposed to be on that train. It was us that were suppose to be hurt…or worse.”

Kevin started to protest, but realized that Nick was right. If they’d fought for what were rightfully their seats on the ride, it would be them in the small kids places. Kevin looked at Nick and could read on his face that he was feeling extremely guilty, and as thankful as he was to be alive, he couldn’t help but feel the same.

Sorry it took so long for an update. Special thanks to Anastacia and Ayleen for the reviews. Because of you, I decided to continue with this! It meant a lot to me to hear your feedback! Thanks again!

Chapter Nine

Adonica, Alaura, Dulcia and Howie began walking away from the group and to the exit of the ride when they saw people beginning to walk down the stairs and out of Speed-Demon. All four’s hearts were hammered in their chests. They weren’t sure what the chances were of Brian and A.J. being on the ride that had gone down, but the timing was too close to take any chances on letting it go.

“Maybe they’re still stuck in line somewhere,” Alaura said, trying to calm everyone’s nerves.

Adonica had since begun to bite her nails, something that she only did when she was terribly nervous.

“But wouldn’t they have left the ride already?” Howie asked, “I’ve been near by and if it just happened, one of us would have seen them leave.”

Howie’s negativity brought all of the fear back to the girls that had left them temporarily. They wanted to know where their two friends were and if they were okay. The four friends stood by the exit not moving an inch as a new group of people rushed down the stairs. They all carefully looked at each individual face to see if any were who they were looking for.

“I don’t see either of them,” Alaura stated, “And there is nobody else coming out of it.”

Adonica began gnawing at her nails furiously. The two men had been friends of hers for years now. She didn’t want anything bad to have happened to them. They were all extremely close, the guys and the dancers…especially her and her best friends. The other dancers basically just did their job and didn’t have an outside friendship with the guys. Adonica was startled when she felt arms going around the back of her. She jumped and whipped around. Rich was standing there, along with Devin and Brad.

“What’s going on?” he asked her.

“One of the trains derailed,” she explained.

“Woah, that sucks,” Devin said, grabbing Alaura’s hand. “What’s that got to do with you all though?”

Dulcia shook her head, walking over to Brad. The guys of LFO weren’t quite understanding the seriousness of it. She wondered if all guys were completely unintelligent.

“Everything,” she explained, “Brian and A.J. were on there. They were due to get on right when it happened.”

Dulcia and her friends could see fear fill the three guy’s eyes, but it quickly vanished. She could tell that they really weren’t worried.

“I’m sure they’re fine,” Brad shrugged, “I mean, the chances are slim to none that something happened to them.”

“Then why aren’t they coming down, oh smart one?” Dulcia asked bitterly, “I mean, everybody else pretty much has.”

“Maybe they got off and none of ya’ll saw it,” Rich reasoned, “It’s entirely possible, ya know.”

The three girls grunted in disgust. If the LFO guys were as close to the Boys as they were, then maybe they’d understand why they were so worried. Adonica was disgusted with all three men for just nodding off the situation as if it were extremely insignificant and like they couldn’t care less.

“Damnit,” Howie muttered, and then asked, “Where the hell are they?”

He wasn’t really expecting an answer to his rhetorical question. It was more or less him thinking aloud. It still made him nervous though when nobody answered and wished that somebody would at least say something.

Several minutes later, Howie noticed four men slowly walking down the stairs, which led them safely to the ground. Howie squinted into the sun, trying to make out who they were. His heart accelerated when he saw that it was his four other bandmates. He breathed a sigh of relief that they were all okay. But wait…what were Kevin and Nick doing with them?

“Look,” Howie exclaimed, pointing, still dumbfounded that they were all together, “There they are.”

The entire group looked as the four Boy’s hurried down the last of the stairs in their direction and pushing through the gate one at a time. Adonica could feel tears of happiness welling up in her eyes that they were all okay. She too, wondered what Nick and Kevin were doing with Brian and A.J though.

“Thank god you’re all right,” she cried, throwing her arms around Kevin, and then hugged the other three men.

Dulcia and Alaura both hugged the men as well. Alaura went to A.J. last, keeping her arms around him for just a little bit longer than the others, but barely enough to notice. Jealousy boiled in Devin’s veins. Why did his girlfriend have to go hugging the four Boys? In his mind, they were all okay, end of story. Howie, not caring how un-manly he acted, gave each friend of his a hug too. He’d never been so scared in his life.

“What the hell happened?” was the first thing out of Alaura’s mouth, “And what took ya’ll so long to get your butts down here?”

The guys all looked at one another, wondering if they should inform everybody else of what had happened. None of them really didn’t want to worry anybody. They were all okay, after all, but a chance of luck.

“Well,” Kevin began, “One of the trains flew off of the track…”

“No shit,” Dulcia replied sarcastically, “Ya think so? Tell us something that we don’t already know. And besides, as far as we all know, it was just Aje and Brian in line. How did you magically appear with them?”

“We got in line behind them,” Nick told her, “We were going to be on the train right after them.”

The guilty feeling was coming back to him. He wondered if anybody on the defective ride was alive or okay. He hoped so. He still couldn’t shake the feeling that it should have been Kevin and him.

“Some kids cut us off though…so we should have…”

None of the girls gave Nick the time to finish. Adonica gasped, knowing just where his sentence was headed toward. She threw her arms around Kevin again, without really realizing it. Kevin put his arms around her back, giving Rich a sideways glance. He hoped that this didn’t end badly, even if he did enjoy having her arms around him.

“Hey, I’m fine,” he laughed, but it was obvious that it was forced and there was a slight hint if trouble in his masculine voice, “Everything is fine.”

Adonica pulled away from the hug, seeing in his eyes that everything wasn’t really completely fine though. She was just thankful that they were all okay. For the first time since the group had been reunited, Adonica noticed that her heart was still pounding in her chest from the fear that she had felt. She wondered why, when she’d found out that he, too, was with A.J. and Brian, she’d felt emotions that somebody who was only a friend would not feel. She was so mixed up lately. She loved Rich, but lately, she was having confusing feelings for Kevin as well. It scared her.

Rich, meanwhile, looked at Kevin, seeing the adoration in his eyes for Adonica. Taking her hand in his, he pulled his girlfriend close to him, making sure to let it be known that she was his. He smiled to himself in triumph when Kevin looked at them and saw longing in his eyes. One thing was for sure though. Rich decided that he was definitely going to propose to Adonica by the end of the week. He hoped that it would put an end to Kevin’s little crush on her and make him realize that he would never have Adonica.

Alaura walked over to Devin, trying to take his hand, but he brushed her off coldly, stepping away as if she were a leper.

“What?” Alaura asked him, hurt in her eyes.

“Why don’t you go get cozy with A.J.” he spat, making sure that it was loud enough for all to hear, “You seemed to be more than pleased to see him.”

“Devin,” Alaura said, “Of course I was happy to see that he was ok. We’ve been friends for a really long time.”

Devin snorted, rolling his eyes. He crossed his arms over his chest. Alaura tried again to get closer to him, but he backed away again.

“Devin,” she pleaded, hating this jealous side of her boyfriend that was coming out. Alaura wondered what was causing him to act like this. She wasn’t interested in A.J, or any of the other Boy’s for that matter, in any kind of romantic way.

“Don’t talk to me,” he told her coolly, and begun walking away. Brad and Rich both kissed their girlfriends goodbye before running after their friend.

Alyssa watched Devin leave as a tear slid down her face. She just couldn’t win. She honestly didn’t know what she had done wrong. Everybody around her had looks of confusion written on their faces. A.J. raised an eyebrow, wondering why Devin had involved him.

“What was that all about?” Brian asked.

Alyssa shrugged, visibly upset by the rejection from her boyfriend. The day, which had started out to be so great, had ended sourly, taking a downfall rapidly. She knew, when everybody begun walking away together, that they were leaving the park completely. She sighed, hoping that the kids that were on the ride in Nick and Kevin’s places were okay. She also hoped that her relationship with Devin wasn’t over. Again, she wondered how things could take such a turn for the worst.

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

Nick’s eyes widened as the scene at the park earlier that day appeared on the news. There was yellow tape strewn across the entire ride, gates and all, with the words CAUTION printed in bold black lettering. The camera zoomed in at the place where the ride had lost its course. Nick’s stomach was sent into turmoil at the sight of it. Everybody on the ride had been taken off of it, but it still sent chills down Nick’s spine. He found it gory and morbid to even show pictures of the mangled, wrecked train lying on the ground in a crumpled heap.

“This is Marie Coy reporting live. A devastating accident has left coaster lovers in shock this afternoon,” A news reporter announced, stepping into view of the screen in front of the ride. The wind lightly tasseled her black hair, blowing it into her dark, serious eyes, “One of the trains on the new thrill ride Speed Demon at Thrill Island Amusement Park derailed, leaving seven people dead and twenty-five critically injured. The cause of the accident is unknown at this point in time. The ride will be shut down for investigation. We will keep you posted with the latest information. Back to you, Lucy.”

Nick had since tuned out the reporter. The information, he was hearing, but he wasn’t comprehending it. It was as if it were going in one ear and straight out the other. He didn’t want to believe it. He didn’t want to know or be a part of it.

“Scary, isn’t it?”

Nick jumped, looking behind him to find Kevin standing there. He hadn’t even heard the older man walk into the room. Nick stared at him blankly for a moment, then nodded slowly, at loss for words.

Kevin walked over and sat down next to Nick. He looked into the blondes blue eyes and could see that there was still pain and guilt wedged deep down into them. He felt the same. His soul screamed with guilt just knowing that it should have been them.

“Seven people died, Kev,” Nick whispered, “Seven people. What if it was those little boys? If it was…God, I hope I never find out. I wont be able to live with myself if it was.”

Kevin sighed a troubled sigh. He closed his eyes, rubbing them. Suddenly, he was exhausted. It had been a long day.

“It’s not our fault, Nick,” Kevin said, “I know that it may seem that way, but you have to realize that it isn’t.”

Nick was silent. He looked towards the ground, not wanting Kevin to see the tears in his eyes that were forming. He wanted to hide it, not wanting the person who had become a brother and father figure to him to see just how badly he actually was hurting.

“Nick, look at me,” Kevin said after a long moment.

Nick refused, lowering his head even more. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to trap the tears inside, failing. The salty drops found a way to escape anyways, sliding down his cheeks, falling to the carpeted ground. He didn’t understand why this was so hard on him. He didn’t know why it was affecting him like this.

“Nick,” Kevin said again, his voice stern, but Nick could tell that it was trembling a little.

Nick slowly looked up at Kevin. There were tears in his eyes as well, which surprised Nick. It was on very rare occasion that he saw Kevin cry.

“It’s not our fault. I know that it may seem that way, but we can’t blame ourselves for this.” He told Nick. The thing was, Nick wasn’t sure if he believed him. Kevin didn’t seem all that convinced himself by his own words.

“But,” Nick began, but he was interrupted.

“I know it should have been us, but it wasn’t. They pushed ahead of us. What were we supposed to do?”

Nick nodded, not arguing. There was no point in it. He was thankful to be alive, but knowing that he possible shouldn’t be scared him, and made him feel all the more guilty at the same time. Nick roughly wiped his eyes, brushing the tears away, slightly ashamed.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed,” Kevin told him, not even bothering to wipe away his own. He figured they’d dry away on their own when they were ready to stop.

Nick shrugged again, and sighed deeply. He wondered how long he would have this on his mind. One thing was for sure though, he was going to call the local hospitals and check to see if the two young boys were alive. He decided, after much thought, that he had to know for sure. It would either put his mind at ease, or mess his head up even more. He had yet to discover which it would be.

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

Alaura groaned as she continued to pound on her own hotel room door. The room that Devin had locked her out of. She let out a frustrated sigh, almost positive that her knuckles were about to start bleeding from the abuse she was causing them all because of her arrogant boyfriend.

“Devin,” she yelled, “Let me in. I kind live in there too.”

There was no response. She still didn’t have the slightest clue what she had done to make him so angry with her. She’d asked all of her friends if she’d done something, since they were right there the whole time. They had all answered ‘no’

“Devin,” she shouted, not caring if she was waking up people in surrounding rooms, which consisted of her friends and the Boys. It was only ten though, so she figured that they were all still awake, “Open the fucking door.”

Alaura was satisfied when she heard the door unlocking, and it opened. Devin opened it a crack, and she could see his face appear, but just for long enough so he could drop her bags out the door. It closed again, with her still standing in the hall. Throwing her hands up into the air, she wondered how anybody could hold grudges over something that wasn’t even known for so long. Now the problem lied on where she would stay overnight. With Adonica or Dulcia was out of the question. They were rooming with their own boyfriends. She wouldn’t want to interrupt anything going on with them. She stood, pondering the other alternatives. Alaura couldn’t help but wonder if Devin was watching her through the peep hole, laughing at how cruel he was being towards her. She stood, still dumbfounded when a door behind her opened.

“Everything okay out here?”

Alaura spun around, finding herself face to face with A.J. She smiled weakly at him, but still couldn’t hide the disgust or keep it out of her voice.

“My lovely boyfriend has decided to kick me out for the night,” she replied sarcastically, “Such a charmer.”

A.J. chuckled, “Do you need a place to stay?”

Alaura bit her bottom lip, not knowing how to answer, or if she should lie and tell him that she didn’t need one. She did, of course, but didn’t want to put him out. She didn’t even know if he had a roommate. She finally decided to just be honest before she ended up spending the night on the hard, cold, hallway floor. Slowly, Alaura nodded.

“Well, you can share a room with me,” he offered, generously, “I mean, I don’t have anyone else in there tonight.”

Alaura smiled at him in appriciation, as A.J. walked over and grabbed her bags, bringing them into his room. She followed him in, plopping down onto the double bed which was still made. A.J. set her bags down, then walked over, sitting next to her.

“Thank you,” she told him softly.

“No problem,” A.J. told her, “I’m always here to help out a good friend in need.”

Alaura laughed, slightly forcing it. She was thankful to have made such amazing friends who would always be there to help out. She was just sorry that it was in this way and under these circumstances.

“Want to tell me what happened?” A.J. asked, curious as to why Devin was completely avoiding her.

Alaura shrugged her thin shoulders, “I don’t know. Seriously, I have no clue. When ya’ll got off of the ride, he started acting funny.”

“Hmm,” was all A.J. could come up with to respond. It was a bit odd that Devin would do this without so much as a simple explanation for it all, or even good reasoning.

“I hope that it passes,” Alaura sighed, “He is being such a pathetic ass hole.”

A.J. laughed again. Alaura found his laugh to be extremely sexy. With her anger towards Devin, it was turning her on. She looked at him, and his eyes caught hers. They were so captivating. Before she knew it, Alaura found herself kissing A.J. on the mouth, using some tongue. A.J’s eyes widened in surprise, but he didn’t pull away, kissing her right back. A.J. laid her down gently, kissing her more passionatley, closing his eyes and enjoying it, knowing that he would be going to hell for this. He brushed a stand of hair out of her eyes, as she took the back of his neck in her hand, pulling him closer. Suddenly, without warning, A.J. stopped, pulling away a few inches. His breathing was heavy. He stared at Alyssa, seeing the question in her eyes, mixed with hurt.

“We shouldn’t be doing this,” A.J. said huskily, not wanting to stop, but knowing that it was the right thing to do, “It will just cause more problems. I don’t want to be the one to cause problems.”

Alaura sighed, knowing he made a reasonable point. As much as she didn’t want things to end, she knew that they needed to.

“You’re right,” Alaura breathed, stopping just long enough to stare into his sexy eyes, forgetting all about ending the romantic moment just as quickly as the thought had entered her mind, and starting kissing him harder and more passionately, caught up in the moment. She didn’t really care. All she wanted was to be with A.J. at that moment. She knew that it was wrong, but it still didn’t stop her.

A.J. kissed her back, his mouth on hers, full of longing and hunger. He slid his hands over her back, her thighs. Before either of them knew it, their clothes were both on the ground as they took things to a whole new level of intensity between them.

Just a quick thanks to Anastacia and Anita for reviewing chapter 9!

Chapter Ten

Alaura’s rolled over on to her side, still half-way asleep, snuggling in closer to A.J’s side. She wrapped one arm over his body, around him, sighing in content. She was so comfortable and happy. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open, her eyes focusing on the back of somebody she definitely didn’t recognize. Alaura jumped, shrieking out, startled and quickly sitting up and scooting over a little. Her head whipped around the room, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. She glanced down, noticing that her bare chest was exposed. With eyes widening, Alaura quickly realized that she was completely nude, and so was A.J.

“Oh god,” she cried out in a shrill whisper. A.J. didn’t even flinch in his sleep at the sound of her high pitched voice.

She jumped out of bed, grabbing her clothes off of the floor and fleeing into the bathroom to redress. What had gone on the night before? She tried to recall anything that could have happened, but nothing came to her. As she pulled her jeans over her hips and slipped her shirt over her head, a slight memory came back to her, but none of it really made sense. Alaura sat down on the edge of the bathtub, putting her head in her hands. This was not what she needed to happen. She had to get out of there, and quickly. Taking in a few deep breaths to compose herself she stood up again. Opening the door to the bathroom, Alaura exited, quietly tip-toeing over to her bags. She decided that she was going to try to sneak out before A.J. woke up. Bending down, she picked up her two suitcases, and stood back up, spinning around. She started to make her way around the bed again, but stopped short when she saw two chocolate eyes staring at her. There was question in his eyes letting her know that he too was confused as to the events that had happened the night before.

“Hi,” she said quietly.

“Hi,” A.J. said back

The tension in the room was uncomfortable and unbearable. Alaura’s eyes were moving back and forth, up and down, in every direction but right at A.J. She didn’t want to feel weird around him. They were good friends. She hoped that whatever went on the night before didn’t ruin that.

“What happened last night?” A.J. asked, speaking aloud the question that was pounding at her brain.

Alaura shrugged, biting her lip. She still was unable to make eye contact with him. It didn’t feel right.

“Did we do…” his voice trailed off for a moment, he looked down, hesitating, then looked back up again, “Um, did we do…what I’m thinking we did?”

Alaura did nothing for a long moment. She knew what the answer was, even if she didn’t want to believe it. Slowly, Alaura nodded, shame crossing her face. She had cheated on Devin, her boyfriend, because of one silly argument between them. She had lost her virginity to something she knew would only be a one-night fling with a close friend. She loved Devin and refused to give up on what they had. She just hoped that she didn’t hurt A.J. in the process.

“Wow,” A.J. replied, scratching his head. He looked at her, apology in his brown eyes, “I’m so sorry.” He said aloud, “I’m sorry for violating you…for anything.”

“I’m the one who should be sorry,” Alaura said softly, “I started it…I…it was all me. I knew it was wrong, yet I didn’t stop.”

A.J. tried to argue by saying that he should have tried harder to prevent it, because he had known that she was in a relationship. Alaura refused to allow him to take the blame though.

“How about we call it even and say that we both could have tried harder to stop it,” she finally stated.

A.J. nodded in agreement. It sounded fair enough. He still felt guilty for letting things go as far as they had. They’d gone just about as far as things could go. Sure, he’d enjoyed it, but he had known the girl for almost five years now. They were like best friends, sister and brother. Nothing about falling for or having any sort of romantic type relationships like this had ever been written anywhere in the agenda. It had never crossed his mind and he knew he could never think of any of the girls as anything but friends. In a way, A.J. felt like he’d used her. At the same time, Alaura was thinking in guilt that she had used him.

“So, what are we going to do now?” A.J. asked her

“Act like it never happened,” Alaura said immediately, without the slightest hesitation. Her eyes were wide, and she met his gaze for the first time. They were pleading with him to go along with it, “And not ever let Devin know. He can’t.”

“Yeah, I suppose that would be best,” A.J. agreed.

Alaura smiled in appriciation that he’d agreed without an argument. Now came the hard part, which was getting Devin to talk to her and trying to convince him that nothing went on between her and A.J., even though that was a lie.

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

Adonica smiled at Rich as the white stretch limo pulled up to the exquisite restaurant that he’d insisted on taking her to. For some reason, Adonica was feeling nervous. It had been so long since they’d actually been out on a real date. There never seemed to be time enough for it. She looked down at what she was wearing. She’d chosen long, navy spaghetti strap dress, which hugged her figure just right. There was a slit going up the side which ended just inches below her hip to show of a little leg. She found it to be sexy yet sophisticated. Adonica wondered if she was over-dressed though, but figured that she was fine since Rich was wearing a full suit.

“Ready to go in?” he asked her.

“Yep,” Adonica answered softly.

The limo driver got out to open the door for the couple. Rich crawled out first, then took Adonica’s hand, pulling her gently out of the vehicle. With his arm wrapped around her waist, Rich led her gently into the restaurant, which was called Brio . Adonica stared in awe, taken aback by the beauty of the place. It was dimly lit by the soft glow of an occasional chandelier. There were flower arrangements placed neatly around the lobby to décor. The sounds of a light, classical music was playing in the background. Other than that, there wasn’t much other noise. Temperature wise, it was perfect. It was warm and cozy. It felt welcoming, like they were welcoming them to stay for hours.

“Wow,” she breathed, eyes wide. She decided that she definitely was dressed perfectly for the place.

Rich chuckled, “You act like you’ve never been in a place like this before.”

“It’s been awhile,” she said, “And has never been anything quite like…like this. This is…”

Adonica was at loss for words, not knowing how to describe the place. It was unique, gorgeous, nice. None of those words even did it justice though and Adonica didn’t want to offend Rich by his good judgement by using mediocre descriptions.

Rich smiled, knowing that he had done well. His pride was growing. He couldn’t wait for the end of the evening though. He anticipated it, but that was still a good two hours away.

A hostess, who had chin length black hair and weaing hardly any makeup, walked up to Rich and Adonica, letting them know that she had acknowledged their precense.

“We have reservations for Cronin,” Rich told her, amazing Adonica at how professional he seemed with his politeness.

The hostess looked down at what Adonica was guessing was a list of names. She highlighted something and grabbed two menus.

“Follow me,” she said in a slightly snobby tone, sticking her nose in the air as she led them to their table.

Rich and Adonica looked at one another before following the woman. Rich was trying not to snort in disgust over her superior attitude. The dining portion of the restaurant was just as exquisite as the lobby. It too, was dimly lit, only this time, by the shimmer of a single white candle on each table, centered to perfection. She placed the menu’s down onto a small table for two along a far wall and left without a word, leaving the two by themselves.

“Think she’s having a bad day?” Rich asked.

Adonica giggled softly. She didn’t think…she knew. Nobody could act that sour unless they were. The only other alternative was that it came with the job, which had gone to the woman’s head by working in such a place. Rich pulled Adonica’s chair out for her, making sure that he did everything just right, acting like a gentleman instead of a jerk. He wanted to impress her, even though he knew that he already did. Adonica sat down and Rich took a seat across from her. He looked into her eyes, smiling. The light from the candle was illuminating her face, causing shadows to cast across it.

“You look gorgeous tonight,” he told her quietly

“I was just thinking the same thing about you,” Adonica nearly whispered, as if she were afraid that if she raised her voice, the wine classes on the table would shatter before her, “So, why did you decide to bring me here tonight?” Adonica asked, wondering if he had specific motives for treating her out.

Rich shrugged, “Well, I just wanted to do this,” he told her simply, “We haven’t really done anything romantic lately. I felt we were due to do something like this.” Worry flashed across his face then, “Is it too much?”

Adonica laughed, “No, no, I love it,” she assured him, “Just wondering what I did to deserve this.”

“Just being my girlfriend,” he told her.

Adonica smiled, eating up the compliments. She knew that if Dulcia were there, she would have rolled her eyes and called them lines cheesy. Adonica loved it though. They made her feel special. Minutes later, a waiter came up to them, taking their drink orders. Rich was happy that the evening was finally beginning. It would bring them that much closer to the ending. Feeling slightly nervous, he hoped that things went as well as he was planning.

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

Alaura slid the room key into the door with hands shaking in fury. She had tried all day to get into the room, even going out for walks and window shopping for a couple of hours at a time, but Devin will wouldn’t allow her back in. She’d finally gone down to the front desk explaining that she’d lost her key and needed a new one. After about an hour of arguing with them, calling up to the room and getting no answer and finally convincing them that it really was her room, and she wasn’t some sort of stalker fan, they gave her a spare. Alaura couldn’t believe that she was going through all of this trouble for Devin. Dulcia had told Alaura that she should ignore him and make him crawl back to her begging for forgiveness on his knees. Alaura wasn’t like Dulcia though. She was more the type to demand an explanation and scream to get her point across.

Throwing the door open, she went in, letting it slam behind her. She walked in to the room and saw Devin lying on his stomach watching TV. He glanced over at her, then sat up, anger in his eyes.

“What are you doing here?” he asked coldly, “How the hell did you get in?”
“I love you too, sweetie,” Alaura sarcastically remarked.

“Answer my question,” Devin demanded, “How did you get in?”

Alaura rolled her eyes. Yes, she still couldn’t believe that she’d gone through all of the trouble to see Devin just to get yelled at. Her determination and persistence surprised her sometimes.

“I got an extra key from the front desk,” she told him, “And went through hell to do so. Why didn’t you answer the phone.”

“Because I knew that it would be you.” He answered, looking ahead of him now instead of at her, “But appearantly, you haven’t gotten the hint.”

Alaura growled in disgust. Suddenly, what had happened the night before, she wasn’t regretting anymore. If anything, she was glad that she’d done it.

“That’s really mature,” she said, walking over to the second bed in the room and sitting down, making herself comfortable.

Devin grunted, getting up. If she was going to stay, then he decided that he was going to leave. Alaura rolled her eyes. Were guys always this immature?

“Devin,” Alaura called after him, “What did I do to you? Please, explain this to me, because as far as I know, I did nothing.”

Devin stopped, and she could see that he had stiffened. He took in a few deep, ragged breaths to control his rage before turning around.

“You want to know what you did?” he asked, laughing bitterly, “I’ll tell you what you did. You were flirting your ass of with A.J. at the park yesterday.”

Alaura shook her head, forcing out a laugh. This was unbelievable. How did he get that she was flirting? Was he really that insecure and jealous?

“Where on earth did you get that idea?” she asked him.

Devin walked back to the bed, sitting down, glaring at the girl who was supposedly his girlfriend.

“Let’s see here,” he began, “The way you hugged him. It was…” he couldn’t finish because Alaura cut him off.

“Devin,” she said, “You are acting like a complete and total immature ass hole. One of my best friends almost died yesterday. Of course I am going to hug him when I find out he is all right.”

Devin snorted again. Alaura couldn’t believe that he was acting like this. Then again, he wouldn’t understand. He didn’t know the Boys like she did.

“It didn’t help when you went to A.J’s room though to spend the night.” He told her, “You couldn’t have gone anywhere else, could you?”

“A.J. is the only one who offered to help,” she told him, “If anyone else had, then yes, I would have gone with them…even if it were a complete stranger. Hell, I pounded on our door long enough. You wouldn’t come.”

Devin looked skeptical. She could tell that he didn’t believe her, and that was fine. She didn’t really care at the moment. She was thinking a few select words that she wouldn’t mind spouting off at him, but held her tongue. That would only make matters worse, if that were even possible.

“What happened between you last night,” he ordered of her, “Tell me, what did you do with him?”

Alaura sucked in her breath. She knew that this would come. She knew that he would ask, and she would have to come up with an excuse to tell him.

“Nothing,” she told Devin with a straight face, looking him in the eye. She figured that if she made eye contact, he would be more likely to believe her, “Absolutely nothing. He let me in, we talked, we went to sleep…in different beds.”

Devin eyed her up and down as if she were an insect under his microscopic vision. She could tell that his eyes were softening, but his tone wasn’t.

“Nothing?” he asked, “You aren’t lying, are you?”

“No,” Alaura shook her head, “Dev, I love you. I want to be with you.”

She held her arms out to him, asking for a hug. Devin hesitated, before walking over to her and hugging her. She breathed a sigh of relief.

“I love you too,” Devin said, “I’m sorry for doubting you and acting like a jealous freak.”

“Just don’t do it again,” Alaura said, and she could tell that he was laughing slightly.

“So everything is okay now?” she asked for reassurance that she had won her boyfriend back onto her good side.

“Yes, everything is okay,” he informed her.

She smiled. She’d convinced him that nothing had gone on. Phase one of hiding her secret was done. Now, she hoped that she could carry though with it as well as A.J. If not, she didn’t even want to think of what would happen.

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

Rich smiled at Adonica from across the table as he took a sip of his red wine. The end of the night was getting closer. Their waiter walked by, picking up their plates and glasses, clearing the table.

“Could I interest you in dessert this evening?” he asked.

Rich looked at Adonica, leaving the decision up to her. She hated being the decision maker, but, she was stuffed.

She turned to the waiter and said, “None for me, thanks,”

“Nah, we’re good,” Rich told him, and he walked away, leaving them in their own little paradise once more.

“Thanks for bringing me here,” Adonica told Rich softly, looking around once more at the elaborate surroundings, then looked at him, “I can’t believe it’s time to leave for Europe in two days.”

Rich shook his head, as if he couldn’t believe it either, “I know. We got a three day break before it’s time to take off.”

She could see Rich chuckle a little, and she tilted her head to the right slightly, looking at him in curiosity. He must have caught her look, because he went into an explanation.

“Just thinking about how well Kevin is doing on stage with a broken arm,” he told her, which was partly true. “I wonder how long before the cast comes off though.”

“Yeah, and it shouldn’t be too much longer. Three or four weeks, tops, I’m guessing.” Adonica agreed, then said without thinking, “He’s amazing.”

“Excuse me?” Rich asked.

Adonica smiled, “I said he is amazing,” A flash of jealousy crossed her boyfriends face, “Not as amazing as you though.” The look turned to one of pure content.

The two sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Adonica blushed self consciously because Rich kept looking at her. She wondered what it was all about. He seemed almost like he was nervous to be in her presence by the way he kept fidgeting too.

“Is everything okay?” Adonica asked him, “You’re not going to break up with me tonight, are you? Is this like, a pity date?”

Suddenly, she was extremely nervous and paranoid. Negative thoughts were running rampant through her head. Rich’s laughter wasn’t helping much.

“No,” he said in between laughs, “It’s nothing like that. Nothing at all. I’m fine. I promise.”

Adonica didn’t look too sure, so Rich decided that it was time to do what his intentions of the night were. He couldn’t stand the tortured look on her face and knowing that she was now thinking the worst, despite his comforts. He knew his girlfriend all too well. Taking a deep breath, Rich stood up, knowing that he was ready.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he announced, having the other couples and families in the room turning their heads to look at him, “I have an announcement to make.”

He looked at Adonica and winked. She looked at him, her eyes as wide as saucers, and he could tell that she was trembling slightly.

“My name is Rich. This lovely woman I am here with tonight is my girlfriend, Adonica. We’ve been together for shortly under five months. I love her more than anything. She is my everything.”

There were a few “aww’s” and whispers about it being the sweetest thing any of them had ever heard. He looked down at Adonica, and her mouth had dropped. He couldn’t tell if she knew what was about to happen or not. Either way, he wasn’t done yet with his speech. Taking a deep breath, Rich continued.

“I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to her, or if she wasn’t in my life anymore.”

Rich took Adonica’s hand in his, and bent down onto one knee, taking a small box out of his pants pocket, and opening it, holding it out to Adonica with the other hand. Her eyes widened as she drew back in astonishment.

“Adonica, Baby. I love you more than words can say. Having you in my life makes me the happiest and luckiest man alive. Will you marry me?”

Chapter Eleven

Adonica stared at Rich with her mouth hanging open. The room started to spin a little as she drew in a deep breath. She was stunned and couldn’t find her voice. She hadn’t had the slightest clue that he was going to ask her that. She’d had a feeling in the end, but decided that her fairy tail ending fantasies were taking over her brain again, shaking the thought from her head. Her daydreams were actually becoming a reality. Adonica tried to speak, but couldn’t.

“Baby,” Rich said after a long moment, laughing nervously. He stared into her eyes, sweat beading his forehead with anticipation. He could feel dozens of eyes staring at him, waiting to hear her answer, “Please, say something.”

Adonica took in a deep breath, a smile forming on her face. At first she just nodded, but then found her voice.

“Yes,” she whispered, then said more loudly, “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

Rich smiled, slipping the ring onto her finger. Tears of happiness formed in Adonica’s eyes as she stood up, throwing her arms around Rich. He hugged her back, tears of his own coming. A soft applause had started, surrounding them. Rich felt slightly foolish for interrupting the meals of everybody, knowing that he could have proposed between the two of them, but, he’d planned the whole night out way ahead of time. Besides, he figured that it was a little more romantic to do it in front of the restaurant as well.

“Thank you,” Rich whispered, “You’ve just made me happier that you could ever imagine.”

Adonica pulled away, looking deep into his eyes, and seeing that he was being truthful. She kissed Rich on the lips hard. Rich kissed her back, feeling victory. He loved Adonica, and now, they were going to get married. He couldn’t wait to see the look on Kevin’s face when he found out that the girl, which he was crushing on, was now way out of his reach. Kevin would never have her. Adonica was all his.

“What do ya say we get out of here and celebrate?” Rich asked her, taking out his wallet and setting three hundred and forty down on the table, tip included, all in cash.

“Wasn’t this to celebrate…ahead of time?” Adonica giggled

Rich shook his head, “Not enough. We’re going out to a dance club,” he stopped when he saw Adonica make a face, “Or anywhere else you want.” He added, “Tonight is your night, baby.”

“Dancing is ok,” She said, “But I do it all the time. On my days off, I’d like to do something else.”

Rich nodded, understanding what she was saying. He didn’t blame her, but then again, he wasn’t sure what else they could do.

“How about a movie?” Adonica suggested, “A romantic comedy sort of thing. That way, we can just…sit really close…make out…”

Rich smiled, “Okay, if that’s what you want to do, then, I’m all for it, Ms. Adonica Cronin.”

Adonica laughed at his silliness, but she loved the sound of the new name that she would take on within a few months time.

“Not quite yet, babe,” she said with a wink, to let him know that she was joking around with him.

Rich faked a pout, acting wounded. Adonica loved the way that they could joke around with one another. He was so easy to get along with.

“Let’s get out of here,” Rich said, grinning at her.

She agreed. Rich pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, dialing his limo driver and telling him where to meet them. Then, taking her hand in his, they walked out of the restaurant to get on with the rest of their evening.

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

“Damnit,” Nick yelled, slamming the phone down onto the receiver.

He used such powerful force the phone fell to the ground. He didn’t even bother picking it up though. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest, falling onto the bed. He glared up at the ceiling, muttering unkind things to himself. Nick knew that he was acting childish, but he didn’t care. It wasn’t like anybody was there to witness his immaturity. He was completely alone.

“Everything okay?” he heard somebody ask, as he walked into the room.

Or not.

Nick sat up, and saw Kevin standing before him. He looked concerned, but also a big angry. It was apparent that he’d heard Nick’s outburst. Or maybe he saw the phone lying on its side on the ground, the operators voice coming out muffled on the other end

“No,” Nick stated, his voice coming out harsh and blunt, “Everything is not okay. People suck.”

Kevin chuckled, trying to stifle it. It was obvious that Nick was in no mood to be laughed at.

“Care to share?” he asked the blonde.

Nick looked straight ahead of him, his face scrunched up in anger and frustration. His eyes were narrowed, staring at no one thing in particular. He didn’t answer Kevin for a moment. Kevin sat down next to Nick. This could take awhile, he knew. Nick was as stubborn as a bull.

“Nick,” he asked, making sure that his friend was still on this planet.

Nick turned to Kevin, letting out a big huff of air. Kevin wondered what had caused the easy-going boy to become so upset. He was shocked when Nick actually opened his mouth to speak and answer.

“I called the hospital today,” he said, “They wouldn’t tell me anything. I’ve called four times. They still won’t tell me anything.”

“What did you say to them?” Kevin asked, almost afraid to hear what Nick’s response would be. He loved Nick like a brother, but he didn’t always have the best of common sense.

“I asked how the kids were,” Nick replied, “They just paused and then said that they couldn’t give out that kind of information.”

Kevin bit his lip, trying hard not to laugh at the innocence of Nick. He just looked so defeated. He couldn’t help it though. Turning his head to the side, Kevin let out a soft chuckle, and then drew in a deep breath to compose himself before looking back to Nick, a forced semi-serious expression on his face.

“Nick,” Kevin said, “Did you say anything else...anything at all?”

Nick shook his head, “I just asked how the kids were. I figured they would know who I was talking about.”

“Nick,” Kevin said, “I think that they might need to know more information than that. I mean, do you know how many kids are in that hospital right now?” he chuckled good-heartedly out loud, “They probably thought that you were some crazy person.”

Nick took his knowledge into consideration. He supposed that Kevin was right. The truth was, it was three days since the accident happened, and he was still feeling so at fault for the whole thing. His mind wasn’t exactly thinking clearly when it came to that particular subject.

Kevin picked up the phone, and placing it back on the receiver, then picked it back up again so that he would have a dial tone, asking Nick for the number. He punched in the number that Nick knew by heart. He knew how much it meant to Nick to find out how the two boys were. To be honest, he wanted to know too. He also knew that if they were some of the lucky ones that were alive, that he and Nick would definitely be paying them a visit. Kevin’s thoughts were distracted when the phone was answered.

“Hi, um, yes,” he said, “I’m calling for information on two of the victims of the coaster accident a few days ago.”

Nick watched Kevin in awe, jealous at how well he handled things. He was definitely the professional one of the group. There was absolutely no doubt about that. He was glad that at least one of them knew how to take control.

“Hmmm,” he heard Kevin say, “They were two boys, around thirteen I would say.” There was a pause, “Uh huh…oh.”

Nick could see Kevin’s face fall, and swore that he had paled a little bit. He wasn’t all too sure though.

“Can you tell me where we can find him?” Kevin asked.

Nick was dying of curiosity wondering what was being said Kevin and whoever was on the phone. He was obviously getting farther than Nick. Then again, he wasn’t yelling at the people either, and throwing out threats.

“Thanks you,” Kevin replied, and then hung up. His eyes were glazed over, staring off into space. Nick raised an eyebrow wondering how Kevin had zoned out so quickly.

“Kev,” Nick asked.

Kevin turned his head, looking at Nick blankly, “Huh?” he asked.

Nick couldn’t help but laugh for a second. He didn’t think that he’d ever seen Kevin like this before. Normally, it was himself.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Well,” Kevin begun, “We’re aloud to visit the one boy. He has a broken leg and collar bone and suffered a concussion.”

“What about the other,” Nick asked, almost afraid to hear his answer. He could tell that Kevin was afraid to tell him too, by the look that crossed over his face.

“He, um,” Kevin began, “The other one was in a coma when he arrived.”

“At least he’s alive,” Nick said, part of the guilt lifting from him, “That’s always a plus. I mean, he could wake up and be fine.”

Kevin looked away, saying something that was muffled. Nick strained to hear him, but couldn’t. He then asked Kevin to repeat it for him so that he could understand. Kevin sighed, and turned to Nick.

“He died a few hours later from internal injuries.”

Nick drew in a deep breath and held it, not sure how to take the news. He couldn’t believe that out of seven people that had died, the one boy was one of them. Suddenly, he wanted to get to the hospital at that very instant, to visit with the one that had lived. He wanted to see for himself and be reassured that the one really was okay. It would at least clear his conscious of guilt partially.

“Did they tell you where the one is?” Nick asked.

Kevin nodded, trying to recall the information that he had been given. Was it the sixth floor, room five-forty three, or the fifth floor, room four-fifty three? He couldn’t remember

“Let’s go,” Nick said, determination in his voice. He grabbed his room key off of the nightstand and headed towards the door, with Kevin following closely behind him.

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

Alaura, Adonica and Dulcia all walked through the local mall towards Dulcia’s favorite store: Hot Topic. They were leaving the next day for Europe and wanted to each find a few new outfits to take with them.

“So,” Dulcia asked, “Whatever happened with Devin? He was acting like a pretty big prick at the park.”

Alaura sighed. She hadn’t spoken much with her friends over the past few days. To be honest, the only times they were really together anymore was before and after shows. Other than that, they were with their boyfriends. Things had changed since the start of this tour.

“We talked and made up,” Alaura told her,

She bit her lip nervously. She wanted so badly to tell her best friends about what had happened with A.J. She knew that she couldn’t though. It would cause questioning that she couldn’t answer, not to mention if word got back to Devin himself. There was always that risk. If Devin ever knew about what had happened between her and A.J. a few nights ago, they would be over.

“What?” Dulcia asked, smirking, “You are so holding back on us. What aren’t you telling us?”

Alaura shrugged, “Nothing. He yelled at me a little. I yelled back a little, using the famous Dulcia sarcasm. Then, we decided that we were both being stupid, so we made up. End of story.”

“That’s great,” Adonica smiled, giving her friend a huge hug, “I knew that he couldn’t stay mad for long.” She paused, “Wait, what was he mad at you for anyways.”

Dulcia shook her head, rolling her eyes, “You have selective hearing, I swear.” She told her friend, “You really worry me.” It was then that Dulcia realized that she, too, didn’t really know what the couple had been quarreling over, but did she dare admit that after she had made fun of Adonica? She decided to take her chances, “Okay, so what were you fighting over?”

Alaura’s eyes clouded over as she remembered how Devin had treated her and his accusations. He had perfectly good reason to accuse though. But she had tricked him into believing that he was being a paranoid jerk. Alaura knew that she was wrong, but, unless she wanted to end up alone, she really didn’t have any other choice. It was, after all, a one night thing only. Plus, she had never done anything like that before in her life and never planned to again. It was out of grief, nothing more.

“Devin thought that I had some sort of love interest in A.J,” she said, sounding disgusted with the idea, “He accused me of liking him. He even went as far as to lock me out of our room.”

Adonica’s eyes widened, and Dulcia looked like she was about ready to kick some ass. Both girls knew the kinds of thoughts that ran ramped though their friends head when a male hurt one of them. If the hurt her friends, then they made her list of people to hurt.

“Where is he?” Dulcia demanded, “I think he might get to see that all my jokes about the baseball bat aren’t all that false after all.”

Alaura and Adonica looked at one another, cringing. Alaura hoped that she could talk the girl out of doing permanent damage to Devin. She’d heard stories about the kinds of things that she had done.

“Dulcia, everything is okay now,” she said, as Dulcia picked up a bottle of black nail polish, then decided on the black with sparkles.

“He locked you out,” she said, “He deserves to feel a little pain for a few days.”

“Dulce,” Alaura begged, “Don’t hurt him. He apologized. He’s proved more than enough that he is sorry.”

Another thing that Alaura felt guilty over. Devin was pampering her, treating her, and surprising her with gifts to prove how sorry he was. She didn’t deserve any of it. He was right. She was living a lie.

Dulcia sighed, looking like she was giving this major consideration. Finally, she rolled her eyes, shaking her head. Alaura knew that she had won. Dulcia was going to give up…for now. She walked over to the tongue rings, spinning the display around. She wanted to find a new one, but wasn’t quite sure what she was looking for.

“So,” she asked Adonica, “What’s the latest with you? How did your little date with Richie go?”

Adonica laughed at Dulcia’s pet name for her boyfriend. She smiled, looking down at her finger that held the gorgeous diamond ring. It had a silver band, and one diamond. It was so cute and feminine. She loved it. She had also been trying to hide her hand from her friends the entire day. She wanted to surprise them with it herself.

“Our date was good,” she said, trying to wipe the enormous grin off of her face, but it wasn’t working. She couldn’t hide it.”

“What is it?” Alaura asked, not missing a thing. She had always been good at picking up on things.

“Well,” Adonica began, “Rich took me out to dinner at Brio…”

She was cut off by squeals coming from Alaura, and Dulcia’s eyes widening. They obviously had heard of the place, and knew that it was rather pricey. She, on the other hand, hadn’t heard of it until that fateful night.

“You are so lucky,” Alaura cried out, “That place…wow…Rich must really love your ass.”

Adonica laughed. If only they knew.

“Well, it was really romantic,” she explained in minimal words, “He…um…he proposed at the end of the night.”

This caused squeals coming from both of her friends. This surprised Adonica because Dulcia definitely wasn’t the sqealing type. Looks came in their direction from all over the store, but none of them cared.

“I am so happy for you,” Alaura said, “Oh my god, we have to start planning the wedding. The dress, the flowrers, inventatios…will I be your bridesmaid?”

Adonica laughed at her friends’ enthusiasm. She knew that there was a lot of planning to do, but until her and Rich talked it over in further detail, she knew that the preparations would be best if they were put aside for the time being.

“Slow down,” she said, “Believe me, when the time comes for that, you two will be the first to know. God, I feel like I am floating. Like this is all a dream. I am so happy.”

Dulcia nodded, a small smile forming on her face, slightly smug, but overall, she was happy for Adonica.

“Wow, my youngest friend, getting married,” she said, “I shoulda seen that coming. You always were the one to fall fast.”

Adonica didn’t know if she should be insulted or not. She must have looked it because a huge grin broke out on her friends face.

“Oh, come here,” she said, hugging her friend, “I’m happy for you,”

Adonica hugged her friend back. All she needed was her two friends’ support to know that this was going to work out wonderfully,

“Wow, I can’t wait to see the look on Kevin’s face when he finds out,” Dulcia said, “Priceless. I wonder how he will take it. You two are pretty good friends.”

Suddenly, Adonica’s spirits fell. She hadn’t thought of Kevin until that moment. How would he take it? She didn’t want him to be hurt, but he knew that she was dating Rich. She shouldn’t feel bad about anything. So why was she suddenly so worried about telling him? Why was there a sinking feeling tugging at her heart? She had a feeling that she knew why, but tried to erase the thought. It wasn’t disappearing though, but she knew that it had to quickly. She had her own wedding to plan. She was going to get married, and she was going to be happy. She just had to keep telling herself that until she was convinced. She loved Rich.

Thanks again to Anastacia and Anita for reviewing!!! *smiles*

Chapter Twelve

Nick and Kevin briskly walked into the hospital and to the elevators. Nick couldn’t wait to see, on his own, that the one boy was ok. But then, the thought of the other one dying came back to him. He really hadn’t given it much thought until that moment. Now, it was becoming almost too much for him to bear. He felt tears stinging his eyes, and quickly took in a deep, shaky breath to get himself back under control. Kevin noticed his composure though before he could hide it.

“You okay, Nick?” he asked, concern in his sad, emerald eyes.

It was obvious that he was slightly shaken by the information too. Nick wondered if he really wanted to be doing this, or if he was just going along for Nick. Nick guessed that the older man genuinely cared, and wanted to visit with the victim of the horrific accident. He knew Kevin. Kevin was a sensitive person, even if he didn’t always show it from the outside.

“Huh?” Nick asked, staring at Kevin blankly, then looked around. When did they step onto the elevator? “Oh, yeah, everything is fine.” He stated, forcing a smile, which he hoped would convince Kevin otherwise.

Kevin gave a quick nod, accepting the answer without prodding Nick for more information. Nick was thankful for that. He wanted to keep his thoughts private. With a sigh, his mind wandered back to his previous thoughts. Nick wondered, if it had been him and Kevin on the train, which one of them it would be that had died. The idea put a chill down his spine, and he shuddered slightly. Maybe, because of their height, both of them would have died. Or possibly neither, their height and full grown size being an advantage. It was something that Nick would never know, and he was perfectly happy not knowing.

“Nick,”

Nick looked up, seeing Kevin standing on the other side of the elevator, his hand on the door, keeping it from closing. Nick shook his head, knowing that it was time for him to snap out of it now. Kevin gave him a firm look as Nick exited the small confined box joining his friend.

“What’s up with you today?” Kevin asked Nick, “Ever since we got here…”

“Which was only about ten minutes ago, tops,” Nick cut him off, “Jeez, Kev…give me a break.”

Kevin sighed, wondering if this was a bad idea. Maybe it was too soon. Not just for Nick, but for him too. They had, after all, no more than an hour before, found out that one of the people that had ridden in their places, was now dead. They were there now though. Kevin knew that they should stay and visit with the young boy who was lucky enough to be alive.

“So,” Nick asked, following Kevin, “Where is this kids room?”

Kevin rolled his eyes, but to be honest, again, he forgot which room and floor it was on. He was taking a long shot at making the right turn. If he was wrong, then he would somehow distract Nick while they went down a few floors, so he wouldn’t have to admit to his mistake. It was Nick who was normally scatterbrained, not himself.

“Should be right around here,” Kevin muttered, leading Nick on what seemed to be a scavenger hunt for the right room.

Kevin silently counted the numbers of the rooms in his head as they got larger. The closer that they got to the destined room, the more nervous he became. God, he hoped that he’d made the right choice.

“I have to pee,” Nick announced, causing a few nurses and patients roaming the halls to cast glances in his direction.

Kevin rolled his eyes, muttering something under his breath before saying aloud, his tone one of annoyance, “Hold it. We’re almost there.”

Nick pouted as he continued to follow Kevin. Kevin stopped suddenly, Nick halting behind him. He looked at Kevin with curiosity as Kevin glanced into the open doorway.

“Is this the right place?” Nick asked him.

Kevin nodded, recognizing the boy almost instantly. Other than a few casts, and a bandage wrapped around his head, he looked like the same person from days before. There was an older woman and man in the room by his bedside, along with two teenage girls who appeared to be twins, if not, only a year or two apart in age. Kevin figured that it was probably his family. He hesitantly wondered if he and Nick should leave, and try again at a later time. He decided to go for it. Chances were, they would be there for five minutes, tops, anyways. Lifting his hand up, Kevin knocked, knowing that it would be the proper thing to do since they didn’t know the boy personally. Looking on the door, Kevin saw a file, which read off that his name was Keith. He knew that that bit of information would be very useful to them. The five people in the room turned their heads and stared at the two uncomfortable men standing in the doorway.

“Can we help you?” the woman asked, her face troubled, but eyes soft with kindness.

Kevin gulped, hoping that he and Nick weren’t intruding. He walked into the room, Nick following.

“Yes,” he said, “We’re just here to visit Keith and make sure he is okay.”

Question filled the woman’s face, as well as the man’s. The two girls kept glancing at them, giggling amongst one another, whispering things. Kevin tried his best to ignore it, and he knew that Nick was too.

“We, um, we were in line for the ride right behind them,” Kevin explained.

Nick looked past Kevin at the young boy sitting up in the hospital bed. Keith was glaring at them. Nick’s eyes widened at the hostile vibe that he was getting from him. He took a step back.

“That’s very nice of you boys to come and see how he is,” the woman said, extending a hand. Kevin and Nick both stepped forward, shaking it, “I’m Mrs. Banks.”

“Mr. Banks,” the man said, shaking their hands as well, “And these are our daughters.”

“Nice to meet all of you,” Kevin greeted them, smiling at the two girls, who were still giggling. Nick noticed Keith roll his eyes. The kid definitely had an attitude. Then again, he didn’t blame him.

“Well,” Mrs. Banks said, “We’re going to go down to the food court so you can visit.” She turned to her son, “We’ll be back in twenty minutes or so, okay honey?”

“Yeah, whatever mom,” Keith rolled his eyes.

His parents stood up and left the room, the two girls standing up to follow. They were gently nudging one another. Nick found it humorous how fans acted so shy sometimes. The shy ones were sometimes the most ferocious too, he knew, if given the chance. Finally, one of them spoke up.

“Are you, um, Nick and Kevin from the Backstreet Boys?” she asked, her eyes glowing with excitement.

“Yes, we are,” Nick spoke up, smiling.

He could see the other girl hold her breath in, as if she were about to start hyperventilating at any given second.

“My sister and I are huge fans. You have no idea.” She said, a bit over-dramatically, “Could we please have your autograph?”

“Sure,” Nick and Kevin both replied at the same time.

“Oh, please,” Keith muttered, embarrassed at how his sisters were acting. They were older than him, but he swore that they acted younger.

The girls frantically searched the room for something for them to sign, the quiet one finally grabbing a notepad off of the nightstand by Keith’s bed, tearing off two sheets. She outstretched her arm, handing them out to the two Boys. Kevin retrieved them first.

“Who should we make these out to,” he asked.

“Chelsea,” the more outgoing of the two said.

“Cadence,” the other one nearly whispered, not believing that her idols were right in front of her.

Kevin individually signed each piece of paper, handing them over to Nick. When Nick was finished, he gave them back to their new owners, flashing them his famous smile.

“Thank you so much,” Chelsea said, giving each of them a hug. Nick and Kevin both laughed, hugging her back.

“Thanks,” Cadence said, clutching the piece of paper to her chest, her new most prized position.

Chelsea flashed the guys a grin before scurrying out of the room to catch up with her parents. Cadence timidly followed her sister out of the room, as if she were afraid of the two men.

“Sorry bout them,” Keith spoke up, “They are such losers.”

“It’s okay,” Kevin replied, feeling bad that the boy was talking about his sisters in such a way. He didn’t feel that it was his place to scold Keith on it though, so instead said, “We don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” Nick chimed in.

Nobody said anything for a while. Nick suddenly felt guilt coming back to him stronger than ever. Here he was, face to face with the person who Nick felt he should be in his place. Here he was, in the place that the other young boy had died in shortly after the damage had been done.

“So, why the hell are you here?” Keith asked, his tone turning icy. He crossed his arms over his chest, “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“Just wanted to see if you were okay,” Kevin informed him, “We were in line behind you.”

“In front of,” Nick said with a forced cough, and Kevin elbowed him hard in the gut, telling him to shut up.

“Aww,” Keith cooed, his voice dripping with sarcasm, “I should feel honored. The Backstreet fags came to visit me.”

Nick could tell that this statement angered Kevin by the way the vein on his neck starting to was bulge out. Sure, they both knew that not everybody enjoyed their music, but it always upset them when people expressed their thoughts openly, and directly at them. Instead of his tempter losing check, Kevin just laughed slightly.

“Not a fan, huh?” he asked, stating what was already obvious.

“That would be an understatement,” Keith replied with a smirk, “My sisters on the other hand.” He shook his head in complete and utter disgust, “They are pathetic.”

Kevin and Nick looked at one another, not sure as to what to say to this boy. Talking to people who did nothing but throw out insults were always difficult to speak with.

“So, how are you doing?” Kevin asked.

“How the fuck do you think?” Keith rashed out, as if Kevin’s question were the dumbest in the whole world and the answer was obvious, “I’m stuck in here with several broken bones. My best friend is dead, and my only visitors so far, besides family, are a couple of lonely pop stars who obviously have no lives.”

“We’re really sorry about your friend,” Nick stated

Keith snorted, “Sorry won’t bring him back. Fourteen and died on a roller coaster. Isn’t life just grand.”

Kevin felt bad for the boy. He now knew how old they were, generally. Nick bit his bottom lip, not knowing how to respond to Keith’s depressing words.

“Know what sucks? His funeral was yesterday. Could I make it? Nope. I was stuck here.” His voice continued to drip with sarcasm. He turned his head to them, his eyes accusing, “Is the only reason you are here to look good to the public?”

“No,” Nick said incredulously, “Of course not.”

Keith didn’t look too sure. Nick could tell that his attitude was stressing Kevin slightly. It was stressing him too.

“So,” Keith asked, his eyes narrowing at Kevin, “How’d you break your arm?”

Kevin looked down at his arm, which was still in a cast. He’d grown so used to it over the weeks, that he didn’t even notice that it was broken anymore.

“Fell off of the stage during the show,” he admitted without embarrassment. He felt that there was nothing to be ashamed of. Accidents happened.

Keith laughed, “Wow,” he said, “Talentless and clumsy.”

Kevin didn’t know how to respond to the comment. He wanted to act mature and above the kid, not spouting off comebacks. He must have waited too long to reply, and he figured it was just as well. The visit had turned out to be a disaster.

“You know what,” Keith said, “I’m tired. I think I’m going to get some sleep. Thank you ever so much for coming. I know that my life will never be the same.”

Keith shut his eyes, without another word, letting Nick and Kevin know that they were no longer welcome. With a shrug, Kevin walked out of the room, again with Nick behind him. On the way to the elevator, Kevin sighed.

“That went well,” he said, none too seriously.

“Couldn’t have gone better,” Nick said, rolling his eyes, “We tried.”

“Yep,” Kevin said, “And were nothing but nice, despite his actions.”

Nick agreed. At least he had some peace of mind knowing that the angry teen boy was very much alive, but he had a lot of problems. Nick wondered if he had always been like that, or if it was something that had developed over the past few days. He was willing to bet that the personality was a result of the accident. Nick hoped that he could put all thoughts of this behind him now. He wondered though if that was even possible since it had been on his mind on a 24/7 basis since it happened.

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

“Hey, Adonica,” Kevin called out as he saw her walk past his room. He’d had the door set ajar, letting some fresh air into the large room. Adonica stopped, looking in at him. She cringed. She’d wanted to avoid talking to him, because she knew that eventually, the subject of her engagement would come up. When Kevin knew that he had her attention, he began speaking again, “Can I talk to you for a sec?”

Adonica shrugged, cursing under her breath. She could only avoid confrontation for so long, “Sure,” she replied, as if nothing were wrong as she walked into his room. She hoped that she didn’t end up hurting him by the end of their conversation, “What’s new with ya?”

Kevin shrugged, “Went to the hospital to visit somebody yesterday,” he replied, “Since we are leaving tonight for Europe, it was our last chance to go.”

Adonica nodded, shifting her eyes uncomfortably around the room. She hated that she felt the need to feel this way around Kevin. She heard him sigh, and she knew that her actions were upsetting him.

“Adonica,” he said, standing up, “Are things between us weird for you since…well, since what happened?”

Adonica’s head jerked up, “Excuse me?” she asked.

“Since I kissed you,” he replied bluntly, but softly, “It seems like since it happened, our friendship hasn’t been the same.”

Adonica blushed. The kiss had happened not all that long ago. Sure, it had changed things. There was no way that something like that could happen and not change anything.

“A little, maybe,” Adonica admitted, and she saw Kevin’s posture fall, so she quickly tried to think up something positive to say, but nothing came to her mind.

“I’m sorry,” Kevin apologized, “I shouldn’t have done it.”

Adonica laughed, “Kevin, I don’t want things to be weird between us. It doesn’t have to be.”

Kevin looked hopeful at that. He wondered if that meant that in the future, he might have a chance with her after all. It was torture being in the same room with her, and not taking her into his arms, kissing her again. He’d grown to accept the fact that he was in love with her. She was perfect for him in every way.

“You acted fine after the accident,” Kevin said, “But before then, and ever since after, it’s been awkward.”

“I know,” Adonica replied.

She had fully intended on acting normal around him after she’d found out that she’d almost lost four of her best friends, him being one of them. But then Rich had proposed. That changed everything. Especially since Dulcia’s comment on how Kevin would react. She feared to know.

“Look, Adonica,” Kevin replied, “If I could take it back, I would,” he said, although he wasn’t being truthful, “Can’t we just forget that I kissed you and move on.”

“We can try,” Adonica told him, hoping that it was possible, even though she was past worrying about that now.

Just then, Rich flung the door open, coming into the room. Adonica jumped back, startled. She looked at him, his eyes were wild with fire.

“What did you say?” he shouted, getting up into Kevin’s face

“Nothing,” Kevin quickly answered, wishing that he’d told Adonica to shut the door after her when she’d come in. Who knew though that Rich would have walked by towards the end of their talk.

“No,” Rich yelled, “It wasn’t nothing. You said you kissed MY girlfriend.”

He turned to Adonica, hurt in his eyes as well as anger, “And you let the bastard? How could you.”

“Rich,” Adonica said, pleading for him to calm down, “It happened awhile ago.”

“How long?” he tested.

For a second, he was calming down. Maybe they were talking about something that had happened before he had met her.

“Week and a half ago,” she replied meekly.

Rich felt something inside of him snap. He felt as if he’d been slapped across the face. She had betrayed him. He turned to Kevin, wanting to strangle the man.

“Too bad for you,” he started, “I have the advantage since your arm is broken.”

With that, he formed his hand into a fist, bringing it back, and punching Kevin in the eye. Kevin cried out, bringing his free hand to his eye to cover it. Rich punched Kevin in the jaw with such force that he stumbled backwards a few steps.

“Rich, stop it,” she cried out, trying to step in between the two, but he shoved her aside, leaping at Kevin and pushing him onto the bed, punching him over and over. Kevin tried to push him away with his good arm, but it wasn’t enough. His strength was pretty much useless at that moment in time. Adonica, taking her chances, rushed over to the two, trying to pull Rich off of Kevin before he did any permanent damage. It took a few minutes, but he hesitantly let her pull him away. His body was shaking violently with fury. He was heaving in anger. Kevin sat up, placing a hand to his lip, and bringing it down. Adonica gasped as she saw that he was bleeding from several cuts on his face.

“You are a pathetic bastard,” he roared, “You moved in on my woman. We’re engaged.”

“Engaged?” he nearly whispered, looking at Adonica with hurt in his eyes, He felt as if he'd just been punched in the chest, “You’re engaged?”

Adonica nodded, hating seeing him look so helpless. She didn’t want him to have to find out this way. She knew now that everybody’s predictions of him liking her were right. She felt terrible.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Kevin asked, and she swore that she saw the beginnings of tears I his eyes.

“I...I was going to,” she said softly, “He…he just proposed two days ago.”

“Now you know,” Rich yelled, “If you ever hit on her again, I’ll make sure that you aren’t so lucky next time.”

Adonica turned to Rich in anger, “Would you cut it out?” she yelled, “You are being an asshole, and to be honest, I don’t like this jealous side of you.”

“Come on,” Rich said firmly, walking away, expecting Adonica to follow him. When he noticed that she wasn’t, he said again, “Come on. Let’s go back to our room.”

Adonica shook her head, “No,” she said, standing up to him, “I don’t want to see you tonight.”

Rich let out a noisy huff of air, “Fine,” he replied, not fighting her, “Have it your way.” And seconds later, he was gone.

Adonica and Kevin were left alone in silence. Kevin refused to meet her eyes, and she didn’t blame him.

“You…he…” Kevin stuttered, then lifted his head to look at her finally, “He proposed to you? You accepted?”

Adonica wished that he didn’t look so hurt. All she could do was nod in response. She could tell that he was in pain, not just mentally, but physically too from having her boyfriend beating on him. She knew that this would definitely put a temporary strain on their friendship, if not, a permanent one. Getting up, Adonica walked into the bathroom, returning moments later warm, wet washcloth. She walked over to Kevin, gently pressing it against his wounds. At first, Kevin tried to push away, but he eventually quit fighting her away, letting do what she intended. She knew that they would probably bruise later, but she could at least wash away the blood. The warmth of it felt soothing against the cuts, stinging them slightly at first. Adonica felt that since it was her boyfriend who had caused the damage, that it should be her to try and fix it the best she could. Kevin sighed, looking at Adonica for a moment and into her eyes. He knew now that all of his longing was for nothing. He had a feeling that now, he would never be able to have her and treat her like a princess. Kevin didn’t know which hurt worse though. The truth of it all coming to reality, the fact that he’d let his feelings get out of hand, and actually believing that there was a chance, or that Adonica hadn’t told him about her and Rich first off, trying to keep it from him as long as possible.

Chapter Thirteen

Kevin sighed as he looked out of the small window of the jet and down at the land thousands of miles below him. He still couldn’t believe what had happened the night before. Their flight had been delayed until that morning, causing them to have to rush to get to Europe. His face stung slightly from being beaten by Rich. Just as Adonica had predicted, he’d bruised up. It was nothing that a little cover-up wouldn’t hide, for the most part though. Him and the guys were used to makeup for photo shoots, TV appearances and performances. It wasn’t anything that wasn’t new to him. Adonica had done a pretty good job at washing away the blood from the cuts as well. He thought that it was sweet of her to stick around and make sure that he was okay. His heart still ached though at knowing the fact that she was going to be married to somebody else. Somebody who he felt, in the end, wouldn’t treat her nearly as good as she deserved. Kevin knew that he, himself, could do that for her. Kevin knew that he would have found out sooner or later about the engagement, but he wished that it had been under different terms. If it had been, maybe if Adonica had told him herself, straight up, then it wouldn’t have come as such a powerful blow.

Kevin listened as the Boys talked and joked around with one another in the surrounding seats next to him. The LFO guys were a few rows back, the dancers ahead of him. He caught a glimpse of the side of Adonica’s face as she turned her head to talk to Dulcia, but just as quickly turned her head again, and all he saw was the back of her head, her long, glossy, dark blonde curls cascading down her back, spilling over her shoulders. Kevin looked back out of the window. Rich had been doing all that he could since the night before to make sure that Kevin got nowhere near his fiancé. Kevin had thought in the beginning of the tour that all of the guys of LFO were nice, but the more he got to know them, and the longer time went on, the more he disliked them. He was just thankful that there were only two months left in the tour. That required touring over the rest of the world, but as soon as that was over, he would never have to put up with the bull that Rich was enforcing. A sudden thought occurred to him then. Once the tour was over, would Adonica quit as a dancer, to travel with Rich? He supposed that she probably would, if Rich had anything to do with the decision. Kevin knew that he would miss her, but maybe it would be for the best. That way, maybe it would be easier for him to get over her. It would give his heart time to heal from the pain that had been inflicted upon it.

“Yo, Kevin,” Nick hollered.

Kevin continued to stare out the window, completely oblivious to his bandmate and friend calling his name. He was so deep in thought about everything that had happened over the past couple of weeks. If he went back to everything that happened in the past few months, and how his feelings had grown stronger…

“Kevin,” Nick yelled again, interrupting his train of thought this time.

Kevin whipped his head around, staring at Nick with a blank expression upon his face. Nick was snickering at him, the other guys looking at him, amused.

“What?” Kevin asked, slightly embarrassed for zoning out, slightly annoyed for having his thoughts and concentration interrupted.

“Whatcha thinking ‘bout,” Nick sang out, grinning like a fool.

The other guys laughed amongst one another, making sure that Kevin didn’t see, knowing that Nick was irritating the older member, and leaning towards getting on his last nerve.

“Nothing,” Kevin lied, turning his head to look out the window again at the Atlantic Ocean beneath them. He hoped that Nick would get the hint and leave him alone for just a few short hours.

“Whatcha thinking ‘bout?” Nick asked again

Kevin rolled his eyes and looked away from the window once more. The other three quickly wiped the smiles off of their faces, trying to look serious. Nick was the only one smiling away.

“I said nothing, okay?” Kevin nearly snapped

He started to look away from the bouncing blonde ball of energy. Sometimes he wondered if the boy could ever sit still for more than five minutes at a time. His attention span wasn’t exactly very wide, he knew that much already. Even in the small, confined, limited space of the plane, Nick couldn’t seem to hold still. And to make matters worse, he was getting way too much joy out of irritating Kevin.

“I still can’t believe Rich beat on you.” Nick said, moving over three seats to be right next to Kevin, “That must hurt your pride.”

“Take some Nyquil, Nick,” Kevin muttered, but Nick still didn’t take offense to the comment

“What did you do to him?” Nick asked.

Kevin let out a loud, exasperated sigh. He knew that he should be accustomed Nick’s game by now. Until he answered Nick’s questions, and talked to him, he wouldn’t be left in peace.

“Just a matter of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time,” Kevin grumbled.

Nick’s persistence was changing his mood for the worst. He wondered what he’d be like by the end of their conversation.

“What happened?” Nick asked

Kevin looked behind him. Rich was asleep, the other two members of LFO talking quietly amongst one another. Turning back to Nick, he paused before quietly answering.

“Just something I was talking to Adonica about,” he explained, and then added to the explanation to avoid extra questioning, “About when I kissed her.”

Nick’s eyes widened, his mouth dropping open. He reminded Kevin of a small child at that moment, and he supposed that Nick still was at times. He didn’t know why Nick looked so surprised though.

“Rich found out?” he finally asked, and then Kevin understood why. They had all been trying to not let any of LFO know.

Kevin nodded, “Walked by right as I said it out loud.”

“Not good for you, man,” Brian said, joining in on the conversation, “What happened then.”

Kevin shrugged. He knew that within minutes, this would become a group discussion. All he wanted was some privacy, but being with four other men almost all of the time made that option highly unlikely. He loved the guys like family, but that didn’t mean that he wanted all aspects of is life made known.

“He walked into the room and, well, you all know the rest.”

The guys were all sympathetic, and for once, Nick had run out of things to say. Kevin enjoyed the silence, taking advantage of it.

“It looks like there’s more on your mind than that,” A.J. spoke up, “What else is bothering you?”

Kevin sighed. This is what he meant. Nothing could be kept to himself. The guys knew him almost better than he knew himself. They knew when something was bothering him, just by a quick glance.

“Just, feeling more than just physical pain,” he informed them

“What do you mean?” Howie asked.

“As I was being attacked, to put it mildly,” Kevin began bitterly, “I found out that Adonica is engaged to Rich.”

A.J. let out a low whistle as the others were silent. None of them knew what to say beings each Boy knew how Kevin had feelings for the dancer. There really was nothing of encouragement that they could say to make him feel better. The silence wasn’t doing much either though. Nick felt bad for being a pest and pressing Kevin to talk. If he’d known that it was a sensitive subject, he would have left Kevin alone and let him deal with it himself, or until he asked for help or advice.

“Kev,” Brian said slowly, “I’m really sorry, but you knew that she was dating somebody else.”

“I know,” Kevin replied, “I just thought that as long as they were just dating, I might have stood a chance.”

Talking about it made the situation all the more real to Kevin. He could kick himself for not acting upon his feelings sooner, before Rich had stepped into the tour. Kevin knew that he’d started liking Adonica a few months before the tour had started. It continued to grow worse as the weeks passed and he regretted his decision to just keep things between them as a good friendship. The emotional and mental pain that he was feeling was almost too much for him to bear.

“Did you honestly think that?” Howie asked him, trying to read his thoughts, “Did you really think that there would be a chance, even after you’ve seen how close that they are?”

Kevin’s already present frown grew. He really did think that there would be a chance. He’d spent the past months getting his hopes up. Now, the dream was shattered. He didn’t know how long it would take him to get over his crush.

“Yes,” Kevin finally said, “I really thought there would be a chance.”

Before he realized it, Kevin felt threatening tears brimming his eyes. One by one, the Boys all gave him a comforting pat on the back, letting him know that they would be there for him. They had, after all, known that he liked Adonica before he would admit it himself out loud. He knew that although they all disagreed with his decision to take offense to the engagement, just because Rich and Adonica had been dating for awhile, that they would all be there for him. Kevin didn’t know what it was about Adonica that had drawn him to her and was making it so hard on him to grasp the fact that all chances were gone. He turned his head again to stare blankly out the window again. The other four Boys got the hint then that he didn’t want to speak on the subject any longer. The conversation was done. Kevin was thankful when the guys started talking to one another, moving back to their original seats. All he wanted was to sit and sulk. Surprisingly thought, the talk had cleared his mind. The thing was, Kevin wasn’t so sure if he wanted his mind cleared. He wanted to be miserable. His heart had been crushed, his feelings taken on a roller coaster, soaring high, only to plunge to an all time low. What was there to be happy about?

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

Dulcia stretched again as she sprinted across the brick sidewalk of London. She was suffering from severe stiff joints from the long flight that had taken place five hours ago. Now, all she wanted was to get out and take a self-given tour of the city. Sure, she’d been there several times before, but it never got old and there was always something new and exciting for her to see.

“Dulce,” Brad laughed, “Stand still for a second while I catch up with you.”

Dulcia stopped and turned around, jogging in place, looking at Brad as if he were crazy.

“Babe,” she said, “You the one who should be full of energy. You’re the one who is the big star. Seriously, you move around so much more than me and the girls when we dance for certain songs for the Boys.”

“And I am trying to save that energy for two days from now when we start shows,” he explained,
calling out so that she could hear him.

Brad continued to walk at a leisurely pace towards Dulcia. She eventually got frustrated with jogging in place, and while rolling her eyes, walked towards him, meeting him half way.

“So, isn’t it great that we’re finally in Europe?” Dulcia asked, “I was getting sick of the states. I might move here.”

Brad raised an eyebrow. Since when was she planning on moving overseas? It sure was news to him, but then again, Dulcia was pretty careful about revealing things about her life.

As the two walked down the sidewalk, Dulcia looked around at all of the people that they passed or those whom were window shopping. Dulcia studied them each intensely, taking in their actions, and trying to decide on what their personalities were.

“You know,” she said aloud, “I think British people have the sexiest accents, but they all look kind of funny.”

Devin whipped his head around to look at her, “Excuse me?” he asked, wondering if he’d heard her right.

“Don’t get me wrong, they are incredibly cute in their own way," she paused, "Gorgeous even, just something about them makes them look funny.”

“Shhh,” Brad scolded, looking around to make sure that there wasn’t any body who had overheard her and had become insulted.

“Well, they do,” she stated bluntly, obviously not caring if anybody heard her or not, “Although Adonica and Alaura would completely disagree.”

“Dulcia,” Brad hissed, embarrassed by her bold observations, but then added, “You have a completely twisted way of viewing the world.”

Dulcia rolled her eyes. Brad may have looked like a bad boy, with his tattoos and piercings, muscles and height. He wasn’t though. He was paranoid. She, on the other hand, spoke her mind and told people exactly what she thought. That sometimes didn’t exactly end with the best results, but she figured that in the end, it always got her farther than lying.

“So, what are the plans for tonight?” Dulcia asked, “Going out, heading in to the hotel to sleep or whatever.”

Brad shrugged, “Hell if I know,” he stated, “Beings the time change is so drastic, it’s way too early on my time to go in for the night. This is why I hate traveling overseas. The time change screws up my schedule.”

Dulcia agreed that it was too early to go in, but disagreed with the other part that he said. She loved traveling, and since she had insomnia, the time changes really didn’t affect her much. When she was in another country, she normally spent her hours awake walking around outside and finding hidden places.

“So,” Dulcia stated, “What do you think of Richie and Adonica being engaged?”

Brad sighed, not knowing how to answer. He didn’t really know Adonica, so he didn’t care really what she did. Rich though, was a good friend of his, so he wanted to look out for what was in his best interest.

“I think it’s a mistake,” he finally stated, “They’ve been together for four months. They have no clue if what they have is love or lust. It’s too soon for something like this.”

“I agree,” Dulcia told him, “But Adonica is set on it. She is really excited…or at least, I think she is.”

“So is Rich,” Brad laughed a little, “Well, if they get a divorce after a year, at least it won’t come as a surprise.”

Dulcia laughed, ‘True, but why put them through that if it could be prevented?”

Wild thoughts were going through her head. She couldn’t promise that her idea would work, beings that Adonica wouldn’t listen, but she was going to try and talk Adonica into waiting another few years before taking the next step. But at least she had a plan. She always had one. Weather Adonica listened or not was beyond her control.

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

Adonica took her silk pajama gown out of her suitcase and slid it over her head, letting it slide over her body. It was going on midnight and all she wanted to do was get to sleep. She’d had a stressful day, mainly because Rich had been watching her like a hawk. She wished that she didn’t have to share a room with him. She was still angry with his behavior the day before.

“Hey,”

Adonica turned around, seeing Rich coming up behind her. She offered a forced, tight smile.

“Hi,” Adonica replied simply, her tone chilly, walking past him and over to the king sized bed.

Rich sighed. She had been giving him the cold shoulder ever since the morning before, ignoring and avoiding him. On the jet there, she hadn’t said more than two words to him, which is why he decided to sleep during the entire trip. It seemed like ever since he’d popped the big question, things between them had become rocky. He realized that he wasn’t exactly trying to fix things either. If anything, he was making it worse, but there were some things he needed to ask, to get off of his mind. Things that had been pounding at his brain. He watched Adonica slide under the covers of the bed.

“Why did you have to go and kiss Kevin?” he asked her.

Adonica groaned, rolling her eyes. Did he really have to bring this up right before they went to sleep? It would end in an argument, and beings there was only one bed, one of them would be sleeping on the floor. She refused to be that somebody. Sitting in an upright position, Adonica answered.

“Can’t you just let it go?”

“No, I can’t.” Rich answered, walking over to her, but not sitting. He stood, glaring at her with hurt eyes, but also hate filled.

“Rich, it happened a long time ago,” she told him, “It meant absolutely nothing to me.”

“It happened just over a week ago,” Rich reminded her, "That isn't very long at all."

“Drop it, Rich,” Adonica warned.

She lay down and closing her eyes, hoping that Rich would let things go for the night. Not surprisingly though, he spoke again.

“Did you like it?”

“Rich,” she moaned, her eyes burning from being so tired. All she wanted to do was sleep.

“Did you like it?” he repeated, not about to let things go until he had some answers from her.

Adonica sat up quickly, glaring at him. She used to have so much fun with him. They never argued, and he was sweet, compassionate. But that was when the were nothing more than boyfriend and girlfriend. Their relationship was new and innocent.

“What if I did?” she challenged him.

Rich’s eyes widened, panic overcoming his features. She just couldn’t win. She either made him mad, or made him worry.

“Relax,” Adonica said, “No, I didn’t like it,” she added.

She was lying through her teeth though. The truth was, she did like it, but if she let him believe that, then the engagement would be off. Would that be such a bad thing though? His attitude was making her love for him vanish. She saw Rich’s tense body relax and she lay down again. Rich crawled in to bed next to her.

“I don’t want us to fight,” he said, “This has just been hard on me.”

“No kidding,” Adonica said sarcastically, and then whispered, “I don’t want us to fight either though.”

There was a silence between the two of them that lasted for a long time. Adonica decided to take advantage of the opportunity. She closed her eyes again, and within minutes, she was fast asleep.

“I love you, Adonica,” Rich whispered.

The only response he got was Adonica’s slow, labored breathing. He leaned over and kissed her on the check gently before closing his own eyes. He really needed to try harder to become the boyfriend that he used to be. The one that was fun, not jealous and had no worries. The boyfriend that Adonica loved. If he didn’t, then he knew that he would lose the best thing that had ever walked into his life.

Chapter Fourteen

As Kevin slowly awoke from his deep slumber, he groaned inwardly to himself when he looked at the clock. It was only 6:28 in the morning. He didn’t have to awaken until nine that morning. As he closed his eyes and tried to fall back asleep, he sighed, giving up when he just couldn’t seem to do it. It was obvious that he was meant to be awake for the day. Go figure. The one day that he could sleep in a little, and his biological clock woke him up earlier than he would have liked.

Remembering where he was, and that he had the room all to himself, Kevin turned on a light, sleepily stumbling over to the table that was over by the huge window which overlooked the city. He grumbled a few choice words to himself when he stubbed is toe on a chair leg.

As soon as they had all arrived in London, and checked in to the hotel, Kevin had retreated to his room to be alone. He didn’t blame anybody for not wanting to be around him or the guys for not wanting to share a room with him. He’d been grumpy and his temper short lived all day. Actually, it had been that way for a couple of weeks now. It was definitely getting worse though. That much wasn’t hard to see. His sleeping habits hadn’t been very good either lately. They never really had been to begin with. Since he was always so busy, he hated spending all of his free time sleeping. At that moment though, he wanted to sleep. Sleeping would cause him to forget all about everything for a few short hours. Too bad for him though, he couldn’t. That would make his life easy. God forbid that happen for once.

Kevin sighed as he plopped down into one of the soft leather chairs. He leaned back, resting his head on the back of it. Closing his eyes, Kevin’s thought about the show that would take place the next night. Before he knew it, his mind wandered off to Adonica on stage with him, dancing. And then other thoughts entered his mind. He could see the pictures so clearly. Them walking hand in hand down the beach. Them living together, waking up in the same room. The two of them… Kevin’s eyes flew open as he shook his head to clear it. He had to stop day-dreaming and fantasizing about things happening with her. It wasn’t going to happen. It was time that he move on and get over the girl already. It was the right thing to do. But when somebody liked someone as much as he liked her, Kevin knew that doing such a thing wasn’t so easy. Kevin just wished that there were some way to get across how much he really did like her. He knew that it wouldn’t get him anywhere. It was beyond too late for that.

It wasn’t just a physical attraction that he felt for Adonica. It wasn’t something that he wanted for sexual reasons. He truly, genuinely had real feelings for her. He knew that he was being pathetic, but he didn’t care, nor could he help it. Kevin decided to just give up all together on trying to forget about her. It was only making things worse. Maybe if he didn’t try so hard, he would forget on his own, naturally.

That brought his thoughts back to one last idea of showing Adonica just how he felt about her. Or how he was feeling lately when it came to her. Kevin wanted to think of something creative and good. Something that would be special. He leaned forward, drumming his fingers on the table giving this some deep thought. He didn’t want to do anything drastic that would cause Rich to attack him again. Just something simple, yet special. Kevin wasn’t the type to try and cause a breakup in a relationship. That wasn’t him at all. Yet, he knew that whatever he came up with, it would draw attention to him. It wasn’t like nobody was in the dark anyways about how he felt, so he figured why care how obvious whatever he came up with was.

Then suddenly, the perfect idea came to his mind. It wasn’t exactly something to show how he felt about her, but to say aloud how he felt when it came to her. He looked over at the clock seeing that it was now 7:13. Kevin picked up the phone and speed dialed the number that he knew he had to contact to make sure that what he’d thought up was okay. He didn’t see where it would be a problem, but beings it was so new to another rising musical artist, he wasn’t sure if it would go over so well with him. Kevin hoped that he could talk to the singer personally to get his consent. It was something he would probably only do once anyways.

Somebody picked up the phone almost right away, introducing himself, telling Kevin that it was the first person he’d wanted to speak with. Kevin introduced himself professionally, stating what he wanted to do. The man told him that it shouldn’t be a problem at all and Kevin smiled for what felt like it had been the first time in an eternity. Asking for the particular artists phone number, just to double check with him, Kevin thanked the man and hung up for not more than five seconds before picking it up again and dialing the number that he’d been given.

“Hello?” a male answered after six long rings.

“Hello,” Kevin replied with confidence, asking for the man he was wishing to speak with.

“This is him,” he replied, and then was silent for a moment before asking, “What can I do for you?”

Kevin paused, wondering if he was making a mistake. He was considering backing out but quickly took a deep breath, deciding to continue.

“This is Kevin Richardson, of the Backstreet Boys,” he told him, “I was wondering if you could do me a favor…or rather, let me um, use one of your songs for a stage performance…just for tomorrow night.”

There was a long pause making Kevin afraid that he’d been hung up on. But eventually, the artist responded.

“Which song were you thinking of?” he asked

Kevin told him, hoping that it would be okay. The song had only been out for a month or two, “It’s to kind of prove a point to somebody.” He told him, feeling the need to explain himself, his reasonings and his motives.

“Sure,” the man replied, “I don’t see a problem with it.”

Kevin breathed a sigh of relief, happy that the guy was friendly and down to earth instead of the type who let his sudden fame get to his head.

“Great, thank you. I appriciate it,” Kevin said, greatful

“No problem,” the fellow music artist replied, “I’m glad that my, um, music can help you.”
They both laughed slightly. Kevin was a little embarrassed for the situation, but his plan was under way.

“Good luck,” the young man said, “I hope it all works out for you. Call me and let me know how things go. I have to go now though. In the middle of promotional stuff for the new album.”

Kevin thanked him again, telling him that he would clue him in to how thigns turned out and hung up. He had just about thirty-six hours until the show. He had to meet with the band and inform them in on the idea, hoping that they could do this particular song. Kevin, for some reason, had a strong feeling that this was going to change everything. It might not win him Adonica, but it might help clear his mind of the tormented thoughts of never being able to have her. He hoped, in the least, that it would do that. If not, he had many months of recovery to face in the process of mending his still broken heart.

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

Alaura nervously toyed with the hem of her blouse was she awaited the doctors arrival. She’d been sitting in one of his little offices for nearly half an hour and there was still no sign of him, or her. She had no clue what it was. All she knew was that it was a person by the name of Doctor Meehan. She had gotten an appointment in London by the luck of her being a dancer.

The perks of having full coverage medical insurance and the advantage of being able to use the privilege anywhere in the world. Alaura thought, rolling her eyes slightly

With that thought, it brought Alaura back to why she was even sitting in the office in the first place. It had started two days earlier. She had started feeling sick and her period had come and lasted one day, only spotting slightly. Devin had noticed the change in her and demanded that she see a doctor. He was going to accompany her, but a meeting came up at the last minute for LFO to attend, forcing her to go alone. That was fine with Alaura though. She didn’t really want him there in the first place. It would make her feel uncomfortable, like he was watching her, waiting for the doctor to diagnose something bad. All she really wanted was to get out of there. She was toying with the idea of getting up and leaving. It would be so easy to make a run for it right then and there. The idea was so tempting. Alaura pushed herself up from the chair, and began walking towards the door when it started to open. Alaura froze for a moment before scurrying back to the chair, casually acting like she had been waiting patiently the entire time. That was as far from the truth as it could get, but Dr. Meehan would never have to know that. It was there to tell her what was wrong with her, not read minds. A medium-sized man with a head full of dark brown hair walked into the room. Alaura guessed that he was in his late twenties.

“Good afternoon,” he greeted, and then paused, looking down at a clipboard that he was holding, and then looked back up at her with a smile, “Alaura.”

“Hi,” Alaura replied, shaking the hand that was being extended in her direction.

“So,” Dr. Meehan said, perching himself on the black stool that was in his office, “What brings you here today?”

Alaura shrugged, embarrassed about the one part, but told him anyways why she was visiting. He looked at her, once in awhile jotting down notes on his clipboard. A slight blush crept up on her cheeks as she got to the more personal of the information. She figured that he was used to this kind of thing though, so decided not to let herself get too humiliated.

“I see,” Dr. Meehan commented when she was through, “I’d like to run some quick tests on you, Alaura. It will take about half an hour for the results to come in. Do you think that you can stick around for that long?”

Alaura’s eyes widened, “Um…yeah, sure. I guess so,” she stuttered.

She could feel knots forming in her stomach. She didn’t like the sound of that. The word “tests” never indicated something good. Alaura suddenly wished that Devin were there with her to hold her hand. She’d been so confident before that the doctor would turn her away telling her that Devin was being paranoid and she was fine. That hadn’t turned out to be the case though. Alaura’s mind conjured up the worst possible scenarios as she followed the doctors’ orders for the tests. He took a couple of blood tests as well as a urine sample.

“You can step out into the waiting room while the results are being processed,” Dr. Meehan informed Alaura when she was finished with the tests, “Somebody will call you back in when we’re ready for you.”

Alaura gulped as she grabbed her purse and left to go back to the large waiting room. She hoped that there was something decent to read since it looked like her visit was going to be longer than expected. She knew how doctors’ offices worked. Half an hour meant at least an hour in medical language.

Sitting down in a chair, Alaura listened to people around her talking. She felt alone and out of place. It was obvious that she was the only American in the office. It made her feel slightly embarrassed. All she wanted was to get out of there. She was tempted to bolt from the building. Did she really need the test results? Maybe she would be better off not knowing what came up. But despite her longing to flee, Alaura found herself staying in place. She knew that she had to know what the test results confirmed. That way, she could take care of whatever it was. Alaura hoped that she wasn’t dying. That was the thought that kept nagging at her brain.

Alaura grabbed an issue of People off of a table next to her and started flipping through the pages. An article about the Backstreet Boys caught her attention, but she decided not to read it. She toured with them. She most likely already knew anything that the article had to say. In fact, she probably knew the truth instead of the altered version to make it seem more interesting that journalists always seemed to alter for magazines. She continued to rapidly flip through the pages, not really paying much attention to anything that was in it. She tried to read an article, but as soon as she was finished, she found herself wondering what it was about. Alaura knew that her concentration was non-existent at that point. Giving up, she tossed the magazine back down onto the stack, beginning to tap her foot. If there was one thing she hated, it was waiting. Looking at her watch, she saw that twenty minutes had passed. Alaura rolled her eyes. She didn’t understand what the holdup had to be. What was so hard about processing the test results and letting her know within five minutes? It seemed pretty simple to her.

Alaura felt like calling Devin from her cell phone, but after punching in half of the number, she remembered that he was in a meeting. Those always took a few hours. It had been schedueled to start at noon. It was a little more than half past. Alaura finally decided to just close her eyes and try to sleep for the remaining minutes that she was waiting. She didn’t know how long she had been asleep for, but what seemed like seconds later, she heard somebody calling her name. Alaura groggily sat up, and looked at her watch. It was just past 1:00. Yep, just as she predicted. Doctor time was always just about double what they said.

Alaura stood up and breezed past the nurse and back into the room to wait for the doctor to tell her the results. She was ready to get out of there for good. She had plans for the day and didn’t want to waste the whole thing in a dark doctors office. She refused to. After another ten minutes of what seemed to be endless waiting, Dr. Meehan walked into the room again still holding the infamous clipboard. He closed the door gently behind him, sitting back down on his stool again.

“Sorry for the holdup,” he apologized, his accent seeming thicker than it had before, “The lab got a bit behind.”

Alaura snorted. Of course it had. She looked at the doctor expectantly to tell her what had come up.

“We do have your results though,” Dr. Meehan said, flipping the packet of papers to a few pages back, “Nothing serious, but it is a good thing that you came in.”

“What’s wrong with me already?” Alaura demanded, getting rather impatient with the man.

“To put it simply, Alaura, you’re pregnant.”

“What?” she asked, “Wait, that’s impossible. It’s too soon to know that. I…I just lost…I just had sex for the first time ever less than a week ago.”

“With modern technology, we can detect pregnancy in as little as one day after intercourse.”

Alaura’s eyes grew wide as she drew in a deep breath, squeezing her eyes shut once. Damn technology. She tried to swallow but couldn’t, for her mouth was too dry. She was happy, but this wasn’t supposed to happen under these conditions. Alaura had no idea what she was going to do.

“Shit,” she muttered aloud, saying the only thing that came to mind, coming to grasps with exactly what she had to do now.

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

Alaura heard a knock on her hotel room door. Rushing over to it, her heart raching in her chest, she wiped a tear away and looked through the peephole seeing A.J. standing there. He looked confused by the way he was looking around. She breathed a sigh of relief that he was there. He was exactly who she had called as soon as she had gotten back from the doctors office. He was there now, just as he promised that he would be. Alaura opened the door half way, grabbing his arm and pulling him inside. A.J. lost his balance, but caught it again before he fell. Alaura shut the door behind them, locking it.

“Hey,” A.J. laughed, his eye shining, “What’s wrong with you. You’d think you were hiding something.” He joked.

His smile faded though when he looked at Alaura and saw that her eyes were bloodshot, the area around them red and puffy. A.J. knew that something was wrong because she normally wasn’t like this.

“Are you okay?” he asked, concern taking over his soft features

Alaura nodded at first, but she couldn’t pretend that everything was fine and then shook her head as A.J. led her to the bed, guiding her to a sitting position. He sat down next to her, never seeing her this visibly upset. Only one thing came to mind that would cause her to react in such a manner.

“What did Devin do to you?” he asked, “If he hurt you, I swear…”

“Aje, stop,” Alaura said, sniffling as she dried her tears on her shirtsleeve, “Devin didn’t do anything. He’s in a meeting.”

A.J. relaxed a bit, but that still didn’t answer his question.

“Why are you so upset then?” he asked her.

Alaura was about to tell him, but felt her throat tightening up and couldn’t. How would he react? Would she be kicked off of the tour? How would she continue to dance once she started to show? Fresh tears welled up in her eyes as she bit her lip to stifle her sobs. A.J. pulled her into his arms in a friendly hug, knowing that this had to be huge.

“What’s wrong?” he asked again, not wanting to force her, but knowing that if she talked about it, she would feel better. He guessed that he should feel privileged that she had called on him with her troubles.

“I…I went to the…doctor today,” she began.

A.J cringed. The way she was carrying on, the results had to have been bad…worse than bad.

“What happened,” he asked nervously, already knowing that whatever it was, he would be there for her no matter what.

“I…he told me I’m pregnant,” she sobbed.

“That’s great,” A.J. complemented, not knowing why Alaura was so upset, “Devin will be thrilled.”

Alaura shook her head, “No, he won’t be,” she told him, spilling everything, “He’s going to kill me. It isn’t his. I swore I didn’t cheat on him. I didn’t think he would find out. He will now. He thinks I am still a virgin. It isn’t his and he will have to find out the truth now.”

A.J’s eyes widened, seeing where the problem lied. Now he knew why she was so upset.

“Who’s is it?” A.J. asked her

Alaura looked up at him with eyes that told him that he should already know the answer to that. It took A.J. a moment to realize just what she was indicating.

“Oh,” he finally said, and then realized the seriousness of the situation, “Oh god. Are you sure?”

Alaura nodded, finally calming down a little, “I told you you’re my first…what am I going to do? How will I tell Devin?”

“You mean, what are we going to do.” A.J corrected her, “This is partly my responsibility.”

Alaura smiled, thankful that he was reacting so well. She’d been afraid that he would shun her, even though she knew deep down that it wouldn’t happen like that. He was too sweet for that kind of behavior.

“I…what should we do so that it has both of its real parents?” Alaura asked, knowing that she couldn’t bring herself to be with A.J. in a romantic way. She liked him as a good friend, but nothing more. She was sure of this because when they were together, she felt no chemistry, no special spark like she would if she liked him as more.

“I love you as a best friend,” A.J. told her, “But, honestly, I don’t think we should start a relationship just for the child. That would be unfair to us.”

Alaura breathed a sigh of relief. At least he was seeing things in the same light as her. If he hadn’t been, it might have caused problems.

“However,” A.J. spoke up, “I do want to assume full responsibility as the father.”

Alaura smiled. He was being so mature and grown up about this. She respected him and was happy that he was going to be there. Alaura knew that no matter what, she couldn’t stand the thought of having an abortion. It went against everything that she believed in.

“Thank you,” Alaura whispered, starting to shake a little, “I…I really don’t want to lose Devin.” She said as her voice began to shake a little, “I love him too much.”

A.J. didn’t know what to say. He knew that he was extremely jealous. They would have gotten away with what had happened just nights ago if it weren’t for this unexpected surprise.

“No problem,” A.J. smiled, “It’s something that I want to do…no obligations.”

Alaura smiled at him again. A.J. got up, saying that he had to meet the guys for a quick sound check for the next day and asked if she would be okay. Alaura nodded, and he left. After he was gone, Alaura laid down, staring up at the ceiling. One thought was all that she had going through her mind. How was she going to break the news Devin? Looking at the clock, she estimated that she had approximately half an hour to figure it out.

Chapter Fifteen

Kevin’s hands shook as he took the stage, looking out into the empty venue. In just two hours, it would be filled with fans screaming for LFO. Him and the Boys would be getting ready to take stage themselves. The sound check from the day before hadn’t turned out so well. There were a few last minute kinks that they had to work out before the show. They’d all been asked to meet there early to get things organized and together. Preparation was key to putting on a good show. He knew that from past experience. There had been too many disasters, which had been a result in not being prepared, or other things. Looking down as his still casted arm, Kevin knew that his temporarily useless body part was a result in how things turned out when things weren’t resolved before taking the stage.

“Hey Kev, you alright?” Brian asked, coming up behind his cousin, looking at him strangely, “You’re a little pale.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Kevin answered, “Something I have to talk to the group about once everybody is here.”

Brian nodded. He had a feeling that Kevin’s stature was partly due to what he had to announce. He hoped that it wasn’t anything bad. Then again, if it was, Brian would be the first to know. Deciding not to push the issue until the other three Boys arrived, Brian began to mess around with some of the sound equipment.

“I’m here,” Nick announced, bounding over to Kevin and Brian. Again, Kevin wondered if Nick ever ran out of energy, “Whatcha wanna talk to us about?”

“Ill tell you once everybody else is here,” Nick informed him.

“Please tell me?” Nick whined

Kevin shook his head, walking away. Nick must have gotten the hint because he didn’t push the issue for once. Kevin took a quick peek behind him. Nick had retreated to pestering Brian. Kevin chuckled. At twenty-three, the boy still had a lot of growing up to do. He had matured a lot over the past decade though.

Kevin thought about the conversation he’d had the night before with the band. He had asked them if it was possible for them to do the song, and they’d experimented with the drums and guitars, coming up with the perfect version of the it. It sounded the same, but with a twist that made it sound different. It had a definite Backstreet twist. It was exactly what Kevin had been looking for.

“Sorry we’re late,” Howie called as he and A.J. ran on to the stage, “Got stuck in traffic.”

“Liar,” Kevin grinned, “There is hardly any traffic out at all.”

“There is at McDonalds,” A.J. laughed, “We were hungry.”

“Of course,” Kevin rolled his eyes good naturedly, “When are you not?”

The two looked at one another and then back at Kevin. His good mood wasn’t something that they were used to. It was a pleasant change.

Seconds later, Brian and Nick, the other best friends duo ran over to them, anxious to hear the older members announcement.

“So,” Nick asked, “What do you have to tell us? You promised you would tell us when everybody was here,” Nick looked around for a moment before saying, “It looks like we’re all here.”

“What?” Howie asked, looking around, “We missed something.”

“Not much,” Nick told him, “He wont tell us anything.”

Nick stuck out his bottom lip in a helpless pout. Kevin laughed at his impatients. It was especially funny seeing child like look in his eyes. It was one of hopefulness that they wouldn’t be kept in the dark any longer of his secret.

“I guess I can tell you,” Kevin said, pausing for a long time. The group was all antsy wondering exactly what was going on, “There’s a little change in the show tonight.”

His four brothers looked at him in confusion. Brian raised an eyebrow as the others just looked lost.

“Nothing changed for you guys,” he let them know, “Just for me. There’s a song added in to the show…a solo I’d like to do…if that’s okay with you guys.”

He looked to each one of them for their approval. The four looked at one another, wondering what Kevin was up to.

“What song,” Howie asked.

“You’ll see…if I get all of your approval, you’ll see.” Kevin told them, playing secretive on purpose. If he acted like that, his chances were better because they’d wonder exactly what he had up his sleeve.

“I guess it’s okay with me,” Nick was the first to speak.

“Me too,” A.J. said

“Eh, why not,” Brian told him.

The rest looked to Howie who still had not answered. He paused, shaking his head. His four friends faces fell, and he couldn’t hold back any longer. An unintentional smile broke out onto his face.

“Go for it,” he told Kevin.

Kevin thanked all of them. His plan was definitely going to work. There was no backing out now.

The Boys continued to work with the sound, finally getting it just right. Before they knew it, LFO had gone on stage, sang, and was off. Time flew by and what seemed like seconds later to Kevin, they were going out onto the stage. Nick started singing his part of the first song as the dancers did the thing that they were so good at. Kevin tried as hard as he could not to look at Adonica the whole time. He and the guys all danced as they sang, becoming exhausted quickly. He couldn’t wait until just after intermission. That’s when he would sing his song. It was all worked out and in to the schedule.

The group sang their songs, keeping up their energy. Screams erupted from the audience, and girls tried to grab at them. The words came from Kevin’s mouth during some of his solo lines, but his mind wasn’t on the show. He knew the word so well though that he didn’t have to pay attention one hundred percent. Kevin had to say that it was probably one of their best efforts. The show was just about half over. A lot could happen before the end. The Boys finished up their last song, running off of the stage for their five minute break to devour water and wipe the sweat off of their faces. Kevin closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He was getting nervous about what was lying right ahead. And then the time came, flashing right before his eyes when the crew came and told them that it was time to take the stage again. The guys all wished Kevin luck, the dancers looking at him clueless because they hadn’t been told anything. Kevin ran out on to the stage as the screams grew louder again. Kevin held a hand up, trying to calm everybody down. As soon as the commotion had died down a bit, Kevin began to speak.

“This wasn’t originally in the plans,” he said, “But, I’d like to sing a little song that I enjoy. Some of you might recognize it. Other, you might not. It is fairly new, but not one of Backstreet’s own songs. So, here it goes.”

Smiling, Kevin took in a shaky breath as he motioned for the band to start playing, and he started singing:

What are you doing tonight
I wish I could be a fly on your wall
Are you really alone
Still in your dreams
Why can't I bring you into my life
What would it take to make you see that I'm alive

The screams had turned deafening, and he had to say that this was turning out pretty well. Kevin took in a deep breath before he started in on the chorus

If I was invisible
Then I could just watch you in your room
If I was invincible
I'd make you mine tonight
If hearts were unbreakable
Then I can just tell you where I stand
I would be the smartest man
If I was invisible
Wait...I already am

Kevin felt his voice start to crack and was thankful when a slight pause from his singing came. His emotions were getting the best of him while he sang, thinking about Adonica, causing him to choke up. He wiped a tear away, hoping that it appeared to be sweat to those up close to the stage. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Kevin knew that he had to continue and finish what he had started.

I saw your face in the crowd
I called out your name
You don't hear a sound
I keep tracing your steps
Each move that you make
Wish I could read what goes through your mind
Wish you could touch me with the colors of your life

The chorus came up again quickly, and Kevin sang it as if the song had been written especially for him and about his feelings of being non-existent in the eyes of Adonica.

If I was invisible
Then I could just watch you in your room
If I was invincible
I'd make you mine tonight
If hearts were unbreakable
Then I can just tell you where I stand
I would be the smartest man
If I was invisible
Wait...I already am

Kevin knew that the end of the song was ending. He was planning on giving it his absolute best effort and ending with flying colors. Opening his mouth, he started to sing the rest of it, finishing up.

I reach out
But you don't even see me
Even when I'm scream out
Baby, you don't hear me
I am nothing without you
Just a shadow passing through...

If I was invisible
Then I could just watch you in your room
If I was invincible
I'd make you mine tonight
If hearts were unbreakable
Then I can just tell you where I stand
I would be the smartest man
If I was invisible
Wait...I already am

Screams erupted from the audience, telling Kevin that he’d done a remarkable job. He looked to the side of the stage and saw his four group members staring at him, their eyes wide in shock. Brian was the first to movie, smiling and giving his cousin thumbs up. Kevin smiled back, slightly breathless. He’d gotten it all out into the open, and it felt great.

“Thank you,” Kevin yelled out, “And now, on with the rest of the show.”

The remainder of the concert went extraordinarily well. It went by with few, if any minor mistakes. And before Kevin knew it, they were off of the stage, the fans one by one leaving the venue.

Once in the dressing room, that’s when the comments began to come in from his solo performance.

“That was amazing,” Brian told his cousin, “How did you get to sing it though?”

“Asked permission,” Kevin stated simply.

“You know, you have got it so bad for Adonica,” A.J. commented, “I think she is the only one who didn’t realize why you were singing it.”

“She did,” Kevin said with confidence, “Somewhere in the back of her mind, she did. I know it.”

A.J. and Nick both snickered a little, Brian and A.J. just smiling at Kevin as he dried his freshly showered hair. It took him a moment to realize that the entire group was staring at him.

“What?” he asked.

Looking at one another, nobody spoke. They just found the whole situation rather amusing. Kevin actually went to the extremes of singing a song for Adonica in front of thousands of people.

“You are pitiful,” Brian spoke up, “Absolutly pathetic.”

“Thank you,” Kevin chuckled.

Nothing was going to get him down. After awhile of teasing Kevin, and razzing him about what he’d done, the other guys left, saying that they were going back to the hotel. Kevin had some business to take care of: mainly thanking the band for cooperating with him for the night. As he took the stage again, he looked around for the band members, not seeing them anywhere. He stopped, wondering where they could have disappeared to.

Kevin looked up to the sound of footsteps and saw an extremely angry Rich charging at him. His footsteps were falling heavy against the wooden backstage area. Kevin took in a deep breath, preparing himself. He was in for it…again.

“That was a nice little stunt you pulled out there,” Rich commented, his voice cold, his tone loud. He was near yelling.

“Excuse me?” Kevin asked, keeping a straight face.

“Do you ever give up?” Rich asked incredulously

“What are you talking about?” Kevin asked calmly, pretending he had no idea where Rich’s intentions were headed.

“With Adonica,” Rich said, “That song.”

“It’s just a song,” Kevin shrugged, “It meant nothing.”

Rich rolled his eyes, snorting lightly. Kevin realized that he wasn’t buying in to it. He hoped that he could convince him otherwise.

“We all know it had special meaning,” Rich said, rolling his eyes.

Kevin really was not liking the man’s attitude lately. He’s started out being decent and friendly, but ever since jealousy had taken over him, he was turning into an overbearing, demanding control freak.

“Look,” Kevin said, standing up and staring at Rich, “I have no idea what you’re talking ‘bout, dawg.”

“Listen,” Rich warned, his voice frigid, “You’d better stay away from Adonica. I mean it. Don’t force me to beat you up again.”

With that, Rich walked away. Kevin stood, dumbfounded. He had no regrets about the song he’d recited earlier. What he did regret was that things hadn’t turned out to go nearly as well as he had planned in the end.

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

Alaura bit her lip as Devin crawled in to bed with her, kissing her lightly on the lips. She had been acting distant ever since the day before, not knowing how to break the news to him. She knew that she had to though. She’d made up something when he asked how her doctors’ appointment had gone. She couldn’t live that lie forever though and she knew it.

“What’s on your mind, baby?” Devin asked, sensing that something was wrong.

Alaura sighed. She knew that she had to tell him, and soon. The sooner, the better anyways. Taking a deep breath, Alaura started to slowly speak.

“You know my doctors appointment?” she started.

Devin nodded, taking her hand and tugging on it. Alaura snuggled closer into his side, taking the hint.

“It’s more than just the flu,” she told him, “In fact, it isn’t the flu at all.”

Devin looked at his girlfriend, trying to understand what she was about to get at. Alaura wished that she could avoid this conversation. She might wake up single in the morning. If only she hadn’t gotten carried away with A.J.

“See,” she said slowly, “I kinda am pregnant.” She just said, deciding that procrastinating would only make things harder.

“That’s great,” Devin exploded with a grin, having the same reaction as A.J, except for the fact that he was forgetting one important detail, and seconds later, he figured out what that was, “Wait,” he said, “We’ve never had sex before.”

Alaura looked down, ashamed. Tears were clouding her vision. Devin didn’t say anything for a really long time. She was sure that he was about to break up with her. She didn’t blame him. She had lied to him, and now she was going to pay for it. She knew that she deserved whatever punishment he handed out to her.

“What…when…who?” Devin stuttered, unsure of what question he wanted to have answered first.

“That one night…when you were mad at me. A.J. and me got carried away,” she started, and then quickly said, “It was all my idea. He tried to stop it. It was so upset that you were ignoring me though. I let things to too far.”

“It’s too soon to tell,” he said incredulously, “You can’t know these things in days.”

“That’s what I thought too,” Alaura informed him, “But thanks to modern technologies…” her voice trailed off, her sarcastic tone lingering in the air.
“Have you told A.J. yet that it’s his?”

Alaura nodded, “He’s completely supportive and said he would help take care of it…but not in a relationship with me. We don’t see one another in that way.”

Devin nodded, sucking in his breath.

“I should have known,” he said, “I was foolish to believe nothing happened between you two.”

Alaura felt the need to defend herself. Her head shot up as she glared at Devin. She didn’t know how to express how he was making her feel.

“I’m not some sort of slut,” she defended herself, “It…it should have never happened.”

“That isn’t what I meant,” Devin told her, “Not at all.”

“Care to share what you did mean then?”

“I was such an ass. I shunned you and ignored you then kicked you out of your own room. Honestly, I don’t blame you for doing it.”

Alaura recoiled, confused by him acting so calm. Especially since he had been acting like a mad man, just days early over the same scenario.

“I’m really sorry,” Alaura apologized, her voice growing quieter, shaking slightly, “I never wanted to hurt you.”

Devin put a finger to her lips to get her to stop talking. She looked up into his eyes and saw softness and forgiveness. She didn’t see hate or anger. Well, maybe a little bit of hurt, but not much. He smiled at her.

“So what now?” Alaura asked.

“You’re about to become a mother,” he said, “Unless you decide to put it up for adoption, or abortion.”

Alaura shook her head, “Definitely not abortion,” she said, “As for adoption, I really don’t know. This is all still so surreal to me.”

Devin nodded, understanding. Even though he wanted so badly to be upset with her, he couldn’t. He didn’t want to overreact and do something that he would regret later on. Besides, he was coming to grasps that you couldn’t change the past. What was done was done, end of story.

“So, are we over?” Alaura asked softly.

Devin laughed, and Alaura didn’t know what he found to be so funny. She pulled away from him, sniffling, putting her hands on her hips from her sitting position.

“What?” she asked

“I’m not breaking up with you, baby,” Devin said, “It’s not something worth ending our relationship over. I love you too much.”

Alaura felt her heart flutter at his words, surprised as she was. They made her feel so good and secure. Devin smiled reassuringly at her, telling her that he wasn’t bluffing and held his arms out. Alaura scooted back over to him, falling into his arms and wrapping hers around him. The hug was so warm and comforting. It made her feel like everything was going to be okay after all.

“I love you too, Dev,” Alaura whispered.

Devin pulled away, kissing her lightly, tucking a strand of her dark brown hair away behind her ear, wiping her tears away with his forefinger.

“You know,” he said, “This baby is going to be mightly lucky.”

“Why do you say that?” Alaura asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

“Simple,” Devin told her, “It’s going to have the best mother ever and two fathers that care about it more than anything.”

Thanks to Anastacia and Anita for reviewing! :o)

Chapter Sixteen

“What do you think of these?” Alaura asked, holding up a small bouquet of roses that were such a light shade of pink, they appeared to be almost white.

Adonica looked over at her friend from where she was, and scrunched up her nose in distaste. She thought that they were beautiful, but not for her wedding. That’s what that particular day was dedicated to: working on the beginning stages of Adonica’s wedding. That included picking out bridesmaids’ dresses, flowers, the cake and of course, the wedding gown. So far, they were only on stage one. Her and Rich had set the date for their one-year dating anniversary. That was only six months away, meaning that she had a lot of planning and cramming to do.

“Nah,” Adonica replied, “Not really the color I’m looking for.”

“I think they are pretty,” Alaura replied, putting her nose in them to sniff them.

“Then you can have them for your wedding,” Adonica laughed.

Alaura stuck her tongue out at her friend playfully, placing the sample bouquet back in the vase.

“How about these?” Dulcia asked.

Adonica looked up and saw her walking over to with carnations that had the tips and edges died a bright green. Her eyes widened in horror at the sight of it. How was she going to tell Dulcia that they were absolutely hideous for anything else other than Saint Patrick’s day?

“I, um, I don’t think that those will work,” she replied, making sure of choosing her words carefully.

“Don’t you like green?” Dulcia asked with a wicked grin. Adonica’s thoughts automatically went to her friend’s car that she had as a teen. It was a small Toyota, which she had painted a bright neon green.

“It’s, um…nice,” Adonica said, “But for wedding flowers? It’s not exactly…um…”

“I get the hint,” Dulcia replied, turning around and walking away to return the flowers.

Adonica shook her head, laughing slightly. She wanted to keep things simple and traditional. She was looking for something white. White roses, white carnations…maybe a combination. Who knew...maybe she would go with white and the subtle pink that Alaura had picked out, but she wasn’t sure yet. She knew she would have to decide soon though. There was still so much planning to do. That day was specifically intended to get some of it out of the way, not to just look and leave without spending a single sent on things towards the wedding.

“I still can’t believe you’re getting hitched,” Dulcia cracked, appearing back at Adonica’s side seconds later.

“What is so wrong with it?” Adonica laughed.

“Nothing. Just always knew you’d be the first to go,”

Adonica didn’t know if she should be insulted or not by Dulcia’s words. The girl was always spouting off her thoughts. Dulcia proved a good point though. She was always getting hung up on her boyfriends quickly and longing for something serious. Now she had that.

Dulcia, on the other hand, was thinking of how her plan to separate the couple wouldn’t be necessary. Kevin was doing a good job himself. Sure, his intentions may not be to break them up, but she had a feeling that it might happen eventually. If Kevin kept obsessing, Rich would get sick of it. If Rich got sick of it, he would pick up and leave. Yes, Kevin was definitely taking care of things on his own. Dulcia knew that she was being evil, but she honestly didn’t think that Rich and her best friend were right for one another. Adonica wouldn’t listen to her if she told her what she was thinking. That was why something drastic had to happen to prove to her friend that Rich wasn’t the best that she could do. Sure, he was a nice enough guy, but Adonica needed somebody who she was more compatable with. Hence the whole reason she was picking out things that were off for the wedding as suggestions. It was all to set Adonica back to give Kevin more time to mess things up, without realizing it of course

Sure, Dulcia knew that it was mean of her to use Kevin during his weak points to ruin her best friends relationship. She had to take advantage of what she could though before the opportunity passed her by.

“You know,” Adonica sand thoughtfully, “I think I’m going to go with white and that pink that Alaura picked out.”

Alaura grinned with pride that her friend was going to go with something that she had picked out. She and Dulcia waited as Adonica went and put an order in for the flowers. Adonica ordered way more than she thought she would need, but it was better than not having enough, so she figured that she was safe. The florist told her that she could pay when it all came in the night before the wedding. When she was finished, she rejoined her friends and they left the store, on the way to the bridal shop.

“So, what did you think of the show a few nights ago?” Dulcia brought up.

“One of the best yet,” Adonica replied, “I swear, being out of the USA does stuff to all of us. I don’t know what, but we all perform much better.”

“It’s the weather. It’s consistent here. In the USA, we can be in the same city, go to bed with it being eighty, and wake up and it is snowing.”

Adonica shrugged. She made a good point. Where they were all from, in the middle of November, it was quite common to be warm and sunny one day, and cold enough for three winter jackets the next.

“I can’t believe that Kevin actually went through all that for you though,” Dulcia exclaimed, changing the subject back to what it was originally intended to be.

“Huh?” Adonica asked, confused by her statement, “Kevin didn’t do anything special for me.”

Dulcia snorted. She wasn’t sure if Adonica was playing stupid, or if she truly didn’t catch on to Kevin’s obvious motives.

‘That little solo that was added in to the show,” Dulcia replied, “That was for you, duh.”

Adonica looked confused as she raised an eyebrow. She seriously had no idea what Dulcia was trying to get at.

“Oh, don’t give me that,” Dulcia said in exasperation, “If you are serious, then you are seriously blonder than I thought.”

Adonica shrugged, picking through the racks of bridesmaids gowns. Since she’d already ordered pink flowers, she figured it would look best if the dresses were a shade of pink.

“I am so not wearing pink,” Dulcia stated, shaking her head rougly when she saw the pile of dresses in her friend’s arms, “If you expect me to wear that color, then count me out.”

“Dulcia,” Adonica whined with a pout, “You have to be in my wedding. You’re one of my bestest friends ever.”

“But I despise pink. It’s such a girlie girl color.” She protested, “And I am not a girlie girl. Can’t you pick, oh, I don’t know, lime green?”

Adonica laughed at her friend’s humor. Little did she know, Dulcia wasn’t joking around about the lime green dress. She’d already started her scavenger hunt to find her one. Minute later, Adonica and Alaura joined her a few rows down, finding her holding a dress in the brightest shade of green they’d ever seen, and to make matters worse, it was so short, it would hit mid thigh.

“Put it back,” Adonica laughed, glad that Dulcia had decided to join them for the day. She always knew how to make them laugh and lighten the mood, no matter what the situation.

“Can’t you at least do black?” Dulcia muttered loud enough to be heard.

“It’s a wedding, not a funeral,” Adonica reminded the blunt, small blonde.

“I happen to like the pink,” Alaura said with a grin, taking the gowns that Adonica had gathered in her size from her friend, “I’m going to try these on.”

Dulcia glared at Alaura for supporting the idea, while Adonica helped hand over the dresses, and then gave the remaining to Dulcia, which were her size. Dulcia groaned as she took the pile of what had to have been about twelve heavy bundles of pink material, all of which were completely different styles and shakes of light pink. She muttered unkind things under her breath as she took them into the dressing room beside Alaura. She was completely going against one of the things she believed in by putting on an article of that particular color. Oh, the things she would do for her friends.

“Pink doesn’t look good on me,” Dulcia yelled minutes later.

“Let me be the judge of that,” Adonica laughed, “Come out here and let me see it…both of you.”

Dulcia and Alaura both stepped out of the dressing room. Alaura felt like a princess, showing off the full gown. She twirled around in front of the mirror, having a good time. Dulcia, on the other hand, felt like Little Bo Peep. All she needed now was that stick thingy to heard the sheep with. Adonica crinkled her nose, not liking what she was seeing. The dress was more for a prom.

“Um,” she said, “Go try the one that’s not quite so full, but not straight either…in the middle.”

Both girls stepped back in to their dressing rooms as Adonica looked into the mirror that took up an entire wall. She tried to picture herself in all white, walking down the isle. The image was hard for her to come up with, and almost didn’t seem right. She shrugged the feeling off, looking forward to picking out her wedding gown. Suddenly, her mind were jerked away from the thoughts when a voice she recognized very well yelled from her dressing room.

“Shit,” Alaura cried out, “Just peachy."

“What,” Adonica asked, panicking slightly, “What’s wrong?”

“None of these will fit me once the wedding comes,” she stated, coming out of the fitting room wearing the dress that Adonica had been speaking of.

“Why is that?” Dulcia asked, stepping out of her own room in the same dress.

Adonica, for a moment, forgot that Alaura was upset. Both of her friends looked stunning in the dress. She didn’t even want to look any further because she thought that it was perfect. She then remembered her friend’s angry shouts and asked the question that Dulcia had seconds before.

Alaura looked at both of them nervously. Neither knew yet of her little secret. She had to tell them now though.

“Um, I’m kind of…pregnant. I’ll be six months along at the time of the wedding…too big to fit in to any of these.”

Adonica’s eyes widened. Dulcia just looked dumbfounded. She definitely hadn’t been expecting this little confesion.

“Wow, I didn’t know that you and Devin…” Adonica began, but was cut off

“It’s not Devin’s,” Alaura said sheepishly.

“Then who’s…” Dulcia asked, and then her eyes widened wider than Adonica’s had, “Please don’t tell me.”

“A.J.” Alaura almost whispered.

“A.J?” Dulcia and Adonica said in unison, and then Adonica finished by saying, “A.J. McLean?”

Alaura nodded, feeling shameful about the ordeal for the first time since she had found out herself. She wished that her friends wouldn’t make her feel like a criminal.

“How did Devin take it?” Dulcia asked, looking at Alaura skeptically then, “I assume he does know about this?”

Alaura nodded, “He’s being good about it. His exact words were something like it would have two fathers that loved it very much.”

Adonica found that to be really sweet. Most guys’ would have taken off running after finding out his girlfriends child wasn’t his. She made a point to find out more details later on the situation. She wanted to know why she was having A.J’s child in the first place, along with having many other questions answered.

“No problem,” Adonica stated, “We’ll pick out the dresses…and have one altered for you a week before the wedding.”

Alaura smiled gratefully at the plan. Maybe she could still be in her best friends wedding after all.

“As for those dresses…I love them. What do you two think.”

“I love it too,” Alaura gushed, “It’s gorgeous and perfect.”

The two then turned to Dulcia expectantly.

“Forgetting the fact that I hate wearing dresses and the color pink, I guess it’s all right.”

Adonica grinned. Dulcia saying something was all right was a major compliment. She had made up her mind. She just hoped that the other bridesmaids would feel the same. They would all come in for the fitting later on.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent on Adonica trying on wedding gowns. The sea of endless white fabric was sprawled all over the extra large fitting room she had gotten. She loved them all, and her friends weren’t much help either, saying that they thought that they were all great too. The three had ruled out a few though, which helped to narrow the selection. Finally, after at least fifty dresses later, Adonica had found one which she knew that she could not live without. All it needed was a little bit of alterations, and it would be perfect. She would have it altered when the bridesmaids had theirs done as well. Adonica sighed in complete content beings. Everything was turning out just as it had in all of her childhood fantasies.

“You’d better not dye that dress any off color,” Adonica warned of Dulcia, pointing a finger at her as they were putting the gowns’ in lay away.

Dulcia looked guilty, as if that were exactly what she had been planning all along. She would have loved to see the reaction on Adonica’s face, finding many pink gowns, and then one out of place one.

“I want all of my bridesmaids to look the same…not tacky. You do, and I’ll make sure that you walk down the isle with Thad as your groomsman.”

Dulcia’s eyes widened before she stuck her tongue out in disgust, faking gagging noises. Thad was Adonica’s old boyfriend from long ago. He wasn’t exactly what Dulcia or Alaura had expected Adonica to date, but she’d found reason to love him despite his big flaws. He and Dulcia had never gotten along, and she had been happy when the three of them got the positions as dancers and Adonica had to leave him. The couple had lost contact soon after due to their hectic schedules.

“You’re inviting him?” Dulcia asked in shock, “Why the hell would you want to do that?”

“Just for you,” Adonica smiled sweetly at her friend, “If…and only if… you do anything to this dress.”

“Fine,” Dulcia said, “I’ll behave. Cuz ya know, if Thad show’s up, I’ll kill him walking down the isle.”

Sadly, Adonica knew that she probably would.

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

“What did you do today, baby?” Rich asked Adonica as he walked in to the room and sat next to her on the loveseat.

Devin, Brad and himself had been at a photo shoot and autograph signing all day. This was the first he'd been back at the hotel since early that morning and hadn't seen Adonica since the night before.

Adonica shrugged, taking him sitting next to her as an invitation to snuggle in to his side. This was obviously one of his good days.

“Me and the girls went out and did some wedding planning.” She informed him, “Nothing too big.”

Adonica smiled at the thought of picturing her wedding dress in her mind. She couldn’t wait for Rich to see her in it.

“What kind of wedding plans?” Rich asked, hinting around a little for her to clue him in on what she had been up to.

“I can’t tell ya,” Adonica giggled, “That’s bad luck.”

“It’s bad luck for the groom to see his bride-to-be in her dress before the wedding, silly,” Rich laughed, tickling her sides.

Adonica squealed in laughter, feeling the way she had when their relationship had still been new and fresh. Maybe they were getting back that feeling. She could only hope that was it. Adonica tried to push away to escape his torturous tickles, but she wasn’t getting far and he wasn’t letting up.

“Richie,” Adonica screamed in laughter, “Stop it, now.” She pleaded with him. It was getting to the point where she could not breath. Rich saw this and finally stopped tickling her. Adonica sighed, getting closer to him again, a little cautious at first, and then realizing that she could trust him.

Adonica closed her eyes, breathing in the bitter-sweet scent of his cologne as she thought of that days events again. Dulcia’s comment came to her mind about Kevin’s special song to her. She hadn’t thought anything of it, and decided that Dulcia was making things up in her creative mind again. Then another thought came to her mind, making her think that maybe Dulcia was right.

“Hey, Rich,” Adonica asked, “Do you know why Kevin’s been ignoring and avoiding me again lately?”

“Because I told him to stay away from you,” Rich stated simply.

Adonica pulled away from Rich, looking at him with confusion in her eyes. She didn’t understand…

“I don’t like the way he looks at you,” Rich added, “He’s trying to get to you. He’s trying to break us up, so I told him unless he wanted me to beat him again, he’d better stay away from you.”

“Rich, that is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard,” Adonica told him, “He doesn’t like me in any way other than friendship.”

Adonica knew that this probably wasn’t true, but she was with Rich, not Kevin. Rich had no excuse to be this paranoid.

“He’s after you,” Rich argued again.

Adonica rolled her eyes. Couldn’t they go one day without starting to argue anymore, or one of them being in a sour mood? She was beginning to think that it was impossible. Things had started out so good that evening too.

“You had to right to do that,” Adonica cried out, “He’s a good friend of mine, and because of your bully attitude, he’s afraid to talk to me.”

“Maybe because I love you,” Rich yelled.

Adonica couldn’t believe this. Rich’s way of thinking was well past twisted. She didn’t know how she hadn’t seen it before.

“Love trusts, Rich,”

Rich felt as if he had been slapped in the face at her last comment.

“Maybe I don’t fully trust you,” he spat, just to get even with her.

“I don’t have to take this,” Adonica yelled, standing up.

“Then get out,” Rich said in a voice so low and cold, it sent chills down Adonica’s spine, and then it rose to a shout when she didn’t move. Just stood there staring at him, “Get the hell, now.”

Adonica just stared at him for another moment, trying not to let out the wracking sobs that she knew where wanting to come out. Instead, she just yelled her anger and frustrations out at him.

“Maybe I’ll go sleep with Kevin, since you seem to think that I whore around with him anyways,” Adonica screamed, grabbing her purse and a pillow, heading towards the door, knowing very well that she would end up with Dulcia or Alaura instead.

“Go ahead,” Rich shouted, “I don’t care.”

“I will,” Adonica cried shrilly, “I’ll be sure to scream his name just so you can hear us in the night.”

Rich’s face grew red in fury as he watched her leave the room, letting the door slam shut behind her. He didn’t even try to stop her as his body shook violently from his raging anger.

“Stupid bitch,” Rich yelled, hoping that she heard him through the door, “Go ahead. Fuck his brains out, you little slut.”

Without thinking, Rich looked around, picking up the first thing that he saw and thrusting it at the door. It hit with a loud bang, shattering before falling to the ground. His knees began to buckle as he sunk slowly to the ground in misery and being irate with his fiancé. Painful tears started to fall from his eyes. Her words had stung him worse than alcohol on an open gash. Where did things start to go so wrong between them?

Sorry it took me so long to update! Thanks to Anita and Anastacia for reviewing Chapter 16. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on this one!!!

Chapter Seventeen

Adonica woke up slowly with a pounding headache. Her eyes burned immensely, and she had to close them for a few seconds to drown out the pain and prevent them from tearing up. Adonica’s back ached, and she wondered why as she looked around rubbing it, and jumped a little when she realized for the first time she was on the floor. What was she doing down there? Had she fallen out of bed? If that were it, wouldn’t she have felt it and woken up? Maybe she had knocked herself unconscious in the process. Adonica raised an eyebrow, noticing she had a thin blanket over her and a pillow on the floor. She was definitely confused. That’s when she saw Alaura and Devin snuggling closely in their bed, and it all came back to her. She remembered her screaming match with Rich, her supposed fiancé. She had run out, immediately knocking on Alaura’s door. She hated to barge in on her friend and boyfriend, but she wasn’t thinking clearly, and hadn’t anywhere else to go. Dulcia was an option, but she didn’t want to run to her with her problems…and that was exactly what this was. Any of the Boys were out also, for the obvious reasons. Alaura and opened her door with open arms, not even having to ask if she needed a place to stay. She’d asked what was wrong, and Adonica remembered breaking down into hysterics. Alaura knew that she dint want to talk about it just yet, letting her cry herself to asleep, which was within minutes of her arrival, Adonica knew. She didn’t remember anything after her head hit her pillow. It was now the next morning.

After her and Rich’s little bout, Adonica wondered if they were even still together. The thing’s he had said had hurt her a lot. She would never forget him calling her a little slut. Quite frankly, Adonica wasn’t sure if she could even forgive Rich for such a thing. All she knew was that she didn’t want anything to do with him for a while, until she could get her thoughts sorted out.

A single tear slid down her check, and then more came. Adonica wished that Rich wasn’t so jealous lately. If it wasn’t for that, she knew that their relationship would still be strong and doing good. Adonica remembered her saying…or rather screaming at Rich that she was going to spend the night with Kevin and sleep with him. She half wished that she really would have done that, but Kevin was a really good friend of hers. She wouldn’t want to use him just to get back at Rich. Besides, Kevin wasn’t even speaking with her, no thanks to Rich. She rolled her eyes in disgust at the thought of him telling one of her friends, somebody she’d known much longer than she’d known Rich, to stay away from her and not speak to her. It angered Adonica beyond words. Adonica was so angry that she hadn’t even noticed that she was pulling at the blanket with both hands until he heard a tear from where she’d stretched it too far. Adonica threw it down, growling. She was so fed up with men and relationships lately. She didn’t want to lose Rich, for some unknown reason that not even she could come up with, but she wanted Kevin’s friendship too. Rich was putting her in a tough position by saying that she had to choose one or the other. She could not have both, which was unfair. Adonica never had been one to stand up to people though. True, she was getting better at it. Her fight the night before proved that, but she’d been worked up. Most of the time, under normal circumstances, she went with the flow, and went with whatever was said. For some reason, Adonica had a feeling that this would be one of those times. The problem was, she didn’t know which she would chose: friendship or relationship.

“Hey,”

Adonica jumped when she heard a voice. Looking up, she saw Alaura’s brown eyes open wide, and looking down at her, still laying in bed on her side.

“Hi,” Adonica stated softly, tears welling up in her eyes again.

Alaura crawled down on to the floor and gave her friend a long hug, which Adonica had desperately needed. Adonica didn’t know how long her friends arms had been wrapped comfortingly around her, but however long it was, Alaura pulled away.

‘What happened last night,” Alaura asked.

Adonica’s bottom lip began to tremble, and Alaura felt horrible for causing her to become more upset.

“You don’t have to tell me if you’re not ready,” Alaura explained quickly, “At least tell me this though…did he hit your or hurt you in any way?”

“Just emotionally hurt,” Adonica nearly whispered, then looked up, needing to spill her every emotion, “God, he’s being such a…a…an ass. He told Kevin not to talk to me any more, and that is why Kev has been ignoring me since the show the other night.” Adonica cried out in frustration in all one breath, but she wasn’t nearly done. Gulping in air to catch her breath, she continued, “We started yelling at each other…I told him he had no right to do that and it all went to hell from there. I left, yelling that I was going to sleep with Kevin, since he thought I was anyways. He called me a little slut and some other things.”

Adonica started to cry again at the realization of everything that had happened. Rich hadn’t even come to find her to apologize, and she certainly wasn’t going to be the first to do so. As far as she was concerned, she’d done nothing wrong. Adonica choked on a sob as Alaura hugged her again.

“I’m so sorry,” she softly said.

Adonica pulled away, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt, “You know what hurts the most?”

Alaura said nothing, telling Adonica with her eyes that she was listening, and was giving her her full, undivided attention.

“All day yesterday, I spent getting plans together for our wedding. The whole fucking day. I went through the trouble of making sure that everything was perfect. I wanted it to be perfect for him…for us. Now, it may have been for nothing. Now, there may not even be a wedding.” Then Adonica looked downwards, “Not for me and Rich anyways. Not unless…not unless we can fix things.”

Alaura smiled sympathetically, “I don’t know what is going to happen,” she honestly stated, “But I am here for you, no matter what it may be.”

Adonica smiled back in appriciation. She wondered though if she were overstaying her welcome in Alaura’s room. She definitely wasn’t going back to her own though.

“You can stay as long as you like,” Alaura informed her friend, as if reading her thoughts, “No worries.”

Adonica smiled again, laying back down. Her stomach growled, but she was in no mood to eat anything. Besides, that would require going downstairs to the breakfast buffet, running the chance of running into the man that, until the made up, would now be referred to as ‘the bastard’

Alaura felt really bad for Adonica. Months before, it seemed that her LFO man was the sweetest. Now, he was by far the biggest jerk ever to be created. Although Alaura felt bad about this, she also felt lucky that Devin had decided to stay with her, despite the small little problem that would have destroyed most relationships in an instant. Things sure did have a funny way of turning around.

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

Rich awoke to someone pounding on his door. Opening one eye, he squinted, wondering who would be there at…Rich looked at his clock, sitting up quickly. Was it really just past noon? He didn’t know how he had slept so late. Getting up, Rich trudged to the door, still half-way asleep, opening it. Brad and Devin were on the other side, ready to enter the room without so much as an invitation.

“What the hell,” Rich muttered, following them in to the room.

“We heard you screaming at Adonica last night,” Devin said.

Rich was ready to protest, but then remembered they had been fighting, and she had left. Rich cringed, wondering if Adonica had kept her word and really had gone to Kevin. It wouldn’t surprise him if she had, just to be spiteful, nor would he blame her.

“So?” Rich asked testily, “Couples fight.”

“Not like that,” Brad replied, letting out a slow whistle, “Damn, I’d never call Dulcia a slut…no matter how mad I was with her.”

Rich was beginning to feel a little guilty, but it still wasn’t making him any more willing to apologize and make things right. In his mind, she was just as guilty as he was, plus he was still angry with her for defending Kevin. Couldn’t she see that he was coming between the two of them? His two friends and band mates stared at him, waiting for him to say something. Rich didn’t for a long while, but knew that they wouldn’t leave until he spoke.

“Okay,” Rich admitted, “So maybe I was a little harsh…but jeez…”

“You’re an ass,” Brad said, “A complete jackass.”

“Thank you for your support,” Rich sarcastically remarked, “It means the world to me.”

Devin rolled his eyes and Brad groaned in disgust. He honestly felt sorry for Adonica having to put up with his bullshit. If she had to leave, spending the night with one of her friends, then he knew that things were bad.

“I told ya that it was too soon to propose, man,” Devin said, “But did you listen? Nope. You said that things were fine. I swear, engagement does some crazy shit to people.”

Rich scowled. He didn’t regret proposing, but maybe his friends were right. Maybe he should have waited a while longer before taking the initiation of asking her to take such a huge step forward in their relationship so soon. Devin was right. Engagement changed everything…although, Rich assumed it would be for the better. Oh, how wrong he really was about that. For him and Adonica, things had rapidly spiraled downhill, and Rich honestly didn’t know if they could be repaired.

“You really should apologize,” Devin stated.

“No,” Rich roughly replied, much too quickly, then softened his tone a little, “I mean, no…not yet. I can’t yet. Not when I don’t mean it.”

Devin and Brad looked at one another, unsure of how to take his comment. What had he meant by that?

“You mean, you really meant calling Adonica a slut?” Brad asked carefully, hoping that he didn’t cause Rich to have a tantrum.

“Honestly, yes, I did mean it,” Rich replied, startling his two friends, “I really did…I mean, I know that she’d never do anything with anybody else, but I think that she wants to. Until she can prove me wrong, I refuse to apologize to her.

“Woah,” Brad muttered, “That’s a little harsh, don’t you think?”

Rich just shrugged. As harsh as it may be, it was how things were. He couldn’t even begin to apologize until he knew he would mean it. It wouldn’t be fair to Adonica if he did otherwise. Rich sighed. He wanted to hate her, to be completely perturbed with her, but all he felt was sadness and emptiness.

Rich,” Devin stated, “You’re not going to like hearing this, but somebody has to tell you. Might as well be me. You brought all of this upon yourself.”

“What do you mean?” Rich asked, confused by the statement.

“If you hadn’t been so damned paranoid about Kevin, just letting it go and ignoring it, none of this would be happening. Not only did you possibly ruin a friendship that had started before you even knew the girl, but you also pretty much told Adonica that you did not trust her.”

Rich hung his head in shame. Devin was right. He was a complete idiot. He was too embarrassed to admit this out loud though. He knew though that his paranoid attitude, and him acting like a prick had driven his girl away. Rich didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t sure if he should run to her with flowers and candy, on his knees begging for an apology, or not do anything and sit back, waiting a while before making his move. His ego hurt from knowing and having to admit to what a fool he had been.

“So, what are you going to do?” Brad asked.

Unable to admit that he was wrong out loud still, Rich picked his head up, glaring at his friends, taking his misery out on them.

“What the hell do you mean?” he shouted, “I’m not doing anything about it. She’s not worthy of my time.”

“Dude, you are confusing us, buddy,” Devin stated, taking no time at all to speak his mind, “Half the time, you’re acting sorry, then the other half, you are bitter and heartless.”

Rich shook his head in disgust, wishing that his friends would just understand him, despite his constant mood shifts. It was obvious that they were on Adonica’s side though, which really irritated him. It was his own way of thinking that they should go with what he thought, no matter what.

“Honestly,” Devin stated, speaking again, “I don’t blame her if she doesn’t come back to you…or take you back if you make the first move. One thing is for sure though…if you want a chance at getting her, you’d better cut out the sour, demanding act and shape up…a lot.”

“Whatever,” Rich responded, turning his back on the two like an immature five year old who wasn’t getting his own way.

Devin and Brad figured that they were no longer welcome, getting up to leave the room. They knew that Rich knew what the right thing to do would be. The question was, would he do it, or continue to act like the worlds biggest ass just to spare his ego from feeling as if it had been taken from him? Neither of them knew what he could do, for their friend had done a complete turn around in the past couple of weeks. He wasn’t the same person that they’d once known, back when they’d first met. It sure was funny what jealousy could do to people.

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

Adonica hesitated before lightly rapping on Kevin’s door. Her mind was such a mess and she really needed somebody to talk to…from a guy’s point of view. Kevin had always been a good person to go to with problems. She just hoped that he would speak to her. She had her idiot of a fiancé to thank for that worry.

After not getting an answer for a few minutes, Adonica knocked again, knowing that he was in there. After a few seconds had passed, Adonica could hear the sound of a door unlocking from the other side. She took a deep breath to compose herself as the door slowly swung open to a crack. Kevin peered out, seeing her, before shutting the door quickly. Threatening tears stung her eyes by his reaction, knowing that this was the works, again, of her dear sweet Richie.

“Kevin, please,” Adonica called, “I need to talk to you.”

“I can’t,” came his muffled reply.

“Why not,” Adonica challenged, trying to keep her voice from trembling.

There was a slight pause, and Adonica wondered if he was going to answer her, or if he had walked away, not even hearing her.

“I don’t want to be in the way of you and Rich…he’ll kill me if he catches me talking to you. It’s for the best.” Came an answer.

“Kev, I don’t really give a shit what that jackass things,” Adonica called, “He’s not my boss. Just…please let me in.”

Again, she got no answer, pretty sure that her pleas were being ignored. Adonica really hated Rich at that moment. She and Kevin’s going on five years of good, close friendship were possibly ruined, by one threat by the ignorant male pig.

Adonica knew that she’d won though when suddenly, the door opened widely. Kevin stuck his head out, looking every way. Adonica figured he was seeing if Rich was nearby, before ushering her inside quickly, closing the door and bolt locking it shut.

Adonica could see that Kevin was still in the clothes he slept it; a plain white t-shirt, which was slightly wrinkled, and a pair of black drawstring sweatpants, which were slightly baggy on him. His hair was disheveled from his recent slumber, with sleep lines along one side of his handsome face. Adonica had to admit that despite his condition, he looked really good, but quickly dismissed the thought. She wasn’t supposed to be thinking those sorts of things.

“Thanks for letting me in,” she said softly.

Kevin shrugged, feeling as if he were committing a crime for having her in the room. He was uncomfortable around her, all because of what he’d been threatened with. He’d tried avoiding the girl for days, ignoring her as if she were air when they crossed paths. He’d seen the hurt in her eyes when he took these actions, but Kevin felt as if he’d had no choice in the matter.

“I’m not supposed to be talking to you, or even near you, let alone being in the same room...alone with you.” Kevin replied, leading Adonica over to a small table in the kitchen of his deluxe suite.

“Yeah,” Adonica replied, sitting down across from him, “Rich told me that last night…which is why we’re not speaking right now either.”

Kevin was obviously taken aback by this news before putting his head in his arms on the tabletop, letting out a low groan.

“I’m so sorry, Adonica,” he muttered, and she could hardly understand him. Kevin then picked his head up, looking ashamed, “It’s my fault that you’re fighting. I’m sorry…I’ve probably ruined your wedding now.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Adonica replied, placing a hand on top of his, “That’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Huh?’ Kevin asked, obviously confused by this confession. For a second, he was worried that she was going to tell him that she thought it best if he didn’t go to the wedding.

“Well,” Adonica sighed, “Me and Rich had a pretty huge fight last nigh…over you.”

She laughed lightly, but it dyed down once she saw that Kevin didn’t look amused, “Rich thinks that there’s something…romantic going on between us,” she explained, “He called me a whore, slut, other things along those lines.” She could see anger flare up on Kevin’s face at this, and Adonica thought that maybe he cared about her more than Rich really did. He sure was protective of her, “So, I left and camped out at Alaura’s.”

Kevin didn’t know what to say. He wanted to go and beat the hell out of Rich, but that wouldn’t be happening. Not until his cast was off at least. Three more weeks of having the thing on, and he would be freed of it.

“Kev,” Adonica started, fidgeting a little with the bottom of her shirt. She looked up at Kevin, trying not to do her nervous habit any longer, “I need your advice on something…” her voice trailed off slightly.

“Anything,” Kevin replied, smiling at her. All of the nervousness which he’d felt was vanishing, not caring what Rich thought of them speaking. He wasn’t a two-year-old child anymore.

“The things that Rich said…they really upset me. I don’t know if I can forgive him for it. I mean, I love him…lord knows why…but I just…I just,”

Adonica stopped, taking in a deep breath and squeezing her eyes shut to try and calm her self, stopping the tears from surfacing completely. Kevin sat across from her, waiting for her to continue without interruptions.

“I don’t…I’m not sure if I should marry him or not…if I want to,” Adonica fumbled for the right words to say, “I’m so confused…I don’t know what to do.”

Kevin sat, silent for a moment. Here she was, asking him for advice, and for the first time, he didn’t have an answer. He couldn’t tell her whether or not to go on with the wedding with Rich. He, of course, didn’t want her to, because that would open her back up again, once she was ready to date. That approach was selfish though, and he didn’t want to be selfish. He wanted what was best for Adonica, and whatever would make her happy. It’s what she deserved.

“I can’t make the decision for you,’ Kevin answered, “I’m sorry. You’re going to have to figure this one out on your own.”

Adonica’s face fell, and Kevin felt bad for discouraging her hopes of finding answers within him. Kevin wished that he could help, but it was just one of those things.

“You don’t have anything?” Adonica asked, eyes full of hope that he would.

Kevin thought for a moment, not wanting to turn her begging for help down twice. What was something he could tell her, without telling her what to do, but rather helping her make up her mind?

“Do you still have any feelings at all for him?” Kevin asked her after several minutes of playing with how to word what he wanted to say.

“Yes,” Adonica admitted without hesitation, “But, I’m just not sure if it’s the right kind of feelings that I should be feeling to be marrying him.”

“Hmmm,” Kevin replied, “Do you have more good memories of being with him or bad?”

“Started off as nothing but good, but lately, bad, bad, bad,” Adonica answered him in misery.

Kevin thought for a moment more. It sounded to him like she really wasn’t in love with Rich any longer. The change hadn’t been gradual, but rather very sudden. Adonica looked at him expectantly, hoping he would tell her what to do about her problem, making up her decision for her.

“How about taking a break for a few days,” Kevin finally suggested, “Don’t talk to Rich, don’t go near h…well, you’ll have to for shows, but, avoid him at all costs. Just think about what you want. Clear your mind a little.”

Adonica breathed a huge sigh of relief. She wasn’t sure she wanted to speak with him for a few days anyways, so Kevin’s advice had helped her out tremendously.

“I can do that,” she answered casually, before a real grin broke out on her lips for the first time since the fight the night before, “Thanks so much.”

They both stood up and Adonica hugged Kevin, greatful to have a friend like him in her life.

“No problem,” Kevin replied, trying to hide the affection he still felt towards her. He pulled away from the hug, “Anytime.”

“So, are you going to ignore me still, or ignore old scrooge across the hall’s demands?” Adonica asked.

Kevin laughed, “I’m not going to pay attention to him,” he assured her.

Adonica was happy for that. She didn’t want there to be a gap between them, causing them to act like strangers.

“I should get going,” Adonica said, “Go back over to Alaura’s or something,”

“Yeah, and I really need to get ready for the day…I’m getting a late start.”

“Okay, well, see ya later,” Adonica replied, hugging him again before walking out of the door. Adonica was relieved, feeling as if a huge weight had been taken off of her shoulders. Here came day one of taking a small break from Rich and figuring out what she really wanted.

“Bye…Adonica,” Kevin whispered sadly once the door was shut and she couldn’t hear how pained he was to help her figure out what she wanted with another guy.

Thanks to Ayleen, Anita and Anastacia for reviewing 17! Sorry it took so long for me to update. I had major writers block, but I eventually got a new chapter done! Thanks for being patient and enjoy 18. Can't wait to hear what you think!!!

Chapter Eighteen

“We’re on in five,” Kevin yelled loud enough so that all the Boys and the dancers could hear him. Adonica jumped a little, for he was standing a mere three feet from him, his loud voice startling her slightly.

It was three days later, and two shows later. Avoiding Rich had been a huge challenge, but she’d managed to do so for this long, and decided that she still needed a few more days to decide what she was going to do. Her emotions were mixed, both wanting to gave and run back to him, yet wanting to ignore him for a little longer. Adonica smiled as Kevin walked right up next to her.

“How’re things going?” he asked.

Adonica shrugged, “Alright,” she replied, “It’s getting harder and harder to not go near him, but I’m doing it somehow.”

Kevin smiled, knowing that this was true. When you shard a hotel and the stage with the guy practically every night, it could be difficult to keep your distance from someone that you didn’t particularly want to be with.

“Well, you’re doing great,” Kevin grinned, “Keep it up...you’ll make your decision sooner or later. I promise.”

Kevin knew what he wanted her to do, but had come to the conclusion that he just wanted Adonica to be happy in life. He would support her choice either way. Kevin felt ashamed at the way he’d acted over the past months, and was embarrassed with singing that song that he had sang a week before. He didn’t know how he’d had the nerve to do such a thing, which reminded him that he still had to call Clay and tell him how things went...which, in his opinion, had been disastrous. How had he let his feelings get so out of control?

“Yeah,” Adonica replied with a sigh and a tired smile, interrupting his thoughts, “Thanks for helping me out though.”

Kevin shrugged, “Any time,” he told her, giving her a friendly hug, wishing it was more than just that, “I’m gonna head out. Good luck tonight.”

“You too,” she waved as he walked off.

Just as he was out of view though, Alaura and Dulcia came over to her, grinning away. She looked at them strangely, wondering what had gotten in to them.

“You and Kev look awfully cozy,” Dulcia remarked.

Adonica rolled her eyes, “We’re just friends. He’s helping me out with a problem that I’m having...that’s all. “

”Would that problem be, oh...I don’t know. Rich?” Alaura teased.

Adonica said nothing, her face flushing a shade of crimson. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t suspected it though. They were all best friends, and got vibes from one another, even when no words were spoken aloud.

“We’re up, dancers, get ready.” someone barked out, a voice that none of them could place a name with.

“Well, here we go, another day in the life of a dancer,” Dulcia said as she took place backstage, ready to go out and start the opening scene for the Boys first performing song. She knew the routine down pat, and wished that just once, she could spice things up a little and make things different, and interesting. Something that wasn’t planned out. That, she knew, would result in her being replaced. Therefore, she decided against it...for now.

Adonica cringed as she walked past Rich without so much as a glance. She could feel her entire body tense as she strided in the direction of the stage with the other dancers to take action like she’d done so many times before.

“Adonica,” Rich tried, cringing for letting himself become this weak as to be the first to cave, and so soon yet. He hadn’t expected to do so, but her not giving him the time of day was doing something to him. It was driving him crazy. He didn’t want to lose Adonica, and it seemed that he already had because of his bruised, jealous ego.

Adonica drew in a breath, holding it, willing herself to go on without saying a word to him. She had to do this for herself. She had to take a few days to think of what she wanted, without Rich in her life. If he was there, she knew that her decision would be to stay with him, which at this point, she didn’t think that it would necessarily be the best choice that she could make. Adonica continued to walk past, leaving Rich further and further behind. He stood helpless, staring at her in bewilderment. Adonica didn’t even turn around to look at him as she entered the stage to dance, therefore, she couldn’t even see the hurt look that was etched upon his face.

“I’m sorry,” Rich nearly whispered as he uncapped his bottle of iced water, taking a drink to cool off,. He shook his head sadly, wondering what he could do to make things better again. He wanted more than anything for their relationship to go back to how it used to be. That would take time and work though. “I really fucked up.” he muttered, shaking his head as he joined his bandmates and tell them that he was heading out to their own bus. There was no use for him to stick around any longer. He didn’t have Adonica to wait for, and wasn’t sure if he ever would again.

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

Alaura grinned as she walked in to the doctors office with both A.J. and Devin by her side. She was going on three months pregnant now and it was time for her monthly doctors appointment to check up on things, the first appointment that was actually in the states instead of overseas. The tour was over and they were back in the states again. Alaura was beginning to show the slightest bit, which caused excitement to jolt though Devin and A.J. both. Devin had fought some emotional problems, going from loving Alaura to being angry with her about the whole pregnancy with a kid that wasn’t his own. He’d eventually made up his mind though to be there for her, and stay in a relationship with her. He didn’t want to put his girlfriend on an emotional roller coaster, causing stress that she didn’t need during the pregnancy.

“I can’t believe how fast time has gone by,” Devin whistled, “Damn...three months along.”

Alaura just beamed. She was thrilled about the fact that she was going to have a child in just a few short months. In fact, nothing could make her happier. True, she wasn’t even that old, but she would be twenty-one by the time the child was born, so she figured that she would be okay. She was happy that she’d become pregnant towards the end of the tour. She would have hated to have to quit part way through because of th fact that the motions were too much for her body to handle and, the obvious that she would be looking rather large. There would now be a break that would last for about nine months or so. The Boys would take a month or so off for themselves to relax. After that, they would start getting material together for their new album, then start recording while doing promotional type stuff. The album would be released, and then a new tour would start a few weeks after. It was the same routine every time. Nine months would be the shortest time off. It could be up to a year and a half. Either way, her baby would have been born by the time the new tour started, and she would have had a few months to get back in to shape to take stage again. It was perfect how everything had worked out in a timely fashion.

Devin walked over to the front desk to check Alaura in as his girlfriend and A.J went to find seats. He soon joined them, sitting on the other side of Alaura, draping an arm lightly around her shoulder and Alaura leaned in to him. She could tell that he was a little tense, which caused a slight stress to inflict upon her. Taking Devin’s hand in hers, Alaura stood up, tugging gently at him.

“C’mon...lets walk to the end of the hall and back,” she suggested, “I want to talk to you about something.”

Devin got up, walking by her side at a slow, leisurely pace. Neither said anything for a short minute, Alaura unsure of how to bring up the subject. She took a deep breath though, deciding to just start talking. However it came out would have to do.

“Are you sure that you’re okay with me going through with this pregnancy?” she asked, “I mean...half the time, you seem fine, then others times...I’m not so sure that you’re just staying with me for the hell of it.”

“What?” Devin asked incredulously, “Alaura, I really love you. Sure, it’s strange knowing that you’re carrying A.J’s biological child, but I want to be the best father that I can be to it.”

Alaura smiled, “Okay...just making sure that your not uncomfortable with it. I mean...if you’re not, then it isn’t too late to consider abortion yet.”

Devin drew back, apparently not expecting the suggestion from her. In fact, it was the last thing that he had thought that Alaura would bring up.

“No...I don’t want you go do that. I’ll love this child as if it’s my own,” he grinned, “I swear to you that I will..”

Alaura didn’t look quite as convinced. She wanted to believe Devin, but if the situation were reversed, she wasn’t so sure that she wouldn’t be quite so calm as he was. In fact, if he’d cheated on her, she wouldn’t put up with it for a second.

“Don’t you want us to have kids together though?” Alaura asked, her eyes full of questioning and wonder.

“Of course,” Devin stated as they reached the far wall and turned around to head back to A.J, “And we will, eventually. Maybe after the baby is six months old or so, we can start trying.”

Alaura smiled, getting up on her tip toes to kiss his chin, “Thank you for being sweet about all of this. It means a lot to me.”
“I guess when you’re in love, it has no boundaries,” Devin joked.

Alaura smiled as they took their seats again by A.J, who was now reading a magazine. Alaura couldn’t help but stifle a giggle when she saw that it was an issue of Parenthood. She figured that he must have really been bored during the five minutes that they’d been gone. Looking to his side as he felt someone sitting down next to him he smiled, realizing his friends were back.

“Hey there,” he greeted, setting the magazine down

“Hi,” Alaura said, nervously fidgeting with her fingers. She was slightly afraid of what the outcome of the doctors appointment would be. She hoped that everything was going okay so far in to her pregnancy.

Reaching over, Alaura took Devin’s hand in hers, squeezing it affectionately. She had something that she had to talk to both men about. It was a slight problem that she’d been thinking about for awhile, and needed to get their opinion as well about it, for they were a major part of it. Alaura sighed, knowing that she couldn’t afford to put it off much longer.

“Alaura,” a voice called out.

Alaura looked up, seeing a nurse, knowing that it was her turn to go in for her checkup. Standing up, she took a deep breath and started towards the door.

‘Do you want us to go with you?” A.J. asked before she could get too far.

Alaura shook her head, “No...I can go in alone this time.”

Both men were slightly hurt with her decision but didn’t argue. Devin wanted to be there for his girlfriend, A.J. for his unborn child and friend. They just watched as Alaura disappeared behind the heavy, wooden door.

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

Dulcia smiled, content as she slumped down on her bed in her own home. It felt great to be back home. Everything was going good...well, almost everything. She and Brad were still together and going strong. Alaura was going on with her pregnancy, and Devin was supporting her, considering the circumstances. Her other friend, on the other hand, was in a real mess. It had been three months since she had last spoken to Rich. She’d gone the remainder of the tour in Europe not talking to him, and still wasn’t. Rich kept trying to get Adonica to speak to him, but she refused, walking past him as if she didn’t even see him there. She had confided in Kevin to talk to about her problems, and he was there for her. Dulcia personally wished that Adonica and Kevin would get together, but she knew that Adonica wasn’t ready to give up on Rich yet, for she kept making plans for the wedding, carrying through as if everything was fine. That right there told her that her friend was planning on marrying Rich still. The question was...when?

Dulcia was distracted from her thoughts when the phone rang. Rolling over, she picked it up, bringing to her ear.

“Hello?”

“Hey babe,”

Dulcia smiled. It was Brad. She’d only seen him hours before, yet she missed him already. Dulcia wondered what was getting in to her. It was completely out of character for her to be this way over a guy. She figured that it was just Brad. He did things to her brain, and made her melt, even after the months that they’d been together.

“Hey baby,” she greeted back, “What’s up?”

“Not a lot...just got in. Packing some things for the flight tomorrow.”

This caused Dulcia to grin even wider. After deciding that they couldn’t go long without being together, beings they were used to spending every waking moment with one another, more or less, Brad had decided to move in with Dulcia.

“I can’t wait til I see you again,” Dulcia told him, “Everything sucks without you here.”

Brad laughed, “Won’t be long, sweetie,” he promised, “I just thought that I would call and let you know that I got back okay and all.”

“Thanks...and call me when your flight lands so I can pick you up.” she reminded him, “You’ve never been to my house...might get lost if you rent a car and try to find it on your own.”

“Right,” Brad laughed again, “Will do.”

There was a brief pause. Neither one could believe that the tour was over now. Some points of it seemed like it was going so quickly, while others made it seem like it would never, ever end. It had though, and Dulcia was regretful of that fact. She loved dancing for the Boys, and already looked forward to a new tour. Brad, though, wasn’t so thrilled. During the next tour, he and LFO would be going separate ways than BSB and Dulcia. He didn’t know what would come of their relationship. He hoped that it was strong enough to survive the time apart until the tours ended again next time. Only time would tell.

“Well,” Brad stated, I guess I’ll see ya tomorrow.”

“Yep, see ya,” Dulcia replied.

“I love you,” Brad got up the nerve to say for the first time since their relationship had started.

Dulcia drew in a deep, sharp breath at the sound of the strong word. Sure, she felt it towards him, but saying it aloud was a completely different thing all together. Brad was waiting though, and she knew that she had to try.

“I...I love you too,” she got up the courage to say.

“Bye,”

“Bye,”

Dulcia slowly hung up the phone, hoping that they weren’t making a mistake of moving in together. It was a huge step for her, and she was afraid of getting hurt more than anything. Dulcia took a deep breath, knowing that she had to trust Brad and his intentions. Here was to the next step in her life. Dulcia sighed, snuggling under the covers of her bed. She hoped that she was making the right decision for herself. Only time would tell. She hoped that it worked out.

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

Adonica groaned as she walked out of the door to her house. All she wanted to do was pick up her mail, but what she saw, she did not like at all. Rich was sitting in her driveway in his red Camero, obviously waiting for her to come out. She had half a notion to go back inside the house and lock the door. Three months of ignoring him, and now he was gong to stalk her.

Go figure Adonica thought bitterly.

She didn’t want to break up with Rich, but she simply wasn’t ready to talk to him yet either. He’d hurt her a lot by his words to her and the way he’d tried to control her life. It was something that she didn’t want to put up with.

Walking down the steps to the driveway, Adonica walked over to Rich’s car, stopping at the drivers side window. He turned the music off immediately, rolling down the window.

“What do you want?” Adonica asked coldly, her hands placed on her hips impatiently, “And better question...how the hell did you find where I live? I never told you.”

Rich winced at her harsh, unwelcoming tone. Even though he knew he should have, he hadn’t been expecting the treatment, to say the least.

“It wasn’t hard to find out where you live,” Rich stated, “And I had to see you...I had to talk to you. You wouldn’t do it in Europe, during the rest of the tour. I figured if I came here, then you would have no choice.”

Adonica rolled her eyes. She, by all rights, should have a choice of talking to the man, but she felt trapped, and like she had to speak to him.

“You’re an ass,” Adonica stated bluntly, “A huge ass.”

“I know,” Rich admitted shamefully, taking Adonica by surprise, “I have been. That’s why I came. I had to apologize for everything I’ve done.”

Adonica moved her hands from her hips to crossing her arms over her chest. She couldn’t believe the nerve that Rich had.

“You expect me to forgive you in one second, after all of the shit you’ve put me though? And after putting one of my best friends through more crap than me?” Adonica asked incredulously, giving him a look of disbelief.

“Well, it would be nice,” Rich admitted.

Adonica threw her arms into the air, “I don’t believe this.” she nearly yelled before spinning around and heading back towards her house and away from Rich.

Panic overcoming him, Rich knew that he had to think of something fast if he was going to hold her attention. He had to say something, and mean it Opening his car door, he got out and stood still on the outside of the car, ready to try once more.

“Adonica, hear me out,” Rich pleaded, watching as her pace slowed down and then stop completely. She kept her back towards him, but she was listening, “I know that I screwed up. I was acting like a jealous pig. It was only because I was afraid of losing you to Kevin. I should have trusted you. I miss you though, and can’t stand being without you anymore. Please forgive me, and give me another chance. I...I love you Adonica, and if you still want to, I want to get married in four or five months, like we originally planned. If you don’t, I don’t care. I just want us to be together.”

Adonica could feel herself letting her guard down, her heart softening for Rich. It was exactly what she hadn’t wanted to do yet, but she couldn’t help it. His words had been so sweet and he seemed sincere and truly sorry for acting like he had. Closing her eyes and swallowing, Adonica turned around, staring at Rich.

“I want us to be together too,” she said softly, tears forming in her eyes, “But when you act like you have, it’s a real turnoff.”

Rich’s masculine shoulders dropped slightly, “I know...I’ll try harder to be like I was in the beginning...that is, if you give me another chance.”

Adonica hesitated before nodding that she wanted to try again. Rich held his arms out and Adonica ran in to them. She missed the feeling of being in his arms, and she felt a slight tingle of excitement shoot through her body, knowing that she shouldn’t have given in this easily. She’d always been a softy though, and had gotten the feeling as soon as she’d seen Rich that things would end up good between them again by the time he left.

“Thank you,” Rich whispered, kissing the top of her head.

Adonica said nothing, just enjoying the feeling of having Rich back in her life again. She’d obviously proved her point by ignoring him. But there was just one thing that she had to ask.

“You won’t scare Kevin away, will you?”

Rich laughed, “No...I won’t. I believe that you don’t like him in any romantic way. I’ll leave it alone if I see you talking.”

Adonica smiled. Yep, she’d proved her point. Everything was perfect again.

Just wanted to thank Ayleen, frackandbonechick and Anastacia for reviewing 18. Enjoy 19! Can't wait to see what ya think!!!

Chapter Nineteen

Alaura sat on the couch in the living room of her small house, bouncing up and down lightly out of nervousness. This was the day that she’d decided to have her talk with Devin and A.J about what was on her mind. It had taken two weeks for her to conjure up enough courage to bring the sensitive topic up, but she had called A.J. to meet her and Devin at her house. It was time to talk to them about this, because time was running out more quickly than she would have liked it to. The longer she waited, the harder it would be to talk to them about too.

Standing up, Alaura started pacing the living room restlessly, back and fourth, over and over again. She couldn’t sit still, as much as she wished that she could. It was impossible. She was terrified of what the outcome of this talk would be...she was terrified that the conversation would end in two grown men physically fighting each other right in front of her, leaving blood stains on the carpet to show for it. Alaura shuddered at the thought of that, momentarily thinking of calling the whole thing off. She shook her head though, having faith that the two would be mature enough to handle the situation like adults. It was too late to turn back now anyways. She was expecting A.J. at any moment. She couldn’t turn him away, telling he’d come for nothing.

“Babe, slow down before you wear holes in the carpet,” Devin joked, walking in to the room, “When we move in together, and if we want to try and sell the place, nobody’ll want floors with boards showing through.”

Alaura paced the last few feet before plopping down in to the couch again. She looked at Devin helplessly as she burried her face in her hands, shaking it roughly. She let out a low, stifled groan, it sounding like a mourning cry.

“Babe,” Devin stated in concern, rushing to her side and sitting down next to her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, rubbing her comfortingly, “You can’t stress like this. It might harm the baby...you might miscarry it. You might hurt yourself.”

Alaura brought her head up, not liking the idea of a possible miscarriage, but then again, she wondered if maybe that would be for the best. That way, A.J. wouldn’t feel burdened by a child that was his, but he wasn’t in a relationship with the mother. That way, she and Devin could start over and try to have kids of their own...once they were married. But then again, Alaura wanted the baby, no matter what. A.J and Devin both seemed to be fine with it, so what was the use in working herself up for?

“I know,” she replied miserably, “I’m trying not to stress...but I can’t help it. There...there’s just so much on my mind.”

“Care to tell me?” Devin asked, “I can try to make you feel better.”

Alaura shook her head, “No..A.J needs to be here too. I don’t want to have to repeat myself again when he comes. Besides, it is something that all three of us need to talk about together. It concerns both of you.”

Alaura turned her head, looking sadly in to Devin’s eyes. He didn’t like the look. It made him slightly paranoid of what her intentions were. Devin looked away quickly before he could catch any more bad vibes from Alaura. He slowly took his arm out from around her, letting it fall freely to his side. The worst possible thoughts were coming to his mind, the main one being that maybe Alaura and A.J. had talked and decided to get together, for the babies sake...and she was leaving him. Before Alaura could have the chance to humiliate him like that with A.J. there, he decided to enquire on it.

“You...me and you are okay, right?” he asked, looking pleadingly into her eyes, “I mean, you aren’t going to leave me for him, are you? Since he is the father...you might want him in your life rather than me.”

Alaura let out a small laugh, “No...no, of course not. I don’t look at A.J. in that way, and same goes for him. I love you. It..it’s something else.”

Devin let out a groan of frustration, immediately regretting letting his impatient side out in the open for Alaura to see. She was obviously having a hard time with this. His attitude, he knew, wasn’t helping much. He wanted to know what was going on though, his curiosity getting the better of him.

“Care to give me a hint?” he asked.

“No..not until..”

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
Alaura knew that it had to be A.J. Taking a deep breath, she stood up and headed towards it. He couldn’t have had better timing. Now, Devin could quit bugging her to tell him before the other man got there. Now, she could get the whole conversation out of the way and over with. Here went nothing. Alaura opened the door to reveal A.J. standing there in drawstring sweat pants and a t-shirt. She couldn’t deny that he looked amazing right then, not even trying to dress up a little.

“Hi,” Alaura greeted, “Come in.”

She held the door open wide for the man as he stepped inside of the house. His expression told her that he was clueless as to why he was there.

“What’s this all about?” A.J. asked, then his eyes filled with concern and worry, “Is everything okay?”

“Why do ya’ll keep asking me that?” she joked with a forced laugh, “Just, follow me and then I’ll tell ya.”

A.J. followed Alaura back in to the living room where Devin was still waiting semi-patiently. He breathed out a sigh of relief as the sight of A.J. All he wanted to know was what Alaura was making such a huge deal out of. Now, he would find out. A.J. went and sat down in the leather, reclining chair, sitting on the edge, leaning back in to it comfortably. Alaura sat back down next to Devin. Nobody said anything for a minute. She was beginning to lose her courage, freezing up. She was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to find her voice even if she tried to speak.

“Well,” Devin asked, cringing at his tone. Her procrastination was making him nervous though, as he thought the worst possible thoughts. Maybe she had a miscarriage, or possibly she had cancer, and he would lose both her and the baby. Devin wanted to block out those types of thoughts, but his girlfriend wasn’t doing much to ease his worries.

Alaura closed her eyes, taking in a few deep breaths, letting them out slowly. When she opened them again, she felt she had enough courage to go on. It had go come up sooner or later, and either way, one of the men was going to end up hurt, unfortunately.

“Well...as you know, I’m pregnant,” she began, cringing at how dumb she sounded. She didn’t even want to know how A.J and Devin were looking at her yet what the two men were thinking, “Anyways, during the next tour, LFO,” she stated looking at Devin, “And Backstreet,” she added, turning her head to A.J, “Will be going different places nowhere near each other, and maybe even at different times all together.”

“Yeah, probably,” Devin said, drawing Alaura in close to him, “That’s a good point....so what’s the problem?”

“Well, I don’t know what to do when the tours start up again,” Alaura stated, looking downward, avoiding making eye contact of any kind.

“What do you mean?” A.J. asked her.

Alaura didn’t say anything for a second. This was the part that she’d been dreading. The part that could cause a fight. Alaura picked her head up, forcing herself to go on and at least look at the to men sitting before her as she spoke.

“Well...I have to chose what I’m going to do...continue to dance for Backstreet or quit and go with Devin from here on out.”

All fell silent at that moment. Devin and A.J. both froze in place, not moving a single muscle. A.J. put his elbows on his knees, burying his face into his hands. At that moment, they knew exactly why she had called upon them to talk to. Even they, being male, couldn’t not understand what she was getting at. Their quietness was making her nervous, it causing an eerie, haunting feeling to overcome her every emotion.
“Oh,” Devin stated finally, after a long pause, then conjured up enough courage to ask, “Well, what do you want to do, honey?”

Alaura shrugged, honestly not knowing what she wanted to do. It was probably going to be the hardest decision she would ever have to make.

“I dunno,” she started, “I mean, there is a positive and a negative attribute to each side of things, ya know?”

“Which would be what?” Devin pressed as A.J. finally lifted his head back up, composing himself enough to hear what she had to say about the matter.

“Well, I’ve known Aje and the Boys for going on five years now. He is the father...and well, I love dancing and touring. But Devin, you’re my boyfriend, and I love you. I’m not sure if I could go months on end without speaking to you. Then again, I’d miss dancing, and Aje would never get to see his child.” Alaura let out a low groan, putting her head into her hands and shaking it, “I don’t know what to do.” she murmured, the words coming out muffled and almost not understandable. Another negative of leaving which she purposely failed to mention was that her two best friends would be staying with the Boys to continue their career. She wasn’t sure if she could leave them. The three of them had gone through so much together. They’d laughed, cried and talked about nearly everything with one another. Without them there, she’d feel like a major part of her life was missing.

A.J. really wanted to be a part of the baby’s life, since he had taken part in creating it. He was looking forward to being a father, even if he wasn’t romantically in love with Alaura. But he knew if she decided to go with Devin, he couldn’t deny Alaura her wish. She was an incredible dancer though, and the Boys would be losing a huge part of their act if she did leave.

“Alaura,” Devin stated, taking her hand in his and rubbing it comfortingly, “Look at me.” Alaura didn’t look up, if anything, she slouched lower to avoid his gaze, “Look at me,” he said again, his voice firm but kind. Alaura looked up, and Devin could see tears of stress in her eyes.

“I...I don’t know what to do. Whatever I chose, I’ll be letting somebody down...” she sobbed, afraid of hurting either man.

“You do what I think is right,” Devin stated, trying to soothe her worries, “You won’t be letting me down if you choose to stay.”

“And if you decide to leave, I’ll understand completely,” A.J added, hoping that it would help to subside her fears.

Alaura looked at both of them for a moment before letting out a little bit of an over-exaggerated sigh. She knew exactly what she wanted to do and what she was going to choose. It was what her heart told her was right. It was the thing that she knew would make her happy. She knew that later on down the road, she wouldn’t be regretting what she’d decided.

“I..I think that I’m going to stay,” she stated timidly, searching both guy’s for their approval of the matter.

Alaura could see a pleased grin spreading across A.J’s face. She could also tell that he was trying to wipe it off and hide it, trying to look like he remained neutral and didn’t care either way. She could also see disappointment in Devin’s eyes, and as much as he tried to hide it, she knew that he couldn’t. Alaura felt bad, knowing that she had, in fact, hurt him, but knew that she was doing the correct thing for her.

“Does this mean that you’re breaking up with me?” Devin asked, stating his worst fear out loud, “Are...are we over?”

“No,” Alaura laughed, “Of course not. When I have breaks, I’ll go see you....when you have breaks, you can come and see me. If we’re both on break, we’ll live together and everything. It won’t even really be like we’re apart.” she said, trying to convince Devin that everything would be fine between them.

“And while Alaura is on tour with us, I’ll help take care of my baby. When you guys are together, I’ll step aside and Devin can take over that role.”

Alaura forced a smile, glad that they were trying to work things out in a mature matter. She was thankful that Devin hadn’t gotten in to a jealous rage, accusing her of having feelings for A.J. based on her decision.

“This can work,” Devin stated, nodding his head as he got used to the idea. He drew Alaura as close to him as he could get her, kissing her on the forehead, “We can make this work...and everything will be fine between us.”

“Perfect, like always,” Alaura assured him.

The conversation had gone better than she’d thought it would. Alaura just hoped that things would turn out to be as easy as she thought that they would. All she knew that they all had a good year before touring would begin again for anyone. Until then, she would make the best of her time with Devin and cherish every moment of it. After that, only time would tell what would happen.

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

“Where do you want me to put this?” Brad asked, holding up a medium sized cardboard box.

Dulcia rolled her eyes, “Well, what is in the box?” she asked him, her tone dripping with sarcasm, “Ya know, you moved in two full weeks ago, and you’re just now unpacking your shit”

Brad just shrugged his shoulders sheepishly, knowing that his girlfriend was right. He’d had two weeks to unpack all of his belongings and everything besides his clothes was still in boxes, lining the walls of the living room. He lifted the lid up from the box, taking a peek at what was inside of it. Dulcia rolled her eyes again.

“It would help if you labeled the boxes, ya know,” she stated, “That way, you wouldn’t have to open them all up to see what the fuck you packed in them.”

Brad ignored her comment as he answered her first question, “It’s pots and pans and stuff like that.”

“Well, in most houses, pots and pans would go in the kitchen, which is downstairs.” Glory informed him.

“Shut up,” Brad laughed, “I’ll just put these in the kitchen then, okay?”

“You do that,” Dulcia told him, “Be my guest.”

Dulcia watched as Brad’s sexy body left the room. She found him irresistible in many ways. Sure, he was a little clueless when it came to moving, but other than that, she had a feeling that them living together would be a very positive thing in the direction that their relationship was headed. Never in her life had she ever felt this confident about relationship. She had a feeling that this time, things would turn out different than every other relationship she’d ever been in. In the months that she’d been with Brad, she could already feel that this time, things would be different. Minutes later, Brad was back in their bedroom, smiling down at her.

“Okay, unpacked and put away.”

“Great, that’s one box less that we have to worry about...only a hundred left to do,” she joked, as she reached up to run her fingers through his thick, dark hair, “What are we going to do about the extra furniture though? I mean, we can’t have two sets of everything lying around.”

“Sell whatever we like least out of everything,” Brad stated simply, “Or donate it to poor families, or save it for our children someday.”

Dulcia let out a loud laugh, “Bradley, what kids are you thinking about? By the time they are old enough to use it, it will be like, twenty something years from now...and what we have will be totally out of style that not even their grandparents would want to use it any longer.”

Brad shrugged, “Just a thought.” he walked over and picked up a larger box, seeing that it was filled with DVD’s and video games, plus his Dreamcast game console, “Guess this will go in the rec room, huh?”

Dulcia walked over and glanced inside of the box, “Yes, one would think that. God, who moved for you before?”

“This is egotistical abuse,” Brad joked, taking the box away with him. He had to admit that for Dulcia living alone, her home was enormous. She had four bedrooms, a living room, family room, kitchen, dining room, rec room, den, pool house, gazebo, and an inground pool, among other leisurely things. Yes, she definitely lived a good life, and now they could together.

He set the box down, then walked over to the large window, looking out to the garden. It had flowers of every sort planted, making it look like something off of Martha Stuart, not that he watched the show or anything. Dulcia definitely worked hard to keep her place looking nice, or her hired help did. Either way, he was impressed, and in awe every time he looked around.

After another few moments, Brad finally drew himself away from the window, making his way back to Dulcia.

“All done?” she asked.

“Yep,” Brad stated, walking over to Dulcia and wrapping her into his arms, planting a loving kiss on her lips, “All done.”

Dulcia reached up, rubbing his shoulders. He seemed tense, and she wanted to do something to ease that. She knew just the right thing.

“Wanna do a little something?” she asked seductively, wiggling her eyebrows a little, hinting at just what she wanted to do.

“When have I ever refused?” Brad laughed.

Dulcia shrugged as they took no time to undress one another, drawing the blinds closed and turning out the light. They got underneath the covers, Devin inserting himself inside of her gently yet quickly all at the same time.

“You know, maybe this is why we never get any unpacking done,” he cracked.

“Just shut up and fuck me,” Dulcia moaned, pulling his body down closer to her own.

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

“Rich, what do you think of this?” Adonica asked, pointing out a place in a magazine she’d been looking at.

Rich took a glance at what she was looking at. He assumed that it was places to get married at. They were, after all, at a special place which specialize in booking weddings. This one in particular was by a waterfall, surrounded by flowers. Next to it, writing, it stated that each wedding was private, and no public could capture what was going on. It was completely exclusive, which Adonica found to be appealing in itself.

“It’s nice,” he stated, ‘What’s wrong with just traditional, in a church or something?”

Adonica stuck her tongue out, “Traditional is boring. I want something unique and elaborate. Something that is gorgeous and all. The reception can be at a nice restaurant, which is traditional, but for the wedding...I’d like something more...I don’t know...I mean, other than location, it will be just like a real wedding. White dress, flowers lining the rows of chairs that we, ourselves picked out, tuxedo, hired priest. Everything,”

“Hmm,” Rich stated, giving Adonica the impression that he didn’t really care, then looked to get a better idea of what she was talking about, “Yeah, that is really pretty,” he admitted, looking up and grinning at her, “You chose...I want you to be happy.”

Adonica smiled. Over the last couple of weeks, Rich really had tried to be better about how he acted, and surprisingly was succeeding.

“I like this one. The others are nice too...but this one just sticks out to me,” in all honesty, it took her breath away. She could only imagine how it looked in person.

“Then let’s book it so we can get married there,” Rich told her, standing up and taking the magazine to the front desk.

“May I help you,” the woman, who went by the name Monique, asked.

“Yes,” Rich answered, “We were wondering when the openings for weddings at Cascade Falls were.”(A/N: I don’t really know if there is such a place as Cascade Falls even exists. If there is, then it is merely a coincidence!!!)

Monique turned to her computer, typing something into it. After a few minutes, she turned back to them.

“We have an opening for the third Saturday in March, the fourth Saturday in April and the second Saturday in June. After that, pretty much everything is booked until February of two-thousand and five.”

Adonica’s eyes widened, “Wow,” she said, “Well, the whether in Hawaii is nice all year round, so that isn’t a worry. But we’ll have to wait at least six months.”

“You’re very lucky that six months is your shortest wait...most years, you need to book it at least a year and a half in advance. Cascade Falls is very popular.”

Rich and Adonica looked at one another, silently talking with their eyes. To Adonica, six months was a long time, and Alaura would be expecting at any given day if they went with the March opening.

“What do you think of March,” Rich asked, as if reading Adonica’s worries.

“Sounds great to me,” she answered, “Alaura might be worried about being a bridesmaid going on nine months pregnant, but I think everything will be okay”

Rich turned back to Monique, “Okay, we’ll take the March opening.”

“Perfect choice,” she muttered, typing something back in to her computer, “Okay, all set. You’ll receive some brochures in the mail and you’ll need to arrive a few days early to start setting up and arranging where you want everything to be.”

“Thank you,” Rich and Adonica murmured at the same time, staring deeply in to one another’s eyes. This was the biggest step in to planning their big day. There were still so many more things to do to prepare. Adonica hoped that there was enough time to do so. She and her bridesmaids still had to fly back to England to get the alterations done on their dresses. She was confident though, with the right timing, that everything would get done on time.

“We’re really going to get married,” Adonica whispered, smiling up at Rich, tears of happiness streaking her cheeks. Saying the words aloud made it all the more real.