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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.