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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.