They had gotten a small gig in a high school spring ball. The party was tonight and the guys were to meet at Nick's house before going over to the school. Both Kevin's and Brian's suits, neatly packed in Lexington, had to be send over for this night.

"Kevin!"

Sighing slightly, Kevin walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. "What's wrong?"

Brian was standing in the middle of the room, his pants and shirt on, his jacket still hanging on the back of the chair standing beside the small closet, girdle and tie in his hands. He looked up at Kevin with a lost puppy look that Kevin couldn't help but smile. "Where do these things go?"

Kevin walked over to his cousin, taking the girdle and tie in his hands. "This one goes like this," he said as he placed the girdle around Brian's mid section. After having clapped it securely, Kevin proceeded to tie his tie. The dark silk tie -- which was actually his older brother's Harold's tie, since Brian didn't have one -- was soft against Kevin's fingers as he placed it around the neck of the shirt. Making the knot in one swift movement, just like his father had taught him, Kevin placed both his hands on Brian's shoulder. "You look really nice B."

Picking up the jacket from the chair, he helped Brian into it. Kevin took Brian into the bathroom so he could at his reflection.

Brian smiled happily as he looked at himself. The tie and girdle didn't look so bad once it was joined by the rest of the tuxedo. When was the last time he had wore that tuxedo? He didn't remember. Actually, he was almost sure he hadn't wore a tuxedo ever. The last one Brian had owned was when he was around twelve or so for his cousin Sandra's wedding. His mother had probably had one made of his other clothes back home.

Kevin placed his arm around Brian's shoulder. "Don't we look good on tuxedos."

Chuckling at that, Brian nodded. "Yeah."

Kevin checked out the time. It was over seven and they were suppose to be at eight at Nick's house. "We better get going."

As he saw Brian running over to the room, Kevin called after him. "Brian, what--?"

He opened his backpack and rummaged through some stuff before getting out a couple of mints. Showing them to Kevin, Brian smiled. "Can't go without mints."

Kevin chuckled, shaking his head as he did so. "Yeah, you're right."

Brian nodded. "Of course I'm right. You just end up finding a girlfriend over there and will need this babies."

Glaring at his younger cousin, Kevin snorted. "B, in case you forget, those are school kids. As in four years younger than me."

Brian shrugged. "So? If you really like that person, age doesn't matter, right?"

Kevin had to give Brian that much. He was sure age didn't matter when it came down to love, but still... "I'll just have to make sure I like a girl my age, now won't I?" Placing his arm around Brian's shoulder again, they walked out of the room. "We better get going."

*****

Ding, dong

"I'll get it!" Leslie said, running out of the dinning room and into the living room.

"Les!"

She chuckled as she heard her older brother's scream. She knew perfectly fine who it was and that was the exact same reason she was opening. Both BJ and her had been talking about the other four guys Nick had a band with and since she didn't remember them very well from his party, she was planning on seeing them tonight -- seeing them and actually paying attention.

Leslie opened the door, not even looking through the peephole. There, standing before her, where two very good looking guys. She could almost recognize one of them as Brian, Nick's newest best friend. The other one had to be Kevin then, Brian's older cousin.

"Hi, come on in," she said, motioning them to enter the house

Kevin nodded at her. "Hi, thanks."

"Les, who was that?" BJ stopped as she saw Kevin and Brian walking into the house. "Hey."

"Hey," Kevin smiled at her.

"Hello," Brian said slowly, joking around. "You're BJ, right?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah, you're Brian and you're Kevin, right?"

Both Kentucky cousins nodded.

"Is Nick--?" Kevin didn't get to finish his question as he saw Nick standing by the table in the dinning room. "Hi Nick."

"Hi Kevin, Brian--"

"Nick, please, don't move ok? I'm trying to finish the knot here." Jane looked up from her son's tie, smiling at the guys. "Hey guys. Please, take a seat."

Doing as asked, both Kevin and Brian sat down on the living room. "Hey Jane. Having trouble there?" Kevin asked politely, smiling at her.

Jane let out a long sigh, the lock of hair that had fallen on her eyes blowing up. "I'm not really good with knots. It's usually Bob the one who does this kind of things, but he had to stay at work tonight." As the tie slid through her fingers, she sighed. "That's it. I don't know how to do this."

Kevin chuckled slightly. He stood up and walked over to where Nick and Jane were. "Can I do it? I kinda had practice."

Just then Jane realized that both his and Brian's tie were perfectly knotted. "Yes, please." She moved to the side as Kevin stood in front of her son. "He's all yours."

Kevin smiled tenderly as he saw Nick in his tuxedo. He looked down right lovely in the dark black suit. His blue eyes and blond hair just called out your attention and Kevin was sure that more than one girl would flirt with the boy. He took the tie in his hands, accommodating it under the neck and started tying it slowly.

Nick looked down at Kevin's hands. Kevin paused for a moment, placing his hand on Nick's chin and lifting his face, his blue eyes finding Kevin's green ones. At Nick's puzzled look, Kevin spoke. "I need you to look at me. I can't do it if you're looking at the tie."

"Sorry."

"Nah, don't worry about it." Kevin continued doing the knot, seeing Nick's eyes on him. When he finished, Kevin brushed off a threat on Nick's jacket. "There," he smiled at Nick. "Done."

Nick trotted over to the other side of the dinning room, where the mirror stood. Brian joined him there, both of them looking at their very neat reflections. Nick touched his tie perfectly knotted. "Thanks!" He said, turning around and giving Kevin a tender smile. Nick saw Kevin nodding as he looked at the mirror again.

Brian hugged Nick tightly with only one arm. "We look great man!"

Nick chuckled as he heard the doorbell ringing. This time it was BJ who opened the door, revealing AJ and Howie. Just as he had guessed, Howie had probably picked AJ up and they had came here with Howie's father's old Toyota. That was the only transportation Howie had, since rare were the times Jon, Howie's older brother, lend him his car. Nick didn't drive, of course, since he was only thirteen, but at least his mom took him to where he needed to be.

"Hey guys!" Howie said as he entered the living room. "Hi Jane."

"Howie," she smiled at him, "good to see you. Nice tux."

Howie blushed slightly and Jane chuckled at that. "Thanks."

"Guys," AJ said, taking a seat on the living room. "Do we look funny in this penguin suits or not?" He chuckled at his own joke.

"No way!" Jane shook her head. "I think you look all very nice."

Kevin looked at AJ and Howie, then over at Brian, Nick and himself. "Oh god." Kevin sighed. "Guys, I think something's wrong. You've got the wrong ties." He said, jerking his head over to here Howie and AJ were sitting.

Everyone in the room turned to look between the five singers. Kevin was right. Howie and AJ got the wrong tied -- or Kevin, Brian and Nick, depending in the way you saw it. Howie and AJ had bow ties, while Kevin, Brian and Nick had long classical one.

Howie turned to look at AJ, glaring at the younger man with a deep frown in his face. "You said it was with bow ties."

"Donna told me!" AJ said defensively. "I asked her yesterday and she with bow ties. I swear!"

Brian frowned. "I asked her last week so I could tell my mom what to send. She said long ties."

"Oh brother," Jane said, grimacing slightly. She started scratching her forehead, something Nick had seen her do whenever something was lost. "Ok, don't worry. We can solve this."

"How?" Kevin shrugged. "Neither Brian nor I have other ties besides this and--"

Jane shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Les, be a nice girl and go over to you dad's closet and bring his ties, will you?"

Leslie nodded, running up the stairs.

"Dad's ties?"

Jane nodded at BJ. "I think he's got two black ties. If he does, then AJ and Howie can have them and everything is solved."

"I thought he had two silver ties," Nick said after a moment of trying to remember seeing his dad with ties.

Jane shook her head. "He's got one silver tie that your aunt Kelly gave him for his birthday. He's never wore the thing, it's so damn ugly."

Nick chuckled. He could remember the tie. His sisters and him used to teased his dad about being able to use it as a flashlight, it was so shinny.

Leslie jumped the last two steps and her mom yelled, "Leslie! Be careful." The young girl only chuckled at that. She had been jumping the last two steps for as long as she could recall -- maybe as long as they've been living in that house -- and had never had an accident because of that. She showed her mom the small rack of ties her father had.

"Thanks darling," Jane said, taking the tie hanger from her daughter's hands. She looked through the thing when she finally let out a sigh of relieve. Indeed, Bob had two black ties. Taking them out, she placed the rack on the table.

"Here," she walked over to the living room, giving AJ and Howie their ties. "I think this should do."

"Thanks Jane," Howie said, smiling at her.

AJ nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

Kevin let out a long sigh. That had been close. "Thanks Jane. Really."

She shrugged it off. "Oh, please. It's nothing."

Howie took off his bow tie, letting it fall down on the couch and placed the tie around his neck.

AJ did the same, feeling grateful for not having the wear the stupid tie. Her mother had said he looked good on it, but AJ hadn't bought that. Placing the tie around his neck, AJ looked at Howie. "You know how to tie that thing."

Howie nodded, looking at the tie thoughtfully. He scratched his eyebrow after a moment. "I think I do. I remember my father taught me how, but that was back for my prom, so..."

"Well, I have no idea how to tie this thing." AJ said as he glared at the piece of cloth.

Kevin chuckled slightly. "I can help you, if you want?" He shrugged.

AJ looked at the tie, then at Kevin before nodding. "Sure." He actually needed the help. He didn't remember ever needing to tie a tie.

Kevin walked over to the living room and stood up in front of AJ. When he finished, he smiled. "There. No mayor problem."

AJ frowned slightly. "Thanks."

Still looking at the damn thing, Howie turned to look at Kevin. "Kev? Could you help me too? I'm not really sure I remember how this thing went."

Chuckling at the predicament his friends seemed to be when it came down to a simple tie, Kevin smiled. "Sure." After finishing doing Howie's tie, he smiled. "We're done, I guess."

Brian nodded. "Aren't we running late?"

"Crap," Kevin hissed under his breath as he checked his watch. Brian was right. They were suppose to be at the party at nine and it was almost eight thirty. "We should get going."

"Hold on a second!" Jane said, waving her arms in the air as she run to the kitchen.

"Mom!" Nick groaned, having a fairly good idea of the reason behind her mother's departure.

"What?" Finishing turning on the flash, Jane smiled at Nick. "I'm a mother Nick. I have every right to ask for a picture, now don't I?"

Nick slumped his shoulders but didn't say anything. He knew, from personal experience, that his mother was going to get her picture one way or the other.

"Now," she looked at the five of them. "Ok, move to the side. That's right. In between the living room and dinning room."

The guys complied with very little complains. Nick stood up on the right, almost leaning against the cupboard. Kevin was between Nick and Brian, his left arm around Nick's shoulder, AJ put on his shades as he stood by Kevin's side with Howie on the other end.

"That's good!" Smiling at the five guys, she lifted the camera and looked through. The five of them looked just great in their tuxes. "Say cheese!"

"Cheese!"

Jane clicked, stopping them before they walked out of the pose. "Hold on. I wanna take another one just in case." She waited a second for the guys to smile their best smiles before taking the second shot. "Done."

The guys untangled themselves from the pose, since Howie had his arm around AJ's shoulders and Kevin around Nick's. Walking over to the door, Jane stopped Nick for a moment. "Now," she said to him, "behave yourself, ok?"

"Mom!" How could she do something like this? The guys were there and he knew AJ wasn't going to let him leave that down.

"Nick," she said sternly, "just behave, ok? Don't go exploring with Brian. I don't want you getting lost in the middle of that strange school. No alcohol." Nick was about to protest again, but she stopped him. "It's just a warning. And listen to Kevin. Got it young man?"

Nick pouted. He hated when she called him young man. "Yes mom."

"Good, now give your mother a kiss." She turned her head and he kissed her cheek.

"Bye mom. By girls!" Him and Brian walked out the room, Brian moving his accusatory finger at Nick while reprimanding him for having a beer -- all in good fun. Nick went running after him, promising to beat him in Nintendo as soon as they got home.

Kevin chuckled at them. "Brian! Nick! Don't run!"

Jane shook her head. Turning to look at Kevin, she sighed. "Keep an eye on Nick, will you? He's really hyperactive when he wants to and I don't want anything happening to him."

Kevin placed her hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll make sure he's fine."

She sighed. "Thanks. You have no idea how much relieve that gives me." Taking her car keys out of her pant's pockets, Jane handed them to Kevin. "Hope you have a nice night."

"Thanks," Kevin said, taking the keys. They had agreed Kevin would take them there in Jane's car. Nick hadn't wanted her mother driving them, so Kevin had ended up with driver duty. Howie and AJ were probably going in Howie's car, as the two of them lived rather close to each other. It was just the practical way to do it.

"Brian! Nick! In the car. Now."

Brian only had to hear the beginning of the sentence to place a hand on Nick's shoulders and pull him over to the parked car. He knew that tone very well. He knew it as well as he knew his mother's tone, and Brian knew never to play with it.

"What?" Nick asked as he stood by the backseat's door, waiting for Kevin to enter the car and open it for them.

Brian shook his head. "Nothing. It's just that whenever Kevin uses that tone, it's better if you what he tells you too. He gets pretty serious when it comes down to timing."

Nick frowned slightly and turned around to look at Kevin. The older man had a soft smile on his lips as he opened the door for the two of them and Nick just couldn't even imagine Kevin mad. "Nah," Nick said as he climbed in, Brian right after him. "I can't even picture Kevin mad."

Brian chuckled slightly. "Yeah, well, you've only known him for a couple of months. Wait till you know him as long as I have and you'll see what I mean."

Nick didn't answer that one, but stayed skeptical. It was just... so not Kevin. Kevin was so very nice to him, it was just hard to picture him mad at either of them -- or at anyone for that matter.

Hearing the engine starting, Nick relaxed against the seat. He turned around and waved at her mother and sisters who were standing in the threshold.

*****

Looking at the teenagers dancing by the sound of the music, Kevin took another sip of his punch. They had been singing for two hours in a row and finally had a thirty minute break. And Kevin was more than planning on taking the most of it.

Trying to find the guys, Kevin saw Howie and AJ dancing with a couple of very pretty looking girls. Howie was only having fun, but he couldn't really tell what AJ was doing. When the girl laughed and AJ brushed his fingers through her hair, Kevin smiled softly. AJ was flirting. There was no other way around it.

The kid was fast, Kevin had to give him that much. At only fifteen he was flirting with a senior. Maybe in other given situation, he would have tried to stop him, but the way things were still slightly rocky between them, Kevin didn't want to loose his five minutes of grace.

Jus then, Brian and Nick appeared running through the hall and stopped dead in their tracks in front of Kevin.

The dynamic duo looked at each other before resolving in a fit of giggles.

Kevin shook his head slowly. Kids. It was down right amazing the amount of energy they could have. Looking seriously at them as they calm themselves, Kevin frowned slightly. "You do remember that you two shouldn't be running around, right?"

Both devils nodded enthusiastically. They knew that. If there was something they really, really knew was that. Still... where was the fun in just standing besides the table and not doing anything. At least AJ and Howie were dancing but neither Brian nor Nick wanted to do it. Nick because he was just far too young for a senior student and Brian because he didn't feel like it. And was far too embarrassed to go over to a stranger and ask her to dance with him.

"We weren't doing anything Kev." Brian said slowly, smiling innocently. "We were just having fun."

"Still," Kevin sighed softly. He knew sometimes he just worried a little bit too much for the kids, but it was his job at the end of the day. If no one cared what the other four were doing, then they just wouldn't make it at all. "Just don't leave the room, ok? I don't want either of you getting lost."

"Don't worry Kev," Nick said, blue enchanting eyes shinning at the older man, "we won't get lost. We just wanted to find where the bathroom was, then we had a race over here."

Kevin chuckled at Nick's honesty. "I know kiddo." He said messing up Nick's hair as the blond tried his best to fight back against the evil hands.

Brian turned around, looking among the dancers. "Question," turning once again, he met Kevin's glance. "Where are the AJ and Howie?"

Kevin pointed to the dance floor where both AJ and Howie were having a blast. As if on cue, Brian found the other two members of the band the minute AJ leaned over and kissed the girl he was dancing with.

"Whoa!" Brian hollered, his eyes as big as flying saucers. He looked between Nick and Kevin before turning again and seeing the girl kissing AJ back. "Where did that come from?"

Shrugging nonchalantly but with a small smile on his lips, Kevin laughed quietly. "I have no idea, but I gotta give him some credit. He's been dancing with her for a under an hour and he's already kissing her. You gotta have some guts to do it."

"She's a senior!"

"That's exactly what I'm talking about." Kevin laughed once again as the kiss turned more passionate and AJ's hands moved from the girl's waist over to her neck. "He most certainly has a technique."

Brian, glaring at his older cousin, pouted slightly. "I could get a girl if I wanted to, you know?"

Kevin smiled innocently, fully knowing Brian wasn't really keen in asking girls out. He was just a little bit too shy to go over to a strange girl and talk with her. "Of course you could cuz. I know you could," he said -- sarcasm dripping all over.

"Are you being sarcastic?"

"Of course not."

Brian crossed his arms on his chest and puffed. "You're being sarcastic," he stated.

"Is it so difficult to ask a girl to dance?" Nick asked Kevin, blue clear eyes meeting dark green ones. He was looking up at the older man, a small frown on his face.

Kevin shook his head. "No, not really. It actually depends a lot on the girl and on the situation. It's very common for a guy to ask a girl out on a party, so it isn't that unexpected."

"It isn't that easy either Kev," Brian complained. "What if the girl shoots you down?"

He shrugged. "Then she did. That's one of the risks you take when you do it B. That's just the way things are. You always have to take changes, otherwise... you just don't live."

Nick pouted. "I don't like taking changes. I don't like girls making fun of me."

Placing his hands on Nick's shoulders, Kevin smiled tenderly. "No one likes having people make fun of them, but that's one of the risks too. To love you gotta risk something, but it's worth it. It's always worth it."

The blond frowned again. He wasn't sure he got the whole it's worth getting hurt or making a fool out of himself just so he could date a girl. Being the joke of the class isn't worth anything, he knew that much. Maybe not from personal experience, but he'd seen kids being made fun of more than once. It didn't really matter anyway. Kevin was a lot older than him, so he probably knew a lot more things that Nick did. He nodded. "Ok." He'd believe Kevin on this one.

Brian was about to refute that, to answer Kevin back about that when he felt someone poking on his shoulder. He turned around and came face to face with a young and very pretty girl dressed in a soft blue dress. She was smiling at him and her dimples were showing. Her dark black hair was pushed back on a low ponytail and her coal black eyes shone slightly under the disco ball.

"Hi," she said shyly even though her smile could light up the room.

"Hmmm," Brian stammered. "Hi."

"I was wondering," she looked down at her dress, smoothing the wrinkles only she could see. "Well, I saw you here and I was wondering if you'd like to dance with me."

"Hmmm..." Brian turned around, lifting his shoulders in a questioning matter as he looked at Kevin.

The older man made a pushing movement, his eyes wide. There was no way in hell he was going to let Brian shoot that sweet girl down. They'll dance together even if Kevin had to push Brian onto the dance floor himself. "Go," Kevin mouthed.

Turning once again, Brian smiled. "Hmm... sure. I'd like that."

The little girl nodded. "Nice."

They looked at each other for a second, not really knowing what to do, when the girl giggled. "Well," she started, her smile even more candid than before, "if we walk over there would be helpful, don't ya think?"

Brian chuckled along with her. "Yeah, you're right."

Extending her hand to Brian, she shrugged. "Lets get going then."

He took her hand gracefully and nodded. "Sure."

Smiling to each other, they left slowly, hand in hand. They had barely taken a couple of steps over to the dance floor when Kevin heard her saying "My name is Kelly by the way."

Kevin shook his head. "Well," he said as he placed his arm along Nick's shoulders, "that was something. That was most definitely something."

"Why did she ask him to dance?"

Gazing down at the blond, he found himself looking at a sea blue pair of eyes. "I'm not really sure. She probably just saw him standing here, talking with us and thought that she'd have fun dancing with him. I don't know."

"Don't guys usually ask girls out?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't have to be that way, you know? Girls can also ask boys to dance and see." Kevin hugged Nick close to his chest with one arm and pointed discretely over to where both Kelly and Brian were dancing. "Brian seems to be having fun. And that's always good."

Nick nodded. "I see." He didn't really see, but maybe this was another kind of thing he'd learn when he was older. If he felt really reluctant about asking a girl to dance, how in the world could a girl ask a boy out? He just didn't know.

As the song ended, Kevin could hear the beginning chords of a slow song. Grinning to himself, he looked over to where Brian and Kelly were dancing. Brian started looking down at the floor, suddenly intimidated by having to dance close to her. Sweet and nice Kelly giggled slightly, pushing him playfully. Kevin didn't hear what she said, but there was a huge smile on her lips. She took a step closer to Brian and placed her arms around his neck, entwining her fingers. Brian blushed a deep and very nice shade of red as he encircled her waist with his arms.

Shaking his head, Kevin chuckled. "She's one of a kind, I can tell."

Frowning slightly, Nick gazed at Kevin. "Kev? How do you dance this kind of song?"

This time it was Kevin's turn to frown. "You've never slowed dance before?"

Nick shook his head. "I've never really gone to a school dance either. I'm not really into school that much. That and I usually have practice of something when there's a dance."

"Oh." Oh, alright. So this was the very first dance of the boy and it wasn't even his dance. That wasn't good. That wasn't good at all. "Well," Kevin started, "slow dancing is not that difficult."

Kevin turned around so they were in front of each other and placed his hands on Nick's shoulders. "It's not hard at all. I'll show you." He smiled at the blond who was looking back at him with a puzzled look on his face. "Put your hands on my waist."

It was after Nick had done it that Kevin started swaying along with the music. "See? It's not so bad."

Nick was still looking at the older man, a deep frown on his face.

Kevin chuckled. "Oh Nicky, don't freed so much. Just relax and try to have some fun. Try to dance along with the music."

"I don't know how."

"Of course you do. Everyone does." In his years of Ballroom teacher Kevin had found some really stiff people -- an equally amount of both men and women -- but never encounter someone who just couldn't catch the rhythm of the music after enough time hearing it. And he was sure Nicky wasn't going to be the case.

"Come on Nick," Kevin encouraged. Closing the space between the two of them, Kevin moved his hands so they were resting behind Nick's neck. "Just follow the music. One step to your right, one step to your left. That's it. That's good." Kevin looked at Nick for a moment. "And if you smile it'd look a lot easier. I'm not killing you here, you know? We're just dancing."

Nick chuckled and blushed slightly. "Sorry. I'm just not good at slow dancing."

"You're doing just fine Nicky." And he was. They were moving from side to side along with the music. They weren't the best dancers on the floor, that he knew, but they were doing alright.

Feeling slightly daring, Kevin placed his hands on Nick's shoulders and made them turned around a couple of times.

"Ah!" Nick half yelped, half screamed, laughing all along.

"See?" Kevin asked again after they've stopped. "Dancing it's not so bad after all."

Smiling at the older man, Nick nodded. "Yeah, it isn't that bad." It wasn't as awful as he'd thought slow dancing would be, so at least that was a consolation. It was just... awkward.

Knowing that Nick was finally feeling at ease with him, Kevin started moving them around a lot more than before. Seeing Nick smiling as they slowed dance on the dance floor, Kevin couldn't help but smile back.

When the music ended, Kevin let his arms dropped to his sides. "It was nice," Kevin said lowly, grinning at the young blond.

Nick nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, it was really nice." He never thought that slow dancing would be so cool and fun at the same time. He hadn't ever thought slow dancing could be anything but horrible, so this was most certainly a new experience for him. And it had been a very interesting one.

Kevin run his fingers through Nick's soft blond hair, his hand moving along the side of his face and resting on his cheek. Caressing his face, Kevin smiled. He leaned over and planted a small kiss on the boy's forehead. "You've been a good dance partner," Kevin said when he pulled apart. "Thanks."

Nick shook his head. "No, thanks to you. I had fun."

Kevin nodded. "I'm glad you did." Smirking happily, Kevin placed his arm along the blonde's shoulders and walk them over to the food table and out of the dance floor. He had most certainly enjoyed the night. He hadn't even imagine he'd end up dancing with a thirteen year old boy, but it had been fun.

Side by side, they walked to the buffet. They had dance enough for the night.

*****

It was around one in the morning by the time both Brian and Kevin arrived at the small apartment. Kevin closed the door behind them and sighed heavily. He was dead tired and the only thing he wanted to do was take off his clothes and just crawl into bed.

"Kev?"

"Hmm?," was his only intelligible answer as he heard Brian talking with him.

Taking off his coat and hanging it neatly on the chair, Brian looked up at his older cousin. "Can I call mom?"

Kevin shook his head slowly, taking his own jacket off and placing it in the closet right away. "Brian," he started as he walked over to the chair and picked Brian's jacket. If he left it there, then it'd end up all wrinkled. "It's late. I don't think they'll awake."

"It's not that late." After dropping his white shirt on the bed, he put on his pajamas' top and sat on the bed to take off his pants.

"Yes it is. It's over one in the morning Brian, I'm sure they're asleep. You can call him tomorrow." Having his pants and white jacket neatly folded on the chair, Kevin finally felt tranquil enough as to go to bed. Wearing only his boxers, he pulled down. the sheets of the bed "It's late, Brian. Lets go to bed."

"Just a quick phone call Kev. Please?" Brian pleaded, big wide blue eyes looking back at him. He was using all the tricks on the book. "I just want to talk with them for a minute. Tell them about the ball and how much fun it was." Blushing slightly and looking down, he finished the sentence. "And about Kelly."

At Brian's words, Kevin couldn't help but smile. The two of them had been dancing together whenever they weren't singing. And when they were singing, Kevin had realized Brian couldn't take his eyes off her -- which seemed to be a mutual condition, as she was looking right back at him. "Ok, ok."

It was Brian's victory hollers and his running out of the room that muffled the rest of his sentence. Kevin walked over to the small dinning room where the phone stood. "Just a minute Brian!"

The younger man nodded happily. "Yeah. Only a minute." Putting the receiver on his ear, Brian frowned. "Kevin?" He turned around and looked at his cousin. "The phone is dead."

"What?" Kevin took the receiver from Brian's hands and heard nothing at all, specially not the steady sound of a line out. "Shit," Kevin hissed under his breath. This was just what they needed. Kevin had laid aside the bills, planning on paying them later on as he didn't have the money at the moment. Ok, so he did have the money, but if he paid the bills, then they wouldn't have money for the groceries. Still, Kevin hoped he'd have a couple more days to pay it before they ended cut out.

Shaking his head, Kevin sighed softly. "Don't worry B," he said as he placed his arm around Brian's shoulders. "I'll pay it tomorrow morning." At least now he had the money they had received for the ball and with that he could pay the lasting bills.

Brian nodded. "Yeah, it doesn't matter."

But it did matter and Kevin knew that. It matter a lot to Brian. And it wasn't really the fact that he couldn't talk with his parents, but it was all. Things weren't pretty for them at the moment and Kevin was starting to worry about their situation -- or actually continue worrying. Kevin just hoped they'd get another gig soon.

They walked over to the bedroom and crawled into the bed they now shared. Kevin's apartment was rather small, just enough for one person, but then Brian came to stay with him. He had been planning on leaving the bed to Brian alone and he'll sleep on the couch, but after sleeping on it for a week, he knew they'd have to share the bed. That thing just wasn't made to sleep on.

It was barely a minute later that Kevin heard Brian's steady breathing, indicating the young man had already fallen asleep. Looking at the ceiling, Kevin sighed softly. He had a million things to do the next day. The first thing on the list was paying the phone bill, that was for sure.