"Matt, Matty."

I growled again, burring my face deeper into the pillow. I heard a chuckle.

"Matt, honey, you really gotta wake up. We're here."

Summoning as much as strength as I could, I turned around, opening one eye. "Whatcha mean?"

Kevin chuckled again. "We're at the hotel."

My eyes barely opened as they were, I gazed around the bunk. It was still dark. I shook my head. "Too early. Gotta sleep."

I felt something pulling me slightly as I complained. "Sorry darlin'," I heard Kevin drawl. "You'll sleep in a minute. I swear."

I decided to trust him, standing up on my own two feet. I saw Kate being guided by Nick, as she seemed to be sleepwalking more than just walking. I chuckled slightly, which woke me up just another notch. At least I wasn't being guided by anyone, right?

I followed those two. Kevin was right behind me and I had no idea where the other three were. The minute I stepped off the bus, I realized it was more than just dark; it was pitch black. It must have been like the middle of the night. We entered the hotel; Kevin said something to the front desk while Nick, Kate and I went straight for the elevator. I checked my watch, curiosity being too much. I almost gasped when the hour hand was in the four and the minute hand was in the three. A quarter past four. Holy cow.

It didn't take long -- thank god -- to reach our own room. Kevin was saying something, I could hear words being said, but I didn't pay much attention. I just crawled into the bed and before my head touched the pillow, I was out.

*****

I yawned loudly, stretching my arms high to the ceiling. I was so relaxed that, if I wasn't careful, I could very easily just go back to sleep. My mind was still clouded, my mouth felt like filled with cotton, but I could assure you rare were the times I had slept so soundly.

"About time you came back to the land of the living."

I needn't to open my eyes to recognize the voice. I groaned. It was too early to be bothered. "What is it with you and why can you leave me alone for a day?" I opened my eyes slowly and stared at her glare at me.

"I left you alone the whole morning, isn't that enough? Of course, there's no way you could have noticed, since you slept it away."

"Very funny Katherine."

She shook her head, a smug smile on her lips. "You think I'm lying? Then just check your watch. It's as simple as that."

I blinked rapidly, not quite believing her -- actually not believing her at all. So I did as told. Raising my arm enough so my watch was in my eyesight, I stared at the moving hands. I had to gasp. "Holy Cow!" I turned around, wide black eyes staring at her chuckling face. "It's almost one!"

Kate nodded, happy at her success, sitting down by my side, picking at the comforter of the bed. "Yep. Around ten I thought you had passed out. And at noon, I feared you had just died, so I checked your breathing. You were indeed breathing, so I stopped worrying." She shrugged. "I think your body just decided to turn off for a while."

"Quite a while, if you ask me." I sat down, stretching as much as I could. A couple of bones popped up and it felt like I was falling apart. "Gosh, I slept... what? Twelve hours?"

She squinted her eyes, doing the math. "More around thirteen and something minutes, but I'm sure you don't count the time in between getting off the bus and into the bed, but for what Kevin told me, that didn't take you more than ten minutes."

"What are you talking about?" It was right then and there that I realized I was alone in the bed. I had to admit it, I hadn't noticed that teeny bitsy detail until she brought it up. I turned around, my eyes scanning the room and not finding my boyfriend. "Where's he anyway?"

"You don't remember?" She stopped herself, slapping her own forehead playfully. "What am I asking? Mr. I'm-too-dead-to-listen-to-what-you're-saying-so-write- it-down-on-a-paper." She chuckled once again. "It's so fun when you think about it."

"It's not fun for me Kate," I said slowly. "Where's Kev?"

"Since you weren't conscience enough as to recall what your boyfriend happened to tell you just before he left, him and the guys had an interview and photo shoot this morning. They should be getting back..." She checked her watch, chuckling once again. "In just about a couple of minutes, just in time for lunch. Or should I say breakfast?"

"Kate... Damn!" I said quickly, standing up in one movement and clasp only in my pajama bottoms, I made my way to the bathroom. Even as I closed the door after me, I could hear her laughing.

It didn't take me that long to be under the spray, trying to wash off the stickiness I could feel on my skin when I heard the door opening. I prayed it was annoying little Kate instead of Kevin.

"Quick darling, your boyfriend should be getting here any minute now."

"Shut up!"

I heard her giggling and I only wanted to strangle her. "What in the world made you let me sleep in? Why didn't you wake me?"

I didn't need to rinse the shampoo from my eyes to know she was shrugging.

"Don't know," I heard her say. "I came here to have lunch, but the guys were in a hurry. They were going to have lunch with the interviewer. Kevin said he didn't have the heart to wake you up, but he had told you they were leaving and would be back for lunch. He said you said it was fine, not to worry and kissed him goodbye. Something, of course, told me it had been the backup you and not the real you, but didn't say anything."

I heard her make a pause and just as I washed my face, I opened my eyes to see her opening the shower door and standing by my side.

"So," she continued without missing a beat, "I called for breakfast and you were still sound asleep. I played in the comp, watched some TV and when it was right after noon, I thought it'd be better to rescue your from Morpheus who seemed to be rather fond of you." She showed me her teeth and I splashed her some water. "Hey! I already took a shower!"

"Yeah, on 1997, I was there."

Kate glared at me once again. "I woke you up. You should thank me, you know? I could have left you grow cobwebs until your boyfriend came back, but I didn't. I was a good friend. I dusted you."

It's amazing how she can pull that sentence and still look innocent. "Yeah, right." I finished my shower in no more than five minutes, being pressed by the fact that I didn't want Kevin coming back from his interview and me just having woken up. Closing the shower, I walked out and reached for the towel. I was proud of myself. I had showered in less than ten minutes.

Both Kate and I walked into the bedroom as I dried my hair off and she went to get me something to wear, looking around in my suitcases.

I checked my watch. One ten. I still had time. I still had time. I kept telling myself that as Kate placed a pair of jeans and a gray sweatshirt on the bed, some socks and underwear. "I still have time," I said out loud, taking on the white t-shirt she handed me and putting it on.

"Sure," she said, but I knew she didn't believe it.

I was about to repeat my mantra when I heard the front door opening. "Oh crap," I cursed under my breath, putting on the sweatshirt. "Go out there. Distract them. Buy me sometime."

"What are you, from the mob?" She chuckled at her own lame joke. I would have slapped her with the towel if I had the time. "Alright, alright, I'm going. Just hurry."

I heard the door of the room closing just as I said, "Like I'm not doing that." I put on my jeans, the socks and sat down on the bed to tie my sneakers up. I took the towel in my hands and dried my hair once again, as I was dripping on my sweats. I threw the towel onto the bed just on time as Kevin walked into the room.

"There you are," he said, walking over to me and kissing me softly. "I had the feeling you had left, Kate wouldn't let me get in here."

That's my Katherine for you, always the inconspicuous. "No," I chuckled. "She's just crazy."

Kevin eyed me carefully, apparently realizing something was out of place. He turned around and it was there that I remembered the towel. He walked over to the bed, picking the towel up. A smile made its way to his lips when he made his way towards me and touched my hair. "It's wet."

I nodded, pouting at having to give up. "Yep. I kinda over slept."

Kevin laughed, kissing me softly, wiping the pout away. "Waking up at one? That's what I call over sleeping."

I glared at him. "I don't usually do that, let me tell you. I never do that."

"I'm not saying anything," Kevin said defensively, raising her hands. "It's cute."

I glared at him some more. "It's the first and last time something like this happens to me, I'm telling you."

"Why? There's nothing wrong sleeping late when you can. It's not like you have something to do, right?"

I shook my head as I picked up the towel and placed it in the bathroom. Damn thing had told off on me. "I don't like sleeping in," I said as I walked back into the room. "The day ends up having half the hours it should."

Kevin only chuckled. "You know what's funny?" He asked as he placed his arm around my shoulders. "I could have sworn you were awake when I said goodbye."

I didn't talk about that. I thought it'd only be safe to bring that up later on.

Kevin shrugged just as we walked into the living room.

*****

I was reading some fanfic, the laptop on my legs as I lay against the side of the couch of my room while Kate was surfing the TV. That girl. She was as predictable as sunrise. She would stay in one channel for a minute, try to see if the show would be able to draw her attention for more than a second, and then change again. As it had become something of a habit of her lately, she would put more focus on the music channels. I didn't see her interest. They didn't play anything of The Beatles.

"So," Kate started, control in hand, as she tried to start a conversation, "you worried?"

I had to frown and turn around from my beloved stories towards her. "What do you mean?"

She shrugged, her eyes still glued to the TV. And then she complains about me not paying attention to her. "About the guys talking with that Mark guy."

"Michael," I corrected her without thinking. She tends to do that. When she doesn't like someone, she purposely forgets his name. I pressed Page down, trying to read and listen to her at the same time. I can pull that off more times than not. "Not really. Why should I?"

I didn't need to look at her to know she had shrugged. "He doesn't like you."

"You've always enjoyed stating the obvious, haven't you darling?"

She sighed and turned around to see me. I knew that because I could feel her eyes on my head.

"Could you forget about that story and give me five minutes of your busy schedule?"

I didn't chuckle because I knew she would take offense on that. I only did as I was asked -- and I repeat, asked not told. I pressed the screen down, not much as to turn off the computer but enough as to look over it towards my friend. The TV was muted, giving us the space we required to talk.

"I know he doesn't like me."

"So, aren't you even a tinny bit worried?"

I had to think about my answer. I knew I had been pondering the idea of talking with Kevin about that, but two days ago, even though Kate and I had barely arrived, Kevin had made it perfectly clear where I stood. He hadn't let me leave, so that meant something. Maybe not as much as it should have given different circumstances, but it still meant a lot.

I really wanted to be mad. I wanted to be against the guy and hope he was fired. Something in the back of my mind told me that if I asked Kevin, if I requested it, he could probably do fire Michael. But I didn't care that much. Kevin's business was, after all, Kevin's business. It didn't have anything to do with me.

Keep your personal and business affair unattached one from the other; my father's words rang in my head. He hadn't really said it to my face as a father-to-son lesson, but I had heard him say it enough times as to remember it.

"Not really," I said after my very own hindsight. "There's not much I can do. He doesn't like me; I can handle that. And actually, I kinda understand him. I'm a threat to the group and he sees me as one. He's got much right to be worried about it."

She glared at me. "You're not a threat."

"I am. You'd see that if you'd stop thinking about me as your friend and start seeing me a piece of an equation. Michael knows that if someone were to find out about Kevin and me, the group would be placed in one hell of a situation. I'm dangerous and his job is to protect the guys from danger as me."

Kate shook her head, a sad smile on her lips. "I hate it when you can pull away from the situation and just see people as pieces. It frightens me."

I gave her what I thought was a reassuring smile. "I can't stop it girl. I have to. It's the only way you can make an inform decision."

"Well, I don't have to like it, do I?"

"No, you don't. But you shouldn't worry that much either. I don't really take it personally. And neither should you. I'm sure the guys are as famous as they are because Michael has kept them away from scandals like this. That's he's job and, as I can see, he's very good at what he does."

She turned her eyes from mine over to the TV. I could see her fingers moving over the remote, probably changing channels once again, even though the sound was still off.

"I don't like him."

"You don't know him."

"I know him enough as not to like him. He doesn't like us, so I don't like him."

I chuckled. "He's very much like our teacher. If we don't like them, then that means he's doing a good job."

"No it doesn't."

I didn't fight back. When she was like this, so very stuck in what she believed in, it was impossible to talked her out of it. I had learnt that lesson quite sometime ago, so I wasn't going to go against her. Not until she calmed down and I could reason with her.

We didn't say anything else. When the TV sound came back into the room, I took the conversation as finished and focused once again on my laptop. We would talk soon. Maybe not tomorrow; if someone could hold a grudge, it was definitely her.

I thought about our little conversation as I resumed my reading. He wasn't going to become my best friend, I know that, but I was sure he wasn't that bad. If he were, then the guys would have probably fired him a long time ago.

He was an executive. They don't usually get were they are by being nice and sweet. I shrugged mentally. He was protecting the boys. And I knew, that in my own way, so was I. That would have to do for now.

Chapter seventeen
Chapter nineteen
Just the truth

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