I mumbled something, burring my face deeper in the covers.

"I'm leaving. I'll be back for lunch, alright?"

I nodded, turning around and opening my eyes just enough to see Kevin's face looking down on me. I saw him all dressed, even though my brain didn't get around what he was wearing. I wasn't awake enough. "Alright. Sure."

He leaned over and kissed me on the lips. "Take care. I love you."

"Love you too," I mumbled, giving him a small smile.

He kissed me once again before walking away. I barely heard the door closing as I placed my head on the pillow.

Two seconds later, the words had been forgotten and I was asleep again.

My groggy brain tried to wrapped itself around the notion that something hit me, even though gently and on the side. I moved to the other side slightly and heard something around "'leep" and I only nodded.

My instincts told me were alert enough and I held her to my side, my mind shutting down once again. We fell asleep.

*****

It wasn't until more than just a while later that I finally woke up, only to find a body against me and, being as soft and small as it was, I was sure it wasn't Kevin.

"Wake up, dork," I mumbled, my eyes still half closed, as I pushed her lightly.

She mumbled something, shaking her head.

I looked at my watch. Nine. It wasn't that bad. I sat down, rubbing my eyes with my fists as I saw her turning around and pulling the covers over her face. I chuckled. "I don't know you," I said, standing up and stretching my arms, "but I'm hungry. If you wanna stay bed, then that's your call."

Once again, she mumbled something unintelligible.

It was then that I realized it was only Kate and I in the room. I walked over to the bedroom door and looked at the living room area. No one there. I frowned. "They guys aren't here," I said softly to myself. I tried to think back to earlier today, wondering if Kevin had said something and I had been too asleep to remember. It wouldn't have been the fist time.

During my musings and acknowledge of just how little my brain could recall while half asleep, something caught my eye. I walked over to the dresser and picked the piece of paper in my hand.

I shook my head, turning around to look at the bundle on my bed, still trying to stay asleep. She had probably said something about my lack of memory early in the morning to Nick, who, most certainly, had passed along the tip to Kevin. I groaned loudly and she barely stirred. There was no way I was gonna have any secrets if that girl kept spilling them all.

Wondering what else she had told them, I walked over to the bathroom to take a shower.

I was almost finished when I heard a loud groan -- more like a growl, but I wouldn't say that aloud -- and a minute later Kate stepped onto the bathroom.

"I was trying to sleep."

"So I figured," I said, rinsing my hair and opening my eyes to look at her.

Sitting on the toilet, shaking her head while hiding her face in her hands, she finished her business and stood up, walking over to the edge of the shower. She raised one arm, draped it above her head and against the wall, and rested her cheek against her forearm, looking at me.

"Are you done yet?" She asked, yawning. "I wanna take a shower too, you know?"

"You have your own bedroom."

She shrugged. "I don't wanna go there."

I frowned, looking at her clothing. A short and t-shirt, and nothing else. "You walked from your room to my room only in that."

She nodded, not really seeing my point.

I shook my head, washing my face and placing myself under the stream of water. "I can't believe you," I said, my eyes closed as I enjoyed the water falling over me. "I can see your breasts, you know."

I was sure I heard her shrug. "So? No one else it's on this floor and by the time I came here, the boys were gone."

"And how do you know that?"

She snorted. "Nick woke me as he left. Took my covers and all."

I chuckled, running my fingers through my hair as I opened my eyes and closed the water. I stepped out and took a towel, drying myself with it. Kate proceeded to start her own shower as I walked over to the bedroom to find myself some clothes.

"What about clothes? Or are you gonna go to your bedroom in a towel?" I asked as I rummaged though my suitcase.

"Could you--?"

I didn't need to hear the rest of the sentence to know her meaning, so I groaned, shook my head, got underwear, some shorts and a shirt on, sandals and walked out of the room. I was just reaching her door when I heard another one further down the hallway open.

I turned around, surprised, since I was sure the guys had left for the interview. But it wasn't the guys. A girl older than me with brown hair and eyes smiled and walked over to where I was standing.

"You must be Matt."

"And you Amanda," I said, offering my hand as she shook it and smile.

"I was on my way to your room. I was thinking maybe we could have breakfast together." She shrugged nonchalantly, friendly. "The guys are out and I'm starving, so..."

"Sure, just let me tell Kate."

"Oh, yeah, Kate. I heard about her too." She pointed to the room I was about to walk in. "That's her? You going to wake her?"

I nodded. "Yes, and no. This is her room," I said, sliding the card down the slot and walking inside. "But she's no here." I walked over to the bedroom while she waited for me in the living room. "I just came here for her clothes." I stopped in mid search, and I realized that sounded rather bad. I heard her chuckle and I followed. "You know what I mean."

I got her something the usual, shorts, shirt, sandals and underwear, and was out and into the hallway with Amanda in seconds. "What ya say... we meet here in twenty minutes?"

She nodded, smiling at me, and then left for hers and Alex's room.

"Kate!" I yelled at as I entered my room, "guess who I just ran into!"

*****

Taking a sip of my cup of milk, I eyed it thoughtfully. I wasn't used to it yet, but I wasn't complying -- so far. Something in the back of my head kept telling him that, the second I was back home with Kate, we'd both get back on tea.

"I'm sorry about that."

I looked up, following Amanda's eyes as she stared at my cast. I shrugged nonchalantly. "It's not really much."

"Does it hurt?" Amanda asked with a small grimace.

I shook my head. "Not really. It itches sometimes, though."

Kate nodded, picking up her toast. "He's going to lose rulers soon. I'm sure there are, at least, a couple of pencils inside that."

Amanda chuckled and I could only roll my eyes. Breakfast with Amanda had been simple and comfortable so far. We had gotten down to the Hotel's restaurant and had settled for small talk. She was easy going, not more so than Leigh, as I was not comparing them. She just... reminded me of Alex, in some ways. Peculiar, but in a good way.

I felt a poke in the side and I looked sideways at Kate. She gave me a pointed look, turning around as she got something out of her shorts' pocket. She placed it on the table and I eyed it for a second. I opened the pill case and swallow the pill before I had a second to think about my actions.

I didn't say anything. I didn't even lift my eyes. I wasn't in the mood for Amanda's questioning or, maybe even worse, realization that Alex had told her about it.

The radio resounded in the place, words flying through the air as one song ended.

I didn't hear the rest; barely even paying attention to the words that had been said as Kate asked, "how long are you staying?"

"A week, ten days maybe," she shrugged, taking a sip of her coffee. "It all depends. I've got a job in two weeks, so I thought I'd leave ahead of time." A grin made its way to her lips. "But I am staying for New York."

I frowned. "New York?"

With a Cheshire grin on her lips, she nodded. "Yep. Didn't you guys know? They’ve got two dates on NY; they are doing Uniondale if I'm correct. One of them it's on the 26th, the other for the 28th, so we've got enough time to party in between."

"New York," Kate grinned. "That should be very interesting."

Amanda nodded. "It's a blast. The best clubs ever." She paused. "You guys haven't gone clubbing yet?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

Bye Bye
Don't wanna be a fool for you
Just another player in your game for two
You may hate me but it ain't no lie,
Baby, bye, bye, bye...

"That's weird, usually they go clubbing at least once a week."

I didn't know what to say. I wanted to shrug, but I just sat there, looking at Amanda, as she wondered why in the world the guys hadn't enjoy their nights. I was as puzzled as she was.

*****

Sliding one bag over my shoulder, and two more in my hands, I jumped off the van and walked over to the bus.

"Matt! Wait up for me damnit!"

I chuckled, turning around as I looked at Kate, having a hard time taking all her stuff. "Hysteric!"

"Idiot!"

"You couple of dorks," Amanda said, lounging on the bus doorway. "Want some help?"

I shook my head. "We're fine. Kate it's just a drama queen," I said, pushing past her and into the small living room area of the bus.

"Excuse me," she said almost panting, dropping her suitcases on the floor, not really caring if something broke. "But you are the queen, not me."

I only rolled my eyes. I knew that we should be placing the bags down in the compartments specialized on that purpose exactly, but I didn't know how to open it, and since neither did Kate, then we had decided to better wait for the guys' security to do it after they were done with the show.

Looking up at Amanda, I asked her something I had been wondering. "You sure you didn't want to watch the show? We would have gone with you, but our stuff was still in the van."

"Nah," she said, shaking her head. "I've got more than enough time to watch the show." She looked at her watch; it was a little over nine pm. The guys shouldn't be taking longer than half an hour more to get here. "You guys wanna order pizza?"

I stared at her with wide eyes, and looking to my side Kate was just as confused as I was. We had never thought of ordering pizza.

She must have noticed our confusion, because she shrugged. "I don't like the food here that much. Besides, you can't live on sandwiches, can you?"

And she was right; eating the sandwiches on the food table back in the guys' dressing room wasn't what I'd call dinner.

"Sure," I said, plopping onto one of the kitchen tables while Kate got a couple of Gatorades out.

*****

The guys got back about forty minutes later, tired and sweaty, towel hanging around their necks. I grinned as I saw them walking down the hallway and over the parking lot. It was just... funny. I don't know exactly funny how, but when you see five guys all dripping sweat, it's just funny.

I turned around and jumped onto the bus, Kate right behind me. Amanda was already waiting for us in the kitchen area, a beer in hand.

I sat down by the table, my Gatorade still in hand. My eyes would have followed each one of them, wondering what exactly they did after a show, wanting to know more about the group, but they were caught by intense green ones and I was mesmerized. The corners of my lips twitched upwards as he bend over to plant a small kiss on my lips.

"Hey," he said lowly and I couldn't help but smile.

Maybe I was being corny, but it felt like, every time I was with him, I just wanted to melt. It was stupid, at least for me it was, considering how I used to behave on a regular basis. And as much as I hated to admit a cliché, love does tend to change people.

"You hungry?" Kevin walked over to the couch, sitting on the corner, his back almost resting on the armrest.

I followed him and settled by his side. In that moment, I didn't mind the sweat or the smell; I just snuggled against his arm and sighed in contempt. I was happy.

I shook my head, closing my eyes, relaxing even more as I lay there in his arms. "Amanda ordered pizza."

Kevin chuckled and shook his head. "Oh, she did?" He turned around. "'Manda, you ordered pizza?"

There was laughter in a general direction, then a snort. "Don't worry Train, I left you some."

Still chuckling, Kevin placed a kiss on my head. "I love you," he whispered against my hair and my chest seemed to constrict.

I just smiled, mumbling, "I love you too" against his side. "You could have asked me, you know?" I said regarding the whole pizza thing, "I could have told you we left you and the guys some."

"How much is some?"

I chuckled at it. Kate and I knew by now exactly the proportions in which the guys ate -- which were really stunning for five guys who were supposed to keep a healthy diet. "Enough."

We stayed like that, just comfortable in each other arms', for a moment longer. "You don't wanna take a shower?"

He placed another kiss, this one against my forehead. "I smell so bad?"

I shook my head. "It's not that, I don't mind really," I rushed in to say.

"I know," he said, almost cutting me off, and I understood that he actually knew I wasn't offended. "In a little while, I just wanted to spend sometime with you. I barely saw you today. I missed you."

I nodded. I knew it would sound bad, even though I wasn't planning on formulating it into words, but even though I had realized we had barely seen each other today, I hadn't really minded. I could even say I hadn't missed him at all.

It was bad. I knew that. I had never been the missing kind of person. I missed my grandma because she was no longer with me, but if someone was away on business or something like that, I felt comfortable with the idea as not to miss them. Gosh, it sounded awful, and I wasn't even saying the words.

So not wanting to get into an argument about being inconsiderate or something along those lines, I lifted my head and kissed him on the lips.

"I'm starving!" I heard Nick say, and then there was the sound of munching.

I chuckled slightly, shaking my head, Kevin's laughter rumbling his chest as I moved along with it.

My easily strained back started complaining about the awkward position and I had to untangle myself from Kevin's arms. I shrugged nonchalantly at his quizzical face and told him the reason; he nodded at me.

Stretching my arms towards the ceiling, a couple of vertebrae popping in the process, my eyes darted around the room. Alex was sitting by the small kitchen table with Amanda on his lap and was eating happily on two slices of pizza at the same time. I chuckled at the sight, realizing that AJ had one slice against his flat palm, the other one, turned over as sauce met sauce, over it.

Kate pushed Nick, and the blond, apparently being caught off guard, tumbled a couple of steps back. He glared back at the so-called lady, his fists up, pretending to punch her.

Hands up, Kate called him towards her. "Come on Nicky boy. Take your best shot."

"I would never hit a girl."

Kate snorted. "Because you know I'll take you."

Another snort and a roll of blue eyes. "Please, I have over seventy pounds on you."

Seizing him from head to toe, Kate shook her head, a smug smile on her features. "Looks more like ninety my friend."

I laugh lowly as Nick glared once again at her. That was low, even for Kate.

"Just because you look like a ten year old," Nick said back.

"At least I weight like one."

"Cut it out, you two!"

Kevin's response surprised me, as I thought he hadn't been paying attention; he had looked more like close to falling asleep against the couch.

Kate gave one last look at Nick, and then turned around, grabbing another slice of pizza instead. Nick, on the other hand, rolled his eyes, looking sideways -- and rather resentful -- at the pizza laid before him. He didn't seem to be willing to eat for a moment there and I kept my eyes on him, wanting to see if my suspicions were correct.

But before I could further my investigating, Alex's voice caught my attention.

"What time are the girls arriving tomorrow?"

The room, full of noise until only second ago, seemed suddenly silent and I frowned. I looked at Alex and his face scrunched up in a grimace, biting the corner of his lower lip. He had, more obvious by his behavior than the words, spilled something he wasn't meant to say.

"What girls?" I asked, turning around, looking at Kevin.

He, too, looked guilty. My eyes darted from Kevin to Alex, making a short stop at Kate's puzzled face very equal to mine, then back at Kevin.

"Anyone want a coke?" Brian asked, calling out the attention from Kevin to him, giving us as much privacy as the situation allowed.

I saw Howie nodding from the corner of my eye, still waiting for Kevin's answer. Alex was shaking his head, muttering something under his breath to Amanda on the other side of my eye line, and Amanda was talking back at him. Nick was answering Kate, since I could very easily hear their whispering.

"Well," he started slowly and it was pretty obvious he didn't know where to begin with, "there are always contest in magazines, you know? And tickets, or backstage passes being the prices it's always good publicity."

I nodded, my posture calm.

"There was this contest, a couple of weeks ago, in a magazine. The price was two days on tour with us."

I nodded again and managed to smile slightly.

"I'm sorry I forgot to tell you," Kevin hurried to say, looking rather apologetically, "I was planning on doing it today, but we didn't have time--"

My eyes were staring at him, even though I barely heard his next words. He was planning on telling me today, even though the contest was weeks ago? He had more than enough time to tell him in the past days, so lack of time was a very lousy excuse.

"-- a couple of days ago, I talked with CJ about it, remember?"

"Huh?"

"CJ, we both talked about it a couple of days ago."

I shrugged. There was no way I would have known that to be true. "I don't tend to eavesdrop conversations, you know?"

Kevin smiled tightly at my response, his nod barely visible. "Yeah, sure, I'm not saying you do."

And he was only sinking lower the more the spoke, I realized. Deeper and deeper into an endless pitch if he kept that up.

"-- it won't be that bad."

Again, I barely heard his words. "When are they arriving?" Even though, by Alex's statement, I had gathered it was tomorrow.

"Nine am," Kevin said slowly, looking at me with wide green eyes.

"Two days, you said?"

He nodded. "It was supposed to be three, but we've a lot of things to do on the third day, so we thought it'd be rather pointless for them to be with us."

"Still," I said, my voice control and a smile on face, "two days it's quite a lot for a bunch to be with their favorite singers. I'm sure they are thrilled."

This time, Kevin frowned. "You don't mind?"

I scrunched up my nose, my eyebrows shooting up in confusion. "No, why should I?"

Kevin shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't tell you," he said slowly.

"So? It's okay. It's no like we have to tell each other everything, now is it?"

Kevin flinched at my words and it only helped ignite my anger bolding inside, seething scarlet flames.

"Besides, I'm a fan myself, so I completely understand it," I said regarding X-Files.

"Yeah, well--"

"How many of them are arriving?" I asked suddenly, half cutting him off.

"Only four," Kevin said, as if the quantity made up for the fact that I had to found out from Alex's slip.

"Four? Just four?"

Kevin nodded, baffled by my question. "Yeah. Four is more than enough. It's quite a lot actually. Last time we did something like it, it was only two vacancies."

"I don't know, I thought you'd be more generous regarding the amount of people allowed to spend time with you during tour." Sarcasms was dripping from my tone so hard, it might have wet the couch while a wide smile still stood on my features, but as false as my range of forgiveness at the time.

"I'm generous," Kevin said, taken aback, "it's not easy having strange people with us, you know?"

"Oh, yeah?" I asked, astonish at such admittance.

"Yeah," Kevin said as he nodded, "we have to be extra careful with what we do. Not only do we have to watch out ourselves during interviews, but also backstage and in the hotel."

"They are joining us at the hotel?"

Kevin sighed, nodding slowly, realizing he had just admitted something else he had the misfortune of forgetting to inform me. "Yeah."

"In our floor?"

He nodded again. "Yeah. Two twin rooms with us."

"That's great," I said cheerfully, my eye catching Kate's hawk like eyes watching me carefully, "they'll get the full feeling of a tour."

"Yeah," he said remorsefully, seeming not to enjoy the idea at all.

"I can't wait to meet them."

Kevin seemed to want to say something else, when I added, "Kate and I'll bunk together -- just like old times," as an after thought.

Now Kevin was really thrown back by the statement. "What?"

"Yeah, what ya say?" I asked, turning around and looking at Kate, who could only think of nodding.

"Sure," she answered me, eyes wide and confusion plainly written on her face, though her quick answer confirmed me she had been following every word of my conversation -- or should I say discussion? -- with Kevin.

"Great," I added, looking at Kevin once again.

Defeated, Kevin found himself sighing softly. "I'll make sure you get twin beds Kate."

"No need," I hastily commented, "we can share a bed. We fit in a double one, don't we?"

Kate nodded again.

"It's not as if Kate takes up much space," I said as a slight joke, which only got a mild twitch of lips that was supposed to pass as a smile from Kevin.

"Anyways, do you want pizza?" I asked Kevin, playing the part of dutiful boyfriend, even though I felt anything but. "I'm sure you're starving."

"Nah," he said with very little conviction, "I'll hit the shower though."

I nodded at him as he stood up, placing a simple and half-heartedly kiss on my lips. I stood up in one motion, Kate following my every move, as I walked over to pick up another bottle of Gatorade.

Brian and Howie had been speaking loudly about something or the other, not really minding my conversation and I hadn't noticed Amanda and Alex had retreated to the bunks. I smiled in despite of myself. Apparently, at least one of the boys was getting some tonight.

"What was that?" Kate asked me, perplexed at what had just happened.

"Don't bother, alright?" I said softly, anger still coming out of me in waves. I felt angrier than I had in a long time, maybe because it had been a while since I had the excuse I was seeking. I let out a long sigh, trying to calm my nerves. I could feel my neck and cheeks burning and I was sure they were, or at least my cheeks, bright red.

"Where's your partner in crime, anyways?"

Kate rolled her eyes. I knew better than to believe that simple spat would keep them apart long -- specially now that they had something to talk about, like my recent fight with Kevin. "He had to go to the bathroom."

And just on cue, the blond walked into the kitchen area. "Speaking of the devil," I mumbled under my breath, taking a sip of the cold liquid, which refreshed me just the slightest. I would have preferred to place it against my cheeks, but that would have been too obvious.

"What the hell happened?" Were Nick's first words upon seeing me.

"What do you mean?" I asked back, pretending oblivion.

Nick snorted. "Kevin. I saw him on the way out of the bathroom and he looked like shit. I asked him what happened," he said, eyeing me carefully, "and he said nothing. But the thing is, I don't believe him. What happened?"

Kate opened her tinny little mouth to respond, but I beat her to it. "Nothing. Kevin is right. Nothing happened."

"Nothing, my ass."

I chocked back a bark of laughter, since his ass was anything but nothing, but kept my lips sealed at the comment that threatened to come out.

"Look, I know you're mad about him not telling you--"

"No, I'm not."

"-- but we really didn't have time today, you know that."

"You didn't have time, you say?" I waited for Nick to nod before continuing. "What about yesterday? Or the day before? The contest was like two weeks ago, and Kevin didn't even bother to tell me."

"Look--"

I shook my head forcefully. "You know what? I don't care anymore. I really don't. I'm tired, so goodnight."

With that, I turned around and walked over to my bunk. Taking off my shorts and shirt, I put on thin cotton shorts and a white shirt and climbed into the bunk. I closed my eyes and forced myself to breath regularly. I was so livid; I barely even heard AJ and Amanda making out on the other side of the small hallway in between the two rows of bunks.

I sighed. I hated this. I hated this feeling... I hated caring about it.

And so, I told myself I wouldn't. Kevin's business was Kevin's business and I had no right to demand knowledge of the same.

I didn't.

Shaking my head, I turned around, my back to the hallway, pressed as close to the wall as comfortable possible and closed my eyes.

I don't know how long it passed, but my quiescent mind felt the bunk shifting under Kevin's weight. His hand rested on my shoulder for a second and by that time, I was cool enough as not to flinch at the touch. I heard him sigh, but stirred nothing inside me.

Once again, the small cot-like bed shifted, warm waves encircling all around me, drawing me closer to Kevin's body. I felt his breathing against the back of my neck as he claimed his position by my side, his chest almost touching my back.

But I was angry, even after time had passed and my mind had dulled itself into the dreamlike state, I could still feel my veins running full of annoyance.

An arm was draped very consciously over the hollow between my hips and side, heat pouring out of his pores and into my cotton covered flesh. His fingers bushed against the trim of my shirt, only inches away of my own skin.

"I love you," was murmured against my ear, his breathing sending shivers down my spine and making the hair on my neck stand, but I said nothing. I could have answered back, maybe whispered the words and blamed it on my dream state and instinct, but I didn't. I didn't want to answer, and I wanted Kevin to know that.

I heard his breathing relaxing, his mind easing into the hands of Morpheus, and I sighed softly, my chest rising and falling onto the very common pattern for slumber. I knew the second he fell asleep, and it took me only minutes before following him.

*****

I barely felt the seconds ticked by in between I had gone to bed, Kevin's arm along my middle, and brushing my hair at ten to nine the next morning.

It wasn't as if I was awake most of that time, neither. When the bus had arrived at the hotel, I had left, my eyes still creeping with sleepiness, with Kate by my side. As far as I recall, I barely even gave Kevin a second glance as I pushed past the guys and entered Kate's suite with her. She, at least, had the grace not to say anything when our brains were barely functioning at 5%.

So we crawled into bed until eight am, when we both had a shower and now, standing before the mirror in shorts and barechest, I sighed softly.

"I still think you're overreacting."

I shook my head at Kate's words. She hadn't said anything about last night's discussion until now, and I had to give her some credit for it.

"I'm not doing anything that logic doesn't tell me to." And that was my biggest excuse. "Besides, it's not as if CJ didn't probably told Kevin to be more careful about the PDAs; and something incredibly obvious would be if I entered Kevin's room at night."

Kate sighed, dropping her towel on the bed after drying her hair. She picked up her comb, brushing her hair cautiously; it had always tangled after a shower.

"You totally rambled onto Kevin."

I snorted. "I did not."

"Don't play stupid, will you? It doesn't become you. And you did." She picked up both her towel and mine, walking into the bathroom, her voice carrying through the room. "So he forgot to tell you, big deal."

"I really don't care."

A snort, but this time it wasn't mine. "Sure you don't. You may sell that one to Kev, but I'm not as gullible."

"You're worse."

She glared at me in a very unfriendly way. "He thinks you actually don't care, and I think that's worse than you yelling at him."

"Deceive, inveigle and obfuscate."

"Oh, shut up, will ya?" She pointed the brush at me and I fought back the smirk. She looked... were, childish. "You always say that when you mess up."

"I do not."

A loud snort. "Look, what did Kevin do wrong? Care?"

I shook my head, walking over to my suitcase and pulled out a gray shirt with a small check on the left side. "He should have told me."

"Yeah, and you should have told him about your grades, so lets call it even shall we?" Kate walked over to her own suitcase and started searching for a bra, all the while still lecturing me. Only she could be naked from the waist up and still sound scowling.

"Besides," she continued, finding it and putting it on, staring at me with dark brown eyes, "it's not like you have never forgotten something that was actually important." She sighed, picking up a pinkish tank top. "Look, I get you. I know you were upset last night and I know perfectly fine that if it had been me you were mad at, I could play it cool the morning after and you most certainly would forget you were even angry at me the night before."

I didn't say anything.

"But Kevin is different. He isn't used to that... camaraderie, all right? He doesn't know that he can play it cool and be sure you're past it--"

"I'm not."

"--and he probably thinks you're still mad at him--"

"I am."

"-- and he's worrying over that." She paused, her eyebrows shooting up. "You're mad?"

I nodded. "He should--"

"Oh, cut the crap, will ya? You're not mad because he didn't told you."

"Oh, I'm not? Then why, do you say oh holder of the truth, am I mad about?"

Her voice lowered her tone, seeming contemplative more than reproachful. "Because, in hindsight, you can be very hypocrite. You wanted him to hold a higher standard with you, even if you sometimes don't to him. You wanted him to put you above everything else even when you don't do the same."

I shook my head, picking up my watch from where I had placed it on top of the dresser before I left for the bathroom. "It's not that."

"Then what?"

I sighed this time, running my fingers through my still damp hair. I shrugged. "I really don't know." I paused, my eyes glued to the floor and I could feel Kate's gaze upon me. "I've been mad at him for a while now. I just... I just needed a good reason to let it out."

"Then lets hope it's all out, because, lets face it, Kevin doesn't deserve it."

I wasn't sure if she was right or not, but as I put on my watch and my right hand middle ring, I closed my eyes slightly. I could still feel anger inside my chest, waiting for the right reason to come out pouring off me. And it would keep on waiting, if I knew something about myself.

The thing was, I probably did have a reason, I just hadn't noticed it yet.

"Can you get my earrings?"

I swirled, looking at Kate as she brushed her teeth for the second time this morning. I frowned, looking around the room. "Huh?"

"My earrings. The flower bud ones that mom gave me last summer. They're on the nightstand."

Being on the other side of the room, I squinted my eyes, trying to find the purplish earrings I knew she was talking about. She had never been the one to wear earrings, but once in a while didn't hurt.

I didn't see anything. "There are not here!"

"Yes they are," there was a pause and I heard the faucet being turned on. "I put them right there this morning."

I rolled my eyes. "Sure you did," I muttered under my breath. If I was forgetful, then she was worse.

I squinted even further, not seeing a damn thing on the nightstand besides the telephone. "They are not here Kate, I'll get the black ones--"

"No, I want those," she said, walking out of the bathroom with a look that said very nasty things would be done to me if I kept saying she hadn't gotten them out. She walked over to the nightstand, and picked them up. "See, here."

I opened my eyes wide and stared at the spot from which she had retrieved them. They had been right by the phone, even though seconds ago, they hadn't been there, for I hadn't seen them.

"I didn't seem then," I admitted.

She frowned. "You didn't?"

I shook my head. "No, I was sure--"

She blinked, shrugging as she put them on, walking over to where I was standing. "That's weird."

I wondered about it for a moment before dismissing it absently.

"We'll be late."

I shrugged it off. "Like we're so important to this get-together." I sighed softly, following her out of the bedroom and into the living room area. "It's not like we're part of the group, you know? Why do we have to be there when they arrive?"

She sighed tiredly. "Because the guys wanted us there, alright?"

I rolled my eyes, wanting to answer back, but we had just reached the door and I really didn't want to get into a fight with her with the guys around.

We walked through the hallway and towards Kevin's bedroom. Kate knocked once before walking in. The rest of the gang was already there, breakfast served on the carts, placed to one side of the room. Howie was talking with Alex and Amanda who was sitting on AJ's lap.

"Yo, Kate," Nick said the minute we entered, standing up and walking towards us, "I've been meaning to ask you something." He grabbed her arm and took her away.

My cover blown up, I walked over to one of the couches and sat down. I was starting to wish I had brought my laptop, or a book, or something to entertain myself when I felt the couch shift. I didn't need to turn around to know it was Kevin.

"Hey there," Kevin drawled, a soft smile on his face, but apprehension still visible. "How are you?"

The corners of my lips twitched upwards in a ghost of a smile. "Fine. How about you?"

It was polite chitchat, but I wasn't in the mood for anything else. Somehow, I hadn't gotten over him lying to me, which I knew was hypocrite of me.

Kevin sighed, his eyes darkening, as he lower his head. "Look," his voice was low once again, his eyes looking over to the other side of the room, the guys too busy with their own things to notice us talking. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean..." he trailed off, running his hand through his short spiky hair. "I should have told you, I know that, I just--"

But before he could finish the sentence, before he could properly apologize and I could feel this annoyance leave me, the door opened and all eight of us turned around to look at CJ entering the room.

"Guys, I just talked with Grace, she was in charge of the contest," she said, enlightening us, her clipboard on her hand, "and she said they are on their way here. They should be arriving in five, to ten minutes."

Kevin nodded, his personality taking the best of him, getting in charge of the situation in one blink. "They've been picked up already?"

"Yes," she said, nodding, "all four of them. There are just a couple of things I wanna get straight before they arrive." She paused and checked her clipboard, even though I was sure she knew her regulations by heart. "Be careful with what you say," she grinned, "but you already know that. If asked about girlfriends," she looked right at Kevin, then Nick and Howie, "wave it off. Make some wiseass comment and leave it at that."

Nick rolled his eyes and I got the impression this wasn't the first time something along those lines had been said to them. Kevin seemed exasperate from some reason, and then I realized that they are probably sick of hearing the same warnings every time they have to stay with fans for a long period of time. I remembered just how annoying it was when my parents gave me the same admonitions over and over again, I remembered thinking that they should know I already know this by now. I remembered getting pissed as hell.

So when Howie's lower lip twitched, I knew they were just as mad as I had been back then.

But CJ continued. "I can bet my money that at least two of these girls have websites, and I don't want any kind of info on the Internet, so be extra careful."

There were nods all around the room, but barely one was heartfelt -- Amanda's. I only needed to give Kate a glance to confirm that we both, even if not acknowledged by CJ, had decided to watch our words. The guys had the experience, but we had the confidence to know when to blend with the background and let them be.

"Be extra careful with what you do." I have no idea why, but she looked at me. "I don't want to pick up after you guys. This thing should go as smoothly as possible." Her tone lowered. "Watch out for the PDAs," she turned around and glared at Alex, who only chuckled and saluted her. Amanda shrugged as she got off Alex's lap and sat by his side. "Specially you Kevin."

Kevin's face hardened, but he nodded, his eyes darkening. I was sure CJ noticed, but she probably didn't care about Kevin's reaction as long as her comment was taken notice.

"I don't want--"

"I know," Kevin almost snarled, his voice a deep rumble from within, his drawl thick. "Matt and I know."

She smiled, easing up the tension. "I know you know Kevin, and I'm sure you already told Matt." I didn't say anything. I wasn't going to get Kevin in any trouble. "I just wanted to get a couple of things clear."

Kevin's nose flared.

"No holding hands, not talking quietly, not even looking at each all lovey-dovey, alright?" Brown eyes stared at me, scrutinizing, but I kept my ground. "And, of course, no kissing."

Kevin snorted, and I wanted to second that one, but I felt that this was a fight that Kevin had to do. He wanted to set things straight. To draw a line.

"We're not idiots Claude, so don't act like it," Kevin's voice was low and sharp, cutting metal with one swift movement.

"I know--"

"Then stop saying things like I'm a seventeen year old and I don't know the business, alright? I've been in this kind of situations a lot longer than you."

I didn't exactly grasped what he meant, but a flinch from Nick told me the rest of the gang knew perfectly well. I wondered about it for a second before deciding that I was going to get a more accurate response if I asked Nick. And when I ran Kevin's words through my mind once again, trying to catch that something I deemed I hadn't, I heard like I'm a seventeen year old. He possibly hadn't done it intentionally, but if he felt like every seventeen year old was stupid, then I could very well feel offended about that. I was barely eighteen, and it seemed, for Kevin, that wasn't old enough.

"I just want to make sure you guys remember, alright?"

I nodded, even though annoyed at the words she had spoken and at Kevin's own response. This may be the first time I was in that kind of situation, but I did know how to keep a low profile when required, and I could distinguished what things to do and what not to with the girls around.

For Kevin, it took a second longer than necessarily to acquiesce, but he finally did it, his jaw still set. I didn't like that gaze on his face; it seemed like he was ready to battle, to fight CJ on that one, but I knew better. Still, it kept me wondering if Kevin had ever gone against their Press Liaison's wishes.

"That's pretty much it. I hope I don't have to remind you guys to be careful during the next two days, so..." She left that hanging, a promise of slow death on the air.

A soft snort came from Howie's lips, and it seemed like I was the only one who noticed, because no one else turned around to see Howie's hands clenched into fists.

"I hope there isn't a problem regarding greetings," she added after a second.

I frowned slightly, not getting her words, until I separated them and analyzed them. Something told me she was talking about the girls freaking out when they met the guys.

Nick said absently, "that'd be cool, you know?"

She seemed to want to make a comment, but there was a ringing noise -- not the usual phone ring, but different, shorter -- and she got her Nextel out from where it had been fastened to the left side of her bell buckle.

Pressing a button on the side, she talked to the end of the same, not pressing it to her ear. "Yeah?"

The sound came loud and clear for all of us to hear. "We're on our way up."

"Roger that." CJ turned around, grinned. "Show time boys."

I believed that was Carl's voice, but I couldn't be sure. It was enough to let us know the girls had arrived at the hotel.

Kevin only had time to turn around, give me a soft and pleading look. Sorry, it meant. I wanna talk with you later. I'm so sorry.

I smiled in resignation and shrugged. I wasn't bothered by it, but Kevin certainly was. I smiled softly. In a romantic spur of the moment, something that astonished me for it wasn't my character, feeling that I didn't know when I'd get a minute with him alone, I leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

When I pulled away, Kevin's features had relaxed, and I saw CJ giving me a pointed look. I shrugged with a lopsided grin, and she let it go.

Only seconds later, there was a knock on the door and I knew it was time. Four strangers were going to join us for the next two days and I was sure it wasn't going to be pleasant.

I turned around and walked over to Kate, leaving Kevin to do his business, be the stoic person he was and lead the way when the girls came in.

Kate smiled sweetly at me, and she didn't need to voice her thoughts for me to understand them. You did great, she would say. Just what I hoped you would. And all that from a small kiss on the lips. She was a sucker for romantics.

But before I could say anything, before she could tell me anything, there was a knock on the door, and CJ opened it.

A young girl with brownish hair falling onto her shoulders walked in, looking coyly at the guys and biting her lip so hard, I was sure she'd drawn blood in a second.

"Hi," Kevin said, extending his hand. "Nice to meet you."

She half nodded, placing her hand in her pockets nervously, giggled a little bit then ducked her head. Kevin chuckled at her reaction and didn't take it personally that she didn't shake his hand. Something told me that she was sure that if she touched him, she'd loose what little grip she had over her actions at the moment.

Another girl, of about eighteen or nineteen, looking as controlled as ever, walked in, nodded, and then introduced herself. "I'm Sophie, nice to meet you all." She had lovely reddish hair, clear blue eyes and a body I'm sure even Kate would envy. She was gorgeous.

When the other two girls entered, order was lost somewhere and the guys started introducing themselves as the girls giggled and laughed and hugged them. Words flew by and CJ rolled her eyes as she had lost control over the situation. Kate and I just stood to the side and watched as the guys did what they were great at: being natural handling fans. Even Amanda was introduced and started talking with the girls.

Suddenly, and not surprisingly, I felt out of place.

"Well," CJ spoke above all madness and noise in the room, "what ya say we get to know each other?" She had a tight smile on her features and she was gripping her clipboard with almost white knuckles. She wasn't pleased at all.

"Ten to one she ends up yelling at them," Kate muttered under her breath, leaning over to my side.

I placed my arm around her shoulders and she accommodated herself in the embrace as I chuckled. "Don't be like that."

She giggled. "I hope it's Nick."

"You would, wouldn't you?"

She just lifted her eyebrows and smiled with glee.

"I think you already know the guys," CJ said with a small grin, "why don't we start with your names."

Sophie nodded and looked around, but the other three seemed a little shy. "I think I'll start then," she said, "I'm Sophie and it's really great to be able to join you guys." She shrugged. "I don't know what else to say, I've always sucked at intros and whenever I had to talk in public at school, I'd change places with my friend."

Nick chuckled and nodded, understanding her feelings. I guess he used to be shy when he was younger.

CJ looked at the girl with brownish hair that had entered first, but she seemed rather reluctant of speaking. CJ sighed softly and I only noticed because I was watching her reactions carefully. "What about you?" She asked, talking pointedly to a blond girl with tight jeans, a navel piercing and far too much make up for my taste.

"I'm Sandra," she said with a sly smile, looking Nick up and down, her eyes then traveling to Kevin.

I frowned.

"It's amazing to be here. I just..." she lifted her arms and sighed with a happy look on her face and a wink of her eye, "love your music, you know? You guys rock. I've seen almost every concert in this tour and I think you should sell more backstage passes, because I've never gotten one and I've tried a lot."

"Bitch," Kate whispered in my ear when she turned around, her cheek against my neck and I bit back my laugh. "Bitch with capital B."

"Shh!" It wasn't that I liked this Sandra girl, but the B word was a little bit too much. "You don't know her," I whispered back.

"I don't need to."

I rolled my eyes and when I focused again on the girls, another girl was takling. She had brownish hair as well, but shorter. It was barely reaching her jaw, but it fit her face perfectly, surrounding it and calling out attention on her green eyes.

She chuckled a little and Brian followed in, Nick right behind him. That only seemed to tick her off more, and it was a good ten seconds before she finished laughing. "I'm sorry," she said in between breaths, "I laugh all the time, and when I'm nervous, I'm worse." She took in a deep breath, closing her eyes and obviously trying to calm herself. She managed it. "I'm Cassie. I'm seventeen and a great fan of you guys. It was sheer luck I got this chance to meet you. I wasn't even going to sign up for the contest, but a friend forced me to and here I am." She shrugged her shoulders. "I guess that's it."

The shyest of them seemed to be caught between a stone and a hard place, because she had just run out of people who could talk before her. "I'm Megan," she said softly, placing a lock of brow hair behind her right ear and shrugged, looking at the floor. "I'm sixteen and very lucky. Very, very lucky."

When that seemed to be all she was about to disclose, the guys, being their charming usual selves, proceeded to hug them, talk to them, and try their best to make them feel comfortable in such a menacing environment. Meanwhile, Kate and I just looked at each other.

"What are we?" She asked lowly into my ear. "Chopped liver?"

I shrugged, and it was obvious I wasn't half as bothered as Kate clearly was. I didn't mind staying anonymous. As far as I was concern, it was a whole lot better.

"Just so we're all in the same page," Kevin said over the noise, getting the attention of the girls. I saw Sandra standing a little bit too close to Nick, and from the corner of my eye I could see Kate's face scrunching up, her frown deepening and her eyes narrowing. I guessed she concurred.

"I'm sure you all know Amanda by now," he continued with a small smile, turning to look at Amanda who grinned at the girls, "but we've got a couple of friends along for the tour." He turned towards where we were standing, and I felt more than saw Kate pulling herself upright, her lips tightening into a thin line. "These are Kate and Matt."

Kate nodded and I just smiled sheepishly.

"They felt summer was too boring without traveling Backstreet style," Nick said with a big grin.

"Yeah," Alex continued, walking over to us and tilted his head to Kate who rolled her eyes, "we figured we'd take pity on them and let them tag along."

"Yeah, right." I snorted.

"What, you thought you'd do your charity of the day and let us peasants join you for the season?" Kate asked, her left hand on her hip while her right one slid around my waist.

"Yep man, didn't we tell you?" Howie asked with a confused look.

"You say that again Howard," Kate said with a threatening look, "and you'll wake up with half your hair."

"Ouch." I said as Howie grimaced at the thought.

"You wouldn't," he muttered in outrage.

"I wouldn't dare her if I were you. She loves dares."

"I can second that," Nick said with a pained expression on his face and Brian laughed at him.

"Scared of a little girl?"

"Who are you calling little Littrell? I can take you down."

Brian looked incredulous.

"Wanna try?"

But Brian had always had a good head on his shoulders and he thought about it for a second before shaking his head. "Nope. I know I can't win with women."

"Leigh thought you that, didn't she rock?"

"Shut up Bone or Amanda will wipe the floor with ya."

Alex, having Amanda only a couple of feet beside him, smiled sweetly at Kate and retreated to his place by Manda's side.

"Smart boy," Kate whispered and winked at Amanda, who grinned from ear to ear.

"Anyhow," CJ said loudly, enunciating each word carefully, as to make sure everyone's attention was on her and another rant of this didn't start, "we were getting the intros done, remember?" She paused and looked at the whole gang before checking her watch. "That being done," she continued, "I think it's time for breakfast before it gets too cold."

Chaos erupted in a second and CJ just rolled her eyes. Each one of the guys made their way to the cart and started serving food, Kate and I figured we'd better hurry in case they were extra hungry and we ended up having to other a second batch -- which has happened a couple of times.

Sandra stuck like glue to Nick and I saw Kate giving the evil eye to the blond. I tighten my hold on her shoulders, just in case she decided to redecorate the room with Sandra's body, and walked over to the cart with her. I saw Megan looking all lost in the middle of the room and took pity on her.

"Hey there," I said as I approach her.

She turned around and looked at me with such a fearsome look, I thought I must look horrible this morning. "Hmm... what do I do?"

"It's breakfast time," Kate said with an easygoing smile, trying to make her warm up to us. "And with these guys," she said, jerking her thumb towards the boys, "it's every man for its own, so you better hurry unless you decide to lent today."

We close to push her toward the cart where we saw Sophie and Cassie talking amicably -- it was obvious they were fast friends. It reminded me of that time we had met Danielle and Ashley outside the venue. It seemed like, wherever you put two Backstreet fans together, they become best friends in .2 seconds. It must the magic of the boys.

"Hi... Sophie, right?"

Sophie nodded, filling her plate with scrambled eggs and bacon. "Yep. I'm Sophie and this is Cassie." Cassie waved at us as she placed a slice of bread and a small amount of eggs on her plate. "Nice to meet you."

"Same here," Kate said, grinning at the girls.

I heard them start talking while I filled Kate's and my own plate.

"How long have you two known the guys?"

Kate frowned, doing some math on her mind and apparently falling miserably. "Let me see... we met them..."

I saw in her expression that she had been about to say March, but stopped herself just in time.

"Ages ago," she said with a small smile. "I met Nick when we were little, so it just went from there on."

"You staying for the rest of the summer?"

I nodded at Cassie's question. "Yep. We don't have anything better to do."

"I thought we could do laundry back home, but Nick talked us into it."

Sophie got the joke and chuckled along, Cassie just shook her head at the silliness of the statement.

We sat by one of the couches, the girls following us.

"I figured you'd sit with the guys," I told them.

Cassie shook her head. "It's breakfast. We have plenty of time to be teenies."

"Teenies?"

Sophie nodded, eating a piece of her bacon with eggs. "Yep. Really annoying little girls. We get like that from time to time."

"Just a question," Kate said, pointing her fork at both Cassie and Sophie, "do you two know each other from before?"

Both of the girls shook their heads. "Nope, but we met a couple of days ago when the Magazine contacted us about the contest and rules and stuff."

"Rules?" Kate frowned.

"That woman that's with the guys," Megan whispered, looking right at CJ who was talking with Kevin in hushed tones, "told us a bunch of things."

I didn't know what surprised me the most: the fact that Megan actually talked, or that CJ had scanned the girls. But at the same time I figured CJ had a reason. After all, there had to be some things not even the girls could get their hands into.

"It started with the basics, like no asking the boys' for private information, like addresses or phone numbers," Cassie said with a roll of her eyes.

"And it went all the way," Sophie continued, "to really weird stuff. Like the hotel rooms are totally off limits."

"Like I'm gonna burst into Brian's bedroom and demand he has sex with me," Cassie chuckled at her own idea. "I like him, sure, but I do not want Leigh to kill me, if you know what I mean."

"But I do think there's someone willing the take the risk," Sophie added, giving Sandra a pointed look.

I turned around just to see her placing her hand on Nick's shoulder and running down his arm. I frowned. "Is that allowed?"

"If you have common sense, no." Sophie shrugged, filling her fork with eggs and a bit of bacon. "But I guess she doesn't."

"How can she do that?" Megan asked, half talking to us, half talking to herself. "I can barely talk with the guys without making a fool of myself. How can she do... that?"

"That's when you have no respect whatsoever for yourself, a very tight skirt, and enough make up to qualify for Drag Queen of the year."

Kate laughed at Sophie's description, almost choking on her breakfast. I started patting her back, and it wasn't exactly to keep her from choking.

"I'm fine!" She told me after a minute and I just shrugged.

"Just looking out for your well being."

"Then I'd rather be left alone, thank you very much."

"You two are cute," Megan said with a small smile.

"Thanks." Kate said, smiling back. "I'm the cute one and he puts a cringe on my style."

"Oh, shut up and eat your eggs, will ya?"

"Whatever."

Cassie chuckled, and Sophie giggled. "You're so married," the redhead told us and Kate shrugged.

"It depends from the point of view," Kate said with an enigmatic smile. "Because, if that's so, then I want the divorce and half your stuff. Oh, and a 25000 alimony."

"I don't have that kind of money."

"Then get a job."

I shook my head and picked up my cup with my right hand.

"Whatever happened to you?" Cassie asked.

I followed her line of sight and shrugged nonchalantly when it stared at my plaster. "An accident." I really didn't want to elaborate, but the girls didn't seem to settle for a two words answer. "I was playing basket with the guys and Nick decided to play star and bumped into me. Now, I know I suck on the sports, but that was no reason to throw me to the floor. Next thing I know, it felt like someone had chewed on my arm and spit it out."

"Ouch."

I nodded at Megan sum up of my pain.

"It hurts like a bitch," Sophie said. "I've had like five fractures."

"Clumsy?" Cassie asked with a raise of her eyebrow.

Sophie shook her head. "Not exactly. I think I'm just a little bit shortsighted." She grinned sleeplessly. "Or bad luck. I fractured my arm once while running. My right leg another time when I fell off my bed because I figured if I didn't get to paint my roof, I'd die trying. Mom says I was close."

I chuckled at her description, Kate rolling her eyes. My eyes drifted over to Kevin standing on the other side of the room, still talking with CJ, a cup of his coffee in his hand. I waited for a second to see if he turned around and just as I was about to turn back, Kevin's eyes gazed over to me and gave me a small smile. I could only smile back, grinning behind my cup of milk as I took a sip. Another second ticked by and Kevin's eyes turned back to CJ, the woman talking to him about something I couldn't hear.

I let out a soft sigh as my attention was drawn back to the girls when Kate laughed out loud, leaning over to my side and stealing a fork of scrambled eggs. I chuckled, pinched her leg, for which she yelped, and then shook my head.