Chapter Twenty-Two: If.I.Didn't.Have.You/End.Of.The.Road...?[PART ONE] Brian opened the front door with an arm around Jenny.
"We're soaked..." Jenny muttered, slipping off her shoes. She placed her hand in Brian's awaiting one and they headed to the family room.
"That's okay...No Hannah here to-" Brian stopped mid sentence. In front of them sat all of us - minus Cathy and Howie who were in the kitchen - scattered around the family room, back from our trip to see Center Stage...oh yeah, and that dinner at the Cheesecake Factory....
"You GUYS!" Hannah yelped, jumping up from her seat, before she ran off to get the towels.
"Are you two...?" Chin's eyes grew wide when she saw Brian and Jenny holding hands. Jenny smiled and Brian nodded. "Oh...My...AHHH!" Chin jumped from sitting in front of AJ, on the floor, and ran to hug them.
"CHIN!" AJ exclaimed. He had just finished setting up for him to highlight her hair..."Cathy, Cathy, Cathy..." Howie shook his head and leaned over the spill on the kitchen floor.
"Howard, Howard, Howard..." she grinned. He looked up from wiping the floor and smiled.
"You spill everything...Come here..." Howie held out his arms for a hug. Cathy smiled and bent down to hug him."DIE!!!" I yelled and bumped Kevin with my shoulder.
"After YOU!!!" he growled back and gripped his control, nudging me with his elbow.
"You guys are hilarious..." Hannah giggled softly with Lance's sleeping head on her lap.
"When can I play?" Nick whined. Julie shook her head and held onto him tighter.
"Chin, stop moving!" AJ grumbled, he pushed his elbows down on her shoulders, careful not to touch anything but her hair with his gloved dye-covered hands.
"This is taking forever!" Chin whined.
"Patience..." AJ whispered to her. Chin gave a huff and slumped down.
"How'd you ever get her to let you do that?" Cathy asked AJ incredulously, as she and Howie entered the family room. AJ just grinned.
"I must have been on something," Chin muttered.
"Soooo...what are we doing to wrap up the birthday extravaganza?" Jenny smiled as Brian tightened his arms around her waist, nuzzling into her neck.
"Water park?"
"Not again!"
"Universal Studios...?"
"Nah..."
"Disneyland?" I piped up. "But it's sorta off-season. Some rides may be down cuz they need to be ready for summer..."
Everyone sat in thought.
"Doesn't matter. Less crowds, the better. Sounds like a good idea..." Nick thought aloud. "This year it can be for Julie's birthday...Next year someone else's...and we won't stop till everyone is accounted for!" he waved his hands in the air, as if set on his decision. We smiled at him.
"Yeah...Tradition!" Kevin grinned and dropped his Nintendo control.
"I won!" I happily laughed. Everyone joined in as Kevin groaned.~*~*~*~
(the next morning)
"So when are we going?" Cathy sat down with her bowl of cereal.
"Tomorrow?" Howie suggested, sitting next to her.
"The day after...or even after that?" Hannah mumbled, swallowing a piece of her blueberry bagel.
"Sure..." I sighed and plopped down in a seat at the kitchen counter. One by one, everyone else appeared in the kitchen, in search of morning sustenance.
"So..." AJ grinned, sitting next to Chin. "Who do you girls think the cutest Backstreet Boy is?" he asked innocently, out of the blue, chewing on a piece of toast.
"Oh geez..." Chin groaned and placed her head in one of her hands. Howie laughed, nearly choking on his orange juice, while Nick and Brian grinned, raising an eyebrow at their girlfriends.
"Nick...of course!" Julie said on his behalf, wrapping an arm around him.
"What about me?" Kevin frowned, glancing at me. I rolled my eyes and returned to my breakfast.
"No fair!" Lance pouted. Hannah snickered, trying not to drop her glass of milk.
"Alex, stop looking at me like that!" Chin exclaimed, "I'm trying to eat!"
As the others joked about who the cutest Boy was, Brian leaned over the corner of the table, towards Jenny.
"Hello," he whispered.
"Hello," Jenny whispered back, playing along.
"I wanna tell you a secret."
"Ok...I promise I won't tell."
"Disneyland is gonna be perfect...cuz you'll be with me."
"Is that the secret?" Jenny smiled.
"No," Brian looked at the ceiling, pretending it was nothing special.
"Then what's the secret?" Jenny leaned closer. His eyes met hers.
"I love you."(later)
Julie had picked up a newspaper and moved outside to the hammock. Jenny, having finished her breakfast, had gone to feed the dogs. Cathy and Hannah had taken their breakfast to the family room and turned on the TV. I was searching for milk in the fridge.
"Sarah, while you're there, can you get me some aj?" Chin mumbled from her stool.
AJ, as well as the other guys, practically choked on any food or liquid that had been in their mouths.
"WHAT?"
Chin looked at them oddly.
"What do you call orange juice?" she asked the bewildered guys.
"Um, orange juice," Nick answered, confused.
"Or oj," she said, munching on one of her Eggo waffles that had just popped out of the toaster.
"And, thus, what do you think this is?" I joined in Chin's explanation, placing a glass and container on the counter in front of her.
"Apple...juice," Chin explained slowly, pouring herself a glass.
"Ohhh..."(around noon)
AJ shuffled a deck of cards as he walked down the stairs. Breezing through the hallway, he called out to everyone.
"Guys! Time for a little game of poker!" he yelled. He heard a couple groans from upstairs. AJ walked into the family room to find Chin sitting on the sofa, reading a book. "Hey, you..." he smiled.
"Did I hear you correctly?" Chin kept her eyes on her book. "A little game of poker, eh, Alex?" She glanced up at him, over her reading glasses. "We aren't planning anything...bad...are we, now?"
"Of course not!" AJ exclaimed, sitting down next to her. "Your hair looks beautiful," he leaned closer, whispering in her ear.
"Really? See, I found this really hot hairdresser who did it for free..." Chin put down her book, grinning.
"We still playing?" Howie asked, walking up with Cathy.
"Yup!" AJ sat up and shuffled his cards again.
"Why?" we heard Julie whine. A second later she appeared...only because Nick was dragging her.
"Nicky, why are you so interested? Weren't you down to your underwear last time we played?" Cathy laughed, sitting down at one of the couches.
"So were a couple of other guys..." Chin added, smirking at AJ, who gave her a sly smile.
"We're here!" Kevin announced as he shoved me into the room with him. I pouted and plopped down next to Cathy.
"Again?" Hannah grumbled as she and Lance strolled in.
"How come it's always the girls who complain?" AJ noted. Chin and Cathy sat up and frowned.
"We didn't!" they exclaimed.
"Anyways...You guys up for strip poker?" AJ smiled. Half the girls groaned.
"You are totally on," Chin challenged him. I swatted her.
"What's the matter with you?" I demanded. She winked at me and I sighed. Not again...
"But the worst is underwear," Cathy warned all of us.
"AW!" the guys whined. Chin crossed her arms.
"Take it or leave it," Chin stated in reply.
"I'll take it," AJ concluded. He and Chin shook hands.
"We just need a second..." Jenny glanced at us. We caught on and nodded.
"No adding clothes!" Nick whined. She nailed him with a pillow.
"Deal," Cathy grabbed Chin and my wrists and took off toward the stairs.
(a few minutes later)
"Wow, you girls didn't have to get all dressed up for us!" Kevin joked as we entered and settled ourselves around the family room.
"Just fixing our hair..." Jenny winked at us.
"So we ready?" AJ asked.
"Wait, are we having partners again? I still don't really know how to play this stupid game..." I mumbled.
"Yeah, sure...And it's not stupid...Same partners?" AJ glanced at everyone. We all nodded and he dealt the cards.
Nick had his left arm looped around Julie's right arm, her head on his shoulder. Both were holding their set of cards in front of them with their free hands. Brian had an arm draped around Jenny and they concentrated on the cards dealt to them, their cheeks brushing against each other. AJ had pulled Chin into his lap and had his arms wrapped tightly around her waist as she held the cards for both of them to view. Howie and Cathy sat close to each other; Cathy laughed at the deck Howie held. Lance and Hannah sat hand in hand, their fingers intertwined. Kevin had swung his arm around my waist and held me tight against him, ignoring my complaints. I stopped struggling and squirming to smile lightly as he flashed our cards and whispered into my ear.
"What are we going to do with these cards?" he groaned. I laughed and shrugged.
"You're the pro, here..."
(later)
"HA! We won!" Nick declared. "Everyone strip something off!" he grinned. Julie shook her head.
"Sure, no biggie..." Cathy smiled. She reached up and pulled a bobby pin out of her hair and tossed it in the middle of the circle we had created. "Happy?"
"WHAT!?!" the guys all exclaimed.
"What the hell is THAT!?" AJ yelped.
"A bobby pin..." Chin informed, tossing one in too. The guys glared at us as each one of us threw one in.
"Not fair..." Kevin shook his head.
"But it's okay..."Howie spoke up and reached up his sleeve and pulled out a rubber band.
"WHAT!?" we yelped, causing the guys to laugh.
"We learned from last time..." Lance unraveled a rubber band that had been wrapped around his toe.
"That's even more ridiculous!" I laughed.
"And a ton of bobby pins aren't?" Brian raised an eyebrow.
"Fine, we all got each other," Hannah smiled. "Let's just wait and see who has more bobby pins and who has more rubber-bands..." she smirked at the guys as AJ dealt another hand.(that afternoon)
"KEVIN! I can't find it!" I yelled, rummaging through his suitcase.
"Arrite, I'm coming!" he yelled back from downstairs. Where was this freaking hat of his? I tossed some of his clothes onto the nearby bed. A piece of paper fell from a pocket of one of his jeans and floated to the ground. I leaned down to pick it up. It was dated 4-7-00. Why did that date strangely remind me of something...what was it?
"Hey..." Kevin showed up in the doorway. His gaze fell to what was in my hands. "W-what are you reading?" Kevin gasped.
"Hey..." I muttered, concentrating on the paper in my hands. Words were scribbled on it...lyrics.It's true "Hey!" Kevin yelped and snatched the paper away. "You're not supposed to see that!"
I mean it
From the bottom of my heart
Yeah, it's true
Without you I would fall...apart
"You know..."I began, smiling, "It's rude to grab...You should have just asked; I would have given it to you..."
"Sure you would've..." Kevin smirked, "After you ran out of the room and showed the rest of the house before I got to you."
"Well...It makes no difference...I've already memorized it, anyway!" I grinned and shot out of the room. I screamed as I ran for sanctuary my room when I realized he was right behind me. But everyone else was still downstairs; there was no point in yelling for help. He slammed my door behind us and stopped my sprint to my bathroom by wrapping his right arm around my waist. I made an exaggerated OOF sound in complaint. His left arm turned me around.
"Don't tell anyone, please?" he whispered seriously, keeping both arms around my waist. I immediately dropped my joking/complaining attitude.
"Why?" I asked softly. "It's beautiful...why can't I tell anyone?"
"The guys don't even know about it...Hell, I don't know if anything will come of it," he looked down. "I don't want to make a big deal of it...I just scribbled it out when you guys were gone and..." his voice trailed off.
"When we were gone?" I asked, confused. Then it dawned on me. That date. 4-7-00. "When we were...kidnapped," I whispered, understanding. He looked up and met my eyes again, nodding slowly. "Oh, Kevin..." I hugged him, standing on my tiptoes. His arms tightened around my waist as placed his chin on the top of my head and closed his eyes.
"I didn't want the others to worry about what I was going through, you know? We were all worried about you three, we all kept our feelings in...I just needed some sort of outlet. I had completely forgotten about it...until now," he spoke into my hair. I rested the side of my face on his chest, letting my heels touch the floor.
"I'm fine, we're fine...you don't have to worry anymore." I tried to soothe him.
"Yeah, I know," he pulled back a little bit, smiling lightly at me.
"I'm just the big sap who's too sensitive."
"You're perfect as you are," I assured him, placing one hand on his cheek, looking into his emerald eyes. There was silence. "C'mon, we'd better get downstairs or they'll leave without us," I said, making an excuse to fully pull out of our embrace. I grabbed his hand and dragged him downstairs.(a few hours later)
"Nick, move your elbow."
"Move your elbow," Nick shot back, concentrating on his work. AJ glared at him, got up, and went to sit down by Chin.
We had somehow dragged the guys to do a "girlie" thing - painting ceramics. We were the only ones in the place because the guys asked the manager to close it off - they didn't want any possible fan-oriented events to happen in a place full of breakable things. We were dispersed around the large room, surrounded by paints, mosaics, and shelves of unpainted ceramics.
"Whatcha painting?" Brian leaned over Jenny's shoulder.
"Hey! No peeking! You promised!" Jenny leaned over her art.
"Come ON!" Brian whined and poked her. She made an annoyed noise and got up.
"That's it! I'm sitting by Chin!" she exclaimed and walked away from a pouting Brian. "AJ, can you go sit by Brian for me, please?" Jenny begged as she approached the table where he and Chin sat at. He frowned. "Please?" Jenny gave him puppy dog eyes.
"Hey! Only mine are supposed to work on him!" Chin jokingly glared at her friend. She turned to AJ. "Go on, ALex, before she tries to seduce you." Chin nudged him and he hesitated, pretending to think it over. "AJ!" Chin exclaimed.
"Arright! I was just kidding..." He gave her a peck on the cheek and then left to sit with Brian.
"So what's up, Jen?" Chin patted the spot next to her.
"Need your help with something... and Brian would not stop bothering me..." Jenny sighed sitting.
"What is it?"
"A surprise...""Cathy, that looks absolutely beautiful!" Julie spoke in awe.
"Thanks!"
"Your frame doesn't look too bad either..." I said to Julie. She grinned proudly. It was going to be a surprise present for Nick.
"Take that as a compliment from one of our ar-tistes!" Hannah laughed. I made a face.
"So what is Lance up to?" I asked her.
"Have no idea...some surprise. I can't sit by him..." Hannah pouted and then smiled, "That's okay though, mine is a surprise for him as well...""I am so NOT artistically inclined," Kevin grumbled, looking at the ceramic in his hands. Lance looked up.
"It looks fine."
"But not good."
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to," Kevin sighed, ready to give up. Lance got up and set his work down beside his friend.
"Lemme see." He picked up the box. "What do you want on it?" He studied it. It looked like Kevin had washed paint off of it more than once.
"I don't know," he muttered, looking over at me a few tables down, bent over my work. "What would she want?"
Lance followed his gaze and smiled.
"Why don't you ask her?"
"Knowing her, she'll tell me she doesn't care...that I shouldn't be like everyone else and actually make something for her, but that I should make something for me," Kevin stated softly. Lance shook his head and sat down, leaving Kevin to think. After a few moments, the older one broke his gaze and returned to his work."You keep away from me!" Brian yelled to Jenny from the next table who was sitting on the other side of the room with Chin.
"Whatever, Brian," Jenny shouted back, "You keep away, too!"
"Stop YELLING!" Cathy said loudly without looking up from her work, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.
"Hey, Cathy?" Julie lowered her voice.
"Yeah?" she mumbled, studying the color chart.
"Can you help me draw a few characters on this thing?"
"Ask Chin..." Cathy mumbled, her eyes back on the plate she was painting. Julie pouted and turned.
"Chin! Can you help me draw something?" she shouted.
"No can do. Already doing my own thing--" Chin was cut off.
"For ME!" AJ wiggled his eyebrows. Chin rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Julie.
"And I'm also helping Jenny--"
"Who is doing something for ME!" Brian grinned.
"GUYS!!" Chin whined. " Anyways...Ask Sarah!" She flashed me a smile before returning to a huge tile she had decided to paint.
"Sarah? Please?" Julie turned to me. I pouted.
"Fine..." I sighed and Julie grinned happily. "What do you need drawn?"
"A few Nintendo characters Nicky likes...""You done, Cathy?" Howie sat down beside her.
"Almost..." she carefully ran her brush full of purple paint along the edge of her plate that was engraved with tomatoes.
"Am I allowed to look or is this a surprise for me or something and I'm not supposed to like the others?" Howie smiled sweetly. Cathy looked up and returned the smile.
"It's for you but not a surprise..." She glanced over her work and tilted her head. "... I think it's done..."
"Wonderful...I get radioactive produce," Howie joked, looking at he multi-colored tomatoes. Cathy shook her head. "Come on, everyone's waiting."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm done..."-->Chapter Twenty-Two: If.I.Didn't.Have.You/End.Of.The.Road...? [PART TWO]
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