When Paths Cross, Part 11
by Everybodycrys (everybodycrys@yahoo.com)

Okay here we go with the next part. Remember if you are under 18 or this is illegal in your area then you should not be here. Also this a work of fiction and does not mean to imply the actual sexual orientation of any of the characters real or imagined.

If you have any questions or comments about the story please email me at everybodycrys@yahoo.com. Thanks to all those people that have had such kind comments. Its a real morale booster when I’m writing.

And part 11...

Matt looked over at Nick to see his reaction. To coin the phrase deer in the headlights would have been putting it mildly. Nick was new to this and every possible bad scenario was playing through his mind. Matt wasn’t sure what to do or what to say, part of him wanted to forget that it had happened and deal with it in the morning, and part of him wanted to move and go after Kenny to make sure that everything was okay. Nick was going through the same torn feelings. It seemed like a eternity before anyone moved.

“What do we do?” Nick asked, his voice shaky, portraying the child that still dwelled within him.

Matt cleared his throat as he tried to clear his head, “uhh.... I don’t know, I think I should go find him to make sure he’s okay.”

“Maybe I should go.” Nick said standing up and grabbing his shirt, “I need to make things good with him if things are going to work out on this tour.” Matt wasn’t sure about it, but he trusted Nick so he just nodded and gave Nick a quick kiss.

“I’ll be waiting” he whispered. Nick left the room and walked down the hallway. He decided to try Kenny’s room first hoping he had just returned there, but was disappointed when he found the door open and nobody there. He smiled when he remembered that the shadows took turns watch the floor at night so there was no way for Kenny to leave without them seeing him. He ran down to the elevators where three guards were sitting and talking during their shift. They all glanced up as he ran up.

“Hey guys, You guys haven’t seen Kenny, have you?” he asked.

One of the guys pointed to the staircase, “He took the stairs a couple of minutes ago, Robert went with him.” he grunted. Nick nodded and quickly exited into the staircase. He started sprinted down the stairs as quickly as he dared, listening for some clue below him. He reached the underground parking level and didn’t notice anything. He thought about returning to try the lobby but decided to give a quick look in the garage. He popped open the door and looked around, He didn’t see anything and was about to leave when he heard some yelling from further in the garage. He walked a ways and was relieved to find Kenny walking towards the exit with his shadow Robert following him. Kenny was walking quickly and yelling over his shoulder.

“I said I don’t need you following me anymore, you can go.” he yelled. Nick stopped and watched. Kenny suddenly turned and screamed at Robert, “I said go away, I don’t want you here.” Robert didn’t respond, he was hired by the boys management and he wasn’t going to leave unless they wanted him too. Kenny was getting more and more furious at the silent giant in front of him. He had tears running down his face and he was getting hysterical, he started pounding weakly with his good arm on Robert, who just stood there taking it, he wasn’t hurting him, “go...go...go” He said. Nick walked towards them just as Kenny crumbled to Roberts feet, sitting on the cold concrete. Nick walked up and indicated to Robert that he’d take over. Robert gave him a look of gratitude and walked back to stand at the side with Nick’s own shadow, who Nick hadn’t even noticed had followed him down. Nick crouched next to Kenny and put a hand on his shoulder. Kenny looked up and cringed when he saw who it was.

“You know, its not that easy for you to get away from us.” he said as a joke, hoping to get a smile. Kenny just looked away. Nick frowned, “Well you can’t stay down here all night, you wanna go upstairs and talk.” Kenny looked around at the garage and nodded as Nick helped him up. He put a arm around the kid and lead him to the elevators with their two shadows following them.

Across the garage in a dark section a man sat in his car watching the group of four walk towards the elevators. He picked up a notebook and made a note about the two guards. He set the notebook down and turned on the car to leave. He sat there idling as he contemplated his next move.

“Well, well, the games certainly getting interesting.”

Nick sat Kenny down on his bed and walked across to the bathroom to grab his pills, he brought them to him.

“By my watch its time for these again.” He said handing him a glass of water. Kenny nodded his thanks and quickly swallowed them. Nick sat down in the chair closest to the bed and watched him.

“Do you have a problem with me and Matt?” he asked deciding to get that out of the way first. Kenny looked at him trying to decide how to answer.

“Not really, I mean...I sort of already knew from Montana. I saw you guys sleeping at night and sort of guessed. I had a couple of friends back home that were gay, so it was a little freaky to walk in on you, but not too surprising once I got over it.”

“Then what's the problem? You acted pretty upset down in the garage.” He asked.

“I don’t know, I was embarrassed when I walked in on you two. I left and just started getting upset about everything again. It was stupid, I’m sorry I ruined things for you.”

Nick understood, “I can see how things aren’t easy for you, you’ve known us for what?... less then a week and in that time, you survived a plane crash, go shot, and dragged along after us. That's a lot, but hey there's a good side to this. You are going to be surrounded by thousands of screaming girls.”

Kenny smiled with the thought, “Yeah, but even I’m too old for 12 year olds.” He said laughing.

Nick gave him a fake hurt face, “Hey, their not all that young. There’s a couple of 13 year olds too.” He said laughing. They joked for few more minutes about things. Nick looked at his watch.

“Damn, its getting pretty late. We have rehearsal tomorrow. Okay I’ll see you in the morning. If you need anything you know where we are.” He said getting up.

Kenny smiled, “That's okay, I don’t think I’m going to make that mistake again.”

Nick returned to his room to find Matt waiting under the covers, “Well, well this is a pleasant surprise.” He said, the smile growing across his face. He quickly tore off his clothes down to his boxers and jumped into bed. Matt laughed, he looked like such the kid jumping around with too much energy.

“So, what happened?”

“Everything's cool, we talked for a while and he seems alright.” Nick replied hugging himself close to Matt and lying his head on his chest. He left out the scene in the garage not wanting to worry Matt about it. “But I think your right about the counseling thing, I’ll see Kevin in the morning to see what's up with it”

‘Don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of it. I have to earn my way somehow.” He said.

Nick turned to look up at him, “Your earning your way right now.”

“I’m not doing anything.” Matt complained.

“Your here with me, and that's more then enough.” Matt thought about this, Nick seemed happy with it, but he was still uncomfortable. He made a note to make himself as helpful as possible if just for his own sake. Soon they drifted off to sleep.

Almost a week passed and Matt was feeling normal again, He found that he really enjoyed himself around the guys. He got to watch the concerts from backstage and had to admit that these guys put on a great show. They had done three concerts during the week and he thought they got better with each one. Kenny had watched the entire first one. also impressed, but like any teenager he got bored afterwards and during the next two concerts Matt often had to walk around to find him after he disappeared. That wasn’t too hard because they still had the shadows attached to them and they were able to radio each other. More often then not, he found Kenny flirting with some girl that was lucky enough to have backstage passes. After the first time they had a long talk about what he could say and what he had to keep secret. Him and Nick were also going well. He had never been in a relationship like this and it was wonderful. physically they were still going slow, but each night the heat was turned up a notch. He had thought that it would be embarrassing or weird, but so far it felt completely natural. The best thing about it, was there was never any discussion about it, they just knew how far they would go, each stopping at perfectly the right moment. Right now they were sitting together on the couch in Kevin's room enjoying the one afternoon off they had. Matt was leaning back resting comfortably on Nick. Nick had his hands wrapped around his chest, both of them very content. The rest of the guys were sprawled around the room. They had decided to just relax in the room. Kevin had ordered a huge amount of food to munch and they were spending the remainder of the day loafing in the room. There were movies to watch but so far they hadn’t started one. Matt watched in amusement as A.J. and Kenny were arguing over a shopping trip that A.J. wanted to go on.

“Come on, I found this place the other day, it has tons of great stuff.” A.J. said

“No, I have enough clothes, and besides I hate shopping with you, I always come away with stuff I’ll never wear.” Kenny shot back.

A.J. gave him a hurt look, “Don’t blame a guy for trying to help you get stylish.”He had made Kenny his personnel project, “Look what your wearing now.” Kenny looked down at his tan cargo shorts and oversized black sweatshirt.

“What about it?”

“You look good now...thanks to me.” A.J. said declaring victory.

Kenny looked over at him, “Yeah I do look good, but Brian picked this out for me.” he responded. Everyone started laughing at the surprised look on A.J.’s face. A.J. gave up and pouted in his chair.

“Skinny ass kid.” he said with a small smile.

“If it’ll shut you up, I’ll let you do my hair tonight.” Kenny said, compromising a bit with him. Matt was also glad to see that Kenny was getting more comfortable with the guys. They were always joking around and he was always hanging out with A.J.

Kevin’s head shot up when he heard this last part, “Just no funky colors Bone, We have a appointment with the doctor on Monday and the S.S. will be there to check up.” S.S. was their delightful term for social services, since none of them were happy about what they had done to Kenny before.

“How about blue?” A.J. asked ignoring Kevin on purpose. Kevin groaned but let it go, he trusted Matt to handle the situation.

“A.J.’s right thou.” Howie said, “you are one skinny ass kid.”

“I’m not skinny, I’m just lean.” Kenny complained.

“Oh leave him alone, just because he’s not bouncing around the stage, flashing every preteen in the arena. God Howie can you make it through a concert without taking your shirt off?” Matt joked, changing the subject.

“oh oh, Nick be careful. Matt’s checking out Howie on stage.” Brian laughed.

“He better not be, there's only one thing on that stage he better be checking out.” Nick said smiling.

Matt nodded, “Right, but I get bored watching Kevin’s butt every time.” He joked. Everyone laughed at the shocked expression on Kevin's face.

“Way too much info Matt.” he said, “I could have lived a long time with out hearing that.”

They all laughed again. Right then the phone rang. Kevin reached over and answered it. “Hello?” He said, “Oh hi Marian, yeah its me. No, hold on he’s right here.” He leaned over and handed Matt the phone, “Here, its Marian.” Matt nodded and took the phone.

“Hey Marian, What's up?”

“Oh samo samo. How's the tour going?” She asked, Matt could tell she was nervous about something.

“Things are great, except for not being allowed to look at Kevin's butt anymore, but I’m working on it.” He laughed when he saw Kevin’s face.

“Say hi for me.” Nick said. Matt nodded.

“Nick says hi.” he said.

“Uh listen Matt, I don’t want to ruin your day, but I got a call from your dad today.” Matt froze, caught off guard, he wasn’t expecting to ever hear from him ever again. Marian continued when Matt didn’t say anything, “He wants you to come home this weekend, he has to talk to you...”

“I don’t want to...” He interrupted.

“I know, I tried to tell him you were all tied up and couldn’t make it, but he got serious. Matt, he said if your not at the house by nine Saturday morning, he’s going to go straight to the tabloids.” Matt felt like the world just exploded around him. Just when things were going well. Nick could feel the tension and he looked at Matt with concern.

“Uh...are you serious?” He asked, his voice cracking. Everyone else in the room was silent intensely listening to Matt’s side of the conversation.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t have bothered you with it, but he was dead serious Matt. He even gave me the name of the reporters he was going to call. I think you better get back here. I’m going to go up Friday night and set up a hotel room for you. I’ll give you a call with info a little later...”She paused, “Are you going to be okay?”

Matt thought about it, she had been right when she said that he couldn’t ignore them forever. But this was worse then he ever thought it would be. He dropped the phone in his lap with out answering. He tried to sort things out in his head, but he couldn’t hold a thought. He felt suffocated. He quickly got up and headed for the door. Nick looked after him in confusion and then grabbed the phone. Everyone could see how upset he was, Kenny stood up to intercept him. He moved quickly and stood n front of Matt just before he reached the door.

“What's wrong Matt?” he asked the strong concern showing on his face. Matt looked at the sixteen year old in front of him, almost not recognizing him. He put a hand on his good shoulder and moved him out of the way.

“Not now Kenny.” he said as he opened the door and walked out. Kenny looked around once at the rest of the guys and then followed him out. Nick hung up the phone and quickly got up to follow him out. He reached the hallway and looked both ways. He couldn’t see them anywhere. He ran too their room, but they weren’t there. He ran down to the elevator to check with security, but unlike last time, he hadn’t come this way. He stood in the hallway unsure of what to do next. He felt helpless and a little hurt that Matt had just run away. The rest of the guys came out of Kevin’s room to find him, asking him what happened. They listened as Nick filled them in about what Marian had told him.

Matt had found a empty room down and around the corner, he had almost made it when Kenny ran up next to him, following him into the room. He gave him a cold stare, annoyed that he had followed him.

“Please go away right now Kenny, I’m not in the mood.” he said.

“Sorry, I’m your new shadow. You guys wouldn’t let me run away from my problems. You guys didn’t leave me. I’m not going to leave you.”

The guys sat in Kevin’s room waiting for Kenny and Matt to return. a solemn silence had fallen over the group after hearing what Marian had told Nick. Each of them had thoughts ranging from Matt’s feelings to what could happen to the group if his father went to the tabloids.

“What do we do?” Brian asked, out loud to no one in general. The room was silent. Nick was getting anxious about Matt’s disappearance and wanted to run out and find him. He felt like crying but didn’t have the energy. They all looked up as Kenny and Matt walked back into suddenly. Nick ran over to Matt pulling him into hug, holding him tightly. Matt laid his head on Nick’s shoulder , his eyes moist. Everyone waited until the couple walked back over to the couch to take a seat. Nick still held Matt, unwilling to let go of him.

Matt cleared his throat, his voice was horse, “I’m sorry guys...” Everyone hushed him telling him it would be alright. He took a lot of comfort in knowing he had their support.

“Are you going?” Nick asked carefully, unsure of how to say it.

“I have too, there's no way out of this. I didn’t want to face it before, but I knew I would have to talk to him someday. I just didn’t think he would force the issue like this.”

“Then I’m going with you.” Nick said with a determined look on his face. Matt shook his head when he saw the rest of the guys nodding in agreement.

“No, you can’t. You guys have to continue the tour, and to be honest. It’ll probably go better if I went alone. There would be less stress on both sides that way.” as Matt said this he could feel his heart stop when he saw Nick’s face fall. It hurt him to have to say this, but he knew his family wouldn’t respond well if Nick showed up with him. Nick fell silent, his head hanging in depression.

Early the next day, Matt was packing his suitcase. He had a flight out in a few hours and had arranged for Marian to meet him at LAX that night so they could drive up together. Nick was unusually quiet during this time. He was upset that Matt was leaving but didn’t want to argue because he wanted to support Matt and hopefully save him some pain. The rest of the guys had come to wish him luck before he left and Kevin made him promise to give them a call as soon as he got in. He closed his suitcase and then took a seat next to Nick on the bed.

Nick took a hold of Matt’s hand and rested his head on his shoulder. His eyes were moist from the thought of Matt leaving. “I wanna go with you.” he said.

Matt sighed, knowing this was going to be difficult. “You know you can’t, you guys have to perform tonight. But I'll be back on Sunday. I’ll meet you at the next site.”

“But I told you I would never let you go. I fell like I’m letting you down.”

Matt hugged him tight, “You could never let me down. This is just something I need to take care of.” Nick nodded, but Matt could see the tears running down his face. They sat their and held each other. neither one wanting to be the one that let go first. Matt glanced at the clock and knew he would have to be going soon. He pulled away slowly, not wanting to let go. He stood up and grabbed his suitcase. Nick stood up and took the case away.

“Well, at least I’m going to the airport with you.” He said.

Matt nodded, “Yeah, but you should stay in the limo when we get there, I don’t want people to see you and if you go in with me, I don’t think I’ll be able to get on the plane. Nick agreed and they headed out. Just as they reached the elevator Kenny came running up with a suitcase in hand.

“Wait up, I’m going with you.” He said.

“Who says?” Matt responded.

“ I’ve already arranged it with Kevin, he got us both tickets. He thought it was a good idea that one of us went, and I’m the only one that can go...beside aren’t you the one that's suppose to be watching me. Who knows what kind of trouble I could get into by myself.”

Matt wanted to argue but he could see that Kenny wasn’t going to take no for a answer. He nodded and took Kenny’s luggage noting that he was struggling with it with only one good arm. They went down to the garage and climbed into the waiting limo. Matt had talked Kevin into letting him go without their shadows. He was trying to keep this as low key as possible. Before he knew it they were pulling up at the airport. Kenny climbed out to see about the bags, giving Nick and Matt a few last minutes alone.

“I’ll be back on Sunday.”

“You promise?” Nick said, holding him close.

“With all my heart.” Matt responded. He hadn’t realized it would be this hard to say goodbye, even for a little while. They kissed on last time and Matt climbed out quickly unsure of his resolve if he stayed any longer. Nick watched him go and collapsed in tears as soon as the door shut. Kenny and Matt made their way to the gate, silent the entire way. Both of them felt some fear about flying again so soon after their accident. Kenny tried to stay brave for Matt’s sake, but inside he was shaking from fear. Matt was quick to pick up on this and made sure that Kenny took his pills before they boarded. He pretended it was time, but he knew they also acted as a sedative. Kenny almost always fell asleep after taking his medication.

Soon they were boarded and waiting for take off. Matt made a mental note to thank Kevin for booking them in first class. It was really comfortable up here and help take his mind off the fact that he was on a plane again and he was without Nick. Kenny sat next to him clutching the arm rest, but it was obvious that the medication was having a effect. His eyes were dropping and there was a lot less tension. They both had small silent panic attacks when the plane finally took off. Matt relaxed a bit afterwards, he kept telling himself that everything would be fine. The chances of being on two crashing aircraft this soon were too low. He glanced over and saw that Kenny was on the verge of dreamland. He smiled and wished that he could have some of what he had. He rang for a stewardess and had her bring them pillows and blankets. He cover Kenny up with a blanket as he yawned and closed his eyes. He carefully place a pillow behind Kenny’s head, not that it mattered, it would probably take a plane crash to wake him up now. With that Matt sat back and tried to relax as the flight continued.

Hours later the plane touched down in LA. Time rushed by as they met Marian and made their way to her car. They spent the trip up to the hotel filling her in on the tour and all the stuff that had been happening. The subject of Matt’s family didn't come up once, it was a unspoken agreement that they wouldn’t bring that up. Marian informed them that Kevin had called her this morning and insisted that she upgrade to a suite and made arrangement to take care of the bill. Matt smiled at the thoughtfulness of it all. He didn’t think he deserved it, these guys were turning out to be just too much. They soon reached the hotel and checked in. The suite had two rooms, each with double beds. Matt and Kenny took one and Marian took the other. It was starting to get dark so they ordered dinner and decided to hit the sack early, all of them tired from the traveling they had done that day.

Matt wanted to call Nick, but by his watch he knew they were in the middle of the concert, so he just left a message for them letting them know that they had arrived safely and thanked Kevin for all his help. He hung up the phone and got ready for bed. Kenny was already out cold in his bed, so he tried to stay as quiet as possible. He climbed into bed and tried to go to sleep but found he couldn’t. He laid there all night staring up at the ceiling, and thinking about the next day.

By his watch he was a few minutes early as he pulled into his families driveway. Marian and Kenny were waiting for him back at the hotel. He hoped this would be quick and painless, but deep inside he knew he was probably wrong on both counts. He had spent the night thinking of every possible thing that could go wrong today. He got out of the car and walked up to the door. He felt a cold shiver go over him as he rang the bell, he knew he could walked in like had done in the past, but under the conditions that his father gave him to get him here he wasn’t about to walk in like nothings happened. The door opened slowly, his mother stood there eying him, there wasn’t spark of recognition or love in her eyes.

“Hello Matt” she said coldly.

He nodded and entered as she stepped away to make room for him.

“Your fathers waiting for you in the den.” she said simply and walked away into the kitchen. Matt stood there and watched her walk away. This was about as bad as he thought it would be. He took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts. If he was going to get out of here with any type of sanity intact he was going to have to be strong. He walked down the main hallway to the den at the end. He stood in the door, his father was sitting behind his desk working on some papers. He cleared his throat to get his attention. His father looked up for a second, but then went back to the paperwork. there were a few minutes of silence before....

“Sit down Matt.” His father said, his voice wasn’t cold like his mothers, it reminded him of when they had talks in here when he was younger. Matt took a seat in the chair opposite the desk. He didn’t say anything, not wanting to say the wrong thing. After a few minutes his father put away the papers in a drawer, leaned back and stared at him.

“ I’m glad you made it.” He said

“You didn’t exactly give me much of a choice.”

“I had to get you here. Its really for your own good.” Matt was confused but didn’t reply, “I knew we were making a mistake letting you go to school so far away. But you argued so much and we gave in. Its really our own fault for making it so easy for you.” Matt was even more confused now.

“What are you talking about? he said

His father suddenly turn bright red and slammed his fist down on the table, “You have brought shame upon this family!!! YOU are a sinner and I won’t let you ruin us with this!!!”

“What! How have I done that? yes I am gay. Face it and accept it cause its not going to change. I love Nick and your not going to make me feel guilty about it. I don’t care, if you can’t accept that then I’ll leave and we don’t have to see each other again. I’ll do what you want and leave forever.” Matt shot back. His father jumped up in a rage.

“Oh no, your not leaving. I have taken care of this family and I’m not about to let you ruin our good name because of your personnel confusion. You are not leaving until we straighten your ass out.”

Matt stood up and headed for the door, “Fuck this, I’m am not confused. This is me and you apparently can’t deal with it.”

“FREEZE,” his father yelled, Matt was going to ignore him until he heard him over his shoulder. “You leave and I go straight to the papers. You think their little music career is going to last long when everyone finds out that their golden boy is a fag.”

Matt couldn’t move,there was nothing he could do. He turned around and looked at his father. “What do you want from me?” He pleaded softly.

His father calmed down, walking to the window and relaxing on the sill. “Your going to move back in here, effective immediately. I’m going to take total control over fixing whatever went wrong.”

“What about school, my friends, Nick?” Matt asked.

“You can forget about school. When your ready again you can attend a local school and major in business. As for your friends and...., well again when your ready you will make friends at church. decent friends that won’t poison your mind with crap.”

“I can’t do that, I’m a adult and I don’t have to stay here and put up with this...”

he was interrupted, “Well Mr adult, looks like its time for a adult choice then. You stay here and do what we say or you leave and I talk.” He picked up the phone..”What's your decision Matt?”

Matt was reeling, with everything that he had worried about last night, this wasn’t even close to a possibility. He didn’t know what to do, all he could think of was Nick and how close he was to never seeing him again. He turned to leave, all he wanted to do was get out of this house. Never to come back, but just as he about to leave he thought about the guys. It wasn’t his place to ruin what they had worked so hard to build. Defeated he knew what he had to do. He turned back to face his father. “I’ll do it.”

His father smiled, “Finally, your showing some sense.” He clapped his hands together thrilled with his victory.

Matt leaned against the door for support, “I have to get my things from the hotel and return Marian's car.”

“No, it starts right now. I’ll take the car back, just leave the keys next to the door with your room number. We’ll buy you what ever clothes you need.” He had a huge smile on his face, “Matt boy, we’re going to start all over. Nothing from that previous life. Why don’t you go to your room until your mother calls you for dinner.”

Matt had no life left in him. He nodded blindly and turned to leave. He left the keys by the door as instructed and scribbled down the hotel info. He then dragged himself up the stairs to his old room. He was surprised to see that his mother had already made the room up for him. He closed the door and collapsed on the bed. The tears started flowing, his life was over...

Kenny was relaxing on the couch in their suite. Marian had walked down to the lobby to get some food from the deli they had there. He was waiting for Matt to get back or give them a call. He had been gone for so long they were both starting to get worried. Kenny stood up to stretch and get some water when he was taken by surprise as the door opened and a strange man walked in. The man was in his fifties and dressed in a simple gray suit. He walked into the room like he owned it looking around before turning to Kenny.

“Is this Marian’s room?” He asked. Kenny nodded, uncomfortable by this guys sudden appearance. The man grunted and threw some keys on the couch before turning to leave. Kenny looked at them and recognized them as Marian's car keys. He ran and put him self in the door way blocking this guys path.

“Where’d you get those? Where’s Matt?” He asked. Matt’s father looked down at him with look of disgust.

“You one of them aren’t you?” he said spitting out the last words with hatred. Kenny didn’t know what he meant but he wasn’t going to let him go until he found out where Matt was.

“Where's Matt?” he asked again clenching his teeth. The older man tried to push past him but Kenny held his ground. The guys grabbed him and shoved him to the side, Get out of my way.” he growled. Kenny slammed right into the wall. He screamed out in pain as his shoulder took the brunt of the force. He collapsed to the ground in pain clutching his shoulder in agony, his eyes tearing from the pain. Matt’s father didn’t even break stride as he left the room. Minutes later Marian walked in wondering why the door was open. Her mouth flew open when she saw Kenny curled up by the door, crying in pain. She knelt down next to him.

“What happened?” She asked trying to get him to relax so she could check him out. He was a wreck. It was a few minutes before he could get anything out of him. She sat him up and supported him as he pointed to the keys on the couch and told her what happened. All it took was a brief description before she knew who had stopped by...

Nick heard the phone ring from the bathroom. He scrambled to get to it, anxious because he hadn’t heard from Matt since he left. He picked up the phone...

“Hello?”

“....Nick?” he heard softly.

“Matt!, is this you? How's it going? when you coming back?” He shot out quickly. He was met with silence.

“....nick, I can’t come back.”

“What? Matt what are you talking about?”

“Nick, listen I can’t come back, I’m sorry....I have to go.” and before Nick could say anything else the phone went dead. He sat there staring at the phone unsure of what had just happened. He heard someone knocking on his door, but made no move to answer it. Soon the door opened and Kevin popped his head in.

“Hey Nick we’re heading out to get some lunch, you wanna....” he stopped when he saw Nick staring at the phone. “Nick what's up?”

Nick looked at the phone and then up at Kevin, “I don’t know.” His voice cracked. Kevin gave him a strange look.” Matt called, he said that he’s not coming back.” He sounded so flat, so lifeless that it scared Kevin. Nick hung up the phone and laid back on the bed, curling up and facing away from Kevin.

“Nick?” Kevin started.

“I’m not very hungry Kev. I’ll see you guys after lunch. I think I’m just gonna nap.” Kevin was gonna say something but he just stood there with his mouth open. He didn’t know what to say. Nick had already shut them all out. He turned and left the room. He had to do something he just didn’t know what.

He went back to his room and dialed the number Matt had gave them before they left. “Room 239, please.” he asked the operator at the hotel. After the fourth ring, Kevin was pacing, “Come on....Come on answer.” Just then the phone was picked up.

“Hello?” he heard Marian’s voice

“Marian its Kevin, what's happening over there?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t heard a word from Matt all day. I get back from the deli and I find Kenny screaming in pain on the floor. From his description, it sounds like Matt’s dad came to return my car keys and when Kenny confronted him he shoved him into the wall.”

“My god, is he all right?” Kevin asked. A.J. and Brian were just walking in his room wondering where he was when he said this. immediately they both wanted to know what was up but Kevin waved them both quiet.

“ Yeah, I had him checked out by a doctor that was here at the hotel and he thinks he’s fine but I’ll feel better when we get him checked out better. He’s asleep right now, that was a chore getting him to rest. He kept wanting to go get Matt.”

“Well on our end, Nick just got a call from Matt, apparently he’s not coming back.” as soon as he said this A.J. and Brian jumped up again, full of questions.

“How's Nick?” Marian asked concerned about him.

“I don’t know, he’s withdrawn right now, not talking to anyone. Frankly I’m worried.”

“I’m going to head over to the house and see what i can find out.” Marian said

Kevin nodded in agreement, “Okay, let us know what's up as soon as you know something. I’m starting to freak out here.”

“Okay will do. I’ll call you soon.” she said. They hung up and instantly Kevin was swarmed by questions from the two guys. He filled them in on what was happening. He told them about the phone call, Nick had got and then what Marian had told him.

“I’m going to go check on Nick.” Brian said leaving the room. A.J. paced the room fuming.

“I’m going to kill that son of a bitch” A.J. yelled. Kevin cringed from the amount of rage coming from him.

“We don’t even know what's happening?” he said trying to calm him down.

“Damn it Kevin, we know enough. First he’s screwing with Matt and Nick, then he attacks Kenny. I can’t sit here and wait on this. We gotta go Kevin.”

Kevin wanted to calm him down and convince him to wait on Marian, but inside he wanted to do the exact same thing. In the short time they had known Matt he had really grown to like him. It was killing him to wait.

“Okay lets go, You find Howie and get packed, if we catch a flight today, we can be there late tonight. We just have to be at the next site by Monday morning for rehearsals.”

A.J. was surprised at Kevin’s reaction. He had thought this was going to be drawn out fight. “What about management, their never going to let us go.” Now he was the one making the excuses. “I’m gonna leave a message on their email, by the time they get it we’ll be gone. But we’re gonna have to ditch the shadows. They’ll report to management if they see us. Now go!” A.J. left quickly to find Howie. Kevin went back to Nicks room to fill the rest of them in. With in the hour the famous five were running through the hotel trying to find a way to ditch the shadows. With in two hours they were at the airport taking off for LA.

TBC.... please email me at everybodycrys@yahoo.com if you have any questions or comments.