Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2001 07:12:50 -0000 From: Fallen Angel Subject: French Kiss Me - Part 15 Hello, ya'll... First of all thanks to the people who made this chapter possible: Lauren and Kit. Thank you so much for the BIG help. Oh! And I'm trying to build my own site which I hope will be up soon :) Time to thank my adored ones :) --> Trenchie (you are truly THE BEST! It makes me the happiest person on earth that I got to meet such a beautiful, sweet and lovable guy like you and I'm proud to call you my friend), Ross (Hope those issues of yours are done with now, or on their way to it. And thanks for the sweet words about part 14. Though I don't know if I believe you *g* :), Eddi (My hero! *g*), Gabrielle (you're one of the most faithfull of my "feedbackers" lol Thanks, girlie), Alex (how DARE you leave me hanging with "Falling" like that? *g*) and Max (I HAVE A #1 FAN!!! WOOHOO! LOL Luv you, sweetie :). I've heard once that someone's fame is measured by the amount of hatemail they get, well, guess I started my walk to fame with last part haha I hope I can make it up for the last one and this one is a little less "awful". Also it's a loooooong one, to try and redeem myself for taking soooooo long to send this out :) Disclaimer: I know the BSB. They're my sex slaves in fact. At the moment Howie's kissing my right foot, Kevin's kissing the left one, AJ's sucking on my bellybutton *AJ, that tickles* Nick's kissing my left hand *Nicky, sweetie, it's awfully difficult to type this with only one hand* and my Bri is kissing my neck *Bri, baby, I'm trying to concentrate here* . And everything I said before is as true as anything that happens in this story. THIS IS FICTION. If anything that happens in this story has ever happened... well, color me surprised then!!! Got the message? Good, moving on... Not old enough? Scoot! Homophobe? Don't go any further! As always, compliments are absolutely appreciated, supported criticism is welcome and (I'm gonna add this one now) flames will be ignored! Nuff said... I'll shut up now *g* Hope you enjoy it! Luv, hugs and chocolate! Fallen Angel Oh! I have to say one more thing lol: I tried to gather some information about road trips and flights inside of England but I didn't find anyone who could help me out. Soooo, before you start cussing at me for putting an impossible road trip from one city to the other or put the wrong duration of that trip, I'm telling you that I'm adjusting England's map and roads to my story, ok? lol If someone is willing to help me out with this, then please e-mail me because I still need it for part 16, k? Now, I'm serious, I'll shut up lol *************************************** French Kiss Me - Part fifteen by Fallen Angel "We're in Manchester already, we have a concert here tomorrow night" "What time's it there?" "Almost 11pm. Getting ready to go out clubbing. AJ'll have a cow if he has to stay in the hotel tonight" I said causing both me and Nycky to laugh. "I knew he was one of my kind" she laughed "He's quite the party worm, yeah. I decided to go with them but I don't know what to wear" I whined and she laughed "That's a new one. I'll have to congratulate Brian" "And may I know why, missy?" "He's been so wonderful to you and you're so on cloud nine that he's managed to disturb even your sense of fashion. And I thought that was impossible" she laughed "HA-HA-HA. Very funny. You're gonna help me or keep picking on me?" "OK. OK. Black leather pants and white 'Ricky Martin' shirt" she said, refering to a body-hugging shirt I had "Oh, Ricky" I said in a whispering seductive tone "'Hips King' to his beloved ones" she completed and we laughed "You look hot in those clothes. Just make sure there's someone behind Brian when he sees you so he won't fall on his cute little butt" "You're right on the 'cute' but I don't know about the 'little'" I replied mischievously and she laughed "He's pretty good in that department" "Which one?" she asked while I threw the clothes she had "picked out" for me on the bed "The physical one. He's gorgeous. And what's best is that he has that whole innocence thing, he doesn't realize how gorgeous he is. Blushes every time I tell him that, which I do constantly might I add" I grinned as I sat down on my bed "Adorable, I bet?" she giggled and I smiled. I had described him as adorable (along with a bunch of other complimenting words of course) many times. Glad I wasn't imagining it and other people could see it too. He IS adorable, what can I do? "And sexy, and sweet, and romantic, and intense, and passionate in everything he does..." "And stop before I hate you" she cut me off and we laughed "I'll let you go get your hot self ready for your Prince Charming" "Prince Charming.... I like that" I grinned foolishly "Bet you do" she laughed "Talk to you later" "Bye bye. Love you" "Yes, you do. Love you too. Bye" "Bye" I said before hanging up. She sounded a lot better than a few days before. Something still seemed a little off though. I had this weird gut feeling about something and I was damn frustrasted I couldn't point this something out. Or maybe I was being my paranoid self again. She seemed to be back to herself, that's true. With that thought I started getting ready. I wanted to look good on the first night I'd go clubbing with Brian as my boyfriend. Not that people there would know but I knew and he knew and our friends knew. That was enough to make me want to look nice. I put my pants and my dress shoes on but left the shirt for after fixing my hair, wouldn't want it to get wet, right? After fixing my hair I put the shirt on and heard a knock on the door "Coming" I yelled as I finished buttoning up my shirt. I opened the door and my jaw dropped to my chest. Brian. In blue. From head to toe. He looked......... amazing. Even with his mouth open "WOW" he found his voice first "WOW back at you" I said as I finally snapped out of it "Come in" I stepped to the side to let him in and I couldn't help but check him out. He had on worn-out blue jeans that weren't too tight but were tight enough to make me want to jump him, a v-necked baby blue sweater that hugged his upper body, showing all those muscles, and black dress shoes. I had to do my best not to whimper out loud. How could he do this to me? He turned around with a serious expression on his face "Do you hate me?" he asked and I raised my eyebrows at him questioningly "Excuse me?" I asked hesitantly and his face broke into that cute grin of his "Why did you have to look so great? I won't be able to even think tonight" he said and chuckled when I blushed "You're one to talk" I glared at him "C'mere" he motioned for me to go to him with his finger. I closed the small distance between us and bit his index finger before pecking his lips "Is everybody else ready?" I asked against his neck, nuzzling, kissing, nibbling on his skin "Uhm.... nope... you can continue what you're doing" he whispered making me laugh. My arms went around his waist and his went around me as I lifted my head and kissed him with everything I had in me. I let my hands wander on his back, drawing patterns over his sweater, rubbing just to hear and feel him moan against me. It was one of those moments when the world around you seems to fade until there's nothing and nobody else in the universe besides you. I loved those moments. What I didn't love was people pinching my ass to bring me back to reality. Mainly when that wasn't my boyfriend. I jumped about ten feet when I felt someone do just that (I knew it wasn't Brian. One of his hands was on my cheek and the other on the small of my back). I turned around to find Mark and Nick laughing "I've always thought you had a great ass" Mark wriggled his eyebrows at me "Hands off, it's taken" I replied and rested my head on the crook of Brian's neck "Damn right" Brian agreed, as, I'm sure, everyone there knew he would... "Everyone ready to go?" I asked, fighting the moan that almost left my mouth when Brian hugged me closer "Yup. Just waiting on you two" Nick answered "You ready?" Mark asked and I lifted my head to kiss Brian "Now I am" I replied, causing both Nick and Mark to roll their eyes at us "Don't even start. We know the speech by heart. Go!" I made shoving motions with my hands when I saw both of them opening their mouthes to say something. Brian just laughed at the two glaring blondes walking out the door. I turned around and gave Brian a quick peck before grabbing my keycard and following Nick and Mark out. I closed the door behind Brian and the four of us caught up with Kevin, Melanie, Howie, AJ and their bodyguards by the elevators. We piled the service elevator and chatted the whole way down. We went through the back door and got in the waiting limo (security went in two vans that escorted the limo, one in front of it and one behind it). I have to say I wasn't exactly happy with that. I didn't like limos. My parents usually dragged me and my sister to fancy places and we'd always ride in limos. To me it always seemed too snobbish. But I understood the reason the guys used them. Not that it made me feel any different toward limo rides "I talked to Nycky today, just before you got to my room" I said softly so only Brian would hear me "So, is she better?" he asked while he played with the fingers of my left hand, that were entwined with the fingers of his right hand as we sat side by side "Yeah. She sounded better but I don't know... I have this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach telling me something's not right" "And she won't talk to you about it?" "She just shrugs me off saying that she's tired" "But didn't she quit her job?" "Yeah. But she's a trainee in college now, helping one of her teachers with some kids. Well, that's what she says anyway..." "Kids can be pretty tiring..." "Yeah, that's what I could come up with as an excuse. I guess I'm just being paranoid" I said with a little laugh "It's perfectly normal, J. Have you ever been away from her for so long?" he asked and I shook my head no "See, you're worried about your friend. That's perfectly understandable" "Thanks" I kissed him "For what?" he asked with that cute "are you crazy" look of his "Calming me down. You're pretty good at that" I smiled at him and he grinned "Oh... Is there anything else I'm pretty good at?" he whispered against my lips "I can think of some stuff, yeah... you're pretty good at singing *kiss* dancing *kiss* basketball, though I can kick your ass big time" I laughed and he glared at me "I still say you owe me revenge" "Anytime you want, baby" I kissed him "Oh... almost forgot it, you're pretty good at kissing too" "Is that right?" he whispered before biting my lower lip "Yuh-hun..." I whispered back before his lips attacked mine "Let's see how long till they have to come up for air" I heard Melanie say and both Brian and I laughed, breaking the kiss "That was quick" she grinned at us "Don't you guys have anything better to do?" Brian laughed "Besides teasing you?" Melanie asked with a thoughtfull look on her face "Naw... I don't think so. You, Al?" she turned to AJ "Nope. You, Nick?" "Can't think of anything, no..." "OK. OK. We can take a hint" I laughed and rested my head on Brian's shoulder, just enjoying being close to him for the rest of the ride. When we got to the club there was a biiiiiiiiiiiiig line outside of it. I felt sorry for those people. For once I wasn't one of them and got in as soon as we arrived. Being with popstars had its perks alright! We found a table in the back, kinda hidden one, and sat down. Almost as soon as I sat down, Melanie grabbed my hand and pulled me up "Anybody wants anything from the bar? J and I could get you" she grinned at me "I didn't know I was volunteering" I glared at her "You owe me for being your heroine. That's a tough job" she smiled and everyone who could hear us laughed "Beer" AJ called out "Same" Kevin and Howie nodded "Coke" Brian and Nick said together "Water" Mark said "We'll be right back" she said (shouted over the music is more like it but that's beside the point here) and pulled me with her in the direction of the bar. When we got to the bar she elbowed me "Cute" she smirked at me nodding in the direction of the bartender "Damn. I knew I shouldn't have brought my boyfriend" I slapped my forehead "That's a shame. I'm single" she laughed and we squeezed our way to the counter "What do you want?" she asked me "Water" I said just as the bartender came over to us "How can I help such a pretty lady?" he smiled flirtatiously at Mel "I want three beers, three Coke's and two water's" she smiled back "And how are you going to carry everything?" he kept on flirting with her while providing everything she asked "He'll help" she patted my arm "Damn, I knew such a cute girl wouldn't be wandering around alone" he shook his head "Don't mind me. I'm just the mule here" I replied and the two of them laughed "As he said, he's just the mule here" Melanie repeated me, getting a glare from me in reply "I'll see you around then?" he asked her "Maybe" she replied as we grabbed everything "Tease!" I teased her on our way back to the table "Thank you" she laughed "I'd bow but I have a lot of stuff in my hands" "Hi" I heard someone say as I felt a hand on my arm "Hey" I replied looking at the girl smiling at me "Would you dance with me?" she flirted. She was pretty and I'd be pretty flattered with her flirting, if I was single and into women, that is. "I'm sorry, I'm not alone here" I said, trying my best not to embarrass the girl "Oh okay then" she smiled "And his boyfriend's pretty jealous" Melanie said, ruining my attempt at not embarrassing the girl "Oh sorry" she blushed heavily "See you around" I said, deciding that a quick exit was the best way "See" she replied and I resumed my way to the table, followed by Mel "That was so rude" I told Mel as soon as we reached the table and I deposited all the drinks on the table "It was true!" she defended herself laughing as I took the drinks from her and put them on the table too "Still!" I laughed with her while everyone dived for their request and watched us "Oh, c'mon, the look on her face was priceless" Mel almost doubled over in laughter as she plopped down beside her brother and I sat down beside Brian "You should teach good manners to your little sister" I told Mark while glaring at Melanie, who couldn't stop laughing "I don't know who blushed more, you or her" she kept on while I opened my bottle of water "What did she do this time?" Mark asked hesitantly "Besides flirting with the bartender?" I asked and Mel glared at me "It's true!" I pointed out "Do I want to listen to the rest?" Mark asked and everyone at the table laughed "A girl asked me to dance with her and I kindly said no, that I wasn't alone. Then your sister has the bright idea to tell her that my 'boyfriend's pretty jealous'. The girl seemed to want to crawl in a ball and die" I told them and they also almost doubled over in laughter "Not that she was exactly lying about the jealous but it still was rude" Brian smiled sweetly at me "See?" I pointed out to Mel "Geez, so that's what you get for looking out for a friend's property?" she said and she almost ended up wearing the water I had just sipped while everyone laughed "Property???" I asked dumb-founded "I'm no property" I giggled, unable to keep a straight face "I recall you saying 'it's taken' when I pinched your ass" Mark said, he himself trying to keep the smirk off his face "I can testify that" Nick threw in helpfully, much to Kevin, Howie and AJ's enjoyment "I didn't know you aproved your boyfriend pinching other people's asses..." Brian raised his eyebrow at Nick, turning the table, and making Nick AND Mark blush "Remind me to thank you properly later" I whispered with a wink to Brian "And there may be a bonus for making Mark blush. That requires a lot of talent" I completed and they all laughed "I'm sure he won't let you forget" Kevin teased us and we laughed "C'mon, dance with me" Melanie took my hand and tried to pull me up "Sorry, my bofriend's pretty jealous" I replied smugly and she glared at me "OK. OK. That was rude, I admit. Sorry. Good enough?" she asked and I pretended to be thinking "Not quite but it'll do for now" I said and stood up "Excuse me, gentlemen, my former heroine wants me to dance with her." I bowed to them and they laughed "Former?" she asks me with a puppy dog face "After that 'property' fiasco you have some major making up to do" I said and she laughed before leading me to the dance floor. Half an hour and a lot of songs later, both of us were too tired to keep standing let alone dancing, so we went back to the table and everyone clapped. We bowed and took our seats "You'll have to teach me how to dance like that" Brian whispered in my ear "My pleasure" I smiled at him "Do I want to know what Rok whispered to him?" AJ asked and they laughed "Probably not." Kevin replied and we laughed at them. After that everyone started small-talking with whoever was close "Oh! You said something about Fatima wanting you to work tomorrow morning. Today actually" Brian asked while his hand reached down under the table and took mine, his thumb drawing circles on the top of my hand. We were seated in a way so that Mel and Mark blocked most of the view if you were on the dance floor and looked in our direction, so there wasn't much problem with us holding hands under the table. Besides that, the tablecloth pretty much covered anything. "Yeah. Hopefully we'll finish the changes. Then we'll work on teaching the moves to the others" "Ours is gonna stay the same, right?" "Yup. Just the dancers will have most of the steps changed" "Good" he smiled, his lips curling into that cute way, making his whole face lighten up. I needed to kiss him so badly. I took a deep breath, willing myself to be strong. It would be just another 3 to 4 hours. You can manage, I said in my mind, over and over again, trying to convince myself of that. *8*8*8*8*8* Two and a half hours, a lot of talking, a lot of laughing, a lot of dancing and a lot of flirting with Brian later, nature called "Uhm... I gotta go to the restroom..." I told Brian, squeezing his hand to get his attention. Then I stood up and excused myself. I pushed my way through the crowd and soon found my way to the restroom. It was pretty empty for a club restroom but you wouldn't hear me complaining about that. I finished my *ahem* business and after washing my hands I left, just to have a hand on my arm pulling me to a dark corner. I instantly panicked and was about to hit whoever this person was when a finger was placed over my lips "Brian!" I hissed when I saw him "What are you doing?" "Trying to shut my boyfriend up so I can kiss him" he said and his lips were immediately on mine, one of his hands coming to my neck to bring my head closer so he could deepen the kiss and the other on the small of my back causing me to press my body closer to his. It felt so good to finally kiss him but that wasn't the place to do it. We were in a dark corner but anybody could decide to check what was happening. And that definitely wouldn't be good "You're *kiss* crazy" I managed to say between kisses "About you? *kiss* Yes, I am" "Brian *kiss*, c'mon *kiss* we can't do this here" I finally managed to push against him "Says who?" he pouted "Says me." I replied as he tried to come closer again "If you're good, I promise to reward you later" I winked at him and he sighed "K" he said, his shoulders slumping slightly "I'm supposed to pick some stuff at the bar" he grinned "You go to the bar and I'll meet you back at the table. Kevin doesn't need to know about this little 'incident'" I chuckled "I didn't know I kissed that bad. Incident?" he asked offended and I had to keep myself from laughing out loud "Needs practise" I bit my lower lip and he giggled "Anytime" "Just go first. I'll wait a little and then I leave here" "Sure, boss" he giggled as he turned around, checking if there was anybody looking. As he started walking I couldn't stop myself and pinched his ass. He jumped and turned around "Sorry, couldn't help it" I shrugged and he laughed, shaking his head, before going in the direction of the bar. I waited a while and when I was sure nobody would see me I went in the direction of our table. I pushed my way through the crowd and sighed of relief when I managed to get back to the table in one piece "Where's Brian?" I asked them as I sat down "Bar" Kevin replied. At that moment, only Kevin, Nick and I were at the table. Everybody else was on the dance floor "Oh!" I replied, pretending I didn't know that already. Soon Brian came back with some cans and some bottles and put them all on the table. He grabbed two bottles of water and handed one to me, keeping the other to himself "I didn't know if you wanted anything" he shrugged as he sat down beside me "Thanks" I smiled and looked over at Nick and Kevin to see both of them rolling their eyes "What time do you have to wake up?" Brian asked me, stopping me from giving both our companions the finger "Fatima's expecting me at 8" I made a disgusting face "Which reminds me, I should be going" I completed when I looked down at my watch to see that it was almost 4am. "I'll call the limo and we can go" Brian said as he flipped his cell phone open "Brian, no, that's ok. You guys can stay, I'll take a cab" "I'm tired too" he replied "You guys can go. Just send the limo back when you get to the hotel" Kevin said "Are you sure? What about the others, do you think any of them would want to go?" "Do they look like they wanna go?" Nick asked pointing to the dance floor and I chuckled "Guess not. You guys are sure sure about this?" "Yeah. You can go" Nick smiled "OK." "The limo will be outside in 5 minutes" Brian said as he closed his phone "OK. Tell them we said goodbye" I told Kevin and Nick and they both nodded "Sure. See you tomorrow" Kevin said and they waved as Brian and I made our way to the exit door "There it is. C'mon" Brian pointed the limo and we ran up to it. The driver opened the door for us and as soon as we were inside the door was closed. Brian lowered the window between the driver and us and told him where we were going. The window was barely shut and he was already on my lap, straddling me "Hey, there, sexy" he whispered before licking my lips, his hands on my cheeks, mine on his hips "Hey, there, gorgeous" I whispered back before his lips were on mine, his fingers softly caressing the back of my neck, my hands slowly making their way inside his sweater, stroking his back "If going out at night will be this much torture I won't do it anymore" he whispered against my neck, causing me to shiver from top to bottom. I was about to reply but whatever it was that I was gonna say ended as a moan as his mouth kissed my neck from side to side. His body pressed closer to mine when he felt my hands going up his back. I could feel his muscles working when his hands moved all over my chest. Soon his mouth kissed its way up to mine and we kissed urgently. I had never felt such a rush of desire in my whole life. Our little moment was interrupted though when we felt the limo pulling over. We looked out of the window and we could see the hotel lights. I couldn't help but laugh when Brian groaned and dropped from my lap to my side. We had just finished straightening our clothes when the driver came and opened the door for us "Thanks" both Brian and I said after the door was closed behind us "Not at all" the driver said in a thick Brittish accent. Brian then asked him to go back to the club to pick up the others and we went inside. We crossed the lobby in the direction of the elevators, waving at the girl in the front desk on the way (and she looked like she was about to faint when she saw Brian. And of course I teased my oh so cute boyfriend about it). As soon as the doors of the elevator closed behind us, Brian backed me up against the far wall and his lips were immediately on mine. I thought about stopping him because someone might come in but then I decided that the odds of someone wandering around in a hotel at 4:16am were too little to be worried about and kissed him back for all it was worth. The ride up was short, too short in my opinion, and soon we were standing in front of his room "Good night" I whispered before kissing him again "It would be better if you were with me. Are you sure?" he pleaded and it took all of my willpower not to give in "Yes, I'm sure. I don't wanna wake you up in the morning when I have to leave" "K" he sighed "Do you have any idea when this thing with Fatima will be done with?" "Nope. But I'll tell her I have to be in your room at 10:30?" "K. Good night" he said before giving me an earth-shattering breath-taking kiss "Good night" I replied breathlessly when we parted "Bye" he smiled and I smiled back before turning around to go to my room. I smiled at him one more time and waved before going into my room. I closed the door and leaned back against it. I took a deep breath, willing my heartbeat to slow down. Things were becoming too hot. And too fast... 8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8 I woke up to an incredibly annoying ringing and it took me a while to realize that it was the phone on my bedside table. I picked it up while trying to open my eyes enough to see what time it was "'Ello?" "Are you still in bed?" I heard Fatima on the other side and my eyes shot open when I saw it was 8am already "Oh! Shit! Sorry, Tima. Give me ten minutes and I'll be there" I said already getting up "I'll be waiting. Hurry" "K. See" I replied and didn't even give her time to say anything. I put the phone back in its craddle and ran to the bathroom. After the quickest shower in the history of mankind, I changed, grabbed my keycard and threw it inside my backpack. After grabbing a pack of crackers that the hotel provided I ran out of the door to the elevators. Thankfully they didn't take too long and soon I was running through the lobby to the gym "Ten minutes! I'm impressed" Fatima smiled at me when I got there "I'm sorry. I must have slept through the wake up call" "It's ok. I see you're still eating your breakfast" she laughed pointing to my half-finished pack of crackers "I'm fast but not THAT fast." I laughed along. I offered them to her and she declined "Ready to get to work?" "Ready to fall asleep is more like it but I'll try" I said and dropped my backpack on one side of the room. It was a pretty big gym. In the front there was a mirror that ran along the wall and a vacant space. In the back there were all sorts of working-out machines, in all sizes and shapes. I hated that part. Then in the very back there was another large door that led to a pool. That was the part I liked. "Have you thought about anything? Any steps?" "I've thought of some, yeah" "Bring it on" she grinned before hitting play on the cd player. For almost two hours we worked on the routine and when she finally decided that it was what she wanted I was about to collapse on the floor. But I did perk up a bit when she said I didn't have to go through rehearsals again that afternoon. I could spend the whole afternoon sleeping. We chatted for a little while and then she sent me up to my room. I got back to my room with 20 minutes to take a better shower than the previous one, shave and go to Brian's room. I did all that and still had 5 minutes to spare but I didn't want to risk falling back to sleep (which I would certainly do if I got anywhere near my bed) and missing Leighanne and Kristin's arrival. I went down the hallway and the noise got louder as I approached Brian's room. I knocked and the noise dropped down a bit. I knocked again and soon Brian was at the door smiling at me "Hey" I smiled back "Good morning" he said before kissing me and letting me in the room "Could be better if I had spent it sleeping" I replied and he laughed "C'mon..." he took my hand and led me closer to the couch, where I could see, besides the guys, Mark and Melanie, two blonde women and I figured they were Leighanne and Kristin (doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure that one out, eh?). "Hey" I greeted everyone and they greeted back while the two previously mentioned blondes stood up and smiled at me "These are Kristin and Leigh. This is Jeremie" Brian introduced us "Nice to meet you" I shook hands with Kristin "Likewise" she smiled. Man, was she tall! "So, I finally get to meet you" Leighanne said as I moved to shake her hand "I should be saying the same thing" I smiled "Oh! C'mon, a guy who finally manages to steal my gay fiancé is in hugging territory" she laughed and pulled me down to hug me, causing everyone in the room to laugh. Yes, sir, I liked her already "It's nice to meet you" she whispered "It's nice to meet you too" I replied and smiled when I saw Brian smiling at us. After that everyone settled down again and Brian pulled me down to sit between his legs on the floor, resting my back against his chest "So, how was rehearsal?" Brian asked "Oh! I finally managed to find out why you guys needed a back-up dancer..." I said seriously "... Tima killed the other, right?" I completed and they all laughed "Something like that" Nick managed to say between giggles "It must have been bad because you look like shit" Mark grinned at me and my first impulse was to throw him out of the balcony. On the other hand, getting up to do so meant too much effort "Try dancing for two hours straight after sleeping less than four hours and let's see how good you'd look" I glared at him "I'm nice and comfortable where I am, thank you very much" he replied "On the other hand, you have to rehearse the whole afternoon while I get to *sleep* the whole afternoon" I stuck my tongue out at him and they all laughed at us. After that the group broke into small conversation, Howie, Kevin and AJ discussed their schedule, Mark, Melanie and Nick discussed the differences between Nintendo 64 and Playstation 2 (pretty deep topic, don't you think?) and Brian, Leigh, Kristin and I started with the basics since I didn't know either of them. I had to try pretty hard not to fall asleep and seem rude but I managed it quite well "I feel like I already know you. Everything Brian talks about involves you" Leighanne said, smiling teasingly at Brian, who blushed "He talks about you a lot too" I smiled back at her "I'm still in the room, y'know?" Brian replied and we laughed "Awww... we haven't forgotten you" I kissed his forehead "That's good to know" he fake-glared at me and I kissed him, while smoothing the lines on his forehead with my thumb "You look cuter smiling than frowning" I said after we parted and we turned our heads to see Leighanne and Kristin giggling "Kevin was right, you two are sickeningly cute together" Kristin said and both Brian and I blushed "They even blush alike" she completed causing the other three (me, Brian and Leigh) to laugh "You're a dancer too, right?" I asked Kristin "Yeah. That's how I met Kev" she smiled and I couldn't help the smile forming on my face either. Even the way they talked about each other was sweet. "Have you ever been on tour, like, with a singer or group?" I asked her "Yeah. I toured with Cher for a while. Have you done it before, touring I mean?" "First time" I said while shaking my head no "What a way to start, huh?" she giggled and I smiled looking at Brian "I'd say it's a pretty good one" I replied and we giggled. Just then I realized we were ignoring Brian and Leigh, not that they had really noticed because they were talking to each other. Kristin seemed to notice that too because she turned to Brian "You guys have rehearsal this whole afternoon?" "No. We have a radio interview right after lunch then we have a quick photo shoot for a local magazine and then we have soundcheck and rehearsal" Brian answered "You know what that means, right?" Leigh smirked at Kristin who grinned back "Shopping" Kristin wriggled her eyebrows and Brian and I laughed "You could come with us" Leigh smiled at me "You said you didn't have rehearsal" "I'd love to, if I hadn't slept so little this morning. I feel like I'm about to drop. Maybe tomorrow we could. Tomorrow morning I have rehearsal but I'm free in the afternoon" "That would be great" Kristin replied and Leigh smiled while nodding "Wanna come with us?" I asked Brian "We have an interview in the afternoon and then an autograph session" he frowned "We'll have plenty of time to go some other time" Leigh patted his shoulder "Besides that, I have to know if this boyfriend of yours is as wonderfull as you painted him. And you can't be there for that" she giggled causing us to laugh, except Brian "I don't think it's a good idea to let the two of you talk without me there" Brian said cautiously "What? Afraid I'm gonna try and embarrass you?" Leigh smiled sweetly at him "Nope. I *KNOW* you're gonna embarrass me" he glared at her and we laughed. Conversation noise filled the room for a while until Kevin's voice made everyone stop talking "How does lunch sound, people?" he asked everyone "The interview is in an hour and the radio station is kinda far from here..." he completed and everyone nodded or mumbled something that had a small resemblance with "ok". He stood up and went to the phone as conversation filled the room again. Soon the food arrived and we resumed eating. After lunch, each person went to their respective room so they could get ready for work in the afternoon, or to go shopping in Leigh and Kristin's case, or to sleep in my case. Leigh went to the room she was sharing with Brian after telling Kristin to be ready in an hour so they could go shopping. Nick and Mark went to Nick's room (seeing that by now they didn't even worry about appearances anymore. Theoretically Mark shared with me but his stuff went straight to Nick's room in every hotel we were), AJ, Howie and Melanie went to their respective rooms too (Melanie being the only female dancer to have a room just to herself. Pamela shared with Kristin, Lisa shared with Carol, Joshua shared with Scott, I "shared" with Mark and Frank had the other single room. I don't think anyone would be up to sharing with him anyway). Brian went with me to mine, saying that he was going to tuck me in. I was already half asleep when we arrived there and Brian had to almost carry me over to the bedroom. "Sit here. I'll be right back" I kissed him lightly and went to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and washed my face, trying not to look too much like a living dead creature when I walked out. Though I was feeling like a living dead creature. When I walked out of the bathroom Brian wasn't sitting on my bed like I had left him "Bri?" I called out while I went to the "living room" area of the room "Where are you?" "Balcony" he replied and I went in that direction. When I got there he was with his back to me, over-looking the city, his arms crossed over his chest, the wind blowing those lovable curls on the back of his neck, the light from the sun casting a bright aura around him. He looked strong and at the same time angelic. He was beautiful. I slowly walked up behind him and put my arms around him, burying my face in his neck "Hey, handsome" I whispered before kissing his neck "Hey, sexy" he whispered and I could hear the smile on his face when he said it. His hands slowly covered mine, entwining our fingers "You ready to bed?" he asked and I lifted my face so my chin was resting on his right shoulder "Will you sing me to sleep?" I smiled and he giggled "If you want me to, sure..." he smiled before kissing me "Then I'm ready" I said and he turned around, put his hands on my waist, turned me around and led me inside the room, then the bedroom. I stripped down to my boxers, keeping the t-shirt I was wearing, and went to my bed. I laid down on my back and couldn't help the giggles when he put the covers over me, making a big deal out of it. I made room for him and he laid down by my side, rolling over on his side, propping himself up on his elbow so he was looking down at me "What do you want me to sing to you?" he whispered while his finger traced my cheeks "Anything. I just wanna be able to hear your voice while you're singing to me. And just to me" I replied, already having to fight to keep my eyes open "OK" he replied before clearing his throat. I barely had time to recognize the first words of "Endless Love" before sleep overcame me and I made my way to dream land... z*z*z*z*z*z*z*z*z*z*z*z I woke up to the feeling of an arm dropped over my waist, a body pressed against my back and someone's lips kissing the back of my neck. I couldn't help the sleepy smile on my face, it felt too good to wake up like that "What time's it?" I asked, my voice hoarse from just waking up "Five something" Brian answered before lightly biting my neck "Had a nice nap?" he asked as I turned around in his arms, groaning from the soreness of my muscles "Uh-huh... not enough though..." I muttered against his neck as I settled back on the bed, my left arm over his chest, my left leg over his and my face warmly buried in the crook of his neck, effectively holding him down "Sorry, but we have to go eat something before going to the arena" he laughed when I shook my head no, probably tickling him with my hair "How did you get in?" I asked, trying to make him talk so I wouldn't have to get up. Well, I was comfortable... "Mark has the other key, remember? He gave it to me. You don't mind, do you?" he asked kinda hesitantly "Uh-uh..." I murmured "How did the interview go?" "Same as always. With the difference that now they keep asking if Leigh and I have set the date for our wedding already" he giggled "Well, have you?" I asked and he laughed "Do you want an 'interview answer' or 'real answer'?" "Both" I laughed "Interview answer: yes, we have but we'd rather keep it private" "Real one?" "I'm pretty happy with my boyfriend, thank you very much, and I don't intend to marry Leigh any time soon. Or even to marry her at all" he laughed "I like the real one better" "Me too" he kissed my forehead "C'mon, you've managed to dodge getting out of bed for a little longer but you have to get up" "Rehearsals ok?" I asked and he giggled, momentarily giving up on making me get up "Yes, though Fatima seems to be in a sadistic kinda mood today" he laughed "Say that again! I'm aching all over..." I groaned and he giggled "Awww... poor baby. I'll give you a massage after the concert. How does that sound?" "Too far away... I might not be alive then" I replied and he laughed "Subtle!" he said before kissing my forehead "Go take a shower, I'll be waiting here" he said, trying to detach me from his body "And don't you dare falling asleep in there" he threatened me when he finally managed to make me sit up "I hate you" I tried to glare at him but a yawn spoiled it "No, you don't" he smiled from his comfortable position lying down on my bed with his arms behind his head. He was right, I didn't. "I'm still too tired" I groaned when I put my legs over the edge of the bed and stretched "A shower might help" he hinted and I giggled "OK, OK, I got it" I replied as I stood up and headed for the closet, grabbing a pair of boxers and then going into the bathroom, closing the door behind myself "If I'm not out in 10 minutes, come wake me up" I yelled through the door "Don't you dare!" he yelled back, laughing. Twenty long, warm and nice minutes later I emerged from the bathroom and immediately plopped myself down on the bed "Don't you dare falling asleep again" Brian laughed as he made me sit back up "Fire me" I whined "Then I can stay back and sleep" I kept on whining (and he kept on laughing) as he pushed me toward the closet. I changed and then turned to pout at him "See? It wasn't that difficult, was it?" he grinned "What time are we supposed to be ready?" I asked while glaring at him "We're five minutes early" he smiled as he came closer "And that means, my boy, I have five minutes to kiss these cute, sweet, pouty lips of yours till you're almost faint from lack of oxigen" he grinned wickedly and by the time he finished the sentence and his arms went around my waist, I was already breathless. I didn't know my boyfriend could be SO sexy! OK, so I knew, but I didn't see it that often... "Then we better make it five worthy minutes, eh?" I asked before attacking him. Apparently we were in one of those touchy-feely days. Those were always my favorite. And there always seemed to be someone wanting to spoil our fun. We parted our kiss, after we heard a knock on the door, and headed to the main part of the room. The knock came again "J! Bri! Open the door!" we heard Leighanne say through the door "Remind me to kill her later, k?" Brian muttered when I reached for the door and I laughed "Hi, Leigh" I smiled at her and she smiled back "Hi, there. Took a nice nap?" she asked sweetly "Yeah, thanks" I replied as I closed the door behind Brian "What about you? Bought a lot of stuff?" "If I know her, she bought half of the mall. And Kristin bought the other half, right?" Brian teased and she stuck her tongue at him "I bought some nice stuff, yeah" she answered me after glaring at a laughing Brian "C'mon, they're waiting" she said pointing toward the elevators "Where?" I asked when I didn't see anyone in the hallway "Down in the restaurant. I took too long in the shower and told them to go before. They said they'd come get you but I told them to let me do it. Give you two more time for whatever you were doing there. And I had to go with your cute boyfriend anyway" she winked at me and started to head to the elevators. We followed her laughing. The ride down was spent with Leigh telling us how Kristin and she ended up surrounded by fans at the mall too soon so they had to cut their shopping spree short. Brian immediately turned to her with a worried face and he didn't even need to ask, she just turned to him and told him the fans had all treated both of them well, no harms or threats. He sighed rather loudly at that and she assured him she could take care of herself, that he shouldn't be so worried. He didn't say anything but I had a pretty good idea of what thoughts were on his mind, "easier said than done" was probably one of them. Right before the doors of the car opened so we could get out, I saw Brian's hand linking with Leigh's. I knew I should have been prepared for this and, really, I thought I was. But I guess I was wrong. It was silly, I knew that, but I couldn't help the jealous feeling that seemed to be squeezing my stomach. I wasn't jealous of her, I was jealous of what she could do and I couldn't. She could hold his hand, hug him, kiss him, she could do anything basically. And I had to be "the friend". Suddenly I felt what little hunger I had vanish. It was stupid, I knew that, but what could I do? I followed them to the restaurant and we were led to the table where the guys were. I noticed there were three chairs left, two of them next to each other, between Kristin and Nick and the other one on the opposite side of the table, beside Mel and across from Mark (who was beside Nick). It didn't take a genius to know I wouldn't be sitting beside Brian. And that little fact didn't make me feel any better. I knew that they hadn't done it on purpose (why would they?), but it just made me feel even more left aside than it did when I saw them holding hands. It felt like I had been punched actually. "Hey, you ok?" Mark asked me as soon as I sat down "Uhm... yeah. Why?" "Don't know. You looked like you weren't here" he laughed "I'm still sleepy I guess. Fatima almost killed me this morning" I said and we laughed. The waiter came and got our orders (I found out they were waiting for us so they could order also. That was sweet of them) and left "You're supposed to be our teacher tomorrow morning. Think you can manage?" he asked and I laughed "I've been a teacher to hyperactive giggly teenagers and children for two years. There's no way you could be worse than that" I replied causing him, Nick and Melanie (the ones closer to me) to laugh "Oh! I can think of someone who could be worse..." Melanie hinted. I knew who she was talking about. And also both her and Mark knew about my "passion" toward the "someone". "Frank? Oh! If he doesn't behave I'll just have to think about a nice way to punish him" I laughed "Kinky!" Mark wriggled his eyebrows at me "Give me something to throw!" I told Melanie "Preferably something sharp" I completed and they laughed "I didn't mean it that way, you perv!" I said to Mark "Ugh! Even the thought of it disgusts me" I shuddered "You're not the only one" Melanie shuddered too "I think his problem is with Frenchy here" Mark pointed at me "No, the problem is that he's a freak!" I replied and they laughed "Could we just NOT talk about him?" I pleaded "Sure" both said (by then Nick had started a conversation with Brian and AJ) "We could talk about the way you were frowning when you came in following Leigh and Brian..." Melanie said lowly and smiled sweetly. So much for being my heroine... "Nothing to talk about that. Just feels... weird, y'know? I mean I knew it would happen but..." "Seeing it is a whole different thing" Mark completed for me with a knowing smile "Exactly" I smiled at him, wondering if he had had to go through the same. Or almost the same, since Nick had never been engaged. Thankfully our food arrived just then and I could just not talk about it anymore. Talking about it made me feel even sillier. Though with the food there I had to eat, and I had no appetite at all. I just wasn't feeling like myself. Maybe the fact of having slept in the afternoon. I wasn't a "napping person", if I slept during the afternoon I always spent the rest of the day with this weird puzzled feeling, like I can't even tell which day it is. The rest of our "dinner" (6pm is hardly dinner time in my biological watch) was pretty uneventful and soon we were heading back to our rooms so we could grab our stuff and go to the arena. Half an hour later we were all in our dressing rooms, stretching and warming up. I had to do it really well, my muscles were totally sore and I'd have problem if they were all tight like that during the concert. I'd split my spine in two right at the beginning with the flips "Are you contortionist too?" I heard from behind while I was doing splits on the floor. I joined my legs, stood up and turned around to find Mark grinning at me "No, I'm not" I glared at him "I meant it in a good way. I've never been able to do that totally" he pointed to the floor where I had been, refering to the splits I was doing "I've done it everyday for 6 years. If I couldn't do it by now I should give up ballet" I said and we laughed "C'mon, it's time" he said as he led the way out of the dressing room. Everyone joined backstage for the usual prayer and with that we went for another concert. I'd have to take Brian up on his massage offer later... An hour and forty five minutes later the guys said goodbye to yet another enormous audience and, after taking their showers (I had taken mine already, seeing that the last song didn't "require" me) we went back to the hotel "Forty five minutes for packing then we're hitting the road! It's a two our drive to Newcastle and we don't wanna be late!" the tour manager, Sebastian, yelled down the hallways. Everyone retreated into their rooms, me getting a short kiss from Brian and a peck on the cheek from Leigh before getting inside mine. I dropped my gym bag near the couch before flipping my cell phone open to check if there were any messages. There were 5, all from the same number, one that I didn't know "Probably wrong number" I shrugged before getting up and going to the bedroom. I pulled my suitcases out and started packing. I was half way through the second suitcase when I heard my cell phone ring from where I had left it on the couch. I ran to get it and almost ignored it (seeing that it was the same number as before) but decided to get it anyway, or else whoever was calling wouldn't stop "Jeremie speaking" I said into the receiver "Oh! Thank God! Jeremie, it's Susan" the voice on the other side said, kinda frantically "Susan! Hi!" I said kinda slowly. I didn't know she had my cell number. Then it suddenly hit me "Oh, my God! Please, tell me she's ok!" I said, my heartbeat going 4 times faster and louder than humanly possible "Oh, J... she... she... I..." she stuttered and it was like I couldn't breath "Nycky's in the hospital..." TBC... ***************************** CLIFFHANGER!!! My first one! So, is it a good one? Be honest (but in a soft sweet way, k? lol)! I'm trying to improve my "suspense" writing and I've never been really good with cliffhangers. So, if this is not good, please tell me so I can improve it. Compliments (which are ALWAYS welcome *hint hint*) are good for my ego, criticism is good for my writing. So, the whole chapter, was it better than the previous one? Please, tell me it was. At least I think it is. This is where the "action" really starts and I guess I'm pretty proud of this one installment. Hope you guys feel the same way about it. Anyway, mail me and tell me what you thought at luv_hugs_chocolate@hotmail.com Oh, I'll try to put part 16 out soon. I'm getting kinda anxious and I want to write it quickly lol See ya! Luv, hugs and chocolate! Fallen Angel PS: Just one more thing: "awful" is one helluva strong, offending, heartless and disrespectiful way of describing someone else's work, ok? Even if that work IS awful, there are "lighter" ways of saying that, and helping instead of discouraging the author, so if you really did hate it and hated this one too, and you want me to know that you didn't like them, try to make use of euphemism for once, ok? I take criticism well, as long as it doesn't totally diminishes me... PS2: No need to worry, I don't plan on using French in the story again... PS3: Just so I don't get sued: the song "Endless Love" is copyrighted and I don't claim to own it in any way. It was just mentioned here because I like the song and it fitted in. If you have no idea what song this is, it's the song worldwide known through Lionel Ritchie and Diana Ross' voices, from the movie "Endless Love". I doubt you've never heard it but if you happen to be one of the five people in the world who don't know about it, I highly suggest you listen to it. It's a beautiful song. PS4 (It's the last one! Promise lol): if you see a living dead creature wandering around, say "hi". That's me hehe That's enough! See you next time... Tootles!