Chapter 25

The bus trundled along an old back road in Italy's fertile countryside. Kevin was digging into a plate of left-over Oriental food, while Nick and Brian played a game on Sega Dreamcast. Howie was chatting on his cellphone with his dad, and AJ was sitting at the front of the bus with Lauren.
"So, what exactly do you do when you're not modeling?"
"Run my interior decorating business"
"Wow, really?"
"Yep. Its alot of work but I love it"
"You know, I'm remodeling my house at the moment. You should come by and take a look at it sometime, and maybe give me a few ideas"
"Sure. That would be cool."
Their conversation was interrupted when Kevin called to her to come and join him in the back.
"Hmm. I wonder why he wants you to go back there with him, eh?" AJ said, nudging her with his elbow and winking.
"Do you think of anything but sex?"
"What else?"
Lauren just shook her head, smiled and got up to join Kevin in the back."Mmm, very. Do you want some?"
"No, I'm still trying to recover from that hot-dog the other day"
"Oh, shuddup, you know you liked it"
Lauren didn't answer, and instead placed a kiss on his cheek. She slid into the seat next to Kevin and looked out the window.
"Thanks for coming on the bus today"
"I'm glad I joined you, but I feel a little bad since Rachel and Katie havta drive the Explorer between just the two of them."
"Well we'll be in Rome in like an hour and a half so there isn't that much farther to go"
"Nick, man, I'm not going to play if everytime I actually start to beat you, you reset the game" Brian complained, coming out from the t.v room and plunking down on the counter next to where Kevin and Lauren were sitting.
"Whatever, you're just a sore loser" Nick retorted, taking a can of Mountain Dew out of the mini- fridge."Hey, I look cool, and you know it" Kevin retorted and pulled the brim of his navy blue bucket hat over his eyes.
"You look like a fag" Nick said loudly.
"Who's a fag?" AJ asked, joining the already crowded kitchenette.
"Kevin"
"Kev, you dawg. And all along you've been using Lauren as a cover-up"
"Kevvy, why didn't you tell me about that?" Lauren asked, playing along.
"Come on, I have ta get away from these morons" Kevin replied, pulling her by the hand into the t.v room.
"Damn, is he in a pissy mood"
"Ehh, its only cause he's got a girl on the bus. It makes him feel more superior or something" AJ commented.
"Hey Assholes! I can hear everything you are saying from in here. If you don't shut up, I'm gonna really give you a reason to complain about me" Kevin shouted loudly.
Brian rolled his eyes, and AJ flicked Kevin off from his place at the little table. They changed the subject as Howie joined the room and sat down next Nick.
"Where exactly did you and AJ go today, D?" Brian asked, biting into an apple.
"This shopping place called Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. I have the brochure right here"
Brian snatched it out of his hands and began reading the caption below the picture of the place.
"The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is a huge, glassed-roofed shopping arcade in Milan. The interior contains cafes, restaurants, and shops. It was designed by Giuseppe Mengoni, who fell from the roof and died a few days before the inauguration of the arcade in 1878," he recited.
"He probably got distracted by looking at some hot chicks ass in tight pleather pants, and lost his balance" Nick commented. The three other guys narrowed there eyes and just shook their heads.
"What?" Nick asked defensively.
Noone bothered to explain, except AJ, because he enjoyed making Nick feel stupid. "First of all, dumbass, in 1878 women weren't allowed to wear pants, and secondly, even if they were permitted to wear pants, they definitely wouldn't wear pleather, because it hadn't been discovered yet"
"Well excuse me for not being a fashion history buff like you AJ. Man, I'm going to my bunk. You guys suck" Nick got up from the table and walked to the middle of the bus where the bunks were and fell into his bed, sighing deeply. He laid there for a few minutes, his mind blank. But eventually he let it wander to the conversation he and Rachel had had that morning. It had been so mysterious, a little confusing. She had started off with light talk, but then moved on to a more deep conversation. He replayed it in his head.

"Nick, can I ask you something?"
"Shoot"
"Would Nina care if one of you guys dated, say me? Like, would she prefer that you didn't, or does it not bother her?"
"Well that really depends on who it is, I mean Kevin's relationships are completely different than say-"
"Well, of course. I mean, everyone has their own type of relationship. But say, who would she be more agreeable of together, you and I, or AJ and I?"
"Well, I don't know, I mean... I don't know"
"Hypothetically speaking"
"Hypothetically speaking? Probably me"
"Why would you say that?"
"Well I mean...I don't know. AJ's relationships don't always last that long and..."
"Oh, geez, I shouldn't be asking you. You're one of his best friends. Thanks anyways, Nick, sorry for making you uncomfortable"
"You didn't. I just don't understand where this is all coming from. I mean, why does it matter what Nina thinks?"
"Don't worry about it. Its nothing really, I was just curious. Well I gotta go take a shower, so I'll see you this afternoon than"
"Of course"
"Great"

Nick was still puzzled. Did all those questions mean she was interested in him or something? She had inquired slightly about dating him, and they certainly had been spending alot of time together. And she had said she wasn't involved with AJ at all, although he had thought differently."No, that couldn't be the case, besides" he thought to himself, "I'm still with Korrie" he said grimly. He didn't want to think, and instead sleep, so he cleared his mind, and dosed off to la-la land.

Back in the t.v room, Kevin and Lauren were sitting on the couch just starting to watch a movie. There was a quite a distance between their two places on the sofa, and Kevin realized this immediately.
"Hey, why you all the way over there?" He reached for her, and pulled her into his chest, were she fit comfortably.
"What are we watching?" she asked.
"Uhhh, let's see" Kevin said, picking up the video case.
"Tommy Boy"
"You like this movie!?" Lauren asked shocked, sitting up and pulling away from him.
"Yeah, why, don't you?"
"I love it. It just doesn't seem like your type of movie cuz its so silly, that's all" she replied, focusing her eyes back on the t.v screen and leaning into his chest again.
Kevin didn't say anything at first, just sat there.
"What's wrong?" Lauren asked, looking up into his eyes. They looked a hurt, but he still didn't respond.
"What's wrong Kevvy?" she asked again.
" I just don't get it sometimes. Everybody thinks I'm this serious guy that doesn't want to have any fun and never jokes around"
"That's not true"
"Then how come you thought I wouldn't like this movie?"
"I don't know, I guess I wasn't thinking. You know that I think you're lots of fun. But I do like the strong, silent type too, so you fit completely into my idea of the perfect guy"
"Mmm, good" Kevin said smiling, and hugging her tightly. "Gimme a kiss" he said, pointing to his cheek. Lauren turned around, and leaned up to give him a kiss, but before she got her lips on his cheek, he turned his head quickly, causing her to kiss him on the mouth instead.
"Hey you-" she started, but Kevin pulled her face closer to his, and got comfier in his position.
"Mmm, see I can be fun" he said softly, moving down her neck.
"Yeah, but you've got it all mixed up Kevvy. This is when you are supposed to be silent"
"Oh I get what you're saying" He coiled his lips into a smile and brushed his hands against her waist, pushing her down into the couch.

"What are they doing in there? It certainly has gotten quiet" Brian asked himself outloud as he, AJ and Howie absent mindedly played a game of poker.
"Haha, I got an idea to make their little "session" somewhat more enjoyable." AJ said schemingly, rubbing his hands together.
"Bone, noone wants your sick sex toys, ok? Especially Kevin, so lay off those for now. If you want to make it more enjoyable for them, leave em' alone" Howie said firmly but quietly, so Kevin wouldn't be able to hear what they were saying.
"Now, now, coming from the "Latin Lover" I would have thought you'd be more open to that sort of thing. Besides, I wasn't even going to offer any sex toys to them, not that I have any, just a little music to spice up the mood"
AJ jumped up from his chair and ran over to the portable stereo on the shelf in the closet. His two friends watched intently as AJ busied himself looking for something. His head was practically all the way in his bookbag until he brought out a small plastic case."Ah ha! Here it is"
He muttered something else as he collected his stereo and what looked to be a tape, but all Brian could make out of his mumbling was, "Marvin Gaye." AJ then placed the stereo in front of the tv room's narrow, but closed door. He inserted the tape, pressed play, and turned up the volume, before jumping back from the door, and positioning himself on a chair about 6 feet in front of it.
"This way I can get the perfect view of Kev's reaction when he walks out the door"
"What are you up to Bone?"
Brian was answered when the lyrics to "Let's Get it On" swooned out of the speakers. After the first few lines of the song, Howie smiled and stood up, making his hand into a fist and bringing it to his mouth, while lip-synking "But if you feel, like I feel baby..come on....let's get it on"
Brian was in a fetal position, holding his stomach and laughing on the bench to the kitchen table while AJ smirked at his cleverness, and put his feet up on the counter. They joked around for a few more minutes, but when Kevin or Lauren didn't come out, AJ smile turned into a frown.
"Where is he?" he mouthed to Howie. Normally Kevin would have flung open the plastic sliding door, stormed over to AJ, and tore him to pieces, verbally of course. But there was nothing. No yelling, no stomping, no nothing. AJ was rather disappointed by the turn out of his unsuccessful prank, and as the tune faded out, he got up to remove the stereo.
"Oh Kevin!!!! That feels so good!! Do it harder!!" Lauren screamed. AJ stopped dead in his tracks, and looked bug eyed at Brian and Howie. In response, Brian began laughing uncontrollably again, and Howie gripped his hand over his mouth.
There was another yell but this time from Kevin. "Oh baby! Give it to DADDY!!"
Now that's what sent Howie and Brian into the same sense of shock as AJ, who was still standing half way in the kitchen, halfway in the corridor. "I can't believe Kevin is actually having sex on the bus, while we're still here! Man, and its not like he's being quiet about it either" Howie exclaimed.
"Guys, that's my cousin. I mean, I don't wanna hear my own family going at it" Brian said, with a horrified look on his face.
There was a banging noise, but it had a momentum going with it. Almost as if..well someone was going at it.
"Woah, that Marvin Gaye shit is pretty....infectious, I guess you could say" AJ said, turning around to get away from the noise.
Suddenly the door to the t.v room flew open and there stood Kevin, pulling Lauren behind him. They both had serious looks are their faces, and acted as if nothing had happened. Kevin opened the mini fridge, took out the milk jug, and swigged from it. Lauren kissed him on the cheek and walked back into the tv room, where the sound of channels changing quickly could be heard. Kevin sat down, munching on a cookie, but looked up when he noticed three sets of eyes all resting on him.
"What?" he asked sternly.
"So...how was the movie Kev?" Howie asked, not knowing what to say.
"You mean Tommy Boy? Oh it was funny"
"Or were you even watching it?" AJ said under his breath.
"What was that AJ?" Kevin asked, directing the conversation towards him.
"Nothing, I just don't remember the lines "Kevin! That feels so good" being in Tommy Boy" AJ dared.
Kevin just shrugged his shoulders, and flipped through a magazine that was laying on the table. The three guys looked at him expectantly, waiting for more of an answer, when Nick walked in.
"Yo, who was having sex in the t.v room man? Whoever it was woke me up" he said, still rubbing his eyes from his sleep. AJ pointed to Kevin with his thumb, and Nick raised his eyebrows.
"No way?"
"Well he is the only one with a girl on the bus, ya ass" AJ said, smacking him lightly upside the head.
Kevin looked up from his magazine his eyes glistening. He looked at each and everyone of his band mates, before turning his head around.
"Hey Laur, you think we should tell em'?"
There was no response, just a long hard laugh that came from the t.v room. Everyone looked confused for a moment, except for Kevin.
"You guys are so damn gullible you know that?" he said, getting up from his spot, shaking his head and chuckling.
"When will you guys ever grow up, huh? I tell ya!" he muttered and walked back into the t.v room to join Lauren.

Everyone in the kitchenette was silent for a moment, before giving eachother questioning looks.
AJ finally spoke up. "So, they didn't have sex?" he asked, addressing all of them at the same time.
"No you idiots, we didn't have sex! We were playing it up! Now go back to doing whatever you were doing and leave your big brother alone!!" Kevin shouted good heatedly.
So the guys went back to playing poker, this time dealing the cards to Nick aswell.

"See, I can be fun" Kevin said, turning towards Lauren and smiling.

Chapter 26
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A Story is a Wish your Heart Makes