Chapter Eleven: Forbidden Love



The early morning sun filled the room around me as my eyes slowly fluttered open. I yawned a little, squinting through the room, as my eyes adjusted. I had slept with my back to Brian his body snuggled up against my back, his chin resting gently on my neck, his arm draped over my body. I turned around slowly to face him, planting a soft kiss on his chin. I watched with a smile as he slept contentedly, his beautiful eyes closed, a smile forged on his face. His hair messily ruffled around his face. I felt so at ease with him there.

He moved a little cracking one eye open. He smiled at me as he woke from his slumber.
"Good morning" he smiled, yawning a little after
"Morning" I sighed, today was a beautiful day - nothing could ruin it.
"Sleep well?"
"Perfectly"
His hand rubbed down my body.
"You look beautiful" he smiled, his eyes just delving into mine
"Ditto" I laughed, snuggling into his body, I just longed to be close to him
"I wish we could lye like this forever" he whispered, kissing my ear
"But we cant, can we?" I replied
He looked at me sadly, then shook his head.
"I should probably get going" I muttered, knowing I should but not at all wanting to
"I suppose"
I slithered to the edge of the bed and sat up as I replaced my clothes. Brian slid up behind me his hands rummaging over my body as he kissed my neck. My head turned to look at him before I stood up, fully dressed.

"I should go before Alleah goes back into the room"
"Come here" he smiled, gesturing for me to lean down
I leant down as he sat up in the bed. He kissed me softly, cupping my face into his. I smiled thankfully before walking towards the door.
"I'll see you later?" I inquired as I reached for the door handle
"You couldn't keep me away" he laughed as I walked out of the door and hurried down the hall.

As I was about to turn the corner, Alleah was walking around the other side, a foul expression on her face.
"Riyan" she scathed as she stopped me from going further
"Yes Alleah" I smiled sweetly
"Where were you last night?" she inquired calmly
"Asleep" I shrugged
"Where?"
"Why does it matter?"
"I went into your room last night, to see if you were alright, and you weren't there"
"Uh"
"Where the hell were you? God Riyan, I'm not going to chase you around everywhere"
"You don't anyway, why do you care where I was?" I snapped back. She never gave a damn what I did or where I went before, why did she suddenly take an interest?
"Fine, you wont tell me, how about I ring uncle Marco, and see if he can ask his daughter where she was last night" she threatened pulling her cell from her bag
"She was with me Alleah, don't trip" Belle announced from behind me
I spun around to see her walking up.
"With you?" Alleah hissed
"That's what I said" Belle smiled
"God, Riyan. You could have just told me that" she huffed, storming off

"Uh, thanks Belle, I really thought she'd ring Papa" I smiled opening the door to my room
"She's a bitch" she laughed "But she has a point, where were you?"
"Uh, I was there, she just didn't see me" I lied, I didn't want to lie, but this wasn't just my secret, it was Brian's too, I had to protect him.
"I don't believe you Riyan" she spoke firmly
"Don't worry about it" I shrugged
"Look, you don't have to tell me, I was just hoping you would, I thought we had that kind of trust"
"Please Belle, I, I cant tell you" I sniffed before disappearing into the room

~ THAT NIGHT ~
It was an exhausting day of full on publicity, I had done TV shows, Magazine Interviews, A Signing, and a meet and greet with some radio station winners. I was so unbelievably tired, I thought I was going to collapse. Thankfully though, we didn't have a show tonight, instead we were to have what the record label called an "Off night" where we relaxed - or something like that. We all decided (including, dancers, the band, pretty much everyone involved) that we would have a dinner/party thing, the venue was a completely booked out restaurant - up-market of course, no expense spared - well, I wasn't complaining.

I yawned quietly as I looked through the masses of clothes I had for something I felt like wearing, I usually had a stylist who followed me everywhere, buying my clothes and dressing me as she thought I should look. I had to admit she was good, she was also a good makeup artist and hair stylist, but this time I wanted to dress the way I wanted to, she agreed, probably because there weren't supposed to be any photographers or media around. We were told to dress formal, so that meant my favorite pair of jeans and baby T were out, and a dress would have to be worn.

I had quite a few dresses, mostly white or silver, I even had a pink one I loathed with a vengeance I got the feeling they wanted me to look 25, but give off the feeling of an innocent 15 year old - well, I wasn't anymore. I smiled in remembrance of last night, hugging myself gently. I continued my search and stopped when I found one of the few things I hate bought with me on this tour from home. It was a dress my mother given me only a few months before I left, red silk with black lace along the bottom edge. It had only thin straps and a tight bodice, from there it fell into an A-Line skirt that hung ankle length and had two splits up the side. I remember her telling me that was the dress she was wearing when she first saw Papa, she used to tell me it was love at first sight, and though he wasn't rich, as most of the suitors were that followed her, she knew that someday, she would marry him. My mother believed in fate, she knew it was fate that meant Papa had been working that night when she saw him, she believed it was fate that meant two years later they were married. I think, I believed in fate as well.

I held the dress up to me, it fitted me perfectly, Mama had made a few alterations to the dress, but all in all it stayed the same, majestic. I could almost feel Mama on it, like it kept her close to me, and then, I knew I would have to wear it tonight.

I finished dressing, and peered at myself in the mirror. As I stared deeper I saw something I'd never seen before, Mama and I, had the same eyes, it was like I could see her staring back at me, and I knew everything would be alright, she was with me, she was protecting me.

It didn't take long to softly pile my hair at the crown of my head and pin it there, and within the half hour, I was ready.
"Riyan, are you ready?" Belle called as she knocked on the hotel room door
I opened the door slowly and stood in front of her. she was dressed in a deep green dress, that looked almost velvet, it had a barely visible pattern to it and accentuated her curvaceous body perfectly. Nick stood beside her, dressed in black pants and a almost matching deep green shirt, in his hand he carried a black leather jacket.
"Damn girl, you look amazing" Belle smiled as she looped my arm with hers
"Thanks" I smiled softly as we walked down the hall

~ 20 MINUTES LATER ~
We arrived at the venue after been caught in a traffic jam that seemed endless. I'd shared the Limo with Nick, Belle, Kevin, and Kevin's quite wife Kristen, who sat most the journey staring out the tinted black windows. Brian, Howie along with AJ, and Alleah had gone on ahead of us.

The door was opened to us as we stepped out of the limo. It wasn't exactly the nicest night, a soft breeze was blowing and a light shower of rain was falling down to the ground. There were a few photographers standing outside in the rain, I wondered sometimes how they found out about these sorts of things, but I admired their persistence. I dawned on a smile as I walked down to the door with the others, Belle walking along beside me. I think she was almost afraid of the spotlight, or at least been in it with Nick, I figured because she wasn't exactly the "super-model" figure she felt as though some would say "Nick could do better", personally I thought he had the best.

There were a few almost blinding flashes around before we reached the safety of the restaurant. We were escorted inside to the table assigned. There were a few record big shots there that weren't actually part of the tour, but felt themselves important anyway.

"Riyan" a voice whispered in my ear
"Brian" I smiled turning around.
"You look stunning" he spoke, his voice quite so no one else would hear
"Thanks, it belonged to Mama"
"She'd be very flattered I'm sure"
I nodded softly as I sat down on the seat I was assigned.

Brian was to my right, followed by Kevin, Kristen, Howie, Alleah, AJ, Nick and Belle who was to my left. We were all to sit at the same table, I suppose making us the "center of attention" it was a little strange, but I suppose that was the way things were run.

We were all seated fairly quickly, menu's placed in front of each of us. I starred stupidly at French word after French word. Spanish was quite similar to French, and Papa had told me if you can learn one, you can learn them all, problem was, I couldn't.
"I never understood why the wrote it all in French either" Belle laughed next to me, obviously as perplexed as I was
"Where can you get a cheese burger?" AJ laughed from across the table
I yawned quietly to myself, I was still very exhausted.
"Tired?" Kevin questioned as he took a sip from his wine
"Just exhausted I suppose" I shrugged, not wanting to get anyone unnecessarily worried
"You should be careful, don't overdo it" Howie smiled across at me
I had to smile, the guys were all so nice, like older brothers, looking after their little sister, I felt at home - like a family, which I suppose we were.

The waiter came around, and everyone quickly ordered a selection of different things, me I just stuck with a garden salad and some pasta dish, I just hoped, I hadn't ordered Frogs legs or anything.

~ AFTER DINNER ~
A band had been playing softly all night and every once and a while people would dance around the dance floor, set up a bit from where we were eating, it was mostly slow music, but the occasional upbeat song was thrown in there.
"Care to dance?" Brian smiled as he extended his hand across to mine
"Sure why not" I shrugged, playing off the attraction between him and I. No one could know.

He led me to the dance floor, there were a few people already there, Belle had convinced Nick to join her there, and Howie was dancing with one of the dancers. AJ and Alleah were over by the bar, I wasn't sure about the two of them, but they seemed to be doing okay, and maybe contact with AJ would mellow Alleah out a bit, perhaps take some of the edge of her bite.

His arms slid gently around my waist, but still holding me at a slight distance, the last thing we needed was people talking. My arms wrapped dubiously around his neck, resting on his shoulders.
"I really did mean what I said, you look beautiful" Brian whispered, leaning into the side of my face
"That's because you make me feel beautiful" I whispered back
His thumb gently rubbed the base of my back as we swayed to the music. He looked around, as did I, just to make sure we'd not caught anyone's attention.
"Last night was, was" he spoke
"Magical" I smiled
"Magical" he repeated
"I don't want things to change, they wont will they, I mean we'll be together wont we?" I questioned, my naivety showing through
"I hope so Riyan, I really hope so" he breathed as I rested my head on his shoulder

"They look cute together" Belle grinned from across the dance floor as Nick concentrated on his feet
"Who? What?" he muttered looking up
"Riyan and Brian, they look kinda cute" she laughed
Nicks eyes scanned across the dance floor and locked onto the two swaying carelessly to the music, Riyan's head gently resting on his shoulder.
"Suppose" I shrugged
"Humm, if she was older I would try setting them up together" Belle grinned
"Yeah I bet you would, Damn girl, you think you're cupid or something"
She laughed softly.
"I just feel kinda bad for Brian after what happened with him and Leigh Anne, it was sad"
"You never liked her"
"I didn't hate her, I just didn't think they were right for each other Nick" she spoke, gently slapping his arm that held her tightly "and besides that doesn't mean I didn't want them to be happy"
"I know, I know. But don't go getting any ideas cupid, that there" he said pointing to the two "Is a couple that should never be"
"Forbidden love?"
"Damn right"

Chapter 12

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