"This should be interesting," Nick mumbled as he noticed the gathering of young teenage girls in the lobby of the hotel.
"Awww, come on Nicky," Howie said grinning. "It's not that bad. I think I see a hole we can squeeze through right there," he pointed at a VERY small opening in the group.
"How the hell did they manage to get here in THIS mess?" Kevin grumbled looking outside at the monsoon that had decided to pay a visit to Dallas. "Are we even sure WE wanna venture out?"
"We are not staying in HERE," Brian said. "I'm bored and wanna do something," The group had made plans to go out that night. They were supposed to meet in the hotel lounge. They were still waiting for AJ to show up.
"Where is HE?" Kevin asked looking down at his watch.
"I'll go check on him," Alesha offered.
"Nooo," Nick said latching onto her. "I don't want you to go. It's storming and I want you where with me."
Alesha laughed. "You big baby," she said snuggling up to him.
"I'll go," Lori said.
Kevin glanced over at her. "Why? Brian can go."
"I can't go. I'm watching the game," Brian said looking away from the TV.
Howie laughed. "Thought you were bored."
Rebecca giggled. "He's easily amused. Me and Howie can go up and get him."
"No, I'm going," Lori said looking at Kevin.
"Fine, whatever. I can't stop you," he grumbled, his eyes flashing.
Alesha arched an eyebrow, looking at Lori. She shrugged and mouthed, "Later," as she walked out of the lounge. Nick had wandered over to the table where Brian was and began watching the game with him. Kevin walked over to the window and was staring out grumpily at the storm, his face a rage of emotions almost as tumultuous as the weather. Alesha walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "You okay, hon?"
Kevin sighed. "No. I don't know what's going on."
"With who or what, darlin?"
"Lori. She seems so…distracted," he said looking down at Alesha.
Alesha smiled sadly. "That's how she is. She's even more complicated than me."
Kevin laughed a little. "That's hard to believe."
Alesha grinned. "She loves you hon. Just believe in that. Everything else will fall into place," she said softly.
"Sometimes I wonder."
"Oh, trust me. As her best friend and official spokesperson, I say to you now, that Lori is most definitely, entirely and wholly, in love with you."
Kevin chuckled. "You are a loon."
Alesha grinned. "Yuppers indeedy." Suddenly, there was a large clap of thunder, a bright flash of light, and then an extremely loud "BOOM!!" as the lights went out in the room.
Lori stood outside of AJ's room, hand poised to knock. She looked at her hand and realized that it was shaking. She put it down to her side, clenching and unclenching her fist. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door. "Just a sec," she heard AJ say. A few seconds later, he swung the door open. He looked at her in surprise. "Umm…hello," he said after recovering. "What…what can I do for ya?"
"Well, I was sent to see if you were still coming tonite," Lori said trying not to stare at him. He was wearing his ever loose jeans, his boxer tops showing. He didn't have a shirt on, nor did he have his glasses on, so she was forced to endure the eyes that could make her melt in a glance. His hair was wet from the shower he had taken recently.
"Oh. Umm…I forgot. Come in," he said, opening the door wider for her.
Lori slipped past him, catching the faint scent of his cologne and the soap he had used. "Oh god," she thought. "This is torture." She walked into the room, smiling as she seen the notebook and papers strung on the bed.
AJ walked over and started straightening them. "I was kinda working on a some songs and stuff. Lost track of time," he said smiling at her softly.
"You don't have to go if you don't want to. I was just suppose to see if you were," she said.
He nodded. "I was…umm…I was going to. But I didn't…I wasn't…" he cleared his throat. "I just had a flash of writing inspiration," he mumbled putting the papers in his bag.
"I see. Well, I can leave and you can finish writing," she said turning towards the door.
"NO!" he said quickly. "Just let me find a shirt and we can go. You can sit down, ya know," he said pointing to the unused bed.
"Okay," Lori said shyly. She walked over and sat down as he started digging through his suitcase.
"What the fuck?" AJ asked looking up quickly as the lights flickered and went out with a boom of thunder and a flash of lightning.
"Well, this certainly makes life interesting," Howie mumbled looking around as the floodlights came on in the room.
"Dammit, it was just getting good, too," Nick pouted.
"Awww, my poor Nickums. No game to watch," Alesha said walking over to him and patting him on the head. He pulled her down on his lap and wrapped his arms around her.
"This sucks," Brian complained.
Kevin grumbled something from his corner of the room. "What was that, Kev?" Howie asked.
"I wonder what's taking Lori so long," he snapped.
"So call em," howie said. "You can use my phone if you want."
"I have a phone D," Kevin said pulling it out and dialing AJ's cell number. "Dammit," he growled.
"What?" Alesha asked glancing at him.
"The retard must have let the battery run out. It's not working," he grumbled.
"Hmm…I can go up and see what's going on," Alesha offered, sliding off from Nick's lap.
"No. I'll go," he said, sighing and walking away.
"What's up with him," Brian asked.
Alesha shrugged and sat down next to Nick. "Him and Lori are fighting about something."
"I bet it's about AJ, huh?" Nick said looking up from the pile of sugar packets he was using to try and build a house.
Alesha looked at him funny and shook her head. "You are so weird," she said. "And I have no clue what it's about. Why would it be about AJ?"
"I'm not weird," he said, resuming his construction. "And she's up there now with AJ, and he got mad when she said she was going," he shrugged.
Walking up the final flight of stairs, Kevin made his way to AJ's door. Running a finger through his hair, he took a deep breath and knocked on the door. "Jussasec," AJ said. The door handle moved a bit and stopped. It moved again, and stopped. "Umm…who is it?" AJ asked.
Kevin looked down at the handle, confused. "It's Kev," he answered.
"Oh. Ummm…dude, I seem to have a problem. The door doesn't want to open," AJ said jiggling the handle again.
"Hmm…let me run down to the desk and see if they have an extra key or something," Kevin said.
"Cool," AJ mumbled. "We'll be here."
"Funny, AJ," Kevin grumbled walking off.
"So the door's stuck?" Lori asked.
AJ nodded as he sat down next to her on the bed. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault."
Lori smiled. "It's not your fault the weather went to crap."
He grinned. "No, but it's my fault you're stuck up here with me until god knows when."
"It's okay, hon," Lori said. "Brian was getting on my nerves anyway," she laughed.
"Oh, I'm sure he was," AJ said. "He gets REAL annoying when Leah's gone." They sat in silence for a few minutes. AJ was staring at his hands, messing with his fingers. Lori was staring at the floor, playing with her hair nervously.
"So, what were you writing?" Lori asked suddenly.
"Ummm, a couple of new songs. Hoping they'll turn out okay and we can use them for the new album or something."
"Ahh," Lori nodded. "I've always liked your writing," she smiled.
"Really?" he asked looking at her in surprise.
She nodded. "Yeah. 'If You Knew What I Knew' is one of my favorite songs."
He grinned. "Wow. Figured you'd be a big Kevin lyric fan."
She smiled. "Oh, 'Back To Your Heart' is one of my other favorites," she said.
"Of course," AJ laughed.
There was a rustling at the door, as Kevin returned with the key. "Dammit," they heard him grumble. He knocked and AJ walked over.
"Yeah?" AJ asked through the door.
"The key doesn't work. Slide yours under the door," Kevin said.
"Okie," AJ answered digging in his wallet and pulling out his key. He slid it under the door to Kevin.
Kevin tried AJ's key, and just like the first one, it didn't work either. "Okay, this is really getting annoying," Kevin said. "Yours doesn't work either. Try the handle again."
AJ tried to open the door again, but to no avail. "Still stuck dude."
"Is the door unlocked?" Kevin asked.
"I'm not a freaking retard Kevin. Yes, the door is unlocked," AJ said.
"Dammit," Kevin said hitting the door with his fist. "Is Lori still in there?"
AJ glanced over at Lori who was flipping through one of his music magazines. "Yeah."
Kevin sighed and mumbled something under his breath. "Is she okay?"
AJ looked at the door in shock. "What the hell do you think I'd do to her? Chop her up in tiny pieces and send em to you one by one? Yes, she's okay."
Kevin grumbled and said, "I'm going to get this door opened soon. Tell her I'll be back in a little bit."
"She can hear you just fine, Kevin. It's not like I have her locked away somewhere."
"Wonder what's going on with Kevin," Alesha said glancing at the door.
"He's been gone for a while, yeah?" Howie said.
Nodding, Alesha went over to the door and peeked out. She saw Kevin walking towards the desk with an expression of murder. She walked out to see what was going on. "Hey Kev."
"They're locked in AJ's room together," he grumbled.
"Really?" Alesha asked surprised.
"I knew I shouldn't of let her go up there."
"Oh for crying out loud Kev, nothing is going to happen," Alesha said rolling her eyes.
"YOU don't know that," he said grabbing the new key from the desk attendant and walking off.
Shaking her head, she went back in the lounge. She sat down next to Howie and Rebecca and sighed. "What's up?" Rebecca asked.
"AJ and Lori are locked in AJ's room. Kevin is ready to murder someone."
"You think Lori and AJ are going to do anything?" Howie asked.
"No," Alesha said quickly. "Lori's not that type of person. She loves Kevin. She doesn't want AJ. If she had wanted AJ, she wouldn't be with Kevin."
Howie nodded. "That's what I thought. So what's Kevin's problem?"
Alesha shrugged. "He seen Lori leave AJ's room one night. They had gone out to a club or something. She was upset because she didn't' know if she was ever going to see Kevin again. He was really tired and had gone to bed early. She was worried about me and Nick, also. So AJ took her out. Kevin woke up and seen her leaving AJ's room. Nothing happened, but Kevin is having a hard time believing that."
Howie nodded. "Well, it IS AJ," he said softly. "But then again…it IS Kevin's girlfriend, and Bone would NEVER do something like that to any of us."
