Joann opened the door.  “Lauren!” she yelled, and ran to catch her. She ran down a flight of stairs and found Lauren in a kneeling laundry room, crying.  “Lauren?” she said.

Lauren looked up at her, tears streaming down her face.  “Lau, what’s wrong?” she knelt down beside her.

“Nothing, I’m being childish.”

“You’re not being childish if you are crying in a laundry room.  Something is wrong.”

“It’s just… I don’t know… I feel that this could all slip away,” Lauren stammered.

“What could slip away?”

“This whole thing!  Jo, I have never felt this way before.  Three weeks ago, I’m sitting in my backyard, and now, I have fallen for this man like I have never fallen for anyone before.  I’m afraid that he’s going to go back to Orlando, be a big star, and leave me here to myself waiting by the phone for when he has the next chance to call! I’m not going to sit back and be one of his chief groupies!”

“Lauren,” Joann said as she took one of Lauren’s hands.  “Devin wouldn’t have put all of this time into this if he didn’t care about you.”

“Maybe he did it because he wanted someone to be with while he was here,” Lauren reasoned.

“OK, now you’re being childish,” admonished Joann.  “This isn’t about Devin.”

“Oh yeah?  Then what is it exactly about?”

Joann took a deep breath.  “It’s about you not wanting to fall in love again.”

Lauren gave a hard stare to Joann.  “And you know I’m right,” Joann finished.

Lauren looked down.  Joann held her face back up with her hands.  “Listen to me, Lauren
Deveraux, Devin is not Johnny.  He’s not going to treat you like Johnny did.  I know that it was hard, I was there, remember?  I was there when you came into almost every class with a red, swollen face.  I was there when Johnny would come to the school, yelling at you and saying every nasty thing to you, him leaving, and all of us trying to put you back together.”

“I know,” Lauren whispered.

“But you broke up with his nasty butt, and you got you’re life back.  You stopped becoming that broken down person, and built your life up again.  You just forgot one thing.”

“What?”

“You forgot how to let someone in again.  And you have to!” Joann exclaimed.  “Girl, guys like Devin come once in a lifetime.  The big man upstairs has given you a second chance, so take it and hold on tight!”

Lauren looked at her, and she knew she was right.  “I know you’re right.  But how do I do it?  How
do I let him in to my heart?”

“I think you need to talk to him,” answered Joann.  “And you need to talk now.  Don’t let him slip away.”

Joann got up and helped Lauren.  “Come on, take a chance,” said Joann reassuringly.  “It’ll be OK.”

They both walked back up to the room.

***Devin’s Hotel Room***

The guys had finished their last phone call when Joann and Lauren walked into the room. 

“Where have you been,” said Devin jokingly.  “I was gonna call the…” he took notice of Lauren’s face.  His face went from a smile to a look of concern.  “Oh my God, what’s wrong?” he ran to Lauren.

“Uh, guys,” interrupted Joann.  “Let me take you downstairs for a celebratory cup of coffee, on me.”

“Sure,” said Brad and Rich, their expressions also concerned.  They left the room.

Devin led Lauren to sit on the bed.  “What’s wrong Lauren?”

Lauren looked at Devin.  “I was scared.”

“Of what?”

“That you were going to leave me after tomorrow.”

“Leave?  Why would you think I was going to leave?” said Devin.  “I told you I was going to go
back to Florida and then…”

“And then I was going to take a back seat!” exclaimed Lauren as she stood up.  “You have your career right in front of you, Devin.  Your album is coming out in a few weeks and then you’re going to experience all of these new things, go to new places, meet new PEOPLE.”

Devin stood up to face her.  “Wait a minute, do you think that I am going to cheat on you?  No, no, no.  I mean, I know there’s going to be fans, but I know in my heart there will be only one for me.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“Why would you say that?”

“Because it has happened to me before!” Lauren yelled, a new stream of tears flowing.  She sat back down on the bed and was crying full tilt.  Devin sat down next to her, not saying a word, listening to every one of hers.

“About a year ago, I was going out with this guy named Johnny,” Lauren said.  “I thought he was the one.  He would take me places, show me new things.  After a while, it wasn’t fun anymore.  He would go places, and not tell me where he was going.  Then, when he would come back, he would yell and put me down.  He broke me.  He even came to me when I was on campus and start these fights—completely embarrassing me in front of my professors and friends.  Joann was there through the whole thing; that’s how we became friends.  Then I realized that I couldn’t be like this anymore.  I had to end it, and I did.”

“I’m so sorry you had to go through that,” said Devin, his arm around her.  “And… you think that all guys are like that,” he concluded.

“No,” Lauren said shaking her head.  “I don’t.  For the first time since then, I found someone who made me believe in relationships again.  It was you.”

“I…”

“I know, you’re not understanding,” Lauren interrupted.  “You made me feel special.  I didn’t think that I could care about someone again.  That’s why when we went out for the first time I was leery at first.  But I let you in, and I didn’t think about Johnny, or how I was hurt.  That’s what scared me.  I didn’t know how to let my guard down, and when I did, I thought I would lose all control again.”

“Listen to me,” Devin said.  “I’m not like him, and I never will.” Tears were in his eyes.  “I care about you.  You are the best thing that has happened to me!  I don’t want you to take a back seat.  I want you to be there with me!  I want you there when the album goes on sale.  I want you there when we go on our first tour.  I want you with me every step of the way.”

“How can I be when I’m here and you are God knows where?”

“We’ll call, we’ll e-mail, I’ll come out every chance I can, and when I can’t, you can come out to see me.  We can rack up the biggest phone bill in United States’ history!  You can be in the textbooks that you’re going to teach to your students!”

Lauren laughed.  “Do you really think we can make it work?”

Devin smiled at her.  “We have to, because if we ever break up, Joann will fly to wherever I am and beat the living crap out of me.”

Lauren let out a guffaw.  “That she will!”

“So what do you say?”

“I say, shut up and kiss me already,” Lauren whispered.  They leaned in for the most passionate kiss they have ever had.

Part VIII

Contents

Part VI