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He quietly walked over to Jenny. Her scream must have been loud enough to reach the bodyguards in the other bus. If that was true, they would be here soon. Seeing them would surely only scare her past the point of sanity. They needed to calm her down before that happened.
"Jenny? You're all right..." Howie drawled out, slowly placing his hand on her head. She winced at his touch, but didn't pull away. In fact, she got closer to him. Howie noticed Nick's hurt expression. He gave him a sympathetic glance in return, then looked back to Jenny.
She was now trying to turn her head to look at him. He noticed her eyes were misty. She was still frightened, but her eyes said she had been silently weeping because she was ashamed more than anything. Howie didn't want to move. He felt like she was this fragile creature that the smallest movement could break. She was now openly trembling.
"Howie?" she croaked his name when she finally remembered it. Jenny wasn't sure if she could trust him, but he looked sincere. And she wanted more than anything to be able to trust him. All of them.
"You're all right," Kevin repeated what Howie had said. Jenny glanced over at him. Then turned slowly, looking at each of them. She stopped at Nick. He looked shaken. Jenny noticed the sadness in his eyes. He looked ready to cry, as she had done only moments ago. She reached up to wipe her tears off her cheeks, sniffing at the same time. Her gaze never left his.
"Am I? Am I really all right?" she challenged, wanting to hear it from her supposed attacker before deciding whether to believe it or not.
"You are." Nick started to reach over to catch a newly escaped tear of hers.
"WHAT HAPPENED?!"
Everyone jumped at the loud, booming call coming from the front of the bus. AJ and Brian rushed to intercept the bodyguards on their way over to Jenny. If the men saw that she was crying, any excuse they gave would seem too unlikely.
"Nothing's wrong. Now just hold up. Jenny just...." AJ looked over to Brian for help.
"Saw a spider. She saw a spider. Over there." Brian let the lame answer slip from his mouth and pointed the guards in the direction of the bathroom. The guards rolled their eyes as one of them headed toward the bathroom to check it out. Not that the Backstreet Boys couldn't handle a spider.
"I don't see anything. If there was one, it's gone now." Walking past Jenny, he patted her shoulder, not all that gently, and continued on out the bus after the other guards.
"You'll have to excuse our guards. They weren't all that thrilled with having a fan go on tour with us. They don't really hate you, though. And they would never hurt you. You don't need to worry," Kevin stated when he noticed the look and pat on the shoulder the guard had given Jenny before leaving. Hearing Kevin talking about their fans reminded Brian that Jenny wasn't their fan. He had thought that he could keep it a secret. Now he was changing his mind. Maybe the others should know. He would never tell her that they knew, though. Brian got into deep thought over Jenny, and soon he was back to her and Nick. Damnit. Nick had almost acted upon his feelings for her. If only the guards hadn't have come right then. Damnit damnit damnit!
Nick had been watching Brian for the past few minutes. His friend's expression had gone from thoughtful to pissed. He would have to wait until later to question him, though. Upon making that decision, Nick turned back to Jenny and was shocked to realize she was now cuddling up to him. Course, she didn't know it, for she was sleeping. He felt a jolt of happiness go through him. He was confused as to why being with her brought him such joy, but honest enough to himself to admit that it did. He would die before telling any of the others. They would taunt him for sure. Just thinking about it made him embarrassed.
Howie and AJ noticed Nick's blush at the same time that they noticed Jenny. AJ elbowed Brian. All three shared a grin before gaining a seat to rest. AJ went back to his thoughts from earlier that day. He recalled thinking of how interesting the tour was going to be. He had been right, of course. Now, however, he was more sure of it than ever.
Brian had closed his eyes the moment he sat down, but now opened them again. Kevin and Howie were whispering over something he couldn't hear. AJ had his own eyes closed, but his constant sighing told Brian he was also awake. Brian guessed he was thinking about Amanda. Brian then looked toward Nick and Jenny.
Both appeared to be sleeping now. The sight was heartwarming. Brian wanted to laugh, but held himself back for fear of waking them. He noticed Nick's arm around her shoulder. He did giggle then. What if Jenny woke up first? There would be hell to pay when she realized she had slept in Nick's arms. Brian found himself actually hoping that would happen. Then he had another thought.
Surviving the ordeal they had just faced didn't solve whatever fear Jenny had. He wasn't sure if she had been afraid because she simply doesn't like the group and, therefore, doesn't know them. Or was there more to it? He had to find out. He would talk to the other guys, and then maybe he could talk to her about it. He wasn't sure if she would actually open up to him, though. In fact, he highly doubted it. What about her friends? Surely they knew. Talking to them about it was another possibility.
Brian sighed. He was tired. It would be another hour atleast until they would stop for the day. Nick had requested they not use planes until they absolutely needed to. That meant they only had booked flights for the venues that were long distances apart with only one day to reach them.
Brian closed his eyes again. This time, intending to sleep.
Broken Promises