Moving On

*6 Months Later*

"You know what? If I have to look at another apartment, I"m going to scream!" I tell AJ as we sit down to eat the dinner he made us. He looks at me and just laughs. "What?" I ask him annoyed at the fact that he's laughing at me being annoyed. "Nothing babe." "No AJ, what is it?" "I just find it funny is all. You girls, all you talked about for the last 6 months is getting out of the hotel room and moving into an apartment. Now all you 3 do is complain about looking for one" I sit there and just stare at him for a few seconds and realize he is right, all we have been doing is complaining about looking, but I wasn't about to give up being annoyed with it all..after all it's my right. "Yea well it's still no fun. I mean just when we find one we like they throw in all the added stuff on and then the rent is so high we can't afford it, it's aggravating." I whine. He looks at me and smiles at me, "I know babe, but you'll find something. I mean I've gotten to know the 3 of you pretty well and I can honestly say that if you guys have your minds set..it happens. Don't worry, it'll all work out." "Thanks hun, I guess I just needed some encouragement." I tell him even though I still dread going out and looking once again tomorrow. After dinner we do the dishes together and sit down to watch some tv. "You know what?" He asks me after he gets done surfin the stations and finding nothing. "What?" "I think we need to go out and go dancing. What do you say?" "I say lets go baby!" I tell him and give him a kiss. He wraps his arms around me and the kiss gets more passionate "Uh now that you started this, I say we stay home and have our own recreational fun" He says when the kiss ends. "Ohhhh no you don't Mr. McLean, you said you were going to take me dancing, and I'm holding you to it." I tell him getting out from his arms and heading to the bedroom where I keep extra clothes from when I stay over. "Aww come on babe, lets stay home now." He whines to me but starts picking out some clothes to wear. He sounds so cute that I turn around and look at him pouting and laugh "Look, if you take me out dancing I promise you when we come home we can have all the fun you want, ok?" I tell him and give him a kiss that lets him know that 'the fun' will be worth the wait. I break the kiss and go to the bed where I had put my clothes and head for the bathroom and before I closed the door I heard his reply "Damn, I can't wait for the fun to begin" he says and I start laughing as I get ready. I walk out of the bathroom and AJ is not in the bedroom so I head to the living room where I see him hang up the phone. "Well Kevin, Lorie, Howie and Autumn are going to meet up at the club." He tells me. I just stand there drinking in how damn good he looks standing there all dressed in black with a shirt showing off his tats and of course his sunglasses, though they were on top of his head at the moment. "Tre?" I hear him say "Uh, oh what?" "Did you hear me? Kevin, Lorie, Howie and Autumn are going to meet us." "Oh great cool babe." I say to him while trying to break away from just looking at him. "Wow sweetie you look Hot, I'm not sure I want to take you out where other guys can stare at you." He says to me as he grabs his keys and, of course, his cowboy hat. "Why thank you. You look mighty fine yourself and I'll hate having to share you with any fans that might happen to be there. I tell him and he laughs at me "Baby you never have to share me with anyone, my attention just might be diverted for a few minutes while I shake hands and sign autographs, but sharing me..never I'm all yours." He tells me as he opens the door for me. "Aww thank you baby, your such a sweetheart." I tell him and give him a kiss. "I try baby, I try." He says as he closes my door and I laugh. We made it to the club and we were the first ones there but after a while everyone showed up, including Nick and Brian with his girlfriend. We danced until at least 3:00 in the morning and then decided to head home. "See you guys later, we're heading back to AJ's house" I tell Lorie and Autumn. "Oh ok, girl. Make sure your up tomorrow to go and look for apartments. We have to look before you two have to go to work." Autumn says to me. "Don't worry Autumn I will be a the roomby 10:00 tomorrow morning...or I mean later today." I tell her as AJ comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist "Come on baby lets go, I'm ready for all that fun you promised me earlier" He whispers in my ear. I give out a giggle,despite my hate for people who giggle "Ok hun, lets go" I tell him and grab his hand. "Later guys, see ya tomorrow at the studio." He yells to the guys "Yea AJ, see ya tomorrow." We head to his place and before the front door is closed I am making good on my promise of the fun AJ was to experience that night, early morning whatever. About the time the sun is peaking through the curtains I am wrapped up in AJ's arms and finally falling asleep "Now baby, I could get used to this" He says to me in a very sleepy voice. "So could I hun, so could I." I say back to him as I fall asleep.

*Autumn*

I'm sitting here at Howie's house watching him fuss in the kitchen but my mind is actually on the apartment me and the girls found today. We all 3 loved it and with all of us working we could afford it, that is until the lady tacked on all the added expenses, after that...forget it. All 3 of us hardly ever stay at the room anymore since we started going out with the guys, and when we did stay there it was like only one or two of us, never all 3 anymore. "What are you thinking about, Autumn?" I hear Howie ask me. I come back from my thoughts and smile at him "Oh just the apartment we looked at today and the fact that me and the girls hardly ever stay at the room anymore. When we do it is never all 3 of us." I tell him and he walks over to me and gives me a sweet kiss "You 3 haven't spent much time together have you?" He asks me "No, not really. I mean Tre and Lorie work together so they see each other a lot but I haven't really hung out with them much lately." "I'm sorry babe." He says and gives me a hug. "Oh it's not your fault Howie, it's just the busy lives we all 3 lead now. I mean I work different shifts then they do and then I want to spend what time I can with you when we have the chance and it's the same with them, they want to spend time with AJ and Kevin when they have free time." I tell him and then get up and look out the window and out over the ocean. I hear Howie out in the kitchen again but then a few minutes later he comes up behind me and turns me around and gives me a kiss. I wrap my arms around him and kiss him back. The kiss turns very passionate and as Howie leads me to his bedroom I wonder about dinner but then I see Howie take off his shirt and then who in the hell cared about dinner. Afterwards we are cuddling in bed "Autumn?" I look up at him "Yea, Howie?" "Umm, how about you move in here with me? I mean you stay here most of the time anyway and I would love to wake up with you in my arms every morning." I lay there trying to comprehend what he just asked me and a thousand feelings go through me. -I would love to live here with Howie, I mean I do spend all my free time here. I also told the girls I would get an apartment with them and they are counting on my half of the money to get a good one.- All this is going through my mind at once. I look up at Howie and see that he is awaiting a answer from me "Howie, I just don't know. I mean I would love to but the girls are expecting me to go in on an apartment with them. If I don't, they will have to go a cheaper side of town and I know they want to stay on the side we are on now because of where their job is." I have conflicting feelings-my want to move in with him and be with him all the time and the promise I made to the girls-I look up at Howie and I can see the disappointment in his eyes but he smiles at me anyway "I understand sweetheart. A promise is a promise, and you made one to the girls so you better keep it" He says to me and then gets up and gets dressed. "Howie please don't be angry at me. I wasn't expecting 'us' to happen when I made that promise to them." He turns around and looks at me "I know you didn't Autumn, but I can't help but be a little disappointed that you aren't moving in, ok?" He tells me and walks out of the bedroom. I continue sitting in bed confused on what to do. I don't want to hurt the girls but yet I don't want to hurt Howie, even though it seems I already did. I get up and dress and then go out on the balcony that is off his bedroom and it looks over the ocean, a very peaceful place to think. About 20 minutes later I hear Howie come into the bedroom to check on me. I turn around and look at him and can't believe how sweet he is to me and how well he treats me. My mind starts wondering back to when me, Lorie and Tre started talking about moving here, never in a million years did any of us think we would be where we are now. Howie walks out onto the balcony and sits down by me "Are you ok, sweetie?" "Yea, I'm fine. I just thought I would come out here to think." He gets a concerned look on his face and take my hand in his "Is there something wrong? Can I help?" I smile at him because of his worry "No Howie there really isn't anything you can help me with. I have to figure this out on my own, but thank you for offering." I tell him and give him a quick kiss. "So" I say standing up "Is that delicious dinner you started cooking me done now or did it fall apart when you decided you wanted to put your other skills to work?" I ask him pulling him up with me. He laughs at me "It's done, but it's not exactly the dinner I promised you. Sorry" We walked in and Howie had decorated the table with flowers and a candle in the middle, it was very beautiful. I see that he made us enchiladas and they looked very good. We sat down to eat when the phone rang. Howie got up and talked for only a few minutes and came back to the table. I didn't ask who it was because he always got phone calls concerning business so I figured that was what it was about. "That was AJ" He tells me. I look up from my dinner expecting him to say more but he didn't. "Is there something wrong? Nothing happened between him and Trelyn again, did it?" I ask worried that their already complicated relationship took another turn and it wasn't a good one. "No nothing is wrong. He was wondering if we would like to meet them at the club for a night of dancing." I know my eyes lit up at the prospect of hanging out with AJ and Tre, since we haven't done it for a while. He sees me and laughs "Don't worry, I told him yes we would love to. He's going to call Lorie and Kevin too." "YAY I say a little loud. We haven't went dancing for a long time, it should be fun." I tell him as he is cracking up at me because of my reaction. "Gee Autumn, you act as if I never take you anywhere" He says trying to act hurt. I get up and walk over behind his chair and put my arms around him and kiss him on the cheek "Oh no honey you take me lots of fun and exciting places but nothing can be as fun and exciting as hanging out with your boyfriend and good friends" He pats my hand "Your right babe. We all always have lots of fun together and I'm sure, tonight will be no different." We finish eating and go to get ready. I choose a white mini skirt outfit and Howie walks out of the bathroom wearing all white also. We see this and start laughing. "Uh ok, how did we manage this?" He asks me. "I have no idea" I tell him in-between fits of laughter. "You think we should keep it this way?" I smile at him because he looks so cute asking me "Yea I think we should." "Ok, babe we will then." We head out for the club and when we get there AJ and Tre are already on the floor dancing. I have to laugh at them because the song is a fast one and they are dancing slow and so close that you wouldn't be able to pry them apart with a crowbar. "Well, it looks like that relationship is going good so far." I yell at Howie over the music and point to where they are. He looks over at them and laughs "Yea so far so good." A few minutes later Kevin and Lorie show up and they both look like they are just glowing from being so happy. "Hey guys" I say to them. "Hey you two. Where are Tre and AJ?" Lorie asks after she gives me a hug. "We're right here" AJ says in her ear and she about jumps out of her skin. "OH geeze AJ" She yells and slaps him on the arm. AJ just laughs. I notice Tre didn't come up from the dance floor with him. "Where's Tre, AJ?" "Oh she went to go check the schedule to see when she works next." He tells me. "Oh ok, thanks" "Yep" He sits down and starts chatting with the guys and me and Lorie are talking. "Hey guys" we turn around and see Tre coming up the stairs in the VIP section. We get up and all 3 of us hug. We sit down and talk "So Tre when do you work next?" I ask her. "Oh I have to work tomorrow at 4:30, Autumn" We all decide to go out and dance and when we get back to the table Nick and Brian are there. I have never gotten to know Brian's girlfriend but she was there too. It was getting around 3:00 in the morning and we were all looking pretty darn wiped out. "See you guys later, we're heading back to AJ's house" Tre tells us. "Oh ok, girl. Make sure your up tomorrow to go and look for apartments. We have to look before you two have to go to work."I remind her. "Don't worry Autumn I will be a the room by 10:00 tomorrow morning...or I mean later today."She tells me as AJ comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her "Come on baby lets go, I'm ready for all that fun you promised me earlier" I hear him whisper in her ear. I her her giggle, and I have to laugh because I know how much she hates it when girls giggle. "Ok hun, lets go" She tells him and grabs his hand. "Later guys, see ya tomorrow at the studio." He yells to the guys "Yea AJ, see ya tomorrow." The guys all yell back to him. I watch them leave and wonder to myself how long the happiness they seem to have together lasts, only because I know how they both can be. "Autumn, are you ready to take off too?" Howie asks me. "Yea hun, I sure am. I have to work the late shift tomorrow night, plus me and the girls get to go apartment hunting again. OH yay!" I tell him as he takes my hand. We say good-bye to everyone and head to his place. We get there and we are both tired and decide to head straight to bed. We crawl in and Howie wraps him arms around me and I lay my head on his chest. "Goodnight sweetie" He says yawning. I laugh cause he sounds like a little boy "Good night hun." We kiss each other goodnight and I cuddle closer and go to sleep.

*Lorie*

I finally get to Kevins house after shopping for about 2 hours after me and the girls got done apartment hunting. I walk in and I am greeted by some very mouth watering smells coming from the kitchen. I put my bags on one of the couches in the front room and walk in and find Kevin bending over whatever he had in the oven. "Well isn't this the way to be greeted by your man." I say to him and watch him jump a little. "Dang baby I didn't even hear you come in the door." He says to me as he gives me a kiss. "I just got here. Something sure smells good, what'd ya cook?" I ask him heading for the oven to have a peek. "Oh no you don't, it's a surprise" Kevin says and moves between me and the oven. I give him my best puppy dog eyes "Please, let me look." "Nope, sorry them puppy dog eyes aren't going to work on me this time missy." I stick my tongue out at him and head to his bedroom to change into something more comfy. -I sure am glad I started keeping some extra clothes over here-I think to myself as I head to the bathroom to take a quick shower. I step out of the shower and dry off and then head into the bedroom to put my clothes on. I feel a lot better now that I am no longer hot and sweaty and head back into the kitchen again. I walk in and the lights in the dining room are turned down low and there are candles on the table and more lit around room. It looked beautiful and I can't believe he did all this while I was in the shower. I start to look around for Kevin when a rose appeared in front of me, I smile and take it and turn around to find a smiling Kevin standing behind me. "The only thing I could find that could even come close to how beautiful you are was a rose, and even that doesn't come close." He says to me and I put my arms around him and give him a kiss. "Thank you Kevn, this is all very beautiful and sweet." I tell him. He leads me to my chair and sits me down. "Anything for the woman I care so deeply for." He tells me and then heads into the kitchen. He comes back with my favorite food, stuffed pork chops with steamed vegetables and a baked potato. "Aww Kevin you made my favorite food." "Yep and let me tell you I had to beg Trelyn to tell me. Getting anything out of that woman is like pulling teeth." I start laughing because I remember, for some stupid reason, Tre and I were talking about things that are our favs and I swore her to secrecy about most of them but I didn't mean it for my favorite foods. "Yes well that is because I swore her to secrecy, but I didn't think she would actually keep it." "Yes well she is definitely different from AJ, don't tell him a thing if you don't want it announced to everyone in the world." Kevin tells me laughing. The rest of the meal was pretty quiet. When we finished instead of doing dishes we went to the living room and started watching a movie. The movie got boring so we decided to spark things up and started making out when the phone rang. I groaned out of frustration because it always seemed Kevin and I would spend a night together and he would get a business call. I got up and sat on the couch and Kevin gives me a apologetic smile and answers the phone "Hello..and this better be good." he says not very politely and I give him a look. "Oh hey AJ. Wait let me ask Loire." "Hey babe, AJ and Tre are going to go out dancing with Howie and Autumn and they want to know if we would like to meet them" I turn off the tv and walk over to him "Yea I think that would be fun, lets go." I tell him and head for the bedroom to find something to wear. "Ok, yea AJ we'll meet you all there. All right, later bro" Kevin hangs up and comes into the bedroom. I pick a dress that I bought earlier that day, a short black one with a open back. I head into the bathroom and get ready. "WOW girl, you trying to get every guys attention at the club?" Kevin asks as soon as I walk out. "Oh and look who's talking Mr. Tight jeans." I tease him. "What? These aint tight, they are figure huggers." He tells me and I laugh "Yea well just make sure me and them jeans are the only ones hugging that figure" I tell him and he laughs "Now baby you know your the only one I love" He tells me and gives me a kiss. Then it hit me..he said he loved me..I stood there looking at him in shock "What Kevin?" I ask him. He turns around and faces me "You heard me Lorie, I love you. I wasn't going to tell you yet, but I couldn't hold it in anymore, I had to say it." His confession about how he feels about me makes me have to sit down, and it's a good thing the bed was there or I would of ended up on the floor. "I can't believe it." I tell him. "What, you don't believe me?" He asks me getting a angry tone to his voice. I look up at him "Oh no, I believe you Kevin. I just can't believe you feel for me the same way I feel about you. I was too afraid to tell you because I wasn't sure how you would react." I tell him in nearly a whisper. He gets down on his knees in front of me and makes me look him in his beautiful green eyes. "Now when have I ever made you feel that you needed to be afraid of telling me how you felt?" "Never Kevin. It's just I wasn't sure you were ready to hear it from me" He smiles at me "Trust me girl, I'm ready to hear it from you." I wrap my arms around him and smile "Kevin, I love you" "Lorie, I love you too" He tells me and we kiss and it was the best kiss ever between us, not that the others before this were bad, but this kiss sealed our feelings for each other. "Now I would love this to go further but we have to get going if we are going to meet everybody." Kevin says to me getting up and holding his hand out for me to stand also. "Yea your right. We can continue this later." I tell him and give him a quick kiss. "Damn straight we're going to, dressed like you are it will be amazing if I can wait." He says to me as he grabs the keys to his car. I laugh at him and open the front door "Well my dear, you are just going to have to." I tell him and stick my tongue out to him. "Yea well I can find something for that to do later." "KEVIN!" I say in shock and he just laughs at me. "Shouldn't stick it out at me then" We get to the club and go in and start looking for everyone. We see Howie and Autumn up in the VIP section "Hey there is Howie and Autumn" Kevin points for me. I shake my head and we head up there. I was wondering where AJ and Tre were. We get up to Autumn and Howie "Hey guys" Autumn says to us. "Hey you two. Where are Tre and AJ?" I ask after I give Autumn a hug. "We're right here" AJ says in my ear and I about jump out of my skin. "OH geeze AJ" I yell at him and slap him on the arm. AJ just laughs at me. I look around for Tre but don't see her I was about to ask where she was when Autumn beat me to it "Where's Tre, AJ?" "Oh she went to go check the schedule to see when she works next." He tells her. "Oh ok, thanks" "Yep" He sits down and starts chatting with the guys and we sit down and start talking. "Hey guys" I turn around and see Tre coming up the stairs in the VIP section. I see what she is wearing, or lack there of, and just can't believe her braveness. -Though her and AJ make a wonderful looking couple, him all in black her in all red. We get up and hug her. I looked over to where AJ was sitting and he's just watching her every move like if he stops looking she might disappear and smile-boy that sure is a good thing to see-I think to myself as we sit down and talk "So Tre when do you work next?" Autumn asks her. "Oh I have to work tomorrow at 4:30, Autumn" We all decide to go out and dance and AJ and Tre go off into their own little world, being so close to each other that you couldn't get a piece of paper between them. When we get back to the table Nick and Brian are there. Biran's girlfriend was there too. I've only met her a couple of times and she seemed really cool. I started feeling really tired and asked Kev what time it was "It's about 3:00 baby. You tired?" I shook my head "Ok, we'll take off in a few minutes, ok?" "All right Kev." I tell him. A few minutes later the little party was broken up by Tre. "See you guys later, we're heading back to AJ's house" Tre tells us. "Oh ok, girl. Make sure your up tomorrow to go and look for apartments. We have to look before you two have to go to work." Autumn reminds her. "Don't worry Autumn I will be at the room by 10:00 tomorrow morning...or I mean later today." She tells her when AJ came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her he whispers in her ear. Tre lets out a giggle and I look over to Autumn and she starts to laugh because we both know how much Trelyn hates it when girls giggle. "Ok hun, lets go" I hear her tell him and grabs his hand. "Later guys, see ya tomorrow at the studio." He yells to the guys "Yea AJ, see ya tomorrow." The guys all yell back to him -I can't believe how well things are working for them after all that happened.-I think to myself. I glance towards Brian and Nick and I see him watching Tre leave with AJ and he has a look on his face that I can't really read but it looks like one that says 'damn I wish that was me leaving with her'. I feel bad for him but at least she told him and didn't play him. "Ready to go, Lorie?" Kevin asks breaking into my thoughts. I take his out stretched hand "Yes, I sure am." We say goodbye to everyone and head for his house. We get home and I head straight for the bathroom to get ready for bed. I walk out and feel a pair of arms come around me "So now, what were you starting earlier sticking your tongue out at me?" Kevin asks as he starts kissing my neck. Any and all signs of being tired left my body as I felt the sensations Kevin was causing my body to feel start to take over. I turn around and kiss him "Well now, I guess I will just have to show you what I have instore for you tonight" I tell him. He picks me up and carries me to the bed and lays me down gently. "I love you baby" He tells me looking me in the eyes. "I love you too Kevy" I tell him and pull him in for a kiss. We spent the next few hours making love and then fell into a deep exhausted sleep.

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