Sitting in the restaurant of the hotel, the guys conversed over dinner. They had the night off, and everyone was making plans.

"I'm headed for Cayli's house with AJ" Kristy smiled. "To do ... stuff?"

Kevin raised his eyes skeptically. "You sure you should be doing that stuff Kris?"

"I'm sure" she nodded.

"We" Brian began, gesturing to himself and LeighAnne, "Are going to stay here and relax for tonight"

Someone made kissy noises, and the table burst into laughter. "Now, now" LeighAnne smiled. "If the door happens to be a locked door, you aren't going to unlock it...understand?"

The table oohed and ahhed. "Threats" someone said. "Brian's getting a little action tonight!" someone else teased. Brian put his hands up.

"She said it, not me" he grinned.

Nick listened to the merriment around him. There was a general happiness that clung to the table. Everyone was excited, only three weeks left in this tour; everyone seemed so pleasent, even Kristy. She seemed like everything was okay again. After all, if she wasn't over them, she wouldn't be going to drink that night. He sighed sadly.

"I think I'm just going to hang out here tonight" Nick said sadly.

"Why don't you come with us Nick?" AJ offered. Kristy's mouth dropped open and the table was silent.

"AJ!" Kristy hissed loudly.

"Sure" Nick agreed, knowing it would piss the hell out of Kristy.

Kristy's jaw dropped even further. "Do something" she silently begged Kevin, but he shook his head.

"What time are you going?" Nick asked AJ, who looked at Kristy, who shrugged.

"Whenever Cayli get's here" Kristy pouted. "I'm considering calling her and just going to the movies"

Howie felt like saying 'Don't be so immature Kris' but he restrained himself.

"Going out tonight would be good for me. It'll make me forget the bitches in life." he finished, looking directly at Kristy.

"Going out tonight would be good for me too. It'll make me forget the lying assholes in life" Kristy shot back.

"Listen, atleast I can admit when I've done something wro--"

"Admit?! You admitted when I caught you!" Kristy shrieked.

"There was nothing to catch, I didn't do anything wrong!" Nick retorted.

"Oh, lying is nothing wrong--" Kristy started, but Howie cut them off.

"How about both of you shut up?" he suggested calmly, and the arguing pair lapsed into silence. "That's more like it"

"I'm not going anywhere with you" Kristy hissed at Nick who stuck his tongue out.

"You don't have a choice" he pointed out smugly.

"I have every choice in the world" Kristy scowled. Nick didn't respond, and Kristy looked at him. His hair had tumbled into his face, and was covering his eyes. He smiled every so often, and the edges of his lips curled up. Her heart softened, and Kristy felt as though she was going to cry. " 'Scuse me" she pushed her chair out, and practically ran away from the table. As soon as she got past the restaurant door tears starting running down her cheeks.

-|-|-|-|-|-

Kevin excused himself quickly, and followed Kristy out. She half walked, half ran to the elevator, and just before the door closed Kevin dashed in. "Kristy, what happened?" he asked her.

She didn't say anything, only extended her arms. Kevin understood, and pulled her close. She hugged him tightly and cried. "Oh, this is so pathetic" she wailed sadly. "Everything he does makes me wanna cry! Why the hell does he have to be so damn Nick!"

Kevin was silent. Partly because he couldn't understand most of Kristy's wails, partly because he couldn't relate. Things with his girlfriend were going fabulous. It had been a long time since his last painful breakup, and, thankfully, Kevin couldn't remember most of the horrible feelings.

"I just wanna go upstairs and veg" Kristy brushed off her damp face and looked at Kevin.

"Can I trust you alone, or should I expect suicidal notes ?" he teased, searching for a smile on the frowning face.

The edges of her mouth turned up slightly, and Kristy sniffled. "I'll be fine, I'll just go hang out with Aaron for a while."

Kevin's eyes twinkled. " 'Kay." he agreed softly. "You just relax today, I don't think you should go out to Cayli's. You need to take some time off and just re-evaluate things Kris, this has been pretty harsh on you"

"Think I don't know that?" Kristy asked him. Kevin walked her to Aaron's room. The bubbly little guy opened the door.

"Kristy!" Aaron shouted. "We're going to PlayDium tommorow, you promised!"

She laughed slightly as Aaron ushered her into the room. "Yeah, I know"