Chapter 22

"Hey Lauren! I'm back!" I yelled happily.

She came out of her room ready to go. "So? How did things go?" she asked.

"Wonderful! No wait! Perfect!" I exclaimed.

"Wow! Calm down. So how long do you have off?" she asked as we headed out the door. She locked the door and then we got into the car.

"Rick said I could have the next two and a half months off," I said.

"That's it. Just like that?" she questioned.

"Yeah, just like that. But he asked to see Kevin some time, but that's all. I can't wait!" I said excitedly.

"But what about Denise?" Lauren asked while bursting my bubble.

"I know. I still have to worry about her, but Kevin said that she probably wouldn't mind," I said.

"Yeah, but it's best not to get yourself too excited yet," she said.

"Fine then. I'll stop being happy," I said.

"Oh no, you can still be happy, but for me," she said.

"Why is that?" I asked.

"Because I'm going to see Howie," she said.

"Oh okay, I'm still happy," I said.

Denise's Hotel Room

Knock! Knock!

"Come in Kevin," Denise said.

Kevin walked in and Denise was at the table doing some paper work. She finished working on one of the papers and then looked up at Kevin and said, "There was something you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yeah. Janel," he said.

"What about Janel?" Denise asked concerned.

"I was wondering if. . .well. . .maybe. . .," he began.

"Kevin spit it out," Denise said smiling.

"Can. . .can she go on tour with us?" Kevin asked quickly.

"What?" Denise asked.

"I need her on tour with me, Denise," Kevin said.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because. . .I love her," Kevin said simply.

"Well can't you two wait until the tour is over. This might cause of few problems," Denise said.

"Such as?" Kevin asked.

"What about the guys? Will they get jealous if you get to bring someone along with you on tour and they don't? Plus, where would she sleep? And what would she do while you had to work? And the big question, what about Lou?" she asked.

"The guys love her and they'll understand. She can sleep in the entertainment room on the couch. And she can come along with me when I need to work. Or if she has to, she can stay at the hotel. And Lou, well he's not a part of this decision. I'm here asking you since it's your decision, not his," Kevin said. "If he doesn't like it, it's not my problem."

"I guess you're right, but why the urgency and not when the tour is over," Denise wondered.

"Because I haven't seen her in about eight years and because of that jerk that raped her. She's having trouble dealing with that and other personal problems. She needs me. . .and I need her," Kevin said.

"I'm so sorry about that Kevin. It must be terrible to deal with something like that," Denise said.

"So can she?" he asked.

"Yes, she can come along," Denise said.

"Oh thank you Denise," Kevin said hugging her. "I love you like my mom. You don't know how much this means to me and Janel."

"You're welcome," she said. "So when do I get to meet this lucky girl that you can't seem to live without?"

"Well she should be here soon," Kevin said.

"Until then, how about some television?" Denise asked.

"Sure," Kevin said getting up to sit on the couch.

Kevin's Hotel Room

"So how do I look?" Lauren asked nervously.

"Fine," I said casually.

"Fine? Just fine?" Lauren asked.

"Calm down. You look wonderful and I'm sure Howie will think so too, that's if we ever get to see Howie," I said.

"Okay go ahead and knock," Lauren said.

"Thank you," I said before knocking.

Knock! Knock!

"Howie, it's me and Lauren," I said. As soon as I said Lauren the door flew open.

"Hi Janel," he said staring at Lauren.

"Hi Howie. Can we come in?" I asked politely.

"Oh sure. I'm sorry," Howie said.

"Hi Howie," Lauren said as she walked by Howie.

"Hi Lauren," Howie said.

"Well now that I've seen you safely to Howie and you two got that whole conversation thing going, I'll be leaving," I said looking at them on the couch. They were staring into each other's eyes and hadn't heard a word I just said. I walked up to the door and said, "Oh okay bye. I'm off to sleep with A.J.." I looked at them for a reaction, but neither of them did anything. So I decided to leave them alone. I walked out and went to Denise's room. I got to room 212 and silently prayed before I knocked.

Knock! Knock!

The door swung open and there was Kevin. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him in for a kiss.

"Um, excuse me lovebirds. Do you mind taking this out in the hall?" Denise asked.

I let go of Kevin and began to blush, "Sorry about that," I said smiling.

Kevin closed the door and then we went over to the couch. Kevin sat down and I sat down in front of him. He held me close to him, while Denise sat facing us. I stuck out my hand to shake hers.

"Hi, I'm Janel Evans," I said.

She took my hand and shook it. It was such a warm loving touch. I knew that I'd be able to trust her and become good friends.

"Hi, I'm Denise McLean," she said politely.

"It's so nice to meet you Mrs. McLean," I said.

"Oh no, please call me Denise," she said. "It's nice to meet the girl who brings a smile to Kevin. He's like a son to me."

"Thank you," I said.

"Oh okay. I'm sure you're dying to know my answer. Right?" Denise asked.

"Yes please," I said nervously.

"Yes you can go on tour with Kevin," she said brightly.

I screamed and then I hugged her. "Thank you so much!" I said excitedly.

"Now you're apart of the Backstreet Family since you're going on tour with us. If you want, you can call me Mom," she said.

As soon as she said Mom, my heart began to ache. I remembered how much I missed my mom.

"Did I say something wrong?" Denise asked.

Kevin's Room

Howie and Lauren were sitting on the couch staring at the t.v. that wasn't on.

"So?" Lauren said.

"So?" Howie said.

"Howie," Lauren said.

"Yes," Howie said.

"Am I ever going to hear from you again? Or am I just another girl in another state?" Lauren asked.

"No, you're not just another girl in another state. I really like you and I'd like to see you again. But I'm not to sure how you feel about me," he said.

"Howie, I thought you knew. I really like you and I want to continue to see you," she said.

"Okay good, that settles it," Howie said relieved.

"Settles what?" Lauren asked as Howie pulled a necklace with a ring on it from his pocket.

"Lauren. Will you be my girlfriend?" Howie asked.

"I thought you'd never ask," Lauren said happily as Howie put the necklace on her.

Then they heard a loud bang against the door that startled them. Both Howie and Lauren got up to see what the noise was. They opened the door and there was Nick sitting on the ground holding his forehead.

"Nick? What are you doing?" Howie asked while helping him up.

"B-Rok and I got tired of playing video games so we came over to see what you were doing," Nick said. "Okay B-Rok you can come out now!" yelled Nick.

Then Brian came out from Nick's room. He stood in front of Nick laughing at him.

"Dude, it's not funny. I have a major headache," Nick said still holding his forehead.

"How did you hit your forehead?" Lauren wondered.

"Well. . .Brian and I were eavesdropping on you two," Nick said quietly.

Both Howie and Lauren frowned at them.

"We just wanted to see if Howie would ask you to be his girlfriend. He was so nervous about it earlier," Brian said trying to explain.

"You were nervous?" Lauren asked Howie. He just smiled and blushed. "Oh, how cute," she said hugging him.

"Okay. . .ow. . .pain. . .my head," Nick complained.

"Oh come on, let's go to the bathroom and look at it, while Brian continues to tell us how this happened," Lauren said heading into the bathroom.

"We were listening to your conversation and both of our heads wouldn't fit on the door, because someone's head is to big, Nick," Brian said.

"Shut up!" Nick yelled.

"Any ways, we were pushing each other trying to listen. So then I pushed Nick and he hit his head on the doorknob. It was so funny!" Brian said laughing.

"So that was the big bang we heard," Howie said.

"Well Nick it looks like you might have a knot on your forehead," Lauren said smiling.

"Why do you guys think this is funny?" Nick asked.

"Because if someone asks how you got that knot on your head. What are you going to tell them? Oh yeah, I just ran into the doorknob, you know it happens all the time," Lauren said.

"Okay, okay. I see the point and I've learned my lesson, but can some one please get me some Tylenol?" he asked.

"Sure buddy," Brian said leaving to get him Tylenol.

Denise's Room

"Oh no, it's not you. I'm sorry, I was just thinking about my mom," I said.

"Well we better get going, we've got that interview to do," Kevin said as he stood up.

I stood up and hugged Denise again and said, "Thank you so much."

"Thanks again," Kevin said.

He grabbed my hand and we walked out the door. Once we were out in the hall I wrapped my arms around him. I just needed to feel safe and secure.

"It's okay. You're going on tour with me. You don't have to be afraid anymore," he said holding me. He kissed the top of my head and asked, "Janel, will you be my girlfriend?"

I looked up and stared into his eyes. Then a smiled spread across my face as I said, "Yes."

Then we began to lightly kiss, until we felt a tap on our shoulders.

"Get a room!" yelled A.J. and Stacey. We all started laughing.

"You two are worse than us," Stacey said.

"That's not even possible," I said.

"Hey Bone. I'm surprised to see you out here," Kevin said looking at his watch. "You still have about half an hour."

"Shut up, Train," A.J. said.

Then Denise's door flew open. "What are you four doing out here?" Denise asked smiling.

"Oh hi Mom. Stacey and I were just patrolling the hallways and we caught these two making out," A.J. said.

"Sure," Denise said. "You better get the other guys and go to that interview. And Janel, you have some serious packing to do."

"Yes, ma'am," I said smiling.

"Come on A.J., you better do as your mother says," said Stacey while pulling A.J..

"Bye guys," Denise said before closing her door.

Kevin and I walked hand in hand to his room. Once we got in the room we say everyone was there. Howie was sitting on a chair with Lauren on his lap. While Nick and Brian were sitting on the couch arguing about something.

"So how'd it go, Howie?" I asked noticing the necklace around Lauren's neck.

"Perfect," he said smiling.

"So you knew that he was going to ask me out?" Lauren questioned.

"Yep," I said happily.

"So are you going?" Lauren asked.

"Yep, for two and a half months," I said excitedly while smiling at Kevin. Both Stacey and Lauren rushed over and hugged me.

"We better get going guys," Kevin said.

"What? I can't go to an interview with this knot on my forehead," Nick whined.

"What the heck happened?" A.J. asked.

"To make a long story short, Nick and Brian were eavesdropping and he hit his head on the doorknob," Howie explained.

The whole room busted out with laughter.

"No! That's not what happened! Brian pushed my head into the doorknob!" Nick yelled embarrassed.

"Well maybe no one will notice," Kevin said trying not to laugh.

"Yeah! If you're blind!" A.J. said while laughing his ass off.

"Shut up Bone! At least I'm not losing my hair!" Nick yelled.

"Okay. It's really time to go," Howie said before they really started to fight.

Everyone got up and headed out the door. We went down the stairs and out the back way. Once we got there the bodyguards were all ready waiting with the vans. Nick and Brian got in the van, while we said good bye to our men.

"Here are the tickets and backstage passes for tonight's show. Once you get to the arena, stand by the food stand outside. Tim will find you and he'll get your luggage for you," Kevin explained.

"Okay," I said. "I can't wait to be with you."

"Soon," he said. "I love you Pumpkin," he said while holding me.

"I love you too Boo," I said. "Now go do that interview," I said pushing him towards the van.

We all waved good bye and then the vans took off. We went around the hotel and got into my car.

"You two have to help me pack," I said happily.

"I wish I could go on tour with A.J.," Stacey said.

"I know. I want to be with Howie," Lauren said.

"I'm sorry guys. Maybe I shouldn't go," I said.

"Don't even say that. You deserve to be happy with Kevin. You've needed him for so long, don't let us ruin it," Lauren said.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Absolutely. You have to deal with the past and he was apart of it. He's the one who knows you the best, so he can help you," Lauren explained.

"What about your past?" Stacey asked.

"Nothing. I'll tell you and everybody else when I'm ready to," I said.

"Okay. But if you need to talk to someone, I'm here for you," she said.

"Me too," Lauren said.

"Thanks guys," I said.