Chapter 33

Kevin and Brian just walked into the hotel before it began to pour. They went up to Denise's room to let her know that they had arrived. Then they went to Janel's room. They knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer it.

A.J. got up and opened the door. Both Kevin and Brian walked in. Kevin looked around the room searching for Janel.

"Hi guys. Where's Janel?" Kevin asked.

They all looked at each other unsure of what they should say. Then Nick stood up. "She's not here," he said.

After I had been walking for a while it began to pour, so I decided that I should head back to the hotel. I threw my coffee away and turned around back to the hotel. Everyone was scattering to get out of the rain. I just slowly took my time walking in a leisurely pace.

"Oh, is she in her room?" Kevin asked.

"No. She's not in the building," Nick said.

"So where is she?" Kevin asked.

"We're not sure," Nick said.

"What do you mean?" Kevin asked worriedly.

"Kevin, can we talk in private?" Nick asked.

"Yes," Kevin said.

They walked into Janel's bedroom and closed the door.

"Kevin, Janel told me about her father," Nick said.

"She did?" Kevin asked confused.

"Yes. She had a nightmare last night and she was crying, so I went to check on her," Nick said.

"And?" Kevin asked.

"I asked her what was wrong. At first she wouldn't tell me, but I told her that she was family now. Then we went into my room. She slept in my bed, while I slept on the couch," Nick explained.

"So where is she?" Kevin asked.

"Well I don't know," Nick said.

"Why did she leave?" Kevin asked.

"Well Tina walked in to my room and saw Janel sleeping, so she thought that I was cheating on her. Janel tried to explain but Tina wouldn't listen. She went back into my bedroom and must have went to her room through the door that connects us. We called her, but she wouldn't tell us where she was," Nick explained.

"Well we have to go look for her," Kevin said worriedly.

I walked into the luxurious hotel drenched. Everyone was staring at me wondering what I was doing in their hotel. I walked to the elevator and got in. Once I got to my floor I got off. I pulled my key out of my purse and opened the door. I walked in and everyone was sitting down watching t.v.. They all started to talk to me. I just continued to walk to my room. I opened the door and there was Nick and Kevin. I closed the door behind me. Kevin immediately came up and grabbed me.

"Where were you? Why were you out in the rain?" Kevin asked.

"I went for a walk," I said.

"You scared us," Nick said.

"Sorry, I didn't know I needed your permission to leave," I said.

Nick just looked at me and then decided to leave.

Kevin let go of me and got a towel. He wrapped it around me trying to dry me off. Then he sat me down on the bed.

"Pumpkin, what's the matter?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said.

"You can't tell me nothing," Kevin said.

"Okay then. I don't want to talk about it," I said.

"Janel, please. Don't shut me out," Kevin said.

I just stared at him.

"Kevin! It's time for the interview!" A.J. yelled.

"I have to go now, but we'll talk later," Kevin said.

He bent down and kissed the top of my head.

"Bye, love you," he said as he walked out the door.

"Love you too," I whispered.

I grabbed some sweat pants and a shirt. Then I went into the bathroom to take a shower. I got out and blew dry my hair. Then I started to pack my things. I brought my things out and there was Tina sitting on the couch.

"What are you still doing here?" I asked.

"The guys thought it would be best," she said.

"Oh really," I said. "Well, aren't you going to hurt me?"

"I'm terribly sorry about that. I shouldn't have blown up like that, but it looked bad," Tina said.

Then Denise came to the door.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

"Yes," we replied.

"Denise, would it be all right if I just stayed on the tour bus tonight?" I asked.

"Sure sweetie, that's fine. I'll let the guys know," she said.

"Thanks," I said.

We loaded our things on the bus. Then the three of us got on it. I went back into the entertainment room and stayed in there.

I grabbed my pillow and blanket and made my bed. I got my bear out and laid down. I closed my eyes trying to go to sleep, but my stomach kept growling. I hadn't eaten all day and I wasn't going to. I was determined to lose weight so Kevin would love me. I ignored my stomach and eventually fell asleep.

The guys performed a wonderful concert as usual. Then they took their showers on and got on the bus. Kevin walked back to the entertainment room determined to talk to Janel. He opened the door and saw she was sleeping. He sighed and walked back out. He went and sat down with the guys.

"So?" Nick asked.

"She's sleeping," Kevin said.

"Kevin. I'm really sorry about accusing Janel of sleeping with Nick," Tina said.

"It's okay. It's not your fault," Kevin said.

The guys sat down and talked. Nick and Tina caught up on each other's lives. They also made up for all the kissing they had missed.

Brian, Kevin, A.J., and Howie talked about the guys' trip for the organization. Then they decided to go to bed. Kevin went to the entertainment room and changed. Then he climbed into bed next to Janel. He laid on his side and wrapped his arm around Janel. The rest of the guys went to bed while Tina climbed into Kevin's bunk.

I woke up in the middle of the night from another terrible dream. I couldn't get up and watch t.v., so I laid there. Then I decided to snuggle up to Kevin. I rested my head on his shoulder and wrapped my arm around him.

In the morning Kevin opened his eyes and saw Janel wrapped around him. He smiled and just watched her sleep. He didn't want to wake her because she was sleeping so peacefully. He laid there thinking of her.

He was worried that she didn't want to be with him. He couldn't tell how she was really feeling. Her moods seemed to vary from one instant to the next. Now she was beginning to block him out. He couldn't let that happen, but he didn't know how to get her to open up to him. Then he remembered Lauren. He knew that they were best friends and told each other everything. He decided he was going to call her to see if she could help him with Janel.

I opened my eyes and I was snuggled close to Kevin. I looked up at him and he was staring down at me. I smiled at him and he bent down and gave me a quick kiss. Then I rested my head on his shoulder once again. He grabbed the covers and pulled them up. I had my arm wrapped around his chest. Then he wrapped his arms around me holding me tightly. We just laid there in the silence thinking.

"Kev, are you up?" A.J. called through the door.

"Yeah Bone," Kevin said.

A.J. walked in staring at us.

"Aww! How cute!" he said happily.

I just smiled at him.

"What's up?" Kevin asked.

"We're stopping at McDonald's for breakfast. What do you two want?" A.J. asked.

"Pancakes and an egg McMuffin," Kevin said.

"Janel?" A.J. asked.

"I'm not hungry, but thank you," I said.

"Are you sure?" A.J. asked.

"Yeah. I'm just going to have an orange juice," I said.

"Okay, if you say so," A.J. said then he walked out.

"How come you're not eating? You love breakfast," Kevin questioned.

"I'm not hungry, that's all," I said.

A.J. gave the orders to Andy and then sat back down.

"Janel's not eating again," A.J. said.

"When was the last time she ate?" Brian asked.

"She ate dinner with you last night, didn't she?" Nick asked Tina.

"No, I didn't see her eat," Tina said. "She went directly to her room and stayed in there."

"So she hasn't eaten in almost two days?" Howie asked.

"That's about right, unless she ate yesterday while she was out walking," A.J. said.

"I doubt it," Brian said.

"Maybe we should say something to her," Howie said.

"No, not a good idea. How about we just tell Kevin in private and let him take care of her? He knows her best," Nick said.

"Yeah, but she. . .," Brian began, but he stopped when he saw Janel and Kevin.

"Did we interrupt something?" I asked.

"No. We were just talking about what to do today," Nick said.

"Oh," I said. "Do you guys know if this hotel will have a gym?"

"I'm pretty sure it will, why?" Brian asked.

"I just wanted to work out," I said.

"While you're doing that, the guys and I have some Christmas shopping to do," Kevin said.

"But it's still like a month and a half away," Nick said.

"Yeah, and how much time are we going to have to go shopping?" Kevin questioned.

"I guess you're right," Nick said.

"Oh, how about the Mall of America?" A.J. suggested happily. "It'll be close to our hotel."

"What about all of the people?" Howie asked.

"Yeah, that's quite a few people," Brian said.

"Please. It's such a cool mall and it'll be one stop shopping. Plus I want to go on the roller coaster," A.J. said.

"Oh yeah, that'd be cool!" Nick said excitedly.

"I don't care. But if we start to get recognized we're out of there," Kevin said.

"I guess that sounds like fun," Brian said.

"Sure, why not," Howie said.

"Sorry Tina, but you can't come with us," Nick said. "I have to go shopping for you."

"That's okay. I brought some work with me so I could be here, so that's what I'll do," she said.

Then Andy came back onto the bus with bags of food. Everyone went for a bag and pulled out what was theirs. I got up and grabbed an orange juice out of the refrigerator. Then I waited for Kevin. He finally got his food and then we went to our room. We sat down on the bed and I turned the t.v. on. Kevin got his food out and started to eat. I watched the basketball game that was on.

"Here," Kevin said while handing me his Egg McMuffin.

"No thanks," I said.

"Are you sure?" Kevin asked.

"Yep. I'm not hungry," I said.

Then I continued to watch the basketball game. Then I began to yell at the t.v.. "What the heck? That wasn't even a foul! Someone wants to die!"

Kevin began to laugh. "So violent when it comes to basketball," he said.

"I'm sorry I enjoy basketball. I get into it," I said while smiling at Kevin.

Then we arrived at the hotel. Kevin and I stayed on the bus until the game was over.

"Okay now we can leave," I said while getting up.

"That was a good game," Kevin said.

"Yes, it was. Oh, I'm not even dressed yet and we might be seen together," I said while going to get clothes.

"Don't change, you look fine. Plus it doesn't matter if we're seen together, we're supposed to be," Kevin said.

"I guess," I said.

I gathered my things and Kevin got his. Then he held my hand and we walked off the bus together. We walked quickly into the hotel and got our key. We headed up to our room, but on the way up we looked around the hotel.

"Let's check out the hotel," Kevin said.

"But I'm still in my p.j.'s," I said.

"So?" he said.

"Okay, I guess," I said.

They had a bar, restaurant, swimming pool, and a gym. I made sure to remember where the gym was. I was going to go there as soon as I could.

Then Kevin and I walked to our hotel room. We walked in and put our bags down. I grabbed some old clothes and went to change. Kevin sat down on the couch and turned on the t.v.. I came back out and sat down next to Kevin.

"Where are you going?" Kevin asked.

"Remember I told you I wanted to exercise. I'm going to that gym downstairs," I said.

"Oh that's right. Well, the guys should be over soon so we can go to the mall," Kevin said.

I got up to leave. "Have fun," I said as I walked out.

Kevin sat there shocked that Janel didn't kiss him. She didn't even say that she loved him. He was beginning to get really worried. He decided that now was the best time to call Lauren.