Needless to say, nothing happened that night after the show.

The bands packed up and after a long wait we were ready to leave. When we were exiting the building I spotted the girl (and her plunging neckline) from the bathroom, waiting anxiously for a glimpse of the bands.

It had started to rain and her no longer perfect hair clung to her face, and her make-up had started to melt. She seemed less confident now than she did in the bathroom as she yelled to the boys with her camera snapping frantically, hoping for them to notice her, or at best a good picture.

Lex didn’t even glace in her direction.

Before we stepped into the rain I convinced Lex to give me a piggyback ride to the van to prevent the bottom of my jeans from getting wet, and he so graciously agreed. I stood behind him and he bent down a little so I could wrap my arms around his neck, he slid his hands under my thighs and hoisted me up.

He jogged from the building to the van, and once we were there I jumped off his back and spun him around to look at me. My wet hair covered my face, so he gently brushed it away with his fingers.

I placed both of my hands on the sides of his face and pulled him down into a kiss. At first he was tense, but after the initial shock wore off his lips soften and he returned my kiss as he wrapped his arms tightly around my waist. After a few seconds he lifted me off the ground, and spun me around in a circle. Our lips parted and I couldn’t help but laugh as the rain splashed around us.

He placed me back on the ground and kissed my cheek before asking, “What was that for?”

I smiled and replied, “Because I love you,” before I kissed him one last time, then turned around and climbed into the bus.

I hope that bitch got a picture of that.

The next two and a half weeks flew by. Before I knew it my birthday was only a few days away. We’d been so busy with a new show in a new city practically every night that I didn’t notice that, one, my birthday was less than a week away, and two, we’d be in Tulsa in the next two or three days. I was excited about being in Tulsa because I was anxious to meet the family that Zac talked so highly of, and of course to see where Lex grew up.

It wasn’t until we were in Tulsa that a dark past reared its ugly head.

Lydia. Or Lyd, as I would learn Lex affectionately calls her.

She had since moved out of Tulsa, but when she heard the news of Lex's band and Hanson being in town she was back in a heart beat. Even better, she was staying in a hotel that was dangerously close to where we were staying.

While Hanson had opted at staying with their family, there just wasn’t enough room for everyone. Instead Belladonna chose a hotel relatively close to the Hanson household while we were in town.

I was standing in the lobby of the hotel looking through the area attraction pamphlets when I first encountered the beast. It was her shrieking voice that caught my attention first, but I dismissed it as an enthusiastic fan. After all, through out the tour Belladonna had gotten a lot of exposure, and if you ask me they were getting too big too quick. As soon as this tour was over they were shooting their first video, and already trying to set up another tour.

After the initial annoyance of an obnoxious fan I put back the pamphlet I was scanning and picked up my bag. Just as I turned around I saw her running across the lobby straight at Lex.

“Lyd!” Lex exclaimed, dropping his bags to the ground seconds before “Lyd” dove into his open arms.

“LEX!” She squealed when he put her down, “I haven’t seen you in like, 4 years! Oh, my, God! How have you been?” She grabbed both of his hands and pushed him away just enough to examine him, “You look great!”

He looked her up and down, the same way she had inspected him and exclaimed, “So do you!” before he pulled her back into a hug. “I can’t believe it! I’ve been great! And you? Where’s the baby?”

“Molly’s at home with my mom. You should come by and see her, my mom still lives in the area,” she exclaimed. “Oh! Here’s a picture,” she said as she dug through her purse then pulled out her cell phone.

He took her cell phone to look at the picture, “Wow. She’s adorable,” he looked up at her, then back down at the cell phone. “She looks just like you.”

I had been standing behind Lex since about the time she said “you look great, but it wasn’t until now that Lex noticed me standing behind him.

“Oh, Joves, I didn’t see you there. Isn’t she cute? This is Molly, Lyd’s daughter,” he said showing me the picture of a child that did not whatsoever look biracial as Zac had described. Lex was completely oblivious to the fact that I had no interest what so ever. “Oh, and this is Lydia,” he said handing her phone back to her. “Lyd, this is Jovie.”

“His fiancé,” I added after I realized he wasn’t going to add that very important part. It didn’t matter; Lydia didn’t even look at me when Lex introduced me. She had taken no notice to me at all.

“Oh my God! I heard you got engaged, but I didn’t believe it” she laughed, then finally looked at me, “So you’re gunna tame this beast, huh?” she laughed.

”Sure am,” I replied, giving her my most obviously fake smile ever. I turned my attention to Lex, “I’m gunna go bring in some more stuff. Don’t be too long.” I said, and I tried giving him a stern look, but he was preoccupied.

I rolled my eyes, and walked outside immediately finding Annie who was outside unloading the van.

“Annie!” I exclaimed, causing her to drop a bag. “Guess who flew in for my birthday weekend?”

“Your mom?” she guessed. She didn’t even bother looking at me, and obviously she missed the anger in my voice.

“Lyd,” I exclaimed, using air quotes. She stared at me blankly for a minute before I threw my arms in the air and explained, “Lydia, Lyd. You know, Lex's Lydia.” I’m sure I looked a little overly dramatic, but I was too furious to care at that moment.

“What the fuck?” She asked, picking up the bag she dropped. “Who is she?”

It was then that I remembered that I never filled Annie in on what Zac told me a few weeks earlier. I didn’t have enough time to explain the whole story, so I gave her the basics. “Lex's skanky old girlfriend who flew all the way back to Tulsa to see him.”

Annie made a face and asked, “Where is she?”

I pointed to the doors behind me and exclaimed, “In there!”

“She’s staying at this hotel?” asked Annie, looking confused.

My eyes widened at the thought that hadn’t yet crossed my mind, and I stormed into the hotel, just in time to see Lydia finish checking in at the front desk. I turned right around and shrieked.

I didn’t care if I looked like a 3 year old having a temper tantrum. All I was concerned about was that Lydia, was staying in my hotel. Under the same roof as Lex. And the fact that they seemed overjoyed to see each other.

Once again I stormed out of the front doors and shrieked, “Annie!” and once again she dropped the bag she just picked up.

She bent over and picked up the bag, throwing it back over her shoulder and brushed the hair out of her face. “Jovie. You’ve got to stop doing that.”

I stomped my foot on the ground and whined, “She’s staying here, Annie. In my hotel.”

“Since when are you related to the Hiltons?” she inquired, but I wasn’t amused by her sarcasm.

“Annniiiieeeeeee. Why is she even here? This is supposed to be my birthday weekend, and this is my hotel, and he’s my fiancé! She can’t just…just check into any hotel she wants!” I raved, and crossed my arms over my chest. “Who does that?!”

Topher, who was walking by, and obviously not minding his own business, stopped to help Annie with the bags. “Hey, there’s no whining on tour,” he joked, not knowing he had just stepped into a destruction zone.

“Fuck you, Topher,” I sneered. Both Annie and Topher stopped what they were doing to look at me, both with equal looks of confusions.

“Uhg!” I grunted, and spun around. I pulled the hair back off my face, and repeated. “This is my hotel,” one last time before I walked back into the hotel and demanded the key from Lex.

I rode the elevator to the 4th floor, and made my way down the hall to room 412. After fighting with the plastic card key, I threw the door open, then slammed it shut. I dug through my purse until I found my cell phone, and threw my purse on the ground, sending the contents out onto the floor.

I searched my contacts until I found Kate, and paced the room until she answered.

“Hello,” she answered, stopping me in my tracks.

“Kate,” I said, falling backwards onto the bed behind me, and stared up at the ceiling.

“Yeah?” She questioned.

“Where is your husband?” I asked.

“What?”

“Where is he?” I repeated, slamming my free hand onto the comforter, irritated with her inquiry.

“Why?’

“Kate, just let me talk to your husband right now,” I demanded through my clenched teeth. After a minute of muffled background noise Zac was on the other end of the line.

“Jovie?” he asked timidly. Obviously Kate had warned him of my short tempter.

“I thought Lydia’s baby was black,” I bluntly stated, not worrying that I probably sounded like a bitch.

I heard him stumble on the other end of the line, taken back by my surprise call, “Um, I… thought… she… was… It’s not his though,” he stammered.

I sat up on the bed, and shouted. “She came all the way back to Tulsa, Zac, and she’s staying in my hotel,” I complained waving my arms around in the air even though I knew he couldn’t see.

“That sucks.”

I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted him to say, but that wasn’t it. I hung up the phone, and slammed it onto the table next to the bed. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples with my fingers, and tried to digest the situation before me.

Maybe I was being a little childish, but it isn’t fair. Lex didn’t even for one minute think that this might bother me, and I think that’s what bothered me the most. His total lack of consideration.

There was a knock at the door, and I was perfectly content with ignoring it, but it was persistent and slowly got louder and louder until I was unable to shut it out. I slowly drug myself to the door, and looked in the keyhole to find Lex on the other side of the door with his arms crossed over his chest.

I rolled my eyes, and pulled the door open. “What do you want?” I asked placing my hands on my hips, blocking his entry into the room.

“To come in,” he said, crossing his ankles, and with ease leaned himself against the doorframe. A cocky grin was plastered on his face. Obviously he wasn’t as distraught over the situation as I was. We stared at each other for a few seconds before he straightened up and squeezed himself between me and the wall. I turned around and followed him with my eyes as he walked over and sat on the edge of bed.

“Jovie, you’re over-reacting,” he spoke as he looked up at me.

My jaw fell, and I shook my head debating if I heard him correctly. He sat there unbothered by my reaction, and once it was apparent that he wasn’t budging from his place on the bed I walked closer, and stood with my hands on my hips in front of him.

“You have nothing to worry about,” he continued, and extended his hands up to mine.

I swatted them away and announced, “I’m leaving.”

Obviously I hadn’t put much thought into what I was saying, or to where I would be going, but there was no way in hell that I was going to let him know that. I bent down and started picking up the things that had fallen out of my purse.

Lex joined me on the ground and picked up my wallet. I snatched it back from him and shoved it into my purse.

“Where are you going?” he asked picking up a pack of my gum.

I grabbed it out of his hands and threw it into my purse.

“Somewhere,” I said wincing at myself.

“You’re staying,” he said placing his hands on his bent knees, then pushing himself up.

I stood up, and dropped my purse back onto the floor spilling it’s contents, again.

“Then you’re leaving,” I said putting my hands on my hips. I expected him to decline, but he didn’t.

“Fine, I’m leaving,” he said raising his hands in the air in defeat.

“Shut up,” I said confused by what had just happened. “You’re staying.”

“You just told me to leave.”

“You weren’t supposed to agree to that,” I said, crossing my arms.

He grasped his forehead and shut his eyes, “Damn it, Jovie. What the fuck am I supposed to do then?”

“You’re supposed to say ‘No, I love you, let fix this’ or something.”

“Fine. No, I love you. Let’s fix this,” he mocked me.

I plopped down on the bed and buried my face in my hands, “God! Just leave then,” I said into my hands.

He was quiet for awhile, and I continued looking down, afraid to look him in the eye. After a good minute or two of utter silence he sat on the bed next to me. I looked at his hands out of the corner of my eye to see him playing his fingers uncomfortably. After another minute I felt his arm slide around my waist as he pulled me closer to him.

I instantly relaxed, and burrowed my head into his neck and quietly cried while I inhaled his scent, and felt his hand delicately drawing circles on my back. I knew he was right, and I was blowing things up, again, and now I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed for acting the way I did.

“I’m such an idiot,” I said into his neck while I cried.

He wrapped his arms around me tighter and held me while I struggled to gain my composure. “Shh, Jovie, you’re okay,” he whispered into my ear. “You’re still my love, don’t worry.”

“I know,” I said, looking up at him, “you’ve just got to understand that for the past few years I didn’t even know this girl existed, and in one month I found out that the actual reason you moved to Ohio was because things were too hott and heavy with this girl and you, and she ended up pregnant. We never actually sat down and talked about this, and now to actually see her and to see how excited you both looked…that’s, well, I don’t know, terrible.”

He nodded and ran his fingers through my hair,”I’m sorry. I really didn’t know it was big of a deal. We need to work on that whole communication thing.”

I breathed in through my nose, sucking in the excessive amount of snot, breaking the serious moment we were having, causing us both to laugh.

He kissed my forehead and ran his fingers through my hair. “I love you Jovie. Don’t you ever doubt that.”