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Chapter 29
Shannon sighed and stood up to stretch as she kept listening to the reassuring sound of the beeping of Colleen's heart monitor. She stared at her sister's sleeping face and once again said a prayer of thanks to God for giving her sister strength to make it through.
She sat back down and remembered the frantic events of last night after they had found Colleen. Kevin had continued CPR until the ambulance arrived and was able to start her heart again. Once they had reached the hospital, she had stabilized and they had kept her for twenty-four hours for observation.
They had proclaimed Caine dead at the house and the police had already ruled self-defense and taken care of noticing Caine's family. It was over.
They hadn't found out till later why Colleen had stopped breathing. She had hit her head on a large rock while falling and had hit it exactly on the part of her head that protected the center that controlled her heartbeat and breathing.
Shannon smiled a little. Of course Colleen would be the one to manage to hit that exact part but it only seemed slightly funny now that Colleen was okay. They would be releasing her tonight and any moment; their parents would be there to help Colleen home. Thinking of that seemed to make it happen as Shannon heard the door open and her parents step in.
Pam kissed the top of her youngest daughter's head and stared at her middle one, sleeping in the hospital bed.
"Twenty-four hours ago, her heart wasn't beating and now she's ready to go home. Amazing," Pam observed. Her husband nodded.
"I'm just glad that Colleen is okay," John said. "She had pretty bad blow to the head."
Shannon nodded. "Yeah, after hitting her, what was it?"
"Medulla oblongata," Colleen said, waking up. "It controls involuntary responses of your body, like your heart beat, your breathing, digestion of food within the GI tract."
Shannon turned around and smiled at her older sister. "Thanks doctor."
Colleen smiled. "Well, I did go to medical school for that title." She looked over at her parents. "Hey mom, dad."
John and Pam went over and kissed her.
"Good to hear you talking again, munchkin," John told her.
"You'll soon regret that statement," Colleen joked. A nurse suddenly entered the room and started disconnecting Colleen from the machines. They waited silently until she left. Then Colleen sat up and swung her feet over. "Got my clothes?"
Pam nodded and handed her a bag. "Here, change while we check you out."
Colleen took the bag and went in the bathroom. Shannon waited for her.
"So everyone else is at the guys' concert right?" Colleen yelled from the bathroom.
Shannon grinned. "Yeah, they didn't want you to go through with your threat of hurting them if they didn't go."
Laughing, Colleen came out from the bathroom dressed. "Good, I feel bad enough that you didn't go."
Shannon shrugged. "They'll give other concerts. Come on, let's get you home."
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The guys came running off the stage, grabbing the water bottles from stagehands as they waited for a quick scene change and break.
"Good crowd tonight," Howie commented, wiping his face with a towel as their makeup artist waited to powder them.
Brian nodded. "Yeah, but I wish Colleen was here. I feel horrible not being with her at the hospital." He looked at his cousin, knowing he must be feeling the worst.
Kevin was staring out at the stage, not really seeing what was in front of his face. Ever since Colleen's near brush with death, he hadn't felt right. Almost losing Colleen had made him realize how much she meant to him. And that scared him. Badly.
His life was not an easy one to have a relationship in. Never seeing his girlfriend had broken up more than one relationship and he was sick of getting hurt. He didn't know what he wanted to do. But by tomorrow morning he needed a decision about his relationship with Colleen.
His head jerked as he heard Nick calling him. It was time to go back on. They ran back onstage to the deafening crowd of thousands of girls yelling for each of their favorite Backstreet Boy.
AJ waved to the crowd and waited for them to settle down. "We would like to dedicate this next song to a friend of ours who is in the hospital tonight and wasn't able to make it. We love ya, Colleen." Down in the front row, Ryan, Kendall, and Morgan smiled and started singing with boys as they launched into their next song.
Colleen tossed and turned in her own bed, safe at home but dreaming once again of dancing with the masked man. She turned around and around, waltzing and staring into the mystery man's eyes. She reached for the mask, half-expecting for the man to disappear but her fingers touched the mask. They stopped dancing and stood as Colleen heard the sound of a clock chiming midnight, the time to unmask. Colleen grasped the mask firmly and withdrew it and stared into the eyes . . . of Kevin. She smiled as she felt safe and warm from anything bad and he leaned down to kiss her, their lips meeting. And she awoke.
Colleen turned her head and saw sunlight streaming in, morning was here. And with it, the day the guys left. The day Kevin left. Colleen sat up in her bed and ran to the bathroom to take a shower and get downstairs. Fifteen minutes later, she raced down the stairs looking for Kevin. She had finally realized what her dream meant. She had unmasked the guy of her dreams, the guy who held her heart. She loved Kevin. And she had to tell him.
She turned as she heard sounds outside and saw through the windows, the guys packing up their tour bus, getting ready to leave. Nick has just been on his way to wake Colleen so they could say goodbye when he saw her coming out of the house.
He ran towards her and picked her up, hugging her. "Hey girl, we missed you last night. When we got back, you were asleep." He set her back down. "How are you feeling?"
Colleen stared back at his face, memorizing his crooked smile and earnest eyes. "Nick, I feel great but sad. I'm going to miss you so much."
Nick grinned. "I know." Colleen rolled her eyes and hugged him again.
They both turned and walked towards the bus where everyone was saying goodbye.
AJ stared at Morgan who stared at back. He once again thought how gorgeous she was and he realized with a start that he liked her.
Morgan cleared her throat. "AJ, I know we had a rough start, but I think of you as a good friend now. And I know you have a good heart." She paused and then hurried on. "So I'm going to miss you, but we'll see you guys in a few months." And with that she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
AJ's heart leapt and his eyes widened with pleasure. "I'm going to miss you too Morgan." She nodded and walked away while AJ thought about her kiss. "I wonder if she likes me," he thought excitedly. He looked towards her and saw her saying goodbye to Howie. His smile disappeared as he saw her kiss Howie too. "Man, she's just kissing everyone. Damn it." He walked off to say goodbye to Shannon.
Meanwhile Brian had taken Ryan to the side. He was shifting his feet and staring uncertainly at his hands. "Ryan, the time I have spent with you has been awesome." He stopped and cleared his throat as Ryan smiled, waiting for him to continue. "Well, I guess all I have to say is, will you be my girlfriend?" He handed her a velvet box from SilverWorks.
Ryan remembered when he had been in the store at the mall. She took the present and opened it up, seeing a gorgeous silver locket lying there. She opened the clasp and saw a picture of her and Brian inside. Then she looked up to the guy she was in love with. The guy who was biting his lip as he waited nervously for her answer.
She laughed. "Of course I will be your girlfriend, Brian. Who else will have you?" she joked as she threw her arms around him. He laughed and spun her around.
"Ryan, I love you."
"I love you too, Brian." He set her down and turned her around to put the necklace on her. Then he kissed her.
Colleen watched from a distance as she saw how happy Brian and Ryan were, how happy she hoped Kevin would be in a minute when she told him she loved him. When she told a guy for the first time in her life that she loved him. She turned and looked around for him, finally spotting him by a large oak tree by the bus and began walking towards him.
Kevin turned as he heard her approach and he waited for her to reach him.
Colleen smiled as she looked at his handsome face and took a deep breath, trying to calm down her racing pulse. "Kevin, hi."
Kevin nodded. "Hey, I was about to look for you. We have to leave in a few minutes." He looked towards the bus and saw that they had finish packing up and were just waiting for the guys to finish saying goodbye.
Colleen nodded. "Yeah, I've already said goodbye to everyone else. Of course we know we're going to see each other this winter. But it's still hard." She looked towards the group of friends all talking to each other. "You've become part of the family." She turned back to Kevin and smiled. "Speaking of which, I need to talk to you. I have something to tell you."
Kevin nodded. "Yeah, me too." He looked away from her, obviously nervous about something. She wondered if he was thinking about the same thing as her.
Colleen opened her mouth and started to talk. "Kevin, I lo. . ."
At the same time, Kevin spoke. "Colleen, I think we should see other people."
Colleen's voice died before she finished her sentence as Kevin's words penetrated her mind. "What?"
He licked his lips. "I think we should see other people." He looked up, his eyes meeting hers and Colleen wondered ludicrously if he could see her heart breaking.
"Oh." She took a step back. "Oh, okay." She turned her back to him and started walking towards the bus, Kevin following beside her. "Sure."
"What were you going to say?" Kevin asked, not knowing what to do now.
Colleen tried to laugh. "Oh, basically the same thing. I'm just going through a lot and it's good that you think we should see other people too. No hurt feelings this way." Oh, except for that tiny detail of me loving you, but that's not big, Colleen thought as she tried to keep from crying.
Kevin let go a sigh of relief, trying to ignore the feeling of disappointment inside his heart at hearing she wanted to see other people too. But he knew this was the good thing to do, stopping the relationship before it ended from the strain of Kevin's life. This was the best thing. It protected him from future hurt. At least that's what he told himself.
They reached the bus and Kevin looked at Colleen. "Colleen, you're now one of my best friends, you know." He hugged her tightly. "I'm glad we can stay that way."
Colleen hugged him back, biting her lip to keep her tears inside. "Same here, Kevin, same here." She stepped back and watched him board the bus. Walking over to Shannon and Ryan, she stood waving to the guys as they pulled out of the driveway, and out of their lives, for now.
Ryan was trying to stop from crying, constantly touching the locket as she watched her boyfriend disappear. She turned to Colleen and saw the look on her face.
"Colleen, are you okay?" she asked, her hand on Colleen's shoulder.
Colleen wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded quickly. "Yeah, I'm fine." She turned and walked back into her room. She knew that she would tell her family what happened later but right now, she couldn't talk. She could barely breathe. She grabbed her stuffed monkey and hugged it, laying on her bed as she turned on the radio. And started crying as she heard the song that was on.
Have
you ever loved somebody so much
It makes you cry
Have you ever needed something so hard
You can't sleep at night
Have you ever tried to find the words
But they don't come out right
Have you ever, have you ever
Have you ever been in love
Been in love so bad
You'd do anything to make them understand
Have you ever had someone steal your heart away
You'd give anything to make them feel the same
Have you ever searched for words to get you in their heart
But you don't know what to say
And you don't know where to start
Have you ever loved somebody so much
It makes you cry
Have you ever needed something so hard
You can't sleep at night
Have you ever tried to find the words
But they don't come out right
Have you ever, have you ever
Have you ever found the one
You've dreamed of all your life
You'd do anything to look into their eyes
Have you finally found the one you've given your heart
Only to find that one won't give their heart to you
Have you ever closed your eyes and
Dreamed that they were there
And all you can do is wait for that day when they will care
What do I gotta do to get you in my arms baby
What do I gotta do to get your heart
To make you understand how I need you next to me
Gotta get you in my world
'Coz baby I can't sleep
Tears ran down Colleen's face as she listened to the words. Kevin Richardson
is no longer part of my life, Colleen thought. It's over between us.
She laid in her bed and finally cried herself to sleep.
"Have you Ever?" from Brandy on her 1998 album Never say Never
THE END
Author's Note: Thanks for reading Face to Face, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And as you can see, the ending isn't all happy, tied with bows and ribbons, so I might write a sequel. Email me if you are interested in that. If not, LOL, I won't write it.
CORY
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