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Chapter 19
"Kevin!"
Kevin turned toward the sound of the somewhat familiar voice, and his eyes sought out the speaker. What he saw made his jaw drop and his eyes widen.
"Mallory?" he exclaimed, astonished. "What are you doing here?"
She fell into step beside him, and shoved her bag in his hand. "I was sent to check up on you guys."
"Check up on us?"
"There was a reason why you're here," she reminded him. He shook his head.
"We haven't really talked since we got here. Each of us has been doing his own thing. So I don't know how to say it's better, cuz I don't know if it is."
"You haven't spent any time together at all?" she asked, looking pained. He shook his head apologetically. "Why?" The simplicity of her question stopped his thoughts. Why hadn't they spent any time together? He missed them.
"I don't know," he admitted. "I would like to, though."
"I'm only going to be here for a week. I want you guys to do something, okay?" she asked. "I don't want to be pushy, but Kevin, you don't have all year here. And the fans miss you. You guys have to settle whatever happened so you can get back on the road and back to your careers."
"I know," he said. "I'll work on that."
"I'm staying at the Maui Grand Hotel. My room number is 1145. If you need anything, I'll be there most of the time. This isn't a vacation for me. I have work to do."
She started to leave, but Kevin stopped her. "Mallory?"
"Huh?" she muttered, staring at a piece of paper in her hand. She looked up at him expectantly.
"You don't seem like you should be working a bar anymore." He smiled, a peace offering. She grinned.
"That was a bad week. I was in and out of the real world easily. Sorry about that."
"It's okay."
"Oh, and Kevin?"
"Yeah?"
"Cut your hair. You're getting shaggy."
Then she was gone. He shook his head and stared after her. What a character.
~*~*~*~*~
Destiny watched Howie out of the corner of her eye. Every time someone
acknowledged him, he smiled brightly and waved, whether or not they knew
him. She gazed at him admiringly.
Howie looked at Destiny to find her staring at him. "What?" he asked self
consciencly. She blinked, obviously she hadn't known he knew she was staring.
"Nothing."
"No, what?" he insisted. She shook her head.
"You're such the persistant one," she mused, shaking her head. He grasped
her hand.
"I love spending time with you, Des," he said softly.
"I love being with you, too, How," she replied.
"And," he continued. "I like you a lot."
"I like you a lot, too," she answered promptly.
"No, I mean…" He paused. "I think I'm falling in love with you."
She smiled. She never failed to surprise him. She didn't seem the least bit
surprised. "Really?"
"Really," he confirmed. She laughed.
"I think I'm falling in love with you, too, Howie."
"Cool."
He kissed her, and she sighed happily.
~*~*~*~
Brian spit in the sink and leaned over to fill his mouth with tap water.
He straightened and wiped his chin with a towel. Then he stared at himself
in the mirror. Something wasn't right about today. He had a creepy feeling
in the pit of his stomach. But what could he do? He was set to meet the rest
of the guys at the Kaanapali Beach Hotel at 6:00, a half an hour. Some kind
of hula show that Brian wasn't looking forward to that much, but he did miss
his friends so he was willing to suffer for a couple of hours as long as
he got some quality time in with his buds.
When Brian arrived at the Kaanapali, he could hear Hawaiian music filtering
in from behind the hotel. He made his way slowly to the back and scanned
the party goers for any signs of Kevin, Nick, AJ or Howie.
"Rok! Long time no see!" A hand cuffed his shoulder, and Brian turned to
a grinning AJ.
"Hey, Bone," he greeted him. "Where're the rest of the guys?"
"Over here, c'mon!" AJ said, excited. "You're the last one to get here, but
that didn't stop the dancing. You should see these hula dancers!"
"What about Grace?" Brian wondered.
"I wouldn't ever take one of these girls home, you know that. My heart is
back with Grace, wherever she is."
Brian shook his head and followed AJ to a table where Kevin, Nick and Howie
were distributed, laughing and having fun. Upon seeing Brian, the three of
them jumped up in unison and began talking all at once. Brian joined in,
struck hard at the realization that he had missed the guys a lot since they
had gotten to the island. They were united as a group, and the bond was so
tight between the five that it would never be broken. Anyone observing the
group would notice that immediately, and smile in appreciation at the love
that was obvious amongst the Backstreet Boys.
After a good ten minutes of hugging and clapping on the back, they once more
sat down and ordered drinks. It took them a while to catch up on the latest
happenings, but once they had, a comfortable silence settled among them as
they watched the hula show.
"I missed you guys," Brian spoke up, looking around the group. Howie raised
his glass of coke.
"To the Backstreet Boys," he toasted. The other four promptly raised their
glasses.
"The Backstreet Boys," they chorused. Contentment wrapped around Brian's
heart. The rest of the evening passed somewhat slowly, but Brian still had
fun. He would look away when a dancer came his way, but he still had a good
time. After the show was over, regular music began to play, and the dancers
disappeared. The guys talked for a while, getting caught up and joking around
like they used to.
"You know, I haven't had a single person approach me as a Backstreet Boy,"
AJ remarked.
"Me, either."
"Nope."
"None at all."
"I wonder why that is?" Nick mused. "I've seen plenty of girls between the
ages of ten and eighteen, haven't you guys?"
"I have, they just don't seem to notice me," Howie said.
"No one notices you, D," AJ teased.
"That's because YOU stand out, AJ!" Brian stepped in, laughing. "No one can
see anyone else."
"Yeah, you're blinding," Kevin added, grinning.
"Hey!" AJ protested. "I'm an individual."
"Yeah…you're…different," said Nick, trying to keep a straight face.
They all laughed. AJ held up his hands in mock surrender.
"I give up. It's useless trying to argue my point."
"What point?" Brian cracked. They once more laughed.
"This is fun. I missed joking around," Nick said.
"Aw, you don't need us to joke around, Nicky," Kevin said. "You do fine on
your own."
"Yeah, but it's more fun with you guys."
"It is," Brian agreed. "It's a group thang."
Hearing Brian say that set them all into gales of laughter, and the rest
of the night was spent teasing each other and chuckling. At one point, AJ
was singing a song that Brian could relate to. He recognized it as Montell
Jordan's song, Get It On Tonight. Brian almost jumped out of his seat and
ran to Faith's condo when he heard the words.
"When I'm looking at you, I keep thinkin' why can't she be like you? So I'm
scheming, I can't go through this, believing that her love is true. Standing
on the dance floor, while she's trickin'. You are all I ever want, girl,
she's a chicken. We might be together, but love is missing. Girl I want you,
so what can we do?…girl if it's all right, let's go somewhere and get
it on tonight. You shouldn't have to be alone tonight. It's one on one tonight-"
"AJ, man, shut up!" Nick interrupted him, and Brian shook his head, blinking.
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