Secrets Kept, Lies Told
Secrets Kept, Lies Told
©1999-2000
By Sarah
Chapter 40
Kevin smiled and watched
as Alexa and Nick fell asleep next to each other in the front of the bus.
They'd just gotten out of a concert in Madrid and Nick was exhausted.
Kevin guessed that Alexa was too, she'd been sightseeing all day.
'Its great, those two
have barely been apart for the last two weeks. Finally, an end to
his moping and Alexa's short temper and sudden bouts of tears,' he thought,
walking to his bunk. He laid down and relaxed, listening to the bus's
wheels as they turned on the road beneath him, taking them to another venue.
'Paris, here we come,'
Kevin thought.
"Those two certainly
are inseparable," Denise commented, gesturing to Nick and Alexa.
"Yup, thank God.
Its good that they finally listened to each other, now we don't have then
both moping around this bus," Howie said, collapsing exhaustedly at the
table.
"Yeah, this bus is
too small for them to both be in foul moods, its bad enough when AJ gets
dumped on at a club," Brian said, smiling.
"Hey, its not like
you don't do it too!" AJ said, swiping at Brian's head.
Denise laughed and
shook her finger at AJ. "Now, Alexander, no hitting," she said.
"Ohh, Alexander!
You got ragged on by your mom!" Brian exclaimed.
"Oh, I'm gonna get
you, Kentucky boy!" AJ exclaimed, chasing Brian into the back of
the bus.
Denise smiled and glanced
up at Howie. "I'm too tired to get up and stop them," Howie said,
shaking his head and closing his eyes.
"Why don't you just
drag yourself to your bunk, then you can go to sleep there, I don't need
three people sleeping out here," Denise said, walking over to him and helping
him stand up.
Howie nodded and yawned
as he walked blindly into the back. "Good night, Denise," he said.
Denise nodded and watched
as he went. She looked over at Nick and Alexa and sighed. 'Another
battle to be fought,' she thought.
"Alexa, Nick, come
on you two, move into the back," Denise said quietly as she walked over
to them. She shook Nick's arm and tried to pry Alexa out of his grasp.
"No, tomorrow," they
both muttered, tightening their grasps around each other.
Denise chuckled and
stood back, her hands on her hips. "Come on, you two, to your bunks
and you can sleep forever."
Alexa groaned and opened
her eyes. "Come on, Nicky, if we don't move she'll bug us for the
next hour," she said sleepily. She stood up and pulled Nick with
her. Denise watched as the two walked into the back and Alexa pulled
Nick onto the bunk that was officially declared 'theirs'. Within
moments, Denise heard silence on the bus and went to check on everyone.
They were all fast asleep, AJ holding his Dopey doll, Kevin facing the
wall where he posted a bunch of pictures of his family, Howie was talking
in his sleep,
Brian was snoring, and Nick and Alexa
were sleeping soundly, his arms around her waist. Denise smiled,
knowing that they were the best together, no one could change what they
had together, even though minor set backs came along, they belonged together.
'And I hope nothing
will ever try to tear them apart, it could hurt them both beyond imagination,'
she said to herself. Denise walked to the bunk reserved for her and
fell asleep, leaving the bus driver in control of
everything around them.
"I think she's finally
asleep."
Alexa smiled up at
her brother and yawned. "AJ, don't you know to let sleeping people
lie?" She whispered.
"No, come on, Alexa,
you promised that we would talk," AJ said, practically whining.
Alexa sighed and gestured
to Nick's hands. "Well, I can't exactly do anything when he's holding
me with the death grip," she whispered jokingly.
AJ smiled and reached
for Nick's hands. He pulled them apart and Alexa wiggled out of the
bed, landing on her knees. She gave Nick a small kiss on his cheek
and pulled the curtain closed, walking into the back with her brother.
"Well, Mr. 'Oh-I-Think-I'll-Just-Disturb-My-Sister-From-Her-Much-Needed-Sleep'?
What do you want to talk about?" Alexa asked teasingly as she sat
on one end of the couch, wrapping a blanket around her.
AJ smiled and sat next
to her. "I wanted to hear about you and Nick, you two have been inseparable
since last week when I made you listen to him," he said.
Alexa chuckled.
"Yeah, sort of. It was all one big misunderstanding and after I listened
to him, everything made sense. But let's not talk about my relationship,
let's talk about yours. Who's Christina?" She asked.
AJ practically blushed.
"She's one of our dancers, she's really sweet and I like her a lot.
Does she meet my darling sister's standards?" He asked jokingly.
Alexa's eyebrows furrowed
and she frowned. "I don't know, I haven't really had a chance to
talk to any of the dancers. I suppose they're all nice, and I know
they usually lose the bus food fights, but still. I don't
talk to them, they don't talk to me.
I think they're all a little scared of the fact that I'm your sister."
"They shouldn't be,
its not like you're a bull dog or anything."
"They treat me like
one, I think that when you warned the guys to stay away from me, you also
told them and they're still scared of you."
"Nah, I told them that
I was mentally blocked at first, I was just being over-protective.
Maybe you and Christina should get together and talk sometime, I think
the two of you would get along well."
"Really, AJ, I don't
know. I mean, I've got you five, what do I need anymore friends for?"
Alexa asked hypothetically, ruffling her brother's hair.
"Alexa, just get to
know her. You know I highly value your opinion, and I trust you.
Though I think I'm gonna regret saying this, I want you to meet all my
girlfriends and tell me if you think that we ought to be together or not."
"You're kidding me,
right? This from the brother that told me to back off when it came
to Cindy the slut? From 'Mr. Oh-I-Can-Take-Care-Of-Myself'? AJ, what
has gotten into you?"
"Aly, I just trust
you a lot and I know that you're an excellent judge of character, and I
just want you to be around, ok?"
Alexa nodded.
"What about her do you not like?" She asked, knowing what was bugging
him.
AJ sighed. "Sometimes
she wants to spend a lot of time with me, a lot. And that would involve
taking time out of the time I spend with you and the time I spend by myself.
I like her and all, but I'm not too sure I can give her that much time.
We aren't even going out, yet, and she wants us to act like a real couple
and make everything official."
"Tell her that, AJ,
tell her that you can't spend all the time in the world with her, that
you don't have that much time. Tell her that you're still getting
over Amanda and you want to take things slow. I can tell
that's what you want to do, whether or
not she ends up in your bed after the first date," Alexa said.
"Aly!"
"Oh, please, AJ, like
I don't know you that well. Just go with your gut instinct, but first
and foremost, follow your heart. It ought to be the thing that makes
most of your decisions in life," Alexa said, a serious look coming over
her face.
AJ nodded, taking all
of his sister's words in. He looked down at the floor, thinking,
then looked back up at Alexa in time to see her yawning.
"Come on, let's go
back to bed, we get in Paris tomorrow," he said, standing up. He
helped Alexa stand back up and walked her back to the bunk she was sharing
with Nick. He said good night to her and went to his bunk.
He laid down and faced the wall, thinking.
'Alexa's right, I don't
want to rush into anything right now, it's too soon. But I really
like Christina, her only flaw being that she really wants to spend time
with me. I can understand that, I only see her right before the shows
and right after them, we don't really get to talk. Oh, well, I'll
think about it tomorrow, we have the next two days off.'
AJ sighed and closed
his eyes, clearing his head of all the thoughts roaming around inside.
He fell asleep moments later, still not able to make any sort of decision.
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