Chapter 12

Maria woke up and stretched. She smiled when she saw the bright sun shining into the room. She turned over to look at Jacob. He was lying on his stomach, his face turned towards her. Maria reached over and pushed a dread from his face. So many mixed feelings were running through her, Maria would never figure them all out. She was going home today. She wouldn’t be waking up on a bus or in a hotel room anymore. She wouldn’t be seeing Erik, Ashley, Dan, Trevor or Jacob everyday anymore. It was over. She had to go back to her ‘real’ life---which didn’t include O-Town. A few months ago, Maria had never even heard of O-Town and now she was waking up in bed beside one of the band members. Sighing, Maria sat up. She yawned and slid out of the bed. Jacob stirred, but didn’t wake up.

Looking around, Maria picked up Jacob’s tee shirt and pulled it over her head. She also picked up her panties and put them on, too. Maria grabbed a brush and started to work on her tangled hair when there was a soft knock at the door. ‘Here we go,’ she thought. ‘Time for one hundred questions.’ Walking to the door, Maria looked out the peephole and saw Alex standing there. At least she’d knocked. As far as Maria knew, she still had a key. Maria opened the door a crack. Alex smiled.

"Wow, you’re awake. The Mikes are looking for Jacob," she said. Maria sighed.

"Okay, thanks. I’ll wake him up," she said. Alex nodded and then smirked.

"So, did you guys, you know, have fun last night?" she asked. Maria just stood there. "Come on, Maria. I’ve got five bucks riding on this. Now, you have to tell me." Maria frowned.

"You bet on whether or not we would…?"

"Yes. Now, we need to know so that we can pay the winners, which will hopefully be me and Erik," Alex told her. Maria shut the door in her face. Alex shook her head and headed to Erik, Dan and Trevor’s room.

"Why is Jacob in Maria’s room?" Mike M. asked, rubbing his forehead.

"They hung out last night. You know, it was their last night to hang out, so they hung out," Erik mumbled.

"Mike, they have a lot in common and they just wanted to talk. Jake took his guitar so maybe Maria wanted to hear him play," Ashley said as he watched Erik pack. There was a knock on the door and Alex was let in.

"They’re up," she told them. Mike nodded.

"Good. Be down in the lobby in…" he looked at his watch. "…forty-five minutes." He looked at Dan for confirmation of the time.

"Forty-five minutes. Got it, Mike," Dan said. Mike nodded and left.

"Well?" Erik asked Alex as soon as the door closed. Trevor looked over, too. He had been quietly packing on his bed. Alex shook her head.

"I don’t know. Maria wouldn’t say and she seemed mad that we bet on whether or not they did it. I did notice that she was wearing Jacob’s tee shirt, so for some reason Jacob took off his shirt sometime last night," she said.

"He never sleeps in a shirt," Ashley said, frustration in his voice.

"Yeah, but why would Maria be wearing it? Which means that Maria wasn’t wearing anything either," Erik deduced. "They did it. We won!" He hugged and kissed Alex.

"Whoa. Before you go taking our money, we need to definitely know," Ashley said. "Right, Dan?" Dan nodded.

"Yeah. Just because Maria was wearing Jake’s shirt…man, that’s not enough evidence," he said.

"How are we gonna find out?" Erik asked. They all looked at Trevor.

"What? I’m not gonna ask them. It’s none of our business," he said as he continued to pack.

"You’re the only one who didn’t bet, though, so Jake would tell you. He trusts you," Ashley said. Trevor frowned.

"Jacob knows that I like Maria. He’s not gonna tell me if they slept together last night," he told them. He walked to the bathroom to get his toiletries.

"Maybe if we bug them enough, one of them will talk," Erik said. Dan walked to the door. "Where’re you going?"

"To talk to them, Erik. I don’t want to go crazy, having to listen to you guys wondering what happened. I’ll just ask," he said as he left the room. Erik, Alex and Ashley looked at each other.

"They did it. We won," Erik said, smiling. Ashley threw a pillow at him.

Maria wandered over to the bed and sat down. She ran a finger over Jacob’s tattoo and smiled. Jacob’s head turned and he opened his eyes.

"One or more of the Mikes is looking for you," Maria told him. "I’m going to take a shower. You can go after me." She stood up and headed for the bathroom. Jacob sighed and turned over. Well, at least Maria didn’t appear to have regretted last night. Jacob smiled. He sure as hell didn’t.

After lying there for ten more minutes, Jacob got up and pulled on his boxer briefs, jeans, socks and sneakers. Maria had his tee shirt. There was a knock at the door. Jacob took a deep breath. He wasn’t one to ‘kiss and tell’ so he was dreading facing the guys this morning. They were too damn nosy for their own good. The knocking continued. Jacob slowly went to the door and opened it.

"Mornin’, Jake," Dan said. He was carrying a tray with fruit and juice on it. Jacob just nodded and yawned. Dan smiled. "Late night?" he asked. Jacob shut the door and went to sit on Alex’s bed. Dan heard the shower running and assumed that that’s where Maria was. He also noticed Maria’s messy bed and figured that he had, indeed, lost the bet.

"So, you work for the hotel now?" Jacob asked, motioning to the tray. Dan laughed as he set the tray down on the dresser. "Okay, Dan. What do you want to know?" Jacob asked, figuring that the tray of fruit and juice was a bribe to get him to talk. Dan noticed that Jacob didn’t look as happy as Dan thought he would. He chose to be honest with Jacob and hopefully he’d talk to him.

"To be honest, I didn’t think that anything would happen between you guys since we’re going home today," he said. Jacob smiled.

"Yeah, well, neither did I, but…" he said.

"So, what now?" Dan asked. Jacob shrugged.

"I really don’t know. I didn’t get a chance to talk to Maria yet. She doesn’t regret it, though. At least I don’t think she does. I know that I don’t. I have to talk to her, then I’ll see," he said. Dan nodded. Maria came out of the bathroom carrying Jacob’s tee shirt. She just had a towel wrapped around her and stopped when she saw Dan, who stood up.

"I’ll go. Mike said to be down in the lobby in…," he looked at his watch. "…thirty minutes," he said to Jacob. "Hey, Maria." She smiled.

"Hi, Dan." Dan left. Maria handed Jacob his tee shirt. He took it from her and stood up. Maria walked over to him. Her hair was still wet and she smelled like soap and flowers. Jacob avoided eye contact, though. "You can’t even look at me?" she asked softly. Jacob suddenly pulled her to him, kissing her passionately. Maria wrapped her arms around him. Jacob let her go and looked at her.

"I’m gonna take a shower now," he said. Maria nodded and watched as he walked to the bathroom. She sighed as she started to get dressed.

Erik, Alex, and Ashley were waiting when Dan returned to his room.

"Well?" Ashley asked. Dan sighed.

"Give them the money," he said to Ashley, who shook his head and frowned.

"Damn," he said, handing the money to Erik, who was smiling.

"Okay, so that’s five and nine is fourteen dollars. So, we each get seven dollars," he said, handing Alex her money.

"Shit, I’m rich," she said, sarcastically, as she took the money. She then turned to Dan. "What else did they say?" she asked him.

"I only saw Jake. He looked kinda confused, like he’s not sure where they stand and he said that they hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to each other yet, so who knows?" he answered.

"Well, at least they’ve admitted that they feel something for each other. It’s cool. I hope they stay together. Anyway, I’ll see you guys in a little while," Ashley said as he headed back to his own room. Alex left, too. Trevor was in the bathroom. He had heard everything that Dan had said. He couldn’t believe that Jacob and Maria had really done it. They were more attracted to each other than he had thought. Now he really didn’t stand a chance.

Alex returned to her and Maria’s room. This time, she let herself in. Jacob had finished his shower and came out of the bathroom as Alex entered. Maria had changed into jeans and a loose-fitting white tee shirt.

"Hi, guys. I have to pack quickly," Alex said as she grabbed her suitcase and threw it on the bed.

Jacob went over to Maria’s bed and picked up his guitar, which was leaning against the wall near the bed. "I have to go, too," he said as he walked to the door, Maria following. Jacob turned around to face her once he reached the door. She smiled at him.

"It was fun," she said softly. He nodded and leaned in to kiss her lightly. Maria smiled against his lips and then he was gone. Maria closed the door. When she turned, she saw Alex smiling at her.

"I won, right? You guys did it, right? Actually, I know you did because Dan told me. He had a talk with Jacob earlier. I only won seven dollars because I had to split the money with Erik," she said. Maria rolled her eyes.

"I don’t think it’s funny that you bet like that, you know," she said.

"We were just joking around, Maria. It’s great if you two hooked up."

"Is it? I’m never gonna see him. We’re going home today. My assignment is over. It’s not like it was anything serious. We just had some fun," Maria told her.

"Bullshit. You care about that boy. Don’t try and pretend that what happened was a one night stand because I know that you don’t do that and from what I hear from the other guys, Jacob doesn’t either. The two of you have something deeper than just a physical attraction," Alex said.

"But even if we do, it doesn’t matter. We live two totally different, busy lives. It’ll be impossible to have a relationship with him. That’s why none of the guys have girlfriends. Hell, that’s why Jacob broke up with the freakin’ love of his life, Janie. They couldn’t do the whole ‘long distance relationship’ thing. It would just be too stressful," Maria told her. Alex looked over at her.

"So the sex wasn’t good…or what?" she asked. Maria’s head snapped up.

"He made Geoff look like an amateur," she said with a smirk. "No, worse than an amateur." Alex laughed. "Geoff doesn’t even register compared to Jacob. Not that I was comparing or anything." Maria smiled.

"Yeah, right," Alex said, still laughing.

Jacob entered his and Ashley’s room. Ashley wasn’t there. ‘Good,’ Jacob thought not wanting to be interrogated. He went over to his bed and began to pack the few things that he had to pack. He never really unpacked at the hotels that they stayed in, so he never had anything to pack. Pulling some warm-ups and a clean tee shirt from his bag, Jacob changed and tied a black and white bandanna over his head.

"Dude, you’re back." Jacob closed his eyes and sighed. Ashley walked out of the bathroom and over to his bed. He was slightly wet and had a towel hung over his shoulders. "Well?"

"It’ll be good to get home. I really want to start writing for the album and we have that song that we have to finish," Jacob said, refusing to look at Ashley. "You know, the one that we’ve been working on."

"Jake, you have to tell me what happened," Ashley said.

"I don’t have to tell you anything. It’s my business, Ash," Jacob told him. He picked up his stuff and headed for the door. Ashley shook his head. Yeah, he knew because Dan had told them, but he wanted to know what was going to happen now. Obviously, Jacob wasn’t ready to talk just yet, though. Ashley gathered the remainder of his things and followed Jacob.

Everyone was assembled in the lobby except for Maria and Alex. Jacob stood off to the side away from everybody else. No one bothered him. Finally, the elevator doors opened and Maria and Alex stepped out, laughing. They saw everyone and Maria got a fake, frightened look on her face.

"I’m sorry Mike," she said to Mike M. "My fault. I’m very disorganized this morning." Mike smiled.

"I can’t imagine why," he said, glancing over at Jacob, who frowned. Maria just smiled and followed the Mikes as they headed out to the bus. Everyone followed them. Jacob sighed. It was just sex to her. A casual fling. What should he have expected from someone who carries a supply of condoms with her? He’d never let a pretty face affect him the way that Maria’s had. What was wrong with him? He didn’t know. Sighing, he slowly followed everyone else out of the hotel.

Orlando

"Geoff, you’re either crazy or extremely stupid," Kevin remarked, looking at the various flower arrangements that were strewn around the apartment.

"I’m a genius, Kev," Geoff said. "My plan to get Maria to forgive me will begin as soon as she gets back, which is in a few hours." Kevin shook his head.

"Dude, you’re just gonna be disappointed," he said. "And broke," he added, looking at all of the flowers.

"I’ll do anything at this point," Geoff said. He really didn’t want to appear desperate, but he was. He hadn’t talked to Maria since he’d seen her in San Francisco. He was determined to win her back.

"What about that guy that you caught all over her? You know, the guy in the band? What if she’s with him now?" Kevin asked. Geoff frowned.

"No way would Maria go for him. She was just playing around. She loves me. If she didn’t, then why did she see me at the hotel that day? I’ll tell you why…she was worried about me. She still cares for me. I saw it in her eyes, even though she said it was over. She was hurting."

"Of course she was hurting! You slept with someone else! You cheated on her, you idiot!" Kevin yelled, frustrated. Geoff glared at him.

"You’re supposed to be my friend, man. What’s up with you? Are you mad because Kathleen hasn’t given you any yet?" he sneered. Kevin just shook his head and left the apartment. He swore that he would either end up throwing Geoff out of the apartment or kicking some sense into his ass.

Emily stood outside on the patio looking out over the neighborhood. She wanted to go to the park that was nearby, but Maria would be coming home and she really wanted to see her. The park looked so inviting, though. Emily had been going there daily. She usually just sat by the pond and played her guitar. Older folks would come and sit on the benches, listening to her play. It was comforting and she liked the solitude.

"You’re coming with me!" Sarah said excitedly as she suddenly appeared at the sliding doors behind Emily.

"Where?" Emily asked, turning to look at her.

"To see Maria when she gets back."

"Sarah, isn’t Maria going to stop to get her Jeep and then come home? Isn’t that what Kathleen said?" Sarah sighed.

"Yes, but I just spoke with Susan, the woman that Maria works with, and she said that she was gonna go to the lot where the bus is letting them off, to see Maria, so I asked if I could go with her and she said yes."

"I don’t want to intrude or anything. I’m sure they’re all going to be tired and stuff," Emily said.

"I want you to meet the group and I want to see Jacob again," Sarah said, smiling.

"I don’t want to go. It’ll be too uncomfortable," Emily said. Sarah sighed.

"Suit yourself," she said as she headed back inside to change her clothes. She wanted to look nice for Jacob. Emily looked back at the park. Making a decision, she went inside to grab her guitar.

Maria hadn’t realized she had so much stuff. She packed everything, noticing that it didn’t fit like it had when she had first started the tour. It must be the clothes that she had bought. There was more stuff than there had been. Maria took a bite of her Snickers bar and glanced down at Jacob, who was busy packing his things as well. He happened to look up at her. Whenever she looked into his eyes now, she got a tingly, warm feeling. ‘What do you expect?’ she asked herself. ‘You only had the most amazing sex ever with him the night before.’

"All packed?" she asked as she chewed on her candy bar. Jacob nodded and stood up. He looked around seeing that Erik, Alex and Ashley were also packing around them. He needed to talk to Maria…alone. Unfortunately, it was kind of hard to be alone on the bus. Taking her hand, Jacob led her to the front of the bus. The Mikes were sitting at the table working. They glanced up at Jacob and Maria, but paid them no mind. Jacob pulled Maria down onto the seat that was the farthest away from the Mikes. He looked at her. Maria frowned slightly as she finished her Snickers bar, licking the chocolate off of her fingers.

"What’s wrong?" she asked. Jacob shook his head.

"You played me all along, didn’t you?" he asked with fire in his eyes. Maria frowned.

"Why do you think that?" she asked him.

"Look at the way that you’re acting. Like nothing happened between us."

"I thought that’s how you’d want me to act. You’re not exactly acting like it was a big deal either. Do you want me to tell everyone and brag about it? Who do you want to know? I told Alex, that’s it. I didn’t play you, Jacob," Maria said. "And that’s the truth." Jacob didn’t know whether he totally believed her. "Look, we both know that we don’t want relationships right now and I’m respecting that. Plus, we have our lives to return to. My job here is over," Maria said. Jacob scratched his head, trying hard to understand what the hell was going on between them.

"Was what we did part of your job, too?" he asked angrily. Maria shook her head.

"Of course not. I would never use you like that."

Trevor wandered into the kitchen area and saw Jacob and Maria talking. They didn’t look happy. Knowing that they had slept together hurt him. He didn’t want it to, but it did. Maria was an amazing woman and as hard as Trevor tried, he couldn’t just rid himself of the feelings that he had for her.

"What do you want, Jacob? I don’t know how to act," Maria was saying. Jacob closed his eyes tightly. He thought that the feelings that he had for Maria, the lustful, physical attraction-type feelings would be gone after having had her, but it was the opposite. Now that he had had her, he wanted her again. Reaching up, Jacob took her head in his hands and brought her lips to his. Maria closed her eyes and put her arms around him as he kissed the breath out of her.

Alex, Erik, and Ashley joined Trevor and watched the couple at the front of the bus. Ashley put his arm around Trevor, who couldn’t take his eyes off of Maria and Jacob kissing. "I’m fine," Trevor said as he turned around and went into the sleeping area. Mike C. glanced at Jacob and Maria, then at Alex, Erik and Ashley.

"Can you guys pack up the food?" he asked. They sighed, not really wanting to do it, but they went about doing it anyway.

Jacob let go of Maria, who looked at him, desire now visible in her eyes. "I have to finish packing," she said and quickly left the seat, making her way back to the sleeping area. Jacob leaned back against the seat, not knowing what to do. He still wanted Maria…more than ever. But how would that be possible? It wouldn’t. It just wasn’t possible right now. That kiss, as far as he was concerned, was a kiss ‘goodbye.’