Chapter Fourteen

Later that night, Chris decided that she wanted to tour London. The Boys were going to be in rehearsal all the next day, and Chris didn’t really need to be there until the day of the show. Even though it was a foreign county, everyone spoke English, so Chris would have a difficult time getting lost. When she brought it up to AJ, he hadn’t said much about it.

"Am I making you mad?" she asked, sitting on the bed in her flannels and T-shirt.

"No. I’m just getting geared for the show," AJ replied from Howie’s bed.

"That’s good." Chris got up and went over to AJ. "I’ll be fine. You don’t need to worry about me."

"I wasn’t worrying."

"Oh. Well, in case you were thinking about worrying, I’ll be okay." Chris responded. She returned to her bed and pulled down the covers. "Well, I’m going, and I’ll meet you here at the hotel tomorrow evening. Okay?" When she didn’t get an answer, Chris looked over to see why not, and saw AJ asleep. Oh, well. He deserves it. Chris went out into the hall and next door to Kevin and Nick’s room. She knocked on the door.

Nick answered. "Hey, Chris! You’re all dried off?"

"Yeah," she said. "Took a while though."

"You guys were pretty soaked."

"I think I learned my lesson, though. Can I come in?"

Nick held open the door. "Of course! Come in!"

"You are way too perky for this time of night," Chris said, coming into the room. Howie was sitting on a chair and talking to Kevin, who was on one of the beds. Chris went over and sat on the other bed.

"Hey, Chris!" Howie said. "How’s it going?"

"Not bad. Finish what you were saying. I can wait," Chris said. A few minutes later, Kevin and Howie finished discussing plans for departure, and Chris was able to state her plans. "So you know that I don’t need to be there tomorrow, right?"

"That’s right. But the next day you do," Kevin said. "Why?"

"Well, since it’s my first time abroad, I would like to check this city out. I mean, chances are I’ll never be here again, and I want to see it. I’m not asking your permission. I’m old enough to take care of myself. I just wanted to let you guys know what my plans are for tomorrow."

Kevin nodded. "We trust you. And thank you for telling us where you’re going. Are you just going to wander around and see what you can see or do you have a definite plan?"

"Nope. Just gonna see where I end up."

Howie laughed. "Very spontaneous, Chris."

"That’s getting to be my new nickname. I’ve been doing really weird things here with you guys."

"That’s not necessarily a bad thing," Nick said, yawning.

Chris could tell that she was beginning to overstay her welcome. She got up. "Well, I’m gonna turn in. Big day tomorrow, for all of us," she added, opening the door. "Good night."

"’Night, Chris," they chorused. Chris smiled and shut the door behind her. She really wasn’t tired; it was only 9:30. Instead of sitting in bed with the light on, or tossing and turning for hours, Chris decided to sit on the balcony outside her room. After quietly opening the door and grabbing her Bible, she went out to sit on the balcony with her flashlight. Instead of reading, though, she went over the events of the day.

Why is it I feel like I’ve made a bad decision coming here? I mean, I love AJ. But I don’t think I fit in with this lifestyle. I realize that it’s only just begun, but already I feel, I don’t know, different. And I miss my own bed. Chris shook her head. She had had feelings of homesickness before. It would just take time to get used to the new environment. Maybe exploring tomorrow would take her mind off sunny Orlando.

About an hour later, Chris heard the hotel room door open and she turned around to look through the window. It was Howie. I’ve probably been out here long enough, she thought, and gathered her things to go back inside.

"I thought you were going to bed," Howie said quietly.

"Me, too," Chris replied, standing next to him. "But I just had a burst of energy, kinda, and I needed something to do."

"Hmm. Well, I don’t care how long you stay up. It won’t bother me."

"Thanks, Howie."

"But try to sleep tonight. I know how homesickness can be."

Chris’s heart flipped. How did he know? "How did you know I was homesick?"

Howie just shook his head knowingly. "I didn’t, really. But I thought you might find it useful if I empathized with you. And that we’ve all felt that way, so if you want to talk or anything, there’s about a million of us here."

She gave him a hug. "Thank you. You’re awesome." Then she pulled away and got into bed. "’Night, Howie."

"Good night, Chris," Howie replied, turning off the light.

AJ wasn’t asleep. He heard Howie and Chris talking softly, and then Chris getting into bed. About half an hour later, he felt Howie take the pillow off his side of the bed. AJ opened his eyes slightly to see what he was doing. He saw Howie take the extra blanket off the coat rack and lay down on the couch. What a gentleman, AJ thought. Last night I could have slept on the couch, but instead I slept in Chris’s bed. I am such an idiot! And she didn’t even know! AJ’s conscious was starting to nag him and no matter what he would try to do, he would not be able to sleep unless he confessed. He didn’t want Howie to hear him apologizing, so AJ lay in bed waiting until Howie was snoring.

He threw back the covers and crossed over to where Chris was sleeping, burrowed deep down in the covers. Her head wasn’t even visible; granted, it was dark in the room. The only light shone under the door from the hallway. Hesitantly, AJ reached out, placed his hand on Chris’s shoulder, and shook her gently awake.

"Huh? What?" she said sleepily, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"Shh!" AJ whispered urgently. "I’m sorry to wake you up."

Chris faced him in the dark. "What’s wrong?" she whispered back.

"I have something important to tell you."

"What?"

"I don’t want to tell you here."

"Can it wait until tomorrow? I’m exhausted."

"No, it can’t wait. Please, Chris. I won’t be able to sleep unless I tell you this."

"Oh, okay." Chris untangled the covers from around her, and got out of bed, grabbing her glasses from the nightstand and putting them on. She followed AJ out into the hallway, squinting in the bright light. AJ closed his eyes and shook his head at the sudden brightness.

Chris crossed her arms in front of her and turned to look at AJ. "Now what’s so important?"

AJ took a deep breath. "I have a confession to make."

"At twelve midnight you have a confession to make? Do you do this often?"

"Don’t tease me. Just hear me out. I need to tell you this, and I feel like such a rat."

"So tell me why you are a rat." Chris leaned back against the wall, still looking at him.

"Well, do you remember where you fell asleep last night?" AJ asked.

"Yes. I fell asleep on the floor and then ended up in the bed. Why?"

"Let me ask these questions, please. It’ll help me get this out." AJ put his hands in his pockets. "You don’t remember anything else then?"

"No. Except this morning I woke up and saw you come out of the bathroom. I slept like a baby."

Great, AJ thought. "Okay, well, I did something between the time Howie and I put you to bed and I came out of the bathroom."

"You took a shower?"

"I just want to know how upset you would be if I had maybe shared the bed with you last night," AJ said quickly, not looking at Chris. After a few seconds of silence, he raised his eyes to see her reaction.

Chris was pale. She had never expected a statement like that. "You what?" she said hoarsely.

"I’m sorry. I thought it would be okay since we’re a couple and all--"

"You thought sharing a bed with me while I was asleep, while I had no clue what’s going on, was a good idea?"

"I didn’t say it was a good idea, I just thought--"

"Excuse me, but you thought wrong." Chris’s voice was rising. AJ had never seen her angry before and it scared him. "The only times we’ve ‘slept together,' "she said, making quotations with her hands, "was that one night on the couch and on the plane to get here. We have never, ever, even discussed sharing a bed!"

"I’m so sorry--"

"I don’t care how sorry you are! It’s cool to be able to share a room with two guys. But I had no intention of sharing a bed, whether I’m asleep or not. I thought I could trust you two."

AJ went over to try to calm her down, but she pushed him away. "Don’t come near me!" He heard Kevin open his door and saw Emily peek out from her room. Then Brian poked his head out.

AJ pleaded with Chris. "Keep it down!"

"Keep it down?!? What would have happened if Howie hadn’t been in the room, huh? What if I had been sick or drunk or vulnerable in some other way? Would you have tried to take advantage of me then, too?"

"I didn’t take advantage of you!" AJ defended. "I just shared a bed with you!"

"He what?" AJ heard Brian ask.

"You know what? I think we have a communication problem. I don’t remember telling you that sharing a bed would be a part of this relationship. I’m friends with Emily, but I don’t sleep with her. I’m friends with Nick and Howie, and I’m not sharing a bed with them. There’s a certain thing called respect that men are supposed to give women." Chris walked around AJ, who was blocking her path, and stood in front of the open hotel room door, her hands on her hips. "It’s not cool to just assume that I’m going to let you do anything because I’m your girlfriend. If you want that kind of relationship, find somebody else. Because I’m not that type of girl. Teasing and flirting is one thing," she said, "but acting on it is another. It’s called control. You should try it sometime."

Chris turned back into the room, almost running over Howie who was standing in the doorway, and slammed the door, punctuating her statement. AJ just stood and looked at the closed door.

"What did you do, Bone?" Nick asked, he and Kevin coming out of the room.

AJ glared at him. "I didn’t do anything. I wasn’t even going to. But she flew off the handle when I told her, well, you heard."

"Did you even think about what she would say when you did that?" Emily asked, she and Brian joining the group.

"Yes, Emily, I did. And that’s why I did it anyway," AJ said sarcastically. "Dammit! I would never do anything to disrespect her or any other girl!" He slammed his fists on the door. "Did you hear that?" he yelled.

Kevin put his hands on AJ’s shoulders and steered him away from the door. "You’d better not do that. There are only so many hotels in London, and we’re not allowed in three of them. Please don’t make it four."

"Why don’t you all come into our room," Brian said, "and we’ll try to work this out."

"I think the best thing is to let Chris cool off before we approach her," Kevin said. Brian nodded.

"Wow! She really has a temper," Nick exclaimed.

"Nick, you only saw an itty-bitty piece of it. Don’t ever make her angry."

"Thanks for telling me, Kevin," AJ remarked, following Brian and Emily to their room.

"You never asked."

"Where are you going, Chris?" Howie asked.

Chris had changed and was putting on a pair of running shoes. She looked up from tying her laces and Howie felt a shiver run through him. She looks kinda good mad, he thought.

"I’m going for a run. Is that a problem?"

"Not at all. Are you going to be alright? It’s really dark out there."

"I’ll be fine," Chris snapped. She stood up and put on her jacket. "I’m taking my key." She opened the door and left, letting it fall closed behind her.

Howie did a quick change, putting on a pair of sweat pants, a sweat shirt, and his athletic shoes. He also carried his cell phone. Without telling anybody in the neighboring room, he quietly went out into the hall and down the fire exit. He went outside through a side door and jogged around to the front of the hotel. Spotting the doorman standing by the front door, Howie went over to him.

"Excuse me, sir. Have you seen a very beautiful, but angry, young woman run by here?"

"Yes, actually," the doorman said in his British accent. "I believe she went that way," he pointed.

"Thank you very much." Howie waved as he began to run down the street to the left.

Careful not to be recognized, but who’s stupid enough to be out at this time of night?, Howie kept to the shadows. He could see Chris’s little red blinking light about a quarter mile ahead of him. Even when she’s mad, she’s safe. Howie raced to catch up with her, because she could easily get lost, and he didn’t want to spend the rest of the night looking for her.

After a while, he noticed that the light was not bouncing and that it was getting bigger as he got closer. Slowing to a quick walk, Howie tried to catch his breath. Soon, he came upon a bench looking over a pond, highlighted by the nearby streetlight. Chris was sitting on the bench, leaning her arms on her thighs, and staring intently at the motionless water. She didn’t hear Howie come up behind her, and she jumped when he spoke softly.

"Do you feel better now?"

Chris turned to her left and saw Howie leaning with his arms on the back of the bench, looking at the water. "Not really."

"Mind if I sit down? I’m a little exhausted." Chris didn’t answer, instead looked back at the water. Howie walked around the bench and sat down beside her. "It’s much nicer in the light."

"Everything is."

"That’s not true," Howie said. "Sometimes the darkness brings a beautiful mystery that the light destroys."

"But at least in the light you can see what’s going on," Chris replied, her voice raspy. "And you’re able to avoid unpleasant surprises."

"Sometimes you need surprises, unpleasant or not, in order to apply the experience to your life."

"I thought that was mistakes."

"Mistakes, too. Everything you experience, you learn from. And it all helps you live your life."

Chris was silent for a few minutes. Then she glanced over at Howie. Her face was tearstained and tired, and Howie fought the urge to comfort her. "I’m sorry I snapped at you," Chris apologized.

"Oh, Chris. It’s nothing. You were angry, and I was there. It’s okay."

"But it’s not me."

"Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you didn’t feel the urge to run in front of a bus or something."

"I was thinking about it," Chris said.

"I don’t think you were."

"I bet you didn’t think I’d get angry like that, either."

Howie scratched his head. "Well, that’s true."

Chris gave a small smile. Then she shivered. "It’s getting a bit chilly, isn’t it?"

"Yeah," Howie agreed. "Do you want to head back?"

"To tell you the truth, I don’t think I can move my legs enough to get back there."

"So you’re going to sleep and freeze out here?"

"I’d rather freeze than go back to bed."

"You don’t mean that."

"Yes, I do. Anywhere’s better than near that perverted person I called my boyfriend." Chris wiped her eyes on her jacket sleeve.

"Chris," Howie said gently, "you guys just had your first fight. I know for a fact that AJ would never try anything on you, or anyone else he might have a relationship with. He’d only do something if you were willing, too, and even then he’d wait and make sure."

"I don’t care. He didn’t even ask me what I thought!"

"You were asleep."

"He didn’t wake me up to ask me if it would be alright if he shared a bed with me, but tonight he woke me up to tell me that he did! Now how does that make sense? That was just so irresponsible and cruel."

Howie had to admit that what AJ had done was wrong. And if Chris had acted upon it somehow in her sleep, then it was just out of sheer unconsciousness. "I know he didn’t mean anything by it."

"You know what? I’d rather not continue this conversation." Chris wrapped her arms around herself.

"Okay, then," Howie said. "Do you want me leave?"

"Not really."

"Well, I have my cell phone here. I could call the limo to pick us up."

Chris looked at Howie. "How long will it take?"

"Just a few minutes. Think you can make it?"

"I’m not dying. I think I can."

Howie punched in a few numbers on the phone. "Hello? It’s Howie...Yes, I am....Could you send the limo?...Um, I have no idea. On a bench looking at a pond....Make a left from the hotel....About three miles....Want us to start walking back? You can pick us up off the street...Okay...Will do...Bye." He flipped the phone closed.

"What’d they say?"

"We start walking, and they’ll pick us up."

Both Chris and Howie stood up and started walking back to the hotel. It was better than sitting and freezing. Chris was so tired. It had been a long day, both emotionally and physically. Not only that, but Chris was afraid that she was getting sick. And at the start of the tour, too. How’s that for luck?

After walking slowly in silence for about ten minutes, the limo came by and picked the two up and took them back to the hotel. They snuck into the hotel through the side door and on a final burst of energy, scaled the eight flights of stairs up to the room.

Emily was sitting outside her and Brian’s room, arms folded and eyes closed. Chris and Howie tried to be quiet, but Emily woke up.

"Chris! How are you feeling, hon?"

"I’m drained."

"Why don’t you come into my room and sleep here tonight?"

"Where’s Brian?"

"I kicked him out."

Chris smiled slightly. "Thanks. I think I’ll just go in and lay down."

Emily gave Chris a small push. "Go right ahead. I’ll be in in a minute." When Chris was inside, Howie asked Emily what happened.

"What’d I miss?"

"AJ is so upset. I haven’t seen him this way since Chris almost drowned. He can’t understand why she’s accusing him of taking advantage of her."

"Has he admitted that what he did was stupid?"

"Over and over again," Emily sighed. "He swore that he’d never do anything else on impulse."

"That’s going to totally ruin his image."

"I know. So then we tried to convince him that he could be impulsive, just not with Chris for a while."

"How’d he take it?"

"I have no idea. He went into your room and went to bed. I sent Brian in there to share with you guys, if that’s okay."

Howie nodded. "That’s fine. I think I’m gonna hit the sack."

"Yeah, me, too. I just didn’t want Chris to go in there and get upset again."

"Well, thanks for being considerate."

"No problem, Howie. Good night." Emily opened her door quietly and went into her room.

"Good night, Em," Howie said. He, too, opened his door and went in. Brian was asleep on the couch where Howie had been sleeping, and AJ was laying in Chris’s bed. He went over to check on AJ, and found him clutching the second pillow against his chest. Howie shook his head sadly, and collapsed on his bed, falling asleep instantly. It was going to be just a bit tense between the group for a while.

Chapter Fifteen Coming Soon!!