~~A Few Days And One Week Later~~

By this time, Backstreet Boys and Exclamat!on had known each other for almost two weeks. Nick and Hannah were avoiding each other, although they did glare at each other an awful lot and insult each other at least twice a day.

But love was in the air on the tour-bus now it had reached North Carolina. Brian and Kara had been making eyes at each other the whole time, as had Kevin and Laura. But it was the younger Kentucky cousin who got with an Exclamat!on girl first.

Everyone had gone out to a movie theatre, wanting to see ‘Armageddon’. But Kara had stayed on the tour bus because she hates weepy films, and Brian had offered to keep her company. Hannah and Nick had both decided to go, but they made sure that everyone else was between them…they both wanted to sit on the end! Those two were getting really petty.

Anyway, Brian and Kara were left to mind the tour bus, and decided to watch a movie…a less weepy one!

They decided on ‘Dirty Dancing’, as it had a happy ending. But once the film was over, Kara was crying.

"Kara? Are you crying? I thought you said this one wouldn’t make you cry?"

"Well I didn’t think it would…but it’s just so happy!" she cried even more and Brian took her in his arms, finding Kara’s weepiness rather endearing.

"Aw, honey, you’re so sweet!" Brian told her, smiling and holding her close. Kara’s tears finally turned into sniffs, and she pulled away from Brian, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"I’m sorry Bri, I just…I just get all soppy in those kinda movies. I’m sorry…" But her apologies were hushed by Brian’s lips touching hers. The pair kissed, just gently. Once Brian had pulled away, he blushed really badly.

"I guess now it’s my turn to apologise." He looked really embarrassed, even slightly ashamed.

"Not at all." Kara told him gently. She took him in her arms and kissed him. He kissed her back, and this time they kissed for quite a while longer.

~~Once The Others Were Back~~

"Would you guys mind if we bagged the TV room for a while before dinner?" Brian asked everyone. They all looked slightly confused, but as Brian took Kara’s hand in his, the penny dropped.

"Sure." Laura told them with a smile.

"But…" Nick started to protest, but Hannah put her hand over his mouth, glaring at him and giving him a ‘leave the new couple alone’ look. Once Brian and Kara were safely in the TV room, Hannah removed her hand and glared at Nick.

"It’s a little obvious that they’ve just gotten together, so leave them alone, okay?"

"Don’t put your hand over my mouth!" Nick cried.

"Next time I’ll just kick you where it hurts." Hannah told him before walking off outside.

"Where are you off?" Charlie shouted after her.

"The roof." Hannah called over her shoulder. There was a ladder up the side of the bus, and Hannah had been climbing up it and onto the roof for the last couple of evenings, admiring the night-sky and giving herself some ‘alone time’.

~~That Evening At Dinner~~

"Hey, guys, we’re honoured," Kevin started, as he munched his way through yet another McDonald’s meal. "We get a hotel room in just under one month…for two whole nights!"

"Wow, we’re really honoured then." Nick muttered sarcastically. Hannah just rolled her eyes at him and continued with her fries and large diet coke (she was famous for her large diet cokes).

"There’s only one catch."

"What?" everyone asked in unison.

"It’s two to a room."

"Oh, man." Nick complained.

"Nick, just shut up for one minute!" Hannah cried, fed up with Nick’s constant whinging and complaining.

"So, you guys have about three weeks to decide who you’re gonna room with." Brian and Kara exchanged shy but cheeky smiles, sitting at opposite ends of the table. The girls were tempted to gush something like, ‘wow that’s so sweet’, but they decided not to.

"I’m rooming with you, Jess." Hannah informed Jessica.

"Oh are you?" Jessica asked her, grinning. "Don’t ask me then!" Jessica was pretending to be offended.

"Okay, sorry, can I room with you, Jess?"

"Of course!" Hannah rolled her eyes at her best friend.

~~That Night~~

It was around midnight, and Hannah couldn’t sleep. So she went to her favourite place…the bus roof.

But Nick also couldn’t sleep, and decided that he’d take a look around outside and go on the roof…except he didn’t realise Hannah was out there.

"What are you doing here?!" Hannah exclaimed as she saw Nick climbing up the ladder and reaching the roof, sitting down.

"Keep your voice down!" Nick hissed, also surprised to see Hannah.

"What are you doing here?" Hannah asked again, her voice reduced to a whisper.

"I couldn’t sleep, I came to admire the view."

"Well I’m here, so you can leave."

"Why should I have to leave just because you’re up here?!" Nick asked her angrily.

"Because I discovered the place and I was here first."

"You didn’t discover the roof." Nick told her in a ‘duh’ voice, rolling his eyes.

"I was still here first. So go, shoo, piss off outta here." Hannah turned her back to him, waiting to hear the sound of Nick climbing back down the ladder. But she heard no such sound. Turning back to face him, she asked, "Why are you still here?!"

"Look, I don’t know exactly what your problem is, but I don’t see why we can’t just be in the same place without talking. You obviously have such a mouth on you, you never know how to shut it up."

"What?! You obviously have such a fist on you, you never know when to not hit people."

"I didn’t even hit you!"

"You were going to! You only didn’t ‘cos I hit you…well, kneed you would be more accurate."

"What is it they say about Essex girls?" London is pretty much in Essex county, and Essex girls have a bit of a reputation.

"How dare you stereotype me! I could ask you what it is they say about Boy Bands."

"With the Essex girl thing it’s not stereotyping, it’s telling the truth."

"The only truth here is that you’re an immature little boy, with more brawn than brains. You were prepared to hit a girl, and you’re probably prepared to do it again. You don’t give a shit about anyone except yourself, which makes you selfish, conceited, and self-absorbed."

"I’m selfish?! What about you and your stupid computer?!"

"It was you who locked yourself in the TV room!"

"Yeah, but you weren’t prepared to share. You, Hannah, are an evil little bitch who’s main purpose in life is to wreck mine. You obviously enjoy arguing with me and making everyone around you wish you’d go to hell. Because that’s what they think, Hannah. When you go to bed and everyone else is still up, they moan about you, and say that they wish you’d never joined the band. Charlie even contemplates sending you back to London because she can’t cope with you. Laura moans about your lack of dancing abilities…I mean, c’mon. One lousy flip and that’s it?!"

"They don’t say that." Hannah whispered, her eyes filling up. Hannah, you see, never cries.

"They do, Hannah. But none of us are allowed to tell you ‘cos they’re worried you’ll fly off the handle again and do something stupid. Like drawing on them, or pulling them out of bed." Nick had finally worked out what had happened that night.

"You’re a lying son of a bitch." Hannah managed to say, walking past Nick as quickly as she could and climbing down the ladder, not wanting him to see her cry.

Hannah and Nick were both really hurt. Both of them felt guilty for what they’d said, but they both also felt hatred, a pure hatred for the other.

Kara and Brian had acted pretty loved-up that evening, whereas Kevin and Laura still hadn’t gotten together. But everyone knew they would, after all, the signs were all too clear that they had a thing for each other.

~~A Few Nights Later~~

The others couldn’t work out what had happened between Nick and Hannah, but they were thankful for the peace and quiet. Nick and Hannah had been ignoring each other totally, even the evil glares were halted. They didn’t interact with each other at all.

Hannah went to bed after everyone else again. She’d been doing so because she was worried that when Nick told her they all talked about her behind her back, he wasn’t lying.

But that particular night, Hannah couldn’t sleep for two reasons: One, she wasn’t tired. Two, her argument with Nick from several nights before was playing over and over in her mind. She felt really guilty, but she also felt hurt. She didn’t want to speak to him, and she didn’t want to see him. She headed into the TV room to quietly play on her Nintendo. Opening the door to the TV room, she was surprised to see Nick playing the computer. She didn’t say anything, she just turned to leave. But without turning around, Nick said,

"You can play." Hannah didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of backing down and leaving him to enjoy the game all by himself.

"Fine." Hannah sat down next to him on the floor and picked up the second control-pad. Nick stopped the game he was playing and selected two-player. It was Hannah’s boxing game.

The pair played in silence for a few minutes before getting more into the game. The two enemies were now fighting it out on the hi-tech animated battlefield.

After a few more minutes of giving each other angry glares and glances as they fought each other on screen, the game soon became fun, and they started laughing and enjoying themselves.

"Got ya in the balls again!" Hannah cried triumphantly as her character kneed Nick’s.

"That was a pretty painful experience."

"The computer one or the real one?" Hannah asked him, grinning at him. He grinned back, and Hannah realised what a lovely smile he had.

"What do you think?" She gazed into his blue eyes, feeling something she’d never felt before. When Hannah didn’t say anything, Nick turned back to face the screen, as did Hannah. But as they continued to play, Nick sneaked a few looks at Hannah. She was wearing a very plain yet very sexy vest-top, and baggy pyjama pants. Nick was wearing a vest and boxers. He noticed that she looked really cute, frowning in concentration at the TV screen. Nick smiled to himself and they continued to play.

Nick punched Hannah’s character really well, knocking her back. He then kneeled over her, pinning her down for the count.

"Ha! I won!" Nick yelled. Hannah just sulked, staring at the screen. Nick had beaten her at her favourite game. Nick edged slightly closer to her. "Hey, don’t get all moody just ‘cos I’m the champion!"

"You want a real challenge?" Hannah asked him suddenly, a glint in her eye.

"Sure."

"Okay, we fight it out, a real boxing game. But you don’t hit hard, and you don’t hit the face." Nick gave Hannah a look. "Okay, and you don’t hit below the waist either. You game?"

"Yup." They both stood up, and faced each other.

"Okay…go." Hannah and Nick both clenched their fists as they started to ‘box’. Nick threw a punch first, and caught Hannah’s shoulder. Hannah winced and groaned in pain.

"Hannah? Hannah, I’m sorry, I…" But Nick shut up when Hannah punched him in the stomach.

"Sucker!" she laughed. She didn’t punch Nick hard though, and he soon recovered. They continued to ‘box’ for a few more minutes until Nick threw a punch a bit harder than he’d intended. He once again punched Hannah on the shoulder, but it sent her flying. She fell to the floor, hitting her head kinda hard on the solid floor.

"Omigod, Hannah, are you okay?" Nick bent down and kneeled over her. She blinked a couple of times, trying to wake herself up. She’d hit her head fairly hard. "I’m sorry, really. Hannah, can you hear me?"

"Of course I can hear you, idiot." Hannah whispered. "Oh, man, my head." Hannah looked up at Nick and saw him looking down at her once more. She gazed into his eyes, and saw that they were the most beautiful blue. And Nick gazed into Hannah’s eyes, the mottled green and brown making her eyes really pretty. Then, without saying anything, Nick gently eased his body down on top of Hannah’s.

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