Kristin hung up her cell phone with a smile on her face as the elevator she was in took her up to BsB’s floor of the hotel. Part two of her plan was in action. After tonight’s concert, the guys had a night off, then it was on to Atlanta, GA, then Greenville, SC, then Raleigh, NC. For all three dates, she’d managed to change the booking in the hotel so that Alex and Nick shared a two bedroom suite. It wasn’t too hard because of the psychologist Kevin had brought on tour with them. Actually, it had been Alex and Howie that were supposed to share a suite so the shrink would have somewhere to stay, but money did wonders and she’d gotten it changed fairly easily. She wasn’t sure who had set the bookings up so Alex and Howie were sharing, but she’d lay odds it was Kevin. He didn’t look too thrilled with how close Nick and Alex seemed to be since he’d discovered they’d spent the night together. Oh well. Tough shit. He was her husband and it shouldn’t be bothering him at all.

She stepped off the elevator and frowned at the closed doors lining the hall. The guys rarely closed their doors, but at the moment Nick’s, Alex’s and hers and Kevin’s were all closed. She moved to she and Kevin’s door and pulled out her pass key, opening it.

Moaning assailed her ears immediately. At first she thought it was sex moaning, but then she realized it was someone moaning in pain…specifically Kevin. She quickly made her way to the bedroom where she found the source of the moaning writhing on the bed in the throws of a nightmare. She sat down on the edge of the bed and reached out a hand to Kevin’s sweat-soaked face. His hair lay in damp strands, stuck all over his face and neck and his normally beautiful face was contorted in pain.

She tried to wake him gently. "Honey, wake up. You’re having a nightmare."

Kevin didn’t hear her. He was trapped. He knew it wasn’t real, that he was stuck in a nightmare, but the feelings were powerful non the less. Alex was standing in front of him screaming how much he hated him and Kevin was trying to reach out and touch him.

Suddenly Alex was gone and Kevin turned around and around trying to find him again. He was suddenly at his feet, laying on the floor motionless, blood gushing from his wrists, his eyes, his beautiful brown eyes staring up at him blankly. Kevin knelt down, tears streaming down his face as he gathered Alex’s limp body in his arms.

He buried his face in Alex’s shoulder and whispered, ‘No,’ over and over.

Alex’s lips were near his ear and suddenly he whispered, "It’s your fault. You took it away from me. You did this. Your fault…"

Kevin’s head jerked up and he stared down into Alex’s eyes, saw the flicker of life there, then nothing. His eyes went blank again and Kevin knew he was gone.

"Alex!" He screamed, sitting straight up in the bed, suddenly wide awake.

Kristin fought off the urge to slap his face. He had no business screaming Alex’s name in his sleep. She didn’t though, because there were tears running down his face and his whole body was shaking. She took him in her arms.

"Shh, baby, it’s ok. Just a nightmare." She tried to calm him.

Kevin wrapped his arms around her and cried on her shoulder, wishing the whole time it was Alex there comforting him. That wouldn’t be happening any time soon though, he knew. Alex hated him. He’d told him so and his eyes had confirmed what he was saying. He meant it.

"He…he hates me Kris. He thinks I brought the shrink on to make him jump through hoops. He accused me of trying to take one of the only things he cares about in his life away from him. He thinks I did all this to hurt him." Kevin whispered in a shaky voice.

It hit him then. The other part of what Alex had said that had escaped him earlier when they’d had their confrontation. Alex had said it was one of the only two things that mattered to him in the world. What was the other? He wished he knew. He doubted Alex would tell him though if he asked.

Kristin felt a moment’s twinge of guilt for manipulating the situation the way she had. The hotel suite sharing thing had been part two, but this – the shrink – had been part one. She’d planted the idea in Kevin’s head, suspecting Alex would react exactly as he had. She’d known he would hate him for it. She hadn’t stopped to think how that might affect Kevin though. With effort, she hardened herself to his pain. It didn’t matter. True, it was painful right now, but it needed to be done. In the long run, everything would work out and that made it worth it in her opinion.

"I’m sorry baby. I wish there was something I could say or do. I know how much you care about him. But this is the best thing for him. You know that."

He leaned back and stared at a point on the wall. "I know. I’m sorry for breaking down like that. I just had this awful nightmare. Alex killed himself, and before he died, he blamed it all on me. Said I took it away from him."

His brows knit together at that. Took what away from him? He saw the shrink so he was going to get to perform tonight. What did he take away? He didn’t know. Or maybe he did and he just couldn’t face it. He filed it away to think about later when he was alone.

She saw the wheels turning in his head and knew that even if he didn’t consciously know Alex was in love with him, subconsciously he was very aware of it. The last thing she wanted right now was for him to figure it all out.

"Hey. Don’t think about that. It was just a nightmare. It doesn’t mean anything. Just misplaced guilt. Ok?"

He nodded. His stomach growled.

She giggled. "Hungry?"

He shrugged. "Guess so. I threw up what I ate for breakfast."

"What? Why? Are you sick?" She moved her hand up to his forehead.

He shook his head. "No, I just got really upset after the confrontation with Alex I guess. It just all came up."

Kristin wanted to scream. He was getting so upset about an argument with Alex that he actually threw up? She knew for a fact that he’d never gotten that upset after one of their arguments. It irked her. Pasting a smile on her face to hide her feelings, she said, "Well, you slept through lunch, but we could head down to the hotel restaurant for an early dinner if you want."

He nodded. He wanted to get out of that room, off that floor, away from the memories of the dream that were still coursing through him. "Just give me a minute to get ready."

Down in the hotel restaurant, Nick and Alex sat in a booth. "Come on Bone, you have to eat something. And no, the calories from the alcohol you’ve been guzzling since we got here doesn’t count. You need food."

"K, ma." Alex retorted sarcastically. He said it with a slight smile though to let Nick know he wasn’t really irritated.

Nick laughed. "Just shut up and eat, ok?"

Alex looked down at the cheeseburger on his plate in disgust. It was one of those fancy ‘expensive’ burgers. What he wouldn’t give for one from McDonald’s. "I can’t eat this shit, Kaos. It sucks."

Nick shook his head at the whine in Alex’s voice. He knew what he wanted. "Only you would rather have fast food than this. Come on."

Alex just stared up at him blankly in his half-drunk state. "I thought I was supposed to eat?"

Nick just shook his head and grabbed his hand, dragging him out of the booth. "You pick now to listen to me? Move that skinny ass of yours, or I won’t take you to McDonald’s."

Alex blushed. He actually blushed. "My ass is not skinny. It’s non-existent."

Nick laughed, then leaned in to whisper in Alex’s ear. "Oh, it exists. And it’s damn cute. Don’t you forget it." Pulling back, he laughed again at Alex’s stunned expression and yanked on his hand dragging him along behind him. "Now come on. We don’t have much time before the sound check."

Kevin and Kristin walked into the restaurant in time to take in the exchange between Nick and Alex. Kevin stopped dead in his tracks and stared as Alex’s face turned red and he mumbled something. Nick laughed and leaned in to whisper something in his ear and by the stunned expression on Alex’s face, Kevin could only imagine what that might be. It took a lot to shock Alex. Then he notice Nick and Alex were holding hands and Nick was pulling him along toward them.

Kevin’s hand squeezed Kristin’s unconsciously the instant Alex and Nick saw them. Nick’s mouth turned down in a frown, the anger in his eyes apparent. That was bad enough, but Alex’s reaction…or rather lack there of was worse.

Kevin hadn’t realized until then that whenever Alex saw him, he always seemed to have a smile for him, no matter his mood. Not today though. There was nothing there. No smile, no spark in his eyes. Nothing. He watched as Alex grabbed for his sunglasses in his pocket and put them on his face, successfully hiding his eyes from him. Kevin recognized it for what it was. His way of putting a wall up between them.

"Hi guys." He didn’t know where he found the strength to say that, but he had.

Nick nodded a hi and Alex stared at him for a couple heartbeats before saying flatly, "Bye Kevin, enjoy your dinner."

With that, he pulled on Nick’s hand that he was still holding and walked out of the restaurant without a backward glance.

Kristin wanted to jump for joy, but she didn’t. She put all her acting skills to work and put on the concerned wife face. Inside though, she was screaming with happiness. This was working better than she expected. Alex hated Kevin. There was no love apparent in his eyes any longer and he and Nick had been flirting. That had been apparent. They were holding hands and flirting. She knew Kevin had seen it too. She couldn’t wait to see where them sharing a hotel suite would lead.

"Come on baby. Let’s eat."

Kevin shook his head before letting go of her hand. "I’m not hungry anymore. I think I’ll just head back to the room and catch a quick nap before sound check."

With that he turned and left, leaving Kristin standing alone in the restaurant.

"Table for one or two ma’am?"

Kristin turned to see a waiter standing there expectantly. "Neither. Just send a bowl of fruit and two plates of the fish of the day up to our room please."

The waiter nodded, opening his pad to write that down. "You’re room number please?"

After Kristin ticked it off, she headed for the elevator. She couldn’t believe Kevin had just left her there alone like that. She decided she had some work to do on him. She’d taken care of Alex and Nick, now she had to get Kevin started on the right path, she just didn’t know how.


Chapter Eleven
BROKEN LOVE Contents