AJ yawned tiredly as he worked to unlock his hotel room. He was tired, grumpy, hungry and just plain ready to fall into bed and sleep for about 10 years. The days, no weeks, of doing show after show and staying out till odd hours of the night (or morning, which ever you prefer) was beginning to catch up with him. He finally got the door unlocked and shut it behind him. He immediately walked into the bathroom, flipping on the light. He stripped himself of his shirt and baggy pants and found a wifebeater lying on the floor, he threw that on, flipped off the light and walked back into the main room.
Groaning and rubbing his tired neck, he turned on the tv and then turned on the bedside light. It was then he noticed the lump lying on one of the beds. At first, AJ thought it was some weirdo fan that had somehow gotten into his room and was now asleep in his bed. Further examination led him to finally realize it was Madalyn. Smiling, he pushed the covers off of her, planting a kiss on her forehead. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled, "Hey..."
"Hey yourself...I thought for a second you were some crazed fan of mine."
She yawned, stretching under him, "Oh but I am."
He cocked an eyebrow, "Oh really?"
She wrapped her arms around his back, "Yep..."
"When'd you get here?"
"Earlier today."
"When do you leave?"
"Tomorrow afternoon, early."
He smiled, "You came."
"Yeah...Colin actually convinced me...he said me and you needed 'alone time'."
"I think the kid's right."
"Me too..so your mom took him and I caught a flight out here."
AJ gingerly lowered his body over top of hers and rested his forehead against hers, "I'm so glad to see you...I thought I'd go crazy."
"You are crazy."
He laughed, "Well, duh."
She leaned up and kissed him, "I love you AJ."
"I love you too baby...now, how should we spend our short time together?"
It was her turn to raise an eyebrow, "I know what you're thinking."
He laughed again, "Why is it that I'M the pervert of the group!? Everyone should hear the conversations Brian and Howie have!"
She smiled, "But honey, you're the bad boy of the group."
"I'm not a boy, I'm a man."
"Uh huh..."
He grinned, "Enough flirting, let's get down to the makin' out."
"Down to the nitty gritty, huh?"
Grinning, he nodded against her forehead, "Of course, I like to work fast."
"Uh huh., "She replied kissing him once again.
AJ had his arms wrapped around Madalyn's waist from behind as he showed her around the venue they would be at for one more night. It was about 10 that next morning. "Do you have to leave?"
"Yes, and quit your whining. I can't very well leave my son with your mom to go all over the country with you."
He leaned in close to her ear, "But we could do repeats of last night ALL the time!"
She laughed, pushing him away, "Nu uh! A person DOES need to sleep!"
"I was just kidding! Geez...."
She turned to look at all the empty seats that in hours would be full of screaming fans, "This is...huge AJ..."
"Yeah.."
"I don't think I could get on stage in front of this many people..."
"You'd be cute on stage."
"Doubt it."
He smiled, "You would, trust me. I wish you could stay..."
"Me too..but I got a kid to get home too.."
"I know...can I call him tonight or tomorrow?"
"Sure..he'd love that."
AJ smiled, "I miss him too, ya know."
"I know you do....we both miss having you around the house"
"You know...one of these days, me and you are gonna go public."
"We are?"
"Don't you want to?"
"I'd love to be seen with you in public AJ, like as your girlfriend, not just some random girl...."
"I sense a but coming."
"Welll...kinda. I have a son to think about...what will happen when the press gets ahold of the news that AJ McLean's new girlfriend already has a kid? I told you about that tabloid the other day that had a picture of him...I don't know if I'm comfortable with pictures of Colin all over the world."
AJ sighed, "I know....I know...I realize that....we'll have to talk about this later..like when I can actually talk."
She smiled, "We will...because, I do want to be seen with you SOMETIMES."
"Baby, I'd love it if you could be seen with me ALL the time."
Saying goodbye to AJ at the venue was a tad hard considering a part of her really didn't want to leave. She also didn't think it would be as hard as it was to say goodbye to the other guys either, but it was. Brian was so excited about becoming a father that it seemed to get EVERYONE else excited as well.
Madalyn was now on her way to pick up Colin from Denise's; he was probably just getting there from school.
Once at Denise's, she rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer. Denise opened the door, "So, how'd it go?"
"Wonderful, he was surprised."
"I bet he was....Colin's in the kitchen eating a snack."
"Was he okay for you?"
"He was perfect Madalyn, as always."
Madalyn followed Denise into the kitchen. Colin was in one of the table chairs, eating a sandwich and having a glass of milk. He looked up, "Mommy!"
"Hi sweetie!"
Colin hugged Madalyn and then went back to his snack. "Were you good for Denise?"
He nodded, "Yep!"
"Well good, I'm glad to hear that."
"Did you and AJ have fun?"
"We did, we talked about alot of things."
"Did you?"
"Yeah..he said to tell you that he missed you and that he is going to try to call either tonight or tomorrow."
"Cool!"
Madalyn helped Denise clean up in the kitchen while Colin went into the living room to do some of his homework. "Did he bring up the whole going public thing?," Denise asked.
"Yeah..how'd you know?"
"He told me the other night on the phone that he wanted everyone to know about you....I think most everyone knows he's dating someone."
"Me and Colin are already in a tabloid."
She smiled, "You'll get that alot."
"I know...and that's what I'm afraid of...I don't know if I'm comfortable with people taking Colin's picture or anything.."
"I think if you two go public and explain the whole situation to the press and everyone and tell them, when you are out with Colin, that no pictures are to be taken of him, they usually tend to understand."
"I mean, I can understand the pictures of me and him...but Colin's innocent."
"I hope you don't mind that I did this, but I asked Colin last night what he would think of you and AJ went public...he knows what AJ does for a living and he understands that people are interested in him...he said he thought it'd be 'cool' if his picture was taken sometimes.."
Madalyn smiled, "He WOULD think it would be cool."
Denise put a hand on Madalyn's shoulder, "Just think real long and real carefully before saying yes to going public, it'll change your life for sure."
"Thanks Denise...I appreciate everything you've done for me and Colin."
Later, Denise watched as Madalyn and Colin left. She smiled, saying (to herself)," No, thank you Madalyn...for making my son happy."
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