Chapter Fourteen: ** Cold Showers **

Debelah yawned, raising a hand slowly to cover her mouth. She opened her eyes sleepily, blinking a few times to get rid of the blurriness, and looked around. She was lying in her bed- well, the HOTEL’s bed, but still- in her hotel room. It was empty and she wondered where everyone else was off to now. She then tried to remember when NOW was. Looking at the clock, she let out a low whistle. 8 PM.

“Dude, I slept all day?!” she murmured, covering another yawn as she attempted to wake up. She made a move to sit up and immediately fell back with a yelp, a shooting pain coming from her side. Taking a deep breath to try and ease the pain, she raised only her head this time and pulled down the comforter and lifted her shirt up little. Her mouth dropped open.

Numerous small stark white bandages covered most of her stomach and a large bandage covered her side with several layers of gauze wrapped around her stomach to cover the large bandage. Looking down at her arms, she noticed similar bandages scattered on them and her right fist was bruised and cut.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” she exclaimed loudly.

The door opened and Roslynn cautiously stuck her head in. When she saw Deb, she looked confused.

“Oh, you’re up,” she commented.

“Not unless I’ve begun to scream obscenities in my sleep, Roz,” Deb said sarcastically. She pointed to her stomach,” What the hell is THIS?”

“Bandages.”

“Roslynn,” Deb warned,” I’m going to throw something very heavy at you soon if you don’t tell me WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!!!”

“Whoa, whoa, Deb, chill,” Roz said, taken aback. She stepped into the room, shutting the door behind her. She opened her mouth to say something but the door tore open quickly and AJ ran into the room. He looked around frantically, having heard Debelah screaming but now knowing what about. His gaze settled on Deb.

“What’s the matter?” he asked. Debelah stared at him with wide eyes, blinked, and kept on staring.

“What?” she asked confused.

“I heard you screaming. What’s wrong?”

Deb looked between Roz and Alex, opening her mouth and then closing it. Her brow furrowed and she tried to explain, frustrated. “I, I, I …have no idea what’s going on! Why did I sleep all day, why are there bandages covering my stomach and arms and why is my hand all bruised?!!”

AJ sat on the bed next to Deb, now saying anything. He rested her right hand, palm down, on his and stroked the hurt area with his other hand gently.

“Don’t you remember the fight, Deb?” Roz asked, sitting on the chair by the bed.

Deb slid her gaze away from AJ and looked at Roz,” Fight?”

“With Dave at the club.”

“….oh..yeah. What about it? Wait, is that what all this is from?” she motioned towards the bandages.

“Yep. Well, the bandages are from when the sh*thead threw the glass at you, the, your fist is bruised from when you punched the bastard and your cheek is bruised from when the no good lil f””er punched you,” Roz said, growing increasingly angrier as she spoke.

Deb and Alex both stared at her in shock. “Shoo, and I thought I was bad with the cursing…” Deb whistled.

“Hey, can you do me a fave, Roz?” Deb asked.

“No.”

“Ha ha NO. Can you get the Tylenol out of my bag in the bathroom? Puh-leeeeeeeee-”

“K, fine, I will!” Roz interrupted, throwing up her hands and walking into the bathroom. Deb lay back on the pillows, still a little tired.

“Does something hurt?” AJ asked, pausing his hand on hers.

Debelah nodded, closing her eyes briefly. She felt AJ rest his hand on her cheek, covering the bruise that was supposedly there from what Roz had said.

“Where?” he asked.

Deb bit back a sudden grin and opened her eyes. She crooked her finger and motioned for him to come closer. He leaned down. She motioned again and he looked at her confused for a second, before leaning down even farther propping himself up by placing one forearm on the bed on each side of her. 

Quickly, Debelah pushed herself up with her elbows and crushed her lips against his. AJ returned the kiss eagerly, having been wanting to kiss her the entire time she was sleeping. Deb wrapped her arms around his back, lying back on the bed and bringing him down with her, ignoring the pain from the cuts and her side. Alex was now practically lying on top of her. Alex gently bit her lower lip, causing her to open her mouth slightly. For the next minute, they played tonsil hockey, interrupting their ‘game’ when they heard a click and a whirr. They looked up to see Roz holding Deb’s camera with a mischievous grin on her face.

“Ha ha, GOTCHA! Oh God, Deb when you get this film developed, you’re gonna love it! Do you know the guys got a hold of your camera a couple of days ago?” Roz asked. Deb looked back at AJ, questioning him with her eyes. He looked at her and shrugged,” I didn’t touch it.”

“Um well,” Roz continued, looking at both Deb and Alex,” I’ll be leaving now. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” she quipped before hurriedly exiting the room, tossing the camera on the bed. 

“You know she just went to find Brian,” Deb commented.

“Yep.”

“And you know what they’re going to do, right?” Deb asked.

“Yep.”

Deb groaned and looked around the room,” Where’d Roz put the Tylenol?” AJ dragged himself off of De- uh, the bed, and walked over to the nightstand where Roz had put the bottle of pills and a glass of water. Helping Deb up in bed, he gave her both. As he was going to set them back on the nightstand, Deb exclaimed,” I slept for SO freaking long!”

“Yeah, I know. Two days,” he agreed, putting down the stuff and turning back just in time to see her look of confusion.

“Two da- no, I fell asleep after the club last night and then I woke up at around eight tonight,” she argued.

“The club was two nights ago. You slept all yesterday, too.”

Deb whistled,” Holy shit. Though, I’m not that surprised.”

“Why?” he asked curiously, sitting on the bed next to her.

“Well, honestly, I haven’t slept very well at all ever since I met Dave three months ago. Either I just couldn’t go to sleep or I had nightmares. The only good nights of sleep I had were the two nights you slept next to me. And I could sense you near me when I slept these last couple days. I- its just like, I know I’m safe when I’m next to you and I just feel loved and cared for and I haven’t felt like that in a long time.”

 “I would NEVER,” AJ promised, pulling her onto his lap,” hurt you. Or let anyone else. I want you to know that.”

Deb nodded her head, “I know you wouldn’t.”

She looked at him all of sudden nervous when she saw him staring at her. “What, do I have something in my teeth or something?” she asked, not understanding why he was staring at her. Before he could say something, she quickly jumped up and out of bed, swaying for a second in place before laughing. “Whoa dizzy spell. K, I’m going to go take a shower and then, do you want to go get something to eat, maybe? Maybe we can go down to the café in the lobby or- OH, room service! And we can watch movies, too!” she talked fast, her face animated, as she made her way over to the bathroom. All that sleep, the much needed rest, had really pepped her up.

AJ nodded amused and Deb hopped into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. A moment later, she came back out and he looked at her confused.

“Alex, can you help me with these bandages? I can’t get the gauze stuff off,” she asked, slightly embarrassed.

“Sure.”

She lifted her shirt just high enough that it still covered her chest but gave him access to all the bandages. Carefully and slowly, he gently removed each bandage from her, placing a small kiss on the hurt area after he uncovered one. He looked up at her face when he heard her begin to laugh. “What?” he asked.

“Your goatee- it’s tickling me,” she said, smiling. He finished taking them off her stomach and had her sit on the bed next to him to take off the ones on her arms. When he was done, she looked down to see how bad the damage was on her. The cuts weren’t that bad for the most part, but her side was one gigantic bruise. Frowning at it, she carefully touched it and then immediately flinched retracting her fingers. She felt AJ’s hand on her cheek once more and she looked up slowly to see him looking at the bruise on her cheek with a frown.

“I know,” she grimaced. “I saw it in the bathroom mirror.” She looked back down at the cuts and bruises and groaned,” I look terrible.”

“No, you don’t,” AJ said firmly.

She looked at him in disbelief,” Yeah, ok, Alex,” she said, shaking her head.

“You don’t, you look beautiful,” he said, staring her in the eye. Deb felt her cheeks blush and looked back down. A thought occurred to her and she smiled, “Hey, Alex?”

“Yeah?”

“Who got me changed?” she looked him in the eye. “Cuz I KNOW I didn’t fall asleep in these clothes.”

Her mouth dropped open when she saw a little pink tint on AJ’s cheeks, but the devilish look in his eyes had her laughing, “Alexander!” she exclaimed.

“Well, we got you back to the hotel from the hospital and your clothes had blood on them so SOMEBODY had to-”

“Hospital?” Deb asked, paling.

“Yeah, hospital. Why?”

“Oh, nothing. I just…don’t like…hospitals.”

“Well, babe, we had to take you. We didn’t know what was the matter. You scared me. You scared all of us,” he said seriously.

“I’m sorry,” she said in a small voice, feeling terrible.

“Don’t be. It wasn’t YOUR fault Now, does anything hurt now?” he asked, shifting.

“’xept for my side, I’m fine” she said brightly, tapping the end of his nose and she stood and went back to the bathroom shutting the door behind.

AJ picked up the remote and channel surfed for a few minutes, trying to find a decent show on TV. On MTV, he heard the beginning of a report on Debelah and the club incident and immediately leaned forward.

“….after informing the press Friday morning at a press conference on her ex boyfriend, Dave Conners, Backstreet Boys’ “Black and Blue” Tour Opening Act, Debelah Morgan, was seen at a karaoke bar with the Backstreet Boys when she got up on stage and sang a song to Conners from her own mix tape, including Britney Spears’ “Stronger”, Blaque’s “As If” and Janet Jackson’s “What About.” Debelah and Conners then engaged in a physical fight in the middle of the floor, the crowd not attempting to stop the fight, and it ended in Conners unconscious and Morgan bleeding. Though clearly the winner of this fight, Debelah left near after with the guys, AJ McLean of the Backstreet Boys carrying her out. For more information on this story, please log onto MTV.COM to view pictures and the story. For MTV, I’m Suchin Pac and this is your MTV news brief. Stay tuned for ten to the hour, every hour.”

“Damn right I was the winner,” Deb commented from the doorway of the bathroom.

AJ’s head shot up at her voice and he automatically changed the channel, feeling guilty. He hadn’t wanted her to have to hear the gossip and comments going around what had happened. His voice caught in his throat when he saw her though. Wearing just the hotel’s plush, white, large towels around her, she had taken her hair down and it tumbled over her shoulder.

“Baby, have you seen my other bag?” she asked, beginning to look for it. She turned slightly away from his to look by the door and his breath caught in his throat. She held to towel loosely around her, obviously distracted, though it covered all the important parts. The back of the towel, dipped down her tanned, smooth bare back, ending right below her waist. When she walked past him on the bed, still searching for the small carry-on bag, he quickly hooked his arm around her waist and brought her down to sit on his lap. She looked up at him, startled.

“Mr. McLean, just what are you doing?” she asked sternly, the corners of her lips tugging up.

“What?” he asked innocently, trailing his fingers down her spine. Her back arched a little in response, loving the feeling of his fingers going up and down her back. She took a deep breath, though and turned to look him in the eyes. 

“I need to take a shower, Alexander,” she said quietly, knowing that if she didn’t stop now, she wouldn’t be able to and she wasn’t ready for that yet.

He could see something flash in her eyes that he didn’t understand but he unwrapped his arm from her waist to allow her to stand up, holding the towel together in the front. After a quick glance of the room, she brightened up a bit when she saw her bag on the other side of the bed.  She picked it up, gave AJ a kiss on the cheek and started to walk back towards the bathroom

“If you get lonely in there, just let me know,” he called over to her, smiling a bit, even though he was still wondering why she had pulled away just a few moments ago. Deb looked back over her shoulder at him, her dimple flashing as she gave him a wink. A minute later, he could hear the water begin to run in the shower and her step underneath. He let out a groan, running a hand through his hair. Maybe a cold shower wouldn’t be such a bad idea for him after she was done.

(A/N) Uh oh…AJ being naughty boy. He got dirty mind! What a terrible thing to waste….he he he*wink* k, R &R!!