Chapter 28
The next morning, Kevin and Tyler woke to the ringing of the phone. Kevin reached over and answered it sleepily. "Hello."
Tyler rolled to him and reached across him to run her hands over his chest as she placed light kisses over his back.
Kevin was saying, "Linda, it’s not as bad as it sounds....Tyler was the one who slapped him.....yeah, I threatened him but he was about to hit her.....she’s okay. We took her to the hospital because she was having cramps."
As Kevin was talking, there was a knock at the door. Tyler said, "Come in."
Howie stuck his head in, "Hey, Ty. There are two detectives downstairs that want to talk to you."
"About last night?"
"Yeah. Are you up for it?"
"I guess so. I’ll be down in a minute."
"Who’s Kev talking to?"
"Linda....Evidently she heard about last night."
"I hate to tell you this but the whole country has heard. It’s on the front page of the Orlando paper and ‘Good Morning America’ ran a spot on it."
Kevin hung up and said, "Management is none too happy either."
"But it’s not your fault," said Tyler.
"Don’t worry about it, baby," said Kevin. "Linda has set up a press conference for us in Vegas tomorrow after lunch. Ty, you’ll have to go with us for it."
"Why?"
"So you can answer any questions," said Kevin.
Howie added, "Ty, we know the whole truth but if you aren’t there, then it looks like WE are trying to cover up for you."
Tyler lay back on the bed and covered her face with her pillow. They heard her through the pillow, "I’m so SICK of all this! Damn Joey Fatone! I wish I’d never heard of him!"
Howie looked at Kevin, "Go get a shower. I’ll talk to her."
Kevin nodded his head and pulled the pillow away so that he could kiss Tyler. Then he went to get a shower.
Howie sat beside his cousin and pulled the pillow away from her face.
Tyler looked at Howie and said angrily, "DON’T YOU DARE SAY ‘I TOLD YOU SO’, HOWARD DWAINE DOROUGH!"
"I wasn’t going to say it, Tyler," said Howie softly. "What I was going to say is that we’re all here for you. This will all be over with soon and you and Kevin can be together."
Tyler’s anger disappeared quickly and she sat up to hug him. "Thank you."
Howie loved Tyler very much and ever since Caroline had died two years ago, Howie and Tyler had been closer than ever. He was extremely protective of her and it broke his heart to see Tyler hurt or upset. This whole mess with Joey had been more than he could stand. Now he said, "Tyler, with this press conference, you can clear up ALL those stories that Lou put out about the fights we supposedly had and clear up what was going on with you and Joey."
"I know but it won’t be the end. There’s still the fact that I’m pregnant by Joey and getting ready to marry Kevin. Man! That’s a tabloid dream! Then there’s the fact that Kevin wants to adopt the baby after it’s born!! You know Joey is going to fight that!"
"Don’t worry about that right now. Let’s just take all of this one day at a time."
AJ came bounding into the room, "Tyler! The cops are still waiting for you and Brian and Nick are running out of ways to entertain them."
Tyler laughed, "I can’t believe ‘Frick’ and ‘Frack’ are running out of ways to entertain them."
"Where’s ‘Mr. Body Beautiful’? Maybe he can impress them with his looks. They are women."
"Then what’s the problem?" asked Tyler. "Just be yourselves and flirt with them until I can get dressed."
"Good idea."
AJ left and Howie said, "Come on. I’ll go down with you since Kevin’s still in the shower."
Tyler got up and pulled on a pair of shorts then followed Howie downstairs. The two police officers were sitting on the couch but stood when Tyler came into the room.
The first one, obviously the older of the two said, "Hi, I’m Inspector Rachel McCabe and this is my partner, Inspector Cassidy Bridges."
"Hi, Tyler Dorough. Have you met the entertainment?"
Cassidy smiled at Nick and said, "Not formally."
"Tall, blonde, and doofy is Nick Carter. Next to him doing the ‘Donald Duck’ impressions is Brian Littrell. The one with the tattoos is AJ McLean and this is my cousin, Howie Dorough."
"The Backstreet Boys. Isn’t there another one?" asked Cassidy.
"Yeah, Kevin, but he’s busy primping," said AJ.
Everyone laughed because Kevin was standing behind AJ and grabbed him around the neck.
Tyler said, "Kevin, this is Inspector Cassidy Bridges and that’s Inspector Rachel McCabe."
Kevin let go of AJ and shook hands with each of them. "Nice to meet you."
Rachel said, "Tyler, we need to talk to you about last night."
"Let’s have a seat then."
The guys all took their places around Tyler who sat in a chair across from the two inspectors. The women looked around the room.
Rachel said, "We only need to talk to Tyler."
Kevin said, "That’s fine but we aren’t leaving her."
Rachel shook her head and went on. She asked what had happened last night and took notes as Tyler told her. Kevin held her hand as she talked but having all the guys there gave her strength.
When Tyler was done, Rachel said, "Thank you."
"What happens now?" asked AJ.
"Most likely Mr. Fatone will be fined and reminded of the restraining order," said Cassidy. "The courts can’t do but so much since Tyler made contact with him earlier that day."
"But she didn’t ask him to come to the club that night and he attacked her," said Nick.
"True and that’s why he’ll get the fine," said Rachel. "Tyler, you can’t pick and choose when you’re going to have the restraining order enforced."
"Don’t worry. Last night made me realize that Joey can’t be trusted."
"Just out of curiosity, why didn’t you press charges when he raped you?" asked Rachel.
"Lou, their manager, threatened to destroy the Backstreet Boys if I said or did anything to hurt ‘NSync."
"How could he do that?"
Brian spoke up, "Lou was responsible for finding us, getting Jive Records to sign us, and launching our careers."
"And he knows quite a bit about us," added Howie. "But nothing that could destroy us but Tyler didn’t know that."
"The night Joey raped Tyler, she’d tried to call me to tell me what Lou was doing," said Kevin. "Joey caught her, heard my voice on the answering machine, and went ballistic on her."
"I’ve never pursued charges because there wouldn’t be any proof. Just his word against mine," said Tyler.
"And all of you have stood behind Tyler through all this?" asked Cassidy
Kevin put his arm around Tyler as the others looked at her adoringly. AJ said, "Tyler’s a part of us. Not because she’s engaged to Kevin or is Howie’s cousin but because she’s been with us from the VERY beginning. She’s the one who listened to Kevin and me when our girlfriends dumped us in the very beginning and she believed in us when we weren’t sure we’d make it. She also introduced us to our girlfriends."
Cassidy smiled, "Sounds like you have your own fan club, Tyler."
Tyler smiled, "They are pretty special."
The two inspectors left and Kevin went to fix breakfast while Tyler went to get ready. It had been forever since the whole gang had gotten together to do anything and they were all looking forward to today.
After breakfast, Kevin caught Tyler alone in the kitchen. She was rinsing the dishes from breakfast and Kevin came up behind her. He put his arms around her waist and kissed her on the neck.
"What ‘cha doin’?"
"Cleaning up before we go."
"You look really good doing that."
"You’re prejudice too."
"Yep! You need to pack a bag before we go. We’re going straight to the airport when we leave the park."
"How long will I be with you?"
"I kind of thought you’d at least stay for the show that night."
"I could stay for both shows since your mother and Mami are handling all the wedding arrangements."
"Sounds good, baby. Go get your stuff and I’ll finish this."
On the way out, Nick almost ran over Tyler. Kevin looked up as Nick caught Tyler in his arms. "Kaos, slow down. You can’t be knocking Tyler down like that."
"Sorry, Ty. Are you ready?"
"I need to pack a bag before I leave."
"Cool. The limo is waiting for us."
"Give me ten minutes."
Tyler ran up to her room and came back within ten minutes. They had all decided to go with Tyler and Nick to pick Tiffany up. Her mother had said she’d be in school and she arranged for Tyler to pick her up.
When they pulled up to the school, Tyler said, "You know, this is going to cause a commotion."
"Yeah, so," said Nick. "What’s your point?"
"No point," said Tyler. "Let’s go."
Tyler, Aaron, and all the guys got out and headed into the school. As they walked in, the principal met them at the door since she’d seen the limo pull up. She said, "You must be Tyler Dorough and these are the Backstreet Boys. We weren’t expecting anyone but you."
"Originally, Nick and I were the only ones that were coming but we changed our minds."
"Normally, we call the students to the office but I think this is a special occasion. Why don’t we walk down to the classroom?"
The principal walked with the group to Tiffany’s room. The guys were signing autographs as they went and talking to the kids.
At the classroom, Aaron and Nick went in first and they set off a HUGE commotion with the class. Tyler followed them in and spotted Tiffany at the back table. She couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw Aaron and Nick and then Tyler.
Tiffany ran across the room to Tyler and gave her a hug.
The principal introduced Tyler to the teacher and the teacher said, "Tiffany said she had met this lady who knew the Backstreet Boys and was going to go to Disneyworld with them but Tiffany has a tendency to have a BIG imagination."
Tyler looked down at Tiffany, "Did your mom tell you that I called yesterday?"
"No! This is awesome, Tyler. I didn’t know you were going to bring Aaron too."
"You don’t mind do you?"
"NO!!"
Tyler laughed, "Let me introduce your teacher and the class to everyone. Mrs. Abernathy, this is..."
The whole class said, "Brian, Nick, AJ, Howie, Kevin, and Aaron."
Everyone laughed and Mrs. Abernathy said, "The first five must be the
Backstreet Boys and the youngest one is Nick’s brother, Aaron."
"Yes," said Tyler.
"I’m familiar with them thanks to the students. Could I ask you a favor before you leave?"
"Sure," said Kevin.
"Would you mind signing some autographs for the kids?"
"It would be our pleasure, " said Brian.
The guys spent twenty minutes in the classroom signing autographs, having pictures taken, and talking to the kids. Everyone had a good time and Tiffany was on Cloud 9.
When it was time to go, Tyler asked, "Tiffany, are you ready for your day at Disneyworld?"
"Oh Wow!! AM I!!"
Nick and Aaron escorted Tiffany out and Tyler and Kevin talked to Mrs. Abernathy
a little longer.
"This is really special what you’re doing for Tiffany."
"Thank you. When her mother told us about her father, it broke my heart," said Tyler.
"She’s a sweet girl," said Kevin. "I can’t believe someone could abuse her like that."
Mrs. Abernathy looked confused, "What do you mean abuse her?"
Tyler said, "Her mother told us that her father had abused her."
Mrs. Abernathy shook her head, "That’s the farthest thing from the truth. The fact is, Tiffany’s parents are in the middle of a huge divorce and are fighting for custody of her. Tiffany’s caught in the middle of it all. Her mother is doing everything she can to keep the children from their father."
"That’s a shame," said Kevin as he hugged Tyler knowing what she was thinking.
Tyler asked, "Would you mind keeping me posted? Here are my numbers at work and at home."
"Be glad to," said Mrs. Abernathy.
Walking down the hall, Kevin said, "Baby, I know you want to help Tiffany but leave it at this. You’ve got enough to deal with."
The ride to the park was quick. Tiffany spent the entire time talking to each of the guys and they made her feel special.
When they arrived at the park, Fiona, Lex, Kryss, and Sonja were waiting for them and greeted the guys with hugs and kisses.
Tiffany looked at the group and said, "Everyone has a date but me."
Aaron said, "I’m your date, Tiffany. That is, if you don’t mind."
Excitedly, Tiffany said, "Not at all."
The young couple held hands and followed Sonja and Brian into the park.
Kevin held Tyler back as the others went through the gates, "Baby, the doctor told you last night to take it easy and you had to deal with the police this morning. Are you sure you should spend the ENTIRE day in the park?"
Putting her arms around Kevin’s waist and looking up into those green eyes, Tyler said, "You worry too much, ‘Boo’! The doctor meant to avoid stress like what I have when I’m around Joey and this isn’t stressful. Besides, I have 2 dozen people with me that aren’t going to let me do much."
Kevin laughed, "I guess you have a point there. Come on then! Let’s go make sure Tiffany has fun."
