| Chapter 26 Jennifer watched Howie as he dozed. She had told him everything about her life as a vampire .... well, almost everything. She left out the details of who her sire was and Raven. Howie was so interested in what she was saying that he either didn't notice, or didn't care. They'd talked for hours, until he fell asleep. Now she sat with him on the couch, watching him breathe. She smiled, wondering how lucky she'd been to be assigned to do this. It was almost as if Fate had it planned for her. She just hoped that when the whole truth came out, he'd still love her as much as he did now. "You're frowning, what's wrong?" Howie asked, his voice still sleepy. Jennifer smiled at him, "Nothing. I should probably go, so you can rest." He grabbed her hand, "You don't have to." "You need to sleep. You have a flight to catch in the morning, remember," she grinned. He sat up, running his hands through his hair, "Oh yeah. Will you be there? In LA?" She nodded, "Wouldn't miss it." He smiled at her, "You just following me around now?" he teased. Jennifer stared at him a moment, "Um well, yeah kinda," she admitted. He raised an eyebrow, "I knew it," he laughed. She blushed, "What can I say, I see something I want, I go for it." He leaned over and kissed her cheek, "That you do. And I thank you for it." Jennifer stood up, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow then?" He took her hand, looking up at her, "Do you have to go?" She smiled gently at him, "You don't want me to?" He shook his head, standing up, coming face to face with her, "No I don't. Please stay," he whispered. Jennifer swallowed hard, an entire flock of butterflies erupted in her stomach. She looked into the chocolate eyes she had come to love so much, seeing that love reflected in them. How could she say no? "Alright, I'll stay," she said. He smiled, pulling her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her, "I love you Jennifer," he whispered before capturing her lips with his own. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kevin walked into the living room of his suite and chuckled. Nick and A.J. where both asleep in front of the TV, game controllers in their hands. He walked around them and shut off the game. A.J. stirred, "What time is it?" "It's time to get up," Kevin replied, "How long did you guys play?" "All night," he said, rubbing his neck. "Well, thanks J," he said, walking over to Nick. A.J. shrugged, "No prob man, I'll see ya at the van in a few," he said, getting up and heading out the door. "Come on Nick, time to get up," Kevin said, shaking him. "Mmm five more minutes," Nick mumbled. "Nope, get up kid. We gotta catch a flight in a few," Kevin said. Nick lifted his head up and glanced around. The sun was streaming through the windows. "It's morning already?" he asked. "Yes, that's why there's light coming from outside," Kevin smarted. Nick stuck his tongue out at him, as he got to his feet. "Hey, don't stick that thing out unless you intend to use it," Kevin laughed. Nick raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Ok," he said, grabbing Kevin and licking the side of his face. Kevin pushed him off, "Jesus Christ Nick, that's nasty!!" he yelled, wiping his face. Nick laughed, running to the bedroom he was staying in, before Kevin could follow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Miss Tracy, I don't want to bother you dear, but Trent will be here in an hour," Nancy's voice boomed over the intercom, "Miss Tracy, are you awake?" Tracy lifted her head from the pillow and groaned, "I am now," she muttered, reaching over to the bedside table and pressing the button, "Yes Nancy, thank you." She rolled over, meeting the deep oceans of Brian's eyes. He smiled at her, "Do we have to get up?" Tracy sighed, "Unfortunately yes. Our flight leaves in a few hours." He groaned, "I don't wanna go back." She caressed his cheek with her hand, "I know, but I'll be with you." He kissed her hand, "You think they'll buy it? That you're my nurse?" "Howie did say they all thought you were sick. I think they will," she said. "But that means I gotta act sick," Brian said, then smiled. She lifted her eyebrows, "What's that smile for?" He laughed, "Just that if I'm sick, you gotta take care of me." She pointed her finger at him, "Don't you dare milk this, we have a more important matter to deal with ya know?" He nodded, "I know." Both lay there not wanting to get up. Brian laughed again, "You know she knows, right?" "Who? Nancy?" she asked. He nodded. "Naw, how could she know?" she asked. He smiled at her, "Cause she came in the kitchen last night while we were kissing." Tracy's eyes grew wide, "You're kidding?" "Nope," he said, "I saw her." Tracy slapped his arm, "Why didn't you say something?" He laughed, "Well, I was kinda busy at the moment." Tracy giggled, "Uh huh. Now I'm going to get the lecture." Brian raised up on his elbows, looking at her, "What lecture?" "Oh the whole, you should know better, biting always leads to sex, blah blah blah ..." she said. He laughed, "Biting leads to sex? I thought that was dancing?" She smiled up at him, "I think it's both." He grinned, "Well, then I'm screwed." She burst out laughing, making him blush. After a moment she calmed down. "Tracy, can't you be my girlfriend instead of my nurse?" he asked. She raised up and kissed his nose, "How bout both?" "That's cool," he smiled. She sat the rest of the way up, holding the satin sheet around her. Brian gently tapped the sheet, "Is that really necessary? I think we both saw just about everything there is to see, last night." She looked back at him, "Can a girl not have her modesty?" she teased. That sent him into a fit of laughter, "Modesty? Oh my God ........ modesty...." he giggled, trying to catch his breath, "I did things last night I didn't even know you could do." Tracy grinned, standing up, without the sheet, "I told you if we did that, you wouldn't forget it," she said, then went into the bathroom. Brian stared at the door she's gone through, his heart beating wildly, "And you where right," he muttered. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Howie sat his bag down in his new hotel room in LA. The flight from Las Vegas had been uneventful, and after landing the guys headed straight to a radio station and did an interview. Now they were relaxing for a while, before heading out again that night to do JoJo's radio show with him, as his special guests. He no more than turned around, than someone was knocking at his door. He opened it, "Hey Alex." A.J. walked in, "Hey D, you wanna do something?" "Um, well ...." he stammered. A.J. looked at him, "You're waiting for Jennifer?" Howie nodded, smiling. A.J. plopped down on the couch, grinning, "So, I want details." Howie walked over and sat down, "What?" "A man doesn't grin like that for nothing. You two did the horizontal mambo didn't ya?" he said. Howie rolled his eyes, "Oh dear God, A.J. is that all you think about?" "Um, pretty much," he smiled, "So, tell me." Howie shook his head, "My friend, I'm not gonna discuss my love life." A.J. grinned, "So you admit it! Ah ha!! D finally got some!!" Howie put his head in his hands, "Dear Lord, why did you pick him to be my best friend?" A.J. put his arm around his shoulders, "Cause He loves you." Howie looked up and laughed, "Oh yeah, He loves me alright." A.J. stuck his tongue out at him, then launched into his crazy laugh. "Oh yeah, He loves me," Howie chuckled. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick paced his room. "I don't wanna go," he whined. Kevin sighed, "I know you don't, but you have to." Nick shook his head, "What if .....?" Kevin held his hand up, "Don't even start with the what if's. Lets just take this as it comes, alright?" Nick whirled around and pointed at the older man, "That's easy for you to say Kevin, this isn't affecting you! It's affecting me!" Kevin stared at his youngest brother, "I know it is Nick. I'm well aware of it. And you're wrong, it is affecting me. Do you think I wanna see you go through this? Do you think that I'm not just as worried as you are? Don't you know me by now? I'd give my life for you guys, and I'd trade places with you in a heartbeat if I could, just so you wouldn't have to endure this." Nick stopped his pacing and looked at the floor, "I know Kevin, I'm sorry. I'm just scared." "I know kid," Kevin said, "Listen, we go see Michael after we do JoJo's tonight. Then we'll have our answers." Nick looked up, "What if they aren't the answers we want?" Kevin sighed, "Then we'll deal with it together." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian stepped off the plane into the bright California sun. He squinted, even behind his sunglasses. Tracy took his hand and lead him across the tarmac to the car that was waiting. The driver took their luggage and placed in the trunk, as they slipped into the back seat. Brian stared out the window as the car started to move. "You Ok?" Tracy asked. He nodded, "I'm just scared. What if I mess up and he feels me?" Tracy sighed, "Keep yourself blocked at all times. Even when you think you're alone. I'll be there to help, if worse comes to worse." He took her hand in his, "Thank you." She bit her lip, "Honey, there's one more thing." He looked at her. "Nick isn't the only slayer," she said, "There's another." Brian looked at her in horror, "Who?" She sighed, figuring the best way to tell him was to just spit it out, "Your cousin." "What?!" Brian yelled, "NO, no freaking way! I'd know something like that." Tracy shook her head, "No, you wouldn't. He's been a slayer for a long time, he knows how to hide himself almost as well as we do." Brian ran his hand through his hair, "Well that's a fine how do ya do. You'd think something like this would come up at family gatherings or something. �Oh by the way, I kill vampires for fun'," Brian mocked. Tracy squeezed his hand, getting his attention. "It'll be alright. You're family, even if he does find out, he wouldn't just kill you," she said. "Oh that's comforting," he said, looking at his lap. "Honey, do you trust me?" she asked. He glanced up at her, "With my life." "Then trust me that this will be Ok," she said, giving him a reassuring smile. He nodded, as the car pulled up to the hotel and stopped. "You ready to act sick?" she asked. "I don't think I have to act," he said, feeling the knot in his stomach tighten. Tracy leaned over and kissed his lips, gently sucking on the bottom one before pulling back, "Everything will be Ok," she reiterated, "Now, let's go." Chapter 27 |