AN: This story is going to be LONG. Well, not long compared to some, just long for me. I can't help it. It just demands to be written in tiny scene increments. Whis is *really* frustrating because I actually HAVE the ending written, half on paper, half in my head. I never plan ahead usually! But, the good news, I get to play with all the characters awhile longer. Soo, keep the feedback coming and I'll keep posting! I'm all done ranting now, honest! ;) inspiredthoughts@hotmail.com *********************** Curiosity Killed... Chapter Eighteen *********************** "Catherine Roberts, where the hell are you?!" The smart thing right now would be to go out there and face the wrath of Mr. Dumb Pants but then, I'm not particularly known for my common sense. "What are you doing?" AJ demands, sounding amused. Stupid AJ. I throw some of his stuff off the bed and climb into it, burrowing under the covers. "I'm taking a nap." I pull the bedspread over my head, resolutely tuning out unhappy Kevin bellows from the hallway. I growl as I feel AJ sit on the bed next to me. I wait. He pokes me through the sheets. "Are you hiding?" "No," comes my muffled reply. "Catherine... Cat, Cat, Cat, Cat..." I throw the covers off my head. "What?!" I growl, hair sticking straight up. AJ is smirking and I glower in response. "You're afraid of Kevin!" he says gleefully, like its some sort of sacred revelation. I purse my lips unhappily. "Yeah, well, YOU'RE afraid of Kevin!" Oh my genius wounds me. "Am not!" AJ snaps. "Liar." His smirk fades. "Am not." "Am." "Am not." "Am." "Am not!" "Am!" "AM NOT!" "AM!" "AM NOT!!" "AM!!" The door is thrown open to reveal a very pissed of Kevin Richardson. "Are we having fun?" he demands, velvet voice ice as his fists clench in barely controlled rage. AJ yelps and jumps into bed next to me, pulling the covers over both of our heads. In other circumstances I might have either noticed how nice he smelled, or had another panic attack, as it was, we were both way more concerned by tall, dark, and angry. "Told you that you were afraid of him," I whisper roughly. AJ pokes me. "Okay, point made, drop it now." We can hear Kevin walk into the room with measured steps. "Okay, dropped," I agree hurriedly before we're killed. I'd hate to have any regrets. The covers are ripped away. AJ and I cower. There's a hearty sigh from above. I crack open one brown eye. He looks furious, but there's a small smile on his face. Smile is good, smile means no dismemberment. Not so gentle hands haul us out of the bed and set us firmly on our rears on the floor. We look up. I wave. Kevin frowns. "Now, before I get truly angry, care to tell me what this is all about?" Wow, I never noticed but, his voice picks up more of a drawl when he's pissed. AJ and I shoot furtive glances at each other and I answer first, "Puppies?" AJ says, "Spam," on the heels of my reply and we grin together, waiting for the wrath of Kevin. He doesn't disappoint. One self-righteous finger points at me in an accusing fashion. I stare at it for a moment and point back. AJ snickers. "You," Kevin growls, "are grounded. No concert for you tonight. You will stay, locked, in our room, for the rest of the night. If you abuse the freedom I give you, it will be taken away." "You can't ground me!" I gasp, outraged on principle more than fact because, grounding versus dismemberment, which would you prefer? Kevin crosses muscled arms over his chest and stares coolly down at me, green eyes simmering. "You're MY hostage, I can do whatever I want with you." I blink. All right, backing off now. Nice Kevin, nice Mr. Dumb Pants. No torture and or sex please. "Point taken," I say, voice somewhat shaken. Damn him for looking smug. He turns his attention to AJ and points again. "You are grounded too. You will be the first of us on the bus for the venue and the first on afterwards. You will not go clubbing or partying tonight and next time you find a Cat who is somewhere she doesn't belong you bring her to me, not aid and abet her." I watch as AJ starts to protest. Watch the protest die on his lips. AJ rocks back and I can almost see the wheels in his head turning as he considers. Kevin, while always scary, can inflict a lot more damage than he could when he was actually alive. AJ, unfortunately, can receive a lot more damage without anything being permanently damaged himself. AJ nods vigorously in agreement to Kevin's demands. Smart AJ. Kevin grabs me by my shoulder and hauls me up again, towing me out of AJ's room and into our own where he gathers a few things, tells me to stay, and locks me in, this time without so much as a nonfunctioning hotel phone. Bad Mr. Dumb Pants. So, I stay in the room and watch porn all night after all. Who says I don't get vacation days? ************************************************************************************** I'm sleeping on the sofa when Kevin comes back to the room. He wakes me up by throwing a cell phone at my forehead. I curse vividly and rub my brow, rolling over to glance at the clock, three in the morning. I usually stay up till dawn and sleep through the day but this whole kidnapping thing has thrown my sleep cycle off. "You get five minutes to call whoever you need to call. Don't tell them details- just keep it nice and vague. No whispering, I'll be listening." Kevin grabs a chair and sets it down with a thump a foot or so away from me, turning it so that he's straddling it, heavy forearms resting on the back as he stares at me with a heavy lidded gaze. I blink. "Okay, what happened to make you all reasonable and stuff?" He sighs and runs strong hands through thick, dark hair. I watch, wide eyed, and try not to envy his fingers. Pretty Kevin. Pretty hair. BAD Cat. "Okay," he replies, breaking my hair related fantasies, "here's the deal, no more attempted running away or mischief and I'll attempt to be reasonable, reasonable as in allowing you weekly supervised phone calls and not tying you to a chair whenever I leave." "How about unsupervised phone calls?" "No." "How about tying me to a bed instead?" "No." Though his gaze flickers a speculative, hungry black for one heart-wrenching beat before returning to green. "Umm, can I cause a little mischief?" "No." "How about bi-weekly phone calls." "No." I wrinkle my nose. "I promised Stephen I'd call twice a week." Kevin throws his hands up in the air in disgust. "Fine," he spits, looking irritated at the mention of my fiancée, "two phone calls a week to Stephen. Start dialing before I change my mind." "Yes sir!" "Child, you truly, truly try my patience." I flash a dazzling smile his way and dial the number closest to my heart, happy with the prospect of talking to my best friend. "Oh and Catherine?" I pause mid-dial to look up. Kevin's jade eyes flare to blinding obsidian that warms my body to its toes. "When you hang up, you're coming to bed."