DENVER, CO – HOTEL – MAR. 31th, 2002 – SUNDAY

     Kirstin stretched. She didn’t feel Ashley beside her, so she opened her eyes. When she didn’t see him there, she looked at her wristwatch. 11:30 a.m.

     “Wow… 11:30 already? That’s what I call sleeping!” Kirstin yawned and took the phone “Hello? Hi, this is from the room 1608, I was wondering if you could still send me breakfast. Oh, you can? Great. Thanks.” Kirstin hung up the phone and headed to the bathroom to wash her face. She could hardly open her eyes.

     When she got back to the room, she noticed an envelope on Ashley’s pillow. She frowned, sat down and opened the envelope, which had the Hotel’s logo on it.

     She smiled lovingly when she read saw Ashley’s handwriting.

               Close your eyes
               You’re beautiful when you’re sleeping
               Tonight may all your dreams come true
               It’s so nice to hold you while I’m sleeping
               When I’m dreaming of you
               And what we’ve got is something special,
               And what we are is a perfect match
               And 3,000 miles could never come between us,
               No matter what we do it’s always me and you and
               It’s always me and you
               I know sometimes it’s lonely while you’re sleeping,
               Well, it’s lonely for me too
               It’s alright, just know that while I’m sleeping
               That I’m dreaming of you
               And what we have is something special
               And what we are is a perfect match,
               And 3,000 miles could never come between us,
               No matter what we do we always have the stars
               To wish upon from where I’m at
               And where you are

     Kirstin slowly folded the piece of paper and placed it back inside the envelope. She wiped a tear away from her face and smiled at the letter. How could Ashley be so great to her? She couldn’t understand how she deserved a man like Ashley, who loved her so much like he did. And she couldn’t understand either how she could love him so much.

     A knock on the door woke her up from her thoughts. It was her breakfast. She ate it while reading Ashley’s poem again.

     After eating her breakfast, Kirstin had decided to try that mud bath in the hotel’s spa. Now it was 2:30 p.m. and she was getting back to her room.

     “Hey!” she greeted when she entered the room and saw Ashley on the phone.

     “Hey! Where were you?” Ashley hung up and trailed to her direction.

     “At the spa. I tried that mud bath.”

     “Oh, yeah? And how was that?” Ashley asked with a smile.

     “Oh, heaven.” Kirstin collapsed on the bed “Just… heaven. I’m so relaxed right now. I sure needed that.”

     “Good.”

     “Oh!” Kirstin got out of bed and hugged Ashley tight.

     “What is this for?” Ashley asked, smiling down at her.

     “Your wonderful, beautiful poem.” Kirstin smiled up at him.

     “Oh, that. Don’t mention.”

     “It was perfect, Ash. Really. Perfect.” Kirstin kissed him softly on the lips.

     “Thank you. I’m glad you liked it. It’s all true, you know?”

     “I do. And I loved it.” Kirstin kissed him again, but this time more passionate.

     “Hm…” Ashley groaned. Kirstin smiled and pulled back “Good.” Ashley licked his lips.

     “Do you have more work to do today?”

     “Yes. As a matter of fact, I do. What time is it?” Ashley looked at his wristwatch “2:45. We’re leaving in an hour.”

     “Who were you calling to when I got here?” Kirstin asked, entering the bathroom.

     “My mother. Just wanted to tell her again that we’re getting there in 4 days.”

     “Oh, ok. And Ash…” Kirstin emerged from the bathroom “How many days are we staying in Redding?”

     “Oh, the good part is that we’re taking a break after the Redding concert. So we have 5 days in Redding. Dan will go with Jacob to San Diego and Erik will go with Trevor to Rancho Cuccamonga. You and I are staying in Redding, meeting the guys afterwards in New York.”

     “New York? Nice! I miss home already.”

     “I can imagine that.” Ashley sat on the bed and Kirstin sat beside him.

     “When is this charity event?” Kirstin asked him.

     “Hm… If I remember correctly, it’s on the 6th. Saturday.”

     “Alright.” Kirstin nodded.

     “You still don’t feel like going?” Ashley asked, taking her hand in his.

     “Yeah… not really.” Kirstin half-smiled up at him “But that’s just silly me.”

     “K, we’re gonna be together. Don’t worry. Nothing is gonna happen. Come on! We’re all grown ups now!” Ashley was trying to change Kirstin’s mind about the event.

     “I guess… But still, I don’t like Harbor that much. Don’t know if I wanna go back there again.”

     “K, what are you afraid of? It’s just school. And it’s Harbor, not that other highschool you went to. You didn’t have bad years in Harbor, did you?”

     “I guess not. I mean… I met you. Nothing bad happened when we were together.”

     “See? So there’s nothing you should be afraid of. Everything will be fine.”

     “I guess…”

     “It will. You’ll see…” Ashley pecked her lips gently.

     “Ok, then.”

     “Come on. Let’s have lunch before I leave.” Ashley pulled Kirstin’s arm so she’d get out of bed and exited the room.