Storms Of Life by JustxOnexKiss, Keep_on_smilin19
Summary:

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Life isn't always a walk in the park. Sometimes life brews up storms. These storms are meant to make us stronger.

 

These questions now remains: Will this storm on the horizon make Nick, Howie, Brian, AJ and their families stronger? Will they be able to survive or will they all be washed away in the downpour?


Categories: Fanfiction > Backstreet Boys Characters: AJ, Brian, Group, Howie, Nick, Other
Genres: Action, Adventure, Angst, Drama, Romance, Suspense
Warnings: Sexual Content, Slash F/F, Violence
Challenges:
Series: None
Chapters: 9 Completed: No Word count: 21947 Read: 15960 Published: 07/16/11 Updated: 09/17/11
Story Notes:

This is during the This Is Us tour back in 2009

Aaron Carter has a small role.

Kevin Richardson appears once.

1. Chapter 1 by JustxOnexKiss

2. Chapter 2 by JustxOnexKiss

3. Chapter 3 by JustxOnexKiss

4. Chapter 4 by JustxOnexKiss

5. Chapter 5 by JustxOnexKiss

6. Chapter 6 by JustxOnexKiss

7. Chapter 7 by JustxOnexKiss

8. Chapter 8 by JustxOnexKiss

9. Chapter 9 by JustxOnexKiss

Chapter 1 by JustxOnexKiss

 

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Chapter 1

Alaina sat on the bed in her room. She casually let her fingers run through her slightly curly blond hair. At the end of the bed was an empty suitcase. She needed to be packing but something else has her attention.  Her eyes where focused on the TV. She was watching an Eminem music video.  Sure he was way too old but he was still hot.

Her Dad had told her they were quickly running out of time and she needed to hurry. The Carter’s tended to always be late and he was determined to change that this time.

Out of the corner of Alaina’s eye she noticed a figure move into the door way. It was her older brother, Jesse. Silently he stood looking around the room. He first took notice of what was playing on her TV. Then he spotted her empty bag. Without saying a word he smiled a bit and shook his head then turned to leave.

"What?" She asked giving him an annoyed yet puzzled look.

"Oh nothing, nothing at all." He almost laughed and walked away.

She only rolled her eyes and turned back to the TV.

Jesse continued down the long tan hall to his room. His bags where packed and sitting on the end of his bed ready to go.

"Jess?" Nick questioned popping his head into the room a moment or so later.

"Yeah, Dad?" He asked briefly looking toward him as he finished sliding his laptop down into its carrying case.

"Are you finished packing?"

"Yeah, I've got it all." He nodded as he sat down in his computer chair. He zipped the bag and sat it on the desk.

"What about your sister?" Nick asked.

Jesse simply held his hands up in the air and turned away from Nick.

He sighed knowing full well what that meant. “Get your stuff to the car.”

“Kay.” Jesse simply replied.

"Lanie?" Nick called out as he left Jesse’s room and moved toward hers.

Alaina quickly searched her bed for her TV remote. She pointed it toward the TV but Nick was already in her room standing between her and the Television.

"Alaina Carter, what were you just watching?" He looked upset but not angry.

"Uh... Miley Cyrus - Party in the USA…” Her response was almost a question.

"I saw you were watching Eminem. You know how I feel about his lyrics.”

"Jess is allowed to listen to him!" She argued. She liked listening to Eminem. He was good at rapping and not to mention cute.

"Jesse is almost an adult. I'm letting him make his own choices." Nick told her.

"That's not fair; I’ll be an adult before long too." She argued back.

Nick shrugged, "Not as soon as Jesse. Life isn't always fair. You're grounded for two weeks, one for breaking the rules, and one for trying to lie about it."

Alaina sighed and fell back on her bed, "You always treat him better than me."

Nick nodded and rolled his eyes slightly, "You know that's not true. Now get packing. If it aint packed it aint going. You have half an hour."

Nick walked out of the room as Alaina glared into his backside. Just as he entered his own room his cell phone vibrated once in his pocket. He pulled it out to find he had received a text from his younger brother, Aaron. It simply read, ‘We need to talk’ making Nick sigh a bit. He glanced at the time then quickly replied, ‘Not now’ and put his phone back in his pocket.

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Meanwhile at the Dorough home Howie's oldest child, Gabriel sat trying to finish the last of his school work. His youngest child, Arabella sat watching another documentary.

"Are you two packed?" Leigh asked walking into the living room.

"Yes." Arabella replied looking away from the documentary.

"You sure you have everything?" She asked her.

"Yes." She nodded.

"Gabriel? How are you on packing?" She took a few steps toward where he sat at the table.

"It's done." He never looked at her.

"What about that school work?" Howie asked as he walked through the room. He briefly kissed his wife on the cheek as he walked past.

"I just have this stupid math left." Gabe rolled his eyes. He hated math and he hated when his parent were affectionate in front of him. All Gabe really cared about was getting on tour and meeting new girls to hook up with. Yeah, that’s what Gabe cared about… girls and hooking up.

For a Moment Gabe let himself daze off thinking about the last girl he nailed. A goofy grin spread over his face.

"Well you know the rules. If your school work isn't finished before tour then you'll be on restriction." Howie then was out of sight.

Howie’s voice broke Gabe’s thought and snapped him back to reality. "How am I supposed to finish something I don’t even understand how to do?" He asked no one in particular.

"Maybe Bella will help you. She's great at algebra." Leigh offered.

"I'd be happy to tutor you." The young girl smiled proudly.

"See?" Leigh smiled at her kids and left the room to follow her husband.

"I wouldn't have you tutor me if my life depended on it." Gabe looked at her and said in a rude tone. Deep down a small part of him really cared about her but a larger part of him just simply cared about himself.

Arabella opened her mouth but Gabe cut her off, "Don't even. Keep your mouth shut or your book collection downsizes." How could he possibly show his love to something so annoying?

With that comment she closed her mouth and quickly looked back to her program. She loved each and every one of her books. Loosing even one was not an option.

Gabe looked to make sure his parents were out of the room then grabbed his iPhone from his pocket and began using it to finish his work.

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Over at the Littrell’s Scott laid on the bed in his room. His ear buds were in his ears and the volume on his mp3 player was turned up almost full blast.

As Brian walked into the room he could hear the music.

Scott never even saw or heard him enter. When he left someone grab ahold of his foot his head snapped up and the ear buds shot out if his ears as the bandana he had been wearing slid off his head.

"Damn, you scared the hell out me." He complained lying his head back down.

"Don't use those words." Brian warned looking around the room. It was a mess.

"Whatever." He replied.

"I just wanted to make sure you got everything packed." He explained.

"Yeah, no worries." He used a foot to kick at the suitcase on the floor next to his bed. He began to put his ear buds back in but his Dad talking stopped him.

"Scott, how do you live in this mess?" Brian kicked at a pile of dirty close. As they moved a green lighter fell out of a pair of pants.

Scott's eyes widen a bit as he sat up a little and watched his Dad bend down and pick it up. Scott had been smoking cigarettes for a while now. Actually he had been smoking them since he was thirteen.  He had been smoking weed a little over the past year also. Honestly he was trying to cut out the weed. Being high wasn’t as easy to keep secret as cigarettes were.

"What is this?" He looked really mad.

"A lighter." he laid his head back hoping his Dad would see how calm he was and let it go as being no big deal. He also hoped his Dad would focus more on it and less on looking for anything else. He had no idea if anything else was in the pocket.

"I can see that. Why do you have it?" His voice was angry but not yelling. "Don't lie to me." He added.

Scott rolled his eyes, "Dad it's no big deal. A lot of kids carry around lighters. It makes you look cool."

"Jedediah Thomas Scott Wylee Littrell! Lighters are used for drugs and cigarettes not looking cool." Brian’s voice was now elevated.

"Don't call me that!" He yelled. His eyes suddenly looked full of fire.

"What's going on in here?" Leighanne asked quickly walking into the room. She looked from her son to her husband.

“He used my full name.” Scott complained.

"This fell out of his pants." Brian showed her the lighter. The last of his concern was the fact he had used his sons given name.

"Scott! Please tell me you aren't..."

"Oh my God!" Scott yelled sitting up. "I’m bad but I'm not stupid like you guys seem to think.” He was beyond angry now. He had to be. He had to keep his secret a secret. Cigarettes and Weed were the only things that helped anymore.

"Do not speak to your mother and I in that tone of voice." Brian quickly scolded. His blue eyes squinted a bit due to his anger.

"Don't accuse me of doing something I aint." He shot back.

"Both of you calm down." Leighanne's voice was calm. Recently Scott’s behavior had Brian so upset that she was left feeling like both their mothers. "Brian, try not to jump to any conclusions. Scott, no lighters for any reason." Leighanne tended to be the peacemaker.

"Fine, no lighter." Scott rolled his eyes and lay back down. It wasn't worth getting grounded over. Besides, Scott had his ways of getting others.

"If I ever catch you with one of these or anything that goes with it ever again you’re in big trouble!" Brian gave him a warning glare and left the room. He needed to calm down.

"Scott, cell phone." Leighanne held out her hand.

"Why?" He asked mad.

"You’re grounded from it until you learn to speak to your Dad and me respectfully."

"Whatever, this is so lame." He spat and threw the phone towards the end of the bed.

Leighanne took it and left the room. She walked down the hall to the music room where she knew Brian ran off to.

"Babe, you know he's doing more than carrying that around." Brian said seeing her. His teeth were still clenched as he gathered the sheet music he had been scribbling on while working on a new song.

"We have no proof. We can't ground him for something we can't prove." She calmly told him.

“Are you forgetting what I had to watch AJ go through?” He tried hard not to yell. He then turned away and grabbed a folder for his papers.

“No, of course not Brian, I just mean, he’s a smart kid. I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt.” Leighanne stayed calm.

“I know he’s a smart kid Leighanne. Maybe I’ll just ask AJ to slip a word or two his way, just to keep him straight.” Brian always had to have the last word when he was mad. He opened his guitar case while waiting for her response.

“It can’t hurt, I guess.” She gave him a warm smile.

“I knew you’d see it my way.” He gave her a smile also and placed the folder into his guitar case.

Leighanne just took a breath and nodded. She began to leave but stopped and turned then handed Brian Scott's phone as he stood, "...until he starts speaking to us the right way."

Brian nodded agreeing with her.

 “I need to finish packing.” She told him and left the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Overseas in France AJ was nearing his daughter's home. As he drove he thought back on the past. He and Rochelle had been engaged when she learned she was pregnant. Only a few months into it though Rochelle found she was having trouble coping with AJ's lifestyle. His music career often either took him away from her or took her on a long and tiring adventure. When Rochelle was offered a once in a lifetime make-up job in Paris, France she took it as her ticket out. She left the ring AJ had bought for her but took their unborn child.

Rochelle named their daughter Eleanor despite AJ's protest. He called her Ellie from the Moment she was born. Soon everyone else was too; expect of course Rochelle who preferred to her call her Eleanor.  Unfortunately AJ's career did not allow him much time with her growing up. He did however make it a point to spend as much time with her as possible despite not getting along with Rochelle any more.

When news of AJ's drug and drinking problem became known Rochelle used it as a way to gain full custody of their daughter when she was three. From that point forward she would only allow AJ to see her there in France and only away from his world of music and fame. He hated Rochelle's rules but there was nothing he could do about it. As time went on he just became used to them but he never stopped wanting things to be different.

This time AJ's visit would only be for a few hours, A little less than a full day really. When he left he would be flying to meet up with his band mates and kick off another tour. On the flight he had determined he was going to bring up the possibility of Ellie joining him. He had stopped bring it up a few years back due to Rochelle always saying no. This time he was going to attempt to hold his ground. He had made a lot of changes in his life. He deserved another chance. Plus, Ellie wanted to join him now also.

He almost could not contain his excitement as he pulled into the drive. It had been too long. The second the car stopped it was shut off and he was headed for the front door.

Before he could reach out his hand to knock the door opened and he came face to face with Rochelle. The resemblance between her and their daughter was almost crazy.

"Hi Alex." She gave him a warm smile. The past year or two they had slowly become much more civil.

"Hey Ro, where is she?" He asked. He wasn't trying to be rude. He just really wanted to see his daughter.

"She's in her room." She moved aside to let him in.

"Uh, wait," AJ stopped her as she moved to the stairs to call for her.

She looked at him confused.

"I wanna talk to you. Um, I really want Ellie with me while on tour. She's been begging me to take her and I think I’ve improved my life a lot since... well... ya know. I just want you to give me a chance to prove I can do right. You know I’ve changed Ro. Please give me a chance.” AJ stopped to collect himself. “Plus it isn't fair to her for you to keep her away from me." He was surprised he had been able to look her in the eyes.

Rochelle took a slow deep breath and nodded, "She's been asking me about it a lot too."

"So...Is that a yes?" AJ asked.

"Let me give it some more thought." Rochelle said.

"I don’t have a lot of time." AJ said demanding.

"I know...I’ll let you know an hour before your time is up.” Rochelle said as Ellie came running down the stairs.

"Daddy!" She smiled and hugged him.

"Ellie, baby, I missed you so much." He closed his eyes and smiled as he held her tight.

"What are we gonna do today?" She asked pulling away from him.

"Almost anything you want." He told her as he brushed her obviously died black hair out of her face.

"Shopping? Please Daddy!” She grinned. “I could really use some new studs.” She said running her finger lightly over the jewel she wore in her nose.

"Sounds great.” He told her and moved towards the door.

"Au Revoir!" She waved to her Mom and ran out of the house.

AJ just gave Rochelle one last look and then left.

 

Chapter 2 by JustxOnexKiss

CHAPTER 2

Lisbon, Portugal,
This Is Us Tour,
October 30th 2009.

It was the evening before the tour kicked off. The Dorough family and the Carter's had already arrived at the hotel. They stood waiting in the lobby on the others.

"If you need it you can have it but we'll be the ones to decide." They heard Brian's voice.

"That's stupid." Scott’s voice came next.

"B-ROK!" Nick yelled out happy to see his friend.

"Hey Nicky!"  Brian too smiled and ran to hug him over dramatically.

"Hey guys, how are you?" Leighanne asked Howie and Leigh as they neared. The conversation between Scott and Brian over his phone had begun to get heated. She hoped this diversion would stop it from getting worse.

"Great, I've missed hanging out with you." Leigh replied.

"We'll have plenty of time for that."

"Hi Scott." Arabella smiled walking up to him with Gabe and Jesse close behind.

"Hey." He replied casually. He wasn't even paying complete attention. He was still focused on needing his cell phone.

Arabella continued to look at him for a Moment longer until she felt two arms wrap around her waist from behind.

"Keep dreaming, little sister." Lanie whispered in her ear. They'd all known each other their whole lives so most of the time they refer to each other as sister or brother. "Hey Scott." She added looking at him as she let go of Arie and stood beside her.

"Hey Lanie. What up?" He asked.

"Grounded. Eminem. You?" She almost rolled her eyes.

"No cell phone. Lighter."

"Lighter?" Gabe asked him.

"Yes, something wrong with that?" He asked harshly.

“Chill you guys.” Jesse rolled his eyes.

“Jesse, I uh, need a favor.” Scott said pulling him aside a bit.

“What now?” Jesse asked.

“I need a lighter.”

“How am I supposed to help?” Jesse folded his arms over his chest and took note of his Dad looking at them.

“AJ, you can get close enough without anyone suspecting anything.”

“Fine.” Jesse said and they rejoined the group.

They all stood around talking and catching up for a bit longer until they spotted AJ walking in.

"Who does he have with him?" Arabella asked.

"I think it's... Ellie?" Howie questioned.

"No way, Ro would never let him do that." Nick added.

“It is her.” Brian almost smiled happy for his friend.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. I got held up in France a bit." AJ explained walking up.

"Jay, how did you manage this?" Howie smiled.

"She's giving me a chance to prove I've changed." AJ sounded happy. It had been a while since he really sounded happy.

"Who is she?" Bella whispered to her Mom.

"I'm Ellie." The girl told her with a polite smile having heard.

"Bella, Everyone, This is my daughter, Ellie." AJ smiled. It was obvious he was proud of her and the fact she was here. He still could not believe Rochelle had agreed. He almost cried when he got her text saying that she could go.

"Finally!" Lanie cheered.

Everyone seemed to look at her.

"What? I’ve been dying to meet her." She explained.

"You must be Alaina. Dad's told me a lot about you." Ellie said.

"Yeah, Uncle AJ talks about you all the time. Never thought I’d get to meet you.  Call me Lanie." She smiled and shook her hand.

"That must make you Arabella." Ellie turned to her. She was the only other girl.

"Yeah, but could you call me Arie?"

Howie couldn't help but smile and shake his head a bit. Leigh smiled too.

"I'm Scott." He raised his hand just enough to get her attention.

"Hey Ellie, I'm Gabe." He smiled flirtatiously and shook her hand.

"Then you're Jesse?" She asked the blond.

"That's me." He smiled awkwardly.

"Ellie, you have grown up so much since I saw you last." Leighanne said pulling her attention back toward the adults.

"Beautiful isn't she?" AJ smiled unable to take his eyes off her.

"Dad..." She complained a bit.

“Sorry, it’s true.” He told her.

“I agree.” Leigh smile.

"You ask them." Jesse suddenly whispered to Gabe.

"No way, it was your idea. You ask!" Gabe whispered back.

Arie who happened to hear this, asked loudly, "Ask who what?!"

Everyone stopped and looked at her. She pointed at Gabe and Jesse, "They were whispering about asking someone something...probably drugs." She half joked but no one laughed.

"Thank God, I don't have a sister." Scott rolled his eyes then turned to Gabe, "I feel sorry for ya, Gabe."

Gabe half laughed, "Yeah, lucky you."

"HEY!" Arie yelled hitting her brother’s arm.

"Get away from me." Gabe said pushing her away from him.

"Hey Gabriel, you should know better.” Howie scolded only Gabe making him throw his hands up dramatically as Howie turned to Arabella. “Bella, baby, what are you talking about?" Howie asked. He looked in her eyes and touched her cheeks gently.

"They were whispering about asking someone something." She replied giving Gabe an evil look.

The parents looked at Jesse and Gabe.

"We were just wondering if we could have our own room this tour. That's all it was; Nothing about Drugs."

"Yeah, we're not the druggie types..." Gabe trailed off then finished under his breath, "Scott’s the druggie."

"What was that?" Scott looked pissed suddenly and took a step toward him.

"Nothing man." Gabe shook his head.

"Fuck you Gabe!" Scott spat.

"Scott!" His parents yelled their eyes widening. Brian’s hand balled into a fist but Leighanne grabbed it making him relax a little.

"I was kidding about the drug thing dude, chill." Gabe said giving him an odd look.

"Jesse, if Howie is alright with it then I don't mind you and Gabe having your own room. I think you're mature enough." Nick tried to turn the conversation back on something not so intense.

Howie looked to his wife, "If he's with Jesse, I think he'll be alright." She told him.

Howie looked then to his son and nodded.

"Yes!" Gabe quietly cheered.

Jesse high-fived Gabe, this tour was looking good already.

"Hey Bri, Why don't you let Scott bunk with them? It can be a big guy’s party." Nick suggested.

While not hopeful Scott did turn to his parents. He was curious as to what their response would be.

"I don’t know about that..." Brian trailed off.

He had figured on his parents saying no but the tone in Brian’s voice upset him. "Why? I'm more mature then either of these two." Scott pointed to Gabe and Jesse.

"That's the part that bothers me." Brian explained.

“What?” Scott gave him a strange look.

"Brian, why don't we give him one chance to prove he can handle it?" Leighanne asked.

Honestly Brian did not agree with it but he knew he should try to trust his wife's judgment. He really, really didn’t want to but he decided to anyway. "Alright..." He turned to Scott. "If you mess up I promise you'll regret it. Do you understand?" Brian looked very serious.

"Yeah." He muttered and nodded then rolled his eyes as Brian turned away.

"So if the boys get their own room does that mean we get our own room?" Ellie asked AJ. She had never gotten to be on tour with AJ before and did not know how it worked.

"Actually this is the first time the boys have gotten their own room." Arie butted in. She had a need to point out the facts.

"I really wanted some time alone to catch up with you.” AJ began looking at her. He took a slow breath in and nodded. He wanted to be a good father and assume she would agree he was a good father if he let her.

Ellie looked upset.

“But…” He trailed off and smiled. “I don't mind you and Lanie being in a room alone. I trust you." AJ told her and looked to Nick.

Nick took a deep breath as Alaina looked to him with bright eyes, "Lanie I dunno. You've never been alone before."  Nick hesitated. Alaina was his baby. He loved her so much.

"Oh come on. Be more like Uncle AJ." She batted her eyes.

"Yeah Nicky, be more like me." AJ proudly smiled.

"Alright, we'll try it." Nick caved.

Lanie began to cheer but Nick stopped her, "Don't make me regret it."

"I won't. Thank you so much Daddy." She smiled and hugged him.

Nick couldn’t help but smile either. Words could never begin to describe his love for her. He had loved her since the Moment he saw her laying in the basinet next to her Mom’s hospital bed.

"Awesome, Girls party." Ellie high fived Lanie. Her slight French accent popping out.

"What about me? I'm a girl." Arie looked to her parents.

"Bella baby, you are much too young for something like that. You’re gonna stay with Mommy and me." Howie told her sweetly.

"No, I'm not too young. I'm more mature then Jesse, Scott and Gabe combined." She argued.

"You wish." Gabe said under his breath.

"No sweetie. Your father has made his decision and it’s final.”  Leigh wouldn’t have minded giving Arie a chance. After all, she was always so well behaved, but she respected her husband and put her foot down making Arie pout.

The boys just rolled their eyes at her as Brian and Howie moved to get room keys.

"I'm gonna go talk to Jen and let her know what's up with the rooms." AJ excused himself from the group.

"I think you and me are gonna have a lot of fun." Lanie told Ellie.

"I hope so. I feared you and I wouldn't get along and I'd have no one to hang out with." Ellie admitted. She made friends easy where she went. She was one of the most popular kids in her school back in France. She just hated being alone.

"No worries, most of us get along really good." Lanie smiled.

"No one gets along with me." Arie rolled her eyes.

"Alright, Boys, you three are between Brian and I. Girl's you’re between Nick and AJ." Howie announced passing out keys.

"I get my own room?" Nick asked. He looked at the room key strangely.

"Why wouldn't you?" Brian asked him.

"I dunno. I can't remember the last time I had a room alone." He said looking at the key. He was so young when he had Jesse.

"No one knock on Nick's door if you see a tie on the knob." AJ teased making most of the kids pretend vomit.

"What's our room number?" Lanie asked Howie.

"704." He replied and the girls took off almost running toward the elevator.

"Ya know something Dad; you're not very good at this grounding thing." Jesse slung an arm around his Dad.

"Ah hell." Nick suddenly remembered Lanie was grounded just as the elevator doors shut. "You couldn't have said something earlier?"

"No, I was busy getting over the fact I actually get to stay in a room without you." Jesse replied as they waited for a second elevator.

"You're almost eighteen, it's about time I start treating you less as a kid and more of an adult. It’s time you start learning how to make your own choices." Nick said as Jesse smirked.

"Ya know…I remember a certain someone having that same smirk at his age." Howie grinned as people began to board the elevator.

“Yeah Jess, you’ve turned into your old man. Way to go.” Gabe sarcastically teased.

“Great, just what every teen guy wants to hear. Thank you Gabriel.” Jesse added his full name to spite him.

“One day you’ll like being like your Dad.” Howie tried to assure him. “He’s got a great heart.”

Nick shook his head as Jesse, Gabe and Scott took off to their room when the doors opened.

Lanie was about to go inside her and Ellie's room when Nick stopped her, "You're still grounded."

Ellie waited inside not feeling comfortable about listening in on this.

Lanie opened her mouth to protest but Nick stopped her.

"But..." Nick paused. "What would you do if you were me?" He asked her.

She looked at him Momentarily before replying. "I'd forgive me and let myself off the hook! After all it's not fair to make Ellie be in a room alone." She flashed him an innocent Carter smile.

"Nice try." Nick thought for a Moment and nodded, "Lines." He grinned.

"Lines? Dad, that’s so...so lame." Lanie said.

"You will write and I don't mean type I mean actually write a hundred times.... Eminem drools and Backstreet Boys rule." He smiled rather proud of himself.

"What? Really? That's all I have to do and I'm not grounded anymore?" She asked. Sure the line itself was lame but she wasn’t complaining.

"Yep." Nick said.

"What's the catch?" She asked skeptical.

"You wanted me to be more like AJ right? So I'm gonna be like AJ and be cool. Make sure they're done by breakfast tomorrow morning." He smiled walking away.

"Okay." she nodded and went into her room.

"Yo Nicky?" AJ questioned from behind him.

"Yeah?" Nick replied.

"I'd never make Ellie write a sentence so dumb." With that AJ went into his room.

Chapter 3 by JustxOnexKiss

CHAPTER 3

Lisbon, Portugal

THIS IS US TOUR

Nick was in his room alone relaxing on his bed for a while. Suddenly his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw it was a text from Aaron. He opened the text and read, ‘We need to talk. I know you’re on tour but I really don’t want to wait.’ He took a deep breath and hit the call button on his phone. It instantly dialed Aaron’s number. He held the phone up to his ear.

“Hello? Nick?” Aaron’s voice came on the line.

“Yeah bro, what’s up? You said we needed to talk.” Nick questioned.

“Yeah uh…” Aaron paused unsure of how to begin. “I um, I went to see BJ.”

Nick stiffened a bit, “Oh.” His reply sounded dry.

“Nick, she’s changed…”

“She’s in jail again. How could she be trying to change Aaron?” Nick cut him off swiftly.

Aaron sighed, “She went through rehab this time. She’s different, better. You can tell just being around her.”

“I don’t want to be around her. She hurt one of the two best things in my life.” Nick argued.

“She knows that and she just wants to make it right.”

“No! Hell no!” Nick shouted into the phone.

“Nicky, she just wants to see her and tell her how sorry she is. She isn’t going to ask Alaina to forgive her. She just wants to apologize.”

“No, tell her she made her fucking bed and now she has to lay in it.” Nick told her and hung up before tossing his phone across the room.

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In Howie and Leigh’s room, Howie was gathering items to take a shower. Arabella sat reading a book and Leigh was relaxing on the bed while emailing a friend from her phone.

When she finally finished she got up and followed her husband into the bathroom.

“Leigh, could you not have gone before I came in here?” Howie asked setting his things down.

“Babe, I just wanted to tell you that I think you should give some more thought on letting Bella stay with the girls.” Leigh smiled as Howie took off his shirt.

“Why is that?”

“Well, her being with them would give us some time alone.” She put her arms around his neck.

“Ah, I see.” Howie gave her a smile.

“Yeah, we can’t make babies with our baby in the room.” She winked, pulled away and started to leave.

“Leigh, Leigh, wait.” Howie stopped her and cleared his through. “Make babies?” He asked.

“Yeah, I think we’re ready. I mean when Bella was little we discussed waiting till she was older. She older now and we aren’t getting younger.”

“But are you sure Bella is old enough? I mean, she’s still my baby girl.”

“No Howie, she’s growing up. You have to realize that.”

“I don’t want her to grow up.” He looked away from his wife.

“I don’t either baby. She is though. So let’s make another one and see if we can figure out a way to keep it from growing up.” Leigh gave him as flirty smile.

“We’ll talk about it later. I gotta get in the shower.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Brian and Leighanne’s room, she sat on the computer as he walked out of the bathroom.

“Hey Babe?” Brian questioned.

“Yeah…” Her response sounded preoccupied.

“What are you doing?” He asked her a bit annoyed.

“Looking over some Wylee stuff.” She explained briefly glancing at him.

“Well I’m trying to talk to you.” He really didn’t like when she didn’t pay attention to him.

“I’m sorry sweetie. What is it?” She closed the screen on her laptop and turned to him.

“I was thinking about calling AJ but wasn’t sure if maybe I should just go over to his room.”

“Do whatever if you think is best but I’m sure it’d be ok to just call Alex. Besides, he’s probably resting.”

“Yeah, but it’s about Scott. It’s not like a casual conversation it’s serious. I think I’m just gonna go over there.” Brian nodded.

Leighanne stood and walked over to him, “I know this is serious but I really think you need to calm down. You’re stressing yourself out and that’s not good for you.”

Brian placed a hand on her shoulder, “I’m sorry baby, you’re right. There’s just a lot going on in my mind right now.”

She nodded, “I know, why don’t you go talk to Alex then come back and we can relax together. Get our minds off our problems for a little bit.”

He nodded. She was right. He could tell the stress he was under was hurting their relationship. He didn’t want that. “Ok. I’ll be back.” With that he left and went over to AJ’s door.

He knocked on the door and waited for AJ to answer.

“Rok? What’s up?” AJ looked surprised by Brian’s visit.

“I uh, I just need to talk to you.” Brian looked upset.

AJ took a deep breath in slowly. Had he done something? He could tell Brian wasn’t happy. “Uh, yeah, why don’t you come inside?”

Brian slowly walked into the hotel room, “Alex, do you still remember any of the things they taught you about drugs and stuff in rehab?” Brian asked with his back to the tattooed man.

“Bri, yeah, of course I do. If you’re worried about me, trust me…”

“No Alex, not you.” Brian cut him off. He took a breath and turned around.

“Brian?” AJ’s heart began to beat faster. He worried about what Brian was going to say next.

“I uh, I found a lighter on Scott.”

“Christ Brian! You scared the shit out of me. I thought you were trying to tell me you had a drug problem.”

Brian briefly smiled, “Sorry Jay. No, it’s about Scott. He has me worried and kinda stressed out.”

AJ nodded and leaned against the small dresser in the room, “So you only found a lighter?” AJ watched as Brian nodded. “What did he say when you asked him about it?”

“He claimed he carried it around to look cool.” Brian rolled his eyes.

AJ ran a hand over his mouth and nodded. He had used that line back when he first started smoking. “I’ll talk to him. I’m sure he’s smart enough to know better though.”

“It’s what I’m hoping for.” Brian tapped his foot a little.

“Try not to worry Brian. I’ll scare him straight. You’re a good Dad.”

Brian laughed at the last line as he moved toward the door.

“You are B. I’d kill to be as a good a father as you are for Ellie.”

“ I never would have lost her if I was.” AJ said honestly

The two men’s eyes met awkwardly. Nothing was said. Brian swallowed hard as AJ fingers found their way to the hem of his shirt. Each man was unsure of what to say as they stood by the front door of the hotel room.

Suddenly AJ’s cell phone deeper in the room began to ring. Relieved by the break in the silence Brian quickly told AJ, “I’ll let you get that. Talk to you later.”

“Alright, bye for now Rok.” AJ said and let him leave then got his phone. “Hello?”

“Alexander James, it’s your faithful attorney at law.” The cheerful sounding voice said into his ear.

“Oh hey, I take it you got my E-mail?” AJ asked him.

“Yes I did. I read over it and I have to say, I think you stand a good chance of gaining some of your rights back. You’ve gone through rehab and stayed sober for a good long time. You’ve stayed up on each support payment. You’ve taken time to see her and conformed to Rochelle’s crazy request to do so. At Ellie’s age and taking all of this into account…I think any judge would be willing alter your rights.”

AJ smiled. This was great news. He wanted more custody of his daughter so badly. He loved her so much. “That’s awesome. What do we do now?”

“Let me get some kind of proposal to send to Rochelle’s lawyer written up. I’ll send it to you for you to look over and sign. We’ll send it to them and wait for their response. If need be we’ll take it to court.”

“Sounds perfect. Let me know when you’re ready to send that proposal and I’ll tell you were to send it.” AJ was still smiling.

“Alright Mr. McLean. I’ll talk to you again soon. Have a good day.”

“Thanks, you too.” He replied and hung up. 

Chapter 4 by JustxOnexKiss

CHAPTER 4

Lisbon, Portugal

THIS IS US TOUR

All the adults stood waiting for the kids in the lobby. Arie was sitting off to the side reading when the Lanie and Ellie came off the elevator with Scott and Gabe.

"Alaina, where's Jesse?" Nick asked rolling his eyes. The boy had gotten his sense of time from him for sure.

"How should I know?" She replied honest but not rude.

"He was on his computer when we left the room." Gabe explained. Why was it parents assumed that because you are the missing child’s sibling you know where they were? Gabe didn’t get it.

"Lanie go up and tell him its past time to go." Howie said looking at his watch. Now that Kevin was gone Howie took it upon himself to make sure they were on time and sticking to the schedule.

Lanie opened her mouth to say something but Ellie cut her off, "Just do it. The faster you go get him the faster we eat." She was starving.

Lanie rolled her eyes and took off back upstairs.

"Why didn't you guys wait and make sure he was coming?" Ellie asked Scott.

"I'm not his Dad." Scott shook his head.

"Thank God, It'd be really creepy." Gabe added making both Ellie and Scott laugh a bit.

Upstairs Lanie reached Jesse's door and knocked on it.

"Who is it?" She heard him yell.

"It's me. We gotta go." She replied.

Quickly the door opened and Jesse walked off back toward his laptop.

"Jesse, come on." She huffed.

"I'm shutting it down." He said as she walked into the room.

Impatiently she tapped her foot.

"Hey Lanie, can I ask you something?" Jesse asked her. He was sitting on the edge of the chair with his legs spread apart.

She could tell by his tone of voice that something was bothering him.

"Yeah, sure." She nodded sitting on the edge of a bed.

"Do you ever think about your Dad?" He asked looking down to floor just between his feet.

"What do you mean? Of course I do. In fact I'm thinking about how pissed he's gonna be for us taking so long."

"No, not Nick. Your real Dad." Jesse leaned over and placed his elbows on his knees.

"Oh... uh... no. I mean not even my Mom knows who he is." She wasn't sure why Jesse was asking but she could tell it seemed important to him.

"Well, what about BJ?" He still did not look at her.

"Not really. Jesse, why?" She now had to know.

"I dunno. I mean don't you ever..." He patted his right fist into his left palm. "...wanna get to know her?"

"She wanted her drugs more than me. I know all I need to know." She seemed a bit upset now.

Jesse looked to her, "But don't you wanna know, like, where you came from?"

"I came from a druggie. There's nothing else I need to know."

"But isn't it true that time can change people? I mean maybe she didn't want you then but maybe she's changed and wants you now."

Lanie opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by Nick's voice, "Why are you two just sitting here? We have to go. Alaina I told you to go get him not come up here and sit down."

"Dad, it isn't her fault. I was turning my laptop off and asked her to wait on me." Jesse jumped in. It wasn't the entire truth but it was good enough.

"Well it's off now so get moving." Nick said and pointed into the hallway.

Jesse said nothing; he just nodded and left the room.

"You too," Nick told Lanie as she stood.

As she began to pass by him she stopped and turned to him. She briefly looked into his eyes deeply then hugged him. She then pulled away and began to leave.

"What was that for?" Nick asked feeling rather confused.

"For wanting me when my Mom didn't." She softly stopped and told him.

Nick took a deep breath and nodded. It wasn't something they often talked about. Nick had loved Alaina and had been a father figure for her from the Moment BJ had her. When his Dad called and said BJ was put in jail on drug related charges and Lanie needed a home he had not hesitated in agreeing to take her. She was only four and didn't really understand what was going on but when he was awarded full custody a year later she had become old enough to know that her Mom had done something wrong and she was going to live with Nick from now on. Then when she got a little older she found out about the drugs but from the Moment Nick had custody of her she made sure to tell him how thankful she was. The biggest way was when she started calling him Daddy. It was an honor in his eyes.

Lanie just looked at Nick as they stood awkwardly in the hall.

Nick nodded again. He wanted to say something but was unsure of what to say so he pulled her into another hug as he kissed her forehead and said, "I love you Alaina Quinn."

"I love you too, Daddy." She smiled.

He pulled away and coughed a bit to clear the lump in his through and led her toward the elevator where Jesse had already gone down.

"You still have to write lines." He told her lightening the mood.

"I know." She rolled her eyes.

When they got back down, Jesse shook his head, "And here I thought everyone was waiting on me."

"Whatever." Lanie said ignoring his comment. For some reason what he said about getting in touch with BJ was staying on her mind.

"Okay so what are we doing for dinner? Eating here? Eating out? We split up?" Gabe asked his parents.

"We should eat as a group; we never do that anymore..." AJ suggested.

"I'm okay for that." Arie smiled.

"You don't get an opinion." Gabe said.

"Why? I am a teenager now. You said when I was teenager you weren't gonna shoot down my every word."

"Well I lied now shut up."

Arie was too tired to argue so she just nodded. All she wanted was to be accepted by the older kids, she was always picked on and made fun of for being as smart as she was but it wasn't her fault that she liked facts and numbers and all things logical. It was just who she was.

"Geez, even I'm not that mean to my sister." Jesse mumbled

Scott sighed, he was getting a headache.

Gabe shrugged, "It's different when it's your real sister." regretting the words the Moment he said them.

Everyone fell silent. Jesse looked very angry while Alaina looked hurt.

“Gabriel!” Howie snapped hard.

"I-I'm sorry...I didn't mean for that...I didn't mean it. I'm really sorry." Gabe tried to make up.

Alaina looked briefly to Nick then back to Gabe and simply nodded.

Jesse sighed knowing his only real option was to let it go. Besides he knew Gabe would never intentionally hurt Alaina. He nodded and shrugged, "I was just saying that, there's teasing your sister, there's being mean, and then there's just too mean."

Scott was sick of this. He couldn’t take any more of this brother sister talk. He knew one way to end this conversation, "At least you two have sisters!" He almost shouted it. Everyone looked to him and he coughed a bit.

"Uh, so, we eat as a group." Brian said as Leighanne rubbed his back gently. Slowly everyone turned back to a normal conversation.

"Yeah let's go to that place up the street. It looks nice." Leigh said as everyone slowly began to walk outside.

"Jesse?" Alaina stopped him. She looked him in the eyes as he stopped.

"Blood don't matter. You know that." Jesse knew what she was getting at. He gave her a small smile.

Alaina smiled too and nodded.

"Come on, let's eat." He said placing a hand on her shoulder and playfully pushing her toward the door.

"Are they always like this?" Ellie whispered to Scott as they waited for the van to pull up and get them.

"Jesse and Lanie, not so much anymore. However, Gabe and Arabella? All the fuckin' time." He rolled his eyes.

"Scott don't let your parents here you say that... even if it is true." AJ whispered so only Scott and Ellie could here.

They both smiled a bit and got into the van as everyone else followed.

Dinner went fine. The guys discussed a song Brian was working on and needed help with. The women talked about Leighanne's new additions to Wylee. The kids talked about lots of different things. They discussed how cool their Dad's thought they were... with the exception of Ellie. Everyone agreed her Dad really was cool. They took turns telling stories about scary or funny things that had happened on tour and listened to Ellie talk about some of the awesome people she had gotten to meet through her Mom. Arie occasionally would try to add something but for the most part kept her nose in a book she had brought along.

When they got back to the hotel the adults agreed it was time for the kids to be in their rooms due to their early day the next day.

"So, you have to write that 100 times by tomorrow morning?" Ellie said looking at the paper Lanie had started to write on.

"Yeah, it’s so lame but the saddest part is he thinks this punishment is something cooler that your Dad would do." She almost laughed.

"I wouldn't know. I don't get to see my Dad enough to know how he would handle punishing me." She said.

"Can I ask why? I mean, I know Jesse has talked about you before. He doesn't remember much about you but he knows you used to occasionally be at rehearsals. He said then it kinda suddenly stopped." Lanie turned to her.

"My Mom said its cause he had more of an interest in drinking then me but Dad says its cause she was selfish and wanted me all for herself. So all I know for sure is that she was granted full custody when I was really little. I think I was like two or three."

Lanie nodded as she wrote more.

"What about you? Why did your Dad not have you when you were little but he does now?" Ellie asked.

"Nick's not actually my Dad. He's my Uncle. My Mom is his sister." Lanie explained.

"So then that's why Gabe made the comment about it being different when it's your real sister to Jesse?" Ellie turned and lay on the bed she had been sitting on. She rested up on her elbows and kicked her feet casually.

"Yeah, he's actually my cousin, but we don't see it like that. He's always been like a brother to me just how Nick has always been like a Dad. When they took me away from my Mom Nick fought for rights to me and won. I was four... maybe five. Over the years they've just become better than the real thing." Lanie smiled thinking about how lucky she had gotten.

For a Moment Ellie stared at her. She had a very pretty smile.

"Something on my teeth?" Lanie worried and began rubbing them.

Ellie laughed, "No, I just like your smile."

"Oh..." She replied blushing. She now felt dumb.

Ellie just laughed at her making Lanie laugh too.

Meanwhile in the boy’s room Jesse once again sat on his laptop while Gabe flipped through the paper view movies.

"Don’t!" Scott warned from where he was laying listening to his iPod.

"What?" Gabe turned to him taken back a bit.

"That porno you're getting ready to rent will show up on the bill." Scott rolled his eyes at Gabe's stupidity. If he was going to be bad he really needed to learn to be good at not getting caught.

"Oh shit, uh thanks." Gabe said and began looking for another movie.

"Yeah, you owe me so warn me if a rent comes in while I smoke." Scott said pulling a pack of cigarettes out of a pair of shoes. He couldn’t see the door from his bed and knew Gabe was able to.

"Jesse." He called to him.

Without saying a word Jesse reached into his pocket and tossed Scott a lighter.

"Thanks." He said catching it and using it to light up.

"Yeah, just remember I had nothing to do with it once Uncle Jay realizes it's missing." Jesse told him.

"You know that shits gonna kill you right?" Gabe asked from a crossed the room.

"Thanks for the tip, Arie." Scott teased.

"Hey!" Gabe yelled tossing a pillow at him making Scott laugh a bit.

They looked to Jesse and saw he still looked deeply involved in his laptop.

"Yo Jester, what are you doing? Gabe asked looking over at Jesse.

Jesse quickly closed what he was doing, "Nothing really, just facebooking and tweeting and...stuff. Nothing too interesting."

"I bet you were looking' up porn." Gabe teased.

Jesse rolled his eyes, "If I do look up porn, it wouldn't be with two other guys in the same room."

"Ha, yeah cause you’re not like Gabe here." Scott teased.

Gabe shook his head, "I was gonna do us all a favor! Those chicks are hot..." He shrugged.

Scott just shook his head and took another drag from his cigarette.

"Let me guess, I'm gonna have to cover for you a lot on this tour huh?" Jesse asked shutting down his laptop for the night.

"Dude, you don't mind right?" Gabe looked worried.

Scott smiled and took another drag.

"Nah, I just better not get busted for helping you get laid." Jesse said. He had worked hard the last year and a half to get on good terms with his Dad. He had done a lot of changing and hoped things would stay that way, at least till he was eighteen.

Chapter 5 by JustxOnexKiss
Author's Notes:

Thanks fo reviewing so far! :)

 

CHAPTER 5

Lisbon, Portugal

THIS IS US TOUR

The next day Lanie yawned as she and Ellie stepped off the elevator.

"Up too late talking?" Nick asked.

"No." She said and handed him a thin stack of papers.

He smiled looking over them. "You sure this isn't ninety nine?" He asked.

"Dad..." She whined a bit annoyed.

"I'm kidding." He said.

"Sleep ok?" AJ asked Ellie walking over to her. He hugged her gently from behind.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"Good, do me a favor and call your Mom at some point today. Alright?"

"Alright. I will." She said as he pulled away from her.

He sure had missed her.

"Let's go!" Howie shouted to the group as the van pulled up.

Later on at the Meet & Greet, they all waited standing behind the walls that separate the venue from the seating area.

"So when's the girls gonna get let in?" Gabe asked excited.

Jesse and Scott shook their heads, "So much for being discreet..." Jesse muttered.

Alaina smiled at Ellie, "Meet and greets are awesome since we became a part of them."

"Says you..." Scott muttered.

"Shut up!" Lanie said annoyed. She was a bit tired from writing all those lines and wasn't in the mood to deal with Scott's shit. She and Scott had a roller coaster like relationship. At times they got along great and at others they fought worse than Gabe and Arie.

"Oh yeah? Why don't you try and make me? Or you too much of a girl?" He asked.

"Knock it off." Jesse defended.

"Dude! Since when do you defend your sister?" Scott asked confused.

"Since..." Jesse started to say when they both got slapped in the head by Nick and Brian.

"Owe." They said.

"Knock it off, the first group of fans will be here any second and the last thing we all need is you two fighting so stop it." Nick said sternly sounding like a father.

"Whatever." Scott said.

"Scott!" Brian hissed and gave him a warning glare.

"Sorry." He muttered.

"Me too." Jesse said as the doors opened and the first few fans came in.

“That kid is slowly driving me insane. I dunno what’s gotten into him. At first I thought he was just trying to be like AJ but now… I’m not so sure.” Brian softly told Nick.

Nick nodded, “I’ve noticed.”

“Well, I gotta figure out something cause it’s starting to affect Leighanne and I.” Brian sounded upset.

“It’ll be ok Frick now slap on one of those big southern grins.” That’s was Nick’s lame attempt at cheering him up.

A few people started walking towards them; Ellie was excited yet a little scared. "What do we do?" She whispered.

"Act like one big happy family." Scott answered sarcastically

"We just meet them; say hi, small convo, picture, and autograph and then we do it with the next fan." Lanie whispered back as a girl approached them.

"Hello Beautiful. What's your name?" Gabe asked the first fan as she reached him.

Jesse who stood by him rolled his eyes. He knew they were supposed to play to the fans but Gabe often took it too far.

"Hi Jesse, I love your hair." A fan smiled as she handed him a notebook to sign.

"Thank you." He politely smiled back.

"Awe, she likes your hair Jesse." Scott teased standing next to him.

"Oh my God, Scott Littrell, I love you so much. Can I please have a picture with you?" She asked.

"Yeah." He simply said and leaned over the wall a little to let her friend get a photo.

"Is it always like this?" Ellie asked Scott once he stood up straight by her.

"Always." He replied.

"Hi, I'm not sure I know who you are." A girl told Ellie.

"I'm AJ's daughter, Ellie." She replied feeling butterflies in her stomach.

"Oh wow, that's awesome. I didn't know he had a daughter. Can I take a picture of you?"

"Sure you can." She said and smiled.

"You're doing great." Lanie whispered in her ear as two twin girls came to her.

"Hi Lanie." They said together.

"Hey girls, great shirts! Did you make them?" She asked.

They both nodded and smiled.

"Want me to sign them?" She asked seeing the other kids had.

"That'd be great." They said together again.

"How much longer?" Arabella asked Lanie.

"Shh..." Her Dad quickly cut her off. "Smile and act like you wanna be here. This is important for Daddy’s job." He told her.

"But their all being incongruous." She rolled her eyes.

Howie sharply looked at her.

"It means absurd." She explained.

"Oh..." He said turning back to another fan to take a photo. He then turned to his wife, "Do something with her."

"Bella!" Leigh softly hissed behind Howie's back.

Arabella leaned back and met her Mom’s gaze, "What?"

"Fifteen extra minutes at bed time to read if you’re good for the rest of this meet and greet."

Aries’ eyes grew large and she turned back to the fans with a big smile plastered on her face.

"Bribery?" Leighanne teased.

"If it works..." Leigh trailed off as she and Leighanne smiled for a photo.

"Scott seems to be ok?" Brian quickly asked his wife who glance down at him.

"Yeah, don’t worry so much." She replied as a fan came up to them.

"You guys are so cute together." She told them.

"Thank you." Brian gave her his cheesy southern grin.

"Don't even try to out smile me dawg." Nick teased Brian making a fan giggle. "My smile is better right?" He asked her.

"It's a wonder you ended up with a son as mature as Jesse. You know that?" AJ told him shaking his head.

After what seemed like forever the meet and greet ended and it was time for the sound check party.

"That wasn't too bad." Ellie smiled.

"You did great. I'm proud of you." AJ told her as they all stood around.

"Thank you."

"I made out pretty good." Gabe smiled looking over the scraps of paper in his hands. Each of them held a phone number.

Scott wanted to say something but decided against it. "Now what? Do we really have hang around for sound check party?" He asked instead.

"Yeah! I don't wanna hang out here, it's boring." Arie agreed.

"Never mind then..." Scott said.

"What do you mean?" Arie asked

"It'll be hell frozen twice over, before I ever let myself ever agree with you or anything to do with you for that matter." Scott explained.

Arie’s eyes filled up, all she was doing was agreeing with him, she wasn't being a know it all or a smart ass this time but she looked away before anyone could notice, "Fine, if that's how you feel I'll never agree with you again. Even if I do agree with you I won't voice my opinion. So there!" She said running away and towards the backstage area.

Leigh sighed, "I'll go and find her."

Lanie shook her head, "I know you're a jerk and that we all get annoyed by Aries’ brain but...did you really have say that? That was just cold."

Jesse nodded, "I agree. I don't get you sometimes, last night you basically told us to be grateful for our little sisters. Then today, you’re cold to Arie. It's like she agreed with you then suddenly you change your mind? Why do you stuff sh... Stuff like that? It's not cool man."

Scott stood silent.

Gabe sighed, "I'll go and help find her to make sure she's alright. I know most of her hiding spots for when we're on tour.” He then turned to Scott “Dude, if I find her crying...I'm kicking your sorry little..."

"Gabriel!" His Dad cut him off.

"Butt; I was gonna say butt." Gabe said walking away.

"Scott go help find her." Leighanne gently demanded.

"Why?" He asked hard.

"Because it's your fault she ran off." Brian explained in a not so calm tone.

"Who cares?" He rolled his eyes.

"Scott just go help find her damn it! I'm ‘bout over hearing you talk to your parents like that!" AJ snapped looking as though he could breathe fire at any Moment.

Ellie looked at him strangely as Scott walked away silent.

"Sorry, I'm just getting sick of his attitude." AJ told Brian shaking his head.

Brian nodded, "It's fine; remember our unwritten rule to help with each other's kids? But I'm sorry too; I dunno what’s gotten into him."

"Hormones." Nick jumped in.

Meanwhile the search for Arabella continued.

They searched high and low. Even Gabe was having trouble finding where she went.

"Come on Arie!" Scott huffed as he walked down a dimly lit hall.

"Leave me alone!" He heard a small voice shout. He looked all around him but saw no one.

"Arabella?" He questioned.

"I said, leave me alone." The voice said again. This time he heard where it came from. He walked over to a group of large, black, rolling crates and moved a few of them. There was Arie, sitting hugging her knees. She didn't even bother to look up at him. "Arie, everyone's been looking for you. You're parents are worried sick." He told her walking close.

Arie finally looked up at him. Her eyes were red and puffy.

'Shit.' He thought suddenly feeling bad. He hadn't meant to make her cry. He just got sick of her little girl crush on him sometimes. "Arabella, I didn't mean to make you cry." Scott said.

"Then why did you say what you did? It really hurt my feelings." She told him.

He took a deep breath and sat down next to her on the floor.

"I got a lot going on in my life. I just kinda only think about me. You bug the shit out of me sometimes. I wasn't thinking about you when I said what I did. I was only thinking about how pissed I was." He explained.

"I don't mean to perturb you. I just wanna be more like you because you're cool and people like you. I want people to like me too." She told him sniffling a bit. His confused look made her add, “It means annoy.”

"Oh well, people like you Arie. You just do things that bug people. I mean, like, if no one liked you then no one would have gone looking for you."

"If people like me then why don't you guys ever let me congregate with you?" She looked up at him.

"Well for one thing, you use words like perturb and congregate. I mean, none of us talk like that. It gets annoying. Plus we're all older then you. We like different things and we can do a lot of things you can’t.”

"Like have you own rooms?" Arie asked.

"Yeah, like that. It's not that we don't like you. We just don't have much in common with you." Scott was finding with no one around it wasn't too bad talking to her. He just didn't want it to become a regular thing. "I mean how much fun did you have when your parents made you play with Mason that one time Kevin came to visit us? He's like, three or four years younger than you."

"None at all. He's so less mature then I am." She rolled her eyes thinking about it.

"Well, that's sometimes how you make us feel. We know you don't mean to... it just happens. Fact of life, ya know?"

She nodded, "I'm sorry."

"It's cool..." He trailed off briefly. "Oh yeah and about Gabe; Well big brothers aren't supposed to let people know how much they actually do love their younger siblings. It's an unwritten rule. Trust me."

She nodded again. It made sense.

"So uh... ready to go back?" Scott asked her.

"Yeah, ya know, you actually are a rather nice boy." She smiled.

"Well do me a favor and keep that a secret." He said standing then helping her up.

She nodded again, "I have one question though..." She asked softly.

He sighed, "What is it?"

"Am I still not allowed to agree with you?" She asked still soft.

Scott looked down at her as she looked up at him with her big brown eyes that looked sore, red and puffy.

He felt bad again. "Only if you really agree with me and you’re not just sayin’ it because..." He trailed off. He wasn't gonna say it aloud.

"I'd only ever agree with you because I agree with you, I would never agree with you if I didn't agree with you." She replied simply.

Scott nodded, "Okay then."

 "So we're okay?" She asked feeling nervous by her question.

Scott looked around to see if anyone was around but the area was empty. "Yeah, we're good." He nodded, "Now, let's go before I get my ass kicked by your brother."

Arie smiled and hugged him quickly and ran off.

He sighed, "Wait up! We can't lose you for a second time in a row!" He said annoyed running after her.

Arie ran back out into the Meet & Greet area with Scott running up behind her, "See? I found her."

Leigh quickly hugged her, "Thank GOD you're okay! I don't know what I would've done..." Her voice trailed off.

"I'm fine." Arie said as her Mom let go of her.

"Did he say sorry?" Brian asked her.

Scott stiffened a bit, he never actually said the words, but he prayed that Arie wasn't in a word picky mood.

Arie nodded, "Yep, he apologizes to me for the first time ever."

Scott rolled his eyes, "It's not like I don't ever say the words..."

Lanie shook her head, "I'm glad you're okay, I was really worried when not even Gabe could find you." She said hugging the younger one.

"I found a new spot to hide." She replied rather proudly as Lanie pulled back.

Gabe shook his head, "No more new spots. Everyone was worried." Him especially, sure his little sister was annoying as hell and they fought worse than cat and dogs but that didn't mean he didn't love her, not that he'd ever tell her that but still.

"Sorry..." She said softly.

Gabe looked at her more closely and noticed her eyes that were still red and puffy. "Did he make you cry?" He asked getting pissed. No one other than him was allowed to make his sister cry or even hurt her feelings.

"Uhh...a little bit..." She said looking away. She didn't realize her eyes were still that noticeable but she had cried a lot.

Brian shook his head upset and he asked, "You actually made her cry?"

Scott didn't say anything. He felt bad enough about it; he didn't need everyone making a big deal outta of it.

"I warned you…" Gabe went to punch him but got held back by Nick and AJ.

"Told you he cares." Scott whispered to Arie now that everyone was looking at Gabe.

Arie smiled inside, 'He actually cares!' She screamed in her head.

 

End Notes:

Don't forget to let us know please! :)

Chapter 6 by JustxOnexKiss
Author's Notes:

 

Sorry I took so long! :( I did a semester this summer and the finals got crazy then vacation, then my wisdom teeth, then our house is getting redone, new everything...now school's started up again! BUSY BUSY BUSY!!! But I will try to update more often!

Keep On Smilin has also been busy with personal things, so she wasn't able to update either!

 

Chapter 6

Later that day there had been so much craziness that the kids along with Leigh and Leighanne went back to the hotel during the guys sound check party. The kids had been told to stay in their rooms leaving Arie alone and left out again.

In the boys room Jesse sat on the computer again while Scott was smoking and Gabe was looking for a TV show to watch.

"So what do you guys think of AJ's daughter?" Gabe asked.

"Ellie? She seems nice." Jesse replied.

"No, like would you do here?" Gabe explained himself with a cocky smile.

"Definitely." Scott nodded a little as he leaned on his elbow coolly.

"We aren't allowed to date each other." Jesse said simply.

"Who said anything about dating?" Gabe laughed.

"You know you'd do her." Scott grinned.

"I dunno, there's something off about her that I can't quite put my finger on." Jess replied still messing around on his laptop.

Gabe shook his head and tossed a basketball casually in the air above him.

"I think you're spending too much time behind that laptop." Scott said putting out his cigarette.

"Yeah Jess what are doing on there anyway?" Gabe wanted to know.

Jesse had been spending a lot more time then what was normal for him behind that monitor.

"Just uh... messing around on facebook." He smiled casually at Gabe then looked back down.

Over in the girl’s room Ellie sat on the phone talking to her mother as Lanie finished painting her nails bright green.

"Papa et moi avons beaucoup si s'amuser ensemble." She spoke in French fluently.

Lanie looked up at her. She loved listening to her speak French. It sounded so beautiful.

"Oh oui, Nick's fille et i sont devenir meilleures freinds." Ellie smiled.

Lanie heard her father's name. She couldn't help but wonder what she had said. Of course she couldn't ask because she didn't want Ellie to think she had been eves dropping. Not that she could have of course.

"Je vais lui dire." She said then paused. "Eh bien. Je vais vous parler plus tard alors." She stood.

Lanie quickly looked away from her in case she looked her way.

"Je vous promets. Je t'aime Maman." She smiled and turned toward Lanie. "Au revoir." She then hung up. "My Mom said to tell you hi." She said. Her accent was a little bit stronger.

"Oh, that was nice of her." Lanie casually smiled.

"Yeah my Mom is awesome." She smiled and sat in the bed near where Lanie sat blowing on her nails.

"Do you always speak French with her?" Lanie asked.

"Not always but a lot." She replied giving Lanie a smile.

"It sounds so beautiful. “She smiled back.

"Yeah, I think that's why I enjoy speaking it. My last girlfriend didn't speak French and loved hearing me speak it."

"Last girlfriend?" Lanie gave her a puzzled look.

"Yeah." Ellie nodded casually.

"So you're gay?" Lanie asked feeling confident in her question.

"No, I'm into guys also." Ellie replied looking up at her. She smiled a little.

"So...you're Bi?" Lanie felt less sure of her question.

Ellie nodded, "Yeah. Does it bother you?" she asked a little bit worried.

"Oh, no, not at all." Lanie quickly told her. "Uh, what do your parents think? Uncle Jay never mentioned it."

"Actually, my Dad doesn't know. My Mom is beyond cool about it but..." She Momentarily trailed off. "I'm just not ready to tell my Dad. Things he's casual commented about before makes me thing he wouldn't be so supportive."

"Well I promise I won't tell." Lanie looked into her eyes so she would know she meant it.

"Thanks Lanie. You're pretty cool."

Lanie didn't know why but she felt bubbly inside when Ellie told her she was pretty cool.

Ellie sighed, "I'm so bored, it'd be just my luck that Scott said something and Arie got upset and ran off and ruined the sound check for the rest of us...."

Lanie looked at her, "It happens sometimes. Arie is the youngest and the most sensitive at times. But Scott's just a jerk."

Ellie nodded, "I noticed. So what if he's a jerk...he's a hot one at least."

Lanie fought to roll her eyes, she never understood what girls saw in Scott, but it was probably just because he was a like another brother to her.

"Really though...What's Arie's deal?" Ellie asked.

"What you do you mean?" Lanie asked confused.

"Like what’s up with her acting the way she does?" Ellie asked

"She just turned thirteen not that long ago...she's still a kid, so she still acts like one. I know she's uber annoying but you get used to her. She's really sweet and she means well." Lanie explained.

Ellie nodded, "Sure. Say...let's get the boys and get outta here for a while." She said standing up and heading towards the door.

"But we're supposed to stay here..." Lanie said.

"Do you always do as you’re told?" Ellie asked.

Lanie stood, "No, but if I’m on tour then yeah I do, normally."

"Break the rules, come on!" Ellie said walking out.

They went to the boys’ room and knocked on the door.

Gabe opened the door, then turned around and said, "It's just Lanie and Ellie. No one important."

Lanie laughed, "Hey, I'm important." She argued.

Gabe smirked looking back her, "Sure ya are."

Ellie sighed, "Come on boys, grab your phones and your key cards and let's move."

"What's she talking about?" Scott asked

"Basically...we're sneaking out." Ellie said.

"To?" Jesse asked from his laptop.

"Roof. Come on." Ellie said walking away.

"I'm game." Scott said following quickly.

"Same...you coming, Jess?" Gabe asked.

"Yep, just shutting down my laptop." He said standing and pressing the shutdown button.

Once Jesse shut down his laptop they all left the room.

"Lanie, was any of this your idea?" Jesse asked.

"Shh!" Scott hushed him as they moved more toward the elevator. Once they were on it and the doors closed they all let out a sigh of relief.

"Damn this is awesome." Gabe smiled giving Ellie a flirty look.

Ellie looked and Lanie who saw Gabe's look. Both girls couldn't help but laugh a bit.

Scott couldn't help but look at Ellie from a crossed the elevator. Of course Ellie had noticed. She gave him a wink just as the doors slid open.

"This isn't the roof." Jesse said looking around yet another hall of doors.

"You're such a boy." Ellie laughed and took off down the hall. Jesse followed warily close behind everyone till they stopped at a door that had the word 'Janitor' written on it instead of a number.

Gabe tried the door handle to find it was locked, "Now what?" He asked.

Ellie shook her head, "Scott, please tell me that you at least know what to do." She seemed to beg with her eyes.

"Ellie, what are you talking about?" Lanie asked.

Scott flashed a mischievous yet flirty smile, pulled his room key card out of his pocket, and stepped forward toward the door. He slid his key into the crack between the door and the frame and wiggled the handle a bit.

"Don't break it Scott. We're supposed to be having fun not getting in trouble." Jesse warned.

"Jess, break loose would ya?" Lanie said lightly pushing at his shoulder.

He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, Dude, chill. I know what I'm doing." Scott said as the door popped open.

"Where'd you learn that?" Jesse asked a little taken back by just exactly how bad he noticed Scott had gotten.

"Shut up, Jesse, you're ruining the fun." Ellie said pushing past them and into the room.

The others followed and saw that she was going up the ladder as Lanie locked the door behind them all.

"Where's that lead to?" Gabe asked as she reached the top and fiddled with something.

"Where do you think?" She asked pushing a ceiling door open and climbing through.

Scott followed with Gabe and Lanie behind him.

"I don’t' know..." Jesse said.

"Jesse Brent Carter, get your ass up here!" Lanie called from the roof.

"Alaina!" Jesse almost whined.

"What’s his deal?" Ellie asked thinking he was acting like a baby.

Lanie couldn't help but laugh a bit, "He's afraid of heights like our Dad."

"Oh come on, Jesse!" Gabe encouraged.

"I can't help it you guys." He almost argued.

"Just get your ass up here." Ellie demanded and with that Jesse began slowly climbing.

"Scott? Aren't you freaked out too? Your Dad is worse than mine." Jesse's voice was shaky.

"Nah, I take after my Mom." He said.

As the group moved away from the hole in the roof they rounded a cement wall.

Suddenly the sound of a young girl screaming followed by the rest of the group screaming hit Jesse's ears.

"Oh my God! Who fell off?" Jesse yelled.

"No one, some chick is up here." Scott yelled to him as he slowly climbed up.

"I'm sorry; I was up here hiding from my stupid group of friends. I didn't mean to scare you guys." The blonde girl who had first screamed said.

"It's alright, I'll help you hide." Gabe said quickly moving next to her.

As Jesse reached the roof and climbed out on top of it, he stayed lying on the ground.

"Dude, what's the fuck’s wrong with you?" Ellie asked annoyed as the group looked to him.

"Oh, he's just paralyzed by his own fear. Just leave him, he'll live." Scott smirked.

"Fuck you." Jesse whispered.

Ellie nodded, "I agree, just leave him. It'll be more fun without him anyways." She walked further out with Scott following her.

Lanie knelt down beside him, "Jess, you gonna be okay?" She whispered,

"No, but I'll be fine, go have fun." He said staring at the sky

Lanie nodded.

About a minute later Gabe walked by him with the blond on his arm.

"Yo, Jess, you gonna live?" He asked

"I think so." Jesse said trying to stand.

"Good, so I won't have explain your dead body on the roof to Uncle Nick. I'll see you later."

"Where you going?" Jesse asked fully standing but his legs felt weak.

"To our room, don't come back too soon." He said climbing down as the blonde in a skirt climbed down after him.

"God, it's so exciting being up here." Lanie commented to Ellie as they began walking out onto the roof with Scott.

"It's the fear of being caught. Gives you a high." Scott butted in. He walked close to Ellie. She was hot and had a wild side. He liked it.

"Guys..." Jesse called out now slowly crawling toward them.

Scott laughed turned to look at Jesse, "Dude, you sure you gonna be okay? I wouldn't wanna explain to your Dad why you had a heart attack up here."

"I thought I saw you standing?" Ellie said looking down at him.

"Tried that. Didn't work." Jesse said as he reached them.

"Jesse, just stand up. You're not gonna fall." Ellie said shaking her head.

"Unless I push him." Scott grinned.

"Wha...what?" Jesse asked suddenly nervous.

"He's kidding, aren't you?" Ellie placed her arm around Scott's neck.

Scott gave her a sexy grin and nodded, "Yeah, I promise. I can't kill my lighter hook up."

"Oh, so that's the only thing I'm good for..." Jesse shook his head.

"Jess, man you know I wouldn't push you. Well I would...just not off of something you could get killed from. Now stand the fuck up." He said sternly.

Jesse laid there.

"Don't make me, make you!" Scott said very demanding.

"Scott, leave him alone.  He's scared. We're all scared of something." Lanie defended Jesse.

"Lanie...shut the fuck up! Jesse...stand up." Scott said.

"Don't talk to my sister that way." Jesse said standing up strong and quick.

"So that's how to make you stand up." Ellie laughed.

"Not funny." Jesse said.

"Ya know Scott I wish you wouldn't talk to me like that. I never did anything to you for you to hate me all of a sudden." Lanie decided to try being a little more confident like Ellie.

She held her breath and waited for Scott's reply.

"I don't hate YOU Lanie. It's just who I am. You can't take it personally." He said surprisingly soft.

"Well, you never use to be this way." Jesse butted it.

Ellie just watched.

"Things change ok? Don't worry about it. I'll try to be nicer." Scott turned away and quietly looked out at the world.

Ellie gave him a sweet smile.

Lanie walked towards Scott, "So you don't hate me..."

"No..." He mumbled shaking his head.

"Then that means..." she gasped. “ You might actually love me..." Lanie teased.

Scott rolled his eyes and looked at her, "I wouldn't go that far." Of course, he loved her, as a sister. All of them have and still are growing up together, but it wouldn't go as far as admitting it, out loud that is.

"But you like me?" She kept teasing following him as he kept walked away from her.

"I wouldn't say that either." He said rolling his eyes again. He fought a smile.

"So you…" Lanie started again. She placed her arms around his neck gently from behind. She loved to tease Scott when he was in a good mood; they used to do it a lot before he changed.

Scott cut her off, "Lanie, stop it." He laughed shaking his head and moving away from her.

Jesse gasped, "Did...Did you just laugh?" He teased.

Ellie laughed, "Aww, you guys really are like brother and sister." She was an only child but a lot of her friends had siblings and would sometimes see them play fight or tease each other but it was unusual to her for a group of kids that weren't related by DNA to act siblings.

Jesse grinned, "Damned straight. DNA doesn’t matter...you know that right, Scott?" He turned to face Scott.

Scott shrugged, "Sure." He said staring back at the sight of the city.

"What are you looking at?" Ellie asked walking over to him.

Scott shrugged, "Nothing, just...nothing. Hey Jess?" He turned to him.

"Yeah?" Jesse asked.

"You're still standing." Scott smirked.

Jesse looked down at himself, "I guess so."

"I dare you to walk over here." Ellie smiled.

Jesse swallowed.

"Oh come on! You can do it, you stood up didn't you?" Lanie encouraged

"Yeah, cause Scott was being a jerk to you."  Jesse said.

"Don't make me be an ass to her again just to make you move. You need to get past the fear." Scott said.

Jesse sighed, he wanted to move but his legs wouldn't move.

Scott shook his head and walked toward Lanie.

Jesse moved in front of her.

"There you moved. Now move again." Scott said moving around Jesse to Lanie and grabbing her arm.

Jesse moved forward and pushed him away from her, "its not fuckin funny, cut it out! First, Arie. Now Lanie? Why don't you try being nice sooner?" He said in between pushes.

Scott just smirked, while Ellie and Lanie laughed.

"What?!" Jesse asked turning around normally but getting pissed

"You moved...more than once." Ellie pointed out.

Lanie nodded, "You did!"

Jesse thought back and realized he had.

He grinned and walked across the roof.

"This is awesome. I can walk!" He grinned.

"Awe, our little Jesse is growing up." Ellie teased.

"Seems like only Moments ago he could only crawl." Lanie added.

Jesse blushed a bit as Scott smiled.

"As much as I hate to say it, we should probably go back." Scott kicked his foot a little.

“Yeah, with our luck Arie will wanna come visit us in our room soon.” Ellie rolled her eyes.

Jesse began to agree but before he could speak his cell phone rang. "Shh..." He told them all and picked it up. "Hello?

"Hey Jess, Sound check's over and we're on our way back. Actually we're almost at the hotel so make sure you guys are ready for dinner." Nick said

"Sure, Dad." Jesse said trying not to sound nervous. He then hung up. “They’re almost back.”

“That sucks.” Scott dropped his head back a little

“Yeah, this is actually kinda fun.” Jesse nodded.

Just then, Scott noticed a van coming into the hotel and heard screams of young woman and that's when he noticed it was the Backstreet van.

Scott ran over to Lanie and Ellie, "Hey, we gotta move...Dad's are back."

"Shit!" Ellie swore as Scott touched her arm to guide her back toward the roof door.

They all ran back and crawled down the ladder.

They split up once they got back onto the main floor and went off towards their room.

Jesse pulled out the room card and swiped it quickly.

"Remember we gotta make it look like we never left..." Scott's voice trailed off as they entered the room and saw Gabe and the blonde from earlier on the bed, both naked and making the bed rock. For a very brief second the two paused and stared at the girl’s body.

“Scott!” Gabe groaned wanting him to leave.

"Dude! Stop fucking the blond and get her out of here! They're back!" Scott said picking up the girls clothes and throwing them at her even though she hadn't moved off Gabe yet.

"Dude, did you not hear me? Our Dad's are fuckin' back and probably coming to check on us! Get her the fuck out of here!" Scott said now pulling the girl off Gabe.

Normally, he wouldn't care so much but he wasn't gonna get anymore shit that day, especially when it was going to be Gabe's fault.

The girl mumbled something as she put her clothes back on. She looked angry. Once she had enough on, Jesse and Scott threw her and the rest of the clothes out of the room, they turned back to see Gabe just grinning like crazy as he laid on the bed... still naked.

"EW DUDE! Get some fucking clothes on!" Jesse said as he and Scott looked away.

"Alright, Alright..." Gabe muttered putting his clothes back on.

Jesse quickly grabbed his laptop and sat down on his bed. He opened it and pulled it onto his lap.

Scott grabbed a magazine from off the floor near his bed and pretended to be asleep laying it on his chest.

Gabe had his boxers on, his jeans around his ankles and had just grabbed his shirt to put it on as the door to the room swung open

Chapter 7 by JustxOnexKiss

Chapter 7

Across the hall, Ellie quickly opened her bottle of nail polish and began to paint a new coat on her pinky as if she were finishing up.

Lanie grabbed her hair brush and moved into the bathroom.

"Girls?" AJ's voice called from the front door.

"Yes Daddy?" Ellie called letting him know it was safe to come into the room.

"You guys ready to eat?" He asked looking in at Lanie.

"Yep." They both smiled and moved toward them.

He shortly gave them a strange look but shrugged it off and moved into the hall with them to wait on the boys and the other Dads.

 "Gabriel, what are you doing?" He heard his father’s voice ask.

Scott held his breath. He didn't know how Gabe looked at the Moment but he prayed it was enough to keep them out of trouble.

"Uhh, getting dressed..." Gabe said trying to act as if he hadn't just had the most amazing sex of his life.

 "Why are you getting dressed out here?" Howie sounded unsure.

"You boys weren't doing anything, were you?" Nick asked sounding concerned.

 "EW! Dad, that's just nasty." Jesse said shaking his head and closing his laptop.

 Gabe nodded, "Agreed. I just finished having a shower, so I put my boxers on and came back out for my clothes. We're all guys, there's nothing wrong with just being in your boxers if you’re about to get dressed." He explained off the top of his head.

 "We've changed in front of each other before." Brian commented from behind them.

Howie and Nick nodded.

 "Why isn't Scott awake?" Howie asked.

 "Jesse I told you to make sure everyone was getting ready." Nick warned.

 "I'm not waking him up. Are you crazy?" Jesse replied.

 "We like our faces arranged this way." Gabe said pointing to his face.

Brian sighed, shook his head, and moved over to Scott's bed.

"Good luck..." Jesse said standing up and walking over towards the others.

Gabe pulled up his jeans, buttoned them, and walked over to the others, which was also where his shoes had landed.

 Brian gently shook Scott making Scott who was pretending to sleep pretending to jump and almost whack Brian in the face.

 Brian stumbled back a bit.

"We warned you..." Gabe said shaking his head as he tied his shoes.

 "What the fu...Dad, what the hell? I was asleep!" Scott said pretending to pissed.

"Don't talk like that! And we're going for dinner now. So get up and let's go." Brian said walking back towards the others.

 Scott groaned and moved off the bed and followed everyone back out the elevators.

 Gabe was grinning like a maniac.

 "Gabe, stop grinning like that, someone's bound to figure something's up." Ellie whispered to him.

 "I had the single most amazing sex in my fucking life. How can I not be happy about that?" He whispered back.

 “Be happy without looking happy. It’s easier than you think.” She rolled her eyes as his got a little wider.

Gabe could not help himself but to briefly look Ellie up and down before thinking about his recent score again.

They all climbed onto the elevator and a few seconds later, Arie looked over at Gabe and asked, "Why are you so happy?"

 Ellie sighed, "That's why I told you not to act so happy, you dumbass." She whispered to Gabe.

 "Shut up, Arie. No one cares." Gabe said shaking his head.

 "But you're never this happy..." Arie said confused.

 "She's right..." Leigh said as the doors opened and they all walked out.

"Of course she is..." Ellie mumbled annoyed.

 "Yeah, what's with you, Gabe? You’re always so annoyed to be on tour because you have hang out with us a lot...I don't think I've ever seen you this happy while on tour." AJ commented.

 "That's true..." Nick agreed nodding his head.

Howie nodded too, "They have a point son."

 Gabe shrugged, "I'm happy that I don't have sit in a boring classroom all day long anymore, that's it!"

 Everyone's attention was now on Gabe.

 Arie opened her mouth to say something when Scott shot her a look saying to be quiet.

 Since it was Scott she listened and kept it closed.

 "That makes sense..." Brian said.

 "Of course it does! We're older...then last time, we may not like having to hang with our parents but at least we're not in school." Lanie spoke up.

 Once they got to where try were eating conversation of the kids acting and looking strange died down.

 The kids took a table to themselves and the adults took one to themselves. After informing her father of how good she had been for her Mom that afternoon Arie was told she too could sit with the other kids.

 "Do not sit by me." Gabe told her not wanting her to spoil his good mood.

 She looked at Lanie who was busy talking and giggling with Ellie who shot her a mean, sideways look telling her not to go near her.

 Jesse was busy on his phone and never noticed her.

 Scott looked at her, he kind of felt bad for her but he didn't wanna give her any ideas so he looked down at the menu.

Arie sighed sadly and she took a spot at the end of the table not near anyone. She just wanted to fit in, she understood that Scott was right and that she was really different than the older ones and a lot younger too but she just wanted to fit in, she wanted someone to talk to, she had Lanie before but ever since Ellie came Lanie barely acknowledged her anymore. She felt tears come to her eyes the more she thought of it but she wouldn't dare cry in front of the older kids.

 Jesse looked up from his phone and noticed Arie sitting by herself, she kind of reminded him of when Lanie first came to live with them and when she came on tour for the first time. She had been the only girl and the boys weren't very nice or accepting of her, besides himself of course. He felt bad for her; she looked like she was ready to cry. He sighed, 'I know I'm gonna regret this...'

 He had a spot beside him free, since he had Gabe beside him and then Scott beside Gabe then the other two girls across the table. "Hey Arie, come sit with me." Jesse smiled at her.

 Arie's head shot up, "Re-really? Because if this is just a joke..."

 Jesse shook his head, "No joke. Come sit beside me."

 Ellie shook her head. She had no idea how anyone could be nice to such an annoying little girl especially ones like Arie.

 Scott smiled inside; Arie had a really bad day, mostly because of him, which he did feel bad about.

 Lanie grinned, "So Little Sister, looks like your day hasn't been all bad right?"

 Arie grinned back and nodded as she sat beside Jesse, "Yeah, not totally bad."

 Lanie gave Arie a look.

 "What?" Arie asked.

 "You just said, 'Totally' ...I don't think I've heard you say it before." Lanie said surprised.

 Arie shrugged, "I decided that I should probably dumb stuff down for you guys."

 Scott softly chuckled. She was actually taking his advice and it was kind of funny.

 Ellie looked at him, "How is that funny? She just basically called us stupid."

 Scott added, "Because to her, we are."

 Jesse nodded, "It's a little funny...it's just...you don't know her like we do. She lives on being smarter than us and showing it." He then turned to Arie, "I'd really just like to see how long you can last."

 Arie smiled, "I can last for a very long time."

 Lanie laughed, "Sure ya can."

 "So, Gabe...why are you so happy?" Arie asked making the others laugh.

 "What?" she asked

 "He met a girl." Jesse smirked.

 "So? He meets girls every day." Arie said confused.

 "This was different." Jesse tried to explain, he knew she had the talk because the older kids had a 'refresher' talk when it was Arie's turn to learn about the 'Bird & Bees.'

 "How?" Arie asked

 "It just was..." Jesse said pausing.

 "He really liked her, that’s all." Scott added.

 The older ones laughed.

 "Why can't you just tell me?" Arie asked

 "Because you'll get grossed out and go tell Mommy and Daddy." Ellie said laughing.

 "No, I won't! I won't tell!" Arie protested.

 "You may not tell....but you'll be grossed out I know me and Scott were." Jesse said shivering at the memory.

Arie sighed, "I never get told anything."

 Jesse sighed, 'She asked for it...maybe if I tell her she won't wanna know anything ever again...'

 He nodded, "Remember you asked for it." He bent down and whispered in her ear.

 Her eyes went big, "I wish I never asked." she said as Jesse sat back up.

 The others laughed.

 Soon enough, they gave their order, ate and went back upstairs tomorrow was going to be another day in another city.

 When they reached their rooms, Arie paused and ran over to Jesse and gave him a quick hug, "Thank you." She whispered.

 He hugged her back, "You're welcome." He smiled down at her. Sure, she was annoying and she got on everyone's nerves at times but she was the youngest trying to belong, like Lanie was when she first came. So he took mercy on her.

 She ran back to her Mom who was waiting for her.

 "What was that about?" Gabe asked walking back into their room.

 "She wanted to thank me." He said walking over to his laptop.

"For letting her sit by you? Awe, that’s so cute." Gabe teased.

 Jesse rolled his eyes.

"Yo Jess." Scott said pulling out a cigarette.

Jesse shook his head and tossed a lighter to him.

Scott lit up and took a long drag. It had been a long day.

As Gabe lay on his bed and fantasied about his girl from before, Jesse looked through profile after profile on Facebook. Deep inside him, he hoped tonight would be the night he found her... His Mom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Across the hall, Ellie and Lanie picked out a movie on TV to rent and got comfortable on one bed.

The movie was called thirteen and about a young girl discovering herself through experimentation brought on by her wild best friend.

As the girls watched the movie, they casually chatted about things in the movie.

"So you've actually smoked weed before?" Lanie asked Ellie.

"Just twice. My Mom caught me the second. She promised not to tell Dad but instead told him that a kid from my circle of friends got caught with some and told him to give me the lecture." Ellie explained with an eye roll.

"I don't think I ever could. My Mom..." She trailed off.

Ellie looked at her concernedly. She wanted to ask questions but was unsure if now was the time.

Lanie could see the questions in her eyes, "She chose drugs over me." She explained simply. "Back when I was little." She added.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Ellie told her.

"It's ok. She went to jail and Nick took custody and that's the last I heard from her. My Uncle Aaron stays in contact with her and sometimes tells me about her but she never talks to me." Lanie was unsure why she suddenly felt comfortable enough to open up.

"So why don't you talk to her?" Ellie asked.

"I dunno. I guess I just feel like if she wanted to be a part of my life she would have tried a long time ago."

"People can change though Lanie. Look at my Dad." Ellie softly told her and gave a half smile.

Lanie just nodded and they both turned back to the movie.

Over in the boys room Scott was now sitting on his bed leaned against the wall with a notebook and pen. Jesse still sat on his laptop and Gabe was sleeping.

"Yes!" Jesse softly shouted out making Scott jump.

"What's your deal?" Scott asked a little upset Jesse had startled him.

"Uh, I just found someone I've been looking for." Jesse had a smile plastered on his face. "Uh, what are you doing?" He asked trying to calm down and make small talk.

"Oh I'm uh... just doodling." He didn't sound so sure.

"You doodled a lot. Ever gonna show off any of it?" Jesse had seen the same notebook many times before.

"No!" He shouted.

"Oh, sorry I asked." Jesse said and turned back to his laptop. He smiled again looking over the woman's profile. He looked over her photos. Emotions began to mix within him when he saw she was married with a son and daughter. He had half siblings. Seeing this made him fear contacting her but he knew he needed to for his own peace of mind.

Slowly he clicked on the message button and began to type a message to her. He took his time making it nice and long and from the heart. He told her a bit about himself and his life. He talked about how he had always wondered about her and ended with a desperate plea to let him get to know her and be a part of her life.

Back a crossed the hall Lanie and Ellie were watching their movie. Lanie was lying down on the bed with her head propped up on a pillow and Ellie sat almost behind her playing with her hair. As the two girls in the movie kissed Lanie's eyes got a bit large. Ellie noticed and couldn't help but smile.

"Have you ever actually done that?" Lanie asked looking up toward Ellie but almost not moving her head

"Yeah, I've done pretty much everything with girls." Ellie told her.

"What about boys?" Lanie looked at her a bit more.

"I've given head and let a guy touch my breast but nothing else." She told her pulling out a braid she had loosely done in Lanie's hair. "How far have you gone?" Ellie asked her.

"I’ve done everything but sex with guys." Lanie told her sitting up a bit.

"Ever done anything with a girl?" Ellie wondered innocently.

"No, I've always kinda been told that being with the same sex was wrong." Lanie admitted.

"I know what you're saying but I assure you... it's not wrong." Ellie smiled.

Lanie didn't look so sure.

"Here, let me show you." Ellie almost whispered. She slowly leaned forward and brushed a loose strand of hair out of Lanie's face. She then place a hand softly on the back of Lanie's neck and let her fingers snake into her hair a bit.

Lanie's heart raced with a mix of nervousness and anticipation as Ellie leaned in slowly and closed her eyes. Just as their lips touched, Lanie let her eye's close.

A sudden rush of firework seemed to explode inside Lanie. Much to her surprise she loved how soft, and tender Ellie's lips felt on hers.

Ellie pulled away and opened her eyes as did Lanie but she stayed close and stayed touching her, "See, did that feel wrong to you?"

Lanie almost couldn't move. It hadn't felt bad at all. In fact, it felt wonderful and it left her desiring more. Finally, Lanie just shook her head 'no' slightly, as she continued to stare deeply into Ellie's eye's that twinkled with each flicker of the TV.

Chapter 8 by JustxOnexKiss

Chapter 8
The Next Day
Madrid, Spain.

Everyone had just arrived to their new hotel, and was waiting for Jen to come back with the hotel room keys.

Everyone was unusually quiet. In fact they had been all day. Each kid seemed to be locked inside their own world.

Lanie could not stop going back to last night when she and Ellie kissed. It had felt so wrong and yet so right. She found herself wanting more despite the fact she had always been told it was wrong to do those things with someone of the same sex as you. All of this was confusing and she was just focused on trying to sort it all out.

Ellie's thoughts however were actually not on the kiss from last night but more on her Dad. She had kissed quite a few other girls before making last night nothing overly special. Something else was bugging her. She had noticed that all the guys and their wives helped each other with the others kids. It was all weird to her. What was even weirder for her was how Scott didn't think twice about crossing AJ when he told him to go find Arie the other day.

Jesse had been thinking about his Mom. He wanted to know what her reply would say. He was so excited to hear and learn everything about her and to see what she'd be willing to tell him but he was really nervous too. Part of him deeply feared her rejecting him as she had done before. He refused to believe she hadn't changed but the idea was still haunting.

Gabe... well Gabe couldn't get his mind off of the hot girl that rode him like a bull the night before.  He was slowly become an addict and he liked it. What was there not to like about sex? He couldn't wait to find another girl to bang and was more than determined to do so.

Scott was in a much deeper place. It seemed as though he had been buried deep in his notebook all day. Just recently he had been feeling much more emotional than normal. Normally his cigarettes took the edge off things but it was starting to not work again. He had gone through this once before during the last backstreet tour. He had ended up turning a crewmember for something a little stronger. At this Moment in time, he was debating on doing it once more.

Arie was focused on Scott. She couldn't help but want to get closer to him. Deep down he really was a good guy. The hard persona he often showed was just a cover and she knew it. She just wasn't sure what he was hiding. She figured his notebook would more than likely revile a lot. She was sure he was writing and not doodling as he claimed. Whatever information those words held was the key. If only she had that key she could... or she thought she could bond with him. In her young girl fantasy land bonding with Scott was the ultimate prize.

"So, uh, Dad... do Gabe and I get our own room again? Scott, he and I did good together last stop." Jesse seemed to plead with his Dad.

"I have no problem with that. You've given me no reason not to trust you so far." Howie told Gabe.

Nick nodded, "Agreed. Brian, what about Scott?"

"I think he proved himself." Leighanne softly told her husband.

Brian took a deep breath slowly.

"Come on..." Scott looked hopeful at his Dad.

Lanie couldn't help but roll her eyes. She knew the only reason Scott wanted to be with Jesse and Gabe was because it would allow him to be free and do whatever he wanted.

"Alright, but your mother and I are trusting you Scott." Brian gave him a warning glare.

"We get our own rooms again too right?" Ellie looked at her Dad with a slightly defiant stance.

AJ couldn't help but shake his head; she was so much like him that it often scared him. "Nicky, you cool with trust our girls again?" AJ asked.

Nick looked at Lanie who gave him a sweet innocent smile. "Yeah, Lanie knows what'll happen if she screws up. Don't you?"

"Yes..." She rolled her eyes.

"Alright then, but you two are next to me again." AJ caved also.

Arie instantly looked up at her father. It took him a Moment to even catch the fact she was asking for something.

Ellie and Lanie saw instantly. They looked at each other nervously then backed to Arie. Mentally they crossed their fingers.

Howie looked to Leigh.

Leigh sighed, "Well...we are staying tonight and tomorrow night before we leave for the UK and you've been really good even though you had a bad start to the tour..." She said trying to decide but before she could go on she was cut off by Scott.

"Oh my GOD! Do you have to KEEP bringing that shit up?! I said was sorry. Jesus." He said annoyed and pissed off.

"Scott!" All the parents yelled.

The other kids, expect Ellie, looked at Scott with shock. They knew he was like that but he normally was good in front of the parents.

Brian and Leighanne weren't sure what to say. But AJ did, "Scott..." He started slow.

Scott wasn't paying attention; he was trying to show he wasn't scared of AJ even though he knew he should be it wasn't anything bad like getting  the crap beaten out of him or something like that. It's just when you didn't listen to AJ the punishment was severe and not worth anything.

AJ grabbed his upper arm hard and moved him away from the group a bit. Scott jerked away from him as they stopped.

"I'm sick of your fuckin shit, and treating your parents like crap and all your fuckin’ cussing." AJ started getting more pissed by the second

"You're cussing right now..." Scott pointed out.

"That's because you're pissing me off." AJ replied.

"Well when you guys keep ripping on me for making Arie cry, you PISS ME OFF!" 'I feel bad enough' He added silently.

"Listen...” AJ said trying to calm down. "I'm sure it pisses you off but you do not... and I repeat DO NOT go off like that again, especially in front your parents and the rest of us. It's disrespectful and I WILL NOT stand for it."

Scott just looked at him strange.

"Look, I'm not gonna ask what's gotten into you the last couple of years or so. But seriously if you do not wanna be attached to the hip to your parents or one of us and that means sharing a room with your parents or one of us too then you need to smarten up or we will take away your freedom. Is that understood?" He asked towering over him.

When the boys starting having kids, they all agreed that they'd help with the parenting especially if they couldn't get through to their own kid.

Scott had always listened more to AJ than his own parents, which is why Brian and Leighanne allowed AJ to take over the parenting for a few minutes.

Scott swallowed; he knew his uncle wouldn't psychically hurt him. Yet, when AJ was towered over him like this, he felt like a small child again.

"Well?" AJ when Scott didn't answer.

Scott looked away and nodded.

"Say the words."

"I understand." Scott said the words coming out softer than expected.

"Good. Oh and I dunno why you really need a lighter but when I figure it out your grandkid will feel me kick your ass so you might wanna chill." AJ said then turned and rejoined the group. "You were saying Leigh?"

Leigh smiled, "Thank you..." She looked at Howie who nodded then down at Arie. "We can try it for tonight only."

Arie grinned, "Thank you, Mom!"

Instantly groans came from Lanie and Ellie. Nick shot Lanie a warning glare and Ellie looked to AJ with a very pissed off face.

"Nicky." AJ said walking toward him and pushing him away from the group.

"We can't make them put up with her." AJ softly told him.

"Why not? She's a girl and just wants to be more like them and besides, it’s for tonight only." Nick folded his arms. He had no idea how AJ of all people could be taking their side.

"Nick, putting them with Arabella is like the time your Mom made us let Aaron bunk with you and I back when BSB was first starting." AJ explained. It was the worst having to deal with him.

"But Aaron was much younger then Bella. Besides Alaina knows she can't always have what she wants and it's not fair to Bella. She can't help what age she is. I don't get it. Why are you fighting for their side? With Scott you put your foot down and that's that."

AJ sighed, “It’s just for tonight only right?”

Nick nodded, “Right. And if they decide for it to become a regular thing, then we can ask Howie and Leigh that we allow the older girls some time alone, but for now let’s just see how tonight goes?”

AJ laughed a bit and nodded as they began to rejoin the group but Ellie stopped them, "You can't really be making me bunk with her. It would be worse than Chinese water torture."

"Ellie you don't even know her." Nick argued.

"Excuse me; I was talking to my Dad." She said a little rude looking at Nick then turned to AJ.

“Ellie, it’ll all be fine I’m sure.” AJ tried to reassure her with a hint of warning in his voice.

She adjusted the sunglasses on her head and then placed her hands on her hips, “This is stupid. Last time she was too young and this time they’re gonna try it?”

“Maybe Howie and Leigh talked about it between then and now.” AJ offered.

“We promise you girls will have time without her no matter what.” Nick told her.

“I really think there should be something in this for me.” Ellie looked to her Dad ignoring Nick.

“Like?” AJ asked her making Nick look at him strange. He couldn’t help but question AJ’s judgment.

Ellie gave AJ a slightly boastful grin as she lifted her shirt slightly and pinched the top of her belly button.

“Fine… if you behave during Bella’s stay with you.”

“Deal.” She shifted her hips and walked away.

Nick gave AJ a disapproving look, “Really Dawg?”

“What? There’s nothing wrong with rewarding good behavior.” AJ told Nick.

“That attitude was not good behavior AJ. She’s walking all over you and you need to stop it before there are so many footprints that you look black.” Nick tried to warn.

“Is everything alright?” Howie asked joining the two men.

“Yeah man, the girls just want alone time. You know the whole age gap thing.” AJ played it off as if everything was good.

“Yeah, I understand but Leigh and I just really need a little time alone.” Howie tried to make his reasoning discreet.

“OH… uh… yeah D, no worries. The girls will survive a night here or there so you two Latin lovers can have adult time.” Nick finished with a cheesy grin.

AJ laughed when Howie’s face flushed a little.

“Room keys!” They heard Jenn’s voice and walked back to their group silently.

As the keys were passed out, Howie went over a few rules with Arabella that he hoped would make her stay with the girls easier for them.

“I’ll be good Daddy. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to prove I’m worthy of your trust. I love you.” She hugged him and ran to catch up with the older girls.

“Tonight?” Howie heard his wife’s voice behind him and her arms around his waist from behind.

“Yeah, tonight.” He told her grabbing a hand and kissing the back of it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile as Brian and Leighanne rode an elevator to their floor Brian seemed agitated.

“Baby, you need to relax. You’re making yourself sick.” Leighanne told her husband.

“Leighanne stop telling me to relax. I’m worried about our son and I have every right to be. He’s spinning out of control. I can’t believe you don’t see that.” Brian’s voice was raised but not yelling.

“Brian, I see that something has gotten into him but I trust that God is gonna take care of our boy and see him through whatever phase this is. He isn’t doing anything outrageous. Just being a little defiant.

Brian nodded but didn’t say anything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While Nick was on his laptop in the comfort of his hotel room when his cell rang, he answered it without looking at the Caller ID, “’Yellow?” Nick said half listening. He was editing and mixing music tracks he had made up a while ago.

“Nick, we gotta talk!” Aaron’s voice came from the other end of the phone.

Nick sighed, “If it’s about BJ then I really don’t give a fuck.”

“Nick! Alaina IS her daughter; I think she has the right to see her…” Aaron tried to explain.

“NO! Aaron, BJ’s right’s got taken away by the courts. BJ has NO fuckin right to MY daughter.” Nick said as he felt his anger rise.

“What if Lanie wants to see her too? Maybe they should meet and talk, that’s all BJ wants anyway, Please Nick!” Aaron said quickly before Nick had another chance to speak.

Nick shook his head even though Aaron couldn’t see, “I don’t care…”

“Nicky, you aren’t being fair.” Aaron complained.

“I’m not being fair?” Nick almost laughed. “What’s not fair Aaron is the fact I had to break her heart and watch her cry every night for almost 3 months when she was four each time she would ask if she’d get to see her Mom tomorrow.”

Aaron stayed quiet.

“Look Aaron. I’m sorry but I won’t allow BJ to hurt her. She’s hurt her enough. I’m always here for you though. Alright?”

“Yeah, just try to reconsider ok? Maybe think about you talking to her and seeing how different she is yourself.”

“I won’t change my mind Aaron but fine… if it makes you feel better I’ll think about it.” Nick calmly told him.

“Thanks. I uh… I’ll let you go now alright?”

“Yeah, later AC.” Nick said and hung up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile AJ was watching TV in his room. He was enjoying the down time but couldn’t get his mind off his daughter. He was excited yet anxious to see how all this legal stuff turned out.

Just as his eyes were about to shut due to sleepiness his phone rang. It was his lawyer. “Hello?” He said answering it.

“Hello Alex, I just need to know how much custody you want to push for.”

“Oh, well I… I’d like to push for as much as possible without taking her completely away from Rochelle. I’m a bigger person than her.” AJ nodded to himself.

“So how about we ask for full legal and physical custody with her having visitation?” He questioned.

“Sounds great.” AJ agreed breathing deeply.

“Alright then I’ll get working on that and get back to you.” He quickly replied.

“Thank you, bye.” He then hung up and relaxed into the bed. He took a deep breath and slowly allowed his tired eyes to shut.

Chapter 9 by JustxOnexKiss

Chapter 9

In the boys room Jesse was waiting for his laptop to get turned on while Gabe was flipping through the channels on TV.

“I need a cell phone.” Scott said walking out of the bathroom.

“Why?” Gabe asked.

“Because I have a call to make and my parents still have my cell phone.” Scott explained.

“No porn lines.” Jesse said tossing him the phone. He only briefly tore his eyes away from the screen to do so.

“Thanks Jess.” He said going out onto to balcony area for privacy.

He took a deep breath as he stared at the phone. He wasn’t sure if he should really do this or not. He knew he shouldn’t but… he had before. He just didn’t want to get caught. The lighter would look like nothing compared to this.

Recently his deeper thoughts and emotions had been intensifying. He needed desperately to make it go away.

Nodding slowly sure he wanted to go through with this he dialed the number and hit send. Slowly he placed the phone up to his ear and waited for an answer.

“It’s Kyle.” A young adult voice spoke into the phone.

“Kyle, its Scott.” He said shoving a hand into his pocket.

“Looking for a hook up?” He asked Scott.

“Yeah, got anything good?” He glanced back into the hotel room through the glass then turned away again.

“Yeah man, how much you wanting?” He laughed a little.

“However much fifty will buy me. Can you have it ready by the end of meet and greet?” Scott wondered pulling his hand from his pocket and resting it on the railing.

“Yeah, shouldn’t be a problem. There’s a bathroom back by the main security office. I’ll meet you there right after.”

“Thanks see you then.” He said and hung up. He quickly erased the number from Jesse’s call log and went back into the room.

“Where’d Gabe go?” Scott asked handing Jesse his cell.

“Lady catching… where else?” Jesse laughed and Scott shook his head. “I warned him I wouldn’t cover if Uncle D came looking.”

“Uncle Howie won’t be coming around anytime soon. He and Aunt Leigh have an empty hotel room.”

“Oh yeah, I wonder how the girls are holding up with Arabella.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Why do I have to take the roll away?” Arie complained across the hall in the girls’ room.

“Because Alaina and I are older than you.” Ellie harshly told her.

“Arie quit your complaining it’s just for tonight.” Lanie added.

“Thank God.” Ellie said sitting on the bed.

Arie rolled her eyes, “Fine, so what are we going to do?” She asked perking up.

Ellie sighed, “This is going to be one long night…”

“Let’s do something fun like paint our nails.” Arie offered up an idea.

“Done.” Lanie said showing of her painted nail polish.

“I wouldn’t let you paint mine with a ten foot pole.” Ellie harshly told the young girl.

“You don’t have to be so…” Arie paused to search for a dumbed down version of the word she wanted to use. “Rude.” She finished.

“Arabella, forcing your way into a room where you know you aren’t wanted is what’s rude.” Ellie replied.

“Lanie, you don’t mind me being here do you?” She asked with almost puppy dog eyes.

“Bella you know I love you like a sister but I’ve been dying for a girl my own age to hang with for a while. I honestly would have liked some more time alone with her.” Lanie tried not to be overly rude.

“Well that’s too bad. I’m here now.”

“Oh my God, Lanie, I need to go for a walk before I lose the belly button ring my Dad promised me for putting up with her.” Ellie said moving toward the door.

“Alright.” Lanie told her and watched her leave.

Ellie took a deep breath as she moved down the hall toward her Dad’s room. She decided she’s grab a little cash from him to go get some candy from the front desk. She knocked on the door and waited for it to open.

“Ellie? Is everything ok?” AJ quickly asked opening the door. He looked sleepy.

“Yeah, I just want some candy from the lobby.” She explained.

“Oh, uh, ok… here…” He said grabbing cash from his wallet. “Get whatever you want alright baby?”

“Thank you Daddy.” She took the five dollar bill and hugged him.

“You’re welcome.” He called as she began to walk away. “Oh Ellie!” He called stopping her.

“That skirts almost too short.” He said.

She tugged down on the black lace skirt that she had positioned up near her belly button. Her longer white tank top hid the fact that it now hung around her lower hips. “Better?” She asked him.

“Yes, thank you.” He said and went back into his room.

She rolled her eyes and pulled her skirt back up as she stepped onto the elevator. Once at the main floor she looked over the candy options at the front desk and decided on a blow pop sucker. She paid for it and removed the wrapper before turning to go back upstairs.

“Ellie!” She heard Gabe call as he walked away from three girls.

“Oh hey Gabe, What are doing down here?” She casually asked.

“Just chillin with the ladies.” He smiled. “You?” He asked taking note of her amazingly flawless legs.

“Getting away from your sister.” Ellie rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, sorry. You headed back up?” He asked.

She nodded.

“Me too.” He smiled and pointed toward the elevator.

She knew he was checking her out. It was beyond obvious so she decided to give him a bit of a show and let her hips move sensually from left to right as she walked ahead of him.

“You uh, you look great in that outfit.” He told her as they stepped onto the elevator.

“Thanks.” She gave him a grin and played with her hair a bit. She found it almost amusing how flirtatious he was being.

“You’re welcome.” He grinned moving toward her slowly.

She took a few steps toward him playing into him a little.

“If you’d put a little gel in that hair and spike it just a bit you’d probably get even more girls.” She softly said running a hand through his hair as her chest lightly pressed against his upper body.

He locked eyes with her and began to lean in and close his eyes.

Ellie just barely allowed her lips to graze against his before pulling away. As if on cue the doors to the elevator slid open. “Bye Gabe.” She giggled a bit a walked away to her room leaving him stunned by her ‘player’ skills.

Walking back into the room she shared with Lanie and Arie she sat her sucker down on top of the mini fridge in the hall just before the room opened up to where the beds and things were. She then moved back down the hall toward the front door and grabbed the bathroom door. Quickly without thinking she pulled it open and stepping in.

As she turned around to look at the rest of the bathroom she came face to face with Lanie who had also just spun around. Her eyes widened a little as the hands on her low-rise jean zipper froze.

Lanie gasped jumping back; she was getting ready to get a shower and already had her top and bra off. She noticed Ellie staring at her for a Moment before quickly turning around, “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were in here…” Ellie stammered, she had never seen a girl that looked so beautiful topless.

Lanie couldn’t really understand what was happening or why it was happening for that rather, but she felt turned on when Ellie stared at her even though it was only for a Moment, but it was long enough to get turned on and be confused about it.

"I uh... It's... It's ok." Lanie softly said. There was an obvious hint of confusion in her voice.

Ellie wanted to turn around. She wanted to look again as Alaina was beyond gorgeous. She swallowed hard knowing she couldn't. "No Lanie, I should have been paying more attention. I really am sorry." She corrected.

Ever so slowly, Lanie reached out a hand and placed it on Ellie's shoulder.

Ellie did not turn around but she did look at the hand.

"It's ok, Ellie."

Ellie took a deep breath and nodded the silently left the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile Gabe walked into the boys’ room still a bit dazed from Ellie.

"What's wrong with you?" Scott asked his closed notebook sitting beside him as he lit up a cigarette in his hand.

"Ellie." He said.

"Ellie?" Jesse questioned.

"Yeah, ran into her down stairs... Girl is smoking hot in that short little skirt." He grinned a little, mentally picturing her ass.

Jesse chuckled and just shook his head.

Scott however smiled a little. He knew what Gabe was talking about, he had noticed earlier.

"I uh... I'm gonna take a shower." Gabe began to walk toward the bathroom.

"Cold shower?" Scott teased.

"Ice cold." Gabe replied.

Jesse on the other hand was too busy logging into his Facebook account to pay attention to the conversation, he grinned when he saw he had a new message and that it was from her, his Mom.

Quickly he clicked on it to see what she had said in return.

Dear Jesse,

   I'm flattered that you think enough about me to want to contact me. From what you say it's sounds like Nick has done a great job raising you. You've turned about to be a fine looking young man. Know that I am proud of you Jesse but... I gave you up for a reason. I was not at a place in my life that I could care for you. There just wasn't enough room. I’m sorry but there still isn't any room for you. I have a husband and kids now. I could never explain you to them. I know this will hurt you but I must think of my family and myself. Sorry Jesse.

Your Mom,

 P.s. Please do not contact me anymore.

Jesse's face dropped as he swallowed a forming lump in his through. 

He slammed his laptop closed startling Scott and stood. "Cover for me." he told Scott and almost ran from the room.

Once alone in the stairwell he sat on a step and cried.

His heart was in pain, he couldn’t think straight all he ever wanted to was to get to know her and be a part of her life, he didn’t think it’d be too much to ask, was it too much? He didn’t know anymore and he didn’t care all he knew that his mother never wanted him when he was born, and never will now that he’s older. He didn’t fit into her lifestyle or her ‘new’ family. However, what hurt the most was that she didn’t want to ‘explain’ as she put it to her family. What hurt the most was that she was ashamed of him and couldn’t bear anyone in her new life to know about him. ‘I should’ve known better than to try and contact her, I should’ve just stayed away like Dad told me to!’ Jesse ran his hand through his hair as tears streamed down his eyes.

Just then the door opened making him jump and almost falling down the stairs if he didn’t catch himself, he quickly wiped his eyes, looked up, and saw Arie. He sighed, ‘Great... as if this night couldn’t get any worse…’

Arie looked at Jesse, it’d looked like he’d been crying well actually it was kind of obvious by his blood shot eyes, “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” Arie asked him concerned.

“Nothing, I’m fine and I wasn’t crying.” He said sharply.

“Uh, It’s a bit…” she paused searching for the dumbed down word, she really needed to get better and faster at dumbing things down. “ Obvious.”

“Well I wasn’t. What are you doing out by yourself anyways?” he asked trying to keep himself off topic

“You look like you’ve been crying your eyes are bloodshot and swollen, unless you’ve been drugs then it’s the signs that you’ve been crying and Ellie was being mean to me so I was gonna go for a walk around the hotel, wanna come? We can talk about whatever it disturbing you.” She explained.

“No.” Jesse replied looking away from her.

“Okay.” She said sitting beside him.

Jesse shook his head, he needed to be alone and not with some annoying little girl.

“What are you doing?” Jesse asked

“Sitting, silly!” Arie said shaking her head.

Jesse rolled his eyes, “Obviously. But why are you sitting, Ms. Know-it-all?”

Arie tried to ignore Jesse’s comment even though he had kind of hurt coming from him; normally she didn’t let it affect her so much what the older kids said about her but Jesse had always showed her kindness even in his teasing he was kind to her. “Sometimes it’s just nice to sit in silence with someone.” She replied.

“Well…A, we’re not silent and B, leave me the fuck alone.” Jesse said harshly.

Arie opened her mouth to say something but Jesse cut her off, “NO! I mean it! FUCK OFF! Just fuck! Go away, you annoying little brat! Just LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!” He yelled.

Tears sprung to Arie’s eyes, she couldn’t understand why he was acting this way, why he was acting like Scott so suddenly.

“JUST GO!” He yelled pointing at the door.

Arie stood up with tears streaming down her face, Jesse was the nice one out of the guys, no matter what he was always kind hearted towards her. Now, he was being so bitter towards her, she didn’t understand it. She ran out the door as more tears fell.

Jesse sighed and ran his hands through his hair, he knew he shouldn’t have been so mean towards Arie but he wanted to be alone and it was going to take forever for her to understand that and he didn’t have that kind of time not when all he wanted to do was just cry. And he wasn’t about to have a heart to heart about his Mom with Arie either or anyone for that matter. It’d be best if he just didn’t talk to anyone about it or even tell anyone what had happened.

This story archived at http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=10634