I awoke the next morning to the sound of the keycard in the door and Amelia stubbing her toe on the leg of my bed, which was the one closest to the door. “Ouch!” she yelped. I sat up to find her literally jumping up and down on one foot and grasping the other.

“You okay?” I asked as I stretched and yawned. Kevin had left around 4 AM and according to the alarm clock on the nightstand it was now only 6:45. I could only hope to be exhausted enough to get some shut-eye on the bus. Sleeping in moving vehicles had never come easy for me.

“I’m fine. What are you doing still in bed?” Amelia asked. She winced as she placed the injured foot back on the floor.

“Um, sleeping.” I sat up and grabbed my glasses from the nightstand, pausing to wipe a smudge off with my t-shirt before placing them atop my nose.

“Oh.” She placed her hands behind her back and rocked back and forth on her heels. She bit her bottom lip as her dark brown eyes danced in amusement.

“What?” I rolled my eyes and eased out of bed.

“Mel saw a certain green-eyed hottie leaving your room last night!” She exclaimed quickly. “What were you two doing?” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“Talking.” I trudged to the suitcase laying open by the dresser that Kevin had packed neatly as we talked.           

“Oh really?”

“Yes, really.” I said seriously as I looked purposefully at her before shrugging my purple camisole off and putting on a t-shirt.

“Oh.” She frowned slightly and turned to her own suitcase, then shimmied out of her black strapless dress. “Did you two also pack suitcases?”

“Yes, obviously. Why are you in your dress from the club last night?”

“You are so weird. The Kevin Richardson comes to your hotel room, and you fold dirty laundry with him?”

“Well some of it was clean.” I insisted. “You didn’t answer my question. Why are you in your dress from last night?”

“No reason.” She shrugged, blushing, as she turned her back to me so she could change out of her strapless bra into a sports bra.

“I figured you ended up staying with Chrissy last night.”

“I um...did.” She gulped and looked down at her feet as she slipped them into the legs of a pair of gray yoga pants.

“Liar.” I grasped her upper arm and spun her around so that she was facing me again.

“Amelia Michelle, what did you do?” I demanded. She clamped a hand over her mouth and shook her head back and forth furiously. I grabbed her wrist and pulled it away. “What did you do?” I asked again, this time with a little more fervor.

            She clapped her hand back over her mouth, her eyes wide, but happy. “IhadsexwithAJ.” She uncovered her mouth, said it with a gasp, and slapped her hand back in place.

           “You did what???” My eyes widened in horror and she could only grin and blush. “Wasn’t that.....your first time?” I whispered, leaning closer to her.

“Yeah.” She shrugged and zipped her suitcase. She sat it upright and tugged the handle toward her, turning it around so that she could roll it out into the hallway.

           “Whoa whoa whoa. Hold on a minute here.” I scampered after her and twirled her around to face me. “I ask you if it was your first time and the only thing you have for me is a shrug and a ‘yeah’?” I hissed.

“Well, what else do you want? Details? In a hotel hallway?” She taunted.

“What was it like?” I whispered, leaning in towards her.

“After the initial pain...” She sighed with this cheesy doe-eyed expression on her face. “It was pretty great.” Amelia and AJ, who she quickly started calling ‘Alex’, continued to spend the nights after our shows in each other’s hotel rooms, and so did Kevin and I, as well as Howie and I. I did a lot of talking that tour. While the friendship with Howie was like having a big brother, the one with Kevin always had just a little air of sexual tension, though neither of us acted on it with the exception of an occasional kiss goodnight. They were always short and sweet though, and more often than not, it was Kevin giving me a gentlemanly peck on the cheek.

“So are your legs tired?” Nick sat down excitedly on the green room floor beside Christina, who was intently pouring over a Stockholm brochure she’d picked up in the lobby of the venue.

“Huh?” She glanced up at him, startled.

“Because you’re been running through my mind all day.” Roars of laughter filled the room and the both of them turned seven shades of red. Kevin and I had been lounging on a couch. My swollen ankle, which I’d twisted in rehearsal that morning, was propped gingerly atop his knee as he thumbed through an old issue of Rolling Stone. Nick hurriedly jumped up and began dashing away, only to trip over an untied shoestring, which sent him sprawling to the floor, landing face down and spread-eagle in the hallway. Howie, Brian, and AJ laughed harder, literally rolling in the floor, which prompted Kevin to throw his magazine to the floor in disgust and gently move my foot off his lap as he jumped up and walked over to where Nick was rolling over and groaning in pain, cupping his nose with both hands.

“Is it bleeding?” Nick whined, uncovering his nose and looking up at Kevin expectantly.

“No, Nick, it’s fine.” Kevin linked his arms under the 17-year old’s armpits and hoisted him up to a standing position, smoothing out his clothes in the process. “So, who put you up to that one? AJ or Brian?”

“Both, actually.” Nick put his hands behind his back and looked down at his feet, seemingly kicking imaginary dirt around.

Kevin sighed and rolled his eyes as he turned to the two men sitting quietly in the corner. “He’s still a kid, guys. While the ladies are happy to throw themselves at him, he’s really never had to pick one up before. My guess is that he came to you for advice, and you thought you’d have a little fun, huh?” I laughed silently at the fatherly tone and hands on his hips.

Brian grinned sheepishly. “We didn’t think he’d actually use that one.”

“We fed him a lot of pick-up lines.” AJ shrugged.

Meanwhile, Chrissy had quietly pulled a still red-faced Nick outside. “Don’t let them get to you. I thought it was kinda cute.”

Nick sulked and pushed his hands in his pockets as he slouched against the wall, looking down at the floor. “You don’t have to say that,” he murmured.

“Actually, I think you’re kinda cute too.” She pulled up to her tip-toes to plant a kiss on his cheek, though with the height difference, it was more like his jawbone. She winked and scurried away as his gaze followed her, mouth agape, with his hand covering the side of his face where her lips had been.