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Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry it took me so long to get this update up! Life has just been nuts, and frankly, pretty crappy lately. Hope you enjoy!

 

“So...cat got your tongue?” Kevin tilted his head to the side and looked down at Annie with a smile.

 

Nick had ushered her past a gaggle of screaming girls who’d already staked out their spots for the beach party, though it wasn’t set to start for another couple hours, and into the hotel. He pulled her into the elevator and took her to the top floor, where he proceeded to bang loudly on Kevin’s door until he opened it, looking confused. “Annie, meet Kevin. Kevin, meet Annie,” he said, gesturing dramatically between the two of them. Annie stood frozen in her tracks, gripping her breakfast in each hand and looking up at Kevin in awe. His lips were moving. Was he saying something?

 

            “Oh...sorry.” She grinned sheepishly and handed Nick her water, then held her hand out to him. “It’s really nice to meet you, Kevin.” Her eyes wandered around the lush hotel room and she groaned inwardly at the stark contrast of this room’s immaculate neatness with her own room’s organized (okay, disorganized) chaos back on the ship.

            "It's nice to finally put a face with a name. Tim talks about you all the time.” Kevin motioned for Annie to follow him and turned to walk towards the small table sitting in the corner of living room in the suite. “I was just finishing breakfast...er, lunch. Brunch. Whatever the hell it is. I hardly ever sleep in like I did this morning, but I got in really late last night.” He pulled a chair out for her and had her sit down before seating himself across the table. “Have you eaten yet?”

 

She looked down at the crumbling bran muffin in her hand and shrugged with an impish smile. “No. No I haven’t .”

 

“Well, feel free to help yourself. I’d offer the same to you, Nick, but I’m going to guess you already had a bowl of Cheerios, a banana, and some protein....maybe an egg white omelet?” Nick shook his head incredulously. It was scary how well Kevin knew him, even five and a half years after leaving the group. “Would you believe that this guy, who just ate that wholesome brunch used to be able to put away more Belgian waffles than the rest of us put together?” he asked Annie jokingly as she helped herself to a few strawberries and a slice of cantaloupe.

 

“Actually, yes. I’m a fan, remember? Though, I have to say how proud I am of Nick for his dramatic turnaround.” She winked in Nick’s direction and he smiled as he plopped himself onto a couch nearby and listened to them talk about Kevin’s family, their young sons, and Kentucky in general. As they launched into the topic of their mutual love of horses, Nick once again felt a pang of jealousy and lamented the fact that the table in Kevin’s suite only had two chairs, and he was seemingly left on the outside of the conversation looking in. Granted, the two chairs were appropriate considering this was the honeymoon suite and Kevin and Kristin were.....wait! Where was Kristin?

 

            “Hey, Kev?” he asked curiously.

            “Yeah, Nick?” The older man turned his attention to his youngest “brother.”

            “Where’s Kris?”

            Kevin’s eyes widened in surprise, then he brought his clenched fist up to his lips and cleared his throat. “Um.... Brian didn’t tell you?”

            Nick raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Apparently not?”

            “Oh.” Kevin’s eyes darted between Annie and Nick and he could feel his ears burning red with embarrassment. “Kristin and I....” He shot a nervous glance in Annie’s direction and sighed, then ran his hands through his hair before bringing them together in front of him and turning the platinum band on his left ring finger with the thumb and forefinger of his right. Then, he focused all his attention on Nick, turning in his chair so that he was facing him and leaning forward so that his forearms rested on his knees. He automatically went into “Daddy-Kev” mode, speaking to him directly but gently. “We’re not together right now, Nick. I booked the honeymoon suite down here for us to try to rekindle some romance, but she decided not to come. I don’t know if Brian didn’t tell you because of what happened with you and Lauren....which I’d still like to talk to you about, by the way, or because of...” He trailed off and Nick nodded slowly in understanding.

            “That really sucks, Kevin,” he said quietly. “I need to go get ready for the beach party.” Then, he stood up and darted out of the room.

            Annie stared wide-eyed at the door as it slammed shut. “What was that all about?” she wondered, not really intending to say it out loud.

            Kevin groaned and stood up, placing his hands low on his hips and staring at the door with her. “He probably thinks this means I’m not going to come back to the group now.”

            “You’re coming back?!!” Annie couldn’t help herself. She went a little “fangirl” on him. Part of her wanted tackle him with an excited hug, and the other part of her just wanted to give him a hug because he looked like he needed one.

 

Kevin stifled a little chuckle as she struggled to compose herself. “Most likely, yes.”

 

            “So, why does Nick think you’re going to change your mind? I mean...if you don’t mind me asking.” She realized she might be getting a little personal considering she’d only actually known the man for about twenty minutes.

            He sighed and slumped his shoulders. “I’m sorry you got caught up in this. You’re not going to say anything to my brother about my failing marriage, are you?”

            Annie placed a hesitant hand on his arm. “No, of course not. Though, he might be able to help, you know.”

            “I know, but I’m a man. I like to think I can handle things on my own. So about Nick..... I had several reasons for quitting the group when I did, but the biggest one was an attempt to try to save my marriage, and it worked. For almost five years. Anyway, Nick kind of blames Kristin for my leaving, and I know him well enough know what he’s thinking now. I’ll have to talk to him later.”

            Annie shifted back and forth on her feet uncomfortably, then pulled her cell phone out of her beach bag to check the time. “You know, I should probably be going, too. It was really nice to meet you Kevin. Thanks for brunch.”

 

Kevin gave her a weak smile and a little nod, then escorted her to the door and held it open for her. “It was nice to meet you, too, Annie. I’ll be seeing you around the rest the day. Don’t tell anyone, but I’m going to make an appearance at the concert today and prom night tonight.”

 

She beamed at him happily. “That sounds great.” She started out the door, then turned back to him. “I’m sorry, by the way.  About your wife.”

 

“Me too.”

 

Annie thoroughly enjoyed the beach party, but couldn’t help but notice a bit of melancholy in Kevin’s demeanor. It wasn’t obvious to most onlookers, but knowing what she knew, she could tell he wasn’t quite himself.

 

Kevin made small talk with Nick early that evening as they got ready for the concert. “So....Annie’s cute.”

 

Nick eyed him warily as he slicked his hair back with gel. “Dude, she has the same name as your mom. Wouldn’t that be weird?”

 

“Dude, I’m married!”

 

“And separated, Kevin,” he answered seriously.

 

“I know that, Nick, but Kristin’s still my wife, and you know I’d never be interested in Annie while I’m still married. Why would you think that anyway?”

 

“Did you know you’re her favorite?”

 

Kevin let out a low chuckle. “So I’ve heard. I take it this means you’re jealous?”

 

“Of course not.”

 

“Right.”

 

“Um...Kev?” Nick licked his lips and pursed them together. Brian, Howie, and AJ looked on from the other side of the dressing room.

 

“Yeah, Nick?”

 

“Are you still coming back?”

 

Kevin placed a hand on Nick’s shoulder and stared him in the eye. “Yes. I gave this up for her once before, and I have to admit that it was one of the best decisions I ever made at the time. I wouldn’t give up the time I was able to spend with my family for anything. I still love Kristin more than you could imagine, but the ball’s going to have to be in her court, now. That doesn’t mean I’m going to quit trying with her. It’s just not going to be this that I give up for her this time. Besides, when it comes to Annie, it’s not her name that would keep me away. Oh, and call my mom Annie and she’ll deck you. Only dad was allowed to call her that, and she still didn’t like it. You guys have a great show. I’m going to call mom to check on Mason.”

 

As Kevin left the dressing room, Nick turned to the rest of his bandmates looking befuddled. “Her name isn’t what would keep him away? What does he mean by that?”

 

“You seriously don’t see it?” AJ asked with a smirk.

 

“Don’t see what?”

 

“You see it, don’t you, Brian?”

 

Brian rolled his eyes. “Uh-huh.”

 

“What?!”

 

Howie stood on his tiptoes so that he could hook his arm around Nick’s neck. “Oh, Nicky, you really do only have eyes for Annie, don’t you?

 

“You know Howie, after all these years, you’re the only one who still calls me ‘Nicky’.” He glared at him.

 

“You should be flattered that I still like you enough to have a pet name for you.”

 

“More like annoying nickname.”

 

“Ha! ‘Nick’ name!” AJ cackled.

 

“You people are nuts. Now, what do all of you see that I apparently don’t?” Nick accosted, looking at Brian for help. Brian simply shrugged and kept getting dressed.

 

“Okay, Nick.” Howie said seriously. “I want you to get an image of Annie in your head.”

 

“Like that’s going to be hard,” AJ scoffed. “Might make other things hard,” he laughed.

 

“AJ!” Brian admonished from the corner.

 

Howie rolled his eyes. “Anyway....you got that picture of Annie in your head?” Nick nodded. “Now, make her about three inches taller and blonde.” Nick gasped.

 

“There it is!” AJ exclaimed excitedly.

 

“Annie looks like Kristin,” Nick acknowleged slowly. “Huh.” He put his hands on his hips and shook his head. “It’s kind of uncanny, actually, isn’t it?”

 

“Exactly!” AJ patted him on the back. “See, Nick? You’ve got nothing to worry about. Being with a woman who looks just like his wife would be way too weird for Kevin, right B-Rok?”  Brian raised an eyebrow and kept glowering in the corner.

 

            Later that night, Kevin was in Brian’s room getting ready for prom night. “So, little man’s got it bad, huh?”

            “What? Why would you say that?” Brian stopped tying his tie and turned to face his cousin.

            “Oh come on, Brian. It’s pretty obvious.” Kevin kept looking at the mirror as he straightened his bow tie. “Nick’s crazy about Annie, and if I do say so myself, she seems pretty interested in him, too.”

            “No, she’s not!” Brian insisted. “Nick’s not her type at all.”

            “Oh, really? What’s her type?”

            “Well......” Brian shrugged. “Me.”

            “So I take it you don’t approve, then.”

            “No, Kevin. I don’t approve. Maybe that makes me a terrible, judgmental person, but Nick’s just not the type of guy she needs. Annie’s been through a lot, and she’s still such an amazing woman despite all of that. I just can’t see an actual relationship between Annie and Nick ending well.”

            “Hmm...” Kevin grabbed a comb and started running it through his black locks.

            “Hmm...what?”

            “You know, Brian, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think YOU had a thing for Annie.”