“Wowie!” Tesia gasped, upon seeing the park before her. It was huge and there was lots and lots of room to run around. She loved to run!

“You like it, T.?” A.J. asked, smiling down at her. He was holding her hand and had made her promise not to let go until at the park. “Ready to run around and play?”

“YEAH!” Tesia exclaimed loudly. “We’s a play tag, J.!”

“We?” A.J. repeated. “Who said I was gonna play too?” He gave her a quick wink when she looked up, causing her to smile even more.

“C’mon!” Tesia said anxiously, yanking on his hand. “Run withs me! Kevy’s it!”

“See yah!” Nick said suddenly, as he took off running.

“Wait up Frack!” Brian called, quickly taking off after his best friend.

Howie gave a quick wave, then ran off too.

“You go to the count of three,” Kevin stated, looking down at Tesia with a smile. “After I get my kiss.”

Tesia puckered up, awaiting the kiss he wanted.

Kevin laughed, and bent down to give her the kiss he had requested. “Now, you’d better run, Kiddo.”

“Eep!” Tesia shrieked, running off with A.J. She hadn’t let go of his hand, so he had no choice but to run off with her in whatever direction she pleased – long as it wasn’t the street.

Kevin made like he was going to chase Tesia, but then suddenly did an about face and darted after Nick, who screamed – like a girl.

The other Boys doubled-over with laughter, except for Kevin, whom was still chasing Nick.

“You screams girly!” Tesia called out, hiding behind her brother.

Nick darted over to where Tesia stood hiding, and grabbed her up. “Do I now?” He asked, running off with her.

“Hey!” Tesia cried. “Put me down! I was runnin’ withs J.!”

“What if I don’t wanna?” Nick teased.

Tesia’s face clouded over, and her lower lip trembled.

Nick was too busy running to notice, until…

“Waaah!”

Everybody froze – especially Nick, who quickly set her down. “Munchkin, I was only playing,” he said softly, crouching down. “I’m sorry.”

Tesia whacked him, then ran over to her brother in tears. “Jaaay!”

A.J. crouched down now, holding her gently by her arms. He looked into her teary eyes as he spoke. “Tesia McLean, you go back over there right now and apologize to Nick for hitting him,” he ordered firmly. “If you don’t, I’m taking you back to the Hotel right this minute. You do not hit people, Young Lady.”

Tesia wriggled out of his grasp and ran for Kevin, who promptly turned her around and pointed her in Nick’s direction. She gave a wail, and ran for Nick, suddenly realizing he was the only one who was now going to pick her up.

Nick felt horrible for making her cry, and embraced her as she flew into his arms – he’d still been crouched down – partially from the shock of the fact she’d hit him – she never used to hit anybody. “Shh. Don’t cry, Munchkin,” he soothed, smoothing her hair. “Please don’t. I won’t let mean old J. take yah back. I won’t. I promise.”

A.J. rolled his eyes at Nick. How was he to teach her to behave, when Nick just contradicted everything he said with ridiculous promises? “What do you say, Tesia?” He called out from his spot.

Tesia mumbled an apology into Nick’s shoulder, as he stood up and carried her back to A.J. once seeing her brother wasn’t mad at her anymore, she reached for him. After some more sniffling and wiping her eyes on his shirt, she looked up at everyone. “Run!” She declared. “Kevy stills its!”

Everyone laughed, and quickly darted off in different directions again. A.J. eventually set Tesia back down, so she could run about freely. The six of them were having a blast, making them forget the Marcus and a handful of other security guards were watching close by, should any fans suddenly appear out of thin air.

“Well, T., you like this park?” A.J. asked. He was now sitting upon the top of the biggest slide there. He watched her nod. “You like it enough to come back again tomorrow?”

“Yeah!” Tesia cheered, grinning widely. She loved to play at parks – especially if her brother and the other Boys came to play too. Then it was really special! “Marcus play too, tomorrow?”

“We’ll see,” A.J. answered, hugging her close. “We’ll see.”

Marcus smiled from his spot under the play equipment; he was the hidden security. Meanwhile, the other Boys smiled from their various spots on the play equipment. Nick was atop the monkey bars, Brian a swing, Kevin a rocket ship thing, and Howie another slide. They all had to agree that today had been quite a lot of fun – they were actually sad to have to go back and get ready for the show later that night. They’d gotten all day off up until five o’clock – then it was off to sound check, a quick rehearsal, and finally – if lucky – dinner. Though, they of course always made sure Tesia had something healthy to eat – though sometimes that consisted of a bag of cheetos and a 5-Alive from nearby vending machines.