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***Sorry that it took me so long to update, for those of you who have actually read this...I was stuck on it for awhile, so concentrated on the other story I have posted. Hopefully, I am past my writers block though and can update more frequently!***

Chapter Nine

Zaina rolled her eyes as she saw Darcy and Bianca rushing towards her the next morning. She’d thought that she had made herself clear when she’d told them to leave and forget the entire situation ever happened. Obviously though, they hadn’t. Either that, the two had a serious listening disability or they were just plain stupid. Zaina was going with stupid.

“Hey girl,” Bianca said enthusiastically, hoping that her happiness would just maybe wear off onto Zaina and she would actually give them the time of day, or at least be civil towards them.

“I would have thought that you’d be home by now,” Zaina coolly replied, and then muttered to herself, but loud enough for them to hear, “I could kill the guys for deciding to stay in Chicago overnight.” Then she directly said to the girls, “Do you like, have A.D.D or something?”

“No,” Darcy replied with a smirk, “That’s Nick’s job.”

Zaina whipped around, glaring at the small blonde girl. Darcy stood her ground, not intimidated by the tiny brunette. She’d met more frightening people in her life. She wasn’t going to let a former best friend scare her.

“Don’t you EVER talk about Nick like that,” she defended, “You don’t even know him. He’s one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. You have no right to say that about him.”

“Okay, chill,” Darcy replied, “I was joking. Man, the old you would have been cracking jokes right along with me and Bianca. We never meant any harm by it, but we at least had fun.”

“Well, don’t have fun on the Boys’ expense,” she demanded, “And if I ever did that, thank god I don’t remember it,”

Zaina shook her head in utter disgust, and walked away. She couldn’t believe the nerve of the two girls thinking that they could talk like that about people that they barely knew…no, didn’t really know anything about. Sure, they knew what was put in magazines, and all over the web. But living with them for a few years let you get more of an inside view of what they were really like and the complete truth. She sure as hell hoped that the two didn’t take Kevin up on the offer of them touring. She was definitely going to talk to Kevin about it. And that was one conversation that wouldn’t be too friendly.

“Stupid girls,” Zaina muttered unkindly under her breath.

But as much as much as she despised them, a small part of her wondered what she used to be like and how close the three of them actually had been. She quickly disregarded the thought though. She didn’t want anything to do with her past. No matter how hard she tried, she wouldn’t remember any of it, and she honestly didn’t want to remember. She was still suffering from amnesia. Being with the Boys was all she knew and she loved it. She enjoyed every single part of it. They’d been there for her through thick and thin. They were her friends, her family. She didn’t want to forget any of it or leave it behind. She wanted to have amnesia for the rest of her life just so she could continue on with the life that she loved so much.

Zaina didn’t know where she was going nor did she care as long as she got away from the two stalkers for a few hours. She could feel their eyes on her as she walked away, making her feel uncomfortable and exposed. She could only hope that if she ignored the two for long enough, they would eventually clue in with her and leave. She could honestly say that despite her small curiosity, for the most part, she wanted them to forget all about her. That part of her was outweighing the curious part. Now, all she had to do was be as rude and obnoxious as she could and hope that they would decide they did not want to be a part of her life anymore after all.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“So,” Kevin asked the group, bringing up the question that had been on his mind ever since just about twenty-four hours earlier, “What do you all think of Zaina’s old friends finding her?”

It was later that evening. They were all sitting around a card table in the huge lounge in Kevin’s room playing a quick round of Poker, which had been Nick’s idea to have a little fun. The loser had to pay for breakfast for everyone the next morning. The girls were in separate rooms, assumed to be sleeping.

Brian shrugged, “I couldn’t really care one way or another,” he stated, “Doesn’t really affect me any.”

“I’m with Rok on this one,” Nick joined in, “I mean, yeah, it’s cool, but it doesn’t really make me happy or sad. I feel the same as I always did.”

The Boys’ were silent for a while as they continued on with their card game. Nobody was really sure of what to say.

“I think that it’s sweet,” Howie finally spoke aloud, “I mean, I know that they didn’t find her
intentionally, but still. It doesn’t seem like Zaina is too happy about it though.”

“I personally think that it is great,” Kevin said, including his input, “True, Zaina seems less than thrilled, but maybe she’ll come around if Darcy and Bianca decide to come with us. Maybe they can rebuild their friendship, only in a different light, obviously.”

There was another silence. Nick smiled triumphantly to himself as he looked at his hand of cards. He was almost positive that he was winning this time.

“I hate it,” A.J. grumbled.

“Why is that?” Kevin asked.

A.J. didn’t answer. He felt his reasoning was obvious. Kevin was playing dumb. He was, after all, the most logical of the group. There was no way that he didn’t understand his motives for disliking the situation.

“Aje,” Kevin said, looking at his friend.

A.J. looked around the round table and saw that all of his bandmates eyes were on him, staring expectantly for him to speak. He sighed, knowing that he was stuck. Damn Kevin and putting the attention on him.

“Everything was fine until they showed up,” A.J. snarled angrily, “Now they are going to butt in or try to take Zaina away. Why couldn’t they just mind their own damned business and go on their way? And don’t any of you realize that everything could change out of this? It could affect us all.” He shot Nick and Brian a glare along with his last statement.

“That’s being a little selfish, don’t ya think?” Brian teased, his eyes twinkling good-naturedly. A.J., unfortunately, didn’t catch on to it.

“You know what?” A.J. asked harshly, “I really don’t give a shit.

“A.J,” Kevin warned sternly, disapproving his sour attitude.

“What?” he hissed, “I hate the situation and I hate those two little bitches that had to ruin everything.”

A.J. slammed his cards down on the table and got up so roughly, it knocked over his chair. He bolted from the room, the door slamming shut behind him. The others just stared at the door in bewilderment. Nick was the first to speak.

“I don’t know about you guys,” he started out saying, “But if I didn’t know any better, then I’d think that A.J. likes Zaina more than he’s letting on to any of us and is jealous for some reason.”

“Nick,” Kevin said, his tone light, with a hint of joking in it, “For once, you say something that makes sense. Why else would he be afraid of losing her? Why else would he be dwelling on it?”

Nick shrugged, taken off guard at Kevin’s compliment of his theories. He’d just been speaking his thoughts aloud: something that normally resulted in him being laughed at or scolded. Rarely did he ever say anything that was actually considered to be intelligent. Howie and Brian put thought into this as well. They had thought long ago that, when Zaina first joined them, that A.J. had something for her, but when he hadn’t acted upon it, they figured that it was nothing and that they were jumping to conclusions. A.J, after all, was the flirt of the group. He normally pounced at the chance of a relationship with a girl he liked. Maybe this time was different though, and he’d been keeping it in for three years and had finally snapped when a part of the girl’s past showed up without the slightest warning.

“Who knows,” Howie stated, answering Kevin’s question, “I know we’ve all grown attached to Zaina though over the years. She’s like family, and this is definitely something different. It definitely chances things a little and is something we never expected to happen. Maybe if we’d prepared ourselves, just in case, we’d have better plans for it now.”

“But we didn’t plan,” Kevin stated simply, “So now we can only hope for one thing, and for it to happen by morning.”

“What’s that, cuz,” Brian asked.

“For those girls to decide to tour with us,” He started, then decided to explain himself more, “That way, A.J. will see that Zaina isn’t going anywhere and that stick that’s wedged up his ass will find its own way out.”

Howie, Brian and Nick chuckled at Kevin’s terminology, but he was right, and they hoped for the same so that their lives wouldn’t become miserable.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Are we going to tell Alex that we found Abri…Zain…whatever the hell her name is?” Bianca asked Darcy as they watched a rerun of the Simpsons…Darcy’s choice in TV shows that night.

Darcy shrugged, laughing at something Homer had said that went in one of Bianca’s ears and out the other. She really wasn’t a fan of the show, therefore, wasn’t paying the least bit of attention to it. Instead, she was thinking about what had happened in the past day and sorting through her overwhelmed mind.

“Did you even hear my question?” Bianca asked.

Darcy didn’t answer at first, then after delayed reaction, looked over at Bianca blankly, her mouth hanging open slightly.

“Huh?” she asked.

Bianca rolled her eyes, looking at the TV. A commercial break had taken place. No wonder she had Darcy’s attention how. She laughed slightly, and then repeated her question again.

“Are we going to tell Alex that we found her?”

Darcy shrugged, “I don’t know. I mean, I think we should. It’s been six years and he is still acting like the sky is crushing him.”

“Yeah,” Bianca said, “But then again, what do you think would cause him more pain in the end? Thinking that she is still dead, or knowing she is alive and doesn’t remember, nor wants anything to do with him.”

“Good point,” Darcy said, “But who said she didn’t want anything to do with Alex?”

“Darce, think of how she is towards us. In case you’ve forgotten, she is rude towards us and wants nothing to do with us, or her past. Alex is a part of her past. She’ll act the same towards him.”

Darcy just shrugged. She honestly didn’t know what to do. She was sick of hearing Alex moaning and groaning every day of her life. Sure, she felt bad for him, but what he was doing wasn’t healthy. It was taking him longer to get over her than they’d actually been dating for. Darcy thought again that for once, she’d been wrong about a guy. Alex was proving that he really had cared about Zaina. She would feel bad not telling him that she was alive and well. Then again, when she shunned him, it would just add to his whining.

“I guess not then,” Darcy said, “Simpson’s is back on,” she stated, turning her full, undevided attention back to her show.

Bianca sighed. She honestly wasn’t sure what the right thing to do would be with the Alex situation. She was confused. Bianca was so deep in thought that she jumped when there was a knock on the door. Darcy didn’t seem to hear it, so while rolling her eyes, Bianca went to answer it, surprised to see Kevin on the other side.

“Hey,” he greeted.

“Hi,” Bianca replied, “Can I help you?”

Kevin laughed, guessing that he’d taken her off guard by showing up unexpectantly at her room.

“Yeah, um, we…the guys and I, were wondering if you and Darcy were planning on coming with us.”

Bianca shrugged, “I don’t know. Let me ask Darce,” she replied, and then yelled for her friend.

“What,” Darcy responded, annoyed as she looked over at the door, “Oh,” she said when she saw Kevin, getting up to join the two at the door. Bianca was surprised that she was abandoning her precious Simpson’s.

“Kevin wants to know what we decided about going with them,” Bianca asked when the girl reached them.

“Um, I don’t know,” Darcy said, “Haven’t really thought much about it, I guess.”

“Well, we kind of need to know tonight,” Kevin laughed.

He flashed a big smile. Bianca’s heart melted, as it was the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen.

“He’s married,” Darcy stated, interrupting her friends thoughts, “Don’t get any ideas.”

Bianca blushed, embarrassed that Darcy had actually said that aloud in front of the man. Kevin was laughing lightly though at the redness that was creeping up on her cheeks. He had a secret about his marriage that only the Boys knew, and Zaina of course, but nobody else. It relieved him that it was obvious that Darcy didn’t know, nor did Bianca.

“It’s okay,” he said, keeping his cool, “No big deal. So, think you could decide in then next five minutes?”

Darcy looked at him as if he had lost his mind. Kevin supposed that he didn’t blame her. He wasn’t exactly giving them much notice.

“This is a big decision,” she said, “We can’t exactly just pick up and leave.”

Bianca was dying to put in what she thought. She didn’t even have to give the opportunity any thought. She knew what she wanted to do.

“I’m in,” she blurted, without thinking or consulting with Darcy first.

“Great,” Kevin grinned at her.

Bianca felt her heart accelerate, but knew that she had to keep her hormones under control. Kevin turned to Darcy then, looking at her expectantly.

“Well?” he pushed.

Darcy rolled her eyes, “Fine,” she said, “I’ll do it.”

Kevin smiled again, “Okay, I’ll go let the guy’s know,” and then the smile faded, “And unfortunately, I get the pleasures of telling Zaina. If you hear screaming…come make sure I’m still alive.
”
Bianca giggled and watched as he left. She couldn’t believe that under the odd circumstances, she got to meet the people that she looked up to, and now was going to get to hit the road with them. The only negative was her old friend treating them like they were diseased. Besides that, could life get any better?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“What were you thinking when you asked them to tour with us?” Zaina nearly yelled when she opened her hotel room door and saw Kevin there.

Kevin winced. He had a feeling that the reason he was there was going to end worse than he thought it would. Her reaction to seeing him proved that much in itself.

“Just being friendly,” Kevin answered cautiously, “I thought it might be good for you to bring a part of your past back in to your life. This is the first opportunity to come up to do that.”

“I’m fine with how things are,” Zaina pouted, “You didn’t even ask if that was okay with me or for my permission to ask them.”

Kevin laughed, stepping in to the room with her to continue the conversation. Zaina looked less than amused though as she let him in.

“I didn’t know that I needed to,” Kevin said, trying to keep a straight face, “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry won’t cut it, Kevin,” Zaina shouted, “You interfered with my life. I…I don’t know how you thought that you had the right to do that.”

“Maybe my natural fatherly role kicking in,” Kevin muttered sheepishly, but he still didn’t feel bad. He still felt like it would be good for her, and he was only looking out for what was in her best interest…well, mostly.

Zaina softened a little bit. She couldn’t stay mad at Kevin for long. His nature was just too sweet and sincere.

“And again, I felt like I would be helping you,”

“Well,” Zaina said calmly, “Maybe they won’t end up coming after all.”

Kevin drew in a sharp breath. This was where things would start to go downhill. He could see it now.

“Actually,” he said, slightly nervous “I just spoke with Darcy and Bianca…they’ve decided to come with us.”

Fury entered Zaina’s eyes and her face contorted in to one of complete disgust and anger on her face. This was the reaction that Kevin had prepared himself for, yet he winced anyway when he saw how mad he had made her.

“What?” she screamed, jumping up from the chair she’d just sat down in, “You…they…what?”

“Zaina, it won’t be as bad as you’re thinking,” Kevin said, trying to calm her.

“You wouldn’t be saying that if you had two people trying to stalk you and take you back to a previous lifestyle.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, we have girls stalking us all of the time. They normally don’t get close enough make us feel as if we’re in danger, but still…”

Zaina wondered if she were to look into a mirror, if her face would be the color of a fire truck.

“I’m so mad at you that I could strangle you,” Zaina screamed at him, “You really fucked up. Can’t you see how badly this is stressing me?”

Kevin sighed. This was the first time he had ever angered her. In fact, before the two strangers had shown up, he didn’t think that she was capable of being mad. Kevin knew he had to come up with a compromise.

“I’ll tell you what,” he stated, “Give it a month. If things aren’t better, I’ll tell them that they have to leave.”

Zaina looked at Kevin skeptically, raising an eyebrow. He didn’t seem like the type that would force someone to leave, or even suggest it.

“I promise,” Kevin said, sticking out his hand. His eyes were pleading with her to trust him.

‘Deal,” she finally said, shaking on it.

Zaina figured that she could stand one month with the two. That wasn’t very long, after all. All she had to do was get through one month, and then she would never have to see Darcy and Bianca again. It still didn’t set the feeling in her stomach that Kevin was up to something, but she shook it away. Whatever it was wouldn’t work on her. She would make sure of it.