Birds In Your Garden: Chapter 2
Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7 | Page 8

He was laying next to her with his head in his hand, watching her flutter her eyes open from the short nap she'd taken. She turned her head slightly, giving him a sleepy smile and reached out to drag her fingers along his cheek gently with a tired sigh. "Here's a question," she said tiredly. "How do I leave here without looking thoroughly screwed and starting rumors?"

He draped his arm across her stomach, pointing to the pile of clothes next to the bed. "You put those back on," he answered. "Let me run my fingers through your hair a bit. Splash your face with some water and don't blush when someone looks at you."

She turned her head to look at the pile of clothes on the floor and turned her head back to him. "I'm going to be the other woman, aren't I?" He placed his fingers over her lips and shook his head, closing his eyes. "What are we…" she started, but he tapped his finger, lowering his head to kiss her gently.

"We'll figure something out," he said quietly.

"Everyone else is going to figure it out too," she said, kicking the sheets from being tangled around her feet.

He looked at her long and steady without saying a word. "I don't care," he finally said, tracing her cheek with his finger. "We'll figure something out."

~

Kevin came out of the shower, wearing the black jeans he had been wearing earlier, and drying his hair with a towel. Howie was sitting in the sitting area of his bus, flipping through the channels on the TV and turned it off when Kevin paused in the doorway, looking at him. "Don't say a word," he told Howie, lifting a finger at him.

"I wasn't the one who was going to talk," Howie said, crossing his ankles and slouching down.

"What am I supposed to say?" Kevin asked, turning into the bedroom, realizing the bed was a shambles and his tank top was still stuck between the mattress and wall.

"Rough nap?" Howie asked leaning forward to look into the room. Kevin just glanced over his shoulder and went to one of his suitcases to pull out a tee shirt.

"Yeah, right," Kevin muttered, slipping the shirt over his head. "Did you want something?"

"Not really."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah," Howie answered casually. "Everything get straightened out with Jana?"

"What do you mean?" Kevin asked, pulling the tee shirt over his head.

"She looked upset before," Howie answered. "Did you talk things out?"

"Yeah," Kevin nodded, "everything's fine."

"Good," Howie said, turning the TV back on.

~

She thought for sure that everyone knew. She thought for sure that people were looking at her when she passed them, or that the people in the corridors were whispering about her. 'Paranoid', she chastised herself and smiled to Punch as he came towards her, grinning.

"Ready to boogie, baby?" he asked her, sweeping her into his arms and dancing in a circle down the hallway.

"Let's do it!" she confirmed, feeling herself begin to get swept up in the adrenaline surrounding her. More and more people were making their way towards the stage and just outside the entrance, they stopped, waiting for the others to join them.

Moments later, the boys were shuttled down the hallway. Nick and Howie were grinning, teasing each other easily. AJ and Brian were huddled together in casual conversation and Kevin brought up the rear, his face steady and calm, breaking into a smile when he saw her. The group in the hallway separated, filing into a circle and started to hold one another's hands. She didn't even give it a second thought that Kevin would make his way to stand next to her and as AJ said the prayer, Kevin squeezed her hand tightly, passing a sideways glance to her with a grin, and winked.

There wasn't time for another thought. As soon as the prayer was over, the area was a quiet bundle of tension and energy as they poised to take their places. With the lights down, the crowd reached a shrieking, ear shattering pitch that only further fueled the adrenaline.

Seconds later it seemed, it was over. The entire show just seemed to flash by in a blink and she was on her way back towards the buses with Nikki and Michelle on either side of her talking about the crowd and how the show had gone. Jana stopped, realizing she'd left one of her bags in the back. She told the rest to go ahead and jogged back to the room and started heading back, but the bag was open and she was trailing some clothes behind. She stopped and dropped the bag to the floor, letting the rest go on ahead until she could re-pack her things more evenly. As she was shoving her towel in, hearing the boys' voices echoing behind, and soon AJ was screaming, his voice echoing throughout the empty concrete corridor, and he was running towards her, bent over with his arms stretched out.

She didn't even know what he was planning on doing, but she squealed automatically and turned to protect herself from his onslaught, leaving her bag on the ground. He ran right up to her, sweeping her into his arms and twirled her around several times, continuing down the hallway with laughter. "God, it's great being back!" he howled cheerfully. "I fuckin' LOVE this!"

"AJ! Don't break her!" Brian laughed over Jana's squeal.

"She loves it! Doncha, baby?" he teased, setting her down, but instead of releasing her, he continued to dance with her, twirling her around and passing her off to Howie. Howie began to salsa with her, backing her into Brian who twirled her once, directly to Nick. She and Nick began doing their stage routine and Nick stepped back to hand her to Kevin. He had stopped and picked up her bag for her, but it was already slung over his shoulder and he 'caught' her in perfect timing and they danced to the end of the hallway.

"She's quick on her feet," AJ commented, obviously impressed.

"Don't look so surprised, dear," she chuckled. "Fatima knows what she's doing when she hires your dancers."

Bodyguards were lingering just outside the doorway to the parking lot where the buses were lined up, and a massive roar erupted from above as soon as they walked out into the concrete garage pit. Jana jogged over to her bus, knowing they'd be waiting on her, but as she stepped up, she stopped. "Kevin's got my bag!" she called out, stepping back down and jogged over to him as he was climbing on his bus. "Kev!"

He glanced over, seeing her heading towards him, but grinned and continued into the bus. She climbed onto the first step and the doors closed behind her and the bus started to move. "Shit! Wait!"

"Larry, call ahead and tell them it's okay, please?" Kevin said easily, slipping her bag onto the cushions.

"Sure," the driver replied, picking up the radio.

"Want something to drink?" Kevin asked, heading over to the little kitchen area.

She finished climbing into the bus and sat next to her bag, checking to make sure she had everything and pulling out her towel to wipe her face again. "Water," she answered, catching her breath. "Lots of it."

"AJ was right, that was some fancy footwork out there," he said, reaching over to hand her a bottled water before sprawling across from her and pulling his tee shirt up to wipe his face, still sweating from the show himself.

"I told you I was a professional," she said, drinking half the bottle down.

"Yes, you did." He sipped his water and poured some over his palms to smear on his face. "What did you study anyway?"

"Technique, Pointe, music, character dancing, adagio, ballroom dancing, mime, gymnastics, weight training and choreography. I did some workshops, a few lectures and demonstrations."

"Why would you leave?" he asked, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"I was impatient." She shrugged. "I wanted to just dance already, you know? Went out, did some auditions, got a few bit parts here and there off-off-off Broadway, danced at a few of the big clubs and met Fatima through the ranks."

"Why didn't I know you were that good?" he asked. "You had to have been dancing when I knew you."

"I was dancing since I was eight, Kevin," she laughed, resting back on the couch as the bus finally picked up speed on the highway.

"Why didn't I know you were that good?"

"You did," she answered. "You wanted to sing and dance and go into theatre. I wanted to go into ballet, and Estill County High didn't have a curriculum that called for ballet very often, so you didn't see a performance or anything. I was in the school play as a dancer, remember? I got to faint at your feet," she sighed jokingly. "I did my stuff while you were off doing your stuff."

"Did I know you were that serious about it though?"

"Yes," she laughed. "We talked about meeting up in New York after I graduated. Maybe I took it a bit more seriously than you did. You went to Florida. I stuck with my original plan."

"And look where we end up," he said seriously. "Dang."

"On a tour bus in the middle of the night so close to home I can hear your Kentucky drawl coming back when you breathe?" she joked. "Can't say we weren't determined." She lifted a shoulder. "Have any food on this bus?"

"What kind of food?" he asked, standing up to go over to a cabinet. "Power bars, cereal, fruit..?"

"Fruit?" She perked up.

"You name it, we got it," he said, opening the cupboard fully.

She grabbed a banana and sat back down on the floor, stretching her legs out straight in front of her and leaning over to rest her forehead down on her knees in a stretch. "What're you thinking?" she asked when she came back up, noticing he was watching her.

"'Bye, Bye Birdie'," he said easily. "I had so much fun doing that play."

"Why wouldn't you?" she laughed. "Every girl in school was clamoring to get a part to faint at your feet for real!"

"No, really," he said, lounging on the couch and leaning his elbow down on the cushion. "I had so much fun just doing that play. Learning the lines and all that. Performing it."

"Hope you enjoyed performing. Otherwise, you're in the wrong business."

"Why did we think we'd be able to pull this off?" he questioned seriously.

Taking a bite of the banana, she answered, "No one ever told us we couldn't?"

"They didn't, did they?" he pondered out loud.

"Honestly, Kevin, we had it pretty damn easy," she said. "Ideal childhoods, all the way around." He nodded in agreement, reaching his hand out to tug at her shoulder, bringing her closer for a kiss. As he did, he heard his cell phone and pulled back, looking to the table. "Your wife?" she asked.

"Probably," he replied.

"Better get it," she said easily. "Okay if I take a shower?"

"Yeah," he said, going to get his phone. "Hello…"

Birds In Your Garden: Chapter 2
Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7 | Page 8

Birds In Your Garden Disclaimer | Email Coriander

Read the companion story:
Oreos for Breakfast (Nick Fanfic)
by The Pumpkin Coach & Paperbag Princess

c. 2001, 2002 by Coriander
Some content not suitable for children. You have been warned.