CHAPTER 19

Tristan awakened slowly and looked at the clock on the bedside table. It was already past three PM. She had a date to meet the press in less than an hour. She found it difficult to move and when she glanced over at Kevin she understood why. He lay on his stomach, snoring softly, his right hand holding fasts to her right wrist. When she reached over to unclasp his fingers she felt an unfamiliar soreness across her belly and hesitated. She pushed the sheet down with her free hand and could see a discolored area, like a line, going from one hip to the other. She remembered the dresser and looked at it across the room. The items that had rested there were knocked askew. A bottle of lotion and Kevin’s wallet had been pushed to the floor. Tristan laid her head back down on the pillow and glanced once again at Kevin sleeping soundly beside her, his leg resting on top of her thigh. The innocence she saw on his face had certainly not been present a few hours ago. Tristan recalled a conversation - an argument, really - that they’d had last summer during which Kevin stated flatly that he had ‘never fucked her’. He wouldn’t be able to say that now. She had definitely been fucked - royally. There had been no tenderness in the act. Gentleness and affection had come afterwards, only after he had shown her and himself that he still had command of his life. Because of the extremely emotional and desperate circumstances, he had been unable to depend on savvy, kindness or even authority to do this. Kevin had relied instead on domination. This had been a new experience for her and she wondered if it had been for him, too. They had been together for over a year, yet Tristan was still discovering the darker corners of Kevin’s heart. Surprisingly, she was not frightened by this.

Tristan untangled her leg from beneath his and pried his fingers from her wrist. She heard him grumble and watched a frown appear on his previously sweet face. She chuckled at the sight as she pulled herself up, releasing a gush of warm fluid from between her legs. The phrases ‘pecker tracks’ and ‘the wet spot’ came to mind but she dismissed them. This was no mere ‘spot’. Kevin had released a mighty load. She chuckled and the ‘spot’ grew larger. Tristan jumped out of the bed and out of Lake Richardson and walked quickly into the bathroom to shower before Jack came to get her. Kevin had felt Tristan leave the bed and his hand reached over to the now empty place that she had occupied. His eyes opened when his fingers connected with the evidence of his earlier climax and he raised himself up on one elbow to look at the sheet. His brows shot up and he smiled with a slight cockiness before laying his head back down to doze a little longer. He had impressed himself.

Tristan was brushing her hair when the knock came at their door. Kevin was awake but had not gotten out of bed. Her hand was on the handle of the door when she glanced around the room to make sure that things were in order before opening it. Her eyes fell to the bed and the large damp area that was quite evident on the dark sheet.

“Jeez, Kevin! Cover that up!” she told him, waving her hand towards the bed. Then she turned back to the door. “Just a minute!” she yelled.

“What?” Kevin asked, playing dumb.

“You know what! What’ll they think?”

Then Tristan’s eye caught the tray that had been delivered from room service earlier.

“Damn!” She picked up the untouched tray and looked around for a place to hide it.

“What the hell’s wrong with you, Tristan? Why are you hiding food?” Kevin seemed honestly perplexed as Tristan fell down to her knees and pushed the tray under the bed.

“Because,” she explained, “we obviously didn’t eat anything off the tray!”

“So?”

Before she could answer, she stepped quickly to the dresser and began to upright fallen bottles and straighten papers and keys.

“God, Kevin! Things knocked off the dresser, uneaten food, not to mention a gallon of….of….”

“It’s called semen, Tris…”

"I know that!" she hissed, feeling a little embarrased. "A gallon of…what you said…on the bed!" Tristan put her hands on her hips and glared at Kevin who just sat in the bed, grinning at her.

"A whole gallon? Do 'ya think?" Kevin asked, trying to look serious.

"I think you're proud, Richardson!" she said accusingly.

"I'm not proud." He lied. "I just don't see what the big deal is. That's all."

"Are you crazy? Everyone will know what we did in here!"

Kevin rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"You know what, Tris? I'll bet they could guess that, already."

Tristan couldn't think of a good comeback for that observation. She picked up her robe and camisole from the floor and flung them at Kevin's head.

"Well they don't have to know all the details!" she spat as he laughed at her and covered the dark spot with the top sheet.

"Tris!" Jack called from the hallway.

Tristan glanced around the room one more time before she opened the door. She was surprised to see not only Jack and Howie but Amanda and AJ as well. AJ stepped into the room with the need to acknowledge Kevin. Each knew that they had shared a unique experience last night that would affect them forever. This would always be understood by just the two of them. AJ also wanted to make sure that Kevin was all right. He recognized right away that Kevin was better than all right.

"You coming, Kev?" AJ asked. Then he threw a deliberate grin at Tristan and back to Kevin. "Oh, I guess you've done that already…." AJ snorted and walked back out of the door, jumping away from Amanda as she scolded him and slapped the top of his head.

Tristan turned a bright pink and shot Kevin an 'I told you so' look that he responded to with a shrug and a grin. She rolled her eyes but let him catch her small smile before she turned to go downstairs.

***********************

Reporters had filled a small convention room on one of the lower floors of the hotel. There was a small curtained stage at one end of the room and the four of them stood behind the curtain on one side as Jack went out on stage to issue an opening statement to the press. AJ would remain hidden behind the curtain. He was not prepared to speak and didn't want to face reporters. This didn't surprise Tristan. Kevin had felt the same way.

When Jack had finished his remarks, he motioned for Amanda, Howie and Tristan to come to the podium. They were met with a barrage of camera flashes and shouts from the floor, most of which questioned the whereabouts of Kevin and AJ. It didn't take long for the three of them to explain the circumstances of what happened while Howie fielded the questions relating to the Backstreet Boys. Tristan glanced to her left during one of Howie's statements and saw that Kevin had come downstairs. He had come to offer moral support and stood behind the curtains, as AJ did, out of the sight of the press. He stood next to Jack and Carlos with his arms crossed against his chest, smiling his encouragement. The questioning had gone well and was about to wind to a close when a female reporter, standing in the back of the room, shouted a question to the podium. Amanda and Howie had already walked off stage, which left Tristan to deal with the question alone.

"Miss Mallory," the woman said loudly, "do you feel like this situation has been stressful?"

Tristan smiled into the sea of faces. She felt it was a rather silly question.

"Of course.", she answered simply. She smiled again and was turning to leave the stage when the same woman called out once more.

"Miss Mallory?"

Tristan stopped and turned back, trying to be gracious but feeling some impatience. "Yes?"

"Would you say that this event was as stressful as the events of last fall which resulted in your admittance to Stonewall House?"

The room suddenly seemed very quiet except for the sounds of camera shutters trying to capture on film the exact moment that Tristan's heart actually stopped beating in her chest. She turned and looked towards Kevin who appeared to be angry with Jack. He was waving his arms and pointing towards the back of the room. She saw him stop and look towards her, his expression apologetic and worried. Then she turned to look towards the other side of the stage. Howie, AJ and Amanda all stared at her in a kind of shock. Finally, Tristan turned in the direction of the reporters. She was on her own and her choices were minimal. There was no good answer to be given. She decided that honesty was the only course here. Obviously, this woman knew something.

"I would have to say that these events produced less stress." She spoke quietly, but kept her eyes up and on the crowd.

Another voice shouted to her from the audience. "You were institutionalized? Why? What happened, Miss Mallory?"

Similar questions began to rise from the crowd. These questions did not have the cruel undercurrent that the woman's question had. The woman who had the audacity to broach the subject was looking for something sensational and sordid. Tristan felt compelled to take the high road.

"I had a type of nervous breakdown." Tristan answered.

Most of the press seemed satisfied with her simple explanation and even appeared to be a little embarrassed that the question had been asked at all.. Again, the woman's voice rang out.

"Rumor has it, Miss Mallory, that your breakdown was a result of Kevin Richardson's infidelity with a dancer that toured with the group - a dancer who, in fact, still tours with the group. Is he still sleeping with her?"

Murmurs from the floor grew louder and Tristan could see pencils flying across notebooks. The questioned had deliberately been phrased so that there was no answer, which wouldn't lead to more questions or vile speculation. She felt faint and clutched at the corners of the podium to steady herself.

Kevin wanted to throttle the woman who had the brazenness to be so obviously vicious. All he could do was stare at Tristan, as she stood alone on the stage searching for an escape from this humiliation. His eyes were drawn to an exit door on the side of the room. There stood Lily, watching Tristan with the look of a satisfied predator. She was practically licking her lips. He turned back to Tristan, wanting to protect her but unable to do so. What would the next question be? Would Tristan be asked about the baby girl they had lost? The room had begun to grow silent again, awaiting Tristan's response to the question.

Kevin could stand it no longer. He left the relative safety of the stage curtain and marched out onto the stage to stand beside Tristan at the podium. He took her hand and for a brief moment their eyes locked and there was no one else in the room. Then the floor exploded again with flashes of light. Tristan's eyes filled as Kevin put his arm protectively around her shoulder before bending down to the microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let me begin by saying that I am…. disheartened by some of these questions and consider them a personal attack on Tristan and myself. The Backstreet Boys have never made it a policy to address rumor, innuendo or our private lives except when it concerns our music or performances. However, I will take this opportunity to end any speculation on one point…." Kevin glanced towards the exit and saw Lily twisting a scarf in her hands. She was seething in anticipation of what he might say. Kevin continued, barely missing a beat. "…..and that is that I'm extremely thankful that Tristan and Amanda missed their flight and made it back to us safely and," he added looking into Tristan's face, smiling. "that I am hopelessly in love with this woman."

Kevin's simple declaration set off a huge chain of events. The flashes began again. There were smiles on the faces of the press instead of the usual sanctimonious seriousness. Jack just about swooned wondering what kind of watershed Kevin had just opened. AJ, Amanda and Howie started laughing with approval at Kevin's rare public display. Carlos showed his teeth for the second time in recent memory. Label executives groaned and wondered about the effect this would have on record sales. The management team shifted into overdrive to exercise some sort of damage control. Upstairs, watching the conference on the hotel's closed circuit television, Holly jumped up and down on the bed, squealing with delight while Nick struggled to reconcile his image of Captain Kevin with the Captain Marshmallow he had just heard openly declare his feelings in front of a room full of strangers. From another room upstairs, Brian stared at the television with his mouth hanging open and shaking his head, wondering what in the hell Kevin must be thinking. Meanwhile, Leighanne glared at the man she had been with for three years and shot two eyefuls of daggers his way, thinking how thrilled she would be if Brian ever displayed the balls to tell the world that he loved her. The reporter who had stepped over the line of decency looked over to the woman who had paid her so well to ask the questions but Lily had disappeared.

The next day, Kevin and Tristan had made the front page of the Philadelphia Enquirer, above the fold. The human interest-celebrity piece included a photograph Of Kevin and Tristan taken just after Kevin had come on stage and had stopped to gaze into Tristan's eyes. The caption read 'He Wants It That Way' and was followed by a short article covering the press conference. No mention was made of Tristan's hospitalization or Kevin's unconfirmed infidelity. The wire services had picked up the story and so it had been carried across the country overnight. The internet went crazy as thousands of fans wrote to each other either denying the article as untrue, threatening mass suicide or making a stab at maturity and wishing them their love and support.

Lily was doing none of those things. The press conference could have sunk a large nail into the coffin of Kevin and Tristan's relationship if it had gone as she had hoped. But the fact that it didn't was not a deterrent to her. This had been but a small battle. The war was far from over. She picked up the phone and began to dial Orlando.

CHAPTER 20

It had been one hell of a day and Kevin was exhausted. The last show had gone well despite his personal comments to the press. Management was somewhat annoyed with him but didn't dare give him a hard time. They understood the need that the group had to feel free to have a private life but they wouldn't have minded a little advance notice. The guys seemed fine with it, too, except maybe for Brian. He was a little subdued as was Leighanne. If Brian was upset because of some disagreement between Leighanne and himself, Kevin was sorry but if he was upset because of Kevin's announcement, then he really didn't give a shit. It had felt right to him and he had no regrets.

Now it was time to board the bus. It had been a long time since bus travel had been a part of their lives. Kevin , Tristan, Nick, Holly, AJ and Amanda climbed on Bus #1 along with Carlos, Jack and Q. The rest of the group and security would ride on #2, dancers and musicians on 3 and 4. The roadies and technical crews had already left.

Kevin threw his bag and jacket into his usual bunk and climbed in, wanting nothing more than to lay down and close his eyes. Well, almost nothing more. Tristan had come in behind him and when she stopped to throw her things into the bunk opposite him and began to climb in, Kevin sat up quickly, bumping his head on the low ceiling above him.

"Shit!"

"Are you alright, Kevin?" Tristan asked taking a step back down to the aisle. She leaned over to feel the top of his head.

"What are you doing?" he asked. He sounded indignant.

Their discussion momentarily stopped as Holly and Nick pushed passed Tristan to the back of the bus.

"I'm doing the same thing you're doing. It's late and I'm going to lay down and try to get some sleep." She turned to enter her cubicle.

"Tristan!" Kevin whispered loudly as if no one else would hear him.

"What is it, Kevin? I thought you were tired. Why don't you go to sleep?"

"Why are you over there?"

Tristan shook her head and sighed. "What's wrong with me being over here, Kevin? Is this bunk reserved or something?"

"I'm over here!" Kevin frowned.

"Yes, I can see you." Tristan answered, rolling her eyes.

Kevin stuck his head out of his bunk and looked down the aisle. Nick and Holly were in the back of the bus with AJ, who never slept. Amada seemed to have already conked out as had Jack and Q. Carlos was up front talking to the driver. Tristan had begun to fluff the pillow in her bunk.

"Tristan!" Kevin called again. His attempts at whispering were becoming less successful.

"Whaaaaat?" Tristan asked impatiently.

"Your ass is suppose to be over here with me!"

"You need some rest, Kevin. Don't you think it'll be a little tight in there?"

"Tight is good, baby…" he grinned.

AJ had come up the aisle to enter the bathroom when he heard these last remarks."Yeah, but tight and wet is better!" he cackled, closing the door behind him.

Tristan sighed . "Subtle, isn't he?" she said sarcastically looking towards the bathroom. When she turned back to Kevin he patted the mattress with his hand.

"Come on, baby…I need you." He pouted.

Tristan put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot. "Kevin Richardson, I am not going to do you on this bus with seven other people five feet away!" Then she added, "What's it been? A whole eight hours?"

Carlos had begun to head to the back of the bus until he overheard Tristan's comments. He abruptly turned and went back to continue his conversation with the driver.

"All I want to do is hold you, baby." Kevin lied.

Amanda laughed from her bunk up front. "Yeah, right…"

"Shut up, Amanda!" Kevin and Tristan said in unison.

Tristan relented. The only thing worse than a pissed off Kevin was a pissed off Kevin who was pouting. She motioned for him to move over and he wiggled back an amazing six inches. Tristan shook her head and climbed into the spoon.

"Don't you want to slip those sweats off, Tris? They must be uncomfortable." Kevin whispered, nuzzling the back of her neck.

"No, they're not - that's why I wore them. I don't see you slipping yours off."

"I can do that!" Kevin began to raise himself up on one elbow and push his waistband down.

"Jesus, Kevin! What did I tell you!" Tristan complained, still whispering.

"Okay, okay…." Kevin laid back down and sighed loudly. He wrapped his arm around Tristan's waist and buried his face in her hair.

Tristan was just dozing off when she felt Kevin's hand begin to creep up under her shirt and cup her left breast. His thumb rubbed across her nipple and she felt his hips begin to press against her bottom. His deep sighs were turning into moans as she felt him stiffen.

"Kevin!"

"God dammit, Tris! Everybody's asleep! No one can hear us!"

"WRONG!" A chorus of voices echoed from the several bunks surrounding them.

Kevin leaned over Tristan's back and shot his head out of his curtain. "Jesus Christ! Doesn't anybody sleep around here?" he shouted angrily. He was answered with various negative responses. He fell back down on his pillow and turned to the wall. "Shit!"

Tristan began to get tickled although she was a little embarrassed. She started to giggle.

"What's so fucking funny?" Kevin snarled from over his shoulder. Tristan rolled over and spooned him, pressing her smile up against his back.

"Oh, Kevin…" she whispered, teasing. "You know I want you sweetie, but not here. I promise that as soon we get some privacy I'll go down on you so hard and so deep that your balls will be screaming for mercy…."

Kevin moaned softly as Tristan patted his shoulder, still smiling.

"Ooooh…." Came a voice from the next bunk.

"Shut up AJ!" Kevin said as he pounded his fist against the wall that separated them. He pulled Tristan's arm around his chest. "I'm not gonna forget that promise, Tris."

"I know." She answered.

Email Grace

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