CHAPTER 35

When Tristan came back to their room, Kevin was coming out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. He had just gotten out of the shower and his skin was unusually pink. His head hurt. He was not happy.

"Where the hell were you?" he asked angrily. "I get up at the crack of dawn and you're gone. No note - nothing!"

Tristan fought to control her laughter. When Kevin said 'crack of dawn' it was all she could do not to come back at him with something crude about 'crack of ass'.

"It's not exactly dawn Kevin…"

She couldn't bring herself to say 'crack'. Tristan stepped towards him and touched his arm.

"What did you do, wash with a Brillo pad? Jeez, you look raw!"

Kevin stepped away from her and went into his suitcase for a pair of boxers.

"I was dirty - that's all!" Then he mumbled. "Christ, can't take a damn shower without getting' the third degree…"

"What did you say, sweetie?" Tristan asked, knowing full well what he had said. His temper was definitely showing this morning.

"Nothing.." he grumbled.

They were both startled when a low moan emanated from the bed. Tristan hadn't noticed Mason when she came in. He had been completely covered with blankets and pillows.

"Mason?" Tristan walked towards the sleeping figure.

"God dammit, Mason!" Kevin shouted. "I told you to get the fuck outta here! Now get up and go on!" Kevin grabbed a pillow and started pummeling Mason with it.

Mason sprang up in the bed. "Shit, Kevin! I'm going! You don't have to be such a brute!" He threw his legs over the side of the bed and looked around the room. "Where did Nick go?" he asked.

"He went back to his room" Tristan answered, bending down to straighten the bed covers. "He practically ran to the shower yelling about feeling dirty…." She stood up and cocked her head towards Kevin. "What did you two do last night, anyway?"

Kevin grew agitated. "What do you mean by that? We didn't do a damn thing but sleep. Did Nick say something?" he asked defensively.

"No…." Tristan decided to push some more. "Did y'all sleep alright last night? You're not… sore… this morning are you?" She put a touch of coyness in her voice.

Kevin froze, wondering if he detected some kind of implication in Tristan's question. He really didn't remember much about last night after they got back to the hotel. He was so preoccupied that he hadn't considered the fact that Mason still sat on the bed as he paraded around in his boxers and nothing else.

"God, I slept like a log!" Mason purred. "Had sweet and delicious dreams all night long…"

"Awww…what did you dream about, Mason?" Tristan smiled.

"Do we really need to know that?" Kevin growled, tripping into his sweat pants. He seemed to be getting madder by the minute.

Mason jumped up off of the bed, obviously insulted. "Well, Precious, I think I'll just leave you here with Prince Charming….."

"Good!" Kevin snarled.

Mason ignored the barb. He put his hands on hips and pouted. The next words he unwittingly spoke almost sent Tristan into hysterics. "Ooooh, poor baby in a bad mood?" Mason began to resort to baby talk. " Well, I so sowey! Wittle Kev felt so good wast night! Wittle Kev was vewy happy. Nicky and Mason wiked pwaying wif him. Maybe when you feel better we'll pway some more…"

With that Mason spun around and huffed out of the door.

Kevin's frown had reached new depths, Little Kev? What the fuck do Mason and Nick know about Little Kev? Jesus…

***********

Nick was a nervous wreck. When his eyes had opened this morning, Kevin's face had been practically touching his. Some strange sound, like mumbling, had stirred them both from sleep at the same time. When their eyes had slowly opened simultaneously, they had stared at each other for a couple of seconds and then screamed like - well…. like girls. They had scared the shit out of each other. Nick had almost died of humiliation when he realized that his arm had draped around Kevin's back. Then he located the source of the mumbling. Mason was talking into his shoulder and Nick soon noticed that Mason's leg was lying across his thigh. He had felt like the filling for a human sandwich.

God only knew what was going through Kevin's mind. When they had screamed at each other, Kevin had jumped back so quickly that he had fallen off the edge of the bed and landed squarely on his ass. He had been too stunned to even hurl curses. And when the hell had he unfastened his pants? And why did Holly have to see that and point it out in front of Tristan? Nick groaned audibly at his recollection. Sweet Lord…

"Did you say something, Nick?" Holly asked as she came into the bedroom.

"No…no.."

Holly decided to push a button. "Oh, I thought you said something about Kevin.."

Nick jerked his head around to her. He was definitely hung over. Had he spoken aloud without realizing it?

"Uh…no. What do you think I said?" Nick licked his lips nervously.

Holly turned away so Nick wouldn't see the twinkle in her eye. "I don't know. Something about Kevin and ,,,mouth, I think.."

Nick began rubbing the palms of his hands down the sides of his pants. They were sweating.

"Oh..ha…ha…" Nick forced a chuckle. "I don't think so, Hol. Why in the world would I say anything about Kevin's mouth? Ha..ha…"

"Well, maybe it wasn't 'mouth'. Maybe you said 'Mason'…"

Nick jumped up off the bed. " Now I know I didn't say anything about Mason!" he shouted.

"Okay, okay…Gee, I'm sorry! I must have misunderstood!"

"Damn straight…" Nick agreed.

Holly felt empowered. She decided to go a step further. As she opened the dresser drawer to get Nick a sweatshirt, she looked over at him innocently.

"Nick, you didn't have your rear end up last night, did you?"

Nick turned to her slowly. His face was becoming crimson.

"What the fuck kind of question is that, Holly?" He began to pace and she watched him run his fingers through his hair. "Why the hell would you ask me something like that?"

"Shit, Nick!" she said, feigning indignation at his outburst. "You said you slept on the floor last night, didn't you? If you sleep on your stomach on a hard floor, your neck gets twisted! Your neck and shoulders would be sore as hell! That's all! I was going to ask you if you needed an aspirin or something! Jeez.."

Nick dropped his head. "Sorry, Hol..I guess I just don't feel too good.."

Holly felt a little bad for pushing it this far and wrapped her arms around Nick's neck.

"I know, baby. Why don't you crawl back into bed for awhile. You still look tired. I'm going to meet Tris and the girls anyway."

Nick offered her a little smile and nodded. Holly brought her fingers to his head and pushed his bangs back off of his face before pulling down the covers and fluffing the pillows for him. Nick loved being taken care of.

"When are you comin' back?" he asked, yawning as he climbed into the bed.

"I won't be late."

"Okay…" His eyes were already closed.

"I want us to have some time together this afternoon. Alright?"

Sure baby…sure…"

And he was asleep.

Holly and Tristan waited in the small restaurant around the corner. Leighanne and Amanda would be along soon.

“Was Kevin up when you left?” Holly asked, slipping off her jacket.

Tristan laughed and shook her head. “Oh yes. He was up alright, but not exactly happy.”

“Yeah, Nick was upset, too. I feel a little shitty.”

“You do? Why?”

“I gave him a hard time..teased him into getting more riled up. I actually started to feel sorry for him.” Holly smiled sadly.

“I know, I know…I provoked Kevin, too.”

Tristan looked very thoughtful. Then the corners of her mouth started to twitch. She looked down into her lap, trying to suppress a laugh. She failed and started to titter.

“But, I swear - it was funny!”

The two friends told each other what had happened and who had said what. They both agreed that they wouldn’t torment Nick and Kevin any more. They would tell them what they knew later on and make sure they understood that nothing sordid had happened - that their innocence had been maintained.

“What’s Nick doing now?” Tristan asked, wiping the last of the laughing tears from her eyes.

“He was asleep when I left.” Holly took a deep breath and tried to compose herself.“What about Kevin?”

“Oh I imagine he’s in the gym by now. You know, lifting heavy weights, grunting, spitting - doing manly things…”

They both burst out laughing again just as Amanda and Leighanne entered the eatery.

“God damn! I’m glad you’re so happy!” Amada said sarcastically, “But do you think you could keep it down to a low roar?” She looked a little green.

She and Leighanne slid into the booth and got comfortable. Leighanne eyed Tristan carefully.

“You and Kevin alright this morning? After last night…”

“We’re fine.” Tristan cut in. She didn’t want to rehash Lily’s comment or Kevin’s temper. “In fact, That’s why I wanted to talk to you all.”

“You’ve got to be kidding…..” Amanda said cynically, holding her head. “You got me out of a nice warm bed to tell me how fine you are? Well lah-di-fuckin’-dah! No offense, Tristan - I’m very happy for you, but my ass is going back to bed…” Amanda made a move to slide out of the booth.

“No - Wait Amanda!” Tristan said, grabbing Amanda’s arm and pulling her back into her seat. “ I need to talk to you all - about Lily!”

Tristan's friends exchanged glances wondering what the hell had happened now.

"Is this about what she said about you and Asa?" Leighanne began. "Because that's really…"

"No!" Tristan said sharply - a little too sharply. "The 'Asa' thing is finished."

Amanda raised her eyebrows. "I didn't know the Asa thing had ever begun, Tris"

"Anyway…." Tristan glared at Amanda and then turned back to the others, "last night, before Kevin and I left the venue I went into the bathroom. Lily was in there talking to another woman. They didn't know I was there…"

She went on to repeat the conversation she had overheard and described the sounds of tearing paper and squeaking hinges.

"TAMPON!" Leighanne and Holly shouted. Amanda had come to the same conclusion but she had shouted "Plug!"

"Jeez, Amanda!" Leighanne looked around, embarrassed. "Do you always have to be so crude? Everybody's looking at us."

"Jeez. Leighanne!" Amanda mimicked in a whiney voice. "I really doubt that 'plug' is the word that got their attention! I thought I was being pretty discreet!"

Tristan rolled her eyes and continued. "The point being…."

"Pregnant women don't need tampons." Holly finished.

"Exactly!" Tristan nodded.

"I knew that damn skank was lyin'!" Amanda said confidently. "I'll bet Kevin wants to kill her."

"Kevin doesn't know yet." Tristan confided to the group.

"Why the hell not?"

"I want to get my evidence together so I can get to Lily before he does. I don't want him to know about this until it's all settled. That's why I wanted to talk to you." Tristan pulled the copy of Lily's medical profile from her purse.

"What's that?" Holly asked.

"Lily's tour med sheet." Tristan answered. "I glanced at this last night. It didn't register with me until this morning, but it says nothing about her being pregnant. Wouldn't that be on there?"

"Not necessarily" Amanda answered, grabbing the sheet from Tristan. "Skip is notoriously bad about keeping this stuff updated. Look, it's dated last September. This was made when the first U.S. tour started."

"Oh. I didn't notice that." Tristan sighed, discouraged. "I was hoping I could use this somehow."

"Let me see that." Holly took the paper from Amanda and looked it over. "Nope, I don't think this will help your case much, Tris. Sorry." She passed the page on to Leighanne.

Leighanne studied the paper for a long time. She didn't speak. The women waited.

"Want me to read it to 'ya, Leigh?" Amanda groaned. "It does have some big words - like 'address' and 'employment'."

Leighanne ignored Amanda and leaned over to Holly, pointing to something on the page. Holly began to read again. Then she stopped and met Leighanne's gaze.

"What, what?" Tristan asked anxiously.

"I think there's a discrepancy here…" Leighanne began.

"Oooh. 'Discrepancy'! That's very good, Leigh!" Amanda laughed.

"Shut up, Amanda!" Leighanne frowned. "This sheet lists Lily's blood type as O positive."

"So? A lot of people are type O's. Universal blood type and all that.." Tristan shrugged.

"When Holly and I saw the computer screen in Orlando, the blood type was listed as A positive."

Tristans's eyes grew wide. "Are you sure?" She asked, glancing from Leighanne to Holly.

"We're sure, Tris" Holly nodded. "We were really concentrating on that screen and compared what we read later."

"Damn!" Amanda laughed rubbing her hands together. "This was worth crawling out of bed for! The bitch is finally going down!"

Tristan grew quiet. She was beyond happy, but tears began to spill down her cheeks. Tears of relief. How far would Lily have continued to go with this? Tristan suspected now that she had been padding herself a little. What was she going to do in August? Buy a baby? Tristan began to shake.

"Whoa, girl!" Amanda patted Tristan's back. "It's over! You and Kev can move on now…"

"Almost…" Tristan replied, wiping her eyes with a tissue. There are a couple more things that have to be done before I face Lily."

"What?" Holly asked. "Do you need us to do something?"

"You and Leigh have done enough, Holly. In fact, it looks like you did more than you thought.."

"Thank the Lord!" Leighanne's eyes shot heavenward.

"But I do need Amanda to do something for me…"

"What?" Amanda asked. "Want me to beat the shit out of Lily? Hey, I'll be glad…"

"No!" Tristan laughed. "But I do want you to make a phone call. Since, out of the four of us, you're the biggest bitch…"

"Gee, thanks.." Amanda grumbled.

"….I want you to make a call and shake down that woman - that Jane Dunning- who left the message on our machine. Find out what she knows. Scare her if you have to."

Amanda grinned. She was going to enjoy this game. "Consider it done!"

"I have a few calls to make, too. I'd like to be ready to drop this bomb on Lily tomorrow."

"Oh, man…" Holly sighed. "Please let us be there…"

"All of you deserve to be." Tristan responded seriously. "Thank you."

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

All four women went their separate ways after leaving the restaurant. Tristan had a meeting with Mason. Leighanne had made an appointment for a manicure. Amanda wanted to get started on her 'shake down'. Only Holly had no real plans. She wished that she did. She wanted to get this talk with Nick out of the way but dreaded the possibilities. She walked aimlessly for an hour and had managed to rationalize two of her three dilemmas out of the way. She didn't really need to say anything to Nick about Kevin and Tristan. He had told her to forget about it anyway. That took care of one. As far as the job offer, well, she didn't have to let them know anything for a few weeks. She could wait. Besides, she still wasn't sure what to do about that. There went number two. As for the third item.….. She couldn't rationalize her way out of that one. She had to talk to Nick about that before he got wind of it someplace else. It might not be too bad. Nick was usually reasonable. She decided to take the lighthearted approach. If she could joke her way through it, then maybe she could convince Nick that it wasn't such a big deal. She crossed her fingers and hoped that Kevin wouldn't pose an additional problem.

"Hey, babe!" Nick called to her when she entered the suite.

Holly had almost hoped he would still be sleeping. "Hi, hon. I thought you'd still be in bed. When did you get up?"

Just a little while ago. I'm working on a song."

"Really? Does it have a title?"

"Naw…I've just done one verse."

"Can I see?"

"I guess. Not much there yet"

Holly picked the lined paper from the table and read the short stanza.

I won't share your pillow,
Won't stare into your eyes.
The night we spent together
Was false and full of lies.

Holly rolled her eyes, guessing Nick's 'inspiration'. "Hope it's not about me!" she laughed.

"Never, baby." Nick said softly and patted her on her bottom.

It's now or never.. "Umm, I need to talk to you about something, Nick. Do you have a minute?"

"What is it Holly?" Nick said seriously. He knew that when someone used the words 'need to talk', the talk was never good.

"Don't be so glum, Nick!" Holly laughed - a touch too loudly. "I was thinking about my father today, and you know what? I realized that I never told you what he did for a living!"

"Yeah you did." Nick said. "You told me he was a lawyer."

"Oh…that's right." Holly paused and then brightened. "But did I tell you he was an entertainment lawyer?"

"No…who does he work for. Anybody I know?"

"Well, yes as a matter of fact. You won't believe this.." Holly began her forced chuckle…"but he used to work for Lou! Isn't that funny?"

Nick wasn't laughing. "Lou who?"

Holly danced herself back a couple of steps. "Lou Perleman, silly! Isn't that funny?"

Nick considered this. Holly was acting a little weird. "When?"

"When what?"

"When did he work for Lou?"

"Oh, let me see…a year or two ago, I think."

"So he was Lou's lawyer when we sued him."

"Well…."

Nick exhaled forcefully and slapped the palm of his hand on the table.

"Don't play dumb with me, Holly. I really don't want to believe that you think I'm that stupid!"

Holly's chin began to tremble. Nick became alarmed.

"Aww, jeez…"

"I'm sorry, Nick" Holly blubbered. "Everybody was still so upset about all of that. I didn't know you all that well and…"

"Didn't know me that well? For Christ's sake, Holly! How well do you have to know someone? I've been inside of you almost every night since we've been together!"

Holly's tears were starting to spill now. "I meant I didn't know the others all that well and, anyway, it was over and…and my father left that firm. He had to defend Lou! He was on retainer! He left right after the settlement!"

Nick stood up and began fumbling around. Shit! There she was crying! He wished she'd stop. She knew he couldn't stand that. He suddenly didn't know what to do with his hands. Finally he stepped over to her and started patting her on the back.

"I'm sorry!" she wailed.

Nick's arms found their way around Holly's shoulders and he pulled her face into his chest.

"Okay…okay…shush now…."

"Kevin's gonna be mad…"

"Naw…Kevin won't be mad. All that happened before you knew us." Nick chuckled, trying to ease her distress. "I mean, It's not like you were spying on us and passing on some big BSB secrets, right?" Nick paused and ran his fingers through Holly's curls. "What's your dad doing now?" Nick didn't like Holly's hesitation. "What's your dad doing now, Holly?" he repeated. His fingers had stopped moving through her hair.

Holly sniffled into Nick's shoulder. "He's still a lawyer, but he's a manager now, too. A partner, kind of."

"Oh…That's nice" he said, relieved. "Who is he managing?" Nick thought he felt Holly stiffen.

Holly stepped back, ready to deliver the second volley. She decided to go for the light approach again and was determined not to be intimidated.

"'NSync" she answered.

Nick started to laugh. "Very funny, Hol. Now really - who?"

"'NSync." She repeated.

Nick stopped and looked at Holly's face. He could see that she was serious. He felt his grin do a flip into a frown.

"Please tell me that you're lyin'…."

"I can't do that Nick." Holly said defensively. "He went to work with Johnny Wright after he left the law firm." She tried to break the growing tension. "Hey, I was there! They're not so bad. They have a lot of respect for you guys."

"Bullshit."

"They do, Nick. They recognize what kinds of doors were opened because of the BSB!"

Nick's eyes narrowed as he studied Holly's face.

"You sound like you know 'NSync personally, Holly. Do you?"

"Well, yes!" Holly said lightly. "I told you I was there."

"Did you go out with any of them?"

Holly began to stammer a little. "G..Go out? You mean like..on a d..date or something?"

"Bingo, Hol! "

"Yeah…."

Nick began to turn red. His arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Which one?" he asked.

"What?"

"Which fuckin' one?" he repeated, raising his voice.

Now Holly began to get angry.

"What the hell difference does it make, Nick? That was quite a while back. I thought that you might get upset because of the BSB, not because of who I went out with a long tome ago!"

"Who, Holly?" Nick wasn't going to let this go.

"J.C." she sighed.

"J.C. Chasez? You went out with Mr. 'Kevin Wannabe'?" He was pissed.

"He's nothing like Kevin!" Holly scowled.

"That's beside the damn point. How many times did you go out with him?"

"Jesus, Nick! I don't know! Four - five times, maybe. What's the difference?" Holly was angry, too.

"Did you have sex with him?"

"What did you say?" Holly asked incredulously.

"I asked you if you had sex with J.C. Chasez!" Nick screamed. "Are you deaf?"

This discussion had taken a turn that Holly didn't expect. She thought she was doing the right thing by telling Nick about her father. It had been hard. Now she felt that her personal life was being attacked. She sensed a definite double standard here and it made her mad. She blurted out the first piece of cynicism that came into her brain.

"Gee, Nick. I'm not sure. Do blow jobs count?"

CHAPTER 36

Nick stood motionless facing Holly. Her caustic remark had moved him from anger to despair in a matter of seconds. He never moved his eyes from hers.

"Yeah, Holly." he whispered. "They count…."

Then he turned and walked across the room and out of the door.

Tristan was walking down the hall when she passed Nick. She knew right away that he was upset. She also knew that Holly was going to tell Nick today about Warren Carmichael. She guessed correctly that the conversation had already taken place. Nick looked miserable. He was walking quickly and didn't look like he was planning to stop and exchange pleasantries. Tristan moved into his path, forcing him to at least look at her.

"Nick?…What's wrong?" she asked, grabbing his sleeve.

"Nothin'". He said quietly, casting his eyes to the floor.

"Is this about the 'Nsync thing?" She leaned her face to the side, trying to capture Nick's eyes.

Nick continued to study the floor until he realized the implication of what Tristan had just asked him. Some convoluted understanding swept over his face and he felt embarrassed. Reactions that Nick thought he had buried with his adolescence suddenly surfaced again as he began an attack that would be aimed at the only other person there - Tristan.

"You mean to tell me that you knew about this?" he growled at her.

Tristan was taken aback by Nick's attitude and tone. If he was this upset over the news then Kevin was bound to be livid.

“Ye…yes..” she stuttered. “I’ve known Holly for a long time, Nick. We’ve talked about these things.”

Tristan clasped her hands to her chest as her eyes darted across Nick's face. She didn’t understand the force of his anger. Nick's arms dropped to his sides and Tristan noticed his hands forming into fists.

“Oh, I see..” Nick said, nodding. “You and Holly talk about these things…” Tristan braced herself. Unfortunately, she was familiar with this kind of patronizing sarcasm. Nick didn’t see. “Well that’s just great!” Nick screamed. “Who the fuck else knows about her going down on J.C. Chasez? Everybody?” Nick waved his arm out dramatically. “How often do you and Holly chit-chat about blow-jobs over your tea and cookies?”

Kevin had just stepped off the elevator with Carlos in time to hear Nick’s last comments. His head jerked down the hallway towards the sound of Nick’s angry voice. Is that Nick screaming at Tristan? Surely I didn’t hear him yelling at her about blow-jobs!”

Nick was on a rant and all Tristan could do was stand there and listen. She didn’t know where this had come from or where it was going. She had thought that Nick was upset about Holly’s father but when he had started screaming about oral sex she could only stare at him with a combination of shock and fascination. A couple of doors along the hallway had popped open and Tristan could detect movement out of the corner of her eye. Kevin was striding quickly in their direction with Carlos close behind. Nick didn’t slow down.

“What…. do you and Holly exchange tips on technique?” Nick’s sarcasm remained in full bloom. “Maybe Kevin and I have been getting each others head! Huh, Tris?”

Heads began to emerge from the opened doors. Tristan heard Kevin yell from down the hall. “NICK!” Then Nick’s venting turned personal.

“Hey…come on , Tris..Don’t look so shocked! After all, you swallow - right?”

The next thing that Nick felt was Kevin’s hands on his arms and his back being slammed against the unforgiving wall. The breath had been knocked out of him and he looked stunned.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Nick?"

Kevin was in his face, still pinning him against the plaster. His voice was low but he was seething. Tristan's hands were covering her mouth, her eyes wide in disbelief and moving from Nick to Kevin. After all, you swallow - right? Surely Kevin wouldn't have….

Nick had made no attempt at discretion. Kevin had heard Nick's comments and so had several others close by. For a brief moment, Nick's eyes showed fear. He knew that he had crossed the line with Kevin but he was still angry and hurt. He turned his head and saw Carlos and Billy heading towards them. Kevin hadn't released any pressure from his shoulders. In fact the pressure had increased and Kevin was still nose to nose with him.

"Answer me, Nick…"

Kevin's temper had reached a rolling boil but he hadn't exploded yet. Nick responded with his gut. His brain seemed to be 'out of order'. He made a defiant and regrettable leap.

"Why don't you ask your…wife?" he whispered snidely into Kevin's face.

Nick's remark had the desired effect. Kevin's hands dropped immediately as he searched Nick's eyes. There was no time for explanations or admissions - Carlos and Billy were suddenly there, separating the two men. Fortunately, no one else had heard Nick's last remark except for Tristan. As they were being pulled apart, Nick jerked away from Billy and began to move down the hall towards the elevators. He wished he hadn't glanced back. Kevin looked as if he had been sucker punched, which, curiously, gave Nick a perverse sense of empowerment - something he wasn't used to having but seemed to crave right now. The feeling faded when he saw Tristan's shoulders drop. She looked pained and her eyes had filled. Shit! Nick boarded the elevator and headed to the roof. It was the only place he could think of where he could be alone to think and not be crushed by fans. The tune of an old song he used to hear his grandfather sing seeped out of his memory.

'You only hurt the ones you love, the one's you shouldn't hurt at all…'

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

"You want to tell me how Nick knows about us?" Kevin slammed the door behind them. It had already been one hell of a day.

Tristan couldn't speak. She couldn't begin to guess what was going on with Nick. He had jumped all over her - about oral sex, of all things. Unfortunately, Kevin had been within earshot. As soon as Tristan realized that Kevin had overheard some of Nick's comments, she knew there would be trouble. Although Kevin was no prude, he was very protective of the intimacies they shared. For him to say anything of a sexual nature that involved Tristan was exceedingly rare.

"There was a luggage mix up. He went into my jewelry box by mistake and saw the rings."

"That's fuckin' great!" Kevin shouted. "I knew it was too God damned much to ask for a private life!" He stood staring at Tristan and remembered the earlier portion of Nick's rant. "Now tell me why the hell you and Nick were discussing blow-jobs! Is what he said true? You and Holly been discussing what we like and how we like it?" He chewed on his tongue awaiting an answer. He was pissed.

"I don't know what Nick was talking about…" Tristan tried to answer calmly but the evenness of her tone did little to hide the confusion and apprehension she was feeling. Her voice shook despite her attempts to smooth it. "Holly and I don't talk about….that." She paused and met Kevin's stare. "But someone does, unless Nick's good at guessing…" Her remark was accusatory.

"What are you saying, Tristan? Do you really think I want anyone else to know all about what we do together?" Kevin asked in disbelief. His eyes had become steely.

"Maybe not what we do, Kevin Maybe just what I do!" Tristan frowned, pinning Kevin with her glare.

"And what, pray tell, is that?" Kevin asked sarcastically.

Tristan looked away, embarrassed. She took a breath and then turned back to Kevin. "Swallow." She said quietly.

Kevin looked at her for a moment, saying nothing. Then he lowered his head and started shaking it. Tristan could hear him laughing behind his hand, which had covered his face.

"What' so funny?" she shouted at him.

Kevin stopped laughing. When he dropped his hand, his face was hard and his voice was angry and low.

"Nothing's funny. I didn't say anything about that, Tristan. You did - the night at Nick and Holly's when you decided to get shit-faced doing shots!"

Tristan started to respond but hesitated. Kevin used this to his advantage and struck another blow - this one below the belt. Once again, his tongue outran his brain and it appeared that his heart never even left the starting block.

"'Ya know, baby, it's not like I've never been swallowed before. You didn't exactly invent that…"

He screeched to a stop when he saw the look that passed over Tristan's face. He tried to back up, but it was too late. He had wanted the upper hand in this argument and he had won it, but only by knocking Tristan to the ground. It had been a low blow. Her chin had begun to quiver and she blinked rapidly.

"Tris….baby…" Kevin stepped towards her with outstretched arms, but she retreated and held up her hand to silence him.

"Please…" she pleaded through a cracked whisper. "Don't talk anymore. You've said more than enough…If your purpose in saying that was to remind me of your vast variety of experiences, you needn't have bothered Kevin. I'm reminded every day. I'm reminded when I open a magazine or go on the internet. I'm reminded when I watch you on stage with the dancers……" Tristan hesitated and then continued. "And if your goal was to put me in my place, whatever place that is, you've succeeded."

"Tris…please…I'm…"

"Don't." she said, brushing past him. "I have some business to attend to and you have a meeting. Besides, there's nothing to more to say."

Tristan left Kevin standing in the middle of the floor as she hurried out of the door. She wanted to speak to Holly. She wanted to wrap up this charade with Lily. She wanted out of the tour. She wanted to go home.

Email Grace

---