Having signed the contract with JC, James, Howie, Brian and Kevin's signatures accompanying mine and Ma's, I was set to help the Boys wrap their current tour with them three days in advance and flew out the day after Christmas. I've been staying with Kevin, away from Nick and driving Kev out of his mind with my cleaning and prepping for the upcoming tour. I have basically moved in with him and even have a key. First thing I feel the need to express is that he's like my dad, so he knows me best besides James. "Hate to burst your bubble," Kevin says as I enter the kitchen to eat some of his Kentucky pancakes, eggs, sausage and store bought OJ.
"You're going to anyway, Papa," I say, looking into his apologetic eyes. 

"Nick and the Boys are coming here with Fatima for rehearsal. Aaron and his choreographer will be here as well, we have to share the rehearsal hall. Aaron's team will be here in two hours and the Boys are supposed to be here in three."
"Are you fucking serious? You know I don't want to be anywhere near him until we hit the road!" I scream.
"I know, just ignore him and try not to let him get to you. I've told him not to talk to you right now."
"Like he's going to listen to you," I point out.
"He better or he's going to be in hot water."
"He didn't listen on his fucking birthday, Papa."

He tilts his head to the right, indicating his interest. "Where were the two of you?"
"Together and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out," I retort, a snide look on my face.
He sighs. "Is that part of why you took off?"
"Yes, James helped me leave."
"Gary, Kent and Karl will be here and they know you resent Nick right now." He takes a big bite of pancakes as my cell rings.
I check the ID and pick up with a mouth full of food. "Mmm, 'lo?"
"Hey, Sam."
"I miss you."
"I miss you too. You're dancing for his brother?"
"Yes, contracted for every appearance and show. Between the end of the show a couple days from now and the end of March, I'm all yours, babe," I say with a smile.
"You're near one of them."
"Yes."
"Call me later?"
"Definitely."
"Love you."
"Love you too." We hang up and Kevin is looking at me, most likely wondering who it was. "What?"
"Who was that?"
"My boyfriend of five and a half months." 
He watches me eat as he awaits for further explanation. "Not telling me anymore?" he inquires, his face softening.
"No, Papa. Just know I'm happy and he treats me well."
"The four of us, Fatima, his family, the security staff and Johnny are hoping you and Nick will be friends again."

I roll my eyes and continue eating. "That's going to be quite awhile from now."
"You know his brother misses you."
"That's why I'm dancing for him."
"You're the main dancer."
"Moral support for Aaron and to make sure he has a real friend that'll help him through this tough experience," I state, being honest.
"You're so confusing sometimes, Sam."
"I know and I like it that way."
My cell rings again, Aaron this time. "Hey, kid."
"Hey. We have to rehearse today."
"I know. You're probably on your way here."
"Yeah, Johnny set up rehearsal times and the Boys figure out where to have them."
"Figured that much. You psyched about touring and me being on your crew?"
"You wouldn't believe it."
"Pixies?"
"Yup, got em. Just... Be nice?"
"I'll try. I can't talk to him face to face right now." 
"The first time we open here is in Tampa and is three days from now. Is that enough time for you to catch the moves?"
"Yeah, Howie sent me video of one of your rehearsals and I've been practicing."
"Oh, cool! Be there in about an hour."
"See you then, we're going to kill this rehearsal!" I assure him, a Cheshire cat smile on my lips.
After I hang up, Kevin's watching me like a hawk does its prey. "What is that ridiculous grin for?"

The smirk grows, reaching my eyes and turning my eyes dark hazel, more green than honey brown. "Noooottthhhiiinnnn..."
"Don't start anything today, please," he pleads with me.
"I won't. I'm going to get dressed and I'll be back down in a few minutes." I run upstairs, take a fast shower and put on a pair of shorts with a tank top I had bought last time I went shopping with Justin and James. Light blue cut offs go really well with a tank top tye dyed with various shades of green and blue and teal DCs. I come running down the stairs as I hear Aaron's crew's van pull up. 
Kevin sees what I have on and is probably shocked because the shorts are a hand length above my knees, my tank top is a regular tank top. He's never seen me dress like this and I caught him off guard. "You should get jeans or windbreaker pants on," he suggests, eyes wider than I've ever seen them.
Just then Aaron knocks on the door, I have to run and answer it to ignore what Kevin had told me. "This the whole dance crew?" I ask Aaron.
"Yeah," he responds, hugging me tight. "Sam, this is Ashley, Breanna, Jenny, Jessi, Mike, Jason, Jake, Mitch and Landon. Sometimes you'll be dancing with Mitch or Jason, Johnny says whoever you get along better with."
"What if I get along with him better?" I inquire, motioning to a sandy blonde boy with hazel eyes who looks closer to my age than Aaron's. 
"That's Landon. We should start rehearsing, Brett will be here in a few minutes. Here's the playback for rehearsals," Aaron says, handing me a CD. 
"We should get to the hall downstairs and start."
The 11 of us run for the rehearsal hall and begin to practice, laughing and catching up at the same time. A guy about six feet tall, brown hair and dark hazel colored eyes is standing in front of us wearing a pair of jeans and a black Hanes t-shirt with black Nikes. "Hey, Brett," Landon greets. 

Everyone else waves and he acknowledges everyone, keeping a cautious watch on me. I'm sipping on a bottled water and watching him as well. "Who might this be?" he asks, nodding in my direction.
Aaron smiles, draping an arm over my shoulders. "Brett, this is Sam aka Jazzy."
"Nick's ex?"
I groan. "Can we not speak about him?"
"She's a friend of the family and is trying to become friends again, but right now isn't good time for them." Brett walks away to talk to the other nine members of his dance crew, leaving Aaron and I to talk about his brother. "What do you want to know?"
"Why did you run?"
"Mandy, not only was he talking to her, I caught him kissing her which I took as him breaking up with me."
"But that's not who you talked to a few weeks ago."
"Either way, I don't care."
"You do and we both know it, admit you still love him."
I shake my head violently. "No way in hell I'm going to."
"Why not?"
"I left for a good reason."
"Hey, beautiful," I hear so nonchalantly come out of his mouth as he enters the room.
"Nick, I don't thi-" Howie attempts to warn.
"I know what I'm doing," he calmly says, my blood boiling so badly, I promise I'm about to swing as he gets within range. 
I stand on the couch I was sitting on with Aaron, bringing me just above eye level with the oldest Carter and Nick turns around to see my fist meet his nose. "Stay the fuck away from me, don't talk to me, don't look at me, I will tell you when I'm ready to talk and it's all because of how you destroyed me," I bark at him and sit back down, continuing the conversation with Aaron. "Like I said, not ever happening in my lifetime.
"I guess I'm wrong," Aaron says shrugging. "Sometimes listening to the older guys can save you pain like that."
Nick is holding his sore and bloody nose, muffling his voice and sounding nasally. "What the fuck?" he asks, entirely befuddled.

"I tried to tell you it may not be wise to get near her or say anything to her, she's still hurting."
"I thought nine months would be enough."
Kevin claps his hand on Nick's shoulder. "Do me a favor when it comes to her, don't think. Don't say a thing to her unless you truly know how she feels and understand what she thinks."
"Fuck her," he flings at Howie, his eyes bouncing between Aaron and I. "For all I fucking know, those two are dating."
Oh, now it's fucking on! "First off, I didn't know Aaron's name was Justin. Second, go fuck yourself!" I'm beyond enraged, my hands flying around me and fighting Aaron, Kevin and AJ as they try to hold me back from charging him to beat his head in as a futile attempt to knock sense into him. "You don't know a fucking thing about me anymore! You don't know me, you fucking destroyed me inside and you can rot in God damned hell, douche! I'm done with you and I don't want you near me!" I scream at the top of my lungs, bright red in the face and crying as my tears stream down my face. I fight against their hold for a few minutes longer, stopping just long enough to drop to my knees and sob uncontrollably. Kevin gives me about ten or fifteen minutes. "You should rehearse and get the hang of it all. We're three days away from your first concert performance. You have got to get these steps down," he points out gently, whispering. 
I nod and get up. I walk over to Brett and let my bubbly personality come out. "What's the formation?" He helps me get into place and we start working on getting it down pat.
"Wow, nine routines. They weren't joking."
"But that's only a third," I argue.
"You'll get the rest down pat because Aaron is staying with you here."
"Who says?"
"Jane, Kevin, Johnny and myself," Brett informs me.
I look at Aaron and he nods, confirming the information. I shrug and lead Aaron outside with a boombox to rehearse more. I make sure to grab the playback discs, a ton of C batteries and set up our own private rehearsal, neither of us having spoken a word since the outburst I had toward Nick four hours ago. We won't talk about it for a long while, maybe it'll be when we get on the bus.