FicWad

Chapter Fourteen



I had spent way too long packing and unpacking my suitcase. For a start I had struggled fitting it all into the suitcase and the guys had laughed, reminding me we were only going for three and a half weeks. Apparently we only had limited storage room so I had to take everything out again and start over again. I lost count of the times I had to repack until everything fitted neatly into the one suitcase. I had tried to motivate the guys to pack but they hadn't bothered, saying they would just chuck things in a suitcase before we left. We were going to travel up through New Jersey and around New York. They wouldn't be performing any shows below Jersey City, not on this tour anyway.

We spent the first week in New Jersey, staying at a hotel. The band still had abudget, so the hotels weren't the cleanest places I'd ever stayed at, but at least we got to take showers and had somewhere to go back to after the long days. The band never had a single day off that first week. They did three radio interviews, went to a couple of signings at record stores and played three shows. All of the concerts had gone well, the level of enthusiasm they had for the shows were unbelievable. All the shows were almost completely sold out, holding anywhere from three thousand to six thousand people. They also had meet and greets at every show. One fan had been to almost every show and had gotten to know them quite well. Aaron was particularly fond of her.

"Who's she?" I asked, the tone in my voice hinted disapproval. I looked over at her,"she looks familiar, have I seen her before?"

"That's Jenna. She's been to almost every show, meet and greet and signing on this tour so far. You might have seen her at Adam's party or the album release party we had at ours," Quinn said.

"Why's she in your dressing room?" I asked inquisitively.

I couldn't remember seeing her, and I had definitely never talked to her. The band had just played their biggest show yet, their first show with a band opening for them and it had gone perfectly.

"Because she's a loyal fan, and she's really nice," Quinn said admiringly.

"A little too nice, if you ask me," I muttered, watching her giggling at Blake and Aaron.

"You don't even know her. She's really friendly," Quinn was trying to convince me.

There was just something about her I didn't like. I didn't want to be stereotypical, but she just looked so /fake /with her long blonde, shiny hair and her thick black eyelashes, her perfectly flawless, translucent skin. I wasn't jealous, there was just something about her I didn't like, I couldn't figure out exactly what it was. I guessed it was just my intuition kicking in, something told me not to trust her. The feeling was so strong I couldn't just ignore it.

"I think she wants to be more than just friends," I said, glancing over at her, showing her straight, unnaturally white teeth as she continued to laugh with Aaron and Blake, who couldn't take their eyes off her.

"Why is that a problem? They're single, it's a free world," Quinn said.

"You're not," I reminded him.

"I know that," he said amused, "don't you trust me?"

"I don't trust /her," /I said, looking over Quinn's shoulder at her. Every now and then she would glance over it us, and my suspicions of her grew. It was up to Aaron and Blake if they wanted to be with her, but I didn't trust her not to try something with Quinn. It was something I feared most about being with Quinn, he was pretty good looking, and I knew a lot of girls back home thought so too. It was a good thing I had so much trust in him, not to do anything.

"Well we like her. You never know, just talk to her," he said.

My first impression had been pretty harsh, for all I knew she could be nice if Italked to her. Somehow I knew she was trouble, and I wasn't going to let my guard down.



Quinn and I sat on the couch a couple of days later after a show, having a drink. It was funny that we were underage yet since Quinn was famous we could practically have anything we wanted. If we went to a club right now chances were we would have been able to get in. Society and their double standards made no sense to me, but I guess I couldn't complain. I hadn't managed to do any schoolwork, Ihadn't expected to just yet though. Over the next two remaining weeks the band would be doing a lot of interviews and signings, more so than shows, so I would be able to get some done in that time.

Quinn was exhausted, as I had expected. I had worried how he would cope with all the shows and other things they had to do as a band. He seemed fine just before and during the shows, but after we got back to the hotel and the following morning he looked like hell. The concerts were obviously taking a lot out of him and he had started to have trouble sleeping at night too, dark circles were forming under his eyes.

"I don't know what you have against her," Quinn said.

I had been warning him again about Jenna. It seemed for now that she had laid off Quinn and had chosen Aaron. They seemed very much a couple, and Aaron sure wasn't complaining. I had talked to her a few times, as I had promised Quinn Iwould try to like her. But it just wasn't happening. Every time I talked to her she came across like she had no interest in anything I said, she'd just nod and agree with things at random moments. I didn't like people who couldn't hold aconversation and I felt like she was only interested in the band, as a band. So I wasn't warming to her at all.

"She just likes you guys because you're famous," I said matter-of-factly.

Quinn didn't say anything, probably because he knew I was telling the truth.



"What do you guys think of Jenna?" I asked Kyle and Cameron as we were out for dinner one night.

We often ate down at the hotel bar, but tonight we had decided to treat ourselves out in New York City. I was surprised Jenna wasn't with us. She was staying in Aaron's hotel room with him, now that they were officially an item, much to my displeasure.

"She's hot," Kyle laughed and Cameron agreed, "but I'm a little worried about her relationship with Aaron."

Quinn, Blake and Aaron were up at the bar getting us some drinks.

"Why's that?" I asked. I was pleased I wasn't the only one who felt that way.

"Well, for a start she's older," Cameron said.

"How old is she?" I asked.

"She's twenty-one."

"Really, I had thought she was younger than us," I said, honestly. It wasn't an age difference to worry about, but it made me think more about her involvement with the band. Would a twenty-one year old really want to hang out with seventeen and eighteen year olds?

"Same. The other thing is its sort of weird one of the guys having a girlfriend," Kyle said and Connor nodded in agreement again.

I laughed, "Uh, so what am I?"

"Well, you're different. You've known us before the band formed."

"Yeah, you're just like one of the guys," Connor laughed.

I laughed too, but I knew it was true. I felt like one of the guys. I wasn't close to anyone at school like I was with the guys. I was close to every one of them. I didn't have any other real friends, and I just fit in so well with them.

"I guess we just don't know her well enough yet, her and Aaron look like they make a good couple," Kyle said.

"Yeah, he seems happy with her," I said.

I had to admit that, Aaron had seemed really happy to have a girl in his life. Iguess as long as she wasn't causing any trouble it would be okay. My impressions of her could have been completely mixed up, and maybe I had just misread her. I guess I'd find out soon enough.



Everything was still going well in the second week of the tour, though I could tell the non-stop lifestyle was getting hard for the band to handle. I knew they were secretly looking forward to going home again. It was hitting Quinn the hardest though. Ihad even managed to get the majority of my school work done, which I was pleased about. We had just changed to another hotel in New York, closer to the gigs they had this week.

I was getting changed in the bathroom after a shower when I heard hushed voices coming from the next room. Quinn and I had a conjoined room with Blake, Kyle and Connor. Aaron and Jenna had their own room across the hall. From the direction of their voices I could tell they were sitting in Blake's lounge area. Whatever they were talking about sounded serious, and I wondered if they were arguing. I didn't want to listen in on their conversation, but I was curious to know what they were talking about. I moved a bit closer to the wall, their voices were muffled and I had to strain to hear what they were saying.

"Fuck, I don't know what to say," I heard Blake say, "do any of the other guys know?"

Quinn didn't answer for a moment, and I realized he was smoking. He never smoked inside, /ever, "/No, no one else knows."

"So Kate doesn't know?"

I listened more intently after hearing my own name.

"No. And don't you tell her, or I swear I will never fucking speak to you again,"Quinn threatened.

I frowned, this didn't sound good. What was he so determined to hide from me?

"Okay, I won't. But Quinn, she needs to know," Blake was trying to reason with him.

I just wanted to go through the door now, and ask them what they were talking about. However, I knew if Quinn was threatening Blake about telling me I'd probably get more information from standing out here.

"No she doesn't. I'm sorting it out myself," Quinn replied quickly.

"Yes, she does. Imagine if she found out like I did? That would be worse, and you know this isn't something you can get through alone," Blake said, I could tell he was smoking too.

I began to worry about how serious this was, and I needed to find out what was going on. He wasn't going to tell me whatever it was straight up, so I was going to have to think of another way to find out.

"I can do it myself, trust me. Look I'll tell her, maybe. I just can't right now,"Quinn said.

I wished I could see his expression. He was good at hiding his expression but surely I would be able to see something that could at least give me a clue about the situation. He couldn't be cheating on me could he? Surely not. Itried to wipe that thought from my mind and come up with something else, but nothing else made sense either.

Blake's voice interrupted my thoughts, "You have to tell her soon though."

"I said I'd fucking tell her okay? I just have to wait for the right time," Quinn said. He was losing his patience he rarely spoke to anyone like that. I was more than worried now.

"There will never be a right time," Blake pushed.

So whatever this was, Quinn knew I wasn't going to take it well. But how long would it be before he told me? Until he did I would be constantly stressing about whatever it was. He didn't seem to have any intentions of telling me right away. I'm sure he wouldn't have told Blake if he hadn't have found out. So maybe I would try to speak to Blake first, if Quinn didn't tell me soon enough. I didn't have high hopes of Blake telling me, he was always loyal to his friends. I decided to walk out of the bathroom, and into our living room, there would still be a wall between us, so they got some warning that I was in the next room.

I put my things by the couch and walked through to Blake's living room, opening the door loudly as I could. He smiled, but Quinn fidgeted on the couch beside him.

"Well, don't stop talking on my behalf," I laughed.

"It's rude to eavesdrop, Kate," Blake grinned, he certainly wasn't letting anything away about their conversation.

Quinn, on the other hand looked like a nervous wreck, biting at his fingernails, the circles under his eyes looked even darker today, his face even paler than usual.

"Of course not, sorry to say, but your not all that interesting," I teased, and walked back to the mirror to do my make-up. Now I just had to wait a while and see if Quinn would tell me anything, but I wasn't counting on it.



"I forgot to say, at the signing yesterday two girls wanted me to say hi to you,"Quinn told me as we walked down the road, browsing some shops.

The band had a day off today, their first day off in two weeks. I had suggested we stay at the hotel so he could get some rest, but he had insisted on going out. He still hadn't mentioned anything to me about what he and Blake were discussing, not that I had expected him to.

"Really, that's nice," I said, remembering the autograph I had signed for some fans awhile ago. It hadn't had anything like that since, and I was always excited to hear that their fans also cared about me.

We walked into a clothing shop and I heard a couple of girls giggle over by one of the jewelry stands near the counter. I looked at some of the clothes, though Ididn't really need to buy anything. I glanced up every now and then to see the girls, watching Quinn.

"Those girls are staring at you," I smirked, picking up a hot pink t-shirt to look at.

"Are they?" Quinn asked, indifferently.

"Go say hello," I suggested.

"No."

"Oh, why not, they're obviously fans," I said, putting the t shirt back down, Ididn't like it.

"Because, I don't want to," he said.

I looked at him thoughtfully, usually he'd be the first one to want to meet fans. I knew he was exhausted, but he couldn't act like that around fans. I decided to let it go but then the two girls walked over and introduced themselves to Quinn.

"Can we get a photo?"

"Sorry, I have to go," he said, leaving the shop without a word to me.

I sighed and apologized to the two girls, who looked like they were either going to cry, or storm out to yell insults at him. Hell, I would have too.

"What are you playing at? You can't treat fans like that!" I said furiously when Igot outside.

He was leaning against the shop wall having a smoke.

"I can do what I want, Kate. Let's not have this conversation on the street please," he said.

He haled a taxi that was driving past and put out his smoke.

"You can't speak to fans like that and ignore them, Quinn. Someone's going to find out about this," I said, glaring at him.

He pulled his black hood over his head and slunk back into the seat after giving directions to the taxi driver. The hood cast a shadow over his face, but Icould still see the dark circles beneath his eyes. He wasn't sleeping, and this tour was just getting worse and worse for him. He'd actually been sick a couple of times in the night, and I was really worried about him. He needed to sleep and just take things easy, even at the concerts, but he refused to.

"What's gotten into you?" I asked after he said nothing.

Lately he'd been barely contributing to conversation, and now it seemed like he had reached his breaking point. I was going to have to help him sort through it, as always. I assumed this had something to do with the conversation I had overheard him and Blake talking about. But I still didn't want to confront Quinn about it surely he was going to tell me what was going on now. It had gotten to the point where he had been rude to fans, something I would never expect him to do. It was hurting me, knowing that something was wrong and he wasn't coping. I needed to find out all I could from Blake.

I found Blake in his room, after Quinn had gone out for another smoke.

"There's something I need to talk to you about," I said and sat down next to him.

He flicked off the TV and looked at me innocently, "go ahead."

"I did overhear you and Quinn talking the other day. What's he not telling me?" I asked, knowing the chances of Blake telling me were a long shot, but I had to try.

"You really shouldn't listen to other peoples conversations, you might hear things you don't want to." he laughed, but I didn't.

"Please tell me, you know he won't," I wasn't ready to beg just yet.

"This is a conversation the two of you need to have. I say give him a couple of weeks, he said he's pretty much got it under control now," Blake said, he wasn't going to tell me anything.

"Getting/what /under control?" I persisted and then added, "Today he was rude to acouple of fans and wouldn't get a photo with them."

"Oh no, really? Look, I can't say," he said regretfully, "I'm sure it's going to be fine, just wait for him to tell you."

I was ready to give up, for now, but I still wasn't happy and I just wanted to know what was going on, "Okay."

"I'm sorry," he said, squeezing my hand.