“I’m just gonna go…” Nick mumbled. Leighanne followed his example and bolted after him.
“Don’t tell me you’re friends with him again after what he did,” Madeleine demanded.
“I couldn’t help it, Mattie. We’re in the same band. We have to be on the same bus for hours at a time. How can I keep hating him?”
“You know how bad he hurt me.”
“He came here and basically begged me for forgiveness. Less than a week ago, he was my best friend. I can’t hate him for just one mistake.”
“I can’t believe I’m hearing this! I thought older brothers were supposed to hate anyone their sister dated, even before they broke up! Isn’t that the number one rule of brothers?”
“You see? This is exactly why I DIDN’T want you to date any of the Backstreet Boys. I knew something like this would happen, and I knew it was going to put me in the middle. But no, you had to break your promise and date my best friend!”
“God, Brian, I didn’t know you could be such a selfish asshole! I’m leaving!” she shouted, stomping out the door. She took off down the hall to find one of her friends. Maybe she could go to Kevin’s room. He wouldn’t mind, she was sure. However, before she got there, she collided with someone and fell to the floor.
A hand reached down to help her up, and she took it. When she looked up, she jerked her hand away. It was Nick. “Get the hell away from me, asshole,” she muttered.
“Okay, I deserved that,” he replied. “Mattie, please talk to me.”
She ignored him and quickly stepped past to go to Kevin’s room, but not without noticing the pained look in his eyes. The fact that he was hurting showed that he cared, too, and that offered her some comfort as a single tear rolled down her cheek. She waited until she heard Nick’s door close before looking back down the hall. Thankfully, it was empty.
Just then, the door in front of her opened, and she jumped. “Mattie, are you okay? What are you doing here?” Kevin asked.
“Oh, uh, hi. I wasn’t expecting you to open the door yet. I hadn’t knocked. I was startled.”
He gave her a funny look. “So because I opened the door to see if room service was here, you’re crying?”
“Oh, no. That’s because of Nick and Brian.”
“What did they do now? Are they still not speaking?”
“No, it’s the exact opposite.”
He opened the door farther and let her come in. “AJ and I are hanging out. I hope you don’t mind that he’s here.”
“No, not at all. I mean, it’s his and your room. I am intruding.”
“Don’t worry. You aren’t intruding, Mattie,” AJ spoke up from the doorway to the living room. “What happened? Nick again?”
“Yeah, kinda sorta.” Since they really didn’t know anything about why she and Nick broke up, she explained everything about him and Loryn.
“So that’s why Brian was so mad at Nick before. I don’t blame him. I would be really pissed off if someone did that to my sister, if I had a sister,” AJ stated.
“Yeah, Brian was really angry, but then I came back to the hotel today, and he and Nick were chilling in the living room of our room, playing video games. Nick and Leighanne slipped out, and Brian and I got into a big fight. He brought up the fact that I had broken my promise and dated one of his bandmates and this is why he made me make that promise. I know I shouldn’t be so mad at him, but I also know that now Nick will be hanging out in our room a lot more now, and I can’t be around him.”
“Mattie, did you honestly expect Brian not to forgive his best friend?” Kevin asked gently.
“No, but I didn’t think he’d do it this soon. I thought he’d at least wait until I was somewhat over Nick.”
“I think that probably would have been better of him to do, but you can’t really blame him.”
“I know, I know, but I can’t help it! I don’t wanna be around Nick any more than I absolutely have to.”
Kevin thought for a moment. “I’ll tell you what. You can room with me for a couple of weeks, if that’s okay with you, AJ.”
“Yeah, no problem. I’ll room with Brian.”
“Then you won’t have to be around Nick so much. Kristin is joining us tomorrow. Is that okay?”
“Of course. It’s your room, not mine.” She had met Kevin’s fiancée. Kristin a couple times before, but the two never really spent any time together.
“Then it’s settled.”