”I had planned on giving them a buzz later today,” Nick answered, stopping so that Corinne was now by his side.

”Really? ‘Cause I would really like to talk to-“

”BJ,” Nick interrupted, finishing her sentence for her. “I know, I know.” Corinne gave him a light shove as she snickered, and he smiled at her. “I could dial them up now, if you’d like,” he added after a while.

Corinne's eyes went wide with excitement. “Really? That would be great!” she said, jumping on him and running to where she’d last seen his cell phone. He and AJ laughed as she ran almost 20 feet ahead of them to retrieve the device.

”Those two are something else,” AJ commented, indicating Corinne and BJ. Nick nodded in agreement.

”Remind you of somebody?” he asked.

It only took AJ a few seconds before he answered. “You and Brian. Ugh!” The two men laughed.

As soon as Nick had caught up to Corinne, she shoved the cell phone in his face, pleading with him to call home. He chuckled, taking the phone from her, and dialed the familiar number. After the phone rang a few times, there was an answer. "Hey Beej," Nick said, "Is mom th-" He never got to finish his sentence, as the phone was snatched out of his grip.

"Hi BJ!" Corinne shouted excitedly. Everyone in the room could hear BJ squealing in excitement on the other end of the phone as she realized whom she was now talking to. This elicited a chuckle from everybody as BJ began to chatter excitedly into the phone.

Corinne had been able to have a nice long conversation with her friend before Nick's grumbling had gotten the better of her. After a few more seconds of his complaining, Corinne sadly said her good-byes and handed the phone back over to Nick. She leaned her back against him as she listened to him talk to his mother. They were both sitting in a booth at the small table of the bus in the same position when Brian came shuffling up to them.

“Hey,” Brian yawned, emerging from the back room with a terrible case of bedhead. He scratched the back of his neck, squinting terribly in the light. Corinne smiled up at him compassionately.

”Hi,” she answered. He stopped right in front of her, smiling drowsily, as he held out his hand to her. She took it and got up from her spot on the booth. Brian wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her to him, and she in turn wrapped hers around his neck. “How are you feeling?” Corinne asked, leaning her head on his shoulder.

”Tired,” he said, yawning again. She chuckled softly and he could feel her warm breath at his neck. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply, enjoying the feeling.

AJ watched the whole exchange with some distaste from his seat across the way. He lowered his eyes from the couple to his hands as he played with the drawstring to his sweat pants. He let out a wounded sigh, refusing to look back up until he noticed that they split from the embrace. He swallowed a lump in his throat, thinking how wrong it was of him to be feeling this way.

Kevin entered the room where 3 of his 4 band mates were sitting around chatting and cleared his throat, gathering their attention. “Bus stops in half an hour at the hotel. Be ready to clear out of here and get to the venue in 50,” he stated matter-of-factly. He chuckled when he gathered groans from the occupants of the room. “Anybody seen Howie?” he asked.

”He’s in the rec room watching ‘I Love Lucy’,” AJ said with a chuckle. Kevin smiled and nodded his head in thanks before heading down the corridor to the next room.

Brian glanced over to Nick, then averted his attention to Corinne. She smiled at him and he grinned back. “Do you want to come to the venue with us, or stay at the hotel room?” he asked.

Corinne thought about it a minuet, remembering how she had almost been killed in the crowd at their last stop, and shook her head negatively. “I’ll just stay at the room,” she said. Brian's face dropped to a frown, and she smiled at him reassuringly, patting his thigh. “I don’t feel up to the crowd today,” she added, and he nodded knowingly.

The bus arrived at the hotel a little early, and the Boys filed out and into the lobby. After they were all checked in and their bags were in their respective rooms, Brian gave Corinne a hug and kissed her quickly on the lips before the five filed out again, this time to the venue where they would be performing tonight.

While on the bus, Nick and Brian had secluded themselves in the back with Nick’s playstation, Kevin was up front with their tour manager and accountant, and AJ and Howie were sitting together in the kitchenette, talking. There had been a long pause in the conversation between the latter two as AJ stared blankly ahead of him, caught up in his own thoughts. Howie watched him carefully in silence as AJ ran scenes from the past few days in his head; most of which revolved around Corinne. He let out a deep sigh unconsciously, not even realizing he had done it until he heard Howie’s words break through the haze that surrounded him.

”Things that bad?” he asked. AJ looked over at him with a start, arching his eyebrows in question.

”Huh?” he asked, lost from their conversation.

Howie smiled at his friend, rubbing at his chin before he repeated, “Things really that bad?”

AJ cocked his head to the side, furrowing his brow in confusion. “What are you talking about?” he asked, truly lost.

Howie sighed, looking down at the table in front of him as he thought of the best way to put things. He finally looked up to AJ who was still waiting, perplexed. “You were off dreaming again,” Howie began, good-humored, “and you looked troubled by your thoughts. Are things really that bad in your life?” AJ stared at him silently, caught off guard by his straightforwardness. He was still searching for something to say when Howie spoke up again. “I’ve been friends with you for quite a while, J. That look you just had never means anything good. I’m wondering what it means now.” He crossed his arms against his chest, leaning back in his seat as he awaited an answer from AJ.

He was still dumbfounded by his friend’s observations when he finally opened his mouth to speak. “I’m just trying to figure out a way to solve a certain situation I’m in,” he said evasively, hoping no further questions would be asked.

“Like?” Howie prodded, stretching the words out with an inquisitive expression. AJ sighed, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and index finger, as he tried to figure out how he would get himself out of this mess.