At the sound of her father's extremely angry voice, Katelin quickly jumped off of Nick's lap. "Daddy?!" She exclaimed. She quickly straightened herself out. Nick, on the other hand, just wanted to crawl under a rock in die.
Mike glared at him. "What the hell were you doing with your slimy hands all over my daughter?" Nick stayed silent. "Answer me, god damnit!" Mike growled as he took a step closer to Nick.
Katelin stepped in front of him. "Daddy, stop it! It was as much me as it was him!" Adrienne tried to pull her out of the way. Kate shoved her hand away. "Let me go!" she yelled, causing Adrienne to take a step back.
Nick finally found his voice. "I…I'm sorry, sir."
"Sorry?” The older man yelled. “You're sorry? Do know that it's a law in most states that makes it illegal for anyone over the age of 18 to have sex with a minor?" Nick shook his head and glanced helplessly at Katelin.
"Mike,” Adrienne stepped in. “Come on. It's alright. It won't happen again, right guys?"
Both Katelin and Nick shook their heads but Mike ignored them. "It's called statutory rape, son. What do you think that would do to your career if word got out about this?" Katelin stepped back in between her boyfriend and her father, ready to retaliate but her father was too quick for her. "Katelin, I expected better from you. I thought you were responsible enough to be on this tour but I guess I was wrong. Don't think for one second that you won't be joining me on that plane to New York tomorrow." He grabbed Adrienne's hand and walked out the door.
Katelin and Nick both ran out after him into the hallway. She was crying by this time. "Daddy, you can't do this!" She heard the elevator arrive and saw the rest of the group file out into the hallway. They all stopped dead in their tracks when they saw an extremely pissed-off Mike Taylor, a hysterically crying Katelin, a sympathetic Adrienne, and an embarrassed-beyond-belief Nick.
"Katelin," Mike began, attempting to remain calm. "I gave you your chance. But you really just aren’t ready for this kind of responsibility." Katelin started to protest but he silenced her and turned to Nick. "And you. If you even so much as look at my daughter the wrong way, I'll make sure you're cleaning toilets in a New York City jail for the rest of your life. Do you understand?" Nick nodded, obediently. Mike took Adrienne's hand and turned to Katelin one more time. "Have your bags packed before the concert tonight. We're leaving straight from the arena." He abruptly turned around and started walking towards the elevator. Adrienne turned around and mouthed, 'I'll talk to him' to Katelin. Kate smiled gratefully before collapsing against Nick in tears.
****** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
The mood on the Boys' bus was solemn as they made their way to the arena. Katelin had barely stopped crying since her dad told her that she had to return to New York with him. She and Nick both sat at the front of the bus, not saying a word to each other. Their hands were intertwined, their heads were leaning against each other, and they stared out the window at the passing scenery.
The bus pulled up to the arena and the girls all made their way off in front of the Boys. Nick pulled Katelin back to him before she walked off. He brushed her tears away with his thumb. "Smile for me. Please?"
She managed a weak smile. "I'm trying.'
"I love you.” He kissed her forehead. “You know that, right?"
Kate nodded. "I know you do. I love you too."
"I'll see you inside." Katelin followed the rest of the girls inside and into their dressing room. A few minutes later, the Boys were ushered inside past the screaming fans.
Fatima walked into the dressing room where the girls were changing. "Throw some warm up clothes on. I want to do a quick run through of some of the songs before the guys do their sound-check."
A few minutes later, Ang, Katelin, Brooke, Krista, and Alyssa joined Kevin, AJ, Brian, Howie, and Nick, along with the five male dancers, on the stage. They began by rehearsing the Everybody-That's The Way I Like It-We've Got It Goin' On sequence.
Mike and Adrienne walked into the arena and watched the rehearsal. Adrienne leaned towards her new fiancée. "How can you do this to her, honey? Look at how happy she is up there." Mike sighed but didn't say anything. It was true. His daughter was completely in her element. She reminded him of his late wife. Always sparkling as she danced. He looked around for Elise Morgan, the tour manager. It was time he had a little talk with her about his daughter's supervision.
After running through Larger Than Life, It's Gotta Be You, and Show Me the Meaning, the group began to file off the stage and in their dressing rooms.
Elise once again returned to the stage area and stopped Nick from going back stage. "Carter, go change and find your girlfriend and meet me back here in fifteen minutes. We need to have a talk." Nick nodded and ran out of there. Elise sighed heavily and collapsed in a chair.
Ang, Krista, Alyssa, Brooke, and Katelin walked in their dressing room and noticed a bouquet of red roses on the counter. "Who are they for? Who are they for?" Alyssa asked excitedly.
Ang turned to Katelin. "I bet they're from Nick, you know. To make you feel better."
Katelin rolled her eyes. "Oh please. As much as I love him, Nick would never think of something like that."
"Aw,” Krista gushed, looking at the car. “They're for Brooke."
Brooke blushed furiously and opened the card. 'I'm closer than you think.’ Her face paled immediately.
"What's wrong?" Ang asked.
Brooke shook her head, quickly. "Nothing." She stuffed the card in her pocket and bolted from the room. The four other girls all glanced at each other, confused. "What was that all about?" Krista wondered, aloud.
Alyssa shrugged. "I have no idea."
"Did she leave the card?" Katelin asked, looking around.
"I don't see it," Ang answered just as there was a knock at the door.
"Come in!" Krista called.
The door opened and Nick popped his head in. "Hey guys."
Ang rolled her eyes. "What do you want, Carter?"
"Nice to see you too, Ang." He pointed to Katelin. "And I want her. Elise needs to talk to us." Katelin nodded and followed him out of the room.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Broke ran down the hallway towards the exit, with tears running down her face. She burst through the door and ran outside of the arena. Once she reached the outside, she slowed down and put her hands on her knees while she attempted to catch her breath.
"I see you got my present." The voice startled her and she jumped. "How the hell did you find me?"
He took a step closer to her. "What? You think you can change your name and expect all of your secrets to disappear?" Brooke shook her head as she backed away. "Did you really think I'd never find you?" he asked. He cocked his head to the side and got a good look at her. "Come on, Brooke. You know me better than that." He moved towards her and backed her against the wall. "I believe we have some unfinished business to discuss," he said, trailing a finger down her arm.
"Fuck you," she spat as she pushed him away.
"Such harsh language."
Brook silently said a quick prayer of thanks as the door opened. Kevin stepped outside. "There you are. I was looking all over for you." He noticed the unfamiliar man standing next to her. "Who's this?"
Brooke swallowed nervously. "This is an old friend of mine from New York. Kevin, Alex. Alex, my boyfriend, Kevin." The two men shook hands. Kevin looked at Brooke. "Well, I'll be inside."
Brooke nodded. "I'll be there in a minute.'
"Alex, are you gonna stay around for the show?" Kevin asked.
"Yeah, I'd kind of like to see Brooke in action." He replied.
She smiled, tentatively. "I'll see you inside, honey."
Kevin disappeared back inside as Alex looked back at Brooke. "So, I take it he has no idea who you really are."
"No,” Brooke shook her head. “He doesn't and I'd like to keep it that way. I'll give you whatever you want. Just please don't tell Kevin."
"I don't think you're in any position to make demands,” he snarled. “But I won't tell him as long as you cooperate with me."
Nick and Katelin walked silently, hand-in-hand, towards the stage area. They spotted Elise sitting on the side of the stage. She looked up and noticed them walk in. "Hey guys."
"Hey Elise,” Katelin smiled. “You wanted to talk to us?"
Elise nodded. "Yeah. Let's go sit down over here." Kate and Nick followed Elise to a row of chairs in the first row. Nick sat down and pulled Katlein down on his lap while Elise sat down next to them.
"Kate, I had a little talk with your father this afternoon," she began. Katelin shuddered. She hadn't gotten around to telling Elise yet, silently praying that, by some miracle, her father would change his mind and let her stay.
"What are you guys doing?" Elise asked. "Nick, what you're doing is illegal. Now, I know you guys are going to have sex. I'm not stupid. I was your age once. It wasn't all that long ago. But, you guys have to be more responsible about it. If it got out, Nick, this could ruin your career. That's statutory rape."
Nick rolled his eyes. "I know, Elise. We-"
"Then why the hell would you do it right under his nose?" Elise interrupted. "That's just plain stupid, Nick. Now, Mike Taylor is livid. But, I managed to convince him that Kate is an asset to this tour and the problems it would cause if she was pulled off of it."
Katelin jumped up and hugged her. "Thank you so much, Elise!"
Elise smiled. "You're welcome. But, she can stay only on the conditions that she shares a room with me from now on and you two aren't left alone with each other. Now obviously, it's hard to control that second one and I personally don't care, but, Kate, you will room with me and when we're on the bus overnight, you're on the dancer's bus."
Both Katelin and Nick nodded, gratefully and Nick reached out to hug her. "Thanks Elise. We owe you." She smiled. "Yes, you do, Carter." She slapped his butt with her rolled up newspaper. "And don't forget that." She walked away laughing as Nick picked up Katelin and spun her around. They heard someone clear their throat from behind them. They turned around and saw Mike and Adrienne standing in front of them. Nick set Katelin down on her feet and she walked over to her dad to give him a tight squeeze. "Thank you, daddy. You don't know how much this means to me."
"Yes, I do," he began. "I know how miserable you'd be back in New York. You just have to understand that it's really hard for me to realize how much you're growing up. You're still my baby."
Katelin smiled and hugged him again. "I love you, Daddy."
"I love you too, sweetheart."
Nick and Adrienne hung back so Kate and her father could talk. "I take it you had something to do with the fact that she's allowed to stay?" He questioned. Adrienne shrugged. "I just tried to get him to see things from her point of view, that's all. The decision was all his."
Nick smiled, gratefully. "Well, whatever you did, thank you. I don't think that I could get through the rest of this tour without her."
"It was my pleasure,” Adrienne told him, honestly. “Even though I could've used the time to get to know her better. But she would've been pretty miserable at home. I don't really know what good it would've done."
"Don't worry about it,” Nick snickered. “You should've seen how much she hated me when we first met. She'll come around."