The others looked at Lance. "Sorry buddy." Chris apologized to him. He didn't mean to upset Rachel at all.

"It's alright. You guys were just trying to help. But I'm begging you. Please do not ever bring our relationship up again. It's something we don't talk about. It doesn't need to be discussed, we already know our feelings." He explained to the other's. They all nodded their heads in agreement.

"I'm going to go check on her." Lance declared and stood up to leave the room. He walked over to her bunk and knocked on the frame next to the bed."Yeah." she answered. She pulled the curtain back to reveal her face. "I hurt, Lance." She whimpered.

"I know baby. Did you take anything yet?" He asked, smoothing her hair back from her face. She shook her head no and his face scrunched up in a look of thought.

He turned and walked away. He came back with two extra strength tylenol cold pills. "Here, take these." Lance handed her a glass of orange juice and the pills. She swallowed them slowly and fell back against her pillow. "Leave it to me to get sick in the middle of summer." She sighed.

"Well, the weather is changing and we're in and out of different climates all the time. We all get sick sometimes. Don't feel bad." He gently rubbed her cheek. "Oh my God! Rach! You're burning up!"

"No, I'm really cold." She was curled up under her blankets and she shivered slightly. Lance turned and ran to the bathroom. He came back with a thermometer and stuck it under her tongue. After a minute, he took it out and read it at 101 degrees. "Oh jeez. You have a high fever."

"Well, I just took some tylenol. It should help, right?" She whimpered, with a shiver.

"Yeah, it should help. But we're going to have to help it along by heating the temperature out of you." Lance reached into the bunk below hers and pulled out a comforter. He threw it over on top of the one that was covering her and climbed in the bunk with her.

"What are you doing? You'll get sick too. Get out!" She exclaimed, trying to sit up. She didn't need him to get sick. It could be a lot worse for him with his stress level and constant dancing and singing.

"No, don't worry about me. I'll be fine." He snuggled against her body and fit every curve with his. His knees bent just as hers were and his waist curved at the point where hers did. It was as if they were fit in a mold. He pressed his body to hers to supply more heat.

"Thank you." Rachel whispered. She wanted to turn and look at his face so badly, but she couldn't breathe on him. It would give him more of a chance to get sick.

"What?" He answered, not quite catching her words. He bent his head closer to hers so he could hear better. He smoothed her hair away from his face and he quickly drew in a breath as her smell filtered towards his nose.

"Thank you for always helping me and taking care of me. You're always there with me, even when I least expect it. You always seem to know when I need you the most. When I dont think I can survive, you are there. Like that one night...If you weren't there." Her voice broke as tears filled her eyes. She involuntarily started shaking as her thoughts wandered back to the night.

"No, no. It's okay, you're welcome. I'll always be here for you. Don't talk about that night. You're shaking, it obviously upsets you. We'll talk about it when you're ready." Lance soothed her and rubbed her shoulder. He nuzzled the back of her neck with his nose. "I'm always going to be here with you." He kissed her shoulder and the back of her neck.

Rachel covered her mouth and nose with her hand. She rolled over to face him and pressed her forehead with his. "I love you." A muffled response came out from behind her hand.

"I love you too." Lance smiled at her and gently kissed the back of her hand. He moved to kiss each of the tips of her fingertips and she closed her eyes.

He finished and rested his arms around her back, gently rubbing it up and down. "Ya know? It's a good thing I'm sick." She joked, shakily. She was upset that she was sick. Rachel had to admit that she loved this feeling and wouldn't mind exploring his kisses a little bit more. But she was happy she was sick, because she was scared of what could happen.

"Yeah, I guess it is." Realization dawned on him as he thought about what he was starting. He closed his eyes as his heart started to speed up. "Dammit. What did I just do?" He thought to himself.

She rolled over and closed her eyes, drifting into a fever filled sleep. Her mind was filled with dreams and nightmares, before she finally fell into a deep and peaceful sleep. She woke up shortly after, to somebody shaking her shoulder. "What time is it?" She asked, groggily.

"It's four hours later. We're at the hotel. You need to take some more medicine, but I want you to eat something before you take it." Lance answered her. She dropped out of the bunk and grabbed onto Lance's arm.

"Lance, I don't feel so good. Kind of sick to my stomach and really shaky. I feel dizzy." Rachel spoke quietly, concentrating on keeping her footing. She had taken the strong cold medicine on an empty stomach and it had upset her system.

"Yeah, I know. At least your fever is gone. C'mon, I'll carry you." Lance scooped her up into his arms and cradled her against his body. He grabbed his comforter and wrapped her in it.

"Lance, the fans." She yawned and felt her eyes begin to close.

Don't worry about them." He spoke firmly to her and carried her out of the bus. He ran quickly into the hotel and up to his room. The others had gone ahead of them and checked in for him. He carried her up to his room and placed her on his bed. He looked at her peaceful, sleeping form and sighed. He didn't understand what was going on with his feelings for her. But he noticed how she wasn't a little girl anymore, far from it. Her striking beauty and innocent ways floored him everytime she spoke and looked at him.

What was happening to him?

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