~~~If You Knew What I Knew~~~
~~~~~~CHAPTER 18~~~~~~
Danielle turned over in the bed and looked over at Gina. She was sound asleep. There was a small knock at the door. Danielle figured it was someone telling them to get up because they had to hit the road. She got up out of bed and walked over and answered the door. AJ stood on the otherside. "AJ...um...time to get up, right?" AJ nodded his head. He looked past Danielle and saw Gina lying in the bed. He smiled. "She's beautiful." Danielle sighed. "Are we done here?" AJ looked back at Danielle. He wasn't suprised at her rudeness. She was Gina's friend and of course would be upset with him. "Is she alright, Danielle? What did she say last night?" "I can't say." Danielle stepped out the door and closed it. "When she wants to talk to you she will. Just give her sometime." AJ nodded and turned to walk away. "AJ?" AJ stopped and looked at her. Danielle smiled. "She loves you. I don't know why, but she does." Danielle chuckled and AJ smiled. "Look, I just want to say thank you. You have no idea how much pain I've seen her go through with guys. They treat her like shit. But you...you make her really happy. You know how to treat her and I'm just glad she has you. When she comes to see you just let her talk. Let her pour out her heart to you, and when she is done just hold her and tell her you'll never let go." He smiled. "Okay." And he turned and went back to his room.
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Danielle, Karen and Gina stepped onto 98 degree's bus. Gina didn't want to go on the other bus just for the fact that she couldn't face AJ yet. Danielle and Karen decided to go with her. They all sat around the kitchen area. Drew was in the middle of a joke and Karen was already laughing because she knew the punch line. "Shhh. Stop laughing. I didn't hear this yet." Danielle said. Karen giggled once more and added a "Sorry." When Drew was finished everyone was on the floor laughing. Karen stood up after she calmed down. "I'm going to the little girls room." Soon as she was gone her cell phone rang. Drew picked it up. "Hello?" He said. "Drew? What are you doin' with Karen's phone?" "Calm down Jeff. She is in the bathroom. She'll be back in a minute." Karen stepped back in the room. Drew handed her the phone. "Your man is on the phone." Karen smiled and took the phone in the back room. Drew looked back over at the remaining girls. "So, you okay Gina?" Gina nodded. "Yeah. Okay, I guess." "So..uh..how is Laura?..oh and the other girls?" Danielle laughed. "Laura is okay, I guess." "Pat still alive?" Gina nodded. "Yup." Drew sighed. "I should just move on, right?" Danielle smacked her hand on the table. "I don't think so. If you want her you gotta fight for her." Drew laughed. "She isn't a prize to be won. I don't know what to do." Gina touched his hand. "You should tell her you love her and how much she means to you before it's to late." Drew smiled. "Shouldn't you be doing the same thing." Gina paused. "Yeah."
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Karen took the phone from Drew and went in the back room of the bus. She closed the door and sat on the couch. "Hey baby." "Hey. How's everything?" Jeff asked. "Good. I miss you." "Yeah. I miss you too." "When are you coming back?" Karen asked. Jeff sighed. "Sorry, I know I told you I'd be back after a week. The thing is Liz is getting worse. The doctors say she could go soon." "Oh I'm sorry Jeff." Yeah, I know. I just think I should stay another week. I already talked to my manger and he said the guys can just continue to sing without me. But I miss you and really want to see you." Karen sighed. "It's okay. I think it's better if you stay and be with her." "So, how is everything there?" Jeff asked trying to change the subject off his cousin. "Good. The shows just keep getting more exciting. It's a shame they'll be over in two months. I wish it could go on forever." "Yeah. They are great. Oh, Karen, I gotta go. I'll call you tomorrow. Good luck tonight." "Thanks baby. I love you." "Love ya too."
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Laura and Pat walked hand-in-hand backstage. They were silent for a moment. "Pat, I love you." Laura said. Pat stopped walking and froze. "Really?" Laura giggled. "Yeah really. I'm sorry about saying 'thank you' before. I kinda froze and didn't know what to say. We've been friends for a while and it just seemed weird hearing you say that." Pat wrapped his arms around Laura. "I'm glad that you think me loving you is strange." Laura laughed. "You know what I mean." Pat nodded. "I know. I love you too."
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Gina had been walking around the arena in hopes of not running into AJ. Finially, she went to her dressing room to get ready. The other girls had been ready for a while and went their seprate ways. Most likely with the guys. Gina stepped into the room and saw her clothes hanging up. She pulled down the first outfit they wore. Each girl had the same outfit just in different colors. It had a shimmery top that had thin straps and cut off at the belly button. The skirt matched the top. Gina has silver, Elena has purple, Danielle has blue, Christina has green, and Laura has yellow. Gina slipped on her outfit then sat on the couch. She picked up the re-mote to the radio and hit play. The new No Doubt cd was in and Gina smiled. She loves No Doubt. She sang along to the words. "For a long time I was in love. Not only in love, I was obbsessed. With a friendship that no one else could touch. It didn't work out, I'm covered in shells. And all I wanted was the simple things, a simple kind of life. " Gina suddenly felt hungry and remembered there was a vending machine outside of her room. She wanted to get a Snickers bar, but of course with her luck there was none. She was stuck with a Milky Way. She looked up and saw AJ walking with his head down. She froze. Since his head was down maybe he hadn't seen her yet. She could slip back into her room. Then he looked up and stared right into her eyes and froze. "Gina..hi." She lowered her eyes and looked at her feet. "Hey." She took a deep breath and decided to go for it. "Do you want to come in my room so we can talk?" He nodded and follwed her inside. He closed the door behind him. "Before we say anything I wanna know about Amanda." AJ rose his eyebrows. He didn't know she knew her name but he figured she probably found out by one of the guys. He was more suprised she wanted to know about her. "Why?" "I just do. How did you meet?" AJ sighed and then started. "She is my cousin Isabel's best friend. They became friends when they were 14. Me and Isabel used to hang out a lot when we were little. We still do. After a while she started to bring Amanda along. We found out we had feelings for eachother and started dating last year." Gina nodded. "So, you've been friends for a while before you dated?" "Yeah. Anything else?" "Do you still love her?" "No." AJ said. "I told you I don't." Gina rolled her eyes. "I don't get it. You can't just stop loving someone." "Well, did you ever think that maybe I never loved her at all. I care about her, but our realtionship awlays seemed like something was missing." They stood in silence for a few seconds. "I don't want to talk about her anymore. I want to talk about us." AJ said. "I'm sorry for not telling you. If I would have told you in the beginning you would of never gave me a chance. I mean, I'm not even dating Amanda anymore. She thinks that when I get back home we can pick up where we left off. I'm going to tell her that I have you now. I just can't do it over the phone." "Why?" "Because I think it's rude." Gina nodded. He was right. If the tables were turned and it was she who was in Amanda's possision she wouldn't want to be told over the phone either. "Can we just not think about this anymore?" AJ asked. Gina walked over to AJ and hugged him. She buried her face into his shoulder and cryed. He wrapped his arms around her as tight as he could. He wiped her tear check with his thumb. "AJ I don't want to lose you. I love you so much and I'd be lost without you. You've been just so kind to me. You actually respect me and listen to what I have to say." AJ smiled. "I love to listen to all the things you have to say." Gina smiled. "I love you so much that it scares me. I've never had this connection with anybody." "You don't have to be scared. I know it's knew but it's real. I love you." Gina smiled. It felt good to let him know how she felt about him. And she knew he was telling the truth.
