Chapter 5
The drive out to the coast was quiet but comfortable. When they reached the spot, Kevin parked and got out. He got the basket out of the back of the truck and then helped Tyler out. He took her hand and led her out to a quiet spot on the beach.
Tyler looked around, "Kevin, it's so quiet here and so beautiful."
"I use to come out here after Kristen and I broke up. I even wrote a couple songs out here," said Kevin as he spread the blanket.
Tyler took off her shoes and sat down on the blanket. Kevin joined her and Tyler began to cry. Kevin took her in his arms and held her close. He stroked her hair and whispered soft reassurances.
Tyler eventually said, "Kevin, my life is so screwed up! I don't know which way is up anymore."
"What's wrong, Ty? Aren't you and Joey happy?"
"Joey is! He's got a Backstreet girl, but I'm miserable. He's so jealous of you and the guys that he won't even let me talk to 'D'!! And Lou!! He keeps adding fuel to the fire."
"It doesn't surprise me what Lou does. What about the latest story about you doing drugs?"
"You know me better than that, Kevin. A reporter saw me last week at a party with Joey. He followed me into the bathroom where I was getting sick and Joey got ticked off at him."
"Are you okay now?"
"Not really. That's where my life is so screwed up, Kevin. I think I'm pregnant."
That shocked Kevin and he asked, "Does Joey know?"
"Not yet. To compound matters, Lou has managed to get me to leave my job. In two weeks, I'm unemployed."
"First things first. Have you been to a doctor?"
"Not yet. I've missed two periods and I've been throwing up A LOT!!"
"We need to get you to a doctor."
"I have an appointment for Friday...after Lou and Joey leave town."
"Cool! I'll go with you. Now, about your job. How did Lou manage to get you to leave?"
"Blackmail, of course. Haven't you noticed that the stories involving the Backstreet Boys and me have stopped?"
"Yeah, we did."
"Lou threatened to leak a story so bad that it would ruin you guys unless I resigned and went to work for 'NSync."
"You quit to protect us?"
"Kevin, I had to! I didn't know what Lou would do."
"Why didn't you try to call us?"
"I tried but Joey caught me calling and we got into a huge argument. That's why I'm pregnant."
"What is that suppose to mean?"
"Joey was so jealous because I was calling you and he grabbed the phone from me. He heard your voice on the answering machine and went ballistic on me." Tyler took a deep breath and then whispered, "He raped me."
Kevin was enraged to say the least. "I'm going to kill the little prick!"
"Kevin, stop! I can't stand losing you or something happening to your career because of all this. Kevin, I love you but I stayed with Joey because of the baby and for fear of what Lou would do to hurt you and the guys."
"You don't have to worry about that any more, Tyler. We're not going to let anyone hurt you or us!" said Kevin as he pulled Tyler close to him.
"What now, Kevin? I don't want to go back to Joey's now and I can't go home."
Kevin thought for a few minutes and asked, "Why can't you go to Howie's parents'?"
"I think they are really ticked off at me right now. I blew off Christmas and Thanksgiving because of Joey."
"I'm sure if you explained what was going on, they'd understand."
"You're probably right but they really don't need to deal with the publicity right now. I really want to get out of town."
Kevin thought about it for a few minutes and then said, "I have a friend in Tampa that you can stay with until Joey leaves town. Can you get off work until then?"
"I guess so. Mr. Burton has been really sweet but what am I going to do about my stuff and Joey?"
"Just tell him you need to get away for a little while."
Tyler sat thinking. Then she said, "I have the perfect cover. Busch Gardens has been begging me to come down and take a look at their shows and help them out. I can just tell him that I have to do this since I'll be leaving soon."
"That's perfect."
"I'll just tell Joey that I'll catch up with him at the Grammy's."
"That's perfect."
Tyler looked up at Kevin. "Pregnant or not, I'm going to end it with Joey. If you'll still have me..."
Kevin smiled and brushed her cheek with his thumb. "Tadpole, I want you in my life more than I want to take my next breath."
Tyler giggled because no one had called her 'Tadpole' since she was eight. Her uncle had nicknamed her that because of her initials-T * A * D- and because she was always in the water.
Kevin said softly, "I owe you something."
Tyler looked at him curiously, "What's that?"
"A kiss that I never gave you."
"A kiss?"
"The last night I saw you when your car wouldn't start."
Kevin stood up and then helped Tyler up. He placed her hands on his sides and then took her face. He tilted her chin up to him and bent to kiss her. It was a light, feathery kiss, so tender and yet full of passion.
Tyler looked into Kevin's eyes and whispered, "If only you'd kissed me that night."
"Would you have gone to New York?"
"Nope! I'd probably have told Joey to get lost. I wanted you to stop me that night and tell me that you loved me."
"When you looked back at me, I wasn't sure what you wanted. I guess I was wrong."
"I don't know. We both were wrong. I should have told Joey that I wasn't in love with him and that my heart belonged to someone else."
The couple sat back down and Kevin took out the food for lunch. As he did, "After we eat, we're going to go back and talk to Mr. Burton about your job. You're going to keep that job but you'll need to take a leave of absence."
"Aren't you and the guys leaving soon?"
"Next week but everything will be okay, Ty. I want you to take next week off and then the time you'll need to go meet Joey at the Grammys."
"Where will you be then?"
"I'm not sure but you can call me."
"Kevin, I have one favor to ask."
"What's that?"
"Please don't tell Howie or the others yet. The fewer people who know the less of a chance Lou can find out. He scares me."
Kevin smiled, "How am I suppose to keep it a secret, baby? They all saw your reaction. Besides, they have tried so hard to get us together."
"What to you mean?"
"Come here and I'll tell you about their plan."
Tyler moved over next to Kevin. He had his legs stretched out and was leaning back so Tyler lay down putting her head in his lap. She looked up at him and with one hand, Kevin brushed her hair back.
"What did my favorite cousin and best friends do?"
Kevin laughed as he thought about what they'd done. He said, "Every time we were alone that week, it was no accident. They made sure that we were together and then they would make excuses to leave. Then, the night that your car wouldn't start, it wasn't an accident either. AJ and Howie had gone over to the lot and disconnected your battery cables."
Tyler laughed thinking about her cousin doing everything short of locking them in a room together to get them together. She said, "That's why I didn't owe you any money."
"Yeah. They went over the next morning and fixed it."
"I should have known. Now all of Howie's comments make sense. The night at Tabu when Joey came with me, he said you were there alone and I couldn't figure out why he though it necessary to tell me."
"Ty, this last tour, all I could do was think about you and they knew it. I never said anything but they could tell."
Tyler grew quiet as she thought about Kevin. She asked, "Kev, what now?"
Kevin looked down at her. "We'll go back to Orlando and talk to Mr. Burton about your job. I'll explain the situation to him and then I'll take you to Tampa until Joey leaves."
"Will you stay with me?"
"I can't stay all night, baby, but I'll stay for a little while. Then on Friday, I'll come get you and go with you to the doctor."
"What are you going to tell the guys?"
"I'll tell them that you told me you loved me but you're going to stay with Joey."
"They'll want to know why."
"I'll just tell them you wouldn't explain. That will explain my disappearances between now and the time we leave. They'll think I'm upset."
"When will we tell them?"
"As soon as you break it off with Joey. Once you've done that, you'll call me and I'll make arrangements to get you to wherever we are. Once you're with me, we'll tell them everything. You know, you should still go to the Grammy's. We're up for a couple awards and if we win, you could go up and accept for us. That would really tick Lou off."
"Are you going to send Bull to protect me from Lou?"
"Sure and then after the show, he can get you back to me."
"Okay. We have that taken care of but what about my living arrangements after Joey leaves?"
"Move back to Howie's. That way, we'll still be able to see each other and you can tell Howie that you didn’t want to stay alone at Joey's. This way, you'll have Kryss to keep you company since she's living with Howie now."
"I'm not sure I'll be able to stand being in the same room with you and not be able to touch you."
"I know the feeling."
"Kevin, I'm pregnant by another man..."
Kevin put his finger on her lips to stop her. He got up and helped Tyler up too. He took her in his arms as they started to dance. At first he was just humming but then he started to sing softly into her ear as he held her close. "I don't care who you are/ where you're from/ what you did/as long as you love me/every little thing that you have said and done/ feels like it's deep within me/doesn't really matter if you're on the run/it seems like we're meant to be/I've tried to hid it so that no one knows/but I guess it shows/ when you look into my eyes/what you did and where you're coming from/I don't care as you love me, baby."
The couple sank to their knees and then Kevin lay her back on the blanket, half covering her with his body. She looked into his eyes and thought, "God! How did I ever resist those beautiful eyes?"
Kevin's lips brushed Tyler's cheek and found their way to her lips. They met in a tender kiss as Kevin put one hand on the side of her face.
When Kevin pulled away to look her in the eyes, Tyler whispered, "I love you, Kevin Scott Richardson."
