Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 19:38:12 EDT
From: MrClean290@aol.com
Subject: Destiny 18

Disclaimer: There are so many ppl in this story that i would love to meet,
and yet, i havent!  lol


Its been a while, i have been working on other stories and concentrating on
graduation!  anyway i have been stuck on this story, i wrote chap 20 then
decided it was crap! lol.  so im at a standstill with this story.  so i'll
send 18 now, and 19 after i graduate.  hopefully by then i'll have written
another chapter.

~~~~~~~
Anyway.
Recap:

Brian and AJ kissed.  That morning they had broken up, now they were
married.  Life, for them was perfect.  Suddenly they heard a commotion come
from outside.  The doors busted open and three security guards came in,
each holding a Carter child.  Angie was crying and Leslie was trying to get
to her.  BJ and Nick turned around and ran to their family.


	" Let them go now!"  He yelled at the guards, they let them go.


Angie fell to the floor.  Leslie went to her.  Aaron hopped around, trying
to find his crutches.  BJ and Nick looked at them.


	" What the hell are you doing here?"
	" Diane and Jim had to go on a trip, they sent us here with all of
your stuff and a tutor."  Leslie said as she held Angie.
	" Where are Mom and Dad?"


Leslie looked from Angie and Aaron back to Nick and BJ.


	" Missing."

~~~~~~

Chapter 18


Four girls slowly made their way down the long corridor at the hotel.  They
were looking for the members of the Pop 2000 tour.  They heard talking a
few doors down.  Their management announced that they were going to join
the list of acts.  Two acts were going to be cut, and they needed
replacement.  The girls were an obvious choice.  They peered into one of
the rooms and saw everybody that they were looking for, except for the most
part they were sitting the floor, eating, laughing, and cuddling with those
around them.



	" Missing?  Les, what are you talking about?"
	" Mom went to find Dad, then they went on a trip, just the two of
them.  Diane said that they had gone to a place where people could not get
a hold of them."
	" Damn it!"
	" We're sorry Nicky."
	" It's not your fault.  We will have to manage without them I
guess.  We'll get a tutor on board and everything will be fine.  Come on,
let's get some food and join the others."


The Carter Clan found themselves some food and went to sit with everyone on
the floor.  Everyone had opted to spread out on the floor.  It was much
more intimate.  Although, some people had opted to leave the celebration.
Mandy, Scott, Dave, and Clint headed back upstairs to say good bye and to
pack.  LA, JJ, Drew, and Jeff felt out of place and opted to go out.  The
friends of Popular, minus Carly, also opted to go out.


AJ and Brian lay on their stomachs and fed each other some fries.  They
laughed as Brian wiped some excess ketchup on AJ's nose.  He kissed it off,
of course.


	" I love you Alex McLean."
	" I love you Brian, McLean."
	" I like the sound of that."
	" What?"
	" Of your last name, on my name."
	" Our last name baby."
	" Yes, our last name."


JC and Joey found a spot by the wall, and sat back against it.  This
wedding was not just for AJ and Brian, it seemed to serve as an affirmation
of their own love.  When they had sung, they sang to each other.


	" Do you think you that we will make it here one day?"
	" Make it where?"
	" To marriage."
	" You're not proposing are you?"
	" No, I'm not.  But it is a dream of mine, that one day, that I,
Joey Fatone, will become Joey Chasez."
	" Awww, Joe, you wanna take my name?"
	" Yes Josh, I do."
	" One day baby, one day."


Chris lay on his stomach and rested while Tess took advantage of him being
stretched out and sat on his back.  She sat and ate her food while she and
Chris talked to each other.


	" Baby, I can't wait until it's our day!"
	" I know what you mean.  Seeing all of this, just made me wanna
marry you even more."
	" Alan, baby, our wedding, this baby, our life is just gonna get
better."
	" I hear ya sweets."


Howie and Kevin also relished in the wedding spirit.  They too were
planning theirs and needed ideas.  They hadn't told anyone yet, but they
didn't think now was the time, but unfortunately, Howie and Kevin refused
to not wear their rings, so people noticed.  Mainly, their families.


	" How, bro, what is on your finger?"
	" Um, John, its, a gift?"
	" From who, your secret lover?"
	" No, from Kevin."
	" You know about that Kev?"
	" Yeah, I uh, gave it to him."
	" Wait, you're not, whoa!  You're engaged!"  John yelled out.
	" Keep it down, we don't want people to know yet."  Howie looked at
his brother with a look.
	" Uh, too late Howard."
	" Huh?"


Howie and Kevin turned and the entire room had stopped talking and looked
at them.  Howie looked at Kevin, Kevin at Howie.  They stood and looked
around.


	" Well, we were gonna save this, for another time, so we wouldn't
take the spotlight from AJ and Bri, but yes, we are engaged."

Howie spoke softly and nervously.  Kevin put his arms around his lover's
waist to comfort him.


The room was silent


	" Congrats man.  And don't worry about the spotlight, its gotta be
fixed anyway."
	" Um, thanks AJ, I think."  Howie laughed at his friend's attempt
at humor.
	" Congrats Cuz, I'm proud of you guys."
	" Thanks Bri."


The couple sat back down and the room shared in a toast for the newly
engaged couple.  When things settled down, everyone went back to their own
discussions.


Britney and Christina sat on the stage and fed each other some chips while
they looked onto their happy friends.


	" Do you think we'll ever be that happy again Brit?"
	" Oh Chrissy."
	" Please, babe, this needs to be said.  Maybe we've been trying to
hard.  Maybe we need a break."
	" What?"  Britney barely got out a whisper; she was so shocked.
	" Absence makes the heart grow fonder, or so they say, let's hope
it does for us."
	" Don't give me the you don't know what you've got till its gone
line too, if you wanna break up just say so!"
	" I'm sorry Brit, I love you but-."


No words came fast enough.  Britney ran from the stage and out to the hall.
She slumped against a door and fell to the floor.  Her subs her thick and
heavy with emotional distress.  Everyone had seen her leave, now everyone
would want to know what happened.  If she admitted it to them then she
would have to admit it to herself.


Justin and BJ were in the middle of a kiss when Britney ran out of the
room.  Justin looked from Britney to BJ and wondered what to do.  BJ saw
the distress in Justin's face and put her hand on his.


	" Go."
	" Sure?"
	" Yeah."


Justin ran out of the room and saw Britney on the floor, crying her heart
out.  He sat down next to her.  He wrapped her arms around her and rubbed
her back.  When she started to calm down, she lifted her head and jerked
away from Justin.



	" Get away from me!"
	" Huh?  Brit, what's wrong?"
	" Get away!"  Britney stood and yelled at her friend fiercely.
	" Okay, I'm going."


Justin walked off.  He heard her fall to the floor again and begin to cry
again.  He looked back at her, but did not go back to her.


	" Hey baby."
	" Is she okay?"
	" She will be, I guess."
	" You guess?
	" She wouldn't talk to me."
	" Yeah, I know."
	" You know?"
	" She screams kinda loudly."
	" Oh."


	" Just?"
	" Yeah?"
	" Thank you, for tonight and for everything."
	" I love you."
	" I love you too."


BJ cuddled up next to Justin.  They watched the others as they went about
their lives.  Whatever happened from this point on, they had each other.


	"And I will take you in my arms
	And hold you right where you belong
	'Til the day my life is through
	This I promise you
	This I promise you."

	" Forever?"
	" Forever."


Jess and Katie looked on as Britney and Christina fought.  They remembered
their own cooling off fight.


	" It worked for us didn't it?"  Jess wondered aloud.
	" Yes it did baby, hopefully, it'll work for them as well."  Katie
draped her arm over Jess's shoulders.
	" Kat?"
	" Yeah?"
	" Thank you for coming back to me."
	" I had to."
	" Why?"
	" I was lost without you."
	" I love you baby."
	" I love you too."  Jess turned into Katie's embrace and gently
kissed her lips.


Jas and Carly opted to remain in their seats at a table.  They didn't
really talk much, they just held hands and watched everyone else.  It felt
right.


	" Carly?"
	" Yes?"
	" Have Valentine's Day."

Carly giggled a bit.  Jas reached into her purse and pulled out a small red
rose.


	" I didn't think I'd have anyone to give this to, I just had it,
cause I bought it to cheer me up.  But now you're here."
	" Thank you."
	" If this is gonna happen, and I'm not saying it is, it has to go
slow."
	" What do you mean you're not saying it is."
	" I know about you and Bryce."
	" Oh."
	" Do you love him?"
	" With all my heart."
	" Then why are you here with me?"
	" I had to see you."
	" And I'm glad you did, but I don't think you belong with me.  What
we had was over years ago.  Thank you for the love you have given me, and
helped me to see.  For the locket and the cross, and most of all for
friendship."
	" Friendship?"
	" Forever.  But now, I think you have elsewhere to be."
	" You are amazing.  I'll say good bye before I leave."
	" You better!"


Jas watched Carly leave the room.  She was right in letting her go.  She
would find her own true love one day, or at least she hoped she would.  She
walked over to her brother and sat down in his lap.


	" Well hello to you too!"
	" Hey Jamie, Nick."
	" Hey Jas."
	" What's up?"  Lance's arms circled her waist protectively.
	" I said goodbye to Carly."
	" Why?"
	" She loves someone else, who am I to deny that love?"
	" Are you sad?"
	" I know I should be, but I'm not."
	" I'm proud of you."
	" Thanks.  How are you two doing?"


Nick smiled widely.  He and Lance had been talking about their
relationship.  Well Lance had been apologizing a lot.  Nick tried to
convince him that it was both their faults, Lance wouldn't listen.
Finally, Nick had to shut him up with a kiss.  Lance finally agreed.


	" We're great!"  Lance smiled at his boyfriend.
	" I'm glad.  I'm gonna go get some more food, want anything?"
	" How can you eat anything else?"
	" Um, premenstrual?"
	" Ew!  Did not need to know that!"
	" Now you know how I feel!"  Nick playfully hit Lance on the arms
and laughed at him.
	" Yeah yeah."
	" Do you want anything?"
	" Nah, we're good, thanks Desty."
	" No prob!"


	" We are okay, aren't we?"
	" Nicky, maybe what happened to us was supposed to make us
stronger.  I think that mission was successful!"
	" I love you James Lance Bass."
	" I love you Nickolas Genie Carter."
	" Hey!"

Nick wrestled Lance to the floor.  They dissolved into a fit of laughter.
They drew attention to them themselves, but did not care.  The others
didn't care either, they were just happy that they had found happiness in
each other again.


Aaron looked around the room then back to his sisters.  He was only 12, but
he was worried.  His parents were suddenly missing.  No one seemed to care
that his brother and boyfriend were laughing hysterically.  Something was
wrong.


Les watched her brother.  She sensed the same thing.  She watched as Angie
curled up on her lap and closed her eyes.  She motioned Aaron to come and
go upstairs with them.  They put their dishes on o a table and walked to
Nick to tell him they were going to sleep.


	" Nick?  We're gonna go upstairs, Ang is falling asleep, and Air's
leg is starting to hurt."
	" Okay, you need help?"
	" No, you stay here and have fun, goodnight."
	" Night Les."


The girls of Destiny's Child watched as the three youngest Carter's made
their way to the elevator.  They were intrigued by the group dynamic of the
tour.  Beyonce and Michelle stuck their heads into the room.  Kelly and
Farrah stayed back.  They were a bit frightened to interrupt what looked
like some sort of a celebration.  They just watched form the doorway.


	" Ready for some cake baby?"
	" You got a cake too?"
	" You can't have a wedding without a wedding cake, don't you know
that Alex?"
	" Haha, I love you BriTom."
	" I love you too Alexander James McLean."


	" Ooh!  Cake!"
	" Joey, its not your turn yet!"  JC held Joey back and away from
the cake.
	" But I wanna have something sweet!"
	" Kiss me then!"
	" Um, okay!"


Joey and JC stood in the middle of the room and kissed.  JC snaked his
tongue into Joey's mouth and swirled it around.  The kiss got a little too
hot for the occasion but neither stopped their actions.


	" Ahem!  Hello!  Love birds!  Yo!  Before you openly fuck at my
wedding wanna join us for some cake!"
	" Brian!"  Jackie smacked her son
	" Sorry Ma."
	" Sorry Brian, AJ."  Joey's face turned red, to match his hair of
course.
	" Its okay man, you can do it all you want, just not here!"  AJ
laughed at them.


	" Alex, as I cut this piece of-."
	" Shove it Brian, I want cake!"  Nick called from the other side of
the room.


Brian turned, cake in hand, and whipped it at Nick.  Nick ducked and it hit
Jas in the chest.


	" Hey!  I love this shirt!"
	" Uh, sorry Jas, its Nick's fault really."
	" Oh really?  Well, I hope you don't like that shirt Brian."
	" Why?"
	" This is why."


Jas picked up a handful of chicken salad and threw it across the room.
Brian sidestepped it and it hit Jackie in the head.  Jas covered her mouth
to avoid laughing aloud; she couldn't help it though.


	" I am so sorry Mrs. Littrell."
	" You think I'm too old for this Jas?  Watch out!"


Jackie picked a piece of cake and whipped it at Kevin.


	" What was that for?"
	" For all the times you threw food in the house, and don't try to
day you didn't, I'm family, you cant lie."
	" Sorry auntie Jackie."


	" Don't apologize Boo, get even."
	" Howard, you're crazy.'
	" Am I?"


	" Yo Jackie!  No one hits my fiancee with cake and gets away
with it!"
	" Bring it on Howie!"


Brian could not believe it.  His mother was acting like a teenager.  He
watched in amazement as Howie threw a piece of bread at his mother.  This
time Jackie moved out of the way and the buttered bread landed in AJ's
hair.


	" That's it!  No one, and I mean no one ruins my husband's bad dye
job and gets away with it!"
	" Bad dye job huh?  Take this!"


AJ smashed some cake into Brian's hair, then jumped on him.  T hey fell to
the floor laughing.  From under AJ Brian randomly threw some cake.  He
didn't see where it landed until he heard an unknown voice.


Beyonce was enjoying the sight of adults in a food fight when a piece of
cake hit her square in the face; Michelle turned and began to laugh.


	" Hey!  Who the hell threw that?"


The entire room stopped and looked at the girl with cake on her face,


	" You know, this is a great way to welcome us to the tour!  I have
one thing to say though.  Food fight!"


Beyonce grabbed a roll from a near by table and aimed for Justin.  Before
anyone knew it, the members of the Pop 2000 tour, and their families were
engrossed in a heavy-duty food fight.  Farrah and Kelly made their way into
the room just in time to catch the remnants of the wedding cake, on their
dresses.  Michelle ran across the stage to meet up with the rest of her
group when she slipped on some cake and slid across the floor.  She didn't
stop until she hit something.  Someone actually.  She bumped into Jas and
fell on top of her.  Jas fell back and had the wind knocked out of her.
She looked up and Michelle was shielding her flying food.  Michelle looked
down and smiled.


	" Hey, I'm Michelle."
	" Jas."
	" Um, are you okay?"
	" I am now?"


Michelle smiled down onto her newfound friend.  She helped Jas to her feet
and they ran to the safety of the bathroom.  Michelle's dress was not as
bad as Jas's.


	" You should get out of that dress and clean it soon, before the
stains set."
	" Thanks."
	" I gotta get back, Bey might start to worry."
	" Okay, lets go."
	" Don't you want to get cleaned up?"
	" Nah, I'll have my brother pay for dry cleaning!"  Jas giggled and
walked out of the bathroom.
	" Your brother?"  Michelle questioned her new friend as they walked
back to the dining room.
	" Yeah, Lance Bass."
	" He's your brother?"
	" Yup."
	" He's kinda cute I guess."
	" Well, his boyfriend thinks so!"
	" Yeah, well I didn't really look at him like that anyway."
	" Come on, let see how they're doing."


The two friends walked back and saw that the fun had ended.  Everyone was
sitting down though, in their food stained clothes and talking.  Michelle
and Jas walked to them and sat down.


	" Welcome to the tour Michelle, sorry about the welcome."
	" Nah its okay, it was fun."
	" I'm Brian."
	" Oh, Congrats are in order then?"
	" Thanks."


	" As fun as this is, we have a honeymoon suite waiting for us, and
all of y'all might want to get showered before you retire for the night.
Thank you all for coming.  We gotta be going.  And coming ourselves."


Brian whispered the last part into his husband's ear.  AJ looked at him and
held onto his laughter until they left the room.


	" Boo?  I'm gonna head up, I'll run us a bath okay?"
	" Okay Howard, I love you."
	" Love you too."


Howie kissed Kevin's cheek before heading upstairs.


	" Come on, I'm tired."
	" You're always tired Josh!"
	" Shut up!"
	" Nope."
	" You wanna fight me on this Fatone?"
	" In bed?"  Joey smiled coyly at his boyfriend before darting out
of the room.
	" Get back here Joseph!"  JC ran out of the room trying to catch
him.


Lance and Nick slipped out of the room quietly.  They walked back to their
room, holding hands and whispering.


	" Are things really okay?"
	" Yes."
	" Whose room do we go to?"
	" Yours, or mine, we both have rooms to ourselves don't we?"
	" Yeah, lets go to yours, mine is a bit of a mess."
	" Why?"
	" Um, I threw a few things around."
	" Things?"
	" Picture frames."
	" Oh."
	" I'll get them fixed in the morning."
	" We'll get them fixed in the morning."
	" Yeah, we'll do that."


Justin walked BJ back to her room.  She kissed him lightly then walked
inside.  She turned on the lights and saw Mandy wrapped in Scott's arms.
Tears sprung to her eyes.  She felt so bad for them.  She wondered if their
relationship would survive.  She knew Mandy wanted it to, but it was hard
to be young and in love.  She turned the lights back off and walked to
Justin's room.  She knocked twice.  Justin answered the door in only a
shirt.  BJ smiled.


	" What are you doing here?"
	" Can I sleep with you tonight?"
	" Yeah, of course, what happened?"
	" Scott and Mandy, they are enjoying their last night together, I
don't want to disturb them."
	" I'll get you a shirt and a pair of boxers, you wanna shower?"
	" With you?"
	" If you want."
	" I want."


Britney had left the party long before the food fight broke out.  She
walked back to her room and packed her things.  She quickly carried her
bags to Jas's room and waited for her return.


Jas said good night to everyone and walked back to her room.  She found
Britney sitting against her door.


	" Brit?"
	" Hey Jas, can I room with you?"
	" Of course, and if you wanna talk, I'm here.  But right now I
gotta shower, I wonder how easily cake comes out."
	" Huh?"
	" Food fight."
	" I missed it."
	" Yeah."
	" Thanks, goodnight."
	" G'night Brit."


When Christina walked into her room, she found it unusually empty.  She
felt bad for having such a good time during the food fight.  But she had to
leave Brit, it wasn't working.  She quickly stripped and jumped into the
shower.  The hot water burned her skin.  She didn't care.  She cried.


Jess and Katie got back to their room, took a quick shower, and climbed
into bed.  They were exhausted.  They turned to face each other.  Jess
slowly moved her hand up to Katie's face and touched her cheek.


	" I love you baby."
	" I love you too Jesse."


Chris was a bit over-energized.  He picked Tess up and carried her to their
room.  She giggled the entire way up.


	" One day, baby, I'll do that for real."
	" That wasn't real?"
	" Well okay I'll do it so you wont have to look at my ass on the
way up!"
	" I rather like you ass thank you!
	" I rather like you."
	" You do?"
	" I do."


Due to limited room, the girls of DC had to all share a room, but it was a
suit do it wasn't so bad.  Bey and Michelle bunked in one or the rooms,
Farrah and Kelly in the other.  They all fell asleep, excited about their
new adventure.



The next morning was filled with sadness.  Carly and the others were going
back to Los Angeles.  Mandy and the Moffatts were going their separate ways
as well.


	" Call me, I don't want to lose you again."
	" We wont lose each other again, I promise."
	" Take care of her Bryce, or I'll come down to the set and you wont
be able to be so popular anymore."
	" Yes ma'am."


Jas drew Carly into a hug.  They held each other tight.  When they parted,
they both had tears.  Jas walked away first.  She turned to BJ and BJ
turned to comfort her best friend.  Carly and the others walked outside and
into a few awaiting taxis.



	" I cant leave you.  I love you so much."
	" I love you too."


Scott held Mandy as she sobbed into his shoulder.  He tightened his hold on
her.  She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself tighter into
his embrace.  Scott rubbed her back as the tears took over her body.


Jas watched her young friend.  She hated seeing her in so much pain.  But
she couldn't do anything this time.  She sat down on a chair in the lobby
and watched the cars pass by.  She felt so helpless.


Mandy felt a hand on her shoulder.  She looked up and saw her manager,
waiting.  She slowly walked to her, and walked away from the boy she ever
loved.  Scott felt tears.  They weren't Mandy's anymore.  As she walked
away from him, he began to cry.  Mandy turned around and ran into his arms.


	" I love you.  We can make this work, we have to."  Mandy decided
to be the strong one.
	" You are my everything."
	" Take this, its my favorite necklace, I've had it for years."


Scott took the beaded necklace out off his girlfriend's hand.  She helped
him to put it on.


	" Where ever you are, I'm with you."
	" I don't have anything for you."
	" I have your heart, in mine, forever."


Mandy walked away from him before she could cry again.  Scott turned to his
brothers and left with their manager as well.


As soon as they left the other members of the tour met in a boardroom to
work out the next leg of the tour.  The girls of DC say in the back and
listened quietly.  Michelle kept looking for Jas.  She wasn't there.


Jas continued to look out the window.  She was so deep in thought she
didn't feel the hand on her shoulder.


	" Jas?"
	" What?  Huh?"
	" Hey."
	" Oh hey Les.  What's up?"
	" You okay?"
	" Yeah, good-byes are hard that's all."
	" Yeah.  Since they are busy, wanna go swimming with us."
	" Uh, sure, I'll go grab my suit and we'll go to the pool, how does
that sound?"
	" Sounds great."


Jas changed quickly and picked up the younger half of the Carter family.
The walked down the hall and laughed at something Aaron did as they passed
the boardroom.  Michelle heard laughter and saw Jas pass by in bikini,
carrying a younger child.  Others heard the noise and Nick went to close
the door.


	" Sorry Nick, we'll try to keep it down."
	" Nah, its okay, we'll just close the door."
	" Have fun."
	" I'll try."


Michelle watched as Nick closed the door and resumed the meeting next to
Lance.  Everything about this fascinated her.  It was hers and Farrah's
first real big tour.  It scared her a bit, Farr seemed to be totally into
everything.  Mich was more quite when it came to new people and new
situations.  She wasn't shy last night, but then, she was with Bey.  She
turned her attention back to the meeting.  She might as well listen to
Kevin cause she wasn't accomplishing anything brooding things over in her
mind.


Bey watched as Mich turned her attention back to the meeting.  She worried
about her friend sometimes.  She was so lively last night.  Now she seemed
so closed off.  She made a point to talk to her after the meeting.


Jas and Leslie splashed around in the pool with Angie and Aaron hung his
legs into the pool.  The water seemed to sooth whatever was hurting in his
leg.


	" Jas?  You keep fading out of the conversation.  You okay?"
	" Yeah, just thinking."
	" About?"
	" Everything."
	" Oh."
	" What about you, what are you thinking about?"
	" Nick."
	" Why?"


Leslie looked around the pool.  Angie was off in a chair reading a
magazine, Aaron seemed to sleeping in another chair.  She turned back to
Jas, her face full of worry.


	" I know about Nick."
	" You know what about Nick?"
	" I know he's sick."
	" You do, how?"
	" Last night, I went into his room, to find some games.  I found
the fax from the clinic.  Jas, is Nick gonna die?"

Jas stumbled back a bit, the water kept her from completely falling over.
She didn't want to lie, but she didn't really know the truth.  She looked
to Angie and Aaron.  She wondered if they knew.  As if Leslie could read
her mind, she shook her head.


	" They don't know.  I didn't have the heart to tell them.  I also
didn't think it was my place."
	" You're dealing with this very maturely."
	" I have to."
	" Why?  Its okay to be upset and cry about it, we all did."
	" Mom and dad are not here, BJ and Nick have probably been close to
hell and back about this.  I need to be the strong one, for Ang and Air
now.  I cant let myself get upset."
	" I wont tell anyone.  If you need to cry, come to me.  I'm always
here for you."

Leslie bit her lip.  Jas could tell she was close to tears.  She swam to
her and pulled her close.  Her cried were muffled by Jas's chest.  Jas
pulled them out of the pool.  They sat on the side.  Leslie cried into
Jas's chest.  Jas couldn't help but shed a few tears.


Nick over heard the entire conversation.  He had left the meeting to check
up on his family.  His knees gave out and he sunk to the floor in a fit of
tears.


Michelle had left the meeting to see where Jas had gone off to and why, she
stopped when she saw Nick crying.  She looked into the pool area and saw
Jas and a young girl crying as well.  She didn't want to intrude.  She
quietly walked back to the meeting and sat back down.  She thought about
Jas.  She wondered why so many tears were being shed.


	" Jas, is my brother gonna die?"
	" I don't know sweetie, I don't know anything."


Nick let out a small sob.  Jas heard and turned her head.  She locked eyes
with Nick.  He closed the door to the pool so his sisters and brother would
hear his cries.  He screamed out in pain.  No one was around to comfort
him.  He just kept crying.


Jas's heart screamed as she watched Nick beat the floor with his fists.
She looked down and realized that Leslie had fallen asleep from the tears.
She carried her over to her siblings.  Angie and Air looked up, saw them,
and got up.


	" Is she okay?"
	" Yeah, too much chlorine, let's get back to the room okay?"
	" Okay."


Jas looked back at Nick one last time before leaving with his siblings.
She walked them back to their room and went to hers to change and shower.
She checked back on the kids before going back to check on Nick.  She found
him passed out on the floor.  He too fell asleep because of his tears.


	" Oh Nick.  How are we going to do this?"


Jas slowly lifted Nick to his feet, she placed him on a near by bench.  She
looked around for help, but found no one.  Suddenly Katie rounded the
corner.  She saw Jas and walked to her.


	" Kat!  Hey, will you help me carry Nick to his room."
	" Sure."


No questions asked, Katie helped Jas get Nick into bed.  Jas undressed him
after Katie left.  She tucked him into bed and left the room.


So much had happened in such a short amount of time.  She went from Jas,
the fan, to Jas, caught in the middle of everything in such a short amount
of time.  She slowly made her way to the lobby and sat back in the chair
she sat in a few hours earlier.  The meeting had let out and now everyone
was wandering around the lobby.  She turned her attention to the street,
and watched the cars pass by.


Michelle watched from the bar where she and Bey were supposed to meet.  Jas
seemed to be solemn.  The more she looked at her, the more she wanted to go
over to her and let Jas into her own confusing world.  She didn't see Bey
anywhere.  She got and walked to Jas.  She sat down in front of her and
took her hand.  Jas didn't move.  Mich didn't know why she felt a pull, but
she did and it was pulling her to Jas.


	" Jas?  Let me in.  Maybe I can help you."


Jas looked down to Michelle.  She closed her fingers around Michelle's hand
and smiled.


	" You just did."

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another chapter!
Feedback?  Anything? Is anyone reading?  i hope so!   thanks!
~Elisheva
MrClean290@aol.com