Kevin was exhausted. He wasn't used to getting up so early, and after everything that had happened that morning, he felt like he had already put in a full day. He decided to just crash in his room for a while. But as soon as he lay down he started thinking about the interview that morning. He was worried about what he had said about Kelly being a songwriter. He could tell that he had upset her, but he wasn't sure how much. How could he have been so dumb. It wasn't like him to just blurt things out like that.

He tossed and turned for a while, and finally decided to go find Brian. He was in luck. Brian had just got back to the hotel after doing some shopping with Leighanne. He was getting ready to go out again and play some basketball with Nick, but when he saw that Kevin needed to talk to him, he called Nick and told him he would meet him later.

"So Cuz, what's up?" he asked.

"Brian, I think I made a big mistake this morning."

Kevin explained the situation to Brian. "I'm not sure how upset she is, and I didn't get a chance to talk to her about it before we had to leave. Everything was just so nuts. What do you think I should do?"

"So Kelly is a songwriter, huh?" asked Brian. He suddenly remembered the music he had found in the bus. "Kevin, that reminds me. I found something of yours on the bus floor and I picked it up so it wouldn't get lost." He went over to the nightstand drawer and took it out. He handed it to Kevin.

Kevin looked at the papers in his hand. He had totally forgotten about the music. He had been so taken with Kelly all day.

"So is this the latest song you're working on? I hope you don't mind that I took a look at it. I really like it," Brian told him.

"Oh man, Brian. This is Kelly's song. I'm sure glad you were the one to find it, and not someone else!"

"That's Kelly's song? But it's your writing, and from the lyrics, I just assumed..." Brian trailed off.

"Yeah, she gave it to me by accident, and I was just playing around with it a little bit to see what I could come up with." Kevin said. "But never mind about that. What should I do about Kelly? Should I just not say anything unless she brings it up? Or should I apologize right away and hope she forgives me. How upset do you think she is?"

Brian thought about that for a minute. "Well, you know her better than I do. I can't really say because I haven't met her. Maybe you're just making a bigger deal out of it than it is."

"I don't know, Bri. But if she is mad, how can I make it up to her? How do you usually apologize to Leighanne?"

"Flowers always work for me," Brian said with a smile. "But the biggest thing is just to be sincere." He picked the sheets of music up off the bed again, where Kevin had laid them.

Kevin wasn't paying any attention. He seemed lost in thought. Brian looked at the lyrics.

"You know, Kevin. I really like these lyrics." Brian realized Kevin hadn't heard him. He waved his hand in front of Kevin's face. "Kevin....earth to Kevin."

Kevin looked at him. "What did you say?"

"I said, I really like this. It would be a perfect song for our concerts." He read the chorus aloud.

Sing me a song for the road

You've given me a song for the road.

Brian was getting excited now. "This could be our ending song. The fans would love it!"

"NO," Kevin said abruptly.

Brian looked surprised. "Why not?" he asked.

"Because it's not my song. It's Kelly's, and I'd have to get her permission first."

"So ask her," said Brian.

"I'm just not sure it's such a good idea. After all, look what happened at the radio station today."

"You don't think she'll like the idea?" Brian asked.

"That's just the trouble, Bri. We still don't know each other that well yet. I just don't know how she'll feel."

Brian was silent for a moment. Suddenly he snapped his fingers. "That's it!"

"What's it?" asked Kevin.

"We could do it as a gift to her. Surprise her with it!"

"No, Brian."

"C'mon Kev. Don't you think she'd be honored that the Backstreet Boys want to sing a song that she wrote?"

"Well...." When Brian put it that way, it didn't sound so bad. Kevin was beginning to warm up to the idea.

"If you really like her, this is the best gift you could give her," Brian went on.

"I'm not sure..."

"Listen. You invite her to the last concert of the tour. Then at the end of the concert, we'll come out and do the song. She'll be so surprised and she'll love it! I promise."

"Let me think about it," said Kevin. "But first, I have some flowers to buy."

After Kelly picked Hayley, Kimberly, and Beth up at the airport, they headed straight to Kelly's house to get ready. They didn't have a lot of time because Kevin had told Kelly they should be at the arena by 5:00 so they would have time to meet the other guys and spend some time together.

There was a note on Kelly's apartment door that her neighbor across the hall had signed for a delivery, and to pick it up over there. Kelly knocked on her neighbor's door.

"Hi Kelly. This came for you a little while ago," said her neighbor, Debbie as she handed her a long narrow box. "Looks like somebody sent you some flowers."

"Thanks Debbie," said Kelly as she went back to her own apartment, oblivious to Debbie's curious look.

When she got inside the apartment, the other girls were unpacking their gear. Hayley was the first one to notice the box in Kelly's arms.

She squealed. "Kelly, what did you get? Who's it from? Aren't you going to open it?" she asked, in her typical Hayley style.

"I don't know, I don't know, and yes I'm going to open it! Give me a minute, girl!" laughed Kelly.

By this time the other two girls had their curiosity piqued, and had come over to see what Kelly had.

Kelly proceeded to set the box on the table, and carefully lifted the lid. Inside was a dozen white roses. Her friends oohed and aahed as she lifted them out and held them up to her face to smell them.

"C'mon Kelly, read the card to see who they're from," said Kimberly.

"I bet I can guess!" Hayley declared.

Kelly opened the card that had been nestled in with the roses. Kelly girl, I'm so sorry about this morning at the station. Can you ever forgive me and my big mouth? Please? Love, Kevin.

Kelly had to smile at that. The other girls were really curious. "What does it say, Kelly?" asked Beth. Kelly handed the card to Beth, who read it aloud. "What does that mean? What happened this morning?" Beth asked.

Kelly reluctantly explained what happened at the station. They were surprised that Kelly had never told them about her songwriting.

"You shouldn't be upset with him, Kelly. After all, he must think you're pretty good if he was willing to announce it on the radio," Kimberly said.

"I guess you're right," sighed Kelly. She wasn't really mad at Kevin for what he said, she just didn't like the fact that John now knew. John wasn't known for his tact, and she knew he was going to give her a hard time about it.

Kelly found a vase and arranged the roses in it, as the other girls began getting ready for the concert. Soon they were ready to leave, their excitement mixed with nervousness at the thought of where they were going.

After all, they would soon be meeting the Backstreet Boys in person.

Chapter 15
Chapter 13
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