Chapter Five
"A table for eight, please." The hostess nodded and asked them to "Follow me, please."
When they were seated in a booth at the back of the restaurant, Kevin and Mackenzie sat beside Drew and Nick. Tanna sat between Nick and Brian, and Howie and AJ sat on the other side of Brian.
They talked, laughed, and ate, becoming reacquainted with each other. Throughout the entire evening, Drew and Nick were holding hands, and sitting close to each other. After everyone was finished, Brian excused himself. When her came back, he looked like the cat that had swallowed a canary.
"What about dessert?" asked Nick. "I've still got room!" he patted his belly.
"How can you still be hungry?" exclaimed Tanna. "You ate enough for three people. Personally, I'm stuffed."
Nick opened his mouth to reply when they saw their waitress walking over with a huge birthday cake. On cue, the boys began to sing happy birthday. When they had finished, and Tanna had blown out the candles, Brian reached over and squeezed her shoulders.
Tanna's face was bright red, and she was speechless. "Wow!" they all laughed. "Thanks guys!"
They finished off as much of the cake as they could, (which was a considerable amount, considering the five walking stomachs at the table) then left for home.
When they arrived, Kevin invited Mackenzie to take a walk with him. After asking directions from Tanna, they headed off. Tanna went into the kitchen to let Hobbes outside, and Howie, Brian, and AJ followed her.
Left alone in the front hall, Nick pulled Drew to him. She put her arms around his waist.
"Thank you." She whispered.
"For what?"
"For surprising us and making this a fabulous evening." Drew pulled Nick's head down and kissed him. At first, he hesitated, because they were in the house of someone he barely knew. Then he relaxed, and kissed her back. Drew broke the kiss, and smiled. Taking his hand, she led him upstairs.
Howie, who was hanging his coat on a hook, saw them disappear around the corner upstairs. Since he knew that it had been a while since the last time that they had seen each other, when Nick flew out to spend the weekend, he just smiled. He went back into the kitchen where Hobbes was coming back from his excursion outside.
"So this is the man that was in bed with you and Drew." Brian squatted down and scratched Hobbes' ears, referring to a teasing comment that Tanna had made in one of her letters.
"What? Oh, yeah. Jealous?" Tanna laughed.
Brian looked critically at the dog. "Nah, I think that I can take him. Even if his legs do outnumber mine!" that comment made Tanna, Howie, and AJ crack up.
"Nick nearly turned purple until you mentioned that it was a dog." AJ gasped. Still laughing, the four of them walked into the living room.
"Where did Nick and Drew go?" Tanna asked, looking around.
"I saw them heading upstairs a few minutes ago." Howie said, sitting on the couch.
"Ahhh!" the other three said at once.
"Well, I guess it's just you and me, boys! You're stuck with the leftovers!" when all three leveled glances in her direction, she held up her hands. "I meant it in a good way, honest!
"I'm going to change into something more comfortable, why don't you make yourselves at home?" AJ started to leer at her. "I didn't mean that as a line and you know it! Back off!" she laughed and left.
Mackenzie and Kevin had found themselves in the meadow in the ravine.
"Are you sure this won't ruin your dress?" Kevin asked anxiously.
"No." Mackenzie had rucked up the skirt above her knees, and had slung it over her arm.
She and Kevin walked down the path, not quite touching, but close enough to feel a sense of intimacy. Kevin looked over at her in the darkness.
"I missed you."
Mackenzie looked up. "I missed you, too. But the letters helped." She smiled.
"Yeah, they did." There was a pause as they reached a bench. Kevin spread out his coat for Mackenzie and they both sat down. "So what are you planning for this week? Where are you staying?"
"Well, obviously we're staying at Tanna's tonight, then Drew and I are staying at the Fantasyland Hotel until Wednesday, when we're going back to her house. Tanna will be staying with us Sunday night, but other than that Drew and I are on our own. What about you? What are your plans?"
"I think we're at the Westin until Thursday morning, when we have to fly back for the rest of our tour. But I'm not sure what's happening tonight. That's five whole days, and we'll make the best of it." Kevin put his arm around Mackenzie's shoulder.
"Yeah, we will." She leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder.
Tanna had changed into a pair of old jeans and her United Way sweatshirt and was coming upstairs again. When she walked in, Howie, AJ, and Brian were talking sports. Feeling way out of her depth, she sat down on the loveseat next to Brian, because AJ and Howie had sprawled out on the couch across from her.
"Wow. When you said something more comfortable, you really meant it!" Brian said as he looked her over.
"Well, there's no use changing just to be as uncomfortable as before, is there? Anyway, continue with whatever you guys were talking about when I walked in. I didn't mean to interrupt." She smiled.
"Oh, it's nothing interesting." AJ said.
Howie, who was next to the stereo system, asked "Is this all your music?"
Tanna got up and walked over. "No, it's also Rachel's and my parents. The rest of mine are downstairs."
"Oh, look guys!" Howie held up Rachel's copy of their album. "And here she was pretending to be indifferent!"
"That's my sister's!" Tanna laughed. When they gave her sceptical looks, she explained. "This Christmas, we each got $40 dollars worth of HMV gift certificates. She bought that and some other CD, and I got the two newest Great Big Sea albums." She held up 'Play' and 'Up'.
"Who are Great Big Sea?" AJ asked, leaning over.
"They're a Newfoundland group. Wanna hear?"
"Sure."
Tanna put in all three and selected 'Berry Picking Time'. "This is my favorite, but most of the others are more upbeat. Drew and I were dancing to these guys last time she was here."
"Oh, right. You claim to be such a bad dancer, yet you seem to be dancing every night!" Brian lifted an eyebrow. "Come on, let's see you dance!"
"Uh, no. I really wasn't kidding when I said I couldn't dance! Please don't make me." She pleaded.
"Come on, it can't be that bad!" Brian grabbed her hand and pulled her off the couch.
"Oh yeah!? Watch!" Tanna started to dance.
"Stop! Stop! You win." They all laughed. "That was awful!" Howie said.
"Boys, I think it's our moral duty to teach her how to dance!" Brian couldn't stop laughing. Tanna wasn't finding the situation too amusing, though.
"I don't think that's strictly necessary, thank you." She said coldly. But with a little coaxing, the three guys got her up and learning the basic dance moves.
Nick and Drew were laying together on the bed in the master bedroom.
"So now what?" Nick raised his head to look at Drew.
"I don't know. Where are you staying?" Drew rolled over.
"I'm not sure about tonight, but I think we're going to the Westin."
"Well, I think you can stay here tonight, but you'll have to run it by Tanna." She ran her finger down his arm.
"That'll have to wait though." They both smiled, and Nick kissed her again.
Mackenzie and Kevin walked in the front door to see Howie, AJ, and Brian 'dancing' with Tanna. They both burst out laughing. Tanna blushed as they walked in and sat on the couch.
"Where's Drew and Nick?" Kevin asked Brian. He looked at Howie, who looked at AJ, who exchanged glances with Tanna.
"Umm?" AJ made a non-committal noise.
"I think they went upstairs to watch TV." lied Tanna. "I'll go up and see." And she ducked out of the room and up the stairs.
When she got up there, she knocked on the closed door. There was no response. "You two better be watching TV in there," she hissed. "Cause Kevin's gonna be up here in a minute!" she heard a gasp, knew she had been heard, and went downstairs again.
"Yeah, they're watching TV in my parent's room." She smiled at Kevin. "Don't worry, Kevin."
They all talked for a while, and then Drew and Nick came downstairs, sat down and joined to conversation. Eventually the topic turned to sleeping arrangements.
"You guys can stay here tonight, if you want." Tanna offered. "My parents won't be here until tomorrow afternoon, and Rachel won't either."
"Well, we wouldn't want to inconvenience you." Kevin said with exaggerated formality.
"No bother. Let's see, two of you can sleep on my parent's bed - if you don't mind sharing, that is. Another can sleep in my sister's bed, there's the couch, I've got a foamy, and a pull out in the attic?" she looked up.
So after some deliberation, it was settled. Mackenzie and Drew would sleep in Tanna's bed, and Tanna would be in her sister's bunk bed. AJ was on the pullout in the attic, Brian would be on the couch, and Howie had the foamy. Kevin and Nick ended up sharing the big bed.