I Only Want What I Can't Have

Chapter 10

When we arrived in New York City, the bus dropped us all off in front of a huge, towering hotel. We all filed off the bus with our bags and headed inside to check in. While Pete spoke with the woman at the front desk, I hovered near Patrick and took in the beautiful lobby. It was far more grand than I had expected, and apparently, Patrick was surprised too. "This is the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in," he breathed, "Last tour was all cheap motels and the back of the van. This is...new."

I smiled at him and playfully elbowed his side. "You guys are moving up in the world," I teased. He laughed and nudged me back.

"And yet, someone still won't admit that she's a fan."

"Because I'm not," I insisted, "I just like the one song."

"We'll see," he laughed, looking at me happily. We'd managed to continue evading Pete and Andy thus far. We both knew that they were definitely aware that something was up, but they hadn't outright said anything, so we haven't either. However, we were desperately looking forward to being able to spend some time together over the next few days. The boys had a show tonight, but then they had a two day break before they played again. After that, we would spend one last night in the hotel before heading out again the next morning.

Pete triumphantly held up three room keys when he turned away from the front desk. He walked over to the rest of us, handed one to Joe, one to me, and kept the third for himself. "Patrick, you're with me," he stated, as if he were the one in charge, "Joe, you're with Andy, and little Hurley gets a room to herself."

"How come she gets a room for herself?" Andy questioned, almost petulantly. If I didn't think he was still trying to be overly protective, I'd say he was jealous.

Pete just stared at him like it was obvious. "Well she's the only girl...."

Andy rolled his eyes and adjusted his bag over his shoulder. "Come on, Joe," he sighed, heading for the elevators.

Patrick took my hand and we followed, with Pete right behind us. We all piled into the elevator together, and suddenly, Pete reached down to grab Patrick's free hand, lacing their fingers together with a completely straight face. I heard Joe snickering behind me, and I just stared at Pete. Patrick cleared his throat, and Pete finally looked at him. "What? Oh, I'm sorry, I thought we were holding hands."

Patrick jerked his hand out of Pete's, glaring at him.

"Oooooh, I see," Pete teased, grinning now, "Just you two are holding hands. Got it." The elevator stopped as we reached our floor, mercifully putting an end to Pete's antics, and we all made for our respective rooms. I found mine first, and Patrick stopped with me for a moment while the others walked ahead. Andy eyed us suspiciously, but he kept moving without a word.

"Are you okay on your own?" Patrick asked, glancing towards the others. Our rooms were all on the same floor, but they were not connected to each other.

"I'll be okay," I said, smiling confidently, "I'm a big girl."

Patrick smirked and rolled his eyes. "Still. I don't like you staying alone."

"Well then, you'll just have to come visit me after Pete falls asleep."

Patrick sighed and gave me a serious look, nodding his head once. "I suppose I'll have to," he said, earning a giggle from me. While the others were too busy looking at room numbers on doors down the hall, I stretched up and pressed my lips to Patrick's for a brief kiss. I pulled away all too soon, and Patrick swayed gently on his feet. "Well now I'm definitely coming back," he stated, biting his lip as he turned to catch up with the others. I smiled as I watched him walk away, then I let myself into my room and latched the door behind me.