Exit 57

Nikki turned over for what seemed like the millionth time that night. She couldn't fall asleep. All she could think of was Kevin. Had she made a mistake? No. She never actually denied him. But she never told him she felt the same way either. Did she feel the same way? She'd never thought about that.

She couldn't stand her best friend being mad at her, especially for such a silly reason. She doubted that Kevin was actually "in love with her". He could be dramatic sometimes, and he tended to exaggerate. His "love" was probably just a small crush. At least, she hoped.

But she needed to talk to him.

Nikki sat up, as tall as the bunk would allow. After fixing her hair a bit to get the knots out, she pulled open the drape on the bunk. Stepping down, she made sure not to wake Rob, who was sleeping beneath her. She and Kevin had snuck out of the bunks for midnight snacks plenty of times. I mean, what else are you supposed to do on a tour bus for fun? She was used to maneuvering around the bus without making a sound. She slowly crept over to Kevin's bunk. He wasn't snoring, so she knew he was awake.

Nikki slowly pulled back the dark drape. Kevin looked over at her, and back down at his laptop. The cold shoulder thing was really getting old, even though it had only been a couple of hours. Without asking, Nikki crawled in right beside Kevin. It was a bit cramped, but comfortable.

"Nikki, what are you doing? You should really –"

Kevin's words were cut off when Nikki put her finger over his lips. She smiled at him. He looked down at her finger, still on his lips, and back up at her. His adam's apple jerked when he swallowed visibly.

Nikki wasn't sure what she was doing. But it felt so right. It was now or never.

She put one hand on his left side, balancing as she positioned herself. She smiled as she leaned in to Kevin, who was smiling just as big. She put her hand on the side of his face, and he wrapped his arms around her waist. As Nikki grew closer to Kevin, she closed her eyes.

Finally, their lips met. She felt Kevin smile into the kiss. She broke off the kiss quickly to reposition herself. She was leaning in again when Kevin forcibly pulled her down, making her laugh a bit. Their lips met again for the second time, which was even better than the first. Kevin took charge and deepened the kiss, pulling her closer. She ran her hand up his chest and to the back of his neck.

Nikki suddenly flipped Kevin over, surprising him. She began to play with the bottom of his shirt, wanting it off, but she decided she better cool things down.

Nikki pulled away from Kevin and looked him in the eyes. God, he was beautiful. He was perfect. How could she not have seen it? Her perfect guy had been right under her nose the whole time. She had just never realized it.

"I'm sorry, Kevin. You just scared me out there. I didn't know what to say."

"Shhh. It's okay." Kevin smiled, leaning down to kiss her again.

"Wait Kev, I'm not done. I need to tell you something else."

"What?" Kevin asked, giving her his full attention. He always did that, always putting her before himself. He noticed she looked nervous. "What, Nik? You know you can tell me anything." He gave her a comforting smile.

"It's that… I'm in love with you too." She couldn't help the big smile from coming onto her face, and a matching one soon appeared on Kevin's face as well. The words he had been waiting for had finally come out of her mouth. He ran his hand down the side of her face, pushing her hair behind her ear. "You're beautiful, you know that? You're perfect." He kissed the top of her head.

Nikki wrapped her arms around his neck. He was still lying on top of her, but it wasn't awkward at all. It felt so right. She didn't know why she, or he, had waited this long.

"But hey, I think we should go to sleep. I've got an early interview tomorrow, and you have… whatever you do." He smiled at her. "Besides, if we would've kept going, who knows what we would've done? I still wanna wait til I'm married, y'know." He winked at her.

Nikki laughed. Taking his hand in hers, she intertwined their fingers. "I know, Kevin. Me too." She leaned up to kiss him once more. "I'll see you in the morning?" Kevin looked down at their connected hands, and slid his single-stranded black bracelet onto her wrist. "Here. Keep it. It's not much, but I want you to have it. It's my favorite."

"Thanks, Kev. You're the greatest, you know that?" The smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight."

Kevin started to get off of her so she could slide out of the bunk, before he suddenly stopped, giving Nikki a weird look. "What, Kev?"

He didn't reply.

"Nikki?"

"Yeah?"

"Nikki?"

"What, Kevin?"

"Nikki! Nikki?"

"Kevin, seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?" She didn't know what the heck he was doing.

"NIKKI! Come on, Nikki, get up!"

Startled, Nikki sat up in her bunk, the morning sun pouring in from the tour bus windows. Frankie stood before her, with a blue sucker. His lips, tongue, and face were blue. How did this kid get so much blue on his face?

"Come on, sleepy head! Get up! You're hanging out with ME today!" Frankie started to run off, before stopping and turning around.

"Oh, and Kevin's really mad this morning for some reason. Mom thought you might be able to talk to him to make him happy again." With that, Frankie ran away from her bunk.

Nikki looked around, confused. What? Why was Kevin mad? She would've thought after last night, he'd be happy. Maybe it had something to do with how weird he was acting towards the end of their romance-fest. And how did she get back into her bunk last night? He must have carried her.

As Nikki pulled back her blanket, something caught her eye.

Her wrist. There was nothing on it.

She quickly pulled back the cover, searching for Kevin's bracelet. Oh shit, did she really lose his favorite bracelet? Maybe it was in the hallway.

She jumped down from her bunk with a thud, looking on the floor. Shoot. It was nowhere. Looking up towards the living area, she saw Kevin standing there. Glancing at him, she saw something familiar.

The black bracelet on his wrist.

It was all a dream.