Touring With Michael (Book One)

Chapter Eight

Michael stays up late to make sure he sees Prince and Paige return safely.

He sits in a chair by the window and sees them walking up to the front door. Prince and Paige say their goodbyes and he leans in to give her a kiss before heading inside.

Michael gets up and walks out of the room, unable to watch any longer.

The following day, Michael sees Paige at rehearsal and calls her out into the hall.

"Can I see you in the hall?" Paige looks up at Michael and responds nervously, "Sure."

They head up the aisle and Michael holds the door open for her as she enters the hall.

"What's up?" Paige asks, turning around to face Michael.

He has to look away and he places his fingers on his mouth to think about what to say. Paige can see that Michael is trying to restrain himself.

He sticks his pointer finger out at her for a second before asking in a high voice, "You went out with Prince last night?"

Paige is thrown back by this, wondering why he's asking about this. "Yes, just like you said I should," she says, looking at him quizically.

"And you kissed him?" Michael demands with a little hurt in his voice this time.

"What?" Paige counters, her voice rising, "I did not kiss him, he kissed me!"

"Shh, shh, nobody can hear," Michael interupts.

Paige takes a minute to cool before adding, "I only went out with him because you were ignoring me and I didn't want to leave on tour with it left like that. I wanted to have a fun memory with me if that was how it was going to be on tour. And I thought you didn't care anymore.." Her voice cracks at the end.

Michael steps forward and says, "I wasn't ignoring you, I... I couldn't be around you because it hurt too much," he puts his hands on her arms and pulls her in closer, "I can't give you what you need, so I had to make myself stay away from you."

A tear then falls down her face and Paige opens up her mouth about to speak, but they both suddenly look up as they hear, "I knew there was something, but I didn't want to believe it," Prince utters before storming away.