Lennon left New York the next day and fell straight into a three week promotional tour to support her album. Within that time she neither saw nor talked to Kade, giving them both the space she felt they needed. She hoped the time apart was enough for Kade to move on from any feelings for her, he might have had.

At the end of the promotional tour, Lennon left her band and flew to Mexico to meet Kade; for the couples vacations Matt and Jordan had planned. A part of Lennon worried how Kade would act in the potentially romantic setting, but knew there was nothing to do, but get through it.

**********

Lennon dropped her bags by the hotel room door and took in the panoramic view of the ocean.  Where there should be have been doors and windows separating the room from the outside balcony, it was all open, allowing the pleasantly warm, salt air to fill the interior. The sound of bare feet on tile made Lennon turn. Kade appeared out of a hallway.

"I thought I heard the door," he said.

"It's just me," Lennon said. "This is amazing!"

"It is, isn't it?"

He followed her as she stepped out onto the balcony. They had a view of the pool below and the beach just beyond it. The gentle hush of the waves, mixed with the muted chatter from the pool, and faintly made its way up to them.

"How was your flight?" Kade asked, leaning his arms against the railing.

"It's was good. Short. How was yours?" Lennon asked.

He had already changed into his swim trunks and a tank top. Lennon wasn't sure she had ever seen him look so casual.

"About the same," he said.

Silence settled over them as a gentle breeze brushed against their skin. Their eyes took in the soft, clear green of the water. Lennon stirred after a minute and looked back over at Kade.

His welcome had not been what she was expecting. After her realization on New Years she hadn't interacted with him. She had been worried she would be dodging his loving looks the whole trip. But nothing in the way he was acting confirmed her fears had been realistic. Kade turned to meet her eyes, giving her a questioning look. She realized she had been staring at him.

"So what do you want to do?" he asked. "We could go down to the pool. But if you want some down time that's fine. I'm good with whatever."

"The pool sounds good," she said.

"Ok. I left you the big room at the end of the hall."

"Thanks."

**************

Kade reached for Lennon's hand as they stepped off the elevator. The moment they walked outside, an attentive pool attendant rushed to meet them and lead them to some lounge chairs.

Once settled, Lennon let out a contented sigh. The warm sun on her skin, the smell of sunblock and the sound of splashing water relaxed her. A woman in a small bikini sauntered by parading her long legs and glistening skin. Lennon watched as a few men's eyes followed her.

A moment later, the woman retraced her steps. Her walk slower, the swing of her hips more defined, her eyes focusing on something just past Lennon. Lennon glanced over and found Kade. He rested his head back, sunglasses obscuring his eyes. Lennon turned back to see the woman pause directly in front of them. She gave a not so subtle stretch that accentuated her butt.

Lennon's eyes darted back to Kade and found his face impassive, his head turned in the opposite direction. Lennon let her smirk slip out.

Looking at Kade, she couldn't blame the woman for her attempts. He looked perfect. From his flawlessly, tousled hair and striking jaw to his toned arms and defined abs. Lennon didn't realize her mere investigative look, had turned into a not so subtle stare, until the corner of Kade's lips pulled up into a pleased smirk.

"Do you like what you see?" he asked, playfully.

He pulled off his sunglasses and gave Lennon an amused look. Lennon bit down on a nervous laugh.

"Maybe," she said, with a casual shrug.

She pursed her lips, determined not to show her embarrassment at being caught.

"Well you shouldn't be, the abs are spray on," he said.

Lennon let out a surprised laugh.

"I suspected," she said. "Obviously, that was the only reason I was looking in the first place."

A wide smile broke out across Kade's lips.

"Purely investigative I see," he said.

"Exactly."

"Of course it had nothing to with the fact that my abs are amazing," he said.

He nonchalantly tensed his stomach so it became a ladder of defined muscle. He cocky gaze dared her not to look. Lennon determinedly stared at his face. The longer she held his gaze, the more impossible it was to suppress her smile.

Finally, she gave up and broke eye contact, making sure to avoid looking at anything below his head as she turned away. Kade let out a warm, rolling laugh and sat up.

"I think I'm going to cool off in the pool. Wanna join me?" he asked.

He stood up and began to not so subtly stretch in front of Lennon. She rolled her eyes and looked away to find the women around her eyeing Kade.

"I'm not that impressed," she said in a bored tone. "I've been working out with Bear."

The insult didn't seem to hinder his ego at all. He gave her a smirk before he got in the pool.

It wasn't long before Lennon got hot and she joined Kade. As she neared him, he snatched a free floaty and pulled it over.

"You want it?" he asked.

"Sure," Lennon said, climbing up.

She laid out on the floaty and Kade rested his arms on the edge, his legs slowly turning them in lazy circles.

"So you've been working out with Bear?" he asked.

"I'm not sure you could call it working out together. By the time I was about to pass out he had barely broken a sweat," she said. "But I tried."

"How is it going in the studio?" she asked, after pause.

"Horrible."

"What?"

He shrugged off her surprise.

"It's pretty normal. The first couple of weeks usually consist of us coming up with the worst songs we have ever worked on, most of them are Noah's ideas."

Lennon playfully slapped his arm.

"Be nice," she said.

"It's true. Noah comes up with horrible ideas. Last week he wanted to write an ode to the French fries he was eating. He came up with two verses and a chorus."

"No he didn't."

"It's true, ask him to show you when we get back. But that's how it goes. We kick around horrible ideas for a few weeks, take a break and when we come back, we write a majority of the album in a week or two."

"Really?"

"It's how it's happened for the last two albums."

They floated lazily in the pool, watching the sunset over the water, their conversation sporadic but comfortable. As the color of the sky shifted from light hues to a darkening blue, they left to get ready for dinner.

******************

Giving the hallway a quick glance, Kade dropped Lennon's hand as they walked to their room, after eating. Their sandals slapping against the tiled floor was the only sound that accompanied them. Once in the room, they didn't even have their footsteps to combat the silence. Lennon felt it was on the verge of getting tense when Kade spoke up.

"I'm gonna call it a night," he said. "Do you need anything before I go?"

"I'm good," she said.

"Ok. Night."

Lennon stood frozen as she watched Kade disappear into his room. She felt at a loss. She had been worried that Kade's shift in feelings would make the trip awkward. She had been prepared to work at keeping things from feeling too intimate. But so far, it had been the complete opposite. Maybe she had been wrong about Kade liking her.

By the next morning, Lennon could catch phones discreetly aimed in their direction. Their movement about the pool garnered more attention then anyone else's. So, they put on a show. They gave each other loving looks and playfully joked back and forth. She would flick water at him and let out a happy shriek when he pulled her into the pool. The act felt like an old inside joke between them. But once in their room, they separated to their own spaces, keeping their interaction to a minimum.

****************

"I thought you said you had never ridden a jet ski before," Kade said.

The blazing sun beat down on them as they pulled up onto the beach. Kade turned the key to his jet ski and the low rumble died.

"You assumed I never had," Lennon corrected him.

"No, I remember clearly you said you hadn't," he argued back,  jumping from his perch on the jet ski.

"I kept my answer vague. You decided that meant I didn't know what I was doing," Lennon countered.

She smirked as Kade rose to the challenge. He fixed her with a competitive scowl. He carelessly ran his hand through his hair as he came to steady Lennon's jet ski for her.

"You're just mad that I completely owned you out there," Lennon said.

Kade's pout deepened and Lennon was struck by how handsome he looked. With his wind jostled hair and tanned skin there was no way to avoid his looks. Lennon turned away, embarrassed by her thoughts.

"Ok, so you were pretty good out there," Kade said as they walked back to the hotel.

Lennon gave him a triumphant smirk.

"But you also had the element of surprise on your side," he added.

Lennon rolled her eyes.

"Sure," she said.

"When did you learn to ride?"

"I use to go to the beach with Hunter and his family. We would rent jet skis there. How about you?"

"My family use to go down to Florida every February. Robbie and I would rent them."

"Yeah?"

"We use to ride all day long. My mom use to complain she never saw us once we got to Florida."

"Really? We were barely riding for two hours and every muscle in my body feels sore."

"I don't feel a thing," Kade said with a cocky smile.

Lennon punched him in the upper arm, the same spot where her own arm hurt.

"Oww," he cried out.

"I knew it!" Lennon said.

"What was that for?"

"I don't feel a thing," Lennon mocked.

Kade gave knowing smirk.

"Not so young and spry are you?" she taunted.

Kade's attempt to hold in his smile made him look like a guilty child. Lennon couldn't help but laugh.

When they got back to their room, Lennon dragged herself to her bed and collapsed, feeling as if she had been run over by a tank. Her bathing suit still felt a little damp under her sundress but she barely registered it before she fell into a dead like sleep.

*************

For their last night in Mexico Lennon and Kade decided to find a restaurant in the town. Their conversations stayed light as they ate tacos and sipped from large margaritas.

Lennon moved her head to the beat of the mariachi music. Her fingers were slightly sticky from the messy tacos, and her sore muscles were relaxed from the touch of alcohol. A warm, salty breeze blew in from the water and mixed with the soft sound of crashing waves. The lights hanging from above cast a fuzzy, yellow glow in the evening light.

An amused smile slid onto Kade's lips as he pulled her onto the dance floor. Colored lights flashed above them and heat surrounded them as the music pulsed their ears. Kade pulled Lennon into his arms, his body moving to the rhythm and energy of the music. It didn't surprise Lennon that Kade knew how to salsa dance. She tried to have the same confidence he had as she followed his lead, spinning and swaying.

Out of breath and hot, Lennon led the way off the dance floor and outside. The moon hung over head and shivered in the ocean just beyond. As they made their way back to the hotel, arms wrapped around each other, Lennon, suffering from too much sun, exhaustion and a drop of alcohol, began to sing. With a little coaxing she got Kade to join her, adding their voices to the night air.

They sang classic eighties which morphed into boy band top hits. Lennon jumped from one song to the next, impressed Kade kept up, goofily adding his own remixes. The highlight of their musical show was Kade rapping a bridge. By the time they made it back to their room, Lennon lovingly looked at her bed before collapsing into the soft blankets. As she drifted off to sleep, she felt content that any feelings Kade might have had for her, were gone.

**********************************************************************

Olá! (Portuguese)

So I have to say this author's note will not be very long (yes, I hear some of you cheering and I take offense). I haven't slept for over 24 hours, the reasons are long and boring so I shall not waste time telling you about them, sufficient to say I don't have a lot of coherent thoughts at the moment. So I will ask you just this one thing. Who is your celebrity crush or crushes? I would tell you mine but it's a secret I keep closely guarded. ;)

Vote, comment, follow. I'm going to try to not fall on my face as I stumble my way to my bed. *Hits door and falls down.* Oh well, at least no one saw that.