A/N: So hey, uh let's just hope this one doesn't end as sadly as the last chapter right?

Chapter 15:

Day 3 of Tour: Texas

Kirstie slams a pillow down on Scott.
     "Holy shit! I'm awake, I'm awake," he says as he sits up. Kirstie continues along and whacks Mitch, he takes a couple of goes to get moving.
     "Have either of you seen Avi?" she asks in a slight panic.
     The two boys exchange a glance then look at Kirstie and shake their heads.
     "Oh my god, where is he?" she asks, turning away from them, clearly worried.
     "Did you look in the car?" Scott asks then clamps his hand over his mouth before Mitch smacks him in the back of the head.
     "Shut-up," he hisses at the blonde. But luckily for them Kirstie doesn't see any of that and is already at the front door wrenching it open.
     Kirstie runs down the driveway and leans against the car window, looking inside. "Avi!" she taps on the window, relief flooding through her. He was fast asleep, so she tries the handle, locked. She didn't know if that was a smart decision on his part or a dumb one, now how are they supposed to wake him.
     "What are you doing Kirstie?" Esther asks as she walks outside.
     "Avi's locked himself in, do you have the keys?" Kirstie turns to the other female.
     "They were on the counter, but now they're not, Avi must have them," she steps up beside Kirstie and looks in. "If he's asleep out here then maybe he wants to be left alone Kirstie. The performance isn't for another few hours, let him sleep okay," she lightly rubs the shorter girl's shoulder.
     Kirstie pouts, "Fine." And the two walk back into the house together. "I just don't know why he would have gone out there in the first place. I sent Scott into the lounge so that Avi could be in my bed," she sighs.
     Esther nods slowly, "Well that could be it then, he probably didn't want to be in your bed," she all but snaps.
     Kirstie reels back, "Excuse me."
     "No, no I didn't mean it like that," she runs a hand down her face. "It's more complicated than you know, clearly he hasn't told you. And I can't either," she quickly makes her way back to Graycie's room that she was borrowing.
     Kirstie storms over to Scott and Mitch, "Kevin and Esther are keeping something from me about Avi."
     "When Esther said he hadn't told you, I assumed she meant Avi, not Kevin," Scott frowns.
Mitch rolls his eyes, "She did, what Kirstie means is that Kevin and Esther both know this thing about Avi, that he hasn't told her about."
     Scott nods along slowly at Mitch's explanation. Suddenly his face lights up, "It's probably all to do with," he pauses and glances at Mitch, then leans in to whisper to Kirstie, "The girl in high school."
     Kirstie leans back with a frown, "What are you talking about?"
     Scott copies Kirstie's stance, "What are you talking about?"
     "What girl in high school?" Kirstie hisses.
     "Nothing," Scott says, his eyes wide. "I was joking," he laughs as realistically as he can.
     Kirstie watches him carefully, but doesn't even crack a smile. "I'm gonna make him tell me everything."
     Scott nods, "Well if you do, can you save it until after the show?"

...qdq...dqd...

Day 3 of Tour: Texas – 1 hour until performance.

"That's a lot of cars," Avi comments as they pull up in the reserved spot on Scott's parents driveway.
     "It's mine and Kirstie's family and friends, but still, I didn't it'd be this many either."
     Kirstie nods in agreement with Scott.
     Esther gets out of the driver's seat, "Well it'll be less people than you performed for in the final," she offers with a shrug, locking the door behind them all.
     Before they can even get to the front door it swings open and Scott's parents and sisters come running out, engulfing him in hugs.
     Esther leans in to speak to Avi, "So you nervous about meeting the whole rest of Kirstie's family?" she asks with a smirk.
     Avi turns to her slowly, "I wasn't until you put it like that!"
     Kevin, Kirstie and Mitch all turn to face Avi as his voice gets louder. Scott's loud family even pause for a second.
     Esther holds up her hands in surrender, "Okay, no need to yell."
      Kirstie takes Avi's hand in hers, "You okay?" she quietly asks him as they fall behind the others as they all walk inside.
     Avi sighs, "Just suddenly nervous about meeting all your Aunts and Uncles and cousins," he half chuckles, scratching behind his head.
     Kirstie smiles, "You don't need to be, they might be judgy at first, but when they realise what a sweetheart you are, and that you're the nicest guy I've dated, they'll welcome you with open arms."
     "Just how big is your whole family?"
     "Well Latino families aren't small," she says with a side smirk.
     Angelica, Graycie and Kirstie's Nana appear, giving Kirstie and Avi hugs, Graycie of course hugging Avi a little too long.
     "I'll protect you from the onslaught Avi," Graycie tells him, hugging back into his side.
      "Ha-ha, great," Avi says, his voice going higher.
     Kirstie pushes her sister off and pulls Avi along with her to the large backyard where the concert was going to take place on the porch they were now standing on. Scott was off catching up with all his family members, his voice could be heard across the yard. Kevin, Mitch and Esther were sort of grouped together, not really knowing anyone else, Scott mustn't have introduced them to anyone else yet.
     "Mom, can you see if they're okay?" Kirstie points to her three friends. "And Graycie stop staring at Avi and go say hi, the girl is Avi's sister."
     Graycie reluctantly turns away, and their Nana follows with a smile.
      Kirstie steps aside and takes Avi's other hand in hers, "Just think, however nervous you are now, I'm gonna be twice as bad when I meet all your family at the end of tour. At least the pressure of the "mom meeting" is off you right?" she nods.
     Avi nods too, "I guess that's true."
     "See come on, we'll go to Aunt Jackie first, if we don't Mom'll never hear the end of it," she laughs and pulls Avi along.

Day 3 of Tour: Texas – 5 minutes until performance.

Scott hands out microphones to the group but keeps his hand on the one Avi takes a hold of, "This is a very makeshift system, please be careful Avriel," he smirks, he wasn't joking, but he had managed to slip in his full names and get snickers from the rest of the group.
     Esther came back from setting a small barrier of garden toys Scott's mom had found. It marked out the area where it was okay for Avi and Kevin to land in the small jump off the steps for the Britney Medley.
     "I'll be as careful as I can," Avi says, not smiling, he hates it when people use his full name.
     Esther spins around to face the awaiting audience, immediate family in the front row since none of them had even seen Kirstie or Scott perform with Pentatonix and they all knew each other, so it was an even bigger deal to them.
     With a beaming smile Esther looks just briefly over her shoulder, and even though she knew most of it was acting this time, their nervous habits still got on her nerves. Kevin wiping the sweat from his forehead, Mitch rubbing down his face, Scott biting his nails, Kirstie scratching her arms raw and Avi, well he was playing with his damn zipper and the loops of his pants, she has told him a million times what that looks like but does he listen? No.
     She turns back to the Hoying and Maldonado families, "Ladies and Gentlemen it is my great pleasure to introduce to you this year's winners of The Nation Wide A Capella Competition The Sing Off, here is... PENTATONIX!" she hands Kirstie's microphone back to her and she briskly makes her way off the stage, stepping in between Kirstie's mom Angelica and Scott's dad Rick as Scott starts off Telephone very quietly.
     Rick turns to Esther, "You sure his microphone is working?"
     Esther nods, "Yeah, we tested them."
     Rick frowns, he didn't know what was wrong then, Scott wouldn't be nervous, he'd never seen his son nervous while singing before.
     Esther looked around as best she could, seeing the confusion on people's face as Mitch joined in then Kirstie, Avi and Kevin, and yet the sound volume didn't increase. Whereas Esther was just thinking that they were all doing a spectacular job at all being at the same quiet volume. Rehearsal had not gone nearly this well, it seemed the pressure was actually helping them. Then her eyes widen, they' weren't actually nervous were they?
     But sure enough when Kevin and Avi stop briefly, Scott, Mitch and Kirstie all sing 'stop calling' at the regular volume and Kevin and Avi come back in stronger than ever to the crowd that break out in applause and cheering. Esther can't help but join in herself.
      The group finish their first song and launch into their second, then their third and fourth without hardly a hiccup. Number five, six and seven all go smoothly too, and Avi only forgot the dance moves twice. They finish off Dog Days with a beaming smile and even more applause and cheering. They bow and make their way off the makeshift stage and go inside for a quick breather.
     "I don't remember it being that exhausting," Scott says as he takes deep gasping breaths.
     "That's the first time we've done them all together Scott," Kirstie says with a roll of her eyes, her breathing wasn't as heavy as his or Avi's, or Kevin's, Mitch seemed to be coping about as well as Kirstie.
     Avi slides down the back of the couch to sit on the floor, "Something's gotta change," he says quickly.
     "Maybe you guys need to start working out," Kirstie shrugs.
     Scott points at her, "Not gonna happen."
     "I don't have the time," Kevin shakes his head.
     "Nah," Avi adds shortly.
     Kirstie folds her arms across her chest, "A little bit of exercise won't kill you, running out of air while singing will," she jokes.
     "Or we do less dancing," Mitch suggests with a shrug, sitting on the arm of the sofa Avi as leant against.
     Scott sits down next to Avi, tipping his head back, "That could work, or we drop Britney, that song fucked me up big time. All breathing went out the window on that one," he nods surely.
     "Aww, I really like that one though," Mitch pouts.
     "We could try it once more maybe, try it tomorrow and see how we go?" Kevin suggests.
     "If we do that, we'll need to take a short break between the songs, I just need to catch my breath again before I sing words," Scott says.
     "I could just quickly say a few words about the song?" Mitch suggests, "About how special it is to us because it's the song that won us the comp and it feels very near and dear to us even though we didn't pick it."
     "We could even thank the audience then instead of after the last song?" Kirstie shrugs.
     Scott nods, "That'll work, and then if we're still like this after the show tomorrow then we cut Brittney. Deal?"
     "Deal."
     "Deal."
     "Deal."
     "Deal."
     Esther pops her head in the door, "Scott's mom said food's ready you guys get to go first," she smiles at them, "Well done today guys."
     But Avi was already up and past her on his way to the food.

A/N: So that was 2006 words of writing for you, that has to be one of my longest chapters and I hope you guys enjoyed!

Hannah :)