I’ll never forget the day that I met Alexander James McLean. Many told me that I was the luckiest woman in the world. Some told me that I should prepare myself for what I was getting into. Others told me that I was in love with the sexiest man alive. Well, I wouldn’t know, and to be frank, I don’t care. The many women of AJ’s past have all said this, and I can attest this to be true, but… while we all had loved AJ, we fell IN love with Alexander James.

The first day I met Alex was… interesting, to say the least. There was a lot he didn’t know about me first off and a lot that I didn’t know about him. Like the fact that he was AJ McLean from the Backstreet Boys. Our first encounter was casual; we had talked a bit over coffee, but that was that. Both he and I parted ways, not really intending to bump into each other ever again. I mean, he revealed to me that he was a world renowned celebrity, who toured the world and was always somewhere new, somewhere different. As for me, I was to remain in small Edgartown in Dukes County. No celebrities ever came through here, so I was sure I was to never see him again.

But to my surprise, he came back, and I was convinced it wasn’t for another casual encounter. With our second so-called “date”, I noticed things were becoming a little personal. The conversation we were engaged in was focused more about me this time around, and I told him the basics. I then noticed he extended his stay in Edgartown a little longer than I expected, to which he told me that this was his off time, and he decided to spend it here in this small town. I had wanted to ask him why; why would he want to spend his time off in a small town when he accustomed to living lavishly in big cities? But I decided not to press it; it was his life and he could do as he pleased. I was just an acquaintance, or so I thought.

The more time we spent together, the more exposure Dukes County got. Speculation quickly circulated, that Backstreet Boy AJ McLean possibly had a new love interest out of Dukes County, Massachusetts. A new love interest? So that’s why he’s been frequenting his visits back here, but who was she? I guess aside from the time he spent with me, he was also making time to visit this mystery lady. As the rumors continued to grow, I decided to finally ask him about his “love interest”.

I remember his laugh… god, do I ever remember his laugh. It was light, yet deep, and I could just see the curve of his lips as his infectious laugh escaped through it. Although that was the moment that I fell in love with his laugh, I pouted, knowing that he was laughing at my question. I had asked him what was so funny, why he was laughing at my question, to which he replied with:

“What if I told you that it was you?”

That statement would forever change my life. Call me naïve, but I really didn’t see that coming, regardless of the time we spent together. I mean, I was never anybody’s love interest, how could anyone possibly love me? But he reassured me that it was me all along with a simple kiss, which was to seal everything.

I remember feeling his lips ghost over mines for a long while. When I took a breath in, he softly placed his lips on mines, and it had seemed like we stood there like that forever. Fear hadn’t allowed me to part my lips open for him to initiate a proper kiss, nor did he try to force his way in. He remained there, giving light, chaste pecks on my pursed lips. Many would argue, but Alex had given me my real, first kiss. He told me, “You don’t need to open your mouth and involve your tongue to make it a real, first kiss.”

Alex and I have been together for six years now, going on seven. Not married, not even engaged. We’ve been through a lot, but we overcame it all together. I gave him love, he gave me life. I gave him meaning, he gave me sight. I helped him to feel, he helped me to see. I gave him everything because he loved me. My name is Aislynn and this is our story. You think you know, you have NO idea.

“When are you gonna let it go man?”

AJ broke himself out of his trance to look over at his younger friend, who was standing before him. They were sitting in their tour bus, waiting for their road manager to confirm their stay at yet another hotel in Mansfield, Massachusetts.

“What are you talking about?” AJ asked in a monotone voice, trying to play it off as if he didn’t know what Nick was talking about, but he knew very well. In his hand he twirled around an abandoned engagement ring.

“You know what I’m…” Nick stopped himself, knowing he’d be wasting his breath explaining something he already knew. “I just hate seeing you do this to yourself.”

“Do what to myself?” AJ snapped, “What exactly am I doing to myself Nick? I ain’t drinking, I ain’t using, so what exactly am I doing to myself?”

Nick closed his eyes, “That’s not what I meant.” As of lately, AJ had a short fuse with everyone. Whatever you’d say to him, he’d easily take your words and twist them so that he was the victim. Nick knew he couldn’t lose his cool with the way AJ was acting, knowing it would be like setting off a bomb if the both of them were to get worked up. He’s learned to just bite his tongue and take whatever AJ threw at him, trying to be understanding of what he was going through.

“Maybe that’s what you want to see, huh? Do you want to see me do something to myself? You want me to fail you too?”

Nick rolled his eyes and sighed heavily, “My god, cut the bullshit already AJ.” Although he knew he couldn’t lose his cool, hearing AJ play victim once more drove him to the edge. “I’m sick and tired of you trying to make everybody feel sorry for your ass. We ain’t doing nothing but trying to help you and all you do is throw shit back at us.”

AJ released a maniacal laugh, “Fuck you Nick, you wanna talk about bullshit? Spare me from yours! I don’t say shit to you guys, all I want is to be left alone but your persistent ass has to play fucking Dr. Phil and involve yourself in shit that has nothing to do with you!”

“Well, excuse me for fucking caring!” Nick fired back. “Every single little thing we say to you AJ, you always get so defensive. We can’t say or do shit without feeling like we’re fucking walking on eggshells with you! When I said you need to stop doing this to yourself, I meant you walking around with this sour ass attitude, waiting and wanting pity from whomever. It’s been a fucking year since ya’ll broke up dude, move… the fuck… on!”

“You know what Nick? Go fuck yourself! The day you profess your love to someone, ask for their hand in marriage only for them to take it back a day before the wedding, then you come and talk to me. You have no idea what I’m going through because you’re too much of a fucking pussy when it comes to commitment, so fuck off and leave me the fuck alone!”

Nick stared long and hard at the broken man he no longer knew. “No wonder Rochelle left your sorry ass.” he managed to say before he could even stop himself.

The bus fell eerily silent. The only sound that was heard was a light ping sound of the engagement ring AJ had let slip through his hand and land on the table. Before Nick could take back his words, AJ launched himself from where he sat, over the table and tackled Nick by his midsection. Air left them both and grunts immediately sounded out when they connected with the floor of the bus.

Dazed, Nick looked up to see AJ above him, pulling his arm up and his balled fist back, ready to fly it forward and have it connect with his face. Nick quickly caught AJ’s flying fist and brought it to the side. Where the fuck are Brian and Howie? Nick thought to himself as he caught AJ’s other swinging fist. He knew what he had said struck a deep chord within AJ, and if there was a way he could take it back, he would, but the words have been spoken and the damage has been done. No one could help him out of this situation but himself.

“AJ, look.” Nick shouted, trying to restrain the smaller thrashing man. “I’m sor-” his words were immediately cut off, for AJ’s fist had finally connected with his cheek.

“FUCK YOU!” AJ screamed as he tried to punch Nick once again.

Nick hoped AJ’s screaming would catch someone’s, anyone’s attention and would come in and pull AJ off of him. Years ago, Nick’s reaction to being hit was to hit back, but now Nick knew better… and in this situation, he knew he was the reason why he was getting attacked now. Hitting AJ back would only make it worse, so he tried hard to stop his older friend from beating him to a pulp. Though Nick was bigger, AJ always did have a hidden rage that was quite uncontrollable once it was released.

“FUCK YOU NICK, FUCK YOU!” AJ was now crying as he tried and tried again to hit the man underneath him. He no longer saw him as a friend, but a man who had hurt him, pushed him to the edge. Whoever said “sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt you.” was a fucking liar.

Just as he cranked his arm back to deliver another punch, he was reeled back by a strong pair of arms. He tried to break free from whatever was holding him back, trying to launch himself back at Nick to inflict physical pain, return the amount of pain he was feeling at that moment. Brian strained to hold the smaller man back, but was finally able to feel AJ’s anger crumbling slowly but surely.

Meanwhile, Howie had helped Nick up from the ground. He hoped Nick wouldn’t try to go after AJ in retaliation, knowing that he was no match for Nick, but to his surprise, Nick stood there, staring at AJ in defeat.

“Let go of me!” AJ growled out, trying to shake himself from out of Brian’s hold.

“I’ll let you go when you calm down.” Brian replied, tightening his arms around AJ once more when he felt him trying to fight back.

Taking a deep breath in, AJ tried to calm himself so that Brian would let him go. “I’m fucking calm.” he gritted out.

Slowly, Brian loosened his arms, only to have AJ break away from him. His arms immediately shot out, in case he had to restrain him again, but AJ remained where he stood, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. His watery eyes bore deeply into Nick’s saddened ones, he refused to break his glare.

“AJ…” Nick sighed.

“Get… the fuck… outta my face.” AJ warned in a low, menacing tone.

Knowing it was no use trying to talk to the enraged man, Nick quickly turned around and began to leave, making sure to punch the wall of the bus on his way out, to help release the anger he felt with himself. “Hey!” Howie voiced, following Nick out to make sure that he would be okay.

When he was sure that both Nick and Howie were off the bus, Brian turned his attention back to AJ, who looked like he still needed time to calm down. He sighed, not liking how his brother was broken all over again. Instead of asking him what had happened between him and Nick, he decide to ask, “What do you want?”

AJ collapsed back down on the seat he was in earlier. “I just want to be left alone.” he replied before he buried his face into his hands.

Brian gave a slight nod, “Alright. I’m ready when you are.” he said, meaning he was ready to talk about whatever was bothering AJ when he was ready to talk about it. And with that, he left the bus too, deciding to check on Howie and Nick.

When AJ heard the bus door close, he lifted his face up from his hands, seeing the ring he was fiddling with earlier still on the table. It may have been a year since they’ve broken up, but he still held on to the ring, which signified the closest he’s ever been to true love, or at least what he thought was true love. He still held on to that ring in hopes that maybe one day she’ll come back to him. It may have been a year, but he still held on to that ring.

Pushing himself up from where he sat, he made his way towards the back of the bus where the bunks were located. He reached up to his bunk area and pulled out his duffle bag, placing it on the ground so he could rummage through it. Pushing his clothes aside, he shoved his hand deeper into the bag, glad his hand finally connected with what he was searching for. He pulled out a roped silver chain he had thrown in with his luggage and undid the clasp, threading the silver chain through the ring. He brought the necklace around his neck and fastened it, looking down to find the ring hanging snug against his chest.

Next thing on his agenda? He needed to get out of here, and fast. He wasn’t sure where he’d go, but he knew either Howie or Brian would be back to want to talk to him, and he didn’t want to stick around for that. Nor did he want to stick around for the awkwardness that would surely hang between he and Nick.

He rose up from the ground, grabbing his duffle bag and shoving it back into his bunk area. He patted his pockets down, feeling that he had both his wallet and cell phone. Satisfied with that much, he made his way towards the front of the bus, opening the door slowly and peering out. No one was around in sight; he figured Howie had probably led Nick into the hotel while Brian ushered the security in as well to help give him his privacy.

Sighing heavily, he stepped off the bus and began his trek to nowhere, wanting to get as far away from the hotel as possible so no one would stop him, and from there he would hail down a cab to take him wherever he wanted to go. But where exactly could he go in Massachusetts? He would think of that later.

The walk he had taken was a good five minutes away from the hotel, and he had yet to come across a single cab. Just when he was about to give up and head to the nearest bus stop, off in the distance he seen a lone cab heading his way.

“Finally.” AJ sighed as he began to wave the cab down.

To his luck, he noticed that the cab was empty as the driver slowed down and pulled off to the side of the road. Looking both ways to see no cars coming, AJ quickly jogged across the street over towards the cab, opening the door and jumping in the back.

“Thanks man.” AJ said as he closed the door.

“No problem man, where ya headed?” the man asked, his voice thick with a Boston accent.

AJ shrugged, “I don’t even know man, not from around here.”

The man turned a little in his seat, “Well, do you have an idea where you’d like to go?”

“As far away from Massachusetts as possible.”

The man chuckled, “Man, that’s quite a drive ya looking for. I’ll go ahead and do ya the next best thing, okay?”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“It’s this little county down south of Massachusetts… it’s as far away as you’ll get from this state. You’ll have to take a ferry to get there, and you’ll probably have to wait till mornin’.”

“Morning?” AJ repeated. “There’s no boats or anything that could charter me out there tonight?”

The man shrugged as he pulled out onto the main road again, “Got this friend, Bobby, who owns a boat out at the harbah. For the right price I’m sure he could get you out there by tonight.”

AJ gave a small smile, “Really? I’d appreciate it man.”

“Natta problem!”

AJ reclined back in his seat, grateful that the man was of great help and service to him. “I’m sorry, but what did you say this place was again?”

“It’s a county… Dukes County.”

“Order up!” the burly cook exclaimed as he slapped his large hand down on the silver bell.

It was another beautiful day out in Edgartown, complete with the lovely sound of crowing chickens and mooing cows from neighboring farms. Aislynn Miller welcomed these sounds with open arms. Although she was born and raised in this small town, she could honestly never get tired of the common sounds she was greeted with every morning.

“My, my… my cobbler is going faster than them hotcakes, huh?” Aislynn joked as she grabbed plate of her homemade peach cobbler, topped with French vanilla ice cream and fresh whipped cream.

“You know whenever you made that good ole peach cobbler of yours, that’s always the first to go!” Benny, the cook replied. “This is probably the only town that starts off their day with dessert whenever you make that cobbler.”

“Gotta give the people what they want.” Aislynn replied with a smile as she grabbed the second plate that was decorated with over-easy eggs, two strips of bacon, two sausage links, a heaping serving of hash browns and three hotcakes. “I’ll be back to get the other orders.”

“Don’t worry about it, Nancy’s got it.” Benny said, volunteering the youngest waitress to grab the complete orders, who was busy flirting with a group of young construction workers, all the while taking their orders. “You need to stop overworking yourself!”

“Life never stops!” Aislynn chuckled as she began walking out slowly towards the tables with the two plates, trying to find her way around everyone.

“Here we are…” she said with a smile, “Got one peach cobbler and a plate of eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns and pancakes.”

The two customers she served immediately grabbed their plates, “Thank you.”

“Anytime. Can I get you guys a refill on anything? Coffee, orange juice, pop…?”

“No, we’re good.” the male customer replied. “Can’t wait to tear into this cobbler though, heard it’s the best in this state!”

She gave an amused look, “Have you now? Well, that’s quite a bold statement that you heard, so I’ll go ahead and let you be the judge of that. You guys go ahead and enjoy your meals, I’ll be back around if you need anything.”

Aislynn left the table she had just served and set out to find her youngest employee, Nancy. She stood there for a while, until she finally picked out her voice amongst the chatter. Turning, she began making her way over towards the table of the young men Nancy was still flirting with.

“Working your charm on a young, beautiful lady is surely to work up your appetite as well.” she addressed the table, standing next to Nancy.

“Aislynn!” the men exclaimed happily in unison. “Good morning.”

“Mornin’ fellas. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna have to steal this lovely lady away for just a while so she can go put your guys’ orders in, okay?” she said as she linked her arm through Nancy’s and began to lead her away from the table.

“Oh. My. Gosh. I love construction workers!” Nancy squealed as they both began to make their way to the kitchen.

Aislynn laughed and shook her head, “I can tell. Luckily I came to pull you away, they probably would’ve never got their food.”

Nancy grinned sheepishly, “Sorry Lynn.”

“There’s no need to apologize honey, just go and put their orders in and you can go back to entertaining them.”

Nancy immediately halted in her trek, causing Aislynn to stop as well. She was rendered motionless at the sight of a middle-aged man who had just walked into their diner. He wore torn jeans and a simple t-shirt, sporting a baseball cap to complete his look; he surely wasn’t from around here. His facial hair seemed trimmed and up kept, but his face looked of sheer exhaustion. Regardless, he was a really good looking man and his mysteriousness was all the more alluring.

“Lynn?” Nancy choked out as she tightened her grip around Aislynn’s arm. “You gotta let me take that, please?”

“What is i-” Aislynn faltered off, figuring she already knew what Nancy wanted. “Go ahead.” she laughed as she grabbed the order out of Nancy’s hands, ushering her towards their new customer.

“Thank you!” Nancy whispered giddily as she quickly made her way over towards the new customer. “Hello!” she greeted with a big smile, “Welcome to TLB, are you expecting anyone else to join your party?”

“Um, no.” the man replied, glancing around the diner.

Nancy nodded, silently thanking God that this beautiful man was here by himself. “Okay, follow me.” she said as she grabbed a menu and began to lead him further into the diner.

All the while the man looked around, studying his new surroundings and the people. “Here you go.” Nancy said as she pulled out the chair, gesturing for the man to sit. “Our special for today is our endless flapjacks with sausage, bacon and hash browns, or country fried potatoes if you prefer. We also have our famous peach cobbler on the menu today, which I recommend getting before you leave because it’s seriously the best anywhere.” she explained as she handed him the menu.

“Coffee is fine for now.” the man replied as he opened the menu, looking his options over.

Nancy stood there for a while, knowing Aislynn would be over with the coffee pot soon and she didn’t want to leave him yet. “You’re not from around here, are you?” she asked, trying to strike up a conversation.

The man glanced up at her, “How’d you guess?”

Nancy shrugged her shoulders in a flirtatious manner, tossing her light blond curls back, “I don’t know… it’s a pretty small town out here, so everyone kinda knows everyone. I just can’t place my finger on where you could possibly be from.”

The man cocked an eyebrow in surprise, “Really?”

Nancy nodded eagerly, glad that the man seemed as if he wanted to further their conversation. “I would try and guess, but I wouldn’t want to offend you in anyway, I’ve been known to be wrong.” she tried to laugh her nervousness off.

The man immediately sensed how she was feeling and why she was acting the way she was. He flashed her a smirk, “Is there a bathroom I could use?”

“Um, yeah, it’s back that way near the entrance, I could show you if you want.”

The man chuckled and shook his head as he rose from his seat, “Thank you, but I don’t think that’ll be necessary.”

The man turned around sharply, feeling himself collide directly with another person. Although he was taken back by the impact, he immediately shot his arms out for the woman he had just turned into, trying to catch her before she hit the ground. The woman, who was already knocked off balance, immediately dropped the coffee pot she was carrying and reached out for the man who bumped into her, grabbing onto his outstretched arms and pulling him down with her. The diner fell silent at the sound of the coffee pot breaking and the two bodies hitting the ground with a dull thud.

Nancy stood there, hands clasped over her agape mouth. “Oh my… Aislynn, are you okay?”

Aislynn groaned as she tried to sit up, but couldn’t due to the body that was partially on top of her. “Someone remind me to get some plush carpet in this place.” Aislynn tried to laugh it off, but ended up groaning in pain.

“Oh my god, I am sooo sorry.” the man apologized sympathetically as he quickly got off the younger woman he had landed on.

Aislynn gave a small smile as she shifted a bit on the floor, trying to be mindful of the shards of glass that was surely scattered around her. “There’s no need to cry over spilt milk, or spilt coffee in this case.”

The man reached out to help her up from the ground, but was quickly reeled back and thrust into a group of young looking men. “What the hell’s ya problem man?” one of the construction workers asked as they closed in on the man. When they had seen him crash into Aislynn, they all quickly got up and made their way over, immediately becoming protective of the waitress the whole town knew and love.

“There’s no need for that Buckey.” Aislynn warned in a soft tone as Nancy helped her up from the floor. “It was an accident, he doesn’t have a problem. And I surely don’t want you boys starting any problems in this diner.”

Obediently, they backed down, but not before brushing shoulders with the man and eyeing him down as they made their way back to their table. Nevertheless, the man ignored them and focused on the person he had hurt. “Again, I’m really sorry, I can pay for any of the damages I’ve caused.”

Aislynn chuckled, “Like what, the broken coffee pot? That’s easily replaceable honey, don’t worry about it.”

“Well, I still feel really bad, I mean… I knocked you to the ground.”

“You didn’t knock me to the ground. I was thrown off guard and reached out for the closest thing to me, which happened to be you, and pulled you down with me.” Aislynn laughed as she fixed her rumpled work clothes.

The man stared long and hard at the waitress before him. She was a little shorter than him, her frame slender yet profound. She had a light mocha complexion, her brown hair tied back in ponytail while her bangs was swept neatly to the side of her face, the remaining strands of hair hung in very loose curls. Her facial structure was nice while her lips were petite, yet slightly plumped. What also interested him was the fact that she wore reading glasses that appeared to be sunglasses as well. She seemed to be a well refined, smart young woman.

“Let me make it up to you somehow… maybe buy you coffee or breakfast or something?” the man pleaded.

Aislynn gave a genuine smile, “That’s really sweet of you, but I’m gonna have to decline. I just have so much to do, starting with cleaning this up.”

Benny, who had quickly made his way out of the kitchen when he heard the commotion, quickly intervened. “Don’t worry about this mess Lynn, I’ll get a few people to take care of it.”

She turned to face Benny, “Regardless, I still have work to do.”

Benny grasped Aislynn lightly by the shoulders, “Like I said, you work too much. This man is offering to buy you breakfast and I know you didn’t eat this morning. Go on and get outta here. Nancy will help me take care of it all, just go on and take him up on his offer.”

Aislynn stood there for a while, as if contemplating it all over. Releasing a small groan, she reluctantly agreed. “Alright. I can’t believe you guys are kicking me out.” she pouted with a small laugh. “Well, can we at least have breakfast here?”

Both Benny and Nancy glanced over at each other, “Of course, we’ll get you guys set up right quick.”

Aislynn shook her head as she looked back over towards the man, “Don’t mind them. My name’s Aislynn by the way.”

The man smiled, “AJ.”