Twitter. Really? I shook my head in dismay as I waited for the app to finish downloading. It was bad enough that I had been forced to give up my BlackBerry in favour of the more “social media friendly” iPhone, but the whole concept of Twitter seemed ridiculous. Who was going to read my tweets? Of course, in order for anyone to be able to read my tweets, I was going to have to learn how to type using the iPhone’s touch keyboard. Based on the incomprehensible text message that I had just sent to Hannah, I was clearly in for a steep learning curve.

How does one even go about turning off autocorrect? I wondered.

Sighing heavily, I focused my attention on the glowing screen. According to the onscreen message, Twitter had been successfully installed. I pressed gingerly on the little blue and white bird and waited. As I paused for the registration page to load, a loud bleep emitted from the phone’s speakers. Startled, I practically launched the device into the next cubical.

“Sorry.” I mumbled, as my neighbouring coworkers looked up from their laptops in annoyance.

I still hadn’t figured out how to change the sound profile to silent. Glancing at the screen, I realized that the noise had signified an incoming text.

Hannah: I see the new phone is working out well. :P

I smiled despite my annoyance. The fact that Hannah had responded meant that I had successfully sent a text message. Sadly, I considered that to be a massive accomplishment. God, I missed my BlackBerry!

Me: Stooped thing! Can tot figure out how to tup or turn off auto carrot. I HAT this!!!

My smile faded as I struggled with the ridiculous touch keyboard. All of this nonsense for an assignment that I hadn’t even expressed any desire in obtaining. I understood that I was still relatively new, but this was beyond cruel in my opinion. They should have at least put one of the senior project managers on this assignment. They could have chosen someone who was already equipped with a “social media friendly” smart phone. Hell, they could have (and should have) chosen a male staff member. I was going to get killed!

Hannah: Dinner tonight? Harry’s at 7?

Me: Sound good1 See u at 7!

“Well at least that one was fairly legible.” I muttered to myself as I watched my response bubble up on the screen. Taking a large sip of my skinny caramel latte, I turned my full attention back to the screen in my hands. It was time to join Twitter!

“So, what’s your Twitter handle?” Hannah asked, taking a sip of her Diet Coke and tapping away at the screen of her phone.

“@AmyCtrl.” I replied. “It was assigned to me.” I added as I watched Hannah’s left eyebrow rise ever so slightly.

“Well, you now, officially, have one follower!” Hannah said, tossing her phone back into her purse and turning her attention to her plate full of French fries. “You may actually want to start following some people. The guys in the band might be a good place to start.”

“Mmmhmm” I mumbled, non-committal. I had no desire to tweet or to follow anyone else’s tweets. Who cared if Justin Timberlake had eggs for breakfast? This assignment was going to be the death of me. Not only was I going to be gone for a third of a year, but I had to document every “media worthy” moment of those four months in 140 characters or less. I took a large bite of my chicken wrap and looked up to see Hannah staring at me expectantly. I quickly surveyed her expression and immediately decided that this would not be a good time to bring up the fact that Eddie had also forced me to sign up for Instagram. Lord only knows what kind of pictures I was going to be expected to post. Eddie had, however, kindly informed me that I could link my Instagram account to both Twitter and Facebook. Great.

“I don’t understand how a twenty-nine year old woman can be so against social media.” Hannah laughed, flashing me her signature smile.

“I’m not against social media!” I retorted. “I just don’t like the idea of everyone knowing everything there is to know about me. I don’t see the point of posting pictures of my meals and checking in at The Gap. I also highly doubt that the band is going to appreciate me tweeting about their every move.”

“I’m sure they’re used to it.” Hannah replied. “They have been around for twenty years. They must have learned a thing or two about promotional marketing by now.”

“Well, they might be used to it, but I’m sure as hell not.” I grumbled. “I can’t believe that Eddie just up and quit! What was he thinking!?” I cried, completely changing the tone of the conversation.

“He was thinking that his wife just gave birth to their first child and that he wanted to spend time with his son.” Hannah said. “You can’t fault the guy for wanting to spend time with his baby. It would be impossible for him to be on the road for four months with a newborn at home.”

“All of the Backstreet Boys have kids, and they’re all going on tour.” I shot back.

“That’s different.” Hannah challenged. “They make millions of dollars and have wives and kids who are used to joining them on tour. Eddie is in a completely different situation. It makes sense for him to take a desk job back in California. You, on the other hand, are young and single. You need to start seeing this as an opportunity! Think about what this kind of assignment and exposure will do for your career. I know that some aspects of the job are going to suck shit, but this is your first real job. Most girls would kill to be in your position. Have some fun with it!”

“I suppose it is going to be four months of all expenses paid luxury travel, and I will get to go back home for a few nights.” I mused. I popped another fry in my mouth and washed it down with a sip of Ginger Ale. Hannah always had a knack for spinning things in a positive way. Perhaps that was why the two of us had become fast friends during my first few weeks at Ground(ctrl). Hannah was one of the only female members of the promotional marketing team assigned to Surgarland. Although the two of us had never worked in the same department, we had bonded during office-wide functions and company luncheons.

“I am going to miss you though.” Hannah added. “I don’t know what I’m going to do without you for such a long time.”

“Don’t worry. You can follow my tweets!” I joked. “It will be like you’re right there with me.” I quipped, signalling for the bill. My flight left at 9:00 the next morning and I still had an immense amount of packing to do.

‘I should have gotten an extra large coffee this morning.’ I thought, taking a huge sip from the Starbucks takeout cup in my right hand while trying to manoeuvre my carry-on suitcase with my left. I swallowed the swig of coffee and grimaced. I had forgotten to add sugar. Regardless, I had been up until 2:00 A.M. packing, so I was in no place to be picky. My flight left at 9:00 A.M., and I had arrived at the Nashville airport around 7:00 A.M. to pick up my boarding pass, make it through security, and check my one huge suitcase. Things had moved surprisingly quickly and I now had almost an hour to wait before I could even board the plane. I debated using the time to take a quick nap, but I figured that I might as well go over my assignment expectations one more time.

I had decided to take Hannah’s advice. I was going to try to think positively about the upcoming experience. I had started working for Ground(ctrl)’s Nashville office as a Junior Project Manager a little over a year and a half ago. I had spent the past year working as part of the team that was assigned to Taylor Swift’s fan club. For the most part, I had composed and edited official blog posts, moderated her fan community message boards, and coordinated VIP experiences for her appearances across Tennessee. Although Taylor wasn’t my ideal artist of choice, I had loved the assignment. The majority of her fans were sweet, my blog posts were always met with enthusiasm, and there was very rarely any conflict within her online fan community. The VIP experiences were run smoothly, and on the few occasions that I had been able to spend time with Taylor she had been nothing but gracious and welcoming.

I had never expressed any desire to leave Team Taylor. When the internal positing came up to replace Eddie and work with the Backstreet Boys on an “exciting new venture”, I hadn’t even bothered to apply. I had no craving to leave my newly purchased condo in Nashville to live out of a suitcase for four months. I didn’t want to be at the forefront of Ground(ctrl)’s new initiative that was designed to create a stronger connection between artists and their fans. Above all, I definitely didn’t want to be involved with the BSB fan community. Although Team Backstreet was based out of the Sacramento office, rumours consistently circulated that some of their fans were a bit over the top. I had heard nightmarish stories of VIP and ticket presales gone wrong, of over-sold VIP events, of bullying on the message boards, and of overzealous fans ruining After Party experiences. Of course, I had also heard the opposite; that the guys were incredibly sweet and fun to work with and that the majority of their maturing fan base was respectful to both the event staff and each other.

Even though I hadn’t put my name forward for the position, the senior member of my team had. Apparently, he thought that I would be a perfect fit and he had hyped up my potential to Eddie. I had been hired after only one phone interview, even though I had explicitly stated that I didn’t think I was right for the job. I had even tried to use the fact that I didn’t have an iPhone as an excuse. Two weeks later, the phone that was currently stuffed in my purse had appeared on my desk accompanied by Eddie’s explicit instructions that I was to begin using it immediately.

Did I mention that I missed my BlackBerry?

The whole thing had happened so quickly. I still wasn’t sure if I was ready for the responsibility, the long nights, and the pressure of connecting fans with the world’s biggest boy band. If things went well, Eddie had said that I would be heading up the team in charge of setting up the same “fan connection” experience with all of Ground(ctrl)’s major artists. That meant getting the opportunity to work with The Eagles, Linkin Park, and Surgarland. The perks were amazing, but I knew that the challenges were going be even greater.

I was a young, single, female who would be working closely with the Backstreet Boys. I knew that some members of their fan base were going to hate me. I knew that some of their wives were not going to be overly thrilled with me blogging, tweeting, and posting pictures detailing their husbands’ lives. Above all, I knew that Ground(ctrl) had a lot riding on this initiative and I did not want to be the one to screw it up.

I pulled the assignment expectations out of my bag and quickly skimmed the words that I had already read hundreds of times. It wasn’t the overall expectations that I was nervous about. It was the fine print. Somehow, I was supposed to use social media to bring the fans “on tour” with the band. I had to provide the true Backstreet experience without betraying the band’s trust or revealing too much of their personal information. Eddie had made it known that he would be monitoring my every post, and that I would immediately know if I had crossed the line.

Why is Florida so hot? Seriously, how do Florida women cope with this humidly?

I could feel the sweat forming on the bridge of my nose as I followed my driver out of the airport and towards the waiting car. I had been in the humidity for all of one minute and I could already feel my hair beginning to frizz into a giant, wavy mess. Great. A few agonizingly hot minutes later, I sunk down into the plush back seat of the Lincoln Town Car. Once I was in the safety of the air conditioning, I whipped my long brown locks up into a high pony tail. As the car pulled out into the midday traffic, I grabbed my Ground(ctrl) tank top out of my tote bag and pulled it down over top of my pink camisole. I rummaged in my bag for my ID badge and threw that around my neck as well. According to the itinerary that I had been given on my last day at the Nashville office, I was going straight to the venue to help coordinate the check-in for the Orlando VIP.

Traffic was light, and I found myself fighting back nerves as the car pulled up to the venue. I could already see that a large crowd had formed in front of the black tent that was customarily used for the VIP check-in. I was relieved to see that, at least from a distance, the process seemed to the same as the one that was used for Taylor Swift.

I waited for the driver to pull away before taking a deep breath and striding towards the tent. The girls who were waiting made space for me as I approached. I noticed a few of them checking out my ID badge, but none of them said anything to me. I reached the tent and saw that there was already one guy, who appeared to be in his early thirties, behind one of the tables. He was wearing a Ground(ctrl) t-shirt and unloading boxes of VIP passes.

“I’m Amy!” I called out, stepping over the low barrier and extending my hand. “I’m Eddie’s replacement from the Nashville office.”

“Oh, thank God you’re here!” the blonde man cried. “The girls are starting to get a bit antsy. I’m Jason, by the way.” He added, shaking my outstretched hand. “It’s good to have you on the team. Eddie says that you’re the one who is going to test out this whole ‘fan connection’ social media garbage.”

“Yeah ... lucky me.” I laughed, feeling more at ease. I was familiar with the VIP check-in process and it appeared as though Jason was going to be easy to get along with. “What can I do to help?” I asked.

“Well, we’re already running a bit behind. The passes are ready to go and here is the list.” Jason said, handing me a few sheets of paper with names printed in two columns. “I understand that you know the drill from working with T. Swift. It’s the same thing for the guys. You check everyone in and I will get them organized according to their packages.”

“Sounds good.” I said, flashing him a grateful smile.

“Ladies!” he yelled, turning to face the crowd. “We’re going to start checking everyone in now. So, please form a line and have your photo ID ready. Once Amy has confirmed that you’re on the list, I will give you your pass and show you where to line up. If you have a purse, please note that it will be searched. Cameras with removable lenses are not allowed!”

The next forty-five minutes passed in a blur of perfume, drivers’ licences, and jittery laughter. To my surprise, I only received a few dirty looks and a handful of questions. The majority of the questions were directed towards Eddie’s whereabouts, and all I had to do was mention that his wife had given birth to a baby boy and my presence behind the table was quickly forgotten.

After I finished checking everyone in, I wandered over to the front of the venue to find Jason. The VIP guests were all waiting nervously in lines according to their packages, and Jason was going over some last minute details with a man who I assumed was in charge of the venue’s security team. Not wanting to interrupt, I pulled my phone out of my bag and quickly snapped a picture of the VIP crowd; now seemed to be a good a time as any to send my first tweet of the day. I logged into my Twitter account and almost dropped my phone in surprise.

“Wholly shit.” I mumbled under my breath. As of last night, I had one follower; Hannah. I now had over one thousand followers, including all of the band members. I knew that Eddie had announced the new fan connection concept this morning on the fan club website, but I had not expected such an influx of followers only a few hours after my contact information had been posted. However, this WAS opening night. This WAS the start of the band’s 20th anniversary North American tour. The show had already received a ton of media hype and tonight’s concert was sold out. Of course the fans would be dying for some backstage coverage. I attached the picture of the crowd and composed a quick note to accompany it.

< Opening night’s VIP crowd! Who’s ready for sound check? #backstreetsback >

I made sure that everything was spelled correctly (I still wasn’t feeling comfortable with the iPhone’s touch keyboard) and hit post. Once the message had been registered, my phone almost immediately dinged with a notification that my post had been re-tweeted. I heard the crowd begin to jostle and I looked up to see fans pulling their phones out of their pockets and purses. Choruses of; “Oh my God, we’re in that picture!” and; “I can’t wait for this fan connection thing to take off!” began to resonate through the crowd.

As I surveyed the group awaiting their VIP experience, my eyes locked with a younger looking fan at the front of the crowd. A knowing look crossed her face and before I knew it, she had extended her hand and was gesturing wildly in my direction. “That’s Amy! She’s the girl that Eddie mentioned on the message board! She’s the one who just sent that tweet!”

“Looks like you’ve been found out.” Jason laughed, coming over to where I was standing. “Good luck.” He added, patting me on the back. “You’re gonna need it.”

I followed Jason quickly through the backstage area, trying to remember the avalanche of information that he was launching in my direction. In the distance, I could hear the boys working the crowd and the girls shrieking their approval. I had wanted to stick around and experience the sound check, but Jason had insisted that we needed to go over some logistics.

“Are any of their wives currently on tour?” I asked, as I hurried to keep up with Jason’s long strides.

“Baylee is one of their opening acts, so Leighanne is always around. Lauren is also on tour for the first time.” Jason replied, slowing his pace a little.

“Lauren is Nick’s fiancée and Leighanne is Brian’s wife” I questioned.

Don’t get me wrong, I liked the Backstreet Boys. I enjoyed their music, and I had purchased In A World Like This on my own accord. I had to admit that they weren’t bad to look at either. However, I didn’t keep tabs on their personal lives. Although I had Googled them all extensively the minute that I had been given the assignment, I was still a bit fuzzy on some of the details.

“That’s right.” Jason answered. “Rochelle, Kristin and Leigh are all busy with their respective babies, but they may show up at some point.”

Ugh! There were too many names! “Leigh is married to Howie?” I guessed.

Jason laughed. “That’s right.” He confirmed. “Why don’t you just ask the guys for yourself?”

“Ask the guys what?” a deep southern voice drawled.

I turned around and my heart immediately leapt into my throat. There they were. All five of them were strolling towards us, looking exactly like I had pictured them. I could have been staring at a magazine photo, except for the fact that they were moving. I swallowed hard and tried to maintain my composure. I was NOT some crazy fan. I worked for their fan club. I was part of their promotional team. I was NOT supposed to be nervous about meeting them. What was wrong with me?!

“You must be fan-connection-Amy?” The voice continued. “I’m Kevin.”

“Yes. Although, I would prefer to be known as just Amy.” I replied, accepting his outstretched hand.

“Fair enough ... Just-Amy.” He joked, gazing down at me warmly.

I immediately noticed that he had aged exceptionally well. His strongly defined features paired well with his striking green eyes. His expression exuded genuine warmth, and I found myself beginning to feel more at ease around him.

“Ignore my cousin. He’s still trying to get back into the swing of things. You know? Being on tour, being able to meet new people without creeping them out?” A second, softer southern voice interjected.

“Nice to meet you, Brian.” I laughed, letting go of Kevin’s hand and extending mine to Brian. “For the record, I don’t find your cousin overly creepy ... yet.”

“Ahhh. You already know my name then.” Brian grinned, accepting my hand.

“I did my research.” I shot back, forcing myself to get over my nerves and look him in the face.

His blue eyes stared intensely back at mine. We were practically the same height and I couldn’t help but notice the fine lines that appeared around his eyes as they crinkled at the corners. His jaw line was just as pronounced as I remembered from the posters that had hung on my friends’ bedroom walls a long time ago, and his smile was stretched into a boyish grin. Damn, he was attractive!

“So, you must know who I am then!” Nick interrupted, pushing his way in front of Brian and grabbing my hand. “After all, I am the most popular one of the group!” he joked.

I laughed fully as I accepted Nick’s rather vigorous handshake. “I think most people know who you are, Nick.”

I could feel my nerves settling slightly as I gazed up into his face. He was gorgeous; no doubt about it. Only a few years older than me, his face maintained the boyish charm that had driven millions of girls wild fifteen years ago. He had also matured in a way that gave him a smouldering quality; a look that now drove thousands of thirty-something women over the edge.

“Give it a rest, Nick. The important thing is that she knows who I am.” A raspy voice quipped, batting Nick’s hand away from mine. “I’m AJ or Alex. Whichever you prefer.”

“Amy.” I replied as I swiveled to face him.

His hand was warm and his grip was firm. I liked that. I also liked the way his brown eyes seemed to burn into mine, and the way that his arm muscles rippled as he shook my hand. His beard was so pronounced and soft looking that I had to resist the urge to reach out and touch it.

“And I’m Howie.” The final voice interrupted.

“Nice to meet you, Howie.” I said, turning my attention away from AJ.

I was surprised to see how short Howie was in person as he often appeared taller in pictures. Although he only stood about an inch taller than my 5’6” frame, he oozed confidence as he made his introduction. At 40, I decided that he had changed the most since the early days of the boys’ career. His Latin features were soft, but he had a definite masculine quality that made it easy to understand why so many women were drawn to him.

“We have a meeting scheduled to discuss this whole fan connection thing tomorrow morning, is that right?” Kevin asked.

“That’s right.” I answered. “I won’t be doing much tonight, except for sending out a few tweets and uploading some pictures of the show.”

“We appreciate that.” Howie said. “The first night of the tour is always a bit stressful.”

“Don’t worry; she won’t be bugging you guys tonight.” Jason piped in. “I still have some stuff to go over with Amy, and then we’re going to watch the show from an inconspicuous location. In fact, we have to meet with some of the crew in about five minutes.” He added, glancing hurriedly at the time on his phone.

“No worries. You guys enjoy the show. We look forward to tomorrow.” Kevin said, shaking my hand one more time as he and the rest of the band shouted their goodbyes and sauntered off into the maze of backstage areas.

“Hello?” I mumbled, before the phone had even reached my ear.

“Amy? Amy? Are you there!?” Eddie’s voice blasted through the speakers.

“Yeah, I’m here. What is it?” I asked, untangling myself from the heap of blankets and settling back onto the mess of plush hotel pillows. I looked at the clock and resisted the urge to let out a disgruntled sigh. It was 6:30 A.M.. Was the man insane? I had only gone to bed three and a half hours ago.

“I saw your posts from last night.” Eddie said. “I have to tell you, they were nothing special. You’re supposed to be connecting the fans to the Backstreet Boys. You’re supposed to be providing them with an intimate experience. All you’ve done so far is post pictures that anyone who attended the show could have taken themselves. Where is the backstage access?”

“Create an intimate experience?” I repeated. “I only just met them myself, yesterday. I barely had time to say hello, let alone have a conversation with any of them. Jason was talking my ear off, so I couldn’t even attend the sound check party. It’s only been one day!”

“One day could make or break this whole initiative! We’ve got to maintain fan interest. Hell, we’ve got to attract fan interest!” Eddie scolded.

“I’m meeting with them this morning to go over the details.” I offered.

“Fine! I expect to see something better from you, today. Show the fans something that they can’t see with their own eyes. That’s the whole damn point of this thing!” Eddie hissed.

“What would you like me to do?” I shot back. “Post a picture of what Howie has for breakfast this morning?”

“Perfect!” Eddie cried. “The fans will love it! Anything personal that you can dig up, post it!”

“I’ll see what I can do.” I replied, rolling my eyes. Clearly, he had missed my sarcasm.

“Thanks. I know you’ll get the hang of it.” Eddie acknowledged, his voice softening a little. “Sorry I snapped at you. It’s been a little rough around here since Louis was born. I’m running on like no sleep.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I said, stifling a yawn.

“Great. I’ll check in with you later today.” Eddie replied and clicked off.

“Wonderful” I mumbled, tossing my phone on the nightstand and sinking deeper into the pillows. It seemed almost tragic to leave the warm pile of plush bedding, but I had to meet the band in an hour and a half. Groaning slightly, I forced myself to get out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Maybe a shower would help to wake me up.

An hour and fifteen minutes later, I found myself standing in the hallway outside of AJ’s hotel room. I took a large calming breath and knocked gently on the door. I hadn’t even had time to return my hand to my side before the door flung open. Startled, I took a small step back.

“Come in.” A young boy, who I assumed to be Baylee, said simply. He flashed me a smile that reminded me instantly of Brian’s and began leading the way.

“Thanks.” I said, hesitating slightly before entering the room. I shut the door behind me and followed Baylee further into the suite.

“Howie isn’t here yet.” Baylee informed me, as we stepped into the living room.

The rest of the guys, with the exception of Brian, were all lounging around on the couches in the sitting area of AJ’s suite. The TV was on and Ninja Turtles was playing quietly. Baylee immediately plopped himself down in the armchair closest to the television and returned his attention to the program. He had obviously lost interest in my presence.

“Good morning.” I offered, glancing quickly around the room.

“Good morning, babe! Have a seat!” AJ called, gesturing to the empty seat beside him on the couch.

“Babe?” I questioned, raising my eyebrows at him as I settled onto the couch.

“He calls everyone that. Don’t be too excited.” A strikingly attractive girl with long dark brown hair giggled. “I’m Lauren. It’s so nice to have another woman on tour!” she added.

“You must be Nick’s fiancée. It’s great to meet you!” I gushed. “I’m Amy.”

“So we’ve been told.” A blonde woman interrupted. “I’m Leighanne. Brian’s wife.” She added, narrowing her heavily made-up eyes ever so slightly in my direction.

“It’s nice to meet you.” I said, forcing a smile onto my face.

I suddenly felt very self-conscious in the presence of these two highly attractive women. Although I didn’t consider myself to be unattractive, I had quickly become very aware of the fact that my chest was just a little too small, that my stomach was just a little too flabby, and that my thighs were just a little too big. At a size six, I felt huge in comparison to Lauren and Leighanne’s tiny frames. I also wished that I had taken the time to put on more makeup. I was wearing my standard black eye liner, mascara, and tinted lip gloss; and I felt incredibly exposed.

“Amy, you don’t understand how happy I am to see you!” Lauren cried, completely oblivious to Leighanne’s heated stare. “I have been dying to get my nails done and do some shopping. The boys are always so busy and it’s hard for them to go out without being accosted in the street. Leighanne always says that she’s too busy with Wylee business to have any fun.” She added, shooting a pointed glance in Leighanne’s direction.

“I would kill for a pedicure.” I agreed, flashing Lauren a grateful smile.

“Ladies, while I’m so glad that you’re going to be besties, we kinda need to focus here.” Kevin interjected, a small smile playing on his lips as he attempted to hide his amusement.

“Howie’s not even here yet.” Brian pointed out, coming around the corner. “Coffee?” he asked, offering me a mug. “I added some milk and a bit of sugar.”

“Thanks.” I said, accepting the steaming beverage. I took a sip and relished both the taste and the immediate sense of wakefulness.

As Brian settled back on the couch across from me, Leighanne shot me another quick glance under her eyelids. “You know that too much caffeine isn’t good for you.” She admonished her husband as he took a sip of his own coffee.

“Too much of anything isn’t good for you.” He quipped, purposefully taking another long sip.

“I’m just trying to look out for you, dear.” Leighanne replied, patting his thigh. She allowed her hand to rest on the inside of his upper leg, but Brian pretended not to notice.

Just as I was thinking that things were about to get a bit awkward, the door clicked open and Howie charged into the room. His dark hair was still wet from the shower, and he smelled like linen and soap as he flopped down into the empty armchair next to the couch that AJ and I were sitting on.

“Sorry I’m late.” He apologized. “Leigh and I Skyped last night and we lost track of time.”

“Oh, yeah? Did you two have a nice chat?” Nick teased, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

“Nick!” Lauren cried, smacking him in the chest with the back of her hand. “Leave the man alone!”

“Good God.” Kevin sighed. “I sincerely hope that these comments will not be repeated in your blog posts.”

I stifled a laugh at the thought of writing about Howie’s online relations with his wife and almost choked on my coffee. “I won’t talk about anything that you guys don’t want me to talk about.” I replied seriously. “That’s why we’re having this meeting. To outline some ground rules.”

“Well, I think that anything related to our, uhhhh, private activities should be omitted.” Howie stated, shooting a warning glance at Nick.

“Really? I think the fans would love to know that you’re willing to experiment with unconventional ways of keeping in touch with your wife.” Nick shot back. His comment resulted in another slap from Lauren, and he gave her a playful smile as he absently rubbed at his chest.

“I agree that all, errrr, bedroom activities are off limits during any kind of discussion.” Brian added. He shot a quick look at Baylee who was, thankfully, still fully engrossed by the television.

“I would never post anything like that anyways.” I assured them. I could feel a blush slowly creeping up my cheeks, so I took another gulp of coffee to hide my face. “Those ... activities are something that we definitely never need to discuss.”

“I dunno. Rochelle and I are pretty open to discussing our freaky side.” AJ laughed.

I could feel my eyes widen involuntarily in shock at AJ’s statement. Since I was mid-swallow, I also made an attractive half-snorting, half-choking noise as I attempted to stutter out a response.

“Relax, babe. I won’t share.” AJ reassured me, as Nick unsuccessfully attempted to hide his laughter at my less-than-graceful reaction. “Unless you decide that you really want to know, after you’ve gotten to know me and the wifey a little better.” AJ winked and patted my knee.

“I think it’s safe to say that we’re all in agreement that we trust your judgement when it comes to the tweets and the blog posts.” Kevin said, coming to my rescue. “As for the pictures, just make sure that we’re fully clothed.” He laughed. “We all agreed to let Ground(ctrl) use us as a catalyst for this initiative, so we’re all prepared to have our privacy invaded a little bit more than usual. We all trust that if you do happen to catch any of us in an ‘awkward’ position that you will not make the situation public.”

“Absolutely.” I nodded in agreement. “I’m here to promote the tour, not to destroy it.”

“Is this your first time in Virginia?” Lauren asked, as we settled ourselves into the backseat of the cab.

“Yeah, how about you?” I replied, quickly composing my final tweet of the day as Lauren gave the driver the address of the spa.

It was the end of the first month of the tour and we were finally getting a chance to unwind. After the initial meeting with the guys, I had developed a fairly solid routine. The VIP experiences were continuing to go smoothly, and I had definitely gotten the hang of tweeting about a variety of serious and comical behind the scenes experiences. The fans were eating it up. I now had over four thousand Twitter followers who appeared to hang on my every word. As an inside joke with Eddie, I was also doing a ridiculous feature on Howie’s daily breakfast choices (pictures included). True to Eddie’s word, the fans loved it; albeit, Howie was a bit perplexed. I had also just finished my fourth weekly blog post detailing the camaraderie between the guys. It was a relatively safe topic and, so far, it had gotten rave reviews on the message boards.

“Second. I came here once as a kid on a family vacation.” Lauren answered. “I don’t really remember anything about it though, aside from the fact that it rained during our trip to Busch Gardens.”

I laughed heartily as I tossed my phone back into my purse. For all of the negative things that I had seen written about Lauren, she was pretty likeable. We had bonded quickly after our initial meeting. Being close in age, we shared some of the same interests and, like she had said, it was nice to have another woman to share the tour experience with. I still felt slightly intimidated by her perfect figure and her flawless features, but I felt way more comfortable around her then I did around Leighanne.

Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t help but feel that there was a strong disconnect between me and Leighanne. It didn’t help that she had positively freaked out when I had posted a family picture of her, Brian, and Baylee watching Pirates of the Caribbean. She hadn’t opposed to the situation, but to the fact that she was wearing sweatpants and didn’t have any makeup on. Her reaction had caused an argument between her and Brian, and I seriously doubted that she was ever going to let me live it down. In all fairness, the photo had been one of my more popular posts. Eddie had even complimented me on my ability to capture a “real”, unfiltered moment. When I had told him about Leighanne’s reaction, he had shrugged it off and mumbled something about how she had a tendency to blow things out of proportion.

“I see you’ve finally got some haters on the message boards. Welcome to the club.” Lauren joked as the driver manoeuvred his way through the traffic in downtown Williamsburg.

“Yeah. I was definitely expecting to receive some negative attention, but these women sure seem to have it in for me.” I sighed.

Although most of the fans were reacting positively to both my presence and the fan connection experience, there was a small group of women who had been making increasingly negative comments about me on the forums. So far, they had done everything from criticize my appearance, to slam my writing skills, to make up salacious rumours about my past.

“Trust me. They haven’t even gotten started yet.” Lauren said. “Just wait until the ‘real’ rumours start. Do you know that I’ve been married twice, had my boobs AND my nose done, and that I’m refusing to sign a prenup?”

“Really? And here I was thinking that all you’ve had done is a butt implant!” I laughed, handing the driver a twenty.

“You have to joke about it.” Lauren said as we exited the cab. “If you can’t laugh at the ridiculousness of the whole situation, you’re literally going to go crazy. Thank God that Nick is so supportive. I don’t think the fans realize just how hard it is to be in a relationship with a Backstreet Boy. You should actually be thankful that you just work for them.”

“I don’t know how you put up with it all the time.” I agreed, pulling open the door to the spa. “No wonder Leigh, Rochelle, and Kristin tend to keep a low profile.”

“I know they stay away for the sake of their kids, but I don’t know how they manage to go so long without seeing their husbands. I can’t imagine being away from Nick for that long.” Lauren grinned.

“That’s because you two are sickeningly in love.” I retorted, following one of the aestheticians towards the rear of the spa. The woman gestured towards two of the oversized chairs, and Lauren and I both kicked off our flip flops before settling into our seats. I sank my feet into the warm, bubbling water and sighed in contentment. I felt like I hadn’t had a minute to relax for the past thirty days.

“We are. Aren’t we?” Lauren agreed, her smile stretching even larger. “What about you? I’ve never heard you mention a boyfriend.”

“That’s because there isn’t one to mention.” I replied.

“Nobody of interest even?” Lauren pressed.

I shook my head. “I haven’t had much time for dating since I moved to Nashville. Working for Ground(ctrl) has kept me pretty busy. I had been dating someone back home, but that was close to three years ago now.” I said, immediately regretting my decision to bring up my last failed relationship.

“Ahhh. I’m assuming things ended badly then.” Lauren said.

“It’s a long story.” I sighed, as the aesthetician began to massage my feet. “Let’s just say that I was very naive.”

“Trust me. We’ve all been naive when it comes to men.” Lauren said, picking up a copy of In Touch from the table between our chairs. “Have you heard that that I’m pregnant?” she asked, quickly changing the topic. “Because it sure is news to me.” She added, turning the magazine towards me and jabbing at a picture of her holding her perfectly flat stomach.

“Are you sure that Nick doesn’t mind?” I asked for about the fifth time, as Lauren and I walked into the restaurant.

“Honestly. It’s fine.” Lauren said, struggling to push open the second set of double doors. Her shopping bags crinkled and bashed against her legs as she staggered up to the hostess stand. “I think I may have gone a bit overboard.” She acknowledged with a small laugh.

“You certainly were a bad influence.” I agreed, looking down at the shopping bags looped around my own hands. My few purchases may have paled in comparison to Lauren’s staggering amount, but I had still spent close to my entire paycheque in one shopping trip. It was a good thing that all of my other expenses were covered by Ground(ctrl).

“A bad influence!?” Lauren cried, feigning shock. “You look amazing in everything that you bought today!”

I was about to respond when I caught sight of the head of the boys’ security team, Q, shaking his head and walking towards us.

“Could you girls create any more of a scene?” He hissed. “We’re trying not to draw attention to the fact that we’re here.”

“I don’t think anyone would suspect us to be here.” Lauren replied. “It’s not exactly the type of place that the paparazzi are going to check out.”

We were meeting Nick at a small, no-name, family restaurant in a sleepy suburb of Washington D.C.. It had looked pretty non-descript from the outside, but the inside seemed warm and cozy. Most of the tables were occupied by families with young children. I had to agree with Lauren. It definitely wasn’t the type of place that anyone would think to go celebrity hunting.

“We’re going to the booth at the back.” Q said. “Give me those bags.” He added, suppressing a smile as he relieved us of our purchases.

We followed Q’s massive frame to the back of the restaurant. Nick was already seated in a booth and to my surprise; Brian and Baylee were seated across from him. Baylee was fully engrossed in the task of completing the word-search on the children’s activity sheet, while Brian and Nick were apparently having a discussion about whether or not to order nachos.

“Hi, honey!” Lauren cried, as Nick stood up to give her a kiss.

Q merely shook his head at Lauren’s seeming inability to whisper and settled himself into the next booth. He threw our shopping bags onto the bench seat across from him and picked up the menu. “Try not to make my job difficult tonight.” He mumbled.

“I like to keep you on your toes, Q.” Lauren joked, slipping into the booth next to Nick.

“I hope you don’t mind that I asked Brian and Baylee to come along.” Nick said, gesturing for me to slide in across from him, next to Brian.

“Not at all.” I said. “I was actually worried about being the third wheel.”

“Yeah, being the third person with Nick and Lauren is not ideal.” Brian laughed, shooting the couple a knowing look.

“Hanging out with Nick and Lauren is fun.” Baylee piped in. “They have the best video games!”

I laughed and settled into the booth. Even though Baylee was small, it was tight with the three of us on one side. I was acutely aware of Brian’s body next to mine. He smelled like Ralph Lauren’s Polo Black and soap. My leg tingled where it was touching his on the bench, and I grabbed hastily for one of the two menus that were already on the table; desperate for something to occupy my mind.

Over the past five weeks, I had developed a ridiculous type of school-girl crush on Brian. My thoughts definitely weren’t anything untoward. He was married with a child for God’s sake! After being on tour with the band for over a month, it was obvious that they had all come to see me as a member of their team. While I enjoyed spending time with all of them for different reasons, I often found myself anticipating my short moments with Brian. I loved his laugh, his jokes, and his contagious smile. I’m pretty sure that I spent the majority of my time grinning at him like an idiot.

“Baylee, what do you want to eat?” Brian asked, leaning towards me in order to sneak a peek at the menu.

I moved the menu closer to him so that he could have a better view of the kid’s selection. I could feel my face getting hot simply due to our proximity. I looked up to see if I was drawing attention to myself, but Nick and Lauren had their faces hidden behind the other menu. Most likely they were using it as a shield so that they could make out.

“Hamburger.” Baylee answered, without looking up from his task.

“Are you sure? They have spaghetti.” Brian prodded. “It comes with a salad. I’m sure mom would like you to eat a salad.”

“Hamburger.” Baylee repeated. “With fries and cheese.” He added, finally breaking his concentration and looking up. “Please dad. I don’t like salad.”

“Well I’m with ya on that.” Brian said. “I suppose you can have the burger, as long as we don’t tell mom about the French fries.”

“Yessss!” Baylee cried, shooting his fist into the air. He celebrated for a few more seconds before returning his attention to the chore of finishing the word-search.

“Leighanne couldn’t come, tonight?” I asked, as Brian turned his gaze back to me and the menu.

“She had some stuff to do to get the Wylee trailer organized for tomorrow night.” Brian replied. “She said that she was too busy to join us.”

“Oh. Well that’s too bad.” I said, struggling to find something to add. I was secretly glad that Leighanne wasn’t there. She continued to make me feel uncomfortable, even though I hadn’t posted another photo in which she wasn’t fully made-up since the Disney movie incident.

“This isn’t really her kinda place anyways.” Brian continued. “She refuses to eat anywhere that has less than a four star rating and that doesn’t have quinoa on the menu. It’s probably better that she isn’t here. This way I don’t have to listen to her complain about the fact that I want to eat nachos.”

“Well, I’ll definitely eat nachos with you.” I shot back, mentally kicking myself as soon as the words were out of my mouth. ‘Really, Amy!?’ I thought. ‘Why don’t you just tell him flat out that you’re glad that his wife didn’t show up?’

“I knew you would.” Brian drawled, a slow grin spreading across his face.

I grinned back at him; well aware that my cheeks were unnaturally pink. God, he looked good ...

“Are you guys ready to order?” I asked, tearing my eyes away from Brian and grabbing at the corner of the menu that Lauren and Nick were still using to hide their faces.

“What? Yeah, nachos sound great.” Nick mumbled, finally lowering the menu. His lips were puffy and Lauren was not-so-discreetly trying to reapply her lip gloss.

“Guys, I got my kid here.” Brian said, shaking his head in mock disgust. “Can we please try and keep things PG for at least one evening?”

“PG?! Are we going to a movie?” Baylee asked, suddenly expressing an immense amount of interest in our conversation. “I’m allowed to see PG-13 movies now, even though I’m only ten.”

“That’s great, bud!” Nick exclaimed. “But I don’t think we have time to go to a movie tonight.”

“That’s okay. The last movie I saw had too much kissing in it anyways.” Baylee replied, scrunching up his face in disgust. “Spiderman isn’t supposed to want to kiss girls! I like it better when stuff blows up.”

“I like it better when stuff blows up, too.” Nick laughed in agreement.

“Then why were you and Lauren just kissing for so long?” Baylee asked. “You were trying to hide, but I could see you.”

I snorted in laughter as Nick’s mouth dropped open and Lauren’s face reddened. Brian shook his head and sighed.

“Uhhh, sorry.” Nick stammered, looking to Brian for help.

Brian simply shrugged his shoulders and gave Nick a look that clearly said; ‘you did this, you’re on your own.’

“When two people love each other, they like to kiss.” Lauren interjected. “Nick and I really love each other. Just like your mom and dad. That’s why we kiss all the time”

“Mom and dad don’t kiss like THAT!” Baylee cried, a look of disgusted horror crossing his face as he turned to Brian for confirmation that he and Leighanne would never even think of doing such a thing.

I watched as the colour began to seep into Brian’s face. He seemed to be at a loss for how to respond to his son. Lauren also looked mortified by the fact that her answer had appeared to place Brian in an even more difficult situation.

“So, are we ready to order?”

“Thank God! Yes, we’re ready!” Nick practically shouted at the waitress who had appeared next to our table.

The middle aged women appeared slightly taken aback at Nick’s enthusiastic response, but she simply pulled her notepad out of her pocket and looked at him expectantly.

“The nachos! We’ll have the nachos.” Nick replied. “Sorry for startling you. We’re just really, ummm, excited ... for the nachos.”

“Have I said ‘thank you’ yet?” Kevin asked, pulling me into a tight hug.

“Only a few hundred times.” I giggled, my voice muffled by the fabric of his shirt.

“Well, I have to say it again then.” Kevin said, not making any move to lessen his grip. “It was wonderfully written. Kristin thinks so too. She was amazed at how well you were able to portray our on-the-road relationship. So many of the fans seem to regard our wives in a negative way, and I know that this one blog post won’t really change anything, but I just needed to thank you for saying what every single one of us has been trying to say for years.”

“It wasn’t all me.” I said, feeling myself begin to blush. “Kristin had a lot of input. All of your wives did.”

I had just posted my eight week blog post detailing the different relationships between the guys and their wives. I had attempted to make it both heartfelt and truthful. I hadn’t shied away from the fact that several of their wives felt uneasy around the fans and that a couple of them were inherently jealous of the fact that hundreds of women tempted their men on a daily basis. With the guys’ permission, I had talked about the realistic risk of being unfaithful, about the struggle of being alone for so long, and about the various ways that they coped with being away from their families. It hadn’t been any easy post to write. In the beginning, I hadn’t even wanted to write it for fear that it would be too personal. It was Lauren who had eventually convinced me that this was an aspect of the tour that needed to be shared.

“Rochelle and I loved it!” AJ cried, pulling me away from Kevin and wrapping his own arms around me. “I think you should seriously consider becoming a professional writer. The emotion that you conveyed was dead on.” He added, planting a wet, friendly kiss on my cheek.

“Thanks.” I managed, giggling slightly as his beard tickled my face.

“I see the post is up!” Nick cried, as he and Howie burst into the dressing room.

“Amazing job!” Howie exclaimed, grabbing me by the shoulders and kissing me softly on both cheeks. “I’m just in the middle of telling Leigh to check it out.” He added, waving his phone in the air for emphasis.

“Amazing? Hardly!” Leighanne stated, strolling into the room with Lauren at her heels. “I can’t believe that Brian and I are hardly even mentioned. I’m on the road with him ALL the time! What happened to all of the great stuff that I told you to post about our relationship? Why did none of that make the article? You went on for a full paragraph about Rochelle and her stupid feelings of insecurity.”

“Hello? I’m kinda in the room here ...” AJ pointed out. “That’s my WIFE you’re talking about.”

“So, what happened? Why didn’t you quote me?” Leighanne demanded, ignoring AJ’s cry of contempt.

“Well ...” I trailed off, struggling to come up with an excuse.

The truth was that I had hardly believed a word of what Leighanne had said during our conversation. She had painted a rosy picture of her marriage; insinuating that she and Brian never even had a minor disagreement. She had made grand claims about how she would never even think of looking at another man. She had also contended that Brian had never been tempted by a fan, because the fans respected their marriage. In an embarrassing twist, she had even gone on and on about their amazing sex life. The whole conversation had felt forced, as if she was trying to not only convince me, but herself as well.

In the end, I just couldn’t bring myself to quote what she had said. Especially, because I knew that at least half of it was a lie. I had seen fans at VIP events practically throw themselves at Brian. I knew what they whispered to him as they posed for their pictures. I saw how their hands wandered all over him when they thought no one else was watching.

I also saw how Brian responded to their actions. Nine times out of ten, he was gracious and tactfully ignored their advances. But there were times when, just like the other guys, he stared hungrily at a girl in a low-cut shirt, when his hands roamed at the edge of a short skirt, when a hug lingered for just a few seconds too long.

The difference was that everyone else’s significant other had been brave enough to acknowledge that their husbands were tempted by other women and to explain that they were occasionally tempted by other men. Brian, himself, had admitted that he sometimes found it hard to turn away from an attractive woman. Leighanne, on the other hand, had denied everything. I had felt that it was unfair to the other guys and their wives to print her lies. So, I hadn’t. Instead, I had talked about the role that Baylee played in their relationship and on the tour.

“Well?” Leighanne demanded.

“I didn’t want to write about something that I know isn’t true.” I said, my eyes locking with hers.

The two of us stared at each other in derision; neither one of us wanting to be the first to look away. I could see her right eye twitching furiously beneath her make-up, and I knew that was her tell. She was beyond angry.

“Shiiiiiit” Nick whistled, breaking the heavy silence that had filled the room.

“You don’t know anything about my marriage. Everything that I told you was the truth.” Leighanne hissed, but the look in her eyes betrayed her. She dropped her gaze from mine and began shooting daggers at everyone else in the room. “You all think that she did an amazing job. Just wait until the fans and the media start responding.” She threatened as she turned and stalked forcefully out of the room.

“I think that I may have royally messed up.” I moaned, barging into the catering room and flopping down face first onto the couch.

“In what way?” Nick mumbled as he practically stuffed a whole piece of pizza in his mouth.

“Have you not seen the forum posts?!” I cried into the cushions.

“About your blog?” Nick asked, taking a long swig of his Diet Coke. “The ones that I’ve seen have been amazing! Everyone is raving about it.”

“Everyone WAS raving about it.” I corrected. “I was monitoring the forum while you guys were on stage and my ‘haters’ have noticed the lack of coverage about Brian and Leighanne’s relationship. The forum is going crazy with speculation!”

“So, let them speculate.” Howie replied. “It’s not like the fans haven’t jumped to conclusions before.”

“Speculate. Riiiight.” Nick cut in, rolling his eyes.

“Nick! Really?” Howie admonished, shooting him an angry glance. “It’s not your place.”

“What’s not my place? To say what we’ve all been noticing for ages?” Nick challenged, devouring another piece of pizza in less than three bites.

“Stop!” I yelled, pulling myself into a sitting position and holding up my hands. “I don’t need to know! Hell, I don’t want to know anything else about any of your personal lives, EVER AGAIN!”

“Relax.” Kevin said, coming over to the couch and slinging one his long arms across my shoulders. “You didn’t do anything wrong. We all agreed to the blog. It’s not a big deal. Like you said to Leighanne, you wrote the truth and nothing more. She should have been woman enough to speak the truth. She chose not to and now she has to deal with the consequences.”

“I suppose” I muttered. “But the fans are having a field day. They’ve been saying some horrible things. You should read what some of them are claiming to have done, what some of them of claiming that Brian has done!”

“Whoa! You’re not kidding!” Howie exclaimed. “Apparently, this girl had a pretty wild night with Brian just last month.” He said, his eyes widening in disbelief as he scrolled quickly through the forum posts on his iPhone. “What a load of shit. Anyone who believes this crap needs their head examined.”

“You’re probably not helping this situation.” Kevin said, giving Howie a pointed look. “Amy, you seriously need to calm down. It’s not your fault! The fans like to talk. We’ve all been a victim of this kind of nonsense. Nick, how many girls have you supposedly slept with?”

“I lost count after about a thousand.” Nick laughed. “People will say anything on the forum. Don’t worry. Jason will go through the posts and clean out all the crap later tonight anyways.”

“If Leighanne sees any of them, I may not live to see tonight.” I mumbled.

“Don’t worry. With any luck, Leighanne will be working late in the Wylee trailer. Brian always gets back to the hotel first, because he prefers to put Baylee to bed while everyone is still at the after party. It’s almost a guarantee that he will see the posts before Leighanne will. Once he reads them, he will make sure that he keeps her away from the forum for the next couple of days.” Kevin pointed out.

“Actually, Brian and AJ are already headed back to the hotel.” Nick said. “AJ has a Skype date with Ro tonight.” He added, shooting Howie a knowing wink.

“I hate you, sometimes.” Howie grumbled, glaring at Nick. “Speaking of the after party, we gotta get back out there. The fans are going to get super restless if we’re late”

I glanced at the clock. It was 11:30 P.M. and I still hadn’t received any word from Jason about needing my help at the after party. Usually, he sent me a message by 10:30 P.M. if he was going to need help with check-in. If I wasn’t working check-in, I tended to stick around and take some photos, but I wasn’t in the mood tonight. The thought of fielding questions from hordes of nosey fans was enough to make me nauseous.

“I think I’m gonna head back to the hotel.” I said, as the Nick, Howie, and Kevin got ready to return to the stage area of the venue. “I’ll see you guys in the morning.”

“Hey!” Brian said softly as he pulled open the door to his hotel room. “You decided not to stick around for the after party?”

“I wasn’t feeling it tonight.” I shrugged. “Have you and Leighanne already put Baylee to bed?”

“He’s just gone to sleep. Leighanne is still ordering people around in the Wylee trailer. She won’t be back for hours ... she never is.” Brian answered. “Do you wanna come in?”

“Yeah. If you don’t mind.” I said, moving quietly into the room.

“Why would I mind?” Brian grinned as he began leading the way towards the sitting area of the suite. “We can watch a movie if you want.”

“Have you seen the blog post? My latest one?” I blurted out.

“I have.” Brian replied, stopping mid-stride. He turned to look at me, his eyes searching my face. “I liked it. It was honest. I loved the bit about Baylee.”

“He’s a great kid ...” I offered, feeling as though he wasn’t finished speaking.

“Leighanne is a bit ... upset that you failed to comment on our relationship, but I think I know why you chose not to.” Brian added. His blue eyes were burning into mine as he spoke. “Nick told me about how she behaved in the dressing room earlier. I can only imagine what she must have said. Although, I’m sure that it was something along the lines of how we’re a perfect couple.”

“That was ... part of it.” I mumbled, trying desperately to push Leighanne’s tirade about their bedroom activities out of my mind. “Have you seen the comments?”

“Most of them.” Brian said, a flash of hurt passing through his eyes. “I’m not perfect, Amy. I’ll be the first to admit that there’s a lot of temptation when we’re on the road. I think everyone assumes that my eyes are closed because of my faith, but it’s hard to stay true when women are flaunting themselves in front of me. I may struggle sometimes, but I’ve never been unfaithful to my wife.”

“You’ve told me as much before.” I confirmed, holding his gaze. “I just feel so awful about the post. I feel like I hinted at the fact that you guys have something to hide by choosing not to say anything. I should have just included her comments. I could have prevented the nastiness. Some of the things those girls are claiming ... Leighanne is going to hate me! What if she believes what they’re saying?”

“Some of our fans have been making outrageous accusations for years. It’s not your fault. They would talk even if you hadn’t written that blog.” Brian said.

He quickly closed the gap between us and enveloped me in a tight hug. “I wouldn’t have expected you to write about something that wasn’t true.” He whispered into my neck.

“Thanks.” I murmured, relishing the feel of his warm breath on my skin as his hands moved slowly, comfortingly up and down my back.

His body was warm and still slightly damp from the shower. I inhaled the scent of his Old Spice body-wash, and I felt myself relax as I leaned into his embrace. Almost immediately, my heart began thudding wildly in my chest. Something stirred inside me and I realized, with a sudden flash of guilt, that I was now responsible for one of those hugs that had lasted just a few seconds too long.

“I should go.” I stuttered, practically forcing myself to pull away from him.

“You don’t have to go” Brian replied, pulling back only ever so slightly. He removed his hands from my back, but he continued to hold gently onto my upper arms. “I would like the company.” He added, his face still only inches from mine.

‘Leave!’ My inner voice screamed. What was wrong with me? What had started out as a silly crush was quickly spinning out of control. I had just listened to the man give a speech about how he had never been unfaithful to his wife. He was a married man! I needed to pull myself together.

“Leighanne will be finished with the Wylee trailer soon.” I protested. “I’m sure that I’m not high on the list of people she wants to see. I don’t want to make things any worse for you ... especially if she’s seen some of the forum posts”

“You don’t need to worry about her coming back any time soon. She very rarely shows up before 2:00 A.M.” Brian replied as he slowly moved his hands down my arms and towards my waist. “Amy, I’m telling you the truth when I say that I’ve never been unfaithful. Those women, the fans who try to tempt me, are beautiful, but they don’t really want to be with me. They only want to be with me because I’m famous. They want to sleep with me because they know that there will be something in it for them when they make it public; money, fame, whatever. They don’t care. All those girls want is the chance to say that they fucked a Backstreet Boy.”

I opened my mouth to reply, but I couldn’t find the words. The only thing that my brain could register was the feeling of his hands sliding slowly down my sides. I stared into his eyes, silently willing myself to pull away. His look had changed. It was no longer intense, but pleading. He was pleading for me to believe him, pleading for me to understand the choice that he was about to make, pleading for me to want him.

“I’ve seen the way you look at me, Amy.” He continued. “Did you think I hadn’t noticed that you’ve been inventing more and more reasons to seek me out on my own, to sit next to me, to touch me?”

Damn. I had thought that I had been doing a pretty good job of hiding my mounting feelings. Clearly, I had been mistaken.

“I did notice that you have yet to push me away.” I challenged, with all of the confidence that I could possibly muster.

Brian grinned, fine lines appearing at the corners of his eyes. His left hand was now on my lower back, pulling me closer to him. “I couldn’t tell you ‘no’ ... I didn’t want you to stop.” He paused, the longing in his eyes momentarily replaced by doubt. “Do you want me to stop now?”

God. What would happen if I told him to stop? What was going to happen if I didn’t? My thoughts were jumbled. My body knew what it wanted, but I desperately needed my mind to catch up. The questions swirled in my mind as his right hand finally came to rest on my waist. All I had to do was tell him to continue ...

“Brian!”

AJ’s raspy voice suddenly boomed through the stillness of the suite.

It was like a bomb had exploded. Brian and I sprung apart so violently that I slammed my leg against the side of the coffee table.

“Shit!” I hissed, clutching at my shin and falling onto the couch. I was still cursing under my breath and massaging my lower leg when AJ entered the room.

“AJ?!” Brian choked. “I thought you had a Skype date with Rochelle tonight.”

“Yeah, she cancelled it. Ava has been up for like the past eighteen hours straight. Apparently, getting some sleep is more important to her than spending some quality Internet time with me.” AJ joked. “Are you guys okay?” His eyes narrowed slightly as he took us in.

I looked up at Brian who was still standing in the middle of the room. His face was slightly flushed and his eyes looked a bit wild. Damn, he looked guilty! He quickly ran a hand through his hair and practically forced himself to sit down in one of the over-stuffed arm chairs.

“We were just thinking of watching a movie.” I lied.

“Really? You guys seem a bit tense.” AJ said, taking a seat next to me on the couch. “The door was unlocked ... am I interrupting something?”

“I think I’M the one who should ask if I’m interrupting something!” Leighanne screeched as she abruptly ploughed full force into the room. “What the hell is all of this, Brian?!” She screamed as she flung her purse towards one of the vacant arm chairs.

“Jesus, Leighanne! What’s wrong with you!?” AJ yelled as her open tote bag soared through the air just inches from his face. A tube of Clinique moisturizer pelted him in the forehead, while an assortment of expensive cosmetics flew out and scattered all over his lap.

“What’s wrong with me?!” Leighanne repeated, brandishing her iPhone in AJ’s face. “Why don’t you ask Brian what’s wrong with him? Why don’t you ask him why he can’t keep it in his pants? Why don’t you ask him why I’ve just been harassed by hundreds of your stupid fans about my failing marriage?!”

“What? Are you SURE that we’re talking about Brian?” AJ asked, rubbing his forehead.

“Yes, Alex. I’m sure that I’m talking about my husband.” Leighanne fumed, stressing every word as she spoke.

“I’m waiting for you to explain yourself!” she shouted, turning her rage towards Brian.

Brian merely stared back at her with a look of shock on his face. Maybe he was still trying to recover from what the two of us had almost done, but Leighanne definitely wasn’t in the mood to wait.

“You’re upset about the fact that the fans are saying that I’m cheating on you?” Brian slowly clarified; finally snapping out of his thoughts.

“Of course I’m upset about that!” Leighanne shrieked. “What else would I be upset about?!”

“I’m gonna go ...” I mumbled as I slowly tried to extricate myself from the couch cushions.

“This is your fault!” Leighanne growled as I got to my feet. “Don’t you even think for one second that I don’t know that!” she added, jabbing one perfectly manicured finger in my face.

“Okay, it’s definitely time for us to go.” AJ said, propelling himself off of the couch so quickly that the remaining cosmetics scattered off of his lap and onto the floor. “You two clearly have some stuff that you need to work out.”

“Work out?!” Leighanne repeated, the pitch of her voice rising exponentially as she continued her rant. “How are we supposed to work this out?! My husband has been fucking around!”

“Mom! You’re swearing!” Baylee’s young voice rang out.

The four of us whipped around to see him standing in the entrance to the sitting area. His pyjamas were rumpled and he was absent mindedly rubbing at his dishevelled hair. “Why are you swearing?”

“I’m swearing because your father has been having a lot of sex with a lot of different women.” Leighanne spat.

“Leighanne!” Brian yelled, reclaiming his full voice and jumping out of the chair. “What the fuck is the matter with you? How could you say something like that in front of our son?!”

“Dad?” Baylee questioned, his eyes beginning to well with tears. “Why are you swearing now? Why are you guys fighting?!” he wailed.

“Okay, buddy!” AJ interjected, coming around the couch and grabbing Baylee by the hand. “We’re going to go hang out in my room while your mom and dad calm down.” He explained, shooting Brian and Leighanne a heated glare as he headed towards the door with Baylee in tow.

Without daring to look back, I quickly followed them into the hallway. Once I had safely shut the door behind us, I finally dared to let out a long, shaky breath.

“We need to talk.” AJ stated, using his free hand to lock a strong grasp around my wrist. “Don’t even think about trying to get out of it.” He added, giving me a no-nonsense look as he began leading both Baylee and me by the hand down the hallway.

“AJ? What’s going on? Why are my parents fighting?” Baylee asked, roughly wiping a stray tear off of his cheek.

“I don’t know for sure, buddy.” AJ lied. “I’m sure they’ll work it out.”

“Ummmmm ... what are you guys doing?” Kevin interrupted.

The three of us stopped dead at the sight of Kevin standing in the hallway; fumbling in his pocket for his room card. The after party must have just ended. I quickly scanned the hallway for Lauren, Nick, and Howie, but they were nowhere to be seen.

“The others are on their way back.” Kevin supplied, as if reading my mind. “Are you guys gonna tell me why you’re walking the halls with Baylee at two in the morning, or do I have to guess?”

“Brian and the missus are in the middle of a ... errr ... a disagreement.” AJ stuttered. “We figured that it wasn’t the best environment for Baylee.”

“They were swearing at each other!” Baylee cried, fresh tears threatening to overwhelm his eyes as he spoke. “Mom said that she was mad because dad had a lot of sex with some girls. I don’t like it when they fight!” He began to hiccup as fat tears rolled down his cheeks.

“I seeee...” Kevin drawled, running his hand through his hair and shooting AJ and me a look the clearly asked; ‘what the hell is going on?’ “So, your mom is upset because your dad had a lot of sex?” Kevin clarified, placing a lot of emphasis on his last word as he kneeled down to match Baylee’s height.

Baylee sniffed loudly and nodded his agreement. “I just want them to stop yelling.”

“It’s okay, Bay.” Kevin soothed, as Baylee let go of AJ’s hand and fell into his open arms. “It’s okay.” He repeated, patting Baylee softly on the back. “Why don’t you come and sleep in my room tonight.”

“But I want to go back to my room.” Baylee protested.

“I know you do, but your mom and dad need some time to talk.” Kevin explained. “You don’t have to go to sleep right away. We can watch Iron Man.”

“I guess ..." Baylee conceded, wiping away his remaining tears. “If my dad comes to get me, can I go back to my room?”

“Of course you can.” Kevin promised as Baylee untangled his small arms from around his neck.

“I WILL be talking to the two of you later.” Kevin hissed, turning towards me and AJ as he finally managed to pull his room card out of his pocket. “I’ll send you a text once he’s asleep.” He added, opening the door and ushering Baylee inside the room.

AJ waited until Kevin had closed the door before he turned to face me. “My room.” He mumbled, tugging at my arm so that I had no choice but to follow him.

Turning to the door across the hallway from Kevin’s, he ripped his room card out of his pocket and jammed it into the slot. The door clicked open and he practically dragged me into the room. Once we were safely inside, AJ let go of my arm and began roughly flipping light switches and turning on lamps. I stood quietly, watching him and rubbing my wrist. His grip had been tight! As his silence lengthened, I could feel myself becoming increasingly anxious.

“Do you feel like filling me in?” AJ asked, finally turning to face me. “I saw you.” He added. “You and Brian sure looked pretty ... cozy ... when I walked in.”

“If you saw us than you know nothing happened.” I countered, desperately trying to formulate a better response.

“But something was about to happen?” AJ challenged.

“I ... ummm ... we were just ...” I trailed off.

“Shit.” AJ mumbled, losing the edge in his voice. “I knew it. Christ, Brian!”

“What? What did you know?” I asked.

“Come on, Amy! I could see it happening. I saw how he has been looking at you lately.” AJ fired back.

“Has everyone noticed?” I asked, the panic rising in my voice.

“I doubt it.” AJ said. “The fellas haven’t said anything and I haven’t shared my observations with anyone, if that makes you feel any better.”

“Not really.” I mumbled, finally moving out of the entryway and flopping onto the bed.

“What were you thinking?” AJ admonished, sitting down next to me. “He’s a married man, Amy.”

“He was instigating it!” I defended myself.

I could feel the blood rush to my face as soon as the words came out of my mouth. Had I really just blamed Brian for my unacceptable behaviour? I should have distanced myself from him. Instead, I had sought him out. Hell, I should have handed in my resignation the second that I started having feelings for him.

“Ahhhh.” AJ mused. “You didn’t seem to mind, though.”

“You’re right.” I conceded. “But nothing happened! Nothing!” I cried as tears threatened the corners of my eyes. “I’ve already made things hard enough for him with that stupid blog. What was I thinking?”

“Come here.” AJ said, pulling me against him. “It’s not your fault. The response to the blog is definitely not your fault. I saw some of the things those girls wrote. There’s no way Brian could ever be THAT freaky. Trust me, if Leighanne believes that shit than she’s even dumber than I thought.”

“It still doesn’t change what we were about to do.” I sniffed audibly and buried my face in AJ’s chest, my tears dripping onto his shirt.

“That’s not entirely your fault either.” AJ acknowledged. “I never would have pegged Brian for a guy who would go against the vows he made in front of God, but I heard some of what he was saying to you. He wouldn’t have said that stuff just to get you into bed. That’s the type of stunt I may have pulled before Rochelle, but not Brian. He’s never taken full advantage of our situation; of the fact that hundreds of girls are more than willing to sleep with him on any given night. For him to have wanted to act on his feelings for you means that he’s being genuine. It means that you’re who he wants.”

Why was AJ telling me this? Regardless of his intentions, he was actually making me feel worse. I practically wished that he was losing his mind and berating me for almost destroying a marriage. I could have gotten over that ... eventually.

“The thing is ...” AJ continued. “...nothing is going to change the fact that he’s married ... at least for right now, anyways. You don’t want to be that girl, Amy. You’re better than that.”

“What am I supposed to do? Pretend that I feel nothing? I don’t know if I can handle being around him for another two months. I can’t just forget about what he said to me!” I protested as a wave of fresh tears landed on AJ’s t-shirt.

“I’m not telling you to change how you feel. I’m telling you that you have to wait. Leave it up to Brian.” AJ said.

His response was slow and measured, but the implication was glaringly clear. My stomach flipped. AJ legitimately thought there was a chance that Brian and Leighanne weren’t going to make it.

Kevin: Bay is asleep. Q’s staying with him for a bit. On my way over.

I pulled myself away from AJ and began wiping at my face as Kevin’s text message registered on AJ’s phone with a loud bing.

“You look like shit.” AJ confirmed, letting out a small laugh as I dragged myself into the bathroom to wash my face.

“YOU look like shit.” I retorted as I quickly tried to make myself look presentable. I heard movement in the hallway as I splashed water on my face and ran my fingers through my hair. A few seconds later, Kevin’s unmistakable heavy knock sounded on the door. I stepped out of the bathroom and pulled open the door to see, not only Kevin, but Nick, Lauren and Howie standing on the other side.

“I figured these guys needed to know what’s been going on.” Kevin said, obviously noticing my look of surprise.

“You guys do know that it’s almost three in the morning, right?” Howie grumbled. He was still wearing the outfit that he had worn to the after party and his red-rimmed eyes registered a look of extreme annoyance. “What is so important that it couldn’t wait until tomorrow? Kevin literally pounced on me as soon as I got out of the elevator.”

“Yeah.” Nick affirmed, taking a long chug from a bottle of water.

“It’s not my fault that you guys had too much to drink.” Kevin snapped, giving both Nick and Howie a warning glance. “I don’t know what you were thinking doing shots with the crew. We have an early flight this morning.”

“I thought that I was going to be able to go to bed when I got back. How was I supposed to know that you were going to call a bitch fest at 3:00 A.M.?” Howie shot back, pushing past Kevin and sitting down on the bed.

“I wasn’t drinking! Howie was the one doing all of the shots with the boys. You know that I’m not into that shit anymore!” Nick protested, finishing his water in one loud gulp. “I AM exhausted though, so let’s hurry this little pow-wow along.”

“Just sit down, Nick.” Lauren sighed; clearly exasperated. She whipped her hair up into a high ponytail and tugged at her tank top. “I wonder if Kevin will let me leave to put on my pyjamas?”

She flashed me a playful grin as she made her remark, but her face fell as soon as she saw my expression. “Are you okay? You look like you’ve been crying.”

“It’s a long story.” I whispered back, daring a quick glance at Kevin.

He glared back at the two of us and motioned angrily for us to hurry up and sit down. “Whenever you’re ready, ladies ...”

“Sorry.” Lauren apologized. She rolled her eyes at me as the two of us joined Howie on the bed.

“Why am I heeeerrrrre?” Nick whined.

He had followed Lauren’s instructions by depositing himself in an arm chair. He had both of his legs flung over one of the arm rests and his head was lolling around on the back of the chair. He didn’t even bother to open his eyes as he spoke.

“We’re here because AJ and Amy have something to tell us.” Kevin said through clenched teeth. “And they better tell us fast. I have to be back in my room in case Baylee wakes up.”

“AJ and Amy?” Nick repeated. “What happened? Did you guys fuck?” He accused with his eyes still firmly closed.

“Nick!” Lauren shouted. “Stop being a dumbass?! Pay attention!” She grabbed a hardcover book off of the nightstand and whipped it in his direction for emphasis.

“Ow! What’s wrong with you, woman?!” Nick yelled. His eyes flew open as the book connected squarely with his shoulder. “I’m gonna have a bruise.” He moaned, manoeuvring himself into a proper sitting position and giving Lauren an angry stare.

“I think you’ve lost my place ...” AJ interrupted, looking dejectedly at his discarded novel.

“Wait a minute! Why is Baylee in your room?” Howie asked, finally picking up on Kevin’s earlier statement. “Where’s Brian?” He added, looking quickly around the room. He blinked rapidly in an attempt to regain some sense of focus.

“You guys are unbelievable.” Kevin stated, shaking his head. “Can we all at least attempt to pay attention for a few minutes? We’ve already wasted twenty of them ...”

He was cut off by a sudden thump at the door. It almost sounded as if someone had walked right into it. A few seconds later the doorknob began jiggling wildly and Brian’s voice resonated through the stillness.

“AJ? Are you asleep? Open the door!”

“Unbelievable.” Kevin repeated, dragging his hand down his face as he stalked over to the door. “You have impeccable timing.” He stated dryly as he held the door open for his cousin.

“Kevin?” Brian blinked in confusion. “I’m looking for AJ.” He looked past Kevin and finally saw the rest of us all staring back at him. “You’re all in here? What are you all doing here? It’s so late.”

“Thanks for pointing that out.” Nick grumbled. “Some of us would like to be in bed.”

“Where’s Baylee?” Brian asked, ignoring Nick’s complaint. “AJ? Where’s Baylee? You said that you were bringing him here.” The panic was evident in his voice as he spoke.

“Baylee is in my room.” Kevin explained. “He’s sleeping. Q is watching him.”

“Oh. Oh, good.” Brian stuttered. “I think that’s good. Leighanne is still in our room. She’s upset ... she’s kicked me out ...”

My stomach clenched as I watched Brian struggle to get the words out. He was a mess. Whatever had happened between him and Leighanne had clearly rattled him. His voice was raw, either from crying or shouting, and his eyes were swollen and glossy. He rubbed a shaky hand against the back of his neck and took us all in.

“Brian, what the hell happened?” Howie asked. “Why has she kicked you out?”

“She thinks it’s true. She thinks that I’ve done ... things ... with other women. She says that she has proof. She says that people have sent her stories, information, hotel receipts with my credit card number...” Brian trailed off.

I could see the tears prickling his eyes and I forced myself to look away. It was taking all of my willpower not to jump off of the bed and comfort him.

“That’s a load of shit!” Kevin roared. “What proof? If she has proof, I want to see it!”

“There can’t be any ...” Brian affirmed, his eyes frantically searching everyone’s face. “I’ve never been unfaithful to her ... ever!” His gaze finally found mine and I could see the same pleading look in his eyes that he’d given me only hours ago. The only difference was that the lust had been replaced with sadness and dread.

“She said that she’s going to publish everything.” He continued. “How could she do that? How could she lie like that? We’ve been through so much ... she could ruin it all ... our reputation ... the tour... Baylee ...”

He let out a choking sob and covered his face with his hands. Nick, who had obviously woken up very quickly during the whole ordeal, suddenly sprang out of the chair. He covered the distance between himself and Brian in less than five steps and grabbed him roughly into a tight hug. Nick didn’t say anything as Brian sobbed shamelessly into his chest, his body shaking noticeably with the effort.

“Just wait until I talk to that little blonde bit...” AJ’s rant was cut off by the ringing of the phone.

We all turned and stared at the phone on the nightstand as if it were a foreign object. Even Brian and Nick disentangled themselves and turned to stare. Howie, who was sitting the closest, finally reached over and answered it.

“Hello?” He answered. “Yes, this is Mr. McLean.” He lied, after a few seconds pause. “Thanks very much.” He finished, replacing the receiver.

“That was the front desk with your wake-up call.” Howie said, turning in AJ’s direction. “We have to get ready to go. Our flight leaves in less than four hours.”

“Oh my God.” Lauren moaned as we dragged our carry-on luggage into the lobby of the Park Hyatt. “I can’t actually remember the last time that I felt this tired.”

“I think I may actually be asleep right now.” Nick mumbled, pulling the hood of his sweatshirt towards his face.

“You guys are young. You should be able to handle it. I’m too old for this shit.” Kevin grumbled, yawning widely as we approached the desk. “All I want to do is check-in and have a nap.”

“And when are you planning to do that?” AJ asked. “We have to be at venue in less than three hours to get ready for sound check.”

“I just need a few minutes to rest my eyes ... just a few.” Howie said to no one in particular.

“Dad, is mom going to meet us at the show?” Baylee’s voice interrupted our whiney banter.

The six of us all turned to hear Brian’s response. Leighanne hadn’t been on the flight to Toronto and, as far as we knew, she hadn’t made any attempt to contact Brian. Q had been sent to retrieve Brian and Baylee’s bags earlier in the morning. When questioned, Q had said that Leighanne had told him that she would be ‘catching up with the tour at some point.’ According to Q, she hadn’t even asked if Brian would be taking Baylee with him.

“I’m not sure, bud.” Brian stalled, forcing a cheerful tone into his voice. “I’m sure she’s on her way.”

“She never misses the show!” Baylee countered. “Are you guys still mad at each other?”

Brian shot the rest of us a helpless look. He looked even worse than he had a few hours ago. His face was blotchy, his eyes were still red-rimmed from crying, and the dark circles under his eyes seemed even more pronounced than everyone else’s. Like the rest of us, he had been awake for over twenty-four hours straight. Despite our best attempts, none of us had been able to sleep on the plane and we were all paying the price. To make matters worse, Brian’s voice had taken on a definite raspy quality. For AJ, a raspy voice was sexy. For Brian, a raspy voice was an unmitigated disaster. I had no idea how he was going to be able to make it through a two and a half hour performance in just a matter of hours.

“Your mom and dad are still a little bit upset with each other.” Nick downplayed the situation. “I’m sure that your mom will be there to watch you sing.”

“Okayyyyy ...” Baylee drawled, looking to Brian for confirmation.

Brian smiled at his son as best as he could and gave Nick a look of gratitude. At this point, Q returned from the desk holding our room cards. He distributed them quickly and silently. I had to hand it to Q; he knew how to do his job without getting involved in the drama.

As we shuffled towards the elevator in silence, my phone began blasting in my purse. I sighed inwardly as Drake’s ‘The Motto’ filled the lobby. It was the song that I had assigned to Eddie. Knowing that there would be hell to pay if I let it go to voicemail, I reluctantly pulled my phone from my purse.

“Hey!” I offered, hoping that I sounded relatively chipper.

“Amazing!” Eddie’s voice boomed in my ear. “Absolutely amazing! The fans are going crazy. The media is going crazy. This is the type of publicity that we needed for the Fan Connection to really take off. I’ve been fielding calls all day! Selena Gomez, New Kids ... everyone; they’re all dying to get on board now! You should have heard Selena’s agent going on and on about the Twitter and forum responses.”

“That’s great! I’m so glad you liked it.” I interrupted him with feigned enthusiasm in a desperate attempt to stop his rant.

Not wanting everyone to hear the rest of my conversation, I motioned that I would catch the next elevator and quickly slipped back into the main lobby. I sank down onto one of the couches and stifled a yawn.

“Why do you sound so miserable?” Eddie berated. “Your blog has everyone talking. I don’t know how you got the wives to open up like that, but it made all the difference. You’ve provided the fans with some real insight about just how hard it is to be married to a Backstreet Boy. You should be celebrating!”

“Have you seen some of the forum posts?” I asked. “I understand that you love the positive feedback, but the rumours that are circling about Brian and Leighanne are horrendous. They’ve had a massive fight.” I lowered my voice even though the lobby was completely deserted.

“Again?” Eddie laughed. “I’m not surprised. That woman made my life a living hell every time that I was on tour with them. I don’t know where she pissed off to all day long, but when she was around I got nagged to hell and back. She needs to get over herself.”

“I think that she may be under the impression that some of the stories that are going around are true.” I said, treading cautiously. I didn’t want to reveal too much of the current situation.

“Is she high?!” Eddie cried. He laughed so loudly that I had to briefly pull the phone away from my ear. “She believes that Brian has slept around? Brian? If we were talking about AJ, I wouldn’t be so quick to laugh ... although Rochelle has pretty much put the blinders on him ... but Brian? There’s no way!”

“I know, but she seems pretty upset.” I replied. “I feel really guilty ...”

“Guilty?” Eddie repeated. “You’re crazy! You’ve done great work. I couldn’t be happier! In fact, my happiness will be reflected in your next cheque. So, go out and enjoy yourself! I gotta go, the kid is awake. Say hi to the guys for me.” Eddie rushed to finish and disconnected before I even had a chance to respond.

I stared at my phone in dismay for a few more seconds before summoning the strength to get off of the couch and trudge towards the elevator. I looked at the time as I hit the button for the top floor. I had just enough time to dump my bags and take a quick shower before we had to leave for the venue. So much for a having a nap...

I shut off the blow-dryer and examined my face in the mirror. I still looked tired, but at least I had managed to camouflage the dark circles under my eyes. Still, I had no idea how I was going to make it through the VIP experience, the concert, and the after party without passing out. I was just beginning to debate the possibility of having a quick, ten minute power nap when my phone began blaring Taylor Swift’s ‘22’.

“Figures.” I muttered as I retrieved my phone from the nightstand. I looked at the display and confirmed that it was, indeed, Hannah who was calling. I couldn’t imagine why she would be calling in the middle of a work day. Ground(ctrl) had a strict policy when it came to their employees making personal calls during office hours.

“Amy! Thank God you answered!” Hannah practically shrieked into the phone.

“I’m fine, thanks. How are you?” I laughed.

“Have you seen it? Have you seen the photo? Have any of the guys seen it?” Hannah continued, completely ignoring my sarcastic response.

“What?” I asked, trying to wrap my overly tired brain around her question. “What picture?”

“I’m talking about the picture that was posted on the forum. Jason caught it after it had only been up for a few minutes. He’s taken it down, but so many people must have seen it! It’s a nightmare around here! The Sacramento office has had to enlist Greg’s help.” Hannah ploughed on.

“Greg’s help?” I repeated. “For what?”

Greg Lee was Ground(ctrl)’s certified graphic genius. You needed help with web design, you went to Greg. You needed help removing a disastrous blemish from a live shot of Selena Gomez, you went to Greg. You needed help eliminating every trace of Taylor Swift’s most recent ex-boyfriend from her fan community, you went to Greg. You needed help determining the origin of a scandalous picture or video, you went to Greg.

“You haven’t seen it, have you?!” Hannah shrieked.

“I just got out of the shower.” I offered weakly.

I could practically feel the anxiety rising in my stomach. If another office had to call Greg it almost always meant that some media-related disaster had occurred.

“I’m sending it to you right now!” Hannah exclaimed. “Greg sent me a copy, because he knows that you’re on assignment with the guys. He knew that I would know how to get in touch with you.”

I immediately whipped the phone away from my ear and put Hannah on speaker, so that I could access my WhatsApp messages. Almost immediately, the little icon appeared signifying that I had a message waiting. I jabbed at the screen and promptly dropped my phone in shock.

“Amy? Hello? What was that noise? Did it come through?” Hannah’s frantic voice continued to carry through the phone as I shakily bent down to retrieve it from under the bed.

“Yeah.” I mumbled, picking up the phone. “I saw it. I don’t think that I’ll ever be able to un-see it.”

The picture was still on the screen and I immediately closed the application. I couldn’t bring myself to look at it again.

“You said that Jason has already removed it?” I asked, not even bothering to get up off of the floor. Instead, I leaned back against the side of the bed and shut my eyes. I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. He had lied to me. He had obviously been lying to everyone for quite some time.

“Yeah.” Hannah confirmed. “From what I’ve heard, Jason just happened to be online uploading VIP pictures. It was basically just luck that he decided to check the forums before he signed out. I think it was only online for a total of five minutes, but the team in Sacramento is going crazy trying to figure out how many times the picture was saved and shared. Who knows how many people have seen it...”

“So, why is Greg involved if the picture has already been taken down?” I asked.

“I’m not sure.” Hannah admitted. “Rumours are going around that he’s examining the validity of the image.”

“You mean it might be a fake?” I asked; well aware of the fact that hope was highly evident in my voice.

“Anything is possible, but I think it’s pretty unlikely in this case. I mean, how would someone be able to manipulate everything?” Hannah cautioned, stressing the word ‘everything’. “Even if someone has faked it, I’m not even sure how they would have gotten a picture of him in that ... state.”

“I know. I was just ... hopeful ... that there would be an easy explanation.” I replied as I reluctantly opened my eyes and hauled myself to my feet. “Thanks for giving me the heads up.”

“No problem. I figured that you would like to know before their whole PR team finds out and starts losing their shit. I know that Jason hasn’t had a chance to talk to the band. He’s been on the phone with Greg for over an hour.” Hannah explained. “We’ll talk later. Keep me updated”

“For sure.” I answered half-heartedly as she rung off.

“Kevin?” I called, knocking softly on the door.

Just when I was beginning to think that he had actually managed to squeeze in his much desired nap, the door swung open.

“Come in.” Kevin said, holding the door open for me.

‘So much for his power nap...’ I thought. He actually looked slightly worse than he had only a couple of hours ago.

I smiled weakly at him as I stepped inside. I still had no idea how I was going to bring the situation up. I could actually feel my face getting hot with embarrassment as I walked farther into the room. How did you show someone a picture of their cousin in that kind of a situation?

“Amy!” Brian’s voice snapped me back to reality.

I looked up and focused my attention on Brian who was sitting on the bed. Shit! I hadn’t anticipated the fact that Kevin might not be alone. I definitely hadn’t thought about what I would do if Brian was there.

“Where’s Baylee?” I asked, stalling for time and looking around rather frantically. There was no way that I could show anyone the picture if Baylee was around.

“He’s playing X-Box with Nick and Lauren.” Kevin supplied. He gave me a knowing look. “What’s wrong? You seem ... anxious.”

I let out a shaky breath and handed Kevin my phone without any explanation. I had already cued the image up on the screen, and I was careful not to look at it as I handed over the device.

Kevin shot me a curious glance as he flipped the phone over in his hands. “It would be a lot easier if you just ...” he stopped mid-sentence as his brain registered what he was looking at. His eyes widened and I noticed a tinge of pink appear on his cheeks as he turned the phone over. “Where did you get this?” He asked, obviously trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

“It was posted on the forum.” I sighed. “One of my friends from the Nashville office sent it to me. Apparently, your team has called in the top graphic expert who works in our office to look at it.”

“This was on the forum?” Kevin repeated. His voice cracked slightly and his eyes were straining in their sockets. Needless to say, he was failing miserably at remaining calm and collected.

“I was told that it was only up for a few minutes. Jason happened to be online and he took it down as soon as he saw it.” I assured him.

“What is it? What are you looking at?” Brian asked, getting off of the bed and walking over to his cousin.

“I thought you should see it before PR brought it up. I didn’t know that he ...” I trailed off as I looked at Brian’s desperate face. I had been hot with embarrassment before. Now, I was positively on fire.

“Kevin! What is it? Let me see the phone!” Brian demanded.

Kevin gave me a fleeting look before handing over the phone. Brian quickly turned the phone over in his hands and let out a small gasp. The colour drained from his face and he grabbed Kevin’s arm in order to steady himself. Afraid that he might actually be about to faint, I reached out and caught him around the waist.

“It can’t ... because I never ... it’s impossible ...” Brian stammered. “I think I’m going to be sick.” He finally choked out, closing the image and roughly shoving the phone back into my free hand.

“Brian, if there’s something that you need to admit this would probably be a good time.” Kevin said. His tone was gentle but his message was firm. He needed to know what the band was going to be dealing with.

“Admit!?” Brian exclaimed. “There’s nothing to admit! I don’t know what that is or how it got on the Internet. I don’t even know that girl!”

“It looks like you know her pretty well.” I shot back with more anger than I had intended. I quickly removed my hand from his waist and took a step back towards the door.

“Amy!” Brian cried, realization flashing in his eyes as he turned to stare me in the face. “Oh shit! I know how this looks ... what you must be thinking ... I never would have said what I did just to ...”

“What’s all this?” Kevin asked, his eyes darting back and forth between me and Brian in confusion.

“Nothing” I muttered. “I have to go.” I added, as I turned and hurried from the room.

I could hear Brian giving Kevin a mumbled explanation as I made my way out of the room and into the hallway. The tears were threatening to overflow as I reached my room, and I fumbled hurriedly with the access card. I finally managed to get it into the slot as the door to Kevin’s room opened. I could hear Brian coming up behind me as I opened the door, and I wasn’t surprised when he pushed in behind me.

“I wouldn’t lie to you.” He said, shutting the door behind us. I could feel his breath on the back of neck and I shivered slightly in response.

“Wouldn’t you?” I asked, taking a few steps forward before turning to face him. “You swore up and down that you had never cheated, but it sure looks like you have. What if we hadn’t been interrupted? What number would I have been?”

“Amy, you wouldn’t have been a number! Everything I told you last night was true. I swear to you that I have no idea who that girl in the picture is.”

“Then why are you practically on top of her ... naked?” I spat. “It is you, isn’t it?”

“It is me.” Brian acknowledged. His voice wavered, but he kept his eyes locked with mine as he spoke. “I can’t deny that it’s me.”

“So how do you explain it then? How can you say that you’ve never been unfaithful to your wife if there is a picture of you clearly about to have sex with another woman?” I asked.

“I ... I can’t explain it ...” Brian stuttered. “It’s a fake. This girl ... whoever she is ... she must have faked it.”

“But how?!” I exploded. “How could she fake it? How did she get a picture of you ... looking like that?!”

“I don’t know.” Brian admitted. “Amy, if I wanted to fuck some random girl, then I would. I don’t want that. You know that I don’t want that. I think part of you also knows that I would never lie to you just so that you would want to sleep with me.”

I could feel myself start to waver. Why would he go to all the trouble of trying to get me into bed if he could have his pick of hundreds of women?

“Everything is so messed up.” He let out a shaky breath. “Leighanne has taken off, apparently there’s a naked picture of me going around the Internet, my kid’s upset, and you think I’m a lying bastard.”

“I don’t think that you’re a bastard.” I conceded, my voice softening ever so slightly.

“But you do think I’m a liar.” Brian countered.

“I’m, honestly, not sure what I think about you at the moment.” I replied.

Brian looked defeated, but he pressed forward with his defence. “I know this is not the best time for me to be telling you this, but I can’t stop thinking about you. I was instantly attracted to you ... since the first day we met. I loved the way you looked at me when you shook my hand. It was like you were fighting to keep yourself from staring at me. I can’t remember the last time Leighanne looked at me like that.”

“It doesn’t matter how either one of us feels. You’re married.” I said. AJ’s words played in my ears as I tried to maintain my composure.

“Leighanne and I haven’t been happy for a long time.” Brian admitted. “She’s a wonderful mother to Baylee, but I’m not in love with her anymore. She’s grown so distant. When she threatened me with divorce last night, I was almost grateful that she had brought it up. But then she started threatening to expose me as a cheater and I panicked. I started spurting out all of this crap about how we could make things work and that things would get better. I don’t know what I was thinking. All I knew was that I didn’t want her to ruin things for the rest of the guys. This tour has been going so well; Kevin’s back and we’ve been selling out almost every show. She’s been awful towards me these last few months. I’m sure that she could sense my lack of interest and I think that’s also, partially, why she’s been so nasty to you.” Brian said. “AJ informed me that I wasn’t doing the best job of disguising my feelings.”

I nodded, but I couldn’t bring myself to speak. He seemed so lost and alone. He still looked sickeningly pale and his eyes had taken on a perpetually puffy quality. His t-shirt was rumpled and he had jammed a backwards ball cap on his head to hide his unruly hair. Despite it all, he was gorgeous. I couldn’t deny that I was still attracted to him, regardless of the fact that he was married and possibly a cheater. I knew that I should stand my ground and tell him to leave, but I couldn’t bring myself to say the words.

As if sensing the fact that he was getting through to me, Brian cautiously took a step forward. “I mean it, Amy. If you tell me to leave, I’ll leave. If you tell me that you don’t want this, I’ll stop pursuing it.”

“You’ve known about my feelings for a while.” The words were out of my mouth before I even had time to think about it. “I know that your life is a mess right now, and I don’t want you to make a choice that you’re going to regret.”

A slow smile spread across his face as he took the final step towards me. I didn’t move. My heart was pounding in my chest as he pulled me against him. Our eyes locked and he hesitated. I could practically hear him fighting with his feelings in his mind.

“We have to stop.” I whispered. I abruptly pulled away from him; essentially ending his internal battle.

“What? Why?” Brian asked, his hands still lingering on my waist. His eyes were hooded with desire and confusion.

“I can’t be with you until I know the truth about that picture.” I said. The image flashed before my eyes as I uttered the words, and I could feel the warmth spreading into my face. Regardless of how much I wanted him, I couldn’t commit until I knew if the picture was indeed a fake.

“I get it.” Brian conceded, but I could still see the hurt penetrating his eyes.

“Brian!? Amy!?” Kevin’s angry voice floated through the door.

“I told him to wait for me to come back.” Brian grumbled, pulling away from me as Kevin continued to knock on the door.

“You should probably let him in.” I encouraged.

Brian sighed audibly and pulled open the door for his cousin.

“Okay, what is going on?!” Kevin blasted, storming into the room. He ran both of his hands through his hair in frustration and turned to stare at us. “Is there something that I need to know about?”

“There’s definitely something that I need to know about!” Howie cried, bursting through the open door and waving his iPhone in the air.

“Have any of you guys checked Twitter recently?!” AJ’s voice simultaneously boomed down the hallway as his heavy footsteps padded towards us.

“Oh God.” Brian moaned. What little colour that had returned to his face vanished instantly. “Is it on Twitter?”

“What do you mean ‘is it on Twitter?’ Have you seen it somewhere else? Did you already know about this!?” Howie shouted, shoving his phone in Brian’s face.

I leaned over to look at the screen and saw the all too familiar picture staring back at me. It had now been posted at both Brian and the band’s official Twitter accounts. Judging by the Twitter handle of the poster, it had clearly been sent from an account that had been created for the sole purpose of releasing the picture.

@anonymousbsbhater
Looks like the @backstreetboys’ @brianlittrell is not so FAITHful after all. #cheater #douchebag #badrep #boybanddrama

“We just found out about it.” Kevin grumbled. “Apparently, Jason saw it posted on the forum earlier. He was able to take it down, but I suppose that he wasn’t fast enough and someone must have saved it.”

“Do you know how many times it has been re-tweeted?” I asked, pulling my own phone out of my pocket and frantically logging into Twitter. “Maybe we can take it down before too many people see it.”

“I think it’s too late for that.” Nick said, as he and Lauren walked into the room behind AJ. “I just got off the phone with Jason. Cass from PR is attempting to do damage control, but it’s already been re-tweeted too many times to count. Management is debating about cancelling tonight’s show.”

“Cancelling the show?” Howie repeated aghast. “We’re supposed to be meeting the VIP crowd in less than an hour and a half. How are we going to justify cancelling on such short notice?”

Nick merely shrugged in response. “I’m only repeating what Cassandra told me. She’s called us in for an emergency meeting in half an hour.”

“Who? All of us?” Kevin questioned. “I think we ought to at least send someone down to the venue. Toronto is one of our biggest markets. We’ll be jeopardizing a lot if we cancel this late.”

“According to Cassandra, Jason and Amy would be the ones doing damage control at the venue.” Nick replied, shooting me an apologetic glance.

“Wonderful.” I mumbled. “Those girls are going to be livid. What’s the plan? Did Cass mention if you’re rescheduling. What’s the excuse? One of you is deathly ill?”

“I dunno ...” Nick trailed off as my phone began blasting in my hands.

“Speak of the devil.” I said as Cassandra’s name flashed on the display.

“How much do you need to be filled in?” Cassandra asked, cutting straight to the chase as soon as I picked up.

“I’ve seen the picture. I know that it’s been posted on Twitter. Nick has just told me that Jason and I will be responsible for shutting down the VIP if you guys make the decision to cancel.” I quickly rhymed off the facts; the dread settling in my stomach as I spoke.

“Good.” Cassandra clipped. “I know cancelling the show is going be hell, but we’ve really got no choice. This is the last show before a two day break, so it makes sense. Obviously, we’ll reschedule and honour all tickets and VIP packages. You know the drill. I hate to do it, but I’ve been talking with some of the crew in Sacramento ... they’re fielding death threats and dealing with a media frenzy. “

“Did you say death threats?” I asked, not quite sure if I had heard her correctly.

“Yeah ... apparently the fan base isn’t taking the idea of Brian being a cheater too well. Most of the fans are saying that they want to kill the girl in the photo, but others are threatening Brian. I hate to say it, but it would have been better if it were any of the other guys in that photo. I’m not saying that the other guys are more likely to cheat, but people seem to have a soft spot for Brian. The reaction has been ten times worse than it would have been for any of the others.” Cassandra explained. “Some of the threats have been rather graphic. I won’t get into any details, but it’s becoming pretty serious. There’s no way that we can throw Brian on stage tonight. Not only would he get eaten alive by the fans, but it could lead to a disastrous situation that could tarnish the rest of the tour. We have to give this some time to blow over.”

“I suppose it’s for the best.” I conceded. “But what are Jason and I supposed to tell all of the fans who have already been waiting for hours?”

“I’ve already spoken to Jason. We’ve agreed that you guys are just going to tell them that the show is cancelled and that it will be rescheduled. Don’t take any questions and don’t make up any excuses. I’ve already got a team putting together a press release.” Cassandra instructed. “I hear that Greg’s already examining the picture. I hope to God that he comes to the conclusion that it’s a fake. Otherwise, I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do. For most celebrities, a sex scandal means jack shit, but for a boy band ...”

“Greg’s the best. He’ll figure it out.” I cut in, trying to force as much confidence into my voice as possible. “Listen, in terms of tonight’s show, Kevin was saying that it might be a good idea for at least one or two of the guys to go to the venue.”

Cassandra sighed heavily. “I suppose that would be all right.” She approved. “Ask Nick and AJ if they will go with you. Brian sure as hell can’t risk going out there, and I don’t want Kevin going because of the family connection. Howie’s just too damn sweet; he’ll jump to Brian’s defence without even thinking about what he’s saying.”

“I’m sure Nick and AJ won’t mind.” I said as I casually shifted my gaze towards them. Nick merely stared back at me with narrowed eyes, while AJ began slowly shaking his head and mouthing the word ‘no.’

“Okay. I’ll meet with the other three while you guys are at the venue. I’m just about at the hotel. It’s a good thing that I decided to fly in a few days early. I wasn’t supposed to meet up with the tour until Montreal.” Cassandra grumbled before she rung off, as usual, without saying goodbye.

“Nick and I won’t mind doing what?” AJ asked the second that the call disconnected.

“Coming to the venue with me and Jason.” I replied, flashing him an apologetic grin. “It was really Kevin’s idea.”

“Unbelievable.” AJ muttered. “Nick and I are gonna get chewed up and spit out by those women. Do you have any idea how pissed off they’re gonna be?”

“They’re probably going to be slightly less pissed off than they would be if none of you showed up.” I countered. “Two Backstreet Boys are better than none.”

“It’s fine.” Nick said, giving AJ a measured stare. He cocked his eyes in Brian’s direction to indicate that AJ should tread carefully.

I glanced quickly at Brian and saw that he was staring blindly into space. It didn’t take more than an ounce of thought to realize that he was mortified by the whole situation.

Picking up on Nick’s hint, AJ quickly took note of Brian’s misery and plastered a smile on his face. “Yeah. It’s fine.” He lied. “We’ll go down, take some pictures and try to smooth things over a bit.”

“Thanks guys.” Kevin acknowledged. “We’ll fill you all in on what happens during the meeting with Cass when you get back.”

“I am really not looking forward to this.” Jason mumbled as the SUV drove slowly past the Air Canada Centre. He actually looked nervous as he stared out of the tinted windows at the throng of fans who had already gathered.

Looking at Jason immediately made me feel even more anxious. I had never seen him be anything other than calm, cool, and collected. The fact that he was nervous only helped to solidify the notion that we were about to walk into a disaster zone.

“You’re not looking forward to it?” Q shot back. “You’re not the one who has to keep all of those women in check. Try not to let any of them lunge at you.” He added, narrowing his eyes at Nick and AJ.

“Really, Q? You make it sound as if it’s our goal to make them jump on us.” AJ sighed, following Jason’s gaze.

The SUV slowed to a stop and four members of the venue’s security team immediately surrounded it. One of them pulled open the backdoor and gave us a weary smile.

“Okay. The plan is for us to come up behind the tent. We’ve got other guys stationed around the crowd, but we didn’t have time to get a barricade set up. We were told that you would be meeting with fans inside, not outside...” He trailed off and glanced at Q for support.

“John and I will watch these two.” Q gestured at AJ and Nick as he spoke for himself and the other member of the boys’ personal security team; a tree trunk of a man who was squished into the seat rather awkwardly beside him. “Make sure that your guys control the crowd and keep these two outta the way.” He instructed, nodding at me and Jason.

The man signalled his understanding and gestured for Jason to follow him. I could hear Jason take a deep breath as he stepped cautiously out of the SUV. I followed his lead and scrambled out onto the pavement.

Q and John began muttering instructions to Nick and AJ as we started walking towards the familiar, black VIP tent. I kept my eyes glued to the ground until the excited murmur of the crowd began to grow louder. By the time I looked up, the chatter had been replaced by shrieks. I dared a quick glance back at Nick and AJ. They were both walking determinedly towards the crowd with smiles stretched on their faces.

It didn’t take long for the fans to realize that there was nothing in-between them and the guys. The crowd began to surge forward and, within seconds, the venue’s security team was in place to provide a human barricade between the boys and their fans. At Q’s insistence we stopped; leaving a few feet of space between us and the swelling crowd.

“Why are there so many people?” I hissed in Jason’s ear. I was used to seeing maybe four hundred fans in line for VIP, but this group appeared to be almost double the size.

“We oversold the VIP.” Jason replied. “Something went wrong with the server and more tickets were released last night.”

“This just keeps getting better ...” I grumbled, taking the printed copy of the VIP guest list from his hands. “You make the announcement and then we’ll split it up as planned.”

“People! Jason shouted, trying to make himself heard above the excitement of the crowd. “Hello?!” He tried again and sent me a slightly desperate look when hardly anyone paid him any notice.

I shrugged and began subtly trying to catch Nick’s attention. I hadn’t realized it, but security had slowly manoeuvred us so that the wall of the venue was now behind us. The crowd was still in front of us, behind the human fence of yellow security shirts. Nick caught my look and elbowed AJ gently in the ribs.

“Ladies!” AJ shouted. He cupped his hands around his mouth so that his voice boomed over the crowd. “Nick and I, and the fellas from Ground(ctrl), have a little announcement that we need to make.”

The shuffling crowd immediately quieted at the sound of AJ’s voice. All eyes were on him as he motioned for Jason to take over.

“I hate to have to tell everyone this, especially on the day of the show.” Jason began. His voice was not nearly as confident as AJ’s had been. “Due to some unforeseen circumstances, there will be no performance tonight.”

Jason’s announcement was greeted with shocked silence, so he ploughed on while he was still sure that he was being heard. “The show will be rescheduled at a later date and all of your tickets will be honoured. VIP passes will also be honoured at the re-scheduled show. If you would like a refund, instead, you will have to speak to either Amy or myself before you leave today.” Jason glanced quickly in my direction and I motioned for him to keep going. “Since Nick and AJ are here, we’re going to ask that you all form a line for a quick photo-op. Everyone will get a group picture, regardless of your VIP package, so we’ll be taking you five at a time. Like I said, for those of you would like a refund, you will need to speak to Amy or me after your picture has been taken.”

Once Jason was done speaking, the crowd began to rumble with displeasure. I could hear random bits of profanity and speculation flying about as security hurriedly ushered the mob into a line. I quickly scrambled into position next to Nick, while Jason took up a spot next to AJ. Q and John flanked the four of us as the photographer got himself situated.

By the time the security team had positioned the first group of five fans next to Nick and AJ, the crowed had reached a fever pitch: “This is bullshit!” “What the fuck is going on?” “Is this all because Brian can’t keep it in his pants?” “Where is Brian anyway? Is he too afraid to face us?” “I can’t believe this!” “Looks like the Backstreet Boys have let us down again.” “I’m going to make sure that everyone knows just how shitty BSB fans are treated!” “I don’t blame Brian for cancelling the show. Can you imagine getting on stage and looking at a room full of people who have all seen your dick?”

I cringed inwardly as I listened to the girls natter on about Brian’s infidelity and continue to blast the guys for cancelling the show. I had to hand it to AJ and Nick though. They greeted every fan with a genuine smile, and I could hear them both apologizing over and over again for the cancellation. In fact, the first two hundred or so fans appeared to take things in stride. They gushed over Nick and AJ, posed for their pictures, and politely allowed themselves to be guided off of the property when their turn was over.

I absently flipped through the sheets of paper in my hand as the next group of girls got into position for their picture. So far, only six people had stopped to ask for a refund. I looked over at Jason and saw that he was busy dealing with two thirty-something fans. He was frantically scrolling through the VIP list on his phone while a blonde woman was waving her hands in his face in frustration.

“Oh my God! I love you!”

I hastily turned my attention away from Jason at the frantic tone in the young woman’s voice. One of the girls from the most recent group still had her arms locked around Nick’s waist. She was staring up at him intently and practically drooling on his shirt.

“Uhhh thanks.” Nick stuttered, sending a not-so-subtle ‘help me’ look in Q’s direction.

“What the fuck!? She’s got my phone!”

I ripped my eyes away from Nick and saw Jason gesturing frantically at the girl who had just been waving her hands in his face. She was now booting it away from the crowd at top speed; her long, blonde ponytail swinging behind her. Another girl, who I assumed to be her friend, was hot on her heels. Before anyone even had time to utter a response, Jason took off. He blasted through the crowd of fans and security guards without so much as a second thought, spewing obscenities as he sprinted after the two women.

“Hold up!” John bellowed, abandoning AJ’s side and following Jason through the crowd. “It’s just a phone, man!” His voice ricocheted off the pavement as he frantically tried to catch up.

“Awwww shit ...” Q whistled, his eyes trailing after Jason and John. “We gotta pack this in, boys.”

“We might be losing control of the situation.” One of the security guards who had met us at the SUV cautioned as he looked hurriedly over his shoulder.

The crowd had used the disruption to their advantage. The once somewhat orderly line had disintegrated and people were beginning to try and elbow their way to the front. I swivelled to see that Nick was still trying to disentangle himself from the overzealous fan and that AJ was quickly becoming overwhelmed by another group of women who were fighting to get closer to him.

“Car ... now!” Q yelled. He grabbed my arm with his left hand and used his right hand to pry the girl’s arms from around Nick’s waist. He then turned his attention to AJ.

“Keep an eye on her.” Q instructed. He let go of my arm and shoved me towards Nick.

I bounced roughly against Nick’s chest as he firmly grasped my hand and began pulling me in the direction of the SUV. Q, meanwhile, fought his way through the group of women surrounding AJ. When he finally reached him, he planted his meaty palm forcefully around AJ’s lower arm and pulled him violently away from the crowd.

“Move!” Q commanded. He and AJ caught up to us and he immediately seized Nick’s arm in his other hand.

The four of us hustled towards the waiting SUV, but our progress was slowed by the jostling of the crowd. The fans were cursing in frustration over the fact that the guys were leaving without fulfilling their promise of a picture, and I kept my eyes firmly locked on the parking lot as hands and cameras inadvertently pelted me from all directions. I tightened my grip on Nick’s hand and used my other arm to protect my face as girls scrambled to get a picture of the guys. Thankfully, the venue’s security team managed to coral the mob at the entrance to the parking lot and the four of us were able to sprint down the stairs and into the waiting SUV without further incident.

“Dammit, John!” Q grumbled, once the driver had safely pulled out into traffic. Wrenching his phone out of his back pocket, he angrily began jabbing at the entries in his contact list.

“I think one of those chicks ripped my shirt.” AJ mumbled incredulously. He pulled his t-shirt away from his chest and stuck his pointer finger through a clearly defined hole to prove his point.

Nick snorted in response and his whole body began to convulse with laughter. “I’m sorry.” He stuttered. “That whole situation was just so ridiculous!”

“Rochelle bought me this shirt.” AJ frowned, but I could see that he was trying to suppress a smile. “We all look a bit rough.”

I glanced at my arms and saw that they were littered with pale, red marks. I knew just by the look of them that they were going to be covered with bruises by tomorrow. I ran a hand through my hair and attempted to shake out the knots.

“John?” Q’s deep voice reverberated through the car and snapped us all back to reality. “Where the hell are you?”

After a short pause, John’s voice blasted through the speaker phone. “Front and University. I’ve got Jason. No sign of the girls or his phone.”

“That’s fucking wonderful.” Q seethed. “Don’t move. We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

True to Q’s word, we pulled up at the busy corner of Front and University a few minutes later. John and Jason hustled inside and the driver pulled away from the curb before they had even finished closing the door behind them. Both of them looked winded, but Jason was still gasping for breath. Sweat was streaming down his face and his cheeks were flushed with exertion. He ripped back a full bottle of water before leaning his head back on the seat and closing his eyes.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Q admonished, once Jason’s breathing showed signs of returning to normal. “You put us all in a shit-ass situation by taking off like that.”

“Sorry.” Jason mumbled without opening his eyes. “I can’t believe she took my phone ...”

“And you ...” Q said, turning to John and ignoring Jason’s pseudo-apology. “You know that you never leave one of the guys unattended. Unless the kids or the wives are around, they are always your top priority. You were supposed to be protecting AJ, not this idiot!”

“I know ... sorry.” John admitted gruffly, directing his apology towards AJ.

“No worries, man.” AJ replied. “It all turned out okay.”

“Are you shitting me!?” Jason cried, finally lifting his head off of the seat and opening his eyes. “That chick has my phone! Do you guys have any idea what’s in my phone? Do you know what she has access to?”

“Ground(ctrl) stuff ... “ Nick trailed off as he took in Jason’s darkened expression.

“Access codes, billing information, VIP lists, passwords, phone numbers, email addresses ... she will have access to it all!” Jason exploded.

“We can change all of that. It will be a pain in the ass, but we can change it.” Nick offered, obviously trying to calm him down.

“Yeah, but we can’t change the fact that she’s going to see the latest instalment of Brian’s bedroom antics.” Jason grumbled.

“What?!” I exclaimed with far more emotion than I had intended. “What do you mean?”

“The guys in Sacramento have been monitoring the forums 24/7 since the first picture was released. A few hours ago, they managed to intercept two more pictures before they were made public.” Jason explained. “They sent me the pictures by email so that I could give Brian the heads up that there were more. Obviously, they sent them to my work address which is linked to my phone.”

My phone pinged with a Twitter alert as Jason’s statement hung in the air. I could feel my heart start to beat faster as noises also began emitting from both AJ and Nick’s pockets. With shaking hands, I unlocked the screen and launched the application.

@anonymousbsbhater2
This is the kind of connection @AmyCtrl should be delivering about @backstreetboys’ @brianlittrell!

@anonymousbsbhater2
Who needs more proof that @brianlittrell is a cheater? #whosthatbitch

@anonymousbsbhater2
Woulda expected this from @skulleeroz! #cheatinghusbands

@anonymousbsbhater2
Waiting to see @nickcarter, @howied, and @kevinrichardson like this! #exposedpopstars

The tweets were all accompanied by two photos. If the first one had been bad; these ones were disastrous. I could feel the colour draining from my face as I hastily tried to figure out how to delete the post from my feed. Even as I searched for the option, I knew that it was too late. They had likely already been tweeted at hundreds of people. It was only a matter of time before things got out of control.

“At least it’s the same girl that’s in the first picture.” AJ mumbled as he tapped away at his phone. “How do I delete this shit?”

“I gotta hand it to Bri ... that girl has got some nice tits.” Nick joked in an unsuccessful attempt to lighten the mood.

“Nick!” AJ rebuked, sending a concerned look in my direction.

“What?” Nick asked, narrowing his eyes as he caught the look that AJ and I exchanged. “What are you two not telling me?”

“Oh God! If there are any more secrets floating around, I don’t want to know about them!” Jason wailed. “I can’t believe that stupid bitch has posted those photos already. Eddie is going to ring my neck!”

I stared out the window at the familiar scenery as the SUV came to a stop in front of the hotel. I said a silent prayer of thanks that there was not a single fan in sight. Even so, Q and John jumped out and took a quick look around before they motioned for us to follow them. We walked quickly through the lobby and into the elevator before any of us uttered another word.

“Lauren says that she’s watching Baylee in Brian’s room.” Nick informed us as he skimmed through his text messages. “The guys are still locked away with Cass.”

“We might as well all head over there and join her then.” AJ replied. “It will save Kevin the trouble of tracking us all down later.”

I nodded in agreement as the elevator slid open on the top floor. As we exited, Jason mumbled something about needing to call Verizon in order to cancel his phone and stalked off towards his room. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him as I watched his hunched shoulders retreat down the hallway. He was right. Even thought the whole thing wasn’t technically his fault, Eddie was still going to tear him a new one.

“Lauren ... it’s us.” Nick called, as he softly knocked on the door to Brian’s room. A few seconds later, Lauren pulled open the door and motioned for us to be quiet.

“Baylee’s passed out. Poor kid; he’s exhausted.” She explained.

“What the hell happened to your shirt?” She asked, staring intently at AJ as the three of us entered the room.

“It’s best if you don’t ask.” Nick answered. He gave Lauren a swift kiss on the lips. “Things didn’t exactly go as planned.”

Lauren gave us all a confused look as we manoeuvred ourselves onto the couches in the sitting area. She gently pulled the door to the bedroom closed before joining us.

“I gather that you guys have seen the latest round of pictures then ...” She said, dropping down next to Nick and leaning her head on his shoulder.

I felt a wave of sadness and jealously threaten to overtake me as I watched the ease of their interaction. Even though I had tried not to look at them too closely, the two newest pictures immediately appeared in my mind. They left little room for doubt. In fact, they looked as though they had been lifted directly from a sex tape.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” AJ said, reaching for the TV remote. “Let’s just kill some time until the guys are finished with Cass. I’m sure that we’ll be forced to talk about it in excruciating detail then.”

His strong arm weighed heavily on my shoulders, and I sighed in contentment as I adjusted my head on his chest. I matched the rhythm of my breathing with his slow, steady breaths and I could almost feel myself slipping gently back off to sleep.

“Amy?”

My eyes fluttered open at the sound of Baylee’s voice. I blinked rapidly to focus my vision and saw Baylee standing over me and pushing lightly on my shoulder.

“Wake up.” He urged. “Where’s my dad?”

“Your dad?” I repeated; my voice hoarse with sleep. “He’s right here.”

Baylee gave me a bewildered look and quickly turned his head to both sides. “I don’t see him.”

Feeling more alert, I lifted my head and took note of the tattooed arm that was encircling me. It definitely wasn’t Brian’s. Shit! I pushed myself off of AJ’s chest and gently shook him awake.

His eyes blinked open and he stared at me in confusion. “Amy?” His voice cracked as he spoke. “Did we fall asleep?”

“Of course you fell asleep.” Baylee answered, rolling his eyes. “Do you know where my dad is?”

“He isn’t here?” AJ asked, rubbing at his eyes and pushing out his chest in a deep stretch.

“If he was here, than I wouldn’t be asking you if you know where he is.” Baylee responded. For a ten year old, he sounded highly exasperated.

I quickly ran my fingers through my hair and saw that Nick and Lauren were passed out on the other couch. The TV was still on and a re-run of Gilmore Girls was playing softly. I focused my eyes on the digital clock on the cable box. It read 8:25 A.M. We had been asleep since we got back to the hotel yesterday evening at 5:30 P.M.

“It’s morning!” I gasped.

The tone of my voice caused Lauren to stir awake in confusion. “What? I’m awake!” She grunted, sitting up and patting Nick lightly on the chest.

“We’ve been asleep for fifteen hours?” AJ wondered aloud. “Why did no one wake us up?”

“I just woke you up.” Baylee pointed out as Nick finally opened his eyes and looked around at the rest of us.

“Bay?” Nick asked. “What are you doing here? Where’s your dad?”

Baylee threw his hands up in the air in frustration. “That’s what I’m asking you guys!” He cried as his arms slapped noisily at his sides. “I’m just gonna go and ask Kevin.”

“Wait!” AJ exclaimed. He scrambled to haul himself off of the couch as Baylee headed towards the door. “We’re coming with you!”

Baylee rapped his small fist against the door of Kevin’s room and waited approximately five seconds before repeating the procedure. I stifled a laugh as Lauren attempted to smooth out the silk shirt that she had been wearing (and sleeping in) since last night. I subtly motioned that her mascara was smeared, and she shot me a look of gratitude before licking her finger and scrubbing fiercely at her face. I gave myself a mental pat on the back for falling asleep in a sensible cotton t-shirt with a freshly scrubbed face.

Baylee’s knocking must have roused Kevin from a sound sleep, because he appeared to be a bit disoriented when he eventually yanked open the door. He blinked at us several times before recognition finally dawned on his face. Running a hand through his dishevelled hair, he held the door open for us.

“I see you’ve all decided to wake up.” He said, clearing the sleep from his voice.

“Is my dad here?” Baylee demanded. “I woke up and the only people that I could find were these guys.”

“I take some offence to that.” Nick said, feigning hurt.

“Your dad is on the couch.” Kevin replied. “Apparently, there was no space left for him in his own room last night.”

“That’s because someone was sleeping right in the middle of the bed.” Brian teased. “Bay, you were supposed to remind me to tell the front desk that we had to move to a room with two beds and you forgot.”

Baylee smiled at his father’s playful banter as Brian came around the corner to give him a hug. “I’m just a kid.” He shrugged, playing along. “You’re supposed to be the one who remembers stuff.”

I tuned out their chatter as soon as Brian appeared. I swallowed hard and willed myself not to blush as I took him in. He was wearing a pair of baggy basketball shorts that hung low on his hips. His chest was bare, chiselled, and drool worthy. Well aware of the fact that I was staring longingly at him, I forced myself to look away. Unfortunately, I chose to look directly at AJ who shot me a knowing smirk.

“Bri, put a shirt on. There are ladies present.” AJ quipped as he strolled past him into the room.

“Of course ... where are my manners?” Brian laughed, giving me a flirtatious grin as he snatched a t-shirt from the back of the couch. He hesitated slightly before pulling the garment over his head and he gave me another wicked smile when he was sure that nobody else was looking.

“I saw you staring at me.” Brian whispered once everyone else had migrated over towards the seating area.

“I wasn’t staring.” I whispered back, blatantly lying through my teeth.

“You’re cute when you lie.” He countered, pushing a wayward piece of hair off of my forehead.

“Dad!” Baylee’s voice cut through our moment. “I’m hungry!”

“We’ll order room service.” Brian sighed as I walked away from him and sat down on the nearest couch. “Everyone pick what you want.”

While the others began devouring the room service menu, I absently pulled my phone out of my pocket. I hadn’t looked at it since we had all inadvertently fallen asleep yesterday evening. The blinking light immediately filled me with dread. We were going to have to discuss the latest round of pictures sooner rather than later. I pushed the little, round button and the screen immediately sprang to life. I had ten missed calls and two voicemail messages. One of the calls was from Greg and the other nine were from Hannah. I immediately dialled into my voicemail and waited anxiously for the first message to begin.

“Amy ... Greg here. Listen, I’ve just gotten off the line with Sacramento. The guys over there have some news for the group, but Hannah insisted that I call you and give you the news myself. Tell that Brian guy that he’s damn lucky. Whoever worked on those photos has talent! In two of them, everything lined up. The pixels were a good match and the quality was the same. I was thinking that I was going to have to call Eddie and Cass and tell them that they were dealing with a legit crisis. If whoever is behind this hadn’t released the third picture, I never would have caught it. Anyways, Hannah is telling me to cut to the chase. Straight up ... the pictures have been faked. Well, your buddy’s junk is definitely the real deal, but the girl he’s banging has been Photoshopped in. It turns out that her image was lifted off of some obscure amateur porn site. The logo for the site was still partially visible in the third image. There were only a couple of pixels left and most people would have missed it, but that’s why they pay me the big bucks, I guess. Also, her body was just a little bit too awkwardly positioned for my liking ... that’s what really tipped me off. Shit! Now Hannah’s telling me to wrap this up. So, long story short, all three pictures are a scam. I’ve already left messages for Eddie and Cass. I’m assuming that Cass will talk to the guys tomorrow about a press release. Tell Brian that he owes me a beer! We’ll talk soon.”

I slowly lowered the phone from my ear as Hannah’s message began playing. I had completely stopped listening and was staring at my phone in disbelief. I quickly disconnected from my voicemail and checked the time of Greg’s call: 11:45 P.M. I wondered if Eddie or Cass had checked their messages yet. Based on the fact that neither one of them had attempted to wake any of us up, I figured that I was the first one to find out about this critical piece of information.

“Amy? Are you okay?” Lauren’s voice distracted me from my thoughts.

“We need to get Howie.” I said. I could feel the smile growing on my face. “You all need to hear this message together.”

“I’ll get him!” Baylee shouted, springing off of the couch and running towards the door. “Dad, order me pancakes!” He added as he propped the door open and hurried off into the hallway.

“Why the hell does he have so much energy?” Brian mused, shaking his head. “He usually fights with me if I even so much as attempt to get him out of bed before nine.”

“He did sleep for like seventeen hours straight.” Lauren pointed out. “He fell asleep well before the rest of us did last night.”

A few minutes later, the door to the room banged closed and Baylee reappeared, dragging a very groggy looking Howie by the hand.

“He was still sleeping.” Baylee informed the rest of us as he flung himself down on the couch next to Nick and Lauren. He grabbed Brian’s iPad off of the end table and promptly covered his ears with a pair of headphones. Seconds later, muffled explosions could be heard as he immersed himself in The Avengers.

Howie blinked several times before sitting down on the available seat next to me. “I want to ask what’s going on, but I’m scared of the answer.” He mumbled. He yanked at the bottom of his baggy sweatpants that were dragging on the floor and attempted to smooth some of the wrinkles out of his t-shirt. “Baylee said that I had to come right away. He didn’t even let me brush my teeth.”

“Amy has a phone message that she wants us all to listen to.” Kevin informed him.

“Well, let’s hear it then.” Howie said, stifling a yawn. “I’m awake now ... kind of.”

I stole a quick glance at Baylee to make sure that he was still engrossed in the movie, before I placed my phone on the coffee table. I didn’t think that the message was appropriate for a ten year old. Calling up the voicemail system, I placed the phone on speaker and waited for the message to begin. Once Greg’s voice started to come through the speakers, everyone leaned forward to listen.

“Straight up ... the pictures have been faked. Well, your buddy’s junk is definitely the real deal, but the girl that he’s banging has been photoshopped in.”

“Oh my God ...” Lauren breathed, but Nick immediately shushed her.

“It turns out that her image was lifted off of some obscure amateur porn site. The logo for the site was still partially visible in the third image ...”

“Amateur porn?!” Brian cried, his eyes darting worriedly in Baylee’s direction. There was no need to worry, as Baylee was laughing away at whatever was happening on the screen; completely obviously to what was going on around him.

“So, long story short, all three pictures are a scam. I’ve already left messages for Eddie and Cass. I’m assuming that Cass will talk to the guys tomorrow about a press release. Tell Brian that he owes me a beer! We’ll talk soon.”

The message from Greg came to an end and Hannah’s voice began screeching through the speakers: “Amy!! Why are you not picking up your phone? If you’re listening to this, I’m assuming you’ve just heard Greg’s message. Isn’t that fantastic news? Now you can go ahead and fuc...”

“This one’s personal!” I cried, launching myself at the coffee table and grabbing my phone to take it off of speaker. “There’s no need for everyone to listen to it!”

“Riiiiight.” Kevin drawled, raising one of his bushy eyebrows in amusement.

“I can’t believe it.” Brian whispered; a slow smile beginning to stretch across his face. “He did it. I’m going to buy that guy a whole fucking case of beer! Hell, I’m going to buy him a bar. Maybe even two!”

“God, Brian, I’m so sorry!” Lauren exclaimed. She sprung off of the couch and flung herself, without warning, into his chest.

“Huh? You’re sorry? For what?” Brian asked. Caught off guard, he stumbled slightly under Lauren’s weight before returning her embrace.

“I thought that you were full of shit when you were denying it.” Lauren explained. “You should have heard the crap that I was saying to Nick. I feel awful! I’ve been a truly horrible friend.”

“It’s all right.” Brian soothed. “It wasn’t looking so good for me ...”

“It’s not okay!” Lauren shook her head. “Nick didn’t waver the whole time. Even when the second set of pictures came out, he stood by you. He refused to even entertain the idea that you could have cheated on your wife.”

“Really?” Brian asked, gently releasing Lauren and turning to face Nick.

“I’ve grown up with you.” Nick shrugged. “I know there have been times when we haven’t seen eye to eye, especially where Leighanne is concerned, but I just knew.”

“Well ...” Brian began. He stopped to clear his throat, which had suddenly become rather scratchy. “ ...you won’t have to worry about Leighanne causing any more issues with our friendship.” He cast a quick glance at his son to make sure that Baylee still wasn’t paying us any attention before he continued. “I had her served with divorce papers last night.”

The six of us stared at Brian in silence until Lauren wrapped her arms back around him in a tight hug.

“I’m sorry.” She offered.

“Don’t be.” Brian said, gently rubbing her back. “It was a long time coming.”

“Dad?” Baylee interrupted. He removed his headphones and jabbed at the screen in order to pause the movie. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Bay.” Brian replied as he released Lauren for the second time.

“Then why does Lauren keep hugging you?” Baylee questioned, suspicion darkening his young eyes.

“I felt like he needed a hug.” Lauren supplied. “You look like you need a hug too!” She added, hurrying over to the couch and wrapping her toned arms around him in a fierce embrace.

“Thanks ...” Baylee trailed off. He looked to Nick for an explanation as Lauren continued to smother his face in her chest.

“Girls are weird sometimes.” Nick noted, giving Lauren a quick wink.

“I think he’s good now.” Brian laughed, subtly alluding to the fact that his son’s face was firmly pressed into Lauren’s rather well-endowed chest.

“I could always use a hug.” AJ grinned suggestively as he spread his arms wide and motioned for Lauren to fill them.

“You have problems.” Lauren shot back, releasing her grip on Baylee and blushing furiously.

“He’s just jealous.” Baylee piped in, smirking at AJ.

AJ’s mouth dropped open ever so slightly at Baylee’s comeback. He dropped his arms at his sides, and I could tell that he was fighting the urge to roar with laughter.

“Baylee! That’s not appropriate!” Brian scolded, his face matching Lauren’s shade of red in embarrassment.

I could feel Howie shaking with silent laughter beside me, and I heard myself make a suitably unattractive snorting noise as I tried to hold in my own amusement. Shockingly, it was Kevin who cracked first. He burst out laughing and began shaking his head in dismay.

“We really need to start watching what we say around the kids.” Kevin snickered. “The last thing I need is for Mason to start picking it up, too.”

The laughter eventually died down and we all returned to the task of selecting breakfast. As Nick phoned in the order, Howie gently cleared his throat and turned to face Brian.

“I hate to be the one to ask this ...” he began. He ensured that Baylee’s headphones were, once again, firmly in place before continuing.

“Obviously I’m thrilled that the pictures are a fake.” He started again. “I’m glad that Greg was able to determine that the girl is some sort of ... actress ... but he never did mention where the image of you came from, even though he seemed pretty confident that it was your ... stuff”

“It’s me. All of me.” Brian said. His face was flaming as he confirmed what he had told me the day before. “Believe me; I’ve been trying to figure it out ever since I saw the first picture. I honestly have no idea how someone could have ever seen me ...”

“You and the missus never took some photos or, you know, made a tape?” AJ prodded.

“No!” Brian exclaimed. He once again shot a nervous glance at his son. “We never did anything like that!”

“Are you sure?” Howie asked, gently. “You were on the road a lot in the beginning. There’s no shame in taking a few pictures.”

Brian shook his head. “She asked, but I couldn’t do it. It would have been so awkward.”

“Probably not as awkward as this conversation.” Lauren mumbled. She firmly clapped a hand over her mouth as soon as she realized that she had spoken her feelings aloud. “Sorry!”

“I don’t know what to say.” Brian moaned, dragging both of his hands down his face. “This is so embarrassing! There are pictures of me ... exposed ... on the Internet ...”

“I really thought that honour would have belonged to me.” AJ snorted. “Thanks for taking one for the team, Bri.”

Brian shook his head in exasperation, but I could detect the hint of a smile playing on his lips. Although I agreed with Lauren about the fact that the conversation was highly awkward, I wanted to know where the images had come from just as much as everyone else. I was also still trying to process the implications of Brian serving Leighanne with divorce papers. We needed some time to talk, alone.

“Seriously though ...” Howie said, turning the conversation back into a serious one. “There’s really only one person who would have had the opportunity to see you like that.”

“There will be hell to pay if she has anything to do with this.” Nick interjected. He had finished ordering breakfast and had returned to the conversation just in time to hear Howie’s comment.

“What are you gonna do Nick?” Brian asked, giving his friend a hard stare. “The damage has been done.”

“I’m so nervous for him.” Lauren whispered as the guys got ready to take their positions on the set. “Thank God this isn’t filmed in front of an audience.”

“I can’t believe that Cass managed to book the show in such short notice.” I whispered back, darting a quick glance at Brian. Our eyes locked as he fumbled nervously with the top buttons on his black dress shirt. “I think he’s nervous for himself.” I added, standing up and walking over to where Brian and the rest of the guys were waiting.

“Is it horrible that I don’t want to do this?” Brian asked as I approached.

“Here.” I said, ignoring his question. “Let me do that.” I continued, gently pulling his trembling hands away from his buttons. I swiftly buttoned his shirt and patted the front of his collar into place. “It will be fine.”

“Thanks.” Brian sighed. He hesitated slightly before pulling me against him in a tight hug.

“You guys ready?” Rick Campanelli’s voice boomed as he arrived on the set.

Brian pulled away from me somewhat reluctantly at the sound of Rick’s voice. His shaking hands rested momentarily on my waist before he released me completely. I gave his arms a quick squeeze before hurrying to re-join Lauren behind the camera crew.

“What was that?” she hissed, as I reclaimed my spot beside her.

“Nothing.” I shrugged. “I gave the guy a hug.”

“It looked very intimate.” Lauren prodded. She kept her voice to a hushed whisper as the guys greeted Rick and situated themselves on the couches.

I rolled my eyes and pulled my phone from my pocket. I quickly composed a Tweet and hit 'post' as the director yelled for quiet.

@AmyCtrl
Want to know the truth? Watch @backstreetboys live on ET Canada RIGHT NOW!

Forcing what I hoped was a neutral expression onto my face; I turned my attention to Rick as he began to introduce the guys. The introductions were followed by a few minutes of friendly banter, and then Rick cut straight to the chase.

“So, the reason you’re all here is to discuss something rather serious. I understand that you had to cancel the show here in Toronto last night.”

“Yeah, we decided to postpone the show on rather short notice ...” Kevin said as he launched into a full explanation about the rescheduled date and the refund process.

As Kevin spoke, my eyes wandered to Brian. He was sitting in the middle of Nick and his cousin with his gaze locked on the floor. His right leg was shaking noticeably, and Nick gently reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. Brian lifted his gaze from the studio floor and shot Nick an appreciative look just as Rick began to direct the questions towards him.

“Brian, I have to admit that I was shocked to see some questionable pictures of you surface this week.” Rick began. “I’ve known you since the beginning ... since Backstreet’s Back ... yeah, I was definitely shocked.”

“You and me both.” Brian spoke with a noticeable tremor in his voice. “Obviously, it has since been discovered that those pictures were digitally altered.”

“Altered?” Rick encouraged. “You mean that it’s not you?”

“No, it’s me.” Brian replied, wiping his sweaty palms on the legs of his jeans as he spoke.

“What is he doing?!” Cassandra half-whispered and half-shouted in frustration. I could hear her frantically flipping through the pages on her clipboard as Brian continued to talk.

“He was supposed to deflect any questions related to him actually being in the pictures. He was just supposed to talk about the stupid alterations.” Cassandra moaned. “I’m going to murder him!”

“It is you?” Rick asked rather incredulously. He began rifling through the cue cards in his hands as he darted a quick look at the producer. The mousey brunette gestured wildly for him to keep going.

“Yes.” Brian continued. “It’s me. Whoever is behind the pictures took a real image of me and combined it with footage from a pornographic website.”

“I see.” Rick stuttered. “So, you’re saying that you don’t know the girl in the picture and that you’ve never cheated on your wife?”

Brian winced slightly at the use of the term ‘wife’ before continuing. “I’ve never been unfaithful to Leighanne.”

“And you don’t know who has manipulated these images or how they got access to naked pictures of you?” Rick ploughed on.

“That’s right.” Brian acknowledged. “Whoever is responsible for this somehow managed to get their hands on pictures of me in a very private situation. It’s mortifying, to say the least.”

“What have the fans been saying? I’m sure that there are a lot of women out there enjoying certain aspects of those pictures.” Rick teased.

“I think the most important thing to take away from this conversation is that the pictures are fake.” Nick jumped in as he sensed his friend’s growing discomfort. “Brain never cheated on his wi ... on Leighanne.” He corrected.

“I’m sure that this whole situation has been difficult for her as well.” Rick prodded. “How has she been coping with the rumours?”

“We’ve separated actually.” Brian deadpanned.

Kevin visibly cringed as Brian delivered that piece of news. Cassandra had explicitly told him not to mention the fact that he had filed for divorce before they went on the air, and I could hear her gasp as soon as the words were out of his mouth.

“You’ve separated?” Rick repeated.

“The divorce process is in the beginning stages.” Brian supplied. “She’ll always be the mother of my son, but it’s time for us to go our separate ways.”

“Was this her idea? Did this scandal have anything to do with it?” Rick pressed.

“It was my idea.” Brian said as the confidence began to re-enter his voice. “I asked for the divorce.”

Kevin’s face reddened in frustration as Brian continued to speak. I knew that he was worried about the inevitable negative reaction from the press and the fans, and I could see him jabbing his cousin in the ribs in an attempt to get him to be quiet.

“This is obviously a very difficult time for Brian and Leighanne.” AJ interrupted, taking notice of Kevin’s behaviour. “As you know, Brian’s usually a pretty private guy, but he wanted to make sure that the rumours didn’t get out of hand.”

“I just wanted to make sure that there wasn’t any confusion.” Brain added pointedly.

“Of course…” Rick trailed off as the producer began sending him the signal to wrap things up. “Well, hopefully the next time that you’re here in the studio we’ll have something happier to talk about. Congratulations on the new album! I know the Toronto fans are looking forward to the re-scheduled show.”

The guys said their goodbyes and forced smiles onto their faces until the cameras stopped rolling. As soon as the ‘On Air’ light switched off, Kevin directed his frustration at Brian.

“What part of Cassandra’s explicit instructions did you not understand?” Kevin growled. “You do realize that the media is going to have a field day with your divorce announcement?”

“Exactly!” Brian shot back. “They’re going to have a field day with MY announcement. What did you want me to do, Kev? Wait for Leighanne to tell the world that we’re getting divorced? You know how she would spin it. She would make me look like a shitty husband and an even shittier father! Then what would happen, huh? We’d be fielding even more negative press.”

“This wasn’t the right time.” Kevin retorted. “You’d already confirmed that people have been looking at your dick … which you weren’t supposed to do either.”

“Come off it, Kev! I’m tired of being told what I can and can’t say!” Brian exploded. He stood up from the couch and stared angrily down at his cousin. “I can say what I want about my own life!”

“Obviously, you can’t say whatever you feel like saying!” Kevin challenged. He followed Brian’s lead and stood up so that now he was the one who was staring down at his cousin. “We hire professionals to protect us from ourselves. When they tell you not to say something, you’re supposed to listen to them!”

“I’ve been listening to the people we hire tell me what to do since I was eighteen years old. I’m thirty-eight now, Kevin. I think that I’ve earned the right to say whatever I want, when I want.” Brian seethed. “It’s my life that’s a disaster right now, not yours! If I want to be the one to tell the world that my marriage has gone to shit than so be it!”

“Come on fellas, let’s take a step back.” AJ interjected, gently placing his hand on Brian’s forearm. “The words have been said. There ain’t no taking them back at this point.”

“I know that there’s no taking them back. That’s the problem.” Kevin fumed.

“So what!?” Nick cried, springing to Brian’s defence. “Do you think Leighanne would even think twice about slamming Brian to the press if she had the chance? At least this way Brian’s made the announcement. He’s told everyone straight up that HE’s filed for divorce.”

“For God’s sake, Nick! Stop butting in where you don’t belong!” Kevin shouted. “You should know what it feels like to be the victim of bad press. You know as much as I do that Brian has just made things worse for himself … for all of us!”

“I DO know what it feels like!” Nick yelled. “I also know what it feels like to lose the support of someone you’ve known for practically your whole life. Kev, you shut me out when I made bad choices and my life fell apart. Don’t do the same thing to Brian.”

Kevin’s expression faltered slightly at Nick’s words, but he stood his ground. “I mean it, Brian. You should have waited until the divorce was finalized. Hell, you should have at least waited until you had spoken to Leighanne before announcing your separation on national TV.”

“I’m with Nick on this one.” AJ stepped in. “It was Brian’s announcement to make.” He turned to Brian as he continued; his voice softening as he spoke. “Bri, you were always one of the first people to stick up for me when I had my issues. You’ve dealt with all of shit that I’ve caused this group, so it’s only fair that I deal with yours. Although, I have to say that this doesn’t even come close to some of the crap that I’ve said and done on live TV.”

“Howie, do you want to weigh in on this too? Kevin asked. “Everyone else seems to have an opinion.”

The rest of the guys turned their attention to Howie who was still sitting silently on one of the couches. Rick, the producer, and the camera crew had all made a hasty, silent exit once Brian and Kevin had started shouting at each other. It was a good thing that the guys’ segment had been the only one that was being shot in the studio.

I dared a quick glance behind me and saw that Cass and Jason were still huddled together, watching the situation with their mouths slightly agape. Cassandra was clutching her phone and the press release so hard that her knuckles were turning white. She looked furious.

Howie held up his hands and slowly shook his head. “It’s not my fight.”

“You’re a part of this group. You’re going to have to deal with the bullshit just as much as the rest of us. You’re going to have sit there and field questions about Brian and Leighanne when the reporters should be focusing on the new music and the tour.” Kevin snapped.

“It’s still about the music and the tour.” Howie replied, reluctantly standing up and joining the standoff. “Once the novelty wears off, the questions will stop. You’re acting like this is the be all and end all of this tour. We still have a month and a half left of sold-out shows to play.”

“It will be eclipsed by the scandal, just like it always is ...” Kevin trailed off and shot a pointed look at both Nick and AJ.

“Kevin! The fact that I’m getting a divorce doesn’t compare to the issues that they went through!” Brian looked at his cousin as if he had suddenly spurted a second head. “They had addiction problems, rehab ... Nick lost his sister for crying out loud!”

“And you’re involved in some weird online sex scandal! Oh, sorry. I guess it’s only really half of a sex scandal. You’re technically only having sex with yourself, because the girl in the pictures isn’t really there!” Kevin ranted incoherently, his angry voice filling the studio. “Not to mention the fact that you’re divorcing your wife because you’ve been fucking a staff member!” He whipped around to face me as he delivered his final statement.

“What?!” Lauren screeched. Her eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of her head as she turned to stare at me.

I stared back at Kevin; my body frozen in shock. I could hear Cassandra gasp in astonishment and Jason mutter something along the lines of needing a desk job. I couldn’t force myself to speak, so I just stared dumbly ahead and waited for someone else to say something.

“Kev, they’re not sleeping together.” AJ came to our defence when neither Brian nor I uttered a single word.

“You!” Kevin shouted at AJ. “Don’t try to pretend like you haven’t been helping them keep their dirty little secret! I’ve seen the three of you exchanging glances, menacing stares, subtle head shakes. Do you think I’m an idiot?”

“Well you must be an idiot, because there’s nothing going on between me and Amy!” Brian shot back; finally finding his voice.

“Bullshit!” Kevin exploded. The tiny veins in his forehead were becoming more pronounced as he continued to verbally wail on his cousin. “You look me in the face and tell me that you don’t have feelings for Amy!”

“I ... I” Brian stuttered. “I ... I can’t do that.” He admitted as his eyes locked with mine.

I blinked quickly, trying to eliminate the tears that were forming in the corners of my eyes. I couldn’t believe that he had admitted to his feelings in front of everyone. If things hadn’t been so tense, I probably would have pounced on him.

“I knew it.” Kevin grimaced. “Of all the irresponsible things that you’ve done in your life, this one takes the cake. I can’t believe that you had the audacity to cry on Nick’s shoulder and tell us that you’ve never cheated on your wife when you were sleeping around literally right behind our backs.”

“I said that I have feelings for her, I didn’t say that I’ve slept with her!” Brian countered. “I was NEVER unfaithful to Leighanne. NOTHING has happened between me and Amy, aside from me telling her how I felt. Even then ... I mean ... we haven’t actually DONE anything”

“What’s happened to you?” Kevin shook his head in disgust. “Where do you get off trying to justify your behaviour with a technicality? I get it. You’re saying that you and Leighanne are separated; that you have been ever since you served her with the papers. None of that changes the fact that you’re still technically a married man. It doesn’t eliminate the fact that you were thinking about another woman while you were still laying next to your wife.”

I balked visibly at Kevin’s words. I swiped frantically at my face as fat tears began to slide down my cheeks. Everything he was saying was true. Brian and I were treading on dangerous ground.

“I can’t help how I feel, Kev.” Brian said. His voice lost its edge and his eyes softened as he caught sight of me wiping at my tears.

Kevin followed Brian’s gaze and gave me a vicious look. “You should feel guilty.” He spat. “You’re the one who encouraged this behaviour.”

I hiccupped through my tears and silently willed myself to pull it together. As I continued to sniff frantically, Lauren reached out and laced her fingers through mine. She gave my hand a hard squeeze.

“That’s not fair.” Brian argued. “I initiated things between us.”

“Of course you did.” Kevin sighed. “You’re forever the gentleman, right Brian? Even if you hadn’t started this, you would never let Amy take the fall. She’s almost ten years younger than you. Have you thought about that? Have you thought about how the age difference is practically equivalent to the age of your son?”

“For God’s sake, Kevin. That’s petty.” Brian grumbled. “We’re adults. Age is irrelevant.”

“Yeah, because you’ve clearly been behaving like a responsible adult.” Kevin snorted. “I’m going back to the hotel. Unlike you, I feel the need to speak with my wife.”

“You’re leaving?” Brian asked incredulously. “You get all hopped up on your high horse, you question my moral integrity, you make Amy cry, and now you’re leaving?”

“That’s right.” Kevin smirked. “I’ve said my piece. After all, you’re an adult. I’ll leave you to sort things out.”

“What the fuck just happened?” Nick asked, staring after Kevin’s retreating form.

“Let’s talk about this someplace else.” Lauren suggested. She gave me a consoling glance before releasing my hand. “I’m sure that all of ET Canada is going to have a field day with what they’ve just heard. There’s no point in giving them any more gossip.”

“I’m actually going to go and discuss things with the producer.” Cassandra interjected. “She needs to be made aware of the fact that this little shouting match is completely off the record. I highly suggest that the rest of you take this downtime to make sure that you’re all on the same page.”

“I’m really sorry.” Brian mumbled. “I know we’ve just created a lot more work for you ...”

“You don’t know the half of it.” Cassandra griped. Her heels clicked ominously on the floor as she disappeared into the far reaches of the studio.

“I’ll see you guys back at the hotel.” Jason said once Cassandra had disappeared.

He was hurriedly scrolling through something on his iPad as he spoke. Since he was still waiting on a replacement phone, he had been regulated to carrying around the tablet. “The message boards are going crazy with responses to the ET segment. Mostly positive ones.” He added. “Still, there’s some stuff that I need to take down, and I have VIP pictures to upload from the last two shows. I’m gonna hit up a Second Cup and get some work done.”

“We should probably, uhhhhh, talk when you get back.” I mumbled as my tears finally subsided.

“About what? You and the B-man?” Jason laughed. “That’s your business. I have no desire to interject myself into that situation.”

“So, you’re not going to be speaking to Eddie?” I asked, relief flooding through me.

“God no!” Jason cried. “That’s not my place. Although you may want to come up with your own story in case Kevin lets it slip.”

“Thanks.” I smiled. “I really appreciate that.”

“Well, I kinda like having you around.” Jason grinned. “I would have to do a hell of a lot more work if you weren’t here to help.”

After Jason left, the rest of us simply stared at each other for a few seconds before wordlessly shuffling out the door and into the waiting car.

As the car pulled away from the curb, AJ let out a long breath and gave both me and Brian an apologetic smile. “I guess Kevin figured it out after all.”

“I guess.” I mumbled.

I was acutely aware of the fact that Brian had chosen to sit next to me. I almost wished that he hadn’t as I inhaled the fresh scent of his cologne; it was distracting and I desperately needed to process what had just happened. I was so busy wrestling with my feelings, that I barely registered what was happening as he reached out and covered my hand with his own.

“So, this is true then?” Howie asked cautiously as he took note of our intertwined fingers.

“In part, I suppose.” Brian sighed. His grip on my hand tightened ever so slightly as he searched for the right words. “I’ve never physically cheated on Leighanne ... with Amy ... or with anyone else.”

“But there is something going on between you two?” Howie clarified.

“I care for Amy.” Brian explained carefully.

“And you knew about this?” Howie asked as he turned to face AJ. “Why am I always the last one to figure stuff out?”

“I unwillingly became a casual participant.” AJ replied vaguely.

“Voice of reason is a better description.” I interjected.

“Yeah, well I’m glad that at least some of what I said made it through to you guys.” AJ grinned. “Seriously, Brian, have you even spoken to Leighanne? You do know you that you’re gonna be in deep shit over your little divorce announcement?”

“She left me a voicemail this morning ... “Brian trailed off, his thumb lightly grazing my knuckles as he spoke. “I’ve been trying to avoid the inevitable screaming match.”

“A voicemail? Really?” Howie snickered. “I can only imagine.”

“It wasn’t pretty.” Brian agreed. “You guys must have noticed that Leighanne and I were having a rough time. It’s been going on for a while.”

“Of course I noticed.” Nick confirmed. “Given my history where you and Leighanne are concerned, I didn’t want to say anything for fear of making things worse. Then, about a month ago, I realized that you seemed almost happy again. I thought that maybe you guys had worked stuff out, but then you had that huge fight and the pictures showed up ...”

“I wonder what could have happened about a month ago to boost his spirits.” Lauren feigned ignorance and winked suggestively at me. “I can’t believe that you didn’t tell me that you had a thing for Brian.”

“Come to think of it, you guys were pretty flirty when we were in Washington.” Nick interrupted. “Remember? We went to dinner at that little no-name place. I can’t believe that I didn’t clue in back then!”

“You guys were pretty cozy that night.” Lauren agreed. “How the hell did I not see that? It seems so obvious now.”

“There was nothing going on that night.” I said. “There’s still not anything officially going on now. Did you guys not catch that?” I looked at Brian for confirmation.

Brian grinned; a legitimately boyish grin that reached all the way to his eyes. “I will admit to flirting with you a little bit that night.”

I could feel a blush spreading quickly up my neck as I responded. “I suppose I was flirting with you a little bit too. Although, I felt horribly guilty about it afterwards.”

“I knew it was wrong.” Brian admitted. “I can’t say that I felt guilty though.”

“Just for the record, I told you two to cool it.” AJ mumbled. “I think someone needs to point that out to Kev because he’s hella pissed at the moment.”

“He’s not pissed at you.” Brian replied, the smile quickly disappearing from his face. “You know how Kevin can be. He feels like he needs to protect us all from ourselves. He still sees himself as the big brother.”

“Regardless of how he sees himself, he crossed the line back there.” Howie affirmed. “Brian, I can’t honestly say that I agree with how you’ve handled this whole situation with Leighanne, or with Amy for that matter. I realize that it’s your life, but I think that Kevin made some valid points. He just presented them poorly.”

I could feel Brian tense as he digested Howie’s words. I found myself subconsciously holding my breath as I waited for him to respond. The last thing that anybody wanted was another fight.

“I agree that I should have waited to tell Amy how I felt.” Brian finally acknowledged. “But I didn’t, and I’m happy that I didn’t.”

“What can I say to that?” Howie sighed. “I’m not going to sit here and preach to you about trying to save a marriage that was obviously making you miserable.”

“And don’t worry about the impending media circus.” Nick added. “I’ll be standing right there with you, just like you were always standing there next to me.”

“Thanks, Nick.” Brian gave him a grateful smile. “That means a lot. I know you and I have gone through some tough shit these last few years; partially due to Leighanne and partially due to my ridiculous behaviour. I still feel horrible about having my face censored out of your show.”

“That was a long time ago.” Nick shrugged. “I still feel like an ass for even participating in that ridiculous show. You were there when I needed you the most and that’s all that matters.”

“The media won’t even be as bad as Kevin thinks it will. All you’ve announced is that you’re getting divorced. Big deal! Couples call it quits every other day.” AJ pointed out. “No one outside of our little group needs to know that you and Amy have a little something-something going on.”

“So what’s the plan?” Nick asked as we once again hurried through the lobby of the Park Hyatt and into the waiting elevator.

“In other words, who’s going to be the one to call Kevin out about his hissy fit?” AJ laughed.

“I think that we should let him stew for a bit.” Brian suggested. “I have to rescue John, anyway. I’m sure that Baylee has been driving him crazy. We were supposed to be back almost two hours ago.”

“Yeah. I bet Baylee has been kicking his ass in Tomb Raider for the past five hours.” Nick grumbled. “I don’t know how that kid got to be so good.”

Our casual banter subsided as the elevator doors slid open. The sound of Baylee’s frantic voice invaded the small space, and I immediately felt my heart drop into my stomach.

“I’m not leaving until dad gets back!”

AJ sighed. “Guess who’s here?”

“Dad!” Baylee cried, catching sight of Brian as he and the rest of us stepped out of the elevator. He ran full speed down the hallway and flung himself into Brian’s arms. “Mom is saying that we’re going to another hotel and that you’re not coming with us.”

“Sorry.” John apologized as he followed Baylee down the hallway. “She just showed up and announced that she wanted to take him with her. I didn’t think that I could say ‘no’.”

Brian quickly embraced his son and knelt down to his level. “You’re not going anywhere until mom and I discuss it.” He said. The anger was seeping noticeably into his voice as he struggled to maintain his composure for Baylee’s sake. “How about you go with Lauren and Nick while mom and I talk, okay?”

Baylee glanced back at Leighanne before turning cautiously towards the rest of us. Lauren swiftly held out her hand and offered Baylee a warm smile. “We can kick Nick’s butt in Need for Speed again.” She suggested.

“Okay.” He shrugged, accepting Lauren’s outstretched hand.

“Baylee!” Leighanne yelled. “You’re leaving with me ... now!”

“But dad just said ...” Baylee stopped mid-sentence as he took in his mother’s angry stare. He quickly dropped his eyes to the ground and I could see his fingers close more tightly around Lauren’s hand.

“I think that we need to discuss things first.” Brian said. He returned to a standing position in order to address Leighanne, who was now closing the distance between them with long, rapid strides.

“Do you want to discuss it in the same way that we discussed these?” Leighanne berated, waving a sheaf of what I assumed were divorce papers in Brian’s face. “Or would you like to discuss it in the same way that we discussed your announcement on ET Canada?”

“You gave me no choice.” Brian stated, keeping his voice even.

“You had no choice?” Leighanne repeated. Her face was now only inches from his. “You had no choice but to serve me with divorce papers? Do you know how embarrassing that was for me?”

“Embarrassing?” Brian asked in disbelief. “I’m glad that you didn’t find it devastating to learn that our marriage is over.”

“Come off it, Brian! Our marriage isn’t over!” Leighanne cried. “You’re not going to go through with this!”

“I’ve already gone through with it.” Brian said. His voice was still surprisingly calm. “I mean it, Leighanne. I’m not going to change my mind.”

“You’re not?” Leighanne challenged. “You think those pictures were bad? I can make things a hell of a lot worse for you. I’ve only just gotten started.”

“What do you mean?” Brian asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Are you saying that you had something to do with those pictures?”

“I knew that you were thinking of doing this.” Leighanne ignored him. She waved the papers in his face a second time for emphasis. “I couldn’t let you make me look like the bad guy.”

“Leighanne, what have you done?” Brian demanded; his voice beginning to shake ever-so-slightly.

“I planted doubt in everyone’s mind.” Leighanne spat. “It’s unfortunate that someone saw through all of my hard work. My goal was to make you look like a cheating bastard”

“You made those pictures?” Brian asked. The colour drained from his face as the realization overtook him. “I don’t understand. How did you manage to get ...?”

“God, Brian. You’re such a prude.” Leighanne sneered. “I taped you in secret. I taped us; more than once.”

“You what?” Brian was clearly trying to wrap his head around Leighanne’s admission. “Why would you do that?”

“I couldn’t very well release the tape as it was.” Leighanne ploughed on as she continued to ignore Brian’s questions. “I had myself taken out and that little slut from the website put in.”

“But ... but ... everyone now knows that the images were faked.” Brian stammered. “They know that I wasn’t really with another girl.”

“Maybe those ones were.” Leighanne shrugged, confidence oozing out of her as she took in Brian’s weakening defences. “Who knows about the next ones?”

“You don’t have any more. Even if you did have more, people would automatically assume that they’re a fake” Brian called her bluff.

“Don’t I?” Leighanne challenged. “I’ve exposed you ... in more ways than one. I’ve made the world think that there’s a chance that you’re a liar and a cheater. All it takes is a little bit of doubt for a judge to decide that you’re responsible for the disintegration of this marriage. Hell, no judge in their right mind is going to take the word of a man whose dick pops up in a Google search. Do you know what all of this means, Brian?”

Brian swallowed hard, but Leighanne didn’t give him the opportunity to speak.

“It means that I will take it all. I will take your money, I will take your career, and I will take your son.” She whispered devilishly. “So you might want to think twice about trying to get rid of me.”

“You can take everything I earn, everything I have.” Brian shot back. “But I will fight you tooth and nail for Baylee.”

“You can fight all you want” Leighanne laughed. “There’s no prenup. Remember? You were too much of a southern gentleman to ask me to sign one. You can’t stop me from winning, just like you can’t stop me from taking Baylee with me right now.”

“He’s not going with you.” Brian stated.

He darted a pained look at Baylee who was still holding tight to Lauren’s hand. He was staring at his parents in shock and confusion with silent tears running down his face.

The rest of us all had similar looks on our faces, minus the tears. No one had moved or uttered a sound since we had exited the elevator. I knew that it was wrong; that we should have left Leighanne and Brian to fight in private. It was like a car crash in the sense that none of us could bring ourselves to turn away from the carnage.

“Try to stop me.” Leighanne smirked. “Let’s go, Baylee.” She held out her hand to the boy and waited.

Baylee quickly shifted his eyes back and forth between his parents. He was clearly conflicted, and my heart went out to him. Leighanne was out of her mind to make him choose.

“I said, let’s go.” Leighanne demanded. “Your father doesn’t deserve to have you stay with him.”

“I hate it when you fight.” Baylee hiccupped. “I want to stay here with both of you.”

“That’s not possible, so stop crying and come here!” Leighanne barked, waving her outstretched hand. “I don’t have time to wait for you to stop being a baby.”

Baylee gave Brian one last tearful glance before letting go of Lauren’s hand and taking hold of Leighanne’s. He frantically swiped at his tears and attempted to hold in his sobs.

As Leighanne jabbed at the down arrow next to the elevator, Nick stepped forward and placed his hand protectively on Baylee’s small shoulder. “There’s no shame in the fact that he’s upset. You don’t deserve to take him with you.”

“What are you going to do?” Leighanne hissed. “I’m his mother. He belongs with me. If you want to help, try to talk some sense into your best friend. It won’t be just Brian’s career that comes to an end if he makes the wrong choice.”

Nick glared down at Leighanne; the hatred burning in his eyes as he struggled to hold back his words.

“It’s okay, Nick.” Brian whispered. “Baylee, you should go with your mom tonight.”

Leighanne smirked in satisfaction as the elevator doors slid open.

“He’s supposed to perform with us tomorrow night in Ottawa.” Brian said. “Are you going to bring him to the venue?” The panic was written all over his face as he waited for Leighanne to respond.

“I’ll make sure that he’s at the show tomorrow night.” Leighanne answered simply as she pulled Baylee into the elevator. “Think about what I’ve said.”

The elevator doors closed with a soft thud. Leighanne’s final threat hung in the air as we all remained rooted to the spot. I didn’t dare look at Brian or anyone else, so I kept my eyes glued firmly to Howie’s shoes. I could hear Nick breathing heavily beside me as I focused on a small scuff mark in the leather.

“I think ... I think that I need to sit.” Brian stammered. He took a few steps backwards until his back was against the wall. He slid slowly down the wall until he was sitting on the hallway floor.

I pulled my eyes away from Howie’s feet and watched Brian draw a shaky breath as he leaned his head back against the overpriced wallpaper. His chest began to rise and fall in rapid succession and a pained look crossed his face.

Without a word, Nick crossed the hallway and sank down next to Brian. He drew his knees up to his chest and placed his arm around the older man’s shoulders.

Following Nick’s lead, I lowered myself to the ground on the other side of Brian and reached for his hand. As our fingers intertwined, he pulled his head away from the wall and gave both Nick and I an appreciative glance. I returned the look as AJ, Lauren and Howie wordlessly joined us on the floor. We sat in silence as Brian’s breathing slowly returned to normal; none of us knowing how to begin.

“I think this is the worst VIP in Backstreet history.” Jason grumbled as he counted out another group of five girls.

“Thank God that it’s almost over.” I agreed.

I watched numbly as the guys tried their best to smile and interact with the remaining fans. Despite Q and John’s attempts to keep things under control, girls had been probing Brian for information about the pictures and his divorce announcement. For the most part, the comments had been ones of concern and condolence. Of course, there had also been a handful of spiteful, biting remarks that had made Brian visibly cringe. At one point, I had actually feared that Nick was going to punch a woman in the face for making a particularly nasty comment.

All of this was compounded by the fact that Leighanne had yet to arrive with Baylee. During sound check, I had caught Brian anxiously glancing backstage every ten seconds. He was so distracted that he had actually sung the wrong verse during the beginning of Quit Playing Games. Fortunately, the guys had managed to laugh it off and the crowd had loved it. To top it all off, Kevin was still royally pissed off over the ET Canada incident. He had hardly uttered a single word to anyone during the four and a half hour drive to Ottawa, and he had maintained a steely demeanour during both sound check and the meet and greet.

“Any sign of Leighanne yet?” Jason whispered as the last of the fans were ushered away by security. “The kid is supposed to be on stage in like fifteen minutes.”

“I haven’t seen her.” I sighed. “If she doesn’t show up, I don’t know how Brian is going to be able to perform.”

We gathered up the extra VIP passes and shuffled our paperwork together before trudging across the stage. I had been hoping to speak to Brian, but Q still had all of the guys huddled together in their customary pre-show debriefing.

“Speak of the devil.” Jason muttered, nodding slightly to his left as we ducked behind the risers that were positioned on the back of the stage.

I turned and saw Leighanne walking briskly towards us. Her heels clicked ominously on the floor and poor Baylee was struggling to keep up. A wave of relief washed over me as I thought about how happy Brian would be to see his son. I didn’t think that I had ever been happier to see Leighanne’s scowling face as I was at that particular moment.

“Where is he?” She asked curtly, coming to a stop in front of me and Jason.

“I’m right here.” Brian acknowledged as he stepped up behind us. “You’re cutting it a bit close. He’s on in less than fifteen minutes.”

“I said that I would bring him to the show and I brought him.” Leighanne shrugged.

Brian opened his mouth to respond, but he stopped as Baylee ran over and flung his arms around his waist.

“I missed you.” He said, holding tight to his father.

I saw the tears well in Brian’s eyes as he bent down to hold his son. “I missed you too, Bay.”

“He can stay with you tonight.” Leighanne said, narrowing her eyes at the exchange between father and son. “I have things to do for Wylee.”

“Bay, why don’t you go and find Tommy. He’ll help you with your earpiece.” Brian suggested. He reluctantly released the tight hold that he had on his son and ushered him towards the side of the stage.

He waited until Baylee had disappeared from sight before he turned to Leighanne. “The trailer? I didn’t know that was still continuing ... given the situation.” Brian said evenly.

“Of course the trailer is here. I have orders to deliver. It’s MY business, Brian.” Leighanne reproached.

“That’s tied to my career and my financing.” Brian shot back. “We’re going to have to set some things straight.”

“Right ... your career ...” Leighanne smirked. “Have you given any more thought to what I said last night?”

“It’s all I’ve thought about.” Brian responded. “My answer is the same. I’m going through with the divorce.”

“I see.” Leighanne nodded. She took a few steps forward to close the space between them. “Are you sure? Think of everything that you’re going to be giving up.” She insinuated, pushing her chest forward and giving him a sultry look.

Brian kept his eyes locked on her face. His expression didn’t waver, even as she placed her hands on his waist and pressed her body against his.

“I know what you like, remember?” She murmured, planting a heady kiss on his lips and slowly running her hand down the front of his pants.

Jason gave me a mortified look as we both turned away. I felt my stomach flip in anger and jealousy. The thought of Brian being with anyone else, especially his soon-to-be ex-wife, made me want to vomit.

To his credit, Brian pulled away immediately and caught her hand before it reached its destination. “Stop embarrassing yourself.” He hissed. “You know as well as I do that there’s been nothing between us for a long time. How long has it been? Six months, maybe more?”

Leighanne stepped back at the harshness of his words. The anger immediately returned to her eyes as she realized that her actions had backfired. “You’ll regret this.” She promised before turning on her heel and stalking away.

“Brian?” Howie’s voice interrupted. “Baylee is all ready to go. Do you want to go out and introduce him, or do you want me to do it?”

“I can do it.” Brian replied, shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts.

“I don’t mind.” Howie encouraged, taking in Brian’s rather tortured expression.

“If you don’t mind, I guess that’s okay.” Brian approved as his gaze fell on me. “Thanks.”

“Of course.” Howie said before hurrying off.

“I’m gonna give you two a minute.” Jason mumbled. He quickly took the papers from my hands and gave me a knowing wink as he walked away.

“So, that was really awkward.” Brian mumbled. “I’m sorry. I had no idea that she would ...”

“It was hard to watch.” I admitted.

“Did it make you jealous?” Brian asked. He glanced around to make sure that we were truly alone before taking a step closer. A soft smile appeared on his face as he waited for me to respond.

“No ... a little ... yes.” I conceded as I allowed him to pull me close. “Has it really been that long?”

“At least. Probably longer.” He sighed.

“You must be gagging for it.” I teased, running my hands along his arms.

“Well ... I ...” Brian stammered.

His eyes widened as my hands began to play along the waistband of his jeans. He looked around frantically to reconfirm that no one was around as my hands dropped even lower. I grazed him lightly, teasingly before bringing my hands back up to his chest.

“What are you doing?” He whispered. His expression was one of pained desire as he gazed longingly at me.

I shrugged slightly as I locked my hands around the back of his neck. I could feel his body responding to my teasing and I grinned wildly. I initiated the kiss, but he quickly took over. I stifled a moan as he pressed his body roughly against mine; his tongue urging my lips apart as he deepened the kiss.

In the background, we could hear the song finish and Howie begin to thank the crowd on Baylee’s behalf. Brian groaned in annoyance and reluctantly ended our embrace.

“I have to get ready for the show.” He mumbled more to himself than to me. “Are you working the after party tonight?”

“Jason hasn’t said anything about needing my help.” I replied. I suddenly felt nervous as I followed his train of thought.

“Good.” Brian grinned. “I’ll see you tonight after Baylee is asleep.”

I owned nothing even remotely sexy or seductive. What had I been thinking when I was packing? Clearly, I had packed with the assumption that I would never be entertaining any night-time guests.

A soft knock at the door interrupted my thoughts. I glanced at the clock; it was only a quarter after midnight. There was no way that Baylee could be asleep already, I reassured myself as I took in my appearance in the full-length mirror. I was still wearing the yoga pants and tank top that I had thrown on after my shower. Nothing said romance like work-out gear. The knock sounded again and I hurriedly opened the door to see Brian standing on the other side.

His face stretched into a sinful grin when he saw me. “Hey.”

“Hey.” I repeated. I held the door open for him and prayed to God that he couldn’t see how badly my hands were shaking. “Baylee fell asleep pretty quickly.”

“Yeah. Lauren is actually watching him for me. She bowed out of the after party tonight.”

“That’s nice of her.” I supplied as we both stopped about half way into the room.

I saw him glance quickly at the bed and then back at me. I could feel the colour creeping into my face as he took me in.

“So ...” He whispered, pulling me slowly against him. He kissed me softly, grasping my trembling hands in his. “Where did we leave off?”

I kissed him back while desperately trying to vanquish my nerves. He squeezed my hands tightly before pulling back ever-so-slightly. “Relax.” He whispered. “Show me what you want.”

He released my hands and returned his to my waist, pulling me tighter against him. I felt some of my nerves slip away as I moved my mouth to his neck; kissing him slowly and purposefully. I cautiously slipped my hands under his t-shirt and began lightly tracing his well-defined muscles with my fingers.

He responded instantly; pulling his t-shirt over his head and tugging urgently at the hem of my tank top. I hesitated slightly before pulling it off. His hands were all over me as soon as my top hit the floor, and I subconsciously felt myself suck in my stomach as his fingers travelled lower.

“You look beautiful.” He murmured as he planted a trail of kisses across my collar bone. “Don’t over think it.”

His lips found mine again as he unclasped my bra and slipped it slowly down my arms. Tossing it aside, he pressed against me tightly. I moaned softly as our skin touched; warmth spreading through me.

Encouraged by my reaction, Brian hooked his thumbs into the waistband of my pants and hurriedly pushed them down. I followed his lead and pushed his shorts slowly over his hips. I could feel myself start to tremble again as he forcefully guided me towards the bed.

Breathing hard, he positioned himself over top of me and gazed into my face. His expression was a cross between lust and need, but he hesitated. “Amy, I can ...”

“Don’t over think it.” I grinned. My body arched towards his in expectation and he responded immediately.

He moved with more intensity and speed than I had expected, but I quickly succumbed to his movements; letting him set the pace. It didn’t take him long to send me over the edge and he followed soon after, falling next to me on the bed.

I shifted under the duvet; suddenly very aware that his eyes were on me. He joined me under the covers and gently turned me towards him. He gave me a sheepish smile as our eyes met. “Sorry. I was hoping that our first time would be a bit more ... romantic.”

I grinned and planted a soft kiss on his lips. “It was great.”

He smiled back; that boyish grin that drove me crazy. “I hadn’t realized how much I wanted you.”

“You made that pretty clear once we got started.” I pointed out as I absently ran the tip of my finger across his chest.

“I could make it pretty clear again.” He suggested; his hands roaming urgently over my body.

“You don’t have to get back to Baylee?” I worried as he began to expertly nuzzle my neck.

“Lauren’s there ... he’s sleeping.” Brian replied in-between kisses.

I was so enthralled by his actions that it took me almost a full minute to realize that my phone was ringing.

“Phone.” I muttered as he nibbled gently at my earlobe. “I ... answer.”

“Leave it.” He instructed, beginning a path of kisses down my chest.

“It’s ...” I stopped, gasping as his mouth reached my breasts. “... Lauren’s ring tone.”

By the time I got the words out, the ringing had stopped. I closed my eyes and savoured the feeling of Brian’s movements; the interruption quickly forgotten. That is until Brian’s phone began blaring David Guetta’s ‘Sexy Bitch’ from somewhere within the pile of clothing.

“You’ve got to be kidding.” Brian grumbled. He reluctantly rolled off of me and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before kicking himself out of the covers. “You would think she would have taken the hint when you didn’t answer.”

“Sexy Bitch?” I questioned, raising my eyebrows in amusement. I admired his well-toned body as he hunted around on the floor for his phone.

“Nick’s choice.” He supplied, finally locating his phone. “What? Is Baylee okay?”

I watched as Brian’s face went from annoyed to all out panic stricken in a matter of seconds. “Did you tell him where I was?” Brian asked. He began hastily tossing my clothes at me and motioning for me to put them on.

I quickly did as he instructed while I listened to the rest of the one-sided conversation.

“Figures.” He muttered, gripping the phone with his shoulder as he hurriedly pulled up his boxers and then his shorts. “Stay with Baylee. I’ll be back in a little bit.”

“What’s going on?” I asked as soon as he disconnected the call.

“Kevin.” Brian said, frantically pulling his t-shirt over his head. “Apparently he showed up at my room looking like he wanted to murder someone. He took one look at Lauren and stormed out without saying a word. She’s pretty sure that he’s on his way here.”

“I don’t even think that he knows which room ...” I was interrupted by a vicious knock at the door. “...is mine.”

Taking a quick glance in the mirror, I fluffed my hair a final time before hurrying to open the door. As soon as the latch unlocked, Kevin pushed inside with such force that I actually stumbled backwards. He didn’t even acknowledge me as he marched over to his cousin.

“Have you seen this?”

“Seen what?” Brian asked wearily. “If it’s another picture of my dick poking at some random porn star that Leighanne has somehow doctored, than I really have no interest in looking at it.”

“This time you have pants on.” Kevin stated. “She was nice enough to spare us any more of that kind of humiliation.” He looked menacingly in my direction as he spoke.

“What are you talking about? Who’s she? Leighanne?” Brian rambled, taking the phone from Kevin’s hands.

“What is it?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me. I cautiously edged past Kevin to get a look at the screen.

The page was cued to the Fan Connection area of their official website. I did a double take as I realized that we were looking at the section that contained my official blog posts. A little right facing triangle was planted firmly in the middle of the screen, signifying that there was a video available. Since when had I uploaded a video?

Brian tapped gently on the ‘play’ icon and the screen sprang to life. Kevin’s angry voice blasted through the speakers, and I realized in horror that we were watching their fight from the ET Canada set. My face paled as Brian and I continued to watch the scene that was unfolding on the screen. Thankfully, Brian stopped the video before it could reach the point where Kevin called the two of us out about our actions, but I knew that part was there. I knew that whoever had taped the argument had captured it all.

“Cut the crap, Amy.” Kevin barked, taking in my shocked appearance. “You’re the only one who could have uploaded that video under your account. You might have been playing Brian for a fool, but you can’t ...”

“Kevin!” Brian interrupted. “Amy didn’t upload this video.”

“Are you out of your mind!?” Kevin cried, his massive eyebrows threatening to overtake his forehead. “Did you read the caption? Did you not just see with your own eyes that she’s uploaded that video for that stupid Fan Connection thing? She’s been using you! I’m just not sure for what ...”

“It’s impossible.” Brian stated, glaring at his cousin.

“Look, Brian, I know that you’re all enamoured with her at the moment, but you have to listen to ...” Kevin began, but he was quickly silenced by Brian’s steely gaze.

“This video was uploaded at 12:35 A.M. our time.” Brian explained; his voice even. “Amy was with me. There’s no way that she could have uploaded it.”

“Come on, cuz. Are you sure you didn’t get up, go to the bathroom, and leave her alone for even a minute? It only takes like thirty seconds to upload a video.” Kevin berated.

“Kevin, Amy was WITH me.” Brian patronized as he shot the older man a pointed look.

“I know. You just said that ... oh!” Kevin said, his eyes widening in understanding. “Oh.”

I turned crimson in embarrassment. I wanted nothing more than to magically disappear from sight as Kevin stared at the two of us with a mixture of anger and discomfort.

“I ... I guess ... “ Kevin trailed off as his own face flushed slightly. “Who the fuck posted the video?”

“Nobody else has my account password.” I mumbled. “How did someone even get that situation on tape? Do you think that someone who works for ET filmed it and then sold it?” The questions rolled out of my mouth as I looked helplessly between Kevin and Brian.

“I thought for sure that Amy had posted it.” Kevin mused. “This changes everything. I’m actually going to have to apologize to Nick ...”

“Never mind Nick! I think that you owe Amy an apology first.” Brian stated as he returned Kevin’s phone. “I can’t believe you thought that she would do something like that to me ... to us.”

“What was I supposed to think?” Kevin defended himself. “It was posted under her account!”

Brian gave his cousin a deadly glare and slowly shook his head. “You should have at least given her a chance to explain before you barged in here ready to pounce.”

Kevin closed his eyes and appeared to count to ten in his head. He took a deep breath before opening his eyes and turning to me. “I’m sorry that I accused you.” He said evenly. “I’m also sorry that you slept with Brian before his divorce is even started, let alone finalized. You’ve just made things a hell of a lot worse for the both of you.”

“What WE choose to do is none of your business.” Brian spat. “Don’t punish Amy because you’re pissed off at me.”

“I don’t know what has gotten into you.” Kevin retorted, turning his attention towards Brian. “You’re like a completely different person. You’re sneaking around, you’re announcing your personal problems to the world on national television, you’re using more profanity than I have ever heard you use in your entire life, you’re embroiled in a bitter dispute with the woman that you’ve been married to for thirteen years, and you’re putting your kid in the middle of it all.”

“Don’t you dare bring Baylee into this!” Brian reeled. “You know that I would never do anything to hurt my son. You know that I want nothing more than to protect him from the harshness of our lives; from the media scrutiny.”

“Where is he now, Brian? Are you with him?” Kevin shot back. “It’s pretty low getting someone to watch your kid so that you can have some bedroom time, don’t you think?”

“You guys need to stop!” I interrupted. I could feel the tears welling in my eyes and I blinked viciously to hold them back. “I should have left when I saw ... when you told me ...” I stopped and stared at Brian in dismay. “We shouldn’t have done what we did. Kevin’s right, I’ve made things worse for everyone.”

“Amy, I can’t let you think that.” Brian’s eyes were frantic, searching. “Leighanne and I were headed towards calling it quits long before you showed up. She intentionally released scandalous photos of me to the world! You heard what she said the other day; she doesn’t care about me. She probably never has. All she cares about is the lifestyle that I’ve been keeping her in; that my money will keep her in long after we’ve gone our separate ways.”

“You could have worked it out. You were happy in the beginning, you have Baylee together, you would have been happy again.” I countered.

“I was happy in the beginning.” Brian admitted. “I was happy because she was doing such a good job of keeping me in the dark. Even if I hadn’t met you, our marriage would have dissolved.”

“I can attest to that. All the ‘God Can’ t-shirts in the world couldn’t have saved them.” AJ’s voice cut into our conversation. “For future reference, you guys should really consider having this kind of a discussion with the door closed.” He added

“How long have you been standing there?” Brian asked, shaking his head in confusion.

“Since Kevin went off on his little tangent.” AJ replied. “In all seriousness, you guys have gotten away from the issue that actually needs to be discussed. That video has already done some serious damage.”

“You’ve seen it, then?” I mumbled.

“Tens of thousands of people have seen it.” AJ grimaced. “It’s already been uploaded to YouTube. While you three were bickering, Jason has been trying to do damage control. He’s taken it off of our site, but it’s already exploded on like every social media platform that you can think of. TMZ got their hands on it, and so did Perez.”

“I’m fucked.” Brian groaned. “This is just the thing that Leighanne needs to make her case.”

“Cass will work her magic.” AJ soothed. “We’ll have a press release, you can explain ...”

“Explain what?” Brian cut him off. “How am I going to explain away the fact that I practically admitted to being involved with a staff member?”

“Especially now that you’ve slept with her.” Kevin barked.

AJ’s face took on a hint of a smile at Kevin’s words, but he immediately wiped it away as the older man frowned threateningly at him.

“I can only imagine what people are saying. Everyone thinks that I posted it ... they’re going to think that I’m some crazy bitch who intentionally set out to ruin Brian’s marriage. Everyone is going to side with Leighanne ... including a judge.” The reality of the situation truly started to hit me as I spoke, and I could feel my stomach begin to churn with dread.

“Shit.” AJ muttered. “I mean the fellas and I didn’t think for one second that you had actually posted it. We knew right away that your account must have been hacked, but I never thought about the public’s perception.”

“You didn’t think that I had posted it?” I asked. My heart surged in response to AJ’s words. “Kevin seemed ready to tear me a new one.”

“Well, Kevin had his own opinion.” AJ said, shooting him an evil glare. “The rest of us thought differently. You’re like family now. You’re Brian’s new lady. We just knew.”

“Dad? Did you and mom break up?” Baylee’s innocent words cut through the silence that had descended upon the table.

The rest of us lifted our eyes from our assorted breakfast items and stared at Brian. His face turned white as a sheet, and he stalled for a few seconds by taking a long sip of coffee. “Why do you think that?”

“You’ve been yelling at each other a lot.” Baylee replied, tearing at his pancakes with a butter knife. “Every time that Nick fights with a girl, they break up and I never see the girl again.”

“Ahhh.” Brian drawled. “Well, when your mom and I fight it’s a bit different.”

“And mom said that you were getting a divorce.” Baylee supplied. “A divorce means that you’re breaking up, right?” He set his knife and fork down on his plate and lifted his eyes towards his father. “Was mom lying?”

My heart ached for Baylee as I watched him wait for Brian to respond. Everything being considered, he was a good kid. He didn’t deserve to be caught in the middle of what was sure to become a very messy situation.

“When did mom tell you that?” Brian asked. He was clearly furious that Leighanne had revealed this bit of information to Baylee, but he did a good job of keeping his expression and his tone neutral.

“Right after we got in the elevator. Remember? After you guys yelled at each other in the hallway ...” Baylee paused. “She told me that you didn’t like us anymore and that you guys were getting a divorce.”

“Baylee, I love you. I love you very much.” Brian choked. “I don’t want you to ever think that I don’t love you, or like you. Your mom was wrong when she told you that.”

“But you ARE getting a divorce?” Baylee prodded.

Brian sighed and rubbed absently at the back of his neck. “Yes. Yes, your mom and I are getting a divorce. It has nothing to do with you, though.”

“Oh.” Baylee considered Brian’s words for a few seconds before he spoke again. “So, I will only get to live with one of you?”

“That’s right.” Brian sighed. The sheer effort of not breaking down in front of his son was weighing on him, and he cleared his throat in an attempt to hide the fact that his voice was starting to crack. “I don’t want you to think about that too much just yet.”

“Do I get to pick?” Baylee asked, ignoring his dad’s suggestion.

“I’m not sure, Bay.” Brian answered carefully. “Sometimes another person has to decide.”

“But I’ve already made a choice.” Baylee countered. “I want to live with you.”

Brian’s face crumpled with emotion. He hastily grabbed the napkin off of his lap and wiped away the stray tears that had finally managed to escape.

“Dad?! Why are you crying? I said that I want to live with you!” Baylee looked frantic as tears began to slide down his cheeks. “Don’t you WANT me to live with you?”

“Of course I do!” Brian confirmed. Even though Baylee was much too old to sit on his father’s lap, Brian quickly pulled him from his chair and cradled him in his arms. “I was worried that you wouldn’t want to live with me.”

“Oh, God, I can’t handle this.” AJ mumbled.

I turned to my left and saw AJ wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand. I handed him my napkin and he roughly dried his cheeks, before passing the napkin on to Lauren who was practically bawling on the other side of him. I used the tips of my fingers to clear my own tears, as Brian gently pushed Baylee back into his own chair.

“Sorry.” He apologized. “We’re okay now, right Baylee?”

“I have one more question.” Baylee said. He glanced cautiously around the table before proceeding. “If someone tells me that I can’t live with you, can I say that I want to live with Nick or Amy?”

“Why Nick or Amy?” Brian asked, trying to hide his smile as he took in Nick’s Cheshire cat grin and my look of astonishment.

“Well ... Nick’s super fun!” Baylee appeared to proceed with caution. “And Amy is your new girlfriend. So, if I live with her than I will get to see you every time that you come to visit her.”

“Oh, good Lord.” Kevin moaned. “Even the kid has figured it out.”

“What makes you think that Amy is my girlfriend?” Brian asked, blatantly discounting Kevin’s comment.

“I heard mom say so when she was on the phone.” Baylee answered. “And I saw you guys holding hands once.”

I blanched at Baylee’s words and gazed frantically at Brian. I could hear Lauren suck in her breath as she waited for Brian to respond.

“Mom shouldn’t be saying things like that. Do you know who she was talking to?” Brian pressed, opting to ignore the hand-holding comment.

Baylee shook his head and looked at Brian expectantly. “Well? Is she your girlfriend? I won’t be upset if she is.”

Brian opened and closed his mouth a few times, seemingly changing his mind as he tried to choose his words carefully. Finally, he took what appeared to be a calming breath and answered honestly.

“Well, I don’t think that you’ll be allowed to live with her, but you’re right." Brian said as he grinned wildly across the table at me. “Amy is my girlfriend.”

I was well aware of the fact that I was grinning stupidly back at him, but I didn’t care. I felt the same as I had back in seventh grade when Matthew Healy had announced to everyone during morning recess that we were officially a couple. Even as an adult, being given the title brought on a wave of emotion that was unlike any other feeling.

“It’s about time.” AJ smirked. He elbowed me gently in the ribs as Kevin pushed his chair back from the table.

The chair legs scraped noisily against the floor as Kevin forcefully stood up. “This isn’t a cut and dry situation, Brian. You need to start watching what you say.” His voice was measured as he tossed his napkin on the table and began walking towards the exit. “We’re leaving for Montreal in an hour. Don’t be late.”

*‘I’m the fucking man, you don’t get it, do ya? - Type of money everybody acting like they knew ya - Go Uptown, New York City bitch - Some Spanish girls love me like I’m Aventura’

I looked at my phone in dismay as Drake’s voice filled the SUV. I had known that the call would be coming, but that didn’t mean that I was ready for it.

*‘Tell Uncle Luke I’m out in Miami too - Clubbing hard, fuckin’ women ain’t much to do - Wrist bling, got a condo up in Biscayne - Still getting brain from a thang, ain’t shit changed’

“You have to answer it.” Lauren acknowledged. She gave me an encouraging smile. “Maybe he won’t be that upset.”

*‘How you feel? How you feel? How you feel? - Twenty five sittin’ on 25 mil - I’m in the building and I’m feeling myself’

“Hey, Eddie!” I answered, finally silencing the young rapper as I brought the phone to my ear.

“Where do I start?” Eddie asked. He sounded tired and incredibly annoyed. “I should probably start by telling you that I’ve seen the video ... just like everyone else in the world.”

“Yeah.” I swallowed hard. “I don’t know how someone managed to gain access to my account. I’m still using the password that you guys gave to me. I have no idea how anyone could have figured it out ...”

“Amy!” Eddie interrupted viciously. “The fact that someone managed to hack into your account is a secondary concern at the moment. I’m going to ask you some questions and I want you to be honest with me. Do you understand?”

I nodded, even though I knew that Eddie couldn’t see me. As soon as I fell silent, Lauren grasped my hand for support and Brian turned slightly in his seat to stare at me. Even though he was driving, Nick was also partially watching my expression in the rear-view mirror.

“I’m going to take your silence to mean that you understand.” Eddie pushed on. “Is there something going on with you and Brian?”

“Yes.” I whispered. The tremor in my voice was noticeable even at such a low volume.

“Are you emotionally invested?”

“Yes”

“Is he?”

“Yes.” I hesitated slightly. “At least, I think so.”

“Have you been together ... physically?”

“Yes.”

“If I told you that you had to walk away from him in order to keep your job, would you?”

“No.”

A worried expression crossed Brian’s face as my last answer deviated from the affirmative pattern. As he was only privy to my side of the conversation, he began gesturing wildly at me to explain what Eddie was saying. I shook my head slightly and turned my attention back to Eddie. I would explain later.

“I see.” Eddie affirmed after a few seconds pause. “You’re putting me in a very difficult position, Amy.”

“You told me to be honest.” I offered.

“I did.” Eddie sighed. “You know that I’m supposed to fire you, right?”

“I know.” I acknowledged. “I’ve been dreading your call ever since the video was posted. If it makes things easier for you, I can resign.”

Three sets of eyes bore into me as soon as I uttered the words. Nick and Lauren exchanged a knowing glance in the mirror, and Brian began frantically shaking his head.

“That would make things easier.” Eddie acknowledged. “But that’s not what I want.”

“You would prefer to fire me?” I choked.

I was on the verge of tears and I knew that the emotion was evident in my voice. Lauren gripped my hand tighter, and I squeezed back appreciatively.

“For God’s sake, don’t be so dramatic!” Eddie scolded. “Obviously, I have no desire to fire you. You’ve been doing excellent work ... until now.” He continued. “Look, it’s an awkward situation. I don’t think that I really need to ask, but is Brian with you?”

“Yeah, he’s here.” I confirmed. “We’re on our way to Montreal. I’m travelling with Brian, Nick, Laruen, and Baylee. The others are in a separate car.”

“Can I talk to him?” Eddie asked.

“Sure...” I hesitated. I was now thoroughly confused, but I handed the phone to Brian despite my reservations. “Eddie says that he needs to speak to you.”

“Hi, Eddie. How’s Louis?” Brian asked as he accepted the phone. I watched his expression intently as he listened to Eddie speak.

The soft murmur of Eddie’s voice could be heard even above the din of Baylee’s hand-held video game. I strained to hear what he was saying, but it was no use. For now, I was only going to get Brian’s side of the story.

“Yes”

“Yes”

“Yes”

“Yes”

“No”

My stomach jumped as Brian answered ‘no’ to one of Eddie’s questions. If Eddie had asked him the same set of questions, than Brian had just admitted that he wasn’t able to walk away from our relationship.

“None of that matters. I’m in agreement, and I’ll sign whatever I have to sign. Send me the paperwork.” Brian passed me the phone with a grin on his face. “He wants to talk to you again.”

“I don’t know what you’ve done to that guy, but he actually seems happy.” Eddie mumbled as I pressed the phone to my ear. “I’m going to let you stay on tour, but I’m expecting a lot out of you going forward. This isn’t going to be easy. You’re involved now.”

“Really?” I asked, shooting a confused look at Brian. What exactly had he agreed to sign?

“Really.” Eddie repeated. “The guys are going to take a lot of heat for that video. It’s not pretty; it makes them look like shit. We’re still trying to figure out who hacked into your account. Until then, you won’t have access to it. I expect extra Twitter coverage to make up for the lack of blog posts.”

“Of course.” I agreed, but I was only half listening. My mind was still celebrating the fact that I wasn’t being sent home.

“Amy.” Eddie cautioned. “I hope you realize how hard this is going to be for you. Brian’s a great guy, but he’s about to find himself in the middle of one ugly situation. Leighanne ... well let’s just say that Leighanne isn’t going down without a fight. You better make sure that you keep your head down.”

“Thanks, Eddie.” I said, sincerely. “Keep me updated in terms of my account. I’m assuming that Greg is working on tracing the IP address?”

“Damn straight. We’ve had him working on it since first thing this morning. We woke the poor guy up. He wasn’t pleased.” Eddie avowed as soft, needy cries started up in the background. “I’ve got to go; that’s Louis. Try and stay out of trouble.”

“So?” Lauren pestered before I had even lowered the phone from my ear. “What’s the verdict? Was he hella pissed?”

“He was surprisingly calm.” I replied. “I thought for sure that he was going to kick my ass out of Ground(ctrl) for good.”

“But he’s going to let you stay?” Lauren guessed, a slow smile spreading across her face as she glanced quickly between me and Brian.

“That’s what he said.” I confirmed. “Although, I think that Brian may have had to sign his life away in order to make it happen.”

Brian shrugged and waved his hand in the air dismissively. “I just have to say that I’m waiving ... something ... some clause ... I wasn’t really listening.”

“What if it’s something critical? Are you sure that you don’t want to take some time to think this through?” I asked.

“Amy, relax. I’m sure that it’s just a technicality that relives Ground(ctrl) of any responsibility if you abscond with all of my money or trash our reputation.” Brian soothed. “Since Leighanne has already done both of those things, I’m not too worried.”

___________
*Lyrics – Take Care (2011) - “The Motto” by Drake ft. Lil Wayne – No copyright infringement intended.

Bitch, slut, home-wrecker, whore, mistress, adulterer; those were only some of the terms that had been launched in my direction during what was probably the longest VIP check-in experience of my life. The list didn’t even include the things that I had been called in French. I was secretly glad that I had given up trying to learn the language at the end of ninth grade, because I was pretty sure that I would have felt even worse if I had known what some of the words meant.

“How are you holding up?” Jason asked as we reconvened at the entrance to the general admission section of the Bell Centre.

“I’ve definitely been better.” I conceded. “I’m not surprised, though. The response to that video has been disastrous. Does anybody know why it’s taking Cassandra so long to put together a press release?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Jason grumbled. “I asked her about it this morning and she practically bit my head off. Meanwhile, I’ve got to be on the forum practically 24/7 to delete all of the shit. The fans are clamouring for the guys to comment. Cass has got to get a statement together. This is brutal!”

“She’s usually on top of things ...” I trailed off as venue security began leading the platinum VIP holders towards the stage.

Jason and I stepped back into the shadows at the foot of the stage as the crowd filed in. My goal was to remain as inconspicuous as possible until it was time to organize people for pictures. Despite our efforts to stay out of the way, I could still see the fans staring at me and whispering as they walked past. Although most of them gave me death stares, several offered sympathetic smiles, and a couple even gave me the thumbs up. I had almost managed to completely disengage myself from the fans when a full bottle of water sailed in-between me and Jason and brought me harshly back to reality.

“Bitch! I can’t believe that you have the nerve to show your face!”

Although I was clearly the intended target, the girl’s aim was off and the bottle narrowly missed smacking Jason square in the face. Both of us jumped back against the metal guardrail as Q came barrelling out of the darkness. He swung himself off of the stage in one easy movement and hopped the barricade that separated the fans from the front of the stage. Girls squealed in surprise as he pushed past them. Finding his target, he wrapped his meaty palm around the upper arm of a heavier set blonde girl in the third row.

“You’re out!” He growled, jerking her roughly towards the exit.

“You can’t throw her out!” A slimmer dark-haired girl, who I presumed to be the blonde’s friend, exclaimed forcefully. “That little slut deserves everything that she has coming to her!”

“You’re out, too!” Q roared, securing his other hand around the brunette’s arm. “Anyone else feel like coming to their defence?”

The rest of the fans shook their heads in unison and girls quickly shuffled out of the way as Q dragged the two women away from the group. I could see them twisting against his grip, but he didn’t let up as he shoved them both up the stairs that ran through the first section of reserved seating. Their profanity echoed through the practically empty stadium as Q guided them through the exit.

“I think this is a good time to point out that we will not tolerate any kind of negative behaviour, especially if it is directed towards a member of our staff.” Howie’s stern voice reverberated through the venue as he addressed the crowd.

I had been so busy watching the situation with Q that I had failed to notice that the boys had taken the stage.

The fans all turned their attention to Howie as he continued. “Our staff members are what make all of this possible. When you disrespect them, you’re disrespecting the five of us.”

“You’re just saying that because she’s involved with Brian.” A tiny brunette in the front row challenged. She shot me a determined glance as she spoke. “She should have thought about what people were going to say BEFORE she destroyed his marriage.”

“What’s your name?” Howie asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Sarah.”

“Well, Sarah, do you usually think before you open your mouth?” Howie challenged.

“Y-yes.” Sarah stuttered; all of her earlier confidence had clearly vanished.

“Really? Because if you did, you would have realized that you’re in no place to comment about a situation that you know absolutely nothing about.” Howie shot back amidst gasps of surprise from the fans.

“I assumed ... I mean ... she posted that video ... she’s the one who wanted everyone to know that she and Brian are together ... she’s obviously proud of what she did ...”

The poor girl sounded close to tears as she tried to justify herself, and I actually found myself feeling bad for her. True, she had called me a home-wrecker, but I could only imagine how horrible she felt being chewed out by a member of the band that she idolized.

“Assumptions are what lead people to speak out of turn.” Howie snapped. “We would appreciate it if you all kept your assumptions to yourself. This is obviously a difficult time for Brian and we don’t need any more negativity. We’re getting enough of that from the media ...”

Howie was on a roll. I could see that Kevin had his eyes closed and was likely, once again, counting to ten in his head in an effort to calm himself down. Brian was staring at Howie in silent disbelief, and Nick and AJ were shooting frantic looks at each other.

“Thanks, Howie!” AJ boomed, jumping in before Howie could continue. “Why don’t we take a question? Who has something that they would like to ask?”

“What’s he doing?” Jason gasped. “They’re supposed to take questions after the acoustic set. I haven’t screened anyone yet.” He looked around frantically for a way to interject himself into the crowd, but AJ was too far ahead of him.

A girl with wild black curls quickly raised her hand and AJ pointed gratefully at her. “What’s your question, sweetheart?”

“It’s actually for Kevin.” The girl clarified. “Kevin, in the video, it sounds like you’re blaming Nick and AJ for the fact that the group declined in popularity. You pretty much said that their addiction problems ruined your reputation, your career. Is that the real reason that you left the group?”

Kevin opened his eyes and looked at the young woman in astonishment. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. So, he just continued to stare at her with a blank look on his face.

“This was probably a bad choice.” AJ cut in frantically. “I think we’re just gonna sing now...”

“I take back the comment that I made in Ottawa.” Jason muttered as the boys scurried over to their instruments. “THIS is officially the worst VIP experience in Backstreet history.”

I could barley believe my eyes as I skimmed the three sheets of paper that Cassandra had just placed in front of me. There was no way that she could be serious! This would destroy my career. Hell, it would probably destroy Ground(ctrl) as a whole. What was she thinking? I tried to catch Brian’s eye across the table, but he was engrossed in his own copy.

“I’m not saying this.” Nick stated. He threw his copy of the press release down on the table and frowned at Cassandra. “You’ve been dragging your feet for the past two days and this is the best you’ve come up with?”

Anger flashed in Cassandra’s eyes as she shoved the papers back at Nick. “You’ll say what I’ve written. That’s why you pay me ... to tell you what to say.”

“Well than I guess I better stop paying you.” Nick shot back. “This is a load of shit and I want no part of it.”

“Nick, let’s not be unreasonable.” Kevin sighed. “It just needs a little tweaking.”

“Tweaking?” Nick huffed. “I would rather just say the truth: Amy’s account was hacked, she had nothing to do with the video, it was supposed to be a private conversation, we’ve gotten over our little disagreement, and Brian waited until he had blondie served with divorce papers before he moved on to Amy. That’s it. We’re done with it.”

“It’s not that simple.” Cassandra fumed. “The truth looks bad. Really bad!”

“So? This isn’t the first time that I’ve looked bad on the Internet. It isn’t the first time that people have talked shit about me on Twitter. It definitely isn’t the first time that my face has been plastered across a magazine with a horrific headline, and it probably won’t be the last.” Nick fought back.

“Agreed.” AJ said. “I think that Nick has a point. The more we digress from the truth, the worse it’s gonna become. Let’s just state the facts and move on. The press will get bored of the whole thing once something bigger involving someone more famous happens anyways.”

“You guys are missing the point.” Cassandra hissed. “Think about Brian! He’s about to be involved in a divorce settlement. Are you guys sure that you want to come out and confirm that he’s been banging a staff member?”

“Brian can bang ... I mean date whoever he likes.” Howie shot me an apologetic glance as he made his point.

I shrugged, effectively brushing off his slip of the tongue. I was getting pretty used to people making derogatory comments.

“Brian, what do you think?” Cassandra asked. “It’s you who’s going to be taking the brunt of it.”

“I think that I’m done with this whole thing.” Brian muttered. He tossed his copy of the proposed press release on top of Nick’s and turned to face Cassandra. “I’m not lying. The next person who dares to ask me about those stupid sex pictures or about my personal life is gonna get the truth. I’m going to tell them that Leighanne is the one who modified and released those photos, and I’m going to tell them that I am, in fact, dating Amy. What they choose to do with the information is their business.”

“It would be so much easier to just deny it!” Cassandra moaned. “Think about it. You paint Amy as the bad guy just for now. Once everything is settled with your divorce, you guys can reconnect and live happily ever after.”

“Is that so?” I snapped. “Do you honestly think that I’m going to just sit back and let them tell the world that I posted that video for my own selfish gains? I can’t portray Ground(ctrl) and Eddie that way. I’ll lose everything; my job, my friends, everything!”

“Do you really think anyone cares!?” Cassandra cried. Her eyes were icy cold as she leaned over the table to stare at me. “You don’t get a vote.”

“Yeah, but I do get a vote.” Brian hissed. “I vote that we tell the truth.” He retrieved his copy of the press release from the table and ripped it in half as he spoke

“You’re unbelievable!” Cassandra shouted. “What about the rest of you?”

“You already know what I think.” Nick said as he tore his own copy in half.

“Ditto.” Howie replied, ripping his pages in half and tossing them into the growing pile.

“I’m with the fellas.” AJ agreed as he tore his pages, not once, but twice and tossed the pieces into the middle of the table.

“Kevin?” Cassandra asked, glancing at the oldest member of the group. “What do you say? You come across as a huge dick in that video. Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone to blame? To deflect some of the negative attention?”

Kevin paused and looked carefully at the rest of us. I could practically see him weighing the options in his head as he took us in.

“I look like an ass in that video because I behaved like one.” Kevin stated. “I’ve been acting like a holier-than-now jackass for the past couple of days. I got so caught up in my own ideals about marriage and divorce that I failed to see that I was actually making the situation worse. I have nobody to blame but myself. I say that we tell the truth.”

Cassandra’s eyes flashed with anger as she watched Kevin tear up his papers and add them to the pile. Without a word, she stood up from the table and headed for the exit. The reverberations echoed through the conference room long after she had slammed the door and stalked off towards the elevators.

“Thanks, Kev.” Brian grinned. “I hate being at odds with you.”

“Yeah, well, I hate fighting with you too, cuz.” Kevin shrugged. “AJ, Nick, I also need to apologize for what I said to you guys. It wasn’t fair ...”

“We’re cool.” AJ assured him. “I’ve said way shittier things to you.”

“I’ve definitely told you worse.” Nick laughed. “I’m over it.”

“Amy, I shouldn’t have ...” Kevin started, but I held up my hand to silence him.

“Consider us back to normal.” I said. “It’s nice that you stood up for me.”

“Guys, while I’m loving all of this lovey-dovey crap, I think it’s safe to say that we just lost the head of our PR team.” Howie interrupted. “And we still have no idea who posted the video.”

“I still can’t believe that Joseph Gordon-Levitt made Superbass look so easy.” Brian muttered. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to lip-sync well?”

“I can’t say that I’ve had much experience.” I laughed as Jimmy Fallon began to announce the winner of the lip-sync battle.

I readjusted my head on Brian’s chest and sighed contentedly. He absently twirled a section of my hair around his finger as he chuckled softly at the television. I could feel my eyes getting heavy and I knew that I should probably drag myself back to my own room sooner rather than later.

“He did have some pretty solid dance moves.” I added.

“Better than mine?” Brian joked.

“I think he hip thrusts better than you.” I teased, lifting my head slightly to look him in the face.

“That’s just because I’m out of practice.” Brian grinned.

He suddenly rolled me over so that I was pinned underneath him and began to kiss my neck. I shuddered in response and ran my hands lightly down his back. His hands were under my shirt, urging me to take it off, but I resisted.

“Baylee’s in the next room. What if he hears us?” I worried.

“He won’t.” Brian insisted. “We’ll be quiet.”

He continued to kiss me and I could feel my resistance weakening with every move of his hands. I allowed him to pull my t-shirt over my head, and I used the action as my opportunity to take charge. I quickly swung my legs over him and used my weight to push him down onto the bed. The move obviously surprised him, because he paused as I lightly kissed him on the lips and began to slowly trail kisses down his chest. He gasped slightly as I tugged his pyjama pants off; teasing him viciously as my kisses found their way lower.

“Please.” He begged as my tongue circled him slowly.

I pulled back, enjoying his desperate expression as I positioned myself over him. I sank onto him slowly and he moaned loudly in response.

“I thought that you were going to be quiet.” I teased, leaning down to kiss him.

His kiss was heated and anxious as he rolled me over so that he was, once again, in control. This time, the intensity of his movements didn’t surprise me, and I quickly matched his rhythm to bring us together.

Afterwards, we lay together; both of us hesitant to break the silence. It was a full twenty minutes before I finally brought myself to speak.

“I really need to go.” I mumbled. I disentangled myself from Brian’s embrace, pulling my t-shirt over my head and scanning the floor for my pyjama pants. “I can’t believe that I let you distract me like that.”

“You enjoyed it.” Brian quipped as I hastily stepped into my pants.

“I never said that I didn’t.” I agreed, tossing his clothes in his direction.

He snagged his pants out of the air with one quick movement and looked longingly at me. “You don’t have to leave.”

“But I should.” I argued. “What’s Baylee going to think if he wakes up and I’m still here?”

Brian shrugged and gave me a heart-stopping smile. “I want you to stay. It’s silly that you keep getting your own room. Everyone already knows what’s going on.”

“I know ...” I stalled. “It’s just that staying here makes it seem so ... official.”

“Aren’t we official?” He asked. He pulled his pants on, flipped back the blankets, and patted the empty space beside him. “I kinda thought that we were.”

“Yeah ... I mean, I kinda thought that we were too.” I stuttered.

“So, than why don’t you want to stay?” Brian pressed. His tone was light, but I could see the worry in his eyes.

I took a long breath and slowly sank down next to him. He propped himself up so that he was facing me and waited.

“The last time that I let my guard down, I ended up being the rebound girl. I don’t think that I could handle being another rebound, especially to you. There’s already so much attention from your fans and the media because of that stupid video...”

“You’re not a rebound. You’re the reason that I left.” Brian insisted. “Well, maybe not the whole reason. I left because I was unhappy, and you definitely make me happy.”

“This is hard for me.” I conceded. “Eddie was right. It’s a whole different feeling when you’re involved in the hype.”

“I get that.” Brian acknowledged. “Nothing about our relationship is going to be low-profile, but I need you to trust me when I say that I’m going to be by your side no matter what.”

“I’m scared.” I admitted.

“Me too.” Brian affirmed. “I’m scared that you’ll decide that all of this attention isn’t worth it.”

“I have a feeling that you’ll always be worth it.” I whispered as I allowed him to pull me close.

“So, does that mean that you’ll stay?” He asked.

“Yes. It means that I’ll stay.” I confirmed, albeit somewhat hesitantly.

We slipped under the blankets and I settled my head on his chest, enjoying the feel of his skin on my cheek. The steady rhythm of his heart had almost lolled me to sleep when he spoke again.

“Is it too fast?”

“Is what too fast?” I asked with my eyes still firmly closed.

“This. Us. What we’re doing.” Brian stammered. “I’ve never even taken you out on a proper date.”

I laughed a little louder at his comment than I had intended as I lifted my head to face him. He actually looked concerned and perhaps even a little offended that I was laughing.

“What do you mean a proper date?”

“I dunno ... dinner?” Brian shrugged. “Usually, I take a girl out at least a few times before I sleep with her.”

“Well, I usually MAKE a guy take me out at least a few times before I sleep with him.” I giggled. “Seeing as how we’ve spent practically every day together for the past three months, I’ll give you a pass.”

“I know.” He conceded. “But I should still take you out. I WANT to take you out.”

“I kind of like that we were able to skip all of that initial awkwardness. That’s the benefit of being friends first.” I assured him.

“I just want to make sure that you’re happy.” He admitted as I lowered my head back onto his chest.

“If I wasn’t happy, than you wouldn’t have been able to convince me to stay with you tonight.” I pointed out.

Even though I had my eyes closed, I knew that he was smiling. I could sense it as he slowly trailed his fingers along my arm and settled back onto the pillows. I yawned slightly and listened as his breathing became soft and regular before drifting off to sleep.

“Dad! Dad! DAD!”

The little red numbers on the clock read 10:13. I blinked a few times to clear the sleep from my eyes and checked the clock for a second time. Now, it said 10:14. I couldn’t believe that I had actually managed to sleep in. I rubbed at my eyes and rolled over to face Brian who was still dead to the world beside me. He had pushed the blanket down to his waist and my gaze quickly wandered over his exposed chest. Shit ... the things I wanted to do ...

“DAD!! WAKE UP!”

Baylee’s voice tore through my thoughts and I immediately felt guilty. I propped myself up on my elbows and saw him standing on the other side of the king sized bed glaring angrily at his sleeping father. He looked up when I moved, and he immediately enlisted my help.

“Amy, make him wake up!”

“Brian.” I urged. I cleared my throat to rid it of sleep and shook him gently. “Wake up.”

He stirred at my touch and rolled over onto his side. “I don’t want to do a photo shoot with a cactus.” He mumbled.

“What is he talking about?” Baylee questioned. “What cactus?”

“I think he’s dreaming.” I laughed as I shook him again. “Wake up!”

“Amy?” Brian’s voice was heavy with sleep as his eyes finally fluttered open. “What time is it?”

“It’s after ten.” I replied. “I think Baylee wants you to get up.”

“I want breakfast!” Baylee whined. “I’ve been waiting for forever for you to wake up!”

“Yup. Right. Breakfast.” Brian mumbled as he pushed himself into a sitting position. “Thanks for waking us up, Bay. We didn’t mean to sleep so late.”

I reached for my phone as I listened to their exchange and shook my head. Baylee hadn’t even looked surprised to see me. Maybe things wouldn’t be so awkward after all.

My phone sprang to life and I immediately saw that I had a group message on WhatsApp. I clicked the little green icon and quickly skimmed through the messages.

Jason: Still no positive ID on the person who posted the video, but Greg has narrowed down the location of the IP address to Nepean, ON. See you all at SC!

Nick: WTF? Where’s Nepean?

AJ: Ontario. Dumbass!

Nick: No shit.

Howie: Good morning! Nick, Google it if you’re so interested. See you guys at SC.

Nick: U google it!

Kevin: It’s too early for this shit.

“What’s so funny?”

Brian’s voice brought me back to reality. I had been so absorbed in the messages that I hadn’t even realized that I had been giggling out loud.

“Your friends.” I replied. “You’ll see once you read the messages.” I added, gesturing at his phone that was sitting on the nightstand.

“You mean OUR friends.” Brian clarified as he picked up his phone. “I sent Baylee to find the room service menu.” He added, shaking his head as he quickly skimmed through the conversation.

“Sorry. Our friends.” I repeated as I sat up and grinned at him. Little did he know how happy his statement had made me.

Brian lowered his phone and smiled back at me. “I like waking up with you.” He murmured, kissing me lightly on the lips.

“DAD! I can’t find it!” Baylee wailed from the living room.

Brian closed his eyes and shook his head softly. He kissed me once more before swinging his feet to the floor and padding out of the bedroom. “Did you look by the TV?”

“So, I called your room this morning.” Lauren said nonchalantly as she dropped down next to me on the couch. “You didn’t pick up.”

“I must have been in the shower.” I lied.

I continued to type and upload my latest photo as I spoke. Despite the negativity surrounding the content of the video, my Twitter followers had more than doubled since it had been released. Of course, this also meant that I was receiving more than double the amount of death threats and soul-destroying comments than I had been before. Eddie, however, was loving the exposure that all of the attention (both positive and negative) was generating for the Fan Connection concept. I suppose the destruction of my self-esteem was a small sacrifice, given that he had been nice enough to let me continue with the assignment.

“Alone?” Lauren winked suggestively as I finished typing and turned to face her.

“Yes. Alone.” I tried to give her a no-nonsense look, but I knew that I was blushing.

“Come on, Amy! I’m dying for some dirty details!” Lauren pleaded. “I know you guys have ... gotten together by now.”

I looked quickly around the dressing room to confirm that we were alone and dropped my voice to a whisper. “Only twice.”

“Twice? That’s it!”

Lauren and I both jumped at the sound of Nick’s voice. He strolled into the room and threw himself down onto the couch across from us. He grinned devilishly at me and nodded as if waiting for me to continue. “You can keep talking. Lauren would have filled me in later anyways.”

“I would not!” Lauren shot Nick a horrified look. “Amy, seriously, I would NEVER tell Nick!”

“But we’re getting married.” Nick pouted. “Doesn’t that mean that you have to tell me everything?”

“Girl talk is never repeated.” Lauren stated seriously.

I nodded vehemently to back her up as AJ, Brian and Baylee walked into the room.

“Who’s having girl talk?” AJ asked as he wedged himself between me and Lauren. He patted both of our knees and smirked. “I’m an excellent listener.”

“You’re a dumbass.” Nick retorted. He waited until Brian had taken a seat next to him on the couch before turning in his direction. “Only twice so far, eh?”

“Jesus, Nick.” Brian flushed pink and glanced over at Baylee who had already immersed himself in a book in the far corner of the room. “Let’s not talk about this now.”

“But we can talk about it later?” Nick prodded. “This is a new side to you, Bri. I like it.”

“How did the interview go?” I asked, quickly changing the topic. “I’m assuming that the reporter asked about the video.”

The guys had decided that they were going to go ahead without Cassandra’s input and speak with a representative from the Huffington Post. Although I had acted like I was okay with the idea, I was legitimately terrified about the upcoming repercussions.

“It went well.” Nick shrugged. “We told the truth.” He gave Brian a sideways glance and indicated that he should continue.

“I told the reporter that Leighanne and I are in the process of finalizing our divorce and that I already have a great new lady in my life.” Brian picked up where Nick had left off. “You said that it would be okay if I named you, so I did ...”

I nodded and gave him a small smile. “I hope you cleared my name in regards to the video.”

“Of course!” AJ cried. “Cass was out of her mind about wanting to blame you. As Nick said, we told the truth.”

“Do you guys hear someone running?” Lauren suddenly interrupted. She motioned frantically for us to be quiet.

It did, in fact, sound like someone was full out sprinting down the hallway. As the footsteps drew closer, we could hear them echoing through the corridor in time with rapid breathing.

“Could it be Kevin or Howie?” I asked.

“They should still be speaking with the Huffington reporter. Kevin wanted to explain some of his behaviour in the video ...” AJ trailed off as Jason burst into the room at full speed.

The five of us stared at him in surprise as he came to a sudden halt by practically colliding with one of the two vending machines that were situated next to the door. He looked a bit frantic as he struggled to catch his breath and shook his iPad in our direction. Even Baylee had lowered his book and was staring at him in confusion.

“Girls ... familiar ...” Jason wheezed as he placed one hand on the vending machine in an attempt to steady himself. He thrust his iPad at Nick who took it from his hands and looked cautiously at the screen.

“Facebook?” Nick gave Jason a confused look.

Jason nodded as he continued to struggle to catch his breath. He grabbed a bottle of water off of a table and downed it in one loud chug. “Cassandra’s page.” He supplied.

“What is it?” I asked, hurrying over to the other couch in order to peer over Nick’s shoulder. AJ and Lauren followed my lead as Brian also leaned in to get a better look.

“It’s just a picture of her with three other girls.” Nick continued. “The caption says: ‘Drinks with my girlies in Toronto!’ I don’t get it. What are we supposed to be looking at?”

I was about to agree with Nick when the realization hit me hard in the face. “Wait a minute!” I cried, tearing the tablet out of Nick’s hands. I zoomed in on the blonde woman sitting to Cassandra’s left and gasped. “This is the girl who took Jason’s phone!”

“Let me see that!” AJ demanded. I handed him the iPad and he began tapping at the screen to get a better look. “The blonde does look somewhat familiar ... I don’t recognize the other two though”

“It’s her. I know it’s her!” Jason affirmed. His breathing had finally returned to normal and he was, once again, able to speak properly. “That’s her friend, the brunette on the right. I chased those women for blocks. I would recognize them anywhere.”

“It’s definitely her. I remember seeing you talking to them. The blonde one was all up in your face about something.” I supplied.

“Yeah. She was pissed off because I couldn’t find her name on the list.” Jason replied. “Probably because she had given me a fake name in order to distract me.”

“So, the girls who took your phone are friends with Cass.” Brian spoke out loud as he quickly connected his thoughts. “Cass was the one who decided that Jason and Amy would be the ones to shut down the VIP event in Toronto. She was also the one who decided that AJ and Nick should accompany them to the venue.”

“Shit!” Nick yelled, interrupting Brian’s train of thought. “I know who the third girl is!” He jabbed at the second brunette in the middle of the picture. “She was the girl who was hanging off of me when Jason’s phone was stolen and all hell broke loose.”

“No wonder Cass was so quick to let Nick and I go to that VIP ... her friends needed at least one of us to be there in order to create a distraction.” AJ mused. “That little bitch!”

“I had everything in that phone.” Jason interjected. “Whoever had access to that phone would have had access to the password for Amy’s fan club account ... among other things.”

“Oh my God!” Lauren breathed. “I can’t believe that I never put it together! Think about the video; about how it was filmed. You can see Amy and I the whole time. The only people who were behind us during the taping were Cass and Jason ...”

“Cass had her phone out during the entire taping, but I didn’t really think anything of it.” Jason jumped in. “I mean, why would I have been suspicious? We all walk around with our phones glued to our hands, but she must have been recording the fight without me realizing it.”

“With access to Amy’s password, Cass could have easily uploaded the video under Amy’s account using any random smart phone with an untraceable pay-as-you-go plan.” Brian concluded. “That’s why nobody has been able to trace the IP address to an actual person.”

“Jason told us this morning that the video was likely uploaded in Nepean. That’s practically halfway between Kanata and Ottawa.” I explained. “Cassandra could have effortlessly left the venue, driven to Nepean, uploaded the video, ditched the phone, and made it back to the hotel in Ottawa without anyone paying any attention.”

“How the hell do you know where Nepean is?” Nick asked, rather incredulously.

“I took Howie’s advice.” I shrugged. “I Googled it.”

“I was going to Google it myself.” Nick whined. “I just didn’t have time.”

“We’re off topic!” AJ put an end to Nick’s whining. “We may have established that Cass is responsible for the video, but we still need to figure out why she did it. I mean, what’s in it for her?”

“Cassandra posted the video!?” Howie’s shocked voice cut through the air as he and Kevin entered the room. “What the hell have we missed?”

“What’s taking them so long?” I muttered as I looked over my shoulder for what seemed like the hundredth time.

The show had ended almost twenty minutes ago. Thankfully, there was no after party scheduled because it was the second of two back-to-back shows in Montreal. We had all been dying to confront Cassandra since making our mid-afternoon discovery, but time definitely hadn’t been on our side.

“She’s probably long gone by now anyways.” Jason mumbled. “She quit. Why would she hang around at the hotel?”

“You guys need to stop being so pessimistic.” Lauren sighed. “She’ll still be at the hotel. There’s no way that she could have found a flight to California on such short notice, especially on a long weekend.”

“I hope you’re right.” Kevin’s strong voice cut in as he and the rest of the guys came strolling out from backstage. “I have some things that I would like to tell her.”

“You guys ready?” Q asked, motioning for us to follow him. “We’ve got some fans outside.”

“We’re not stopping.” Kevin instructed. “We need to get back to the hotel as soon as possible.”

The rest of us nodded in agreement as we hustled to keep up with Q’s steady strides. The squeals started as soon as we stepped out into the cool night air, and Kevin instinctively pulled Baylee towards him and away from the swelling crowd.

True to their word, the guys didn’t stop to take pictures or sign autographs, but they did wave and thank the fans as we hurried in the direction of the waiting bus. Brian’s hand found mine as we rushed past the mob of women and I couldn’t help but look at him in surprise. This was the first time that he had ever shown any kind of affection towards me in public. He grinned back at me and squeezed my hand even tighter, using his free hand to wave at the fans. I shielded my eyes from the flashes and blocked out the pointed comments that were being hurled in our direction as we piled into the bus.

“So, is there a plan?” Howie asked as the bus pulled out of the parking lot.

“I plan on calling that bitch out.” AJ smirked. “I dunno about the rest of you.”

“Who are you talking about?” Baylee asked. His young eyes bore into AJ’s as he spoke. “Why is everyone so angry?”

“It’s nothing that you need to worry about.” AJ replied honestly. “I shouldn’t have called the person a bit - a bad word.”

“But you did.” Baylee challenged. “Are you talking about Cassandra?”

“What makes you think that we’re talking about Cassandra?” Brian asked the question rather cautiously.

“I was in the room!” Baylee cried, rolling his eyes in exasperation. “You guys always pretend that I’m not around, but I can hear you! I’m not a little kid!”

“Bay, why are you getting so upset?” Brian’s voice was soft. “Are you worried that we’re mad at you?”

“No!” Baylee exploded. He clenched his hands in frustration as he struggled to get his point across. “I’m worried that you and mom are going to scream at each other again. I know that you guys are mad at Cassandra and she and mom are, like, best friends. If you guys go and yell at Cass and mom finds out than she will get mad and take me away again!”

“Do your mom and Cass spend a lot of time together?” Lauren jumped in before Brian had a chance to respond.

Baylee nodded. “They’re always together when dad is performing, and they talk on the phone all the time. Just like you and Amy.”

“What do they talk about?” Jason pressed.

“Stuff.” Baylee shrugged. “They talk about John a lot.”

Even Q raised an eyebrow at Baylee’s comment. I saw him exchange a confused glance with Brian as the rest of us stared at Baylee and waited for him to continue.

“What do they say about John?” Brian prodded.

“You know? Girl stuff. I think that Cassandra likes him.” Baylee replied. “So, you’re not going to yell at her, right?” His eyes widened with worry as he re-directed the conversation back to his earlier concern.

“We’re not going to yell at Cassandra. We’re just going to talk to her.” Howie explained.

“Here we are!” The driver interrupted our conversation as the bus slowed to a stop in front of the hotel.

There were only a handful of fans waiting outside, and I found myself breathing a sigh of relief. I was in no mood to deal with a crazy exit strategy.

“Q, do you mind taking Baylee back to our room?” Brian asked as the rest of us waited in the lobby for Nick to finish posing for his final picture.

“Of course not.” Q grinned. “Let’s go Little-B. We can finish watching that movie with the crazy guy in it.”

“The Dark Knight?” Baylee eyes lit up. “I’ve been waiting forever to see the end!”

“The Dark Knight?” Brian repeated. “Bay, you’re not supposed to be watching that! I never said that you could watch that!” He shot Q an accusing glare as Baylee practically dragged the excessively large man towards the elevator.

“Sorry, Bri. He’s already seen most of it.” Q apologized.

“It’s not appropriate for a ten year old.” Brian admonished. “We’ll be talking about this later.”

“We’ve got more important things to talk about.” AJ pointed out, resting a hand on Brian’s shoulder. “It’s just a movie.”

“A scary movie.” Brian frowned. “You’re not the one who has to deal with him when he has nightmares.”

“Sorry!’ Nick’s voice boomed through the lobby as he finally pushed through the double doors. “The last one was a clinger.”

“Classy.” Howie mumbled as we headed for the elevator.

Not wanting to waste any more time, the eight of us all piled into one car. We were silent during the quick ride to the third floor. Regardless of which hotel we stayed at, Cassandra always requested a room on the third floor. It was her thing.

We stepped out of the elevator and Kevin led the way down the hallway. He stopped in front of room 312 and knocked softly on the door. He motioned for us all to step back so that none of us would be visible through the peep-hole.

We heard shuffling from inside the room and eventually John pulled open the door. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw all of us crowded in the hallway. Jason capitalized on the beefy man’s confusion by pushing his way into the room. The rest of the guys followed suit, with Lauren and I bringing up the rear.

“What are you guys doing here?” John asked, rather gruffly. “No after party tonight?”

“You know that we never do an after party on the second night of a back-to-back show.” Nick chided. “If we had an after party tonight, you would be working.”

“Well played.” John mumbled. “I suppose you’re looking for Cass.”

Lauren and I exchanged a quick look of astonishment. The guy was dumb! Well built, but dumb.

“That’s why we came to her room.” Howie rolled his eyes. I couldn’t help but notice that he was speaking slower than usual. “I would ask you what you’re doing here, but I have a feeling that I don’t want to know the answer.”

“John? What’s going on? Who are you talking to?”

“Sweet Jesus.” AJ mumbled as Leighanne’s voice floated through the air.

I could feel Brian tense beside me as his soon-to-be-ex-wife walked up behind John. She gave everyone the once over, but her eyes settled on me.

“Is Cass still here?” Jason asked. He was clearly hell bent on tearing into Cassandra about his stolen phone. Rightfully so, as the whole ordeal had practically cost him his career with Ground(ctrl).

“She’s stepped out for ...” Leighanne’s response was cut short as Cassandra burst through the door.

“Fucking Greg has managed to trace the signal to Nepean! Thank God that he hasn’t ...” Cassandra stopped herself mid-sentence as soon as she caught sight of the eight of us. A look of panic flashed across her face and she turned abruptly, as if she were about to flee the room.

Lauren quickly moved over and blocked the door. She gave Cassandra a small smirk as if to say; ‘busted!’

“It was you!” Jason exploded. “How could you set me up like that? I thought that we were friends!”

“We trusted you.” Kevin added. “We paid you good money to keep us out of trouble. Is this how you say thank you?”

“Why did you do it?” Howie asked. His question was softer than Kevin’s had been, but there was still a definite edge to his voice.

“I think that I have a pretty good idea.” Nick interrupted, glaring menacingly at Leighanne. “I bet someone put her up to it.”

“She promised me a percentage!” Cassandra blurted out. She looked hurriedly back and forth between Howie and Kevin. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s it?! They ask you one question and you cave!” Leighanne shrieked.

“A percentage of what?” Kevin asked, ignoring Leighanne’s screams.

“Of what she was going to get ...” Cassandra paused and looked remorsefully at Brian. “...from Brian in the divorce.”

“Am I the only one who’s not that shocked by this whole situation?” AJ muttered.

“Wait a minute.” Kevin held up his hand to silence everyone. “I don’t understand. Are you saying that you somehow knew that the five of us would have a massive blowout and that Brian would essentially incriminate himself?”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Leighanne shouted. “If you had been around for my explanation the first time, you would already know that my plan only involved the pictures. The video was a nice little bonus. Thankfully, Cassandra had the foresight to film the whole thing.”

Cassandra hung her head in shame at Leighanne’s words. “I needed the money.” She mumbled with her eyes locked firmly on the carpet.

“You must have thought that you were going to get quite the settlement.” Kevin turned to Leighanne “After all, why else would you be so willing to share it?”

Leighanne laughed softly as she responded. “Of course. Thank God that your cousin didn’t listen to your advice about the prenuptial agreement.”

“That’s not what he told me.” Kevin challenged, shooting Brian an angry look.

Brian merely shrugged and stared back at his older cousin. “We weren’t on the best of terms when you gave me that suggestion.”

“I couldn’t have done everything on my own.” Leighanne continued. I needed Cassandra’s connections. Offering her a percentage seemed like a small price to pay, especially when she told me that she had a plan to anonymously release two of the pictures through Twitter. Unfortunately, this Greg guy is apparently better than her so-called graphic expert.”

Cassandra pulled her gaze away from the floor and looked back at Leighanne’s angry face in shock. She seemed genuinely surprised that Leighanne was throwing her under the bus.

“So, you were planning this for months?” Jason mused. “I still can’t believe that you set up the whole thing.”

“Since before the tour even started.” Cassandra admitted.

“Before the tour?” Brian repeated. “But that’s before ...”

“Before you started fucking little Miss Plain Jane?” Leighanne interrupted. She gave me a condescending look as she continued. “Like I said before, I knew that you were looking for a way out. I knew that you had finally figured out that I wasn’t going to give in to your constant pestering for another baby. You started to withdraw well before the start of the tour. I had to do something; because there was no way that I was going to give up all of the perks that come with being a Backstreet wife. My plan was to make you look like a cheater. The fact that you actually became one all on your one was a Godsend, especially when Cassandra’s guy let me down.”

“I was going to say ‘before I even filed for divorce’.” Brian grimaced. “But thanks for that ... explanation.”

“So, John, what was your cut going to be?” Howie asked. He turned to the beefy man and smirked. “I’m assuming that it was going to be pretty hefty. Maybe you and Leighanne were even planning on moving in together.”

“How’d you know that we were moving to Malibu?” John gave Howie a confused look as the rest of us stared at him with our mouths agape. “They just started construction on the place five months ago.”

The man really was dumb.

Leighanne gave John a withering look. I could practically see the steam rising off of her as she struggled to control herself. How the hell had Howie made the connection?

“After all of the shit that you’ve put me through, you were the one who was cheating on me this whole time?!” Brian cried. “With a member of my security team!”

The rest of us looked cautiously at Brian as he rubbed furiously at the back of his neck. That was his signature move when he was upset, and I could feel myself bracing for his impending break down. He continued to stare at Leighanne; dumbfounded as the corners of his mouth slowly inched upwards into a smile. All of a sudden, he let out a full blown snort and practically doubled over in laughter.

“Brian, are you okay?” Nick asked as he watched his friend continue to chortle.

“I’m better than okay!” Brian grinned. “This is priceless!”

“Glad I could make you laugh.” Howie sniggered. “Sometimes my hunches are correct.”

“You’re an idiot.” Leighanne seethed, shooting daggers at John. “Do you realize what you’ve done?”

“What he’s done is give me the upper hand.” Brian asserted. His laughter subsided as he turned to confront Leighanne. “Do you really want to fight this out? If you don’t, I’m willing to settle. If you do, you better be prepared to lose.”

October 2013 – Japan

****

“Are you sure that her manager is against us hiring a guy? Think about all of the hit songs she could write when they break up.” I joked as I sorted through the papers that were spread out across the coffee table.

“You do know that your situation is unusual right?” Eddie scolded. “Not every girl who sleeps with a pop star ends up living happily ever after. Most girls get Chlamydia.”

“You’re on speaker!’ I reminded him, darting a quick look at Baylee who was playing Xbox in the far corner of the room.

“Hi, Eddie!” Brian added for good measure as he sat down next to me on the couch.

“Hey, Bri.” Eddie laughed. “Have you guys met the new Amy yet?”

“Not yet. Jason was supposed to pick him up from the airport today and give him the rundown. We’re expecting to meet him tomorrow night before the first Tokyo show.” Brian explained.

“You picked Matthew, right? His partner works on the Today Show?” Eddie clarified.

“Yeah. He seems perfect!” I gushed.

“As long as he doesn’t try and pick up any of the guys, I’m happy.” Eddie teased. “I don’t think I could handle that type of a scandal.”

“I’ll keep my eye on him.” I promised. “I told you that there would be a benefit to letting me set up this whole Fan Connection division from the road.”

Eddie’s laughter quickly subsided as Louis’s cries began to resonate in the background. “Yeah, yeah, you were right. Anyways, we’re off topic. Amy, Taylor and her management team are counting on you to get her Fan Connection experience off the ground. If they’re asking for a girl, than get them a girl. There’s no need to run your choice by me. I know that you’ll make the right decision.”

“Thanks Eddie.” I replied. “I also have all of the contact information ready to go for the girl who is going to be heading up FC for Selena. I’ll fax it over to you in the next couple of days.”

“You’re the best! I’ll call you soon.” Eddie promised as he hurriedly disconnected the call in order to tend to Louis.

I returned my attention to the haphazardly stacked papers, but my concentration was quickly ruined by the appearance of Nick and Laruen.

“Who’s ready to eat?” Nick boomed. “I’m starving!”

“Nick!” Baylee shouted. He dropped his game controller and ran over to greet him. He flung his arms around the older man’s waist and Nick affectionately ruffled his hair in response.

“You’re back from your mom’s already?”

“Yeah.” Baylee nodded as he moved over to hug Lauren. “John tried to teach me how to surf!”

“I still need to talk to your mom about that.” Brian muttered.

Nick looked as if he was ready to make a snide remark about Leighanne’s parenting skills, but he changed his mind as Mason came tearing into the room; followed closely by Kevin and Kristin.

Mason immediately ran over to join Baylee, and the two boys took off into the bedroom before the rest of us had even finished greeting each other.

Kevin shook his head at his son’s energy and adjusted his grip on Maxwell. “I’m going to go and make sure that they’re not destroying anything. Can you hold Max for a minute?” He asked, handing his youngest son over to me.

Max nestled into my arms as I returned my attention to the conversation.

“So, there were no issues with Baylee’s visit with Leighanne?” Kristin asked.

“It went surprisingly well.” Brian admitted. “The travel logistics were a bit of a nightmare, but she was civil. It’s amazing what a few million dollars can do.”

Kristin shook her head and sighed. “I can’t believe that she agreed to only six visits a year.”

“She didn’t have much choice.” AJ pointed out as he walked into the room bouncing a smiling Ava in his arms. “Brian had that settlement hearing in the bag. To be fair, she didn’t put up that much of a fight either.”

Rochelle nodded in agreement at her husband’s statement as she pulled me into a tight one-armed hug; careful to avoid crushing Max. “It’s so good to see you!” She gushed. “The baby looks good on you.”

“It does suit you.” Brian grinned, wrapping an arm around my waist.

I looked down at Max’s wide-eyed face and smiled. “Maybe one day.”

“Maybe one day what?” Leigh asked. She bustled into the room holding James by the hand and hauling a diaper bag in the other. Howie was right behind her, carrying a very sleepy looking Holden.

“They’re talking about having a baby.” Nick replied, pursing his lips. “We’re too young to even think about that. Right Lauren?”

“Speak for yourself.” Lauren quipped. She began making kissing noises at Ava who squealed in delight.

I couldn’t help but smile as Brian pulled me even tighter against him. He planted a soft kiss on my cheek as I shifted Max’s weight to my other arm. Maybe one day.