Charlene loved to perform. She had been performing in some way since before she could remember. Her friends were always telling her to take her performing to the next level; professional. But she always told them the same thing; that she would only do it if she could do it with her friends. Now was one of those times. She was shopping at the mall with her best friends Katie and Courtney. She thought of them as her sisters.

"Char," Courtney said, "Pursue your dream! It's what you wanna do with your life, you shouldn't be worrying about me and Kt."

"No Way!" she replied while looking at a rack of shirts, "you and KT have been doing this with me ever since we met at that dance competition when we were 10 years old and had to team up. I'm not doing this unless you two do it with me."

With this, Kt started talking. "So, you're saying that you'll do it if we do it with you?"

"Exactly!" Char replied. "It's about time you two finally got it into your heads."

Courtney looked at Kt, confused. Kt gave her a 'play-along-with-this' look.

"So, you'll go with the next chance you get if we do it too?" Kt asked.

"Yep!" she replied.

"Okay!" Kt said excitedly, "that settles it!"

"Settles what?!" Char and Courtney asked in unison.

"That we're going to enter the dance competition that's going on today," she told them.

"What competition?" Char asked.

"I just saw a poster outside that was advertising a dance competition," she explained. "There's a label that's looking for dancers."

"When's the competition?" Courtney asked.

Kt looked at her watch; "Exactly two and a half hours from now."

"What?!" they both asked in surprise.

"We don't have a dance to do, and we have NO music!" Char told them.

"Yes we do," Kt told her. "We're doing that dance you made up last week to Nelly's Country Grammar."

"No way!" Char replied. "I don't have anything to wear!"

"That's why we're going shopping!" she told her.

"Fine," Char told Kt. "I'll do it."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They went shopping throughout the mall. They ended up buying dark blue baggy jeans and white wifebeaters. They all got leather boots to wear also. Kt and Courtney got matching black ones that had blue flames running up them, and Char ended up in her favorite store where she got black leather boots that had normal flames running up them and buckled on the side. They weighed 6 1/2 pounds each.

"How are you gonna dance in those?" Kt asked.

"You're gonna kill yourself!" Courtney added.

"No I won't," she told them. "If I can dance in 4 inch heels, I can dance in these. Now, how long do we have left?"

"20 minutes," Kt told them.

"Well," Char said, "we better go then."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They walked to the other end of the mall where the competition was being held. Kt had just gotten her Nelly CD out of her car. They looked around in awe at the amount of people that were there to try out.

"There is no way we're gonna be able to pull this one off," Char said as she continued to look around.

"Well," Courtney added, "someone's gotta win! Let's do this!"

They walked up to a table where you had to sign your names saying you were there to 'show your stuff'.

Char, Kt, and Courtney signed the paper and went to sit down. They made random conversation as they waited for their turn. Suddenly they heard, "Charlene, KT, and Courtney! You're up!"

"Here we go..." Courtney said as they walked through the door into a room where they would be able to stretch out.

"That was a good sign," Char said.

"What was?" Courtney asked.

"We're #69!" she explained.

"Char!" Kt and Courtney exclaimed in unison. They laughed. They came to the room where they would stretch out at. Char stopped in her tracks as soon as they shut the door.

"Oh My Gosh!" she squealed, "NO WAY!"

"No way what?" Courtney asked her.

Char pointed at what she had seen. On the wall was a huge banner that read, "Jive Records Presents-Show Your Stuff". She turned to look at her friends. All she could say was, "Fatima."

"Fatima? What about her?" Kt asked.

"Fatima, Jive Records," she told them.

"What?" Courtney asked.

"Fatima works for Jive Records!" Char started freaking out. "What if she's judging our dance?! She's my idol!"

"Yeah," Courtney said, "we know you idolize her."

"I don't know if I can do this," Char complained.

"Too late," Kt told her. "We're up!"

"Oh No!" Char whined.

They made their way into the performance room.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The 3 girls stood in the middle of the floor. Char was looking at her friends nervously. Her idol, Fatima, would be judging their dance.

"You can do this!" Courtney whispered.

Char smiled as she watched one of the music guys start the music.

The three girls concentrated hard on their dancing. At different times they had all glanced at Fatima. She was obviously impressed by the smile on her face. The three girls smiled at each other as they all realized they might be able to pull it off. They had many thoughts running through their minds.

'What's gonna happen if we actually pull this off?! It would be the best thing that's ever happened to me! I might even get to meet some Hott Hollywood guys,' Char thought excitedly.

'Note to self...' Katie thought, 'Thank Char for convincing me to get these shoes. I love them!'

'One, Two, Three,' Courtney counted to herself.

The song finally ended and they ended their dance. Fatima stood up and clapped.

"That was very impressive, girls!" she commented. "Couldn't have done better myself."

Char smiled at this comment. 'She thinks the dance I made up is up to her level! Ohmigosh!'

Fatima continued, "You'll have to teach me that at our practice next week."

"You're joking, right?" Kt asked.

"NO WAY!" Courtney said. They both looked at Char, waiting for her to say something. Char didn't know what to say, but looked like she was on the verge of tears. Then they all started freaking out after it had sunk in that they had won.

After a while, they settled down and had to sign a few contracts. They said 'goodbye' to everyone and left to go home and celebrate.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The 3 girls sat in Charlene's living room and talked excitedly.

"The look on Char's face!" Kt laughed, "I thought she was gonna cry!" Courtney joined in laughing.

"Hey!" Char chimed in. "It ain't funny!"

"Uh-hu..." they said, "sure."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They talked for 45 minutes until Char decided she wanted to watch a movie. It was her favorite; A Night at the Roxbury. When the movie was done, they decided they should get some sleep before their big day tomorrow. Kt and Courtney drank the last of their Pepsi's and got their stuff ready to leave.

"See ya tomorrow!" Courtney yelled as she walked out the door.

"Bye Cookie!" they yelled after her.

Kt stayed a few minutes to help Char clean up the huge popcorn mess they had made. Before she left, Char thanked Kt. "Thanks a lot, Kt," Char said. "We wouldn't have gotten this far if you hadn't made me do it."

"Don't mention it," Kt smiled. "I gotta thank you for convincing me to get these shoes. They rock!"

Char laughed: "Don't mention it."

Kt left after a few more minutes of talking. "See ya at 9!" she said.

"Bye Kt!" Char replied.

Charlene woke up at 6:30 the next morning to her alarm going off.

"Why did I buy this stupid thing?!" she exclaimed as she got up and turned it off. She walked downstairs and into her kitchen where she found her Chihuahua sitting at the door, wanting to be let outside. Her dogs name was Lil' Bit.

"Alright, Bit," she said, "I'm coming." She let her out and watched as she ran straight to the back of the yard. After a few minutes she went back upstairs to take a shower.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Char pulled her UK t-shirt over her head. She was captain of the basketball team at her school. She considered being captain of the UK basketball team to be her greatest achievement. She looked at the clock on her dresser: 8:30, it read. She put on her jewelry and ran down the stairs. She grabbed her duffel bag that carried snacks and a shortsand t-shirt. She grabbed her keys off the counter and her basketball and ran out the door. She took her basketball everywhere; just in case she came across a hoop. She got in the car and drove off to meet her friends for their first day at work.

Fatima was already there waiting for the girls. She had gotten them a job as dancers for a group of guys. "Nick!" she shouted, "would you please stop shooting Brian with that water gun?! And Brian! Stop encouraging him! Both of you need to come sit over here. Your new dancers should be here any minute."

The two young men went and sat down next to their 3 other bandmates.

"What are they like?" Howie asked. There were 5 guys in the group: Nick, Brian, Howie, A.J., and Kevin.

"Well," she explained to them, "I don't know them that well. But I'm almost positive you'll like them. They are very impressive!"

"In what way?" Kevin asked.

"They did a dance for me," she told them, "that I was amazed by. One of them said she would teach it to me today on our break."

"She?!" A.J. asked.

"Yes A.J.," Fatima replied. "She."

"I looove the ladies!" he said.

"All three are girls," she explained, "and I think they just showed up. You guys stay here. I'll be back." She left the room.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Fatima walked down the stairs just as the 3 girls walked in. "Hello Girls!" she welcomed them.

"What's up Fatima?" they replied.

"Not too much," she told them. "We have a big day ahead of us, so we better get going."

"Big Day?" Char asked.

"Yeah," Fatima explained, "I got you 3 a job as dancers for the Backstreet Boys."

"That's great!" Courtney exclaimed.

"Is it bad that we've never heard of these 'Backstreet Boys'?" Kt asked.

"No," Fatima laughed. "They are really big over in Europe and they've just made it big over here."

"That's cool," Char started, "are they here?"

"Yes, they are," she answered. "They're upstairs. Shall we go and get introduced?"

"Cool with us," Char replied.

"Alright, then," Fatima said. "Just follow me this way."

The four girls made their way up the stairs.

"Your first impressions aren't gonna be very good if you two don't stop smacking each other upside the head!" Kt told Charlene and Courtney. "So knock it off before one of you gets a concussion."

"Char started it!" Courtney explained.

"What?!" Char exclaimed. They were now walking into the room where the guys were sitting. "No way! You're like, two feet taller than me! I hafta jump to smack you upside the head!"

Fatima laughed. The 5 guys were now looking over at the girls, listening in on their conversation and checking them out.

Char turned to Fatima, "Are you LAUGHING at me?!" she said, trying not to laugh herself.

"Yes I am," Fatima replied.

"May I ask WHY?" Char said.

"You sound just like 3 of the guys you're about to meet," Fatima told them.

"Oh," Char said, "I thought you were laughing cuz I'm short!" They all laughed at her until A.J. cut in.

"Excuse me, Fatima," he said, "are these the lovely ladies you were telling us about?"

"Yes they are," she replied. "Guys, I would like you to meet your newest dancers: Kt, Courtney, and Charlene."

"We're probably gonna be around each other a lot," Charlene said, "so call me Char."

"Will do," A.J. replied. "Now let me introduce myself. I'm A.J., and these chumps behind me are the guys who worship the ground I walk on." He took Char's hand and started to bring it towards his mouth to kiss it; being the romantic gentlemen that he was. Char jumped back before he could kiss her hand, and A.J. was suddenly hit with a big spray of water. He gave an evil glare at the blonde boy who had sprayed him with his super soaker.

"Nick!" he exclaimed, "you're gonna die young!"

"Nu uh," Nick replied, "coz only the good die young!"

Courtney, Kt, and Char laughed. "I love that song!" Courtney said.

"Really?!" Nick said, "so do I!" He walked over to the girls. "Hi, I'm Nick." He shook the 3 girls hands and winked at Courtney. Courtney heard Char giggle.

"Shut up, shorty!" she said.

Char just glared at her. She turned around as she felt the presence of somebody standing next to her. She now found herself looking into to the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen. "Hi," the young man said as he stuck out his hand, "I'm Brian."

"Hi," she replied as she shook his hand. She was practically mesmerized at the brightness of his eyes. She smiled at him.

"Oh," he began, "that thing about your height; just remember, good things come in small packages."

They heard Courtney doing a fake cough. "Be quiet you jolly green giant!" Char said. Brian smiled at her before he introduced himself to Kt and Courtney.

The next guy they met was Howie. All three girls felt like they were in love for the first time. He was so sweet and he had the most awesome smile, and they LOVED his big brown puppy dog eyes.

Last (but not least), they met Kevin. Kt checked him out as he introduced himself to her best friends. 'Holy Cow! He must work out a lot! He is fine!' she thought as he walked towards her. "Hi, I'm Kevin," he said as he shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Kevin," she replied, "I'm Katie."

He smiled at her. "Well, I better get back over with the rest of the guys and make sure A.J. doesn't kill Nick."

Kt laughed, "I don't think Nick is dead." She looked to her right. Kevin followed her gaze to where he saw Courtney laughing at Nick. They saw Courtney hand Nick a little piece of paper.

"I wonder what that was," Kevin said.

"It was probably her phone number," Kt answered.

"I dunno," Kevin said. "Well, I gotta go. Howie's giving me the 'get-over-here' look. Bye!"

"Bye," she said as she watched him run off towards where the rest of the guys now were.

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

It was now 2:30 in the afternoon. So far, all the girls had done was go over rules and expectations and the agenda (which included an overseas tour), and any questions the girls might have had.

"Alright, girls," Fatima said as she walked into the room, "the guys are on their break, so how about you teach me that dance?"

"Alright! Time to dance!" Char exclaimed as she, Courtney, and Katie walked into the practice room. They said 'hi' to the guys when they saw them sitting in the back corner of the room.

"Oh, hi girls!" the guys responded. "You better watch out," A.J. continued, "she'll work ya hard."

"Oh contraire my tattooed friend," Fatima replied, "I am the student."

"This should be good," he laughed.

"Hey A.J.!" Char called as she tossed a cassette tape at him, "throw this in for us!"

"Sure thing babe," he replied as he put it in the tape deck. Nick glanced over at Brian just in time to see Brian throw an evil glare at A.J. 'What's eating him?' he thought, 'I'll ask him later.'

They heard the music start just as A.J. ran back into the room and sat down.

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

It was now around 3:15. Fatima had gotten the dance down. The guys were very impressed. Howie had just left; he had a meeting to attend. "This dance would be a whole lot better if we had dancing partners," Char hinted.

Apparently A.J. was the only one who got the hint (being the one that never passed up a chance to dance), and jumped up next to Char. "Let's dance, babe!"

"Alright!" Char laughed. "Down simba!"

Fatima went and grabbed Brian as Kt grabbed Kevin and Courtney grabbed Nick. Nick saw Brian glaring at A.J., who was making char laugh by dancing in circles around her to no music. 'I gotta find out what's wrong with him,' he thought as he took Courtney by the waist.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

About 30 minutes had passed and they were all getting really into the dance. It turned out that these 'Backstreet Boys' were awesome dancers. The girls loved these guys, they were so much fun.

They had formed what seemed to be a small circle. Courtney was the first to jump in. She dragged Nick with her.

"Go Nick!" Fatima yelled as she continued to dance.

When Courtney and Nick jumped out (practically falling over from laughing), A.J. dragged Char in. Char, in the meantime, was busy looking at something else. Courtney saw this and followed Char's gaze. 'Is she looking at Brian?!' Courtney thought. 'That's not good! A.J. is all over her! Be careful Char, I think you have someone crushin' on you!' she glanced back at the circle where she saw Char and A.J. 'getting down' to the song. "Go Char! Go Char!" everyone was yelling.

The music finally ended and everyone collapsed on the couches that were on the other side of the room. Courtney and Nick sat on the smaller one, while everyone else sat on the big one. Char was in between Brian and A.J., while Kt sat by Kevin. Fatima left, considering that today's rehearsal was over.

A.J. reached down and grabbed his water bottle. He handed it to Char, "you want some?" he asked.

"Sure, thanks," Char replied. She drank some before giving it back.

Suddenly, Courtney spoke up, "Char, I know I don't even have to ask you, but the rest of you guys; we're going to McDonalds, you wanna go?"

They all agreed to the offer and gathered their stuff to leave.

Everyone sat down at the biggest table in McDonalds.

"I'll be right back," Brian said, "I gotta get my drink." He walked off towards the front of the restaurant.

Just as he walked off, Char realized her mistake. "Now it's my turn to get up," she said.

"What's wrong, babe?" A.J. said to her as his eyes followed her as she stood up.

"Nothin'," she explained, "I just can't have my fries without ketchup!"

He laughed, "Oh!"

Char walked off to the front of the restaurant.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Char walked up to the counter and asked if she could get some ketchup. After she got some, she turned around to walk back to the table. As she started walking, she saw something that got her attention. She saw Brian looking through the windows of the playland. She decided to talk to him.

"Hey Brian," she said, "whatcha doin'?"

"I'm just thinkin'," he answered.

"Oh," she said, "what about?"

"About those kids in the Playland," he told her.

"They're so cute when they're out there having fun," she continued. "I love kids. What about you?"

"Same with me," he replied. "I was just thinking about how cool it would be to be small enough to play in there again."

"Who's stopping you?" she asked him. He stared at her, somewhat confused. "Come on," she set down the ketchup she was holding, grabbed his hand and pulled him inside the Playland. She sat down at a table and started to untie her shoes.

"What are you doing?" Brian laughed.

"We're gonna play," she replied coolly, "now take off your shoes." She watched him as he removed his shoes. When he finished, Char touched the side of his arm. "Tag!" she said, "you're it!"

Brian watched as Char ran off into the giant Playland. 'She's Crazy!' he thought as he ran off to catch her. He climbed the maze of ladders. When he got to the top he debated whether to turn left or right. He decided to turn right when he saw a flash of blonde hair. He turned right and ran into the next section where Char had just finished jumping across a series of trampolines. "There you are!" he laughed.

"You still gotta catch me!" she said. She took off running as Brian got closer to her. Char ran into a padded yellow section, laughing almost uncontrollably, and out of breath from running from Brian.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Courtney fed Nick his last fry. She wiped her hands on a napkin as she said, "I can't believe I just did that!"

"Nobody can resist the Nick Carter charm," he said.

"That's where you're wrong, buddy," A.J. said. Everyone laughed. Kt got up to throw her trash away. She quickly came back and whispered something into Courtney's ear.

"What?!" Courtney exclaimed. She got up and ran to the Playland window. Everyone remaining at the table looked at Kt, confused.

"Wait for it..." she told them.

"What are they DOING?!" they heard Courtney exclaim.

"Who?!" everyone (except Kt), said in unison as they ran to the window. Kt just laughed.

"Ohmigosh!" Nick said, "they are psychos, I knew it all along!"

"Is it just me," Kevin began, "or are they WAY too old to be playing in there?" They all laughed as they watched Brian and Char tackle each other.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Char and Brian eventually got out of the Playland and joined the others. After they were all done eating, they sat there and talked. Char was cracking up at Brian, who was talking like Donald Duck.

"You guys!" she said, "listen to him! That is so funny!"

"Oh Boy!" Brian exclaimed in a Donald Duck voice again as he smacked his hand on his forehead.

"Alright!" Char told him, "you'd better stop making me laugh or my drink's gonna come out of my nose!"

"Uh guys....." Kevin interrupted, "over here." They glanced over at him. He had a small, silver video camera in his hand.

Char quickly grabbed Brian's head and ran her hand through his hair. "For all you fans out there of that show 'Friends', don't listen to Chandler! Donald Duck wears pants! And we should all be happy that he wears a towel around his waist after he takes a shower!" Courtney and Kt lost it. They had tears in their eyes from laughing.

"What?" A.J. asked.

"I actually saw that episode of 'Friends'!" Nick explained, "It was the part where Chandler is trying to figure out why Donald Duck doesn't wear pants but always has a towel around his waist when he gets out of the shower."

"Oh really....." A.J. said.

"Char," Brian said, "you made those two laugh so hard, I think we're gonna have to take them to the hospital and get them some oxygen."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They walked out of McDonalds, laughing.

"I am exhausted," Kt said.

"Me too," everyone else said in unison. They looked at each other and laughed. Char looked down at her watch, "Oh crap! I gotta go. Alex is calling in 30 minutes."

"Who's Alex?" A.J. asked.

"Oh, he's like a brother to me. I've known him for years."

"Oh okay," he replied.

Char got her keys out and said goodbye to everyone; "Thanks for dinner, guys!" She opened the door to her car. A.J. suddenly ran over to her. "What's up, A.J.?" she asked when he reached her.

"Uh..." he said, "I dunno if this might be kind of soon or whatever, but I was wondering if you would go out with me tomorrow night?"

"Yeah, sure," she replied.

"Great," he told her. "Is it okay if I pick you up around 6:30?"

"That sounds good."

"I better let you go now. I'll see you tomorrow," he said as he kissed her hand.

"Alright. Bye A.J."

Char sat in her room, talking to Alex. It was around 9:30 PM.

"...he being good to ya?" Alex asked.

"I don't exactly know, considering that tomorrow is our first date."

"I knew that!"

"Uh-huh, sure Alex. Listen, I'm gonna let you go coz I have another call coming through."

"Alright, bye babe."

"Bye!"


"Hello?" Char asked.

"Hey girl!" she heard Kt's voice.

"Hey Kt, what's up?"

"Nothin', I just called to see what was up with you and A.J."

"Oh really?"

"Yes really."

"Well, he came over to my car and just asked if I would go out with him tomorrow night. He's such a cutie."

"That's awesome! You guys are gonna look so cute together. He is a sweetie."

"So, what's up with you and Kevin?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, don't give me that! I saw how you two were looking at each other!"

"Alright, fine! You caught me. He asked me out for tomorrow night, too."

"Awesome! I am so happy for you! You're like perfect for each other!"

"We'll see about that."

*Beep*

"Ah! I'm getting another call and I bet it's Courtney wondering the same thing as you. I'll hafta talk to you later. See ya!"

"Bye Char!"


"Hey Courtney!" Char said.

"Huh? How'd you know it was me?"

"Don't ask."

"Alright... anyway! You better spill on why A.J. went running after you."

"Nu-uh. Not until you tell me what's going on with you and Nick."

"What do you mean?"

"Okay, if Kt can't pull that off, neither can you. Spill it!"

"Damn, she got to you before me!"

"Yeah, so get on with it."

"Fine, he asked me to go out with him tomorrow night."

"Are we all going out on the same night?!"

"Huh?"

"Oh nevermind."

"Your turn to spill about A.J. now."

"Oh! He just asked me the same thing as Nick."

"What'd he ask Nick?"

"No! He asked me if I would go out with him tomorrow night!"

"Oh. That's cool. Did you hear about Kt and Kevin?"

"Yeah, I think it definitely has a chance."

"Me too. They look awesome together and he seems like he would be good to her."

"I think so too."

"Listen, I gotta let you go coz I told Nick I would call him and give him a good time to pick me up tomorrow."

"Alright. Bye Cookie."

"See Ya!"


Courtney dialed Nick's number. "Hello?" she heard.

"Hey Nick!" she said.

"What's up, Courtney?"

"Nothing much, I just called to give you the time for tomorrow."

"Oh, okay. Hold on a sec, alright?"

"Okay."

"A.J.! Would you shut up about her for one minute?!" she heard him yell.

"Why are you yelling at him?" she asked.

"You heard about him asking Char out, didn't you?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Oh, he's over here going on and on about how much he likes her and how he can't believe she said yes."

"That's funny. Char seems to like him a lot."

"That's cool. So, what time do you want me to pick you up tomorrow?"

"I would say that anytime after 4:30 is fine."

"Alright, how about 6:00?"

"That's good for me."

"Me too."

"Well, I have to go now coz Kt, Char, and I are going shopping tomorrow so I should get some sleep. You never know what hanging with them is gonna be like."

Nick laughed. "Alright! Bye!"

"Bye!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next morning all 3 girls met up at the mall. They had bought a few things.

"Nick is so funny!" Courtney exclaimed.

"This morning I was woken up by a knock at my door and it was a delivery guy with 2 dozen roses from Kevin," Kt told them.

"A.J. is just A.J.," Char said.

They continued shopping until around 2 in the afternoon when they realized they hadn't eaten lunch yet. They decided to go back to Char's house for lunch.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They walked into Char's kitchen. "Eat whatever you want," Char told them as she walked over to her answering machine. "You have 4 messages," they heard.

"Hey Char," they heard the first message, "It's Nick. I've got some strange hornball over here that won't shut up about you, so I'm hoping you can tame him tonight, since I'm not about to do it!" They heard him laugh before he continued, "I'm gonna go now. Say hi to Courtney for me if you see her! Bye!"

"Courtney," Char said, "Nick says Hi!"

"Uh, yeah," she replied, "I just heard." Kt laughed but stopped when she heard the next message start.

"Hey, hey!" they heard, "It's Kev! I'm just callin' to warn you about the wild beast you're going out with tonight. Hopefully he'll calm down before ya'lls date, but if not, BEWARE! Well, I'm gonna go coz I'm gonna call Kt. See ya!"

Char and Courtney looked over at Kt. "Even his voice is hott!" she exclaimed. Courtney and Char laughed before listening in on the next message.

"Hey girls!" they heard Fatima's voice. "Don't ask how I knew you would all hear this at the same time, I just figured I would leave a message on one answering machine considering the fact that Kt and Courtney didn't pick up their phones. Anyways, there are a few rules we didn't go over yesterday. Uh, you hafta be careful what you say in public, be nice to all the fans, and last but not least, you can't date people you work with, so don't get involved with the guys. That's it! I'll see you girls later! Bye!"

Kt, Courtney and Char looked at each other. Char could practically see her friends hearts breaking. Before any of them could speak, the last message came on.

"Hey Char!" they heard. "It's Howie. I just heard about you and A.J. He called earlier and talked for 30 minutes straight about you and then I had Nick and Kevin doing the same thing about Courtney and Kt. A.J. may act and look like a bad boy, but he's great when it comes to treating a girl right. You've all snagged great guys. Have fun! Bye!"

The 3 girls looked at each other knowing they were all thinking the same thing. Char decided to speak up for all of them.

"Don't you two even think about it," she said, "you are not going to drop them. Do what your heart is telling you; not your mind. Your hearts have minds of their own. That's like double the power. You are going out with Nick and Kevin tonight. I won't let you just give it all up like that."

Kt jumped out of Nick's Durango and walked up the sidewalk to Kevin's house. Courtney and Nick had given her a ride to Kevin's house because his car was in the shop; so they were going to use Howie's car. Kt knocked on the door. A few seconds later, Kevin answered.

"Hey Kt," he greeted her.

"Hey," she said kind of shyly.

"Come in," he said as he moved aside.

Kt walked into his house. "Your house is so big!" she exclaimed, "I love it."

"Thanks," he replied with a smile, "I just have to grab my wallet from upstairs. Howie and A.J. are in the living room, if you wanna go in there."

"Ok!" Kt turned and walked into a room where she found A.J. and Howie. "Hey guys," she said as she walked towards them and sat down.

"Hey," they replied.

"Um... A.J.," Kt started, "aren’t you supposed to be out with Char?"

"Key words there would be 'supposed to'," he told her.

"Why aren't you?" she asked.

"She called and said she didn't think it was a good idea that she and I got together or whatever," he explained.

"What?!" she exclaimed.

"You aren't the only one who's shocked," Howie told her.

"I don't get that girl at all," Kt told them, "she seemed to like you so much, A.J."

"I don't get her either," A.J. said sadly, "and I like her a lot, too."

At that moment, Kevin walked in. "Ready to go, Kt?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied. "I'll see you guys later. I'll try to find out what's going on in Char's head for you, A.J."

"Thanks Kt," he said. Kt and Kevin left for their first date.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Nick and Courtney walked out of the movie theater. "I gotta admit," Nick said, "for a chick flick, that was a good movie."

"That movie was really sad!" Courtney said.

"Well," Nick said, "I'm here to be the shoulder for you to cry on."

Courtney smiled at him. "That's why I like you, Nick. You are so sweet."

"Really?!" he said, "I thought you fell for my manly good looks."

Courtney laughed at his joke; "You just keep telling yourself that."

"What do you wanna do now?" he asked her.

"I'm not sure. How about you pick?"

"Alright..... How about a walk in the park?"

"Sounds good."

They reached Nick's Durango and got in. As Nick drove off, Courtney heard her cell phone ring. "Hello?" she asked.

"Courtney!" she heard Kt's voice, "We have a screwed up friend!"

"What did Char do to you this time?"

"No! She didn't do anything to me!"

"Then what happened?"

"She cancelled her date with A.J.!"

"What?! She didn't!" Nick looked over to Courtney, wondering what was wrong. They were just pulling into a parking lot by the park.

"Yeah, she did. Now A.J. is all sad about it."

"He really liked her, huh?"

"Yeah. He's at Kev's house with Howie. I feel bad for him."

"So do I, now. What do we do?"

"When you're done with your date, go to my house."

"Then what?"

"We're going to Char's so we can figure out what's going on in that head of hers."

"Okay. I'll see you then."

"Alright, see ya!"

"What's wrong?" Nick asked Courtney.

"Char cancelled her date with A.J.," she replied.

"No way! He was so happy he was going out with her. He's gonna be heartbroken."

"Yeah, I know."

"What are we gonna do?"

"I think Howie's taking care of A.J., but Kt and I are gonna go over to Char's later tonight after we meet up at Kt's house, so we can see what's going on."

"I can take you to Kt's after this, if you want."

"That'd be great. Thanks!" They got out of the car and walked hand in hand through the moonlit park.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Char sat on her black leather couch, surfing channels. "There is nothing on! she thought, "I guess that only calls for one thing... basketball!"

She got up and ran up her stairs. She changed into some shorts and a t-shirt, tied up her shoes, and ran back down the stairs. She walked to a closet that was full of sports equipment and grabbed her basketball out of her duffel bag. She then walked through her house and out her back door. There was a public basketball court at the back of her house on the other side of the fence. The court was empty. "Great!" she said to herself, "I can work on my shots!" She started shooting around and working on some new moves she had made up. After a while, she got bored playing by herself. "Who is there that would wanna play?" she thought. "Didn't Brian say he loved to play? I'll call him."

Char set her basketball down and ran back to her house. She looked at the list of phone numbers Fatima had given her. She scanned the list for Brian's name. After she found it, she grabbed her phone and dialed his number.

"Hello?" she heard a southern accent.

"Brian?" she asked.

"That would be me."

She laughed, "Hey, It's Char."

"Oh! What's up?"

"Nothing much. I was playing some ball and got bored playing by myself. So, I was just wondering if you wanted to play. I remembered you saying that you like to play."

"Yeah, I'll play with you. I never pass up a chance to play."

"Thanks. Do you know where the court on Crescent Drive is?"

"Yes I do. I'll be there in about 10 minutes."

"Alright, I'll be waiting."

"Bye!"

"Bye!"

Char hung her phone back up and went upstairs to put her hair up. She went into her room and grabbed a scrunchie. She threw her hair up in a high ponytail and went back downstairs. She went back outside to the court. After shooting around a few times, she stopped when she heard a car pull up. She turned around to see Brian walking towards her. "Hey Brian," she greeted him.

"Hey Char."

"You ready to get your butt kicked?"

"No. It ain't gonna happen."

"Okay, let's play then."

They started their one-on-one game and 20 minutes later it was tied, 36-36.

"Next one to score wins," Brian said.

"Sounds good. Let's go."

They chased each other around the court for about another 3 minutes until Char took the ball and shot from half court.

WHOOSH

"Alright! Half Court!" Char did her little victory dance.

"You play hard, girl!" Brian said. "You are only the second girl who has ever beaten me."

"Really?" she replied, "Who was the first?"

"Nick," he smiled.

She laughed at him, "You wanna come inside for a drink?"

"That'd be great. Thanks!"

They grabbed their stuff and ran towards Char's house.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Turkeys, Cookies, and Flying Peanuts with Feelers?!" Brian laughed.

"Yeah! It sounds pretty stupid, but that's what we used to call each other," Char told him.

"So, who was what?"

"Kt was Turkey, Courtney was Cookie, and I was Peanut."

"Ya'll are strange!"

"You ain't seen nothin' yet!"

"Okay, now I'm scared."

"Ha Ha—Very funny!"

Brian glanced out of Char's window; "Whoa, look at this!"

"What?" she asked as she walked over and looked out. "Awesome!" she exclaimed. Both of them were now looking at the Northern Lights. "They are so pretty!" Char cried.

"You wanna get a better look?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied. He grabbed her hand and led her back out to the basketball court.

"Stay here," he told her, "I'll be right back."

"Alright," she told him as she watched him run off to his BMW. "Sweet Wheels!" she thought. Char continued to look up at the sky until she heard Brian's voice.

"Okay, here we go," he said as he laid a blanket out in the middle of the court. "I got a blanket out of the car so we can lay down and watch them better."

Char smiled at the thought of him being so sweet. She watched him lay down on one side of the blanket. "Come watch with me," he told her as he patted his stomach. She walked over and laid her head down on his stomach.

"They're really pretty tonight," Char said.

"Kinda like you?" he said as a statement more than a question.

"Brian, I just got done playing basketball. I'm all gross and stuff."

"Girl, you didn't even break a sweat."

She giggled before saying, "Why are you being so sweet?"

"Me?! Sweet?! No!"

She laughed and started to say something but was interrupted by Brian. "What happened with you and A.J.?"

"What do you mean, 'what happened'?"

"I heard you were going out with him tonight."

"I was."

"Like I said, what happened?"

"I got a call from Fatima."

"And.....?"

"She had forgotten to tell us some rules and one of them was that we aren't allowed to date people we work with, so she didn't want us getting involved with you guys."

"So, then why are Courtney and Kt out with Nick and Kev?"

"I told them that I wouldn't let them drop Kevin and Nick like that."

"But you dropped A.J."

"Yeah."

"Why did you not let them do something, but then turned around and did it yourself?"

"I have never seen them so happy hanging out with a guy before. I wasn't gonna let them mess it up."

"Do you have any idea how happy A.J. was that you were going out with him?"

"Yeah, I heard all about it."

"Then why'd you do it?"

"I've seen how serious A.J. is about his work and I don't wanna screw it up for him by getting him in trouble."

"You're a special girl. You know that?"

"Huh? That was a complete change of subject."

"No. You thought of all those people before you thought of yourself and what you wanted."

"I did it because all those people are special to me."

"And you were saying I was the sweet one."

Char laughed; "Because you were the one being so sweet to me."

Brian didn't say anything. They now sat in silence. Char felt his arm wrap around her and his hand rest on her stomach. They laid that way for about 15 minutes and watched the Northern Lights disappear. They were now just looking at the stars. Char turned her head to look up at Brian. He must've felt her head turn because he spoke, "Don't worry," he said with his eyes still closed. "I'm not asleep. I'm just enjoying the moment."

Char turned her head back and laughed. "What moment?!" she thought.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing, Mr. 'I'm-just-enjoying-the-moment'."

"That's it!" he exclaimed, and with the hand that was resting on her stomach he attacked her with tickles.

Char squealed in laughter, "Brian, Stop!"

"No way! You're cute when you laugh, so I wanna make you laugh."

"Char replied in between fits of laughter, "Well, you are cute when you're asleep. Why couldn't you have stayed that way!"

He kept on tickling her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kt and Courtney pulled into Char's driveway. They walked up to her door and knocked. They got no answer. "That's weird," Kt said, "no one's home, but all the lights are on inside."

"That could only mean two things," Courtney said. "That she is in her pool, or she is on the court."

The two girls walked around the house. "Okay," Kt said, "she is definitely back here because I can hear her. But why is she screaming?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Brian!" Char cried, "Please don't!"

"Now, how does that Titanic movie go?" he started, "You jump, I jump, remember?" He held her over the pool and dropped her in.

"Brian!" Char yelled as she treaded water. "In the movie 'you jump, I jump' was a promise!"

"Oh yeah. And the cute guys never break their promises." Brian pulled off his shirt and jumped in.

Char's stomach flipped when she saw his washboard stomach. "Holy Monkeys!" she thought, "He's kinda hot!" Her thoughts were disturbed when she heard two new voices.

"Char!" Kt yelled, "what the hell are you doing?!"

"Yeah!" Courtney added, "and why is Brian here and taking off his clothes?!"

Char and Brian snapped their heads around to see a very angry Kt and Courtney coming towards them. "What's wrong with them?" Brian asked Char.

"I dunno," Char replied quietly.

"Well?!" said Kt angrily.

"What are you talking about?!" Char exclaimed.

"You know what we're talking about!" Courtney threw back.

"Uh..." Char said, "No, I don't."

"You won't hang out with A.J.," Kt started, "but you'll hang out with Brian?!"

"That's not what it's like!" Char said. "I got bored playing by myself and I remembered him saying he liked to play, so I asked him if he wanted to!"

"Yeah, sure," Kt said back. "That's why you're wearing a white shirt that is now all wet and I suppose it's just a coincidence that he took his shirt off."

"I looked up to you, Char," Courtney spoke up. "I thought you were better than that."

"Let's go, Cookie," Kt told her.

They turned to leave. Char jumped out of her pool. "You two are making way too much out of this!" Char pleaded.

"We're not the ones who said that we'd go out with one guy, but cancelled to be with one of his friends," Kt snapped.

Kt and Courtney left. Char stood there in shock as she watched her friends leave. When she heard their car drive off, she turned around and looked at Brian, who was still in the pool.

"Char..." he started. He watched as she ran into her house in tears.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Char sat Indian-style in the middle of her bed in tears. She had changed into some dry clothes. She could hear footsteps coming up the stairs, but paid no attention until she heard a knock on her door. "Come in," she said quietly.

"I would," came Brian's voice, "but I'm kinda wet."

"Oh yeah," Char thought. She got up and walked to the door. She opened it and laughed at what she saw.

"Now I no longer think you're laughing with me," Brian said, "I think you're laughing at me."

"I think you're right," she said. "Come on; Alex left some clothes here last time he came to visit. They should fit you."

"Alright," he replied. "I'm sorry for dragging water through your house."

"Don't worry about it. It's just water. I don't care." She reached into her closet and pulled out some khakis and a black wifebeater.

"The guy has good taste," Brian said as he took the clothes. "Thanks."

"Yep," she said. "You can change in here and I'm gonna go across the hall and play Playstation."

"I'll be there in a jiffy," he told her.

"What?!"

"Don't ask," he laughed.

Char laughed to herself as she walked across the hall to the guest room.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Alright!" Char yelled, "I finally landed that stalefish!"

"A what?!" she heard Brian enter the room.

She glanced over at him and had to do a double-take. She dropped her controller. "Um..." Char started, "a stalefish. I'm playing my favorite game. It's snowboarding." She regained her concentration. "Don't think about him that way, Char!" she thought, "You just got into a fight with your best friends about this. You like A.J.!"

"You wanna play?" she asked him.

"Sure," he replied. "But I don't think I'll be very good at this game."

"That's okay. I'll show you some tricks."

"Sounds good." Brian picked up the extra controller.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Maybe we shouldn't have got so worked up about that," Courtney said.

"About what?" Kt asked. They were driving to Kevin's house. He asked them to come over because A.J. was still upset over the whole cancellation thing between him and Char.

"Maybe we should've heard what Char and Brian had to say before flipping out and leaving."

"Maybe we should've. But she shouldn't have been hanging out with him when she was supposed to be hanging out with A.J."

"Yeah. We acted like we were her mom or something."

Kt laughed, "Thinking about it now... Char would never do that to a guy."

"Well, rehearsal tomorrow should be interesting." They pulled into Kevin's driveway.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Sweet!" Brian said. He had gotten down most of the tricks Char had taught him. After a few more minutes, they got tired of playing and turned it off. Char looked at the clock and saw that it read 12:20 am.

"No wonder I'm tired," she said as she leaned back on the back of the couch next to Brian.

"Don't forget we have rehearsal tomorrow," he reminded her.

"Oh joy," she sighed as she rested her head on Brian's shoulder. "Should be lots of fun."

"Everything will be alright," he told her as he brought one of his arms behind her. "I don't know how things with Courtney and Kt will go, but I am pretty sure A.J. will wanna talk to you. And if all else fails, I'm here for you."

"Thanks Bri," she said quietly, "That means a lot to me."

He looked down at her and watched as she played with a cord on the pants he was wearing. "Having fun?" he asked her.

"I always play with this cord when Alex wears these pants," she explained. "I miss him, and especially his hugs."

"Do you see him often?"

"Unfortunately, no."

"I'm sorry. Where does he live?"

"South Carolina."

"That's pretty far."

"Yeah, but I talk to him a lot."

"Not the same, huh?"

"Nope. He was always there when I need someone to hold me. He was like my brother. I remember one time when me, Courtney, and Kt got in a huge fight and none of us would talk to each other and he stayed with me all night and never let me go."

"Sounds like your perfect guy."

"No, he's not for me."

"I'm sure you'll know when the right guy comes along."

"Yeah, that's what I think."

"I'll never be good enough for her," Brian thought, "I definitely can't pull anything unexpected on her tonight. Oh, but I want to so bad!"

Char noticed the serious look on his face. "Whatcha thinking about, Bri?"

"I wanna give you something, but I'm not gonna because I don't think this is the right time."

Char sat straight up and said excitedly, "Come on, Bri! Show me!"

"No, I can't."

"Why not?"

"It wouldn't be right."

"I'm sure it's fine. Now, show me or I might never talk to you again."

"If I show you, you gotta swear to me that you won't get mad or freak out, okay?"

"Yes, now come on, show me!"

"Alright... close your eyes."

"Huh?"

"If you want me to show you, you gotta close your eyes."

"Uh-huh..." Char said as she closed her eyes.

"Here goes nothing," Brian thought as he leaned in closer to her and rested his lips on hers. Startled at first, Char didn't do anything, but then started to kiss him back. "No! I can't do this!" She pulled back.

"I can't do it, Bri."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done it."

"Don't be sorry. But I think it would be best if you left."

"Yeah, I think so too." Brian got up, then helped Char up. She walked out of the room and down the stairs with him right behind her. She started to open the door but he stopped her.

"Wait," he said, "I'm sorry for what just happened."

"I said don't worry about it."

"Well, if it doesn't bother you, then promise me nothing has changed between us and you won't be all weird around me tomorrow."

"Alright."

"No. It's not alright. I need you to promise me."

"Okay, I promise."

"Thank you," he said as he took one of her hands in his.

Char stood up on her tip-toes and kissed his cheek. She ran her hand down his cheek before she said, "Now go."

He opened the door. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said.

"Bye Brian."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"A.J., I have no idea what's going on in that girls' head," Kt stated. Her and Courtney were sitting in Kevin's living room with A.J., Howie, and of course, Kevin.

After thinking about it, Courtney spoke up, "Kt, what if she did it for the same reason we were gonna do it?"

"Huh?!" Kevin asked, "You two were gonna do it?"

"Yeah," Courtney replied, "but Char refused to let us do it."

"We didn't want to screw up you guys' careers," Kt continued. "We got the call from Fatima about not being able to get involved with you guys."

Howie, A.J., and Kevin were shocked. "That was really sweet of you girls," Howie said.

"Yeah," Kevin continued. "At least that goes to show that they aren't going out with us because of what our job is."

"I can't believe she did that so my career wouldn't be endangered," A.J. said slowly. "I hafta call her."

"No, don't!" Kt and Courtney jumped in unison.

"Why not?" A.J. asked.

"It's a long story," Kt explained. "Just don't call her."

"Can I talk to her tomorrow at rehearsal?" he asked.

"Yeah," Courtney answered, "that would be better."

She and Kt glanced at each other with a 'that-was-close' look. Even though they were mad at Char, they still felt the need to watch out for her. "That would've been really bad if A.J. called and Brian was there still," Kt thought. "Tomorrow is gonna be very interesting."

This practice was being held at Fatima’s private gym. Fatima, being the only one who didn’t know about what happened the night before, called the girls and offered to give them a ride. They all said yes, because they figured the ones they were mad at would’ve said no.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They were all sitting in silence as they rode down the highway. The only voice that could be heard was the one singing on the radio. Finally, not being able to take it anymore, Fatima turned off the radio and broke the silence.

“Okay,” she exclaimed, “what is going on here?!”

Char—who was sitting next to her in the front seat—replied, “Nothing’s going on.”

“Yeah,” Kt said, “nothing.”

“You guys are bad liars,” Fatima told them.

“We’re not lying,” Char said.

“Yeah,” Kt continued. “Some of us don’t do that.”

“Shut up, Kt,” Char threw back.

“Both of you shut up!” Courtney yelled. “You two are being pathetic!” She continued to explain to Fatima what had happened the previous night.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“...So now they’re mad at each other and I’m staying out of it,” Courtney finished.

“Well, I agree on that being pathetic part,” Fatima said, “but you both have a point. Although Char did the right thing.”

“Well then how do we both have a point?” Kt asked.

“That rule isn’t written down in black and white or anything,” Fatima said. “It’s basically just for all of you guys’ safety. The boys know about it, too. So, Char did do the right thing and I’m sure A.J. appreciates that; and Kt would’ve had a point if Char had done what she was accused of.”

They were now at the gym. They got out of the car and walked towards the building, continuing their conversation.

“So, you two should just forget about it and make-up,” Fatima said. They were now inside the building.

“She’s right, Char,” Kt started after a moment of silence, “I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions about Brian. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too,” Char said.

“Group hug!” Fatima yelled.

Nick came around the corner just in time to see the girls embrace in a group hug. “Did someone say hug?!” he asked.

“You’re too late, Nick,” Fatima told him.

“Ahhh man!” he whined.

“Stop whining, Nick,” said a new voice. They looked up to see who was talking and saw that it was Brian.

They all walked into a huge gym. “Well, I don’t get a proper hug everyday,” Nick explained.

“I guess it’s a good thing I’m here, then!” Courtney said as she hugged him. “’Coz now you will.”

“I like this girl more every minute,” Nick said as he hugged her back.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The 5 boys and 3 girls stretched out in the middle of the floor. Fatima had received an urgent phone call and had to leave. Kt and Char were back to normal and joking around. Courtney was making ‘googly-eyes’ (Hee Hee Kt!) at Nick. The only guy who knew about what happened the night before was Brian. Char caught him staring at her a few times. After they were done stretching, Char and Kt stood up. As she was standing up, Char caught A.J. looking at her out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head towards him and he quickly turned away.

“What the heck?” Char thought. “Can I talk to you on the other side of the gym, Kt?”

“Yeah.” They walked to the other side of the gym. “What’s up?” Kt asked.

“A.J.”

“What about him?”

“He won’t even look at me. He keeps turning away.”

“He’s probably wondering about yesterday.”

“Well, then why doesn’t he just ask?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you should talk to him first.”

Char turned her head to look at the boys. She caught Brian and A.J. looking over towards her. “Crap!” she thought. She looked back at Kt. “I gotta tell you something,” Char said, grabbing Kt’s wrist and dragging her over to an office that adjoined the gym. As they walked towards the office Char yelled, “Courtney! Stop making ‘googly-eyes’ (Hee Hee) with Nick and get over here!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What’s wrong?!” Courtney asked as she ran into the office.

“I gotta tell you guys something really important,” Char explained.

“Alright, spill it,” Kt said.

“Okay,” Char started. “Last night after you guys left, me and Brian played Playstation.”

“So?” Courtney asked.

“Brian said he wanted to show me something,” Char continued, “but he made me close my eyes. When I did, he... he kissed me.”

“He What?!” Courtney and Kt yelled.

“Be quiet,” Char said as she shut the door of the office. They looked out of the office window to find the 5 boys looking over at them.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The 5 boys stood in the gym, waiting for the girls to come back.

“What was that all about?” Howie asked.

“I dunno,” Kevin replied. He, Howie, and A.J. glanced at each other, wondering if it had anything to do with Char canceling on A.J. Brian thought, “I have to tell someone about last night.”

“Nick,” he said, “can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure.” Nick and Brian started walking around the track that went around the edge of the gym. “What’s up?” Nick asked.

“I’m telling you this because you’re my best friend,” Brian said, “so you can’t say a word, alright?”

“Yeah. About what, though?”

Brian explained to him everything that had happened. “...that’s what I think they’re talking about in there,” Brian finished.

“You kissed her, Bri?”

“Yeah.”

“No offense man, but that was wrong.”

“I know.”

“Why’d you do it? I’ve never known you to move that fast on a girl before.”

“I don’t know why I did it. But it felt so right.”

“But you know how A.J. feels about her.”

“That’s why I feel so bad about it.”

“I don’t know what to tell ya, Bri. But one thing’s for sure; don’t tell A.J. about it.”

“I wasn’t planning on it.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A few hours later, practice was over. The day had been mostly for single practice. Kevin was taking Kt home and Nick was taking Courtney, since they had gotten there with Fatima. Kevin convinced A.J. to ask Char to ride with him.

“Char?” asked A.J.

“...bye Howie,” Char said, then turned to look at A.J. “Oh, hi A.J.”

“Can I drive you home?”

“That’d be great!”

“Whew!” A.J. thought, “So far so good.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kevin drove down the highway, his big strong hand entwined in Kt’s small one. They had decided to go out for ice cream.

“I saw that Char was riding home with A.J.,” Kevin said, keeping his eyes on the road.

“I’m glad,” Kt said, looking up at him.

Kevin looked down at her and said, “Do you think they’ll set up another date?”

“I’m not sure. They might.”

“Will we ever set up another one?”

“I see that as a definite possibility,” she smiled at him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Courtney and Nick drove to Courtney’s house. Nick had taken her home and she invited him in. They were sitting at a table that was on the deck at the back of the house.

“Come sit over here, babe,” Nick said, patting his lap.

Courtney got up from where she was sitting and sat on his lap. “What do you want Nick?” she asked him.

“Nothing,” he replied, “I just wanna hold you.”

“Nick,” she said to him, “I think you need another hug.” After she hugged him she shifted her body and rested her head on his chest. After a few minutes of silence, Courtney felt his warm lips on her neck.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A.J. and Char drove down the highway in an awkward silence. A.J. kept the beat to the song that was playing by tapping his hand on the steering wheel.

Char watched his hand as it moved. “God! That is so annoying!”

A.J. noticed her watching his hand and stopped. “I’m sorry,” he said, laughing nervously.

“It’s alright,” she told him, “that’s just a really big pet peeve of mine.”

That ‘conversation’ broke the wall of tension between them.

“I wanna thank you for what you did, Char,” A.J. spoke up.

“What did I do?”

“Canceling our date so my career would be safe.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“I’m not just gonna drop it.”

“Why not?”

“Ever since I have become popular, celebrity wise, the couple of girlfriends I’ve had only went out with me, and the rest of the guys for that matter, because we were famous and had money.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because it shows that you don’t want my money and that is really special to me.”

“That’s not what I look for in life.”

“Then what do you look for?”

“Think about it,” she explained, “what’s the point of being with someone for their money? The person I end up with is gonna be because I love them. Not for their money, not for their looks, but because I’m loving them with all my heart and they’re gonna feel the same way towards me.”

“Whoa,” A.J. said, “that was deep.”

“I speak from deep down inside when it comes to stuff like that.”

“Well, what would happen if I told you I could love you with all the love I have to give.” (NO PUN INTENDED!)

“Is that some new pick up line?” she laughed, but stopped when she saw the seriousness in A.J.’s eyes. She continued, “I would say that is really sweet of you to wanna fulfill my dreams, but we barely even know each other.”

“I didn’t say I do love you,” he told her, “I said that I could love you.”

Char didn’t know what to say. A.J. sensed this and spoke up.

“Will you give me a chance to show you?”

Char thought about what he was asking from her before answering. “Yes, A.J. I will let you have the chance.”

They smiled at each other as they linked hands.

Kt woke up to the sun shining through her window. ‘Alright!’ she said to herself, ‘no practice for a week!’ She sat up in her bed and saw a vase of roses on her dresser. ‘What the?!’ she thought as she walked over to them and pulled out a card. It read: To you, Kt. I hope you slept well. You’re so cute when you’re sleeping! Call me later! –Kev

‘That’s so sweet!’ she said to herself, ‘I’ve been getting a lot of flowers from him! But I don’t mind.’ She laughed to herself as she walked down the stairs. To her surprise, there were rose petals going all down the stairs. She followed them down where they led her to the living room where she saw vases of roses and other flowers all around the room. ‘Ohmigosh!’ she thought before she saw that the path of rose petals continued. She followed them and was led into her kitchen where she found more flowers all around it. On the table was a heart-shape basket. She found all the things that she liked; a gift certificate to her favorite coffee shop, instant cappuccino mix, a huge box of GODIVA chocolates, and more. At the bottom of the basket she found another card. She read it: Good Morning, Baby! Enjoy your presents and have a good day. Love Always-Kev

‘This guy is definitely a keeper!’ she said to herself before turning around to make herself a cup of coffee. When she turned around she found a new trail of petals. This time they were white and yellow. She followed these petals and was led to her den where she found a single vase on her coffee table full of white and yellow roses. Along with them was another card, a CD, and a small box wrapped in shiny silver paper. The small box contained a platinum bracelet. She picked up the CD and put it in her stereo. She listened as she heard Kevin’s voice come from the speakers.

“Hey Babe! By now you’re probably thinking, ‘What is this guy on?!’ The other night I went to bed and every time I closed my eyes all I could see was you. So, not being able to sleep, I went on a shopping spree for you and put this CD together. Hope you like it!”

‘That is so cute!’ Kt thought as she sat down to open the last card. As she opened it, she heard Kevin’s voice.

“Okay Kt, this first song is called ‘Every time I Close My Eyes’...”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Courtney opened her eyes to the feel of Nick’s arms around her. ‘Ohmigosh!’ she thought, ‘please say we didn’t do anything!’ She quickly looked under the blanket to find that Nick still had his pants on. ‘Thank Goodness!’ she sighed. She jumped when she heard a voice; “Don’t worry, baby,” Nick said, “my pants are still on.”

Courtney popped her head back out to find Nick smiling at her. He leaned forwards and kissed her softly. She kissed him back before resting her head on his chest.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Char sipped on her cappuccino as she checked her e-mail. ‘Holy Crap!’ she thought as she saw her inbox come up. New messages: Inbox-110

She entered her inbox and saw that 107 messages were from someone whose username was Mr. Naughty_69. ‘Who is that?!’ Char thought, ‘And why did they send 107 messages?! I’ll read the other three first.’

Numbers 108 and 109 were from blondebombshell (Courtney) and Turkey (Kt). She scrolled down the page to find #110 from another unknown user, basketrockinboy. She clicked on it, eager to find out the sender. ‘Ohmigosh! No Way!’ she said to herself as she read the e-mail. It read:

‘Hey Char, It’s me Brian. You’re probably wondering how I got your address. I had a little help from Kt. Hope you don’t mind! Anyways... I wanted to tell you thanks for playing it cool at rehearsal and not acting all weird around me and stuff and thanks for the great night. I had fun! We should get together again sometime. Well, call me if you ever wanna do something again. See ya!-Bri’

Char clicked on reply:

‘Hey Bri, it’s me Char. LOL. I’m cool with the whole ‘you getting my address from Kt’ thing, I don’t mind. Dude, what’s up with the whole basketrockinboy thing?! That’s cute! :0) I told you I was cool with the thing that happened the other night, don’t worry about it. But we can’t let it happen again. I don’t think my man would like that. Next time we’re together we’ll hafta plan a time when we can hang out. Well, I better go now. I’ll talk to you later. Your Friend-Char’

After clicking send she read and replied to the messages from Courtney and Kt, then scrolled back up to message #1. ‘Alright,, let’s find out who Mr.Naughty_69 is.’ She opened the first message and read it; ‘Hey babe. I hope you don’t mind, but I got your address from Courtney. I’m glad we got the whole ‘us’ thing sorted out. I still can’t believe you did it for my career. You are, by far, the sweetest girl I’ve ever met (besides my mom). But, I better go because Kev’s over and he wants to check his mail. –A.J. P.S.-Don’t pay attention to the other 106 messages. Kevin was being an idiot and sent you 106 pictures of us. He’s a dork. Bye!’

‘What a cutie!’ Char thought as she pushed reply. ‘Hey babe. You scared the crap outta me. I was like-who is Mr.Naughty_69?! I’m glad it was you. I don’t mind about the whole ‘you getting my address from Courtney’ thing. I just went through that with Bri, but he got it from Kt. Where did Mr. Naughty_69 come from? Or do I not wanna know? LOL. Well, I better go coz I gotta get in the shower. Then I think I’ll call you. –Char’

She looked at some of the pics and ended up busting up laughing. She sent some really funny ones of Kevin to Kt and printed some good ones of A.J. for herself before logging out and getting in the shower.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Brian woke up to his phone ringing.


“Hello?” he said into the receiver.

“Bri! Is Nick over at your house?”

“No, why?”

“Coz no one knows where he is and we kinda need to find him.”

“Kev, he’s a big boy, he can take care of himself. Did you forget that he has a new girlfriend? Check there; you have her number. Why do you hafta find him anyway and why do I hear the voices of Howie and A.J. in the background? We have a week off.”

"Bri. It’s Aaron. He’s been in a plane crash.”

"Ohmigosh! My little brothers' gonna die!" Nick cried into Courtney's shoulder.

"It's okay, baby," Courtney comforted him, "he's gonna be fine." 'At least I hope so,' she thought.

Everyone was gathered in a Los Angeles hospital waiting room. They had flown out to California as soon as they got the news. The plane ride had been a nightmare. Nick was a wreck the whole way there.

Brian sighed as he watched his best friend break down into sobs. Char looked over from where she was sitting next to A.J. as she heard him sigh; they smiled at each other. The fact that her and A.J. was a couple hadn't gotten out yet. The room was in silence, except for Nick crying and Courtney trying to calm him down, until A.J. spoke up.

"I need a drink ya'll, anyone coming with me?"

Everyone except Char replied saying that they were okay for now. A.J. looked at Char; "You coming babe?"

"Yeah," she replied as she took his outstretched hand into hers. As they walked out of the room hand-in-hand, Kevin, Brian, and Howie looked at each other with a 'what-the-hell-was-that' look on their faces.

Kt and Courtney were doing the same thing. "We'll talk to Char about it later," Kt mouthed to Courtney. Courtney nodded before she went back to comforting Nick.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A.J. took his water from the vending machine and sat down at a table in the back of the hospital cafeteria. He watched Char as she moved closer towards him. She sat down on the opposite side of the table. A.J. ran his foot up and down her leg as they sat in silence.

"I hope Aaron gets through this," Char said.

"So do I."

"Even though I don't even know him, I still feel bad for Nick and his family."

"Aaron's great. The typical child."

Char laughed; "From what I've heard, he's just like Nick."

"Those two are so close. They might as well be twins. Nick loves him SO much."

They sat quietly for another 10 minutes until they decided to go back to the waiting room.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Everyone looked up as they heard the door open. They saw Char and A.J. walk in. Char walked straight towards Nick and Courtney while A.J. sat down beside Howie.

"How ya doin'?" Char asked as she put her hand on his back and knelt down in front of him.

Nick looked up at her with red, puffy eyes from crying. He didn't speak but started crying again. Char let him cry into her shoulder. Char looked up at Courtney who also had tears in her eyes.

"Come here, Cookie," Char said. Courtney went to Char and was embraced in a hug.

"Courtney, baby," Nick said as he saw Courtney's tears, "Why are you crying?"

"Coz you are," she managed to get out.

"Oh baby..." he said as he took her in his arms, "Come here."

Char got tears in her eyes as she watched them. After a few seconds she turned to sit down but there wasn't any open seats.

'This must be the good thing about guys!' Char laughed to herself as she walked over to A.J., 'You can sit on 'em!'

A.J. put his hands on her waist as she sat on his lap, then moved them around to her stomach.

"Don't get comfortable, Char," Kt walked up to them, "I gotta talk to you."

"I'll be right back," Char said before kissing A.J.'s cheek and leaving the room with Kt.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"What's up?" Char asked Kt. They were walking the halls of the hospital.

"Have I completely missed something?" Kt asked, "Or are you and A.J. really close all of a sudden?"

"You've missed something."

"Well... are you gonna tell me what it is or are ya just gonna keep it a secret?"

"As of last night, A.J. and I are a couple."

Kt smiled before hugging Char; "That's awesome! You guys are so cute together!"

"Thanks, but is that all you wanted to know?"

"Yeah."

"Oh," Char laughed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

(SEVERAL HOURS LATER)

"Are you sure you don't need anything?" Nick asked.

"Yes Nick," Aaron replied, "I'm positive. Now leave me alone so I can go back to sleep."

"Alright," Nick told him as he backed out of the room, "Call me on my cell if you need anything."

"I will Nick."

"Alright, Bye."

"Bye."

Nick stood at the room's window with tears in his eyes as he watched his little brother fall asleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Nick took a deep breath as he sat down in the driver's seat of his Durango (The BSB's management had gotten them all cars for while they were in LA, just in case they needed to get somewhere). He had a million thoughts going through his mind; 'What if Aaron didn't make it through? What would I do with out my little bro?' All of his negative thoughts were stopped as Courtney's hand came in contact with his. He smiled at her as he looked into her eyes.

"Let's go, Nicky," she said, "Let's get away from this hospital."

"Yeah, let's go."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

(BACK AT HOME!)

Kevin and Kt walked hand in hand through the park. "I'm really glad Aaron came through all that," Kt said as she walked.

"Yeah, me too," Kevin said, "It was so hard seeing Nick so upset. I have NEVER seen him get so worked up."

"I guess it's kind of a good thing that he has Courtney to help him out."

"Yeah, she helped a lot."

"When I saw Aaron this morning I couldn't believe how much he looks like Nick."

"Kinda freaky, huh?"

"Yeah, it's like they're twins."

"Nowhere close. They may look alike, but they are completely different."

Kt laughed and they fell into a comfortable silence.

They walked around the park for a while just enjoying each other's company until Kevin spoke; "So I was thinking," he started, "That since we have a week off, that maybe you and I could hang out together. Only if you want to, that is."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Kt smiled.

"Great!" Kevin exclaimed as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Char laughed as she yet again watched her favorite movie, A Night at the Roxbury, but this time she was watching it with A.J. at his house.

"A flying rat's ass, that'd be wild to see!" Steve Boutabi said. Char cracked up.

A.J. watched her laughing with a smile on his face. 'She is so beautiful when she's smiling! How did I get this lucky? Oh man! She HAS to meet my mom! My mom will love her, I know it!'

"Char?" he said.

"Yeah?"

"I want you to meet my mom."

"HUH?!" Char asked; "You want me to meet your mom?"

"Yeah, is that not cool with you?"

"No! It's fine. It's just that I didn't expect parent introductions so soon. Normally guys don't look forward to that part of a relationship."

"Well, I'm not your normal guy."

"I didn't say you were."

"So, will you meet her?"

"Yeah. But we probably shouldn't jump at the chance for you to meet my parents."

"That's cool. We can wait for that."

They stopped talking and watched the rest of the movie. Throughout the movie A.J. snuck glances at Char and noticed that she was quieter than usual, so he decided to ask her about it when the movie was finally over.

"What's wrong baby?"

"Nothing. I'm just thinking."

"About what?"

Char looked at A.J.; "What if your mom hates me or something?"

"What?!" A.J. laughed, "I'm positive she is going to love you. That's why I want you to meet her so soon. Don't worry. She will love you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Now come sit with me."

Char moved closer to him from where she was sitting on the other end of the couch. She laid her head in his lap and stared up at the ceiling while he ran his fingers through her hair.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Brian walked into his room and turned on his laptop. He set his glass of water on the bedside table and connected to the internet. He opened his e-mail account and saw that he had 10 new messages. He opened the first one, which was from Char. He read it and thought to himself, 'Her man?! I could've sworn she wasn't going out with anyone. HA HA Kevin! She thought basketrockinboy was cute too!'

He clicked reply and started typing: 'Hey, what's up Char? Not much here, I guess. Thanks, I thought 'basketrockinboy' was a cool name. Kevin thought it was stupid. Who's the stupid one now?! LOL. Nah, he's cool. But then again, I hafta say that, he's my cousin. Your man?! You're going out with someone? That was kinda fast. Oh well, as long as you're happy with him. Just remember-> If he ever hurts you or causes you any unhappiness, I will hunt him down and kick his ass! We should get all the guys and girlies together for a BBQ or something. Lemme know what you think. I gotta go for now though. See ya later!—Brian'

He pushed send and then clicked the second message. It was from A.J. It read: 'Guess what?! We're going out! Me-and-Char-are-going-out! Yey! I've never been this excited about a girl before, but something tells me that something's gonna happen with this one. I'm gonna go now so I can call her! LYLAB-A.J. N.K.A. (Now Known As) Char's man!'

'Ohmigosh! That's who she was talking about! Oh crap! I have NO chance to get her now!' Brian logged out and closed his laptop. 'I gotta talk to Nick. I wonder if he knows?!'

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Nick and Courtney broke apart from their 'light' makeout session as the phone rang. Breathless, Nick answered the phone.

** "Hello?" he asked. **

"Whoa," Brian said, "Running through the house?"

"Uh... yeah," he answered, smiling as Courtney came into the room.

"Anyway, have you checked your e-mail lately?"

"No, why?"

"A.J. and Char are going out."

"Oh man, that sucks. I mean, I'm happy for them and everything, but I know that you like her too."

"Dude, now I can't even flirt with her. A.J. would go postal on me!"

"Yeah, I've seen him and Howie fight over that more than once."

"What should I do, man?"

"Well, there's not much you can do."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm not gonna be selfish and try to steal her away. That would be childish."

"You wouldn't do that anyway. So, my advice to you would be to let whatever happens happen. If you guys are meant to be together, it will happen."

"Thanks man."

"Anytime. I gotta go now though."

"Alright. I'll catch ya later."

"Bye."

** "Bye." **

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Nick hung up the phone and turned to face Courtney. He put his arms around her waist and kissed her softly.

Courtney pulled away; "Who was on the phone?"

"It was Bri," he replied before kissing her again.

She again pulled away from his kisses; "It sounded pretty serious."

"Kinda," he kissed her.

Once again pulling away she spoke, "You gonna tell me about it?"

"I probably shouldn't," he answered, "It's one of those best friend things, yanno?"

"Yeah," she answered as Nick picked her up and took her back to the couch to continue what they were doing before Brian called.

Kt, Courtney, and Char sat in Kt’s living room. “...So, now I have a house full of flowers,” Kt explained to her friends.

“That is so cute!” Char commented.

“What a sweetie,” Courtney added.

“So how’s it going with Nick?” Char asked Courtney.

“Absolutely perfect,” she told them, “and the only thing that I’ll tell you is that he’s an AWESOME kisser.”

All three girls laughed until Kt spoke again, “How’s your life with Mr. McLean going Char?”

“Well, yesterday he asked me if I would meet his mom,” Char replied.

“Holy Crap!” Kt said, “What’d you say?”

“Well, at first I wasn’t really sure about it,” she answered, “but A.J. says that it’ll be fine and I trust him, so we’re gonna fly up to meet her next weekend.”

“Next weekend?!” Kt said, “He really is serious about you meeting her.”

“I guess so,” Char smiled.

“Wait a minute!” Courtney said, throwing her hands in the air; “Did I miss something or are you talking about A.J. like you are going out?”

“De ja vu,” Kt and Char laughed.

“You have missed something,” Char said.

“Well... are you gonna tell me or are you just gonna keep it a secret?!” Courtney asked.

“A.J. and I are going out,” Char explained.

“Ohmigosh! That’s great!” Courtney exclaimed as she hugged Char; “I’m really happy for you.”

“Thanks,” Char replied, “but I just remembered something.”

“What’s that?” Kt asked.

“Brian had the idea of having us and the 5 guys get together for a BBQ or something,” she told them.

“That would be fun,” Courtney said. “I’m in and I’m sure Nick will come too.”

“I’ll talk to Kevy and see what he thinks,” Kt told them, “but we’ll more than likely show up.”

Kt noticed that Char and Courtney were giving her a strange look. “What?!” she asked them, “Why are you two looking at me like that?”

“Kevy?” Char asked.

“What?” Kt said blushing, “It’s just a little name that I gave him.”

“Uh huh...” Courtney said.

“Yeah, and like you haven’t called Nick something besides his real name,” Kt threw at Courtney, trying to get herself away from the embarrassment that she was getting herself into.

“The only name I’ve called him besides Nick is Nicky,” Courtney said, not the least bit embarrassed.

“You two are both a bit strange if you ask me,” Char added.

“But we didn’t ask you,” Courtney said.

“Ha Ha, very funny,” Char said sarcastically, “back to the other subject... should I call Brian and give him the go-ahead for this little get together thing?”

“Yeah,” Kt answered, “I’ll talk to Kev about it later.”

“And I’ll talk to Nick tonight,” Courtney replied.

“Alright,” Char said as she stood up, “I better go, coz I wanna practice those dance moves Fatima showed us so I’ll be ready for the next practice. Then I’ll talk to Brian, A.J., and Howie.”

“I should probably go too,” Courtney said.

“I’ll see you guys later then,” Kt said.

“Yeah, see ya!” Courtney and Char yelled as they walked out the door.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kt ran across her backyard laughing, “Kevin! You’re gonna get it!”

Her and Kevin were having a water gun fight and they were totally soaked.

“Um... no, I’m not,” Kevin told her, “Coz as long as you’re cowering behind that table that means I’m safe!”

“Oh, you’re so.....smart,” Kt said sarcastically before jumping out and spraying the rest of her water at him.

“It seems as though I am the smart one,” he laughed.

It took Kt a few seconds to understand what he was getting at. ‘Oh no!’ she thought as she noticed his fully loaded water gun. She dropped her empty one and took off running with Kevin not far behind her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Char walked into her house and threw her keys on the counter. She went upstairs and changed her clothes and went and got the CD that had the songs they would be dancing to on it. She popped it in her stereo and moved smoothly through the steps until about 2 minutes through the song, when no matter how hard she tried she kept doing the move wrong. She tried again and again for about 10 minutes until she got too frustrated and stopped.

“Ah!” she said out loud, “What am I doing wrong?!”

Her ‘conversation’ with herself ended by the ringing of her phone.

** “Hello?” she answered it. **

“Hey baby! How’s it goin?” she heard A.J.’s voice.

“Not too bad. I’m just going out of my mind.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“I’m practicing the dances for ya’ll’s shows, and this one move just doesn’t wanna work with me and I don’t know why, and it’s starting to stress me out.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, it’s not your fault.”

“What are you doing for the rest of the night?”

“Nothing. I’ll find something to do around here I guess.”

“I’ll tell you what... how about I come over there and help you out with that dance. We all had problems with the dances, but we finally got them down.”

“You wouldn’t mind helping me out?”

“No way! You’re my girl! Of course I don’t mind!”

“You’re so sweet. I guess I’ll see you soon then?”

“Yeah. It’ll probably be about 30-40 minutes. I hafta pick something up before I come.”

“That’s cool. I’ll see you soon, then.”

“Yeah, bye!”

** “Bye!” **

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After a candlelight dinner on the deck of Nick’s house, Nick and Courtney sat in each others’ arms on the beach, gazing at the ocean. Courtney was sitting in between Nick’s legs, and he was resting his head on her shoulder.

“Do you come out here a lot, Nick?” she asked him.

“Yeah. I have been by the ocean since I was a kid. Its beauty keeps me sane, I guess.”

“That’s cool. It is so beautiful out here tonight.”

“It’s even more beautiful with you here,” he said quietly. (Author’s note: I know this is really corny, but at this point in the story I had no idea what I was gonna do with these two.)

Courtney could feel herself beginning to blush and became glad it was becoming dark out, so Nick wouldn’t notice. She tensed up suddenly when she felt his lips on her neck, making their way up. When he got to her ear, he whispered, “To me you’re the most beautiful thing in the world.”

This made Courtney turn her head. They looked into each other’s eyes before their lips met.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kt sat across from Kevin in his hot tub. “I had a lot of fun today, Kev,” Kt told him, “thanks.”

“It was no problem. I always have fun when I’m with you. But now that you mention it...” he said while taking her by the waist and pulling her towards him, “I’m not done having fun with you yet.”

“You’re not?” Kt smiled as she put her hands behind his neck.

“Nope,” he gave her a sly smile and put her hair behind her ears.

“Well, we have to make sure that Kevin gets his fun, don’t we?”

“Yep, coz if not, then Kevin would be sad.”

Kt laughed, “What do you propose we do then?”

“You see, I’ve got this idea.”

“Oh really? Are you gonna share this idea with me?”

"I was thinking I should," he paused and looked into her eyes, "And I think you'll like this idea."

Before Kt could speak, Kevin pressed his lips against hers. The kissed started out short and sweet, but soon became long and more passionate.

Quite a few minutes later, Kt stopped, breathless. She said, "I definitely like your idea."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A.J. drove through town on his way to Char's house. He pulled up in front of a flower store and bought a dozen red roses from inside. As he walked back to his car, he saw two people he knew very well walk out of a movie rental store.

"Hey Bri, hey D," he greeted them.

"Hey Bone," they replied as they watched A.J. get in his car and drive off.

"I'll give you one guess on who those flowers were for," Howie said.

"Yeah," Brian said, hopping into his car; "When was the last time A.J. actually bought a girl flowers? Roses, to say the least."

"You're right. That is pretty weird. She must be really special for A.J. McLean to take the time out of his day to stop and buy her flowers."

Brian laughed and went along with it, all the time thinking something completely different. 'Why can't it be me buying her flowers? Or me meeting her wherever A.J. is going?! What am I thinking?! Stop dreaming, Bri! She'll never be yours!'

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Just as Char had finished tidying up her house, she heard the doorbell ring. She walked down the hall and pulled open her door. She smiled when she saw A.J. standing there with a dozen roses in hand. He was wearing somewhat baggy blue jeans and a wife-beater that was finished off with an open red over-shirt and a Nebraska Huskers hat, which he wore backwards. (Author's Note: “That sound familiar?!")

"These are for you," A.J. said as he gave her the flowers and returned the smile.

"That's so sweet, A.J.," Char said as she smelt the roses; "Thank you!" She kissed his cheek then moved aside so he could come in.

"Beautiful flowers for my beautiful girl," he told her as he shut the door behind him.

'He called me his girl!’ Char thought before speaking, "Howie was so right about you."

'What's that supposed to mean?' A.J. thought to himself. He brushed the thought aside when he heard Char's voice.

"I'm gonna go put these in some water," she told him. "If you want, you can wait in the den."

"Sounds like a plan," he replied.

"Two doors down the hall to your right," Char told him, "I'll be there in a minute."

With that, they went their separate ways.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Nick and Courtney drove across town to a party that one of Nick's childhood friends was having. They were anxious to meet Courtney, considering she was all Nick ever talked about. Nick noticed she wasn't her usual happy self and decided to ask her about it.

"You okay babe?" he asked.

She looked at him and smiled, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah. I'll be okay."

"’I'll be okay’ means something is wrong, but you'll be okay. So, what will you ‘be okay’ about?"

"I'm just nervous about meeting all your friends, Nicky. I mean, I'm cool with the other guys, coz I work with them. But now I'm meeting new people who are outside your superstar life, and I just have this weird, nervous feeling about it."

"There's nothing to be nervous about around these guys. They're really cool. Everything will be fine, and besides, I'll be there to protect you if anything bad happens."

“Oh, I feel so much safer," she said sarcastically.

"What's that supposed to mean? I could take anyone who messed with you."

"Poor Nicky," Courtney said, taking Nick's hand, "Must've been dropped on his head as a child."

"Hey! Hey now!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kt sat close to Kevin as they watched what was supposed to be the scariest movie of the year. She gripped Kevin's shirt tightly in her hands. Kevin slowly ran his fingers through her dark hair.

“AHH!" Kt screamed as the attacker jumped the victim. She buried her face in Kevin's shoulder.

Kevin laughed lightly.

Kt quickly shot her eyes at him, "What are you laughing at?!"

"You."

“Oh really?"

"Yeah."

"Why am I so funny?"

"There have been tons of scarier things in this movie, and you freak out when the bad guy jumps out."

"So?! It surprised me!"

"You surprise me all the time," Kevin said sweetly.

"Aw..." Kt smiled, "I've got plenty more surprises for you."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Char and A.J. ran through a few routines as a warm up before going straight to the one that was giving her trouble.

“You ready to get down with the master?" he asked her.

"I should be asking you the same question," she said, "but considering the fact that I'm the one who can't do this dance, I'll hafta let you be the master."

He laughed before starting the music and going through the dance smoothly. He thought to himself, ‘What is going wrong with the dance?! At what I’m seeing, she’s doing it perfectly!’ No sooner had he finished thinking did they come across Char’s screw-up.

“Ah!” she yelled, “Why can’t I get this right?! It looked so easy! But as soon as I try it, it becomes so hard!” She flopped down on the couch and put her head in her hands.

AJ knelt down in front of her and took hold of her hands, “It’ll be okay, babe. You’ll get this down. That’s why I came over here and I’m not leaving until you’ve learned it.”

He saw her take a deep breath, and after taking his fingers and lifting her head to see her eyes, he said, “So, let’s get up and run through this some more, alright?”

“Alright,” she said quietly as she gave him a slight smile.

He took her by the hand and pulled her up into his arms for a hug. He let her go after a moment and started the music again.

Charlene and AJ went through the routine time after time with the usual mistakes with Char getting frustrated and AJ making her feel better.

***(30 minutes later)

“Alright,” AJ said after he took a drink of water, “I think you’ve got it. You wanna try it all the way through?”

“Yeah,” she answered, “Are you gonna watch me or... what?”

“Hell no!” he said, “I’ve been watching your every move and I wanna dance with you!”

“Alright!” she laughed, “Start the music before you have a bigger cow!”

He laughed as he walked to the stereo and pushed play. He became serious as he got close to Char from behind and rested his hands on her hips. She felt shivers run up and down her spine as she felt AJ’s hot breath on her neck. The music started and they moved close to each other.

‘He is such a great dancer!’ Char thought, ‘I love his style!’

‘I love her being this close to me!’ AJ thought excitedly, ‘but I need to calm down!’

AJ moved his hands from her hips and let them wander as they moved through the routine.

‘He’s gonna get me all hyped up like that, then I’m doing it right back to him!’ Char thought before she spun around and put her hands under his wife-beater. He had taken off the over-shirt earlier so he could cool down. She ran her hands across his muscular stomach and around to his back. She could feel his muscles tense up and knew what she was doing was affecting him. She decided to keep going and moved her hands up to his chest, then to his shoulders, and pulled his wife-beater off. As they dropped the shirt to the floor the music ended. They stood there in silence as Char traced his muscles with her fingers. As she got to his lower abs he took her hand and put it on his shoulder, then continued by running his fingers softly down her arm, then down her side, before coming to a rest at her waist and lightly pulling her towards him. They looked into each other’s eyes longingly before AJ slowly moved in and pressed his lips against hers. Their kisses started out short and careful, not knowing what they could or could not do. They stopped and AJ tucked some loose hair behind her ear while looking into her eyes, asking for more.

‘That’s it!’ Char told herself, ‘no more of this!’ She jumped up, wrapped her legs around his waist, and kissed him as hard as she could.

He returned and deepened the kiss.

They kept that up for a few minutes until they stopped, completely breathless. Breathing heavily, they searched each other’s eyes for what to do next.

AJ remembered seeing a guest room across the hall as he was walking to this room. He carried her across the hall and at the foot of the bed he slowly put her down. He watched as she moved up on the bed so her legs wouldn’t be dangling off the edge. He then crawled up over her and once again looked into her eyes. They both seemed to be looking for the same answers.

AJ lowered himself and kissed her neck up until he reached her mouth, and kissed her long and passionately. Then, not being able to control himself any longer, reached down and pulled her shirt over her head. He could’ve sworn he had just seen a look of fear pass through her eyes. He decided to ignore it and keep going. He kissed down to her stomach but stopped when she started laughing. AJ looked up at her.

“Ticklish?” he asked.

“Uh huh,” she giggled.

“Sorry.”

He looked her body up and down before going for what he wanted. He ran his hand up her leg before stopping and pulling on the zipper of her pants. He felt her tighten up and saw that look of fear in her eyes that he thought he had once saw.

‘I’m not about to do something that’s gonna scare her!’ AJ thought, ‘What am I doing?!’

He spoke up, “I’m sorry, Char. I shouldn’t have done that. I don’t want to do that until we are both completely ready.”

She nodded before she put her arms around his neck and pulled him close to her. They lay in each other’s arms, talking quietly.

“You’re not mad at me, right?” AJ asked her.

“I have no reason to be,” Char answered him. “I led you to believe that’s what I wanted.”

“But it’s not?”

“No. I shouldn’t have started something like that. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I should’ve asked you if you were sure about it instead of jumping to the conclusion that that’s what you wanted.”

“How did you know that I didn’t want it to happen?”

“When I looked into your eyes and saw fear, I realized that scaring you like that scares me too.”

Char looked at him and smiled before kissing him long and deep.

“Wow...” AJ commented when Char pulled back, “What was that for?!”

“For being so sweet.”

They lay in silence for a little while before AJ spoke. “Char?”

“Yeah?”

“What did you mean earlier when you said that Howie was right about me?”

“Oh, a while ago he told me that even though you may act and look like a bad boy, you were great when it came to treating a girl right.”

AJ smiled, “I knew he was good for something.”

Char sat up quickly, “What?!”

AJ laughed, “I’m just playing.”

“You kinda freaked me out there for a second,” Char said as she laid her head down on his chest.

They laid in each other’s arms silently. AJ ran his fingers through her hair and listened to her steady breathing. After a few minutes he looked down to find her asleep and eventually he fell asleep himself, holding her tightly in his arms.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Nick and Courtney rang the doorbell of Nick’s friends’ house. A few seconds later, a very clean-cut looking guy answered the door.

“Nick!” he exclaimed as he took Nick’s hand and pulled him in for a friendly hug, “It’s so good to see you!”

“You too,” Nick replied.

“Who’s your beauty?” he asked Nick.

“Kyle, meet my girl, Courtney,” Nick introduced them, “Courtney, meet my long-time friend Kyle.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Courtney,” Kyle said, shaking her hand.

“Likewise,” she replied.

****(In Kyle’s House)

Kyle walked Nick and Courtney into his living room where most of Nick’s childhood friends (some of them had girlfriends with them), sat around talking.

A round of hello’s flew at Nick as he walked in the room. Nick introduced Courtney to everyone else around the room (Courtney kept it to herself that she didn’t care for the other girlfriends).

After a while, everyone was sitting around talking. Nick stuck by Courtney to help her uneasiness around these people she barley knew. He was the only one who knew she wasn’t acting like her normal self. She still took part in some of the conversation, though.

They had gone into childhood stories when another of Nick’s friends, Brad, wanted Nick to go next door and see the car he had fixed up. The rest of the guys and their girlfriends decided that they should probably leave anyway and left. As Brad and Nick stood up, the last one of Nick’s friends, Zach, spoke, “Courtney can stay with me, Nick. I’ll take care of her while you’re gone.”

“Is that alright?” Nick asked her.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Courtney nodded.

“Thanks Zach,” Nick said. He then turned to Courtney and told her, “It won’t take me long. Then when I get back, we’ll take off.”

“Alright,” she assured him, then watched as he left.

Courtney leaned back on the couch as Zach sat next to her. He was continuing a childhood story of Nick’s. “...So picks it up and yells ‘Look at the huge thing of seaweed!’ and we just looked at him and laughed and told him ‘Nick, that’s not seaweed. That’s manatee poop.”

Courtney almost lost it, “Ohmigosh! I’m gonna have to remember that one!”

Zach laughed a little before becoming serious, “Does Nick ever tell you how pretty you are?”

“Yeah, all the time.”

“How often?”

“Pretty much every time we have quiet times together.”

“You should have a guy who tells you all the time.”

“Nick treats me just fine though.”

“I can love you better than that,” he said, getting closer and putting his hand against her face. He looked at her for a few seconds before taking her head in his hands and kissing her hard.

Courtney tried her best to pull away, but Zach kept her where she was. He was making the kisses more intense when he decided he wanted more than that. He brought his hand to the bottom of her shirt just as Brad and Nick walked through the door.

“What the hell is going on here?!” Nick yelled as he saw what was happening.

Zach’s head flew up and he let Courtney loose. She jumped up and ran to Nick in tears.

“Oh my God, Nicky! Don’t leave me alone with him again!” she was cowering behind him.

“It’s okay baby,” he said quietly.

Nick walked over to the couch where Zach was, raised his fist, and let it fly. He yelled at him, “Don’t you EVER, EVER touch her again! What do you think you were playing at?! I thought you were my friend! I thought you were better than that.”

“Chill out dude,” Zach told Nick.

“No! I won’t chill out! I leave for 10 minutes and you’re all over my girl! So don’t tell me to chill out!”

He turned to Courtney and lowered his voice, “Come on baby, let’s go.” He took her by the waist and led her out. He said goodbye to Brad on the way out and told him to tell Kyle that he’d hopefully see him again soon.

Once Nick and Courtney had left, Brad turned to Zach and said, “You need to leave now!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Nick drove through town back to his house. What had just happened was just now sinking in. He saw Courtney out of the corner of his eye. She was crying, which tore him apart inside. He decided to talk to her.

“Courtney, I’m gonna ask you this because I need to know... Did he force you into that?”

She sniffled and nodded her head. Nick watched a tear fall from her eye and reached over and wiped it away. Courtney looked up and gave him a faint smile, and she took his hand into hers. They drove hand in hand all the way back to Nick’s house.

***Back @ Nick’s house***

Nick had insisted on Courtney staying at his house that night. He gave her the grand tour of his house and showed her the guest room where she could stay and showed her where his room was in case she needed him for any reason.

“Well, I guess I’ll go to my room now and get some rest,” Nick said.

“Okay,” Courtney replied, “I guess I’ll see you in the morning, then. Goodnight.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him.

He hugged her back, then kissed her cheek and said goodnight.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kt and Kevin sat up against the headboard on Kevin’s bed, enjoying the comfort of being with each other.

“I’m not gonna be able to sleep now that I’ve watched that movie,” Kt said.

“Why not?”

“Coz what if those bad guys come to get ME?”

Kevin smiled at her and pulled her close to him, “I’m here to protect you.”

Kt looked up at Kevin and smiled brightly before kissing him.

They laid in each others arms until Kevin noticed Kt had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He smiled to himself before pulling her closer towards him and closing his eyes.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Courtney laid in the bed and stared up at the ceiling. She thought to herself, ‘How did I find a guy as great as Nick? He’s so sweet and so cute and so perfect for me!’

She closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep, but every time she closed her eyes she saw Zach’s face. She got to the point where she was shaking and decided she needed Nick. She got out of the bed and walked to the other side of the house to Nick’s room. She knocked very quietly on his door.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Nick got up when he heard the knocking at his door. He walked across his room and opened the door.

“What’s wrong babe?” he asked when he saw Courtney.

“You’re too far away,” she said.

Nick smiled at her, took her hand, and led her into his room.

“Well, I think that’s a problem I can fix,” Nick told her. “You can sleep in here with me.”

Her eyes got wide.

Nick slightly laughed, “Not like that. Just so I won’t be so far away. I’ll be right next to you.”

He laid down on his bed and spoke to her, “Come lay with me.”

She walked towards him and laid down, “Thanks Nicky.”

“For what?” he asked as he put his arm around her.

“For being you.”

“Well, you’re welcome, but I need to apologize.”

“For what?”

“I should’ve listened to you when you told me you had a bad feeling about tonight.”

“And I should’ve listened to you when you told me you could take anyone that messed with me.”

Nick laughed, “I guess we’re both at fault then.”

They were quiet for a while. Nick was going to say something to her, but when he looked down he saw that she had fallen asleep.

He smiled, ‘I could sit here all night watching her sleep. She is so beautiful.’

After watching her for awhile, he eventually fell asleep with his head on her shoulder.

"Ready... Go!" Nick shouted. That was the start of a huge water balloon fight between all the guys against the girls.

Everyone had gathered at Brian's house for the BBQ that he and Char had arranged.

"Is anyone else thinking that 5 guys against 3 girls isn't fair?!" Kt yelled as she ran around the side of the house.

"I'm thinking the same thing as you!" Char yelled, running behind Kt.

"Well, I'm thinking that Nick's gonna get wet!" Courtney yelled as she threw a balloon and hit Nick from behind. She decided to run in the direction of Kt and Char when she saw all 5 guys turn towards her.

"Don't lead them over here!" Char and Kt yelled as they hid behind all the cars in the driveway.

Courtney was pelted with 5 water balloons. She screamed with laughter as she ran from the guys towards the cars. She stopped dead in her tracks as she was hit with two more balloons. She looked over at Kt and Char and then at the boys who were standing behind her. "Why are you hitting me?" she asked.

"Yeah?!" the guys continued, "aren't you on her team?!"

"We told you not to lead them over here!" Kt and Char told them.

Everyone fell into a fit of laughter until they heard a loud scream come from Char. Everyone looked at her to find Brian standing behind her with the hose. Char was soaked.

"It is so... cold," Char said as she turned around, "and you are so gonna get it!"

Brian turned and started running, but was slowed down by Char jumping on his back. Kevin had grabbed his video camera from his car, and Howie got his film camera out of his, and the both of them were taking pictures of all this.

The hose was flying around everywhere. As Brian was trying to catch the hose (with Char still on his back), he tripped over it and he and Char tumbled into the pool.

They both rose to the surface and swam to the edge in laughter. Stopping to breathe as they got to the edge, AJ came up to them with two towels.

"Thanks AJ," they told him.

Brian jumped out and held his hand out to Char. Char eyed him carefully before taking his hand and getting out. Nick, observing this whole scene, remembered Brian telling him about kissing Char, and started to wonder if the way Char had just looked at Brian was something more than everyone else saw it as.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Everyone sat around talking about the up-coming tour. They had just finished eating. Kt sat in the chair next to Kevin, the two of them holding hands, Courtney and Nick were lying next to each other in the grass, AJ was sitting in the grass leaning back on his hands with Char sitting in between his legs and leaning back on his chest. Howie and Brian sat in other chairs.

"I'm so excited about going on tour!" Courtney said excitedly.

"Me too! Just practicing is awesome!" Kt added.

"For real," Char started, "I've been working to get here my whole life and I'm finally here and I've never been more happy. I've got my best friends with me," she smiled at Kt and Courtney, "I've met you great guys," she smiled at the boys, "and I've hooked up with the sweetest guy ever," she looked up at AJ.

"I think she deserves an award for that speech!" AJ chimed in.

Char twisted around and put her arms to the side of him, climbing up closer to him. She laughed to herself as she saw AJ's eyes get wider and dance with excitement. "What are you suggesting?"

"Just that you should get an award for giving me a compliment like that."

"So, when do I get my award? I'm waiting...."

"I'm thinking that you'll get it somewhere around... now," he grabbed her by the waist, which led her down on him, and kissed her long and deep.

"Alright! Go Char!" Nick cheered.

Courtney, Kt, Kevin, and Howie laughed at Nick's comment while Brian felt his stomach tighten into a knot and had to glance away.

"I should make more speeches if I'm gonna receive awards like that!" Char laughed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They all sat around talking about the tour until Kevin got serious; "You girls are just gonna have to remember that you are going to see us a lot, but it's gonna be in practices and shows, so we won't have a lot of private time together."

With this, Char glanced up at AJ from where she was sitting in his lap. He could see in her eyes the worries she was now having. It was a mixture of worry, doubt, and scariness.

"Don't worry, baby," he whispered into her ear, "I'll make sure that we get plenty of time for us." Char snuggled up to him.

"Don't make promises you can't keep AJ," Kevin told him.

"Shut up Train!" AJ exclaimed.

"You know it's true AJ," Kevin replied.

"Shut up Kevin!" Kt jumped in, "He wouldn't make promises to her that he doesn't intend on keeping!"

"You don't know him like I do," he threw at her.

"What's that supposed to mean Kevin?!" AJ said in a loud voice. He then looked down as he felt Char take his wrist in her hand and look at his watch. She looked up at him and he looked at the time. "Oh crap!" he said, "We have to go or we're gonna miss our flight." He and Char jumped up out of the chair they were sitting in.

Courtney and Kt jumped up to hug Char. "Have lots of fun and don't get to rowdy with AJ while you're there!" Courtney told her.

"Courtney!" Kt cried, "You don't pay any mind to what she says, Char. Just have fun!"

"Thanks!" Char said before hugging Nick, Kevin, Howie, and Brian. When she got to Brian, she could feel the tight bond of friendship that had grown on them. He hugged her tightly before telling her to be safe, have fun, and that he would miss her while she was gone.

"I'll miss you too, Bri," she told him.

'Could Brian be anymore obvious?!' Nick thought.

AJ and Char left and everyone else left not long after them.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kevin and Kt drove back through town to take Kt home. "You didn't have to blow up on me like that, yanno?" he spoke to her.

"Yes I did."

"Uh... NO you didn't."

"Yes I did, Kevin. Now let's drop it before it becomes more than it needs to be."

"No. I will not drop it. I wanna know why you had to blow up on me like that."

"For God's sake, Kevin! Can you not see how happy those two are together? AJ practically worships the ground she walks on! He treats her like a goddess. He wouldn't promise her something that he didn't plan on keeping. She means too much to him."

"You have NO idea what AJ's like."

"Maybe I don't know him very well, but I do know a decent guy when he comes around, and you certainly aren't one of them. So, you can stop this car and let me out right now."

"What?!"

"You damn well heard what I said. Stop the freakin’ car!"

"How the hell do you plan on gettng home?!" he said as he pulled to the curb.

Kt opened the door, got out, and turned to face him, "A wonderful invention called a taxi!" she slammed the door and walked off.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"It's so cool to be way up here in the clouds!" Char said happily, pressing her nose against the plane window. AJ just smiled.

"What are you giving me that big grin for?" she asked him.

"You're always so happy. Just one of those things that I love about you."

"Aww.... how sweet," she said before kissing his cheek. She sat back in her chair and closed her eyes. 'I can't believe we're the only ones in first class! So cool!'

AJ leaned over and spoke quietly in her ear, "Can I have a cuddle?"

"Baby, that's one thing you never have to ask permission for," she replied.

They snuggled up to each other and enjoyed the rest of the flight in each others arms.