She sat down on the couch and turned the television on. MTV 1515 was on, and the preview had mentioned an announcement from the Backstreet Boys. She loved the group, especially Kevin, and wondered what sort of announcement the Boys were planning. Her VCR was also on, taping the segment.

Chris Connelly’s voice came through the television speakers, "The Backstreet Boys held a press conference today in their hometown of Orlando, Florida. John Norris was there, and this is what happened. John?"

"Thanks, Chris. Yes, The Backstreet Boys held a press conference and everybody came. Instead of giving a recap, I’ll let the Boys speak for themselves." The picture shifted from John to a table where six people, the Backstreet Boys and a short auburn haired woman, were sitting. She looked familiar, but the darkhaired woman watching the screen couldn’t place her.

Denise McLean was standing at the podium speaking, "The reason for today’s conference is to announce some very exciting news. One member of the Backstreet Boys is undertaking a solo project, and would like to share the details with everyone. Kevin, why don’t you come up here and make your announcement?" Denise smiled at Kevin as he stood up and walked over to the podium. The woman watching television smiled and leaned forward. Kevin was going solo? Oh, she was very excited and couldn’t wait to hear when his CD would be released. Finally now maybe his talents would be recognized.

"Thank you all for coming today," Kevin stood at the microphone looking very nervous. He kept glancing at the woman who was seated in between Brian and Kevin’s now empty chair. In her living room, she scowled at the screen, wondering who this woman was and why she had the audacity to think she was part of the Backstreet Boys. Get her out of there, and show more of Kevin, I want to hear everything he has to say.

"But actually Denise has the details slightly wrong. It’s not a solo project, it’s a duet." He smiled again. "My announcement is that Jamie Saxon has agreed to make me the happiest man on Earth and has accepted my proposal of marriage." The room erupted in a flurry of shouted questions, and the camera focused on Jamie, who was pulled out her chair by Brian and AJ and led over to Kevin. Kevin wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and held up his other hand to the reporters.

"Wait a minute, hold on. To answer any of the questions I’m pretty sure you are going to ask, no date has been set at this point in time. We would like to get married in a simple ceremony, and for safety and security reasons, all details will be kept secret. We hope that everyone understands our need for privacy, and that our wish will be respected."

"Are you leaving the group, Kevin?" a voice shouted.

"No, no I’m not. Brian didn’t leave when he and Leighanne got married. We will still be the Backstreet Boys; what happens in each of our personal lives should not and will not affect our music and what we do."

"Can you tell us a bit about yourself, Jamie? Are you in the music industry?"

"No, I’m an attorney. . ." The woman watching television tuned out Jamie’s voice. That’s right, Jamie was one of the attorneys who had represented Kevin and Nick a couple of years ago. But she was seething inside. Married? My Kevin is getting married to someone else? How dare he? Doesn’t he know he can’t do that to me? Jamie’s face was still on her screen and it annoyed her. Who the hell does that bitch think she is? She can’t have my Kevin, no one can except me. Running a hand agitatedly through her long, curly black hair, she watched as Kevin continued to answer questions, smiling and holding onto Jamie.

She couldn’t stand it any longer. She hurled the remote control at the screen, watching in satisfaction as the remote went through the screen, causing sparks to fly out of the now dead television. The picture had blanked out immediately, the last image being another close-up on Jamie. That’s only the beginning, bitch. You will never marry Kevin, I’m going to make sure of that. I am the only one for him, and it’s about time he remembered that. There will be a wedding, but it will be mine and Kevin’s. You will not get in my way, no one will. She smiled again, a cold satisfied smile. Oh yes, no one will ever separate Kevin and me again.

*Six months later*

Jamie awoke to see Kevin propped up on one arm, gazing down at her with love and gentleness in his soft green eyes. "Good morning, Mrs. Richardson," he whispered softly.

"What? Your mother’s here?"

"I meant you," he said, grazing her lips with his own. "Remember, yesterday, you were wearing a white dress, carrying around some flowers, and had five women identically dressed in blue following you wherever you went. . .?"

"Oh that," she said casually, laughter in her voice, "Yeah I think I remember that, now that you mention it."

Jamie couldn’t continue the teasing any longer when she lifted her left hand to touch his face, and saw the sparkling gold band he had put on her ring finger the day before. "I remember everything." She continued to hold her hand up, staring at the ring. Kevin looked at her hand, her face, and thanked God for bringing her to him yet again.

A knock at the door brought them both out of their reverie. Kevin rolled over, got out of bed, snatched up a pair of boxers and made his way through the suite to the front door. Jamie heard some muffled conversation, a rumbling, then watched as Kevin came back into the bedroom, pushing a cart with two covered plates, a pitcher of orange juice and a pot of coffee, and a vase filled with fresh flowers.

"Milady, breakfast is served."

They ate breakfast in bed, then went to take a joint shower before getting dressed. Jamie noticed regretfully that they had a little over an hour before they had to be at the airport for their flight to Athens. Kevin raised his eyebrows at her and made some comment about what he could do to her in that hour, which prompted a pillow being thrown in his direction, along with a laughing reply about how he could show her once they reached Greece.

"Oh, so that’s how you are now. You get married, and making love is just another chore for you."

Jamie arched an eyebrow at his challenge, "Chore? I’ll show you, mister." She walked over to him, grabbed the open ends of his shirt and pulled him down to kiss him. Kevin responded by moving over towards the bed, and dropping her down onto it. He followed her swiftly. The shirt she had been holding onto soon sailed into the air and landed on a chair. Other articles of clothing followed the same path as the shirt.

After a mutually satisfying demonstration of just how much of a drudge making love was, the two of them got dressed again, gathered up their belongings and headed to the lobby to check out of the hotel before going to the airport.

While Kevin was at the front desk, Jamie walked over to the front door of the hotel. She noticed their limousine was at the bottom of the steps, but that there were dozens of girls milling about, all looking impatiently at the doors. Kevin walked over to her, smiled at her, and opened the door. Both were stunned at the loud screams that erupted once Kevin walked through the doorway.

"I had hoped no one would be here."

"I know, Kev, but you knew that wouldn’t happen. This is your hometown, did you really think no one would be here waiting for you?"

"No, I didn’t, but I can dream can’t I?" he said. She looked at her watch. "Well, we still have about 35 minutes or so before we really need to be at the airport. Why don’t you go ahead, sign some autographs, take some pictures, make them happy and then we can go."

"You’re sure? You really don’t mind me doing this? We’re about to leave for our honeymoon."

"I know, but this is part of our life now, and I know it needs to be done. Go ahead. I’ll just stand here and watch you," she said.

He shook his head, bent down to kiss her, whispered, "You are completely amazing, and I love you."

"Don’t you forget it, and I love you too. Now do this so we can leave." Kevin kissed her again, then walked over to where a bunch of girls were standing. Jamie stood there, watching him as he signed papers, took pictures, and talked to them.

Jamie was so intent on watching her husband, that she didn’t notice that a woman moved to stand in front of the limousine, which was parked at the bottom of the stairs. The woman reached into her purse, and pulled something out which she raised to point at Jamie.

The blast of the gun was incredibly loud, but Jamie didn’t notice it either as she felt something punch her in the chest, then burn like fire. Kevin whirled around at the sound, and time slowed down as he heard Jamie cry out, look over to him with wide surprised eyes, and slowly wobble on her feet.

He heard a voice in the distance scream "NO!" as he ran over to her, and caught her before she hit the ground. He cradled her in his arms, not caring that he was now covered in blood, her blood, as she continued to look up at him.

"I love you, Kevin," she whispered.

"NO! Don’t you dare die on me. Just hang on, Jamie, please. I need you," he begged her. She tried to smile, but then she closed her eyes. Her head fell forward, and the last thing she heard was the anguish in his voice, "Jamie, no! Oh God, someone help me!"

"Here, I thought you could use this," Brian said softly as he held out a cup of coffee to Kevin. Kevin was hunched over in a chair, head buried in his hands. He didn’t move, didn’t react to hearing his cousin. Brian sat down gingerly in the chair next to Kevin’s and looked across the hospital waiting room at the other members of the Backstreet Boys, as well as Denise, Kevin and Jamie’s parents, and other family members.

Jamie had been rushed to the closest hospital to the Lexington hotel where they had been staying. Kevin never left her side, riding with her in the ambulance, and he had to be physically pulled away from her as Jamie was wheeled into the operating room. The others had met up with Kevin fifteen minutes later in the waiting room. When they had walked in the waiting room, he was already sitting in the chair in the same position and hadn’t moved one inch or acknowledged their presence in any way. Several hours later, the only sign of life in Kevin was an occasional shaking of his shoulders as he cried.

"Kev, please drink this. Please," said Brian. He placed a hand on Kevin’s shoulder, and he jerked up at Brian’s touch. Kevin stared unseeingly through Brian, a little wildness visible in Kevin’s green eyes. Brian’s own eyes widened at what he saw, and sent yet another quick prayer to God that Jamie and Kevin would both be all right.

"Kevin," Brian said again. Kevin blinked, and saw Brian sitting there, holding out the cup of coffee, a concerned expression on his face. The wildness and desperation still remained in Kevin’s eyes, but it dimmed a little.

"Rok," he said hoarsely. "Is she. . .is she dead?" Kevin braced himself for the answer he expected to hear by closing his eyes and compressing his lips together.

Brian bit his lip. "No," he replied calmly, hoping that Kevin would hear it and calm down as well. "No, she’s still in surgery, Kev. She’s still fighting. Just hold on a little longer, man, please. We’re all here for you, Train." He still held out the coffee, and Kevin finally noticed it. He took the cup, but set it down absently after some of the hot beverage shook out of the cup and onto his hand. The cup caught only the edge of the table in front of him, and fell over, splashing onto the floor and his shoes. Kevin didn’t seem to notice what happened, but Brian jumped out of the way and went to get napkins to mop up the mess.

Brian handed Kevin one of the napkins, who stared at it as if he didn’t know what it was. "Your hand, Kev. You burnt yourself on the coffee," said Brian gently. Kevin’s gaze moved down to his left hand, where coffee had caused his hand to turn bright red. But Kevin didn’t see the burn; all he saw was the etched gold ring on his ring finger. He remembered the look of pure happiness on Jamie’s face as she said her vows and pushed the ring onto his finger the day before. Overwhelmed, he gasped and closed his eyes tightly, although tears escaped and spilled down his face.

"I can’t lose her, Bri. I just can’t," he said so softly Brian wasn’t sure Kevin had actually spoken. Brian took the napkin, brushed Kevin’s hand with it to clean it up, then put an arm around Kevin to comfort him.

"You won’t, Kevin. Jamie is too stubborn to go anywhere just yet," said Brian. Kevin weakly smiled back and said quietly, "Yes, she is."

The others in the room watched Brian and Kevin, and all were relieved when he finally smiled at Brian rather than staring blankly at him. AJ, Nick and Howie took it as a sign to come over and talk to them. They tried to take Kevin’s mind off of why they were in the hospital. On some level, they were successful in that Kevin relaxed a little, and even smiled once in a while at their awful jokes and various impressions. But Kevin never really forgot where he was or why he was there, and as nurses and doctors passed by him, he raised his head expecting them to have news about his wife.

The others in the room let his bandmates take care of him, and they held their own vigil quietly on the other side of the room. They seemed to understand that as close as they all were to Kevin, it was going to be AJ, Brian, Howie and Nick who would get him through this crisis in one piece.

Lunchtime came and went. The guys tried to convince Kevin to leave the waiting room and go eat something with them in the cafeteria, but he refused to go. "No, what if the doctor comes out and I’m not here?"

"Kevin, we’ll leave word that you’re in the cafeteria. They will come get you, I promise. The doctor will find you. We’re not asking you to leave the hospital, but you need to eat something," pleaded Brian. Kevin shook his head, and told them to go on without him, "I’m staying here."

Sighing, Brian rose off the floor from where he had been kneeling in front of Kevin. The others asked again, but this time Brian was the one shaking his head. "No, he won’t go."

"Well, we’ll bring something back for you then, okay Train?" asked Nick. Kevin nodded absently, staring at the floor towards the middle of the room. The four of them looked at him sadly, then turned and walked slowly out of the waiting room to the cafeteria.

They returned half an hour later, carrying sandwiches and sodas for everyone. They all ate in silence, each of them glancing over at Kevin every once in a while. He never touched the sandwich, which remained wrapped up in front of him. He didn’t notice the others, but stared blindly at his hands, idly twirling the ring on his left hand.

It was mid-afternoon when a doctor in blood-stained surgical greens finally came into the waiting room. Lowering the mask, he walked over to Kevin and asked, "Mr. Richardson?" Everyone in the room looked up when they heard his voice.

Kevin looked up, eyes wide, and nodded slowly. The doctor had a serious look on his face, not a smile. Kevin shivered and saw the world go fuzzy at the edges. He gripped the chair’s arms tightly and tried not to black out.

Kevin swayed in his chair, waiting for the doctor to speak again, to say the terrible words he knew were coming. His Jamie, gone. . .

"Mr. Richardson, your wife is out of surgery, and we have put her into Intensive Care. She’s very weak, and she lost a lot of blood," said the doctor. Kevin blinked several times, unable to process what he heard. His mouth opened and closed, but no words formed.

Brian asked what Kevin could not, "Is she all right now? Will she survive?"

"It’s hard to say, there is always the chance that something will happen, some complication we cannot foresee. But for right now, she is stable, and I have confidence she will recover fully." Jamie’s mother let out a wail of relief, and collapsed on Jamie’s father. Kevin just stared up at the doctor, but for the first time, hope appeared in his eyes.

The doctor continued, "Your wife is one very lucky woman, Mr. Richardson. The angle of the bullet as it hit her is really the only reason she did not die immediately. Had the shooter been standing at the top of the stairs, or had your wife been at the bottom, so that they were even with each other, the bullet would have gone directly into her heart.

"Instead, the bullet passed through her cleanly; there was both an entrance and exit wound. Passing through her body, however, it nicked her aorta and her left lung, which is the reason the surgery took so long. As I said, she lost quite a bit of blood, we had to repair all of the damage done, as well as reinflate her lung, and make sure she will be able to breathe normally on her own. All of that I believe we accomplished, she just needs to rest and recover."

"Can I see her?" Kevin asked quietly.

"She won’t be awake, she is still under the effects of the anesthesia. She probably won’t regain consciousness for a while."

"I don’t care, I just want to see her. Please," he said.

The doctor nodded, "All right. But because she is in ICU, I’m afraid you can’t stay for very long, ten minutes at the most."

Kevin turned to his cousin, "B-Rok, I need you to come with me." Brian nodded and stood up. The doctor said, "You will all eventually be allowed to see her, but for right now, I think it’s best if only Mr. Richardson goes up." Brian started to sit back down, but Kevin refused to let him.

"Come on, just help me get there. I don’t think I can make it on my own right now." Brian and Kevin followed the doctor out of the room and onto the elevator to the ICU floor.

Standing outside Jamie’s room, Kevin took several deep breaths. Brian gave him a smile of encouragement, "Go ahead, Kev. Go tell Jamie we are all here for her. Give her a kiss for me." Kevin nodded, and pushed open the door.

The only sounds in the room were the steady rhythms of the heart monitor and the respirator. Kevin was not prepared to see Jamie hooked up to all kinds of machines. He could barely see her through all the tubes and monitors and bandages that covered her. The woman in the bed looked nothing like Jamie, and if it weren’t for the auburn hair on the pillow, Kevin would have sworn he was in the wrong room.

She was so pale, so still. Kevin choked back a sob, and slowly moved forward until he was beside her. Several IV’s were hooked up, and he very carefully pulled a stool over to the side of the bed. Holding one of her hands in both of his own, he laid his head down onto the mattress and began to cry.

"Jamie, I. . ." he closed his eyes. "I love you so much, Jamie. Please get better. Please wake up and come back to me. I thought you were dead, and I wanted to join you. I don’t know what I would do without you, and I never want to find out. You mean everything to me, and I need you, Jaim. Do whatever you have to, but don’t die. Find your way back. Don’t leave me too. Please, I can't go through this again." He raised his head and stared down at her, silently willing her to respond to him in some way. She remained still, and as he looked at her, the sound of the machines filled the room and echoed in his head. His thumb continually caressed her hand and wrist as he watched her, watching for some reaction to his presence and his words.

The door opened quietly, and the doctor came back in. "I’m sorry Mr. Richardson, but it has been ten minutes. You can come back in a couple of hours." Kevin nodded to show he heard the doctor. He leaned over and kissed Jamie’s forehead, traced down the side of her face as best he could without disturbing the breathing tubes, squeezed her hand once more before letting go, and whispered softly, "Remember what I said. Come back to me soon. Please. I love you, Jamie."

Kevin stood up and stared down at his wife one last time before turning and slowly leaving the room. Brian was still standing outside the room, leaning up against the other wall. As Kevin came out, Brian eased off the wall, and came over to him.

"You all right?"

Kevin nodded, "A little. I needed to see her, but she’s so still, it’s almost like she isn’t alive. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her like that. She normally moves in her sleep, but she isn’t moving now."

Brian slung one arm around Kevin and tried to reassure him. "You heard the doctor, it’s the anesthesia. You’ll see, she’ll come around once it wears off. Jamie’ll be fine."

"I hope so, Rok. I don’t know what will happen otherwise."

"Don’t think like that. Jamie came through the surgery, that’s the toughest part. She’ll be up in no time, just have faith." Kevin nodded again and whispered, "Okay, Bri."

Brian tugged at his sleeve, "Come on. You’ve seen her, you know she’s okay right now. Now you have to be fine for her. Let’s go get you something to eat. You haven’t eaten all day."

"Yes, I did. I had breakfast with Jamie. . ." his voice broke as it trailed off. Tears appeared in his eyes again, threatening to spill over.

Brian gave a small smile, "Neither of you eat that much for breakfast to begin with, and I’m sure you really weren’t thinking about food this morning. Come on, you need to eat, and this time I’m not taking no for an answer. It doesn’t have to be a lot, just something. Now do it or I’ll shove it down your throat for you."

Kevin smiled faintly in response, "All right, Brian. I’ll go with you, no need for threats." He sobered, "It seems like this morning was so long ago though. Like I haven’t been with Jamie in forever."

"I know, Kev. I know. This is really tough on you, on all of us. We love her too, you know, just like a sister. We will all get through this, but you have to help us. You can’t leave us either. We need you too."

Kevin sighed, "Right. It’s just that I hate hospitals, every time I’m in one, someone I love. . ." He looked away and bowed his head, lost in remembrance.

"Hey, it’s okay, I understand completely. I’m not exactly fond of this place either you know."

"I know. All right, Brian, let’s go to the cafeteria. I know you know the way."

"Are you kidding? I can take you there seven different ways while blindfolded." He smiled again. Kevin smiled back in response, a real smile this time.

"Shall we test that idea?" he asked, sounding more like the normal Kevin that Brian knew.

"Nah, not this time. But let’s go. You need to do something productive in the meantime until you can go back and see her." They headed towards the elevator, and Brian breathed a small sigh of relief.

After some more arm-twisting by Brian, Kevin finally gave in and had something to eat. Brian smiled in triumph, and Kevin decided to let him have his small victory. There were other things, more important things to worry about right now. If it made Brian feel better, well then at least one of them would be feeling better.

They didn't talk much while in the cafeteria. Brian could see that Kevin was slowly retreating back into the little world he had spent most of the day in, and he was worried. It wasn't good for Kevin to be like this, and he tried everything he could think of to pull Kevin out of his depression and at least get him back into the real world. Finally, Brian decided to talk about Jamie.

"You know she's going to be okay now, right Kev?"

"I hope so, Brian," Kevin sighed, and stared into his soda cup, swirling the drink around and around in the cup.

"She will be," said Brian firmly. "She can't be anything else. You can't think negatively about this. You're going to have to be there for her while she recovers. If you're depressed and sad all the time, how do you think she's going to take it?" Kevin stared at him, an incredulous expression on his face.

"You think I shouldn't be sad or depressed?" Kevin's voice rose slightly. "Someone just tried to kill Jamie, and I shouldn't be depressed? I'm sorry, exactly how should I react? How should I feel about this? Please tell me, Brian."

Brian frowned. "That's not what I meant. Once she's up and around, you won't have any reason to be upset. If you're sad, all I meant was that it will be harder for Jamie to get better. You'll be focusing on what put her here in the hospital, rather than on concentrating on recovering."

"You don't think it's worth thinking about? Someone shot her, Brian. She almost died today, and you don't think I should be worried about that. If this is supposed to make me feel better, you're doing a lousy job."

"I'm sorry, Kevin. What I want to say is not coming out the way I want it to. I just think you should focus on the positive, that's all."

"And I'm trying to tell you there is nothing positive about this. Do you know where I should be right now? Do you? I should be on a plane with my wife, flying to Athens where we will be going on our honeymoon. I should be having one of the best experiences of my life, starting my life with the one woman I love more than anything in this world. I should be talking to her, holding her, looking forward to spending the rest of our lives together. I should not be in a hospital, praying for her to still be alive the next time I see her. I should not be waiting for her to come out of the effects of anesthesia after having a six hour operation. I should notbe looking at her in a hospital room covered with tubes and bandages. And I should not be sitting in a cafeteria with you, listening to you tell me that I shouldn't be upset about any of this. You'll forgive me if I fail to see what is so positive about this situation." Kevin stood up, and turned to walk away.

Brian also stood and called after him, "Kevin. . ." Kevin did not respond or turn around, but continued to walk out of the cafeteria. Brian sat back down heavily, ran one hand through his hair and sighed. He only wanted Kevin to see that Jamie would be all right and that everything would be fine. He didn't want to make his cousin any angrier or upset than he already was. "Smooth move, Rok. Way to go," he mumbled to himself. He sat there for another couple of minutes, then got up to go back to the waiting room to apologize to Kevin.

Kevin leaned up against the wall outside the waiting room and covered his face with his hand. He had every right to be upset and angry, but he knew he didn't have the right to take his frustration out on Brian. It was just that Brian didn't understand what he was going through.

The last time Kevin was in this hospital, Brian had been the one in surgery, having the defect in his heart repaired. Brian hadn't been in a position then to see the worried and solemn expressions on everyone's faces as they waited in that same room to find out if Brian would be okay or not. Kevin had promised himself that time that he wouldn't spend another minute in that waiting room again.

But now a couple of years later, here he was back in the same room, waiting to hear about the results of yet another life-or-death surgery performed on someone he loved. Brian just wouldn't understand what Kevin had gone through, and so he tried to rationalize this to make Kevin feel better. He didn't know that no amount of rational thought was going to change the situation or restore Jamie to health. But Kevin knew that, and he couldn't stand to hear Brian talk about it for another second.

Almost everyone in that room understood because they had been there waiting for news about Brian alongside of him. The others who hadn't been there were Jamie's family, her flesh and blood. They understood exactly what the others had felt. It was different for Brian because he hadn't had to go through this experience before, at least not while conscious.

Kevin steeled himself, took several deep breaths, and pushed open the door to the waiting room. Everyone else was still there, still waiting, and they refrained until he sat down next to his mother before asking him about Jamie.

"It's awful, Mom. You can barely see her in the bed, and what you can see of her is so pale and unmoving. She doesn't look anything like she normally does. And she's so cold, her hand was like ice when I held it. She doesn't deserve this, Mom, she doesn't," he cried in a little lost voice. Ann Richardson put an arm around her youngest son and tried to comfort him as best she could while he cried in her lap.

She was still holding him when Brian walked back into the room. He took one look at his cousin crying face down in his mother's lap and Brian's heart sank. He didn't mean to do this to Kevin, but he felt helpless, and didn't know what he could do for him. Kevin was usually the one everyone went to when there was a crisis, because he was the strongest one, and he knew just what to say to help. But now the tables were turned, Kevin was the one who needed help, and everything Brian had said only seemed to make things worse.

He looked over at Nick, slouched in one of the chairs across from Kevin and his mother. He had a distressed look on his face, and Brian went over and sat down next to him.

"Hey Frack," he said quietly. Nick looked up and saw the raw pain on Brian's face, "Hey Brian. You okay?"

"Not really. I think I pissed Kevin off instead of helping him."

"What did you do?" Brian explained quickly the conversation they had had in the cafeteria. Nick just shook his head.

"Oh man, Frick, even I know when to quit with Kevin. I would have stopped talking after the first mistake."

Brian sighed. "I know, I know. But I thought I could explain, and cheer him up."

"He's not going to be cheered up until Jamie wakes up and yells at him for crying over her." Nick gave a small half-smile as he pictured Jamie sitting up in the hospital bed, yelling at Kevin.

Brian gave a little laugh, "Yeah, I guess so. She will too, won't she?"

"Yeah, you know how she is about all that fuss," Nick nodded. "Look, Brian, we can try all we want to make him feel better, but it's not going to work until she regains consciousness. I mean I love Jamie too, and I want her to be all right. . .oh God, she has to be. . ." Nick paused for a moment, closing his eyes. "But it's not the same feeling as Kevin has for her. Just think how you would feel if it were Leighanne in Jamie's position, and see what would make you feel better. I can guarantee it won't be anything we say to you."

Instinctively, Brian looked over at his own wife, who was having a quiet discussion with Jamie's mother. "You have a point," conceded Brian. He looked back at Nick. "When did you get so smart, Frack?"

Nick smiled again, "I've always been smart, I just choose to show the world at carefully designed moments. This is one of them." Brian shook his head.

"Should I apologize to Kevin now, O Wise One?"

"Not at the moment. Let him cry, he'll feel better afterwards, then you can go talk to him again. Trust me," Nick's eyes clouded, and Brian could tell he was remembering his own experiences with Taylor.

"I'm sorry, Nick. I didn't think. . ."

"No, it's okay," Nick shook his head to clear his mind. He couldn't think about Taylor now; even after all this time, it was still too painful. "But just let him go for now," he said quietly. Brian nodded, and they changed the subject.

Just then, the door opened to the waiting room, and a man in street clothes followed by a uniformed officer entered the room.

"Kevin Richardson?" asked the man in plainclothes. Nick pointed over to where Kevin was sitting. He had pulled himself upright when he heard the door open, and quickly dashed away the tears with his hands.

"Yeah, I'm Kevin."

"Mr. Richardson, my name is Detective Logan. Can I talk to you for a moment about what happened today at the hotel?" Kevin nodded, and Logan motioned outside the room. "I'd like to do this in private if that's all right. I will also need to talk to anyone who saw what happened."

"None of us really were there when it happened," said Howie. "We didn't see anything. The others were still upstairs in their rooms, I think. But I happened to walk into the lobby when someone came running in to call 911. I waited with Kevin until the ambulance came, then went and got the others. We all came here as soon as we could."

"Okay, then I'll need to speak with you afterwards, all right?" Howie nodded, and Kevin and Logan turned and walked out of the room.

Detective Logan turned to face Kevin. "First, I'd just like to say I'm sorry about all of this, Mr. Richardson. This is probably very hard for you to deal with right now." Kevin just nodded.

"Second, I do need to ask you about what happened this morning. Are you up to talking about this?" Kevin nodded again. Logan reached into his jacket and pulled out a notepad and pen.

"Alright then. As best as you can, can you tell me what you remember?"

Kevin was silent a moment, then spoke haltingly. "We. . . we were leaving the hotel to go to the airport. We were going to fly to Athens. Anyway, I had checked us out, she was waiting for me in the lobby, and then we walked outside together to get into the limo to go. There were all these girls there, fans waiting for me, I guess. I wanted to just get into the limo and go, but Jamie. . ." he made a slight choking noise upon saying her name, "Jamie said that I should sign some autographs first. She said she would just watch."

"Where was she during all of this?" Logan was busy taking furious notes as Kevin spoke.

"She stayed by the doorway of the hotel. I said I would be only a minute, then walked over to some of the fans. I talked to them, signed an autograph or two, that sort of thing."

"Did you see the person who shot your wife?" Kevin widened his eyes slightly, then hung his head.

"No," he said softly. "I was focused on talking to these girls as quickly as I could so that I could finish and get out of there. I didn't want to be there any longer than necessary. I. . . I heard the gunshot, and turned when I heard Jamie cry out." He closed his eyes, trying to maintain control, but he was dancing on the edge and he wasn't sure how much more he could deal with.

"I'm sorry, but I need to ask you about all of this. So, what next, Mr. Richardson? Did you see anyone then?"

"No. I just saw her. . . fall. . . and I. . . I rushed over to her. I didn't think of looking around for whoever did this. I only thought of Jamie, and getting to her."

"Did your wife say anything? Did she say if she saw who shot her?"

Kevin shook his head, "No, she didn't say much of anything, except that. . . that she loved me. She passed out right after that. Someone said that 911 had been called, and I just waited with her until the ambulance came. I came with her here to the hospital, and I've been here since."

"How is she? Would I be able to speak with her?"

Kevin shook his head again, "She's out of surgery, but she's still unconscious. She's also in ICU, so I guess you would have to ask the doctor first."

"Alright. Is there anything else you can tell me about this morning? Were either of you threatened before this happened, notes, phone calls, anything like that?"

Kevin thought for a minute. "I don't remember anything else. It's all slightly hazy anyway, but I'm pretty sure I've told you everything I know."

"And about the death threats?"

"I don't know of any. There's just been so much going on this last week, with the wedding and all, that I can't remember. You could ask Denise McLean, she handles our public relations and stuff, she might know. She's inside the waiting room."

"Did your wife receive any threats?" asked Logan.

"I don't know," he said simply. "If there were any, she never said anything about them, at least not to me."

"Would she have told you?"

"I think so. I can't imagine why she wouldn't have."

"Did a lot of people know about your wedding and where you were?"

"I don't know. We tried to keep it low-key, but there really isn't any such thing as low-key for us anymore." Kevin grimaced and gave a short mirthless laugh. "I'm sure there were people who knew about us and what we were doing. Why, you think this has something to do with the group?"

"Anything is possible, Mr. Richardson. I'm just trying to get the whole picture here. Does Mrs. Richardson work?"

"Yeah, she's a lawyer."

"A lawyer. Okay, what sort of practice does she have? Where is her practice? Anything there?"

"Practice? Um, mostly corporate, and it's in Florida where we live. I know she had some other private clients, did their wills and things like that."

"Okay, so mostly civil. No criminal work? Nothing that people would be upset about, rapists, murderers, that sort?"

"No." Kevin refrained from mentioning that he had been her client once, because he didn't like thinking about what he and Nick had been accused of, and what they had almost lost. "She tried not to take criminal or any controversial cases like that, she didn't like what they generated."

"What about her corporate work? Anything there?"

"No, it was a lot of contracts and stuff, between corporations. She did a little negotiating for us once or twice, merchandising and other kinds of contracts, but nothing that would cause anyone to hate her, I don't think."

"So you can't think of anyone who wanted her dead?"

Kevin flinched at that, but searched his memory. "No, not that I know of."

"Anyone wanting you dead?" Kevin looked shocked, but shook his head again. "I. . . I don't think so."

"Again, just covering all angles here, Mr. Richardson."

Kevin nodded, "I know, but it just seems all so. . . unreal."

"I imagine it does. Well, that's all I need from you at the moment. We've talked to the girls at the hotel, some employees, and other guests, so now I just need to speak to your friend and. . . Ms. McLean did you say?"

"Uh, yeah. So have you found out anything else? Did anyone else see who did this?"

"Actually, there was a couple of girls who thought that they saw a woman leave the scene as everyone was ducking out of the way. That's something else I should ask you. Do you know of a woman, medium height, thin, with shoulder length brown hair?"

"That describes a lot of people, Detective. I might know of several who fit that, but no one I know would want to hurt me or Jamie."

"I was afraid of that, but it was an idea. Those girls are with a sketch artist now, so maybe a picture might help you identify her for us." Kevin nodded.

"Well, thank you again, Mr. Richardson. I know this wasn't pleasant, but as I said, it needs to be done." Logan reached into his pocket again and produced a business card. "Should you remember anything else, please call me. I assume you will be staying here in Lexington for while longer so is there somewhere I can reach you?"

"Yes, I'm not leaving my wife. As for contacting me, I guess here at the hospital."

"Alright. Could you ask your friends to come out here?" Kevin agreed, and walked back into the room.

"D, the detective wants to talk to you and Denise now." They stood up and walked out into the hallway. Kevin sat down in the chair Howie had just gotten out of. Looking around, he noticed that not everyone was in the room.

"Bone? Where's my mom and Jamie's parents?"

"They were allowed to see Jaim, so they're upstairs," AJ said. Kevin nodded wearily. "Are you okay, man?"

Kevin just looked at AJ, "Not really. Did you think I would be too?"

"Too? What do you mean?" AJ appeared confused. "No, I think this has got to be the worst thing that has happened to any of us since Taylor died. I don't expect you to be normal Kev, I just meant if you were tired or something. I can take you back to your mom's house, if you want."

"I'm not leaving here until Jamie does. I'm not going anywhere."

"Where are you going to stay? You can't be in this room forever."

"I'm not. I'll stay with Jamie. I'm not leaving her, Bone." Kevin may have been exhausted, but his face had a look of determination on it. It was an expression AJ had seen before, and he knew better than to argue with Kevin when he was like this. AJ simply nodded, he'd try to get Kevin out of the hospital later.

The door to the waiting room opened, and a nurse carrying a floral box came in. "Mr. Richardson? This box was just delivered for you."

Surprised, Kevin accepted the box and thanked the nurse. AJ leaned over, "For you? Didn't she mean for Jamie?"

"Probably, but I don't think she'd be allowed to have them in ICU, so that's likely why she gave them to me." Kevin lifted the lid of the box. He gasped in shock, as did AJ. Nick and Brian looked over at them, concerned.

"What's wrong, Train?" asked Nick. Kevin just stared, horrified by the contents of the box. Nick came over, and peeked in.

His blue eyes widened at the sight of a dozen black roses inside the box. He saw a small square of white, and he reached in to take it out. Opening the envelope and reading the card, Nick's eyes got even bigger and he made a distressed noise.

"What? What's wrong, Nick?" asked Brian. Kevin looked up at Nick. "What. . . what does it say?" he asked weakly.

Nick shook his head, unable to speak, so AJ plucked the card out of his hand and read it aloud.

"Kevin, my condolences on the death of your wife. Such a tragic loss, I'm sure. But you'll forget her soon enough, and I'll be here waiting for you."

The television was on, but at the moment she wasn't paying careful attention to it. Instead, she let the voices from the program wash over her as she stared down at the brown lump lying next to her on the couch. Her hand ran over it absently, as if she were petting a cat. She had a satisfied smile on her face, and she was waiting for the anchor to confirm what she already knew.

The roses had been a nice touch, she thought. It had been a last minute decision, a whim almost, not part of the original plan. The florist had been slightly startled by the request, but apparently had had the order before because he told her that they had access to the flowers, and that the delivery would be made that day. If he had been startled by the order, he was definitely shocked when he heard where he was supposed to deliver them.

"A hospital! Are you sure you want me to send them there?" he had asked her, and she nodded. He would have refused the order at that point, but the look in her eye and the money on the counter convinced him otherwise. She handed him the card to be inserted into the bouquet, already written out and sealed up. He took it, shrugged and clipped it to the order sheet. If she wanted to send black roses to a sick friend in the hospital, it didn't really concern him. It wasn't his business to know why flowers were sent to others, just to make sure they got there.

The picture of the Backstreet Boys and the news anchor's voice got her attention, and she focused on the report on the television. She turned the volume up slightly, and was rewarded with hearing Kevin's name.

"Also in local news tonight, tragedy strikes one of Lexington's own. Yesterday, Kevin Richardson, of the super pop group the Backstreet Boys, was married in a simple ceremony held here in Lexington. He and his new bride spent the night at the Hyatt Regency. As they were leaving the hotel early this morning for their honeymoon, they were greeted by fans and other well-wishers. That's when an unidentified woman opened fire on the couple, shooting Jamie Saxon Richardson in the chest. She was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where doctors operated for six hours. In a statement released by the hospital, Mrs. Richardson is listed in critical condition in the ICU unit. But doctors say they expect her to make a full recovery. Mr. Richardson was uninjured in the shooting. Because of the amount already received by the hospital for the Richardsons, anyone wishing to send cards and flowers have been asked instead to make a charitable contribution. . ."

Her hand froze on the lump beside her. Alive? Full recovery? The bitch was still alive and married to her Kevin? This wasn't possible, it just wasn't. She had aimed very carefully, she knew she had made a heart shot; there was no way that bitch could have survived. She should have died instantly. It just wasn't possible for her to still be among the living.

She was still fuming over this development when the anchor's voice again filtered into her consciousness. "At this time, the shooter is still unidentified and remains at large. Witnesses at the scene have given police a preliminary description, and this composite has been made." An artist's sketch appeared on the screen, and anyone sitting next to her would have recognized the sketch as roughly resembling her. "The suspect is a white female, in her late twenties, early thirties, about five foot five in height, 150 pounds, brown hair, dark eyes. She was wearing a brown coat, jeans and sneakers at the time of the shooting. Anyone seeing this suspect or having any information that could lead to an arrest should immediately contact the Lexington Police Department at 555-7171."

She shut the television off abruptly, sitting in the now silent room. She needed to think, this wasn't going the way she had planned. That bitch was supposed to be dead, and she and Kevin were supposed to be together, forever.

She had even pictured the scene when she and Kevin would be reunited. He would have been grateful to her for getting rid of the tramp. He didn't need or want Jamie in his life, he had merely been marking time until she returned to him. He would have recognized that the marriage had been a mistake, but it hadn't even been his idea, and he hadn't found a way to get out of it. Kevin would have arranged everything afterwards because he wanted to start their life together as soon as possible with no hindrances, no reminders of the time they had been apart.

But now, that wasn't going to happen. She had to come up with a new plan, another way to remove the thorn in her side. How to get rid of the bitch in ICU?ICU. . . wait, that was it! Simple, so very simple. She laughed, and stood up. Addressing the brown mass still on the couch, she said, "This will work, believe me. Kevin and I will be together soon. But unfortunately, I have no more use for you, you've been plastered everywhere. You have served me well, but here is where we part company." She picked it up, clutching it tightly in her fist, and walked over to the trash can. Opening the lid, she dropped the brown mass inside.

"Brunettes are boring anyways. Let's just see how much fun this blonde can have," she smirked, staring at the newly disposed brown wig before closing the lid and walking away.

Kevin sat in a chair next to Jamie's bed, watching her. He had convinced the doctors to let him stay in the unit with her, that Jamie would respond better if she knew he was there with her. He held her hand tightly in one of his own, his other hand tangled loosely in her hair. Jamie loved it when he played with her hair, and Kevin loved the feel of the auburn strands in his hands, on his body.

There had been several nights during the trial when he had been unable to sleep. Night had been the time and place for Kevin to confront his fears and doubts, when no one else would know about them. The only comfort he had then was to touch Jamie, to stroke her hair as she lay sleeping next to him, curled into his side. She had sighed and snuggled closer, but never had awakened. Kevin had spent hours touching her like that, and would often finally fall asleep with his hand still tangled in her hair.

The habit had given him comfort then, and it comforted him now. Jamie was still here with him, and she was fighting. He couldn't see any evidence of the struggle, but he just knew she was. Kevin's eyes swept over her, looking for any sign that she was close to regaining consciousness. Every once in a while, he spoke to her softly, saying her name, telling her how much he loved her, and how she needed to wake up soon. Jamie's condition remained unchanged, but Kevin repeated his message to her throughout the night.

Finally, just before dawn, the day's events and his own exhaustion caught up with him. Kevin fell asleep next to Jamie. He was still sitting in the chair, his head resting on the mattress near hers, his hand caught up in her hair.

Jamie hadn't regained consciousness late the next morning when Brian peeked into the unit and saw Kevin keeping watch over her. He tapped softly on the glass, then walked into the room.

"How is she?" he asked softly. Kevin raised his head towards his cousin, and replied, "The same, I guess. Still hasn't come out of it yet." He regarded Brian silently for a moment longer, then turned back to Jamie.

"Kevin, I'm sorry for. . ." Brian began hesitantly.

"It's all right, Brian. I know," said Kevin quietly. "Yesterday was difficult for everyone. I'm sorry too."

Brian nodded, although Kevin wasn't facing him. "The doctor came into the waiting room this morning and talked to your folks. He said that she's doing well considering, and that she could possibly have more visitors later on this afternoon. He didn't seem too worried she wasn't awake yet, he said there had been a lot of damage, so she needs this time to heal."

"I know, he said that to me as well. But I still want her to get up, you know?"

Brian walked over to the bedside, and clapped a hand on Kevin's shoulder. "Yeah, I know. Hey, I'm not supposed to stay in here for very long. The doctor only let me up here so I could find out if you were planning on coming down at all today, maybe have breakfast or whatever with the rest of us." But he looked around quickly, then leaned down, kissed Jamie lightly and said, "Hey cuz, you need to wake up now." Brian stood back up and looked at Kevin expectantly. "So, food?"

He sighed. "Yeah, I'll come down. I'm kind of hungry, now that you mention it. You think she'll be okay if I leave for a little while?" He looked back at Jamie as if to ask her if he could go.

Brian chuckled slightly, "I'm pretty sure she'll understand. Anyway, I told the nurses where we would be, so if Jaim wakes up, they'll come find us."

As they walked out of the room, Brian grinned. "So, two days of marriage and she's already got you whipped?"

Kevin shot a glance at Brian, "To quote one of Jamie's favorite phrases, 'Hello, pot? This is kettle.' You shouldn't talk." Brian laughed, and Kevin broke into a grin himself. "Guilty as charged, but I make no apologies for it though. Leigh has always been able to get whatever she wanted from me, married or not."

"If you're expecting me to argue with you about that, you're going to be disappointed, Brian."

"I'm not disappointed. I'm just glad to see you are in a better mood."

"I'm not really, but just being able to stay with her last night eased my mind. But there's still a lot worrying me, and I won't really be alright until they find the person who did this to us," sighed Kevin.

"I know. The police are working on it, Kev. And they had the police sketch up on the news last night. It's just a matter of time now," said Brian. By this time, the two of them had entered the waiting room. The others were slightly surprised to see Kevin acting more normally, but very thankful for it. They had been just as worried about him as they were for Jamie. He seemed better, but they did notice the wrinkled clothes and the dark shadows under his eyes.

Following his mom's suggestion, Kevin changed into the fresh clothes she had brought with her, and then joined his bandmates in the cafeteria. They had just finished eating when Detective Logan came in and walked over to their table.

Kevin rose quickly from his seat, "Did you find her? The person who shot Jaim, did you arrest her?"

Logan held up a hand, "I'm sorry, Mr. Richardson, no we haven't yet. I just came here to see if your wife was awake yet and could speak to me." Kevin shook his head sadly.

"Oh, I see. Well, I don't suppose you remember anything else about yesterday?" the detective asked.

Kevin shook his head again, "No, nothing else." The detective thanked him, and started to leave when Kevin stopped him. "Wait, what about those flowers? Who sent them? Do you know anything about them?"

"Yes and no. We traced them back to the florist shop they came from, but the clerk couldn't tell us anything that we didn't already know. He gave the same physical description of the woman that we had from talking to people at the hotel. She paid for them in cash, so no name was given except your wife's. There aren't any other records," said Logan, consulting his notebook. "The clerk also said the card was already written and sealed when she handed it to him. Normally that would have been a lead for us except, as you know, the card was printed on a computer. There weren't any fingerprints on the card or envelope that would give us an indication of who she is. Several people had already touched it by the time we got it, including all of you. So really the only thing we know for sure is that the woman who sent them is the same woman who is the shooter."

"Oh," was all Kevin could say, clearly disappointed. He sat back down and rested his chin on the heel of his hand. Logan said, "We really weren't expecting anything different than that, Mr. Richardson. I'm afraid to say that whoever did this has made a serious effort to cover up her tracks. She obviously planned every move she made. That makes it much more difficult for us. We're not going to solve this today if you thought we would."

"No, I didn't think that, but I guess I was hoping for some kind of clue as to who this woman is and why she did this," said Kevin softly.

"I'm sorry I don't have more for you. This woman could literally be anyone."

Kevin looked up, puzzled by that last statement, "What do you mean 'anyone'?"

"Without some idea as to why this happened, I mean the shooter could be anyone at all. The woman could be an obsessed fan of yours, or the girl whose braids you used to pull on in kindergarten. It could be someone who your wife cut off in traffic one day, or an angry ex-client. It's even possible that the woman doesn't know who either of you are, but acted completely randomly in terms of who the victim was going to be. At this point, we can't narrow our search enough to even get a list of suspects. You can see why it's difficult for us," explained Logan.

"You're kidding? You honestly have no idea who the nut is?" asked AJ. Logan looked down at the others seated at the table, and shook his head. AJ frowned, Brian chewed on his fingernails, Howie appeared to be mulling everything over, and Nick just stared at the detective wide-eyed. Kevin was still leaning on his hand, thinking about what Logan was saying.

After a moment of silence, Kevin asked, "Well, what about that note in the flowers, where she said I'd forget about Jamie and that she was waiting for me. Wouldn't that mean something?"

"It's most likely that the shooter is a stalker, but it's not definite. That language could mean several different things, including that she's looking to shoot you as well. Trust me, I am just as frustrated as you are. I would like to be able to tell you that we know who this is, and we are in the process of arresting her, but I can't." Logan shrugged, but Kevin and the others could see that this was clearly bothering the detective.

"That makes two of us, Detective." Logan nodded and turned to walk away from the group when a nurse came over to the table and spoke to Kevin.

"Mr. Richardson? Your wife is awake."

It took everything he had not to tear out of the cafeteria and race up to ICU to see Jamie. The nurse's announcement brought everyone to their feet, Nick and Brian even high-fived each other. Kevin thanked the nurse for telling him, then walked out of the cafeteria, not even looking to see if the others had followed him or gone back to the waiting room to tell everyone else. He punched the up button to the elevator several times, and shifted impatiently from foot to foot as he waited for the elevator to reach the main floor. He had just decided to walk up the ten flights of stairs when the doors opened.

Finally, the elevator carried him up to ICU and he was looking into the unit through the glass window. The doctor was in there with Jamie, and Kevin could see that she was moving slightly in the bed on her own. He stood there frozen for a moment, grateful but unable to really believe it. When the doctor looked up and saw Kevin standing there, he beckoned Kevin to come in. That shook him out of his trance, and he opened the door and walked in.

The doctor moved so that the two of them could see each other. Jamie was awake, but just barely. She was having trouble keeping her eyes open, but she saw and recognized her visitor.

"Kev?" she croaked. It was difficult to talk with the tubes down her throat, but she tried anyway. He moved forward, and reached for her hand.

"I'm here, Jamie, I'm here. Ah, you have no idea how happy I am to hear your voice, baby," he said, smiling down at her.

"What. . ." she tried to say more but ended up choking on the breathing tube. The doctor came forward and helped her to breathe normally again, and advised her not to talk.

"She will anyway, she's just that dumb," said Kevin softly but still grinning. She weakly tried to swat him, and his smile grew bigger. Leaning down, he kissed her temple and whispered, "You can get me back later, baby." She nodded slightly. Kevin ran his hand through her hair, and she closed her eyes again, this time with a contented look.

Kevin looked up at the doctor, not stopping his ministrations. "She's alright, isn't she?"

He nodded, "Yes, everything looks good. She is having a little trouble breathing though, so we'll keep her on the respirator while she's in ICU. I figure we can move her to a regular room by the end of the week. She's still slightly disoriented though, doesn't know exactly why she's here. I was just starting to explain when you came in. I can explain later or you can do it."

"Doesn't matter who does, but I'm not sure if I could get through the explanation." The doctor nodded again.

There was a soft knock on the door, then it opened. Everyone came into the room at once. At first the doctor tried to shoo them out, but Kevin shook his head and asked quietly to let them stay.

"Alright, but ALL of you are leaving in fifteen minutes. She may have just woken up, but she still needs to rest." The doctor noted the mutinous expression on Kevin's face, "That includes you, Mr. Richardson, and I will kick you out, so don't think you're staying."

The others chuckled at Kevin's expression. "She needs. . ." he started to say, but was cut off by the doctor.

"She needs rest, Mr. Richardson," he repeated. "I'll be back in fifteen minutes to make sure she gets it." The door closed quietly behind the doctor. Kevin nudged Jamie slightly, "Baby? Hey, look who's here to see you."

Jamie's eyes slowly opened, and she blinked several times before focusing on the group of people surrounding the bed. She tried to speak, but the tubes were still blocking her throat, so all that came out was a low "ah" sound.

The others tried to reassure her, and spent the time talking to her and making small jokes to get her to smile. She laughed once at something Howie said so Kevin and Nick held her and tried to help her while she choked on the respirator. Kevin said little the entire time, just stared at his wife and continually stroked her hair where it flowed from her temple. Jamie tried to keep up with the conversations around her, but she found it difficult and tiring. Instead, she met Kevin's eyes, and the message she conveyed to him in those looks needed no words spoken aloud.

Brian watched his cousins slightly misty eyed, and discovered that a hand had found its way into his. He looked over to see Leighanne smiling at him, the same message in her tear-filled eyes directed at him. He nodded and squeezed her hand, saying quietly, "I love you too, Leigh."

The doctor came back exactly fifteen minutes later, and kicked everyone out of the room. He closed the door on a grumbling Kevin, which got Jamie to chuckle. The doctor handed her a small white eraserboard, marker and eraser, and told her to write anything she wanted to say, if she could. She nodded, and began scribbling on the board.

"What happened? Why am I here?"

"Do you know where you are?"

"A hospital," she wrote.

"I meant do you know where this hospital is? What do you remember last?"

A frown appeared on her face as she thought. "You speak English with a southern accent so I guess I'm still in Lexington. I remember dancing with Kevin at our wedding last night. Remember going to the suite after the reception. Remember being in the suite with him. . .but not telling you any of that. And remember waking up this morning in the hotel. That's it."

The doctor chuckled as he read what she had written. "I don't want to know the details of your wedding night, thanks. But I’m afraid that it wasn't last night, it was two nights ago. And you don't know what happened after waking up yesterday morning?"

She shook her head, wrote something, then tapped it with the marker. "WHAT HAPPENED TO ME? WHY AM I HERE?"

"As you were leaving the hotel, someone shot and tried to kill you."

"I was shot? Kevin too?" Her brown eyes were large as she moved restlessly in the bed. The doctor put a hand on her arm to calm her down.

"Relax, he's fine, you just saw him. He wasn't hurt at all, no one else was except you." The doctor then relayed what had happened to her. Jamie began choking, growing more agitated by the second. The doctor tried to calm her down again, but she wouldn't stop moving around. She wrote on the board again.

"Kevin."

"You need to rest, Mrs. Richardson, and that means no visitors for a while." Jamie shook her head, and pounded the board where she had written Kevin's name.

The doctor sighed. "You both are very stubborn people, I have no idea how you two get along." She just looked at him, and underlined her writing. "Fine, I'll get him. Give me a minute." Using the phone, the doctor called the nurses' station and relayed Jamie's request.

Kevin rushed back into the room almost as soon as the doctor replaced the phone. Jamie calmed down immediately, as Kevin sat on the bed next to her and cradled her in his arms. The doctor snorted, "Why am I not surprised you didn't go very far. Stay as long as you like if that's the only thing calming her down. I'm not going to argue with either of you anymore. Just make sure she doesn't overdo it, alright?" Kevin nodded, and the doctor left the room shaking his head and hiding the smile on his face.

Kevin could feel her shaking in his arms, and he carefully pulled her closer to him. "Hey, it's alright now, Jaim, you're going to be fine," he soothed her, kissing her lightly on her temple. "I'm here, baby, I'm here. Just relax, okay."

"Kev. . ." his name came out very softly as she tried to talk around the respirator, and tears trickled down her face. "Kev. . ."

"Shhh, don't say anything." He ran his fingers over her cheek, wiping away the tears. She picked up the board and marker, shock still etched on her face.

"He said someone tried to kill me. Why?"

"I don't know, Jamie. The police are working on that, but they haven't said anything to me," said Kevin, purposely not mentioning the black roses since it would get her even more upset.

"Fan???"

"Sweetheart, I don't know. But anyone who would do this isn't a fan, trust me." Kevin reached for the board and put it beyond Jamie's reach. "Let's not talk about this anymore, just close your eyes and rest here against me. I'm not going anywhere for a while, okay?"

Jamie looked as if she was going to protest, but she really was exhausted and not in any condition to argue. She finally nodded, then moved closer into Kevin's body. He readjusted so that they were both comfortable, and she closed her eyes. She was asleep soon afterwards.

Kevin watched her sleep, and appeared for all the world to be calm. But he was finally going over everything the detective had said to him a couple of hours earlier. Logan couldn't say who the shooter had been, but the note suggested a stalker to him. After seeing the flowers, it was the first thought each of the other Backstreet Boys had. And it was Jamie's first guess too. He looked over at the board where he had moved it. Fan??? was still written on it, and it was all he could see.

Was it an obsessed fan? Someone who had been upset by the thought of him getting married? Someone jealous of his relationship with Jamie? Kevin didn't begin to understand what would lead to someone acting like this, but he needed to find out. Fan???; he didn't think so.

"Who are you? Why did you do this to us?"

Kevin didn't leave Jamie's side for the rest of the day. If he got up to walk around the room, or use the bathroom, she woke up agitated until he came back into her line of sight. She calmed down only when he returned to her side and held her. Once, she even tried getting out of bed to look for him, but was too weak to do more than push the blankets away. Kevin found her crumpled over in pain and gasping for breath on one side of the bed. He ran and threw his arms around her as he frantically called for the nurse to help him. They got Jamie settled back in the bed and the nurse gave her something for the pain that coursed through her left shoulder and side.

Kevin wasn't really sure why Jamie was so fearful, although he believed she was just afraid of being attacked again. He used her reactions as the reason he needed to stay by her side, so that he could watch over her and protect her. She was slowly coming back to him and he wanted to make sure nothing else would happen to her.

Jamie was still in shock from the attack, but that wasn't the reason why she panicked whenever he left her. She was afraid that Kevin would be the one attacked next. Since she couldn't leave the bed, much less the room, the only way she could make sure he was safe was if he was with her constantly.

Detective Logan came in to see how she was and attempt to decipher what, if anything, she knew about the shooting. Unfortunately, Jamie remembered nothing about that morning. The only things she clearly remembered happened the night before. Kevin was grateful that she couldn't recall being shot, but at the same time he was angry that someone had stolen her memories of the first day of their life together. He held her close and whispered to her how they had spent that morning before leaving the hotel room, but it just wasn't the same thing.

She stayed in the ICU unit the rest of the week, spending most of the time resting. Kevin stayed with her the entire time, leaving her only when absolutely necessary. Her parents and brothers stayed for a couple of days to make sure she was alright, then they reluctantly returned home. While everyone else left the hospital and returned to their own lives, the other Boys stayed in Lexington, and visited with Jamie every day. Jamie had laughed and written a comment about how she should have known that she and Kevin couldn't go on their honeymoon without the other fellas along for the ride. They all read it sheepishly and apologized, but they didn't leave, and neither Kevin nor Jamie asked them to. By being around, the guys also helped to distract Kevin. Besides, Jamie liked having Leighanne around to talk to, as well as Amanda and Alissa, who were AJ and Howie's girlfriends.

Even with everyone around them, there was still someone missing, and Jamie wasn't the only one who felt the loss. She and Nick both desperately wished Taylor was with them. Jamie missed her best friend, more now than she had during this past year since Taylor's death. As a way to comfort them both through the grieving process, Nick and Jamie had grown much closer. People who didn't know either of them were convinced they were siblings. Nick came to the wedding by himself, and Jamie went out of her way to make sure he had a good time, and that he was alright. Kevin understood, but still had to cut in on his wife and Nick several times that night. Nick had merely smiled, and said even though Jamie was now Kevin's wife, she would always be Nick's "sister".

By the end of the week, Jamie had grown strong enough to only need an oxygen mask at night. She was very thankful for that, because she didn't feel like throwing up each time the doctor inserted and removed the breathing tubes. She was moved out of ICU and into a private room. The hospital staff had long since given up trying to kick Kevin out at night, and he made himself comfortable on the other bed in the private room by pushing it over next to Jamie's. The nurses all shook their heads, but were captivated by the way Kevin acted towards Jamie.

"Come on, Kev! It'll only be for a couple of hours, you need to get out of here," pleaded Howie. AJ and Howie were on a mission to get Kevin out of the hospital for a couple of hours to have dinner with them. Kevin hadn't been outside since the day Jamie had been admitted a week and a half earlier, and while it had been cute the first couple of days, his adamancy on staying with Jamie was wearing thin on everyone.

"I don't think so, D. I don't want to leave her."

"Yes, but she wants you to go," said a quiet voice from behind Kevin. He turned to see Jamie nodding her head. "Go on, be off with you, have a nice dinner."

He cocked his head, "I don't think you. . ."

"Kevin," she said, exasperated, "go have dinner with them."

"You shouldn't be alone."

"You shouldn't be driving me crazy. I'll be perfectly fine, now go!"

"But. . ."

"GO!" she said. He came over to her and sat down on the bed. He picked up her hand, and said quietly, "I don't feel right about this. Are you sure?"

She rolled her eyes, "Kevin, I love you. But I would like a couple of hours where I don't have to see you or talk to you. Please go have dinner with AJ and Howie, okay? I'll be fine." She pulled her hand out of his grasp, and pushed him off the bed. "Boys, take him will you? He's all yours."

"We are going to bring him back, you know," smiled AJ as he came up beside Kevin, putting a hand on Kevin's arm.

Jamie sighed theatrically, "Oh fine, if you have to, I guess I'll take him back. Maybe by then I'll be asleep, so I won't notice." The sarcasm dripped from her voice but her eyes twinkled with the love she felt for Kevin.

He shot her a look. "I get the hint, I give up. I'm going. But it'll only be for a couple of hours, and then I'm coming right back here."

"Fine, but in order to come back, you first need to leave," she said, pointing at the door. Kevin leaned over and kissed her. AJ and Howie also came over and kissed Jamie goodbye, causing Kevin to scowl and Jamie to giggle.

"All of you, shoo! Go someplace with very slow service," she laughed. The three of them left, and Jamie sighed. "Finally, some peace and quiet."

She loved the constant attention she got from Kevin, but she wasn't used to it at all. It was a strange transition for her. At first, she wanted it because she was concerned about him. But as she got better, he seemed to get even more protective. Being an independent person, she didn't take well to it. She was at the point where if AJ hadn't suggested dinner, she would have asked the two of them to take him when they left. Jamie reached over for the book lying on the stand, and soon got engrossed in Melanie Rawn's latest Sunrunner tale.

The door opened slowly. Jamie was fast asleep, a book lying face down on her stomach. Perfect. It had taken a lot of watching and waiting. She knew Kevin was gone; he had finally escaped with AJ and Howie an hour earlier. She felt sorry for Kevin since the little tramp never let him out of her sight.

She slowly walked over to Jamie's bedside, and looked at the IV hanging from the stand next to the bed. She regarded her silently for a moment, then smiling, she reached into her pocket and pulled out an empty syringe. This is going to be so easy, she thought. Just inject the syringe directly in the IV line, let the little air bubble work its way through the system, and once it got to Jamie's heart, she would be with Kevin once again.

AJ, Howie, and Kevin returned to the room a half-hour later to find everyone in a state of uproar. Two uniformed policemen stood in the doorway, refusing to let the three of them in. Detective Logan was in the room, questioning Jamie, when Kevin barged past the officers into the room.

"What the hell is going on?" he demanded. One of the policemen followed Kevin in and had him firmly by the arm, fully intending to drag him out of the room. Logan shook his head, and Kevin was released. AJ and Howie quickly came into the room, both bewildered.

"Well?" Kevin saw that Jamie looked very pale, and slightly shell-shocked.

Detective Logan spoke up, "There was another attempt on your wife's life, Mr. Richardson."

"WHAT? What happened?" he asked. Detective Logan gave Kevin a quick explanation.

The stalker, for lack of a better term, entered Jamie's room, intending to try again. But as she started to depress the plunger of the syringe, the stalker chuckled or made some other noise which had awakened Jamie. Jamie wanted to know what was going on, and apparently the stalker panicked at that point. She dropped the syringe and left the room and the hospital.

Jamie called the nurses' station, wanting to know who had come into the room and why she left suddenly. A nurse answered and came into the room, but before Jamie could say anything, the nurse noticed the empty syringe still dangling from the IV line where it had been left. The nurse acted quickly, removing the syringe, and calling for the doctor as well as security.

Because she was not fully awake and the room was darkened, Jamie hadn't gotten a very good look at the intruder. The only description she could give was that the person was wearing a nurse's uniform, and had long blonde hair. She had asked what the nurse had been doing, since every other time a nurse or doctor came in to see her, they had always been good about telling her what they were doing and why.

No one had seen the intruder come in or leave the room, and after a quick search, neither the police nor security found the woman. There was a nurse's cap lying on the floor by one of the stairwells, but that was the only sign of the woman.

"She must have been wearing rubber gloves or something, because there were no fingerprints on the syringe at all. I really can't tell you anymore," concluded Logan.

Kevin turned to see AJ and Howie standing behind him. "I knew I shouldn't have listened to either of you! If I hadn't left, this never would have happened, this is your fault!" he said angrily, pointing at the two of them.

"Our fault?" asked Howie, taking offense at Kevin's accusation and tone of voice. "How can you say that?"

"I would have been here, I would have been able. . ."

"You wouldn't have been able to do anything, Kevin," put in AJ, trying to calm Kevin down.

"She would have been safe! I can make sure of that," said Kevin.

"In all honesty, Mr. Richardson, there's nothing you could have done to prevent this. The suspect would have gotten to your wife somehow, she appears to be that determined," said the detective. Kevin rounded on him, sparks snapping from his green eyes.

"If that's true, it's because you aren't doing your job correctly! Your whole department is lacking, Detective. If you can't or won't protect my wife, then I will!"

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

"Apparently our security team is better than the entire Lexington police force. Carlos and the others will protect Jamie, the same way they've been protecting me for years! I trust them with my life, they'll keep Jamie safe from now on. Maybe that will free you up a bit more to actually go catch this woman!"

Startled by Kevin's vehemence, the room fell silent. Then AJ spoke up quietly, "And if Carlos is watching Jamie, who will be watching you? In case you didn't notice, when we left for dinner, Carlos and Marcus came with us."

"He'll be watching me as well. I'm not making the same mistake again. I'm not leaving Jamie alone this time, ever." Kevin stayed in the room, but walked over to where his bodyguard was lounging in the doorway. Keeping an eye on Jamie, Kevin quietly outlined what he wanted to Carlos, who nodded as he listened.

"There, it's all settled. Logan, you can take the officers and go do whatever it is you're doing to find this woman. We'll be fine here," said Kevin. Logan raised an eyebrow, and started to speak when Jamie decided she had had enough.

"No, it's not all settled. Could everyone else please leave? There are a few things that need to be straightened out." Jamie never raised her voice, but the effect was the same as if she had barked out the orders. Everyone took one look at the frail figure in bed, with her arms crossed in front of her and a distinctly angry look on her face, then headed for the doorway.

Once the room contained only Kevin and Jamie, he calmly turned back to face her. "All right, now that you got everyone to leave, why don't you get some sleep? I'm here, so you don't have to worry anymore."

If anything, Jamie looked angrier. "Kevin, there are a few things we need to discuss first."

"There's nothing to discuss. I've taken care of everything."

"That is exactly what we need to talk about."

"There's nothing to talk about, Jaim. Get some rest, you need it," said Kevin, smoothing the hair back from her face. She batted his hand away.

"What I need is not to be treated like a five-year-old child. I can't believe you, Kevin, what is wrong with you?"

Kevin stared down at Jamie, confusion clearly marked on his face. "Wrong with me? There's nothing wrong with me. What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about that little stunt you just pulled. What exactly did you think you were doing?"

Confusion gave way to anger. "Stunt? It wasn't a stunt. What I'm trying to do is keep you safe, dammit. I don't want you hurt anymore. I'll do whatever it takes to keep my family safe from harm."

"How about letting the police do their job instead of interfering?"

"They weren't doing their job, Jamie, and that's the point! If they won't watch over you, then I will."

"Kevin, it's not your place to watch me, it's the police's job. You haven't given them a chance. Let them do it," begged Jamie.

"What do you mean it's not my place? You're my wife, you are my responsibility now."

Jamie's eyes almost popped out of her head with that pronouncement. "I'm your what? I'm positive I didn't hear you correctly," she said in a low tone. Kevin appeared not to notice the anger in her voice.

"My responsibility. Now that we're married, I have to look out for you, make sure that you're safe. That's what I'm doing. If the police can't keep this woman from attacking you, then I will," he said slowly, as if explaining to a child.

Jamie started to speak, then closed her mouth, glaring at him. She tried again, "That is not funny."

"It's not meant to be funny, I'm serious about this," said Kevin, oblivious to her anger. "Jamie, you'll be safe if Carlos and I are around to keep an eye on you."

"I don't want you to keep an eye on me. You can't possibly think you'll do a better job than the police."

"If I had been here, she wouldn't have gotten to you!" Kevin's voice rose slightly, not understanding why Jamie was fighting him about this.

"And what exactly would you have done to stop her? Sing to her? Stun her into submission with some dance moves?" Jamie said sarcastically.

"Jamie," he sighed. "I can protect you better because I love you. She wouldn't have gotten near you. I would have made sure of that."

"If I wanted a bodyguard, I'd have hired one. I don't need a protector. I need you to just be Kevin, my husband. Why is that so difficult for you to grasp?"

"It's not. But you need protecting, and I'm going to do it. I've already said you’re my responsibility now."

Jamie was fed up with his attitude. "Get out," she said coldly.

"What?"

"You heard me, get out of this room right now." Jamie's body shook with anger, but Kevin mistook it for her being cold. He reached over to place a blanket on her, but she slapped his hand away. Stunned, Kevin dropped the blanket and looked at her.

"What the hell did you do that for?"

"Get away from me right now, Kevin." He didn't move, and her voice rose for the first time. "Get out!"

"I'm not leaving you, I told you that already. I'm going to make sure you're safe."

"Kevin Richardson, if you don't get out of here right now, YOU are not going to be safe. I am dead serious."

He finally noticed she was angry. "Why are you mad? I'm only doing what's best for you."

"I don't need you to do what's best for me," she snarled. "I don't need you hovering over me, watching my every move. I am no one's responsibility. I can take care of myself, thank you very much, I've been doing it for a very long time now."

"Obviously you can't or you wouldn't be in this hospital right now," he snapped.

Jamie gasped, unable to move or speak. They stared at each other for a moment, then she found her voice. "This is MY fault? You think I caused this to happen? I wanted to be shot?" she said quietly.

"No, oh God, no Jamie, that's not. . ." he said, realizing what he had said. He moved forward, reaching out to touch her, but she shrank away from his hand.

"Get out now, Kevin. I don't want to see you or talk to you right now."

"Jamie. . ."

"Now, before I say something you'll regret." She wouldn't look at him, but he knew all the same how much he hurt her. He stood by the bed for a minute, then turned and walked out. As he reached the doorway, he turned back to her, and said softly, "I'm sorry." She didn't move at all, and he walked out of the room. When she heard the door close, Jamie let out the sob she had been holding in, rolled over onto her side and began to cry.

Kevin leaned against the wall next to the door. He could hear Jamie crying and he felt heartsick. He knew he had said the wrong thing by blaming her for what happened, and he knew it wasn't her fault. He wanted to go back inside and make it up to her, but Kevin knew her well enough to know that if he went back in the room, she wouldn't forgive him anytime soon. He had to leave her alone for the time being, even though it was the last thing he wanted to do. He stayed outside the room until he couldn't hear any sounds coming from inside, then opened the door slightly to peek in. She had cried herself to sleep. He watched her for several minutes, then closed the door quietly. Carlos walked over to him, retaking his post outside the door.

"You look like hell, Kevin."

"Thanks," said Kevin, annoyed.

"I could hear you two yelling, although I wasn't paying attention to what you were yelling about. You know you shouldn't get her upset like that while she's in the hospital," chided Carlos.

"Thanks, again."

"Just looking out for you. Since I assume she's not going to let you back in, why don't you go downstairs? I think AJ mentioned something about them sticking around for a little bit." Kevin hesitated and Carlos said, "I'll keep an eye on her. Don't worry, nothing will happen to her while I'm around."

Kevin smiled faintly, "Thanks, man. I'll be back up soon." Carlos nodded, and Kevin moved towards the elevators.

Stepping out of the elevator on the main floor, Kevin almost walked into Nick, who was trying to enter it. Startled, Nick stepped back, and let Kevin off.

"What are you doing here, Blondie?" asked Kevin.

"D called your mom to tell her what happened tonight. Brian answered the phone and we both came over. Is Jaim alright?" The two men turned and walked to join the others in the waiting room.

"She's fine, Nick. You didn't need to come over here tonight, though," he replied absently.

"Another attempt on her life, and you think we're just gonna sit at home and watch TV like nothin' happened?"

Kevin sighed, "No, I guess you wouldn't. Sorry." He sank down into the first chair he saw, and hid his face in one hand. The others stood around him, concerned.

"Kev? Is she alright?" asked Brian.

"Yeah. Although she's madder than hell at me."

AJ nodded thoughtfully, "I can imagine. I think I've seen that look on her face before, and all I can say is I'm grateful it wasn’t directed at me."

"You are a big help tonight, J," said Kevin sarcastically. He raised his head to look at the other four. His expression suddenly changed to forlorn, "I said something I shouldn't have."

"You also did something you shouldn't have. I'm almost afraid to ask what you said to her," Howie said.

The confused look returned to Kevin's face. "What is it I've done that I shouldn't have that everyone keeps talking about? I don't understand."

"That's obvious," said Nick. The irony wasn't lost on anyone, and all five of them started to laugh. "You know something's wrong when Frack knows what Kevin doesn't and it's not related to video games," cracked Brian.

"Well how about explaining it to me?" The others all looked at each other, unsure of how to begin.

"Kevin, you're being overprotective," started Howie.

"What do you mean overprotective? She's my responsibility now, and. . ."

AJ interrupted him, "Is that what you said to her? Good God, man, I'm surprised you're still alive. Don't you know anything about her after three and a half years together?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Jamie is an independent person, Kev. She's not real big on other people telling her what to do," said Howie.

Kevin rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm well aware of that, thanks. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Are you even listening to yourself?" asked Brian. Kevin turned towards him, unprepared for an attack from his cousin. "You just called her your responsibility. As if she doesn't have any common sense or the intelligence to look after herself. You've gotta see that saying that to her is not a bright idea, Kev."

"But it's true," insisted Kevin. "If I don't make sure she's alright, I'm gonna go insane."

"Some would say you already are," pointed out Nick, earning himself a black look from Kevin. "Whatever. The point is, you don't say those sorts of things to her, and expect her to take it in stride."

"But she didn't mind it before."

"Kevin, if you woke up with a bullet hole in you, you wouldn't mind it right afterwards either! A couple of days is fine, while she tries to deal with what happened. But you don't try it well beyond the point where Jamie's thinking rationally again. I knew I should have spoken up at the wedding," muttered AJ. The black look focused on him, but AJ shrugged it off.

Kevin closed his eyes. "Why is everyone against me?" he cried. "Doesn't anyone understand what I've been going through? I thought she was dead, why is it so wrong to want to make sure she's okay?" Brian sat down next to him and placed a hand on his arm.

"Kev, we do understand. You're scared to death about what's happened." Kevin nodded, relieved that he didn't have to say it.

"Then why are all y'all doing this to me?"

Howie said, "We're not doing this to you. We're doing this for you. We understand what you're doing, but Jamie doesn’t. She’s not seeing what you're hiding from everyone but us. She only sees what you're doing, and to her, you're smothering her. Hasn’t it occurred to you that she's frightened too?"

"Of course it has, that's why I'm doing all this. So she doesn't have to be scared."

"Fine, but maybe if you explained it that way to her, she might be able to deal with it better. You may think she's your responsibility, but she doesn't quite see it that way. Jamie likes things straight up; don't do something and then tell her it's for her own good without telling her why," said Nick.

Kevin ran his hand through his hair. "Great, Blondie knows more about my wife than I do. Does she tell you everything, Nick?"

"More than you'd like, I'm sure, but trust me, there are some aspects of her life I don't wanna know about. Especially the parts that involve you, no clothing and whipped cream," grinned Nick.

"Hey, those are the parts I wanna know about!" exclaimed AJ. Howie elbowed him in the side.

Ignoring AJ, Kevin said, "I don't get it. Why is it you know me so well, but she doesn't?"

"Look, just because she loves you, that doesn't mean she's psychic when it comes to you. It works both ways you know, you don't know her as well as you thought either. Or you wouldn't have said those things to her, at least not without ducking for cover," said Brian.

The others agreed. "Remember Kev, we've known you for about ten years now, and in that time, we've all been together more than we've been apart. We all know each other better than we know anyone else," explained Howie. "You and Jamie have known each other for three and a half years, and the first two years you didn't even live in the same state. You two aren't at that point yet where you know exactly what the other is doing, feeling or thinking without having to explain. It's the same problem that we all had with each other at first, but you just tend to gloss over that part of Backstreet history. You'll get there with her, but it takes time. That's all."

Kevin appeared to think about all of this. "Well how come you all know Jamie better than I apparently do?"

"Probably because we weren't looking at her with only certain parts of our anatomy," said Nick, grinning. "I don't know, maybe love blinds you to certain things. The point is we do see her differently, and we have a different relationship with her than you do. It's the same with Leighanne, Amanda, and Alissa. I think sometimes the rest of us understand the others better than we understand our own girlfriend." AJ and Howie nodded enthusiastically at that one, and one of them mumbled "Amen."

Kevin looked at them and smiling faintly, said, "Is it just me or does anyone else find it odd that Nick is the voice of reason here?"

Nick laughed, "You're just trying to avoid the one thing you should be doing."

"And what's that, Nick?"

"Admit that you're wrong, and apologize to her. And maybe even explain what you're doing and why."

Kevin warily opened the door to Jamie’s room, and stepped inside. It had been a rough night for him, spent in a cramped chair in the waiting room. He had tried to come back, but Carlos repeated Jamie’s message that she didn’t want him in the room, and she’d think about seeing him in the morning. He also refused to step aside to let Kevin in. Kevin tried to get around him, but soon discovered what some fans already knew – Carlos was very big and strong and he was very good at keeping people away from his charges when it was necessary.

Dejected and rejected, Kevin had returned to the waiting room, where he set up camp for the night and declined the offers to be taken to his mother’s house. After a quick huddled conversation by the other four, and something resembling a game of rock-paper-scissors, Howie stayed behind with Kevin while the others said goodnight and left the hospital.

"I lost on purpose, but don’t tell the fellas that, will you?" responded Howie to Kevin’s amused thanks for sticking around. "You know I’ll do what I can to help you. I still owe you. If you hadn’t played matchmaker, Alissa might have been just another volunteer helping us out," he said, referring to the foundation fundraiser where he had met his girlfriend the year before.

"Actually Jamie did most of that. I was just following her lead."

"Well, you still got us together, and if I can help you two straighten things out, then I’m repaying Jamie too. It’s all good, bro," smiled Howie. Kevin nodded and the two of them began discussing how to get Kevin back into Jamie’s good graces.

Jamie’s voice shook Kevin from his thoughts. "You just going to stand there, or are you here for a reason?" He sat down in a chair near the foot of her bed and regarded her silently. Jamie was still miffed at him, but she didn’t appear to be breathing fire any longer.

"I came up to see how you are," he said quietly.

"Is that all?" she demanded, and he nodded. She was silent for a moment then said, "I’m fine." The tone of her voice indicated that she expected something else from him, but Kevin wasn’t quite sure what it was.

"Good." The silence that followed was uncomfortable for both of them. Finally, Jamie made an irritated noise before picking up the book she had been reading when Kevin entered the room. Even though Jamie was a fast reader, the speed at which she was flipping pages made it obvious she wasn’t really reading.

"I’m sorry." Jamie looked up at Kevin’s soft words. Raising an eyebrow, she appeared to be skeptical.

"Do you even know why you’re apologizing?"

"I think so."

"You think so?" The skeptical look was momentarily replaced by a half-smile, but it was gone before Kevin could relax. She settled back on the pillows. "This oughta be good then, Kevin. Go on, tell me why."

"I didn’t mean to make you upset last night. I didn’t mean to hurt you, you know I would never intentionally do that to you. I love you, baby."

"Uh huh," she said noncommittally, "and do you know how you hurt me?"

"Jamie, this isn’t a courtroom. You don’t have to cross-examine me," stalled Kevin.

"I know where I am, Kevin, the ache in my shoulder and the wheezing when I breathe keep reminding me. And this is not a cross. I’m just curious if this is an actual apology or just what you think I want to hear."

"You don’t want to hear an actual apology? I thought you would have."

"Yes, I do want one, smart-ass. Although at the moment, all you’re succeeding in doing is making me mad again."

"Sarcasm works for you, so I thought I’d try it," he grinned. She just shook her head, trying not to laugh.

"Since it’s not something I hear often from you, it’s not working. Try again."

"Jamie, I really am sorry for what I said yesterday. I know it’s not your fault we’re here instead of on a sailboat in the Aegean, and I know you can take care of yourself."

"And?" she prompted.

He exhaled, "What else are you looking for, blood? I said I’m sorry, and I’d take it back if I could."

"All of it?"

"No, not all of it. I was serious about the police not doing their job and wanting to protect you. I won’t apologize for feeling that way."

Jamie closed her eyes, and mumbled counting to ten. "I appreciate you wanting to, I do really, but you can’t protect me, Kevin. I don’t even want you to try. It’s not possible."

"It is possible. . ." began Kevin, but the rest of his sentence was cut off by the doctor entering the room.

A gentle tap at the door preceded a blond head appearing in the doorway. "Is the bloodbath over? Is it safe to come in? Or do I need to remove the bodies first?"

Jamie looked up at Nick’s questions. Looking around the empty room, she smiled and waved her hand at him, palm facing her. "Yeah, for now anyway. Come on in Nicky, I promise not to bite your head off. Unless you’re going to say something as stupid as Kevin has lately."

"That’s a promise, my dumbness is different from his sheer stupidity," he grinned. He entered the room, holding his hands behind his back. "Brought you something."

"I figured that. Whatcha got there?" Jamie tried to peek behind Nick, but he moved so she couldn’t see. Jamie winced as she pulled her shoulder while looking. Nick stopped moving immediately, apologized for making her strain herself, and sat on the edge of the bed. His hand came from behind his back to reveal a box of chocolate candy.

Jamie’s eyes lit up. "Oooh, chocolate. You know they haven’t let me have any sugar the entire time I’ve been here. I’m in serious withdrawal." She licked her lips in anticipation as Nick laughed and tossed the box into her lap.

"I’m not gonna stand between you and chocolate. I did that exactly once, and I’m never doing that again."

She giggled, "Smart move on your part, Carter. Here, have some, I’ll be nice and share." She and Nick sat there silently for several minutes as they ate the candy.

"So, Nicky, why are you trying to sweeten me up with the chocolate? What have you done now?"

His expression was a perfect study in innocence. "I haven’t done anything. I have no idea what you mean." She just looked skeptically at him until he couldn’t keep the look on his face. "Oh all right. Maybe I thought if you had some sugar, you’d be just as sweet to Kevin. He’s been through hell the last couple of weeks and he’s taking it out on us."

"He’s been through hell? Excuse me, but I think I’ve been poked by the pitchfork a little more than Kevin."

Nick rolled his eyes, "Yes I know you have. That’s not what I mean. Could you just ease up on the poor guy, please? If not for him, then for me? You know what happens when he gets like this. He looks for his favorite target, and I happen to be the one always wearing the bulls-eye."

"So this is not in consideration of Kevin, but for your poor abused feelings instead? He’d just love it if I forgave him because of you."

"So don’t tell him that." Nick half-smiled at her. She shook her head.

"Doesn’t work that way, and you know it. When I forgive him, it’ll be for him, not you."

"Well, I tried." Nick stood up, and tried taking the box of chocolate. Jamie snarled, and he recoiled in mock fear. He dropped the box back on her lap.

"Oops, forgot about that, sorry. Perhaps I’ll be safer over here."

"No, you won’t. I can get up out of bed now. Your butt is still in danger, boy."

Nick said, "Man, I thought the doctors confined you to bed for a while."

"Got a clean bill of health today. They’re gonna let me even leave here. Looks like we’re going back to Orlando in a couple of days."

"Really? That’s awesome! So we all get to leave Lexington?"

"You could have left anytime you wanted," said a voice from the doorway. Nick whirled around to see Kevin standing there, arms folded over his chest.

"That’s not fair, Kevin. You know I wouldn’t do that. None of us would." said Nick. "Not until we knew Jamie would be well again."

"Yeah, well she is. We’re going home as soon as I can make the arrangements."

"Kevin, if you keep talking about me like I’m not here, I swear I’m going home with Nick," warned Jamie. "You can stay here."

"Yeah, you can come stay with me, Jaim. Or with Bone, he won’t mind," offered Nick. Kevin shook his head. "But I will. Try again, Carter."

"It’s a good thing you were so apologetic this morning," said Jamie sarcastically. "I see you really took it to heart."

"You’re my wife, Jamie. If you go anywhere, it’ll be with me."

"Were you not paying attention last night? I am NOT your possession. Get that through your head, and we’ll be fine."

Kevin softened his stance, and sat on the bed next to Jamie. He reached out to touch her face, but she ducked her head out of the way. He repeated the movement, this time cupping her chin and tilting her head up at look at him.

"Jamie, I’m sorry. I need to make sure you’re safe, and if you’re with me, I’ll know you are. Don’t fight me on this, please," he said softly, beseeching her with his eyes. Her eyes closed, and she sighed, nodding.

He continued, running his knuckles down the side of her face, "Thank you, baby. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. Please don’t be mad."

Jamie would have replied, but there was a knock at her door, and Detective Logan walked into the room. Nick started to excuse himself, but the detective turned and asked him to find the others then come back to the room. Nick nodded and pulled out his cell, dialing as he left the room.

"What’s going on?" asked Jamie.

"I’ll explain once everyone gets here. We’d like to try something and we need your help."

Pulling her knees up, she clasped her legs together at the small of his back. She looked into his face, noting the furrowed brow and deep look of concentration in his green eyes. He was treating this as the most important thing he had ever done, and that she was the most important and precious person in his life. The emotion she felt expanded inside her, and she whispered, "I love you, Kevin."

The expression of concentration momentarily softened, and he reached to push a strand of hair away from her face. He gazed into her light brown eyes, and whispered back, "I love you too."

They surged together, each movement rhythmic and purposeful until each reached satisfaction. Her legs tightened around his waist and her back arched, bringing him closer and deeper inside her. Kevin tossed his head back, and closed his eyes as the physical sensations overtook him.

Relaxing as they drifted back to reality, he rolled over, bringing her with him, so that she was lying on top of him. She tucked her head under his chin, and arranged herself on him. They laid there together, each lost in thought.

She silently thanked her friends for dragging her to the bar near the St. Louis hotel where the Backstreet Boys were staying after their show. She had wanted just to go home after the concert, but her friends wouldn’t let her. After an hour, Kevin and Howie came into the bar, and it wasn’t soon after that she boldly went up to Kevin and introduced herself. He was her favorite Backstreet Boy and she wanted to meet him, and see if the attraction she felt would be mutual. It had been. Howie soon disappeared and she and Kevin spent a couple of hours together dancing and drinking before he led her back to his hotel room. By the time they had undressed each other, she was convinced she was in love with the man in front of her, and they were destined for each other.

His thoughts were only slightly similar, in that he was glad he went to the bar with D. But there his thoughts diverged from hers. It had been a rough week for him, starting with the arguments he had with Johnny and Donna Wright about how they were handling the Boys’ career, to being stuck in the same room with Nick in the previous city and no way to remove the young blond pest, to finally culminating with his girlfriend calling him the previous night and telling him that it was over between them. Kevin’s ego had taken quite a beating in the past week. This woman helped heal him, in that her wanting him restored his sense of balance. It wasn’t anything more than sex for Kevin and he certainly had no feelings of commitment or attachment for her. But he had been around enough to know that in order to keep her here, he needed to turn on the charm. She had grown restless, and was now looming over him, hands running over his chest. He reached up for her.

"Ashley. . ." he murmured, bringing her closer to him by pulling on her long, black curls, "Com’ere, honey. I need you right now." She smiled down at him, and. . .

Ashley DiSanto woke with a start. Closing her eyes again, she could feel him next to her, could hear his steady breathing. She reached over and grasped air. Opening her eyes, she realized she was alone. Disappointed, she got out of bed and pushed back the curtains hiding the balcony. Looking at the lights making up Lexington’s skyline, she rested her head against the cool glass.

"Soon, Kevin, soon," she whispered. "We will be together again very soon, my love. And for always, I promise."

"Hey Jaim, why are you dressed? I thought you weren’t being discharged yet?" asked Brian as he and Leighanne entered her hospital room. She turned around, and Brian stopped short.

"Whoa, sorry. I thought you were Jamie."

Jamie walked out of the bathroom in time to hear Brian’s last comment. She smiled, "Well, good. Glad to see this might actually work." Jamie stood next to the other woman.

"Wow, you two could be twins, almost. Boy, Jamie, I never noticed how short you really are," said Leighanne, staring back and forth between the two redheads in front of her.

Jamie mock scowled, "I’m not short. I’m just tall for a kindergartner." They all chuckled, and Jamie said, "It’s not going to matter that Stephanie’s taller than me. She’ll be lying down most of the time." Jamie made the introductions.

The door suddenly flew open and Nick and AJ came barreling into the room, followed by a more sedate Kevin and Howie. Nick pushed AJ out of the way, then stopped short before crashing into Leighanne.

"I won!" exclaimed Nick, red in the face, but looking very pleased with himself. AJ was leaning over, hands resting on his knees, breathing hard.

"You wouldn’t have if that nurse hadn’t been coming out of that room just then," insisted AJ.

"Do we wanna know what this is about?" asked Brian, amused. Kevin and Howie both shook their heads.

"No, trust me, Rok, you don’t. Don’t ask, please," said Kevin. By this time AJ had recovered enough to notice the extra person in the room and stare at her.

"You cloned Jamie! And made her taller! Kev, you get the tall one, I’ll take the original." AJ hugged Jamie and pushed Stephanie over towards Kevin. The others started cracking up, except for Kevin.

Jamie stopped laughing long enough to extricate herself from AJ’s grasp and say, "Not exactly, Bone. And you already have a perfectly good girlfriend, so knock it off. Everyone, this is Stephanie Miller. She’s agreed to take the job, so please don’t do anything to change her mind. Stephanie, don’t worry, these insane people are just the rest of the Backstreet Boys."

Stephanie stood there wide-eyed, staring at the group. Leighanne came up and put a hand on her arm. "They take some getting used to. Don’t mind them too much. Besides, you’ll be staying here in Lexington, and we’ll be in Orlando."

Kevin stood in front of Stephanie and took her hand. "You sure about this? Detective Logan explained it all to you, right? You sure you want to do this? If you’re not, it’s alright."

In a soft Southern voice, Stephanie replied, "I’m sure, Kevin. Thank you for your concern."

Nick grinned, "It’s a good thing you don’t have to say anything. There’s no way you’d be mistaken for Jamie if you spoke. Leighanne, maybe, but not Jamie."

"What’s that supposed to mean, Blondie?" asked Jamie, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Well, for one, you have that Midwest thing going, not a Southern accent. And I don’t think you’ve ever spoken that softly in your life, Jaim."

"That’s not true," said Brian. "You could barely hear her say her wedding vows."

"You’re just deaf from all the screaming at the concerts," replied Kevin. "I heard her perfectly."

"You were also standing right next to her," pointed out Nick. Kevin just looked over at Nick with a "Really? I didn’t notice" expression on his face before shaking his head.

Jamie coughed. "Anyway. . . this is way off the subject. The point is Stephanie is just supposed to lie in bed and pretend to be me. If she can handle that, it’ll all be fine. This will work."

"I hope," said Kevin dubiously. "Logan seemed a little too insistent about this."

"I know you don’t exactly approve of Logan right now," said Jamie. "But I think it will work. Stephanie and I look enough alike that she can pretend to be me. No one has to know I’ve really been released, and she can stay here while we go back to Orlando."

"But Jamie, Kevin hasn’t left your side since this all began. No one in their right mind is going to believe that he’d leave you now," protested Howie.

"This psycho is not in her right mind. She’ll just see this as another opportunity to come after me, and an easy one at that. Logan explained this already," said Jamie. "Besides, if we say you all had to leave because The Firm needs you back for some promotions or whatever, it’s a logical reason to leave."

"You’re supposed to be on a honeymoon. The Firm shouldn’t be needing all of us for anything," said AJ.

"We didn’t actually go, now did we? You really think if Kevin is available that The Firm isn’t going to use him for anything? Even I know that’s not how the industry works, AJ. If you’re around, you can be used, it’s as simple as that. No one is going to look too deeply into the reasons why he’s needed," insisted Jamie. "Look, if none of you thought this would work, why did you let Logan go through all the trouble of finding an actress?"

"At the time, it sounded okay, but I guess we’re just thinking more about it now," said Howie.

"Well stop it. You’re overthinking this."

Even Kevin looked amazed by that statement, "This coming from a lawyer? I thought you said that you can’t look at something enough, you can’t overthink something."

"I never said that. Besides, even if I did, there’s an exception for everything."

"You really think that this woman is going to believe you’ve been left behind by Kevin and that she’s got another shot at killing you?"

Jamie winced at that, "Oooh, bad pun, D. Look, but I don’t know if it’ll work or not, but we have to try something. I’m not really comfortable knowing that someone out there is roaming around and wants me dead."

Kevin looked at Stephanie. "After hearing all this, you still sure you want to do this?"

She nodded, "I’m going to be fine, she won’t get close enough to actually do any harm. And if she does get that close, she’ll see I’m not Jamie. I’m not going to get hurt."

"If she sees you’re not Jamie, doesn’t that defeat the purpose of all this?" asked Nick.

"She has to get very close to see that. Getting that close will get her arrested," said Stephanie. "Jamie’s right, this will work."

Nick raised an eyebrow, "You’re either way braver than I would be, or just incredibly blind."

"I’d like to think it was bravery, but I will say a paycheck does have its benefits."

Kevin mumbled, "Money does you no good if she kills you."

Jamie said, "Could y’all not talk her out of this? She’s agreed to pretend to be me, let’s try this and see what happens."

"We’re just worried. If something happens to Stephanie, it’ll be all our fault for putting her in this situation."

"I’m a big girl, Kevin. I know what I’m getting into, and I’ve accepted the risk," Stephanie said firmly. "You don’t need to look out for me. You have enough to deal with right now. Let me do my job."

Nick rolled his eyes, saying to no one in particular, "Great, she already thinks she’s Jamie." He turned to Kevin. "This may work after all."

"Hey there," Kevin said softly as he sat down next to Jamie and put his arm around her shoulder. Jamie leaned in to his body for a moment, then pulled herself away reluctantly.

"Not here, Kevin, and not now." She readjusted the baseball cap she was wearing, making sure all her hair was tucked up inside.

"Jaim, we know everyone in here, trust me. I've double checked everything, and it's fine." Kevin glanced around Delta's Crown Room, seeing only Backstreet Boys, wives, girlfriends, and security. "And I think I can sneak a kiss or two, the others won't mind."

"You're ignoring the fact that there's airline staff in here, and you don’t know who they are." Jamie did the same glance around the room, only instead of the calm face Kevin wore, she had an expression of slight fear. "You have to wait until we're back in Florida, Kev."

Kevin wanted to allay Jamie's fear, but he couldn't. He pulled her closer to him protectively, and wrapped his other arm around her as well. "Relax, I'm right here, and I told you I won't let anyone hurt you. And I seem to remember you always relax when I touch you, so no I'm not gonna wait. Not while you're this upset." He leaned down and dropped a kiss on the top of her cap, then on her cheek. "Just relax, you're safe, baby." Despite her resolve, he could feel some of her fear melt away, as she sank further into his embrace.

"Hey man, get your paws off my girlfriend! You're a happily married man, remember?" Nick said loudly, dropping down on Jamie's other side. He pulled Jamie out of Kevin's arms, and settled her in his instead. "This man bothering you, honey?"

Kevin glared at Nick. Nick just smiled back, pulling Jamie closer. Still smiling, Nick hissed under his breath at Kevin, "You're gonna blow this, bro. Do you want to get Jaim hurt again?" He dropped a lazy kiss on Jamie's cheek. Nick continued, more loudly, "Jeez man, I know you don't wanna leave Jamie behind, but don't be playing with my girl. If you want some lovin' go find Leighanne. She's a Backstreet wife too, it's practically the same." Nick heard Jamie give an inelegant snort, and he just hugged her tighter.

"It's not the same, and don't even think about it cuz," called Brian, who was seated across from them, and watching the whole scene with some amusement. "You leave my wife alone."

Kevin growled and turned his scowl on his cousin, "You are enjoying this way too much. Why couldn't it be someone else? Why Nick?"

Brian leaned forward so he couldn't be overheard, "Well, let's see. Leighanne would kill me if I suddenly acquired a girlfriend. YOU would kill Bone, because he'd take this too far. Well, if Amanda didn't get to him first. You can't separate Howie and Alissa long enough for him to help. And since Frack is the only one flying solo these days, he's the logical choice. It's only until we leave Lexington, so just calm down. Just remember we need to act as if Jamie's not here with us."

"I never agreed to this," said Kevin.

"Well I did, so deal with it," said Jamie. Though she was still wrapped in Nick’s arms, she looked at her husband warmly. "You know, I've almost forgiven you, don't screw it up by going overboard again."

"Why can't you see that I'm just trying to. . ."

"End up in the doghouse again?" interjected Nick with a grin. Kevin shifted his jaw, and the vein on the side of his neck pulsated visibly. Nick's eyes widened, and the grin faded as he let go of Jamie. He shook his head. "Forget it. I didn't say a word, I never said anything."

Jamie sighed. "Kevin, I do NOT want to have this argument again, I'm starting to get another headache. Please just stick to the game plan for now. Please, Kev."

Kevin sighed, shaking his head, "Fine, but Nick keep your hands to yourself."

Nick laughed, deliberately hugging Jamie to him once again. "Aww man, that's no fun! Oof. . ." he said as Jamie elbowed him in the gut.

"Quit antagonizing him, Nicky. This needs to work, and having the two of going at each other is making it harder."

Nick mock pouted, then agreed, "Oh fine. Take his side why don't you?"

Jamie smirked and turned a warm gaze toward Kevin. "If I could right now, I'd take a lot more of him. . ." Nick turned red as Kevin gave Jamie one of his sizzling seductive looks.

Nick fidgeted in the seat beside her. "Okay, could you remember I'm still here?" he asked.

Not taking his eyes off of Jamie, Kevin replied softly, "You can always get up and leave, Blondie."

"That would still leave us," reminded Brian. "And we're not moving. C'mon Kev, save that for tonight. You can wait til you get home, can't you?"

Kevin slowly tore his gaze from his wife, and looked over at Brian. "Not one minute longer, cuz."

Brian held up both hands, "I am NOT getting in your way, trust me. But just wait til then. You'll see, once we get back to Orlando, everything will be much better. They're gonna catch this psycho and everything will be back to normal. She'll never figure out we took Jaim with us."

Stephanie was bored. This was the ultimate acting job, who else got paid to lie in bed all day and sleep? But there were only so many consecutive hours a person could sleep, and she didn't want to stay in bed any longer. "Never ever believed that was possible," she thought.

At least Jamie liked to read, so there were plenty of books around. Unfortunately for Stephanie, they didn't have the same taste. "God, how about just ONE Western? If I see one more story about dragons and magic paintings I'm gonna scream. No one is gonna care if I sneak a Zane Grey in here. No one cares what I read, just that I stay here and. . .and staying here has turned me into a nut job. Great, now I'm talking to myself," said Stephanie to the ceiling.

She reached over to the nightstand, and tossed the stack of books to the floor. Feeling slightly better, she reached for the phone, and dialed her agent, since she and Detective Logan were the only people Stephanie was allowed to talk to.

Discussing new assignments she would take after this one was finished, Stephanie never noticed the door was cracked open, then shut again after a minute.

"Sounds good, Sheila. Hopefully, I can make the audition. . .yeah, okay. . .send the script to me through Logan. I don’t think I can get mail here. . . okay, sounds good. Talk to you later." Stephanie hung up the phone, and settled back into the pillows. "What's another nap, right?"

She no sooner closed her eyes, then the door swung open, and a blonde nurse entered the room carrying some flowers. "Well look here, Mr. Peterson, another bunch. . .oh! I'm sorry." The nurse looked flustered as she glanced at Stephanie in the bed. "Guess this isn't 1028."

Stephanie shook her head, "No, I think that's across the hall, this is 1025."

"I always do that! I'm sorry to disturb you, miss. I'll just go deliver these to the right room."

Stephanie smiled, "No problem. They are certainly very pretty."

"Yeah, they are. I'm sure Mr. Peterson will love them." And the nurse left the room, leaving Stephanie alone to her nap.

Ashley leaned against the wall outside the room she just left. She had opened the door a crack to make sure Jamie was alone, and now she was glad she had been cautious. Before peeking in, she had heard a soft Southern female voice speaking. Knowing that the tramp, like all the other Backstreet whores, was a loud voiced woman, she had been surprised to hear this woman.

Ashley had quickly and quietly closed the door, double checking the room number. Yes, it was the right room. The chair where the stupid police officer usually sat was still right beside the doorway. The officer wouldn't be around for a while. She had tampered with his cup of coffee, resulting in the officer spending a good portion of the afternoon in the bathroom.

Dammit, she thought. What did they do with the bitch? She paced the hallway for a minute trying to figure out what happened. She stopped suddenly in the middle. Maybe they moved someone else in there with her. As if having her in there too would stop me. No one will stand between me and Kevin. NO ONE.

Ashley walked slowly back to the nurses station. On a cart behind the nurse on duty was a floral basket. Perfect. Scooping it up quickly and turning the corner, Ashley went to determine what was going on. One last look around to make sure the cop wasn't coming back, then she opened the door with her backside and pushed her way into the room.

"Well look here, Mr. Peterson, another bunch. . .oh! I'm sorry." Ashley faked confusion as she glanced around the room. "Guess this isn't 1028." Only one single bed and the girl who wasn't Jamie was in it.

It was the girl she had heard, because the patient had replied in the soft voice, "No, I think that's across the hall, this is 1025."

Ashley continued the dumb blonde act, getting herself out of the room before this girl got suspicious. DAMMIT! Walking into the next room she could find, she surprised the patient inside by tossing the flowers on the night stand and snarling "Here, get well." She whirled and stormed back out the door, stomping down the hall into the stairwell.

Sitting down on the step, Ashley tried to calm herself down. "Think, think," she muttered to herself. "Only one bed and that girl is in it! Where the hell did they move the bitch to?"

This has been the perfect opportunity. Kevin and the others had been called back to Orlando by their management for some reason, leaving Jamie alone in Lexington. Kevin had to be relieved to be away from the little bitch; she wouldn't let him go for more than five minutes by himself.

Ashley decided she would try to find out where Jamie had been moved. Dusting herself off, she reentered the hallway, stopping as she saw the officer standing in the doorway outside the bitch’s room. Listening carefully, she heard him say, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Richardson, to have left like that, but I think I'm coming down with something. There'll be another officer here in ten minutes to take over for me."

Mrs. Richardson? Not likely. Thinking back to being in the room, Ashley realized that the girl looked similar to Jamie.

"No way!" she said out loud, earning herself a strange look from a passing patient in a wheelchair. Walking towards the far set of elevators, Ashley kept her head down, and kept thinking.

There was no way the police would have been that smart. . . she thought. They couldn't possibly be trying to protect Jamie; Kevin wanted her out of the way so that he could be with Ashley. Everyone knew that. Except the bitch, of course, but she was going to be dead soon, so it wouldn't matter.

Still mumbling, Ashley perked up as she passed the waiting area. On the television were the Backstreet Boys. She paused long enough to hear the broadcast. ". . .returning to Orlando today at the request of their management. They had all been staying here in Lexington while Jamie Richardson recovered. . ."

Wait! Who was that? The girl walking with Nick. . .that couldn't be? It was! That faithless tramp was with Nick, and in front of Kevin! How dare she. . . there was only one thing to do. Ashley walked over to one of the empty chairs and reached for the courtesy phone next to her.

"Yes, when is your next flight to Orlando, Florida?"

"You're awfully quiet," said AJ as he handed Kevin a beer and sat down next to him on the deck chair. Kevin opened the bottle and took a long swallow. He was watching Jamie, who was animatedly talking to Leighanne. All nine of them were in AJ's backyard, having an impromptu party after arriving back in Orlando.

"No offense, but there are a few other places I'd rather be."

"You don't like my house? I'm hurt, Kev," said AJ slyly. He grinned when Kevin made a face.

"It has nothing to do with that. I just want to take Jamie and go home."

AJ shook his head. "You can't do that man. You can't be seen going home with a woman when your wife is still in the hospital. The whole point was to protect Jamie. Don't do anything to screw that up."

"I won't. But I need her, J. I really need her." He softly sighed, tossing aside the cap to his beer. "I want all this over and I want to get on with my - our - lives."

"I know you do. But I might have a solution. Come with me." AJ pulled a reluctant Kevin to his feet and walked with him back into the house.

AJ led Kevin up to a closed door in a remote part of the house, then stopped. Kevin stood still, waiting.

"Now wait here, and don't open the door." AJ tossed over his shoulder as he walked away. Kevin leaned heavily against the door jamb and stared at AJ's retreating figure, wondering what he was up to now.

AJ returned a few minutes later with Jamie. Kevin's expression never changed but his eyes lit up as soon as Jamie looked up at him and smiled. Walking over to Kevin, she slipped her arms around his waist, snuggling up close to his body. He hugged her back and held her close for several moments, before looking up at AJ, who was still standing there.

"Thanks, man, but I could have hugged her downstairs."

AJ laughed, "I know you could've, but I don't think any of us wanted to see this." Pushing Kevin aside, AJ opened the door with a flourish and gestured for them to enter.

It was dark inside except for the dozens of white pillar candles lit all around the room. The bed had a mound of black and gray satin and damask pillows propped against the headboard, matching the black, white and gray damask bedspread. There were two wine glasses and a carafe of sangria sitting on the nightstand, surrounded by more candles. Sensual jazz played softly from the stereo system.

Jamie stood openmouthed at the scene, and looked over at Kevin who shook his head. She turned, and kissed AJ on the mouth. Hugging him, she whispered, "Thank you so much! You're an angel."

AJ said softly, "You're welcome, sweetheart, but this was mostly Amanda's doing. But you can kiss me again like that if you want."

"I don't think so. . ." began Kevin, but AJ held up a hand to cut him off.

"I know bro, relax. You two just enjoy this, and we'll see you tomorrow morning. . . maybe."

"So this is why Amanda insisted on having the party?" asked Jamie.

AJ nodded. "She knew you can't go home, Jaim, and she also knew how anxious Kev was to spend time with you alone. If the whole crew is downstairs partying all night, I don't figure anyone would know you're up here together."

"She's a genius! You sure you can handle partying all night though, AJ?" teased Jamie. His shoulders slumped forward and he sighed, "Yeah I guess. The things we do for love."

Kevin smiled for the first time all night, "Thank you, AJ, really. I don't want to keep you from your partying, so. . ." He made a shooing motion, and AJ headed for the door.

"I'm going, I'm going. Don't do anything I would do, you could get hurt," tossed AJ as he headed out the door. Kevin closed the door firmly, locked it, then turned back around.

"Jamie," he breathed. She walked toward to him and reached for a hand. Pulling him over to the bed, she murmured, "You have some wonderful friends."

"WE have wonderful friends," he amended, "but I'd like to forget about them for a while. I have missed you so much, Jaim." They stood by the foot of the bed, just holding each other as closely as possible. As the melody on the stereo ended, Jamie leaned back enough to look up into Kevin's face and said, "I love you."

Kevin smiled down at his wife, "I love you too, baby." He leaned in for a kiss, which she responded to enthusiastically. When they both came up for air several minutes later, he swallowed hard before saying, "I definitely have missed this."

"I know. It feels like a lifetime since we've been together." She bit her lip and looked up through her lashes at him.

He cupped her chin, "Are you alright? Are you strong enough? I don't want to hurt you. . ."

She shook her head, "No, I'm fine. You won't hurt me. I'm just. . .I don't know." She sighed and rested her cheek against his chest, listening as Kevin's heartbeat sped up slightly.

"Nervous?" he guessed.

She scoffed, denying it. "Why would I be nervous, it's not like we've never made love before."

"I know, but you just feel restless to me. Like you want to be here, but you don't."

"Oh, no I want to be here with you Kevin, there isn't anywhere else I'd rather be. I just feel kinda grimy from the plane and all, and I want everything to be perfect. I mean look at this, Amanda went to a lot of trouble, and I don't want anything to ruin it."

Kevin's eyes sparked with green fire. "I think I can help there. You obviously don't recognize where we are."

"We're in the spare bedroom, I know where we are."

He shook his head, drawling lazily, "No, baby, I mean, do you remember what's over there?"

"Over where. . .oh!" Kevin had pulled Jamie over to a door on the other side of the room and opened it. They walked inside to the cool marble bathroom, filled with more lit candles, and scented faintly of jasmine and sandalwood.

"Amanda does think of everything doesn't she?" asked Kevin.

Jamie knelt by the Jacuzzi tub and turned the faucets, allowing it to fill with warm water. "Yes, she does. AJ is lucky to have her."

"Not as lucky as I am to have you, baby. Come here," he commanded. Jamie stood up slowly, but it was Kevin who walked over. Carefully, deliberately, he freed her hair from its ponytail, then pulled her shirt up and over her head, tossing it by the door.

Shaking her head to get the hair out of her face, Jamie began unbuttoning his shirt, following her fingers with her lips and tongue. Kevin stood still until his shirt hung open and she reached for his belt buckle.

"Jaim," he groaned as he pulled her hands away. His control had been slowly evaporating, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold on if she continued. Breathing heavily, he looked down into her gold-brown eyes, which sparkled with anticipation and mischief.

With a knowing grin, Jamie stepped out of her pants. But as she reached up to slide the straps of her bra down her arms, she stopped and the relaxed look in her eyes disappeared. Glancing down and away from Kevin, she again appeared shy and nervous. Though she was standing in front of him, she kept her left side slightly shielded from him and turned back to the tub.

"Jaim," he repeated. She wouldn't pull her eyes from the water pouring into the Jacuzzi. Firmly holding her right shoulder, he carefully reached for her and turned her gently until she faced him once again. Then he slowly removed her bra.

The scar at the top of her breast was still angry, pink and slightly raised. He turned her again and looked at the matching raised pink scar on her back, high on her shoulder. Jamie's eyes were transfixed on the wall as she stood, silent and tense. Despite her best intention, a tear fell from her eye and trailed down her cheek.

Kevin suddenly understood. His fingers gently traced the scar on her shoulder, then leaned forward to kiss her there. Jamie shivered and let out a small moan, involuntarily stepping away. He immediately straightened, and apologized. "Baby, I'm sorry. I didn't realize it still bothered you. I didn't mean to hurt you."

He reached for his wife and turned her to face him. With the back of his hand, he smoothed the tears from her cheek while she said softly, "No, it doesn't hurt. It's just so. . . ugly."

Kevin gathered her close, "Jamie, oh baby. It's not ugly. And it doesn't make you any less beautiful to me." He kissed her.

She pulled back and shook her head. "She's ruined everything."

"She hasn't ruined anything. You're still here with me, we're still married, and I still love you just as much as I did before, more even. She changed nothing," he said firmly. "She will never change anything between us."

"But every time you see it, you'll remember. All the pain she caused, and what could have happened. I don't want to see the hurt she caused you every time you look at me." Jamie stepped out of his embrace, and quickly sank into the tub, covering herself with the rushing water from the jets.

Kevin stood silently for a moment, cursing the woman who created all the havoc in their lives. Then he quickly shed the rest of his clothes, and joined Jamie in the Jacuzzi.

Jamie was splashing water gently between her hands, not looking at him. He reached for her and held her. She held herself stiffly for a moment before finally melting into him. Carefully, he tipped her face up and showered her with kisses.

"I don't know what to say to convince you. I don't know that I can. All I can do is this. . ." he said. He slanted his mouth over hers and kissed her deeply. The swirling of the water mimicked their swirling tongues as they collided and danced again and again. Kevin's hands ran continually up and down her back, pulling her closer to him. Jamie just held onto Kevin as if for dear life.

When they broke the kiss, Kevin half smiled at her, then reached for the soap and sponge lying on the rim. With careful and delicate movements, Kevin ran the lathered sponge over Jamie's flushed skin. He made sure to caress the scarred areas to show her that they didn't bother him.

True, he wished the scars weren't there. Kevin could have lived his life peacefully and very happily with Jamie without any of this having happened. But despite the words he'd thoughtlessly said to her in the hospital, Kevin never really blamed Jamie for what happened. His own guilt for not protecting her better overshadowed everything else. He had to show her that his love for her was undiminished and undamaged.

Rinsing her off, he stood up abruptly, pulling Jamie with him. Stepping out of the Jacuzzi first, he helped Jamie out, encompassing her in a large fluffy towel, before wrapping one around his own waist. Telling her to remain still, he gently dried her off, following the towel's path with a trail of kisses, especially over her scars.

By the time Kevin finished and stood back up, Jamie's shyness was forgotten, but fresh tears sparkled in her eyes. Wiping them away tenderly, he asked, "What's wrong, baby?"

"Nothing," she replied. "I just love you Kevin, so much. I'm sorry."

"I love you too, and don't worry. What's done is done."

"I almost spoiled tonight."

"Well then, " he drawled, leading her back into the bedroom, "I guess you'll just have to make things right again."

A tentative smile appeared on Jamie's face. "I guess I will." Dropping her towel to the floor, she drew him down onto the damask pillows.

Lying amidst the pillows, auburn hair fanned out behind her, Jamie stared breathlessly up at Kevin. Slowly caressing her face, Kevin's fingers began a familiar trek across her body, lazily exploring and reacquainting himself with every inch. His fingers brushed her scar, and instinctively she began to shrink away from him.

He wouldn't let her retreat as he captured her lips for a deep, earth shattering kiss. While his lips caressed hers, Kevin deliberately traced the raised ridge of the scar with his finger. He tried to infuse in the kiss all his feelings, the ones he could never articulate, the ones he couldn't express in any other way. The kiss was not one of desperation or fear, but simple, quiet and all-encompassing love.

Jamie forgot what Kevin was specifically touching. His fingers became trails of fire, blazing all over her flesh, and she became lost in the conflagration. She couldn't tell where she ended and Kevin began, but it didn't really matter anymore.

Hand in hand, Jamie and Kevin walked down the back stairs and into the kitchen. AJ and Amanda were seated at the table, eating a late brunch.

"About time you two showed up. It's only quarter to one," said Amanda with an exaggerated show of looking at her watch.

"Sorry, we had better things to do," replied Kevin.

"Each other, no doubt. You know where the food is, so help yourself," said AJ, pointing absently to the counter. Kevin immediately headed for the coffeepot, and Jamie inspected the remains on the counter.

From his seat at the table, AJ watched the two move about the kitchen. When all four were seated, he cleared his throat and sternly said, "Look, Kev, about this whole 'coming down late' thing. The first time was understandable, possibly even the second morning, but this has been four days you've been here in my house without leaving. I know we're close and all, but people are gonna start wondering about us. Could you possibly separate yourself from Jamie for one day and go bug your cousin or something?"

Jamie snickered, and Kevin looked over at her before replying, "Nope. Sorry."

"No, you're not sorry. You're enjoying this."

"Absolutely. I'm finally getting my honeymoon, Bone."

"Funny, I never thought of that spare bedroom as being particularly exotic, but I guess it could be. We'll just have to check it out, Panda, maybe even tonight," AJ said pointedly.

"I don't think so," said Kevin.

"Kevy Kev, this is MY house. Seriously, go find Brian. Like today."

"What about me?" asked Jamie. "I can't just walk out of here as much as I want to."

"You can stay," AJ replied eagerly. "I have no problems with you being here as long as you like, Jamie." Amanda and Kevin simultaneously reached over and smacked AJ. "Ow! Hey, no ganging up on the tattooed kid!"

"Then quit trying to keep my wife," growled Kevin.

"Yeah, no trying to keep her. I like you Jaim, but I'm not sharing AJ," Amanda grinned and leaned over to AJ, planting a wet kiss on his cheek.

"Not a problem. No offense, but I don't really want AJ anyway. He's all yours."

AJ clutched his chest theatrically. "Stabbed in the heart by my one true love. I am devastated."

Jamie giggled, "I'm sure you'll recover. I don't know how many times I've had to tell you, but unless you're a tall dark-haired Kentucky boy, I'm just not interested."

"I've got dark hair! Doesn't that count?" AJ asked.

"Today you do," she replied dryly, "but no dice, Bone. I'll stay with Kevin, thanks."

"A ringing endorsement of true love if I ever heard it, Jaim," said Kevin mournfully.

She leaned over and kissed him, "You know I love you."

"Please, if I can't have Jamie, I certainly don't want to see her kissing another man. Stop it," teased AJ. "You're killing me here."

Amanda tugged on AJ's hat, "Perhaps I should take you upstairs for a while and resuscitate you."

"There's a thought. I think I need some mouth-to-mouth," said AJ hopefully.

"I think you need to be hosed down, actually," said Kevin with a slight grin, while shoving nearly a whole pancake into his mouth.

"Coming from a man who spends all his time in bed with his wife, I really don't think you should be talking there, bro. Which brings me back to my original point about getting the heck out of my house. . .?"

"I'm not going if Jamie can't. And since we can't go to my house, looks like I'm staying here."

"What about staying with Howie? His family is big enough and there's so many people trekking in and out of his house all the time. No one would notice me if we were there for a while," mused Jamie.

AJ jumped to his feet, "Perfect! I'll just go call him now and set it all up."

"We really bothering you that much, Bone?" asked Kevin.

"Yes and no. I just don't know how I ended up being your babysitter, that's all. I'm more used to being babysitted."

"We know, Marcus complains whenever he can," smiled Amanda.

AJ grumbled, "Man, we need Nick here, I'm not liking this being picked on stuff. But first, gotta call D." He walked over to the phone and had just put his hand on the receiver when it rang. Startled, AJ picked up the handset.

"Hello? Oh, hey, Billy, whassup?. . .uh huh, yeah, okay. Sure, see you in a few." AJ hung up and turned around to face the others.

"Billy will be over in a couple of minutes. Logan called him, and he figured you'd want to know what Logan said."

They speculated on what their head of security would have to tell them, but tried not to get very excited. "Maybe they've caught her, and things can finally get back to normal," hoped Jamie.

Amanda laughed, "Normal? What's that? If you want normal, you never shoulda married a Backstreet Boy."

"No kidding," grinned Jamie.

"Hey we're normal! We just have an odd job, that's all," protested AJ.

"Says the man who dyes his hair unnatural shades at the drop of a cowboy hat," Kevin rolled his eyes. "As much as I'd like to say we're normal, face it, Bone, we just ain't."

The doorbell rang, and AJ's dogs began barking their little heads off in protest. AJ tripped over Vegas as he moved out of the kitchen to answer the door. He came back with Billy a minute later.

Jamie practically attacked Billy, "What did Logan say? Did they catch her? Can we go home now, what? Tell me!"

"Whoa, slow down, counselor," laughed Billy. "Yes, Logan called, but it's not really good news. That's why I wanted to come talk to you, I didn't think I should tell you over the phone."

"What happened?" asked Jamie, sitting back down and reaching for Kevin's hand for support. Kevin slid his arm around her and asked what Logan had said.

"Logan visited Stephanie yesterday, to see how she was doing and if anything had happened. He hadn't heard anything in a couple of days, and was a little concerned. She told him that nothing had happened, no one had come near her. She's bored to death, she says.

"As Logan was getting ready to leave, a nurse came into the room. Stephanie asked her how Mr. Peterson was doing. The nurse had no idea who she was talking about, and left. So when Logan asked her what that was all about, Stephanie told him all about some nurse carrying flowers who came into the wrong room. Logan checked out the story, and. . ."

"And let me guess, no Mr. Peterson," interrupted Jamie.

"You got it, counselor. Stephanie had a basic description of the nurse, didn't match anyone on staff, but did match the sketch of the stalker."

"Great," Kevin groaned. "So now what?"

"It's pretty much a given this stalker isn't in Lexington anymore, now that she knows Jamie isn't in the hospital. Wanna guess where Logan thinks she is?"

In unison, all four replied, "Orlando."

Kevin turned to Billy, "I knew I shouldn't have trusted the police with this. Alright, how can we increase security around us without making it obvious?"

"Slow down, Kevin," Billy held out a hand, while he reached into his windbreaker and pulled out several sheets of folded paper. "First of all, you should know Logan is coming down here and working out of the Orlando PD. Secondly, the police have started to watch the airport and bus stations, specifically for a single woman arriving from Lexington. Officers have these sketches of her with brown and blond hair, so maybe they can catch her as she's coming off transport." He passed around the sketches so they could look. "I think you've seen these before, but in case she's already down here, and you see anyone cruising the neighborhood that looks like her, call the police, okay?"

"No, actually, I haven't seen these before. I've been busy recovering. So this is the crackpot?" asked Jamie, inspecting the sketches closely. "She doesn't seem harmful looking at her, does she? I've been picturing this terrifying monster, but I guess my imagination took over."

Amanda patted Jamie's shoulder sympathetically, as Kevin took the sketches and stared hard at them. He had seen the first one, the one of the girl with brown hair, but not as a blond. Something nagged the back of his mind, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

The others continued talking as Kevin placed the sketches side by side on the table and compared them. He vaguely recognized her. . .kind of. Something was off, something was missing. Whatever it was, it was enough to make a positive ID elusive.

Come on, think! Where do I know this woman from? thought Kevin, angry with himself for not being able to identify her. Maybe blue eyes instead of brown? Green? No, that's not it.

Kevin sighed, and ran his hand over his face to clear his mind. Closing his eyes, he tried to concentrate on the faint spark of recognition. It took a while, but slowly an image formed in his mind. Long black curly hair. . .

"That's it!" Kevin shouted, interrupting AJ in mid-sentence. The others looked at him in surprise.

"That's what, darlin?" asked Jamie.

"Bone, you got a black marker around here somewhere?" Kevin got up and at AJ's direction started opening drawers and rummaging around. Amanda got her purse and came up with a black Sharpie. "Will this work, Kev?"

"Yes! Thank you." Taking the marker from her, Kevin sat back down, took one of the sketches and began drawing curly hair on the head.

"What are you doing?"

Kevin finished drawing and held up the sketch. "Yes, that's her!" Turning the sketch around, he showed the others. "I know this girl somehow, I just can't quite remember. Billy, tell whoever is watching the airport, to look for this woman." The older man nodded and picked up the phone.

"I know this girl, I know I do. God, it's right in front of me. Let me think." Kevin closed his eyes again. "A bar. I met her in a bar, I think."

"That narrows it down," said AJ sarcastically. "How many bars have you, me and D been in together over the years?"

"Well, do you recognize her then?" asked Jamie as she pushed the altered drawing to AJ. "Maybe Kevin met her while he was out with you." AJ picked up the drawing and shook his head.

"Nope, not really. But maybe Howie would. I'll call him and tell him to come over."

"You might as well call Brian and Nick too, so that everyone knows what's going on. Maybe they've seen her recently," suggested Amanda. The calls were made, and they talked quietly while waiting. Kevin stayed in his trance, eyes closed, trying to pull the memory of this woman out of his head.

Suddenly Kevin reached over and tugged on Jamie's hair. His eyes opened again. "I pulled on her hair, I did it several times. I'm this close," he sighed loudly. He shook his head, and sat back, but with his eyes open this time.

Howie, Nick and Brian arrived within minutes of each other. Jamie greeted Howie by sticking the sketch in his face, "Does she look familiar to you?"

Howie pulled back slightly, "Hi, nice to see you too. Let me see this." He took it and looked. "Yeah, actually she does. And I'm supposed to know her from where. . .?" He looked at the group questioningly.

"That's what we want you to tell us, D," said AJ. "Kevin said he thinks he met her in a bar a while ago."

"A bar, a bar. Met her in a bar. No, I don't. . . wait! I don't know what city, but it was one of our first tours, because you and I were the only ones who could go out to the clubs, Kev. Ally, Amber, Amy. . ."

"Ashley! That's it! Her name is Ashley. Don't know her last name, I don't think I ever did, it was one of those one-night things. You think that's enough though?"

Jamie raised an eyebrow. "A one-nighter, huh?"

"Jaim, please, it was WAY before I knew you," Kevin groaned.

"I know, relax. I'm not mad. I'm just glad you think you know who this is. And yeah, it's enough. All the police have to do is check the manifests for a single woman from Lexington named Ashley, or a variation of Ashley."

"You wanna fill us in with what all this is?" asked Brian. "I'm a little confused." Billy repeated the story for them.

"If she's here, she's going to come after you, Jaim," said Nick, after absorbing it all. "Maybe we can draw her out one last time."

"How? Why? Shouldn't we let the police take care of this?" asked Brian.

"You mean like they have so far?" sneered Kevin.

"Kevin," Jamie said warningly. He shook his head.

"No, they haven't been able to stop her yet. Nick's right, maybe it's up to us to end this."

"And I have an idea," said Nick. "I'm not saying it'll work, but it's worth a try right?"

"If it gets Kevin out of my house, I'm all for it," said AJ. "What's the plan?"

Kevin walked into the bedroom where Jamie was getting dressed. He was carrying something black and bunched up in his right hand. Jamie looked in the mirror, tucking a white blouse into the waistband of her jeans. She noticed Kevin's reflection and turned to face him.

"Why aren't you wearing this?" he demanded.

"Wearing what?"

"This," he replied, handing it to her. Jamie held up the heavy bulletproof vest.

"There is no way that I'm going to wear that, Kevin," she said.

"Yes, you are. Put it on," he ordered.

"No."

"What?"

"You heard me. I'm not wearing it, and that's that."

"You are wearing it, and that's that."

She looked up angrily. "You wouldn't be trying to tell me what to do again, would you?"

"Me? I would never," he said with mock innocence. She turned away from him, and Kevin said, "But you are going to wear it."

Jamie stiffened. Kevin came up behind her, and put his hands on her shoulders. When Jamie didn't move, he turned her to face him, and leaned down to kiss her cheek. She pulled away from him, and he sighed.

Kevin carefully guided her to the bed. He sat down, then pulled a resistant Jamie onto his lap.

"Jamie, please. I need you to wear it for my own peace of mind."

Her expression softened. "I understand that. But I'm sorry, Kev, I'm not going to wear it."

It was Kevin's turn to be angry. "Why? You want to die, is that it? Being shot once wasn't enough?"

"Kevin, please. Just hear me out, alright?" she asked softly. He finally nodded, not trusting himself to speak again.

"I'll start with the easy reason first." She half-smiled at him, "It doesn't go with my outfit."

"THAT'S your reason for refusing?" Kevin said in astonishment. "Well, go put something else on then."

Jamie tilted her head and looked up at him with raised eyebrows. "I was kidding. Well, kinda."

He waited.

"You have to admit, it is a big bulky thing. It'll be very obvious I'm wearing it."

"And. . .?"

"And I'm supposed to be bait, remember? If it looks like I'm wearing some type of protection, she'll know instantly that something is up. The plan won't work."

"I'm not too sure it'll work anyway. It's Nick's plan, after all."

She smacked him lightly on the arm. "Leave Nicky alone. The point is that I don't want to add anything that will make the plan fail, okay?"

"So you don't think it'll work then either."

"Kevin," she warned. He smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, baby. But there's more to this though, isn't there?"

"Now you decide to become perceptive? Kev, your timing stinks."

"Talk to me."

She sighed. "You won't like it."

"There's a lot I don't like, I've discovered. I'm getting used to this feeling. Lay it on me."

Jamie looked away for a moment. "Has it ever occurred to you to just ask me to do something, rather than pretend you're a drill sergeant and order me to do it?"

"You would still say no."

"But I wouldn't get irritated with you. Ordering instead of asking doesn't change anything except to raise my hackles."

"I think I'm starting to see that."

"I thought you might. So you'll just ask from now on?"

"I can't promise anything."

"Unfortunately, I knew that. Kevin, it just really bothers me that you treat me like a little girl."

"You're not a little girl, I do know that."

"Sometimes, I have to wonder. You do the same thing that my parents do to me, and I hated it when I was younger, and I hate it now. I'm all grown up and I can think for myself, make decisions for myself.

"My parents have always wrapped me in silk, made sure that nothing ever bad happened to me, and that I was always safe. They wanted me to always play it safe, never take any sort of risks or chances in life. They acted as if I were the blood royal, and that some tragedy would befall the kingdom if anything ever happened to me. That's no way for a child to grow up. They can't be sheltered all their life from life."

"Is this a polite way of telling me that you're planning on our kids being hellions?" Kevin asked.

She laughed, "No. Although they will be raised to be independent, allowed to live and make mistakes. All the things my parents never let me do. All the thingsyou aren't letting me do."

He held up his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. I get the point. I'll try not to do it anymore. I guess I'm just used to acting that way with the fellas. They usually do as I want them to. I'm sorry, Jamie."

"Apology accepted."

He looked down at her, opening his clear green eyes wide. "So will you please wear the vest?"

Jamie closed her eyes and shook her head. "No. I'm not changing my mind about that."

He rested his forehead against hers and whispered, "I'm so afraid for you."

"I know. I'm afraid too. But this has to work, Kevin. I'm more afraid of what will happen if it doesn't. And the best way to ensure that it does work is to act like nothing out of the ordinary is happening. So no protective gear. I'm sorry, but it has to be this way." She reached up to run her fingers through his hair.

Kevin sighed, "I don’t like it."

"Objection noted. Have a little faith, Kev. Trust me."

He pulled back from her and smiled wryly, "Why is it whenever someone says 'trust me, it'll work,' that it never does?"

Jamie laughed. "Because it's a great plot device in movies and books. This is different. Look, I'm going to have more people watching me than will be looking at the five of you. It's a bright, beautiful sunny day, we'll be outdoors in the open. It'll work."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I'm not. But it has to work. I don't want to think about what our lives will be like if it doesn't. Now smile for me, kiss me and tell me you love me."

He leaned down and kissed her deeply. "I love you."

"I love you too."

He stared into her tawny eyes. "If you do anything stupid to get yourself hurt, I'm going to kill you." She laughed at him, but Kevin shook his head, "You have to promise this will work."

Jamie's face fell. "There are no guarantees. You know that. But we all really want it to succeed, so it has to." She smiled suddenly, slyly. "You could always just order it to work. . ." The rest of her thought was lost in laughter as Kevin dumped her to the floor, then chased her around the bedroom.

Jamie and Kevin walked into the kitchen to find Brian, AJ, Howie, Nick, Amanda, Leighanne, Alissa and Denise waiting.

"What's with the Backstreet convention?" joked Jamie, trying to produce some smiles on the eight solemn faces in front of her.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Denise. "It's okay if you don't honey, this doesn't have to happen today."

Jamie shook her head. "No, it can't wait. I can't do this anymore. I just can't. Denise, it has to end, preferably today. I don't want to deal with this anymore."

"But. . ."

"No," Jamie said sharply. "I'm tired of being afraid, of not being allowed to go anywhere without constantly looking over my shoulder, wondering if everyone I pass is trying to kill me. I'm tired of not being able to sleep at night, of having weird dreams. I'm tired of having everyone around me being frightened. I can't take it anymore. This last year was hard enough without dealing with this too. This has to stop. I want my life back." She tried to pace around the room, but there were just too many people in the way. Brian reached out and pulled her to him, trying to console her.

"Okay, Jaim, calm down. We're just worried about you, that's all. You're right, this is a lot to deal with. But we're all here for you. Just say the word and we'll cancel."

She shook her head again, "No, you can't. Please, just help me get through today. Please."

Brian's arms tightened around her. "You know we will. We'll go through with the plan." The others all agreed.

Jamie sighed, feeling as if a burden had just been lifted from her shoulders. "Thank you."

"You'll be fine. You've got us, our security, and the Orlando PD looking out for you." He smiled, "Just look how high tech everything is, it's amazing. I mean, that protective vest you've got on, it looks and feels like you aren't wearing one. It's all good, Jaim."

Jamie stiffened as Kevin barked, "That's because she's not wearing the vest, you moron."

In Jamie's ear, Brian whispered, "Oops, sorry," as Kevin went on about how she refused to wear it and how stubborn she was.

She interrupted Kevin, "You were just fine with it upstairs ten minutes ago."

"I lied."

"You could have kept on lying. I wouldn't have minded."

Kevin tried one last time, "Please go and put it on."

"No, I can't."

Sensing another argument about to break out, Nick bounced up out of his chair. "Hey, look at the time, will you? We need to get going. C'mon Jaim, I'll ride over with you. Everyone else is on their own." He grabbed her hand, and the two left the room.

Kevin muttered darkly, "He's been doing that a lot lately."

"What?" asked Amanda.

"Disappearing with Jamie for hours for the last couple of weeks."

"She was there for him after Taylor died. Maybe he's just returning the favor," suggested Howie.

"Maybe, but does he have to do it so that there's bruises and marks on her?"

"What are you saying?" asked Howie.

"I'm saying that after she comes back, she's got marks on her that weren't there before."

"Right Kevin, Nick's been beating the hell out of her as a way to make her forget she's being stalked," scoffed AJ. "Please. Nick wouldn't hurt her and you know that. I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation."

Loud rock music suddenly blared from outside, and everyone could tell that Nick was pulling out of the driveway. Kevin rolled his eyes. "I think someone's in a hurry. Couldn't wait the two minutes for me, obviously. When I catch up to him. . ."

Denise quickly intervened, "Kevin, you're coming with me. Someone needs to keep an eye on you, and I think it should be me." Kevin started to protest, but she shook her head and pointed to the door. "Out." Kevin meekly left the kitchen followed by Denise.

AJ had a look of supreme amusement on his face. "Glad to know someone else is being grounded for a change. So, who's gonna take me over?"

"So how you feeling?"

Jamie looked over at Nick, who was studying the road before him as he drove. "Nervous and scared to death."

He looked over briefly. "I meant physically."

"Oh," Jamie chuckled. "Sorry. Like I was used, abused, and put away wet."

"Okay, I wasn't referring to your sex life," grinned Nick.

"I wasn't either. If I was, I would have said that I had been ridden hard and. . ." Nick reached out to silence her with his hand.

"I-ck! Really, I DON'T want to know. It's okay to keep some secrets." Nick removed his hand from Jamie's mouth, and she stuck her tongue out. Nick grinned again.

"Seriously, Jaim, you were limping a little yesterday. I want to make sure I'm not hurting you."

"Well, the takedown was a little hard. I only half landed on the mat, and then some clumsy blond had to come crashing down on me."

He looked at her sideways. "You tripped me," he pouted.

"It wasn't intentional! Like I really wanted to be pinned to the ground by you."

"Hey! There are tons of women who would have loved the chance to be where you were."

"Okay, if you don't want to hear about my sex life, I certainly don't want to hear about yours, Nicky."

Nick imitated her and stuck his tongue out. Jamie grinned back, shaking her head.

"Has Kevin said anything?" he wanted to know.

"He noticed the first night, Nick. I lied and said something about stepping into a rabbit hole in the backyard and landing hard."

"And he believed you?"

"That I don't know. But he hasn't mentioned it since. You know what would happen if he did know."

"Yeah, he'd cut your lessons so fast, our heads would spin. You know he's just slightly overprotective."

Jamie shot him a look, "I'd like to live too, you know."

Nick colored. "I'm sorry. You've got enough to deal with now without me opening my big mouth, so I'll shut up."

She reached out to touch his arm. "Nicky, I know you're just trying to look out for me, and I appreciate it."

"I'm worried about you."

"I know. But I'll be okay. Today will take care of everything."

Nick glanced down at the dashboard clock. "We've got some time before we really need to be there. You want to practice once more?"

"Practice where?"

"There's a school not too far away. We could go over by the playground."

"You just want to toss me to the ground and have your way with me again, don't you?"

Nick waggled his eyebrows, and said in his best "Kevin" voice, "Oh yes, baby."

Jamie cracked up. "Ah Nicky, I love you. You know how to make me laugh when I need to."

"So is that a yes for practice?"

"I guess so. Is there any particular reason you are so insistent on drop-kicking me yet again?" asked Jamie.

He pulled into the parking lot by the school, and turned to face her before hugging her to him. Seriously, Nick said in her ear, "Because I don't want her to."

The white rented Honda drove past the school parking lot. One truck sat in the lot and the two people inside were locked in an embrace. The Honda slowed down long enough to get a good look, then turned the corner and parked to watch what was going on at the school.

Ashley sat drumming her fingers against the steering wheel, agitated. Nick and Jamie hadn't moved from inside the truck, but they were still close together. Ashley could see Jamie reach up to trace one finger down Nick's nose, and she seethed more.

That whore! She thinks she can keep my Kevin on a string while she plays with that pup. She wouldn't let Kevin come to me at all by pretending to be bedridden. Then the second she gets to Florida, what does she do? Cuddle up with the blond one, and forget that she stole my man from me. She gripped the steering wheel tightly, fighting the impulse to rush over to the truck and take care of Jamie right then and there.

"No, I can't," she mumbled to herself. "Not yet. It has to be where Kevin can see, so that he knows that I'm fighting for him. He has to see it with his own eyes that I fought for him, or he'll never believe me."

She watched Nick and Jamie get out of the truck, and walk towards the grass field behind the playground. They were holding hands and Nick was laughing at something Jamie had said. They faced each other momentarily before Nick brought them both to the ground. They lay hidden in the grass, until Nick rose up and began moving on top of Jamie.

Disgusted and furious, Ashley drove off, not seeing the pair get up and repeat their movements again.

"Today, Kevin. Today is the day that whore leaves you alone forever, and we can be together again. Have faith in me, my love, it won't be long now at all."

Kevin sat on the edge of the stage, legs dangling over the side, arms beside him gripping the wood tightly. Behind him, Howie and AJ were checking the microphone stands and the stools. Brian left Leighanne standing in front of the stage and crossed over to where Kevin was.

"Where is she?" he demanded.

Brian shook his head, "I don't know."

"She should be here, they left before we did."

"I know, but maybe Nick got lost, or they're talking to some of the fans that were here when we got here."

Kevin shook his head. "Jamie is not over there, I already checked. And Nick knows how to get here, you play basketball here often enough."

Brian shrugged, "True. Maybe I should check the courts then?"

"No, I looked there too, and they weren't there."

"Well they have to be around here somewhere. Give them a couple of minutes, and then I'll get one of the officers to look for them if they don't get here soon."

Kevin nodded, then scrambled up from the stage to go behind it and wait for them. He didn't have to wait long as Jamie and Nick strolled up a couple of minutes later.

"Where were you?" he asked them.

"We stopped for a couple of minutes, Jamie got cold feet," explained Nick, hoping Kevin would accept that and let it go. "We were just talking so that Jamie could go through with this."

Kevin crushed Jamie to him, and she winced. "Baby, we told you we don't have to do this. I really don't like the idea to begin with. I'll go tell the others it's off."

Jamie pushed out of his grasp long enough for him to see her shaking her head. "No! We're doing this. I'm fine now, I can do this. Kev, we have to do this, I told you that already."

Howie came up behind them, "Besides, they just started letting everyone into this part of the park. We can't cancel it now." AJ and Brian joined the group, nodding as they caught the last part of the conversation.

Kevin sighed, "Well we can do the concert, but Jamie stays back here. That way I know she's safe."

"No, Kevin! I'm going through with this, and that's that. Besides, it'll look strange if Leighanne, Amanda and Alissa are all out front, but I'm not."

"I don't think anyone will care that you're not out there."

AJ pointed out, "Our fans? Not notice anything that is remotely connected to us? Of course they're gonna notice. She's right, she can't hide back here, she's gonna have to be out there no matter what."

"Then wear the vest, Jamie."

She shook her head stubbornly. "No, we do this my way, not yours, Kevin. You just sing, and I'll just look on adoringly from the front row, and try to catch the psycho." Jamie refused to call Ashley anything other than "the psycho," thinking that it would help both Kevin and her get through this.

All it did was constantly remind Kevin of just how much danger Jamie was in. "Jamie. . ."

She reached up and brought his head down to hers, giving him a deep, passionate kiss. "Trust me," she whispered. "Just trust me, Kevin." She looked into his eyes with all the love and reassurance she could muster. He stared back for a long minute, before hugging her to him and capitulating.

"All right, Jaim. Just stay where I can see you, okay?"

"I will," she promised. "You'll always be able to see me." She released herself from his embrace and looked at the others.

"Now all of you go get ready, you have a large crowd of fans to entertain."

In the roped off area in front of the stage, Jamie stood off to one side. With a wary expression, she surveyed the crowd of people making their way into Barnett Park. The large wooden stage had been erected only for this event, and it appeared to Jamie that everyone in Orlando had turned out for the concert.

There had been a lot of publicity for the event, which was promoted as a special concert to raise money for the Boys' charities. Only those in the Boys' inner circle and the Firm knew the truth, that the concert was a trap to catch Ashley.

Two young fans approached the rope where Jamie was standing and asked her if she was Kevin's wife. Both girls appeared to be under fourteen years of age, so Jamie relaxed, smiled and nodded. She made some casual small talk with them, and one of the girls asked breathlessly, "Could you do me a favor?"

Jamie nodded again, and was presented with two Beanie Babies. "Can you make sure Nick gets these? And can you tell him how much we love him?"

Jamie smiled and said, "I think so."

"D'ya think we can meet him too? Could you take us backstage?"

At that, Jamie shook her head, "Sorry, that I can't do." The girls looked disappointed, but nodded before wandering off, looking for another way in.

"So, what do you have there?"

Jamie whirled around, and relaxed once she saw Leighanne's smiling face. "Oh, some presents for Nicky from a couple of fans who wanted a personal introduction."

Leighanne laughed lightly, "You are such a soft touch, Jaim."

"Hey, I remember what it's like to be fourteen and wanting to meet your favorite band. And you do it too, sometimes."

"Yes, but my life isn't the one being threatened at the moment."

Carlos stood behind Leighanne and overheard the last bits of their conversation. "Give me those toys, Jamie. I'll take them back."

"I can do it, Carlos. It's no big deal," insisted Jamie. Carlos reached out and took them from her.

"I need to take them to the dogs first, though. There's extra measures being taken today, if you hadn't noticed," he chided.

"The dogs?" asked Jamie, puzzled.

"The ones from the Bomb Squad," replied Carlos matter-of-factly, before spinning on his heel and walking away with the toys. Jamie turned a wide-eyed expression back to Leighanne.

"B-b-bomb? I didn't even think. . . Oh my God, Leighanne, what am I doing?" she whispered.

Leighanne wrapped one arm around Jamie and said softly, "Taking back your life."

Because the concert was a quickly planned one-time event, the set up was different than usual. Borrowing the stage from "A Night Out," five stools and microphones were set up on the stage over oriental rugs, with the basic band instruments directly behind them. No pyro, no cables and harnesses to fly over the crowd, no second stages were set up anywhere. Just a simple layout to show off the simple harmony of their voices.

Kevin stood off on the side of the stage, peering out into the crowd. Quickly locating Jamie, he let out a deep breath. AJ was standing next to him, making faces at Amanda and a couple of fans who spotted them in the wings.

"You okay, bro?" asked AJ.

"Yeah."

"You don't sound too sure about this."

"I really don't like this, Bone. I've had this weird feeling in my gut since we've planned this, and it's not going away."

AJ clapped one hand on his shoulder to reassure him. "It'll be fine, Kev. It's just a concert."

"Just a concert," Kevin repeated. "I could lose her again today you know."

"Yes, you could," replied AJ seriously. "Then again, you might not, and you'll have to put up with her for the next fifty years. Man, just think of all those credit card bills."

Kevin smiled faintly, "I would gladly pay them if it meant Jaim was going to be safe, and this woman would be someplace where she can't hurt any of us anymore."

"I'll remember that. You wanna pay Amanda's and mine too?"

"How 'bout ours?" piped up Brian, joining them. Howie and Nick joined in with theirs.

"I'd like to have some money when this is over, so I'll pass. But thanks for the offers," said Kevin.

"Are you okay?" asked Brian.

"No, but that doesn't matter."

"We'll get you through this. We'll do it the way we do everything, together."

Kevin looked at his cousin, and reached out to grab his shoulder. "Thanks."

As fans approached the roped area, Leighanne watched Jamie interact with them. If it was someone under 18, Jamie was very friendly, laughing and talkative. But once an older fan approached, Jamie became quiet, almost cold, making the minimum of polite conversation that she could get away with. Only Leighanne could tell how nervous these older fans made Jamie.

Leighanne could also hear the whispers of the people around them. "She's such a bitch, look at her, thinking she's better than us because she's married to a Backstreet Boy. . . She's nothing special. . . If I were her, I would treat the fans better, Kevin's not going to like this once he hears. . . She acts just like Nick's ex-girlfriend, and she was a major bitch. . ."

She sighed, wishing she could explain to these women just what kind of person Jamie really was. But she couldn't, knowing that the wrong word could endanger them all.

Finally, there was a moment where they were alone together. "Jaim, you need to be more careful with the fans."

Jamie looked at her quizzically, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you're only being nice to the little ones. The others are talking about you as if you are a bitch."

"But I am a bitch. I'm a lawyer, remember?" Jamie smiled.

"You know what I mean. I know you're worried, but you can't be so blatant about it."

"So what should I do, ignore everyone? That won't help." Jamie sighed loudly. "I can't help it, Leigh. Any one of these women could be Ashley, and I have to let her get close enough, but I'm afraid. Today is not a good day to die."

"I know, I'm sorry. But she'll be caught, and you'll be fine. In the meantime, the fans will still think you're a bitch. And trust me, you don't want that reputation."

"I don't, but right now, that's not my biggest concern."

"I know, but you still need to think about it."

"Just one of the prices of fame, eh? And it's not even me who's the celebrity in my family. How have you put up with this all this time?"

Leighanne smiled, "I'm really the wrong one to ask. I'm an actress remember? I'd like to think most of it is from my work, not this ring on my finger."

Jamie smirked, "You just keep thinking that."

"You are a bitch," Leighanne pouted.

"Yup, and usually proud of it."

"Guess I'll put up with it then, since you're family."

"Thanks," Jamie said dryly. "But I was trying to get you to go away. You've been here with me long enough. Go talk to the others."

"Why?"

"When the psycho comes for me, I don't want you or anyone else near me. Why do think I was standing here alone to begin with?"

"But you're never by yourself at concerts. Try to remember what you're doing, you're trying to give the impression that everything is normal."

"My motivation for the scene?" Jamie's lips quirked into a half-grin.

"Hey, being an actress comes in handy for things like this every now and then. And this is one of the greatest acting jobs of your life. How to show the world you are not deep down terrified."

"But I am deep down terrified, I wouldn't be human if I wasn't. It shows that much?"

"Not to anyone but me, I know you too well. But everyone else thinks you're a bitch, remember?"

"So, is this a good thing? I'm getting confused."

"You've been hanging around Nick too long then," said Leighanne, giggling.

Jamie sighed again, "Leighanne, the point is you need to go away. Brian will have my head on a silver platter if anything happens to you. As will AJ and Howie. Notice how Amanda and Alissa are smart enough to be on the other side?"

"Are you implying I'm a dumb blonde?"

"I'm not implying anything. But if the shoe fits. . ." Jamie laughed.

"You are a bitch," Leighanne repeated with a smile. "And don't worry, I'm a big girl too. I can take care of myself. Besides, you don't think Kevin won't kill all of us if anything happened to you?"

"I know he will, and that's why I'm trying to distance myself from all y'all today. That way he can't blame anyone but me for my stupidity."

"This is Kevin, he still will blame us," Leighanne said.

"I was hoping you wouldn't remember that." They looked at each other before bursting into giggles again. "Thank you Leigh. I appreciate what you're doing."

"And what's that?" she asked with an innocent look. Jamie raised her eyebrows.

"Trying to keep me calm and sane while some psychotic woman tries to figure out the best way to end my life."

Standing some yards away, partially hidden in the treeline, a solitary figure watched Jamie and Leighanne. She couldn't hear what the pair were saying, but she could see that they were laughing.

"Yes, laugh now while you still can, you tramp. But nothing is going to save you now," said Ashley to herself. "Not from me, and not from my destiny. Kevin and I will be reunited today."

She watched as Jamie and Leighanne hugged each other, still laughing. "So you just keep laughing, because very soon, I will be hearing you cry and beg. You will beg for my mercy, but I have none, not for you. And I will be the one laughing then, now won't I?"

"Everything I have to give is for you. . ."

Slowly, each member of the Backstreet Boys walked onto the stage singing the introduction to All I Have To Give. As they sat down on a stool, they were barely heard over the screams of their fans. The others waved, smiled, and mouthed hellos. Kevin sought out his wife. Jamie was still standing with Leighanne near the back of the roped area, on the other side from him.

It had been a good idea to start with this song, since Kevin had very little to sing. While Kevin was normally very professional onstage, and always had a "show-must-go-on" mentality, the others had correctly guessed he'd be too preoccupied with Jamie to remember his parts this time around. Howie, who was sitting next to Kevin, had to give him a subtle tap on the back to get Kevin to sing his one solo line. Kevin had started at the tap, then blinked and remembered where and what he was supposed to be doing. He sang, all the while looking at Jamie.

She smiled and wiggled her fingers in a hello. His expression didn't change, but he relaxed his shoulders. She shook her head and mouthed to him.

"I'm fine. Stop worrying."

Kevin subtly shook his head, no. Jamie rolled her eyes. Leighanne, having caught the whole exchange, laughed and leaned in so Jamie could hear her.

"You're not going to get him to relax. Stop trying."

"I know," Jamie sighed. "I just thought that he'd go into 'show' mode and at least act like he's having a good time."

"Part of the problem is that he's sitting and singing. There's no choreography so he has nothing to concentrate on."

"Which leaves him free to watch me, I know," Jamie finished with a groan. "Why can't he sing more? That way he'd deal with that instead. Singing bass apparently doesn't require nearly enough concentration for him to be diverted." They laughed again.

The crowd didn't seem to notice Kevin's preoccupation. They screamed and sang along with the Boys. Kevin rarely took his eyes off Jamie, and the other four shook their heads in resignation. Howie, being the only one next to Kevin, every once in a while tried to divert his attention, but got nowhere. He stopped completely when Kevin's intense gaze shifted from Jamie to Howie. He recognized the look; now was a good time to stop if he expected to survive the show.

Thankfully Nick and AJ deflected attention away from Kevin's end of the stage. They started an impromptu contest to out-diva the other. Nick belted out his line, holding out the note as long as he possibly could; AJ countered by ad-libbing his notes. AJ stood up and walked forward to the crowd; Nick pounded his stool with a loose fist and spun around. The crowd egged them on, screaming louder with each escalation of their antics.

Brian and Howie stayed put, but smiled and whispered ideas to the combatants. Even Kevin finally smiled when Nick outstretched his arms and raised them over his head, reminiscent of Shania Twain's movements during their appearance in her Winter Break concert.

Howie grinned, "All that's missing is the huge sleeves covering his face." Kevin laughed out loud.

"She really hated Nick outsinging her," he remembered. Howie nodded.

By this time the song had finished. Nick still held his pose and the note, AJ was crumpled at the front of the stage holding his.

"Man, you two need to break out of your shells. You are way too shy to perform professionally," joked Brian. The crowd yelled their approval. He turned to face the audience and grinned cheekily, striding up to the heap on the stage that was AJ.

"So you liked the show, huh?" More yells greeted that statement. "You want more?" Cheers again. "So maybe you wanna turn this into a party?"

He turned to face the others. "Whaddaya say, you wanna have a party?"

AJ bounced up and slung his arm around Brian. "Yeah, man, let's have a party!" The music changed as the band began the jazzy version of Let's Have A Party. The fellas moved their stools out of the way, and rolled up the rugs on the stage.

They did a few dance moves as they got into the song. Kevin, finally diverted from Jamie, focused on the song and as he and AJ rapped their verse, they stood back to back and pulled poses.

Nick still wasn't finished. He started the new verse and as he wailed, he hopped down off the stage, grabbed a girl's hand and sang to her:

Look here baby, we ain't doin' no wrong

Everybody come and dance with me. . .

Marcus hunted Nick down and practically tossed him back up on stage. He wagged a finger at Nick as if to say, "Stay!" Nick simply shook his head and laughed more.

Nick's laughter prompted AJ's signature maniacal laugh and launched into That's The Way I Like It. At a dance break, each Boy did a quick solo dance.

"Oh, stop, that's painful!" laughed Jamie as she flinched and watched Kevin freestyle. Leighanne covered her eyes.

"You'd think he'd stop that and learn some different moves."

"Oh, he won't. He does it to torture me, since he knows I hate that. He does it on purpose."

"Good Lord," said Leighanne. "Must be a family thing. Why do you think Brian always sings with one leg in the air?" They shook their heads.

When the song ended, Kevin turned to find Jamie once more. She shook her head and grimaced. He half-grinned and kept his eye on her.

The next song was Larger Than Life. As AJ sang his line, "All of our time spent in flashes of light. . ." the stage lights alternately flared, simulating flashbulbs. Combined with all the real flashes going off in the audience at the same time, the Boys were momentarily blinded.

Kevin shook his head and closed his eyes to clear his vision. The spots in his eyes danced as they faded slowly.

When they were completely faded, Kevin blinked one last time and turned to look at Jamie once again. He only saw Leighanne standing there, singing along with the music.

Kevin quickly glanced around, and for the second time in his life, he felt as if time slowed down and stopped. He looked again at Leighanne, who was now turned around with a bewildered look, and they both stared at the empty spot beside her.

Jamie was gone.

Jamie faced the stage, enjoying the concert and laughing at Nick and AJ's antics. The joy they had performing came through clearly and was reflected back to them by their audience.

So she was utterly surprised when she felt something poke her in the small of her back. She tried to turn, but a low voice in her ear warned her not to move.

"Don't you dare, bitch. Just back up slowly and come with me. You even think of screaming and I'll kill Leighanne, right here, right now, then I'll kill you."

Jamie's mouth closed, and she slowly backed up, as the voice asked. Leighanne was too engrossed in the concert to notice or hear. Jamie tried as best she could to signal one of the plainclothes cops, but they didn't see her.

Ashley kept the gun in Jamie's back. They walked together slowly, the gun hidden by Ashley's body. They reached the rope that had been tied loosely to a tree, allowing Ashley to slip into the secured area unnoticed. Ashley undid the knot, forced Jamie through the opening, and then made Jamie fasten the rope to the tree once more. They moved into the wooded area that surrounded the park.

Finally, there was a small break in the trees. Ashley commanded Jamie to stop. Keeping the gun trained on her nemesis, Ashley slowly circled around to face Jamie.

Jamie gasped. Ashley was wearing a similar outfit to her, and was sporting an auburn wig and sunglasses. To anyone not very familiar with Jamie, Ashley appeared to be her twin.

In some way, Ashley's appearance was also Jamie's saving grace. Unsuspecting fans had approached Ashley, asking if she was Kevin's wife. Ashley had always replied yes and graciously took pictures and signed autographs as "Ashley Richardson". If any fan had noticed the discrepancy, no one said a word.

In Ashley's mind, this was an indication that what she was doing was the correct thing. She felt validated - she and Kevin belonged together. The fans knew it, she knew it, and soon Kevin would too. It was out of respect for these wonderful fans that she decided to kill Jamie in private, away from anyone's gaze.

As they walked to this clearing, Jamie forced herself to remain calm. Panicking would only get her killed. Her eyes darted around, taking notice of her surroundings. Trees, trees, and more trees, with the concert noise getting quieter as they moved further away.

Kevin had been right after all, she thought dejectedly. The security force, which had repeatedly assured them of Jamie's safety, had let them down. When Jamie needed them most, they were nowhere to be found.

She was on her own. She couldn't depend on anyone else. Jamie was the only one who could get herself out of this situation alive. Well, Nick and me, she thought.

At first glance, Nick's obsession with video games and martial arts had appeared incredibly childish. The others constantly teased him for it. However, Nick wasn't just playing the games as a means of escape. He was using them to study the art the only way his hectic schedule would allow.

Jamie had been dubious when Nick first approached her about teaching her the few self-defense moves he knew. After all, he had learned from Master Nintendo, and that really wasn't enough to make him an expert. But after a demonstration of his skill, and a quiet "You are all I have left of Taylor, I can't lose you too," Jamie changed her mind and accepted the lessons. They agreed to keep it secret between them, so that Nick wouldn't receive more teasing. And Jamie didn't want Kevin worrying anymore than he already was, since she wasn't entirely sure she could deal with anymore "protection" from her husband.

Whenever they could, Jamie and Nick disappeared to a back room in a local gym. There, Nick taught Jamie how to defend herself from an attack and how to fight to escape Ashley. They both prayed she would never have to use it, but it was important that she have some basic knowledge.

It was this same knowledge Jamie was slowly running through in her mind. Don't panic, observe everything, pick your moment, then spring and attack. Catch her off-guard, and you can get away. Jamie breathed in. She would wait.

Kevin searched the area again, praying that he would find Jamie. However, Leighanne's reaction to the fact that Jamie was missing convinced him that she was in danger. Without thinking, he started to leave the stage. Howie grabbed Kevin's arm, pulled his mike away from his mouth, and hissed, "Where do you think you're going?"

"She's gone. I need to find her!"

"We're in the middle of a song, Kev! You can't just leave."

"Wanna bet? Jamie's missing, I gotta find her."

"Kevin! Wait. Don't just walk off. Give me a minute."

Kevin looked at him sullenly, lips compressed together, then nodded briefly. "Just hurry up, who knows what could be happening."

Howie moved towards the others, and said in a low tone, "We need to get off stage, now. Tell them we're changing costumes or something, anything, but Kev's gonna lose it if we don't get him backstage right now." Brian walked over to the keyboards, mumbled something, and the band began playing an extended instrumental version of Larger Than Life. The group quickly got off stage.

Once backstage, Kevin started to head for the exit.

"Whoa! Hold up, Kev! What's going on?" asked Brian.

Kevin turned around and said through clenched teeth, "Jamie is missing. I need to find her."

Nick crossed over and blocked the door. "You can't go yet."

"You have one second to move, Nick, or I'm going through you."

Nick didn't flinch or move. "No, you can't leave yet. We have a show to finish."

Kevin moved closer to Nick, and said slowly and clearly, "Get . . . out . . . of . . . my . . . way. . . now."

Nick shook his head no, "If you're going, then I'm going with you."

"You are not going with me." Kevin said emphatically.

"Kev, take a look at yourself! You're a mess. You need me with you. If you go after her alone and in this state, you could get Jamie hurt or worse." Kevin's face reflected his shock as Nick's words sank in. "You need me with you," Nick repeated.

"Fine, let's go." He started to go through the doorway but Nick shook his head sadly.

"The problem is that the crowd is gonna notice both of us gone, Kev. We have to wait. I'm sorry. Just a couple of songs, then we can end the show and go."

Kevin pulled one hand through his hair harshly. "I am not waiting and I am not staying. I need to find her, Nick. If anything happens and I stay here and wait. . ."

Howie touched Kevin lightly. "We understand, Train. But you can't go running off half-crazed." Howie turned and faced Brian, "Why don't you go back onstage and work some of that Southern charm you claim to have. Talk about the charities and what all the money we're raising is going for. Hell, talk about your dogs if necessary, but give Kevin and Nick time."

Brian nodded and made his way back out onto the stage. By this time, Marcus, Carlos and Detective Logan had made their way back to the fellas.

Logan started to speak, but was interrupted by Kevin. "I'm going to find her. Do something useful for a change and start looking for her as well. But don't stand there and say your sorry or whatever other weak excuse you were planning on giving me. Go get Jamie!"

Kevin turned and tugged on Carlos, "C'mon, we're going after her." He looked at Nick, who was still standing in the doorway. "Are you coming or not? I'm going now." Nick nodded and the two started to leave with Carlos.

Howie and AJ faced each other, alone backstage with Marcus. "God, I hope this works," said AJ.

"I know," replied Howie. "Kevin will never forgive himself. . ."

"Yeah. He's feeling helpless, and you know he can't deal with that."

"Well, in the meantime, what should we do? We can't really finish this without Nick and Kevin."

"I'm going to join B-Rok on stage and talk, sing, juggle or do whatever it takes to deflect attention away from this. Hopefully, it won't take long. In the meantime, you stay back here, in case Jamie comes back here. Marcus, you keep in contact with Carlos, and the minute you know anything, let us know." They all nodded, and AJ walked onto the stage, determined that at least something today would work according to plan.

Ashley regarded Jamie silently for a long time, gun never moving from where it was trained on Jamie's abdomen. Jamie stared back, trying to figure out what to do next that wouldn't make her dead.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused?" Ashley finally asked.

Jamie would have laughed out loud in Ashley's face, but a fervent wish to remain alive prevented her from doing so. She dropped her eyes to the ground and shook her head.

"If you have just cooperated and died when I shot you, none of this would be happening."

Jamie couldn't resist. She looked up, met Ashley's eyes, and said calmly, "Sorry."

The crack of Ashley's hand meeting Jamie's cheek resounded loudly in the forest. "I will kill you, bitch. Don't think I won't. You are standing in the way of destiny, and you must be removed."

"What destiny? Whose? I don't understand," said Jamie. Maybe I can get her to talk. That'll be the distraction I need.

Ashley's mouth hung open. "Whose destiny? WHOSE DESTINY? God, you are stupid. I'm talking about Kevin and me. OUR destiny, together. You are in the way of our happiness. That's what I'm talking about."

Okay, you've got that one backwards, Jamie thought. Out loud, she said, "I didn't know."

"How could you not know? Everyone knows. Even the fans know. I am Kevin's soulmate, and he is mine. We've known that ever since that night in St. Louis. He had to leave, but he promised he'd be back for me. I've been waiting for him to return, and then you had to stick your nose where it doesn't belong and screw everything up."

Jamie knelt down, running her hands back and forth over the ground, not looking up. "I'm sorry. I really didn't know," she said, tingeing her voice with a little bit of sorrow.

Ashley kicked her. "What are you doing? Get up! I never said you could move."

Jamie stood up slowly, brushing the dirt off her hands, "Sorry."

"You keep saying that! God, don't you know anything else? It's a wonder Kevin hasn't killed you himself if that's all you ever say." Jamie opened her mouth, but Ashley cut her off, "Don't you dare say 'Sorry'."

Jamie closed her mouth and watched Ashley, allowing some of her fear to show on her face. Ashley noticed, and looked triumphant.

"You should be scared, bitch. You will die today, I'm gonna make sure of that."

Jamie swallowed hard, and then said quietly, "Tell me more about this destiny thing. I should know why I'm going to die, right?" Please let me get through this alive.

Ashley narrowed her eyes. "Why are you the only one who knows nothing? Do you know how many fans I had come up to me today, asking me if I was Kevin's wife? Me! Not you, ME! Kevin's wife!" The gun waved dangerously in Jamie's face as Ashley talked. "They all know the truth. Why do you persist in keeping us apart? You know you won't win. There's no way Kevin will allow it."

Jamie took a small step to her left, then another. With Ashley moving while she spoke, Jamie's movements didn't register. But when Jamie again knelt to the ground, Ashley noticed.

"What exactly is wrong with you? Did you not hear me? Get up!" Ashley kicked her again, more forcefully the second time. Jamie cried out in pain, and fell back down to the ground. She put a hand out to break her fall, but it didn't help as she landed on a pile of twigs and rocks. Jamie cried out a second time, bringing a smile to Ashley's face.

"Did that hurt?" she crooned in a high singsong voice. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Poor little thing." The smile turned suddenly to a sneer. "Get used to it, bitch. You're going to feel a lot more pain by the time I'm through with you. For all the pain you've caused me. For all the pain you've caused Kevin."

Pain I've caused Kevin? You mean like while I was in a coma, and he wasn't sure I was going to live or die? The coma caused by your shooting me? That sort of pain? Uncontrollably, Jamie began to silently shake with laughter. She closed her eyes, afraid of how Ashley would react.

Ashley misinterpreted her movements. She knelt down and pulled Jamie's head up by her hair, a grotesque grin on her face. "Good, keep being scared. You should have the fear of God in you when you go to meet Him. Although I'm pretty sure you're going to spend eternity in a very warm place. Fitting punishment for all the hell you've put me through."

There's only so much bravado a person can fake before becoming truly scared. As Jamie opened her eyes, she looked into Ashley's eyes and saw the madness and determination lying there. Jamie finally tasted the fear she had kept at bay for so long. The shivers running down her spine were caused by the knowledge that she might die today, after all.

Kevin, Nick and Carlos walked through the trees, pushing aside branches, trying to figure out what happened to Jamie.

"Ja - " Kevin called before being shushed by his bodyguard.

"Don't. You don't want to give this girl any advantage. If she hears you calling for Jamie, she just might shoot her," warned Carlos. Kevin shut his mouth abruptly and nodded, shoulders slumped in defeat.

"We'll find her, Kev. It's gonna be fine," Nick whispered. Kevin nodded again.

"Where do you think they are?" Nick asked Carlos.

The big man shrugged, "I don't know. It depends on how much time elapsed between them leaving, and the time we noticed. We could be right behind them, or they could be out of the trees already." He looked sorrowfully at Kevin, "I don't know, I'm sorry."

The trees to their left rustled, and all three turned their heads in that direction. Unfortunately, Logan and another detective appeared before them. Kevin straightened up, hostility radiating from him in waves. Logan put up a hand to try to forestall the explosion of rage he sensed coming from the dark-haired singer.

"Please, Mr. Richardson, we've fanned out. I've got a lot of policemen combing the woods right now. If they're in here, we'll get her and return Jamie to you safely."

"And if they're not in the woods?" asked Kevin quietly, the hostility not lessening one iota.

"Then we'll find them. Wherever they are. We'll find them," said Logan forcefully. "I will return your wife to you, I promise."

"You better," Kevin eyed the detective. "And God help you if Jamie's hurt in any way."

Jamie was still sprawled on the ground, looking up fearfully at her captor. One hand held her up, the other running back and forth over the forest floor.

Calm down, Jaim! Please, it's the only way to get out of here! She fought to regain her balance, but the terror surged upwards, tearing through her mind, scrambling her thoughts. Any thoughts of the self-defense Nick had taught her were tossed aside like yesterday's newspaper. Instinct took over, pure and simple.

Ashley stood over her, the feral smile still on her face, the gun still trained on Jamie.

"I'm tired of this, whore. I'm tired of you. I just want what's mine, you can't keep me from Kevin any longer." The hammer of the gun clicked as Ashley cocked it back. "Say goodbye, bitch."

Jamie's eyes widened as she saw the hammer being pulled back. Running her hand on the ground in desperation, her fingers closed around a fallen branch from a nearby tree. Raw emotion fueled her; it was now or never.

She swung the branch up at the same time Ashley pulled the trigger.

"Anything?" Logan asked as more of his men reported in. The response was always the same. "No, sir, nothing."

Kevin grew more and more enraged as each report came back negative. "Why can't they find them? Did you send out blind policemen? They've got to be here!"

Nick grabbed Kevin by the arm as he moved towards the detective. "Not now, Kev. It's not going to help anything."

"I don't know about that. It'll certainly make me feel better." The vein against Kevin's neck pulsed as he shifted his jaw from side to side.

Nick tightened his grip on Kevin. "Assaulting an officer? You want to see the inside of a jail again? Don't you remember it from the first time? Besides, punching his lights out won't find Jamie."

"It might give him incentive to look harder."

"Kevin. . ."

The steely-eyed glare Kevin fixed on Nick suddenly melted into pain and fear, "Nick. Jamie's out there scared and alone, and I can't find her. Logan isn't looking hard enough, and I have to get to her. If it'll get him to find her, I'll do whatever it takes."

Nick nodded, since he understood the emotions surging through Kevin. Still holding onto Kevin, the blond turned towards Logan, "You better keep searching, Detective. I can't keep Kev from doing what he wants for much longer. And if you don't find Jamie alive, I may just help him."

"I thought you didn't want to go to jail," Logan protested.

"If Jamie's hurt in any way, or dead, it really won't matter much to either of us where we end up." The resolve in Kevin's green eyes returned and was echoed beside him in a steady blue-eyed gaze.

Logan turned to Carlos, "And you? You're just going to allow your charges to threaten me like this?"

The bodyguard shrugged, "Jamie means more to me than you do. I suggest you go back to your job rather than worry about what my 'charges' would do to you if you fail."

Suddenly, a shot rang out clearly through the woods. Kevin and Nick looked at each other, then sprinted towards the sound.

Kevin and Nick burst through the clearing, drawn by the sound of the gunshot. Carlos and Logan followed closely behind. They pulled up short and stared at the scene in front of them.

"Jamie?" Kevin breathed, hardly believing what he saw. Nick was equally slack-jawed and stunned.

Ashley was lying face down in the dirt, not moving. Jamie was on top of her, one knee digging into Ashley's spine, and holding both of Ashley's hands close together in her own.

"You," she yelled at a nearby policeman, "Will you toss over your cuffs now? C'mon, do I have to do everything around here?" A pair of steel handcuffs flew through the air, landing next to the two women. Jamie picked them up, grinding her knee savagely into Ashley as she tried to wiggle free.

She leaned down and whispered silkily into Ashley's ear, "Oh, I don't think so, bitch." She cuffed Ashley very tightly. "You see, you are the one who isn't going to keep me from Kevin anymore. Your reign of terror is over, my dear."

Making sure the cuffs were in place, Jamie pushed hard with her knees as she straightened and stood up. Ashley let out a soft grunt. The policeman who had tossed over his cuffs pulled Ashley up and began reading her rights. Jamie stood several feet away watching with satisfaction.

Kevin walked over to stand next to his wife. Reaching out with one hand to brush the leaves out of her hair, Kevin closed his eyes in relief. As soon as Jamie felt his touch, she turned to face him and let out a low cry. He opened his eyes, looked at her through unshed tears, and then crushed her to him, hugging her with everything he had.

Ashley looked up when she heard Jamie's cry. Seeing her and Kevin together snapped her out of the almost comatose state she was in. She lunged forward, only to be brought back hard by the policeman who hadn't let go of her arms.

"KEVIN! No!" Ashley wailed as she struggled in vain. "What are you doing? We're supposed to be together, not you and her! Help me!"

Kevin looked over at the now crazed Ashley. Hugging Jamie tightly and dropping a kiss on the top of her head before letting go, he stepped over to Ashley. As he came near, Ashley settled down, a look of supreme happiness and satisfaction on her face.

"I knew you'd rescue me! I knew it, oh, Kevin. . ." Ashley's voice dropped off as Kevin looked at her coldly, his hands fisted at his sides.

"I was taught never to strike a woman, but I'm almost willing to make an exception here. How DARE you! You think you can destroy my family and I'd be happy to have you do it? Let me explain something to you," Kevin stepped closer to Ashley so she could see the barely contained anger in his eyes. She shrank back a step as he got in her face.

"There is no you and me. There never was. Jamie is and always will be my heart, my soul and my destiny. . .not. . .you. Not you, do you understand? Never you. Never! You were a one night thing at best, a huge mistake at worst. If I could do it over, I would have avoided you like the plague. Am I getting through to you?" Tears spilled unchecked down Ashley's face, but he was unsympathetic.

"You have put us all through hell these past few months. I NEVER want to see you, hear from or about you ever again. You don't exist. You never have. Don't you ever come near me or my family again, or I swear to you. . ." He shook his head, then continued, "I swear that I will hunt you down and I will make sure you never hurt anyone ever again. I will forget everything I've ever been taught about being a gentleman, and make you wish you had never been born. God knows I wish you hadn't."

Kevin looked at the policeman, "Get her out of my sight." A broken and distraught Ashley was led away by the officers. They could hear her calling for Kevin as she was taken out of the clearing.

Logan cleared his throat. "As an officer, I do have to warn you that I did hear you threaten her, and that you shouldn't follow up on it if you don't want to join her behind bars. But," he held one hand up to forestall Kevin's angry response, "but as a human being, I understand what you said and realize you needed to say it. I won't say a word about it, and neither will the other officers." Kevin's anger faded slightly, and he nodded curtly to the detective.

Logan faced Jamie who, by this time, was standing in Nick's protective embrace. "You need to be checked out, then come down to the police station to file formal charges. You don't need to be near her, and everything will be waiting for you when you get there. Normally I'd take you over myself, but I have a feeling I'm very superfluous at the moment. Mr. Carter and Mr. Richardson appear to have things under control here. I'll see you later." He turned back around, taking the same path as the officers had, leaving Jamie alone with Nick and Kevin. Carlos faded back into the treeline to allow them some privacy, but still under his watchful eye.

"What happened, Jaim? We heard the shot, and. . ." Nick broke off on a swallowed sob as Jamie gave him a small smile and gingerly reached up to ruffle his hair.

"She was aiming the gun at me. Honestly? I thought it was over, she was going to shoot me point-blank, and there was nothing I could do. I was kneeling on the ground, and my eyes were closed in prayer. But I had my hands on the ground searching for anything to use, like you taught me, and I found a fallen branch. I grabbed it, and just swung at her with everything I had. I think I hit her just as she fired the gun. It flew out of her hands, and the shot missed me. I guess the momentum of my swing brought me into her and I tackled her. She managed to get up, but I brought her back down again with that flip we practiced. I just sat on her and waited for the police to show up, and I think you saw the rest."

Jamie leaned back up out of Nick's arms and smiled warmly at him. "I owe you a lot, little brother. You saved my life." Nick crushed her to him, his face buried in the top of her head, and tears running down his cheeks. "You're welcome. Anytime."

Kevin cocked his head to the side, confused, "What are you two talking about? Nick didn't do anything, he was with me the whole time."

Jamie broke out of Nick's arms, and reached for her husband. She cradled his face in her hands and explained, "But Nicky did do a great deal. He taught me some self-defense moves so that I could take her down if I ended up all alone with her and without police protection."

He couldn't help it, Kevin started laughing uncontrollably. Nick frowned at him, but the laughter only increased. "I'm sorry, but Nick? He doesn't know any self-defense moves."

"I do too," Nick replied stubbornly. "I know you all think I don't know anything, but I know more than you realize. Jamie is the only one who knows that, and she let me help her so she wouldn't be helpless."

She insisted, "He did, darlin'. If it weren't for Nick, I probably wouldn't be here. Where do you think he and I went all those times in the last couple of weeks? And the bruises you saw. . ."

Kevin tensed up again, "He hurt you? I'm going to kill you, Nickolas." Jamie refused to let Kevin step closer to Nick.

"Stop. Kevin, listen to me! He didn't hurt me, really he didn't. The bruises are mostly from me being clumsy and getting up close and personal with the floor and the walls. You want retribution, go punch some holes in the gym. But don't you dare harm a hair on Nicky's head."

"Yeah, what she said," said Nick, before catching the look in Kevin's eyes and stepping back out of his reach.

"Kevin," she said, retaking his face in her hands and pulling him close, "I was never in any danger until today. But it's over, darlin'. We can move on with our life. Leave Nick alone, and let's just get out of here. Okay? Please? Let's just go." She kissed him sweetly, and Kevin softened into her embrace. He closed his eyes, and savored the feel of his wife in his arms.

Finally, Jamie stepped back from Kevin, rubbing her eyes with the side of her hand and the first knuckle of her index finger. She sighed deeply, and then took each of their hands.

"Okay, my heroes. Let's go back and show the others I'm fine. Weren't you in the middle of a concert?"

Nick's eyes rounded, "Oh yeah, we were! We got Bone and Brian to stall while we came for you."

All three started laughing. "Who knows what they're doing on stage right now! We better get you two back to finish the show." Jamie started walking forward, with the two singers closely behind her.

They reached the backstage area, and Howie rushed up to them. "Thank God! You have no idea what hell this is been waiting. Plus watching Brian and AJ on stage alone. . .after all the bad jokes and impressions they did, I'm surprised anyone is still here."

Jamie listened for a moment, then asked, "It sounds like they're singing now, so that's not too bad, right?"

Howie nodded, "Finally, AJ got the bright idea to reenact his 21st birthday party, and so Brian and Johnny Suede are out there now. I think this is what they sang at that show. So are you alright Jaim? What happened?"

"It's a long story, let's not get into it now. But everything's fine, and Ashley is at this very moment enjoying the fine hospitality of the Orlando PD."

Howie smiled broadly, "Good. That's wonderful. So fellas, I guess then now would be a good time to get back out there and finish this show. We need to celebrate!"

Nick nodded, "Yeah, we do. C'mon, I know how to end this." He bounded onto the stage, followed closely by Howie and Kevin. Jamie slipped around to the front of the stage, and found herself in the middle of a group hug from Leighanne, Amanda and Alissa.

The girls stood in front of the stage, still linked together as Nick cleared his throat into his microphone. "Hi! Did Johnny entertain you all? Sorry about that, there was a minor snafu we had to take care of. But everything's all fixed now, and it's just in time to finish the show." Nick paused as the audience booed and groaned. He held up his hand, "Hey now! Everything's gotta end sometime, and you have to admit, this has been going on for a very long time. We gotta go, but before we do, I think we can fit in one more song, right fellas?"

The other Backstreet Boys crowded around Nick and the one microphone stand he was using. "Ready fellas? A cappella, on my count, one, two, three. . ."

As the five voices blended in perfect harmony, Kevin and Jamie stared at each other. Their gaze never wavered, despite the unshed tears in both sets of eyes.

It's in the silences

. . .with everything I am