Ten Things by Carter-Orange
Summary:

 

Photobucket

Meet Steph, she's just turned 25 and thinks she's suffering a quarter-century crisis!  Everyone around her seems to have life all figured out and she feels left behind.  After a drunken night out, she comes up with a list of things she'd like to do...before she's 30!


Categories: Fanfiction > Backstreet Boys Characters: AJ, Brian, Group, Howie, Kevin, Nick, Other
Genres: Drama, Humor, Romance
Warnings: None
Challenges:
Series: None
Chapters: 49 Completed: Yes Word count: 72630 Read: 98033 Published: 11/17/09 Updated: 08/23/10
Chapter 39 by Carter-Orange
Author's Notes:

Here's the next bit, sorry for the delay!

Chapter 39

Two things occurred to me the following morning, and one of them wasn’t the horrendous hangover I was suffering from. Firstly, I’d crossed another item off my list, leaving only three more to fulfil…

1. Fall in love
2. Own my own place
3. Skinny dipping and sex on the beach
4. Learn a new language
5. Ride a scary roller coaster whilst eating or bungee jump or something else equally as scary
6. Road trip across the USA
7. Blow a fortune on a single night out
8. Drive a flash car way too fast (and not get caught)
9. Swim with dolphins
10. Tell my boss to shove his job up his arse


Secondly, the months were flying by and it wouldn’t be long before we could stop with all the stupid marriage guidance sessions, as they were a complete waste of time, we didn’t need it! But what would happen when the six months was up? Would AJ want to stay married to me? Would I want to stay married to him? I knew my answer was a definite yes, I couldn’t imagine my life without AJ now, but was being married something AJ wanted? We weren’t even living together yet, although we may as well have been as we spent most nights together in either my house or his. I had no idea how he felt about living together or what he wanted in the future and knew that we’d have to talk about it, and soon.

I didn’t want to dwell on it too much just yet though, as the following week, my parents came to visit. They’d been meaning to come and visit ever since I’d first moved out here, but my Mum’s fear of flying had delayed it until curiosity got the better of her and she just had to face her fears. She decided to get herself to the doctors for some valium to help calm her nerves to be able to make the trip. I was excited about seeing them again; it had been so long since I’d seen them. But I was also a little nervous about whether they’d somehow find out about AJ and me. They knew I had a boyfriend called Alex (my Mum had said “what kind of a name is AJ”), but they wouldn’t be happy if they knew I’d got married to him and not told them, I could understand that. They’d be even more disappointed if they knew we’d married after only knowing each other a few hours. It still seemed crazy to me, but to my parents it would be…well, you get the idea!

“So, where’s this boyfriend of yours then?” asked my Mum once she’d given my house a thorough inspection “and when are we going to meet him?”

“He’s away working at the moment, but you’ll get to meet him tomorrow” I replied. AJ and the rest of the Backstreet Boys were doing a little bit of pre-release promotion for the new CD, a chance to gage the fans opinion of some of the new stuff before it was released officially. I hadn’t seen him for a few days and was missing him like crazy.

“What is it he does for a living? Musician isn’t it?” my Dad asked with a frown on his face.

“I’ve already told you, he’s in a band called Backstreet Boys, you’ve probably heard their songs” I sighed, giving up. My parents obviously didn’t realise that the Backstreet Boys were hugely successful. I’m sure they thought AJ was some penniless leech, only using me for my money. It was quite funny really because I’m sure AJ’s friends and family had thought exactly the same of me in the beginning, until they got to know me and came to realise that I loved AJ for who he was and not what he could do for me.

My parents enjoyed a relaxing afternoon under the shade of a garden umbrella on the patio, getting over their jet lag with a nice cold drink, whilst I busied myself in the kitchen. I wanted to impress them with my cooking skills, which to be honest weren’t all that marvellous, but how wrong could I go if I followed the book? To my surprise, the food looked good enough to eat, even if I did say so myself.

At a little after seven o’clock, just as I was about to serve the food out, there was a knock on the door.

“Shall I get it?” called my Mum from the living room

“No, it’s OK, I’ve got it” I replied, wondering who it could be as I wasn’t expecting anyone tonight.

I opened the door to reveal AJ standing there looking as gorgeous as always.

“Surprise” he said and I threw my arms around him as he hugged me close.

“But I thought you weren’t due home until tomorrow” I said as we stood there wrapped in each others embrace.

“We had to cancel today’s appearance because Nick’s got a bad throat, so we got to come home a day earlier” he explained

“Is he OK?” I asked

“He’s fine, or at least he will be in a day or two” AJ assured “but enough about Carter” and then his lips met mine.

“Stephanie? Who is it at the door?” called my Mum from inside the house.

“It’s Alex” I called back, and then turned to face AJ “you ready for this?”

“Bring it on” he grinned and stepped inside.

“They can be a bit…oh, I don’t know” I shrugged

“Don’t worry Steph, I’m sure we’ll all get along just fine” he reassured me, when really he should be the nervous one and not me.

“I hope so” I agreed as we walked through the hall

“Mmm, something smells good” he said appreciatively

“I should friggin well hope so too, spent ages cooking it!” I admitted to him “come on, my parents are dying to meet you”

I took his hand and led him into the living room where my parents were now sitting expectantly.

“Mum, Dad, this is my boyfriend Alex” I said “and Alex, these are my parents Angela and David”

“Hi” AJ said and gave them a warm smile. I could tell by the looks on their faces that my parents weren’t impressed.

“Stephanie tells us you’re in a band Alex, does it pay much? Do you get to do much travelling around? Or do you just play locally?” my Dad asked, wanting to know more about the man who was seeing his daughter.

“Dad” I protested “less of the Spanish Inquisition”

“We’re just curious dear” my Mum chipped in

“No, it’s OK” AJ said “I don’t mind”

I gave my Dad a warning look. How could he be so damn rude!

“I sometimes wish I didn’t have to travel so much, but I can’t complain, I’ve travelled all over the world with the band and feel very lucky that after all these years, we still have fans out there wanting to see us” AJ replied proudly

“That successful then?” my Dad asked

“Dad” I interrupted “Alex is part of the most successful boy band in the world; they’ve sold about 100 million records worldwide”

“Well…that’s good” my Dad said. He was at a loss for words now.

“Alex, will you come and help me in the kitchen please?” I asked and then turned to my parents “we’ll be right back with the food”

I turned and left the room, closely followed by AJ. I was a bit pissed off with the way my parents had acted. I’d seen the way my Mum had eyed AJ up and down like he was some common criminal. And my Dad, well, how embarrassing could he get, asking questions about how much AJ earned and such!

“I’m so sorry” I said to AJ once we were out of hearing

“Don’t worry about it, they just want to make sure I’m not some gold digging man whore” he laughed and I had to laugh along with him.

Dinner went surprisingly well, and even though I hadn’t expected AJ, there had been enough food for all four of us. After my parents initial rudeness, they really warmed to AJ and by the end of the evening I think they actually liked him.

“Why don’t you and Alex go and sit down, leave the clearing away to me and your father” my Mum suggested “after all, you did cook”

“No Mum, it’s OK, you and Dad are my guests and you must be tired after the day you’ve had, you go and relax and we’ll tidy away” I told her

“I liked your Mom’s suggestion better” AJ whispered in my ear as we began to clear away, his breath warm against my neck, his fingers softly caressing my cheek. It brought back memories of the last time we were working in the kitchen, only tonight there would be no frantic sex on the kitchen floor, not with my parents in the next room and likely to walk in at any given moment.

“Fuck” I muttered “I wish we were alone so I could show you just how much I’ve missed you these last couple of days”

“Oh baby, me too” he murmured as he nuzzled my neck, all thoughts of tidying up forgotten.

I wrapped my arms around his waist, whilst AJ ran his fingers through my hair, our mouths connected in a spine-tingling kiss. We didn’t hear the soft footsteps approaching.

“Er…sorry, I was just going to make a cup of tea…” my Mum apologised and turned to leave the kitchen.

“No, it’s OK” I said and AJ and I pulled away from each other

“I’ll just go out for a smoke” AJ said and tried to hide the bulge which had been forming in his jeans as he walked away towards the door.

My Mum switched the kettle on and reached for the tea-bags, then turned to me “he’s not how I expected him to be” she said “I saw all those awful tattoos and thought he was going to be some kind of axe murderer”

“Mum” I chastised her

“I know…I know, I shouldn’t have judged him without getting to know him, but he’s nothing like the other boyfriends you’ve had, that’s all” she explained “when you said he was in a band, I was thinking more along the lines of Gary Barlow in the looks department”

“Mum” I sighed and shook my head, although if I remembered correctly, not so long ago I would’ve agreed with her. How wrong had I been! He may not be conventionally handsome in the Hollywood film star kind of way, but he was gorgeous in his own way. I loved him…every part of him.

“But if he makes you happy, and I can see that he does, then that’s all we could ask for” she said

My parents were tired after their long day, so it wasn’t long after that they excused themselves up to bed.

“Hmm, alone at last” AJ murmured as he trailed kisses all along my neck and then brought his lips to meet mine, his fingers knotted in my hair as I ran my hands under his shirt, feeling the muscles in his back. I could’ve spent all night just kissing AJ, if there was a class for kissing, then he’d be the star student with an A+ grade!

“Oh god…I want you so bad” I breathed heavily when we finally stopped kissing, but I was also conscious of the fact that my parents were in the house and probably still awake and therefore liable to walk in on us if we stayed here.

“Come on, let’s go for a little drive” he grinned mischievously and dangled his car keys in the air.

I felt like a rebellious teen who’d snuck out in the night as we crept out of the house and down the drive to AJ’s car. Once we were inside we both giggled at the craziness of it all, and then he started up the engine and drove us to a nice little secluded area which overlooked the ocean. The view of the ocean held no interest for either of us that night though.
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