Chapter One

Bianca, Darcy and Abrianna all jumped at the shrill sound of a phone ringing. Bianca and Abrianna both quickly began digging around under the masses of sleeping bags, blankets, pillows and magazines to find the ringing object, which was no doubt one of their cell phones. Darcy rolled her green eyes and crossed her arms over her chest in inpatients with the two.

“Could you guys NOT have turned those damn things off for just one lousy night?” she asked in disgust, “I’m about to throw them out the window.”

She pointed to the second story window to prove her point as her two friends stopped searching for a moment to stare at her blankly before going right back to their hunt for the ringing phone.

“I’m waiting for Tyler to call,” Bianca explained, naming her boyfriend, “Besides, it’s my house. I can keep my phone on if I want to,” She finally felt her phone wrapped up in Darcy’s sleeping back and brought it up, frowning when she discovered that it was not hers. She threw her phone down in frustration muttering some vulgar things about her irresponsible boyfriend.

“And you know my mother always calls to check up on me,” Abrianna said in annoyance.

“Your mom is bipolar,” Darcy retorted for the fifth time that week, but deep down wished that her parents cared enough to check up on her once in awhile. At least she would know they realized that she had gone out. She’d gone to Florida for a week once and they thought that she’d been in her room the entire time when she had even TOLD them she was leaving.

Abrianna didn’t argue with her. Her mom was a pain in the ass sometimes. She wished that she would just lay off and quit smothering her so much. She pulled her phone out from under a bag of chips, realizing that it was hers right away.

“I’ll be back,” she informed them, dismissing herself. She didn’t even bother to look at the caller ID display as she stood up and began walking toward the door, flipping her phone open and brought it to her ear, “Hello?” she answered, opening the door, and slipping out into the hallway closing it behind her.

Darcy waited until she was sure that the door was completely closed before saying, “Think it’s her mom or Alex? She would never leave the room if it were just her mom calling.”

Bianca shrugged, not really paying much attention, going back to looking at the 25 hottest guys of 2003 in the latest issue of YM. Darcy peeked at them from her position sitting across from Bianca and got a glance at her latest obsession.

“Is that Johnny Depp?” she almost shrieked, ripping the magazine out from under Bianca’s line of vision and turning it upright for herself to get a better look at.

“Hey,” Bianca protested, “I was looking at them. Paul Walker is on the same page, damnit.”

“Ain’t he so hot,” Darcy asked, oblivious to Bianca, “Ohhhh,” she groaned, licking her lips.

Bianca rolled her eyes at her. This was her fifth new obsession on a guy in less than three months. There was Nick Carter, Heath Ledger, and some guy that was in a bunch of war or western movies or something. She couldn’t remember his name, just one particular movie that he was in called American Outlaws.

“I found something pretty disturbing out about him the other day,” she said, looking up from the magazine, “He’s forty years old.”

Bianca’s eyes widened at the news, “No way,” she said, “He’s only like, twenty eight tops.”

“No, he said so himself on an interview that was on TV for Pirates of the Caribbean,” she insisted, “We’re so going to see that movie.”

“He’s not forty,” Bianca again said, not willing to accept the fact that the actor with a baby face was old enough to be her father. There was something morally disturbing about that fact. She scrunched her nose up, knowing that for some reason, the man’s age would never let her look at him in the same light again.

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

“Bye,” Abrianna whispered in to the phone, “I love you too.”

Abrianna turned off her cell phone and flipped it shut with a small smile plastered to her tanned face. She’d just gotten off the phone with Alex, her long-term boyfriend of two and a half years. She glanced at her watch thankful that it was glow in the dark, for the halls in the apartment were pitch black at that time of night. It was must past 12:00 in the morning. He wanted her to meet him at their very own special place that they had found in the beginnings of their relationship for a picnic under the stars. The problem was she and her two best friends were having a sleepover at Bianca’s, like they did every Saturday night. Alex knew it was a tradition and had been for four years. She’d tried to tell Alex that she couldn’t, and that he should have known better than to call and ask, but deep down, she wanted to be with him instead. So when Alex had insisted she leave to see him, she did not argue, telling him that she’d leave right away. Now, Abrianna had to come up with an excuse to leave Bianca’s before their night of fun began. Alex was not a good enough excuse. She knew that Darcy especially would never go for it. She bit her lip and thought for a moment for a valid excuse to get out and on the road to see her boyfriend. She smiled when she thought of something that could get her out of the sleep over. She took a deep breath and opened Bianca’s door back up and walked inside. The two girls had since changed the subject to one of college.

“I’m totally afraid that I’m going to fuck everything up,” Bianca stated, “Like, forget to schedule classes or something.”

“You’ll be fine,” Darcy assured her with a laugh, “I’ll so laugh at you if you forget to register for classes though.”

Abrianna stood in the doorway and cleared her throat loudly to get her friend attention. They looked up and she walked toward them, shaking, beginning to gather up her belongings that she’d brought.

“I’m going to have to go,” she said with a straight face, “That was my mom. There’s been a family emergency and I’m needed.” She lied.

“Oh my god,” Bianca explained, “Is everything okay?” she asked

Abrianna nodded her head, trying not to crack a smile, “She wouldn’t tell me anything. She was too upset.”

“Do you want us to go with you,” Darcy asked with concern.

Abrianna’s head whipped upward and she quickly said sharply, “NO,”

Her friends looked at her funny and she realized that she had slipped, but there was still time to fix it.

“I mean, no, it’s okay,” she recovered quickly, “Don’t cut the night short because of me. I’ll call in the morning to let you know what’s going ok, okay?”

Bianca and Darcy didn’t look convinced, but didn’t argue either.

“Alright,” Bianca said slowly, “If you’re sure…”

She felt bad letting one of her best friends leave without them when there were problems with her family, but knew that if she wanted to be alone, then that’s what was best.

“I’m going to change back into my clothes in the bathroom and then get outta here, okay?” she said.

Bianca nodded, “Sure,” she assured her, “Help yourself.”

Abrianna said goodbye to her friends and quickly left eager to get on the road and to Alex. All she wanted was to be in his arms instead of cooped up in a room just thinking about him.

“Well,” Darcy said, “The trio has been broken for the first time ever. I don’t think one of us has ever cut the night short.”

Bianca shook her head knowing that her friend was right about that, “But she can’t help that someone in her family is hurt.”

“It was probably just an excuse her mom used to get her home,” Darcy grumbled, not putting it past the woman to do something like that.

“Darce,” Bianca said, “You really need to learn to trust people. They aren’t all evil you know.”

“Whatever,” Darcy muttered, “Whenever I trust people, that’s when I get hurt. Why set myself up for that?”

Bianca sighed. Darcy always managed to make her laugh in the worst situations, but she also had a funny way of thinking. It was the way it always had been and always would be, but she and Abrianna loved their friend the way she was.

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

Abrianna cursed as the fog continued to grow thicker and thicker with every mile she drove. She couldn’t even see the road it was so low and thick. Her heart pounded in her chest as fear overcame her. Abrianna turned her brights on in hopes that it would make it better for her to see, but it only made things worse by making the bright light reflect off of the fog and right back into her eyes. She turned the brights back off in frustration. She pulled off on the side of the road, or what she hoped to be the side of the road, and turned on the inside car light. Prying her phone out of her too small purse, she dialed Alex’s cell number and brought it to her ear, praying that he would answer. After six rings, an annoyed Alex answered.

“Hello,” he asked somewhat roughly.

“Alex?” she said unsurely because of his cold tone. Her voice was shaking with the fear of driving in the impossible to see weather. She wasn’t even sure if she were headed in the right direction still. She said again, “Alex. I don’t know how long I’ll be. The fog is really thick. I can’t see a thing.”

“You said you would hurry,” he retorted, “It’s been half an hour. It doesn’t take half an hour to drive from B’s apartment to here.”

“It does when I have to drive at ten miles an hour.” She said somewhat sassy, exaggerating just a little at how slow she was actually driving. It was more like thirty-five, but still way under the speed limit.

Abrianna could swear that she heard Alex call her something bad but realized that she probably imagined it.

“Well drive a little faster and get here,” he pressured, “The view is beautiful tonight. I just want to be with you.”

Abrianna smiled at his slightly warmer tone. He may be a little mad but he still sounded like his sweet self.

“I love you Alex,” she said.

“Love you too Abri,” he said, calling her by the nickname he’d given her, “Just hurry up and get here.”

“Kay,” she replied softly, “I’ll be there soon. Promise.”

Abrianna hung up the phone and took a deep breath before putting her white civic back into drive and pulling off the side of the road and back onto what she thought felt like paved roadway. She could do this. She’d driven in fog before. It was nothing new. She pushed on the accelerator a little bit harder and got up to speed going sixty-five miles per hour. But when she turned off to go down the long winding country road, her vision got even worse from the lack to street lights. All she had was her headlights to illuminate the road and not even those were doing a very good job.

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

“Oh my god is he a sex god,” Darcy breathed, rolling onto her stomach, eyes fully focused on Heath Ledger.

As soon as Abrianna had left, the girls had talked for a little while before deciding to put a movie in the DVD player. Darcy had fingered through Bianca’s collection, her eyes zooming in on A Knights Tale. She pulled it out and forced it in to her friend’s hands, telling her that that was what they would be watching. Bianca didn’t protest. She thought that the recently famous actor was just as good looking. Plus, it was one of her very favorite movies. She was surprised that her friend hadn’t picked Sleepy Hollow though. That one had her newest addition to her list of obsessions.

“He’s pretty damn hot,” Bianca agreed with a smile, “And that sexy foreign accent. That does it for me. I love any man with an accent like that. It really turns me on, ya know.”

“That’s nice,” Darcy replied in monotone, making Bianca know that she really hadn’t been listening to a word that she had said.

Heath’s accent made her think of an old friend she once had and met years ago that was from England. They hadn’t talked in over a year and a half and she missed him, but had once had talked every single day for hours on end. But she was too afraid to call for fear that he would not remember her. She had tried e-mailing him, but he never replied to those. All she could think was that their friendship had never meant a thing. She sniffled, not wanting to cry over something that she could not change, or could, but too afraid to. One of these days, she was determined to get over it and just call him. But she didn’t want to wait to long. The longer she waited, the less chance there was of ever getting a hold of him again. As it was, the chances were very slim.

“What I would do to rape that man,” Darcy stated, not paying enough attention to expect an answer, “If I ever met him, I would jump on him, and strip him from head to toe right where I found him, and give him the time of his life.”

“You said that about Nick Carter too,” Bianca reminded her friend, “And Johnny and A.J. and several other men.”

And your point is?” Darcy asked, tearing her eyes away from the movie for the first time to stare at her friend, “They’re all hot and they’re all men,” she stated matter-o-factly, “You can’t rape the willing.”

“Yeah,” Bianca said with a laugh, slapping her forehead, a gesture she had picked up from Darcy, “What was I thinking.”

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

“Damnit,” she cursed, swerving off the road when another car started to come straight at her in her lane. Or was she in theirs. She didn’t know. Tears begun to form in her eyes as a feeling of dread started to form in her stomach. Why didn’t she just stay at Bianca’s house where it was safe. Abrianna quickly answered that question herself though. She wanted to be with Alex. She refused to regret leaving to see her boyfriend. It was where she wanted to be, no matter how bad it was out. Smiling, Abrianna remembered the day that Alex had asked her out. He had sent three dozen roses to her house…a dozen for each year he had been crushing on her. He hadn’t told her the meaning of them until after the dinner he had taken her to at the fancy Chinese restaurant he had taken her out to eat to. After the custom made fortune cookie had been delivered to her with the tiny piece of paper inside reading, Abrianna, would you please be my girlfriend? Tears had formed in her eyes and she of course said yes. She had liked him for a long time too. It seemed like it was only yesterday that they had started going out. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever think that it would last this long, but she was so happy that it had.
“Please let me get there soon,” she muttered to herself not wanting to be out on the road much longer. She knew that if she were too afraid to go home later, that Alex would take her and then drive her back in the morning to pick up her car.

Abrianna continued to drive, making herself go a little bit faster so that she could get to their place quicker. The dark road begun to get more and more tall trees on the sides of the road on top of the soupy fog. Abrianna knew that she should slow down, but didn’t. It was only another ten minutes until she got there. Ten more minutes until she was safely in the arms of Alex. She knew that she would make it. Abrianna squinted, thinking that she saw something move into the middle of the road, but the image disappeared all too quickly for her to know for sure. She thought nothing of it and continued to drive down the roads she couldn’t see more than three inches of in front of her. Seconds later though, the image reappeared and she gasped as she recognized it as a full-grown buck. Doing the first thing that she could think of, she jerked her car to the right, going off of the road and on the bumpy grass. She tried to break, but couldn’t kept pressing on the accelerator in all the panic. Her heart hammered in her chest as she saw an oncoming tree through the fog. She finally pressed the break but not soon enough. A shrill scream escaped Abrianna’s mouth as she brought her arms up to shield her face. The last thing she remembered was a loud crunch as the car made impact with the enormous tree, smashing the car like a tiny bug Abrianna’s body flew forward as her head hit the dashboard hard, and then everything went black.

Chapter Two

“It can’t be over,” Darcy said for the fifth time, “More Heath. We neeeeed more Heath.”

“Darce, you’ve seen the movie at least fifty times. You know that there is no more to it.” Bianca stated, shutting the TV off and taking the movie out, placing it carefully back into its case.

Darcy rolled her eyes. She wanted more of her sexy foreign man. Lots more. She had half a notion to go up to Blockbuster and rent every Heath Ledger movie that was there, but knew that her friend would never go for that.

“Let’s watch Sleepy Hollow now,” she suggested, “My sexy Johnny is in that one, although he looks better as a Pirate.”

Bianca laughed at her friend’s eagerness, remembering when she’d once gone through the same thing…with Joe Germaine, Nick Carter, Lance Bass, Josh Hartnett, and many others.

“I think that I’m going to go to sleepy land now,” she said, but pulled out the movie that Darcy wanted to watch and handed it over to her, “But if you want to watch Mr. forty year old Depp, then go for it.”

“Party pooper,” Darcy said jokingly, taking the movie from her hand and placing the DVD in the player, starting the movie immediately.

“It’s two in the morning, Darce,” Bianca muttered, “Not everyone has insomnia you know.”

Darcy stuck her tongue out at her friend, and then put her full attention on the opening scenes of the movie, hypnotized by her newest addiction. She didn’t care how old he was, he was still one hell of a man in her eyes.

“Did you know that Nick Carter is going to be in a movie called Hollow,” she asked a few minutes later out of nowhere, “We’re going to see it, even if the boy can’t act.”

“He’s a good actor,” Bianca defended the boy she didn’t even know as she slipped under her blankets and shut her eyes.

“Yeah, if were TRYING to act that bad he would be good, but it comes natural.” Darcy cracked, “Poor kid. I still love him.”

Bianca shook her head, and turned off the light next to her bed. She rolled over to block out the bright light projecting from the TV. She vowed to give Tyler the cold shoulder the next day for not calling her. She knew that he was afraid of Darcy, and he knew that Darcy was there. But Darcy could not get him through the phone, so he couldn’t use that as an excuse when he woke her up early the next morning by calling bright and early.

“I’m going to leave the TV on when it’s over, okay?” Darcy said, not really asking for permission, but rather telling her friend, “If the TV is not on, I can’t sleep. So if you wake up, don’t turn it off.”

“I know,” Bianca grumbled, already half way asleep, “We go over this every week. I know this by now, okay?”

Darcy again went back to watching the movie, and Bianca drifted off into a deep sleep. The last thoughts she had before hitting her unconscious sleeping state were of wondering if Abrianna’s family crisis was okay and what had happened. Neither girl had any way of knowing that there really had been no family emergency and that their best friend had lied to see Alex, and was now in the middle of nowhere and had just been in a really serious car accident a couple of hours before.

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

Alex sighed in disgust and began packing up the picnic basket he had packed for him and Abrianna. He had made them hot soup, packed grapes and even made strawberry shortcake for dessert. But it was hours after she had said she would get there and there was still no sign of his girlfriend. Although the fog was still too thick to see anything, he could feel the cool mist against his skin. He picked up the basket and headed toward his Hyundai Elantra, tossing it carelessly into the back seat. He looked ahead of him and saw that the fog was beginning to finally clear. Alex walked back to under the waterfall, his and Abrianna’s special place, and picked up the blankets, throwing them into the trunk, and slamming it so hard that he could feel the car shake.

“Damn you, woman,” he yelled into the empty night air, “Why did you go and stand me up?”

Alex got into the drivers seat and jammed the key into the ignition. He was going to go home, where it was warm. There was no use waiting any longer for his girlfriend. He knew that she probably decided to go back to Bianca’s because the fog was too thick. But the least she could have done was call and let him know. Now he was really upset with her for letting him sit and wait…and wait…and wait. He looked at the waterfall one last time before flooring the accelerator and speeding off down the road. He turned his radio on full blast to a hard rock station, not caring who or what he disturbed with the obscene lyrics and earth-shaking base. Abrianna had gotten him the awesome stereo system for their one year anniversary. She knew that he loved good sound, and thought it perfect for him. He was surprised to receive it, but happy at the same time. He knew that she spoiled him, but he spoiled her right back.

Driving at high speeds down the same winding road that she had taken to get there, the trees went by in a blur. He was going so fast that he didn’t even notice the car, just fifty yards off of the road that had hit a large tree. He just kept his eyes straight ahead, passing by the accident scene, the first car to pass since it had happened. Eventually, he came out into the clearing, and sped up even more. The fog had completely lifted at that point and he could see that it was a fairly clear night with bright stars shining above him.

“We could be under the stars together,” he bitterly stated aloud.

Alex came to the end of the country road and took a sharp left, which led toward his neighborhood. He would call Abrianna in the morning and ask her what happened. If he called that night, he knew he would yell at her. He didn’t want to yell at her. They hardly ever fought, and wanted to narrow their fighting times down to nothing and live a long, happy life with her. After turning into his housing development, he took a few more turns and finally into his driveway. He turned off the ignition and pulled his keys out, tossing s. Nothing was going as planned because he’d waited until too long to bring up the occasion. Alex dug in his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box, which contained engagement ring he had bought for her. It was exactly their two and a half years. He’d planned on proposing that night. Now, it would have to wait until their next big milestone, three years. Only six months until the occasion. Three years would be more special anyways, but for some reason, he felt like it wouldn’t be. He had really been looking forward to proposing and had had it all planned out. He figured that it just wasn’t the right time, and that all things happened for a reason, including this. Alex opened the glove compartment and tossed the box inside before shutting it again and locking it up. He got out of his car and pushed the lock button on the remote three times before it beeped, letting him know that the security alarm was set. Looking up at the stars one last time for the night, Alex unlocked the front door to his house and let himself inside. Disappointment for the ruined evening overcame him, but there was nothing that he could do to change things or turn them around.

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

Bianca awoke with a start to the sound of someone rattling around in the kitchen. She yawned and rolled over to her favorite sleeping position to try to go back to sleep for another few hours, but found after ten minutes that she was meant to be awake for the day. Groggily sitting up, she saw that Darcy was sitting on the floor entertaining herself with yet another movie. Yawning, Bianca scooted off of her bed and next to her friend feeling bad for sleeping in so late.

“What’s up?” she asked lamely.

“Nada,” Darcy replied, shutting off the TV, “You’re mom woke me up with her banging around.”

Bianca laughed, “She does kind of pay the rent,” she said, “She has a right to be up doing whatever she wants whenever she wants.”

Darcy shrugged. They were quiet for a few minutes. No doubt the same thing was on both of their minds.

“Had Abrianna called yet?” Bianca asked, finally getting out loud what they both wanted to know.

Darcy shook her head, “It’s almost noon. She said she’d call in the morning. Maybe we should call and make sure everything is okay.”

Bianca toyed with the thought in her head for a few minutes. She really was curious to find out what was going on, but didn’t want to bother her friend if it was something really bad that had happened. She figured that she’d call when she was ready to talk about it. But Bianca was worried about Abrianna.

“Let’s call,” she said, picking up her phone and dialing their friends cell number. Bianca drummed her fingers impatiently on the floor as the phone rang. She let it ring twelve times before hanging up.

“No luck?” Darcy asked.

Bianca shook her head, her curls a wild mess from the nights sleep, moving with her head motion.
“Try her house,” Darcy suggested.

Bianca shrugged and dialed their friend’s house number figuring that there was nothing to lose. After four rings, her mom answered.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Mrs. Jenkins. Is Abrianna there?”

There were a few moments of silence before the woman answered.

“I thought that she was at your place, Bianca,”

Bianca froze, wondering what she should say. The woman obviously knew nothing of why she was calling.

“Is everything okay there?” she asked with concern

“Yes, everything is fine,”

More silence. Bianca quickly wrote down what was being said, as she wondered what was going on herself.

“Abrianna said that there was a family emergency and left last night. She said you called to tell her that she was needed,” Bianca told her, “Nothing’s wrong?”

“No,” Mrs. Jenkins replied, “Everything is perfectly fine here.”

Bianca could since worry in the woman’s voice and felt bad for putting any stress on her. She bit her lip, wondering what to say next.

“Well, I was just wondering,” she said lamely.

“Let me know if you hear from her, alright?” Mrs. Jenkins replied, “I’m sure she’s perfectly fine, but I know I’d be the last person she would call.”

Bianca laughed and said goodbye. She felt bad for the poor lady. She obviously could sense that her daughter wasn’t too fond of her. Bianca though, could tell that Mrs. Jenkins loved her laughter a lot. A nervous feeling settled in her stomach as she wondered where Abrianna was. She was deep in thought when she was interrupted by Darcy trying to get her attention.

“What?” she asked.

“I think we’ve got a problem,” Bianca notified her before seeing fear hit Darcy’s eyes too.

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

Abrianna awoke slowly. Her head was throbbing and she felt sick to her stomach. She squinted as a bright light blinded her, coming through the window. Reaching up, she touched the sore spot on her forehead and felt the wet stickiness of blood. Forcing her eyes to open fully, Abrianna looked around and was suddenly afraid. Where was she? Who was she? And why did she not recognize anything around her? Nothing was making sense, and she wondered what was going on. To be honest, she didn’t remember anything about anything. More fear overcame her, as she wanted to know what was going on. She sat up and felt a bit woozy, but forced herself not to lay her head back down. She felt she needed to find out whatever she could. Looking around, she noticed that she was in a car, but whose? Why was she in the drivers seat and did she even know HOW to drive? So many questions were going through her head, but she had no answers. Abrianna wished that she at least knew who she was or had some clues as to her past, but had none, and that scared her more than anything. Nothing seemed right and she felt lost, confused and without a friend in the world. Did she even have friends? A family? If she did, she wondered where they were and more importantly, who they were.

Abrianna held on tightly to the sides of the car as she stepped outside, trying to steady herself, and wondered where the door went after standing confused for a moment knowing that something was not right. A single tear formed in her eye. She wished that she could remember something,
anything, but nothing came to her. She was clueless and there was nobody around to help her. She was vulnerable to the world and with the little knowledge she had, anybody could take advantage of her and hurt her in any way that they liked. She knew that she had to get away from the car, out into the open. Maybe somebody would stop and take her some place. She hoped so. Stumbling around a little, Abrianna began making her way slowly away from the car, wandering off into the wilderness without a clue as to direction or where she headed.

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

Bianca and Darcy sat by the phone staring at it waiting for it to ring. They had refused to leave Bianca’s in case something happened and knew where to find them. Nobody had still heard from Abrianna and they were really beginning to worry. It wasn’t like her to do this. She always let them know that she was okay. But it was now almost three in the afternoon and there was still no word.

“What do you think happened?” Bianca asked, shivering a little. Was it just her, or was the room a little chilly?

Darcy grunted, “Why did she lie to us?” she asked, “This is why I trust nobody. Because it gets me nowhere to be trusting.”

Bianca rolled her eyes, “Darce, her lying to us is the least of our worries right now, dontcha thing?”

Darcy grumbled something under her breath, but Bianca could tell that her attitude was just a cover up so that nobody could see that she really was worried about Abrianna. Bianca could see right through her a lot of the time, even though her stubborn friend said that nobody could.

Just then, the phone blared, making them both jump. The girls stared at one another before Bianca dove for the phone, picking it up?

“Hello?” she breathed, breathlessly.


“Hi,” a male voice said, “Is Abrianna there?”
“No, Alex” Bianca said, her shoulders sagging at the hope she’d had of it being Abrianna disappearing, “She left late last night because of some family emergency that never really happened
.
Darcy’s eyes shot up at the sound of their friend’s boyfriend’s name and she glared at the phone for a moment before grabbing it from Bianca’s hand.

“You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?” she spat out at him, her tone cold.

Bianca winced. If Darcy didn’t scare him off of the phone, she didn’t know what would. Alex could be a lot of help in knowing where she went off to…maybe.

“Give me back the phone,” Bianca demanded, grabbing it away from Darcy and putting it back to her ear, “Alex, do you have any clue where Abrianna would be? If you do, please tell us. We’re worried sick.”

She could hear Alex pause, as if he were afraid to speak but knew that he had to so that they had a clue as to what was going on.

“It was me who called her,” he admitted quietly.

Bianca’s eyes widened at the confession, but she didn’t yell. That would be Darcy’s job later on. For now, she had to find out what she could.

“It was our two and a half year anniversary,” he continued, “So I asked her to meet me out at our special place that I know she’s told you about.”

Bianca’s raised her eyebrows. Abrianna had never told her about any special place, and she told Alex so. She swore that she heard him breath a sigh of relief.

“She left as soon as she got off of the phone with you,” she told him.

Darcy’s eyes grew fire as she screamed into the phone, “It was foggy as fuck out and you STILL made her drive in it, you bastard.”

Bianca shushed her and went back to Alex, “I know it was a special night for you, but still…”

“What should we do,” Alex asked, his stomach forming knots at the thought of his beloved Abrianna being hurt somewhere.

“We need to go and look for her.” She said, “And we need your help since you know the way to your secret place and we obviously don’t”

“Ill be right over,” Alex promised, “Wait up for me and we’ll all go together.”

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

Just as said, Alex arrived at Bianca’s apartment less than ten minutes later. Darcy shot him a nasty glare, but he shrugged it off as she and Bianca crawled into the back seat. He drove off in the direction of his and Abrianna’s place. At first, it was quiet, but when the glove compartment popped open and the ring box fell out, Bianca reached under the front passenger seat to get it. She opened the box and Darcy looked over and they both gasped at the sight of the gorgeous diamond ring on white gold.

“What’s this?” Bianca asked.

Alex turned around and his eyes widened, grabbing it and putting it back into the glove compartment making sure that the door shut tightly behind it, “I locked it up in there last night.” He muttered, “How did it open?”

“Answer my question,” Bianca demanded.

“As I said on the phone, it was our two and a half years. I wanted to be with her so that I could propose. It was a special occasion. God, I love her so much. I want to be with her for the rest of my life.”

Bianca smiled, and saw that Darcy had a little bit of sympathy spread across her face as well.

“Let’s hope that you’ll have plenty of chances to put that opportunity out,” she said, and saw that he tensed up at the thought of never finding his girlfriend, “Kidding. We’re going to find her,” she said with total confidence.

Alex turned off onto the long and winding road. Bianca found it to be gorgeous with all of the trees getting their fall colored leaves. She wondered just where this special place was, but didn’t have a clue and didn’t think she would find out. If there were any hints to where Abrianna was, it would be before they reached the place.

“How long out is this road?” she asked him

“About ten miles long,” he answered solemnly, looking around sharply for where Abrianna could have been.

There were a few moments of silence. Darcy and Bianca knew that he was driving extra slow so that they didn’t miss a thing. Suddenly, Darcy let out a gasp and they both looked at her expectantly.

“There’s her car,” she shrieked.

Alex did a double take and slammed on the breaks hard. He put his car in park and they all looked at it for a moment. The whole front end was almost completely gone from being smashed into the tree so hard. Bianca thought that she was going to throw up at the sight of the totaled car. All three looked at one another before Alex got out of the car and stood, looking at the Civic, afraid to go and look. Darcy got out of the back seat and then Bianca scrambled out after her.

“You go first,” Bianca pushed Alex.

“Um, no,” he said, “You girls go ahead.” He gulped, tears forming in his eyes afraid of what he might see when he looked inside.

“For the love of god,” Darcy cried out, “We’ll all go together. She needs our help and seconds count.”

They didn’t argue with her. Together, all three of them cautiously walked toward the car. When they reached the car, they looked at one another for support before looking inside to see how bad off their best friend was at the same time and gasped. Abrianna wasn’t there.

Chapter Three

The group of three continued to stare into the empty, demolished car. Bianca shut her eyes and counted to three, hoping that when she opened them again, her friend would be there. She took a deep, ragged breath and slowly opened her eyes and looked back into the white car. Still empty. But what was that on the dash…

“Oh my god,” Bianca screamed, “There’s blood on the dashboard.”

She started to shake uncontrollably, with Alex comforting her, when he felt he needed comforting too. He did the best he could to comfort all three of them by saying that it had dried, so it probably happened hours ago, but it still didn’t calm his nerves down any.

“Whe…where is she?” Darcy stuttered, then spun around and looked at Alex accusingly, “Where is she?” she asked again more bluntly, putting her hands on her hips, “What is this? A cruel joke or something? Haha, funny. It’s over. Now where’s Abrianna?”

“I…I don’t know,” Alex breathed, running a hand through his blond hair, “I’m wondering the same thing.”

“Darcy, I don’t think that Alex and Abrianna would do something like that to us,” Bianca defended the boy, “But look at her car. She couldn’t exactly get up and walk away.”

“Maybe somebody drove by and saw her, then called for an ambulance,” Darcy suggested.

Alex shook his head, “No,” he said aloud, “Nobody goes down this road past about ten at night because it is so dangerous and it’s empty until about eight in the morning. If she’d been found, it would have been on the news by now, or somebody would’ve been contacted.”

Bianca quickly walked in front of the car. The windshield was shattered, but there was no indication that Abrianna had gone through it. She jogged quickly around the area anyways though, to see if just by chance, she was lying in the middle of the semi-wooded area unconscious, or even worse. The thought put her stomach in turmoil. After finding nothing, she ran back to Darcy and Alex.

“No sign of her,” she informed them slightly out of breath. Her face suddenly contorted into a frown and tears formed in her eyes, “Oh god, where is she? Why can’t we find her?”

Nobody said a thing, not knowing how to answer her. Neither one of them knew but wanted to know.

“It’s all my fault,” Alex said guiltily, “If I hadn’t called, she would be safe at home by now.”

“Damn right it’s your fault,” Darcy said, stepping up into Alex’s face as best she could considering their height difference.

Bianca pulled Darcy back, who was ready to take a swing at the boy’s face. She felt no need to accuse Alex for what happened, even though he did make a good point on why it should be his fault.

“I want to be with her for the rest of my life,” Alex sniffled, “We have to find her so I can tell her that.”

Bianca stepped over to Alex and hugged him to comfort him. Darcy soon joined in and together, they all hugged one another. A single tear streaked down Bianca’s cheek as she wondered what she would do if Tyler ever disappeared from her life. She decided from here on out that she would never get mad at him again over not calling when he said he would. It was stupid, especially when he could be taken from her at any given moment without any warning.

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

Abrianna wandered down the side of the road wondering where she was. She read the names of some restaurants, but knew nothing of any of them. What was McDonalds, and was Olive Garden any good? The heavenly aroma coming from the place that listed that it was Italian filled her nostrils. Her stomach growled painfully in huger, but she had no money to stop anywhere for anything to eat. Sweat beaded her forehead, dripping into the open cut on her head, stinging it. She winced in pain, not knowing what she should do. Abrianna cautiously looked to the road, watching cars buzz by at high speeds. She wished that she had a car to get places, but didn’t think that she knew how to drive. A sports car full of guys pulled up to the curb and slowed down. The passenger side window went down and one of the guys stuck his head out. She turned to look at them, and knew that it was a big mistake almost right away.

“Hey baby,” he whistled, “How bout getting into this car and givin’ me some suga,” he called.

Abrianna turned her head back away, keeping it low. She hurridly scurried down the sidewalk, trying to get away from them.

“Awww,” a voice hollered from the back seat, “Little girl a little un-experienced. Get into our car and we’ll take you to a place where we all can take turns giving you more than plenty.”

Abrianna felt tears stinging her eyes. Were all guys like this, or were some of them nice. She was afraid to find out. For the first time the thought occurred to her about having a boyfriend. Did she have one, or was she alone without a special someone in her life. For the tenth time, she wished that she could remember something. It felt almost as if she were in a horrible nightmare where she was lost and confused. She would wake up any moment and know her former life.

“C’mon you sexy lil’ thing,” the driver yelled, “Don’t make us come after you. We will if you play hard to get.”

Abrianna turned and ran in the opposite direction of the car as fast as she could. She could hear the loud laughter of the guys as she tripped and fell over her feet, scrambling to get back up and run further and further away. She didn’t care where she landed herself, as long as it was somewhere far from them. She could have sworn she heard a car door slam and knew that she had when she heard footsteps quickly pounding behind her. She started to run faster, but not fast enough. She felt herself being tackled to the round. She screamed as loud as she could, trying to fight the guy off, but he wasn’t letting up. She screamed again, louder this time.

“C’mon Erik,” somebody from the car shouted, “Leave the bitch alone before all that shrieking gets us arrested.”

The guy that was called Erik quickly got up and ran back to the car. Abrianna, shaking so hard she could barely move, ran as quickly as she could. Seconds later, an engine revved and tires squealed as the car merged quickly back into traffic. Had they gotten the hint, or were they going around the block to find her? She wasn’t sure, but just wanted to find a place to hide for a while.

Before she knew it, Abrianna had wandered into a small park. She cautiously walked around, seeing little kids on swings and jungle gyms. She smiled, watching them have a great time. What had her childhood been like? Deep in thought, Abrianna didn’t even hear somebody yelling at her to watch out. Seconds later, she was hit in the chest with a soccer ball which dropped to her feet. A cute boy that looked to around her age jogged over to her and picked the ball up, smiling at her.

“Sorry about that,” he said, “You okay?”

Abrianna nodded, wanting to smile back but to afraid to try. Nervousness came over her suddenly. The boy smiled one more time at her before running back to his group of friends to continue their game. Exhausted from exploring the large city, she sat down on a park bench. Doubling over in pain from her hunger, she glanced inside of a trashcan that was next to her. She saw a can of Coke and a few crackers on the bottom along with some empty wrappers of other things. Reaching inside, she picked them up and inspected the crackers. Making a face in disgust, she popped one in her mouth, deciding that she couldn’t be picky. Savoring the taste, she shut her eyes. Once finished, she realized that her mouth was dry. She reached back into the garbage can to get the can of soda, shaking it. There was still a little left. She brought it up to her mouth, gulping the last bit, until the last drops had fallen into her mouth. The warm soda had turned flat long ago, but again, it was all she had because of her lack of money. She didn’t even know if she had a job. Throwing the can and cracker wrapper back into the garbage, she looked ahead as a group of girls ran over to one another, hugging. How she wished that she had somebody. It would make her life so much easier, and maybe help her to get her memory back. A frightened waterfall of tears formed in Abrianna’s eyes. She wondered if she would ever remember anything again and if she would ever be found.

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

It was three days later and there was still no word on where Abrianna was. As Bianca knew it, Alex had locked himself in his room, still holding himself responsible for everything that had happened. She had tried calling him to talk, but he never answered the phone and his parents said that they couldn’t get through to him either. Darcy, who was normally sarcastic and witty rarely left her house just in case there was some news on Abrianna. Bianca cried a lot at the thought of one of her best friends being gone. She was missing, and nobody knew where she was. They were sure that she would have turned up by now, but nothing had come up. Abrianna’s parents had tried to file a police report, but they said that they needed seventy two hours before she was declared missing, considering the fact that she was over eighteen and could legally go out without parental persmission for as long as she wanted. It was noon. In a mere twelve more hours, they could put out a search for her. Twelve hours could change a lot.

Bianca sighed. All three of them had had tickets to a concert that night to see their favorite band. Darcy and Bianca knew that they couldn’t face going though without Abrianna. Darcy had called her the day before asking if it was okay for her to sell their tenth row tickets, and Bianca had told her to go ahead. Once, she would have killed Darcy for suggesting that, but under normal circumstances, it would have been a joke. It was completely unlike Darcy to suggest selling tickets to see her favorite band, especially when they’d lucked out to get super close to the stage. She didn’t think that anything could stop the blonde girl from going, but knew now that friendship crisis could. The phone rang, distracting Bianca from her thoughts.

“Hello,” she answered in monotone.

“Hey,” replied Darcy’s voice on the other end of the phone. She sounded equally unenthused.

There were a few minutes of awkward silence. Normally the two could talk for hours about anything and everything. Lately, they had a hard time talking for more than five minutes without losing topics of conversation.

“So,” Darcy said lamely, trailing off, “What are you doing tonight?”

“Nothing,” Bianca replied, “Tyler wanted to go out, but I told him I wasn’t in the mood. He’s kinda pissed at me for it. Can you believe that he figured that just because I’m not going to the concert, that I would spend time with him. He got a rude awakening.”

“He’ll get over it,” Darcy muttered, “You know what’s funny? I have no regrets about missing the concert. I used to think it would be the worst thing ever, but I don’t even care.”

“Me neither,” Bianca replied.

Neither said anything else for another few minutes. Bianca could swear that she could hear Darcy crying. It was something she’d never seen or heard her do up until the past few days. Bianca, on the other hand, was a very sensitive person, so it wasn’t unusual to catch her in tears.

“Bianca,” Darcy asked, “Do you think that Abrianna will ever be found?”

Bianca sighed. She wanted so badly to tell her friend yes, that she did think that she would be. That they would find her, and she’d be perfectly okay, but it would be a lie to both of them.

“I don’t know,” was what she said instead, “I hope so, but I don’t know if the chances are good or not.”

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

“Hey, where’s our next stop?” Nick asked, shutting off his Nintindo game system and packing away the controllers.

His question was followed by some laughs as well as some groans. He looked at them puzzled, wondering why such a response.

“You just asked that exact same question not more than ten minutes ago,” Brian told him.

“I was focusing on my game,” Nick defended, “I didn’t hear.”

“You should have known where our next stop was going to be since two nights ago,” Kevin told him, shaking his head, “Nick, you worry all of us. You need to grow up and keep your ears open.”

“And eyes,” A.J. joked, “No more running into doors and windows.”

Nick blushed. He was always getting razzed by his friends about his tendency to be blonde and clumbsy.

“To answer your question, our next stop is in Chicago,” Kevin told him on a more serious note.

“Chicago, Indiana,” Nick repeated, “Sweeet.”

All of the guys looked at him like he was the biggest idiot that God had ever created. Nick looked at them innocently.

“What did I say?” he asked with sincerity.

“Chicago, ILLINOIS, Nick,” Kevin said, shaking his head, “Illinois.”

“Oh,” Nick sheepishly replied.

The next hour of the ride went by in silence. Howie and Brian were both reading, Kevin was watching CNN and A.J. was asleep. Nick stared out the window watching everything go by. As they were at a stoplight, he saw a girl on the sidewalk, wandering around as if she were lost. She stopped and looked every few seconds. He stared, squinting to get a good look at her. She was cute, and he knew that she was definitely A.J’s type.

“Guys,” Nick said aloud, keeping his eyes out the window on the girl, “Think we should stop? She looks lost.”

He pointed at the girl as the others walked over to get a good look at whom Nick was talking about.

“Yeah, she does.” A.J. groggily stated, staring at the girl in longing.

“But stop?” Kevin asked, unsure of the suggestion.

“Sure, why not,” Brian stated, “She looks harmless enough…and like she’s in needs of help.”

Kevin sighed and yelled for the driver to pull of to the side of the road. The driver switched lanes and pulled off directly right next to the small girl who looked to be about eighteen or so. She looked up at the bus in awe, her face somewhat scared as she started to walk away thinking of her situation a few days before with the taunting guys. The side of the huge bus read BACKSTREET BOYS. She looked at it, reading the name over and over, wondering who or what Backstreet Boys were. Nick opened a window in the back of the bus and shouted out of it.

“Excuse me, do you need help?”

She shook her head unsurly, and then changed her mind, and nodded.

“I don’t know where I am,” she called up softly, “I don’t remember anything and I’m lost.”

A.J. felt sympathy for the girl. He popped his head out the window and yelled, “Hop on, maybe we can help.”

Abrianna watched as traffic around them sped by as the doors to the bus opened. She paused for a moment before deciding that it was safe, climbing aboard. Somebody met her, and led her to the back of the bus. She stared in amazement. The bus had a kitchen, a couch, three bunks, a table, and a large TV. She was sure there was even a restroom in the back, but didn’t ask.

“Have a seat,” A.J told her.

She sat down on the couch, keeping on the edge in nervousness. Nobody said a thing, and she was beginning to think that she’d made a mistake of getting on the bus of these unknown people.

“Nice bus you have,” she complemented, then was quiet for a moment, “Who are the Backstreet Boys?” she asked quietly.

The five men all looked at one another and smiled. She didn’t know if that were a good thing or bad.

“That would be us,” the one who looked to be the oldest said, “We all have our own buses, but ride together in this one sometimes. It depends from day to day. Anyways, to answer your question, I’m Kevin, the blonde boy is Nick, the one with the goatee is A.J, the Latino is Howie and the one over there is Brian.”

They all greeted Abrianna and she smiled at them. They seemed friendly enough, and trusting.

“What’s your name?” A.J. asked.

Abrianna paused, confused on what to tell them. She didn’t want to sound like a moron to them. They might kick her off.

“I don’t know my name,” she finally admitted, “I woke up a few days ago in a crashed car, but I don’t remember anything before that.”

The guys looked at her, their eyes full of sympathy. She heard one of them whisper something about amnesia.

“What do you do for a living?” she asked.

“Oh, we just sing,” Nick said casually, “We tour some places.”

“That’s really cool,” Abrianna told them, impressed with their career.

“There’s the ups and downs,” Howie said.

There were a few minutes of silence. The bus was still on the curb. Kevin got up for a moment and went to the front. Seconds after he returned, the bus started to roll forward. Abrianna braced herself, tensing up. Where were they taking her?

“Since you don’t seem to have anywhere to go,” Kevin started, “We’re taking you to our show tonight here in town. If you want to leave, you can go from there. If you want a place to stay, and people who will take care of you, then you can tour with us from here on out. The choice is yours.”

All five guys smiled at her with generosity. She really didn’t have a place to go. And it would be nice to have people to care for her, and have somebody that she could really get to know.

“I think I’ll tour with you,” she finally told them softly.

The guys all smiled, and hugged her one by one.

“Welcome aboard,” A.J. said, hugging her longer than any of them, “You’re officially going to be a part of the Backstreet experience.”

Abrianna smiled at their generosity. She still didn’t totally know who these Boys were with the custom made private buses, but she was about to find out. Since she’d awoken from the car, she felt for the first time that everything was going to be all right.

Chapter Four

“I so don’t see how this is going to work,” Darcy complained, stapling the eight by ten sheet of paper to an electric pole, “People in the world suck today. No body cares about OUR friend being gone.”

She stood back and examined the piece of paper. It had a large print of Abrianna’s face on it with the words MISSING in black bold letters. There was a little information on her underneath the photograph along with Abrianna’s home phone number if anybody had any information. They were even offering a generous reward of two grand to anybody who found her. The two girls, Abrianna’s family and Alex were all contributing to the reward fund.

“Darcy,” Bianca sighed, “Have some confidence. These things have worked before. Who says that they can’t work when we have to put one out?”

“It’s been four days,” Darcy grumbled, stapling another poster to a tree that was in a little park a hundred feet away from the pole, “We’ve put up over a hundred of these all over Chicago already. Don’t you think that SOMEBODY would have seen her.”

Bianca shrugged, a sinking feeling settling in her stomach. It had been four days since she’d disappeared. Four long days that had drug by so slowly that they felt like four weeks instead.

“There’s always hope,” Bianca said, grabbing more of the posters out of Darcy’s arms to take around herself.

“She’s eighteen,” Darcy pointed out, “It’s not like she’s a little lost kid. Somebody sees her and walks right past because she’s an adult and looks it. If she were younger, maybe someone would stop and take her in. That’s why I have no faith in these things. Because she’s too old for outsiders to even care.”

“That’s a lovely attitude,” Bianca remarked sarcastically, giving her a thumbs up, “Way to think of it.”

Darcy shot her a perturbed look and turned away, deciding to ignore her for a while. But it was her sarcasticness that had rubbed off onto her two friends over the years, and opened Bianca up to be bold…sometimes too bold for her own good.

The two friends continued walking down the busy city street posting up the posters, stapling them firmly into place. Bianca stretched up onto her tip toes to reach up a little higher on a tree so that it was more likely to be seen. Reaching up to staple it, she lost her balance and fell to her butt, the paper fluttering to the ground landing softly behind her. She growled in defeat, getting up and brushing herself off. Darcy was in front of her trying hard not to laugh.

“So now you’re gonna talk to me,” Bianca retorted, but she was smiling a little. She turned around to retrieve the fallen poster when she saw a boy about their age behind her holding it, staring down at it.

“Excuse me,” Bianca said, “Could we please have that back.”

The boy looked up and then back down again.

“I’ve seen this girl,” he said, “A few days ago in the park right over there.”

He pointed to the park in which he was referring to. The girls looked at it, then put their eyes back on him.

“Where did she go?” Darcy asked

The boy shrugged, “Me and the guys were playing soccer and the ball hit accidentally her. She seemed to be confused…in a daze, even. I didn’t see where she went off to after that.”

“Oh,” Bianca said, looking down. The little bit of hope that had sent adrenaline rushing through her had vanished.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help,” The boy said, “If I see her again, I’ll call the number.”

Bianca nodded and Darcy shooed him away. Neither knew what to say or do. Bianca wished that he hadn’t even told them that he had seen her. In a way, it was good to know that she had been around. But it put them right back at square one of not knowing if she really was okay, or something had happened in the days since the guy had seen her.

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

“Hey, chick,” Nick called out, trying to get Abrianna’s attention.

Abrianna continued to stare out the window of the tour bus. It was almost a week later and she was still with the music group. It had taken a few shows for her to get used to the music, but she was slowly beginning to adapt to touring life and enjoy the music style. She didn’t realize quite how popular the band actually was and was sure that she still wasn’t fully aware of their popularity. She had a feeling that there was still something about them that she didn’t know, but was determined to find out. But shows weren’t all there was to their lives. There was so much more and she knew how hectic their days were and how stressful they must be. Abrianna admired their enthusiasm for their careers though and how together they seemed despite how busy they really were. She realized that she was extremely lucky that the five men had stopped and taken her in. Who knew where she would be without them.

“Hey, girl,” Nick repeated.

Abrianna looked over at him. Since they’d taken her in, she’d been referred to as chick, girl, woman, hey you and various other things.

“What movie do you wanna watch?” he asked, tossing her a book full of DVD’s. Abrianna flipped through them, not recognizing any of the titles. She looked through them once more realizing that Nick would probably choose something more entertaining than she would. He, after all, knew which ones were good and which weren’t.

“I don’t care,” she told him, handing the overflowing book back to him, “You pick whatever you like.”

Nick smiled and eagerly fingered through the movies trying to find his favorite. A.J. glanced at him and rolled his eyes, knowing exactly where his thoughts were going, giving his attention back to the book he was reading.

“Hey guys,” Kevin said aloud, “Don’t you think that we should give our new friend a name? So we don’t call her “girl” or “chick” anymore?”

“Good idea,” A.J. replied, smiling at the girl, “Can’t believe it took us five days to think of that.”

Abrianna smiled back at him, happy that she would finally have a name of her own. She wondered what they would come up with to call her.

“What do you think of the name Zaina?” Nick asked her

“It’s pretty,” Abrianna replied.

“Pretty unusual,” Brian finished, “Can’t you think of something normal?”

“I like it,” Abrianna said softly, “It’s unique.”

The guys all looked at one another, amazed that Nick’s weird suggestion had actually impressed the girl.

“Well, Zaina,” Kevin said unsurely, “You now have a name…I guess.”

Abrianna (from now on known as Zaina) smiled. She was happy to know that she would actually be somebody instead of feeling like an object.

“Anyways, Zaina,” Kevin asked, changing the subject, “What do you think of all of this so far?”

Zaina shrugged, “It’s a lot of fun, I guess. Always moving, but fun.”

The guys all grinned happy to hear that she wasn’t completely unimpressed and bored with their lifestyle. They wanted her to feel at home and welcome and figured that they were doing a pretty good job of it so far.

Zaina figured that she had no choice but to like what her life was. She didn’t have anything else to compare it to other than the few days before being rescued. This was her life as she knew it. It was all she did know, but decided it couldn’t get much better. She was pretty much waited on hand and foot, which did get slightly uncomfortable at times, but she enjoyed it for the most part. She had five guardians that had taken over the roles as her big brothers. They protected her and were always around. It made her feel good to know that there were people who cared.

“These past few days that you’ve been with us haven’t exactly been the most exciting,” Kevin admitted regretfully, “But soon enough you’ll be so caught up in the action and things will start going again full throttle.”

“And I thought that this was hectic,” Zaina joked lightly even though she was partially serious.”

“You ain’t seen nothing yet, babe,” A.J. said, staring longingly at the girl, “We’re going to show you the time of your lives.”

Zaina smiled at him, staring for a little too long. She was very attracted to the man and wanted to get to know him very well. She knew that she would have plenty of time for that though. Plenty of time to get to know all of them better than she even knew herself. She didn’t know if that would be a good thing or bad.

“I can’t wait,” she replied as fireworks exploded inside of her. She couldn’t help it, but she really wanted to have a relationship with this man. She knew for a fact that he was single and her goal was to reel him in like a fish and have him for her own. Was that such a bad thing to want after they had all been kind enough to save her from the outdoor world in which she did not know?

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

Bianca sighed and threw her book aside, reaching to pick up the phone that was ringing beside her. She wasn’t in the mood to talk, but had nothing else to do that night but read or browse the internet, which suddenly seemed boring and a waste of her time. She’d quit her job because she kept messing things up from her mind always being on Abrianna. She was more in the way and an inconvenience than helpful so she’d put her two weeks in. It was her fifth day without a job, and she didn’t even miss it. It was three and a half weeks since their friend had disappeared and there was still no word on her whereabouts. It made Bianca sick, but she had no confidence left that their friend was still somewhere out there alive.

Hesitantly, she picked the phone up and slowly brought it to her ear, “Yeah?” she answered.

“It’s Darcy,” her friend said, “What’s up?”

“Same as usual,” Bianca said bordely, “Nothing.”

There were a few moments of silence. Her and Darcy rarely hung out any more. She didn’t even spend time with Tyler. They talked on the phone every night, same as always, but she didn’t feel like going out. He was being understanding, but she could tell that he was also getting frustrated with her attitude. She honestly didn’t know how much longer he would deal with it before ending things.

“Do you wanna go and see Freaky Friday later on?” Darcy asked.

Her question took Bianca by surprise. It was one movie that Darcy had said she had no initiation to see. Her and Abrianna had been planning to go together to watch it for months. She sighed. She knew that she wouldn’t enjoy the movie that had seemed like it would be so funny without her other friend.

“Not really,” she replied, “I think that I’m going to stay in tonight and go to sleep early or something.”

“Yeah, same here,” Darcy agreed, “I’ll probably download some pictures of Johnny or something.”

“Sounds good,” Bianca said, happy that her friend wasn’t putting up an argument. She wasn’t very good about telling people no more than once. She knew she’d cave in and end up going against her will if Darcy begged, “Have you heard from her boyfriend lately?”

“Nope,” Darcy responded, “I think he’s afraid of me. I saw him at the mall the other week and kinda threatened him in a non threatening way.”

“Hmph,” Bianca grunted, “Can’t imagine why. And by the way, that didn’t make any sense at all.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Darcy demanded, already knowing the exact answer without needing to be told.

“Just forget that I said anything,” Bianca sighed, “I talked to him last week. He’s not taking it well still. I guess that this proves your theory wrong. Some guys are lost without their woman.”

Darcy didn’t say anything. She hated the idea of being wrong, but wasn’t in the mood to argue or try to twist the situation around into making it so that she was right again about this too.

“I think one thing is for sure,” Bianca commented, “We’re both not into anything we used to be into anymore.”

“You’re right,” Darcy replied, “In fact, now, everything we used to like seems childish and dumb.”

Bianca sighed. There was a long period of uncomfortable silence. Neither one knew what to say and Bianca was itching to just get off of the phone. That way she wouldn’t have to make something up to say just to keep conversation going.

“I’m gonna go,” she said, “Maybe we can get together later this week, ya know. If we’re both feeling up to it.”

“Sure,” Darcy replied, “Talk to you later.”

“Bye,” Bianca said, hanging up quickly.

Getting up out of her computer chair, she went and crawled into bed, leaning against the wall. She picked up her pillow and hugged it against her chest. A few tears trickled down her cheeks, even though she was trying so hard to hold her emotions in. Nothing was the same anymore, and for the first time in her life, she hated change more than anything.

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

“Has anybody seen my pants?” Nick called out, searching everywhere for the pair that he had to wear out first on stage, “I could’ve sworn that I hung them over the back of the couch.”

The other four guys all rolled their eyes and groaned. Kevin looked as if he were about to pass out. They were running behind schedule as it was and now Nick had lost the most important part of his outfit.

Zaina shook her head and dropped to the floor, crouching down to look underneath the couch that was in their dressing room. She pulled a few things out and tossed them behind her.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing woman,” Howie protested, “You’re messing up our room.”

Zaina didn’t reply, continuing her search. She squinted, thinking that she saw them in the very back against the wall. She crawled underneath the couch a little and grabbed them, dragging them out from under with her. Zaina stood up and looked them over, clearing her throat. Nick looked at her and she held the pair of pants out to him. Nick ran over and grabbed them, slipping them on quickly over his boxers.

“Thanks,” he said greatfully, smiling at her, “Where did you find them?”

“Behind the couch, blonde,” Zaina told him with a laugh, ‘They must’ve fallen when you “hung” them there.”

Nick buttoned the pants and straightened his clothes, giving himself a look over in the mirror to make sure everything was right.

“Okay guys,” Kevin barked, “Let’s move it. We’ve got a show to do.”

Zaina hugged each of the guys and wished them luck, like she did every show. It had become a tradition of hers. When it came A.J’s turn, she hugged him for an extra long time. She peeked over his shoulder to make sure nobody was looking before sneaking a small kiss on his cheek.

“Break a leg out there,” she called as they walked out the door.

“Aren’t you coming to watch?” Kevin asked her, stopping and letting the others go out around him.

Zaina shook her head, “Nah. I’m kinda exhausted tonight. I might be out later on though.”

Kevin nodded, “Get some rest. We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

Zaina’s eyes widened, wondering just what was in store for them. And why was she going to be involved in it?

“Photo shoot and press meeting. Nothing new for us, but something very new for you. Evidently, the press got word on you and they want you there for the interview.”

“Oh,” Zaina replied, wondering what made her so special. She’d come to realize over the past month that the Backstreet Boys were a hit sensation. They were IT. They were one of the most well known, popular and famous music groups around, and they had stopped to help little nothing her in a time of need. Now she was very much a part of them and was beginning to realize that she was starting to get some publicity too. The guys refused to let her into any photos though. Something about protecting her image and privacy. She didn’t understand it.

“Well, I gotta jet,” Kevin said, “Rest up and come on out if you feel up to it. If not, see you after the show.”

Zaina got up and gave Kevin another hug. He was definitely the most concerned about her well-being. She appreciated his going all out to make sure that she was doing all right at all times.

“Good luck out there,” she called as he left.

She watched the man jog down the narrow hall that led to backstage and shut the door behind her when she saw that he’d made it there safely. It wasn’t uncommon for fans or anti-fans to be lurking in the shadows waiting for one of them to appear alone waiting to attack. Their security was tight, and she didn’t know of it happening to them, but she could never be too safe. Walking over to the leather couch, she fell onto it and laid down. Shutting her eyes, an idea popped into her head. Smiling, she pictured her plan. It would surprise and dazzle everyone. The finished product of what she wanted to do was the last image in her head before she drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Five

“Oh my god,” Kevin exclaimed, running a hand through his thick hair, looking Zaina up and down “What did you do to yourself?”

He didn’t know whether he liked what he was seeing or disapproved of it. All he knew was that it would take a little time to get used to.

Zaina looked at herself in the nearby mirror and fixed her hair. She had asked A.J. for his credit card and had gone out to a Salon nearby. She’d had her hair layered and highlighted to a color that could be called both light brown or dark blonde. She’d had a complete facial done, giving her a completely different look along with a bronze colored tan. She had also gotten a manicure and pedicure to go along with it and a massage. In fact, she’d visited just about every station at the salon to go all out and pamper herself. Not only did she feel more refreshed, but she felt better about herself and more confident. Not even she recognized herself. What gave her away to the guys were her eyes. They all agreed that she had the most beautiful green eyes. She was considering getting sky blue colored contacts though.

“Jeez, Zaina,” A.J. commented, “You looked good before. Now you look…amazing.” He stared her over for a moment then stopped, “How much did you charge onto my card for all of this?”

Zaina laughed, “Not too much.” She assured him, “Don’t worry. I didn’t charge you to your max.”

A.J. breathed a sigh of relief. He may be a millionaire, but he still had to manage his money like any other person. He just had a little more leeway than most.

The guys all complimented Zaina’s new look. She smiled at the attention, eating it all up like a cat laps up milk. She wasn’t used to it all. They all told her she looked stunning, beautiful, gorgeous, lovely and about every other glamorous term that there was. She was sorry that it had taken her about a week to get an appointment in at a salon in the area that they would be at. She had no regrets though. She wasn’t sure that anywhere else could’ve done a better job. All that mattered was that she had gotten it done and it her makeover was complete.

“Hey, guys,” A.J. suddenly announced, “It’s been exactly one month since Zaina has joined us.”

Zaina blushed a little as all eyes turned to her. She started to fidgited with the bottom of her shirt, a nervous habit that she’d developed.

“Consider your little project a one month anniversary gift from me,” A.J. joked with a wink.

“Let’s go out tonight before the show to celebrate,” Nick suggested, “There’s a really nice Italian restaurant here in town that I saw when we were on our way to the hotel to check in.”

The guys all agreed and Zaina blushed.

“You really don’t have to do that,” she protested.

“But we want to,” Kevin assured her, and she decided not to argue.

If Zaina knew one thing, it was that if she acted unappriciative of their wanting to do a good deed, it would bruise their fragile male egos. She felt special that the all wanted to do something nice for her, even if it wasn’t exactly what she would call a special occasion. It was just something that would put attention on her. That was something she didn’t want. Zaina just hoped that the guys wouldn’t do anything to embarrass her or make the night extremely uncomfortable.

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

Zaina sunk lower into the booth seat as a string of ten waiters and waitresses walked over to their table holding an enormous vanilla cake singing. She wanted to evaporate into thin air right then and there. Fifteen minutes before, A.J. had excused himself to “use the mens’ room”. She realized now that it had been an excuse to gather up the hired help of the restaurant to humiliate her in front of the crowded dining area. All eyes were on her, exactly what she did not want. One especially good looking waiter set the cake down in the center of the table at the end of the song and they all scurried away to continue serving the other guests.

“What do ya think?” Nick asked eagerly.
Zaina slowly sat back up, looking around self-consciously. She glared at the five guys, planning out a special revenge for each one of them.

“I told you all not to embarrass me,” she started, “At least five times. And what do you do? Embarrass me anyways.”

“We got free dessert,” Nick pointed out, reaching over to cut the cake for all six of them.

“Guys,” Zaina muttered and rolled her eyes, “Is that all you ever think about? Food? We could’ve gone out for something cheap at McDonalds or something.”

Nick made a face, “McDonalds is good, but not good enough to treat a princess like you to.”

Zaina rolled her eyes and shook her head. She couldn’t believe the line that Nick had just fed her. Sure, she knew that the guys were all attracted to her, but a princess? Puh-lease. She wasn’t about to fall for it. She looked over at A.J. and caught him staring at her. He smiled and she smiled back. Things weren’t going as quickly as she had hoped for with him, but with time, she was confident that they would become an item. She had already overheard Nick and Kevin talking about how much of A.J’s type she was and that they suspected that he liked her. That was all she needed to be convinced that none of the guys would mind if she dated A.J.

“We’re sorry we embarrassed you,” Howie said out of nowhere.

Zaina tried to act mad, but couldn’t. They were all just too cute to stay upset with, “Oh, that’s ok,” she said, “I guess that I can forgive you guys. But don’t ever even think about trying to pull something like this again.”

“We won’t,” Nick said with honesty, crossing his fingers behind his back. She had become an important part of all of their lives. If the opportunity came up to pamper her on a special occasion, then they would. He knew that deep down she liked being recognized even if the girl never would admit it.

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

A.J. sat in his hotel room staring at the poster of Zaina before her makeover. He had seen it fluttering in the wind and picked it up. He had quickly tucked it away under his jacket not wanting anybody to see it. If they did, then they would say that the right thing to do was return her to her family. The poster had obviously gone through a lot. He couldn’t make out any of the writing and could barely make out Zaina’s face. It was her eyes that gave her away. Those vibrant green eyes that glowed. Even in photographs they sparkled. Too bad he couldn’t make out her name on the picture. Then they could call her by what she had been known as from wherever she had been from. He had found the poster a few counties away from the show in Chicago, where they had found her at. That was a month ago. A.J. smiled at the vision of Zaina’s face just hours before at dinner. She looked like she had been ready to slaughter all of the members of the band.

Glancing back down at the poster, he realized that it was very wrong of him to keep something like this a secret when he knew that she was with them, safe and when she was being searched for by friends and family who loved her. But he couldn’t bear to take a chance of…no…definitely losing her. She had become so much a part of their lives and he wasn’t going let her go. He was positive that he wasn’t the only one who had grown to love the tiny girl. Whoever was looking for her would have to do without her. She had amnesia and didn’t remember anybody anyways. She had started a brand new life with him and the rest of the Boys. She knew their customs and lifestyle. She didn’t know anything from her past. Why confuse her by thrusting her back into that and away from the only thing that she knew?

A.J. tucked the poster safely away back into his backpack that he took on the busses with him. He couldn’t take the chance on somebody walking in on him with it out or anyone seeing it. If Kevin saw it, especially, Zaina would be gone, on the next flight back to where she lived to reunite with her family. He had always been Mr. Honesty. And if Zaina saw it, then she would wonder who was looking for her and want to go back to people who had known her for her entire life. They would never see or hear from her again. He was sure of that. He wasn’t going to take any risks. Even having the poster was a risk. He decided that the next chance he got, he would throw it out somewhere where nobody would ever find it or know what he did and wished that he didn’t.

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

Alex sat on a large boulder behind his and Abrianna’s waterfall. He picked up a handful of pebbles and plucked them through the flowing stream of down-pouring water one at a time. A light mist from the water sprayed his face and body, but he wasn’t worried about getting wet. He was used to it from all the times he had been there since he and Abrianna found it. He missed his girlfriend more than anything and wished that she were right there with him, in his arms. He ducked out from under the fall, out into the open and looked up to the sky and sighed. It was a clear night. He could easily make out all of the stars, planets, and constellations. They had always had fun making out their own pictures in the starts. She had found some that looked to form a heart and he had found a cluster that could be looked at as a flamingo.

“Where are you,” he asked aloud, “I love you and would do anything to bring you back to me.”

A tear formed in his eye. He let if fall, followed by many more. Nobody was around, so he didn’t have to worry about keeping up his jock image. At the moment, he wasn’t sure if he would’ve cared who’d seen his grief even if he’d been in a crowded room. To be honest, he was sick of acting like an insensitive jerk with no feelings in front of his football buddies. Again, Alex sighed. Bianca and Darcy had been trying so hard to get a hold of him to talk but he always avoided their calls and never returned them. He figured that they would understand when he felt like talking and explained. He wished that for one day, he could block out all thoughts of his lost girlfriend. The memories were too painful. Part of him wondered if this was all some sort of a sick joke because she had wanted to break things off with him and couldn’t do it to his face. But Alex knew that she wasn’t that cruel.

Nobody had replied to the posters that Darcy and Bianca had hung up all over Chicago and surrounding areas. He had seen them up all over the place and felt bad for not taking part in making them. It almost made it seem like he didn’t care if she was ever found or not. The thing was, he cared so much that he couldn’t stand the thought of putting posters up. It made the whole situation seem all the more real and he still wasn’t willing to face the fact that Abrianna was still gone. He preferred to think of it was she was just on a very long vacation and would come back soon. But as much as he liked thinking that that was it, he knew deep down that it wasn’t. Alex hoped that Abrianna came back so that he could propose to her and they could get married, live together and have a happy life together. But if she never showed up, he prayed that she was alive and safe. He hoped that somebody was kind enough to take her in and take care of her, and made a silent thank you to whomever that someone may be just in case it was what everything really boiled down to.

“I hope you know how much I love you, Abrianna,” Alex whispered, “Wherever you are, I hope you know that.”

Alex went back under the waterfall and pulled a blanket up over him that he’d brought. The night was peaceful and would give him a good opportunity to think. He planned on spending the night out there where nobody knew where to find him and bother him. He didn’t feel like putting up with it. The way he figured it, the world could do without Alex Paiotti for one night.

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

Zaina was distracted from the magazine she was reading from a knock on her hotel room door. The group had decided after their dinner to crash there instead of their busses for the night. She got up and padded across the room in her baby blue pajamas. Opening the door, she saw A.J. standing on the other side. Her heart stopped in her chest at the sight of him but she calmly composed herself. A.J smiled sheepishly and waved.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” Zaina smiled, “Can I help you?”

A.J. shrugged and looked around a little. He seemed to be slightly uncomfortable with being there. She could tell that something was on his mind even through his bloodshot tired eyes.

“I couldn’t sleep,” he explained, “Can I come in?”

Zaina opened the door wider inviting him in without words. They walked over to her queen sized bed and sat. They sat there in silence for a few moments. Zaina squirmed a little in nervousness.

“Thanks again for tonight,” she said, “I appriciate everything you guys have done for me. If it weren’t for you, I don’t know where I would be.”

A.J. smiled, reaching out to touch her hand in a friendly gesture. A tingling sensation shot up her arm and fireworks went off inside of her.

“Do you remember anything yet from before we picked you up?” A.J. asked out of curiosity.

Zaina sat thoughtfully for a moment, thinking. She was trying so hard to remember something from before the past month but nothing came to her. Whatever old life she had had was completely gone from her memory.

“No,” she finally said softly, shaking her head, “I remember nothing. It’s like my brain was fried.”

A.J. chuckled softly. Their eyes met for a moment but Zaina quickly looked away and then scolded her self for it. She wanted to be with him, but was avoiding something as simple as eye contact. What was wrong with her? She wanted to know why her heart fluttered whenever he was near and why she felt weightless in his presence. She wondered if this was what love felt like.

“Zaina,” A.J. said, “There’s something that’s been on my mind ever since I first laid eyes on you.”

Zaina looked up, meeting his eyes again and forcing herself to keep her gaze. Her heart thudded in her chest hoping that what she thought was about to happen really was after a month.

“Yes?” she replied, smiling.

“The thing is, I think you’re…you’re really attractive,” A.J. stuttered, searching for the right words, “You’re sweet and funny too. You’re nothing like my ex, who was a vindictive bitch. I have to admit when you first joined us, I was a little weary that you might run us around and try to change us. I was wrong though. You’re nothing like that. I can’t help but feel…”

A.J. was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. He tired to continue, but the knocking continued with shouting coming through the door. Zaina held her finger up for a second telling him to stop.
“Hold that thought,” she said, getting up and going over to the door to see who was there this time. She flung it open and saw a frantic Kevin on the other side.

“Have you seen A.J?” he asked, “He’s not in his room.”

“I’m right here,” A.J. said with a laugh, getting up and going over to the door to meet with his friend.

Kevin breathed a sigh of relief, “I was worried. I went around to every ones room to remind them of the shoot tomorrow, but you weren’t there.”

“Sorry,” A.J. told him, “I couldn’t sleep, and chicks stay up late, so I thought I would come and talk to Zaina.”

A.J. turned to Zaina and smiled, hugging her goodnight and then left the room to go back to his own. Kevin hugged her too, telling her to get a good sleep because they would have to wake early. She told him that she would go right to sleep soon enough and shut the door behind then men. She walked over to her bed and laid down. Disappointment came over her. She had been enjoying her talk with A.J. Putting her pillow over her head to muffle out her voice, she screamed as loud as she could in frustration before throwing the pillow across the room. It dropped to the ground with a soft thump. He had been so close to telling her he liked her. She was almost sure of it. Or was she imagining where the talk had been heading? She didn’t know but now it was too late to find what he had been getting at and maybe she never would.

Chapter Six


THREE YEARS LATER

“C’mon, hurry,” Darcy yelled, “We’re going to be late for the show. Move it, slow poke.”

Bianca laughed as her friend practically pushed Alex out the door and into the cramped backseat her small neon green car. As it was, they were leaving to be at the gate three hours early. They wouldn’t be late even if they were caught in heavy traffic for the entire car ride there.

“I can’t believe that I let you talk me into going to a Backstreet Boys concert,” Alex grumbled, “It’s going to be a bunch of screaming chicks.” But Alex knew exactly why he had agreed. His girlfriend had loved the band…if she would have enjoyed the show, then he figured he should give it a chance…out of respect for her.

Darcy shook her head, “I’ve missed four of their shows because it wouldn’t be the same without Abrianna. We all still miss her, but, maybe this time, it’ll bring back good memories…instead of painful ones.”

Alex frowned at the definite reminder of Abrianna. It had been a little over three years since her disappearance. There never had been any word on her being sighted other than in the park. She never had been found, and he still missed her with every breathing moment. He’d tried dating a few times, but it just didn’t feel right. He couldn’t bring himself to follow through and continue with anybody and two of the three times, he’d left his date making up an excuse to leave or just disappeared out of nowhere, not telling the girl where he was going…he just ran. He’d rather be alone that with somebody other than Abrianna. Pain filled his face and heart and he knew that going to see her favorite band ever would only hurt him worse than he already was.

“You know what,” Alex said, spinning around, “I don’t think I’m gonna go. I…it’ll just make me remember more. Besides, I have a lot of stuff that I need to get done…if I start tonight, it’ll get me ahead of things. Besides, I’m sure they could use me at work since it’s a Friday.”

“What?” Darcy asked in disbelief, throwing her arms into the air, “You’re bailing on us? You are a stupid, pathetic male, you know that?”

Alex shrugged, and backed away from the venomous woman before she could reach in and grab him, forcing him to stay against his will.

“I’ll catch you girls later,” he called, and sprinted off before he was captured and tied to the roof of the car.

Bianca sighed and shook her head sadly, “He’s still not over her. We’re not either, but he’s not moving on. At least we knew that he loved her more than anything. He still has that engagement ring, you know. For once, you were wrong. He is one guy that was head over heels in love.”

Darcy shrugged, letting Bianca’s comment go in one ear and out of the other. She was thinking of the memorial shrine they’d planted in the park, where she’d last been seen. She’d tracked the guy down that had seen her to ask exactly where it had been. They went every day to water the flowers and plant new ones in place of the ones which were no longer looking healthy. Everybody had given up hope that she was alive. It saddened everybody, but they no longer believed that she was out there somewhere unharmed. If she had been, then she would have come back long ago. Back to her home in Chicago, with her friends and family.

“Abrianna would’ve loved the Boys’ new material,” Bianca said with longing in her eyes, “I wish she were going with us.”

“I’m sure she is, in spirit at least,” Darcy replied, watching Alex disappear into a speck in the distance, then slid into her car, “Well, lets go…we all know he ain’t coming back to go with us.” And then she muttered something along the lines of, “His waste of one hundred dollars.”

Bianca sighed and opened the passenger door, getting into the car herself. Darcy was right. Alex had run like a coward and they deserved to have a good time…even if they had to force themselves to. She knew that it would still take a long time to get used to, but they’d have to eventually get used to the fact that Abrianna was no longer around to complete their trio. Darcy put her car into drive and flew out of the driveway and out onto the road accelerating to 60 mph. Bianca grabbed on to the door handle, but laughed because she was having fun despite her fear of the fast moving car that she knew wouldn’t slow down for anything until they were at the areana.

“Just wait until we’re on the freeway,” Darcy yelled over the music, “If Backstreet is involved, ya better get out of my way.”

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

“Nick, pack that damn thing up,” Kevin said, “We’ve got to be ready to go out on stage in less than two hours and we’re running late as it is.”

“Just five more minutes,” Nick mumbled, his eyes glazed over, concentrating fully on what he was doing, “I’ve never gotten this far before…”

Kevin sighed, wondering if Nick had even comprehended what he’d just said, or if it had gone in one ear and right back out the other…or even got lost somewhere in his mind in the middle of some wiring, “Then save it before I turn it off on you,” he threatened, bending down and placing his forefinger on the Nintendo game console’s power button to prove that he wasn’t making light of the situation.

Nick drew back in horror, quickly going to the main menu and saving the game, “I guess I could just…just pick up where I left off at after the show.”

Kevin nodded in satisfaction, getting up and joining everybody else at the door, waiting for Nick to finish up and turn the Nintendo off. After the lengthy process of saving his game, he quickly stood up, about to race toward the door. But before he could move more than three feet, his foot caught on the cord, pulling it out of the wall, causing him to stumble, then trip and fall flat on his face. Nick groaned loudly as he made impact with the hard hotel room floor.

Zaina tried to stifle a laugh as she witnessed Nick make yet another dumb blonde move. He was a sweet kid, but very clumsy. The guys all chuckled, not even attempting to cover up their making fun of their friend. Nick got up and looked around, casually walking toward the group trying to play off his smooth move as if nothing had ever happened.

“Too bad you pulled the plug,” A.J. said, “After all that hard work. Everything you’ve saved…lost…forever”

Nick’s eyes grew wide in panic as he ran toward the Nintendo, jamming the plug back into the wall. The group roared in laughter at A.J’s cruel joke.

“It can’t be,” he said, “That took me seven days to do…”

“Nick, chill,” A.J. said, “I was joking.”

Nick scoweled not amused with A.J’s joke. Everybody knew how important his game systems were and how seriously he took his games. Again, he got up off of the floor and glared at his five friends as they tried to wipe the huge smiles off of their faces. Even Kevin couldn’t help but snicker a little.

“Okay,” Kevin said, “Now let’s move it. We haven’t been in Chicago in years. We’ve got thousands of fans waiting. I have a feeling that this is going to be one of our biggest shows yet.”

The guys all piled through the door and snuck down a secret stairwell and into their limo eager to put on the concert. Zaina followed closely behind them, excited to see why the Boys’ were making such a huge deal out of this particular show. She figured that within hours, she would find out for sure.

After no more than ten minutes on the road, A.J. piped up, pointing out the window, “Look, it’s the spot where we first found Zaina.”

Everybody rushed over to A.J’s side of the limo, pushing to get a glimpse of the area before they’d passed it and it was gone. Sure enough, it was exactly where Zaina had been picked up by them. A tear of happiness formed in Zaina’s eye. After all these years, they still remembered something so small and what she had thought to be as meaningless. They really were the greatest friends that anybody could ask for and she told them so, hugging each one individually in thanks.

“We wouldn’t forget something so important,” Kevin told her, “None of us have been back here since we found you. Just want to make it a night you’ll never forget. I hope we’re doing just that.”

Zaina smiled, thanking Kevin for his kind words, telling him that she knew she wouldn’t, and she knew that it was true. Nothing that the guys ever did for her was forgotten, especially when they made her feel like the most special person on earth, which was pretty much every waking moment.

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

Darcy shoved through the mobs of people who had also gotten to the show early with Bianca directly behind her.

“So much for getting here early to beat the crowd,” she grumbled loudly, “Who would have thought that everybody had the same idea as me?” she asked.

“Darcy, we’re not the only two people in the whole entire world, who love their music, ya know,” Bianca laughed, “Now slow down a bit.”

“I so told you not to wear those damned boots,” Darcy said in her “know it all” voice, pointing down to her six inch platform heels.

Bianca didn’t say anything, knowing that her friend was right. She had warned her a million times not to wear the boots beginning weeks before the upcoming night that was finally there right before them. She’d told her before the Backstreet concert that they’d gone to with Abrianna, the trip to Cedar Point from when they’d lived in Ohio, the county fair, and the seven mile hike that they’d gone on down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon years before which had caused both her feet to swell up for at least a week. But every time, Bianca refused to listen. She liked the feeling of being tall since she was naturally only around five feet, four inches.

Darcy handed the guy at the gate their tickets and grabbed Bianca’s hand, roughly pulling her along, “We’ve got to get to our seats,” she pressured.

Bianca rolled her eyes, “It’s not like we’re not going to be in the exact same assigned seats,” she said, “God, I wish Abrianna were here.”

“Yeah, second row,” Darcy grinned, “She would have absolutely loved it. I work magic, I tell ya. Every show that I get tickets for are great.”

Darcy’s eyes then clouded over, and for a second, the thought crossed her mind of dragging Bianca right back out to the car and back home. But they’d gotten this far. She figured that they might as well stay and enjoy themselves for just one night. Plus there was something else. Some sort of feeling that she was getting in the pit of her stomach that was telling her to stay and something would happen. Every time she got the feeling, some sort of exciting event normally did end up taking place. She hoped that this feeling would bring her backstage to meet her idols, so she could tell them just how amazing they really were and how they had changed her life for the better. It was true. She couldn’t quite pinpoint it, but their music had made a major impact on her life. She just wished that she could figure out how, but decided that just the fact that it had was good enough in itself.

“You okay?” Bianca asked, as she found her seat and looked at Darcy, “No smart ass comments?”

Darcy smirked, “Just fine,” she replied, deciding not to tell Bianca about the feeling. If she was wrong, she knew that her friend would be disappointed if it were a false alarm. If something did happen, all the more fun it would be to see her face light up with excitement.

Bianca shrugged, putting her eyes back on the stage that was right in front of her eyes, almost close enough for her to reach out and touch. She soon joined in on the screams of everybody else, hers meshing in with theirs. By the end of the night, she was sure that she’d have absolutely no voice left, but she didn’t care. She felt that she was right where she belonged for the night. If she awoke sick with the sorest throat she’d ever experienced, then what it took to get her to that stage was what she was willing to do and she knew that Darcy felt the same. After all, Abrianna would want them to have fun, she reminded herself. That’s just what they were going to do.

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

“You guys about ready?” Kevin yelled over the screams that were coming from the other side of the stage.

The other for nodded in his direction, saving their voices for on stage. They knew that this show was going to be big. Chicago was a huge place and the past few years, they’d toured around the Windy City, but not in it. An eerie feeling came over Zaina just being in the area though. She looked around warily as if somebody were out to get her. Something just didn’t feel right. She felt like she were almost in some sort of danger. She was glad though that she had protection in all directions. Zaina remembered being picked up by the guys’ years before in this very area. She’d grown and matured a lot since then and learned to love the music that they performed. She couldn’t believe that on that day so long ago, she’d been afraid of these people. They were the sweetest, most generous guys’ she had ever met. They wouldn’t hurt her for anything in the world and were still so protective of her and her privacy. The only thing they’d ever lied about was underexagerating by a lot about how popular they really were, but she figured that that was just to protect themselves, so she was okay with the little fib.

“You okay?” A.J. asked, walking over to Zaina, concern in his soft eyes.

Zaina gulped and nodded.

“You’re sure you’re okay with us being here?”

Zaina laughed, “It’s not like you can change it now,” she replied, “And yes, I’m okay with it.”

A.J. hugged her and ran off to catch up with the others. Zaina smiled sadly as she watched him go. Regretfully, he never had approached her again after the time that Kevin had interrupted them in the middle of their talk. She had thought that he was going to ask her to be his, but since nothing had ever been said again about it, she figured that she was reading into it the wrong way. Zaina longed to be the one in A.J’s arms, the one he kissed goodnight. She wanted him and still wanted to be with him as more than a friend. Nothing had changed in that sense. Zaina wished that A.J. would like her in a romantic way, but knew that if it were meant to be, it would’ve happened already. Three years was plenty of time to decide if you were in to somebody, especially if you were with that somebody every single day in that time span. Zaina had thought about asking A.J. to be her boyfriend many times, but whenever she got the nerve, she lost it whenever the chance for them to talk came.

Peeking out from around a corner, Zaina saw the enormous crowd waving their arms in the air and heard their screams as the music started playing. She looked over at the guys, seeing them wait to go out on stage, to keep things intense with anticipation and wonder. Finally, after two minutes of intro, the guys all ran out onto the stage and began singing their new hit, Through With Your Lies. Zaina smiled, forgetting all about the feeling of uneasiness that something was going to happen. She’d seen the same show dozens of times, but it never got old. Each show brought on a new surprise of mistakes that the guys made, especially Nick, that made her laugh. They always found a way to keep things interesting and unique in each city, and no matter how serious the slip up, they always made it look like it had been intentional. They were all great at covering up their mistakes on stage.

Her heart melted when she saw A.J. quickly glance back at her and wink. She quickly blew him a kiss back. A.J. had always been a big flirt. He was constantly playfully flirting with her. She just wished that once, he would decide that it was for real. But again, she had a feeling that A.J. just wasn’t interested in her in that way. So in return, she’d begun to flirt back. Two could play his game. Zaina knew that she had it bad for him. Toying with the idea of possibly telling him how she felt for him after the show, she decided that it would be a bad idea. He didn’t need the extra stress on him of knowing that she liked him. It would only complicate things, and possibly land her stranded again right where she’d come from in the first place. No, telling A.J. that her heart accelerated in his presence and she grew nervous and clammy wouldn’t do. Keeping it in would have to until he confronted her, which she was almost positive would never happen. Focusing her attention back on the show, Zaina’s feeling of dread started to come back slowly. She just wondered why she felt so on edge in this area.

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

“I love you Nicky,” Darcy screamed at the top of her lungs, deafening Bianca temporarily.

Nick looked over at Darcy and smiled, waving in her direction. Darcy grinned from ear to ear.

“Did you see that?” she asked, “Tell me that you saw that. Tell me I am not losing my mind.”

Bianca laughed, “I saw it,” she assured her friend, not taking her eyes off of Kevin’s masculine body and sexy, husky voice. His muscles rippled through is shirt as he ripped it open revealing his strong abs that she knew he’d worked so hard to develop. A.J, Brian and Howie revealed their flesh as well, but she didn’t notice because she was concentrating souly on Kevin until Darcy began to pout.

“Once again, Nick is the ONLY one who leaves himself covered. He has a sexy bod…why wont he show it off?”

Bianca glanced over and saw for the first time that Darcy was right. She didn’t know why he was embarrassed either, but Darcy was always telling her that Nick thought that he had “chub” She found the thought to be hilarious.

“Admire the others then,” Bianca suggested, milking in the view of Kevin before he was covered again.

“Don’t wanna,” Darcy complained, “Nick is my favorite.”

Bianca paid no attention to Darcy’s stubbornness. It wasn’t going to make Nick strip down any no matter how much she wanted him to. She started singing along to the lyrics of the next song, a smile on her face. She knew something was wrong though when she didn’t hear Darcy beside her screaming the words out. Bianca looked over at Darcy and saw her staring at the stage with her mouth wide open, her eyes gaping out of her head as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Bianca looked at the stage and saw nothing of interest, and then back to Darcy.

“Darce,” she said, getting no reaction out of her friend, “Hey, Darce.” She waved her hand in front of Darcy’s face, distracting her for a brief moment, “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Darcy pointed out to the far right corner of the stage, her hand trembling. Bianca looked, not catching on quickly to what the girl was trying to get at, wishing that she’d just tell her already.

“What?” she asked impatiently.

Darcy tried to find her voice, and when she did, it was shaking, “It…it’s…I…think it’s…Abrianna.”

Chapter Seven

Bianca immediately looked toward where Darcy was pointing furiously toward, completely forgetting that Abrianna, their friend, as they knew it, was dead. She squinted, trying to make out the faint figure that was in the distance. She had no idea what Darcy was talking about. The girl looked nothing like Abrianna.

“Darce,” Bianca said warily, “Abrianna, if you’ve forgotten, had brown hair. That girl is almost blonde with layers. Abrianna almost never wore much makeup. That girl looks like she wears some.”

Darcy scowled at Bianca, not believing that she was missing the most obvious thing of all. True, this girl looked almost nothing like Abrianna, but there was one thing that made her stand out. One little thing that was making her double think who the mystery girl behind the scenes was.

“Look at her eyes, duh,” Darcy pointed out, “I can still pick out those green eyes from anywhere.”

Bianca looked harder, not believing that Darcy could see that well to make out someone’s eyes from so far back. She squinted as hard as she could, trying to see what Darcy was, but just wasn’t. Just when Bianca was about to give up though, she definitely noticed just what Darcy was speaking of. The glowing emeralds sparkled, catching the light in just the right way, exactly how Abrianna’s had. She would never forget that special characteristic that she was lucky enough to get.

“My god,” Bianca breathed, “I…I think you’re right.”

“Of course I am,” Darcy said smugly, “I’m always right…” she quickly stopped, her voice trailing off, “Most of the time…over ninety nine percent.”

Bianca continued to stare at the girl until she slipped back behind the stage, disappearing from view. All that was running through her mind was that Abrianna was still alive, but then a second though crossed her mind. That was impossible, and if she was, what were the chances that she was actually with the Backstreet Boys. The chances weren’t that likely, in her opinion.

“We are so going to try to get backstage after the show,” Darcy said, putting her hands on her hips, “We’re going to get to the bottom of this if it’s the last thing that I do…this week.”

“Darce,” Bianca reminded her, “You said that we were “so” going to try to get backstage anyways.”

“Well, now we have a better plan.” She informed her friend, and pulled her wallet out of her purse, flipping to a photo of herself, Bianca and Abrianna all together just weeks before the disappearance, “See this? This is my proof that we know her.”

Bianca looked at her friend skeptically, “Darcy, in case you haven’t noticed, the girl that we saw up there,” she pointed, “Looks pretty much nothing like the girl in the picture. They won’t buy it.”

Darcy shrugged, “But just maybe they knew her before she did that to herself and would recognize her for who she naturally is.”

“Assuming that it’s the same person,” Bianca stated, “We are totally jumping to conclusions here, you know that?”

“Oh, it’s her,” Darcy replied, almost too surly of herself, “It’s got to be. I know one of my best friends when I see one.”

Bianca didn’t say anything in return. She just watched the show in silence worried about how Darcy planned on going about her little scheme to get to whoever the girl was. She always had a plan in store for just about every situation. Bianca knew though that Darcy was also hoping to weasel her way back so that she could meet her idols. What she wasn’t sure of though was if the main reason she was making such a huge deal of it to actually see if the mystery girl was their friend or to use that as an excuse at the long shot of getting somewhere.

Meanwhile, Darcy was smirking to herself, thinking up the perfect plan. She laughed silently, wishing that Alex had come with them. The whole reason he hadn’t was because the memory of Abrianna would be too much for him to handle, but there she had been, standing right in front of their eyes. She couldn’t wait to see the expression on his face when she told him…or maybe she wouldn’t. She felt that because he’d been too coward to come, that he really didn’t deserve the right to know that his girlfriend, the love of his life, was alive and extremely safe and better off than she could even ever begin to explain.

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

Zaina collapsed against a wall, breathing heavily, trying to calm herself. She squeezed her eyes shut and swallowed hard, her body shaking. Why had those two girls been staring at her like that, so intensly? She could barely see the audience from all of the bright lights that were shining down so vibrantly on the guys, but it was hard not to notice that she was being watched by the two in the first or second row. She’d had a feeling that this would happen. All along she’d had a bad feeling that something would go would make her feel unsafe and like she could and would be harmed. A few frightened tears ran down her cheeks. For so long, she’d been able to steer clear of the area, but then, all of a sudden, she was being thrust back into the awful place that she’d been stranded at.

“Hey, you all right?” she heard a man ask.

Zaina looked up and saw Kevin standing above her, concern filling his eyes. She quickly wiped the tears away from her eyes.

“Um, yeah,” she stammered, “Is the show over already?” she asked, thinking that it had gone awfully quickly.”

Kevin laughed, “Nope, just an outfit change. So I gotta get my butt back out there quick.”

Zaina forced a tight smile, “Good luck for the remaining half or whatever is left.” She said, her thoughts slightly distracted.

Kevin looked at her oddly. He’d known her for over three years now and knew that something was bothering her. Even though she wouldn’t admit it, he could read her like a book. For one, she was terrible at lying and two, he could always tell when something was up with somebody who was close to him. This was one of those times. After the show, he made a mental promise to take her aside and ask her why she’d looked so distraught.

“Well, I have to hurry,” Kevin told her, “Meet me in my bus about ten minutes after the show, okay?”
Zaina nodded, wondering why he was asking her to meet up with him. It didn’t make much since to her, but knew better than to argue. Sure, Kevin would never hurt her for anything in the world, but she wanted to stay on his, as well as the other four guys’ good sides. Kevin waved as he ran into the dressing room. Less than a minute later, all five came rushing out of the room and back onto the stage seconds after the music started playing again. Zaina took in a jagged breath, trying to regain her composure. For all she knew, she was getting herself worked up over nothing. She’d been spotted at other shows too and pointed out. Why was she letting this particular one get to her? She had a feeling that it was simply because of the fact that she had come into Chicago all along expecting something bad to happen. She figured that she was just trying to prove herself to be right without thinking twice about anything that happened to pop up. She knew that she was probably acting crazy, and at the moment, that was the last thing that she needed whoever knew of her to be thinking.

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

True to her word, as soon as the show ended, Darcy drug Bianca by the hand, pulling her forward against all of the fans who were doing exactly what they were supposed to and leaving the venue. Bianca shook her head, slightly embarrassed to be with one of the only ones who felt the need to try and stir up a commotion. She just hoped that it didn’t end in them being escorted to the police station in the back of a police car.

“Darcy,” Bianca stated, “I really don’t think that this is going to work. That girl is probably just a look alike. A mere coincidence. Let’s just go home like the majority and leave it at that.”

Darcy stopped, staring at her friend for a long, uncomfortable few moments. She wasn’t sure of what to say to the girl who was several inches taller than she was. Nothing came to her mind justice to what she wanted to say.

“So you want us to just give up?” Darcy asked finally, “B, this is the closest that we’ve ever come to knowing if Abrianna is still alive or not, and you’re telling me that you don’t want to find out for sure if it is even really her or not? What would you do if we didn’t at least try, and then months down the road find out that it really was her, no questions asked?”

Bianca sighed, refusing to say anything. She felt that there was no need to. Darcy was correct. This was the closest that they had come. If they passed up the opportunity to know, then she knew that they’d always wonder. Sure, if things turned out to be bad in the end, they would be disappointed. Hurt even, that they had been wrong. But she also knew that the hurt would go away and they would know that they’d given it another chance.

“See, you so know that I am right.” Darcy gloated, “Now come on. We don’t exactly have the entire night, you know. In about half hour, tops, they’ll be long gone. We have to do what we came to quickly.”

Bianca shook her head, amazed at how well Darcy seemed to know everything about the Boys. Sometimes she wondered if there was a little secret that her friend was keeping from her and, years before, Abrianna as well. After all, was it really possible to know so much that most wouldn’t even be able to begin to figure out or find? She wasn’t sure, so decided to just keep her curiosity to a minimum. Some things were best left uncomplicated, especially if it would make the wondering grow more intense.

Darcy continued to tug on Bianca, pulling her up a large ramp that led to where the backstage would be. She was so close to getting back without a problem before a security guard stepped in her way.

“You’re not aloud back there without a pass,” he stated gruffly, crossing his arms over his large, barreling chest.

“But we know the one chick,” she protested, “Abrianna.”

“There’s no Abrianna here,” he told her sternly, “You must be mistaking who ever you saw for somebody else.”

Darcy looked like she wanted to whip out her infamous baseball bat and swing it a few times at the oversized guard. Bianca bit her lip nervously, attempting to quickly think up something to get her to back off.

“See, it’s not Abrianna,” she quickly said, “Now lets leave before he calls security on us.”

Darcy looked at Bianca as if she’d lost her mind, “For one, I know one of my best friends when I see them, and two, he,” she threw her hand in gesture of the massive man, “Practically is security.”

The guard didn’t budge. If anything, he seemed to grow, blocking the access to backstage even more. Darcy scowled, and Bianca wanted to sink into the ground. Sure, it would be the best day of her life if the girl was Abrianna, but, it obviously wasn’t and she just wanted to go home.

“Listen here,” Darcy finally went off, “I don’t know who you think you are, but we know that girl. Now just move aside like a good little boy and let us pass so we can see our friend.”

A grin spread across the guards face as he brought out a walkie-talkie and brought it to his mouth, turning his head away to speak. Darcy could barely make out the words that he was saying and it was something along the lines of escorting her and Bianca out of the venue.

“I am so not going anywhere,” Darcy told him, crossing her arms, as three police officers came running at her. Her eyes widened, and Bianca coward back, “Oh shit.” She said, wondering what she was going to do to get herself, and her friend, out of this little mess.

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

“Now, Zaina,” Kevin said kindly, after she’d taken a seat in the dressing room minutes after the guys had left, “What was wrong earlier?”

“Nothing,” she replied quietly, looking downward to hide her troubled eyes. As soon as she looked up, it would give it all away. Her eyes always did. She hated it, but knew that it was what kept her in line: knowing that her eyes would give away her slightest beginnings of a fib.

Kevin looked at her skeptically, not buying into her excuse. He wanted to help his friend, but couldn’t unless she let him. He refused to leave the room until he had gotten somewhere with the small girl. He reached across to her and gently lifted her chin up, forcing her to look at him against her own will.

“Now, tell me the truth,” Kevin said with a smile, “Maybe I can help out. You never know.”

Zaina sighed, knowing that she was stuck. She took in a deep breath, preparing herself to be taken as paranoid to Kevin.

“It’s just, during the show, there were these two girls that were staring at me,” she began, “It made me feel like they wanted to hurt me in some way. And I don’t feel safe here as it is.”

Kevin nodded, listening to her intensely. He knew how she felt. Sometimes, there were certain fans that gave him a feeling of danger.

“You know that me and the guys will never let anything happen to you right?” he asked her.

Zaina shrugged. She knew that they wouldn’t let anything every intentionally happen to her. But what if one day, they weren’t around, and they couldn’t prevent it from happening.

“You don’t look so sure of yourself,” Kevin laughed, “Don’t worry. As long as you’re with us, which I hope is forever, you are safe. You have been for three years now, am I right?”

Zaina nodded, “Yeah, you’re right. All of you have been wonderful.” She told him softly, “Thank you.”

“We all care a lot about you,” Kevin told her, “Don’t worry abou…”

Kevin was cut off by the sounds of a girl screaming in the distance, “You can’t take me,” she shrieked, “Get you damn hands off of me.”

Kevin shook his head, and continued with what he was saying, “Don’t worry about them. Chances are, you…”

Again, Kevin was cut off by the same voice yelling and fighting with somebody. Obviously the guards, from how close she sounded.

“I said don’t touch me,” she screamed, “I am so going to sue your asses.”

“Darce,” a second female voice said loudly, “Let’s just get out of here. If you don’t fight, they’re going to let us go.”

Kevin chuckled, amused with the conversation that was going on out there. Zaina raised one eyebrow, obviously getting entertainment out of the fight.

“As I was saying,” Kevin began, trying again, “You’ll probably never even see who…”

Again, he was distracted by the yelling. He was getting frustrated with the interruption that were overpowering his soft-spoken voice. Rolling his eyes, Kevin stood up, and Zaina got up as well.

“I’m going to go out there and see what’s going on,” he said, “Maybe I can put an end to it once and for all.”

Zaina followed Kevin out of the dressing room and out over to where the obnoxousness was taking place. Seeing the two girls struggling to get out of the grips of police, he walked over to get closer.

“What’s going on?” he asked loudly, getting everybody’s attention, “And please let the girls go until we know what is going on.”

The officers released Darcy and Bianca and they quickly stepped as far away as they could from them.

“These ladies,” the guard said with an amused chuckle, “Claim that they know a girl named Abrianna that is with you guys.”

Kevin shook his head, “I’m sorry,” he said, “There’s nobody with us named Abrianna.”

Darcy scowled at him, figuring that he was lying to her. The other four Boys had since joined Kevin in wonderment at what was happening as well. Darcy then saw the girl step out from behind Kevin, her eyes growing wide in fright.

“Those are them,” she said aloud to Kevin, pointing at the two girls that who named themselves as Darcy and Bianca, “The girls I was talking about.”

“And that,” Darcy said, “Is Abrianna. Remember us girl. You’ve been holding out. Why didn’t you at least write and tell us that you’ve been with the Backstreet Boys all of this time?”

The guys all looked at one another for a very long moment and began laughing loudly, “No, this is Zaina.” Nick said, proudly saying aloud the name that he’d come up with.

Bianca saw more closely that despite the totally different look, she did resemble Abrianna, almost exactly. Darcy pulled out her wallet and flipped through her photos to one of the three of them together, thrusting it into A.J’s hands.

“See,” she pointed, “Same person.”

A.J. sighed, ready to get the confusion out of the way and their lives on with. He looked down at the photo quickly, and looked back up. But something caught his eye. He did a double take and paled. The girl in the photo, was in fact, the same exact person that the guys had found years ago. The same girl from the poster that he had found. He should have known that this day would come. Her friends from her old life would find her and try to get to her. A.J. saw ten pairs of eyes on him and he quickly composed himself trying to fight the look of recognition on his face.

“I’ve never seen this girl,” he said casually.

Kevin snatched the wallet out of his hand and looked down at the photo, his own eyes widening.

“Oh my god,” he said aloud, running a hand through his black hair. The girl was definitely their Zaina. How Zaina looked before the makeover. He then looked up at A.J, who had guilt written all over his face, “A.J.” he said sternly, “You knew, didn’t you? You knew all along.”

A.J. quickly turned and disappeared before he had to answer. He knew that once he was alone, he’d have a lot of explaining to do to Kevin. Kevin rolled his eyes and turned back to the girls.

“So you’re a part of her past life,” he said.

“Well, DUH,” Darcy exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air.

Zaina wondered what was going on. She’d never seen these girls before in her life who claimed to know her. She tapped her foot impatiently as everyone talked to one another. She was completely in the dark.

“Would somebody like to explain to me just exactly what is soooo amazing?” she said sarcastically.

Kevin turned and looked at her, as if seeing her there for the first time, “Oh, yeah,” he said, and handed her the picture for her to see.

Zaina looked down at it and gasped. She recognized herself in the photo with the two girls standing in front of her. But she didn’t remember them at all. Tears started to form in her eyes as she clutched the photograph, staring at it with intensity. For the first time in three years, a little part of her past was right her in front of her, but what annoyed her was that it didn’t bring back any memory of it at all.

Chapter Eight

Minutes after Zaina had found out the portion of her past, she had fled out to the group tour bus. The acknowledgement of the girls actually really knowing her scared her. It was no wonder they’d been looking at her like that. Zaina shuddered, hoping that the guys would send them on their way and not invite them backstage. She hoped that the fact that she’d run away without speaking to them would be enough to tell them that she wanted nothing to do with them. Knowing her luck though, the guys would invite her backstage, being the friendly people that they were, and drag her butt out, scolding her for being so rude. And then, to make matters worse, he’d make her talk to them…or try to anyways. But under the conditions that she was in, killer bees couldn’t and wouldn’t make her talk to the two freaks who’d shown up out of nowhere. Her life had been so simple and stress free until Chicago. She wondered why they’d been scheduled for the city. Better yet, she wondered why she hadn’t gone with her instincts and gone ahead of the guys to the next city and just waited for them there for a day or two.

Zaina let herself fall freely onto a bed. She was confused and afraid. Things would be so much better if she could just remember something, anything. Even a flashback to prove how close she had once been with the girls. She had nothing though. Taking in a jagged sob, Zaina rolled over, burying her face into a pillow. She smelled A.J’s cologne faintly on it, which made her cry harder. Things were going so wrong for her these days. She hadn’t been in a relationship since…she didn’t know when, if ever. A.J. still looked at her as a little sister as far as she could tell, and now what was happening on that very night. It was all becoming too much for her to handle, and she didn’t know how much longer she could without snapping. She didn’t want to snap either. Not when the Boys had done nothing but try to help her out. She didn’t want to take her frustrations out on them, but knew that sooner or later, she would. Zaina hoped that when the time came, she was able to control herself. She didn’t want her best friends to think that she was ungreatful for everything that they’d done for her. She didn’t want to make them feel bad for anything. Again, Zaina thought about how much she adored A.J. and wanted to be with him. The smell of him made her skin tingle. The sight of him made her breath catch in her throat. She got nervous whenever he was near, but somehow always composed herself to where she could act normally around him. She had it bad for him. She would be the first to admit it, but she felt she covered her attraction enough so that nobody else could tell.

“What’s so wrong with me that he doesn’t like me,” Zaina said aloud, “Am I really that horrible?”

She’d like to think that she wasn’t, but no signs were going against her negative thoughts about her image lately. Again, Zaina sighed dramatically. She figured that all she could do was wait things out and see how it all went and fell together. Waiting was one thing that she hated, but something she’d have to learn to deal with. It was a natural part of life.

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

“I wonder what’s gotten into her,” Nick said aloud as soon as Zaina had run off so quickly.

Darcy crossed her arms over her chest, trying to hide the wounded expression on her face.

“She acted like she barely knows us,” she said, “What, is she too good to be our friends now because she’s living her life in leisure and comfort?”

The remaining for guys again looked at each other, their facial expressions telling that there was something that they knew and Darcy and Bianca didn’t. Darcy hated not knowing things.

“What?” she asked, trying to look mean, hoping that it would scare them into telling her what was going on, “What are you hiding?”

Kevin and Brian’s eyes widened at the girls accusations. They’d just met her not more than about ten minutes ago. The girl was definitely brave and fearless, that was for sure. The guys all had a feeling that despite the girl’s size, she was somebody that you didn’t want to make made.

“Um, you might want to come with us.” Kevin finally said, “We’ll explain everything to you.”

“What’s there to explain?” Darcy asked, wanting to know right then and there.

“Just follow me.” Kevin repeated, “The rest of you, please try to find Zaina and talk to her.”

The others ran ahead of Kevin, breaking off into different directions to search for their frightened friend. Kevin started walking away quickly. Darcy and Bianca looked at one another before quickly following after him.

“Dude, could you walk any faster,” Darcy yelled after him, and then looked behind her at Bianca struggling to power walk in her heels, “And you so aren’t helping lagging behind like that. Next time, leave the damn heels at home.”

“I’m trying,” Bianca whined, dragging her feet while attempting to pick up her pace a little bit before Darcy tried to pick her up and carry her.

He led them well into the backstage area and down some stairs leading outside. Kevin walked briskly to a bus, punching in a code and stepping onside. He held the door open for the girls and they followed him. Bianca was in awe at how amazing his tour bus was. It was more than amazing. It was something that no words could describe. Darcy, on the other hand, didn’t look impressed. Bianca assumed that she had seen the inside of the bus or something similar before. Probably from photos or breaking into it during a show. She didn’t know and didn’t ask questions anymore. Kevin closed the door behind the two girls after they’d passed.

“Have a seat,” he said, sitting down at a booth at a small table. The girls slowly sat down on a small couch across from him feeling slightly self-conscious.

“Now will you tell me what the hell is going on here?” Darcy demanded, surprising Bianca. This was the moment that they’d waited for their whole lives, or at least the past eleven years, and Darcy was being less than friendly toward them, “Why is little Miss High and Mighty acting like she’s never seen us in her life.”

Kevin looked at Zaina’s old friends for a moment, deciding how the best way to tell them what he knew would be. He could tell that they’d missed her and were ecstatic to have found her, but wounded that she was treating them like lepers.

“Is it such a hard question to answer? Gee, didn’t think that I’d be causing any thinking to be done.” Darcy remarked, sarcasm dripping from her voice, “Or are you too dumb to know how to answer me? I thought that it was Nick’s job to think when it wasn’t necessary. Guess it runs in the “family” though.”

Kevin looked startled, but soon recovered, laughing lightly to himself. Bianca was quietly scolding Darcy for being so blunt and rude. Darcy rolled her eyes, and he could tell that she wasn’t exactly paying much attention to her.

“You see,” he finally replied slowly, “Zaina told us about waking up in a crashed car. She said that she remembered nothing.”

“Temporary shock,” Darcy said matter o factly.

Kevin shook his head, “No, it’s more than that. She had no idea who we were when we picked her up…no clue as to anything around her. She’s suffering from amnesia, and still is all of these years later. That’s the reason that she doesn’t recognize you girls. What me and the guys have given her, that’s the only life that she knows.”

Bianca’s eyes widened in shock as she was fed the information about Abrianna, or Zaina, as the guys called her. Darcy too looked surprised. She wasn’t sure how to react to the news, but quickly recovered and went back to her old self.

“Since when are you Mr. Ph.D?” she asked, her tone cool and crisp.

“I’m not,” he admitted, “But I do know a thing or two about these kinds of injuries or head traumas.”

“And you didn’t even take her to a hospital to get her checked out?” Darcy asked incredulously.

“It didn’t seem necessary.” Kevin told her.

Darcy laughed bitterly, “Wow, you really are as dumb and clueless as Nick, aren’t you? Amnesia hardly makes somebody fine.”

“You don’t even know Nick,” Kevin defended the blonde, “So you have no right to talk about him like that, no matter how true or untrue it may be.”

Darcy rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. The thing was, she wasn’t sure what she was mostly upset about. The fact that Kevin hadn’t taken their friend to the hospital to get checked out, or the fact that she had so many mixed emotions running rapid throughout her body about them finally finding her, and she didn’t even realize that they existed on this earth.

“Thanks for taking such good care of her,” Bianca said, speaking for the first time in a long while.

“It was…is our pleasure,” Kevin replied with a smile.

It amazed him that such complete opposites were such close and good friends. Darcy seemed to be fun natured, but also sarcastic and very to the point…fearless, to sum it all up. Bianca just seemed to have a soft nature about her. Sweet, but he also had seen a blunt side of her and defensiveness. He’d heard her defending herself when Darcy was complaining about the boots that elevated her height a good five inches.

“Well, if you ladies will excuse me,” Kevin said, standing up, “I need to go and find A.J. and have a little chat with him. Feel free to stick around, and please think about something for me. I know that you girls are thrilled to have found Zaina. Please think about touring with us. We’d all be more than happy to have you with us.”

Kevin opened the bus door and disappeared out into the night. Darcy and Bianca sat still and looked at each other. They had a lot of thinking to do and only a couple hours time to make up their mind.

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

“So, what do you think we should do?” Bianca asked Darcy.

The girls had since left the bus and were walking around out behind the venue and around the busses. A cool breeze blew, feeling good against Bianca’s skin. She could still hear people leaving the arena and was thankful that there were gates separating the parking lot area from where the guys were.

“I think that we should take Abrianna back home with us.” Darcy replied, “Her parents will want to know…no, they deserve to know, that their daughter is safe. Alex will be overjoyed and we won’t have to put up with his constant mourning any longer and we can make her learn to deal with her past life again.”

“We can’t do that to her,” Bianca protested, “She is comfortable where she’s at. She knows these people better than she knows us. She is close to them. We can’t just take her away from that.”

The two walked in silence, both thinking different thoughts about the situation. It was a really hard decision knowing what to do. They were all twenty-one years old now. Rightfully, they couldn’t force Abrianna to go back to her home that was less than thirty miles from them at that moment. She was well past old enough to make her own decisions.

“We should at least call her family and tell them that she is okay,” Darcy said, seeing Bianca’s point.

“I totally agree with that,” Bianca said, “And we have nothing going on right now. I just graduated two months ago from my chef program and you’re taking online classes at the moment. I say that we should take Kevin’s offer and tour with them. It would be a great experience, and we’d get to know Abrianna again.”

Darcy nodded, again agreeing with something that Bianca had said, a rare occasion to happen. The two walked a little further, not saying anything. They could hear crickets chirping, making a song of their own in the distance. The night was clear and the moon and stars cast a peaceful light among them. Suddenly, the two saw a figure step out of the last bus and slowly step down the stairs. She looked in their direction, right at them, and began to run.

“Abrianna,” Darcy yelled as she began to chase after the girl, “Abrianna, wait.”

“Here we go again,” Bianca muttered, quickly taking her shoes off this time and leaving them behind as she sprinted to catch up with Darcy.

“Abrianna,” they screamed in sync with one another, their voices echoing into the night sky.

The girl stopped and spun around. Darcy and Bianca caught up with her, completely out of breath. When they looked up, they could tell that she wasn’t happy with them by the way her eyes were glaring at them.

“That’s Zaina to you,” she told them coldly, “My name is Zaina.”

“Um, okay…” Darcy replied, “

You were Abrianna back when we were all friends…before you disappeared.”

“It’s not anymore,” Zaina snapped, “Don’t ever call me by that name again, do you understand me? Or do I need to be more clear?”

Bianca took a step backwards. The friend she knew had definitely changed personality wise with her amnesia. She wasn’t the sweet girl that she had known, but rather rude, to be honest.

“Kevin offered us to tour with ya’ll,” Darcy told her, “We can get to know each other again, and do stuff that we used to, like old times.”

Zaina looked less than pleased. She spun around and started to walk off again in a huff. She was so confused and everything was too much for her to handle right now. Again, the two ran after her, not about to give up on getting some answers out of her. She tried to ignore it, but they were like pesky bloodthirsty mosquitoes that just wouldn’t get the hint and bug off. Finally, she whipped around, fire shooting throughout her veins.

“Why won’t you just leave me alone?” she nearly yelled, “My life was fine until you showed up. So do me a favor and leave. Let me live my life the way I have been and forget this ever happened. Forget you ever saw me. We may have been friends way back whenever, but we aren’t anymore. We never will be. So don’t even try. It’s not going to happen.”

“Abri,” Bianca said, and then stopped catching herself slipping up, “Zaina, we—“

“I said get the hell back out of my life. You’ve already overstepped your boundaries by getting this far,” she repeated, and turned her back on them, walking away.

Bianca and Darcy stood for a moment letting what just happened catch up with them so they could comprehend it. They had only been trying to help, but the conversation ended in wondering what they had done that was so wrong.

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

“A.J.” Kevin yelled, seeing the crazy one of the group quickly slipping into his bus, “A.J, get your bony ass out here right now.”

Kevin had been searching for the second to youngest member of the group for close to an hour. It was obvious that he was trying to hide, and that’s exactly what he was doing. A.J. had been doing everything that he could to avoid Kevin. He knew that he was in for it, hence the reason he’d darted away. He was cornered now though. Kevin wanted to talk to him. There was no avoiding it. He was pounding on the door now. He wished that the noise would just stop and the man on the other side would disappear for a few more hours. A.J relently opened the door, and Kevin took no time at all to step inside the bus. A.J. shut his eyes, cringing, waiting for the hollering to start. He was really in for it this time around. He was surprised though when Kevin started speaking in a reasonable manner.

“Aje, what in the world was that reaction that we got all about when you saw Zaina in that photo?” he asked

A.J. shrugged. Kevin still didn’t know everything. The less he knew, the better, but the longer he stayed and pressed, the more he’d eventually find out.

“Answer me, A.J.” Kevin said firmly, “I’m losing my patients with you very quickly, and I know you hate it when I get mad.”

A.J. sighed, knowing that he’d avoided this conversation for three years now. It was time he dealt with the secret he’d been hiding.

“Okay,” A.J. replied, “I…recognized her in the picture as the girl we found.”

Kevin rolled his eyes, “Yeah, so did the rest of us. We didn’t completely freak out though.”

“The girls in the picture were the girls standing in front of us,” he continued, ignoring Kevin’s remark.

“Again, we all caught on to this.” Kevin told him, “In case you haven’t noticed, we aren’t all blind.”

A.J wished that Kevin would just let him speak without interrupting. The ore he cut in, the harder it was for A.J. to get to the part of why he’d acted the way he had.

“A few days after we found Zaina, I found a poster of her…a LOST poster, to be more specific. It must have been a few cities away from Chicago and blown over. Anyways, it was of Zaina, and, I kept it secret.”

Kevin’s eyes grew wide in fury and A.J. knew what was coming next. He had to think fast before the shouting match started.

“I…I didn’t want to lose her,” A.J. quickly said, “I’d grown attached to her and knew that if anybody found out, that it would get back to you. You would try to get the contact information to her family and ship her back. I just didn’t want to lose her right after we’d gotten her.”

Kevin’s expression softened just as quickly as it had grown angry. There may have even been a touch of sympathy painted over his features, but A.J. couldn’t completely tell and didn’t want to read too far into things.

“Besides,” he said softly, “Her picture was barely recognizable and the information was worn, torn and holed up. We couldn’t have read anything on it anyways.”

“Aje,” Kevin said, “I wouldn’t have made her go back home. For a few reasons. One, she was already legally adult. Legal enough to make her own choices. Two, she’d already adapted to living with us. Why would we have wanted to confuse her even more by thrusting her back into yet another life style. Besides, if what you say is true, and you couldn’t read the contact info, then, there really wouldn’t have been much we could have done anyways.”

A.J smiled in gratitude towards Kevin’s understanding. But then another thought came to his mind and started to nag at his brain, worrying him a lot. He’d even go as far to say that the idea was already stressing him after less than a minute.

“But now her friends are here. They’ll want to take her back with them.” He said

“Again, Zaina is well past old enough now to make her own choices. She or her friends can tell whoever they want that she is safe, but if Zaina chooses to stay, then that’s her choice. Besides, I already gave the girls an offer that I highly doubt they’ll be passing up. If they did, it would shock me.”

“What’s that?” A.J. asked, slightly afraid.

“I told them that they could tour with us. Believe me, Zaina is going to stay. They want to rebuild the friendship they had. They’re going to take me up on the offer. Just give it a day or two and they’ll be on the road with us.”

The way Kevin said this made him sound so sure of himself. A.J. smiled. He didn’t care what happened as long as his Zaina stayed. A.J’s head snapped up at the way he’d thought that. He’d thought of her as his Zaina. He liked the sound of it. But none the less, she was most likely going to stay, but with it, he knew, would come a lot of new challenges that they would all have to get used to and face.

***Sorry that it took me so long to update, for those of you who have actually read this...I was stuck on it for awhile, so concentrated on the other story I have posted. Hopefully, I am past my writers block though and can update more frequently!***

Chapter Nine

Zaina rolled her eyes as she saw Darcy and Bianca rushing towards her the next morning. She’d thought that she had made herself clear when she’d told them to leave and forget the entire situation ever happened. Obviously though, they hadn’t. Either that, the two had a serious listening disability or they were just plain stupid. Zaina was going with stupid.

“Hey girl,” Bianca said enthusiastically, hoping that her happiness would just maybe wear off onto Zaina and she would actually give them the time of day, or at least be civil towards them.

“I would have thought that you’d be home by now,” Zaina coolly replied, and then muttered to herself, but loud enough for them to hear, “I could kill the guys for deciding to stay in Chicago overnight.” Then she directly said to the girls, “Do you like, have A.D.D or something?”

“No,” Darcy replied with a smirk, “That’s Nick’s job.”

Zaina whipped around, glaring at the small blonde girl. Darcy stood her ground, not intimidated by the tiny brunette. She’d met more frightening people in her life. She wasn’t going to let a former best friend scare her.

“Don’t you EVER talk about Nick like that,” she defended, “You don’t even know him. He’s one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. You have no right to say that about him.”

“Okay, chill,” Darcy replied, “I was joking. Man, the old you would have been cracking jokes right along with me and Bianca. We never meant any harm by it, but we at least had fun.”

“Well, don’t have fun on the Boys’ expense,” she demanded, “And if I ever did that, thank god I don’t remember it,”

Zaina shook her head in utter disgust, and walked away. She couldn’t believe the nerve of the two girls thinking that they could talk like that about people that they barely knew…no, didn’t really know anything about. Sure, they knew what was put in magazines, and all over the web. But living with them for a few years let you get more of an inside view of what they were really like and the complete truth. She sure as hell hoped that the two didn’t take Kevin up on the offer of them touring. She was definitely going to talk to Kevin about it. And that was one conversation that wouldn’t be too friendly.

“Stupid girls,” Zaina muttered unkindly under her breath.

But as much as much as she despised them, a small part of her wondered what she used to be like and how close the three of them actually had been. She quickly disregarded the thought though. She didn’t want anything to do with her past. No matter how hard she tried, she wouldn’t remember any of it, and she honestly didn’t want to remember. She was still suffering from amnesia. Being with the Boys was all she knew and she loved it. She enjoyed every single part of it. They’d been there for her through thick and thin. They were her friends, her family. She didn’t want to forget any of it or leave it behind. She wanted to have amnesia for the rest of her life just so she could continue on with the life that she loved so much.

Zaina didn’t know where she was going nor did she care as long as she got away from the two stalkers for a few hours. She could feel their eyes on her as she walked away, making her feel uncomfortable and exposed. She could only hope that if she ignored the two for long enough, they would eventually clue in with her and leave. She could honestly say that despite her small curiosity, for the most part, she wanted them to forget all about her. That part of her was outweighing the curious part. Now, all she had to do was be as rude and obnoxious as she could and hope that they would decide they did not want to be a part of her life anymore after all.

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

“So,” Kevin asked the group, bringing up the question that had been on his mind ever since just about twenty-four hours earlier, “What do you all think of Zaina’s old friends finding her?”

It was later that evening. They were all sitting around a card table in the huge lounge in Kevin’s room playing a quick round of Poker, which had been Nick’s idea to have a little fun. The loser had to pay for breakfast for everyone the next morning. The girls were in separate rooms, assumed to be sleeping.

Brian shrugged, “I couldn’t really care one way or another,” he stated, “Doesn’t really affect me any.”

“I’m with Rok on this one,” Nick joined in, “I mean, yeah, it’s cool, but it doesn’t really make me happy or sad. I feel the same as I always did.”

The Boys’ were silent for a while as they continued on with their card game. Nobody was really sure of what to say.

“I think that it’s sweet,” Howie finally spoke aloud, “I mean, I know that they didn’t find her
intentionally, but still. It doesn’t seem like Zaina is too happy about it though.”

“I personally think that it is great,” Kevin said, including his input, “True, Zaina seems less than thrilled, but maybe she’ll come around if Darcy and Bianca decide to come with us. Maybe they can rebuild their friendship, only in a different light, obviously.”

There was another silence. Nick smiled triumphantly to himself as he looked at his hand of cards. He was almost positive that he was winning this time.

“I hate it,” A.J. grumbled.

“Why is that?” Kevin asked.

A.J. didn’t answer. He felt his reasoning was obvious. Kevin was playing dumb. He was, after all, the most logical of the group. There was no way that he didn’t understand his motives for disliking the situation.

“Aje,” Kevin said, looking at his friend.

A.J. looked around the round table and saw that all of his bandmates eyes were on him, staring expectantly for him to speak. He sighed, knowing that he was stuck. Damn Kevin and putting the attention on him.

“Everything was fine until they showed up,” A.J. snarled angrily, “Now they are going to butt in or try to take Zaina away. Why couldn’t they just mind their own damned business and go on their way? And don’t any of you realize that everything could change out of this? It could affect us all.” He shot Nick and Brian a glare along with his last statement.

“That’s being a little selfish, don’t ya think?” Brian teased, his eyes twinkling good-naturedly. A.J., unfortunately, didn’t catch on to it.

“You know what?” A.J. asked harshly, “I really don’t give a shit.

“A.J,” Kevin warned sternly, disapproving his sour attitude.

“What?” he hissed, “I hate the situation and I hate those two little bitches that had to ruin everything.”

A.J. slammed his cards down on the table and got up so roughly, it knocked over his chair. He bolted from the room, the door slamming shut behind him. The others just stared at the door in bewilderment. Nick was the first to speak.

“I don’t know about you guys,” he started out saying, “But if I didn’t know any better, then I’d think that A.J. likes Zaina more than he’s letting on to any of us and is jealous for some reason.”

“Nick,” Kevin said, his tone light, with a hint of joking in it, “For once, you say something that makes sense. Why else would he be afraid of losing her? Why else would he be dwelling on it?”

Nick shrugged, taken off guard at Kevin’s compliment of his theories. He’d just been speaking his thoughts aloud: something that normally resulted in him being laughed at or scolded. Rarely did he ever say anything that was actually considered to be intelligent. Howie and Brian put thought into this as well. They had thought long ago that, when Zaina first joined them, that A.J. had something for her, but when he hadn’t acted upon it, they figured that it was nothing and that they were jumping to conclusions. A.J, after all, was the flirt of the group. He normally pounced at the chance of a relationship with a girl he liked. Maybe this time was different though, and he’d been keeping it in for three years and had finally snapped when a part of the girl’s past showed up without the slightest warning.

“Who knows,” Howie stated, answering Kevin’s question, “I know we’ve all grown attached to Zaina though over the years. She’s like family, and this is definitely something different. It definitely chances things a little and is something we never expected to happen. Maybe if we’d prepared ourselves, just in case, we’d have better plans for it now.”

“But we didn’t plan,” Kevin stated simply, “So now we can only hope for one thing, and for it to happen by morning.”

“What’s that, cuz,” Brian asked.

“For those girls to decide to tour with us,” He started, then decided to explain himself more, “That way, A.J. will see that Zaina isn’t going anywhere and that stick that’s wedged up his ass will find its own way out.”

Howie, Brian and Nick chuckled at Kevin’s terminology, but he was right, and they hoped for the same so that their lives wouldn’t become miserable.

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

“Are we going to tell Alex that we found Abri…Zain…whatever the hell her name is?” Bianca asked Darcy as they watched a rerun of the Simpsons…Darcy’s choice in TV shows that night.

Darcy shrugged, laughing at something Homer had said that went in one of Bianca’s ears and out the other. She really wasn’t a fan of the show, therefore, wasn’t paying the least bit of attention to it. Instead, she was thinking about what had happened in the past day and sorting through her overwhelmed mind.

“Did you even hear my question?” Bianca asked.

Darcy didn’t answer at first, then after delayed reaction, looked over at Bianca blankly, her mouth hanging open slightly.

“Huh?” she asked.

Bianca rolled her eyes, looking at the TV. A commercial break had taken place. No wonder she had Darcy’s attention how. She laughed slightly, and then repeated her question again.

“Are we going to tell Alex that we found her?”

Darcy shrugged, “I don’t know. I mean, I think we should. It’s been six years and he is still acting like the sky is crushing him.”

“Yeah,” Bianca said, “But then again, what do you think would cause him more pain in the end? Thinking that she is still dead, or knowing she is alive and doesn’t remember, nor wants anything to do with him.”

“Good point,” Darcy said, “But who said she didn’t want anything to do with Alex?”

“Darce, think of how she is towards us. In case you’ve forgotten, she is rude towards us and wants nothing to do with us, or her past. Alex is a part of her past. She’ll act the same towards him.”

Darcy just shrugged. She honestly didn’t know what to do. She was sick of hearing Alex moaning and groaning every day of her life. Sure, she felt bad for him, but what he was doing wasn’t healthy. It was taking him longer to get over her than they’d actually been dating for. Darcy thought again that for once, she’d been wrong about a guy. Alex was proving that he really had cared about Zaina. She would feel bad not telling him that she was alive and well. Then again, when she shunned him, it would just add to his whining.

“I guess not then,” Darcy said, “Simpson’s is back on,” she stated, turning her full, undevided attention back to her show.

Bianca sighed. She honestly wasn’t sure what the right thing to do would be with the Alex situation. She was confused. Bianca was so deep in thought that she jumped when there was a knock on the door. Darcy didn’t seem to hear it, so while rolling her eyes, Bianca went to answer it, surprised to see Kevin on the other side.

“Hey,” he greeted.

“Hi,” Bianca replied, “Can I help you?”

Kevin laughed, guessing that he’d taken her off guard by showing up unexpectantly at her room.

“Yeah, um, we…the guys and I, were wondering if you and Darcy were planning on coming with us.”

Bianca shrugged, “I don’t know. Let me ask Darce,” she replied, and then yelled for her friend.

“What,” Darcy responded, annoyed as she looked over at the door, “Oh,” she said when she saw Kevin, getting up to join the two at the door. Bianca was surprised that she was abandoning her precious Simpson’s.

“Kevin wants to know what we decided about going with them,” Bianca asked when the girl reached them.

“Um, I don’t know,” Darcy said, “Haven’t really thought much about it, I guess.”

“Well, we kind of need to know tonight,” Kevin laughed.

He flashed a big smile. Bianca’s heart melted, as it was the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen.

“He’s married,” Darcy stated, interrupting her friends thoughts, “Don’t get any ideas.”

Bianca blushed, embarrassed that Darcy had actually said that aloud in front of the man. Kevin was laughing lightly though at the redness that was creeping up on her cheeks. He had a secret about his marriage that only the Boys knew, and Zaina of course, but nobody else. It relieved him that it was obvious that Darcy didn’t know, nor did Bianca.

“It’s okay,” he said, keeping his cool, “No big deal. So, think you could decide in then next five minutes?”

Darcy looked at him as if he had lost his mind. Kevin supposed that he didn’t blame her. He wasn’t exactly giving them much notice.

“This is a big decision,” she said, “We can’t exactly just pick up and leave.”

Bianca was dying to put in what she thought. She didn’t even have to give the opportunity any thought. She knew what she wanted to do.

“I’m in,” she blurted, without thinking or consulting with Darcy first.

“Great,” Kevin grinned at her.

Bianca felt her heart accelerate, but knew that she had to keep her hormones under control. Kevin turned to Darcy then, looking at her expectantly.

“Well?” he pushed.

Darcy rolled her eyes, “Fine,” she said, “I’ll do it.”

Kevin smiled again, “Okay, I’ll go let the guy’s know,” and then the smile faded, “And unfortunately, I get the pleasures of telling Zaina. If you hear screaming…come make sure I’m still alive.
”
Bianca giggled and watched as he left. She couldn’t believe that under the odd circumstances, she got to meet the people that she looked up to, and now was going to get to hit the road with them. The only negative was her old friend treating them like they were diseased. Besides that, could life get any better?”

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

“What were you thinking when you asked them to tour with us?” Zaina nearly yelled when she opened her hotel room door and saw Kevin there.

Kevin winced. He had a feeling that the reason he was there was going to end worse than he thought it would. Her reaction to seeing him proved that much in itself.

“Just being friendly,” Kevin answered cautiously, “I thought it might be good for you to bring a part of your past back in to your life. This is the first opportunity to come up to do that.”

“I’m fine with how things are,” Zaina pouted, “You didn’t even ask if that was okay with me or for my permission to ask them.”

Kevin laughed, stepping in to the room with her to continue the conversation. Zaina looked less than amused though as she let him in.

“I didn’t know that I needed to,” Kevin said, trying to keep a straight face, “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry won’t cut it, Kevin,” Zaina shouted, “You interfered with my life. I…I don’t know how you thought that you had the right to do that.”

“Maybe my natural fatherly role kicking in,” Kevin muttered sheepishly, but he still didn’t feel bad. He still felt like it would be good for her, and he was only looking out for what was in her best interest…well, mostly.

Zaina softened a little bit. She couldn’t stay mad at Kevin for long. His nature was just too sweet and sincere.

“And again, I felt like I would be helping you,”

“Well,” Zaina said calmly, “Maybe they won’t end up coming after all.”

Kevin drew in a sharp breath. This was where things would start to go downhill. He could see it now.

“Actually,” he said, slightly nervous “I just spoke with Darcy and Bianca…they’ve decided to come with us.”

Fury entered Zaina’s eyes and her face contorted in to one of complete disgust and anger on her face. This was the reaction that Kevin had prepared himself for, yet he winced anyway when he saw how mad he had made her.

“What?” she screamed, jumping up from the chair she’d just sat down in, “You…they…what?”

“Zaina, it won’t be as bad as you’re thinking,” Kevin said, trying to calm her.

“You wouldn’t be saying that if you had two people trying to stalk you and take you back to a previous lifestyle.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, we have girls stalking us all of the time. They normally don’t get close enough make us feel as if we’re in danger, but still…”

Zaina wondered if she were to look into a mirror, if her face would be the color of a fire truck.

“I’m so mad at you that I could strangle you,” Zaina screamed at him, “You really fucked up. Can’t you see how badly this is stressing me?”

Kevin sighed. This was the first time he had ever angered her. In fact, before the two strangers had shown up, he didn’t think that she was capable of being mad. Kevin knew he had to come up with a compromise.

“I’ll tell you what,” he stated, “Give it a month. If things aren’t better, I’ll tell them that they have to leave.”

Zaina looked at Kevin skeptically, raising an eyebrow. He didn’t seem like the type that would force someone to leave, or even suggest it.

“I promise,” Kevin said, sticking out his hand. His eyes were pleading with her to trust him.

‘Deal,” she finally said, shaking on it.

Zaina figured that she could stand one month with the two. That wasn’t very long, after all. All she had to do was get through one month, and then she would never have to see Darcy and Bianca again. It still didn’t set the feeling in her stomach that Kevin was up to something, but she shook it away. Whatever it was wouldn’t work on her. She would make sure of it.

Thanks to rebecca, anita and frackandbonechick for reviewing Chapter 9. I am sorry it took so long for me to update this. I had writers block with it, but I finally got a chapter done! Thanks for your patients and enjoy 10! I can't wait to hear what everyone thinks!!!

Chapter Ten

Bianca awoke the next morning to Darcy talking quietly on the hotel phone. She groggily looked at the clock, which read 6:00 in bright red numbers. They seemed to scream at her that it was time to wake up, and she knew that it was. In roughly one hour, they would be leaving to go to the next destination: Indianapolis, Indiana.

“Yeah, we’re going to be in Indianapolis for two nights now,” Darcy whispered, “Think you can make it?”

There was a pause, and as her eyes adjusted to the dark, Bianca could see Darcy shaking her head. Although it was hard to make out the expression on her face, she could tell that the girl was rather annoyed.

“We’re in Chicago right now...if you can be at the hotel in like, half an hour tops, then we’ll be here and all.”

Another pause as whoever Darcy was talking to was more than likely responding. Bianca sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. All she wanted was to fall back into a deep slumber. Her and Darcy had stayed up until three in the morning, talking about a variety of things. Darcy, though, had insomnia, and was used to surviving without much sleep. Bianca, on the other hand, was used to a good eight or nine hours of rest. Going with a mere three hours was like asking her to not breath. It was almost not possible.

“Okay, I’ll meet you in the lobby,” Darcy said dryly, “Be here, or you’ll miss your chance...you know what, I don’t wanna hear it. I so told you to come with us two nights ago, but no. I told you so, and now you pay the consequences.”

Darcy let out a low growl as she hung up the phone. She shook her head, then jumped a little, startled at seeing Bianca awake. She reached over, turning on the light next to her, deciding it was okay now. Bianca squinted at the brightness that took over the room.

“Who were you talking to?” Bianca asked with a yawn, her eyes finally adjusting to the new aptitude of light.

“Nobody important,” Darcy answered with a shrug, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and getting up, “Going to jump in the shower...you can have it next.”

“I’m just going to pull my hair up today...too fucking lazy to get in the shower,” Bianca paused, “I might fall asleep in drown.”

Darcy laughed, “Now that I would like to see accomplished,” she joked, shaking her head in bewilderment, “If you could do that, it would take
skill.”

Bianca rolled her eyes, playfully flipping her friend off. Bianca knew that she had severely blonde tendencies. She would be the first to admit it, but since she had so much fun, she didn’t let the jokes and teasing get to her.

“Seriously though,” Bianca pressed before her friend could get too far, “Who were you talking to?” she raised an eyebrow, “You aren’t calling anybody to come and mob the poor Boys, are you?” Bianca had worry in her voice. She wouldn’t put it past the small, petite blonde to do something along those lines.

“No, of course not,” Darcy replied, an evil grin spreading across her face, “Not even I would do something that horrible. Besides, I said not to worry about it.”

“You’re up to no good,” Bianca muttered, not trusting the intentions of Darcy. If she wanted to be, the girl could be downright mean. Bianca had a sinking feeling in her gut that this was definitely one of those times.

“Darcy...” Bianca warned, normally not the type to threaten, especially use the tone with Darcy, “What the hell are you up to this time?”

“I’d really like to get in the shower, you know,” Darcy said, changing the subject, “I have to be downstairs in twenty-five minutes...which means I won’t even get to blow-dry my hair...which means that it will be really frizzy.”

Bianca felt like screaming. Darcy was going to any measure possible to avoid telling her what was going on. Bianca was determined to find out though. If something was on her mind, she was not the type to let it go until she knew and was satisfied with the answer.

“Darce, just tell me who you have coming here,” Bianca asked wearily, “And the more important question being why?”

Darcy turned around, standing her ground. She felt she’d done the right thing by calling this person. They had every right to know.

“I called Alex,” she finally said, just to get Bianca off of her ass,.

Bianca’s eyes grew wide, her mouth dropping open in shock. Why had Darcy called their friend’s ex boyfriend?

“Wh...why?” she asked aloud, wanting to get an answer, “She doesn’t even remember us. She won’t remember him. Besides, I thought that we’d decided not to tell him about us finding her...that it would be for the better that way.”

Darcy shook her head, “No...we never really came to a solid conclusion. We never finished the conversation about it. Besides, what was I supposed to say when I called Alex to tell him we weren’t coming back. I mean, were we sposed to make him think that we disappeared too?”

Bianca shrugged, seeing her friends point, “True, but still...” her voice wavered slightly, her question lingering in the air, “Did you tell him that she has amnesia?”.

“Oops, I seem to have left out that detail,” Darcy stated, but it was obvious that she wasn’t dwelling on it, “Alex wanted to know why we weren’t coming back. I had to tell him. He was so excited. He wanted to see Abrianna so badly.”

“She’s Zaina now,” Bianca reminded her, shaking her head. She swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat, “I don’t think that this will end well.”

Darcy just shrugged, “Doesn’t hurt to try. Besides, if he sees how cold the girl is, and Zaina will no doubt chew him a new one, maybe he will see that it is time to move on without her. Alex is, if I don’t say so myself, quite hot. He will have no problems finding himself a new girlfriend.”

Bianca shook her head. She still didn’t think that this was a good plan, but normally, whatever Darcy said went. She chuckled lightly to herself though. This, no doubt, would be very a entertaining morning, for all. Bianca hoped that this wouldn’t jeopardize their chances to get to know Zaina again and rebuild their friendship.

Darcy disappeared into the bathroom to take her worlds quickest shower ever as Bianca just pulled out a rubber band and her comb from her purse, going over to the mirror on the dresser besides the TV. She swiftly combed her hair back, pulling it up into a high, neat ponytail, wrapping the rubber band around it tightly. She got her makeup out, applying a light coat of blush and lipstick, not even bothering to was her face and put on what she normally did. She was way too tired. Bianca’s eyelids begun to grow heavy. She needed more sleep...at least another four hours. She walked over to the bed, laying back down on it. She would only close her eyes for a moment, until Darcy was out of the shower. Then she’d go down to meet up with Alex with her. She didn’t want to miss out on the entertaining action that would take place in a few minutes. She shut her eyes, her breathing becoming slower. Without meaning to, Bianca fell into a deep sleep that she had not intended.

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Darcy let out a frustrated sigh as she looked down at her watch. Alex was already ten minutes late. They were due to leave the hotel in twenty minutes, unless the Boys were running late as well. She doubted that they were though. If from what she predicted was true, Kevin wouldn’t hear of them falling behind. It would mess up their whole schedule. The thing was, Alex only lived twenty minutes from the hotel, which meant that he must have messed around for twenty minutes before leaving his house.

Darcy started to pace back and forth throughout the lobby, muttering many unkind things under her breath. She’d told Alex that he needed to hurry. Maybe he had decided that all of this was a cruel joke, and wasn’t coming after all. He had, after all, given up hope years ago that his beautiful Abrianna was still alive. What had made her think that a phone call saying they’d found the missing girl would convince him otherwise? She had been foolish.

Darcy turned around, about to take the silver elevator back up to her floor, to wake Bianca, who she had left sleeping, but stopped at the sound of her name being called. Darcy whipped around, facing a very eager Alex charging at her. Darcy cringed, knowing that his behavior was out of place for the ritzy hotel.

“Alex, walk,” Darcy commanded, and he actually obeyed her, slowing down and walking up to her at a quick pace, “Good boy.”

Alex let her sarcasm slide by, more intrigued by the fact that the love of his life was at that very hotel. He was moments away with being reunited with her.

“Where is she?” Alex asked, not even greeting Darcy, “Where’s Abrianna? I have to see her.” he whipped his head around from side to side in search of the girl he’d mourned for, for a little over three years.

“Not down here yet,” Darcy explained, “She will be soon though. The bus will be outside waiting to depart.”

“Bus?” Alex raised an eyebrow, “I finally found Abrianna. She isn’t getting on no bus. I’m keeping her here with me.”

Darcy laughed out loud at that one. Alex had no clue what was really going on. He hadn’t the slightest idea that he was going to see the girl for long enough to realize that she wasn’t the same person any longer.

“Hun, um, we’re all getting on that bus...including Abrianna...”

She was cut off by Bianca’s shrill voice cutting through the air, echoing around the hotel lobby. Darcy cringed. She felt like she was with a bunch of neanderthals who hadn’t a clue how to act in such a place.

“You didn’t wake me up,” Bianca accused, “Why did you leave me sleeping there?”

“You needed the sleep,” Darcy explained coyly, ‘Have you looked in the mirror at those circles under your eyes?”

Bianca scowled, knowing that she should have put on her usual daily supply of makeup to try and hide the circles that overpowered her face.
“Hello, Alex,” she greeted with a tired smile, “How are you?”

“I’d be a lot better if this woman,” he trust his hand in gesture to Darcy, “Would tell me where Abrianna was.”

Bianca bit her lip. Darcy obviously had yet to fill him in on all that had chanced. She elbowed her friend discretely in the side, hoping that it hadn’t been obvious. Darcy rolled her eyes, catching on to Bianca’s request.

“Alex, before you see her,” she said, leaving a name out, truly not knowing what to call the girl, “There is something that you should be aware of.”

Darcy was about to tell him when Zaina, or Abrianna, as Alex still knew her as, walked out of the elevator with the Boys right behind her, security tight around them. Alex turned, his eyes lighting up with recognition of the girl. He obviously saw past her makeover.

“Who the hell is that?” Zaina asked harshly, her eyes narrowing at Alex.

“She has amnesia,” Darcy finished off, knowing
that it was too late. He wasn’t even paying attention to her. His eyes were affixed upon his past girlfriend, stars in his eyes.

“Baby, it’s me...Alex,” he stated, rushing towards her, “We dated for a few years, until you disappeared.”

He tried to pull the girl in to his arms, but Zaina stepped away, her glare frosty, her eyes ice cold with unfamiliarity of the newcomer.

“I don’t know you,” Zaina told him in cold monotone, “I’ve never seen you before in my entire life.”

Confusion as well as hurt filled Alex’s eyes. He stuck out his bottom lip in a pout that, years before, had always won over Abrianna’s heart when he’d done something to make her mad. It didn’t work this time. She turned her gaze over to Bianca and Darcy.

“You brought this goon here, didn’t you?” she accused, “What...how....ARGH.” she screamed in total frustration.

“What’s going on?” Alex asked Darcy, wanting to know why the girl hadn’t a clue who he was. They’d known each other since second grade, were best friends until half way in to their sophomore year of high school, and dated throughout their senior year and through the summer leading up to college.

Before Darcy could retort with some smart-ass, unneeded comment, Bianca took Alex’s arm, pulling him aside.

“Zaina..” she began, but was cut off.

“Who’s Zaina?” Alex asked.

“Abrianna’s new name,” she explained, “She’s suffered from amnesia. She doesn’t remember a thing. Living with the Backstreet Boys is all she knows.”

It was apparent that it took a moment before Alex comprehended this news, but when he did, his face fell.

“Oh,” he stated.

“I’m sorry,” Bianca apologized, knowing that it really was not necessary, “She doesn’t remember Darce or me either.”

Alex shrugged, “So what am I supposed to do?” he asked, his eyes sad, “I...I still love her.”

“Move on,” Darcy said, coming up next to him, “She doesn’t remember you, and is over there pitching a fit over you being here, claiming you know her.”

“But I do know her,” Alex reminded the small blonde

“But she doesn’t know that,” Darcy said.

Alex let out an angry huff of air before breezing past the two girls in another attempt to convince Zaina, as they called her, that she used to be madly in love with him.

“Zaina,” he said, pulling the stiff girl in to his arms.”

“Let go of her,” a man with a goatee and sunglasses demanded, roughly shaking Alex lose of the frigid girl.

Alex sighed, knowing he’d have to speak to her from a distance. It was either that or no way at all. He had to make due with what he had.

“I love you,” he cried out, “Before you vanished on us, I was going to propose. We were going to get married. Remember?”

Zaina shook her head roughly, her eyes showing no remorse for the pleading, desperate man. She wasn’t going to let her guard down just because some guy claimed to know her.

“No, I don’t,” she told him, “None of it.”

Alex sighed, closing his eyes to keep tears from falling, “Please then, lets try again. You can get to know me again.”

“I don’t want to get to know you again,” Zaina told him.

“Please,” Alex begged.

“Leave the girl alone,” the man with the goatee demanded. It was obvious that he was one of the Boys, and protector of Zaina.

“But I...”

“I think it would be best if you left,” one of the guards told Alex, “For everybody’s sake.”

Alex was about to argue, but decided that it was no use. Zaina didn’t know him, nor did she want to. He figured that it was no use. He knew that she was alive and well. It was time for him to move on. Alex sighed in defeat, turning around with his shoulders slumped, his posture hunched over as he whispered to Bianca and Darcy that he would talk to them later as he walked out of the hotel, out of Zaina’s life, just as she had wished.

Zaina stood, her body stiff with anger at the two girls. She didn’t know how they’d had the nerve to call her so-called ex boyfriend in to the picture. Did they honestly think that it would have worked? That she would remember and she’d leave her new friends who’d helped her out so much. Who had, in a sense, helped her grow from eighteen to twenty-one? She whipped around, facing Kevin, her eyes full of anger.

“They interfered with my life,” she whispered harshly, “They interfered already, and it hasn’t even been a day.”

Kevin stared down at the petite woman. He did have to admit that since Darcy and Bianca showed up, Zaina wasn’t the same person at all. She went from fun, sweet and friendly to cold, dark and just plain mean and short-tempered.

“One month,” Kevin reminded her anyways, not about to bake down on the compromise. It would just teach Zaina that going back on her word was okay. He didn’t want to teach her the wrong way of going about life’s not so pleasant ordeals, “Just give them one month.”

“But they tried to change my..” she tried to protest.

“One month,” Kevin interrupted with a smile, standing his ground. He had a feeling that if she gave the girls a chance, she would find that they weren’t so bad after all and would go back to the girl they had known for three years.

Zaina let out an angry huff of air, glaring at the two girls, gossiping away, no doubt, ten feet before her. One month. That was all she had to put up with them for. She would be counting the days down as they came, looking forward to the day that they were gone and she could get back to her life before they’d so rudely overstepped their boundaries.

A/N: As you can see, I haven't updated this in a long while...almost 2 years...due to severe writers block. I got some ideas though over the weekend so i believe that I'll be able to finish it. It is one of my very first stories...and my writing style has changed over the last 2 years. Please read and review!


Chapter Eleven

Once in Indianapolis, A.J. ran to his assigned room, way ahead of Howie, unlocking the door and going inside without a word. He let the door slam behind him, flopping on to the bed. The others were going out to dinner. He’d decided to stay back, saying that he did not feel good, faking an ill stomach. The events from earlier that morning were still on his mind. The man who’d claimed to be Zaina’s past boyfriend stuck out in his mind. It was obvious that the two other girls had called him to come out. It was obvious that they’d had ulterior motives. He felt that its was even obvious that they were trying to sabotage the Boys friendship and relationship with her.

“Bitches,” A.J. muttered under his breath, wishing that they’d have just gone back home instead of intruding in upon something that had previously been so good for so long, up until their arrival.


He scowled, remembering the time he’d almost told Zaina that he had feelings for her. Then they’d been interrupted right before he’d gotten the words out in the open. Ever since then he’d never had the nerve to tell Zaina again, and he regretted it. They had an amazingly close friendship and flirted all of the time. A.J. feared though that if he asked her for more, that it would ruin that because she didn’t feel the same way. Years ago when he was going to ask, he’d had confidence that she did. Now though, AJ just wasn’t sure. The confusion drove him crazy, and hearing the words that his Zania had almost been engaged to the man who’d come to see his long lost love made him feel intimidated for some reason. Even though Zania had no interest what-so-ever in him, AJ felt jealousy boiling within his very soul because Alex had in fact dated the girl...for a very long time. He felt as if he was losing his territory, competing for it in a sense...and he needed to protect it to keep it or win the battle for her that really wasn’t even there..

With a sad sigh, AJ felt sad and at loss for everything. Had Kevin interrupting them right before he was going to ask her that very special question that could have changed both of their lives. Maybe he wasn’t meant to be with the gorgeous Zania, who’d stolen his heart for the l
ong run. Possibly, Kevin coming to the door at that exact moment looking for him, before he could finish his question, had been God trying to save him from humiliation and a rejection that would have been too hard for his heart to handle. AJ honestly didn’t know. The fact of the matter was though, he didn’t have the courage to ask her again. Flirting with each other was about all that the two had going for them for the moment well in to the future at least.

“God, I’d do absolutely anything to have her,” AJ mumbled in complete misery, covering his face with his hands to muffle out his voice, “Absolutely anything.”

And that was the truth too. It wasn’t just her intense beauty that attracted him to her. It was her personality. She was fun loving with a kind spirit. She had a slightly wild side to her, which matched his own when the time was right, only coming out when she was in a feisty mood, ready to get her groove on. She was so much more than just a pretty face. He respected her in every way, fantasizing about what it would be like to see her naked and do intimate things with, loving her with all that was in him, but would never actually take advantage of her without her complete permission and willingness to take their relationship to the next level. Only then would he feel right about them actually taking things to that sort of level.

But then AJ was brought back to reality. He honestly didn’t think that he would ever have to worry about that. The chances of him and Zania actually being together were about as likely as him turning to country music.

“Yee haw,” AJ muttered at the thought of that, knowing that the day that happened, he would have had to of lost his mind. There was no way in hell he ever thought he could sing country music, therefore, Zania and him were out of the question if his analogy were to be proved true. It just wasn’t meant to be, which caused him a deep inner depression, “Nothing ever turns out right for me anymore.”

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“Too bad AJ isn’t here tonight,” Darcy stated as she took a sip of a draft beer, looking around the table to read the others expressions, hoping she could get a feel for what they were thinking...something she was usually pretty good at. She swallowed the mouthful of the alcoholic beverage, savoring the taste, “Ahhh, love finally being twenty-one.”

Zania just glared at the girl, wondering just why she was so interested in AJ’s whereabouts, or rather, his not being present. She seemed a little too interested in the man, whom Zania considered to be hers. All five of the men were hers, however AJ was different. AJ was special. She had feelings for him that she just couldn’t deny if confronted with the situation, however since nobody had ever asked, she’d kept it all secret, hidden deep within the furthest corner of her heart.

“Hopefully he’ll be feeling better by morning,” Kevin nodded in response to her observation, “Should be...” his voice trailed off, thinking back to how odd their friend had been acting all day. Ever since that morning in fact, AJ had been withdrawn and distant, letting every little thing that had happened slip right by him.

“Definitely not the same without him here,” Zania commented, eyeing Darcy evenly, hoping she caught the drift that AJ was definitely off limits. Especially off limits to her or Bianca, if they were getting any smooth ideas to try and pursue anything, “He always adds character to everything with his humor and charm.”

“But we have Nicky for that,” Brian exclaimed, jokingly shoving the blonde, “Only ten times more entertaining.”

Everybody laughed, including Nick after sticking his tongue out at Brian. It was obvious to Bianca and Darcy just how close these men really were. They’d had a pretty good guess from watching them on stage, TV and reading interviews, but up close and in person, it just sealed it all together perfectly, proving all of their assumptions true. Bianca was startled by a rather sexy chuckle, automatically knowing where it was coming from.

Bianca looked over at Kevin, catching him looking over at her. She bowed her head, blushing slightly before looking back up. He smiled at her, which caused her heart to melt just a little as she smiled right back at him. God, how she could fall for this man. She could very easily fall for him, as he was everything she stood for plus more. But then she snapped out of her daze, her smile fading as she shook her head and looking away sharply, still seeing him just a little out of the corner of her eye.

He’s married Bianca scolded herself, remembering the small, very important fact, He’s a married man...stop it. She was soon distracted again by some more good natured teasing directed towards Nick, the blonde trying to defend himself.

“I’m not that bad,” Nick argued, a slight blush creeping up on his cheeks.

“Oh yes, Mr. Norway is in Sweden and...” Howie teasted


“Okay, okay,” Nick interrupted so that he couldn’t point out any more of his past blunders, “Got the point.”

“Well, at least Nicky’s not the only one who needs a geography lesson,” Darcy brought up, “Sexy AJ McLean, if I recall, made a comment about Cape Town, South America...when in all reality, it is in South Africa.”

“And then Kevin called him a DILDO!” Howie, Nick and Brian all said in unison.

This caused a round of laugher from everybody except for Zania. Even Kevin was smirking, remembering the incident. That day had been quite some fun...that was for sure. They always knew how to joke around with one another without being cruel and heartless. It was a quality that had bonded them so closely in the first place. Remembering the past always seemed to make the bond just a little bit tighter yet.

Zania, however, was ignoring all of the teasing and fun, her eyes shooting daggers at Darcy. There she went again, mentioning her AJ, even calling him sexy. This was proof that the blonde girl saw something in AJ that was a little more than Zania would have liked. Darcy had a crush on him, and that certainly could not be acted upon. She certainly could not let this woman dig her evil claws in to the man. She needed to make sure of that, keeping a very close eye on the woman.

“I’ve got a feeling that we’re going to have a blast with this!” Darcy grinned after another few moments of harassing good-naturedly, “I feel so at home already..like I’ve known you all for years.”

“Ditto,” Bianca agreed, “Tonight has been so much fun...and I’m sure this is just a small preview of how things are around here.”

Not if I’ve got anything to do with it Zania thought wickedly as the Boys assured her that things were just getting started, her plot to get rid of them already forming in her mind If I have anything to do with it, this will be the worst time of your lives, you blood sucking rodents...I can guarantee you that.

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Bianca let out a long, wide-mouthed yawn as soon as she entered her hotel room. It was now one in the morning, and she was exhausted. Visions of her being in her long, baggy tee-shirt, tucked away under the covers, drifting off in to dreamland. That seemed really appealing to her, the more that she thought about it, and she found herself slipping in to one of the shirts the Boys had bought her to get her through until she was able to sneak away and get some of her own things from home.


Darcy, Zania and the Boys were still down at the restaurant. She’d felt bad for leaving, but she wasn’t quite used to staying up past midnight and could feel herself losing the battle to stay awake, knowing it would be in the best interest for herself and everybody else if she retreated back to her room before somebody had to carry her back. Then again, being carried back by certain people might not be such a bad thing...

Shaking her head, Bianca rid her head of those thoughts. She was just overly tired, in desperate need of sleep to refuel her body, and obviously her mind too in to thinking more clearly. Yes, she definitely needed some rest...

Just as she was about to slip in to bed though, a knock came from the other side of the door. Ignoring it, she continued to get underneath the covers, the pillow welcoming her head almost immediately. She let out a happy sigh, closing her eyes, ready to fall in to a deep slumber that not even a bomb going off could wake her from until later on. The knock came again though, causing Bianca to sit up quickly, highly annoyed. Grumbling to herself, she got out of bed, trudging over to the door, ready to scream at whomever was on the other side. She had a high suspicion that it was Darcy, and the girl had forgotten her room key. Upon reaching the door, she had already cursed up a storm, hoping that it was loud enough so that the person could sense her displeasure of their presence. When she opened it though, the person there was the last that she’d ever expected to see.

“Um...did I catch you at a bad time?”

Bianca just stared, humiliated that she’d lost her temper when it had been Kevin there all along. There he stood though, looking confused and uncomfortable, looking as if he wondered if he should leave, or possibly the look said that he wanted to bolt away from her, as far as he could get. Not that she would blame him.

“Uh, no...not at all...” Bianca smiled nervously, then looked down, seeing that she was only wearing the t-shirt still, which barely covered the top of her thighs. She blushed, sliding sideways to try and hide behind the door to cover herself more, “Sorry...I um...ah...what are you doing here?” she asked.

Kevin shrugged, “Decided to get to sleep too...everyone else is still downstairs...” his voice trailed off, “Just thought I’d check up on ya before I went to my own room.”

Bianca smiled nervously, her heart hammering in her chest, “Oh,” she relied awkwardly, unsure of why he cared. The thought struck her that maybe Kevin had intentionally followed her back, but she quickly shook it off as nonsense, “I’m doing fine,” she answered after a long pause, her voice trailing off. She knew that there was something else Kevin wanted by the way he was lingering in the doorway, “Do you, um, want to come in?”


Kevin nodded and Bianca opened the door wider, letting him step inside. Her eyes darted around for something to cover her lower half with, finding nothing in view. Sighing, Bianca figured that there was nothing she could do unless she wanted to make a scene, drawing attention to herself. She worried of making herself look like an idiot in front of this man, knowing that if she did, he wouldn’t forget so easily. She was, after all, going to be spending every day with him for many months to come now.

“So, what’s up?” Bianca asked lamely

Kevin shrugged, “Not too much...just adapting to all of this drama from the past couple of days,” he laughed softly, “It’s been a lot to take in.”

Bianca bowed her head in shame, automatically feeling it was her fault. She always thought everything was her fault. She wondered if Kevin was trying to hint at her to try and convince Darcy, the stubborn one, for them to just pack up and leave. He knew how against it Zania was, and Zania was close to him. Of course he would favor her, and would probably do anything to make her happy. All of the guys would. She could see how much they all adored her and cared for her.

“I’m sorry...” Bianca whispered, her voice trailing off, “We..I didn’t mean to cause any problems.”

“No, you didn’t!” Kevin was quick to interject, “Not at all. I invited you...and the invitation still stands. I promise,” he shot her a heart stopping smile, “Zania is just feeling a bit...insecure, I believe. She’ll learn to live with the change. I know she will.”

Bianca sighed. She hoped that Kevin was right, and even in the back of her mind, she felt that she was still at fault for her old friend being angry and cold...bitter. Looking up in to his green eyes though, she could tell that he was sincere and meant the words that he said. Bianca still felt guilty though. Their presence making Zania withdrawn was stressing Kevin. She didn’t want him to stress...

“I hope you’re sure...” her voice trailed off, “It’s an amazing opportunity...I never in a million years thought we’d ever find her alive...nor we’d ever meet you guys...or she’d be with you...” her stuttering continued for a moment, “It’s all so surreal...like I’m living some sort of dream and I am going to wake up.”

“It’s real...”Kevin murmured, feeling his heart flutter in his chest, telling him the real reason he’d insisted they come with them. He gulped. Even in just a long t-shirt, the girl looked so incredibly cute. The way her brown eyes sparkled made his body tingle, the perfect curve of her soft lips caused him to break out in to a cold sweat, knowing he couldn’t resist any longer, “Just like this is real.”

Leaning in, Kevin kissed her softly. Taken by surprise, Bianca resisted at first, but soon found herself welcoming them, even kissing him back...something she’d only dreamed of doing. Then the sudden thought struck her, as she pulled away, breaking the magical spell that had been cast between them.

“We can’t do this...” she said quietly, “You’re married...I...you...I can’t allow this to happen when you’re married to somebody else...it’s not right...it’s..”

Kevin silenced her by gently pressing a finger against her lips. He smiled at her, and she stared back confused. His heart was pounding so wildly, and he knew that Bianca’s matched. Nervously, Kevin opened his mouth to speak knowing that he had to reveal himself to her. The truth of his life that nobody but the Boys and his family knew.

“There’s something I need to tell you, Bianca...” he mumbled softly before leaning in to kiss her again.

~*~Chapter Twelve~*~

“I never knew my ass could be so sore from sitting,” Darcy bluntly stated, shifting herself into a more comfortable position, “Damn...how do you do this every day?”

Darcy didn’t receive a reply from anybody, being ignored by all. She sighed, bored and restless. She wanted to get up and do something. At the very least, give her rear a break from the intense sitting. Every time she shifted, pain shot through her tail bone, causing her to wince in agony. It was definitely uncomfortable to say the least, however by the way nobody was agreeing with her, Darcy got the feeling that she was alone on her thoughts.

“So...” she stated, “This is what touring life is like, huh?” she asked, changing the subject, “Just driving and dancing and...”

“It’s much, much more than that,” AJ informed her, his voice somewhat cool as he glared, wanting to slap her for the naivety of her comment, “We have meetings, rehearsals, sound checks, photo shoots, press stuff, interviews. We have to get up early, every night is a late one to do all sorts of business. On the stage is the fun part...the reward. Everything else is hard work. The list goes on and on. You have only been with us for five days. You really don’t know the just of it.”

The other four guys nodded in approval of AJ’s thorough reply, agreeing with his every word. Darcy really hadn’t seen all that goes on in their lives. She was in for a rude awakening once she saw first hand. Things hadn’t really even gotten started yet for that particular tour. The past week had been relaxing compared to most others. Then there was Zania, who just shook her head in disgust, wondering how she could have ever been friends with such stupidity. Not even in another life would she imagine it possible. Zania figured it was probably a good thing she’d suffered a blow to a head, resulting in the amnesia. It had knocked some sense in to her, obviously.

“Oh,” Darcy said lamely, then turned her attention to AJ alone, “Maybe you could go over that with me again sometime...just us...so I understand better.”

AJ grunted, trying his best to block out the woman’s voice. He didn’t want to listen to her speak. He didn’t want to talk back, so he turned his attention fully to a magazine he’d been reading. He shifted his body away from Darcy, hoping that she would catch his drift and just be quiet. It was days like this that he wished with all his might that they would all be on their own busses, Darcy stuck on one with somebody else...anybody else, just so he wouldn’t have to put up with her.

“ Okay, you can think about it...” Darcy’s voice trailed off in a hinting manner, her tone flirty, “No big hurry. I’m sorry if I offended you. Maybe I can make it up to you somehow.”

“Maybe if you would just be quiet.” AJ mumbled just coherently enough for everybody to hear him. Kevin stifled a laugh, his gaze catching Bianca’s, whom’s eyes were sparkling. She smiled at him, “Damn, when will this bus ride be over?” AJ growled. He needed to get out and get away before he threw the girl out of the window. The way she was staring at him was making him highly uncomfortable.

“So you like it quiet, huh?” Darcy spoke, her eyes glittering in this incredibly sexy man’s direction, “I can be quiet?” she told him flirtatiously, “Although I heard you like it down, dirty and loud.”

AJ got a look of complete repulsiveness on his face, grossed out by the comment. Sure, Darcy was an attractive enough woman. The fact of the matter was though, she annoyed him. She was taking the hints like a man would. Then there was the fact that Darcy’s intentions were not honorable. She was there to try and win his Zania back and take her home to Chicago for good. He could not and would not let that happen. Not on his life...no chance in hell. Zania was there to stay with him and the Boys. Darcy would just have to live with that and forget about all of this shameless flirting.

“So, you really look incredible out there, AJ,” she said, “Your talent is just...mind-boggling. I admire you for all you put in to it...and for everything in the past few years. I hope you realize I’ve supported you the entire time.”

AJ rolled his eyes, “Yeah, that’s nice.” he muttered, throwing the magazine down beside him, “I think I am going to go take a nap,” he informed everybody, “Wake me when I get there and no interruptions from anybody, please.” he eyed Darcy, making sure she knew it was clear for her to leave him alone too.

As he walked away, Darcy licked her lips, watching his back end. Boy, did he look incredible. She sighed once he was out of sight, knowing she’d have to find something else to entertain herself for the rest of the duration of the bus ride. This attempt at speaking to AJ had failed, although she had a feeling he would warm up to her rather soon. She was determined, for she wasn’t giving up until she had her way with him. She always got her way.

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Bianca looked over at Zania sitting alone and withdrawn in the hotel lounge. They’d rented it out for a few hours to just all kick back and relax before the show that night, beings they’d arrived at the hotel a few hours ahead of schedule. She contemplated going over to the girl to strike up a conversation, unsure of if it would be a good idea or not. So far, all of her attempts to talk to her once best friend in the entire world had failed miserably. What would make this time any different? She figured though that she had nothing to lose though. Darcy was off trying to talk to AJ again, Brian and Nick were playing video games. Kevin and Howie were speaking of business related issues off at a private table, closed off from the nosiness of everyone else.

Bianca smiled at the thought of Kevin as she looked over at him, remembering their first kiss four days ago. It had been absolutely incredible. And she couldn’t believe the conversation that they’d had. He was so easy to talk to, and he’d said just the same about her. Bianca wasn’t sure what was going to happen between them, but a few nights ago had been unexpected yet glorious to her. Kevin lifted his head slowly, looking up at her. Bianca blushed, caught in the crime of staring at him. He smiled at her though, causing her heart to melt. God, that smile was beautiful...and they had more in common that she’d ever had in common with anybody. She’d liked him before for his humble, sincere, mature personality. Now though, she liked him for so much more since she’d met him and knew what he was really about.

Shaking her head clear of her daze, Bianca looked back over to Zania, still sitting alone. Taking a deep breath, her mind was made up. She was going to try to speak to the girl, hoping that the outcome was well as she slowly made her way over to her. Her nerves were a jumble, afraid that she was going to get herself in to a real bind, getting yelled at and then scolded by the Boys for bothering her and upsetting her, forcing Zania into an uncomfortable situation.

“Hey there.” Bianca said softly upon reaching her, crossing her fingers that it wasn’t going to be a disaster.

Zania looked up, “Hi.” she replied simply. She didn’t make any attempt to say anything more, turning her head away to stare back at Darcy and AJ, watching them like a hawk. Bianca sensed some sort of tension and jealousy, reading in to it that Zania had a thing for AJ, and probably had for awhile.

“So, um, what’s going on?” Bianca asked, trying to distract the slightly older girl’s attention away from Darcy, knowing how crazy she must be going inside by watching. She’d gone through it many times herself. Many, many times.

Zania shrugged, not tearing her eyes away from the duo. Darcy was flirting shamelessly with AJ, not giving in to giving up. Zania was pleased to see that for the most part, the man she had fallen hopelessly in love with over the past three years, was pretty much ignoring the blonde girl. However that fact didn’t mean anything, for he was paying slightly more attention to her than from the day before. Anything could happen at any moment. AJ may actually start giving the woman a change, and then...Zania shook her head, not willing to accept that as even a possibility. There was no way in hell that could happen...was there? This just made Zania watch all the harder to make sure nothing happened.

Bianca bit her lip nervously, watching Darcy with AJ for a moment. She wasn’t sure if Zania was purposely ignoring her, or if she was truly worried that Darcy was going to snag AJ away from her. Either way, she was being ignored and was starting to feel rather uncomfortable. She sat there in silence for another minute or so before starting to get up to leave. Just as she did though, Zania finally spoke.

“Was Darcy ever the type to try to steal a potential boyfriend?” she asked, catching Bianca by surprise as she at back down, “I mean, exactly how good of a friend was she?”

Bianca snorted back a laugh, “Darcy...Darcy hardly ever even looks at a guy. She has this no-dating policy. And she was a great friend of yours..ours. I don’t think she’d ever intentionally take a guy away that you were interested in if she knew you were interested. I don’t think you have anything to worry about though.”

Zania scowled, “I don’t trust her.” she grumbled.

Bianca laughed again. Looking over at the two, Darcy did seem a little bit chummy with AJ. She cringed, hoping to God that nothing happened between them. Zania was just starting to act civil towards her. That was all she needed was for Darcy to hook up with AJ and then Zania think that she was feeding her false information in a ploy to get her to back off so that Darcy could get her way.

“So...” Zania begun, taking her eyes off of AJ, but still watching from the corner of them every few seconds, “Um...what was I like...before all of this?”

Bianca smiled, “Well, we were the best of friends. Believe it or not, you were a huge Backstreet fan. We both were. We were partners in crime when it came to them...downloading illegal, unreleased songs, traveling cross country to see them in concert, buying anything with their face on it....which is why it is so ironic that you’ve been with them all this time.” Zania chuckled slightly, “You always had a serious side but knew how to have fun too. We had so many late nights laughing. You were going to go to school to be a radiology technician and we were planning on getting an apartment together. You and your mom never really got along and you and your sister...fought often.”

“Wow...” Zania whispered, “Sounds like I had a pretty good life...but I love the one I have developed now.”

“I don’t blame you.” Bianca smiled, “You’ve transitioned quite well.”

Zania just shrugged, “It’s the only life I know. The guys are amazing. It gets lonely being the only girl sometimes, but I have AJ for a shopping buddy.” she laughed, “Who was that guy that was at the hotel a few days ago?”

Bianca took in a deep breath, “Well...he was your boyfriend. The day you disappeared, you had been dating for exactly two and a half years. He was going to propose to you. Three years later...he is still lost without you. I think he’s finally gotten it through his head though that he needs to move on, seeings that you have.”

“I think that would be for the best...” Zania’s voice trailed off. She felt slightly bad for the boy, whomever he was, but he was a part of her past....something she didn’t know. It would never work, for she’d have to get to know him all over again.

“Yeah..”Bianca agreed, “I think so too...” her voice trailed off and her eyes caught her once best friends. Zania smiled slowly, and Bianca returned it knowing that it was okay. They’d just taken a step in becoming friends again. It was a very small step, but at this point, she was willing to take anything, as anything was better than nothing at all.

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“Thanks for agreeing to meet me here.” Kevin said softly as soon as Bianca was safely inside of his room, giving her a light, sweet kiss on the lips.

Bianca blushed and shrugged, kissing him back even though it felt slightly awkward and like she was in a dreamland. All of this was somewhat hard to grasp, and she was having a slightly hard time actually believing it was happening. Several times in the past ten days, she’d expected to be roused from a deep sleep, only to find that she was at home, tucked away in her own bed, Abrianna, or Zania as she was now, would still be missing or believed to be dead. Several facts proved that this was real though; a life Bianca never thought she’d be privileged enough to get to live. After all, she was only a middle class girl from Chicago.

“Why wouldn’t I?” she asked as Kevin took her hand, leading her to a small couch in a living area of his suite. They sat down, their bodies close to one another, shifted so that they were facing each other. Kevin never let go of her hands, loving the soft, silky feel of them within his own.

Kevin chuckled, “If I were a girl as attractive as you, and a guy I barely knew asked me to his hotel room...I’m not so sure I wouldn’t bolt.”

“Oh..” Bianca laughed, “Well...for one, I trust you and your intentions and two, Howie saw me come in to your room. It wouldn’t be exactly hard to find you and trace it back to you if I did disappear all of a sudden. I mean, c’mon...you’re one of the most famous male stars in the entire world.”

Kevin gave a small laugh, finding her logic to be very true. She was a smart girl and assumed if she had even the smallest doubts in her mind, she wouldn’t be there. She had good judgement, that much Kevin was sure of . He liked her quiet, sweet nature though. She seemed the type that would be somewhat shy until one got to know her, and then she would be outgoing and blunt, however not cruel unless provoked to be. Kevin looked in to her eyes, something on his mind. She must have sensed it by the questioning look that she gave him.

“Can I ask you a favor?” Kevin asked her, feeling guilty of wanting her to do such a thing. Bianca nodded though and he continued, “Can you keep you know, this, a secret? Not tell anybody. Not Darcy...not your family...nobody.”

“What do you mean?” Bianca asked

“Well...the whole divorce thing,” he sighed, “I don’t want the world to know yet. I don’t want the press sticking their noses in to business where it doesn’t belong...the stories made up on both parties about what happened, the rumors. Ya know. It was a mutual agreement...we just grew apart. If word gets out, the rumors will start. The Boys and Zania are the only ones who know besides my immediate family...and now you. I really like you, but would like to keep it just between us and the Boys and Z.”

“Darcy wouldn’t tell anybody...”

“Please?” Kevin interrupted gently, his green eyes almost begging her to do this for him. And how could she argue with that? Go against his wishes.

Bianca nodded. She didn’t know what was happening between them, but it sounded as if he were indicating he wanted some sort of relationship with her. She could feel herself starting to get nervous, hoping that she wasn’t reading too much in to things. But now she had something on her mind, worried that Kevin, this unbelievably perfect man, would take her intentions the wrong way. That was the last thing she wanted, worried about getting in to anything with him because of it.

“I um...need to tell you something too...”Bianca stated, swallowing hard. Kevin just waited patiently for her to continue until she was fully ready, “I don’t want you to think that I um, like you just because of your fame. Trust me...that has absolutely nothing to do with it. I’m not jumping in to something due to you being so popular. I’m afraid that if...you know, something happens, you might start thinking the wrong thing,” she stopped for a moment and sighed, “I really like you for who you are inside...but I...”

Kevin silenced Bianca with a kiss, drawing her in to his arms. She welcomed it without hesitation, wondering what was going through his mind. He was so easy for her to talk to, and Bianca felt lucky to have somebody she could tell absolutely anything to. She could express her every true feeling without fear of being made fun of or told that she was acting like an idiot or she was stupid. She could open up and be herself without hiding anything, including her slightly paranoid, sensitive side. She couldn’t even do that with Darcy, whom was very set in her own beliefs and ways and it was like anything else was wrong.

“I know you wouldn’t do that to me.” Kevin told her, raking a finger through her dark locks, “You’re not the type. But before we commit to anything or I promise anything, I just need to talk to somebody to make sure they are okay with it, and then we can seal the deal.”

~*~Chapter Thirteen~*~

Kevin swallowed as he spotted Zania sitting off away from everybody else under a tree. Her back was against the massive trunk, her legs pulled up as she held a journal in her hand, writing in it. Kevin couldn’t help but smile, wondering what the girl actually wrote in the thing. He hoped that it was good stuff about them and that they weren’t letting her down in any way. Sadness filled the inside of him for the young girl though, for they were all that she really knew. She had eighteen years of lifes experience that had pretty much been washed down the drain in the event of a car accident. Eighteen years that she couldn’t even remember. All she knew was the past three.

The reason he’d been searching for her though wasn’t to interpret how she felt about them though. He had something else he needed to talk to the girl about, and found himself walking towards her with confidence and a smile that he hoped would convince her that it was nothing bad. After all, whenever he wanted to talk, people tended to jump to their defenses without even asking him what he wanted. They automatically thought that he was there to judge and yell.

“Hey Zania!” Kevin greeted as it sat down next to her.

Zania looked up slightly startled as she closed the journal. She smiled brightly at him in return as she shifted her body to face him more easily, “Hey Kev,” she replied, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear, “What’s up?”

Kevin shrugged, “Not too much. Just getting away from the group for a moment,” he looked to the others and Bianca caught his eye. She looked gorgeous that day. Man, how he wanted to be able to call her his girlfriend. Just maybe..., “How are you? Everything okay?”

Zania nodded, “Can’t complain I guess.” she offered him a smile, “How about you? Is something wrong?”

Kevin laughed. This was exactly what he meant. Every time he wanted to speak to somebody...about anything at all...everybody always thought that something bad had happened. Maybe it had something to do with him being more serious than the rest, however he didn’t feel that he came off as a negative person. If anything, he tried to keep things positive and running smoothly.

‘Everything is perfect,” Kevin promised her, “Just wanting to talk to you...see what’s going on with you and how you’re feeling. We haven’t exactly had the chance to talk much in awhile. Just catching up.” he smiled at her.

Zania eyed him for a minute, giving the man a strange look. Kevin gulped. Was she on to something? Did she know that he had something on his mind or had already decided that he’d like to see Bianca? The look was unnerving and Kevin wondered if possibly, he’d made a mistake by wanting to discuss things with her. He couldn’t turn back time though. He’d just have to go with the flow of things and hope for the best.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Zania asked him, sitting the journal under her legs on the ground, “I know that look, Kevin.”

“I’m just wondering how you’re getting along with the girls.” he asked sincerely, “I mean...if you’re more comfortable with it.”

Zania hesitated. She really didn’t know what to say. The question had been pretty unexpected, and to be honest, she hadn’t really put much thought in to the two girls being there. She’d just been living with it and dealing. Going with the flow, so to speak. After all, it wasn’t something that she could change, and complaining would only annoy the Boys after so long. Now that she was being put on the spot though, forced to think about it, Zania had come up with a decision and a way to answer his question.

“Bianca isn’t so bad...” she let her voice trail off slightly, ‘We’ve talked and she’s pretty nice actually. I can trust her. Darcy on the other hand...” she paused with a frown, “I’m still not too keep on her. She is a treat to me, I feel. I don’t know...but I guess that I’m okay with her sticking around...as long as she keeps her distance.”

Kevin chuckled at this. Zania sure was straight and to the point. That much was obvious. She wasn’t anything like the girl, who they’d found three years ago. That girls name had been Abrianna. She’d been quiet, timid. A little bit shy. Little by little, she’d opened up though and now, she said it how it was. The quality was admirable most of the time, although sometimes she ended up hurting peoples feelings and really didn’t care.

‘That’s great to hear,” he stated, “Because there was something else I was wanting to ask you about.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. See, your friendship means the world to me. I would never go behind your back or betray you or that might ruin that friendship. I respect your wishes and opinions. So if you disagree with me or tell me you don’t want me to, then I won’t.”

“Kevin...your rambling. Just get on with it.”

Kevin laughed, “I know...I’m just nervous I suppose,” he took in a deep breath, ready to spill himself, “See..I really like Bianca. A lot. I’d like to go out with her...more than a date. Like, go out as in a relationship status. As I said though, if it will come between our friendship because you’re not comfortable with it, then I won’t.”

Zania said nothing for a moment. She just bit her lip in concentration, thinking about how to reply to Kevin. She could see by the look on his face that he was serious. The thing was though, she didn’t know how she felt about this. True, her and Bianca were at least on speaking terms, but she was still nervous about letting her, and especially Darcy in too close. She was still afraid that their intentions weren’t honorable, somewhat leery about what they were really there for, even if they had been friends before. Kevin however, was an excellent judge of character. Not only that, she could see that her procrastinating with an answer was causing him to become fidgety with nervousness.

“You really like her, don’t you?”

Kevin nodded, “She’s the first woman I’ve been interested I since the divorce.” he mentioned, which said a lot.

After only another moments pause, Zania finally smiled up at Kevin as she squinted in to the bright sun by saying, “Then you have my permission to ask her out.”

A huge smile broke out on to the older mans face, showing how much this meant to him as he thanked his friend. He couldn’t wait to tell Bianca, feeling like a teenage boy again instead of the thirty-four year old man that he was.

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As AJ signed a few autographs for fans as he ran from his tour bus to the hotel, he couldn’t help but notice how stunning Zania looked. She looked more and more ravishing each day, or possibly it was all in his mind because his love and adoration grew for her every day. It had been for over three years now. All he wanted was to take her in to his arms and hug her, kiss her. Shower her in affection. Was that too much to ask for? Obviously it was, because God just wasn’t delivering his prolonged wish to have the girl as his girlfriend rather than just a very good friend.

“AJ!” a voice rang out just as he was about to reach to door through a tunnel of security guards. He turned his head and saw a medium height girl waving her arms in the air, figuring right away that it had been her to call his name. He stopped when she yelled, “Could you please sign this for me?”

“Sure thing, babe,” he smiled, grabbing the pen and a Backstreet Boys calendar from 2001. He scrawled his name across it before handing it back to her with a wink, “Have a great night!” he called to her, ducking in to the large hotels back stairwell just as the doors were closing. He struggled to keep his large suitcase strap on his shoulder as he made his way up the stairs, watching Jaime from behind.

Things were honestly getting harder and harder. He was becoming so frustrated with himself because he honestly liked Jaime. Why didn’t he have the courage to just ask her out already or tell her how he felt? It really wasn’t that hard, actually. And not only that, there had to be a way for him to hint around and dig for information about how he felt with being subtle. That way, if he got a positive vibe, he could ask her out, and if it was a negative vibe...he would just carry on as her friend as if nothing had happened. She would never catch on...

...Or would she? Girls were special like that. They picked up on things and took hints almost as if it were a sixth sense. Hell, she probably knew by the way that he looked at her and laughed at him mockingly when she was alone in her room at night. If she were really interested in him, wouldn’t she have come and asked him out already? Then again, maybe she was waiting for him to make the first move. AJ growled in frustration. Why was he making such a big deal about this? He was letting a woman affect his mind, body, heart...just everything. It was pathetic really, but one the heart was involved, nothing mattered or made sense. It didn’t even matter if you made a complete ass of yourself. You didn’t care. All that mattered was that one special person who could make a difference in your life...

“AJ!”

AJ let out a low, muffled groan at the sound of this voice. Darcy. Would she not ever get the hint and leave him be? He honestly was beginning to think not. And sad thing was, they were just checking in to the hotel. In two hours, they’d have to leave for their show that night. That would be at least six hours of having her over his shoulder, chewing at his ankles like a stray dog. Go figure. The girl he wanted to leave him alone was constantly around and the girl he was crazy for didn’t even realize his existence...or so it seemed.

AJ tried to ignore Darcy as he quickened his pace though. That didn’t do a thing however. She just quickened her pace behind him as well, calling out his name and before he knew it, he felt her hand on his shoulder just as he was reaching his room, pulling the key that had been given to him from his back pocket. He’d been caught and cornered with no way out of it unless he pushed her aside and made a run for it.

“AJ, didn’t you hear me calling?” Darcy asked.

“I thought I heard a voice...but was hoping it was just in my head.” AJ remarked harshly, giving her an impatient look, “What can I do for you?”

Darcy shrugged, her greenish eyes looking up at him, “Well...to wish you luck tonight and to see if you wanted to go out for a drink after the show.”

“I don’t drink.”

“By ‘drink’, I didn’t necessarily mean alcoholic.” Darcy told him, “I know you don’t drink...could have meant a coke, water, hell...orange juice.” she laughed but it died when she saw that AJ was less than amused.

“I need to get ready for the show,” he told her without another word, making it so the conversation was officially over.

“Alright...well...good luck, since Bianca and I are heading out a little after you.” she smiled at him one last time before walking away three doors down to her own room.

AJ breathed a sigh of relief, happy that she’d left. To be honest, if they were the only two people left in the whole world, he’d rather be alone on a separate continent than with her to stick it out together. It all came back to her being a threat though, afraid that Zania would leave for good if she snagged her wretched claws in to the girl who’d once been best friends with her. If that happened, AJ was honestly at loss of what he’d do.

As he was unlocking his hotel room door, AJ spotted Zania a few doors down also entering her room. She stopped and turned her head and caught him staring at her. With a small smile and wave, AJ felt his heart flutter just a little bit higher. Only seconds, she disappeared leaving AJ wondering what it would feel like to kiss her. It was then that AJ realized that he needed help...and fast...before his emotions got too out of hand because it was becoming clear that nothing would ever come of the attraction.