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“Your little friend Nick was rather quiet at lunch yesterday,” Mia Dennison said between sips of her orange juice.

Howie only nodded. “He can be shy sometimes. But don’t let him hear you call him little,” he joked. They hadn’t had a chance to have dinner together the night before because something came up and Mia couldn’t make it, so they decided to have a nice quite breakfast together. “He just needs to get to know you a little better; all the guys are looking forward to meeting you.”

Mia smiled and placed her hand on Howie’s cheek. “Well, I’m looking forward to meeting them, too. With the way you speak of them, they all seem wonderful.”

“You could meet them Monday if you want,” Howie suggested before taking a bite of his omelet.

“Actually, that will have to wait,” she said quickly, lifting the linen napkin from her lap to dab her full, pink lips. “I’m going out of town on business Monday morning. Batting her eyelashes, she pouted a little, “I’m sorry sweetie I wish I could meet them.”

“That’s all right, baby,” Howie said as he leaned over to place a kiss on her cheek. “You can meet them later.”



Kevin slowly walked out of the elevator and bypassed his room heading straight for AJ’s. He’d been out on the town most of the night just going from casino to casino having nothing better to do. After he had successfully gambled away all of the cash he’d been carrying, he found an 24 hour ATM then proceeded to get rip roaring drunk and get into a fight with some huge man that didn’t give a rat’s ass that he was a celebrity. So far this getaway had not gone as planned and he thought it would just be best if they got a flight out this afternoon instead of Sunday.

Leaning against the door, he knocked twice and waited to see if he could hear movement from the inside. After a few minutes, he gave up grumbling to himself that AJ was probably already down by the pool or doing something equally relaxing. He stifled a yawn and reached into his back pocket for the key to his room. The elevator opened at the end of the hall, but he didn’t give it a second thought; he knew it wouldn’t be AJ coming back upstairs.

“Kevin?” a reluctant female voice called out behind him.

He groaned inwardly and lightly banged his head against the door. How the hell did a fan get up here? Plastering on what he hoped was a genuine looking smile Kevin sucked in a deep breath and turned around to face the woman. “What can I do for you? Bree?”

“I just wanted to come by and give you this,” she told him stiffly and placed a scrapbook in his hands. “I’m leaving town for a while and I thought you might want it.”

Tears sprang to his eyes when he opened the book and started flipping through the pages. It was full of pictures of his daughter from the past year. Suddenly very angry he looked at Brianna with disbelief. “You’re leaving town, huh? Doing what you do best then.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know damn well what that means, Brianna. You’re running. Again.”

“I am not running,” she turned defensive as she crossed her arms over her chest and looked at her feet. “I just have things I need to do.”

“Well, you know what, Bree? I’m not gonna make you let me see Kyra right now because eventually, your guilt will catch up with you. But don’t come running to me when your little boy toys leave you hanging because I don’t ever want to see you again. Not unless you’re bringing my daughter to me.”

Brianna stood watching Kevin with tears brimming in her eyes. When she didn’t say anything, Kevin stepped inside his room and slammed the door shut.



AJ’s eyes slowly fluttered open. A smile formed on his lips as the night before came flooding back to him; the smile grew wider when he took a moment to realize that Bianca was still asleep in his arms. Brushing her long, dark hair off her shoulder, he gently leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on the newly exposed skin. Just thinking about her made his heart swell and waking up with her in his arms made it nearly burst out of his chest. And now, she was his wife. “My wife,” he repeated softly to himself. God, it sounded perfect to him. Bianca mumbled something in her sleep and rolled over in his arms. Staring down at her peaceful face, AJ was overwhelmed by the need to kiss her. Gently as could be, he slowly lowered his face to hers and captured her lips in his. It was a moment before he realized Bianca was now wide awake and returning his kiss.

“Morning,” he finally said as he swept her hair off her forehead and placed another gentle kiss on her lips.

“Now I could get used to waking up like that,” she smiled and ran a hand through his short hair. And she wasn’t just saying that to make him feel good, she genuinely meant it. Something about waking up warm in his arms with his lips softly gliding against her own just felt… right. She hadn’t woken up this happy in quite a while.

“Well, you’d better get used to it, cause I plan on waking you up like this as much as possible,” his brown eyes sparkled.

Their moment was broken too suddenly by the phone. AJ reached over and lifted the receiver and was greeted by Kevin’s loud voice. He sounded pissed and AJ had to hold the phone away from his ear until the yelling came to a stop. “You done?”

“You had a great idea coming to Vegas, pal. I’ve really had a wonderful time,” Kevin replied sarcastically.

“I take it you haven’t had a good time?”

Even through the phone Kevin could hear AJ smirking and it pissed him off even more. “Damn it AJ, no, I haven’t had a good time. I was just calling to let you know that we’ve got a flight back to LA at 3:30.”

“Fine. But I think you might need to get one more seat reserved on that flight.”

“Who the hell for?” Kevin’s patience was growing thin. He just wanted to get packed and leave as soon as possible.

“For my wife,” AJ told him simply and hung up. “Looks like we need to pack.”

“What for?” Bianca gave him a quizzical glance.

“Mr. Richardson apparently booked an early flight back to LA,” he slid from beneath the covers and began searching for his boxers.

“Oh, well, I can’t go back today baby. I’ve got a full schedule and I’m not free for another day or so.”

AJ slipped a t-shirt over his head and nodded. “Okay, I forgot about that. Will you come back to LA when you finish?”

“Absolutely,” she grinned and wrapped the sheet around her body before standing up and walking over to him. Leaning against him, she sighed and wrapped her arms around his waist. She lowered her voice to a soft whisper. “I love you.”

“Ditto,” AJ smiled and placed his chin atop her head. “Oh, I guess I need to call Kevin. He probably already added the extra reservation on the flight so he’s gonna be pissed. God, what a great way to start off my day.”

Bianca just laughed and kissed his neck before going to find her clothes and shower.



Julie quietly slipped out of Brian’s arms as he slept, praying she wouldn’t wake him up. She felt so guilty about what she was going to do, but she didn’t really feel like she had a choice. She couldn’t help but feel like she and Brian made a huge mistake the night before and she wanted to avoid an awkward morning by getting out of there before he had a chance to wake up. Making sure she had everything she came with, she stopped at the table by the door where she was sure to find a pen and pad of paper. She found what she needed and quickly jotted a short note, placing it somewhere Brian would easily find it, and left the suite. The cab would be there by the time she got downstairs.

Brian, a smile playing on his lips, was just waking up as the cab pulled away from the hotel. Rolling over, he reached out to pull Julie closer and found her side of the bed was empty. Sitting up, he listened for the shower. Nothing. “She’s probably fixing herself some breakfast.” He stood up to stretch and looked around the room. Something didn’t look right about it. Running a hand through his messy curls, he began to realize that Julie’s stuff was gone. Everything she’d brought with her was nowhere to be seen.

Just to be sure he was right, Brian walked into the bathroom. After all, she could have been taking a bath instead of a shower. To his dismay he found nothing at all. The kitchen was next on his list, but it was the same scenario. It was almost like she had never been there at all. Like their dinner together followed by a night of lovemaking was nothing more than a dream. He threw himself down on the sofa and rubbed his hands over his face. Glancing up, he saw a note taped to the television and he leaned forward over the coffee table to retrieve it.

Duckie,

I’m really sorry I just left the way I did. Please don’t be upset with me. I just felt like I had overstayed my welcome and it was time for me to go home. I’ll call you later.

Jules

That was it. No mention of their time together and nothing that indicated whether or not she’d had a good time. She just had to go. He let out a heavy sigh and looked at his watch. 8:23. When did she leave? It couldn’t have been too long ago, could it? “I wonder…” he trailed off as thoughts raced through his mind. Could he catch her at the airport? “I have to at least try!” he jumped up and ran to the door. “Mark, I need to get to LAX… Let me go put some jeans and shoes on and meet me downstairs with a car, okay?”

Half an hour later, Brian found himself running through the crowds in the airport followed closely by Mark. He was just praying that her flight hadn’t taken off yet. He saw the departure gate just ahead of him and sped up considerably, leaving Mark behind in the sea of people. When he reached the counter, he was out of breath and the woman just stood there looking at him strangely. “Can you… please… tell me… if flight… flight… 700 to… Or…Orlando has… left yet?” Doubled over with his hands on his knees, Brian glanced up and gave the woman a hopeful look.

“I’m sorry sir, the flight left ten minutes ago.”

Brian closed his eyes and tried to subdue the prickling sensation he felt at the corners. Pinching the bridge of his nose he mumbled a thanks and turned to find Mark standing there looking sorry for him. “Let’s go,” he said simply and walked past the people that were now waiting in a line behind him.



*Monday Morning*

“Morning everybody,” Kevin’s tone was even as he poured himself a cup of coffee. “Good weekend?”

“Sure,” Brian’s tone matched Kevin’s as he flipped idly through a magazine.

“Where’s AJ?” Howie asked sliding his mug in Kevin’s direction.

“No idea,” he answered.

“Well, while we’re waiting on him, I’m gonna watch some TV,” Nick said and jumped over the back of the sofa on the other side of the room. Surfing through the channels, he stopped at MTV seeing the new Jennifer Lopez video. “Damn, her ass gets bigger every time I see her.” After a minute or so, the video ended and it cut to one of the news. “And we have some news on everyone’s favorite pop diva… Apparently Bianca Parker has tied—” At the mention of her name, Nick immediately began flipping through the channels again.

Kevin watched him closely, gauging his reaction. He knew what the VJ had been about to say, but he didn’t know how Nick would take it when he finally found out. Kevin looked to his left when he felt an elbow sharply nudge into his ribs. Howie and Brian were staring wide-eyed at him.

“That sounded like they were about to announce Bianca got married or something,” Brian whispered.

“How do you think Nick would handle that?” Howie lowered his voice as well.

“I don’t think he’d take it well.”

“No, he won’t,” Kevin answered shaking his head. “Especially when he finds out who she married.”

“Oh God.”

“Who?” Brian questioned eagerly before taking a sip of his coffee.

“AJ.”

In that very instant, the coffee that had been in Brian’s mouth was now all over Kevin’s unhappy looking face. He was hacking and coughing, trying to get air into his lungs, but between hot coffee and utter shock, he was having a hard time. Howie finally started patting him on the back to help Brian compose himself.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Nick asked as he picked up a bagel.

“Nothing,” Brian whispered, still sounding strangled.

Just then, AJ walked through the door grinning like a complete idiot. “Hey.” Kevin, Brian and Howie mumbled a quiet hello as they averted their eyes from AJ while Nick just acted as though he wasn’t there. “What’s up?”

“Nothin’,” they all answered in the same demeanor.

AJ raised his eyebrows just shrugged. “Well, are y’all ready to get to work?”

“Sure,” the three answered again.

“What the hell is wrong with you three?” Nick questioned obviously annoyed.

One of their producers came in before anyone could answer. “You five wanna get this show on the road?”

“Yes, please,” Nick spoke quickly.

“Oh, by the way congratulations AJ,” the man said with a smile.

“On what? Getting here on time for once?” Nick cracked sarcastically. He missed the looks that were passed between Kevin, Brian and Howie.

“Well, that is a feat in itself, but nah, I was talking about his wedding this weekend.”

“Oh God,” Brian moaned under his breath. Kevin and Howie just sat stock still waiting for the shit to hit the fan.

“Thanks man,” AJ grinned and shook his hand.

“Wait, you went to Vegas and got married?” Nick seemed highly amused.

“Yeah.”

“Who’s the poor girl? Someone you picked up by the pool? Or did you find her in a casino?”

“Actually, she was staying in the same hotel as Kev and me,” AJ told him flatly.

“Oh God,” Brian groaned again. This was going to be bad… maybe they should take cover under the table or something.

“Hope you got her good and drunk,” Nick sneered.

AJ turned to face Nick tired of his pissy attitude and snide remarks. “You actually might know her.”

“Really? Highly doubtful if you found her in some hotel in Vegas, but try me.”

“Oh God,” this time Kevin and Howie joined in.

“Her name’s Bianca,” AJ stated matter-of-factly.

Nick just looked at him for a minute before the answer hit him. “You’re kidding me, right? You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.” He turned to the other three with clenched fists and ragged breathing. “Is he fucking for real?” They all stood up and walked toward Nick, but he only took two steps back. “He’s serious?!”

Kevin, Howie and Brian could only nod.

“You fucking bastard,” Nick screamed as he took a swing at AJ’s jaw.

AJ, however, was anticipating this and ducked, instead sending Nick’s hand into the wall. Obscenities came pouring from Nick’s mouth and AJ threw him hard against the wall. “You have no right to be pissed at me over this. YOU pushed her toward me the first time… but this time we found our way back to each other. And there isn’t a damn thing you can do to change that, you understand me? If you really did love her, you would’ve tried harder.”

“Who are you to fucking tell me I didn’t try? You don’t know the first thing about me,” Nick cried as tears clung to his eyelashes. Shoving as hard as he could, he watched as AJ stumbled back and fell on the floor. “None of you know me anymore.”

“Wait, Nick, don’t leave mad,” Brian started after him, but stopped when Nick turned on him.

Pointing at all of them he took a deep breath and tried to compose himself before going outside. “I don’t want to see any of you, so don’t follow me.”

“When are you coming back, Nick? We have a schedule to follow,” Kevin said sternly, reminding him that they still had work to do.

“Fuck the schedule I have a better idea. How about we just call all this shit off. Then the four of us would all get to go home and be happy while AJ gets to be with Bianca. That way everybody wins,” he smirked hatefully and left them all standing there looking shocked.