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“Ms. Hart, we have a reason to suspect arson,” the detective stated to her once she had a
chance to walk around the remains of her charred house. “We don’t know for sure, but our
lab is running a few tests. Ms. Hart, do you have any enemies?”

Jenn looked at him dumbfounded by the statement that he had just made. “Detective
Conner, I’m involved with a Backstreet Boy. So is my roommate. There are psycho fans
everywhere. Anyone could have done this. Oh my God, Lori’s gonna freak.”

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

AJ woke up the next morning to his girlfriend having some sort of panic attack. She was
running around the room searching through her suitcase and randomly writing down
things. “Baby, what the hell are you doing?”

“The realization of the fact that all of my stuff is burnt up has finally set in,” Lori replied.
Wiping a tear from her face.

“Baby, it’ll be okay. Calm down.” AJ got out of the bed and put his hands reassuringly on
Lori’s shoulders. Lori put her head in her hands and sobbed for the next thirty minutes.

At about the time Lori calmed down, Jenn called. AJ handed the phone to Lori and went to
take a shower. When he emerged from the bathroom, he saw that Lori was off of the phone
and crying again.

“Jenn’s insurance is cutting her a check, but it won’t come her until the investigation is
over. That could take months and I don’t have the extra money to find myself a place to live,
buy new clothes and furniture. I’m going to have to go back to North Carolina and live with
Mom and Dad.”

“No, no, no. You don’t have to do that,” AJ said. “Here Baby.” AJ pulled a credit card out of
his wallet and handed it to Lori.

“I can’t take that, AJ,” Lori said.

AJ took Lori’s hand and placed the card in it. “You will take it and you ill buy whatever you
want with it and no, you won’t be paying me back either. And, I think when you buy you a
new wardrobe you should put it up in the closet right by my clothes.”

“Whoa. Wait a minute. What did you just say?” Lori was in complete shock.

“I want you to move in with me,” AJ replied. “You need a place to live and I need a
roommate.”

“You don’t need a roommate,” Lori said cracking a smile.

“I need you. How’s that?” AJ replied giving her a kiss. He looked at her and when she didn’t
respond, he knew that she had given in to him.

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

Lori went with the Boys to do Saturday Night Live later that night. AJ mentioned there was
going to be an after party, so she was ready to drown out her sorrows that night.

After the show, Lori and the Boys piled into a limo and were dropped off at a club where
they were escorted to the VIP section upstairs.

Lori felt like AJ’s arm candy all night. She was latched onto him as he mingled with everyone
there. There were so many big names there, that Lori started to forget whom she had met.
She took a break from AJ’s arm and moseyed over to the bar.

“I would love to have a Green Apple Martini please,” she said to the bartender as she sat
down in one of the chairs.

“I’ll have the same,” a voice said from behind her. She knew that she had recognized that
voice and she turned to see whom it came from.

“Why, Carson Daly, I’m a big fan of yours,” Lori replied holding out her hand. He grabbed it
and gave it a squeeze as he sat down next to her.

“Who might you be?” he asked as their drinks were laid out in front of them.

“Oh I’m sorry. I’m Lori Hissom. I date a Backstreet Boy.” She was so used to the title now
that she used it without thinking. “I mean, I’m AJ’s girlfriend.”

“Oh okay. They’re coming on the show tomorrow. How’d you guys meet?”

“Long story,” Lori stated taking a sip of her Martini. “I knew AJ when we were kids. We lived
in the same apartment complex in Orlando, Florida.”

“Oh cool. So, you guys got reunited and now you’re a couple,” Carson replied with a laugh.
“That’s crazy.” He gulped down his Martini and Lori did the same.

Before she knew it, her and Carson had ten drinks a piece and were laughing hysterically at
one another. AJ had finally decided to come over to the bar and to look for his girlfriend. He
found her and Carson in tears because they were laughing so hard.

“Well, I can see that you two have met,” AJ said sitting down next to Lori. He ordered his
favorite, Jack and Coke, and kissed Lori on the cheek.

“What’s’ up man?” Carson said giving AJ’s hand a shake.

“Yeah, well, all of us are here,” AJ replied. “We got done taping Saturday Night Live not too
long ago.”

“How’d that go?” Carson asked.

“It was cool,” AJ responded taking another sip of his drink.

“Baby, the bartender won’t let me have anymore to drink,” Lori said pouting.

“That’s probably a good thing,” AJ replied. “Well, maybe I should take you back to the
hotel.” He was starting to become uncomfortable about how flirty Lori was starting to act
with Carson.

“I’ll see ya tomorrow then.” Carson stuck out his hand and AJ shook it. “Nice meeting you,
Lori. See ya tomorrow?”

“Would I let you down?” Lori asked him playfully. “Bye.”

AJ and Lori informed Nick and Howie that they were heading back to the hotel. It turned out
that both Kevin and Brian had left the party an hour beforehand.

“I’ll have to call Jenn when we get to the room,” Lori said in the elevator of the hotel that
they were staying at.

“Baby, it’s three in the morning. I don’t think Jenn will be up. Plus, we have an early day
tomorrow. We have to be at MTV studios at ten tomorrow morning.”

“Oh God. That sucks. So, I guess that means we won’t be able to, um, have a little fun
before we go to sleep tonight? Lori asked as she and AJ walked into their suite.

“Baby, it’s never too late for that,” AJ replied picking Lori up and carrying her to the
bedroom.

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

“AJ! Are you ready yet?” Lori asked knocking on her boyfriend’s dressing room door. She
heard a muffled “yes” and walked in. “Baby, they need you in make-up. Everyone else is
ready.”

“Okay. How does that look?” AJ asked turning to face Lori.

“Here. Put this on,” Lori replied handing AJ’s leopard print cowboy hat to him. “I love you.”

AJ was taken back for a second. He had never heard her actually say that she loved him
before. They had only been dating for five months by then, but AJ knew that they had never
stopped loving each other. She just hadn’t actually said it to him and he had never actually
said to her either. “I love you too.” He gave her a kiss. “I’ll see you back her after the show,
right?” He paused a second.

“Okay! Go!” Lori exclaimed shoving him out the door into the hallway. There was only a half
hour before the show started and they were starting to let the girls into the studio.

Lori went into the studio and sat in the front row of seats. She wanted to be part pf the
audience. She’d only been dating AJ for a couple of months, so she seriously didn’t think
that any of the girls would recognize her.

By the start of the show, she had signed a couple of autographs and had taken some
pictures. Some of the girls said that they had known that her and AJ were together. She
found out very quickly that the girls only knew her because she was dating AJ. That kind of
disappointed her, but what’d she expect? It wasn’t like she had a singing career or was
famous like her boyfriend was.

Leaving MTV studios was a feat on its own. There were like fifty girls standing out by the
back door when they all were leaving. Lori booked it into the van as fast as she could. AJ
joined her a minute later followed by Brian and Howie. Kevin and Nick both tried to sign as
many autographs as they could, so they got into the van about five minutes later.

“Ya’ll were crazy with that game,” Lori said. “I mean, you guys looked like dumbasses up
there. Especially you, Carter. Hitting the button and not knowing the answer.” The rest of
the van laughed and Nick sat there, giving Lori the finger. “Oh Nicky! Did I hurt your
feelings? I’m sorry!” Lori leaned over and gave Nick a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Yeah, right,” he muttered, and then he smiled at her.

“We’re headed to the airport now, right?” Howie asked Kevin.

“Yeah. Security got our stuff while we were at the taping,” Kevin replied.

“Hey, have you talked to Jenn recently?” Lori asked.

“Yeah. I called her this morning and she said that the tests did come back as arson on the
house. So, now we have to worry about who did this and who’s next.”

“Fine. I’ll see you in Florida then, Mandy.” Nick slammed his cell phone shut and looked out
of the window. He was having a bad day and he knew that something bad was going to
happen within the next couple of days.