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Chapter One

Brian Littrell looked around the court room nervously, his palms already sweating. He knew why he was there. That wasn’t the problem. The confusion lied in between the details of what had lead him to this fate. He looked beside him to the left with a simple turn of his head to see the Judge sitting next to him. To his right there was a police officer standing up tall and stiff, almost as if he were a statue. In front of him was his Lawyer on one side of the room with a pile of papers in front of him. At a desk next to him on the opposite side of the room was another Lawyer and the sobbing parents of Julian Edwards. Behind them were ten Jury members scattered around as well as friend and family of both himself and Julian. His friends, Kevin Richardson, Alex, also known as AJ, McLean, Nick Carter and Howie Dorough, were also there watching him. Waiting. The room was completely silent except for the ticking of a clock on the wall behind him. One could hear somebody breathing.

It had been exactly one month, five days since Julian had disappeared. Brian was the last known to see her. Alive or dead, nobody knew. Whether or not she was currently alive or not was still a mystery. Brian, however, was being tried for her disappearance and/or murder. Not a single trace of the twenty-eight year old woman had been seen or heard from for thirty-six days. Somehow, it had all come back to Brian.

“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”

Brian jumped at the sudden booming voice echoing throughout the room. He looked up to see the Bailiff standing in front of him holding a Bible out before him to swear him in under oath. Beings he was very religious, he knew that he had to be honest in order to stay on good terms with God. He was nervous though. What if telling the whole truth was easier said than done. He swallowed hard, placing his hand on top fo the Bible, knowing that everybody was waiting on him.

“I...I swear.” Brian found his voice saying, knowing that the first day of what would be a lengthy court process was officially underway.

The Bailiff said nor did anything more as the Edwards’s Lawyer was called to the stand. He stood and walked before Brian, a large folder in his hands which he’d be reading from and asking questions from. Brian’s skin started to crawl in anticipation, wishing more than anything that he could scratch. He was handcuffed, however, restricting him from making any sort of movement with his arms. He was being treated like a criminal. A dirty criminal.

“What exactly happened on the last night that you saw Miss. Edwards?” Mr. Settina asked Brian, cutting right to the chase. There was no small talk here. Just business.

“I um...Julian came over to my house,” Brian found his voice saying, “She um..while I was on tour, I gave her a key to my place. That night, while we were together...I found a pair of boxers behind my bed...that weren’t mine. I’ve never had anybody in my bedroom besides Julian. Everybody else used guest rooms. I accused her of cheating on me. She um...she pretty much said that she had while I was away. I lost my temper. We yelled, screamed at each other. She slapped me and I um...told her to leave my home immediately. That was the last that I saw of her.”

“So, when you told Miss. Edwards to leave, she ran from your home?”

“More or less.” Brian replied

“And you haven’t seen her since?”

Brian shook his head in response, suddenly feeling tears welling up in his eyes. Things already weren’t looking good. That’s where his Lawyer came in though. To point all fingers away from him. He had loved Julian though. He’d never hurt her for anything intentionally. In fact, he hadn’t thought that he had. Emotionally, yes. That was a given. Their relationship had been pretty much flawless though. They’d been the perfect couple, always happy and affectionate towards the other. They’d hardly ever fought. So walking in to the fact that she’d betrayed him, and in his own home yet, had killed his soul.

“Mr. Littrell, have you seen Miss. Edwards since the fight?” Mr. Settina asked him again, looking for an answer spoken aloud.

“No, Sir.” Brian replied, looking him square in the eye this time.

“Do you have any idea where she might be?”

“No, Sir,” Brian replied again.

Mr. Settina nodded curtly, “Thank you Mr. Littrell, that’s all for now.” he stated before taking his seat again beside the parents of his girlfriend, or former girlfriend rather.

The room grew silent again. Brian looked past everybody at his four friends sitting in the second row of seats. They smiled at him inconspicuously to try and show him their support in this tough and trying situation. A situation none of them had ever dreamed that any of them would be in. As Brian’s lawyer, Mr. Williams, rose and came before him, Brian hoped that he was able to steer any suspicion away that Mr. Settina had thrust towards him.

“Mr. Littrell...you’ve said that Miss. Edwards and you had a close relationship. Is that correct?”

“Yes,” Brian responded, “Very close. My friends were sickened by it.”

This caused a short round of laughter to circulate through the room, but only for a moment. After that short minute, another question was asked. One in which Brian wasn’t sure how to answer and he stuttered in response, making it look as if he had something to hide. Something big. Something that could solve everything right then and there, however it wouldn’t.

“So you would never hurt her?”

“N..well, no...not intentionally.” Brian cursed on the inside at his answer, “I mean...our last time together, there was some shoving on both parts. Aside from that...never.”

“How long were you dating?”

Brian did a quick mental count in his head before answering with, “Just over a year.”

“So you’d met her parents?”

“Yes.”

“And how did you get a long with them?”

“Very well, Sir. We got along great. They mentioned that I was a perfect match for their daughter...the type they hoped she would end up with.”

“Thank you, Mr. Littrell.” Mr. Williams stated, and he took a seat.

There were a few minutes of silence other than some casual speaking casting through the room. Brian, however, was left with only his thoughts to fulfill his time while the Judge noted on a few things. He wished that he knew if those things were for or against him. The trial wasn’t nearly over with however. There were still some mysteries to be solved. After all, a person was missing. They wouldn’t just let it go with a few questions. Investigations had to be made.

‘Court dismissed for the day.” the Judge called out, and everybody rose slowly and walked out of the door as the officer next to Brian took his arm gently, leading him away back to his new home...his prison cell.
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Flashback
February 12th, 2005

It was a warm day for that time of year. The kind of day that most hoped would stay that way all through the fall and winter. The temperature was in the low seventies, the sun high in the sky shining down brightly upon Georgia.

Brian hummed happily to himself as he walked out to his car, carrying a bag of groceries in one hand, his keys in the other. When he reached his car, Brian unlocked the door, placing the bag on the passenger seat beside him as he got in himself, sticking the key in to the ignition. It was just another day for him. Another day of being able to do absolutely whatever he wanted. He enjoyed these days, however they were getting old and he was getting bored. Only four more months until another tour with the Backstreet Boys would take off. They’d finished recording a few months prior and the album was to be released in two months. He couldn’t wait to tour and do rehearsals so that he and his friends were all on the same page during their stage performance. Only four months, and the hectic, exciting life as a performer would begin again.

Brian put his car in reverse, backing out of his parking spot, shifting in to first gear. Once out on the highway, he went to second, third and finally fourth. Rolling the windows down, the wind whipped through the sports car, the radio turned up loud to down out the overpowering wind noise. He sang along to the lyrics, going in to somewhat of a trance as he drove, knowing the way home like the back of his hand without really paying any attention.

That was, until somebody turned out in front of him causing Brian to break from his thoughts as his heart started to hammer in his chest. He slammed on his breaks, but not soon enough, for his car slid right in to the back of the other car. Brian’s body lurched forward slightly upon impact, but it wasn’t enough to cause airbags to go off. Just enough to make a rather nasty dent in the other persons car while the hood of Brian’s crumpled up slightly. He sat stunned for a moment, wondering if that had really just happened. Judging by the fact that he wasn’t waking up from a bad dream, Brian assumed that it had.


“Wonderful.” he spat sarcastically, his cheerful mood taking a turn for the worse.

After only a few seconds, he noticed somebody emerging from their car. He too did the same, wondering what in the world he was going to say. In his mind, this wasn’t his fault. In his mind, he’d done nothing wrong as he tried to control his temper, only seconds away from being face to face with the other victim. All around him, the rest of the world stopped in time as if it didn’t exist at all. All that was there was him and the person from the other car.

“What the hell do you think you were doing?” a girl who looked to be around his age ranted right away without giving him the chance to speak, “Do you not know that you’re not supposed to run in to people in front of you?”

“Do you not know that I had the right of way?” Brian asked evenly, “Right turn on red only works if there is nothing coming.”

The girl rolled her eyes...blue ones, Brian noticed. She crossed her arms over her chest, but said nothing. Brian found himself smiling smugly at this. No words meant that she knew she was wrong. The cops, however, would have the final say in the situation. After all, a police report would have to be taken. A few horns honked as traffic piled up in both directions, but Brian paid no attention to it. The girl, however, stuck up her hand, flipping the people off. Brian found himself laughing at her fiery, outspoken personality.

“What? You think that just because you’re a pop star means that you own the road?” she asked him suddenly, “News flash, you have to follow the same rules as everybody else.”

Brian stepped back as if he’d been slapped. When had he ever acted as if he were better than anybody? He didn’t know, but obviously something had happened that he wasn’t aware of. Taking in a deep breath, he realized that being calm was probably the best way to go. Compromising.

“I’m sorry...I’ll make sure that all of the damages are paid for and you’re taken care of, no matter who is cited.”

She eyed him before saying, ‘That would be nice...” a few tears welled up in her eyes, her anger dying as panic started to set in, “It took me three years to save up enough money just to make a down payment on this piece of junk...and I can only pay the minimum each month. Not to mention I can’t even afford full coverage insurance. God...how am I going to pay for this?”

Brian smiled at her sympathetically. He’d really never had problems financially and ever since his late teens, he’d been pretty well off. Extremely well off, in fact. He realized though that this girl probably spent every penny she earned on bills and her car was her only means of transportation. A car that looked as if it had been picked up at the junk yard and fixed up just enough to be drivable.

Only seconds later, police sirens were heard and then two cop cars showed up to the scene. One of them started to direct traffic while the other came over to Brian and the young woman. After asking a few simple questions, Brian learned that her name was Julian Edwards. Looking at her as she spoke, he already knew that he’d be taking full responsibility. He had the money to pay for the damages while she obviously didn’t.

Not to mention, she was gorgeous. Her hair was a shade of brown that was both light and dark depending on the way the light hit it. Her skin was a peaches and cream color which was flawless. She wasn’t tall, nor short. She stood at about five foot six...the perfect height for him. She was slender with a medium bone frame and it was obvious that she worked out from her toned body.

“Mr. Littrell, do you know why you are being cited?”

Brian looked up to see the officer had been speaking to him. Brian just nodded his head as he was given a ticket that had to be paid within thirty days.

“You two will need to exchange insurance information to work out how your cars will be fixed. Miss Edwards, Mr. Littrell’s company should supply you with a vehicle to use temporarily while yours is being fixed.

“Thank you, officer.” Julian sniffled, still unable to believe something she’d worked so hard to buy was going to be taken from her.

The police officer got back in to his car, sitting there for a few moments to file some things before driving away. Julian just slumped against her car, burring her face in to her hands. She didn’t know what to do and certainly wasn’t up to driving yet. Her stomach felt ill Absolutely ill. Even though she knew she wouldn’t have to pay a single cent of her own money, it still didn’t make her feel any better.

“Are you going to be okay?”

Julian looked up to see Brian was still standing there as well. She sighed before nodding, wiping a few stray tears away from her eyes. He smiled at her kindly, taking a couple of steps forward. She eyed him suspiciously, but stood still anyways. She was weak, all of her energy gone. The accident had frightened her, as it had been her first one ever.

“Listen..I’m very sorry about all of this,” he offered, “I’d like to make it up to you sometime..take you to dinner possibly?”

Julian laughed, the sound like music to his ears, “I don’t even know you.”

‘Sure you do,” he grinned, “I’m Brian and I creamed the heck out of the back of your car.” this caused her to laugh again, his humor lightening the dark mood, “Seriously though...go out with me and get to know me.”

She hesitated for a moment. This was honestly one of the weirdest things to ever happen to her. She reached up, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear as she looked up at him. He seemed sincere enough. The situation was just bizarre though. They’d been in an accident, fought and now he was comforting her and asking her for a date. Such a strange world...yet somehow things always got better after they got worse. Julian only stood there for another minute in silence before deciding her answer.

“Okay...” her voice trailed off, “Can give it a try, I suppose...”

Brian grinned as he pulled a pulled a pen from his pocket, ‘What’s your number?” he asked, and she gave it to him as he scribbled the seven digit number on a scrap piece of paper within his wallet, “Great...I’ll be calling you.”

“Just don’t turn in to some crazy stalker.” she joked

Brian just shrugged his shoulders in response as he got in to his car, Julian doing the same. He hoped that something special formed between them as he took grip of the steering wheel. A huge smile was plastered to his face, his day just getting better despite his car needing a little visit to the Auto Body Shop. Not even that could destroy his mood.