As Brian and Alexa arrived to their hotel room, Brian fumbled with the room key anxiously. He slipped his key-card into the black card-reader that was mounted to the door. The light flashed red. He swiped the card again. Still Red.

“Ugh,” Brian groaned aloud.

Alexa smiled and slipped in between Brian and the door. She ran her hands gently up the back of his shirt and he melted at her touch. It had been two days since they had taken that ultimate step. Though they had kept the advancement of their relationship to themselves, they took every available opportunity to exchange seductive glances and vague touches when in the presence of others. When alone, they were magnetized; no matter how hard they tried, they were drawn to each other.

Alexa laughed huskily as she kissed behind Brian’s ear gently, which only make him that much more anxious to get inside of the hotel room. With a final swipe of the key-card, the light turned green signaling that they were allowed to enter. Brian pushed the door open and grabbed Alexa by the top of her thighs, picking her up with ease as she wrapped her long legs around his waist and pulled her shirt quickly over her head. He stumbled into the dark room and set Alexa down softly on the leather couch in the living area. Brian grinned and leaned down slowly. He pressed his lips gently against Alexa’s waiting mouth. Their tongues intertwined passionately until Brian broke away. He kissed softly down her jaw line, stopping to pay extra attention to the sensitive skin of her neck.

Alexa ran her soft hands up Brian’s sides, slipping his t-shirt easily over his head as he unhooked her black, lace bra and threw it to the floor. Brian moved his mouth down to her chest, softly kissing the tops of her generous breasts. He moaned as Alexa arched her back in pleasure and reached down to gently caress the prominent bulge in his jeans.

In one fatal swoop, Brian climbed off of the couch taking Alexa with him. Alexa kissed him with all of the passion that she had inside as he gracefully carried her half-naked body to the bedroom. With one hand, Brian opened the folding door that separated the living room from the bedroom and then slammed it shut once they were inside. He laid her down on the bed gently and took every inch of her again and again until they both screamed with pleasure. Lying next to each other on the bed, sweaty, exhausted, and breathing laboriously, they looked at each other and smiled.

Brian gently pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. “You’re beautiful.” He whispered.

Alexa shrugged and rolled her eyes playfully. “Yeah, I pretty much know that. And you’re amazing.”

Brian chuckled and pulled Alexa on top of him. “Yeah, I pretty much know that.” She leaned down slowly and kissed him softly. And then, they took everything that the other had to offer, again.

------

The next morning, Alexa awoke before Brian for the first time since arriving to Kentucky. It was the last day that they would be in the comfort of their safe haven--in a hotel room where the only memories were of the two of them together. There was no harmful past. There were no terrifying potential future circumstances for the decisions that they had once made, for the decisions that she had once made.

Alexa turned around carefully in the bed so that she was facing Brian. She smiled softly, so content to be lying there next to him. Alexa ran a hand through his blonde hair, loving how it tended to curl as it grew longer around his ears. She leaned toward him and kissed his chin lightly.

Brian smiled with his eyes still closed. It had been two days and everything was still good. The world hadn’t ended and he still felt okay. He peeked at her out of one eye. “Good morning, Beautiful.” He greeted groggily as he wrapped an arm around her still-naked body. He shivered, as her bare skin touched his. Making love to Alexa was amazing. It was more than amazing; it was a pure state of rapture.

“Hey, yourself.” Alexa replied and then kissed him softly. His lips were perfect. From their first kiss, she couldn’t help but to feel like she’d found everything that she was looking for. Still, Alexa knew that they wouldn’t stay this way unless she did something to rectify her involvement with Jive. She had to get out of Ben’s clutches and tell Brian everything.

“What are you thinking about so hard over there?” Brian asked softly while running his hands through her silky hair.

Alexa shook her head and smiled. “My job, honestly. And the fact that I never want to leave this bed.”

Brian grinned and pulled her closer. “Who says we have to go anywhere?”

“Man,” Alexa joked. “Getting laid for the first time in five years really has done something to you.”

“Or maybe I just can’t get enough of you.” Brian chuckled and kissed the side of her neck, knowing that it made her melt every time.

“No, no.” Alexa laughed and scooted away from him. “We have to pack. We’re leaving today, remember?”

“So?” Brian contested. “We don’t have to be out of here for hours.”

“That would be true,” she replied. “Except we have to meet your parents and your brother for brunch.”

Brian groaned and rolled over onto his stomach. “Being with my parents has been great actually, especially since you’re here, because that has taken the focus off of me for a while, but I just don’t want to deal with Harry. We haven’t spoken since Thanksgiving.”

“Brian.” Alexa gave him a look that said, come on. “You two have to talk. You’ve got some apologizing to do whether you believe that or not. I’m not saying that everything that he said was completely right either, but he’s your brother.”

“I know,” Brian groaned. “But that’s the thing. He’s my brother. We’ll walk away from it all and then forget about it and call each other in a couple weeks and it’ll be fine.”

Alexa shook her head and rolled her eyes. “You’re such a baby. He’s starting a family. How do you know that he won’t be completely offended and put off by the simple fact that you couldn’t say that you’re happy for him?”

“I am,” Brian argued. “He knows that.”

Alexa shrugged. “We’re going and you’re going to talk to your brother. I don’t even see why you’re arguing.”

Brian looked over at her and smirked. “You’re so pushy.”

“You knew that before you got involved with me, Buddy.” She patted his butt lightly and jumped off of the bed.

“Where are you going?” Brian asked, following her perfectly curved body around the bed with his eyes.

“I’m going to take a shower so that I don’t show up to your parent’s house smelling like sex. Is that okay with you?” Alexa shot him a playful look. “Why don’t you join me? You know, cut down on water. Go green. Save the planet.”

Brian laughed. “Doesn’t that defeat the purpose?”

Alexa shrugged and walked through the sliding doors toward the bathroom. “I guess that’s for you to decide.”

Brian watched as she walked into the bathroom and closed the door. It took seconds for him to jump out of the bed and rush in behind her. When he walked in, she was propped up on the counter with her legs crossed, waiting for him. Brian shook his head. “You just knew that I would be following you in here.”

Alexa shrugged a shoulder and smirked. “You are pretty predictable.”

“I’ll show you how predictable that I am.” Brian replied as he threw Alexa over his shoulder and stepped into the warm flowing water of the shower.

-----

A couple of hours later, Brian and Alexa had checked out of the hotel and driven the short distance to Brian’s parent’s house. Brian ran around the car and opened Alexa’s door. As they walked down the driveway, he looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

“What?” She asked, self-consciously.

Brian shook his head quickly. “Nothing. It’s just that… forget it. It’s stupid.”

“No,” Alexa argued as she laced her fingers through his. “Tell me. What is it?”

Brian sighed. “This is going to sound stupid, but I feel so much lighter. You’ve been right in front of my face this whole time. I just wouldn’t let myself give in.”

Alexa smiled and bit her bottom lip apprehensively. “That’s great to hear, but Brian, we kind of jumped into all of this.”

Brian looked down and nodded. “I know, but-”

Right then, Jackie burst out of the front door, causing Brian to stop mid-sentence. Alexa and Brian broke apart quickly, stunned by her abrupt appearance. “Can’t you two ever be on time for anything?” Jackie asked with her hands resting on her hips.

Alexa laughed and walked up the porch stairs ahead of Brian and hugged Jackie. “We’re sorry that we’re late. We got caught up at the hotel.”

Jackie rolled her eyes. “I’ll bet you were.”

Brian blushed and narrowed his eye at his mother. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Jackie waved him off. “Go on. You two can have your little secret romance, but you’re not fooling anyone.”

Alexa pursed her lips and glanced over at Brian, and then back at Jackie. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She turned on her heels and walked quickly into the house.

Brian tried to follow behind, but Jackie stepped in front of him. “What now?” He asked his mom with a smirk.

“This is good, Brian.” Jackie replied with a stern look on her face.

Brian nodded slowly. “I know it is.”

Jackie poked him in the chest with her forefinger. “Don’t mess it up.”

Brian laughed. “I’ll try my hardest not to.” He shook his head and walked around his mother into the house. As he walked in, he observed Alexa chatting excitedly with Leslie about her pregnancy. Alexa looked over at him out of the corner of her eye and smiled. Brian grinned back at her as she gestured with her head toward Harry who was sitting across the table from her.

Brian walked over to where Alexa was sitting and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Hey Harry.”

Harry looked up and nodded his head in response, obviously still angry. “Hi.”

Brian sighed and stuck his hands in his pockets wishing desperately that he didn’t have to go through with trying to apologize to his pig-headed brother. He felt Alexa reach behind him and rub the back of his leg reassuringly. “Will you come upstairs with me? We need to talk about the other day.”

Harry shrugged and clenched his jaw defiantly. “Why can’t we talk right here?”

Brian rolled his eyes and shook his head angrily. “You know what? Forget it. I was trying to be the bigger person, but apparently the new ‘daddy’ just wants to be a big baby.”

“Brian, you aren’t helping.” Alexa sing-songed through her teeth.

Harry stood up and slammed his hands on the table. “You were trying be the bigger person? Is that right? Maybe you should have tried that on Thursday when I announced the biggest news of my life and you threw a fit!”

Leslie looked back and forth between the brothers. “Harry, just go with Brian. This isn’t the place to have this fight.”

“Baby, he wasn’t just disrespectful to me, he was disrespectful to you, too!” Harry shot a stony look in Brian’s direction.

Brian rolled his eyes. “You know what, Alexa? Let’s just go.”

Brian’s father, who had been sitting at the head of the table watching the entire scene, stood up as well. “No. No one’s going anywhere, except you two.” Harold, Sr. paused and pointed at his fighting sons. “Brian and Harry, you’re BOTH going to go upstairs and work out your differences like adults.”

Brian and Harry stood firmly in place, Harry with his arms crossed and Brian with his hands shoved deep into his pockets, staring at their father.

“Now.” Harold reiterated.

The brothers glanced at each other and slinked out of the dining room. At Harold’s scolding, they were thrown back into a teenage version of themselves. Different house, similar story.

Upstairs, Brian walked into the den behind his brother and shut the door. Harold walked across the room and sat down on one of the leather recliners that adorned the room while Brian remained standing. The younger of the two men leaned against a large bookcase and crossed his legs at the ankle.

“So?” Harry began. “You said that you wanted to talk.”

“Yeah, well that was until you decided to go all crazy on me.” Brian replied.

Harry scoffed and rolled his eyes. “This is such a waste of time.”

Brian sighed and thought back to his and Alexa’s conversation that morning. Apparently, Alexa had been right. Harry did resent him. “Look, I am happy for you, okay? I’m really happy for you. I’m glad that you’re starting a family. It’s just that… I don’t know.” Brian trailed off and shook his head sadly.

“It’s just that what?” Harry prodded, wanting Brian to expand. Brian had been really messed up since his wife had died, but he’d also been closed off. He never talked about Hayden or the baby to anyone. Then, apparently, Alexa arrived and something changed. Harry hoped that Brian would open up to him now.

Brian looked at Harry, debating whether he should continue or just apologize and leave it at that. He sighed again. “You know that I was so excited about being a father. I loved my wife. I loved my life in general and it was all taken away.” Brian paused. “You know that. Everyone knows that. I feel like a broken record sometimes, but it kind of took my breath away when you announced to everyone that you were having a baby. I’m glad that you’re starting a family, but it kind of took the wind out of me. It’s selfish of me, but I just wish that I would have known that it was coming.”

Harry rested his elbows on his knees and glanced at Brian. “On Thursday, you made a point to say that I never even wanted a family or a baby-”

“I know,” Brian said cutting him off, “and I know that those things can change when you find someone that you care about-”

Harry shook his head and, this time, interrupted his brother. “You didn’t let me finish.”

Brian nodded and waited for Harry to go on.

“You’re right, Brian. I wanted to be the ultimate bachelor and then I met Leslie. When Leslie and I got married, neither of us wanted anything more than just each other and then came 9/11 and Hayden died. That was over five years ago.” Harry looked at Brian and bit his bottom lip. “You don’t know this, but your pain taught me so much about love and about life. Don’t get me wrong, I always loved Leslie just as much as you love Hayden, but seeing you lose her made me think about what it would have been like if the tables were turned and it made me want more. Maybe you’re right, maybe I should have told you first just so that you knew that it was coming, but somehow, I knew that you were going to react the way that you did and I just didn’t want to bring that back for you. I was hoping that if we were in a room full of people that you’d restrain yourself, but apparently I was wrong.”

“Harry,” Brian replied, understanding where he was coming from, but still not satisfied with his reasoning. “You weren’t exactly pleasant to me either, you know?”

“I know that and I’m sorry, but Brian, you had just accused me of not wanting my baby!” Harry exclaimed wide-eyed.

“I didn’t accuse you of not wanting THAT baby. I accused you of not wanting children.” Brian retorted defensively.

“Because that’s better.” Harry replied as Brian rolled his eyes. “Look, the fact of the matter is that we had been fighting earlier in the day and I want to say that I’m sorry for getting in your business about the Backstreet Boys. I just hate that you want to throw it all away.”

“It’s not being thrown away. It’s being put on the shelf.” Brian shook his head. “Look, can we just forget all of this and go downstairs and eat? I’m starving and this is getting old.”

Harry laughed and stood up. He walked across the room and hugged his brother. “Agreed.”

Brian turned to leave the den, but stopped with his hand on the doorknob and looked back at Harry. “You know that I’m happy for you right?”

Harry nodded. “Yeah, I know that and thank you.”

Brian nodded as well and started out of the room glad that they had talked; this probably wasn’t one of those fights that would have just gone away.

As they were clomping down the stairs, Harry grabbed onto Brian’s arm. “So, Brian, we’re good now, right?”

Brian nodded and looked at Harry skeptically. “Yeah.”

“So, then, why don’t you let me in on what’s going on with you and Alexa? You know, brother to brother. She IS pretty hot.” Harry inquired as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Brian laughed and shook his head slowly. “Then you date her.” He continued down the stairs without giving Harry any further information. He wanted to keep Alexa to himself for as long as he could, knowing that when they got back to Georgia he was going to have to share her with the world again.

-------

By mid-afternoon, Brian and Alexa knew that they had to get on the road if they were going to be back home by any semblance of a decent hour. They hugged everyone goodbye and were met by tears from both Jackie and Leslie. The ladder understandably, only because she was a raging ball of hormones.

“Aw, Jackie, don't cry!” Alexa exclaimed when she saw the tears on Brian's mom's face. “I'll make sure that Brian comes back soon!”

Jackie laughed through her tears. “Not just Brian, but you too!” Jackie wrapped her arms around Alexa again and whispered softly in her ear. “Thank you for bringing my baby back.”

Alexa chuckled uncomfortably. “I don't know that I can take credit for that.”

“Okay, okay. Come on.” Brian laughed softly as he pulled Alexa away from his mother. “Mom, you'll see me in a few weeks. I'll be back for Christmas. We'll see if I can convince Alexa to come with me. Maybe we can both get a quick jump on her.”

Alexa grinned and rolled her eyes. “You'll have to beat my sister off first.”

“I'll work on it.” Brian replied laughingly. With a final hug from everyone in his family, he and Alexa climbed into the car and started their long drive back to Atlanta. Brian glanced over at Alexa and grinned. He looked down at her hand that was lying on the armrest and laced his fingers with hers.

Alexa smiled over at him and sighed, then shook her head. “This isn't going to last is it?”

Brian shot her a confused look. “What do you mean?”

She shrugged slowly. “I just mean that everything is going to change when we get home. It's going to get weird.”

“It doesn't have to get weird.” Brian grabbed onto her hand more tightly, hoping desperately that she wasn't trying to say that she wanted to go back to the way that things were. They couldn't go back now.

“I know.” Alexa nodded and glanced out the window trying to gather her thoughts. “Earlier we had started to say how we rushed into things, you know? And I'm just afraid that it was easy to rush when there weren't any distractions or memories around.”

“I understand what you're saying.” Brian shrugged. “And it makes sense, I guess.” He let go of her hand quickly and rubbed his now-sweating palm against his jeans.

Alexa could feel the tension in the air between them. This isn't what she wanted. It isn't what she wanted at all. “I mean, the simple solution is that we just slow down, right? We get home. I go to my house, you go to yours. We start dating and we see what happens?”

Brian glanced over at her and smiled. “Does that mean that we can't have sex anymore?”

Alexa laughed and swatted him on his arm. “You have turned into a typical man so quickly, you know that?”

“I'm just kidding.” Brian replied and grabbed her hand again. “You're right. We date. We see what happens. Although, I already know what's going to happen.”

Alexa glanced over at him and smirked, waiting for his next sexual innuendo. “What's that?”

He kissed the back of her hand softly. “You're going to make me fall in love with you.”

Alexa shivered at the touch of his soft lips on her hand and melted at his words. She never wanting that moment to end.

-------

Brian finally pulled the car into Alexa's driveway sometime between 10 and 11 o'clock that night. Brian walked Alexa to the door and pulled her into his arms.

Alexa leaned up and kissed him softly. “I'm really glad that you convinced me to go with you. You're family is amazing.”

Brian smiled. “I'm glad that I decided to threaten to kidnap you if you didn't.”

Alexa laughed and shook her head. “I should get inside.”

“Now, you're sure that you don't want me to come in with you.” He leaned down and kissed her softly again and then leaned his forehead against hers. “You never know who's lurking inside.”

Alexa rolled her eyes and smiled. “I'll be fine.” She turned away from Brian and stuck her key into the lock.

As the door opened, Brian pulled her to him again. He put his hands on both sides of her face and kissed her passionately. For some reason, he was scared to death of leaving her side. “I'll see you tomorrow?” He asked, somewhat out of breath, when he finally pulled away.

“Definitely.” Alexa replied softly and with a final kiss she disappeared into the house.

Deciding to leave his car in her driveway, Brian grabbed Tyke out of the backseat and walked across the street to his own home. As he unlocked the door, he sighed. They'd only been apart for maybe two minutes, yet Brian wanted to burst through the door just to hold her in his arms. Having to wake up alone again was going to be miserable.

When Brian entered the house, he set Tyke down in the foyer. Tyke scurried away quickly as Brian sorted through the mail that was sitting on the catchall table. When he left for extended periods of time, he always hired someone to come by to check the mail and make sure that everything was as it should be.

Within moments, a pure state of panic began to set in. All he had to see was Hayden's name on a sales flyer from Bed, Bath and Beyond. He skipped over the flyer quickly trying desperately not to feel guilty. He was moving on and that was okay. Hayden's dead. She's always going to be dead. Brian's body felt like clay as he moved into the living room. There in front of him was his wedding picture, sitting on the mantle. Adjacent from the living room stood a hutch in the dining room that held the china that he and Hayden had gotten as a wedding present. Brian glanced up the stair case; at the top would be the bedroom that he had shared with his wife. He looked quickly back at the dining room. His eyes stopped on the swinging, wooden door that was the entrance to the kitchen. In the kitchen was Hayden's display of cookbooks and cutlery.

Brian fell to his knees. He felt like his chest was caving in. He couldn't breathe. What have I done? He thought to himself painfully. I betrayed her. The moment that I took one step out of this house, I betrayed her.

Alexa was right. There weren't any distractions in Kentucky. He didn't have to stare at his wedding picture or sleep in the bed that he had once shared with his wife.

Brian spotted his golf bag sitting in the corner of the dining room next to the set of back doors. Without thinking, he grabbed his heaviest golf club, the driver, and slammed it into the hutch, breaking every piece of china that was held inside. He then moved to the living room and swung at everything that reminded him of his wife. He hit the glass-topped coffee table that had once been hers; he smashed every piece of artwork that she had picked out off of the walls; and finally, he swung at his wedding picture, smashing the glass picture frame into a thousand tiny pieces. As the photograph floated to the ground, Brian fell to his knees again. He grabbed the picture as he doubled over and let his tears of misery and betrayal fall freely down his cheeks.