~*~Brian’s point of view~*~

“Not bad,” Fatima clapped her hands together. “You’re finally proving to me that you deserve to be the center of all the hype.”

“Oh, you know you love Backstreetmania!” Nick called.

She was walking around our circular stage, trying to keep an eye on all five of us as we practiced. “Looks like it’s going to be a good show. Especially the choreography, if I do say so myself.”

“It takes a lot of work to whip our sorry butts into shape,” AJ grinned.

“Now isn’t that the truth?” Fatima laughed. “Okay, run through that song one more time- flawless- and then you can take fifteen.”

We made it through most of the song “Get Down” but Kevin tripped over his shoelace during some of the dance moves. Fatima hadn’t been looking at him, so I was hoping she hadn’t caught it. He fell back into step as quickly as he could, but apparently she had eyes in the back of her head. When Fatima asked for flawless, she expected flawless. Anything less was unacceptable.

We ran through it again.

A few minutes later, I collapsed into a seat in the audience and chugged from my water bottle. Nick sat next to me, laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Howie wondered, wiping sweat from his forehead.

“It wasn’t me screwing up for once!” Nick glanced at Kevin.

Kevin heard him and was fuming, but he simply walked by the three of us, keeping his gaze straight ahead.

“So what time is this party on Saturday again?” Howie sat on the other side of me.

“Seven. I think,” Nick looked confused.

“You think?” I rolled my eyes and turned back to Howie. “Yes, it’s at seven.”

“I’ve been trying to convince Diana to come with me on at least part of the tour, but she won’t take the time off work. Well, she says she can’t.”

I knew how he felt. I hadn’t even brought it up with August, but I knew she wouldn’t want to leave her internship early. It was too important to her. It wouldn’t be fair to ask that of her. And the fall semester was right around the corner. I couldn’t expect her to drop her life for even a few weeks just because my job was taking me on the road.

Besides, that was a big step forward. A big commitment I shouldn’t even be considering. We’d only been dating a handful of weeks. Not quite two months yet. It was one thing for Howie and Diana to discuss traveling together. They were officially a couple, they’d known each other longer.

It didn’t make sense for August and I.

But I was going to miss her.

“I guess we’re all gonna be touring solo,” Nick sighed.

“Speak for yourself,” AJ joined us. “Natasha’s coming. At least for the North American leg of it. We haven’t gotten to the rest of the tour yet.”

“I thought you two were fighting,” Howie said.

From what AJ had told me, they’d reconciled last night. He’d showered her with chocolates and flowers to apologize. The diamond bracelet he’d personally delivered to her last night had finally been enough to buy, or “gain,” her forgiveness.

I told him he shouldn’t have bothered with all of that. He said nothing happened. August said nothing happened. I believed them. She should have, too. Or they should have been able to work out the disagreement without extravagant bribes. Hopefully AJ would work it out eventually. They didn’t exactly bring out the best in each other. Actually, I’d yet to see anyone bring out the best in Natasha.

But maybe she’d change. Or maybe they would both change. They’d been together this long, and when they weren’t fighting, she, for whatever reason, made AJ happy.

“At least the two of you will still be able to date,” AJ said, looking at our long faces. “D and I are tied down, but you can see other people.”

“There’s really not going to be a lot of time for them to meet people…” Howie started.

“Please, have you seen our dancers?” AJ lowered his sunglasses, giving Howie a pitying look. “Gor-or-orgeous. And you can always go out to clubs or wherever after the shows. Not to mention groupies…”

“Not really my scene,” I shook my head. I couldn’t picture dating anyone else. I’d only be thinking about the girl waiting for me in Orlando.

“Yeah,” Nick agreed.

“You’re just saying that because you’re too young to get into the clubs!” AJ laughed. “You don’t think Carmen’s going to have boys lining up once you’re M.I.A. for awhile?”

Nick obviously hadn’t thought of this. He looked distressed. The fifteen minutes of rest were over, and Kevin was calling us back to the stage. For being the reason we’d had to perform the last song twice, he was being rather pushy about us being ready to start again on time.

I suddenly thought of some faceless guy asking August out, holding her hand, taking her to dinner. The thought made me sick to my stomach. But just as we weren’t ready to rearrange our lives for each other and her to come on tour, we weren’t ready for that. We were still getting to know each other.

Then the image of that unknown guy popped into my head again…

I wanted to punch him in the face.

“I’ll just have to ask her to be my girlfriend,” Nick said matter-of-factly.

“What?” AJ laughed. “You want a ball and chain, too?”

I was surprised, too. He barely knew Carmen. I looked at him questioningly.

“Hey, B, if it’s right, it’s right,” he took his spot next to AJ for the next song.

“Oh, to be young again,” Howie put a hand on his heart and sighed dramatically. “Wouldn’t life be great if it was always that simple?”

I had to agree. That would be nice

~*~August’s point of view~*~

The moon was almost full in the sky and shining down on us. For being the middle of summer, the air wasn’t as muggy as usual, which I was appreciative of. The park was mostly empty, being past sundown. We walked along a dirt path, simply enjoying each other’s company.

“You guys ready for the tour?”

Brian nodded. “As ready as we’ll ever be. There’s a lot of pressure this time around.”

“Well it won’t be your first tour. Or your last, by the looks of it.”

“Yeah, but this CD is so big. Bigger than I ever could’ve imagined. The stakes are higher. People are expecting more.”

I slipped a hand into his. “You’re right. They are expecting more, but that’s exactly what they’re going to get. The five of you are so amazing together on stage. Even for the run through, you all were unbelievable. You especially. I’ve never seen you smile quite like that.”

I hadn’t even realized that until I said it, but it was true. He was in his element when he was performing. They were born to be doing this, and I had a feeling that they were still going up.

“Smile like what?” Brian inquired.

I didn’t know how to put it into words. I paused, thinking about it. Picturing his face when he’d been up there singing for the rehearsal. “Happy.”

“Well, I’m certainly glad I didn’t look bored being on stage, since I’m going to have a lot of people watching me pretty soon…”

“That’s the only word for it though. You were happy. When you were up there, a look of pure contentment was on your face. Like you couldn’t imagine anything you’d rather be doing.” His fans were going to notice the spark, too, I was sure. I could already see them interacting with them.

He nodded, thinking. We approached a small pond and stopped at the edge. The moon was reflecting on the water. I looked up, disappointed that I couldn’t see more stars. Though currently surrounded by trees, the lights of Orlando were not far, hiding the stars from view. I would probably be staring at the sky a lot in the coming months. No matter how far away he was, he’d still be able to see the same moon as me. That was somehow comforting.

Well, except for the tour dates that would take him across the world. Brian would be seeing the sun when it was night here. Nevertheless, the sky made the world seem a little bit smaller.

“This has been the perfect week.” I didn’t even realize I’d spoken aloud until Brian answered.

“Pretty much,” he smiled.

What You Wanna Know and all of his emotional baggage that the novel brought out hadn’t been spoken of. In a way, I was glad we’d gotten into that argument. I understood him better because of it, which could only be beneficial to our relationship, as far as I was concerned.

In fact, it had been already. I knew how serious he was about distinguishing between those who viewed him as Brian Backstreet and those who simply cared about Brian Littrell. It was a miracle I hadn’t had the opportunity to bring up being a bit of a fan, because I knew we wouldn’t be standing here tonight. There didn’t seem to be a way of convincing him that perhaps someone in the ladder group could become someone in the other; someone who didn’t care about his fame.

“Has Carmen said anything about Nick?”

I hadn’t expected this change in topic. “Lots. Why?”

“Just wondering. I know the two of you probably swap stories every night,” he laughed. “I just wanted to know what she thought of him.”

“She likes him. And there are other things we talk about, thank you,” I said. Not nearly as much, of course. But he didn’t need to know how much time I spent in a day thinking about him. “We spend a great deal of time each night discussing politics and foreign policy…”

Brian laughed again, his eyes crinkling as he looked down at me. “Forgive me, I didn’t realize the two of you were quite so worldly. No, I didn’t mean it in a bad way. Nick and I talk about the two of you all the time.”

I peered at him, tilting my head. I couldn’t see the two of them, two boys, gossiping about us the way we did about them. “What do you say?”

He shrugged, looking back at the pond, purposefully being frustrating.

“You’re not going to elaborate at all?”

“Well, I’ll tell you one thing. Carmen is going to have a lot to tell you tonight. Hopefully good news,” he added.

I put my hands on my hips. “That’s all I get? I don’t know why you bring it up if you aren’t going to tell me anything.”

“Because it’s fun to watch you get mad.”

I didn’t say anything, not wanting to give him the pleasure of seeing me get even more frustrated. Either way, Brian was going to win.

He seemed to sense this fact, looking a little smug. I just gave him a look. Brian put his arm around my waist and leaned his head on top of mine. Another perfect moment. We’d fallen into a comfortable pattern with each other.

His cellular phone rang, breaking the silence. “Sorry,” he said sincerely.

I nodded. I was happy knowing he had been enjoying the moment as much as I was.

“Hello?” he said into the phone.

He spoke with whoever it was for a moment. I assumed it was one of the other Backstreet Boys, because Brian was talking about the schedule for tomorrow.

“Is that all? I’m out with August right now…” Brian said. After listening to what the person on the phone said, he cracked up.

I sent him a questioning look. “What?” I asked, when he simply grinned more.

“AJ says not to stay out too late with me, or you’ll be late for your date with him… What?” he spoke into the phone again. “No, I’m not putting you… fine,” Brian rolled his eyes. “What did you want to say?”

Brian had put AJ on speaker phone. “I was thinking we could get horizontal on the kitchen floor again…” he cracked up. I didn’t find it as funny. I sent an embarrassed glance to Brian. He was smiling and shaking his head at AJ.

“Right AJ. I’ll get right on that,” I said, sarcastically, knowing that if Natasha were within a block of him he wouldn’t be joking around like this. She would have wanted to kill him.

“Get on me, you mean?” AJ only laughed harder.

“Good night, AJ!” Brian said firmly, though his sense of humor was obviously still intact.

“You two have fun!”

Brian stuffed his cell back into his pocket. He looked at me, immediately sensing something was wrong despite my attempts to keep a blank face. “What is it?” his blue eyes searched mine.

I didn’t know what to say without sounding ridiculous.

“I won’t laugh. Promise.”

“If Natasha heard him saying that…” I still tried to avoid the question.

“Oh, don’t I know,” he said. “We’d have to find a replacement for the Backstreet Boys real quick. He’d usher in the new millennium from a hospital bed.”

I smiled, too. If AJ’s comments weren’t bothering Brian, I don’t know why they were bothering me. I’d only been worried Brian would think there really was something going on. Or just get mad for no reason like Natasha had. I guess I was just wound a little tighter right now, knowing he’d be gone soon.

“AJ wouldn’t joke about it if something were really going on,” Brian said.

“I swear you know how to read my mind,” I said.

“Not your mind. It’s all in your eyes,” he pressed his forehead against mine. His eyes shined extra blue.

“I just would never want you to think…” I trailed off. “I don’t want to get into a fight with you like AJ and Natasha got into,” I finished lamely.

Brian smiled. “You have no reason to worry about it.” Then, heartbreakingly sincere, he said something that meant all the more because of who he was and because I knew how guarded he could be.

“I trust you.”