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Kt, Courtney, and Char sat in Kt’s living room. “...So, now I have a house full of flowers,” Kt explained to her friends.

“That is so cute!” Char commented.

“What a sweetie,” Courtney added.

“So how’s it going with Nick?” Char asked Courtney.

“Absolutely perfect,” she told them, “and the only thing that I’ll tell you is that he’s an AWESOME kisser.”

All three girls laughed until Kt spoke again, “How’s your life with Mr. McLean going Char?”

“Well, yesterday he asked me if I would meet his mom,” Char replied.

“Holy Crap!” Kt said, “What’d you say?”

“Well, at first I wasn’t really sure about it,” she answered, “but A.J. says that it’ll be fine and I trust him, so we’re gonna fly up to meet her next weekend.”

“Next weekend?!” Kt said, “He really is serious about you meeting her.”

“I guess so,” Char smiled.

“Wait a minute!” Courtney said, throwing her hands in the air; “Did I miss something or are you talking about A.J. like you are going out?”

“De ja vu,” Kt and Char laughed.

“You have missed something,” Char said.

“Well... are you gonna tell me or are you just gonna keep it a secret?!” Courtney asked.

“A.J. and I are going out,” Char explained.

“Ohmigosh! That’s great!” Courtney exclaimed as she hugged Char; “I’m really happy for you.”

“Thanks,” Char replied, “but I just remembered something.”

“What’s that?” Kt asked.

“Brian had the idea of having us and the 5 guys get together for a BBQ or something,” she told them.

“That would be fun,” Courtney said. “I’m in and I’m sure Nick will come too.”

“I’ll talk to Kevy and see what he thinks,” Kt told them, “but we’ll more than likely show up.”

Kt noticed that Char and Courtney were giving her a strange look. “What?!” she asked them, “Why are you two looking at me like that?”

“Kevy?” Char asked.

“What?” Kt said blushing, “It’s just a little name that I gave him.”

“Uh huh...” Courtney said.

“Yeah, and like you haven’t called Nick something besides his real name,” Kt threw at Courtney, trying to get herself away from the embarrassment that she was getting herself into.

“The only name I’ve called him besides Nick is Nicky,” Courtney said, not the least bit embarrassed.

“You two are both a bit strange if you ask me,” Char added.

“But we didn’t ask you,” Courtney said.

“Ha Ha, very funny,” Char said sarcastically, “back to the other subject... should I call Brian and give him the go-ahead for this little get together thing?”

“Yeah,” Kt answered, “I’ll talk to Kev about it later.”

“And I’ll talk to Nick tonight,” Courtney replied.

“Alright,” Char said as she stood up, “I better go, coz I wanna practice those dance moves Fatima showed us so I’ll be ready for the next practice. Then I’ll talk to Brian, A.J., and Howie.”

“I should probably go too,” Courtney said.

“I’ll see you guys later then,” Kt said.

“Yeah, see ya!” Courtney and Char yelled as they walked out the door.

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

Kt ran across her backyard laughing, “Kevin! You’re gonna get it!”

Her and Kevin were having a water gun fight and they were totally soaked.

“Um... no, I’m not,” Kevin told her, “Coz as long as you’re cowering behind that table that means I’m safe!”

“Oh, you’re so.....smart,” Kt said sarcastically before jumping out and spraying the rest of her water at him.

“It seems as though I am the smart one,” he laughed.

It took Kt a few seconds to understand what he was getting at. ‘Oh no!’ she thought as she noticed his fully loaded water gun. She dropped her empty one and took off running with Kevin not far behind her.

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

Char walked into her house and threw her keys on the counter. She went upstairs and changed her clothes and went and got the CD that had the songs they would be dancing to on it. She popped it in her stereo and moved smoothly through the steps until about 2 minutes through the song, when no matter how hard she tried she kept doing the move wrong. She tried again and again for about 10 minutes until she got too frustrated and stopped.

“Ah!” she said out loud, “What am I doing wrong?!”

Her ‘conversation’ with herself ended by the ringing of her phone.

** “Hello?” she answered it. **

“Hey baby! How’s it goin?” she heard A.J.’s voice.

“Not too bad. I’m just going out of my mind.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“I’m practicing the dances for ya’ll’s shows, and this one move just doesn’t wanna work with me and I don’t know why, and it’s starting to stress me out.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, it’s not your fault.”

“What are you doing for the rest of the night?”

“Nothing. I’ll find something to do around here I guess.”

“I’ll tell you what... how about I come over there and help you out with that dance. We all had problems with the dances, but we finally got them down.”

“You wouldn’t mind helping me out?”

“No way! You’re my girl! Of course I don’t mind!”

“You’re so sweet. I guess I’ll see you soon then?”

“Yeah. It’ll probably be about 30-40 minutes. I hafta pick something up before I come.”

“That’s cool. I’ll see you soon, then.”

“Yeah, bye!”

** “Bye!” **

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

After a candlelight dinner on the deck of Nick’s house, Nick and Courtney sat in each others’ arms on the beach, gazing at the ocean. Courtney was sitting in between Nick’s legs, and he was resting his head on her shoulder.

“Do you come out here a lot, Nick?” she asked him.

“Yeah. I have been by the ocean since I was a kid. Its beauty keeps me sane, I guess.”

“That’s cool. It is so beautiful out here tonight.”

“It’s even more beautiful with you here,” he said quietly. (Author’s note: I know this is really corny, but at this point in the story I had no idea what I was gonna do with these two.)

Courtney could feel herself beginning to blush and became glad it was becoming dark out, so Nick wouldn’t notice. She tensed up suddenly when she felt his lips on her neck, making their way up. When he got to her ear, he whispered, “To me you’re the most beautiful thing in the world.”

This made Courtney turn her head. They looked into each other’s eyes before their lips met.

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

Kt sat across from Kevin in his hot tub. “I had a lot of fun today, Kev,” Kt told him, “thanks.”

“It was no problem. I always have fun when I’m with you. But now that you mention it...” he said while taking her by the waist and pulling her towards him, “I’m not done having fun with you yet.”

“You’re not?” Kt smiled as she put her hands behind his neck.

“Nope,” he gave her a sly smile and put her hair behind her ears.

“Well, we have to make sure that Kevin gets his fun, don’t we?”

“Yep, coz if not, then Kevin would be sad.”

Kt laughed, “What do you propose we do then?”

“You see, I’ve got this idea.”

“Oh really? Are you gonna share this idea with me?”

"I was thinking I should," he paused and looked into her eyes, "And I think you'll like this idea."

Before Kt could speak, Kevin pressed his lips against hers. The kissed started out short and sweet, but soon became long and more passionate.

Quite a few minutes later, Kt stopped, breathless. She said, "I definitely like your idea."

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

A.J. drove through town on his way to Char's house. He pulled up in front of a flower store and bought a dozen red roses from inside. As he walked back to his car, he saw two people he knew very well walk out of a movie rental store.

"Hey Bri, hey D," he greeted them.

"Hey Bone," they replied as they watched A.J. get in his car and drive off.

"I'll give you one guess on who those flowers were for," Howie said.

"Yeah," Brian said, hopping into his car; "When was the last time A.J. actually bought a girl flowers? Roses, to say the least."

"You're right. That is pretty weird. She must be really special for A.J. McLean to take the time out of his day to stop and buy her flowers."

Brian laughed and went along with it, all the time thinking something completely different. 'Why can't it be me buying her flowers? Or me meeting her wherever A.J. is going?! What am I thinking?! Stop dreaming, Bri! She'll never be yours!'

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

Just as Char had finished tidying up her house, she heard the doorbell ring. She walked down the hall and pulled open her door. She smiled when she saw A.J. standing there with a dozen roses in hand. He was wearing somewhat baggy blue jeans and a wife-beater that was finished off with an open red over-shirt and a Nebraska Huskers hat, which he wore backwards. (Author's Note: “That sound familiar?!")

"These are for you," A.J. said as he gave her the flowers and returned the smile.

"That's so sweet, A.J.," Char said as she smelt the roses; "Thank you!" She kissed his cheek then moved aside so he could come in.

"Beautiful flowers for my beautiful girl," he told her as he shut the door behind him.

'He called me his girl!’ Char thought before speaking, "Howie was so right about you."

'What's that supposed to mean?' A.J. thought to himself. He brushed the thought aside when he heard Char's voice.

"I'm gonna go put these in some water," she told him. "If you want, you can wait in the den."

"Sounds like a plan," he replied.

"Two doors down the hall to your right," Char told him, "I'll be there in a minute."

With that, they went their separate ways.

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

Nick and Courtney drove across town to a party that one of Nick's childhood friends was having. They were anxious to meet Courtney, considering she was all Nick ever talked about. Nick noticed she wasn't her usual happy self and decided to ask her about it.

"You okay babe?" he asked.

She looked at him and smiled, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah. I'll be okay."

"’I'll be okay’ means something is wrong, but you'll be okay. So, what will you ‘be okay’ about?"

"I'm just nervous about meeting all your friends, Nicky. I mean, I'm cool with the other guys, coz I work with them. But now I'm meeting new people who are outside your superstar life, and I just have this weird, nervous feeling about it."

"There's nothing to be nervous about around these guys. They're really cool. Everything will be fine, and besides, I'll be there to protect you if anything bad happens."

“Oh, I feel so much safer," she said sarcastically.

"What's that supposed to mean? I could take anyone who messed with you."

"Poor Nicky," Courtney said, taking Nick's hand, "Must've been dropped on his head as a child."

"Hey! Hey now!"

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

Kt sat close to Kevin as they watched what was supposed to be the scariest movie of the year. She gripped Kevin's shirt tightly in her hands. Kevin slowly ran his fingers through her dark hair.

“AHH!" Kt screamed as the attacker jumped the victim. She buried her face in Kevin's shoulder.

Kevin laughed lightly.

Kt quickly shot her eyes at him, "What are you laughing at?!"

"You."

“Oh really?"

"Yeah."

"Why am I so funny?"

"There have been tons of scarier things in this movie, and you freak out when the bad guy jumps out."

"So?! It surprised me!"

"You surprise me all the time," Kevin said sweetly.

"Aw..." Kt smiled, "I've got plenty more surprises for you."

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

Char and A.J. ran through a few routines as a warm up before going straight to the one that was giving her trouble.

“You ready to get down with the master?" he asked her.

"I should be asking you the same question," she said, "but considering the fact that I'm the one who can't do this dance, I'll hafta let you be the master."

He laughed before starting the music and going through the dance smoothly. He thought to himself, ‘What is going wrong with the dance?! At what I’m seeing, she’s doing it perfectly!’ No sooner had he finished thinking did they come across Char’s screw-up.

“Ah!” she yelled, “Why can’t I get this right?! It looked so easy! But as soon as I try it, it becomes so hard!” She flopped down on the couch and put her head in her hands.

AJ knelt down in front of her and took hold of her hands, “It’ll be okay, babe. You’ll get this down. That’s why I came over here and I’m not leaving until you’ve learned it.”

He saw her take a deep breath, and after taking his fingers and lifting her head to see her eyes, he said, “So, let’s get up and run through this some more, alright?”

“Alright,” she said quietly as she gave him a slight smile.

He took her by the hand and pulled her up into his arms for a hug. He let her go after a moment and started the music again.

Charlene and AJ went through the routine time after time with the usual mistakes with Char getting frustrated and AJ making her feel better.

***(30 minutes later)

“Alright,” AJ said after he took a drink of water, “I think you’ve got it. You wanna try it all the way through?”

“Yeah,” she answered, “Are you gonna watch me or... what?”

“Hell no!” he said, “I’ve been watching your every move and I wanna dance with you!”

“Alright!” she laughed, “Start the music before you have a bigger cow!”

He laughed as he walked to the stereo and pushed play. He became serious as he got close to Char from behind and rested his hands on her hips. She felt shivers run up and down her spine as she felt AJ’s hot breath on her neck. The music started and they moved close to each other.

‘He is such a great dancer!’ Char thought, ‘I love his style!’

‘I love her being this close to me!’ AJ thought excitedly, ‘but I need to calm down!’

AJ moved his hands from her hips and let them wander as they moved through the routine.

‘He’s gonna get me all hyped up like that, then I’m doing it right back to him!’ Char thought before she spun around and put her hands under his wife-beater. He had taken off the over-shirt earlier so he could cool down. She ran her hands across his muscular stomach and around to his back. She could feel his muscles tense up and knew what she was doing was affecting him. She decided to keep going and moved her hands up to his chest, then to his shoulders, and pulled his wife-beater off. As they dropped the shirt to the floor the music ended. They stood there in silence as Char traced his muscles with her fingers. As she got to his lower abs he took her hand and put it on his shoulder, then continued by running his fingers softly down her arm, then down her side, before coming to a rest at her waist and lightly pulling her towards him. They looked into each other’s eyes longingly before AJ slowly moved in and pressed his lips against hers. Their kisses started out short and careful, not knowing what they could or could not do. They stopped and AJ tucked some loose hair behind her ear while looking into her eyes, asking for more.

‘That’s it!’ Char told herself, ‘no more of this!’ She jumped up, wrapped her legs around his waist, and kissed him as hard as she could.

He returned and deepened the kiss.

They kept that up for a few minutes until they stopped, completely breathless. Breathing heavily, they searched each other’s eyes for what to do next.

AJ remembered seeing a guest room across the hall as he was walking to this room. He carried her across the hall and at the foot of the bed he slowly put her down. He watched as she moved up on the bed so her legs wouldn’t be dangling off the edge. He then crawled up over her and once again looked into her eyes. They both seemed to be looking for the same answers.

AJ lowered himself and kissed her neck up until he reached her mouth, and kissed her long and passionately. Then, not being able to control himself any longer, reached down and pulled her shirt over her head. He could’ve sworn he had just seen a look of fear pass through her eyes. He decided to ignore it and keep going. He kissed down to her stomach but stopped when she started laughing. AJ looked up at her.

“Ticklish?” he asked.

“Uh huh,” she giggled.

“Sorry.”

He looked her body up and down before going for what he wanted. He ran his hand up her leg before stopping and pulling on the zipper of her pants. He felt her tighten up and saw that look of fear in her eyes that he thought he had once saw.

‘I’m not about to do something that’s gonna scare her!’ AJ thought, ‘What am I doing?!’

He spoke up, “I’m sorry, Char. I shouldn’t have done that. I don’t want to do that until we are both completely ready.”

She nodded before she put her arms around his neck and pulled him close to her. They lay in each other’s arms, talking quietly.

“You’re not mad at me, right?” AJ asked her.

“I have no reason to be,” Char answered him. “I led you to believe that’s what I wanted.”

“But it’s not?”

“No. I shouldn’t have started something like that. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I should’ve asked you if you were sure about it instead of jumping to the conclusion that that’s what you wanted.”

“How did you know that I didn’t want it to happen?”

“When I looked into your eyes and saw fear, I realized that scaring you like that scares me too.”

Char looked at him and smiled before kissing him long and deep.

“Wow...” AJ commented when Char pulled back, “What was that for?!”

“For being so sweet.”

They lay in silence for a little while before AJ spoke. “Char?”

“Yeah?”

“What did you mean earlier when you said that Howie was right about me?”

“Oh, a while ago he told me that even though you may act and look like a bad boy, you were great when it came to treating a girl right.”

AJ smiled, “I knew he was good for something.”

Char sat up quickly, “What?!”

AJ laughed, “I’m just playing.”

“You kinda freaked me out there for a second,” Char said as she laid her head down on his chest.

They laid in each other’s arms silently. AJ ran his fingers through her hair and listened to her steady breathing. After a few minutes he looked down to find her asleep and eventually he fell asleep himself, holding her tightly in his arms.

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

Nick and Courtney rang the doorbell of Nick’s friends’ house. A few seconds later, a very clean-cut looking guy answered the door.

“Nick!” he exclaimed as he took Nick’s hand and pulled him in for a friendly hug, “It’s so good to see you!”

“You too,” Nick replied.

“Who’s your beauty?” he asked Nick.

“Kyle, meet my girl, Courtney,” Nick introduced them, “Courtney, meet my long-time friend Kyle.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Courtney,” Kyle said, shaking her hand.

“Likewise,” she replied.

****(In Kyle’s House)

Kyle walked Nick and Courtney into his living room where most of Nick’s childhood friends (some of them had girlfriends with them), sat around talking.

A round of hello’s flew at Nick as he walked in the room. Nick introduced Courtney to everyone else around the room (Courtney kept it to herself that she didn’t care for the other girlfriends).

After a while, everyone was sitting around talking. Nick stuck by Courtney to help her uneasiness around these people she barley knew. He was the only one who knew she wasn’t acting like her normal self. She still took part in some of the conversation, though.

They had gone into childhood stories when another of Nick’s friends, Brad, wanted Nick to go next door and see the car he had fixed up. The rest of the guys and their girlfriends decided that they should probably leave anyway and left. As Brad and Nick stood up, the last one of Nick’s friends, Zach, spoke, “Courtney can stay with me, Nick. I’ll take care of her while you’re gone.”

“Is that alright?” Nick asked her.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Courtney nodded.

“Thanks Zach,” Nick said. He then turned to Courtney and told her, “It won’t take me long. Then when I get back, we’ll take off.”

“Alright,” she assured him, then watched as he left.

Courtney leaned back on the couch as Zach sat next to her. He was continuing a childhood story of Nick’s. “...So picks it up and yells ‘Look at the huge thing of seaweed!’ and we just looked at him and laughed and told him ‘Nick, that’s not seaweed. That’s manatee poop.”

Courtney almost lost it, “Ohmigosh! I’m gonna have to remember that one!”

Zach laughed a little before becoming serious, “Does Nick ever tell you how pretty you are?”

“Yeah, all the time.”

“How often?”

“Pretty much every time we have quiet times together.”

“You should have a guy who tells you all the time.”

“Nick treats me just fine though.”

“I can love you better than that,” he said, getting closer and putting his hand against her face. He looked at her for a few seconds before taking her head in his hands and kissing her hard.

Courtney tried her best to pull away, but Zach kept her where she was. He was making the kisses more intense when he decided he wanted more than that. He brought his hand to the bottom of her shirt just as Brad and Nick walked through the door.

“What the hell is going on here?!” Nick yelled as he saw what was happening.

Zach’s head flew up and he let Courtney loose. She jumped up and ran to Nick in tears.

“Oh my God, Nicky! Don’t leave me alone with him again!” she was cowering behind him.

“It’s okay baby,” he said quietly.

Nick walked over to the couch where Zach was, raised his fist, and let it fly. He yelled at him, “Don’t you EVER, EVER touch her again! What do you think you were playing at?! I thought you were my friend! I thought you were better than that.”

“Chill out dude,” Zach told Nick.

“No! I won’t chill out! I leave for 10 minutes and you’re all over my girl! So don’t tell me to chill out!”

He turned to Courtney and lowered his voice, “Come on baby, let’s go.” He took her by the waist and led her out. He said goodbye to Brad on the way out and told him to tell Kyle that he’d hopefully see him again soon.

Once Nick and Courtney had left, Brad turned to Zach and said, “You need to leave now!”

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

Nick drove through town back to his house. What had just happened was just now sinking in. He saw Courtney out of the corner of his eye. She was crying, which tore him apart inside. He decided to talk to her.

“Courtney, I’m gonna ask you this because I need to know... Did he force you into that?”

She sniffled and nodded her head. Nick watched a tear fall from her eye and reached over and wiped it away. Courtney looked up and gave him a faint smile, and she took his hand into hers. They drove hand in hand all the way back to Nick’s house.

***Back @ Nick’s house***

Nick had insisted on Courtney staying at his house that night. He gave her the grand tour of his house and showed her the guest room where she could stay and showed her where his room was in case she needed him for any reason.

“Well, I guess I’ll go to my room now and get some rest,” Nick said.

“Okay,” Courtney replied, “I guess I’ll see you in the morning, then. Goodnight.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him.

He hugged her back, then kissed her cheek and said goodnight.

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

Kt and Kevin sat up against the headboard on Kevin’s bed, enjoying the comfort of being with each other.

“I’m not gonna be able to sleep now that I’ve watched that movie,” Kt said.

“Why not?”

“Coz what if those bad guys come to get ME?”

Kevin smiled at her and pulled her close to him, “I’m here to protect you.”

Kt looked up at Kevin and smiled brightly before kissing him.

They laid in each others arms until Kevin noticed Kt had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He smiled to himself before pulling her closer towards him and closing his eyes.

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

Courtney laid in the bed and stared up at the ceiling. She thought to herself, ‘How did I find a guy as great as Nick? He’s so sweet and so cute and so perfect for me!’

She closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep, but every time she closed her eyes she saw Zach’s face. She got to the point where she was shaking and decided she needed Nick. She got out of the bed and walked to the other side of the house to Nick’s room. She knocked very quietly on his door.

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

Nick got up when he heard the knocking at his door. He walked across his room and opened the door.

“What’s wrong babe?” he asked when he saw Courtney.

“You’re too far away,” she said.

Nick smiled at her, took her hand, and led her into his room.

“Well, I think that’s a problem I can fix,” Nick told her. “You can sleep in here with me.”

Her eyes got wide.

Nick slightly laughed, “Not like that. Just so I won’t be so far away. I’ll be right next to you.”

He laid down on his bed and spoke to her, “Come lay with me.”

She walked towards him and laid down, “Thanks Nicky.”

“For what?” he asked as he put his arm around her.

“For being you.”

“Well, you’re welcome, but I need to apologize.”

“For what?”

“I should’ve listened to you when you told me you had a bad feeling about tonight.”

“And I should’ve listened to you when you told me you could take anyone that messed with me.”

Nick laughed, “I guess we’re both at fault then.”

They were quiet for a while. Nick was going to say something to her, but when he looked down he saw that she had fallen asleep.

He smiled, ‘I could sit here all night watching her sleep. She is so beautiful.’

After watching her for awhile, he eventually fell asleep with his head on her shoulder.