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Jennifer and Carly waited until the last possible moment before hopping a cab to Madison Square Garden. When they arrived, they quickly made their way to the dressing room and got changed, Jennifer eager to get ready and look for Nick.

"Am I done?" Jennifer whirled around quickly for Carly, her attention was in no way on her appearance tonight.

"Brush your hair, put some lipstick on, and pull up your skirt." Carly instructed, shaking her head at her friend's disheveled appearance. "And if you got any Visine, use that too."

Jennifer sighed and obediently did as told, before posing again. "Now?"

"Fine, go," Carly waved in exasperation, rolling her eyes when Jennifer took off out the door. "Good luck," she called after her.

Jennifer found the guys' dressing room without any trouble and knocked on the door, smiling when AJ answered. "Hey, is Nick here?"

"Yeah, but I dunno if he wants to see you," AJ said cautiously, looking at her through narrowed eyes.

"Who is it?" Brian asked, before appearing next to AJ in the doorway. "Jen."

"Brian, I need to talk to Nicky," Jennifer looked at Brian, her stomach cramping when his blue eyes turned cold.

"Nick wants nothing to do with you," Brian spat out, before turning his back on her and walking back into the room.

"Brian!" Jennifer shouted after him in frustration. "Please, I need to talk to Nick, we have to dance together soon..."

"Just go, Jen," AJ told her softly, shaking his head.

"No, please, I need to explain," Jennifer pleaded, tears filling her eyes.

"Explain what?" Nick's frame suddenly filled the doorway, his blue eyes narrowed as he looked at Jen.

"Nicky!" Jennifer stammered, surprised by his appearance.

"Tell me you didn't sleep with him," Nick said, his voice cold and sad, his eyes fixed firmly on hers.

"What?" Jennifer whispered, staring back at him as her heart sunk. "Nicky, please, I love you..."

"Tell me you didn't fuck him." Nick's voice rose as he took a step back, shaking his head. "You can't, can you."

"Nick, it was an accident," Jennifer tried to step into the room, but he pushed the door into her, backing her out into the hallway. "Nick!"

"No," Nick shook his head, the hurt clearly visible in his eyes. "I trusted you, Jen."

"Nick," Jennifer tried again as he closed the door in her face, the sad expression in his eyes forever burned in her memory. "I love you," she whispered pitifully before walking back down the hall, in search of Carly and that Visine she surely would need now.



"Come on," Carly grabbed Jennifer's hand and dragged her on stage, walking her to her mark on stage, like a mother would lead a child. "Now do not move until Nick gets here."

"I should leave, tell them I got sick," Jennifer hissed at Carly, her breath catching in her throat when she saw the guys running on stage as screams filled the air. "Shit, too late."

"See ya," Carly waved her fingers at Jen before spinning away to grab Kevin's hand, starting the opening number.

Jennifer turned around in time to see Nick's eyes drop to her hand as he grabbed it, pulling her roughly into his arms for the first dance. "Nick..."

"Don't say a word," He held his hand over the microphone around his mouth to speak to her quickly, his voice like a dagger through her heart. "I swear to god, if you say so much as a word, I'm going to hurt you, me, Kevin, I don't know who. But just let me get through tonight. Now shut up."

Jennifer was stunned into silence, and she nodded her reply, feeling his fingers dig into the skin on her back as he spun her around.

The show definitely went down in history as one of the worst in Jennifer's recent memory, she kept staring at Nick, and would jump anytime anyone touched her, no matter which Backstreet Boy it was. Nick was treating her as if she were a rag doll, throwing her all over the stage recklessly, and she fell twice as a result. Kevin tried to console her, but she was running from him as much as possible, painfully aware of Nick's eyes watching them. When it was finally over, she ran offstage and to the dressing room. She threw her coat over her costume, grabbed her bag, and ran outside, making it out of the arena before the crowd and flagging a cab with ease.

Only once she was back in her hotel room, alone, did Jennifer finally feel like she could breathe again. She sat down on the bed and stared at the floor, wondering what on earth she could possibly do to make things right again. She loved Nick, she knew she did....but she didn't want to lose Kevin either. She looked up in surprise at the knock on the door, not expecting anyone to arrive for a while. Her eyes widened when she saw Brian standing on the other side, and she looked at him carefully. "What do you want?"

"Just this. Kevin won't fire you, he loves you and you're his best friend. But if you know what's right, you'll leave." Brian told her, his eyes blazing with anger. "How could you, Jen, Nick loved you so much..."

"I love Nick, Brian, I swear to god, I never meant to..." Jennifer started crying again, turning around and walking into the room to grab a box of tissues off of the table. Brian followed her into the room, and she sat down on the side of the bed, blowing her nose loudly.

"That's bullshit, Jen, you cheated on him, that's pretty hard to accidentally do, isn't it?" Brian rolled his eyes and sat down next to her. "Nick also won't tell me who you slept with."

Jennifer gasped and looked at Brian. Oh jesus...she couldn't tell him..."He didn't tell you?"

"I have a very good feeling I know who it is," Brian sighed heavily. "Only one person could cause this mess..."

"Brian, I love Nick, I want him back, please, tell me what to do!" She begged him.

Brian shook his head slowly. "It was Kevin, right?"

Jennifer just cried harder, burying her head in her hands when Brian groaned. "I'm so sorry..."

"Kevin," Brian said in exasperation, running his hands through his hair. "What the hell was he thinking."

"He said he loved me," Jennifer said softly, breathing heavily, trying to calm her tears.

"I'm sure he does." Brian said sarcastically, standing up with a sigh. "Look, Jen, what I said before, I mean it. If you're smart, you won't be here for tomorrow night's performance."

Jennifer nodded and watched as Brian let himself out of the room, the door closing quietly behind him. He was right...she'd caused enough problems between Kevin and Nick. If she was smart, she would just leave.

But how could she just leave Nick?