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Jen drove home listening to the new Backstreet Boys CD, wondering what the dances she'd be doing would be like. If the audition material had been any example...they would be exhausting, but a ton of fun to do, a great deal more creative than the typical background stuff that she'd done on the NSYNC tour. She parked outside her apartment building and headed in, letting herself into her small apartment with a soft sigh. So she'd be here for two more months, then taking off again, huh.

She stepped into the shower and rinsed the signs of the audition from her body, the steam soothing her tired muscles. Once she'd fully fogged up the bathroom, she padded into the bedroom naked, dripping water everywhere, before finding a towel and wiping herself off. After pulling on an oversized blue UK sweatshirt and a pair of shorts, she threw the towel into the bathroom, making a mental note to herself to buy a robe before the tour started.

The downstairs buzzer sounded, and she rolled her eyes when she heard Kevin's voice calling to her to let him in. "Fine..." why was she not surprised he came over. "What's up?" She opened the door to find him bounding up the stairs, a frown on his face.

"You really did it. You're really on our tour." Kevin stomped into her apartment and slammed the door behind him, glaring at her.

Jennifer sighed and turned her back on him, walking calmly to the couch and sitting down. Kevin was having a temper tantrum again...he seemed to have them a lot where Backstreet was concerned. "I told you I was going to audition."

"I told you I didn't think it was a good idea!"

"And I told you I didn't care!" Jen shouted back, throwing a pillow at him. "This is the best paying dancing job I've had yet, and I get to tour the world with my best friend. Why wouldn't I want this? Because you're afraid I'm going to sleep with your bandmates? Come on, Kev, I haven't done it for 8 years, why the hell would I start now."

"You've never toured with us before," Kevin argued.

"I've been on tour with you before, Kevin, for a month at a time, even," Jennifer reminded him. Her summers in college had been spent on tour with Backstreet, helping Denise McLean with secretarial work during the day, hanging out and partying with Kevin at night.

"That was different, we were younger, it was only for a month, and you weren't working with the guys, you were working with AJ's mom."

"I'm not going to sleep with AJ." Jen sighed. "Ok?"

Kevin sat down next to Jen on the couch, pulling her into a hug. "You're my best friend, I just don't want to see any of our rules broken."

Jennifer laughed and smacked Kevin's forehead lightly. "I'm not interested in any of your friends. And you keep your hands off of Martha..." Martha was Jen's childhood dance teacher, now 70 years old and retired, she was one of her closest friends.

"That's sick," Kevin rolled his eyes. "I'm serious though, hands off, Jenny Lynn."

"Don't worry, Richie, nothing's gonna happen."



"Jen!" AJ grabbed her in a hug the moment she was through the door, spinning her around in a circle. "Don't tell me you're the new dancer Jennifer?"

"The one and only!" Jennifer replied with a laugh when she saw Kevin scowling across the room. "Backstreet tour's the best gig in town, I figured it was about time I found out why."

"Kevin didn't tell me!" Brian glared at his cousin before grinning at Jen. " Very cool."

"Kevin's not too happy with the idea," Jennifer told Brian in a mock whisper, giggling when Nick attacked her from behind, pulling her into a hug. "Hey Carter."

"So you're the new dancer?" Nick asked her as he spun her around in his arms, his blue eyes twinkling.

"That's me," Jen grabbed onto Nick's shirt to stop him from spinning her again, laughing as stars spun in her head. "Ballroom dancing's not your thing, Nicky."

"How's Paul?" Nick asked, one hand resting comfortably on Jen's back while she regained her balance. He loved Jen's boyfriend, as he'd worked on a few games that were favorites of Nick's. The two men would spend hours talking and playing games with each other while Jen and Kevin were off catching up.

"I have no idea," Jennifer shrugged. "Don't much care either."

"Oh," Nick's eyes widened, and he looked at Kevin apologetically. Nobody told them they'd broken up... "well, cool that you're touring with us."

"Very cool!" Howie agreed, walking into the room. "Kevin didn't tell us we knew one of the new dancers."

"No, that would be entirely too helpful of Kevin," Jennifer laughed, hugging Howie.

"See, you're on the tour for all of ten minutes, and already you're turning my group against me," Kevin grumbled as he joined them, whacking Nick on the head as punishment for asking about Paul.

"You don't make it too tough, Kev," Jennifer giggled, rubbing Nick's head sympathetically. "Attacking your brothers like that, what kind of a guy are you."

"Yeah!" Nick laughed, leaning his head down into Jen's hand. "Lower..."

"HEY!" Kevin smacked Jen's hand off of Nick's head, glaring at her. "What did I tell you..."

"You're paranoid, Kevin," Jennifer told him, looking up happily as Fatima walked into the room, stopping him from telling her how wrong he surely felt she was.

The rehearsal then began in earnest, with each of the five female dancers learning a quick routine. Fatima then paired them up with the five Backstreet Boys, watching carefully to see who would be dancing with whom for the duration of the tour. She adjusted the couples for hours, laughing when Kevin protested as she pulled Jennifer away from him, pairing her with Nick.

"Sorry Kev," Jennifer laughed, grabbing Nick's hand and swinging it for Kevin to see. "Don't we look cute together?"

"Shut up," Kevin grumbled, looking at his new partner, Carly. She'd danced with Nick the entire last tour...why did she suddenly have to be with him? "You sure I shouldn't be with Jen?"

"Positive," Fatima told him firmly. "Now let me see you dance!"



The long month of rehearsals for the tour flew by, and before Jennifer knew it, she was staring at boxes in her apartment, her suitcases packed, ready to leave. The month had been tiring, and painful, dancing with the Backstreet Boys was proving to be more difficult than anything she'd ever done before, the energy level of the routines above and beyond what she had been accustomed to. But she was also having a wonderful time, Kevin seemed to be getting used to her being around, and dancing with the rest of the guys was, as she'd known it would be, a blast.

"Car's waiting," Carly shouted from outside, pounding on the door.

"Ok," Jennifer opened the door and waved Carly in, gathering her bags. The two women had become fast friends over the last month, the first time Kevin had snapped at Carly in rehearsal Jen had been a more than willing shoulder for her to cry on. And it would be nice to have a girlfriend on the tour, especially one who had toured with the guys before and knew the ropes. "You'd think we could leave at a normal hour."

"We'll stop for coffee on the way," Carly picked up a bag and held the door open for her. "It's easier leaving at the butt crack of dawn like this, otherwise the fans show up."

"Aah," Jennifer followed Carly out the door and stowed her bags in the car, sliding in next to her. "Yeah, the fans I dealt with on the last tour."

"So what's the deal with you and Kevin?" Carly asked as the driver started the car and headed towards the airport. "I remember you from last tour, you were with us for a week or so, right?"

"Yeah, I couldn't come for long, I was still with NSYNC then," Jennifer explained. "Kev and I have been friends since we were kids, he's my best friend in the world."

"He's a little overprotective of you, isn't he," Carly remarked, along with the rest of the dancers and the group, they'd gotten a kick out of watching Jen infuriate Kevin by flirting with Nick during rehearsals.

"Just a wee bit," Jen laughed. "My last boyfriend was a jerk, he doesn't want to see me getting hurt again. He thinks dating a friend of his would be doomed from the start, and for some reason, thinks I'm incapable of keeping myself away from his oh so irresistible friends."

"Kevin's quite a character."

"Oh yeah, quite the character." Jennifer snickered. If she ever wanted to get Kevin mad, at least she knew how to do it. Pick a Backstreet Boy, any Backstreet Boy... "What about you? You interested in any of the guys? As Kevin keeps pointing out to me, they're all single..."

Carly smiled before shrugging nonchalantly, "I've had the hots for a certain Boy since I joined the tour a year ago, but he's never noticed me. I'm just a dancer to him..."

"Which boy?" Jen asked, curious. She knew what the 'just a dancer' thing meant though, she'd been 'just a dancer' to NSYNC.

"AJ," Carly couldn't stop a small grin from creeping across her face. "He's just so much fun to talk to, and he's so sexy, and my god, Jennifer, the way that man moves his hips..." she clasped her hands over her heart dramatically. "Dancing with him every night kills me...the shit he does in rehearsal to us, the hip stuff? He does it a thousand times worse on stage, you'll see."

Jennifer laughed and waggled her eyebrows at Carly. "So...AJ's single now...he never has been before, that's why he never noticed you. Maybe this tour you'll get your chance."

"I'm just a dancer, Jen, you know how that goes," Carly shook her head. "I'm glad you're on the tour though, it'll be cool having you around!"

"I'm glad I'm on the tour too," Jennifer replied, hugging Carly tight. She jumped out of the car when they arrived at the airport, eager to start her journey. "Look out world...here we come!!"



"Hey," Jennifer pushed open the door to Kevin's room and peeked inside, laughing when she found him flat on his back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "See something good?" She lay down next to him and looked up, poking him curiously when he didn't comment. "What? Kevin...."

"I'm tired," he grumbled, rolling over onto his side and closing his eyes.

"You're not tired, you're cranky," Jennifer argued, rubbing Kevin's back until he turned over to glare at her. "I know you too well for that."

"I miss my wife, ok?" Kevin's green eyes brightened noticeably as he told her what had him so upset. "We couldn't be together for the last month because of the rehearsals, and now that she's back in Florida, we're touring...it sucks."

"Aww, Kev, I'm sorry," Jennifer wrapped her arms around his chest and snuggled close to him, hugging him tight. "You're right, that sucks."

Kevin smiled at the comforting feel of Jen's arms around him and shifted, slipping one of his legs between hers, their bodies moving closer together on the bed. Ok, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad having his best friend on tour with him...at least he didn't have to sleep alone. "Stay here tonight?"

"I dunno, Kev, Carly's already been asking me about you...I don't want the dancers to think I get special treatment or anything," Jennifer said reluctantly, squirming when she felt Kevin's arms tighten around her. "Not that I don't want to stay here."

"You're going to get special treatment, just accept that," Kevin shrugged, "you're not going to use the dancer's tour bus, are you?"

"I was planning on it..." Jennifer replied.

"Don't be silly, you're coming on the bus with the guys and me. You should be with your friends," Kevin told her. He'd already run it by the rest of the group, and they had no problem with it at all....Kevin had always been a father to the group, and Jen had been their mom. Having her on the bus would be great.

"I guess..." she said hesitantly. She wanted to get along with the dancers, and that would be difficult if they saw her too close to the guys. "I thought you wanted to keep me away from the guys?"

"That would be impossible, wouldn't it?" Kevin shrugged, "I'll kill you if you touch them, and they know I'll kill them if they touch you. So that's that."

"You did not tell them to stay away from me!" Jennifer sat up in bed and glared at Kevin, eyes blazing.

"Yeah, so?" Kevin hiked himself up on his elbows and looked at her, eyebrows knotted. "What's the big deal?"

"Jesus, Kevin!" Jen stood up and shook her head, pushing her hair back from her face. "I've known all of these guys as long as you have, remember? Not to mention, I'm older than all of them, and now working with them..."

"I just wanted to make sure you wouldn't have to fight them off or anything," Kevin shrugged.

"Because they're just going to be throwing themselves at me...why?" Jen sighed. She loved her best friend dearly, she really did, but he did things like this far too often, taking it upon himself to make things 'easier on her.' "I'm going to go to bed, I'll see you in the morning."

"Come back to bed here," Kevin argued, reaching out for her hand.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Jen snickered. "After all, I don't want to have to fight you off, or anything..."

"Jennifer Lynn Mitchell..."

"Kevin Smartass Richardson, I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

"Jen..."

"You argue with me one more time and I'm going to bed with Howie," Jen snapped at him before leaving the room, slamming the door behind her with a bang. She could hear his shout in protest as she walked back to her room, laughing all the way.