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Jennifer stared out of the window of the tour bus, unable to believe she was really sitting on a vehicle that was taking her away from Nick. "This is wrong," she said softly to Brian sitting next to her, who just shook his head in reply. Nick had refused to talk to any of the group, telling her just to let them know he'd see them in six weeks, that they clearly didn't need him when he was hurt. He wouldn't talk about what had happened either, other than to say that he'd fallen, and he had apparently spent enough time with her to have inherited her klutz trait.

"Your favorite show's on," Kevin was sitting by the television, and he looked at Jennifer expectantly.

Jennifer's eyes filled with tears when she saw the familiar anime program on the television, and she frowned. "Turn it off."

"I thought you loved this show?"

"TURN IT OFF!" She shouted, standing up and running back to her bunk. She crawled in and buried her head in the pillows, unable to take even the sounds of the cartoon. She watched it with Nick too many times, curled up in front of the television, under that blanket....he should be here. This was so wrong....

"Are you ok, Jenny?" AJ stuck his head inside the curtain of her bunk, looking at her carefully.

"Nobody wants to talk about what happened," she said softly, her eyes widening when AJ gestured for her to move over so he could crawl in. "It's a little tight," she pulled her legs up to allow him to slid into the bunk, looking at him in surprise. "What?"

"Kevin and Brian don't want to talk about what happened," AJ said, his brown eyes evaluating her reaction to his question. "Has Nick?"

She shook her head slowly, "he said it wasn't worth wasting time talking about."

"Howie found some stuff online," AJ said cautiously, unsure if he should mention it to her.

"What stuff?"

"Fan accounts of the concert where Nick fell."

Jennifer's eyes widened, and she looked at him questioningly. "And?"

AJ took a deep breath before replying, his eyes narrowing as he spoke. "They say that Kevin pushed Nick."

Jennifer jerked back, letting out a soft cry when she hit her head on the top of the bunk. "No!"

"They think it was a dance move gone wrong, but we don't have a move where Kevin pushes Nick, do we." AJ reached out and rubbed the top of her head for her, smiling wryly when she batted his hand away. "That many girls, could they all be seeing things?"

Jennifer sighed, and shook her head. "I tripped over the same floorboard Nick did."

"You didn't end up as badly hurt as he was."

"I fell down the other side of the stage," Jennifer explained, and it was what had been bothering her about Nick's fall from the moment it had happened. "He was doing the same move I had been doing when I fell. Momentum, it should have carried him down to the lower stage, like me. Not OFF the stage entirely."

"His direction changed."

Jennifer nodded, and bit her lip. "I'd been trying to figure out how he could have gotten turned around."

AJ couldn't believe it, he'd had a day, at this point, to get used to the idea, but it still didn't make any sense. "Kevin."

"No," she whispered helplessly, her eyes filling with tears. "Kevin loves Nick."

"I think Kevin might love you more."

Jennifer's breath caught in her throat, and she stared at AJ in horror. "You're not saying you think Kevin did this to Nick because of me?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," AJ replied evenly. "Kevin didn't want us dating any of his friends. I guess now we know why. He gets a wee bit possessive."

"Oh god, no," she felt like she couldn't breathe, how could Kevin...over her? "AJ...what do we do?"

AJ shook his head slowly, "that's the thousand dollar question. Howie wants to sit tight and see what happens. I want to beat the fuck out of Kevin. You?"

"I want to be with Nick," Jennifer said quickly, there was no doubt in her mind what she wanted.

AJ chuckled softly, "you really do love the kid, don't you."

"Yes, I do," she nodded, looking at AJ. "I screwed things up, big time. I need to make them right again."

"I think we need to talk to Brian, then," AJ said. "First chance we can get him alone, ok?"

"Brian it is, then," Jennifer agreed. They had to talk to Brian, get to the bottom of this. Kevin pushed Nick?? But Kevin wasn't a killer...was he?



Jennifer grabbed her room key from the road manager the second the bus had come to a complete stop, quickly making her way through the mob of fans in the hotel lobby, and up to her room. She made a face as the electronic lock refused to open, and glared angrily at the key.

"You're putting it in backwards," Kevin took the key from her, and inserted in the lock properly, not noticing her reaction to his sudden appearance.

"Thanks," Jennifer snatched the key back from him the moment the door opened and walked inside, closing the door behind her before he could follow her in. "Oh jesus," she breathed, turning around to put the bolt on the door, shaking her head slowly. What the hell was going on...

"Jen?"

Jennifer jumped a foot into the air at the sound of Carly's voice, her bags dropping to the floor with a loud thud. "Oh shit, you scared me," she left her bags where they fell and sat down on the bed across from Carly, holding her now pounding chest.

"How are you, girl?" Carly asked, looking at her friend carefully. "I haven't seen you since..."

Jennifer sighed, and shook her head. "I have to make a phone call first, then we'll talk, ok?"

"Ok..." Carly watched as Jennifer picked up the phone and dialed, wondering what had gotten her so spooked.

Jennifer waited as she was connected to Nick's room, her face falling when his mother answered the phone. "It's Jen. How's Nick?" She listened quietly, then nodded, biting her lip. "Thanks. Yeah. Bye," she hung up the phone, and lay down on the bed, feeling like she didn't have the energy to cry anymore.

"How is he?" Carly's eyes widened as she looked at Jennifer's reaction to the phone call.

"Still in surgery," Jennifer said softly, rolling onto her back and staring up at the ceiling. "Jane said the surgery was supposed to end two hours ago."

"He's young, strong, he'll be fine," Carly reassured Jennifer, staring at confusion when the other woman nodded. "What?"

"The surgery isn't what has me so worried," Jennifer's voice was barely a whisper as she confessed her fears. "I need to talk to Nick...see what he remembers about what happened...he was so upset the guys left him behind, if he remembers...."

"Remembers what, Jen?"

Jennifer sniffled loudly and looked at Carly. "Did you see Nick fall?"

Carly shook her head, "I was over by AJ, I'm not with Kevin then, the guys are alone up there."

"Yeah."

"What are you asking me?" Carly asked softly, leaning in closer to her friend.

"I don't know," Jennifer shook her head, and rolled over on to her side. "I'm tired, I'm going to sleep for a while."

"Your bags are still in the doorway, Jen," Carly observed, shaking her head when Jennifer just waved in reply. This was not like Jennifer at all...what on earth was going on??

"I'll pick them up later," Jennifer mumbled, crawling under the blanket, fully dressed, her exhaustion finally overtaking her. She hadn't been able to sleep a wink on the tour bus, every time she'd almost fallen asleep, she would hear something, and become paranoid that Kevin was coming to talk to her. She didn't want to face him, couldn't...not until she talked to Nick, found out what really happened. "If Jane calls, wake me up..."

"Who's Jane?" Carly tried, but Jennifer was already asleep, her breathing growing steady and deep. She chuckled softly and nodded, "alright, Jen. If Jane calls, whoever this chick is, I'll wake you up."



Carly groaned when she heard the knock on the door, and she shot a look at Jennifer's sleeping figure before going to open the door. "She's asleep, Kevin," she said as she opened the door, her eyes widening in surprise when she found AJ on the other side instead. "Oh. Hello, Alex," she grinned, unable to resist tilting her head coyly. He was just so damn attractive...

"I'm waking her up," AJ said brusquely, pushing past her into the room and sitting down next to Jennifer on the bed. He took one look at her and his manner changed completely, his hand going to the side of her face to push her hair off of where her tears had plastered it to her cheek in her sleep. "Jenny, you need to wake up," he said softly, giving her a slight shake. He liked Jen, always had...they ALL always had...Nick ending up with her had been just fine in his mind, one of them was always bound to. But Kevin's behavior was inexcusable, and poor Jennifer was just being caught in the middle of all of it.

Jennifer whispered Nick's name and rolled over, curling deeper into the blankets in her sleep.

"What's going on, AJ?" Carly asked softly, watching him with Jennifer, wondering where this sudden tenderness came from. "Did something happen to Nick?"

"Wake up, baby," AJ said again, a tear sliding down his face from underneath his sunglasses.

Carly's eyes widened in horror at the sight, and she fell to her knees on the floor. "Oh god, AJ, what happened??"

Jennifer woke up at the sound of Carly falling, and sat up with a start when she saw AJ with tears on his face, her eyes wide with terror. "What? What's going on?"

"Nicky didn't wake up from surgery, baby," AJ said, his voice barely a whisper. "We gotta get back to the hospital."

"Oh god, no," Jennifer started crying, her body curling over as sobs shook her. "What...no...."

"He had a reaction to the anesthesia, he's in a coma again..." AJ continued, a sob breaking his voice at the end.

"She ready?" Brian stood in the open doorway, his eyes red and puffy, his hair sticking straight up into the air. He looked as awful as they all felt...their fear for their friend weighing them down.

"Yeah," AJ stood up and grabbed Jennifer's hands, pulling her up with him. "I got her, right, babe?"

Jennifer nodded, grateful for his arm around her waist holding her up. Her mind was still reeling from the information she'd just received...but Nick had been fine...she'd talked to him...he was out of danger...how could this happen?

"Here," Carly handed AJ Jennifer's purse and pushed them out the door. "Call me when you know something, please?"

"Will do," AJ slung the purse over his shoulder, and followed Brian down the hallway and into the waiting elevator, where Howie, Leighanne and their bodyguards were already assembled. "Let's get out of here," he said firmly as he met the solemn eyes of the group.

"Brian," Jennifer looked at him, her heart breaking when she saw the tears in his eyes. "What..."

"We'll talk about it on the plane, ok?" Brian said softly, taking Jennifer's hands in his. "I talked to AJ and Howie...I know..."

Leighanne sobbed quietly into her hands, and Brian let go of Jen's hands to he could console his wife.

"Ok, ready?" Brian's bodyguard gestured to them all to prepare for the run through the lobby, and everyone covered their heads as much as possible. NOBDOY wanted fans seeing their faces like this, the fans were already so worried about Nick, if they saw them like this....they'd assume the worst.

Which at this point, could very well be the case...

At the bodyguard's command, the three Backstreet Boys and crew left the fourth alone in the hotel, as they fled to the airport to return to the fallen fifth. Who, they all knew now, they never should have left in the first place.



"You should call the fucking police, is what you should do!" AJ shouted as he paced back and forth, angry at everyone's attempts to explain what Kevin had done. "You said you saw him push Nick, right? That's MURDER if he dies."

Jennifer just watched AJ's tirade from her seat in the small plane they'd chartered for the trip, tears never seeming to stop their path down her face. Howie hadn't let go of her since the moment they'd lifted off, his arm tightly wrapped around her shoulders as she cried, and she was appreciative of the concern he was showing her. They all seemed to be showing her, in fact...

"AJ, stop," Howie said tiredly, grabbing his hand and yanking him into a seat. "We're all angry, but shouting doesn't help anyone."

"I can't send Kevin to jail," Brian couldn't believe that circumstances could exist where he would be speaking those words. Kevin...and jail? "He's my cousin."

"He tried to kill your best friend," AJ got out before Howie reached over and covered his mouth with his hand, glaring at him. It was one thing when Nick was going to be ok. But now?? Nick wasn't ok...

"It's not that simple," Howie shook his head. "Nick's back in a coma."

"Does he remember what happened, Jen?" Brian asked her, sighing when she shrugged in reply.

"He wouldn't talk to me about it," Jennifer said softly, biting her lip as she thought. "If he remembered...the doctor said he has to want to come back from a coma. Would he want to come back..." she stopped talking abruptly, not wanting to finish her own thought.

"YES." Howie said emphatically, nodding his head for emphasis. "This is Nicky, he has a lot to live for."

"How would you feel if Kevin tried to kill you?" Leighanne asked Howie, her face pale and tired. She couldn't believe what was going on...how could this happen...

Jennifer turned away to stare out the window, cursing the beauty of the clouds outside. They looked so safe, so fluffy, so calm...but everything was so wrong, so screwed up in here. It should be dark, stormy, evil looking out.

Howie's face fell, and he sighed heavily. "How much longer until we land?"