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“What did he say to you?!” Leighanne squealed as she followed Annie into her state room. She’d been hot on her heels as soon as Nick had whispered something in her ear, prompting her to literally jump backwards out of his arms, take a stiff bow, and dart off the stage.

Annie marched into the bathroom and jerked a towel off the shower curtain rod. She flipped her head over and started drying her hair. “Oh my god! Does it matter what he said to me? Did you hear what he sang to me?”

“Actually, he sang it with you,” Leighanne pointed out.

“Against my will!” Annie straightened up and flipped her damp hair out of her face. She reached for the hem of her heavy, wet sweatshirt and started to pull it over her head.

“You seemed pretty willing to me....”

“Umph!” The rain had made the fibers of Annie’s usually soft and stretchy sweatshirt stiff and unforgiving-- not to mention freezing. Her face was covered up by the inside-out sweatshirt and her elbows were stuck inside. “A little help here?” she whined.

Leighanne laughed. “I believe you’re avoiding the subject.”

“I’m absolutely avoiding the subject. I’m also absolutely stuck in this sweatshirt!” Annie’s muffled voice replied pleadingly. Leighanne grabbed the sweatshirt and gave it a yank. “Stupid sweatshirt,” Annie grumbled as it dropped onto the tile floor with a thud. “It’s been great old friend, but did I really have to be wearing that old, ratty thing when I sang on a stage in front of hundreds of people with Nick freakin’ Carter?”

Leighanne cocked her eyebrow, looking amused. “Nick freakin’ Carter, huh? I’ve used that term plenty of times myself. Though, the sentiment may or may not have been the same. So, what exactly is going on with you and Nick freakin’ Carter?” Annie pretended to ignore her as she finished changing into some dry clothes. “All I’m saying is that you looked pretty cozy up there singing with him ‘against your will’.”

Annie started pacing. “Who the heck does he think he is? What was I supposed to do? Refuse to go up there? What right does he have to man-handle me up there in front of all those people?”

“What woman doesn’t want to be man-handled by Nick Carter?” Leighanne joked.

“Now you sound like Beth.”

Her expression softened. “I know you’re freaking out about this whole Nick thing, Annie, and I really wish Beth could have been here to more than likely give you better advice than I can, but...what a good reason to have to miss the cruise, right?”

Annie gave her a weak smile. Beth, whom she’d known almost longer than she’d known herself, and whose bed she used to lay on and stare at the Backstreet Boys posters on the ceiling and share her dreams with, had called her in a panic two weeks ago because there were two lines on that pregnancy test when there should have only been one. Then, her panicked fiancé, Aaron, had called a week later because Beth had literally had “morning sickness” all day and night for five days straight. Then, a couple days later, Annie called Beth to confirm her suspicions that the morning sickness wasn’t getting any better and ended up having to convince her oldest friend that while the Backstreet Boys cruise would be a lot of fun, being on a cruise ship for three days while seven weeks pregnant would not.
“Actually, Leighanne, it’s probably better that you’re trying to give me advice about Nick because Beth would tell me to ‘quote’ get the stick out of my ass and have a little fun with the Backstreet Boy. I hope you’re going to tell me to show a little more restraint.”

Leighanne pursed her lips in an attempt to stifle a laugh. “You tell Brian I said this, and I’ll deny it till the day I die.”

“Tell you Brian you said wh-”

“Get the stick out of your ass and have a little fun with the Backstreet Boy,” Leighanne interrupted her.

“Excuse me?”

“You only live once, right?”

“Leighanne Littrell, you’ve lost your mind.”

“Have I?”

“Annie!” Nick’s voice bellowed through the door, accompanied by the sound of his fist pounding on it. “Are you in there?”

Leighanne started for the door, but Annie grabbed the back of her shirt as she walked by her. “Let him sweat for a minute,” she said with a little smirk.

“Annie! Listen baby, I’m sorry I did that. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.” Nick lowered his voice a notch and pressed his forehead against the door as he spoke.

“Baby?” Inside Annie’s cabin, Leighanne raised an eyebrow. “He calls you baby?”

“Occasionally, yes,” Annie replied nonchalantly as she scooped her wet clothes out of the floor and started hanging them up to dry.

“Annie?” Nick’s voice echoed through the door once again, this time sounding smaller and perhaps a little defeated.

“I’m opening it,” Leighanne announced, reaching for the doorknob. Annie didn’t have time to protest before the door swung open and Nick braced his hands on the doorframe to keep himself from falling inside.

“Hi,” he said quietly, with a guilty grin.

“Remember what I told you,” Leighanne told Annie as she traipsed out the door.

“Are you mad?” Nick closed the door behind Leighanne and took a couple of tentative steps in Annie’s direction.

“Nick, you’re soaked.” He had bolted off the stage and jogged straight to Annie’s room after helping the other guys thank everyone for coming to karaoke and announcing times for the concert and pajama party later that night. Annie ducked into the bathroom and grabbed a towel, then approached Nick and stood on her tiptoes as she dried his hair. Nick bent his head down and shut his eyes as she ran the towel across his head, her fingers massaging his scalp through the white terrycloth. She draped the towel across his shoulders and swiped at a drop of water on his nose with a damp corner as he opened his eyes to look down at her.

“Are you mad?” he asked again.

Annie sighed and dropped her shoulders. “I don’t know what I am, Nick. That was......”

“Intense?” He took a step closer to close the gap in between them and a breath hitched in her throat.

“Yeah, and....embarrassing,” she whispered.

He moved a damp curl out of her eye with his fingertips and tucked it behind her ear. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I thought it would be fun,” he answered softly.

“You know, it would have been if it weren’t for the hundreds of Backstreet Boys fans watching, and the rain, and the.....”

“The what, Annie?” Nick’s face was mere centimeters away from hers.

“The, um....” She licked her lips and took breath as she parted them. “Intensity?”

He laughed. “That wasn’t really my intent either. Well, not quite like that anyway. I just got a little carried away, I guess.” He paused. “You’re good at that.”

“Good at what?”

“Carrying me away.”

Annie shifted her weight back and forth on the balls of her bare feet. “Nick, you’re like twice my size,” she jested with a smirk. “There’s no way I’d be able to carry you away.”

Nick leaned in closer so that the wetness of his jeans soaked through the legs of Annie’s sweatpants, and she shivered at the sudden coolness on her thigh. “Oh, really? Because I’d say I’m already pretty far gone.”

“Nick....”

“Shh.” He placed a finger on her lips. “Can I ask you something?”

“What?”

“If we hadn’t had an audience....”

“Nick-” Again, with the finger on her lips.

“If we hadn’t had an audience, would you.....?”

“Would I what, Nick?” He didn’t respond, but instead have her an impish grin for just a second before crashing his lips down on hers.