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***THE NEXT DAY***

The guys were all doing their own things again today. Brian was going with Julie to her father’s funeral. He knew today would be the worst day she’d have and decided that he’d stay in Lexington an extra night. He’d fly into the next city of the tour.

Kevin decided to show Brianna and Kyra around Lexington. They had visited before, but he had never showed her his favorite places—this was the first chance he’d had to do that.

Howie, Ivy and AJ all agreed on shopping. “We all know AJ doesn’t need to buy anything else, but we’ll go anyway,” Ivy had said teasingly. They were going to invite Nick to go along, but he had put the ‘Do No Disturb’ on his door and he wasn’t answering the phone. They decided to write a note telling him to call if he suddenly felt like shopping and they slid it under his door.

Nick wouldn’t be changing his mind.


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Bianca doubled over as she had yet another pain in her side. They had gotten worse, but she only had them periodically. Taking a deep breath, she pressed her hand to the spot where the pain was and silently willed it to end. Finally, her side eased off and she let out the breath she had been holding. “Good gracious…I wish they would stop.”

Bianca was on her way to the MTV studios to do an interview on TRL. As soon as she left the café after talking to AJ she was on her way to New York. Her management decided it would be a good idea to do the interview since the tour was still postponed. She gripped her stomach again as another pain tore through her.

“You okay?” Madd Dog asked, concerned.

“Yeah,” she forced a smile. “I’m just not feeling well.” I just hope I can hide the pain while Carson is interviewing me.


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***THAT AFTERNOON***

Brian closed Julie’s bedroom door after checking on her. After the funeral, she decided to take a nap. She said she didn’t want to see or talk to anyone. Brian understood, but he told her he would be checking up on her from time to time. Brian decided to try and call Nicole. Every time he had called before, she had not answered. Maybe this time will be different.

He got his cell phone and headed for the living room. Pressing the first number on his speed dial, he waited for Nicole to answer. After four rings, she finally picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“Hey,” he said softly. As soon as he heard her voice he realized how much he missed her.

“Hey,” she sounded surprised to hear from him.

“I’ve tried calling a few times since I got to Kentucky, but you were never home,” he explained quietly.

“Yeah, I went to my sister’s for a couple of days. I felt like getting away.”

“Look, Nikki, I’m sorry…”

“It’s fine, Brian. I understand that you did what you felt you needed to do and I respect that,” she said.

“I’m so glad you understand, baby,” he sighed. “I hope that means you’re coming back on tour with me,” he said, his voice brightening. “I really miss you.”

“I miss you too, Bri, but I don’t think it would be a good idea for me to come back now. I decided to go back to work a few weeks early.”

“Oh, okay. Well, do you think you’ll come back at all?”

“I honestly don’t know yet,” Nicole said. They remained silent for a moment. “I have to go now.”

“Okay,” Brian said. He knew she’d be upset, but he didn’t know how bad things would be. “I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Before Brian could tell her he would call her later, Nicole had hung up. He was even more confused about their relationship, but he decided he’d call her again in a day or so.


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Nick entered his hotel suite and walked over to the window. Looking at the New York City skyline, he let out a tired sigh. He knew if he went home to Florida, that would be the first place the guys checked. He knew that New York would be the last place they would look, if they thought to check there at all.

Nick walked to the couch and say down. He stretched out and turned on the television. He knew he shouldn’t have left the way he did and he also knew that once everyone knew where he was, he was going to catch hell. I can hear Kevin now, he thought with a groan.

Flipping through the different channels, Nick stopped when he saw TRL was just coming on. He smirked to himself; he got a kick out of it.

“Hey guys, as you know, we have a pretty packed show today. There are a couple of debut videos on the countdown, we’ll be retiring Britney’s video and hmm…what else?” Carson Daly asked, causing the audience to go crazy. “Oh, yeah, Bianca Parker is here today.”

Nick’s full attention was now on the T.V. She’s in New York. He would faintly hear Carson introducing the number ten video. Looking at his watch, Nick got up and headed for the door. He had time to get to Times Square before Bianca left. She’ll have to talk to me.


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“She’s headlining her own tour and making it even bigger than expected…please welcome Bianca Parker,” Carson introduced her.

Bianca plastered on a million dollar smile despite her pain. She walked out and greeted everyone in her soft southern twang. “Hey,” she said and gave Carson a hug.

“So, you have your own tour, and for the record, you are single now, right?” Carson asked with a smile.

“Yeah,” she kept smiling, even though she felt like crying. She knew that question would come up; she just didn’t know it would be first. “I guess the rumors can rest now.”

“Guys, get in line," he said, getting close to the camera. Turning back to Bianca, he smiled. “On a serious note, how are you? I know everyone was worried after the new about your attack got out.”

“Yeah,” she said, feeling a little uncomfortable. “I’ve been doing pretty well and I have to say thanks to all my fans and everyone for their concern. Everybody has been really sweet.”

The interview lasted a few more minutes and they premiered Bianca’s new video. On her way out Bianca signed a few autographs and posed for some pictures. When she saw Madd Dog she smiled. “Let’s go.”

“Bianca!” she heard someone call out.

One more autograph, then I have to go. When she turned around, her heart leapt into her throat. What in the world is he doing here? “Nick?” she asked, her eyes filling with tears.

“Hey,” he said, stopping in front of her. He wanted to hate her for everything she had done; he should hate her, but he couldn’t. No matter how hard he tried. Slowly, he reached down and took her hands in his, trying not to notice how tense she became. “Can we talk?”

Bianca looked away and slipped her hands from his. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. Until now, she had had control of her emotions and she was fine. Now, she didn’t know what to do. I’m supposed to stay strong. I can’t let him see me cry; he’ll know I’m weak, she thought to herself, biting her bottom lip. “I don’t think that’s a really good idea, Nick. I have to go, anyway.”

“Bullshit, Bianca. You know you can’t avoid me forever….haven’t I proven that?” his eyes were burning into hers. He refused to back down without getting an explanation. “You know that I deserve to know why you walked out because as far as I can tell, you had no reason. That is, unless you left me to be with someone else,” he said, remembering the image of her with AJ.

“Nick, don’t do this. Not here, please,” she begged.

“Why not? I can’t get you to talk to me otherwise,” he spat, bitterly. “Although, you have no problem talking to everyone else.”

“What are you talking about, Nick?” she asked, confused.

“Don’t pull that ‘I don’t know’ crap with me, Bean. You don’t have to keep it a secret anymore….I was probably the only sap that couldn’t see it…”

“Couldn’t see what?” she cried, growing frustrated. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“You know, you were right…this was a bad idea. Forget it, Bean,” Nick said, raking his hands through his already disheveled hair. “Sorry I bothered you…”

“Nick, I really don’t know what you’re talking about,” Bianca placed her hand on his arm and moved closer. She was utterly confused. Before either of them knew what was happening, Nick had shoved her away. The force of the push was strong enough to send Bianca to the floor.

“Oh my God, Bean…” he stopped when Madd Dog grabbed him and pushed him away.

“You need to get out of here right now,” his voice boomed in Nick’s ears.

Bianca remained seated, with her hands covering her face. What just happened? She couldn’t believe he just did that. Nick’s apologies sounded very distant as Madd Dog forced him to leave the room. She sat there, still shocked; the pains suddenly growing worse. After the pain subsided, she let Madd Dog help her up.

“Are you okay?” he asked as she clung to his arm.

Bianca’s only answer was, “Get me back to the hotel please.” As soon as they were in the limo, she fell apart. The only thought that kept crossing her mind was the fact that Nick had shoved her…hard. He did something he swore he’d NEVER do and Bianca’s heart broke even more. She had a phone call to make when she got back to the hotel.