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**Five Months Later**

“Okay, then what do you think of these?” Brianna pointed to the flower arrangements in her latest wedding magazine.

“I dunno,” Kevin shrugged. “You know it doesn’t matter to me…anything will be beautiful.”

Brianna sighed in frustration and closed the magazine. She and Kevin both decided to postpone their wedding until December. That way they would have the wedding of their dreams and the time to plan it. This was one of their spare moments to actually sit and plan the wedding and they were going at it again. It seemed as though whenever they sat down to talk they ended up fighting. It didn’t matter what they were talking about; it always ended the same way. Kevin would shrug and Brianna would get pissed.

“Don’t you care at all what this wedding is going to look like?” she asked looking into his green eyes. “You always say ‘it doesn’t matter, Bree’; would it matter to you if there was even a wedding at all?”

Kevin stared at Brianna for a moment before he answered. “Why would you ask me that?”

“Because you are acting like it doesn’t matter at all. This is a big deal down to the last flower arrangement and I’m sorry that you don’t care. This is our wedding and I wanted it to be perfect. Can’t you at least try? Just humor me, Kevin.”

“Damn it Brianna...you know, not everything has to be perfect. Why can’t you accept that? You know what would be perfect to me? Getting a few friends and family members with us on the beach, hell even in the back yard.”

“That’s not how our wedding is going to be.”

“Well, then you plan and I’ll agree with whatever you decide,” he said and pushed himself away from the table then stalked out of the room.



“Yeah, I know, but what can I do?” Brian asked his girlfriend. He and Nicole had been on and off since she called him during Christmas. Right now they were off…way off. “Nikki…listen…I can’t come visit you now. There are too many things going on.”

“You can never come visit. You can’t do anything anymore, Bri,” she huffed. “I bet if I were Julie you’d be on the next flight out.”

“That is a low blow, Nicole, and you know it. How can you keep tossing that up in my face?”

“Because you and I both know it’s the truth,” her voice was full of hostility. “Look, Brian, I’m not the only one who sees it. Why don’t you just fess up?”

“Nicole, what the hell are you talking about?” he asked and clenched his fist in frustration. “Look…Nikki…you know I love you, but I cannot keep going around in circles with you. You’re hot one minute and cold the next...you are madly in love with me and then all of a sudden you are biting my head off. It’s driving me crazy.”

“So what are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying that I think we need to take a break. You are obviously not happy in this relationship for whatever reason and you’re making me unhappy,” he answered truthfully.

“Oh, I’m making you unhappy?” she scoffed into the phone. “Why not take a look at my side of it Brian? You and I never see one another and when I try to make arrangements for one of us to visit, you come up with an excuse. Every time. I have tried my damnedest to make us work, but-”

“This time you have, but what about when you walked out on me? Huh? I dropped everything and took you back when you called, or did that slip your mind? I just think it’s time for us to stop trying to make this work when it’s obvious that it’s not going to.”

“Fine,” her voice lowered.

“Okay,” he said, suddenly unsure about everything. “Well, I…uh…”

“Goodbye, Brian,” she said and hung up.

“Bye,” he said and placed the phone on the table. With a sarcastic laugh he leaned back in his chair. “That went well.”



“So, everyone is dying to know…are you and AJ McLean really a hot item?” the DJ smiled from behind his mic as the question hung in the air.

Bianca shifted uncomfortably and thought about her answer. Why do they always have to ask that?! “Well, AJ and I have been dating for a few months, but I would hardly call us a ‘hot item’.”

That was both true and untrue… Yes, they were dating and no, they weren’t a hot item…but they were definitely more than friends who went on the occasional date. After AJ’s confession on the plane, Bianca had thought long and hard about her options. She could have rejected him and continued on moping over Nick who had seemingly moved on with his life. Or, she could accept the love of this man who poured his heart out to her and risked everything by doing so.

“Well, that’s not the report that we’ve been getting, but if you insist…” the DJ’s grin grew wider and he winked at her.

Bianca just laughed dryly and prayed the interview would end quickly. After a few more torturous minutes of him grilling her about AJ, his time ran out and she was on her way to yet another interview. She sighed and looked at the city as they drove to their next destination. She loved her job, but she got sick of the same questions being asked over and over… And today they were all centered around the same thing… Was it just a rumor or was it true? Were AJ McLean and Bianca Parker dating?

Rubbing her tired eyes, she was startled out of her thoughts by the shrill ringing of her cell phone. “Hello?”

“Bianca, we’ve added another interview to your list today,” her publicist said cheerily.

“Great Katherine,” she mumbled.

“I know,” Bianca could practically hear her smiling from ear to ear. “After your interviews you’ve got a signing at Virgin and then you’ll be all done for the day.”

“Thank God,” she mumbled as Katherine rattled off some instructions and a few plans for the following day. “Okay, Katherine…thanks.”

When her cell phone went off again, Bianca suppressed her groan of irritation as she greeted the caller. “Katherine, is there anything else you’re gonna forget to tell me today?”

“Uh, well, maybe since I’m not Katherine,” AJ’s voice was full of amusement and she suddenly felt her mood lighten.

“Hey,” Bianca said as her voice softened.

“Now, that’s a better greeting,” he joked. “I heard your last interview…you seem to be dodging the questions about us really well.”

“I’m not trying to dodge them, but I just thought it would be nice to have our privacy a little longer. You understand, don’t you?”

“Of course I do, baby. Nobody understands privacy better than I do. Anyway, that’s not the reason I called you.”

“It’s not?” she asked, confused.

“Nope. I’m actually on my way to New York to see you,” he said softly. “You know…we can still shed some light on us without losing our privacy…”

Bianca smiled. Leave it to AJ to wanna be out in the open about it. She had to admit, it would be nice to finally be able to be together in public and not worry about rumors surfacing. She could confirm it in her next interview and then everyone would know. Even the guys. Up until now, no one knew about AJ professing his love for her and their five month relationship. “You are just dying to be in the spotlight with it, aren’t you?” she teased.

“No, it has nothing to do with being in the spotlight…I just want the world to know how much I love you,” he answered sincerely.

Bianca closed her eyes and smiled when she felt the limo come to a stop. “Okay…we can tell the world. On one condition…”

“What’s that?”

“You have to take me to dinner tonight,” she grinned to herself.

“Done,” he replied quickly. “I love you, baby.”



“You what?” Hayley stopped what she was doing to look at Nick, an amused expression on her face.

“Well, you know…we’ve been seeing each other for a while now and we’re pretty serious,” Nick seemed to stumble over his words. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yeah, Nick, we’re getting serious, but do you really think it’s a good idea to move in together? After just a few months?” she finished skeptically.

“Why isn’t it a good idea?” Nick said and before she knew it, he was standing in front of her. “Give me one good reason…”

“Honestly, Nick, I just don’t know if I’m ready for that yet,” she replied sitting down in the nearest chair. “I mean, I care about you a lot, but moving in together? That’s a huge step and I don’t know if either one of us is ready to move to that level yet.”

Nick sat down on the coffee table so he was directly in front of her. Taking her hands in his he sighed. “I’m sorry I just brought this up all of a sudden, but I have been thinking about it for a while now and-”

“You have?” she asked, biting her lip as she ran a hand through her short hair. “How long is a while?”

“I dunno…probably about a month or so,” she said as he gingerly ran his finger over her palm. “I understand what you’re saying and I’m not asking you to make your decision now; just give it some thought, okay?”

Leaning forward, Hayley took his face in her hands and kissed him softly on the lips. “Okay,” she whispered.

“Great,” he grinned broadly.



Howie finished packing his suitcase and zipped it closed before placing it in his doorway. He was on his way to New York City where he would meet the guys in two days. They would be going back into the studio to do some writing later in the week, but he wanted to go early and have time to enjoy the city.

Today marked exactly five months since Ivy had been killed. Though it was getting easier with each passing day, it still seemed so unreal and he half expected her to come in the room making everything seem like nothing could ever go wrong. He longed to hear her laugh and to see her smiling. There were still traces of her everywhere he went and he was tempted to start looking for a new place, but he just wasn’t ready to let go of her memory just yet.

Maybe getting back into the swing of things will make it a little less hard to deal with, he thought to himself as he picked up his suitcase and started for the front door. Taking one last look around, Howie did a mental survey to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything and he set his alarm. Okay, I’ve got everything…

Climbing into the waiting car, he settled into the seat and checked his watch. He would make it to the airport with just minutes to spare. Thanks to a last minute call from AJ he was now running way behind schedule and he wouldn’t even have time to dwadle in the shops like he had wanted to. He hated being rushed and suddenly he felt like it was five months ago all over again.

He had been questioned about Ivy’s murder too many times to count. He had even memorized most of the questions and could predict them before they were even asked. Of course, he understood that because they didn’t have any real proof he wasn’t in on it, they had to rule him out as a suspect. Thankfully, after a couple weeks they realized that he didn’t have a part in it and began searching elsewhere. At one point, about a month later, they thought they had some hard evidence that would lead to cracking the case, but it turned out to be nothing.

Too bad they can’t find it themselves, Howie thought bitterly. The fact that he knew who was responsible for the crime was slowly eating away at him. He just couldn’t let it go… But you know if you even give the police one clue as to who killed Ivy, Daniel will come after you he and won’t stop until you wind up buried six feet under next to Ivy, the little voice crept into his thoughts.

Getting out of the car, Howie made his way into the airport and checked his bag. After only a few minutes, he was seated on the plane and waiting to take off. He had to admit that he was happy to finally be on his way out of town. Maybe this would be a turning point for him and he was finally moving on. Maybe this trip is just what I need.