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“Now, tell me, what was so urgent that you had to fly me to New York?” Hayley asked when Nick met her at the airport.

“I just wanted to see you,” he said sweetly and pecked her softly on the lips. “Is that such a crime?”

“No,” she smirked and watched as he picked up her bag. “I think it’s very sweet…just surprising. I wasn’t expecting a trip to New York that’s all.”

Pulling his baseball cap lower over his face, Nick bobbed and weaved through the crowded airport as Hayley tailed close behind. When they were safely inside the limo, Nick pulled the hat off and tossed it to the seat across from him. He draped his arm around Hayley’s shoulders and smiled. “I’m really glad you decided to come.”

“Well, I’m glad you invited me,” she smiled.



Brianna pushed Kyra through the crowded mall. Why she had come back again she didn’t know, but she did; now she was headed to KB Toys to “browse”. Entering the toy store, she didn’t see anyone of interest to her so she made her way down one of the aisles.

“Need help finding anything?” a voice startled her.

“Oh, well, I’m just looking,” she said and turned around to find Jon smiling. Blushing slightly she smiled.

“You certainly love to buy your daughter new toys,” he joked as her cheeks continued to fill with color. “If I didn’t know any better, I would think you aren’t even here for the toys.”

“Oh, well…I uh…” she stammered.

Jon just laughed and interrupted her. “You know, my break is in like ten minutes. Would you like to get some coffee with me?”

Brianna didn’t have time to think about his request before she was answering. “I would love to.”



Kevin replaced the telephone to its cradle and sighed. Brianna wasn’t home again. He called her cell phone but she had either left it at home or had the tones on silent. He decided to try her cell one more time and if he didn’t get an answer, he would call her at home later tonight. Dialing the number, he waited as it rang. He was just about to hang up when he heard her answer.

“Hello?” she sounded rushed.

“This a bad time?” Kevin asked.

“No, I didn’t realize I left my phone in the car. How are you, baby?”

“Well, I’m okay, but you know, I couldn’t find my fiancée so I was getting worried,” his tone was sarcastic. “Other than that, I’m great. We’re moving along pretty quickly and-”

“Just stop, Kevin,” Brianna snapped. “Did you just call to mock me?”

“No, Brianna, I did not call just to mock you. I actually called to see if you would like to fly to New York. I think it would be nice to have my family here with me.”

“I-I can’t.”

“You can’t?” he asked more than a little surprised. “And may I ask why?”

Brianna rolled her eyes. “I just have too much to get done here, Kev. I really don’t want to have to take Kyra on a plane, and you know I don’t like flying anyway.”

“Oh,” he didn’t try to hide his disappointment. The fact was he was lonely and missed his family; he had hoped that maybe Brianna missed him as much, but she was apparently getting along fine. “Well, I’ve gotta go…the guys are here.”

“Okay, love you.”

“Yeah,” Kevin replied and replaced the receiver. Placing his head in his hands he sighed. Something is up with her…

“Hey, Kev…you ready to go?” AJ called from the doorway.

“Yeah, just give me a sec.”

“All right man, the rest of us will be waiting at the end of the hall,” he said and shut the door.

Straightening himself up, Kevin decided he wasn’t going to mope around. They were going out to have fun and he was determined not to spoil the night for anyone.



AJ looked over at Bianca and smiled to himself. She was leaning against the wall talking to her brother on her cell phone while they waited for Kevin. He was brought back to the world by a nudge to his ribcage.

“What are you smiling about?” Brian grinned.

“Look at her, Bri,” he whispered. “I bet she doesn’t even know how beautiful she is.”

“Have you told her that? See, that’s the only thing that matters…she doesn’t have to know she is, but you have to make sure to tell her,” he laughed.

“It’s just really weird to me…we hated each other a year ago,” AJ said quietly as be continued to watch Bianca. “And now, I can’t imagine my life without her.”

Bianca ended her phone call and walked up to the two men who were engrossed in conversation. “What are you two talking about?”

“This and that,” AJ smiled and snaked his arm around her waist. Motioning toward the other end of the hall he said, “There’s Kevin.”

“Nick is gonna meet us there,” Kevin said as Howie stepped into the hallway. “He called and said he’d be a few minutes late.”

“Well, then, let’s get outta here,” AJ said and led the way onto the elevator. He was ready to enjoy himself.

After a while, the five of them were entering a swanky New York club and being led directly to the VIP room. Bianca groaned and AJ gave her an odd look.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“Nothing…I just detest places like this. It’s always so stuffy and you can’t just let loose and have a good time; you have to sit back and watch everyone else with some somber expression on your face as though you’re some brooding celebrity.”

“Bean…you are a celebrity,” AJ laughed.

“Sure, but I’d like to think that I’m not brooding…I mean, look at me…and look at you! You of all people should hate this place,” she retorted. “I mean, c’mon…Aje…tell me this is the kinda place you love…yeah, right.”

“Well, you’re right, but this is where they wanted to come and we’re out numbered. Besides, who will notice us in the corner?” he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Good point,” she grinned and took him by the collar, leading him to the table.



Nick entered the posh club and looked around for his friends. “There they are,” he motioned to the other side of the club.

Linking her arm through his, Hayley smiled and let him lead the way to their tables. She looked around at her surroundings and felt a little out of place. She had been seeing Nick for about five months now, but they had never been to a place like this. It wasn’t the type of setting either of them was comfortable, but this is the place Kevin instructed them to come to. “This place is nice,” she said quietly.

“Yeah,” Nick said absently.

Hayley stopped and kept her grip on Nick’s arm, stopping him as well. “What’s the matter?”

“Huh? Oh, nothing,” he smiled and draped his arm around her waist. “C’mon.”

Hayley nodded, but she had an odd feeling all of a sudden. He was acting strange and it had only started when they got to the club.

“Hey Nick,” Brian greeted his friend. Smiling at Hayley he gave her a quick hug. “Hey Red.”

Hayley laughed at her nickname. “Hey.”

Glancing around the corner of the club, Nick finally spotted Bianca and AJ. They were wrapped up in one another in the darkness of the far corner. At the moment, Bianca was laughing at something AJ had said, but her laughter stopped as she leaned in for a quick kiss.

“I think we have an audience,” AJ whispered as he kissed Bianca’s ear.

“Who?” she asked enjoying the feeling of AJ’s lips softly gliding across her skin.

“Nick. He’s standing by Kevin just staring,” he mumbled.

“You wanna dance?” Hayley interrupted Nick’s thoughts.

Quickly coming out of his thoughts, Nick turned to look at Hayley before she could see who he had been staring at. “Sure,” he smiled. A slow song suddenly replaced the fast paced song and more people filtered out onto the dance floor.

“This is nice,” Hayley said and rested her head on Nick’s shoulder. They were just about the same height so, it was easy for her to do.

“Yeah,” Nick’s voice was once again vacant sounding.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Hayley pulled away so she could look at him.

“Yeah,” his eyes met hers. Smiling, he leaned in for an unexpected, but welcome kiss. “I’m perfect.” When she placed her head back on his shoulder, Nick saw that AJ and Bianca were also making their way onto the dance floor. He was suddenly filled with jealousy as he watched the two sway seductively with one another.

“Nick…Nick?” Hayley’s voice sounded irritated. “What the hell is going on with you? I’ve been trying to get your attention for like five minutes.”

“Sorry,” he smiled as his cheeks began to burn. “What is it?”

“I was just wondering if you wanted to sit down?”

“Sure.”

Hayley sighed to herself and let go of Nick’s hand. He was being weird and it was starting to get to her. Just as they were about to sit down, she spotted them. “I can’t believe this.”

“What? Are you okay?” Nick asked as he started to slide into the booth beside her. Before he could sit down, Hayley was sliding back out.

“Move,” she said roughly.

“Hayley, what’s wrong?” Nick asked alarmed by her abrupt anger.

“You know what? I just need to get out of here,” she said when she was finally out of the cramped booth.

“Well, okay, we can go back to the hotel,” he said with a nod.

“No,” she turned to him. “I need to get out of here, not us. I can’t believe I came all this way so you could make a fool of me.”

“Make a fool of you? What are you talking about?” Nick asked cautiously and followed behind her as she made her way to the exit. Before he knew it, they were outside in the warm night air. “What’s going on, Hayley?”

Spinning around, Hayley looked at him with distaste. “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on? Did you just fly me all the way here so you could make me look like a complete idiot?”

“What? No!” he answered quickly.

“C’mon, Nick. I’m not stupid…just tell the truth,” her voice began to rise in anger.

“I said no, Hayley,” his voice was still soft. He was trying to get her to calm down. Here they were on a sidewalk in the middle of Manhattan and people were beginning to stare.

“Nick, I will not be a rebound,” Hayley spat as she tried to hail a cab.

“What in the hell makes you think that you’re a rebound?” Nick asked, suddenly not caring who stopped to stare.

“Oh, no? Well, why is it every time you see her you go into quiet mode and you stare at her like you’ve lost your puppy?” When she didn’t get an answer, she rolled her eyes and tried again to hail a cab.

Grabbing Hayley by the shoulders, Nick pulled her away from the curb. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Please, Nick. Whatever,” she said as she shrugged his hands away from her. “You still aren’t over her; you’re just trying to act like it so she won’t know that.”

“That’s not true, Hayley. I would never have asked you to move in with me if you meant nothing to me.”

She rolled her eyes. “What? You weren’t ready to put a ring on my finger, so you want me to move in with you to prove that you’re over Bianca. That’s easy for anyone to do. You want me to be your little trophy. Well, guess what, Nick? I’m not into that shit, okay? You can’t just go around telling me you care and asking me to move in if you’re still pining away for Bianca. And trust me, it’s obvious. I was just too stupid to realize it before now,” she said and breathed a sigh of relief when a taxi finally stopped for her. “Look, Nick, it was fun while it lasted, but let’s face it…we can’t live in the dark forever.”

Nick watched as Hayley got into the cab and it pulled away. He didn’t say anything…he didn’t know what to say. She was right, though…they couldn’t pretend to be a happy couple if they weren’t both into the relationship. Damn it, he said to himself as he lost her cab in the sea of cars cruising along. Turning around, he watched as people passed by him without so much as a second glance. They all looked content and lost in their own little worlds. Here he was, Nick Carter, on the streets of Manhattan alone. Again. I guess I’ll just have to get used to this, he thought sadly.