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Chapter One

Kevin smiled as he wiped the sweat off of his forehead, rolling himself off of the stage behind the others in his wheelchair. Screams could still be heard, almost deafening, as the lighting to the arena brightened a little, telling everyone that the show was officially over. It had been a successful show, as was expected. The fans were still amazing and as supportive as ever, despite the sudden and unexpected cancellation of the tour. Every show appeared to have every seat filled, telling the Boys that almost every fan had still shown up when they’d finally come to their city with the rescheduled show. It was phenomenal and even two months later they all still got the same thrill, as if it were the first show. It could easily be said that the past two months had been fast paced as well as exciting, doing between two and three destinations per week to avoid over-working and stressing Kevin mostly.

Once backstage, everyone celebrated with hugs and high fives, with the exception of Nick and Stephanie still keeping their distance. Despite Nick’s constant attempts to speak to her, the girl ignored him still, wanting nothing to do with him. It was safe to say that their relationship was on temporary if not permanent hiatus. Nobody knew what had happened between the once good relationship and neither would say, leaving their friends minds curious. It was obviously a sensitive subject to both, so after a few subtle attempts to get some sort of information, everyone decided to leave it alone. All they knew as that Stephanie cried late in the night when she thought nobody could hear her and Nick looked to be lost and miserable without her. Willa hadn’t been around in awhile. Everybody had guessed that she’d finally given up at digging her clutches back into her ex again. If they only knew the truth behind it all

A.J and Jaime’s engagement was still on and they were as happy as ever. They were making wedding plans slowly and were planning on marrying sometime after things calmed down a bit. They hoped for it to be in the next year. Lauren was getting bigger, growing quickly before everyone’s eyes. She was almost always happy and smiling, surrounded by two loving parents and many friends who adored her. Jaime was excited about this, feeling as if it would make things complete with A.J. and give Lauren the sense of a real family. She loved them both with all that she had in her. They were her life and what made her whole. A.J. couldn’t imagine his life without either of them in it either. Jaime gave him a happiness he’d never known before and she’d given him a daughter, a precious gift he’d never even thought about producing with anybody else. Their relationship was healthy and nearly perfect.

As for Anna and Kevin, they were also extremely happy. Anna was beginning to trust Kevin again, able to leave him alone without fear. The first few times had left her sick to her stomach with worry, which she supposed was natural. Now though, she could do it without freaking out and calling to check up on him. Anna realized that it was not healthy for their relationship for her to constantly be hoovering over his shoulder and she didn’t want to risk losing him by becoming clingy.

Kevin had Richard as his on-road physical therapist, having sessions for a couple of hours every night. He still hadn’t regained any feeling below the waist, but he seemed to be content with how things were for the time being. Anna had been nothing but supportive and loving, sticking with him through the worst of times, This told him confidently that no matter what happened, she wasn’t going anywhere.

As far as everyone knew, Brian and Howie were still single. Although it was a suspicion that Howie was secretly dating someone and had been for about three weeks. He kept sneaking off in the mornings only to do so again after shows, miraculously appearing to perform, for practices and for meetings only. He never said anything though, changing the subject quickly with a blush and goofy grin on his face when asked. Brian just kind of went with the flow of things, always relaxed. It seemed he was the only one without any stress going on in his life at all.

“I can’t believe the tour is over already,” Kevin exclaimed, still grinning, “It seems as if we just finished our first show since coming back.”

He received many nods of agreement. The new album was already complete, so in a few months time, after a small break, they planned to release it and launch a new tour. For now though, in the morning, each of them was heading home for a couple of weeks before starting dance rehearsals for a new tour and set of songs. It was safe to say that almost everything was going smoothly for the first time in a over a year.

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Anna breathed in a huge whiff of fresh air as she opened the front door of her home. It was her first real time back since she’d found Kevin in the closet so many months ago, and the few times she had gone home, she’d avoided the upstairs and especially the closet all together. None of that had crossed her mind though. She was just glad to be back with something familiar to her. Back with Kevin, whom was already back inside with the thanks to the permanent handicap accessible ramps that had been installed sometime during the tour. Anna had a feeling that everything was going to be fine.

Closing the door, Anna roamed the house in search to find Kevin. She did without much of a hunt sitting in his wheelchair by the large picture window out-looking the back yard and pool. Anna walked over to him, reaching down to grab his hand in hers. Kevin looked up and smiled

“It feels so great to be home,” he sighed, pulling Anna into his lap, kissing her tenderly on the mouth, “It’s like a whole foreign place to me.”


“I know how you feel,” Anna whispered softly, “It’s like we haven’t really had the chance to relax and enjoy ourselves at all...this will be the first time since...since we even got together.”

Kevin frowned, having a replay of flashbacks of their entire relationship. Every second of it had held some sort of stress factor. First she’d just wanted to be friends due to his not being over divorcing Kristin yet. He’d been insanely jealous when he’d caught Anna with another guy, leaving in a fury and ended up in a car accident. This had landed him paralyzed, shaking up everyone. Anna still refused to date him though until she knew he was finally, completely over his ex wife, and when they had finally gotten together, things had been great for a little while, excluding Anna’s near drowning a mere couple of minutes after they’d officially become a couple. The greatness hadn’t lasted long though. It had nothing to do with Anna. She’d been a wonderful, supportive girlfriend, but it didn’t change his down-falling spiral of depression. That had been something that nobody had seen coming. So towards the end, Kevin had made everybody believe that he’d had a change of attitude and was happy again, and when nobody saw it coming, he’d tried to kill himself. He’d been in a coma for months, and upon finally waking up, after getting his life somewhat back on track, decided to give touring a try again. That had been huge, because after his paralysis, he’d refused to even think about touring in that condition.

The tour had been eventful and great, but had the usual stresses of any other. In the middle of all of it, he’d had physical therapy. All of that led them to that very moment. Their first real moment of a completely stress free life as a twosome.

“I’m so sorry,” Anna apologized, repositioning herself on his lap so that she was facing him, placing one hand on the side of his face tenderly. She placed a kiss on his lips, “I didn’t mean it like that. Every moment of you has been incredible.”

Kevin smiled in appreciation of her trying to make him feel better, “Don’t worry about it,” he replied softly, “I know things haven’t exactly been...normal,” he paused for a second, “I love you, Anna.”

“I love you too, Kev.” Anna responded, looking him in the eyes as she said this so that he knew she meant it with all that she had in her, “This is the start to a great, healthy, strong relationship.”

The two sat there wrapped up in one another’s arms for a few minutes, enjoying being so close to one another. Kevin nuzzled Anna’s neck with his nose and she giggled, squirming because it tickled her slightly. She pulled away laughing, stepping out of his lap, but her laughter stopped when she saw the hurt, confused look cross over Kevin’s face. It was really scary how insecure he got sometimes. Ever since she’d met him, he’d had a sense of insecurity and jealousy about him. It was sweet sometimes, but other times, she wondered the reason behind it all.

“I’ll be right back,” Anna gave him a seductive look, “I’m gonna go change in to something more comfortable.”

Kevin’s eyes immediately lit up as Anna turned and ran up the stairs and in to their bedroom. Once in the large room, she searched through her drawers, looking for just the right thing to put on for Kevin, wanting to give him the perfect welcome home gift, not finding what she was looking for. She sighed in defeat, making her way to the closet, flipping on the light to make the huge closet easer to rummage though. She started to enter, but stopped short, her breath catching in her throat. She started to shake a little as tears welled up in her eyes, memories coming back to her to that awful day where she’d seen Kevin lying in the closet, dying slowly from a gunshot wound that was intended to be fatal. The red blood from Kevin still stained the carpet in a large, spread out area. It had long since dried, but it was still there and bright, making her remember everything clearly. It made Anna realize that she hadn’t entered the closet since the incident had happened, but had forgotten why until that moment. Anna quickly stumbled backwards, unable to look at the red any longer. She’d have to remember to have the carpet cleaned or replaced there because if she didn’t, she’d always have nothing but horrible memories.

“Anna?! You coming?”

Anna broke out of her trance upon hearing Kevin’s voice. She cleared her throat, hoping that the tremor in her voice would vanish when she answered Kevin.

“Just another minute.” Anna called back.

She closed her eyes, turning off the light and swallowed, realizing for a second that she had relived the entire incident and had been afraid that Kevin really wasn’t there with her now and well. She wondered what it would be like if she’d come home, Kevin dying from the injuries from the wound. Anna shook her head, clearing herself of those thoughts. Kevin was there and alive. There was no need to think about the horrible what-if’s.

Anna noticed that she still had tears falling from her eyes. She knew she had to compose herself and not let on to Kevin that anything was wrong. How would she even begin to explain her moment of weakness? They were supposed to be starting their lives on a happy note now, erasing everything negative from their slate.

With that, she changed in to the first thing that she saw, it being nothing more than a pair of baggy gym pants and a tight fitting tank top, hoping that Kevin wouldn’t be too disappointed in her last minute selection, knowing she wouldn’t have the energy for any one-on-one special time until later that night, once her mind was cleared of her sad memories.

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Stephanie huffed as she drove up to what used to be her and Nick’s house. She slowed down, ready to pull in to the driveway, but when she saw his car in the open garage, she passed by, quickly deciding against it. In no way, shape or form would she get anywhere near Nick. Even though it had been a good three months since it had happened, she just couldn’t forgive and forget. She’d known that something was up with Willa, and then she’d caught them kissing in the studio. Nick had played her as a fool, telling her it was just a casual friendship, if that. She had believed him. What made the situation all the worse was she was pregnant with his child...six months pregnant now. He’d cheated on her, and there was no way she could look past that, no matter how hard he tried. And Nick had tried...very hard...to get her back. He still wouldn’t let up. He insisted that the kiss hadn’t been what it looked like. Stephanie saw what she saw though. There was no way one could mistake a kiss so intense for something else. So she’d fled, not giving him the opportunity to explain. Three months later, and things were still frigid between them on her part. She didn’t want to hear his excuses. Now that the tour was over, avoiding him would be even easier. She was even thinking of getting her number changed so he would have absolutely no way of finding her.

One problem still stood though. She needed to collect her possessions from her once gorgeous home. She’d found a cute little condo nearby that was perfect for just one to live in, and affordable on a single income. It was far enough away from Nick to ensure a run-in was not likely, but close enough to Jaime and Anna’s homes that they could visit easily whenever they felt like it. She’d put a down payment on it a month before, when she’d taken some time off from touring, knowing she’d have to find a place of her own before the tour was up so she could move in right afterwards. She was set to go, but it didn’t make the feeling of sadness that still consumed her go away. This was exactly why she’d sworn off of dating for so long, not trusting men. It only ended up getting her hurt in the end.

With a sigh, Stephanie wondered how she was going to get her things. Most of everything she owned was inside of that house. She still had a key to get inside, so that wasn’t the problem. The trick was finding a time when Nick wasn’t home. She’d go in, quickly take her clothes and a few other things she’d kept when moving her stuff there, and leave, throwing the key out so she’d never have to go anywhere near the home again. On second thought, she could always put the key up for sale on E-bay...exploiting him an his privacy. She was sure she could get a nice, generous price for it. An evil grin formed on her face, thinking of the possibilities that lied in her hands with this kind of power. Even as she thought them though, Stephanie knew she would just end up throwing it away. Selling off his key with address, phone number and all would be too mean and cruel. With all of the psychos on the internet lately, lord only knew what kind of person would end up winning and getting a hold of it and what they could do. As much as she loathed Nick at the moment, she’d never wish anything bad upon him. Well, nothing too bad, that was, meaning nothing that could harm him for a long period of time or kill him.

“This is just fucking peachy,” Stephanie muttered, looking down at her growing stomach. The thought of raising her child alone scared her, if she were to be honest. Nick had been so excited about the baby, and she had been sure that he would make an excellent father...the best, actually. And now...now he wasn’t going to be there. She’d be a single parent, taking on the challenge alone. Sure, her friends would all help her, but it wasn’t the same. In three short months, roughly only ninety days, her child would be born.

Stephanie wondered what Jaime and Anna were up to. She really wasn’t eager to spend her first day home all alone. What was the fun in that? Picking up her cell phone, she flipped through her contacts, going to Jaime. As she continued to drive slowly, her finger hoovered over the ‘send’ button for a few seconds before flipping the phone shut, deciding against the idea. Jaime was likely spending some alone time with her fiancé and Anna with Kevin. She shuddered, not even wanting to know how they were celebrating their homecoming as disturbing images entered her head.

“That is wrong on so many levels,” she muttered, wanting to gag at the picture of her friends naked in bed taking part in adult activities, “Just so wrong.”

To be truthfully honest though, Stephanie was jealous. She was insanely jealous, just wanting her Nicky back. She didn’t see how that was possible though. He’d cheated on her, there was no turning back. They were done forever, for Stephanie just couldn’t give somebody who’d done that to her a second chance. Maybe if the breakup had been under different circumstances, they would have another chance later on down the road. God, how she wished that were the case. But it wasn’t, and nothing could change that.

With a sigh, Stephanie pressed her foot a little harder on the accelerator, making her car go faster, turning to go to her own condo. Whether she liked it or not, she was going to have to spend the night alone. One thing was for sure though. The next day, she would demand some quality girl time with her friends, not giving up until she got her way.

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“Home sweet home, Lauren,” Jaime cooed, setting her crying daughter in to her crib. She bent down, kissing the little girls forehead, hoping that she’d fall asleep soon, “We’re home now...no more craziness for a few months. I promise.”

She smiled, backing slowly away from the infant before slowly slipping out of the room, closing the door behind her. Once out of sight, she sighed in exhaustion, hearing the unhappy child’s screams of fury. Lauren had been cranky all day. Jaime figured that the long plane ride, and then a long car ride directly afterwards didn’t help. She’d learned that being on the road wasn’t exactly the right environment for a small child. For that tour though, there had really been no choice. Jaime knew that when the next one neared, she’d have to make a very important decision on what to do, weather it be she stay behind with Lauren, leave her with the maid/nanny or bring her along again. There was still plenty of time to figure it out though, so she decided not to worry about that quite yet.

“Is she sleeping?” AJ asked when Jaime reached the bottom of the stairs, taking her in to his arms.

Jaime snorted, “I wish...she’s very moody today.” she sighed, stepping further in to her fiance’s arms, burring her head in to his shoulder as she heard Lauren’s wails from up the steps, “It’s going to feel good to relax.

“That’s what breaks are for,” he said, “The first year is the hardest...after that, you get to know what to expect and it’s all easier.” he kissed her on the lips softly, “I promise...it won’t be as exhausting next time.”

Jaime smiled, hoping he was right. She also hoped that the next year didn’t hold nearly as much drama as the first too. The craziness had finally died down, other than Stephanie and Nick’s relationship being on the rocks. She couldn’t believe how much had happened. AJ had almost left her because he’d been freaking out over being a father, but had come back around right after Kevin had tried to kill himself, realizing what was important in life. His feelings for her, so to speak, had been re-evaluated, and he’d realized that the new addition to their relationship had nothing to do with his feelings for her.

“So...” AJ grinned, “Now that the tours over...what do you say we start planning our wedding? Because I want to make you Mrs. Jaime McLean, officially, as soon as possible.”

Jaime thought for a moment, her heart fluttering lightly in her chest as her breath caught in her throat. She didn’t know how she’d gotten so lucky as to find somebody so perfect for her. He’d fought so hard to become who he was today, battling issues that most people denied and never got help for. He was the sweetest, most incredible guy that she could ever imagine, and here he was, an amazing father to their daughter and actually eager to get married. Marriage was one thing most guys freaked out about.

“I think that sounds wonderful,” Jaime told him, getting up on her toes slightly to give him a kiss, “I can’t wait to become Mrs. Jaime McLean.”

AJ smiled warmly at her, the words like music to his ears. For the first time in his life, the feelings were matched in the relationship he was in. Usually, he was head over heels for somebody, but they were only using him for his money, or they were crazy about him, but he just didn’t feel anything back. Hearing Jaime say that she wanted the same things as he did gave him a feeling of peacefulness. They’d been together for just about a year now, and they continued to grow closer. AJ knew that his fiancé was sincere and genuine in her feelings towards him, not faking a thing.

“Have I ever told you that you’re my angel?” AJ asked softly.

Jaime drew back, looking in to his beautiful, dark eyes. She cocked her head to one side, staring at him intently, “No...I don’t believe you have.” Jaime stated.

“Oh, well, you are my beautiful angel, Jaime.” he told her again, “I’m never going to let you go.”

Jaime smiled, her knees going weak at how unbelievably sweet he was. If she had anything to do with it, she wouldn’t ever let him go either. Just as they were leaning in for another kiss, a blood curdling scream drew them apart sharply. Jaime sighed, wondering if Lauren was going to be like this from now on. From the time she’d been born, she’d been no trouble at all...

“What do you say we go and sing Lauren to sleep, and then involve ourselves in our own activities?” AJ asked, wriggling his eyebrows.

Jaime laughed, “I think that sounds like the perfect homecoming gift.” she replied, already racing up the stairs with AJ at her heels.

Here is the sequel to For Better, For Worse...to those of you who remember that story. I have much drama and many plans ready for this story, so please review and I will let you see what is in store!

Also, I will try to be back with Chapter 2 next Wednesday! So be looking for it!