* Chapter 30 *

The breeze was warm as I slowly walked down the street towards the club that I had seen earlier that day. It was called ‘The Hot Spot’ and I could already see the long line at the door to get in. When I was half way there I decided that I really didn’t want to go there, so I spotted a bench on the sidewalk that was empty and made my way over to it. I sat down with my hands on my lap and closed my eyes while the breeze blew through my hair. I sat like that for a good 20 minutes just trying to relax and get a grip. It felt so good to just sit and think without any interruptions. I was rather startled when I felt a warm hand on mine.

"Penny for your thoughts," a familiar voice said quietly.

I opened my eyes and found AJ sitting on one side of me with Nick on the other. I quickly shut my eyes again, hoping that they would go away. When they didn’t, I opened my eyes again and moved my hand from underneath AJ’s. I folded my arms across my chest and kept my eyes staring straight ahead. ‘What am I supposed to say?’ I asked myself silently. I thought of all the things from the last four months that had brought me to this point. The pain of remembering them not keeping up on their word hurt me so much that it brought tears to my eyes. I put my hands over my face as the silent tears fell down my cheeks.

"You don’t want to know my thoughts," I whispered back as I wiped my eyes dry.

"That bad huh?" Nick asked.

"You have no idea," I replied.

"I think I do," AJ said.

"I bet you don’t," I whispered back.

"Do you want to tell us about it?" he asked.

"No...That’s what my friends are for..." I said coldly. "Cause with them I at least know that they’ll always be there for me."

Before either of them could say anything back, I stood up and began walking towards the hotel. I knew that they would probably follow me, but I really didn’t care. I just wanted to talk to someone...preferably not one of them. ‘I hope Arti is back’ I thought to myself as I watched the sidewalk in front of me while I walked on slowly. When I reached the hotel doors, the doorman held one of the doors open for me. I walked through the lobby and over to the elevator. After I walked onto the elevator, I turned around and saw them walking in the doors as I pushed the ‘9’ button. I walked down the long hall towards my room after the elevator doors opened. When I reached the door to my room, I was about to open it when I heard the elevator ding. I looked up to see AJ walking out of the elevator. When I saw him walk into the hall, I hurriedly unlocked the door to my room and shut it behind me. I walked over to my bed and turned the lamp on. I saw that Arti wasn’t there yet, so I sat down on the comfortable bed and fell back onto it. I stayed in that position when I heard a soft knock at the door.

"We need to talk...please Liz," AJ pleaded through the door when I didn’t open it.

"I have nothing to talk about," I replied.

"Then let me do the talking. I’m not leaving until I get to talk to you," he said.

"Get comfortable then," I said as I got off the bed and headed to the bathroom to change into my pajamas.

After I changed and washed my face, I climbed into bed and pulled out the book that I was reading. It was the Mary Higgins Clark book that Meg had given me in Orlando. I hadn’t read it all the way through yet, so I brought it with me. I read for about 20 minutes until my eyelids got heavy. After putting the book on the table, I turned the lamp off and lay back on my pillow. I lay there for a few minutes until I dozed off into a light sleep. I could still hear what was going on subconsciously when Arti let herself in. I was half-awake, but I decided to pretend like I was still asleep.

"She left you sitting out here?" I heard her ask.

"Yeah. She wouldn’t let me in so I told her that I wasn’t leaving until I talked to her," AJ replied.

I could tell that Arti let AJ in by where his voice was coming from and he was standing by my bed. I rolled over and changed positions as if I was asleep.

"Do you mind if I stay in here tonight?" he asked.

"No, I don’t mind. There’s an extra blanket in the closet and you can have one of the pillows from my bed," Arti replied quietly.

"Ok...thanks," AJ said.

"I’m going to change and then I’ll get the blanket for you," Arti told him.

"Alright."

I fought to lie still when I felt AJ’s hand rubbing my cheek softly. He stroked my hair a few times before he sat on the edge of my bed.

"What did I do to make you so mad?" he asked me.

‘I wonder’ I thought to myself as I lay still.

"I missed you so much these last couple of months," he continued.

‘Uh huh...right...’

"You know...you’re cute when you sleep," he said quietly.

‘I wouldn’t know...I can’t see myself when I’m asleep’

I rolled over again so I was facing the other way and pulled the covers up to my chin. I closed my eyes and fell back asleep before Arti came out to give AJ the stuff for him to sleep with.

When I opened my eyes again, it was morning and I saw Arti sleeping in her bed and AJ sleeping on the floor by my bed. I quietly got up, grabbed some clothes, and went in the bathroom to change. When I was done getting ready for the day, I came out and made sure that they were both still sleeping before I headed over to Cynth and Mel’s room. Cynth was awake in her bed and Mel was still asleep. I put a finger up to my lips so Cynth wouldn’t say anything.

"I’m going to go out for a walk. Arti’s still asleep so don’t wake her up...K?" I whispered as I moved to the door.

Cynth nodded back before I went out the door into the hall. The ride down to the lobby was quiet, probably due to the fact that it was 7 in the morning and everyone had been up late the night before. I walked out the elevator doors and passed Meg and Howie sitting on one of the couches.

"Good morning," Meg called out.

"Oh hey Meg! Good morning Howie," I said with a smile. "What’s up?"

"Not much. How come you’re up so early?" Meg said.

"Actually, I don’t know. I’m feeling good though," I replied happily. "I thought I’d go on a walk," I said while pointing to the doors over my shoulder.

"It’s good to see that you’re feeling better," Howie said with a warm smile.

"Thanks. Hey you two...we should do lunch," I suggested.

"Ok. I’ll call your room later and we can work out the details," Meg said.

"Sure thing," I said with a thumbs-up sign as I turned to go. "See ya later," I said with a little wave.

To tell you the truth, I was feeling better than I was the day before. I felt rather refreshed after the long and tiring events the day before. I walked around the massive block two times and finally decided to head back after being gone for a good hour and a half. ‘AJ will probably be gone by now’ I thought happily as I climbed the stairs instead of taking the elevator. I opened the door to our room quietly in case Arti was still asleep. When I walked in, I saw AJ sleeping peacefully on my bed. Arti was sleeping in her bed so I was quiet so I didn’t wake her. I walked over to the bed and watched him for a few seconds and then kissed his cheek lightly. I couldn’t help but to laugh to myself when I saw how he was tangled up in the sheets and blankets. After I watched in amusement for a minute or two, I grabbed some clean clothes and headed to the bathroom for a shower. I stepped into the hot water and stood there while the warmth soaked into my skin. I took a long 30-minute shower to try and clear my mind and relax my tense muscles a little. I put my clothes on and blow-dried my hair before putting my make-up on.

"Good morning sunshine," I said happily to Arti after I walked out of the bathroom to see her scrunching her face up at the sun in her eyes.

"Morning," she replied as she fell back onto her pillow and pulled the blankets up around her shoulders.

"Mmmmm," AJ moaned as he rolled over in the wrong direction and fell off the bed.

I couldn’t help but laugh as he struggled to free himself of the blankets and sheets that were holding him hostage.

"Want some help?" I asked trying to fight back a smile.

"I...uh...no...I got it," he mumbled before he threw the blankets back on the bed. "I think I hit my head on the table," he whined as he rubbed his head a little.

"Aaaawww...you ok? You want me to kiss it better?" I said sarcastically as I walked over to where he was lying on the floor.

"Ha ha...funny," he said in a monotone voice as he stood up and straightened his clothes. "So, you ready to talk now?"

"Hmmmm...maybe," I said while I spread the blankets out and made the bed.

"They have maids to do that you know..." AJ commented when he saw what I was doing.

"I know. But they have enough to do as it is, so I’m nice and I like to help out a little," I replied with a smile. "Anyway, why don’t you go get changed and meet me in the restaurant in 30."

"Ok," he said while he followed me to the door.

"See ya Arti," I called out as I opened the door.

"Mmm hmmm," she mumbled back.

I walked out into the hall and waited as AJ followed me out. We parted ways at the elevators. He took one up and I rode the other one down to the lobby. Instead of going into the restaurant right away, I walked out onto the sidewalk and headed towards a small newspaper stand. I picked out a magazine and paid for it before walking back to the hotel doors. After I walked in the small casual café-style restaurant, I found a small booth on the other side of the room and started walking towards it, passing a few tables on the way.

"Good morning guys," I said cheerily with a smile as I passed the table where Kev, Bri, and Nick were sitting at.

I sat down at the booth and put my magazine on the table. I crossed my legs under the table and leaned over the table a little as I opened the magazine cover and began reading one of the pages. I could tell that the guys were talking about me, but I didn’t hear exactly what they were saying. They looked at me every once in a while during their conversation as I continued to read the article that I was looking at. A smirk crept up on my face when I read about the latest ‘Backstreet’s Bare’ story. Apparently one of the guys had lost their pants once again at one of their recent concerts and a fan wrote a letter to the magazine about her little experience. I laughed out loud and watched as the guys looked at me with weird looks on their faces. I kept reading, not noticing that Nick was walking over to where I was sitting.

"What’s so funny?" he whispered over my shoulder.

I jumped a little and then turned around to see him kneeling on the bench behind me, facing my table.

"You are!" I replied with a smile. "You guys need to get pants that are made of Teflon or something..." I said before I broke down in a fit of laughter.

I pointed to the title of the article I was reading. He leaned over my shoulder and read the title out loud.

"Backstreet’s Bare?"

"Yep...ya know...pants fell down kind of bare. That must be pretty embarrassing," I said.

He raised one eyebrow and gave me a smirk back that only made me laugh some more.

"So, what’re you doing down here so early?" he asked.

"Waiting for him," I said pointing to AJ who had just appeared at the doorway of the restaurant.

"Oh," he replied as he stood up. "Well, I was wondering if we could go somewhere and talk later today."

"Sure...I think we can work something out," I said with a smile.

"Ok then. I’ll see ya later," he said as he headed back to his table, passing AJ on the way.

I looked back down at my magazine and turned the page just as AJ took a seat across from me in the booth. He watched me as I read one of the more interesting articles on the page. I couldn’t help but let a huge grin creep up on my face.

"Am I that amusing?" I asked, not moving my eyes from the page that I was looking at.

"Huh?"

"You’re only like staring at me," I replied, still reading the last paragraph of the article.

"That’s because I like to," he said flirtatiously.

I looked up and flashed a smile at him as one of the waitresses came up to take out order. I ordered a bowl of oatmeal and half a grapefruit. AJ ordered a chicken fried steak with eggs and bacon on the side.

"Hungry or something?" I joked as the waitress walked off.

"Mmmmm...Maybe," he replied with a sly smile.

"Did you get enough sleep?"

"Enough to last me a few hours...the floor is hard ya know."

"I’m sorry," I said when I saw him massaging his neck muscles with one hand while the other sat on the table. "I wasn’t really in a good mood yesterday. It wasn’t exactly the best of days...I mean, it was, but it wasn’t...Ugh!"

"How come you were so mad anyway?"

"I wasn’t ready to run into you all yet..." I trailed off as the waitress walked up with our food. "Thanks," I said to her as she put my food in front of me.

"You’re welcome," she replied warmly before she left.

"You actually eat that mush?" he asked as I put some brown sugar on my oatmeal.

"I love it...it’s the best," I said happily before taking a bite. "Why? You eat that..." I said, pointing to the chicken fried steak that was obviously cooked in a deep frying vat. "This is definitely better for you."

"Might be better for you, but this is better tasting," he replied in-between bites.

After I finished my bowl of oatmeal, I turned to my grapefruit. I reached for the salt and began lightly sprinkling my fruit with it.

"Why in the heck are you putting salt on your grapefruit? Aren’t you supposed to use sugar?" he asked as he gave me a puzzled look.

"Nope. Here," I said as I held up a spoonful of the fruit that was covered lightly in salt. "Try this."

He raised his eyebrows as if to protest and I watched in delight as he closed his eyes and wrinkled his nose as he put the fruit in his mouth. He ate it and when he was done, I grabbed the spoon and retrieved a piece of fruit that I had sprinkled a little bit of sugar on. He ate that piece too.

"Now...which was better?" I asked when he was done.

"That is way weird...the first was actually better," he replied with an unbelieving smile.

"And you doubted me," I teased as I took a bite. "It works on sour oranges too."

I finished my fruit while he continued to eat his food.

"So how come you ‘weren’t ready to run into us yet’?" he asked before he ate a piece of bacon.

"Well, when none of you ever returned my hundreds of messages, I figured it was time to move on. I was doing just fine with keeping my life simple until seeing you all at the show yesterday started making things complicated again. Things are going so well...I have my own radio show...I have great listeners...I have the BEST friends ever that support me at home..." I trailed off as I looked out the window on the other wall. "I didn’t need THIS...all of this crap right now," I said sadly with a sigh.

"I missed talking to you ya know...every time I picked up the phone to call, someone would tell us that we had to go to a meet-and-greet...or a press conference...or a radio appearance...or a photo shoot...well, you get the drift..." he said after he finished eating. "I really DID want to talk to you...so much...I don’t think you know how much I missed you."

I turned and met his gaze as he stared at me looking for some emotional reaction. When I saw the longing look on his face, I gave him a small smile.

"Let’s go somewhere and catch up on the last four months," I suggested as we stood up.

He nodded with a smile as I reached in my pocket for some money to pay for our food.

"This one’s on me," he said as he put a few bills on the table.

"I know somewhere peaceful that we can go," I said quietly as we walked out the restaurant doors and headed to the sidewalk outside.