* Chapter 31 *

"This place is nice," AJ said as we both sat down on the bench overlooking the small pond. "How did you find out about it?"

"I was walking around early yesterday morning...actually I was only trying to get away from you and Kevin...What were you doing at 6 in the morning anyway?" I said.

"So that was you then," he said as he pulled me a little closer. "We were going to the grocery store to get some stuff...there’s no teenyboppers even awake at that hour."

It was still a little chilly from the cold night before, but the sun was starting to warm things up.

"’ Naw man...that isn’t her’ is what you said I think..." I joked while I poked him playfully in the side. "You must have missed me a whole heck of a lot if you couldn’t even remember what I looked like," I said sarcastically.

"Well I wasn’t really expecting you to be here in LA ya know..."

"I know. That’s the way I wanted it."

"Why?"

"So I wouldn’t get caught up in the whole emotional roller coaster mess again."

There was a small pause.

"You sounded great last night when you were singing with Meg. She’s lucky to have you to sing with," he complimented me.

"Thank you. It’s kind of funny how so many people know who Meg is, but they don’t even know my name and I’m the one who sings the song with her," I said.

"No one else could have done it better though," he said as he wrapped his arm around my waist.

"Mmm...I bet you could’ve done it better..." I trailed off as he gently laid his head on my shoulder.

"Nope. I think it’s perfect the way it is," he said while I laid my cheek on his forehead as he looked up at me.

We sat there for a while as the swans came out on the small pond and began swimming around. After AJ dozed off, I closed my eyes as well and took in all the sounds that the park had to offer me. I opened my eyes instantly when I heard the muffled sound of my cell ringing. I pulled it out and pushed the send button.

"Talk to me," I said quietly as not to disturb AJ.

"Hey Ellz. How come you’re whispering?" Meg asked.

"The person next to me is asleep and I don’t want to disturb them," I explained as I watched AJ sleeping peacefully on my shoulder.

"Oh. Howie, the other guys, and I are going out for lunch if that’s ok with you...we want you and AJ to come," she said.

"That’s fine with me," I replied.

"What’s fine with you?" AJ whispered, keeping his tired eyes shut.

"We’re going to lunch with Howie, Meg, and the other guys," I whispered back.

"Meet us in the lobby at 12:30...and don’t be late or you’ll be left," Meg instructed.

"Okily dokily," I said before I hung up and put my phone away.

"Wake up sweet cheeks. We have to get back to the hotel," I said quietly before I kissed his forehead lightly.

"Only if I get one of those right here," he said pointing to his lips playfully as he sat up.

"Fine," I said before I leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"No fair," he pouted.

"Oh come on you big baby," I teased while I stood up and tugged his hand.

"I’m coming...I’m coming," he replied as he got up slowly and gently took my hand in his warm one.

I pulled my jacket tighter around me as we walked through the park to the archway together. I let go of AJ’s hand so I could put my own cold hands in my pockets when we got to the sidewalk. We walked down the street side by side as we quickly headed back to the hotel.

"You know...when I saw you up there on the stage last night at the show, my breath got caught in my throat and my heart was pounding like a million times a minute," he said quietly after we walked into the lobby and sat down on one of the secluded couches in a far corner. "When I saw you at the party dancing and flirting with those guys, it was almost like a slap in the face. It hurt so much," he continued sadly. "I wanted to dance with you so bad, but I didn’t want to upset you even more."

I was silent. I was hurt deep down inside for what I had done the night before. I had done things that were very hurtful to all of them and I knew that I had to make things right again.

"Oh AJ...I’m so sorry for hurting you like that," I said as my eyes started to water. "I am soooo sorry. I was so torn apart inside these last four months and I totally lost it yesterday. I can only hope that you will forgive me," I said in a shaky voice as a few stray tears fell down my cheeks.

"I already forgave you," he said as he moved over and sat next to me.

I leaned over to him as he welcomed me in a warm embrace.

"At least one out of five doesn’t hate me," I said sarcastically as I sat there in his arms.

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

"Well...let’s see. I told Brian that he was a stuck up prick and that he should screw himself. I told Nick that he makes me sick and basically to stay away from me. I told Kevin...well, you heard what I said to Kevin. Howie just thinks I’m some psycho male-bashing womanizer or something. Oh my gosh..."

The reality of what I’d done to Nick hit me when I looked down at my hands and saw the finger where the ring would be. My eyes went wide because I knew that I had screwed up big time.

"Oh my gosh...what have I done?" I asked while the panic rose in my voice. "What have I done?"

"Ssshhhh...It’s ok," AJ said calmly as I sat there, numb of what was going on around us.

My mind was racing as we both sat there in silence. The smell of AJ’s cologne took me back to that night in Orlando when he dropped me off at Meg’s apartment. The memory of feeling his skin against mine brought a smile to my face. I remembered the spark of emotion that I felt when I tasted his sweet lips against mine. It all felt so right, so why was I fighting against it so hard?

"AJ?" I whispered softly.

"Hmmm."

"I forgot something in my room. Do you mind if I go get it?" I asked.

"No, I don’t mind. Hurry back," he replied while I stood up.

"I will," I said before I headed to the elevator.

When I got to the right floor, I hurried to our room and unlocked the door quickly before walking in to find Meg, Cynth, Mel and Arti talking and playing around in the adjoining room. The door between the two rooms was only open a sliver so I could hear them, but I doubted that they knew I was there in the next room. I shut the door quietly and then walked over to my backpack that was sitting up against the small table by my bed. After hunting through the bag for my planner, I pulled it out and grabbed some of the money that I had stashed in one of the many pockets. I put the planner back in its place and as I stood back up, something on the table caught my eye. It was the picture of Nick and I from the manila folder sitting on the table with the silver ring and a small note. I picked up the picture and looked at it for a few seconds as I plopped down on my bed. I set the picture down on my pillow and picked up the ring and the note. I held the ring tightly in my right hand as I opened the note and read it softly to myself.

‘Liz: I don’t really know what I did to make you so upset, but I want you to know that I am truly sorry. Please forgive me! It would mean so much to me if you took this ring back...I don’t want to end our friendship like this. Meet me on the roof at 9 tonight so we can talk. If you don’t show up, I’ll understand. Your friend always, Nilo’

I sat there for a few minutes just staring at the note before I finally slipped the ring back on my finger where it belonged. After shoving the note into the pocket of my jeans, I stood up and walked over to the door. I took a look around the room before shutting the door behind me. As I walked down the hall to the elevator I couldn’t help but think of what I would say to the other 4 guys at lunch. I was kind of relieved when I found the note that Nick had left for me, but I was also scared at the same time. ‘What if I go up there tonight and he’s not there? What if he’s just playing one of his stupid pranks on me?’ I thought to myself. I argued with myself on whether or not I really would go up to the roof later that night the whole ride down to the lobby. When I walked into the quiet lobby, I saw that AJ had his head leaned back on the large couch cushion with this eyes closed. He looked so relaxed and carefree as he sat there peacefully.

"I’m back," I whispered as I slid onto the seat next to him. "Sorry I took so long."

"Don’t worry about it," he replied with a smile after he opened his eyes.

He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close so that I was leaning my head on his shoulder. I smiled a little as he gave me a little squeeze. After a few minutes of waiting for the others to join us, I closed my eyes and laid there in the comfort of AJ’s arms. He leaned his head comfortably against mine and covered my hand with his.

"Aaaaww! Those two make such a cute couple!" I heard Arti say quietly from somewhere in the lobby.

"They look so perfect together," Mel added.

Cynth and Meg giggled at the mushiness of the comments coming from Mel and Arti.

"We should take a picture," Howie suggested in a hushed voice. "Meg...go get your camera."

"Ok. I’ll be right back," she replied.

"I’ll come with," Arti said. "I wanna get mine too."

It was silent in the lobby again for a few minutes until we heard the ding from the elevator. After another couple of minutes, I sensed that they were watching us, so I just sat still while they had their fun. The first two flashes went off without warning and we could hear stifled giggling coming from our observers.

"Don’t even..." I said.

"Think about it," AJ finished.

We opened our eyes to find them getting ready to take another picture.

"Oh come on guys. Just one more?!?" Meg pleaded.

"Fine," I gave in.

"Good! Smile for the cameras," she said cheerily.

We smiled happily as they took another set of pictures.

"Now that you are all fully entertained...where are the rest of them?" AJ asked after we stood up.

"They should be here soon," Meg said while looking at her watch. "They still have 5 minutes."

As if on cue, Kevin, Brian, and Nick walked in the lobby doors and made their way to where our group was already gathered.

"Big group," Kev commented when he saw how many people were already there.

"Ok...AJ, Kevin, Howie, Brian, Nick...this is Arti, Melanie, and Cynthia...three of my bestest friends in the whole wide world so you better be nice to them. Oh yeah...we can’t forget MEG!" I said as I gave a hug to each of my friends when I said their name. "Mel, Cynth, and RT, you already know who they are so do you want me to introduce them anyway? Didn’t think so," I said with a smile before any of them could say anything. "Let’s get this party started."

They all watched as I walked past them and headed towards the doors.

"You all coming or are you just going to stand there looking at me like I’m a complete idiot?" I asked when I turned around to find them all staring at me. "Nevermind...don’t answer that."

I knew that one of them would say something stupid so that’s why I told them not to answer.

"Alexander James, Kevin Scott, Megan Teresa, Howard Dwaine, Melanie Rae, Cynthia Lynne, Brian Thomas, Nickolas Gene, and Arti~Arti...let’s get a move on!" I said as I tapped my foot impatiently.

"Yes mother!" Arti said sarcastically before she broke in a fit of laughter.

"You are sooooo gonna get it!" I said to her.

I ran up and tackled her so that we both landed on one of the couches before I tickled her non-stop. She rolled onto the floor, but I continued tickling her anyway.

"Uncle! Uncle! Uncle!" she screamed in-between big breaths and long periods of laughter.

Everyone laughed at us as we both stood up and straightened our clothes with huge grins on our faces.

"Let’s fly," Howie said.

"You shouldn’t have said that," Cynth warned.

"Why?" he asked curiously.

Meg and I exchanged looks. We knew what each other was thinking at that moment.

"Riprok...A.G....Yo, turn me up...I wanna be heard. See, I’m here with the future y’all," I started.

"If you wanna fly...Come and take a ride, take a space ride with the cowboy babay! If you wanna fly...Come and take a ride, take a ride with the cowboy babay!" Meg and I sang loudly as we all walked out the doors to the waiting double stretch limo.

All ten of us finally squeezed into the limo and we were on our way. I sat down next to AJ on the seat at the front of the limo.

"I thought you said that you didn’t like *Nsync," AJ said, sort of confused at our little karaoke version of a song from *Nsync’s newest CD.

"That was before their newest CD release," I said with a smile. "It’s ok."

"OK? OK?!? It’s the bomb!" Meg exclaimed with a goofy look as she sprawled out on Howie, Kev, and Nick’s laps.

"I don’t know if it’s that good. You know? They’re not as hot as..." I caught myself saying. "As...as they think they are. Yeah...We were sitting right behind them at the show."

I looked at Meg to see her reaction. She flashed me a knowing smile that meant she knew what I was about to say. ‘Dang! I just about embarrassed myself completely!’ I thought to myself.

"Digital, digital get down..." Meg sang out. "Just you and me...You may be 20,000 miles away, but I can see ya and baby...baby you can see me," she sang as she played with Howie’s hair.

"Get comfortable Meg...ok?" Kev said sarcastically.

"Thanks, I will," she replied with a cutesy smile that made her seem innocent.

AJ had his head leaned back and I could tell that he was trying to have a catnap. Kev and Nick started tickling Meg, which in turn caused Cynth and Mel to laugh too. Arti was talking quietly with Brian ‘cause they were sitting next to each other.

"Where are we going anyway," I asked in a serious tone when things settled down.

"You wanna tell her?" Meg asked Howie.

"Nope, that’s what Kev’s for," he replied with a smile.

"Nick’ll tell ya," Kev said as he pointed to Nick, who was playing with Meg’s feet that were in his lap.

"You’ll see soon enough," Nick said simply as he stared out the window that was on the other side of the limo by Mel’s head.

I watched Nick as he stared out the window for a few minutes. I thought that he’d at least make eye contact with me, but instead he turned and looked out the back window. ‘He must be really hurt because of me’ I thought sadly as I shut my eyes and remained quiet for the rest of the ride.

"Come on Ellz...We’re here," Arti said as she poked her head inside the limo door.

When I opened my eyes, I saw that I was only one in the limo, so I got up and headed for the door that she held open for me.

"Thanks," I said as I climbed out and took in my new surroundings.