* Chapter 45 *

My face was pale and my hands were shaking as I walked a few feet away from my truck and then stopped. I stared at the ground with wide eyes realizing that if I had continued driving, I would probably be critically hurt in the accident, if not killed. I think I was more scared than I was shocked as my body shook with fear. I felt numb, like I was going to involuntarily slump to the ground at any second.

"LIZ!!!!!" AJ screamed after he heard the squealing coming from my truck tires.

He reached me first and immediately pulled me into his arms. I sobbed into his shoulder hysterically as the fear overwhelmed me once again. No one said anything as they observed the scene on the street in front of us. Spilled cargo from the trailer was scattered all over and police cars had already blocked off the road. Nick shut the engine of my truck off and then walked over to AJ and I. AJ loosened his hold of me and looked at my face. My eyes were red and puffy from crying so much and my body was cold to the touch.

"I...I’m so...I’m sooo scared..." I managed to say between sobs.

My legs gave out. If it weren’t for AJ and Nick catching me, I would have fallen to the ground.

"I...that...I..."

I tried to say what I wanted to, but it wouldn’t come out. After I stopped crying, I tried again.

"I don’t know what happened...I had a bad feeling so I stopped," I explained as tears came to my eyes again. "If I hadn’t have stopped, I would’ve probably been...been..."

I couldn’t finish the sentence.

"Don’t say it," Nick said in a comforting voice. "Everything’s ok."

Kev was comforting Arti. Bri was silent as he looked from the semi to me and then back to the semi again. Meg and Howie went to get the Suburban so we could leave as soon as possible. AJ hopped into the driver seat of my truck while Nick helped me into the passenger seat.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ Later the same night ~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

"Are you feeling better?" Howie asked from across the table.

"Yeah...thanks," I replied as I gave AJ a small smile.

We were now sitting in a restaurant waiting for our order to arrive. When we got back to my place earlier, AJ and I sat on my couch and talked while everyone else did something to pass the time.

I exchanged glances with Arti as she happily talked to Kev. He was sitting next to her. Arti was sitting right across from me and Kev was sitting across from AJ. Meg was next to Kev with Howie sitting on the end of the table next to her. Bri was next to AJ and Howie. Nick was sitting next to me on the end of the table. Our food came after a few minutes so we ate.

"So...What are we doing after this?" Arti asked everyone after we were done eating our food.

"We can go back to my place and play games or watch movies..." I suggested.

Arti gave me a sly smile and raised her eyebrows up and down a few times. I giggled at her response to my suggestion. She obviously thought it was a good idea...anything to spend time with Kev. I knew what she was thinking and I knew that she wanted him to be around for as long as possible. AJ must’ve seen her gesture too because he looked at me with a confused expression on his face.

"I’ll explain later," I whispered into his ear before we stood up to leave.

"Ok," he whispered back as he wrapped his hands around my waist while we waited to pay at the counter.

I leaned into him while the cashier processed our check. When we were done, AJ took my hand in his and led me to my truck.

"Follow us," I said to Kev through the open driver’s side window of the rented Suburban.

On the way to my place, we made a short pit stop at a video store. Nick, Arti, Meg, AJ, and I all went in to pick out some movies for us to watch.

"How ‘bout this one?" I asked AJ as I picked up a box to read the splurge on the back. "I heard it’s pretty good."

"That is a good one...for a chick flick," he teased me with a sly smile.

I wrapped my right arm around his waist and put the box back with my other hand. I picked up the video that was behind the box and we continued scanning over the wall of movies. Nick was busy checking out the video game selection. Meg and Arti were looking together in the ‘drama’ section of the store while AJ and I looked at the new releases.

We both turned our heads when we heard a few girls squealing in delight. I giggled when I saw what was happening. Nick was standing at the counter waiting for the clerk to check on a game for him when one of the girls from a group of about 5 teenage girls recognized him.

"OH M’GOSH!!!! Are you NICK CARTER of the Backstreet Boys?" she squealed in a high pitched voice.

He pulled his hat a little further over his eyes and shot us a worried glance. The girl followed his gaze over to us.

"Look! There’s AJ!!!!" one of the other girls said while pointing to AJ.

By this time, Nick had quietly slipped away from the hyper girls when they turned their attention to AJ and I.

"Who is that girl that he’s with?" one of the girls asked rather loudly.

I turned my head back around towards the wall of movies with a worried look on my face as the girls walked up to AJ’s right side.

"I’ll be over there," I whispered to AJ while pointing to Arti and Meg.

He nodded before he turned to the small group of teenagers.

"Can I have your autograph?!?" one of them exclaimed as I walked away.

AJ took the paper from her and signed it before he signed another.

"Isn’t that Meggie D!?!" one of them pointed over to the three of us.

Meg turned slightly to see the girls talking to AJ and pointing at her. She shrugged her shoulders before she walked up to the small group and joined in signing autographs.

"Come with me Arti," I said as I grabbed her arm and pulled her away.

We walked up to where Nick was hiding out in the far corner of the small building still looking at the video games.

"See anything you like?" I whispered to him.

He looked up and smiled at Arti and I before he looked back to the shelves.

"Yeah...you have a Playstation right?"

"Uh huh," I replied.

"Good. I think I’ll get this one," he said while he picked up one of the games.

He continued looking at them with Arti and I right behind him. I was kind of surprised when I felt a light tug on my pants. I looked down and saw an adorable little girl with blond hair in pigtails. Her hair was curled into perfect ringlets and she smiled at me with a toothy grin. I smiled back at her as I bent down to her level.

"Hi," she said shyly.

"Hi. What’s your name?"

"Bethany," she replied happily.

"Hi Bethany. I’m Liz," I said while I shook her tiny hand.

"Are you the girl that sings with her?" she asked as she pointed to Meg.

"Yeah, I am."

She smiled her toothy grin even more when Nick started to say something to me.

"Liz...Do you mind if...Oh...uh...sorry," he said when he turned around and saw that I was talking to someone.

He bent down to Bethany’s level and smiled at her.

"What’s your name cutie?" he asked.

"Bethany."

"Bethany...Bethany where are you?" a woman’s voice called from the next aisle over.

The woman that was calling out for her daughter turned into our aisle and walked up to Bethany.

"Honey...you shouldn’t bother these people," the woman said in a gentle voice.

"No...it’s ok," I said with a smile. "We don’t mind."

Bethany grinned at Nick while I stood up and talked with her mother for a few seconds. Before I excused myself to where Meg and AJ were chatting to the group of teenage girls.

"Here," he whispered to the little girl as he pulled the hat off his head. "You can have this."

He took a black marker from his pocket and signed the new hat that he had gotten earlier that day as a souvenir from the Jazz game.

"Thanks!" Bethany exclaimed before she gave Nick a big bear hug.

I bent down to her level again and handed her a piece of paper that I had Meg and AJ sign and then I signed it myself.

"Come on Bethany...we’ve got to go now," her mother called to her.

"Have a good day cutie," Nick told her.

"Thanks Nick," she said with a huge grin before she skipped off to where her mother was waiting.

She turned and waved to me before they walked out the door of the store.

"What a sweetheart!" I said happily after I turned to Nick and Arti.

AJ and Meg were now walking over to where we were so we met them halfway at the counter.

"Ready?" I asked.

Meg handed me a few movies. I paid for the movies and Nick’s games and then we headed out.

"’Bout time!" Kev teased from his open window.

"Sorry...Code red emergency signing session..." I joked back with a shrug before I hopped in my truck.

We were back in my apartment within 5 minutes. Kev, Arti, Meg, Howie, and Bri all squashed onto the couch with the TV playing MTV.

"How can you all breath?!?" I asked as I headed into the kitchen to grab some snacks and pop some popcorn.

AJ followed me into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around my waist while I stood facing the counter and poured some candy into a big bowl.

"I’m breathless and I’m not even in there," he said flirtatiously as he lightly set his chin on my shoulder.

I patted him playfully on the top of his head before he lifted it so I could turn around. I set the bowl down on the counter and stared into his big brown eyes. He gave me a kiss, but pulled away after a few seconds when the microwave went off.

"I’m addicted..." he said in a dreamy voice. "Can I have another?"

"Maybe later," I teased before I walked over to the microwave and pulled the bag of popcorn out.

I put another bag in to pop and opened the finished bag before I dumped it into another big bowl and then set it on the table.

"So what’s with Arti?" he asked as he took my hand and pulled me close again.

"Oh...she’s really, really liking Kev," I said with a smile. "She’s falling for him pretty bad."

"How cute...Kev needs some fun in his life anyway. She’ll do him some good," he said sarcastically with a silly face.

"That’s what I told her," I replied while I picked up the two bowls and walked through the doorway with AJ following behind me.

Meg and Howie were tickling each other while Nick and Bri were playing a game on the Playstation. I looked over and saw Kev and Arti on the balcony together.

"Look," I whispered to AJ while I pointed to the balcony.

Just as AJ looked, Kev gave Arti a quick kiss on the lips and then stood straight up as if he was embarrassed. Arti leaned over and pulled him down for another kiss, making it a little more intense than the last one. Kev didn’t seem to mind as he kissed her back with just as much feeling.

"They look cute together," AJ whispered back before I set the bowls on the coffee table.

"Yep," I agreed before I sat down on the couch next to Howie.

Meg was sitting on Howie’s lap, playing with his hair that was now down to his ears. AJ sat next to me and watched Nick and Bri playing some game. I looked at AJ’s haircut and then back to Howie.

"Hey Curly D...I think it’s time for another haircut," I teased.

"Nu uh...he’s not cutting his hair..." Meg insisted with a smile. "I like it this way."

I shrugged my shoulders and then turned my attention back to AJ. He was watching the screen intently so I leaned back onto the cushions and closed my eyes. The balcony door slid open and Kev and Arti came in laughing happily. After a few seconds, the room was suddenly silent. I opened my eyes and saw that Bri and Nick had turned the Playstation off and they were waiting for us to decide what we were going to do. AJ was watching me while I sat there with my eyes closed and he smiled when I opened them again. I smiled back and then glanced at Kev and Arti. They were sitting on the floor just a few feet away from the coffee table waiting for our decision on what to do.

"Ok...we can play a game...watch a movie...comedy or drama or chick flick..." I said happily without moving from my comfortable position.

"How ‘bouts a nice game of truth or dare?" Bri asked mischievously.

I laughed at the mention of that game.

"Oh geez...I haven’t played that game since...since like high school!" I replied.

"It sounds like fun," Kev said as he gave Arti a sly grin.

"Ok...I’ll play," Arti replied with the same grin.

"Us too," Meg chimed in, meaning her and D.

I looked up at AJ and he gave me a puppy-dog face that made me melt.

"Ok, ok. We’re in too," I gave in.

Everyone got comfortable as I went and got the other bag of popcorn. After I threw away the now empty bag, I sat back down on the couch and snuggled up to AJ. He wrapped his left arm around me and I lay my head on his shoulder.

"Who’s first?" Nick asked.

"Whoever’s youngest," I replied.

All eyes turned to Meg.