* * * Chapter 3 * * *

"Jane?" I called out her name when I saw her walking down the hall the opposite way.

She turned around and when she saw me walking towards her, she stopped and walked back to where I was.

"Yes," she replied.

"I was wondering...did you make any arrangements for somewhere that I can stay?" I asked timidly.

"Oh yes...I’m sorry that I forgot to tell you," she said apologetically. "Aaron and I will be staying at Nick’s and there is an extra bedroom if you’d like to stay there with us you are more than welcome to."

"That sounds nice," I said with a smile. "Thanks."

"You’re welcome," she said before we both went our separate ways.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ AJ ~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

"You’re gonna be stayin’ at Nick’s place?" I asked Liz when she came back, told us about the plans, and sat beside me.

"You’re not jealous are you?" she teased with a sly smile.

‘If only you knew...’ I thought to myself.

"Naw...I’m not jealous," I replied as casually as possible. "I just wish you were staying at mine."

My attempt to lighten the mood of the moment worked when she giggled and then poked me in the side.

"Hey!" I yelped out in surprise that just made her laugh even more.

"You’re such a goof," she told me before she stood up and held out her hand for me.

I stood up too and held her hand while she led me over to where her bags were sitting. I reached over to pick up one of her bags for her but she playfully slapped my hand away.

"Hey! That’s mine!" she joked with a teasing smile. "I can get it...besides, you have yours to carry," she said, pointing to my duffel bag at the front of the room.

She let me go so she could pick up her bags so I took the opportunity and went to pick mine up too. I watched her slip on her sunglasses and then walk over to the door. She pushed it open, walked out, and held it for me.

"Hey Liz..." Gilli called out from where she was walking down the hall towards us with something in her hands. "I’ve got something for ya."

"Oh great..." I said under my breath.

Liz smacked me playfully in the stomach when she heard what I said. Gilli smiled as she walked up to us. She handed Liz a pastel purple cowboy hat along with a notebook.

"Everyone on the Backstreet crew gets a hat...I know, I know...you’re technically not on the Backstreet crew, but I have a feeling you’ll be spending most of your time with us so I’m givin’ ya one anyway," she explained with a grin. "And the notebook will be self-explanatory when you open it...alone," she said as she emphasized the word ‘alone’ while looking at me.

"Thanks," Liz said with a toothy grin before she put the hat on her head.

"Hey Gilli? Where’s mine?" I asked jokingly as I looked at the hat on my girl’s head. "Wait a sec...that looks like one of my hats that I’ve been looking around my house for..."

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," Gilli said with a sly smile. "Anyway, you don’t need anymore hats...you’ve already got too many to keep track of, as you stated before."

I gave Gilli a puzzled look. Liz leaned over and whispered something in Gilli’s ear and I watched Gilli’s face light up. Then Gilli leaned over and whispered something in Liz’s ear. They both laughed for a few seconds before they turned back to me.

"I’ll see ya tomorrow Steph," Liz said to Gilli.

"Likewise," Gilli replied before she walked in the door we had just come out of minutes before.

I turned my eyes to Liz and she smiled before she started walking to the lobby of the building. We had rented this building so it was basically empty except for the dancers, band members, or tech crew. I pulled my sunglasses out of the pocket of my bag and slid them on when we walked into the lobby. The sun was shining brightly and the warm rays flooded the white tiled floor of the lobby area where we were standing, making it hard to see.

"Hey Els..." Nick called out to Liz as he walked over to us.

I put my free arm around her shoulder as we stood and waited. Nick walked up to where we were standing and stopped in front of us.

"Ready to go?" Nick asked with a cheesy smile that made Liz laugh a little.

"Yeah...can you give me a second? I’ll be right out," she replied as she set down one of her bags.

"Sure thing...I’ll just take these out for ya," he said while he took her bags from her hands and walked out the door.

Liz turned to me and placed her hands on my sides as she looked in my eyes with a smile on her face. Just the sight of her smiling face made me smile too.

"I’ll see you in a few hours then?" she asked with an innocent face before she smiled again.

"Yeah...I’ll pick you up at 7 at Nick’s...wear something nice," I told her before she gave me a hug.

"I’ll be waiting," she said as she pulled away.

She brushed her tender lips against mine in a gentle kiss before she let go and walked out the door. ‘How did I get so lucky?’ I asked myself as I watched her walk away. She turned and waved after she walked a few steps before she continued on to Nick’s truck.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ Nick ~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

"And here we are..." I told Liz as we pulled into the driveway.

I stopped long enough to let the gate open all the way before I pulled forward, watching the gate close behind us as I pulled up the driveway.

"Wow..." Liz said in a hushed voice. "This place is...*pause*...it’s huge."

"Naw...it’s smaller than mom and dad’s place," I replied with a laugh.

"It’s certainly FAR more than I could ever afford," Liz said as she looked out the window for a few seconds before she realized we were stopped and she could get out.

Mom had already helped Airboy out, so I popped the trunk and pulled Liz’s bags out before shutting it again. I led her up to the front door and she stopped on the top step to look at the size of the building that she was standing in front of.

"Come on," I said with a laugh. "Trust me...it’s more interesting inside..."

When we were inside, I shut the door and then started up the stairs.

"Come on...I’ll show you your room and give you a tour of the house," I told her as she followed me upstairs.

AC ran up to us when we reached the top.

"You’re room’s right next to mine! We can play video games while we’re not at rehearsals," AC exclaimed happily as he took Liz’s hand and led her down the hall.

She turned and gave me a shrug with an apologetic smile as AC led her away. I smiled back to let her know it was ok before I followed after them. They went into Airboy’s room so I put Liz’s bags down on the Queen size bed in her room and went to see what they were doing. When I got closer to the door to Airboy’s room, I could hear screaming and laughing coming from inside the room. I looked in the open door and found Liz and AC sitting on the floor in front of the TV, playing a game.

"Noo!!! Aaaaahhh!!!" Liz exclaimed as she concentrated on the screen. "I’m gonna getcha!"

"Nu uh...I’m gonna get you first," AC said back with a teasing smile.

They played for a few more seconds like that until he threw his hands up in victory.

"I won!!!!! I’m ‘da man!" he exclaimed happily.

"Fine, fine...you won, but only ‘cause I haven’t played MarioKart for a while," Liz gave in with a sly smile.

Mom walked up behind me and put her hand on my shoulder. I turned and gave her a smile and she did the same in return.

"Anyone ready for dinner?" she asked, looking in the room at Liz and Airboy.

Liz stood up and started to walk over to where we were standing in the doorway.

"Actually, I’m going out to dinner with AJ and his mom if that’s ok with you guys," she said with a hopeful smile.

"Oh hun...that’s perfectly fine!" mom said in return.

"Thanks," Liz replied before she walked out the door. "So, where’s my room again?"

I turned around and led her to the room next to Aaron’s that was closest to the stairs. I opened the door for her and she just stood in the doorway for a few seconds while she explored the room with her eyes. She looked at me with a huge grin before she slowly walked in.

"Wow! This is all for me?" she asked like she was surprised.

"Yeah," I replied.

She walked up to the oak dresser on the far wall and looked at all the ‘girlie’ things that my mom had put there for her. She smiled when she finally saw the framed group picture of her and us guys from the hotel sitting on the other end of the dresser. The picture was my idea and I smiled when she looked up to me with a happy face. Mom told me that she would be staying here this morning before we left. She walked over to the large bed and sat down on the pastel purple, blue, and pink plaid comforter before she took the hat off her head. She glanced around the room again, still taking in everything that she would be living with for the next week.

"The busses are going to be ready in a few days so you don’t have to unpack if you don’t want to," I told her from my spot in the doorway. "It’ll probably be easier that way."

"Ok," she replied as she stood up again.

"Oh...the bathroom’s right there," I said pointing to the door on the wall that was shared with AC’s room. "It’s all yours."

She gave me a smile before she walked over to where I was standing.

"Thanks Nilo," she said as she came up to me.

"My pleasure...or should I say, my mom’s pleasure," I replied with a laugh.

She laughed too. I walked out into the hall and she shut the door behind me so she could get ready for her ‘date’ that was in an hour. I walked down the stairs and sat down on the couch that was in the sitting area at the bottom of the stairs right inside the front door. I leaned my head back on the couch and closed my eyes. I didn’t realize that I dozed off until I heard the doorbell ring.

"I’m coming," I called out as I got up.

I opened the door and found AJ standing there. He was wearing a very nice outfit so I kinda figured that they were going somewhere nice...nice and probably expensive.

"Hey Bone...come in," I told him before I turned around and walked up the bottom step.

AJ walked in and shut the door behind him. He stood there in the entryway while I called up to Liz.

"LIZ! AJ’s here..." I hollered up to her.

"I’m coming," she yelled back.

I walked over to the couch and sat back down, only to stand back up again when I saw Liz coming down the stairs. She was wearing a long dark green silky dress that complemented her eyes perfectly. Half of her hair was pulled back into a barrette with the ends curled so that they curled under. She held onto the railing with one hand and her dress in the other as she carefully walked down the stairs towards where we were. She looked absolutely breathtaking as she reached the bottom step and gave me a smile.

"Would you both like towels or something to wipe your chins off with?" she said sarcastically as she walked past me to where AJ was waiting.

I turned towards the door and watched AJ gawk at how she looked.

"Don’t be too late," I said to them as AJ opened the door.

Liz laughed a little before she turned to look at me. "We won’t mother."

"Funny," I replied with a slight glare.

She shot me a sweet smile that made her seem as innocent as a little child.

"Don’t worry...she’ll be back by 11," AJ said as Liz walked out the door.

"See ya," I called out before he shut the door behind him.

I walked over to the couch and slumped down onto it as if I wanted to crawl under a rock. I didn’t sit there for long before mom came in and told me that it was time to eat. AC came running down the stairs at the mere mention of food. ‘Man...he’s just like me...’ I thought to myself with a laugh as I stood up and took off towards the dining room.