Chapter 1
I'm missing you
Alex twirled the ring on his middle finger as he waited for the TRL cameras to start rolling again. "Yo, Bone," whispered his bandmate Brian, "Y'all right man? You're awful quiet."
Yeah, bro," Alex said, coming out of his thoughts. "I was just thinking." Alex put his hands in his pockets as the cameraman counted down from the commercial break.
"Hey," Carson said into the camera, "Carson Daly, back with the Backstreet Boys. Before the break, you guys told us about your plans for a new album. What else is coming up?"
AJ felt the eyes of the other guys on him, so he spoke. "I've got another alter-ego tour coming up. The last ones were so successful, and hopefully Johnny and I will be able to raise some more money for everyone over at VH1."
"We've all been doing a lot of writing," Kevin continued, "So later this week, we'll all sit down to make some choices for what to put on the album."
"Sounds good," Carson said, moving on. "We'd like to take a question from down on the street. Dave?"
"I'm Dave Holmes, and I'm here in Times Square with Lindsey, who has a question for the Backstreet Boys."
A tall girl with shoulder-length light brown hair took the mic. "I know that Kevin and Brian are married now, but do the rest of you have girlfriends? And what do you look for in a girl?"
"Ooooh," Carson teased, "The girlfriend question. AJ, Howie, Nick… What's the story?"
"Umm..." Nick answered, "I have this girl." He shot a look at the other four guys, whose faces were red from trying not to crack up. "As for what I look for in a girl, I need someone with a sense of humor who can handle my schedule and-"
"-someone who doesn't mind the occasional car crash," Brian quipped.
"Nick?" Carson asked.
"I-kinda-met-my-girlfriend-cuz-I-hit-her-with-my-truck," Nick answered quickly. "Next?"
"I don't have a girlfriend right now," Howie said, "But I date. I like to have fun, go dancing, and stuff like that. AJ?"
AJ began twirling his ring again. "Yeah, I have a girlfriend," he confessed. "It'd been a long time, but she's absolutely amazing. And, I dunno, I guess she's what I look for in a girl."
"How sweet," Carson said dryly, "Our own little romantic. Anyways, we gotta play our number one video. It's by these men right here, the Backstreet Boys. Here's "You Are." Enjoy the weekend, and I'll see ya back here on Monday."
~~~*~~~
"Yeah, babe… Did you see TRL today?" Alex asked his girlfriend Tana later that night on the phone.
"Yeah," she said, "We had it on at work. I got a lotta crap for that girlfriend comment, too!" Tana worked at the Gap for a jealous boss who loved it when Alex would stop by.
"Well," Alex answered, "They asked. I answered."
"You're too cute sometimes!" Tana giggled. "Anyways, are you gonna be home for Valentine's Day?"
"No. I tried so hard, Tan, I did. But I've got that tour starting on the ninth and I'm gonna be in Seattle…" Alex sighed. I the two months they'd been together, Alex and Tana had only really been together for about half the time. Alex's job kept him away a lot of the time, and Tana had too much going on in Orlando for her to travel with him.
"I wish… I wish… I wish we could have a normal relationship like normal people," Tana said, missing Alex with all her heart.
"But we're not normal people, Tana. We don't live normal lives."
"No, Alex, you don't live a normal life. I'm 22 years old, living and working in Orlando. I went to a normal high school and have a normal college degree. I'm as normal as they come. You're the one who's not normal," Tana said, angrier at her situation than at her boyfriend.
"Don't do this to me!" Alex pleaded, regretting his job and all it required. "Please! Don't you think that I'd be with you every second of every day if I could? But I can't, and you and I both know that."
"I know," she said, her voice softening. "I just miss you so much. It'll be our first Valentine's Day, and we'll be three thousand miles apart."
"I miss you, too, baby."
Tana's phone beeped, signaling that she had another call. "I have to go," she told him.
"Okay. I'll talk to you soon."
"Bye."
Tana clicked to her other line. "Hello?"
"Is Tana in?"
"Jake?" she asked. Tana would know that voice anywhere. It was Jake, her high school sweetheart and only boyfriend before Alex.
"Yeah."
"How's your mom?" Jake had left Orlando shortly after his and Tana's break up to be with his sick mother in Seattle.
"Well, the cancer's worse."
"Oh, Jake! I'm so sorry! Is there anything I can do?"
"Yeah, actually there is."
"Really?" she said, surprised that she could be of help when she was thousands of miles away. "What do you need?"
"I need you."
"Jake, I thought we-"
"Tana, I know that we're not like we used to be. But my mom's gonna die this week. I can't do this alone. You're my best friend, and I need you here. Please? You can even bring that new guy of yours, but please come."
"Jake…" she said, trying to decide what to tell him. "I- I- I'll be there tomorrow. Alone. Alex is in New York on business."
With that, she hung up the phone and began packing.
Chapter 2
Index
Fan Fic
The Wild Blue Yonder
