Chapter 2
You found yourself a new man, and you say you’re happy as can be…

“-and hold you in the palm of his hand,” Tana sang. The chords hung over the somber silence before finally drifting away. Tana turned and enveloped Jake in a hug. “Jake,” she whispered, “It’s gonna be okay. She’s safe now.”
“Thank you, Tana,” he said, backing away and drying his tears. “Thank you for being here.”
“No problem,” she told him. “If you need anything else, let me know. I’m gonna be around a few more days.” She hugged him once more and turned to leave.
It had been a week since Tan came to Seattle. Jake’s mom had died 3 days earlier and the funeral had just ended. Tana planned to stay in Seattle until Alex’s tour came, and then she would stay with him until the Grammys. She had talked her boss into letting her use only half of her time as vacation days.
Tana let herself into the back door of Jake’s family’s empty house. The family had attended the private burial, leaving Tana alone. She changed out of her black skirt and into jeans and put her black sweater back into her suitcase.
She turned on MTV to see John Norris. “… Welcome back to MTV News 1515. Last night marked the beginning of a third tour for Backstreet Boy AJ McLean and his alter ego Johnny No-Name. Our own Brian McFayden was lucky enough to be there to catch all the action.”
*”Here we are at the Quest in Minneapolis with Johnny N-Name,” Brian said. “Johnny, what can fans expect from this tour?”
“Well,” AJ/Johnny replied in an accent that made Tana giggle, “As with the previous tours, the ladies will notice that my show has a more mature vibe than, say, a Backstreet Boys tour would. We’ll be doing covers of songs by Blink, Limp… maybe even a little Backstreet. There will even be a couple of Johnny originals. At some point, I may even do a song AJ wrote that only 2 people have ever heard. I haven’t even gotten a peak at it yet!”*
Tana let out a small breath. * That’s my song, * she thought gleefully.
*”We’ll be looking forward to it,” Brian said. “Oh, Johnny, maybe you can help us with something.”
“I can certainly try.”
“Last week on TRL, AJ- who had been single for over a year- shocked everyone with the news that he is now in a relationship. What can you tell us about all this?”*
Tana sat on the very edge of the sofa and turned up the volume. She wanted to hear this.
*”I’ve only met her once or twice,” Johnny said with a bit of a grin, “But I don’t know how AJ was so lucky as to see her first. I woulda snatched her up in a second; she’s such a sweet girl!”*
Tana had been listening so closely to the show that she hadn’t heard Jake come home. “Hey,” he said, gesturing towards the TV, “That looked a lot like that guy from the park.”

~*FLASHBACK*~
She heard a rustling behind Jake, and when she looked up, she saw Alex watching them. As soon as she looked up, he turned and walked away.
Knowing she would have to deal with Alex later, she turned back to Jake.
But to her surprise, Jake spoke. “Follow him.”

Jake had known Alex only from the one encounter, and had never known exactly who he was. “Um…” Tana answered, wondering how to explain, “That is the guy from the park!”
“No way! Are you sure? Why is he on MTV?”
“Jake, I’m sure!” she said. *Does he think I’m crazy?* she thought. *I know who my boyfriend is.* “His name is Alex, but in Backstreet he’s AJ.” Tana watched happily as Jake’s eyes bugged out in disbelief.
“Backstreet?” he asked. “As in the Backstreet Boys? Your boyfriend’s a Backstreet Boy?!”
“Yes,” she said, chuckling. “He’s a Backstreet Boy.” She rolled her eyes at Jake and turned back to the TV. She watched intently while they played footage of Alex’s Johnny show. Only when it was over did she turn back to Jake. “So… Isn’t he a great performer?” she asked with a teasing smile.
“Yeah,” Jake teased back, “And he’s so hot, too!”
Tana rolled her eyes. “Well, he is!”
Suddenly becoming serious, Jake sat down on the sofa and turned to face Tana. “Tan?” he asked, “If I ask you something, will you tell me the truth?”
“You know I will,” Tana answered warily, wondering what was coming.
“Do you love him?”
“Do I…?” Tana’s voice trailed off as she pondered the question. “Do I love him the way I loved you after 7 years together? No. After 2 months, do I love him in some I-completely-adore-him-when-I-see-him-which-is-never kinda way? Yeah, I think I do.”

Chapter 3

Index
Fan Fic
The Wild Blue Yonder