Brian sighed walking back into his parents house, out of the cold snow that fell from the sky. He wasn't use to weather like that...ever since he moved to Florida it seemed that the winters in Kentucky got colder and colder every year. He was use to having the air conditioning on for half the winter...being able to wear shorts up until the end of December...not having to tie up boots and put on the heaviest coat he could find every time he left the house. He was surprised when it began to snow. He had almost forgotten what a Kentucky white Christmas looked like. He took off his jacket and boots and put them in the closet near the front door, right where he had kept them since he was old enough to dress himself. A shiver ran up his spine and he crossed his arms over his chest, trying to keep warm under the 5 layers of clothes he had on.
"You're such a wuss!" said his brother, Harold walking through the door behind him.
"CLOSE THE DOOR!" Brian yelled pulling his arms inside his sweater as his teeth began to chatter.
"My God, Brian's cold?" asked his father walking in behind Harold. "I remember when he'd go to school without putting a jacket on when it was below freezing because he said it wasn't cold enough for him yet."
"I remember that and he'd come home as frozen as an ice cube," said Harold laughing.
"Yeah ha ha ha, not funny! You know what winters in Florida are like...you came down last year. I'm not use to this crap! Now shut the door!" he yelled again, slamming the door behind his brother and father. He sighed as the heat swept over his body.
"Here honey," said Brian's mother walking into the living room and setting down a cup of hot cocoa on the coffee table and placing a blanket on the couch. "You sit down and get warm...we don't want you getting sick." Brian smiled. He was so happy to be home...around people who cared for him...away from the craziness of fame. He walked over to the couch, pulling the blanket around his shoulders and reached for the mug on the table, taking a long sip.
"Thanks mom," he said smiling up at her.
"You're welcome," she said, turning and walking back into the kitchen with his father. Harold sat down next to him on the couch.
"I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas already. 6 days before the change of the millennium. That's some crazy shit," said Harold, stretching out his legs. Brian nodded.
"Yeah me either. It seems like a week ago when you and I would get up at about 4 o'clock in the morning and each do running cannonballs onto mom and dad's bed, waking them up so we could open our presents."
"Yep and now we're old men," Harold said laughing. Brian joined in. "Oh yeah, I have a surprise for you," said Harold standing up and motioning for Brian to do the same. He looked at him questionably, but then stood up. "Mom! Dad! Brian and I are going out. We'll be back later!"
"Alright! Be careful! The roads are slick!" their mother yelled back.
"OK. Bye mom!" Brian and Harold walked out the front door after wrapping themselves back up in their winter attire. They both crawled into Harold's car and drove out of their neighborhood.
"You know what? I don't think I ever saw the inside of your car when we were growing up," said Brian, fastening his seat belt. Harold laughed lightly.
"You really thought I'd be caught dead driving around with my little brother? You've got to be kiddin me." Harold turned the corner and onto a street Brian was very familiar with. The street that his elementary school was on...and the street that most of his friends lived on when they were growing up.
"What's down here?" asked Brian, looking eagerly out the windows.
"You'll see," said Harold, pulling into the parking lot of the school. He lead Brian around back and to the playground.
"Wow, I remember this. I fell off the monkey bars and twisted my ankle."
"You didn't fall off! You tried to kiss that Gabrielle girl when you were in second grade and she pushed you off the swing," said Harold laughing. Brian looked away.
"Uhh...whatever it was...all I know is it hurt really bad," he said laughing lightly. Harold walked over and sat on a swing. Brian followed his lead and did the same. "So what's this all about anyway?" Harold shrugged and looked down at the ground, when all of a sudden the sound of leaves being crushed came from all directions...the sound of people running towards them. Brian got a scared look on his face...which soon faded when the people stepped into the light.
"Surprise!" they all yelled then started laughing. Brian smiled widely and looked from person to person. All his old friends. He couldn't believe Harold had done this for him.
"Wow! Hey everyone!" he said. He spent a lot of time walking around and greeting each person, talking to them about touring and everything going on with the Backstreet Boys....until he got to someone who didn't look familiar to him.
"Hi..." he said slowly...wondering if maybe she had come with one of his friends...maybe she was someone's girlfriend and that's why he had no clue who she was.
"Hey! Wow, it's been so long," she said pulling him into a hug. He was so confused. He had no clue who this girl was or how she knew him.
"Yeah," he said softly.
"You don't remember me do you?" she asked, noticing he was looking down at the ground and not at her like he had with all his other friends.
"No...not really," he said slowly...not wanting to sound rude.
"Well I don't blame you. I look completely different now then I did when we were Juniors. It has been...wow...7 years now? Wow."
"Way too long."
"Yeah. Anyway, I'm Gabrielle Di-"
"Gabrielle Dixon! Wow! You look...so so....different!" he said wrapping his arms around her again. She smiled widely.
"Yeah, dropped about 50 pounds since the last time I saw you," she said running her hands down the sides of her body, displaying herself. "And I died my hair blonde."
"You look wonderful." She smiled. Brian had always been the sweetest guy she knew. Even in high school when she didn't have too many friends, he was always so sweet to her...he even took her to their Junior homecoming. They had known each other since 2nd grade when she first moved there until their Junior year when she moved. "So do you live here again?"
"Yeah. Well when I turned 18 I moved back. I hated Houston with a burning passion...still do, and besides...my parents were in an accident so I was sort of on my own."
"Aw, I'm sorry," he said putting his arm around her. She shook her head.
"No, it's ok. It was just their time, you know? Which sucks, but I'm over it. I can't change the past, I can only look towards the future." Brian smiled and nodded...such a strong mental attitude towards life. He admired her just as much now as he had in high school. It was a different kind of admiration, however. In high school, she didn't have a lot of friends, but she was the sweetest, most sincere person you would ever want to meet. She wasn't into drugs or sex or anything like that...it just didn't appeal to her at all...her focus was on her goals and not on stupid high school things. He admired her for that...for not giving into peer pressure. That's part of the reason she wasn't accepted in school...because drugs and sex weren't her thing...she knew she could have fun without those things. At first when they started high school, he began to drift to those type of people, but soon learned that that's not the kind of person he was, nor wanted to become and he formed his own group of friends. Now, though, his admiration was overwhelming. The way she looked at life was the way he did...take it day by day cause you never know when it'll end.
"So, enough about me," she said looking at him, "I heard you've been doing quite well lately." He nodded his head a little. He really didn't like talking about it much because he felt like they thought he was bragging...when in reality he wasn't.
"Yeah, I'm doing OK."
"OK? You call having your album be at number one for what was it? 8 weeks straight 'doing OK'? You're being way modest, Bri. Next you're gonna tell me that you make ends meat when we both know that you're raking in the money." Brian shrugged.
"To tell you the truth, Gabby, I really don't care about the money. If one day they were like 'OK, well we're not going to pay you anymore, but if you want to keep touring and making albums, feel free' I wouldn't stop. I love singing, you know that and I like making people happy. The money's just an added bonus to that. You know me, I've never had a lot of money, and it's never phased me and even now that I have money, I still really don't care. I take it right to the bank when I get it so I don't have to look at it. I just want to sing and make people happy...that's all I want to do." Gabrielle smiled. Brian hadn't changed a bit since high school...even though he was one of the richest men on the planet, not to mention best looking...he was still Brian Littrell from Tates Creek..the little scrawny white boy who dreamed of going to the University of Kentucky to play basketball...and who went to church every Sunday and sang in the choir there. Gabrielle was behind him for whatever he did, then...and now.
"Wow Brian...that's not at all the response I expected. I thought you'd have a huge head by now." He shook his head.
"No, I don't want to be like that...it's very easy to end up like that...but I can't imagine myself like that...it kind of scares me." Gabrielle smiled again.
"Do you remember when you tried to kiss me on the playground and I pushed you off and you twisted your ankle?" she asked laughing and walking over to one of the swings, sitting down. Brian nodded and sat on the swing next to her.
"Yeah, I remember. 2nd grade. How could I ever forget it...the first time a girl pushed me off the playground...the only time I ever tried to kiss another girl until I was sure she wanted to kiss me."
"Guess we learned a lot of important things from each other back then," she said, beginning to swing. He nodded watching her swing back and forth. "You taught me the importance of family...and the importance of church...things I hadn't cared about until then...things that I'm thankful for to this day." He smiled to himself, thinking of all the things that she had taught him in return. The wind picked up a little and Brian started to shiver a little.
"I am so happy it stopped snowing for a few minutes," he said looking up at the sky.
"Not use to the snow here, Florida boy?" she asked stopping and poking him in the side. He laughed and shook his head.
"Too damn cold for my liking."
"You know, I think that's the first time I've ever heard you curse," she said looking at him. "No wait, I heard you curse one other time when Susan broke up with you."
"Whoa Susan...now that's a name I never thought I'd hear again...or wanted to. Do you ever hear about her anymore?" Susan was a girl he had dated in their sophomore year of high school. She shook her head.
"The last I heard of her, she moved to California...I think she married some guy out there who had a lot of money or something."
"Married? Wow! We're that old?"
"Scary, I know."
"Are you married?"
"No...not yet," she sighed. "I'm beginning to think I might want to soon, you know? I mean...24...I've been able to marry for a good 6 years now, and I haven't taken advantage yet," she said grinning. "No, I don't really feel like I need to get married yet. The way I see it, we have our whole lives ahead of us, why settle down with one person this early? I do, however, want to be married by the time I'm at least 33 or so...so I can have a good number of kids."
"You still want 7 like when you were younger? 7 kids with...who was it? Jordan Knight from the New Kids on the Block, I think?"
"I have no clue what you're talking about," she said covering her face with her hands. He laughed as she took her hands away from her face. "It's not funny! I loved him, man...you don't understand! I'm still planning on marrying him so be nice or I won't invite you to the wedding!" she said hitting him softly on the arm as they both started laughing. "Oooh! Come here!" she said grabbing Brian's hand and pulling him over to the snow covered sandbox.
"What the hell are we doing over here?" he asked looking down at the box. She turned around and laid in the snow. "What are you doing?" he asked as she moved her arms and legs over the snow.
"Making a snow angel! Come on! You remember how we made them all the time, you have to lay down and make one with me!" she said sitting up briefly and pulling on his arm to make him lay down. He laid down, alright...right on top of her. They both started laughing uncontrollably. "GET OFF!" she yelled through her laughter. He couldn't move he was laughing so much...he looked down at her as she laughed and suddenly stopped. She noticed and stopped laughing also, looking up at him.
"Let me ask you something," he said pushing her hair out of her eyes. "If I kiss you right now, will you throw me off the top of the playground." She laughed and grabbed him by the back of the neck, bringing his lips to hers. An incredible feeling ran through both of their bodies as their tongues intertwined. It felt as if they had been waiting for this moment for their entire lives. They pulled away breathless, looking into each others eyes.
"Yo, Brian, we gotta go," said Harold walking up behind them. He looked over Brian's shoulder at Gabrielle who was laying in the cold snow with her eyes closed. Brian looked over his shoulder and nodded...Harold walked away.
"Well, I guess I have to go," he said looking down at her. She nodded, opening her eyes and smiling at him. He stood up and helped her to her feet, brushing off the snow from their big winter coats.
"How long are you going to be in town?" she asked, hinting at wanting to him again, but not sure if she should just come out and say it.
"Well, I was going to leave Sunday, but I can stay longer," he said smiling at her. She nodded. "Or you could come down to Florida with me for a while...either way, I'll call you later on tonight, ok?" She nodded again, smiling. He leaned towards her and kissed her softly on the lips once more, taking one more deep look into her eyes before turning around and walking towards Harold. She ran up to him, slipping her hand in his and turning him around, kissing him hard on the lips. They pulled away breathlessly again.
"Merry Christmas," she said smiling. He smiled and brought her into a hug.
"Merry Christmas to you too," he said into her ear, kissing her softly on the cheek.
"Goodnight, Brian," she said brushing his lips with her own.
"Goodnight," he said, running the back of his hand over her cheek, then turning and walking with Harold towards his car. Gabrielle watched as they walked away, disappearing around the side of the building...the smile that danced on her lips never left from that day forth.
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