Molly felt a little weird, when Brian and her joined the others in
the back yard again. What Brian had just told her made her happy and
nervous at the same time. How should she behave towards AJ now?
She sat back down next to him and the butterflies went wild again as
he smiled at her. He leaned towards her and said: "I already missed
you!" Molly just smiled at him happily, as she blushed a little.
The barbecue was fun and the food tasted delicious. The girls had to laugh every time the guys went to fill their plates again, it was hilarious.
When Howie went to get some more of the fruit salad, he met Kaylee and her mother at the table. To his surprise he heard them talking in Spanish. Kaylee's mom was laughing at some stupid thing the Wolsburn's neighbor had said. She wasn't making fun of him in a mean way, she just thought it was dead funny, so she told Kaylee about it. Little did the two know that Howie understood every word that was said. He couldn't help but snicker as the two shared another joke. Suddenly they stopped and looked at him.
"I'm sorry", Howie said in Spanish, "but I couldn't overhear your conversation." He smiled at them sweetly.
Kaylee tried to control her giggles, as her mother turned red. But suddenly her mom laughed out loud and couldn't stop, which made Kaylee and Howie laugh with her.
"I should better watch what I say and where I say it", she said, gasping for air. She extended her hand to Howie and said: "Hello, I'm Francesca Wolsburn! You can call me Fran!" They were talking in Spanish the whole time.
Howie shook her hand, saying: "Nice to meet you, Fran! I'm Howie!" Then he looked at Kaylee. She was very attractive, with long caramel-colored hair. The skirt and top she was wearing showed off her nice figure. But what Howie liked most was her seductive smile and the same expression in her eyes. He guessed she was at least 20 years old. He also extended his hand to her: "Kaylee, right?!"
"Yeah!" She flashed him a smile.
"I see that you like my fruit salad", Francesca said happily. And with that she linked arms with Howie and led him to the table, where her mom was sitting. So Howie spent the next two hours talking to the three of them. He found out that Kaylee's grandma was also from Puerto Rico, just like his mom, and he loved the stories she was telling him about her home.
Kaylee sat there quietly most of the time, but always laughing about the funny stories her grandma, her mom or Howie were telling. She was amused about the three of them because they were talking like old friends. Kaylee instantly knew that her mom and grandma had "fallen in love" with Howie right away. He was definitely their type of guy: nice, funny, sweet-hearted and with Puerto Rican roots! Kaylee was already preparing herself for the match-making that was sure to come...
~~~~~
Time flew by for everyone and soon Araysa asked: "Umm...guys?! Didn't we wanna go clubbing?"
"Uh yeah", AJ said. He looked at his watch. "We'll meet Kev in an hour. Which club was it you chose, Rok?"
"It's called 'Delta'", Brian answered. (Author's note: I don't know any of the clubs in the Minneapolis area, so I just chose any name, k!) "Do you know the club?" he asked Mandy and Araysa.
"I've never been there, but heard a lot about it", Mandy informed.
"It's a cool club, as far as I know." Araysa nodded in agreement.
Brian went to get Howie, while the others were getting ready. He approached the table, where Howie was and apologized for interrupting the conversation. Then he said: "Hey D.! We wanna go, are you ready?!"
"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute!"
Brian flashed Kaylee a smile, then joked: "Don't forget to bring your beautiful lady, D.!"
When Brian went away, Howie said: "I wanted to ask you anyway - do you wanna come with us, Kaylee?"
"YES!" Francesca and Kaylee's grandma suddenly chorused happily.
Kaylee just rolled her eyes, then raised her eye-brows and asked: "Where to?"
"We wanna go dancing in some club here in Minneapolis!"
"Well...sounds like fun! Is it ok if I join you?"
"You heard what Brian said - I can't go without you!" Howie smiled. He was more than happy that she agreed to come with them.
Five minutes later, after a lot of bye-bye's, the whole bunch met in front of the house. They discussed how to drive to the club and so on - in cabs or in their cars, how the girls would get back home, etc.! Since Kaylee was there with her car, she checked with her mom if she and her grandma would get back home without her. They would, so Kaylee offered to drive the girls to the club and also back home. Brian would drive the car the boys had rented. So they were off...
Before the girls got in the car, Sarah took Molly aside and asked: "Are you still mad, Molls?" She bit her lip.
"Me?" Molly said. "I thought YOU were the one stomping off and telling me to fuck off."
"I'm sorry for that, it's just...it's not as easy as I thought it would be to be around Nick again. I still feel a lot for him. Molly, I love him!"
"That's no excuse for what you're doing", Molly answered.
"I know...but we're still friends, right?"
Molly let out a little laugh. "Of course we are!" She playfully smacked Sarah upside the head.
Sarah hugged Molly, then they hopped into Kaylee's car and headed for
a night of fun dancing and fun. They also took the opportunity to get
to know Kaylee better, especially Sarah, since they were related.
The boys followed in the other car - only talking about the girls, of
course!
They arrived at the club soon. It was packed! But the mood was great,
so half of the bunch rushed to the dance floor, while the others tried
to get a table. Almost half an hour later they managed to get one. Nick
and Araysa returned from the dance floor to get something to drink.
They were smiling at each other widely, which Sarah didn't like at all.
So as soon as possible Sarah took Nick's hand and asked him to dance
with her. Nick apologetically looked at Araysa, then followed Sarah.
Araysa watched them. She had sensed that Sarah was trying to flirt with
Nick all day, and from Molly's previous stories she knew that Sarah had
had a crush on him. First it was alright to see them dance, but soon
Sarah was getting way too close to Nick. At least that's what Araysa
thought. Sarah was pressing her body against his and even rubbing her
leg up and down his side.
Nick didn't seem to mind, which made Araysa sad. Why did he spend all
day around her and what was this talking about asking her out, when he
took the first opportunity to almost start a make-out session with
Sarah? Araysa had thought he was special, that he was different and as
sweet as she had imagined him in her dreams, but it seemed as if Nick
Carter was just another snobby pop-star, who took advantage of his fame
and the fact that girls were throwing himself at his feet!
"Oh my god, Araysa!" she said aloud to herself, but so that no one else could hear it. She took her head in her hands and forced herself to breathe in deeply. "Listen to yourself - you're overreacting, girl!" she told herself. "Now don't make a complete fool out of yourself and stay calm. He is NO asshole and you know it." She looked up and at the dance floor again. "I'm just flipping out because he already means a lot to me", she thought. "Nick is my dream come true..." In that moment he turned his head to look at her and gave her one of his killer smiles. Araysa thought she could've died right then and there. She took one look at Sarah and decided that enough was enough - and joined them on the dance floor.
~~~~~
"Look, Kevin has arrived", Brian told Mandy, leaning over to her, so
she could hear him. "Let me introduce you to Caroline!" He took Mandy's
hand and led her off the dance floor to their table, where AJ and Molly
were chilling out.
"If only he knew what he's doing to me", Mandy
thought, as her hand lay in Brian's and she could feel his soft and
warm skin. All day long he had given her this incredible feeling of
being somehow interesting or even important to him. Wherever he was, he
made sure she was near him. Whenever he spoke, he was talking to her.
Every joke he made or laughed at, he shared with her. But Mandy wanted
so much more. She didn't want to be just another good friend. When they
were dancing, she wanted him to pull her closer, she wanted him to
embrace her and not let go, she wanted to kiss him and...why was she
even thinking about it? She should've been thanking God for bringing
him into her life and just be happy that she actually became friends
with these five guys, that had already meant so much to her long before
they had met. But however hard she tried, she couldn't stop her
feelings.
~~~~~
Kevin introduced Molly to Caroline.
AJ nodded. "She's 31!"
"When did they get together?" Molly asked, but suddenly put her hand
over her mouth. "I'm sorry, Alex, I sound like a fan!" She had started
calling him Alex during the barbecue today, because she loved his real
name, as she had explained. He liked it.
"Nah, you don't", he said. "I ask my friends the same questions when
I get home from touring and I'm faced with new couples!" He paused for
a second, then said: "But...I'll probably tell you 'bout Kev and
Caroline another time. It's a bit of a complicated story..."
"That's ok, I don't have to know", Molly smiled.
Kevin sat down next to them. Molly could see that he was in a very
good mood. Obviously Caroline had that effect on him. "Who's the beauty
dancing with Howie?" Kevin asked.
"I just know that her name's Kaylee", AJ replied.
"She's Sarah's cousin", Molly told Kevin. "We met her at the
barbecue. She's 22, very nice and lives in Minneapolis. That's really
all I know. And that Howie and her seem to get along great!" The three
watched how Howie and Kaylee were laughing and dancing. They were both
very good dancers and looked really good together. "Don't you think she
kinda looks like Jennifer Lopez?" Molly asked the boys.
"Ooooh yeah", they replied in unison.
"MEN!" Molly laughed, and put her hands over the guys' eyes. "Stop
drooling!"
The boys also laughed. AJ took her hand down from his eyes, kissed it
and said: "I'm only drooling over you anyway!" Fortunately he didn't
see Molly turn bright red, because he had already jumped up, dragging
her onto the dance floor again.
Caroline was a beautiful woman with curly, shoulder-length hair. It
was a fiery red and incredibly emphasized the sparkling of her
green-grey eyes. When Kevin was introducing her to Mandy, Molly leaned
over to AJ and asked: "How old is she? I think she looks older than
Kevin."
~~~~~
Mandy, Brian, Caroline and Kevin stayed at the table talking to each other. Mandy thought that Caroline was really nice. She was in no way big-headed or bitchy and although she was a few years older than the rest of the girls, she was not acting like it. Of course she was very mature, but she wasn't treating the others like they were not. Actually she was fun to be around.
While Mandy was lost in her thoughts, a girl approached their table. The whole bunch had been watched in the club all night, and finally the magic mark was broken - the fans started getting closer. The girl, who had a "F**k off"-expression on her face, stopped in front of Brian and stated: "You're Brian Littrell!"
He gave her a goofy grin: "Yeah?!"
"Can I have your autograph?"
"Sure", Brian said politely. "Do you have a pen?" The girl handed him a pen and paper and he quickly scribbled down his name. Suddenly another girl joined them and also asked for one. Of course they also wanted Kevin's autograph. The boys didn't want to get too much attention, so they hoped the girls would leave then. But nope!
"Is this your new girlfriend?" the first girl asked Brian, pointing at Mandy and not being very friendly.
"No", Brian said matter-of-factly.
The girl smiled at him slyly: "So...you're single? Looking for some fun?"
Mandy gasped for air. It was unbelievable that some girls could act so cheap. ...But what was all the talking about being single??
"Single, but not looking", Brian replied, still calm. "And I'm already having enough fun tonight, thank you!"
"So who IS she?" the other girl asked.
"Excuse me", Mandy said. "Why don't you just ask ME!" She was annoyed, but tried not to let it show. Why were these girls talking like she wasn't there?! Ugh! "As Brian just told you, I'm not his girlfriend. I'm his friend's best friend!"
"Who are YOU?" one girl asked Caroline.
"I'm working for the boys", Caroline answered, not even trying to sound nice. She knew these weren't fans, at least not loyal fans or anything near that, so why be super nice - they hadn't deserved it anyway! "For their management, if you need to know. So...since I'm responsible for the guys I'd like to kindly ask you to leave now. The boys have some days off and I hope you respect that they'd like to have some privacy."
The girls just stood there for a second or two, then said: "Fine!" But they could also hear one girl mumble "Bitch!" under her breath, as the two walked away again.
Mandy's jaw dropped, as she watched them disappear. "Nice fans!" she stated, stressing the "nice".
"Please don't think I'm always that rude", Caroline said to Mandy. "But sometimes these encounters are really annoying. Of course the boys can't afford to act like this towards fans or other people, but since somebody has to protect them, why not let the fans hate the stupid manager bitch!?!" She laughed. "Well, it isn't really the fans who hate me. They are nice usually, then so am I. It's the 'groupies' that hate me!"
"So you're working for 'The Firm'?" Mandy asked. As a fan she knew of course that the boys had changed their management at the end of last year. They were now managed by an agency called 'The Firm'.
Caroline nodded: "Yeah, that's how Kevin and I met!"
"Fortunately", Kevin smiled, then kissed her quickly.
Brian looked at Mandy sadly: "Sorry for that!"
"It wasn't your fault, Brian. I know there are fans like that."
"You reacted like a pro", he smiled. "Calm and cool!"
Mandy laughed: "Yeah, right! Let's go dancing, so I can shake my anger off!"
~~~~~
Molly was in heaven, while she danced with AJ. She had been shy about
dancing with him first, because he was such an amazing dancer, but soon
she didn't care anymore. He obviously enjoyed dancing with her, so why
be shy?! AJ liked to pull her close and then grind a little - and he
enjoyed that even more because he caused her to grin at him widely
every time he did it. Molly even forgot about all the people staring at
them. When suddenly the sound of Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca"
pumped through the speakers, Molly surprisingly said: "Would you excuse
me for this song? Or...no, you better come with me!" She took AJ's hand
and led him over to where Howie and Kaylee were dancing. "Kaylee, I'm
sorry, but I have to steal Howie from you for this one. You can have
Alex", she said.
Then Molly turned to a grinning Howie, who said: "Hey, Molls, I think
that's our song!" When they had been to the club in Cologne, Howie had
taught Molly some Salsa moves, while the DJ had played Ricky Martin!
A surprised Kaylee and a little disappointed AJ shrugged their
shoulders, smiled and danced together.
When the song ended, Howie laughed: "Girl, you're good! You
practiced, huh?!"
Molly just grinned and returned into AJ's arms.
"Wow...", AJ commented, looking at her amazed. "You should teach me
that! ...But what was that all about? I didn't know you and Howie
had...a special song!"
"Well, Mr. McLean, there's a lot you don't know yet", Molly said,
smiling at him seductively.
"Same goes for you", AJ thought, but just returned her smile and
started dancing with her again.
~~~~~
"I think it's time for a drink", Sarah said, expectantly looking at
Nick. Of course she hoped that he would agree and join her.
But Nick just smiled, shrugged his shoulders and said: "Ok! See ya
later!"
Although she knew it was kinda mean, Araysa had to giggle as she saw
Sarah's face. Just then the DJ played a slow song. Nick smiled at
Araysa and opened his arms, as if to welcome her into his embrace. She
stepped closer to him, folding her hands behind his neck. Nick put his
arms around her waist and they began swaying to the sound of the Goo
Goo Dolls' "Iris".
"You like dancing with Sarah, huh?!" Araysa asked, with a challenging
tone in her voice. She hated interrupting the mood and the feeling of
just being in his arms, but what she hated even more was this doubt in
her mind.
Nick looked at her surprised: "Yeah." Then a smile crept upon his
face: "But I LOVE dancing with you!"
Araysa rolled her eyes. "Seems I'm dancing with Mr. Charmer himself!"
She laughed to let him know she didn't mean it in a bad way. Suddenly
she turned shy again and said: "No, seriously, it looked...well, quite
close...the way you two were dancing." She couldn't look into his eyes
anymore, so she rested her head at his chest.
Nick smiled. One reason was having Araysa in his arms like this, the
other reason was that she was obviously jealous of Sarah, which told
him that Araysa liked him. "Dancing with Sarah is fun, but nothing
more. When we first met we had been to a club also and had danced all
night, just like tonight. But we're just friends." Araysa looked at him
again. "It's not like dancing with you!" he said softly.
"Exactly how IS dancing with me?" Araysa asked. She was glad that it
was dark and he didn't see her blush. And uh oh - the butterflies...
"You know...", Nick just replied. Their eyes locked for what seemed
like forever, then he finally leaned towards her and placed a soft kiss
on her lips. He pulled away from her just an inch, waiting for her to
open her beautiful eyes, that he loved so much, again. When she did,
they smiled at each other, before both met for another, this time
passionate and long kiss.
Araysa felt her knees begin to tremble. Fortunately Nick had a firm
grip on her, pulling her close to his body. She felt like exploding any
second because her senses were overloaded! Never before had kissing a
guy felt like this. Never before had anything felt like this. And in
this moment that was all she knew...
~~~~~
"Oh my god, he's kissing her, he's kissing that bitch!"
The screech of some girl attracted Molly's and AJ's attention. It must have been a real noise if it was able to wake Molly out of her trance, while she was in AJ's strong and tender arms. Both looked at the pale girl standing near them, who looked like she was just about to freak out. AJ immediately got the bad feeling that it had something to do with the boys.
Molly turned to the direction the girl was looking to and... "Holy shit!" she laughed. "Alex, look at that!" Molly nudged AJ's side, discreetly pointing at Nick and Araysa, who stood in the middle of the dance floor, still kissing.
"Looks like we have a happy winner", AJ said, "but this isn't really the best place!" The song ended and next was..."Everybody (Backstreet's Back)"! "Oh no, I think it's time to go...", AJ said disappointed. The boys were obviously getting too much attention by now!
They saw Brian walk over to Nick and Araysa, then AJ communicated with Kevin by eyes and hands and soon the whole bunch stood outside the club.
"Kaylee? Do you know the way to the Hyatt?" Brian asked, keeping an eye to the club's door.
"Yeah", she answered.
"Then grab the girls and if we should lose each other in the traffic, we'll meet there, ok?!"
A lot of people, especially girls, were following them outside, so they wanted to get away before being mobbed. They quickly got into the cars and sped away.
~~~~~
In Kaylee's car:
"Oh my god, Araysa - geez, you bad bad girl!" Molly laughed, totally
excited.
Mandy was just shaking her head. Then suddenly she also exclaimed: "Oh Gooood! I don't believe that just happened. Holy shit, Araysa!"
"WHAT?" both Kaylee and Sarah asked.
Araysa sat there in total shock herself, but smiling happily from ear to ear. "I kissed Nick", she stated quietly. "WOW!" she then screamed. "If I wasn't so damn happy I would cry", she laughed.
"Sorry that we had to drag you away from your Romeo so soon", Kaylee smiled, "but I'll bring you back to him safely!"
Once again Sarah was left speechless. When the hell did that happen? And why? "Nick can't be interested in Araysa!" she thought. "He just wanted to make me jealous, that's it!" But the feeling deep down in her stomach told her that she hadn't convinced herself.
~~~~~
In the boys' car:
"Ummm...Nick?!"
Nick sat in the back of the car, blushing slightly.
"Ain't that cute?!" AJ laughed. "Our lady-killer is blushing!" he teased him. "I never knew you had it in you!"
"What? Blood that could rush to his face?" Howie giggled.
"Stop it!" Nick laughed. "Guys, I really like her!"
"That's cool, Frack", Brian said with a serious voice, "but you shouldn't have showed her right there! Some girls in the club were almost jumping at you two!"
"I know...", Nick said sadly. "I couldn't help it. The fans were the last thing on my mind. She does that to me...makes me forget who I am for a while! And I love her for that!"
It was a good thing that Howie had stopped at red lights because all heads turned to Nick, all of them speechless. Suddenly there was one big: "You WHAT??"
"Calm down, k?!" Nick pleaded. "I don't know what this is right now, or where it will lead to, but I know that she's very special to me and that's all I'm gonna say!" Silence. "Damn, Howie, would you drive - the lights won't get any more green than that!"
When they arrived at the hotel and got out, AJ placed a hand on Nick's shoulder and said: "I think I know how you feel about her..."
Nick thanked him with a smile and together they walked into the lobby to wait for the girls.
~~~~~
In Kevin's and Caroline's car:
"Calm down, Kevin, would you?!"
"He should've known better than to kiss her in front of the whole
club!"
"Geez, Kevin, nothing happened."
"We could've been in serious trouble. What if the girls had mobbed
him?" Kevin was still fuming.
"Don't talk crap. They hadn't mobbed any of you before, and they
didn't then. It's not like your fans don't know that you're dating
girls!" Caroline felt anger rising up inside her.
"But he should've thought of..."
"Kevin!" Caroline yelled. "Why are you overreacting like this?"
Suddenly her anger turned into sadness and she stated: "It's not
because of Nick, right?" Kevin was silent, she just heard him breathe
heavily. "It's because of us. You're angry because you can't do that,
right? Because we're forced to keep it a secret." He remained silent.
Caroline turned her head and looked out the car window, so he couldn't
see her tears. "I'm sorry for putting you in this situation."
Finally Kevin spoke, calm again: "Caroline, I...I don't care if I
have to keep it a secret or if I could tell the whole world about us.
All I need is you, because I love you - and I don't mind any conditions
that go along with it. Even if I have to wait forever..."
Caroline tried to hold back her tears. She knew he wasn't really
serious. "You're not gonna wait forever", she whispered. "I just hope
I'll find the courage before it's me who's waited too long. Before it's
too late...", she thought.
"I don't believe Nick could be so stupid", Kevin said angrily.
Back to chapter 10
On to chapter 12
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