Everyone was down in the lobby of the hotel, standing around in little groups. The body guards had made sure that all the fans had left, after getting autographs and taking pictures with the Backstreet Boys, so that the whole bunch could have some last moments of privacy.
They had only five minutes left, before the guys would have to leave for the airport, where a plane waited that would take them to New York. Up and away.
Kevin and Caroline had said good-bye to the girls and were the first ones to leave the hotel and get in the waiting van.
Howie was next. He hugged all the girls tightly, spoke a few private words with Kaylee, before he disappeared as well. The more and more of their new friends left, the more the girls' sadness grew.
As soon as Brian had hugged Sarah and Araysa, Nick led Araysa away to a quiet corner. Brian proceeded to hug Kaylee and finally ended up in front of Molly. He opened up his arms for her with a big grin and they hugged tightly.
"Oomph!" Brian laughed. "Girl, I'll see you in a few days!"
"A whole month!" Molly said pouting. Then they both grinned.
"Time flies, you'll see", he replied.
Molly glanced at AJ and, looking back at Brian, sadly said: "For some of us!"
Brian pulled her close a final time. "Take good care of yourself and his heart", he whispered. When Molly looked at him surprised, he said: "Don't you know that AJ's leaving his heart here with you?!"
She didn't know what to reply to that, so she just said: "I'm so glad I have you back, B.!" Brian nodded, then walked away.
~~~~~
Araysa was enjoying the final moments she spent in Nick's embrace, before they would have to separate for two weeks. They just stood there, as close as possible, not feeling the need to talk much. Nick was the one who broke the calming silence finally: "You'll not forget what I told you today, will you?"
Araysa lifted her head and looked into his eyes. With a smile she said: "I'll never forget. Whenever I miss you too much, I'll think of it." With a laugh she added: "Oh boy, good thing I'm on Spring Break now - I wouldn't be able to concentrate on my classes this way." Her laughter died and she caressed Nick's cheek gently: "'Cause I'll always miss you too much 'til you come back."
Nick leaned in and kissed her, slowly and already longingly.
~~~~~
"You're not going to lose my address and number, are you?" Molly asked - half jokingly, half serious - after pulling away from AJ's kiss.
He shook his head: "I'll see you in April. A month - it's not that long. I mean, I'd make it less if I could, but..."
"You've got a job to do." She gave him another quick kiss. "Go now."
AJ kissed her hand, that he held, and turned to leave. He hadn't even taken three steps, when he stopped and turned around again. "I can't leave this way", he told her. He walked towards her again, stopping only inches away from Molly. "Look", he said, cupping her face in his hands, "I won't be able to leave if I still have the feeling that things are somewhat awkward between us, ok?!" Unconsciously he was looking at her with puppy dog eyes.
Molly knew exactly what he meant. It seemed that they still hadn't straightened things out, as if all the things that had been left unsaid had to be spoken out loud - just to be 100% sure, although they felt it.
"Ok, so...you know this isn't just a fling for me", he said. "And I want to know, before I go, that you believe everything I've told you."
"I do. I guess I just still find it hard to believe that all this has really happened. I didn't come here to fall in love - this was supposed to be a girlie vacation: friends, fun and shopping! And look what happened to me!" He stared into her eyes, and she also cupped his face in her hands. "But it's a good thing that happened." Simultaneously they wrapped their arms around each other and kissed passionately one last time, before AJ had to go.
"I'll be waiting for you", Molly said.
"And I'll come to you", he smiled.
* * *
Mandy checked her watch and sighed: "The plane should take off now."
The other girls, except Kaylee, who had driven back home, nodded silently and played with their french fries, instead of eating them. It was another stop at McDonald's for them, but this time definitely not as cheerful.
Suddenly Sarah began to giggle under her breath. She couldn't stop and the giggles grew louder, as the others stared at her quizzically. "I just...remembered...", Sarah managed to get out, "what happened in that one shop today!"
"Well - what did happen?" Mandy asked.
Sarah calmed down a little and told them the story: "We were looking for some shirts, the three of us" - she meant Howie, Kaylee and herself - "and suddenly this little girl-" Sarah couldn't continue before laughing again, "this girl, she was probably six or seven years old, comes running towards Howie, jumps at his leg and won't let go!" The other girls started giggling also by now. Sarah continued: "It was so weird, especially because nobody had recognized him all day, but then that kid. It turned out that her mom was a big fan and her fave is Howie. She even has posters of him up in her daughter's room. The kid probably knows Howie better than she knows her dad!" They all laughed out loud by now, imagining the scene that took place. "The mother got all hysterical, and I thought she would cling to his other leg any second as well!"
They all started wiping tears from their eyes - both from laughing and being so emotional because of the Boys' departure - and wished they had been there.
But then again they didn't... They had all spent a wonderful day with the guy they liked most in the world, which they wouldn't want to trade for the world.
~~~~~
It was pretty obvious to anyone, who knew the five band members of the Backstreet Boys a little, that something was wrong - or at least different - during the flight to New York. It was obvious because of one little fact: it was quiet on the plane!
Nick, AJ and Howie were all lost in their thoughts, Brian was actually totally calm for once, thinking as well, while Kevin and Caroline were sleeping. They hadn't got any good rest last night, so they had fallen asleep again, holding hands.
Nick was already going through all the arrangements he would have to make, when he got back to Orlando: book a flight back to Minnesota, buy something nice for Araysa and...Araysa! That's where his making plans stopped. He still hadn't found out how she did it, but she just blew his mind every time. He guessed that must be love. And he guessed he had been wrong about handling those two weeks away from her halfway easily. He missed her already and he saw it coming that it would get worse with every hour that passed... He sighed, got comfortable in his seat and started day-dreaming about his girlfriend!
AJ was thinking about his girlfriend also. He hoped desperately that everything would go right - but he wasn't really thinking far into future. He hoped they would survive the next month! As far as he was concerned he knew they would still be together because he was used to the long-distance-thing. But what about Molly? Would it be enough for her to talk to him on the phone until they could meet again? What if she realized she didn't want to wait for him all the time, and that she wanted a boyfriend that could and would be around 24/7?
Suddenly it repeated in AJ's head again and again: "I didn't come here to fall in love... I didn't come here to fall in love..." The feeling deep down inside of him told him that she still refused to let this happen. And she would pull away again, if he gave her the chance to. "Fall in love..." He smiled and knew what he had to do.
* * *
When Mandy and Araysa were back in Winona, Mandy had gone to take a shower, while Araysa lay on her bed. She had switched off the lights and soon a single tear slipped from her eye. Meeting Nick, falling in love with him and more importantly have him love her back was her dream come true. But now that it was reality she seriously had to deal with everything that came along with it. The many nights and days without him, missing him, and later on the fans, the media... She knew it was gonna be tough, but it was worth it. Wasn't it?
"No matter what happens, Araysa, no matter what you see or what you hear, don't let anyone tell you I'm not in love with you!" She remembered...
~~~~~
When she had come to the hotel that day, Nick had kidnapped her to a beautiful park outside Minnesota, where they had had a little picnic with strawberries and champagne.
"I never imagined you THAT romantic", she had teased him.
Nick had just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "Seeing that I'm Mr. Romantic himself's best friend, I've picked up a thing or two along the years! Brian is perfect when it comes to stuff like that!" Then he had grinned at Araysa: "That's why we never leave our girls alone with him!"
"As if Brian would do something like that - steal your girls, I mean!"
Nick had pouted: "I expected you to say that no girl would choose him over me anyway..."
That had made Araysa laugh and she had thrown a strawberry at him. They had playfully wrestled around for a while, until Nick had pulled her close in a sudden move and kissed her passionately. Araysa had looked up at him surprised after he had pulled away. He had run his fingers through her hair, honestly saying: "I'm a little nervous."
"Because of what?" she had asked worried.
"That you'll not want me back, when I return."
She had just looked at him in disbelief, slightly shaking her head. "How can you even think that?" she had gently asked.
He had sat up beside her, taking her hands and looking down at her with his blue eyes mesmerizing her: "This... US, it's not gonna be easy, you know that. Relationships are complicated enough anyway, but with me...be prepared that it's gonna be even worse. This will take a lot of strength, Araysa."
"I know, Nick. I'm willing to give what I've got. I...I think I trust you enough, even after only the short time we've spent together."
He had squeezed her hands. "Just promise me one thing", he pleaded. Araysa had only nodded, so he continued: "No matter what happens, Araysa, no matter what you see or what you hear, don't let anyone tell you I'm not in love with you!" She had nodded once more and sealed her promise with a kiss...
~~~~~
Araysa sighed, smiled and wiped the trace the tear had left from her face. Of course he was worth any trouble she would have to go through. Only two weeks...seemed like an eternity.
* * *
..."This isn't fair", Mandy laughed, "playing with you is not a one-on-one game, it's me against the NBA!"
A grinning Brian stole the ball from her, dribbled and landed a perfect score...
~~~~~
Mandy was taking a shower, the warm water running down her body relaxed her, as she remembered the day she had spent with Brian. They had found a basketball court in a little park near the hotel, where they had played for an hour. As usual they had had a lot of fun together. Until...
Mandy didn't know why she was taking a shower again, when she had had one only a few hours ago. In the hotel. In the bathroom of Brian's room. More than anything she wished she had not taken that damn shower then! As she remembered what had happened, she blushed hard and a few tears, mixed with the water pouring down on her, ran down her face.
~~~~~
Brian and her had been pretty sweaty when they had returned to the hotel, so Brian had suggested they both take a shower. She was the first to take one and through the closed door to the bathroom he had told her he had put a shirt for her on his bed. He went over to Kevin's room, where he hung out with Kevin and Caroline for a while, before returning to his room.
"Hey Mandy, you ready?" he had asked.
"I'll be out in just a sec", she had told him.
He had seen that the shirt had disappeared from his bed. Assuming that she was already dressed, he had opened the door to the bathroom: "Are there any towels le..." He had stopped talking abruptly, not able to take his eyes off Mandy - who stood there, dressed in only her undies! Both had been shocked, turned a deep shade of red and didn't know what to say, until finally Brian had got control over himself again. He had excused himself quickly and shut the door...
~~~~~
Mandy stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself. She looked at herself in the mirror, seeing that alone the memory let her blush just as hard again. She had never felt as embarrassed before. Brian had of course apologized a hundred times for rushing in and she, of course, had accepted after hearing why he assumed he could come in. But for the rest of the day there had been some kind of tension between them. It wasn't awkwardness, it wasn't even bad tension, but suddenly they hadn't been able not to act shy and a little embarrassed around each other.
Mandy hoped that that "incident" hadn't damaged anything between them. After Brian had finished his shower they had only hung around with at least one of the others. They hadn't been alone for even a minute. But other than that everything had been quite normal. Before the guys had left he had assured her once more that he'd call her tomorrow and that he definitely wanted to keep in touch. But when he had hugged her good-bye, she had felt his reserve again.
She wanted to slap herself for not locking the door after getting the shirt from his room.
"Get over it!" she firmly told herself, as her face returned to its normal color. "It wasn't like he had seen you naked, right?! Everyone who's seen you in a bikini has seen that much, so...just forget about it!" But right now forgetting wasn't the easiest thing to do.
"I wonder", Mandy thought, a hot wave running through her body, "if he likes what he's seen..."
* * *
Molly sat in the garden of the Wolsburn's house, waiting for Sarah to be ready to leave. She had her jacket on, so she wasn't freezing in tonight's chilly air. But she wouldn't feel cold anyway, she thought with a smile, knowing that thinking of AJ would keep her warm. She looked up to the stars shining down at her and wished AJ would be here to enjoy it with her, just like they had enjoyed the sunset earlier today together. That was shortly before he had had to leave and they hadn't spoken much. He had just held her, both admiring the colors the sunset created - only for them, it had seemed, since they had felt like the only people on earth.
It was still unbelievable for her to think of everything that had happened to her in the past days. Not only had she finally met her best friends in the flesh, not only had she cleared things up with Brian and Nick - no, she had fallen in love harder than she believed was possible in a few days. And the guy she wanted to be with wanted her, too. But was this to last? Was her relationship with AJ, if you could already call it that, meant to be?
She wondered how it would be to meet him again in a month's time. Until then they would only be able to talk on the phone or write and she was afraid that that could change things between them. That wasn't really the usual way to start a relationship, was it?!
Molly sighed and slightly shook her head. She could wonder about that some other time. Right now she only wanted to enjoy the warm, lovely feeling AJ had left her with. The stars seemed to sparkle like his eyes when he laughed, and the wind in her hair almost felt like his fingers running through it. She closed her eyes and smiled, as she imagined his lips on hers...
After another few minutes she heard someone step out to the garden and then Sarah's voice, asking: "Molly? Ready to go?" Even though it was already late they had decided to visit Kaylee, who had invited them over.
"I'll be right there", she told Sarah, who disappeared into the house again to put her jacket on.
Molly looked up into the sky a final time. She didn't know exactly who she had to thank for sending AJ into her life, but whether they were meant to be together for many years or maybe only for these few days they had shared here, she knew she would always be grateful...
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