A.j. shook his stupid notions from his head. For a moment, there, on that balcony, he had reconsidered whether or not he really wanted to marry Sarah. Of course he did!

But what about Sarah’s excuse for leaving so abruptly? She had no aunts or uncles. He was sure of that.

He considered. There must have been a reason for her fib; there had to be. Never would she deceive him, surely. There was also something else he was sure of. An emergency in her life had happened. He needed to be there for her and let her know that he was behind her all the way, no matter what it was. She didn’t need to lie to him.

He turned and saw Sarah just as she was leaving the building. He followed her, desperate to catch up with her and ask her and tell her so many things.

A.j. watched her cross the parking lot. He recognized her car. Casually, he would just walk up to it as she was leaving and…

To A.j.’s surprise, when she got to her car she simply passed it. ‘Why didn’t she get into her car?’ He thought. He watched her some more to see what she had in mind. Instead of getting into her own car, she went up to a different one as someone was getting out of it. He focused on the person and noticed the face – it was Nick’s face. Nick?

A.j.’s confusion was beginning to itch but was only topped by an angry explosion at Sarah from Nick. He was yelling at her. The words were blurred. Sarah opened his car door and climbed in. A moment later they drove away, together.

Standing there in the parking lot, A.j. was paralyzed. He couldn’t believe what had happened. Sarah LIED to him so that she could sneak off with Nick? And for what? Again, his heart sank. If things were what they appeared to be…

“Why are you yelling at me!”

“You screwed everything up!” Nick protested. “We made a huge step! We broke into Caldwin’s, we had the opportunity to find out so much about Intergang. But we didn’t! Your performance was pitiful.”

Sarah was enraged. “I went into that house and I risked my own life…not yours, MINE, and you’re worried about my ‘performance’? What’s wrong with you!”

“This isn’t a game where we are allowed to mistakes so you can stay alive. You carry out the task or you die trying. There are no exceptions, Sarah!”

“Easy for you to say!” she said, blowing steam off. “You’re not the one risking your life. I tried my best and that’s enough.”

Nick pulled into a quick stop. He unhooked his seat belt and gave a shivering stare to Sarah. “I will decide what is enough. This is my team. You wanna stay on it, good, because you can’t leave it until I tell you that you’re done. This is my team. You’re on it. And you’re going to follow MY rules!” He got out of the car and put on a pair of shades and a cap. “Get out of the car.” He demanded coldly and slammed the door in her face.

Sarah sat in the passenger seat stunned. Slowly, she crawled out of the car and went into the quick stop with Nick.

“What are we doing here?” She asked him quietly. She wanted to ask, “You interrupted my time to take me to a Seven Eleven?” But bit her tongue.

“A man’s gotta go shopping sometime.” He murmured softly. He smiled warmly.

She always felt reassured when he smiled. Which was never enough. She sighed at this thought. How strange it was that he could go from fury to compassion in such a short time. Sarah loved this part about him.

She giggled and teased, “In a CONVENIENT store?!”

He shrugged and picked up some toilet paper, Pringles, and a Maxim magazine during the course of their conversation. Sarah retorted. How a man’s shopping varied from a woman’s!

“So what are we going to do after your shopping?” Sarah asked as Nick picked up a bottle of Coke from a refrigerator.

“Well,” he closed the door, and suddenly his expression changed in his whole body.

“What’s the matter?” Sarah looked at what Nick was staring at; his cause of temporary stun.

It was a beautiful blonde woman. She wore a pair of tight blue jeans and blouse. Sarah noticed this woman was acting really weird, picking and poking at the products and every once in a while was looking up to stare at Nick.

“Well well well,” Sarah gloated. “Could Nick Carter be flirting?”

“No,” he replied. “Sarah, you don’t understand…” his voice trailed off and he tried to look away from the woman.

“What’s the problem?” She asked. Maybe they weren’t flirting. Nick drew up close to Sarah and their bodies almost touched. Sarah drew in some breath of her own.

His eyes were wide and he clenched his teeth. “It’s Sapphire.” He uttered.

That was certainly not what Sarah had expected. Now she began to hurt for Nick. What was he going to do? Was he going to say something to her?

She grabbed his shirtsleeve. “What? I thought she died,” she peered around to make sure no one was listening.

He gave her a confused look and left. He walked over to Sapphire.

“Oh my god!” A voice shrieked from outside. It belonged to a 14-year-old girl decked out in glitter and butterfly clips. She adorned a rhinestone-studded shirt that spelled out ‘BSB’. “Is that Nick Carter?” She asked her friend, who was dressed similar.

They jumped up and down and entered the store. Sarah gave a nervous look to Nick, but Nick traded her one that said, “I’m used to it.” He then looked over at Sapphire and said, “I’m sorry.” with his eyes.

“Hi we’re both really big Backstreet Boys fans!” The first girl said, hugging Nick.

The second noticed the girls Nick was with. “Who are THEY,” she asked, obviously jealous.

“They…are my friends,” he replied. “Sarah and Jordan.”

So that was Sapphire’s real name, Sarah concluded. Sarah began to feel uncomfortable as she realized that Jordan must have known that she had taken over her job. Did she miss it?

The two fans departed after a few autographs. Nick paid for his things and Sarah and him went back to his car. Sarah kept staring at Jordan. She hated good byes so much. Nick never looked back. He unlocked his door very slowly, lost in thought.

Nick took his shades and cap off and waited for Sarah to get in. “They don’t work so well anymore.”

Sarah smiled a bit, but didn’t inside.

Nick started the car up. “You ready to make me proud tonight?”

“Always, sir.”

They drove off.