"Where were you?" AJ asked, as Gwen walked through the door. AJ was sitting at island in their kitchen going over sheet music.
"I got a ticket," Gwen said.
"Nuh-uh!" AJ said, starting to laugh. "How fast was my little speed-demon going?"
"Not for speeding. For tinted windows," Gwen replied. AJ's jaw dropped.
"You're shitting me," he said. Gwen pulled out the ticket.
"Nope. 350 bucks for trying to keep our privacy," Gwen said, slapping the ticket on the table.
"Did you get this officers name?" AJ asked.
"Richard Miller. Officer number 701. Plate number 405-ANH," Gwen replied, smiling. AJ kissed her.
"That's my baby," he said, wrapping his arms around her.
"So, what up?" she asked, as he buried his nose into her neck.
"Nothin...ready for our last show tomorrow?" AJ asked. They were going to perform the last show from the Black and Blue tour tomorrow in Ft. Lauderdale. It quite possibly could be the last full Backstreet Boy show in a long time. Nick was going to manage a band, Howie was working with his sister on her solo project, Brian and Kevin were working on the Backstreet Label and AJ was going to go on a Johnny No Name tour.
"Yeah, but are you?" she asked, turning around on his lap and facing him. He kissed her nose.
"I dunno...its kinda sad, ya know?" he asked.
"Aww...I'm sure I can cheer you up after the show," she grinned. AJ smiled.
"Well, wanna cheer me up now?" he asked.
"No, because you aren't sad," Gwen replied, smiling.
"But I am," AJ said, pouting, pretending to be sad.
"Nope. Sorry. I'm not buying it," she said, turning her head. AJ started kissing her neck and tickling her and she burst out in laughter.
"Okay, okay!" she cried, giving up. AJ laughed and they ran upstairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was the night of the final Black and Blue Tour performance. Everyone was both happy and sad considering it might be the last full Backstreet Boy concert in a long time. Maybe forever if they all agreed to go their separate ways. They were playing their final show where they started out, in Fort Lauderdale. The arena was packed completely. One more fan could not fit into the stands. Backstage, the place was complete chaos. Gwen was running around making last minute touches on the dancers costumes, the boys were warming up their voices, Regan and the dancers were stretching, Ashleigh was finishing up styling hair for the band and management did everything else in between. Kevin finally gathered everyone around for a final group circle. They prayed and yelled the Backstreet Chant.
"Good luck Baby," Gwen said, smacking AJ's butt. He laughed and gave her an amazing kiss before he put on his mic.
"Break a leg," Leighanne said to Brian. She was feeling a lot better and their hopes were beginning to come back up. Brian gave her a big hug and kissed her.
"Have fun," Kristin said to Kevin as they did their own little handshake.
"You're gonna rock this place wild," Ashleigh said to Nick as he picked her up and kissed her. Nick had called Ashleigh's dad while she wasn't home and got permission to live with her. They were going to start house shopping the following week. He was on cloud nine.
Howie and Regan stretched together for the last time and gave each other a high five and a kiss. The next day, Howie and Regan were going to fly to Cincinnati for Savanna. Regan decided to move down to Florida to be close to everyone and was going to bring Savanna with her. Nobody knew about Savanna except for Howie. He was nervous about meeting Regan's daughter, but he knew it would go well. Illianna and Anthony stood close around backstage and ran out to take their seats before the show began.
~~~~~~~
"This sucks. I can't believe I'm here," Jada Roberts mumbled under her breath. "Damn favor." Jada pushed her thick brown hair out of her face and it hung in the middle of her back. She was the only person sitting down in the arena. Jada hated the Backstreet Boys. She hated boy-bands or bands that don't play their own interments. But her cousin and best friend, Jessica, loved them with a passion. Jessica had bought herself a ticket to go to their final concert but had came down with mono. As much as she begged and pleaded, she couldn't go. So Jada, being the cool person she is, told her cousin she'd go for her. Jessica sent her with her zoom in camera and three rolls of film. Jada rolled her eyes at the near by thirteen year old girls who were screaming/crying. She hated teenie-boppers. Jada, who was 20, found this place immature and a waste of time. But a promise is a promise.
The concert began and Jada reluctantly stood up. She had a pretty good view of the stage and with her zoom in camera, she had the perfect view of the guys. Howie was Jessica's favorite, so she zoomed in on him and started snapping away. She figured if she could take the three rolls as soon as possible, she could leave and beat the traffic. She was in the middle of her first roll when she got tapped on the shoulder.
"Excuse me ma'am, no cameras," a guard told Jada. She rolled her eyes.
"Yeah whatever...take a look around. Every freaking person has a camera. Get over it," she usually wasn't this rude but she didn't want to be there and it was affecting her attitude.
''I'm sorry miss, we are going to have to take your film," the guard said.
"What the shit? Alright...here," she dug around and took out the un-used film making it look like it was her original roll. The guard looked at her and walked away. Jada waited for about five minutes then continued taking pictures like everyone else around her. The security guard came back up to her when he saw she was still taking them.
"Ma'am, we are going to have to take your camera," he demanded.
"What?! No way! This is a 170 buck camera. Here, have the film," Jada said, handing them her film. She'd buy Jessica a tee-shirt.
"Ma'am, we have specific rules about no cameras," the guard barked.
"Shit, do you know how many people are taking pictures?" she yelled so loud that everyone around her was watching. And to make it worse, everyone put away their cameras, which made it hard for her point.
"If you don't corporate, we'll ask you to leave," the guard said.
"Look, I hate the Backstreet Boys. I think they are a waste of flesh. But my cousin loves them and got mono so I'm here to take pictures for her," Jada was trying her best to reason with the guard but he didn't budge.
"Camera," he said, holding out his hand.
"NO!" she yelled. She pushed past him and walked out of the arena. She wanted to find the nearest policeman to report this son-of-a-bitch security guard. She found two security advisors standing nearby the backstage area. She went up and explained to them the guard getting all up in her face and how she gave him all her film and demanded the camera.
''I'm sorry Ma'am, but Backstreet Management enforces we take all the cameras and film if we catch people taking pictures," one of the advisors said.
"SCREW BACKSTREET MANAGEMENT! I am NOT going to give you my 170 buck camera for the damn Backstreet Boys," She yelled. Ashleigh was wondering around backstage and heard some arguing. She walked up to the advisors and saw a girl screaming at them about her camera.
"What's the problem here?" Ashleigh asked, trying to help.
"This woman was trying to take pictures and won't hand over her camera," the advisor told Ashleigh. Both guards knew who Ashleigh was and if they caused her trouble, she could tell Nick and they'd be fired in a New York minute.
"You are trying to take her camera? That's crap. I'm sorry about that," Ashleigh said to Jada. Jada just rolled her eyes. What could this blondie do for her? Nothing.
"Yeah, well now I have nothing to give my cousin who was supposed to be here but I was sent to take pictures for her," Jada said.
"Oh really? Why don't you come backstage and I'm sure the guys will autograph something for your cousin," Ashleigh said. The last place Jada wanted to be was backstage at a Backstreet Boy concert but this would mean the world for Jessica. She sighed and agreed.
