“Hello?”
“Howie? It’s Kev.”
“Yeah.”
“Um… Well first of all I want to say I’m sorry for everything I said yesterday. I didn’t mean any of it. I just blew up and took everything out on you. I’m sorry.
“I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have said what I did either. Let’s just forget about it.”
“Ok. Sounds good. The other reason I called is Lou has called a meeting. He would like us there at 10:00.”
“Ok. I’ll meet you guys there.”
“Ok. See ya then.”
“Bye.”
He hung up the phone and walked into the kitchen where everyone else was. “He said he’d meet us there.”
“Ok.”
“Angel, do you want me to take you home?” Nick asked.
“Yeah, that would probably be a good idea.”
“Ok. I’ll meet you guys there.”
“Ok. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Justin walked into the room BJ had slept in last night. He kissed her forehead and she stirred. “BJ, honey, its time to get up.”
“Ok.” She slowly woke up and sat up.
“We have a meeting at 10:00. Do you want to stay here and get some more sleep?”
“Ok. We’re heading out. I’ll see ya after while. Hopefully this won’t take too long.”
“Ok. Bye.” She kissed him and laid back down. About 10 minutes after he left BJ’s cell phone staring ringing. “Hello?”
“BJ?”
“Yes, this is her.”
“BJ, this is Lou Pearlman. I was wondering if you could come down to the studio.”
“When?”
“As soon as you can get here.”
“Ok. Give me an hour.”
“Ok. See ya then.”
“Bye.” She hung up the phone and got dressed. She put her jeans and borrowed a shirt from Justin’s room. She walked downstairs to find Carly and Nick standing in the living room kissing. She stood in the stairway waiting for Nick to leave. Finally he did. “Hi, Carly.”
She jumped. When she saw it was BJ she calmed down. “BJ, you just gave me a heart attack. What are you doing here?”
“I’ll explain later. Can I ask you a favor? Can you drive me to Transcon?”
“Sure.” She grabbed her keys and they were off. “So what were you doing there?”
“Justin and I stayed there last night because we didn’t want to drive all the way back out to Ruskin.” Carly looked at her. “Don’t worry. We slept in separate rooms.”
“You better have or I’ll have to knock some sense into that boy, and you too.” Just then Carly’s cell phone started ringing. “Hello?”
“Carly?”
“Yeah?”
“This is Lou Pearlman. I was wondering if you could come in to the studios?”
“Sure.”
“Thanks. Bye.”
“Bye.” Carly hung up the phone and looked at BJ. “Why are you going to Transcon?”
“Lou called and asked me to come in. Why?”
“That was him. He wants me to come in too. I wonder what is going on.”
“I don’t know.” He rode the rest of the way in silence.
When they walked into the building the secretary told them to head up to the conference room. “I have to go to the bathroom. I’ll be up in a minute,” Carly said.
“Ok. Do you want me to wait for you?”
“No. Go ahead.” Carly went to the bathroom and BJ went on up. She opened the door and stopped dead in her tracks. One side of the room sat the Backstreet Boys and on the other sat NSYNC.
“Come on in and take a seat, BJ,” Lou said. BJ did as she was told. She sat down in the empty chair by Nick. “We’re still waiting for one more person.”
“Lou, what are we doing here?” JC asked.
“You’ll see soon.” Just them Carly walked in. She was surprised to find NSYNC, the Backstreet Boys, and BJ sitting there. Carly walked over and sat in the only empty seat, which was next to Joey.
“Now we’re ready to start. I know you are all wondering what you’re doing here. As you may or may not know MTV ran a story on you guys yesterday, and many papers have the same story today. Now I don’t know how much of it is true, but that’s part of the reason we’re here today. The other is to figure out how to solve it. I just want to remind you all that I was against all of this from the beginning. Now that that’s been said lets get started. Who is seeing who?” No one said anything. “Carly, are you and Nick back together?”
“Yes, we are and I would prefer if you directed the questions to me,” Nick said.
“Fine, Nick. Are you aware the press is plastering this picture of you two everywhere.” He held up the picture. It was when Carly had hugged him outside the club.
“No I wasn’t aware of that.”
“I didn’t think so. Now Justin, are you and BJ seeing each other?”
Justin looked at BJ. “Yes we are.”
“I thought so. What do the rest of you think about this?”
“I think if they’re happy let them go for it,” JC said.
“Yeah. It’s not our place to tell them who they can and can’t date,” Brian said.
“So you all are for this?” Everyone nodded their head. “Ok. So now what do you want to do about it? We have to answer these people or they will never leave us alone.”
“What do you think we should tell them?” Lance asked.
“I think you should be truthful and honest. Tell them that Carly and Nick are back together and that Justin and BJ are together. They’re going to ask questions about the relations between the two groups, but I think we should stick to just the relationships. I’m going to call a press conference for tomorrow night at 6:00. I only want the 2 couples there. We are going to down play the relationship between the 2 groups as much as possible. If they ask any questions about that simply say we’re not here to discuss that. We’re here to discuss my relationship.”
“We don’t’ have to tell them anything do we? We want to keep this relationship as private as possible,” Justin said.
“You tell them what you feel comfortable telling them. That’s it. I think we’re done here. I’ll see you 4 tomorrow night.” He walked out of the room. Everyone got up and left the room except for Nick, BJ, Carly, and Justin.
“How did you get here?” Justin asked BJ.
“I rode with Carly.”
“I suppose you were there too.” Justin didn’t say anything. “You were weren’t you? Answer me.” Justin nodded his head. “You…You…I don’t even have a word for what you are.” He started walking towards Justin. Justin took a few steps back and I grabbed Nick’s arm.
“Nick, calm down and let them explain.”
“I don’t want to hear it. Does Mom and Dad know where you were?”
“I told them I was staying at a friend’s house, which I was. Joey is a friend.”
“ They didn’t know you’re friend was a guy and your boyfriend would also be there.”
“Nick, I’m 18 and in a week I’ll be a high school graduate. I think I can take care of myself. Plus we slept in different rooms on different floors. I slept upstairs and he slept downstairs. Don’t pull this high mighty act with me. How many times have you slept in the same room and same bed as Carly?” Nick didn’t say anything. “I didn’t think so. Come on, Justin. Let’s go.” They walked out of the room. Carly looked at Nick, shook her head, and left too.
“Carly, wait.” He ran after her. The elevator doors shut just before he got there so he ran down the stairs. He caught up with her in the parking lot. He saw everyone else from the meeting standing around their cars. “Carly, stop.” Everyone looked at them. She ignored him and kept walking. He caught up with her and grabbed her arm. She stopped and turned around.
“Let got of me.”
“I need to talk to you.”
“Why?”
“Why did you walk out?”
“God, Nick I wonder. Now would you please let go of me.”
“I’m not letting go until we work this out.” Joey heard this and started walking towards them.
“Nick, let her go,” Joey said.
“Stay out of this, Joey.”
“Nick, let go of me and I’ll talk to you.” Nick let go of her. “Joey, thanks for the overprotective cousin bit, but I can handle this. Get in your car and leave.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Now go.” Joey walked back over to his car, but made no move to get in and leave. Carly looked around and saw everyone still standing there staring at them. “Let’s not air our problems. Get in the car and we’ll go somewhere private.” Nick nodded his head. They walked to Carly’s car and left. Carly drove to Joey’s house. She walked through the house to the private beach behind the house. She sat down in the sand. Nick sat down next to her. “What’s wrong with us? One day we’re making up. The next we’re fighting.”
“I don’t know what happened back there.”
“Nick, you were being a hypocrite and you know it. It was only the 2nd or 3rd day we were dating and I stayed with you, in the same bed. I believe them. BJ is a smart girl, and she wouldn’t do something stupid. Whether you want to hear it or not so is Justin. They both know they’re not ready for that.”
“She’s my little sister. I can’t help it. I would have reacted the same way even if they would have been someone other than Justin.”
“I know, but you have to understand she’s not so young anymore. Like she said, she’s 18, and whether you want her to or not she can handle herself.”
“Why do you have to be so smart?”
I laughed. “We covered that yesterday, didn’t we?”
“Yeah, I think we did. Carly, from now on I’m going to be more open-minded and not jump to conclusions.”
“They must be back. We can go up the back way.”
“No. Let’s go through the living room.” They walked into the living room to see Joey, Justin, BJ, Chris, Lance, and JC sitting there. They immediately stopped laughing. Carly kept walking, but Nick stopped. “BJ, Justin, I want to say I’m sorry for how I acted earlier. I was being immature and just plan stupid. I believe everything you said. BJ, you’re absolutely right.”
BJ got up and hugged her brother. “Nick, you’re the best brother anyone could ask for.”
“Only because you’re my sister,” BJ sat down next to Justin and Nick followed Carly upstairs.
When they got to her room Carly laid down on the bed. She patted the spot beside her. He laid down on his back and she climbed on tope of him. He had a confused look on his face. Carly laughed. “I love you.” Then she kissed him passionately.
“When did you get back?” Joey asked.
“About half an hour ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell me so I could have picked you up.”
“I wanted to surprise you.”
“Well you did.” He hugged her again. He then led her over to the chair he was sitting in before. He sat down and pulled her down on his lap.
“Did you have fun on vacation, Venessa?” Lance asked.
“Yeah, it was great.” Venessa when on to tell about her vacation in Hawaii.
“Do you want to go somewhere private?” Justin whispered to BJ. BJ nodded her head. “Venessa, sorry to interrupt you. BJ and I are heading outside to get some fresh air. It’s good to see you again.” BJ and Justin got up and headed outside.
“What did you want to talk about?” BJ asked.
“Nothing really. I just want to be alone with you.”
“Well here I am.”
“Yes you are.” He reached over and stroked her cheek. Then he ran his fingers through her hair. BJ grabbed him and hugged him tightly around the waist. Justin wrapped his arms around her shoulders. They stood there holding each other and staring out into the ocean. After a while Justin pulled back and looked into BJ’s eyes. Then he leaned down and kissed her. She kissed him back with the same amount of intensity. BJ pulled away and hugged him again laying her head on his chest. He laid his cheek on her head.
“Mmmm,” Carly said continuing to kiss him.
“Carly,” he said seriously. Carly stopped when she heard the tone of his voice. She looked into his eyes. Then she got off him and sat next to him with her knees pulled up to her chest. Neither of them said anything for a while.
“I’m sorry,” Carly said. Then she jumped up and ran out of the room. She ran downstairs forgetting everyone was in the living room. “Oh. Hi, Venessa. Nice to see you again.”
“Nice to see you too,” Venessa said.
“I just came down to see if you all were hungry. I thought I could make supper tonight.”
“That sounds great. What are you going to make?” Joey asked.
“I was thinking spaghetti and garlic bread. Anyone want to help?”
“I’ll help ya,” JC said. Carly and JC walked to the kitchen. Carly started getting things ready. JC could tell something was wrong. “Carly, are you ok?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Why do you ask?”
“You seem tense and uptight.”
“I’m just tired. I haven’t gotten much sleep in the last couple of days.”
“You know you can talk to me about anything, right? I’m here if you need me.”
“I know, JC. Thanks for a friend.” She hugged him. “Now let’s make some sketti.” He looked at me and laughed.
“She’s in the kitchen with JC making supper,” Joey said.
“Thanks.” He walked into the kitchen to see JC and Carly laughing. Carly stopped when she saw him. JC noticed.
“I have to tell Joey something. Nick, will you help her finish?” Nick nodded his head.
JC left. Nick just stood there staring at Carly. “What would you like me to do?”
“You don’t have to anything.” She wouldn’t look at him.
“Carly, can we talk?” Carly stopped what she was doing. “We need to talk about what happened up there.” Carly still didn’t say anything. “Please say something.”
“Nick, I just embarrassed the hell out of myself. What would you like me to say?”
“Carly, you shouldn’t be embarrassed. I was feeling the same thing you were. God knows how much strength it took me to stop up there. But we both know it was the right thing.” Carly didn’t turn around or say anything. “Well at least I know it was the right thing.”
Carly turned around and looked at him. “Nick, all I now is that I love you. That’s all I know.” She turned back and resumed making supper. Nick walked to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. She leaned back into him and started crying.
“I love you too, Calry. So much it scares me.”
Carly pulled away and turned around. “Why are you scared? Why does our love scare you?”
“Because I’ve never felt this strongly for anyone in my life.”
“Neither have I, but I trust it.”
“Then so do I. I love you.”
“I love you too.” She kissed him softly on the lips. “Now let’s finish making supper.”
“They went outside to get some fresh air,” Joey said.
“Ok. I’ll get them.” Carly walked back through the kitchen. She waved at Nick who had a confused look on his face. When she stepped outside she stopped. Justin and BJ we standing there, holding each other, and staring out at the ocean. Carly cleared her throat to get their attention. “Guys supper is ready if you want some.”
They didn’t move. “We’ll be right in,” Justin said. Carly left them and headed back into the kitchen. She smiled at what she saw when she got there. Everyone was sitting around the table eating. Nick was sitting beside Joey. Carly grabbed herself a plate and sat down next to Nick. The guys were talking about their tour that started in a couple weeks. About 10 minutes later Nick whispered to Carly, “Where are BJ and Justin?”
“They’re on their way,” Carly whispered back. Just then they walked into the room and sat down. When everyone was done Carly asked, “Who gets to do dishes?”
“I will,” Nick said. Carly looked at him shocked.
“I’ll help him,” Justin said. BJ looked at him shocked. They all slowly got up and left the room. The two guys started cleaning up in silence.
All of the sudden Nick asked, “Why did you offer to help?”
“I thought we should talk and get to know each other.”
“That would probably be a good idea.” The guys continued to talk while doing the dishes. They talked about anything that came to their minds.
“Well I haven’t heard any screaming. That’s a good sign.”
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they became friends?”
“That would be great, but we both know that will never happen. Maybe if there were different circumstances and a different situation, but there’s too much hanging over both of them.”
“I know. I kinda wish neither of them were famous. That way we could have a normal life.”
“I’ve thought the same thing, but then I also know he wouldn’t be the man I love so much if he wasn’t singing.”
BJ thought about that for a while. “I guess you’re right. I just wish things could be easier.”
“I do to. I think everyone in our situation does.” We sat in silence staring out at the ocean. “So are you excited about graduation?”
“I can’t wait. It’s like I’m so close to complete freedom. Ever since I was little I’ve had someone watching over me. It was either my parents or Nick.”
“Are you planning on moving out soon?”
“I want to, but I don’t see it happening.”
“If Justin asked you to go on tour with him, would you?”
BJ thought for a while. “In theory yes. I would go in a heartbeat, but in reality there would be a lot more involved and a lot more to consider.”
“I understand.”
“I would still go though. I wouldn’t care what anyone else said. All I would care about is being with him.”
“I completely see what you’re saying.”
“What about you? Are you going on tour with Nick?”
“He hasn’t asked, and even if he did I don’t know what I would do. Joey wants me to go with him.”
“That would be a tough decision.”
“But it’s not. Nick hasn’t asked and I don’t know if he will.”
“If he doesn’t I’m sure there is a good reason.” Carly just nodded her head.
“Is this seat taken?” Nick asked. He had appeared out of nowhere.
“Nope. It’s all yours,” Carly said. All three of them sat in silence for a while. Then BJ go up.
“I’m going to go find Justin.” Then she walked away.
Nick and Carly sat in silence a little longer. “What are you thinking about?” Nick asked.
“Not much. Something BJ said just got me thinking.”
“Anything you want to talk about?”
“Not really.”
“Beautiful view isn’t it?”
“Yes it is.’ They sat in silence for a while before Carly blurted out, “How do you feel about sex?”
“Wh..What?”
“We’ve never really talked about it, and I was just wondering what you think about it.”
“Is this what BJ got you thinking about?”
“You’re dodging the question. If you don’t want to answer it you don’t have to.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to answer it. I’m just wondering what got you thinking about it.”
“I think we both know why I’m thinking about it.”
“Yeah. I figured that was it. How do feel about sex? I think it is something magical between two people that love each other very much. I don’t believe in waiting til marriage, but I do believe in waiting until you know that you are completely in love. How about you?”
“I basically feel the same way.”
“Was there a point to that question?”
“What happened earlier got me thinking.”
“Do you want to know why I stopped it?”
“I think I already do.”
“I’m going to tell you anyway. I stopped because there were 6 people in the room below us. That is the only reason.”
Carly looked at him. “It is?”
“Yes. It is.”
“Carter, I love you.”
“I love you too, Angel.”
“Yeah. You?”
“Yeah. What time did Nick leave?”
“1:00. What time did Venessa leave?”
“About 12:30.” They laid there watching cartoons until someone knocked on the door 3 hours later. “Come in,” Joey yelled.
The door opened and Justin walked in. He looked at them and shook his head. He sat down in the chair next to the couch. “Are we a little tired?” They both nodded their heads. “What time did you two go to sleep last night?”
“1:30,” they both said.
“Did Lou call?”
“Not that I know of. Why?”
“Well he called and told me that the press conference is at 6:00. We’re supposed to be there at 5:30.”
Carly sat up. “That’s in 2 and a half hours. I’ve got to start getting ready.” She got up and ran up the stairs. Then she ran back down. “Do Nick and BJ know? I have to call them.” She ran to the phone.
“I’ve already talked to BJ. They know and are going to be at about 4:30.” She ran upstairs and stared getting ready. At 4:30 I was finally done. I had chosen to wear a pair of khakis with a dark green top. I put the sides of my hair up and curled what was left down. I walked downstairs to see Joey, Justin, BJ, and Nick sitting in the living room. BJ had on a similar outfit, black pants and a dark blue shirt. Justin and Nick were wearing jeans and shirts.
“Nice you two could dress up for the occasion.”
“No one said we had to,” Nick said.
“I tried to get him to change before we left the house, but he wouldn’t,” BJ said.
“Are we ready? It’s going to take us forever to get over there with it being rush hour and all,” Justin said.
“He’s right. We need to head,” Nick said.
“Are we all riding together?” Carly asked.
“No. I’m driving, because BJ and I are going to my house after the this,” Justin said.
“Cool.” Nick and Carly got into Nick’s car and BJ and Justin got into Justin’s car. Justin was right. There was a lot of traffic. Nick kept looking at me. “What?”
“Are you nervous?” he asked.
“Yeah, a little.”
“It’ll be ok. You don’t have say anything. Justin and I are the ones giving this thing, so if you and BJ don’t want to say anything you don’t have to.” When we pulled into the parking lot there were cameras and reports everywhere.
“Why are they out here? Shouldn’t they be inside?”
“These are the reporters that couldn’t get in.”
“Oh.” They got out of the car and reporters swarmed them. Nick grabbed Carly’s hand and pushed through the crowd. When they got inside Justin and BJ were already there. BJ looked just as scared as Carly. Lou walked up to them.
“Are we ready?” We all nodded our heads. “Come this way.” He led them to a room filled with reporters. We walked into the room (Justin, BJ, Nick, Carly) and sat down behind a long table. There were microphones, and Lou spoke into one. “Ladies and gentlemen, I bet you’re wondering what this is all about. Well we’re here to clear something up and announce something. Nick Carter and Carly Fatone are seeing each other. Also Justin Timberlake and BJ Carter are seeing each other. Now I’m going to open the floor to questions.” At first no one said anything. Then they all started talking at once. “One at a time. You,” he said pointing at a woman in the front row.
“How did BJ and Justin meet?”
“We met through a mutual friend,” Justin said.
“Nick, when did Carly and you get back together?”
“About a month ago.”
“Justin, how long have you been with BJ?”
“A couple months.”
“Nick, how do you feel about you sister dating a guy from a rival band?”
Nick looked at BJ and Justin. “I’m glad she’s happy.”
“BJ, are you going on tour with Justin when he leave next week?”
“No.”
“Carly, are you going with Nick when he leaves for his tour?”
“No.”
“What does this mean for the relationship between the 2 groups?”
Lou jumped in. “This has nothing to do with the two groups. This is about the couples.”
“Yeah, but with BJ being Nick’s sister and Carly being Joey’s cousin there has to be interaction between the two groups.”
“What would you like us to say? We get along when we have to. Are we best friends? No. Are we enemies? No,” Justin said.
“Ok. That’ll be all. Thanks for coming out.” Carly, Nick, BJ, and Justin got up and walked out of the room.
Downstairs all the guys were staring at BJ. Before anyone could say anything, the doorbell rang. Joey got up and answered it. There stood Venessa. She had been on vacation for the past 2 weeks. Joey pulled her into the house and hugged her.
Carly continued to kiss Nick. She ran her hands up and down Nick’s sides. She started kissing Nick’s cheek. She put her hands on his chest and kissed his neck. “Carly,” Nick said slightly out of breath.
About half an hour later Nick walked downstairs. He walked into the living room. “Do you know where Carly is?”
An hour later supper was done. “I’ll go tell everyone it’s ready,” Carly said. She walked into the living room. “Supper’s ready. Where are Justin and BJ?”
BJ and Carly were sitting on the beach behind the house staring out at the ocean. “Do you think they’re getting along?” BJ asked.
The next day Carly slept in until noon. She got up to find Joey laying on the couch watching TV. I laid down next to him and curled up into a little ball. “Tired?” Joey asked.
To Be Continued…