Three months had passed, and so much had happened. Laura did indeed move in with Derek, or rather, he moved in with her into her apartment outside of Orlando. She hated to admit it, but Leighanne was right. "Once an ass, always an ass," she had said to her. Having worked up the courage, she kicked Derek to the curb, finally sick of being degraded by him. Surprisingly, he had not put up a fight this time, and left quietly. He, of course, would still be in the picture when their baby came, but aside from that, he would be out of Laura's life for good. She was relieved after he left, and was finally able to enjoy her pregnancy.

Laura had had a relatively easy pregnancy thus far, except for getting sick on a daily basis. She had thought it was morning sickness, but when it stopped when Derek left, she knew that he was the cause. She had now been morning-sickness-free for the past 3 weeks, and she was truly enjoying her pregnancy now. Looking at herself in the mirror, she basked in the glow of motherhood as she looked at her protruding abdomen, feeling the life within her move around. She giggled as her baby kicked her gently, rubbing her stomach with delight. "I'm going to miss being pregnant," Laura said aloud, looking at the clock. Six o'clock. "Gotta go, concert starts in two hours!" she said, grabbing her purse and keys as she walked out of her door.

"Great show, bro," Nick said, patting his little brother Aaron on the back. "I'm glad I was able to be here to see you."

"Yeah, me too," Aaron said, suddenly distracted as he looked past Nick with a strange expression on his face.

"What are you lookin' at, Aaron?" Nick asked, turning to follow Aaron's stare. He was not expecting what, or rather, who he saw. Laura-- he thought, his heart beating faster. He had not seen her, or even talked to her, since that day three months ago before she left the tour. He couldn't, her leaving was hard enough on him as it was. Seeing her was the last thing he expected this night, and not only was she there, she was carrying on a conversation with his mother! Nick and Aaron walked up to where their mother, Jane, was standing.

"...so my due date is August 12th, and I can't wait! But I realized today that I'm sure going to miss being pregnant," Laura said, smiling at Jane as she rubbed her abdomen.

Jane smiled back. "Oh trust me, I felt the same way with all of my children. In fact, here comes my two sons now," she added, seeing Nick and Aaron approach them. Two sons?? Laura thought to herself, feeling her heart race as she turned around and saw Aaron and Nick. Nick! she thought, elated that he was there. Jane walked over and stood between both of her sons, an arm around each of them. She sighed as she hugged them close to her. "I'm so proud of my boys!" she said, hugging Nick close and turning to give Aaron a kiss on the cheek.

Aaron pushed away. "Geez, Mom, I love you too, OK??" he said annoyed, wiping his cheek with his hand as he walked away.

Nick laughed, his eyes fixated on Laura as he spoke to his mother. "Don't worry about it, Mom... remember, I went through that stage too," he said, kissing his mother on her cheek as she smiled at him gratefully, and walked away, leaving Nick and Laura standing alone together. Laura nervously clutched her purse and Nick shuffled his feet, his hands in his pockets.

"You look--"
"Nick, I--"

Nick and Laura both laughed as Nick waved his hand at her to tell her to continue. "Seems we've been here before," Laura said with a chuckle, smiling at Nick. The both relaxed as she continued. "I was just going to say that I'm happy to see you. It's good to see you, Nick," she said, waiting for his reaction.

Nick smiled as his eyes met Laura's, and he chucked also. "Why, you missed having someone around to ridicule day in and day out?" he asked, winking at her.

"Yeah, something like that," Laura said, looking Nick up and down. "You look--great."

Nick blushed. "I was just about to tell you the same thing. I've never seen you look more... radiant." Laura's heart soared as Nick spoke to her, saying such kind things. She smiled at him shyly as he continued, his expression changing as he asked his next question. "So, um--how are 'things' with Derek?" Laura was about to answer him when she saw another familiar face approaching them, and her heart sank. Becky...

Becky came up behind Nick and wrapped her arms around him. "Intense conversation?" she asked, sneering at Laura from behind Nick's back. Nick turned to face her, and her expression softened instantly as she smiled at Nick. Two-faced BITCH, Laura thought as Nick answered her.

"No," Nick was quick to answer. "Just catching up," he added, turning his attention back to Laura, now with his arm around Becky. Laura's eyes moved between them as she now understood what had happened in his life since she had left the tour. "So," Nick continued nervously, "how's Derek?" he asked Laura again, his eyes piercing her to her very soul. She didn't want to answer him, in fact, she wanted to turn and run the other way, but she had to prove to him that life was just grand since she left.

"Derek and I... we're... fine. Wonderful! In fact, things have never been this good between us," Laura said, unable to believe that she was outright lying to Nick. But she just couldn't let him know the truth, not now, not that he was back with Becky. "In fact," she continued, rubbing her abdomen again, "he's getting more and more excited the closer I get to my due date. I--I never knew I could be so happy..." she added, her voice trailing off a bit as she found it harder to keep up the charade as she lied to him.

"Well that's wonderful, isn't it, Nick, darling??" Becky said, a sarcastic tone in her voice, making Laura wonder if she was onto her lies. Nick simply stared at Laura, unable to form any spoken words as she stared back, a tear forming in her eye. Laura blinked hard as she forced a smile. "Nicky darling??" Becky said, elbowing Nick.

"What?" Nick replied, oblivious that Becky was even still there.

"Isn't that great, that things are going so well for our little Miss Laura?" Becky winked at Laura as she tilted her head up high and proud, as if to say to her, "You had your chance and you lost!" Laura sneered at her as Nick answered.

"Yeah, great," Nick echoed, still not taking his eyes off Laura. He hated to admit it, but he was hoping that things weren't so great for her. Today was the one year anniversary from when Laura first joined the Backstreet Boys' tour as their stylist, and Nick had not been able to think of anything or anyone else all day. There was no denying it. He loved her. He loved her. Nick's heart sank when he realized that Laura didn't share his feelings, that it was too late.

Unable to take anymore, Laura coughed, and blinked, a single tear falling from her eye as she did so. Quickly wiping it away, she spoke, her voice shaky. "Well, I really do need to get going. Doctor appointment tomorrow, you know! They're getting more frequent now that I'm entering my third trimester," Laura said, reaching into her purse for her keys and draping it over her shoulder. "Again, good to see you Nick," she said, reaching out to shake his hand. Nick squeezed her hand firmly as she did the same, unwilling to let him go. Unfortunately their moment was interrupted.

"Good to see you too, Laura. Don't be a stranger, now!" Becky said, snapping Nick and Laura out of their trance. Bitch, Laura thought as she pulled Nick away from her. "Bye!" she said enthusiastically as she and Nick walked away from her, Nick looking over Becky's shoulder at Laura before they were out of her site. Laura sighed heavily as her tears flowed more freely now, as she started walking out to her car.