(written by Michelle) "Hey wait, I want to hear this conversation too," Brian said, re-entering the kitchen. "Where's Jess?" Howie asked, pouring himself another cup of coffee. "She's taking a shower, she'll be down in a little while. Stop letting Kev think about his answer, what happened last night cuz?" Kevin put his coffee cup down and went to the living room to see if anyone was still in there, finding it empty, he made his way back to the other guys. "Nothing happened between Jade and I last night," he said, smiling as the memories of the previous evening flooded his mind. "Sure Kev, and you've got that silly grin on your face because you stayed up all night in Jade's bedroom playing scrabble." AJ said, pulling out a bagel from the toaster. "We didn't play scrabble, Bone. I don't expect any of you to understand, you all think with your zipper instead of your hearts." Kevin then took this opportunity to leave his bandmates staring after him, opened mouth.
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Jess stepped out of the shower to find Brian sitting on the toliet seat. "AHHH, Jesus Brian, what are you doing in here?" she asked, reaching for her towel. "Nothing," he said, looking at the tiled floor beneath him. "Usually a girl would be really turned on by her boyfriend sitting in the bathroom, but I don't think that's the case this time, is it?" she asked, sitting on his lap. "Not really," he said, placing his arms around her body. "What's wrong honey?"
"Am I a horndog?" Jess fell off of Brian's lap onto the wet tile and started laughing hysterically. "What, am I or aren't I? It's a simple question Jess," Brian said, angry that Jess was laughing at his simple question. Jess immediately stopped laughing when she saw Brian walk out of the bathroom with a pissed off look on his face. "Ooops, what did I do now?" she asked her reflection in the mirror. Stopping in her bedroom to put on some clothes, Jess followed Brian out onto the balcony. Not wanting to have him pull away from her, she didn't reach out and touch him, instead she stayed her distance. Jess wanted him to know that she was there if he wanted to talk. Brian turned to face her, "I'm sorry about what happened in there, Kev said something to get me thinking that's all," he said pulling her into his arms.
"That's ok Bri, I shouldn't have laughed, I'm sorry too." "I guess this means we're both sorry then." Jess pulled away from his embrace, "What exactly did Kev say that got you all worked up?" Brian's face began a bright shade of red and he suddenly became extremely interested in his shoes, "He said that I think with my zipper instead of with my heart." Again Brian's statements brought Jess to tears with laughter, but again the look on Brian's face brought her back under control. "Honey if you believe that you don't have a brain cell in your brain." Brian still didn't look convinced so Jess continued her little pep talk, "If that's what you think then who was that man who laid a rose on my balcony, the very same one you're standing on. Who makes me feel like I'm the only person in the world that matters to him when I'm with him? If that isn't you Brian, then I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"I really make you feel that way?" he asked. "Of course you do, and you're the only one to ever make me feel that way and I hope that feeling never ends," she said, kissing him. "Me too," Brian said. The two stood there making out for a litle while when Kevin appeared in the doorway, "Am I interrupting something?" he asked, clearing his throat. "No, not at all," Brian said, quickly pulling from Jess's embrace. "I was just wondering if you think it would be okay to go in and see Jade now," Kev asked Jess. "I think so, besides it's about time she got up," Kevin turned to go but Jess stopped him, "Kev, how do you feel about Jade?" she asked.
All of the color seemed to drain from his face as he stood there facing Brian and Jess, "It's okay man, you don't have to tell us," Brian said, laying a comforting hand on his cousin's shoulder. "Thanks Brian," he returned, heading toward the door, but again something stopped him, he turned in his spot and barely whispered, "I love her." Jess and Brian stared after him as he turned down the hall toward Jade's room, "Did he just say what I think he said?" Jess asked, holding on to Brian's hand for support. "I think he did. My cousin is in love with your best friend."
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"Has anyone seen Jade or Kevin lately?" Jess asked stepping out into the backyard where the rest of her friends sat. They had decided on having a barbeque today, the day was so nice, they didn't want to waste a second of it. "No, not since the escapade this morning in the kitchen," Nick answered, swinging his feet into the lake. "WOW, Nicky, big word. Is that our word of the day?" AJ asked, getting hit by water from Nick's enourmous feet. "Shut up, Boner."
Jess helped Howie and Brian with the grill, considering it was a little too dangerous to get too close to AJ and Nick, "How's it going guys?" "Well, Howie thinks we have to put half a bottle of lighter fluid in this grill to get it going, but I say the whole bottle, who's right?" Brian aksed her. "I think I'm just going to go sit over there," Jess said pointing to the hammock. If those guys did blow up the grill she would only get singed from her seat in the hammock. Laying down and lazily letting her foot rock her, Jess thought of the time she had spent down here.
In the short time she had been here she had had: troubles with Jade, almost died, met the Backstreet Boys, befriended the Backstreet Boys, and had fallen in love with one of the Backstreet Boys. All-in-all it had been a pretty productive amount of time, too bad it would all be ending in a week. She and Brian talked about it everyday, it was the one thing they were most afraid of. She would return to Philly and he would venture out on his U.S. tour. Their relationship would stand the test of staticy phone lines, late night emails, and secret rendezvous, but Jess was confident, she wouldn't let Brian slip through her fingers quite so easily.
Jess became aware of the hazy sun lingering overhead as she glanced toward the bright sun, her balcony came into view and she saw the outline of two figures, arm in arm, standing on it, but when she blinked, they were gone. "Now I'm imagining Brian and I up there," she said softly to herself. "Hey Jess, you better go see where those two are, the burgers are almost done!!" Howie called from across the lawn.
"How long have I been day dreaming?" she asked herself, scrambling from the swinging hammock. AJ and Nick were now completely immersed, splashing each other wickedly, and Brian and Howie had managed to get the grill lit without igniting any part of their bodies. Jess felt akward about having to go find Jade and Kevin, what if they were doing something she really didn't want to see? Putting all of her fears behind her, Jess combed the house, finally ending up in front of Jade's door. Knocking twice and not hearing any answer, she slowly opened the door to find something that put a smile on her face. A sleeping Jade lay in Kevin's arms, both naked under the covers.
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