As the last chord droned on, the crowd went absolutely crazy. The five guys on stage, the ten dancers behind them, froze in their places. Then, they began bowing and waving to the crowd as the cheers went on and on.
Malia joined them on stage, each of the guys hugging her, as well as the dancers. They made their way off stage, the dancers going one way; the stars of the show going another towards their dressing room. Jeff caught up with Malia, "You have a half hour to get ready. I'm going to get Kristy back here with you; the guys are coming back with Marcus towards Nick's room."
She nodded as he continued to talk, "Sounds good."
"Do NOT, I repeat NOT, leave without me, you hear me Malia?"
"I hear you loud and clear Jeff."
"Okay..good show by the way.," He said finally smiling as they reached her dressing room door.
Malia grinned, "You watched?"
"Course I watched! You looked great up there! Although..that leather...does your father know about those pants?"
"Probably not, but that's okay."
He hugged her to him, "You were wonderful Malia."
"Thank you Jeff..it means alot."
"I know, now get in there and change..I'll get Kristy."
"Cool..thanks Jeff!"
"No problemo!"
She shut the door behind her and leaned back against it. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and opened her eyes; she half-expected everything to be strewn about and torn to peices. But, it wasn't. Everything was as she had left it. A smile played on her lips as she went around picking up the clothes she had thrown around earlier. There was a knock and Jeff poked his head in, "Kristy's here."
"Let her in."
Kristy popped in and grinned, "Girl! You were wonderful!!"
The two girls hugged before laughing at how they were acting. "Did you like it?"
Kristy nodded, "Yeah! it was wonderful Malia! You looked wonderful, you sounded great, oh yeah and so did the guys."
"What'd Trace, Matt, and Mike think?"
"I think they were a little shocked that you could look that good but I think they enjoyed it. They went to go find the guys."
"Yeah, that's what Jeff was saying..lemme go shower real quick, okay?"
"Alrighty."
"Did you put your dress in here?"
"Sure did..how long do we have?"
"Half hour."
"That's it?!"
Malia looked at her as she went into the bathroom, "Well, give or take a few minutes. If we're late, it's all good, no worries."
"Cool..I'm going to change, you go shower!"
"Yes ma'am!"
Kristy just shook her head and started to change into her dress for the party.
Malia turned the water as hot as she could before stepping inside and letting the hot water cascade down her tired body. She sighed and closed her eyes as she felt her muscles relax.
After her shower, she stepped out and dried off and pulled her hair up in a towel. She then slipped on the long black skirt, and the dark purple cap-sleeved shirt and finally the knee-length black boots. She opened the bathroom door to see Kristy sitting on the couch flipping through the channels. She turned to look at Malia, "Hey, you ready?"
"Almost, let me fix my make-up and hair and I'll be good to go."
"Cool..mind if I come inside?"
"Not at all..come on Kris."
Kristy stood up and went into the bathroom and sat on the toilet so she could see Malia as she finished her make-up and hair. "Up or down?," Malia asked.
"Ummm...down. Nickster likes it down."
Malia shot her a look, "Shut up."
Kristy just smiled, "Sooo..you two gonna dance or just stand against the wall all night looking at one another?"
"Kristy..."
"What??," She said innocently.
"Anyways.."
"I'm just pickin' on you Malia. When will you all be home next?"
"I have no clue..not for awhile though.."
"That's so sad..so this'll be like the last night we're all together for a while, huh?"
"Yeah..pretty much.."
"You're gonna have to fly me out."
"You know I will Kristy."
"How about to the VMA's where I can see Justin Timberlake's fine ass..yummy!"
Malia laughed, "Umm..we'll make plans."
"You better..ready?"
"Yep, let's go party!"
"Alright!"
Once at the club, Jeff and another guard, Rod, surrounded Malia and Kristy as they made their way past the crowd that lined the sidewalk on either side of them. Once inside, they were led into the VIP area that was roped off from the rest of the club. Inside, the club were special people that had won radio contests, mall contests, and some were fan club members as well from other parts of the country. Trace, Matt, and Mike spotted the two girls first and made their way over to congratulate Malia. Trace leaned down and hugged her and picked her up, "You did so good up there!"
"Thanks Trace!"
Matt and Mike did the same thing. "Where the hell did you learn moves like those?," Mike asked incredously.
Malia smiled almost shyly, "I didn't do THAT good."
"Yeah huh, you looked good!"
"Took alot of practice to look like that."
"I bet so.."
The Backstreet Boys had already arrived and were mingling with 'important' people from the industry. Other celebrities were around as well. Nick had spotted Malia the moment she had entered; she was smiling but looked tired from the show but he could tell she was still wound up. He wanted to go talk to her and congratulate her on a good show but there were too many people around him and her both.
He was now by himself in a small corner, and although noone was talking to him or anything he could still feel people's eyes on his back. It was if, no matter how far he went someone was ALWAYS watching him. He kept an eye on Malia; she was talking to someone (he didn't know who) and Kristy was off dancing with Mike somewhere in the middle of the dance floor. She caught his eye and smiled at him; Nick smiled back and motioned for her to come over. She held up her index finger, indicating to hold on a second, before saying her goodbye's from the person and walked over to him. Nick's smile grew wider and wider, "About time I got to talk to you."
"About time you acknowledged me."
He leaned down and hugged her, "You were great."
"So were you."
He leaned back against the wall, "Havin' fun?"
"Yeah, this is nice."
"I saw your mom and brother."
"Yeah, so did I. They were heading home."
He nodded, "Yeah..did you see my mom?"
"Yeah..and your brother and sister."
Nick smiled, "It was good to see them."
"Yeah..my dad thought he could come but he couldn't."
"That's too bad. I have no idea where my dad is.."
Nick put his hand under her chin and lifted it up, "Don't get all down and out on me now."
"I know..I'm sorry...I just can't help it sometimes."
"You comin' on our bus tonight?"
She nodded, "I was planning on it..and Jeff said it was okay."
"Cool..," He looked up as a slow song started, "Do you want to dance?"
She nodded and let him lead her down the stairs and onto the dance floor. AJ smirked at Kristy, "Told you."
"I know you told me and I told you the same thing AJ!"
He laughed, "I know you did girl..think they'll hook up?"
"They better."
"I know, they should."
Nick was getting more and more nervous as they reached the middle of the dance floor. Malia put her hands in the normal place; on his shoulders. But Nick was having a problem; he had no idea where to put his hands. Malia almost laughed at how nervous he looked but didn't. Instead, she took one of her hands and put it on his, "You don't have to be afraid of me Nick."
Nick smiled shyly, "Sorry."
She placed his hands on her hips and then put her hands on his shoulders and leaned into him more. "Nick?"
"Yeah?"
"I think we need to talk."
"I think we do too."
"About the other night.."
"Yeah..."
"I never thought there'd be a day when I kissed my best friend..," She said just loud enough where he could hear.
He smiled and inhaled the scent of her shampoo, "I never thought there would be either.."
"And I for real don't know what it means Nick.."
"I don't either."
"Being a teenager is confusing enough, but when you're in the public eye it's almost impossible.," She said.
"That's true Lia...but don't you at least want to try something new?"
"Nick..."
"Wouldn't you at least want to know what it's like?"
"Sure I would Nick..but come on, we're both in the public eye way too much and if anything were to happen between us, we both know what would happen..we'd be analyzed over and over and over until we don't even know who we are anymore."
"Malia?"
"What?"
He looked down at her and could tell she was scared; almost more scared than he was. "Quit over-analyzing things yourself. I'm so scared 'Lia that I don't think I have a clue as to what I'm doing...but all I can think of right now is that I have a beautiful woman in my arms and all I want to do is kiss her and hold her and never let go."
She pulled back out of his arms, "No one's ever said anything like that to me."
"How about we get out of here? Go somewhere where we're not being watched 24/7?"
She nodded. He took her hand and led her back up to the VIP area where they said goodbye to everyone. Kristy looked as if she was about to cry, "You call me okay?"
"I will Kris..take care of yourself?"
"You too..don't get too exhausted."
"I'll try not too..I'll call you when I know when I can fly you out okay?"
She nodded, "Okay."
Trace kissed Malia's forehead before hugging her, "You take care of yourself, you hear me?"
"I will."
"And watch out for the stalkers."
"I will Trace..keep an eye on Kris, Matt, and Mike, okay?"
"Will do."
Mike hugged her tightly, "You have fun okay?"
"I will..don't worry."
"I have no doubt."
She grinned, "Bye Matty-poo."
Matt was kind of stand-offish if a person didn't know him but Malia brought out the big, cuddly teddy bear in him. "Bye Lia.,," he said hugging her tightly to his big frame.
"You take care of yourself.."
"I will, you do the same and come home when you can."
"I will..and you'll have to come out sometime."
"Yeah, I will..it'll be a riot."
"That it will."
Jeff and another guard, Gary, followed Nick and Malia out the back door of the club and onto Malia's bus. No one else was going to be on it but her and the bus driver so they figured it'd be a good place to talk. Nick ran onto his bus and got some clothes and essentials before joining Malia again. He smiled as she came to the front where he was in shorts and a tank top. "You know what?," She said.
"What?"
"I'm going to miss everyone."
"Me too."
"But this will be fun."
"Yeah..it will."
"Nick...the reason why I'm so relunctant to even try this whole 'us' thing is because I've never really ever had a boyfriend, you know that. And then we're both celebrities and I have a feeling the paparazzi will have a field day with us finally admitting we're dating."
He took one of her hands, "Did that kiss mean nothing to you?"
"No..it meant everything."
"That's what I thought."
"You too?"
Nick nodded, "Yeah.."
"Where would we go on dates?"
"I don't know..each other's buses?," He said with a smile.
She laughed, "Oooo, romantic."
"I thought so. You know, I keep getting that same annoying question in interviews and instead of saying no, I want to be able to say yes that I am dating you and that I don't give a shit what they think."
"Nick..."
"I do Malia. It'd cause more trouble than anything but I don't care!"
She stood up, "Nick...would you want to try..an us?"
He nodded and stood up as well.
She walked over to the bus window and he followed her, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning his head on her shoulder, "Then I'd like to try too.."
"You would?"
She nodded, "Yes. That kiss changed everything and it feels good."
He kissed her jawline gently and hugged her closer to him.
If it felt so good then why did both of them feel a nagging feeling begin to loom over them like a storm cloud about ready to burst. Both tried to shake it off; they could and would overcome anything that came their way.
But what if it tore them apart in the process?
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