"It looks like they aren't home yet," Brian said, looking out the window of the limo at his house. "Who?" Nick asked stupidly. "Duh, Nicky. My family," Brian answered, looking at Nick like he was an idiot, although he was being sarcastic. "Where did they go?" Michelle asked nervously, wrenching the Kleenex in her hand. Brian could sense her nervousness, so he placed his hands on hers. "Baby, it's okay. They just went to the grocery. They should be back in a few minutes. Don't be nervous, okay?" he said, stroking her hair. She nodded and smiled. The nine of them got out of the limo and went into Brian's house. It was huge, and not to mention beautiful. "This is your house?" Katie asked bewildered. "Yup. Well, my parents' house. I bought it for them with some money from the first album," Brian informed her. "Come on in, y'all!" Brian said in a goofy southern accent. He took Michelle's hand and led her to the kitchen. Everyone else kinda wandered around the house, marvelling at its beauty. Michelle leaned against the island in the kitchen, looking out the back windows into the backyard and farther on to the lake. She noticed a small dock with a gazeebo leading out to the lake and a small boat tied to the dock. She sighed. "What's wrong, baby?" Brian asked her, stepping in front of her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Nothing at all. It's so beautiful. I wish I had something like this," she whispered. Brian smiled. "Someday you will, I promise," he whispered back, kissing her. _________________________________________________________________________________ "Nick! Nick Carter, where did you go?" Lorie yelled. She was standing in the front yard, and Nick thought it would be funny to play hide-and-seek, so he had disappeared. "Nick this isn't funny! I don't know my way around, so how am I supposed to find you?" she yelled again. She decided to let Nick hide himself until hell froze over, because she was NOT going to search for him. She sat down on the green grass and watched the world go by. "Excuse me, who are you?" a blonde girl about Lorie's age asked her. Lorie snapped her attention up to the girl, who was standing on the sidewalk about fifteen feet from her. "I'm Lorie Duncan," Lorie replied. "Why are you sitting on the Littrell's lawn?" the girl asked. "She's being very rude," Lorie thought to herself. "I felt like sitting down. Is that alright?" Lorie snapped, giving the rude girl a taste of her own medecine. "Well do you know who the Littrell's are? I've never seen you areound here before," the girl smirked. "Excuse me, but who are YOU?" Lorie asked, rather pissed off. "I'm Melanie Brooks. I live three houses down from here. Brian Littrell and I are VERY good friends, if you know what I mean," the girl said, placing her left hand on her hip. "Oh are you really? Well, yes, I know who the Littrell's are. Brian and I are friends. My best friend is VERY close to Brian, too, if you know what I mean," Lorie shot back at her. Lorie got up, smiled curtly at Melanie and found her way inside. ________________________________________________________________________________ "Brian, who the HELL is Melanie Brooks?" Lorie yelled as she entered the kitchen. She found Brian and Michelle sitting at the kitchen table looking through photo albums. "Umm, why?" Brian asked worridly. "She just interrogated me on your front lawn!" Lorie explained. Brian kind of laughed. "Melanie is our neighbor. She's lived here for about three years. Uhh, she kinda, umm, has this obsession with me..." he trailed off. "She said you all were VERY close," Lorie said. Michelle turned to Brian, waiting for an explanation. "She tells everybody that," Brian said, taking Michelle's hands. "Well, I told her that my best friend was VERY close to you, too, and I walked off. She was so rude!" Lorie exclaimed, walking out of the room, going to find Nick. Brian laughed and got up. Michelle got up and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Baby, are your parents going to like me?" she asked. "Michelle! They are going to love you!" he told her, turning around and kissing her. Just then, an older woman burst through the door, along with an older man and a guy a couple of years older then Brian. Brian and Michelle separated their lips, but were still clingin to each other. "Uhh, hi Mom!" Brian blurted out. "Hello to you, too, there boy! Who would this be?" she asked, setting down the grocery bags she had in her arms. Brian let go of Michelle's body but took her hand and led her to his mom, dad and brother. "Mom, this is Michelle Henderson," he said, letting go of her hand. Michelle shook his mom's hand. "Nice to meet you, Michelle. Brian has been talking about you nonstop for the last week!" she said, smiling. "Oh, good, she likes me," Michelle thought to herself. Michelle was introduced to Brian's dad, and his brother, Harold. "Wow, B-Rok, you snatched a hottie," Harold whispered a little later. "Hey, bro, you can look but you can't touch," Brian said defensively. "I know, I know. So, exactly what are you two?" he asked. "Well, we haven't really talked about it," Brian said, looking at his watch. "Hey Michelle we have to go if you want to get to dinner on time," he called into the kichen, where Michelle and Brian's mom were talking. "Okay. It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Littrell," Michelle said. "Oh, call me Lisa. (Author's Note: I don't know if that is his mom's name or not, so play along!) It was nice to meet you, too, Michelle. You are always welcome in our house," Lisa told her. Michelle smiled as Brian took her hand. They left Brian's house, but Michelle knew she would be there many, many, many more times in her life.
Chapter 9
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Stand By Me
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