Tatiana stared out at the horizon before her as the tears freely rolled down her cheeks. How had she become so lost, so tired ?

Who was she kidding, she knew how. She knew exactly how. In one quick moment, her life had changed completely. One minute she had been on Spring Break, happily skiing in Breckenridge with her friends, the next she had awoken from a two day coma.

Her entire life had been altered in two days.

It wasn't that the coma had changed her physically, because it hadn't, but something in her had been missing since that day she'd woken up in the hospital. Something was lacking and while she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was, it left her feeling empty.

She had never felt so alone in all her life.

Two days.

Because of those two days all of her friends had graduated college a semester ahead of her and she hadn't really made any new friends since then. It was too hard to break into the cliques that had been established by senior year, and she wasn't in the mood to try anyway.

Ryan had been her worst loss, however. She didn't miss her family, she'd never had much of one anyway but he had been different, he'd been everything to her. He hadn't been a perfect boyfriend, far from it, but they had always gotten along well and they had managed to stick it out together for almost three years. The last thing she had expected was that he'd be seeing someone else even before she was discharged from the hospital.

He had never even called her again.

More tears burned in Tatiana's eyes as she squinted against the sunlight.

She was graduating next week and no one she really cared about would be there with her. How sad was that.

*****

It was good to be home.

As excited as Nick had been about the onset of this tour, he was glad it was over. It had served it's purpose however. The constant hustle and multitude of adoring fans had preoccupied his thoughts and kept them from Kelly and even though it had only served as a temporary distraction, it had worked.

But what happened now.

As he wiggled his toes in the sand, he stared out at the horizon. He couldn't fool himself while standing there, alone on their beach.

He still missed her.

And the multitude of adoring fans who had entertained him while on tour ? Just that, entertainment. An endless string of one night stands who bolstered his ego but did nothing for his wounded soul.

Still he searched.

He no longer expected the heart-thumping, breathless kind of love. That's what he'd had with Kelly and it had been enough, he didn't want it with anybody else but he did need something more than wide-eyed promises from seemingly innocent starstruck fans. He needed more than just meaningless sex with nameless, faceless many.

They all declared their love for him, yet not one of them truly knew him. And that was fine by him, he hadn't found one yet that he'd wanted to open up to.

Maybe he just wasn't meant to find love with anybody else.

The water soaked the bottom of his rolled-up khakis as he strolled along the shoreline. The beach always relaxed him and today was no different. As his gaze focused downward and watched his feet repeatedly sink into the wet sand, he could feel his tension lifting and without a conscious thought, he found himself approaching his favorite place, his and Kelly's rocky alcove.

The sun was practically gone beyond the horizon when he arrived and as his feet scaled the familiar terrain, he could feel the water splashing up on him. The tide was coming in, maybe he'd spend the night there.

His breathing was only slightly heavy as he straightened up from his climb and startled himself as he saw a girl standing close to the outcropping's edge. For a moment, he was tempted to go back. He had come there to be alone, not risk being recognized or talked to death. But as his eyes scanned the path back to the sand, he saw there was no use, the smaller rocks were already completely covered by water, he'd never make it back.

Nick let out a disappointed sigh causing the girl to turn around abruptly. He could tell he had startled her and immediately felt embarrassed.

"Uh sorry. I didn't know anybody was here."

Tatiana found herself staring at him and immediately diverted her gaze when she realized she was doing so. "No, I'm sorry. Is this private property I should go."

She made her way towards Nick to walk past him but his words stopped her. "Tide's coming up the path is blocked."

His eyes focused on everything except her and he couldn't help but notice she was doing the same. As a matter of fact, she looked downright frightened and Nick couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

"Looks like we're stuck here." He chuckled slightly in an effort to sound light-hearted but as he stole a nervous glance in her direction, he saw her flinch. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you or anything."

Tatiana looked up at him for a brief moment and suddenly felt tears pricking her eyes.

"What the hell." She mumbled and shrugged as she turned and sat on the edge of the rock, "It's not like my life is worth shit anyway."

She cursed herself as she sat down. Why had she even said that out loud, it was none of his business and he surely didn't care anyway. She knew who he was. Didn't know his name but had seen enough pictures of him to know he was a Backstreet Boy. Great. She was trapped in the middle of the ocean with what was surely an ingrate popstar who probably had a flawless existence. And now she was full out crying. Could her life get any worse.

Nick's brow furrowed as he watched her back jump with silent sobs. They'd be stuck there all night and the last thing he wanted to do was watch her cry the entire time. He also felt the unexpected desire to comfort her somehow. The devastated look in her eyes was one he knew well and he didn't wish that pain on anyone.

He had no idea what to do but he sat down next to her anyway. It was a start, right ?

Nick looked down at his thighs, then up at the sky, then back down at his thighs before actually looking at her and even then he pried his eyes away almost instantly.

"Come on, don't cry." He said sympathetically, "It can't be all that bad."

Tatiana's sobs had subsided but fat tears still rolled down her cheeks every time she blinked. "Yes it can."

Nick made himself look at her then. Really look at her. She was pretty, not beautiful but pretty enough and for some reason he knew she probably had a great smile. Despite the fact that he had never seen it, he just knew. What could possibly have her so down ? For the first time in a long time, he was really interested in finding out.

His gaze on her was steady and concerned and Tatiana couldn't ignore his inquiring look. She sighed, hoping she wouldn't sound too pathetic.

"I feel alone. Not just alone butempty." She shook her head, "A part of me is missing and I don't know where to find it." She focused her eyes on his then. "But what would you know about that. You must think I'm crazy."

Without taking his eyes from hers Nick smiled, genuinely smiled. For the first time since she'd been gone he wanted to talk to someone, so he did.

"Her name was Kelly"

*****

It was still dark out when they'd both finished their stories and sat in silence contemplating all they'd shared. They'd cried and laughed and told each other things they'd never even admitted out loud before. And Nick had confirmed that Tatiana did indeed have a great smile.

It wasn't until Tatiana shivered slightly that Nick noticed the cool breeze blowing over them. In an almost automatic motion, he swung his arm up and around her shoulders.

"You're cold. The tide's going down, we can head back if you want."

Tatiana closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of his warm skin draped across her. He felt so right, he made her feel so right. She tilted her face up toward the slowly brightening sky and let a small content smile show.

"I want to see the sunrise with you Nick, can we stay a little longer ?"

A strange feeling of déjà vu consumed Nick as he heard her words and he let his arm drop slightly as he felt his heart speed up. "What ?"

Tatiana pulled back and looked at him, an amused smile on her face. "I want to watch the sunrise with you--can we ?"

The sky was turning pink and as the light grew brighter, Nick realized he was seeing Tatiana for the first time in something other than moonlight. He had never seen her features clearly during the day.

"Nick, is that ok ? "

He was staring at her intently. His heart racing at a million miles a minute when he suddenly broke out in a relieved smile. The look on his face was one of sheer joy and Tatiana thought he looked like he might cry.

"yeah, anything you want, babygirl" he whispered as he looked deep into her eyes.

The breeze had suddenly stopped.

Nick blinked and refocused on Tatiana's gaze.

And in her eyes he saw it.

In her eyes he saw Kelly.