Chapter Fifteen:
How Do I Deal?
Brian rested one of his hands in the small of Dana's back, and held her hand in the other. It made him feel strong and protective, having her tiny body in his arms. He wasn't big by anybody's standards, but she made him feel a lot bigger than he really was. It was an ego booster.
"Brian?" Dana whispered.
He tilted his head down to look at her. "Yeah?"
Dana gazed at him for a while, them snuggled her head back into his chest. "Never mind."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive," Dana murmured.
"Okay."
Not having to worry about anything, she closed her eyes, and relaxed into his arms. It was a sudden surprise, something Dana hadn't expected but definately wanted. As she steadied her breathing to the rhythm of the song, it washed over her unauspiciously. She felt, for the first time in a long while, safe.
- - -a little while later- - -
Dana eased through the throngs of people out on to the restaurant patio, and breathed in the cool air. The stuffy atmosphere had started to get to her, and she felt the need for some privacy. Most of the guests wouldn't go near the patio, because the fans could see them. But Dana didn't give a rats ass about the fans; she didn't have any fans.
The stars twinkled, bringing back memories of that night at Brian's. The kiss, followed the fear, and the running, which was part neccesary, part nervous; Dana wanted to forget those last two things. It was one of the things that she regreted almost instantly, but at least he'd been nice enough to give her a second chance.
There was a clinking sound, and Dana looked down to see two girls jumping over the metal barriers that had been set up.
"Are you okay?" the one whispered loudly, unaware that they were being watched.
"Yeah, I'm fine," the other hissed back.
"Got the camera?"
"I do."
They hunched over a bag, and Dana watched curiously.
"Let's-"
"Hey," Dana interrupted. She was sick of talking to the workers, who whispered about 'that girl who's here with the Backstreet Boy', and who treated her as a minion because she had no fame-worthy talent; she was too scared to talk to the guests, other than the nine people at her booth. These girls would be a nice substitute.
They shrieked in surprise, then laughed anxiously.
Dana was amused, and decided to have a little fun with the two nervous girls. "What are you doing?"
"Uh..."
"We're just going through the alley to the other street," the one lied.
Dana smothered a laugh. "In case you haven't noticed, this is a dead end."
"Yeah, well," the taller of the two stammered.
"What are you really doing?"
"Trying to get inside," the girls said honestly.
"Not gonna happen, sorry to say," Dana shrugged apoligetically. The girls reminded her of herself when she was fourteen. "You need a wristband," she pointed to the one on her wrist, "to get past these big guys who sit just inside all the doors and make sure no one sneaks in."
The two girls whispered to each other, then looked up at Dana with big eyes. "Could we have yours?" they asked boldly.
She gave a small laugh. "Sorry, I've gotta keep it so I can stay with my ride."
"That's okay... could you get us some autographs then?"
These girls were obviously desperate to get some grasp of fame. "No, the only autograph I could get you would be mine, and it's not all that valuable."
"Can we have your autograph?"
Dana was surprised, but nodded. "I guess, if you want it."
"We do," they assured her.
Dana grabbed a napkin off one of the patio tables, and searched for a pen. "Do you have some... a marker or something?" she asked, unable to locate one.
"Sure," the girls threw it up to her, and Dana scrawled her name on the napkin. She folded the napkin up, and walked over to the stairs that went off the patio. The two girls ran over to the stairs, and waited at the bottom. She handed over the napkin. "What's it like in there," the one asked, awestruck.
"It's fun," Dana smiled. "I'm enjoying myself."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Listen, I should probably go back inside now... it was nice to meet you." Dana extended a hand, and the girls shook it.
"Thanks for the autograph."
"No problem," Dana smiled again. "Anytime."
"Can I take a picture?" one of them asked suddenly.
"Sure..." Dana agreed.
The shorter of the two girls held out a camera, and the other one stood infront of Dana. It would look like they were side by side in the picture, Dana assumed, but in reality they were seperated by a thick metal gate.
The procedure was repeated with the other girl, and then they walked away.
They were whispering as they walked away, and for a second Dana thought it sounded like 'She was at the airport.' She waited a few seconds, straining to hear something more. There was nothing, and Dana shook her head. "Couldn't be," she mumbled to herself, and walked back inside.
- - -the next week- - -
"Honey, I'm hooo-me!" Dana slipped off her shoes, and skipped into the apartment happily.
"How was work?" Brette called.
"Good..." Dana peeked around the corner, but couldn't see Brette. "Where the hell are you?"
"I'm in my bedroom. You will not believe what I have in my hands..." Brette trailed off.
"What?" Dana wondered, expecting something very dull and unsurprising.
"Do- do you remember last week when I was talking about you in the tabloids?"
Dana sighed. "Brette, I'm not in any tabloids or anything like that, you know that."
There was a moment of silence. "No, you're on the Internet."
She froze, mid-step. "Stop fucking around Brette, what are you seriously holding in your hands?"
"I'm not joking," Brette walked in to the kitchen and handed Dana some computer printoffs.
'Brian's Bitch!' one screamed. 'Brian has a girlfriend!' another read.
Dana nearly passed out. "Where the hell did you get these?"
"I was at my parents house on the internet, looking for some goofy pictures of Brian to give to you," Brette explained. "As a joke, you know? And I came across this website and it was like 'see pictures of his girlfriend,' and I was like "Hmm, I wonder what unsuspecting person they think it is?" and I clicked the link and BAM! There was this huge picture of you and this girl."
"Oh my God," Dana lowered herself in to the chair, and began reading one of the sheets of paper:
"Hey there, you're here to check out the latest relationship news on Brian. Well, here you go! It's rumored that Brian is dating this girl named Dana Commons.
She was at a club where he was last week, and me and my friend Stacy got her autograph and a picture. He was also seen with her at the Orlando Airport shortly after Christmas. No one is really sure if he's dating her, but lots of people think so."
There was a big blown up picture of Dana at the club with the two girls, and then the writing continued.
"She seemed pretty sweet, and I don't think she's that old. Somebody said she goes to school here in Orlando, but I don't think she was that young, either."
Dana looked at Brette helplessly. "How do people get off writing stuff like this?"
"You are dating him," Brette pointed out.
"Not officially!" Dana shot back.
"Still..."
A groan escaped her lips.
"As far as most of the Backstreet/Brian-Fans are concerned, you stole their man." Brette had an amused twinkle in her eye.
"This isn't funny," Dana chided.
"It is to me," Brette replied.
"I have to phone him..."
"Go for it."
"Oh shit, how will I explain this?"
"Try english," Brette advised teasingly.
Dana shot Brette a withering look, grabbed the phone and walked back to her bedroom. She stared at the papers, and dialed his number.
"Hello?"
"Hi..." she relaxed at his voice. "Listen, are you busy or can I come over?"
"I just got back from that meeting I told you about, and am boiling some Kraft Dinner, but I'm not busy" Brian said. "What's up?"
"I'll tell you when I get there," Dana swallowed. "I'll see you in a couple minutes."
He couldn't even get a word in edgewise before she hung up. All he could do was wonder. It was barely ten minutes, and Dana stormed through the door. She usually knocked, but this time she just banged on in. Something was definately up.
"Look!" she panted, and dropped a couple papers in front of him.
Brian gave them a quick read through, and looked at her. "You knew it would happened eventually," he shrugged, and stabbed a fork into the noodles. It sounded careless, but it wasn't intended that way.
"Yeah, eventually as in a four or five monthes, not four or five days!"
"It's no big deal, it's not like they know where you live and all that stuff," Brian pointed out.
"But they know who I am," Dana moaned. "It's inevitable that I'll lose privacy now!"
"I think you're blowing this out of proportion," Brian said with a smile. He slipped an arm around her waist, and pulled her next where he was sitting. "Just ignore it," he advised, and patted her stomach through her teeshirt.
She smiled involuntarily. He had this magical talent of making Dana smile without knowing that she was smiling. "How can you stand living in the spotlight all the time?" she inquired. "Cause I've been there for about half an hour and I'm already feeling like an object under a microscope."
"That feeling'll go away after a few days, and you figure out that just because you're on the internet doesn't mean everybody is watching you." Brian traced a circle around her belly button with his hand. "Just don't go telling everybody about it, and people will think you don't care."
"But I do care!"
"Pretend you don't!"
She sighed. "It's not that easy."
"Yes it is, just imagine you never saw these... whatever they are, and relish in the fact that you are one sexy university student who has a bunch of jealous twelve-year-olds ready to shoot first, ask questions later." He chewed a macaroni noodle.
Dana punched his shoulder affectionately. "You're not helping," she scolded.
"I'm aware," he said with a cocky smile.
Blush rose in her cheeks, and Dana felt like she was melting into jello. His smile was so sweet, and it just drove her nuts the way the edges of his mouth crinkled. "You're so silly," Dana teased. Everything that had seemed so gigantically horrible a few minutes ago was slowly seeming less important.
- - -the next afternoon- - -
Dana walked through the quad self conciously. She couldn't help but feel that people were looking at her and saying 'That's the girl who's dating that famous guy', even if most of her peers could care less. It was driving her insane. Wouldn't the feeling of being under constant surveilence piss you off?
A poke on the side scared Dana from her thoughts.
"Hey girlie!" Kira exclaimed loudly. "I haven't seen you since the last millennium!"
"Hi," Dana said in a hushed voice. She was positive that people were listening to her as well.
"Why are we being so quiet?" Kira asked, imitating Dana's quiet voice.
"No reason." Dana avoided a direct response.
"Oh, I believe that lame ass response. 'No reason'." Kira laughed her bubbly laugh, and examined Dana. "What's up with you? You were so happy yesterday, today it's like your being watched by the CIA."
"Just tired," she lied.
"Yeah, right," Kira had a knowing grin.
"What do you mean 'Yeah, right'?" Dana asked suspiciously.
"Nothing Dan, I'm just teasing you! You need to relax or something," Kira said defensively.
"I didn't mean it like that Kira, I'm just a little stressed out."
"Obviously," Kira muttered. They walked in silence for a few seconds, and Kira spoke again. "How are things going with the crush?"
Nobody but Brette knew who Brian really was... fame wise, anyway. Everybody else assumed he was just some regular old joe schmoe. "Good," Dana smiled. "But he's not a crush."
"You have such a problem with that word," Kira teased. "What's he like?"
"He's nice," Dana said nonchalantly. "Really sweet, the usual."
"You like him?"
"Yeah..."
"Just yeah... or more than yeah...?"
"More than yeah..." Blush was slowly creeping up her face, and Dana felt her ears turn red. "He's nice."
"You already said that," Kira pointed out.
"Shut up," Dana mumbled incoherently. She pushed the doors to the social sciences wing open, and stalked in. Kira raised her eyebrows, but said nothing. "You know," Dana started, resolutely determined to explain her position, no matter how stupid and un-explainable it seemed. "It's possible to like someone, but be totally lost as to why and how."
"And it's possible to have sex in trees with a small orange bird, but it doesn't usually happen." Kira checked over her shoulders to make sure no one was watching, and did a quick pelvic thrust to illustrate her point.
"Can you just- God, leave me alone Ki." Dana stormed away, leaving Kira speechless and confused at the sudden attitude change.
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