~chapter twenty-nine: this peaceful shore
Dana pushed the patio door open wide to cool the house off a bit. "Do you leave your heat running while you're gone?" she asked suspiciously. "It's so hot in here."
"It's not my fault," Brian grumbled. "And no, I don't leave the heat on."
"Sure feels like it," Dana complained, and wiped her forehead. The large white sectional couch felt like it weighed at least a ton, and exhausted sweat trickled down their legs, arms, and back. They'd managed to get the first of three sections in the house, but not without a fight. Dana poured herself a glass of water. "Why didn't you just get the delivery people to move it in?" she wondered outloud. "Or get Nick over here. He's good at this kind of thing."
"I hate having delivery people in the house," Brian told her, and stole a drink of water from her glass. "And Nick's in California."
"This couch is huge."
"It's a sectional sofa," Brian corrected. "And it isn't that big."
Dana arched an eyebrow. "When we turn it on it's side, it comes up to my ribs. I'd say that's pretty damn big."
Brian laughed. "You're a little on the short side babydoll, everything looks big next to you."
She scowled at him.
"Come on," Brian sighed. "I was kidding." He wrapped an arm around her waist. "Look at us. We're moving furniture. How lame is this?"
"Very," Dana mumbled. "Don't you want to relax for a while? You know, turn on that thing called air conditioning? Maybe watch a little TV, chill out, maybe lay down?"
"On what?" Brian asked, gesturing around the barren room. "There's nothing to sit on, nothing to look at. There's... nothing."
She frowned, and leaned against his shoulder. "Sometimes I think that you think about things too much."
"Why?"
"Never mind."
He took another drink of her water.
Tired, Dana strolled out of the soon-to-be den, listening to the wind howl outside. It was a miserable day, with clouds looming overhead and rain thundering in the distance. Brian's house was a sauna, the air seemed to not be moving and it was so stuffy. Dana had rolled up the sleeves on her shirt, stripped off her socks, and used a piece of string and some paperclips to keep her hair from sticking to her face. She wandered through the house, loving it's design and colour scheme.
She was so comfortable in the house now, but on her first time ever being there she was constantly afraid of breaking things. Worried she'd get dirt on the carpet, break a plate, scratch a polished surface. The house was so immaculate upon first glance. Then, after you took a deeper look you realised that there was already a little blackish stain on the carpet, but it was strategically covered by a table leg. You saw the crack down the middle of one of the plates, and noticed the tiny marks on the smooth tables. Nothing was perfect, and that was why she loved the house so.
It was just like the relationship she and Brian shared. Nothing was perfect. When people saw the couple, they noticed how happy they looked together, how well they got along. But those people couldn't see all the cracks that had been glued back together. All the stains, spills and accidents that had been endured, then cleaned to achieve the untarnished state of bliss they were currently in. Nobody could understand how all the little knicks, like scars, each had a story to tell. All the scratches on the surface just made it more rewarding, because after you suffer through something, you always come out a better person. And that was just how their relationship was. They suffered early on, because the good times were coming.
++weeks later++
"You're expected in the studio in seven minutes," Dana reminded, while watching the ceiling fan above the bed rotate.
"I know." Brian didn't move.
She laughed. "Shouldn't you be heading towards the bathroom, maybe putting on some clean clothes, a pair of shoes, underwear?"
Brian shook his head. "In eight years of the music business, I have never once been late to the studio." He smiled. "There has to be a first time for everything."
"I'm not gonna let you be late," Dana informed him while grinning. She tossed the sheets back, and pulled open the curtains, allowing the hot sun passage into the Spanish-style hotel room.
"Come back to bed," he crooned. "For a little while. Please?"
She shook her head. "Nope. You have places to be and people to sing for. This is one day where I'm not gonna sleep in, nor am I gonna let you sleep in. There are people depending on you." She dropped a pair of shorts on the bed, and shuffled through his suitcase, looking for a shirt. When Dana turned around, a Ralph Lauren tee in hand, she was surprised to find Brian's camcorder trained on her face. "What are you doing?" she asked with a puzzled laugh.
"Watching you," he replied with a lopsided smile.
"Watching me?" she repeated curiously. "Okayyyy." She held up the tee-shirt. "Do you like these shorts with this shirt?"
"Doens't matter, seeing as how I'm not going out," Brian said, still recording her with his camcorder.
"Oh, but you are going out," Dana corrected. "In a few minutes you're gonna walk out into that baking hot Bahama sun if I have to drag you out there... you have the choice of me dragging you fully clothed or butt naked. Pick one."
"You can drag me anywhere the hell you want when I'm naked," he teased.
She laughed. "Shut your trap and put some clothes on."
"Getting demanding?" Brian asked.
She strolled over to the bed, and threw the shirt over the lens of the camera. "Yes."
"Hey!" he exclaimed, and whipped the shirt off the lens so he could see again. He grabbed one of her wrists before she walked away, and held tightly. "Come 'ere," he declared.
"Brian," she chided.
He kept the camera focussed on her face. "Tell me you love me."
"I love you."
Brian grinned. "Do you swear?"
Patiently, Dana continued, "I swear."
"On what?" he asked with an eager expression.
"On everything."
"Everything, huh?"
Dana nodded. "I swear on everything that I love you. Now can I go get dressed?"
He clicked off the camera with one swift motion. "Nope, you have to kiss me first."
She sighed, pretending to be annoyed. "Do I have to?"
He laughed. "Yeah, this'll be my last kiss for a whole day, until tonight!"
"Aww, my poor wittle baby," she cooed. "One kiss for a whole day, poor angel." She flashed him a sarcastic smile. "Get dressed, and I'll give you that kiss."
++the same afternoon++
Dana strolled the streets of the small Caribbean town, sunglasses perched on her nose. She had one bag in hand, stuffed to the brim with trinkets and little souvenirs she was purchasing for people. There was a dancing Hula doll for Meghan, a satin hibiscus flower for her cousin Alexis and a pair of funky four dollar sandals she'd picked up for Kira. A sunhat for her mom, a barbeque apron for her father. Most of it was useless junk, but it was the kind of thing that people would get a kick out of.
She approached a cute looking shop with a red sundress in the window. Checking her wallet, Dana contemplated going in the store. There would be something she would want to buy, no doubt, but she didn't want to spend a whole lot of money on her second day there. After all, she had a week. School was over, she had passed each and every exam. This was the celebration vacation.
Brian had already been in Nassau for almost eleven days, and decided to fly Dana out for a week. "Come on, I miss you," he'd cajoled. "I miss you so much, I need some good lovin' from my baby." "You're such a retard," she'd replied with a laugh. But now, staring at the window of the petite shop, she was wondering who the retard really was. Certainly not Brian, he'd gotten her there with barely any resistence. It was her, the one and only gullible retard who loved him with everything. Amusingly disheartened, Dana pushed open the door. 'Might as well enjoy myself,' she consoled with a grin.
The store was filled with cutesy dresses and various other articles of clothing near the front. At the back was a kind of grab-bag shop, with accessories and trinkets, and little items that a girl could give for a gag birthday present. Curiously, Dana examined the rack of gag gifts, contemplating purchasing maybe a flavoured condom or one of the risque keychains. She scanned over the rotating shelf, and settled upon a bumper sticker that read 'Zero to horny in 2.5 beers' for Brette. Laughing silently, Dana carried her choice back to the front of the store and paid.
While waiting for her change at the cash register, Dana spotted Brian's face beaming at her on the latest issue of 'Teen People'. Curiously, she placed the magazine on the counter. "Uh, I'll take this too," she requested, sliding the glossy magazine towards the cashier. Dana didn't remember Brian telling her about Teen People. Atleast not this one. She'd known about the 25 Hottest People Under 25, but not this Sexy List. "Thanks," she murmured, accepting the magazine.
Dana stopped at a small cafe and grabbed herself an icy cold peach juice. She strolled down the boardwalk until walking bored her and curiousity overtook her mind. Shoes and packages in hand, Dana padded barefoot across the steamy sand to the water's edge. She dropped to the ground with an 'Oomph', and extracted the magazine. She checked the table of contents, then flipped to the twenty-sixth page. She examined the picture, heading, and summary before delving into the article.
She continued reading the article, pausing only to cast a fascinated gaze at the crystal blue ocean sprawled out in front of her. Dana slurped a bit of juice through her straw, and read more until one section caught her eye and elicited a surprised smile. Pleased, she stuffed the magazine back in her tote bag. With a renewed bounce in her step, Dana headed back for the hotel.
++that night++
"Honey, I'm home," Brian called, imitating Ricky from I Love Lucy. The hotel room was silent, and the warm ocean breeze fluttered in past the sheer white curtains. He wandered through the main part of the stylish suite, dropped his hat on a chair, grabbed an apple off the table, and slipped his shoes off. He noticed a copy of Teen People on the couch, and smiled, remembering the interview. "Dana, you here?"
She walked towards him, adjusting her bathing suit top. "Right here."
"Are you going swimming?" Brian took a bite out of the apple, and pulled Dana in for a tight hug.
"No," she replied. "I'm just going to sit on the beach for a while, relax, etcetera."
"Ah." He nodded. "Mind if I join you?"
"Not in the least," Dana smiled. "Go change, I'll meet you out there." She grabbed her sunglasses, a bottled water, and the magazine. Brian joined her in a few minutes, his Oakleys blocking the sun from his eyes.
"I see you've found me out," he teased, gesturing to the magazine.
"Yeah," Dana agreed.
"Have you read it?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"Do you like it?"
Dana smiled. "Very much so."
Brian laid down next to her on the sand, and he flipped to the article. He cleared his throat dramatically, and began to read outloud.
"One by one, the five Backstreet Boys arrive at the Presidential Suite in Indianapolis's Canterbury Hotel for their noon Teen People photo shoot, each accompanied by his own bodyguard. A policaman is stationed outside the room too, and with good reason: Fans have been staking out the place since the boys arrival."
Dana closed her eyes, listening to Brian's voice.
"The breakup made the proposal even more unexpected. "We were going for Kentucky to Kansas, where her family lives, for Christmas," says Kevin. "I was like 'We gotta go to Orlando' -- I have a house there -- 'I've got some Christmas presents there.' So we went, and we went to a place on the beach were I first told her I loved her. She freaked out. She thought I got [the ring] out of a gum-ball machine."
Watching his older 'bro' plan a wedding has put some ideas into Brian's mind - but not for anytime in the near future. "I was at a fan conference, and someone asked me if I had plans to marry my girlfriend. I wasn't expecting that question, but I replied that no, we'd only been dating for a few months and I didn't have any plans to marry her." Yet. That curious fan got the wheels turning in Littrell's mind. His girlfriend, whom he refuses to name but will vaguely describe, is a very petite, of age brunette with a fierce personality and a penchant for eighties rockers Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams. She and Littrell met "last year, but didn't hit it off right away." But he insists that things are running smoothly now. "I'm extremely happy with [my current] girlfriend. We get along great, and maybe someday down the road... who knows?" Blush creeps up his cheeks, and a happy-go-lucky smile moves across his face. "All I'll say is that I can see myself with her for a long time."
"Normal people like us look at our significant others and think, 'Man, I'm standing next to one helluva person.'" AJ says. "Brian looks at her and goes 'Man, the universe fits into size three pants?!'""
++a few weeks later++
Dana stuffed her clothes into the suitcase disheartendly. "I can't believe I'm going," she moaned.
"I can't believe you're going either," Brette chimed in. "I'm gonna miss you so much."
She looked at Brette sadly. "You know you're my best friend, don't you?"
Brette laughed. "Dana, you don't have to be that dramatic. I mean, it's not like you've never gone home for summer before."
"But I've never gone for three months." Dana looked around her room. "And you're not gonna be here when I get back." Dana frowned. "I'm gonna miss my room."
"Once you get there, it won't be so bad. I'll get back here two weeks after you do, and I'll phone. You'll visit all your old friends, settle in, and everything'll be fine." Brette grinned deviously. "And at least Brian will be there for company for part of it."
"That's another problem." Dana zipped up the suitcase. "I don't know if I'll be able to stand Megan after he leaves. 'Did you see, he hugged me!' 'Did you hear that joke Brian told me? The one about the elephant? It was sooo funny,'" Dana imitated her sister with a lopsided smile. "She is so obsessive, every time I phone she asks me if she can talk to Brian."
Brette laughed. "I think it's cute."
"You would." Dana rolled her eyes. She looked around her room once again. "I think I have everything now."
The two friends looked at each other. Brette smiled sadly. "Give me a hug," she instructed with a disapointed laugh. "I'm gonna miss you Dan."
"I'll miss you too, Brette." Dana stepped back slowly. "Did you know that in the seven months I've known Brian, I've been on planes more than at any other point in my life. It's horrible!"
"Maybe it'll cure your paranoia," Brette supplied optimistically.
"It's awful!" Dana contrasted. "I sleep through the flight, but I'm always awake for takeoff and I worry that we'll crash. And the people can be so rude. I was in the bathroom, and this girl elbowed me - you should have seen the bruise that left!"
"I'm sure it wasn't intentional."
Dana frowned, remembering the greenish-yellow spot that had adorned her rib-cage for a week afterwards. "Even so, it hurt."
Brette sighed quietly. "Well, you should probably phone Brian. Make sure he packs everything."
With a teasingly reproachful glance, Dana said, "I doubt I need to remind him to pack. He probably buys ready-made suitcases that come complete with cloths and all. Lord knows he'd use it enough."
"You're so retarded sometimes," Brette laughed.
Dana shrugged knowingly. "Yeah, well, whatcha gonna do?"
++one night later++
"Mom, this is Brian, Brian this is my mom Lynn."
Brian extended his hand. "Nice to meet you," he greeted, shaking Dana's mom's hand firmly.
"Nice to meet you too," Lynn agreed.
"And, this is my dad, Bill, dad this is Brian."
Dana's father was tall, and had a friendly expression. "It's nice to finally meet you," he said warmly.
"It's nice to meet you too."
Dana glanced around the familiar home. "And, you know Megan, but she seems to be missing in action." Dana raised her voice. "SO I GUESS YOU CAN'T SEE HER," she said intentionally loud.
Megan came careening around the corner, sliding across the tile floor. "I'm here!" she shrieked. "I'm here Dana, don't leave!"
The four adults burst out laughing. "Megan!" Dana exclaimed, pulling her sister into a tight hug. "How's my little sis?"
"I missed you!" Megan declared enthusiastically. Immeadiately, Megan turned to Brian. "Hi!"
"Hey," he greeted, smiling at the bouncy child.
"You can bring your things in, there's a bedroom in the basement for you," Lynn explained pleasantly.
"Oh, I can just grab a hotel room," Brian declined. "Three weeks is a long time to have someone live in your basement, and I'd just be a burden."
"It's no problem at all," insisted Lynn. "It'd probably be harder for you to stay at a hotel, with..." she gestured uncomfortably. "You know, people being around and all."
Brian smiled. Lynn was exactly like Dana. Not tall, slim, the same sparkling eyes. The only visible difference was the blonde hair that adorned the woman's head. Her father shared the rich brown hair, and his facial structure was similar. "Honestly, a hotel would be fine."
"No, you're staying here," her mother said firmly. "If I have to bolt the doors and take your car keys, you're staying here."
Brian laughed. "Well, when you put it that way," he agreed with a smile.
Bill picked up one of the suitcases, and began walking. "You can follow me, I'll show you your room."
Dana dropped Brian's hand, and gave him a little wave as he disappeared around the corner into the basement. She pulled her own suitcase full of things towards her cozy bedroom.
After giving Megan instructions on how to turn on the air conditioning, Lynn followed her daughter into the bedroom. "He's very nice," she said with a smile.
"I know Mom," Dana agreed.
"And sweet. I was hoping that this time you wouldn't end up with another-" she cringed a bit. "Steve. But you've done yourself well this time."
Dana blushed a bit. "Mom, I do have some taste in guys you know."
"I know, but I think your taste took a little hiatus on your last few boyfriends." Lynn frowned. "They weren't exactly star material. Actually, most of them weren't even suitable to be adults."
She laughed, and set her suitcase down on the bed. "Everybody dates one bad seed at some point in there life," Dana pointed out with a half-smile. "I just happened to get a few in a row."
"But not anymore, right?"
"Yeah, right."
Lynn smiled fondly. "I'm glad you've finally snagged one of the good guys, you deserve it."
~chapter thirty~
~chapter index~
