Love of a Lifetime

"Thanks." Nick opted instead to sit on the couch, his elbows resting on his knees. He looked up at her with shame in his eyes. Shame at how he'd treated her. He really felt like a smacked ass. Here she was, coming to him for advice, and he literally laughed in her face. Granted, her story was a bit far-fetched; but, he had told her that he was going to be serious and he should've taken her seriously. "I'm sorry." he offered, meekly. "Please forgive me."

"For what, Nick?" she asked, her tone short and clipped.

"For not believing you. For not even listening to you when you said you had something important to talk about. I'm your friend and I wasn't a very good one the other day."

****************************

"Jesus Christ! Get to the fucking point already!" AJ exclaimed, his voice a whisper.

Brian shot him a look at his taking the Lord's Name in vain and AJ quickly realized his error.

"Bri. Sorry man. Just a little eager to find out what's going on."

Brian waved him off and pressed his ear more firmly against the door.

"I can't make out what they're saying at all." Howie whispered.

"Tell me about." Kevin seplied, "They sound like the teacher in the Charlie Brown cartoons. 'wah-wah-wah-wahwahwah.' AJ, run down to your room and get some glasses or something."

"YOU run down to YOUR room. I don't want to miss anything."

"How can you miss anything if you can't hear anything?" Howie asked, sarcastically.

“Fuck off, D. Why don't you get the glasses?"

"Yeah, now there's a brilliant idea!" Howie spat, rolling his eyes. "I'll just walk into MY room, where Nick and Destina happen to be talking, mind you; and, grab four glasses and then walk out of the room? Yeah, great idea AJ. And when they ask me what the hell I'm doing ... lemme guess ... I tell them that I need the glasses because we're EAVESDROPPING outside the door? Is that your plan?!"

"Here ... Here ... Here!" Brian gritted through his nearly closed mouth, handing glasses to AJ, Kevin and Howie in turn. "Bunch of babies. NOW can we listen in?"

********************************************

"Nick, don't beat yourself up too much. Your reaction is understandable. I mean, I gave you quite a pill to swallow, didn't I?" Destina forced a small smile to her lips as a forgiving gesture, even though she didn't feel too forgiving.

She felt terribly, incredibly, alone ... something she hadn't felt since before the deliveryman brought her that box those few short months ago. She chided herself for allowing herself to get close to people. After her mother died, she'd swore that she wouldn't get close to anyone again; and, that plan had worked out quite easily for her ... until Howie. In the world she lived in, it was easy to get by without friends or family, everything anyone needed was a button or a digital screen away.

'and to think I actually WANTED to know what this world was like?' she thought to herself 'this world is too complicated; there's too much pain and heartache.'

She sighed aloud and reached a hand through Nick's hair, playfully messing it up, a sad smile on her face. She knew what she had to do and it broke her heart to have to do it.

*******************************************

"My ear's starting to go numb." Howie whined.

"Quit whining! All our ears are going numb and you don't see anyone else complaining, do you?!" AJ spat, his frustration at not knowing 'the secret' gnawing at his patience.

"Shhhh!" Brian and Kevin said in unison, their fingers to their respective lips.

**********************************************

"I still should've taken you seriously. If you'll let me, I'd really love to do that now."

"Of course, Nick-knack. What do you want to know?"

"Well, how did you get here?"

"I don't know exactly. One day at my shop, I received a large box. Inside the box was an old blank book and an unused concert ticket to one of your shows. I'm actually a big fan of the music of this time, your music in particular and I have a small collection of Backstreet Boys memorabilia. I was so excited to find an unused concert ticket that I brought it home and put it under my pillow. That night, I had, what I thought was, an amazing dream about being at that concert and what it would be like. When I woke up the next morning, I was wearing the same clothes that I'd worn in the dream and the book, that the day before had been blank, now had had something like a diary entry in it."

"How did you know that it wasn't a dream? I mean, you could've sleepwalked and gotten dressed in the night, and then written the entry yourself?" Nick asked, earnestly, letting her know that he was finally taking her seriously.

*****************************************

"ok, this makes absolutely no sense so far! Does Destina do drugs or something, D?" AJ asked, incredulously.

"AJ, you open your mouth one more fucking time, I'm going to shut it permanently." Kevin muttered, glaring at him. AJ opened his mouth to continue the verbal sparring; but, the murderous looks he got from Brian, Kevin and Howie had him closing it again, saying nothing.

******************************************

"At first, I thought the same thing about the outfit; but, when I saw the book, I knew something freaky had happened because the words weren't written on the pages; they were ... typed."

"Typed?" he asked, the gooseflesh rising on his arms and the back of his neck.

"Yup. Almost peed my damn pants." she replied, chuckling at the memory. "I figured it was a one-time thing until, a few weeks later, there was a matchbook cover in the box with a dinner invitation from Howie. That night, when I went to sleep, I found myself having dinner with him. Then there was the second concert ticket with the backstage pass and I've been in this time ever since."

*****************************************

"What the hell is she talking about, D?" Brian whispered. "D? Howie?"

'Oh my God. The box. That gypsy woman was RIGHT?!' Howie thought to himself, in utter shock and disbelief, not hearing Brian's calls, his mouth agape and his eyes wide.

*******************************************

"So, how does it work?"

"I have no idea."

"How do you go back?"

"I have no idea."

"Holy shit. That's ... just ... holy shit!" Nick rose off the couch, backing away from her, terror in his eyes. He'd always been a fan of science fiction; but, to actually see it, to ... live it, well, that was another matter entirely. He looked at her as if she were a pariah, not knowing what to say or do; and, it was in that moment that Destina threw her head back and laughed. She laughed until her sides were sore.

*****************************************

"What's so funny?" the eavesdroppers asked each other, once again being totally confused.

******************************************

"What's so funny?" Nick asked, his terror slowly being replaced with a bemused grin.

"Got ya!" Destina replied, mischievously, her eyes hiding the tears at having to do this to him. It was all for the best as she knew that none of them would be able to handle the truth of the matter.

"What are you talking about?"

"I can't believe you fell for that!" she teased, nearly choking on the words as the sobs threatened to reveal her.

"But the guys said they didn't pull a prank." Nick said, a bewildered look on his face.

"And the guys didn't ... I did." she said, smiling smuggly as the lies came easier.

"You pulled a prank on me?"

"Uh-huh."

"This is all a big prank?"

"Yup."

"The whole story? The not speaking to anyone for days? Everything?"

"All a prank." she had started to lose her composure and had to clear her throat to regain control of her emotions again. "Excuse me. The other day on the bus was just the groundwork."

She looked at him, waiting for his response, hoping that he'd believe the lie. After waiting what seemed like an eternity, Nick broke into a wide grin, shaking his head and looking at her, his eyes sparkling.

"You got me. Girl, you got me good! Now you just have to watch out for my payback ..."

******************************************

"Oh" AJ began, almost reverently, "Shhhheeeee's goooooood."

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