Brian lay sound asleep by the time Lis awake to the sun shining down on her bed. With her eyes closed she could almost pretend they were Nick's arms that held her close. She rested her head on Brian's chest and sighed, wishing he was someone else.
In his sleep Brian felt Lis rest her head on his chest. He smiled and slowly opened his eyes. "You up hon?"
"Yeah, I woke you though didn't I?"
He shook his head. "No I was just dozing," he looked down at her, and felt a twinge of jealousy towards his friend. He didn't even know what he had and he was throwing it away, although Brian thought Nick knew exactly was he was doing.
Lis smiled. "Liar, I believe you were snoring in my ear."
"Snoring? I was snoring?" Brian asked, in mock horror. He rolled on his side and started tickling her.
"Rok, stop!!! C'mon B...ok you...don't....snore..." Lis said in between her gasping for breath.
"Good!" he smiled down at her and suddenly, slowly he bent down and kissed her gently on the lips.
Lis looked up at Brian startled, not believing what he had just done. Brian pulled away and smiled shyly. "I'm sorry L, I uh couldn't help myself..." he said leaning on his elbow.
"Its uh ok Bri, really." She told him, "We should get ready don't you think?" Lis asked as she made her way out of bed.
"Yeah guess your right."
Hannah walked into the kitchen to find Nick sitting there, having his usual breakfast of cereal and orange juice. "Morning." Han said as she grabbed another box of cereal and sat herself down across from him. "Morning Han." Nick smiled at her. "So your Lis' little sister."
Han laughed. "Younger yeah. I'm a little taller than she is."
"So if she's 23 you'd be..."
"20."
"Right." Nick said as if he knew that all ready.
"And you're 23 too."
"Yep, I knew that one. And I'm a Backstreet Boy, have millions of fans, quite the joker and uhm I can't bowl, love the beach and ocean and me near a computer technically is a bad thing."
"Wow your memory's back." Han teased.
Nick picked up a handful of dry cereal and threw it at her.
Han's eyes went wide as it hit her. "Hey!"
"What?" he asked innocently.
"That's it, you're gonna get it!" she said grabbing the box of cereal and throwing it at him.
Bri drove Lis' convertible down the highway. The top was down and the breeze played with their hair as they drove along in silence, the only sound being the wind. "How about I put a tape in?" Bri asked as they sped towards Tampa.
"Sure whatever." Lis answered, her voice distant.
Rok opened the cassette case on the floor and slid the tape in the cassette deck, seconds later the air was filled with the sound of Nick's voice: "Lying beside you here in the dark...hearing your heart beat with mine..softly you whisper your.."
Before Nick's voice could finish the sentence Lis hit eject on the tape. Bri pulled the car over to the side of the road. "Sorry Lis...I didn't look at the tape I just put it in."
"It's ok Bri, it's just that's the tape he made for me for my birthday of him singing my favorite songs" she said, staring off into the distance, playing with the tape in her hands.
Brian took a deep breath, suddenly realizing how hard things were for her and that they were about to get harder if his suspicions were right. "Do you want to go home? I can drive you back to Jacksonville right now if you want?"
Lis shook her head. "We're closer to Tampa than Jacksonville, let's just go." She looked at Brian. "It's ok B...really."
"If you say so." he said and started the engine, minutes later they were back on the highway.
