"Are you okay?" asked Lauren worriedly, as her and Brian sat in their hotel room in Lisbon. They had just got back from the last show, and Brian was collapsed on the bed, obviously tired. "Yeah, I'm fine," he snapped back, rubbing his head.

Lauren raised her eyebrows, taken aback by his quick, almost nasty response. She didn't know what to say at that very moment, so she just stood there, watching her boyfriend lie lifeless on the bed. "Brian, I..." she started, but was cut off right away by him saying, "Lauren, we need to talk."

He opened his eyes, and right away Lauren could see tears rimming his eyes. She nodded, and he continued, "Laur, I know that tomorrow we go back to Orlando, and I've been thinking a lot lately, and I've realized that I don't want you to have to go through all of this."

Lauren looked at him confused. "But Brian," she started, "I don't...."

"And no one should ever have to go through all of this, especially if they don't have to," he interrupted, "so I think that maybe it'd be better if you don't have to go through this.....I think that maybe we should break for a while, at least while all this is happening."

Lauren looked at him, stunned. She was completely speechless, as she watched him, still lying there, biting his lip to keep the tears from falling. "But, but.." she stammered, "I...I...I can't....that can't happen! I love you Brian, and no matter what you say about this whole thing, I can't leave you! I'm not doing this for my own guilty conscience....I'm doing this for you and us."

By this time, tears were fully running down her face. Looking at him, not sitting up and trying not to cry just made it so hard. She refused to believe that deep down inside this is what he truly wanted to happen.

He sighed, as a couple stray tears made their way down his face. "I love you too, baby," he said, "but I don't want you to have to go through this...I care about you too much to see you get hurt." She drew in a shaky breath and said, "Bri, no matter what happens, you know I'll always be there for you.....I want to be there with you throughout the entire thing."

Until that moment, Lauren had never expressed her feelings about wanting to go to Kentucky with Brian during the actual surgery. She had just kind of expected that she'd go back to Orlando with the rest of the guys. But that's not what she wanted to do. She wanted to be there with him.

Brian stood up and took Lauren's hand. He was trying so hard to keep composure, but despite the efforts, they were both crying. "Laur, you know I want you to be with me during this all....but I'm just worried about you," he said, wiping a tear from her cheek. "Don't be worried about me," she said, kissing him on the lips, "we just need to make sure that you get better soon."

Lauren looked around, almost in awe, at Brian and Kevin's hometown of Lexington. That very morning they had said goodbye to Kevin, Nick, Howie and AJ in Orlando, as Lauren and Brian headed for Kentucky. It was a little emotional, but Lauren promised that she would call them all as soon as she knew anything. Brian and Lauren had just got off the plane, and were headed on the highway to his house.

The ride had been somewhat silent, but Lauren knew that he was just really nervous. There had been no other occasions of sickness except for the first one, but still it was evident that nerves were still present. She put her hand comfortingly on his that was resting on his leg and smiled. He managed a little smile, which made Lauren feel a little better. The surgery was actually scheduled to take place in two days, and until then they planned to stay at Brian's old house with his family.

They soon pulled into the driveway of an old-looking Victorian house. "Well, here we are," he said, undoing his seatbelt and opening the door. She noticed how well he was taking the whole situation. They went up to the door and soon were greeted by Brian's mother, Jackie, and father, Harold. "So, this is my old house!" Brian announced, leading her through the hallway on the top floor.

"It's a beautiful house!" commented Lauren, gazing around at various baby pictures of Brian and his brother. "Unfortunately," he added, "I don't think my parents ever thought that we'd be, um, sleeping together, so...ya know....my bed is a single bed....."

"It's okay," laughed Lauren, looking at the apologetic look on his face, as she kissed him goodnight and headed for her room. It was a cute room, with a view of the backyard. She unpacked her stuff, then soon fell asleep.

"How are you holding up?" asked Lauren, as they waited in the waiting room. The dreaded day had arrived, and Brian's mother and father were both at the hospital, along with Lauren. Brian shrugged and managed a smile, but he still looked deathly nervous. "Mr. Littrell?" the nurse attendant said, looking up from his clipboard, "follow me."

Brian stood up, along with the rest of the gang. "Will you come with me into the room?" he asked, his voice quavering a little. "Of course I will, baby," she whispered back, squeezing his hand.

Right before they entered (his mother came in too, but Harold stayed in the waiting room) Brian drew in a huge breath. "Well, here goes nothing," he said, his lip quivering ever so slightly.

"Hello Brian," said a man in a white coat, whose name tag read Dr. Klein. Brian nodded back a response, as Dr. Klein led him to another room where he changed into a blue hospital gown. Lauren just watched it all with pain in her eyes. "Okay now Brian, we're going to put you on this transfer bed and wheel you into the room where we'll put you under anesthetic...are you ready?"

Brian swallowed hard and nodded. Lauren tried to ignore the huge lump in her throat. The doctor sensed that he's want to say his temporary goodbyes, so he made himself busy with his paperwork, while Jackie kissed him on the cheek and hugged him tightly. Brian still wasn't showing any outer signs of emotion, as she whispered something in his ear. Then, he moved onto Lauren.

"Baby," she whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek, "you're gonna be fine." Brian nodded solemnly, leaning over for a hug. She kissed him on the lips quickly, as the doctor said, "Are you ready to go?" That's when the tears began to flow. He sobbed like a child but got on the bed as the doctor and attendants wheeled him away.

Lauren's body shook with her silent sobs, as well as Jackie's. They both walked back into the waiting room where they met Harold. All they had to do was wait.

Lauren flipped anxiously through a fashion magazine. She wasn't really paying attention to it; all she could think about was Brian right before he was taken to the operating room. His face had had such a pleading look on it, it was almost like he was being taken away forever, even though Lauren knew the truth.

All of a sudden her phone rang from inside her purse. "Hello?" she said in a loud whisper. "Hey, Lauren?" Gray's voice said on the other end. "Hey Gray!" Lauren said, trying to sound cheerful, "how are ya?" The last time she had spoken to any of her friends back in Orlando was right before they left for Kentucky.

"Good, good.....how's Brian? Is he out yet?" he replied. "No," said Lauren sadly, "he went in this morning....I don't know when he'll be done." She talked to him and found out all about his and Nathalie's plans, as well as what was happening with Bailey and Faren. Then, she hung up.

She waited there for two more hours, not being able to eat anything or hold a conversation. She just waited nervously. Then, Dr. Klein emerged from the double swinging doors with a rather cheerful look on his face. Lauren glanced at Jackie and Harold, who both stood up as soon as they saw him coming. Lauren did the same. "Mr. and Mrs. Littrell?" he said, looking at something in his papers, "Good news. We have successfully completed the surgery, and Brian is doing just fine."

There was a huge sigh in unison. Tears of joy came to Lauren's eyes, but didn't fall as the doctor continued, "We're going to keep Brian here for a week or two, then he's going to need some intense recovery at home. It's going to be well into July before he's going to be able to perform or do anything strenuous like that."

Jackie nodded, her face full of relief that everything was okay. "When can we see him?" Lauren asked. "Well, you can see him now," the doctor explained, "but he's probably not awake yet."

They all headed for the room, and walked in. Lauren held in her gasp, as she just stood and stared at his body lying on the bed, tubes coming from his arms, nose and from his chest. All she could think of was Nathalie when she was in the hospital because of her coma, but as she stood there watching him, she was overcome bu incredible sadness.

She stood there a little longer then went back out to the lobby. Jackie and Harold went to use the payphone, while Lauren remembered she had a commitment to call each of the Backstreet Boys. She called Kevin first, figuring he was family and should know right away, and then called Nick. She had almost begun crying again just talking to Kevin and hearing how relieved he was, but composed herself enough to make more phone calls.

"Nick?" she said as soon as he picked up the phone at his house. "Yeah, Lauren? Oh my God.....what's happening? How is he?" he said in a near panic. "Nick, he's fine," she answered, "the surgery was successful and now he's just in recovery."

There was a sigh on the other end and he said, "Thank God." They talked for a while more, and Lauren told him that after Brian recovered for a week or so, she was coming back to Orlando while Brian took it easy in Kentucky. She actually really hadn't thought about it much before she told Nick that, but she thought it would be best. She then called Howie, and then AJ.

Whew,' thought Lauren, sitting down on the waiting room couch, this has been quite a day.'

Lauren peeked in Brian's room and found him lying with his eyes closed. I better not wake him,' she thought to herself, but at that very moment he said, "I'm not asleep...you can come in."

Brian had been in the hospital recovering for six days already, but Lauren knew something was definitely wrong. There was something about this whole surgery that was having a mental effect on him.

"Hey baby," she said, walking in and kissing him gently on the forehead, "how are you feeling?" He shrugged and bit his lip, "Okay, I guess." This very halfhearted response was the thing that was making her suspicious that he wasn't actually "okay".

"So when's your flight scheduled?" he asked sleepily. "Tomorrow," she answered monotonously, gazing at him staring at the wall. He just seemed so out of it. He nodded, but then she said, "You aren't mad that I'm going, are you? I'll stay if you want me to."

Brian shook his head, as a painful look came over his face. "No," he said softly. Lauren swallowed a huge lump in her throat and said, "Well, the main reason I came was to say goodbye to you....." Brian nodded again, not meeting her glance, and she continued, "So...Bri, I just want you to feel better, okay? And you know you can call me....." she trailed off again. He seemed so distant. "Bye Brian," she finished, kissing him again on the forehead.

She walked out the door and shut it behind her. As soon as it was shut, she burst into silent tears, washing away all the confusion she was feeling. What she didn't know was, behind that door, Brian was doing the very same thing.

"What's wrong?" asked Nick, tossing a piece of popcorn at Lauren. She brushed it away distractedly, as her eyes gazed off into the distance. Lauren and the Backstreet Boys were all at AJ's house watching Austin Powers on AJ's huge screen TV. It was already well into the fourth week of May, and Brian was still in Kentucky. While he had been there, the other four boys had been catching up on some down time, but also attending the World Music Awards in Monaco, even though Brian wasn't there.

"Nothing," said Lauren sighing. Austin Powers was one of the funniest movies ever, but she couldn't find it in herself to laugh at even the funniest parts. Nick, Howie, AJ and Kevin had been laughing it up throughout the whole thing, but Lauren was somewhat distracted. "Sure," replied Nick, shoving a whole handful of popcorn into his mouth.

She continued to pay only half attention to the rest of the movie. When it was done, Nick stood up and stretched. "Do I make you horny, baby?" he said, laughing. The rest of the guys laughed, but Lauren could only force a smile. "Okay," said AJ, noticing something was wrong, "you may not want to tell us why you're so upset, but I don't care....I'm gonna get it out of you!"

She sighed again, and said, "I talked to Brian last night." Nick suddenly sat down again on the couch and looked at Lauren. "And?" asked Kevin. "And," she said, "I don't know if you've noticed this, but he just does not sound the way he used to! I mean, I know he just went through surgery and all, and I wasn't expecting him to recover overnight, but the way he talks just shows something that isn't right."

They all nodded in unison, and Kevin said, "I don't know if you know this, but his surgery was postponed twice because of touring and stuff." Lauren's eyes widened, as she said, "No, I didn't know that!"

"Yeah, and I think maybe he was a little angry that business came before his health," Howie added. "Maybe that's how he's feeling now," said AJ, "the poor guy has to perform again on July 8th ....that's not very much recovery time."

Lauren nodded, feeling incredibly sad. Whenever she talked to Brian, she felt like he was being cold to her on purpose; almost as if he was purposely being indifferent.

"Oh shit," muttered AJ, as he frantically searched the backstage area, "where's my black hat?"

"Here it is," answered Lauren, holding it up. He ran over to her and ran back, as they only had about 15 more seconds before the musical interlude would be over and they had to be back on stage. They both glanced over to the immediate left wing and saw Brian, furiously breathing in the air from an oxygen tank. Lauren bit her lip as AJ just shook his head. "He should not be doing this," he said under his breath, as they all went back out on stage.

It was July 9th, and it was the second show on their U.S. part of the tour. It was also Brian's second show since the surgery. All in all, he wasn't doing so well physically. It was hard for him to breathe during the shows and relied on the oxygen tanks backstage. It made Lauren sad just to watch him.

As the show ended, they ran backstage once again. They were all panting hard, but Brian looked like he was about to faint. "Baby, use the oxygen," Lauren suggested with a worried look on her face. She wasn't used to this at all. He sucked in the oxygen for a minute or two until he caught his breath. He still didn't look 100%.

It went on like this for weeks on end. They would perform the same show in different cities across the United States, and for the first week Brian was dependant on the oxygen. After a while, he became stronger, but his attitude still wasn't up to par. One night, while in Cleveland, Brian exploded.

They had just finished an afternoon show, and Lauren was in the hotel room, trying to tell the concierge downstairs in the lobby not to give any room numbers to anyone who came in and asked for them. "But, it's for the privacy!" she exclaimed into the phone, not understanding why it was so difficult to understand. At that very moment, the door opened fiercely, and Brian walked in. He shut it loudly behind him as he walked over to the window and just stood there gazing out. A little worried by this, Lauren hung up the phone and said, "What's wrong?"

"I just can't take it anymore!" he exclaimed, rubbing his forehead, "it's just too much!"

"What's too much?" she asked timidly. For the past couple of weeks she had almost been scared to talk to him about whatever was troubling him. "Everything!" he burst out, "this tour, this way of living, our fucked up management team....EVERYTHING!"

Lauren knew that the boys were having problems with Lou, Donna and Johnny over some sort of money issue, but she didn't know the extent. She just sat there, stunned, not knowing what to say and Brian just stood there, still fuming. "Well?" said Brian angrily.

"Well what?" asked Lauren softly, still a little frightened. "Well, what do you have to say?" he asked. "I...I'm not sure," she stuttered, "I think that...."

"Forget it," he said, exasperated. He continued to stare out the window, as Lauren sat on the bed looking at him almost horrified. Nothing was said, until he suddenly walked quickly out of the room.

Lauren sat there almost shaking. What is his problem?' she thought, as she picked up the phone and dialed Faren's phone number. She needed to hear a familiar voice from back home. After they had talked for a while, she said, "Far, I have a problem."

"Uh oh," she said, although she knew about everything with Brian already. "I don't know if I can handle being on the road like this with Brian or with any of them for that matter," Lauren said, her voice shaking ever so slightly. "What are you gonna do?" Faren asked.

"I think I wanna come home....I think I wanna come back to Orlando."

Lauren sat on the plane, tears brimming her eyes, as she stared out the window. She shuddered as she thought of her conversation she had had with Brian right after she had spoken to Faren about coming back to Orlando. Brian had been crushed, as well as angry. Lauren had never seen him like that, as she just watched him take it not so well.

She hadn't left him on great terms either. After they had had a yelling match and Lauren told him that she wasn't going to stay and watch him be miserable, she had made it quite clear that she was going to go whether he agreed with it or not. She had said goodbye to him in their hotel room, and when she leaned over to kiss him, he turned his mouth so the kiss landed on his cheek.

She hadn't even told any of the other guys she was leaving; she just packed up her things and left Cleveland on impulse. She had thought it would be good for everyone, but right now she was having second thoughts.

Her plane arrived in Orlando, and she hailed a taxi to her house. She got home, and once again no one was home. Whatever,' she thought angrily. She wasn't exactly in the mood to have to explain herself anyway. She went up to her room and glanced around. It had been a good month since she had been home, but with every second she was wishing she was back in Ohio with Brian.

She glanced at her message machine and noticed the blinking light. She pushed the play' button and listened:

"Hey Laur, it's Nick....if you're getting this message I guess it means you got home already..." There was a moment of silence on Nick's part, and then he continued, "Laur, why did you leave?! Was it something I did? Why didn't you even say goodbye? Ah, oh well...whatever...speak to you soon...bye."

Lauren could almost immediately sense the hurt in Nick's voice, as she collapsed on her bed with a sigh. Things seemed to be going downhill with everyone, not just Brian. Maybe it was too much of a good thing.

She let out a huge yawn, as she realized just how tired she was. Traveling was hard to get used to, and on the average night she had only had about 6 hours of sleep. She lay down on her bed and fell into a deep sleep.

The five guys sat in a circle on the floor of the tour bus, as they made their way from Cleveland to Indiana. Brian was leaning against the couch, staring off as the others watched him nervously. "Yo Rok, you okay buddy?" AJ asked cautiously.

He didn't answer, but continued to stare. "I lost my girl," he whispered, after about a minute or so. Nick looked helplessly at AJ to try to tell him to comfort Brian, but AJ just shrugged. Kevin, however, said, "No, buddy, you didn't lose her."

"Kev, I did lose her....she left me. She's like the best thing in my life and I screwed it up," he said, his voice quavering. The guys just looked at him with pity. "Do you remember when we met them?" he said suddenly, smiling despite his condition, "how we went to Karaoke that night and saw her sing up on stage? And then she introduced us to Bailey, Faren and Gray?"

They all nodded, remembering. That seemed like ages ago, even though it was just a year. "I liked her the moment I saw her," he said sadly, then looked down at his hands. "Our one-year anniversary is next week," he finished.

Nick almost gasped out loud, wondering how it could've already been a year. "That's right!" he exclaimed softly, "on July 26th.....but you guys haven't broken up...you're still together."

Brian shrugged and said, "Yeah, but I don't know what's going to happen."

Lauren flipped through the channels aimlessly, looking for something to watch on TV. She couldn't keep her concentration on anything, and she avoided MTV because every time she turned to that channel, it seemed as though there was something about the Backstreet Boys.

Not only was she depressed, but she was also lonely. It was hard adjusting to complete loneliness after being surrounded by five fun-loving guys for two months. As she looked back, it wasn't all hard times and trauma. She had had great times with the guys in Europe and places like that...it just seemed like after the surgery everything just went downhill.

She glanced at the calendar on the wall and saw that it was the 24th......a mere two days until the big one-year anniversary. She let out a small sigh. She hadn't talked to him since the day she had left, and she didn't really know what to expect. The fact was, she was lonely. She had gotten together with friends like Faren and Bailey....even a couple times with Gray, but she missed Brian terribly. Gray had told her he had spoken to Nick (Nick had called him from the road) but he had only asked how she was. "I could tell there was some sort of built up tension," he had said.

She closed her eyes and thought of Brian out there somewhere in the United States. Then, she couldn't help it; her lip trembled as she began to cry. I've lost him,' she thought to herself, sobbing.

Nick stared angrily at the phone. He was debating whether or not to pick it up, but all he could think of was himself. "Damn it!" he cursed out loud to an empty room, "why does it have to be like this?"

He was contemplating calling Lauren, after seeing Brian in the state that he was in. He was miserable, and Nick was too. "She hasn't even called me back," he murmured to himself, even though he knew perfectly well that the only way she could contact him was through cell phone.

Nevertheless, he was angry. He wasn't always the sensitive type, but he had to admit that he missed her. He missed bugging her and teasing her about all sorts of things. She was also the closest to his age and he felt like he could really relate to her. Plus, he liked listening to her tell him about high school, and what he missed while he was being a Backstreet Boy.

But all that aside, she was a good friend. "Damn," he muttered again, as he picked up the phone and dialed the 11-digit number, "I have to talk to her and get things straightened out."

Lauren heard the phone ring, as she stopped crying. Oh great,' she thought to herself, now I have to answer the phone.' She wiped away her tears as she picked up the receiver. "Hello?" she said in a shaky voice from crying.

"Hi, Lauren?" said Nick on the other end, "it's Nick." Lauren was surprised; she honestly wasn't expecting a call from any of them for a while...especially since she thought Nick hated her. "Hi Nick," she said nervously, her voice still a little shaky.

"Laur, what's wrong...have you been crying?" he asked worriedly. Lauren bit her lip as she wondered how he could possibly have known that. "No," she said flatly, not wanting him to go tell Brian that she was now a basket-case. "Oh," he answered, taken aback, "well anyway, I just wanted to call and see how you were."

"I'm fine...how are you?" she asked, noticing the conversation was quite mundane. "Good, good..." he answered, "listen, Laur, I just want you to know that whatever your reasons were for going back to Orlando, whatever, but why didn't you tell us? You barely gave Brian any warning, and you didn't even tell me and the rest of the guys!"

Lauren was silent. She drew in a shuddered breath and she said, "I know, Nick, I'm so incredibly sorry for not telling you....I just thought it'd be easier that way....I'm sorry."

The conversation continued like that, but neither of them really opened up to each other. It wasn't like it used to be. Brian didn't come up in the conversation after that at all, and eventually Nick had to go and they hung up.

Nick sighed as he hung up the phone. He sat down on his bed in his hotel room in Detroit and thought about Lauren all the way in Orlando. She's holding back on something,' he thought, but then again, so am I.'

Lauren hung up the phone and sank back down onto the couch. What are the chances that me and Brian are gonna get things okay again?' she thought sadly.

The phone rang early on the morning of the 26th....the one year anniversary. Lauren rolled over in her bed, as she opened her eyes and looked blearily at the clock. "Who could be calling me at nine-thirty?" she asked herself, before she realized what day it was, but then picked up the phone and said, "Hello?"

"Hey Laur!" said Bailey's voice on the other end. "Hey Bai," she said, "what's up?" They talked for a while more, and then Bailey brought up the anniversary. Lauren's stomach sunk into her feet, as she remembered. "You gonna be okay?" Bailey asked worriedly, "because if you aren't, I'll come over and bring some funny movies we can watch and we can have a girls day or something!"

Lauren laughed and said, "Thanks Bai, but I'm okay, really. I appreciate it though, but I'll be okay." When they hung up, Lauren got up and headed for the shower. She felt instantly better as she felt the warm water rush over her, but she couldn't help feeling still a little depressed.

She got dressed, and while she did so she listened to the radio. "Hey, good morning Orlando! Here's a song that'll get you all out of bed.... Everybody' by those loveable Backstreet Boys, only on HITS 98.5 fm!" Lauren cringed but toughed it out. It was a catchy song, and soon she was singing along despite herself.

The day went on, and Lauren stayed inside pretty much the whole day, just hanging around. She got a phone call from Faren, and another few from her other friends, but other than that it was pretty low key. She almost forgot about the anniversary...that is, until the phone rang at seven thirty.

"Hello?" Lauren said, expecting it to be another friend. "Hey Laur, it's Brian," Brian said from the other end. Lauren's mouth dropped open, as the whole thing came flooding back to her. "Hey," she said, almost shyly, as she remembered everything that had happened with them. There was a moment of silence, and then Brian said, "So, how have you been?"

"Good," she answered, still shocked. There was something about the tone of Brian's voice that was making her uneasy. It wasn't necessarily a bad uneasy, it was just like he knew something he wasn't supposed to know. "Well, I just wanted to call to make sure everything's okay," he said.

Lauren almost fainted at how standoffish he was being. He didn't even remember their anniversary! Of course, she didn't say anything about it, she just said quite rudely, "Yeah, well I'm fine."

"Good," he said, but then Lauren's doorbell rang. "Hold on Brian, the doorbell rang, one sec," she said, taking the phone off her ear and walking hastily to the door. She opened it up and there was Brian, standing there with his cell phone in one hand, a bouquet of flowers in the other, smiling shyly.

Lauren's mouth almost hit the floor. "B-brian?! But, you're on....you're on the phone..." she exclaimed, trailing off after she realized that he had called her from her driveway.

She just stood there, totally astounded. "Happy anniversary," he said, walking in and handing her the flowers. "Brian," she said, so happy and confused at the same time, "You- you......I can't believe you.....but you're supposed to be....."

"I flew in after the last performance....the next one isn't until Wednesday," he said, still smiling. Lauren looked at the flowers, then looked at his face, as her lower lip started to tremble. "Oh Brian, I love you!" she blurted out, walking into his embrace. It felt so good to be in his arms, and she was just in heaven. When she pulled away, she looked into his eyes which were also a little teary. "I'm sorry, baby," he said, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes, "I'm sorry about my bad moods, our arguments, and me taking my problems out on you."

"No, I'm sorry," she said, "I shouldn't have left like that so suddenly and I was only really thinking of myself." Brian kissed her forehead and said, "It's okay." He moved that kiss down to her lips, as that same chill went through her spine as it had the first time they had kissed on that basketball court on the boat.

"I have another surprise for you," he whispered in her ear, and he reached into his pocket of his jeans. He pulled out a small gray box and opened it. Inside was a delicate gold ring, with a good-sized diamond, sitting there sparkling. Lauren gasped, as Brian got down on one knee and took her hand. "Lauren," he said, "will you marry me?"

"Yo, dude, where's Brian?" Nick asked, as he picked up the TV guide in the hotel suite the guys shared and started flipping through it. AJ, who was sitting on one of the beds, just grinned to himself. "Where is he?" Nick asked again, this time looking up and catching the grin on AJ's face.

"Don't worry about it," AJ answered, trying not to laugh. "What the hell's wrong with you?!" Nick exclaimed, now realizing that something was going on and he wasn't in on it, "where is he?!" Nick jumped up and stood over AJ, trying to look threatening. The now six-foot Nick towered over AJ, but still AJ kept it cool. "He's just not here," answered AJ cooly, keeping his composure and trying not to give anything away.

"Fuck," Nick swore to himself, but then said out loud, "AJ, where the fuck is he?!"

"Dude, chill out!" AJ exclaimed, now laughing, "don't worry...he's in Orlando." Nick's mouth dropped open in surprise, as he said, "Why would he be in Orlando?"

"He went to visit Lauren," AJ answered, smiling at how innocent Nick was, "he went to surprise her and propose to her."

"Lauren," Brian said, a serious expression on his face, "will you marry me?"

Lauren looked down at Brian knelt down on one knee holding her ring. Everything came flooding back to her at that point: the first day they had met on the boat, the various trips they had taken, the tour, and the surgery. Through all that they had made it; sure, it had been a bit unsure at times but they had made it. Her eyes got blurry with tears, as she instinctively said, "Yes."

Brian smiled giddily as he slid the ring onto her ring finger and stood up. "You've just made me the happiest man alive," he said, his eyes becoming moist with tears. A stray tear trickled down Lauren's cheek, as she hugged him. "I've missed you so much," he said, stroking her hair, "it's been hell without you."

"I love you, Brian," was all Lauren was able to say through her tears, as he gently kissed her on the lips. When they parted, all he was able to say was, "I love you too."

"He's WHAT?!?" exclaimed Nick, stepping back, obviously taken aback by what AJ had said. "He went home to Orlando to surprise Lauren," AJ said again, loving every minute of this.

"H-he's proposing to her?!" Nick spat out, incredulously. AJ nodded, and Nick continued, "but-but he never told me this! Why would he go now? We have a show tomorrow! He never even told me! He asked her to marry him? How come he never told me?! Bone, I'm his best friend!!!" he screamed out harshly. AJ's grin suddenly disappeared, realizing Nick wasn't taking this as well as he had anticipated. "Nick," he said sternly, "the only reason why he didn't tell you was because he wanted it to be kind of a surprise. He knows you have a tendency to, well, um, blurt things out at the wrong times."

Nick just gave AJ a sour look, as he thought of Brian proposing. It's not that he wasn't happy...it's just that he was kind of worried.

Lauren smiled and sighed to herself. She stared out the window of her kitchen day dreamily as she thought of Brian on his way back to Texas. "You know I'd wanna stay here for the world," he had said, right before he had to go, "but I'd be disappointing like millions of people.....I'll try to be back as soon as possible, okay?"

Lauren knew it would be a good month before the tour was over, but Lauren was willing to wait an eternity. She smiled at the ring he had given her when he had proposed. She couldn't wait to tell everyone she knew that they were to be married, but she honestly didn't know where to begin. She didn't know whether she should call Bailey first, or Faren, or even Nathalie. Nathalie was busy, though, with her wedding plans to Gray, and Lauren hadn't talked to either of them for weeks.

She also didn't know whether she should call Nick. I wonder if he knows,' she mused to herself. He must,' she concluded, Brian must've told all the guys before he left.'

She continued to stare at the ring for what seemed like hours, until Brian called and said he had arrived safely in Texas.

"When did he say he's coming back?" asked Nick, as he paced around the room nervously. "Dude, just chill out," said Kevin, looking up lazily from the magazine he was reading, "he'll be back soon! Why are you so anxious? And stop pacing around like that! It's driving me insane!"

"Sorry man," Nick mumbled, sitting down on one of the couches in the suite. He looked at his watch, seeing it was only four thirty in the afternoon. He jerked his head up suddenly as he heard voices in the hall, but then calmed down as they passed. "Shit," he said under his breath, as he started to bite his nails.

All the guys knew about Brian's plans at this point to propose to Lauren, and the only one who seemed distraught about it was Nick. "Nick," said Howie, who was also in the room, "you really need to calm down! He'll be back soon, don't worry!"

I'm past the point of worrying,' Nick thought to himself, as he continued to bite his nails. None of the guys seemed to think anything was wrong.......they just thought he was excited to see Brian and talk to him. They couldn't be more wrong,' he thought to himself again, Brian's fucking up his life, and I need to set him straight.'