Xanda sat in her comfortable seat and stared out the window wondering if her vacation would make or break her relationship with AJ. She felt guilty for not giving him her love, which he seemed to be searching for, but she had none to give. She desperately wanted to fall head over heels in love with someone again but she was not ready for another heartbreak. His past relationships or lack there of made Xanda less trustful of his true feelings for her. 'I hate flying.' Xanda told herself. Boring plane flights made her think too much. She thought too much as it was but to be constantly thinking about a situation she could not change drove her mad. Out of pure boredom and possible guilt Xanda pulled out her laptop to finish some files for work. As she stared at the screen, lost in thought, the screen flickered. "What a happy couple." The elderly woman sitting across the isle noted, pointing at the screen. "My wallpaper?" Xanda asked back as the woman nodded. "Thank you." Xanda said quietly as she blushed. The month before, Susan had copied the picture of Xanda and AJ taken at the Grammy's that she had found on the Rolling Stone website and set it as Xanda's wallpaper as a surprise. Xanda had to agree with the woman. She and AJ looked happy. Happy and in love. Xanda quickly shut the laptop screen and closed her eyes.

***

Xanda settled into her large hotel room and waited impatiently for someone to find her. Anyone. Anyone but AJ. Xanda flopped down on the bed and grabbed the nearest magazine and nearly choked when she saw the cover. "I can never get away from you." She murmured as she flipped through the current issue of Rolling Stone with AJ and the rest of the guys on cover dressed to kill in Versace suits holding their latest Grammy wins. She quickly flipped to the page listed and read the group interview. She laughed at the article and how sincere Brian came across. "Maybe I should write the magazine an anonymous letter and spill the truth." She smirked. "'I want a woman to love me for me, not a girl, a woman. I've had it with girls.' I gotta thank this Mr. Stevenson for the good laugh." Xanda giggled in reference to the interview with Brian and the man who wrote it. She was about to read the article with AJ when someone quietly knocked on her door. Her heart caught in her throat but Xanda swallowed it back into place and proceeded to open the door.

"ROADIE!" She squealed when she saw her cat waiting at her door. She quickly bent down and swooped him up in her arms and buried her face in his fur. "I've missed you!" She cooed as the cat purred his love back to her. Xanda and the cat started to go back into her room when someone lunged out and caught the door before it closed. "Yeah, cats know how to knock." Nick sarcastically stated. "Oh, I forgot that someone had to knock." Xanda replied with a grin. "I guess you can join me and Roadie."

Nick followed Xanda into the room and took a seat in the nearest chair. "Ya know, AJ's gonna go berserk looking for him in about five minutes." Xanda put the cat down on the bed and proceeded to pet and cuddle him. "Oh well..." She thoughtlessly replied as Roadie nudged his nose with hers. "Oh well? I'm sayin' that you got like five minutes of peace before all hell breaks lose. He doesn't know I stole the cat." Nick pointed out. "I'm aware." Xanda replied. "You're aware? Um, o-k-a-y....." Nick said with a roll of his eyes. "Ya know, you must be strong cause you like just picked up Roadie like it was no big deal." Nick laughed. "What's wrong with that? He's my little kitten and I've missed him." Xanda cooed but it was mostly directed at the cat. "Little kitten? Shit, you should change his name from Roadie to Fat Cat. That boy's like 14 pounds!" Nick laughed. Xanda quickly looked at Nick and glared before she smiled. "What's the difference? Have you seen your roadie's lately?" She shot back. "Oh, that was low!" Nick laughed. Xanda laughed with him before smiling. "It's nice to see you again, Nick."

The two friends continued to talk for a few minutes until Nick saw the issue of Rolling Stone on the night stand. "Uh, you have the new issue of Rolling Stone!" Nick pointed out as he moved around in his seat uneasily. Xanda cocked an eyebrow and stared Nick down. "Yeah? And?" She questioned. "Uh, nothing. Did you get a chance to read the interviews yet?" He asked back with a tone of fear. "Yes, I have. Nick, what's wrong with you?" She asked but as the words left her mouth she noticed that Nick had calmed down a bit and the color was starting to return to his face. "Nothing. Nothing's wrong. I'm just shocked that you're..." "Nick!!! Your ass is grass, man!" Brian laughed as she stumbled through the door of Xanda's hotel room. Xanda quickly sat up straight and tried not to look at Brian. "He's been partying with Howie." Nick whispered to Xanda before turning his attention to Brian. "What's up, B-rok?" Nick asked while gesturing to Brian that Xanda was in the room. "Oh hey, Xanda Bear! Whuzzup?" Brian asked before bursting into laughter again. "Heeeeeeey, Brian." Xanda replied with question, unsure if Brian would turn into mega-prick if she spoke to him. "Nick! AJ's goin' outta his mind lookin' for the Fat Cat. He's pissed!" Brian laughed, ignoring Xanda all together. "He was pissed when I left!" Nick replied with an English accent and a half grin. "Oh yeah, he was. I mean, he's PISSED. The cat's gone, you were seen with him last, and now AJ's on the hunt lookin' for you!" Brian laughed. "Wait a minute!! AJ's drunk? Why? Doesn't he know that I'm here?" Xanda asked back. "Yup, he's D R N U N K!" Brian tried to spell out. Nick groaned and shook his head in disbelief. "Why you ask!? Didn't you read the article?" Brian laughed while pointing to the magazine on the bed. "She did, Bri." Nick replied for her. "Well, not all of it. Just the interview with you, Brian." Xanda said back before quickly grabbing the magazine. Brian and Nick watched as Xanda flipped through the pages back to the article, more specifically to AJ's article. "Yup, he's drunk because of you. Well, more specicifically," Brian tried to pronounce the word. "Oh jeez..." Nick quietly groaned. "...he's drunk cause he's afraid of what you're gonna do to his dick once you actually read it." Brian continued to laugh. "Fuck off, Brian!" Xanda shouted as she continued to read the article.

Brian stood in the doorway of Xanda's hotel room as he waited for her reaction to the article. "Ohmigod! He told them!? He told them about my past with John and...! Ohmigod! WHERE IS HE?!?" Xanda demanded almost knocking Brian down in the process as she stormed out of the hotel room. Roadie was quick on her heels as Brian laughed in the doorway. He was too drunk to truly realize what was happening. "Xanda! You don't know...!" Nick shouted after her. Xanda was halfway down the hall when a pair of strong arms pulled her into another hotel room. Xanda quickly tried to wipe away the tears so she could beat the crap out of AJ but stopped when she realized that AJ never had a grip that strong. As Xanda's visual cleared she could make out the image of a tall man watching her carefully. "Calm down, it's okay." He whispered as he pulled her to his body for a comforting hug. "No! No, I'm not going to calm down!" She shouted as she pushed away from the man to see who it was. "Kevin!" She gasped. They had never been close before but they were cordial. "You need to calm down." He stated quietly, his deep gaze affecting her. He was a warm person and a gentleman at that but they had never been friends before. They talked about the business world and politics but it never progressed past that. "How can you tell me to calm down? Didn't you read the article?" Xanda asked between sobs. "Yes, we all did. Well, Brian didn't. He wouldn't, but that's beside the point. AJ never told the interviewer any of that. I can promise you that." Kevin stated. "Then how did they find out? And don't tell me that he, she, whoever, was psychic." Xanda demanded. "If you calm down I'll tell you everything."

Xanda sat down on the bed and wiped the tears from her eyes. Kevin walked over to the bed and handed her a tissue. "Are you calm?" He questioned as he took a seat next to her. "Yes, now talk." She quietly demanded. "There's a history between AJ and the interviewer." Kevin tried to explain. "Of course! It's a women, and one he's fucked." Xanda interrupted. "I can't explain if you keep interrupting me." Kevin stated. "I'm sorry. Keep talking." Xanda said. "The history between them has nothing to do with sex, Xanda. She wanted to interview us when we first became recognized by the music industry as more than a boy band or as I like to call it, when we became respected. AJ wanted another guy to interview us because he had interviewed us before for another magazine and they hit it off and became quick friends. She needed a big story to gain a promotion to some sort of editor and an interview with us would have done it but AJ insisted on having the other guy do it. She was angry but she eventually got her story and a much bigger promotion when she exposed some other artists' dirty laundry. Rolling Stone was impressed, to say the least.

"So, she became the 'hot shot' reporter for the magazine because she was sweet and conniving. A bad mix. During a party for the magazine she and AJ started talking. I guess she asked AJ out and he turned her down. He wasn't really impressed with what she had done to other artists and he didn't want her to do the same to us. Dating her or even just sleeping with her would have probably given her a story of some sort on us. Well, she did a small story in the Random Notes section and stated that AJ was hitting on her and every woman in the building. She created some pretty bad blood between them but Germanya settled it by calling a truce between the two. Ya know AJ, he holds a grudge but he wanted to prove to all of us that he was changing so he agreed to the truce. So, a few months ago RS wanted to do another story on us because they predicted that we would win more than three Grammy's this time. Who are we to turn down an interview with one of the most respected music magazines out there? so we agreed. AJ agreed to let Germanya interview him knowing full well how she had been in the past. AJ didn't think anything of it until she started throwing all these accusations at him during the interview that she had found on the internet. AJ denied them all and she promised to throw them out of the interview all together so they wouldn't end up in print, obviously she didn't. AJ didn't really think anything of it. During the photo shoot, the photographer warned him to read the article before they published it but AJ shrugged it off because she didn't seem too hostile during the interview. Here's where you come in. All AJ said about you was your first name, your occupation, your age, and something about you making him very happy. Nothing else! Oh, yeah, she heard him talking to you on the phone about your little dress hunt with Nick. That was a nice dress, by the way." Kevin joked as Xanda laughed slightly. "Good, you're feeling better." Kevin smiled. "Finish your story, Kevin." Xanda demanded.