Kevin walked around the hotel hallway knocking on everyone's door. Nick stumbled out of bed with another massive hangover and no girl besides him. "Hmm...that's a first." He joked. His mind went back to the pretty, aggressive, and intelligent girl from the night before. He wanted to see her again. She was a challenge and he invited it. He could crack almost any girl but for the past two years and the countless times he had seen her, she had held her ground. She never let him get too close and every time he tried she would cut him down to size.

After Nick took his cool shower and got dressed, he ran over to Brian's room. Nick was in high spirits and wanted everyone to know. "Bri! Yo, Bri! Open the door!" Nick whined as he pounded on the door. "Nick, go away!" Brian mumbled as he tossed his pillow over his head. "Bri! Open the door! We gotta get to NBC in less than half an hour!" Nick continued to complain. "What!?" Brian shouted as he jumped out of bed to open the door. Nick pranced in like he owned the place and looked around. "You actually cleaned the room." Nick noticed as he plopped down on the bed. "yeah, there was nothing else to do." Brian noted as he looked for something to wear before he jumped in the shower quickly. "You should have gone out with me. You would have met some fine chicks..." Nick sang out. "Nick, I'm not like you. I don't sleep around." Brian stated in an annoyed voice. "Hey! I didn't sleep with anyone last night." Nick pointed out. "That's a first." Brian mumbled. "But, I met his really cool woman! Brian, she was awesome! She won't give me the time of day and she thinks I only think with my dick." Nick said with pride. Brian gave him a confused look. "And you like this girl?" Brian laughed. "Give me enough time and I'll win her over." Nick stated. "Right, Nick. If she won't give you the time of day now what makes you think she'll give you the time of day some other time? I think you're out of your league, buddy." Brian laughed. "Brian! This girl is beautiful, funny, aggressive, and hot!" Nick explained. "Too bad I didn't meet her." Brian mumbled again. "In fact, I think you kinda did, Bri." Nick smiled. "I did?" Brian stopped in his tracks as he was walking to the bathroom. "Yeah, when you were leaving the club. That chick who gave you a piece of her mind, remember?" Nick laughed. "Oh shit, you like Alexandra's best friend?" Brian laughed in shock. "Oh yeah..." Nick replied. "Man, Xanda's taking over my friends." Brian stated as he walked into the bathroom.

Twenty minutes passed before Brian emerged from the bathroom completely dressed and slightly flushed. "Ready?" Brian asked Nick. "Nah, we got like 45 minutes before we leave." Nick replied as he channel surfed while eating room service. "What!? You said twenty minutes ago that we had to leave now!" Brian shouted. "Nah, I was just trying to get you to open the door." Nick replied as he watched Jerry Springer. "Oh man! Look at that bitch! She's tearing up that guy...haha, kinda like Xanda did to you, Bri." Brian looked at Nick for a moment as anger filled him. "Man, shuddup!" Brian shouted before going back into the bathroom to redo his hair.

****

Howie and AJ spoke to one another and agreed to keep it between them about what had happened. AJ wanted to be the one to tell Xanda when he got home from the tour. He knew that it was basically the end of their relationship but wanted to try to work things out. Finding out from someone else, like Brian, would kill Xanda.

"Let's go, guys!" Nick shouted at AJ's door. "You ready to go?" Howie asked. "Not really. How do I cover THESE things up?" AJ asked, pointing at his neck. "I'm not sure. Do you still have that black mock turtleneck from Armani? The one from that photo shoot three years ago?" Howie asked. AJ looked at Howie and rolled his eyes. "Why would I still have that?" He smirked. "Just in case something like this happened again." Howie replied. "Yeah, yeah, I still have it." AJ mumbled.

****

"Yo, AJ! Nick here has a crush on Xanda's best friend, Keely." Brian laughed. "Keely? Nick, how do you know Keely?" AJ asked, almost in a panic. "You didn't meet her last night? She was the tall, thin blonde..." "Brunette." Brian corrected. "Normally a brunette, last night she was a blonde. Very thin, dressed in hardly anything, and totally aggressive. She could kill you with one glance." Nick replied with pride. "Oh, Nick's in love. That's almost sickening to think about." Kevin said. Brian and Howie cracked up laughing as they all entered the elevator. "Was she at the club last night?" AJ asked Nick. "Yeah...let's see...she told Brian off, threatened to kill me, and was impressed with you." "Me?" AJ asked with little interest. "Yeah. She thought you were a change of pace for Xanda. She would have gone over to say 'hi' but you were a little too drunk." Howie explained. AJ groaned inwardly. He slightly remembered seeing a woman who fit the description Nick had given him. "AJ? You alright, man?" Kevin asked. "I'll be fine." AJ replied quietly. All faces were on Howie who shook his head. "He's hungover." Howie quickly replied. Nick took the answer as a decent one and didn't push it any further.

During the entire interview, AJ sat in a daze playing with the zipper on his jacket. Whenever a question was directed at him he would give a simple yes or no or a one-liner. The rest of the guys had to answer a lot of questions because of AJ, especially the ones dealing with Xanda. When the issue of Xanda and Brian was brought up, Brian realized quickly that something was seriously bothering his friend. He decided to take the question and politely explained that he and Xanda did not get along, they were two separate people, but they made an effort to get along whenever they were together which was rare. Nick joked that he thought he was in love and made a special effort to smile into the camera, wave, and yell "Hi, Keely! I'm gonna get you." "Oh jeez! You are so sappy." Brian laughed. "Cheesy is more like it." Howie laughed. "Like you can talk, D!" Kevin yelled above their voices. "Ohhh!!" Nick laughed. "Woohoo heee!" Brian chuckled. "What!?" Howie accused. AJ actually looked up with a slight grin to see what all the teasing was about. "Finally make a move on her, D?" AJ asked. Howie grinned sheepishly but shrugged it off. "I'm interested in someone." Howie offered in explanation.

****

As soon as Xanda got home she checked her messages. Three were from Susan, three were from the office, one was from AJ, and the last one was from Keely. Xanda replayed AJ's message over and over again causing tears to come to her eyes. Something was wrong and the way he spoke and the pain in his voice was evident. When she finally got to Keely's message, she was just as confused as she was before. "Hey Xanda, it's Keely. I finally met your boys. I gave Brian a piece of my mind, your friend Susan was awesome and her little boyfriend Howie was a totally hottie. I finally figured out who Nick was! He's the same guy who's always trying to screw my brains out. Remember I told you all about him? I just figured out that your buddy Nick and the guy from the bar are one and the same. Funny, isn't it? He's kinda interesting in his own perverted way. Anyway, the reason I am calling is difficult to say. I really need to talk to you, it's REALLY important. Bye, sweetie." Xanda replayed her message again but could hear something hidden in her voice. The same thing she heard in AJ's voice.

Xanda was about to call Keely back but quickly remembered about the interview on NBC. She flopped on the couch with a handful of chocolate chip cookies and flipped to the right channel. Xanda still felt an occasional tear come to her eyes but quickly wiped them away. When the guys finally appeared on the screen, she noticed something wrong. AJ didn't look at the camera, smile, or even wave at the fans in the audience. His hardly answered any questions and he appeared to be completely uncomfortable. She laughed, however, at the little arguments between Brian and Nick, and almost died laughing when Nick spoke to Keely. But what sparked her interest the most was Howie's eyes. They almost twinkled. "Must have been a good weekend." She murmured. As the interview ended, Xanda smiled for the first time all weekend. She couldn't wait for Susan to get home so she could poke and prod her for answers about AJ and especially what appeared to be happening between herself and Howie.

Xanda giggled out of pure happiness and jumped when the phone rang. "AJ!" She squealed happily. She was ready to tell him how sorry she was for everything and how much she wanted him back in her arms. She missed him more than she cared to express and all she wanted was him. "Hello?" Xanda asked, not recognizing the phone number on her caller ID. "Hey Xanda." Keely greeted grimly. "Hey, Keel. What's up? You don't see too happy." Xanda replied. "I'm...I'm not, Xanda." "Why? What happened? Didn't you see that interview on TV right now? Nick really has the hots for you." Xanda giggled. "At the moment, Nick can kiss my ass. I don't care." Keely shot back. Xanda quickly sat down. Something was very wrong and she had a feeling in her gut that it had to do with AJ. "Tell me what's going on, Keely. Something's wrong." Xanda said quietly. "You know I love you, Xanda. You're like a little sister to me and I wouldn't do anything to hurt you. That's what makes this so hard." Keely replied. "Just tell me, Keely." Xanda demanded. "All right, all right. Last night Susan was introducing me to the guys. I never met Kevin, I didn't have the best experience with Brian, Nick I already knew each other and Howie was a sweetheart. But with AJ..." Keely trailed off. She could hear Xanda sobbing slightly. "I never met, AJ. I'll tell you that. But Susan pointed him out to me. He was across the club. He was drinking and apparently he was drunk. I didn't really care. I was shocked by his appearance...piercings, tattoos, colored hair, but that wasn't it. What bothered me was after the rest of the guys left the club. I saw..." Keely took a deep, wavy breath. "You saw...?" Xanda asked back. "I saw AJ making out with another girl, not a woman, a girl. She couldn't have been older than 20. When he caught me watching them, they quickly left together. I don't know what happened after that, I can only assume. I know he was completely drunk and he probably woke up this morning not knowing what happened but I needed to tell you. I can't stand seeing you hurt by men but I can't sit around and watch it happen and pretend to know nothing." Keely explained.