"Nah, I don't need my hearing, D." AJ joked into the phone as Howie shouted the good news. "Congratulations! It's about freakin' time." He added. "Thanks! I just needed to tell someone. Anyway, I'm gonna go cause I'm freezing my ass off out here and Breanna is inside where it's nice and warm." Howie stated. "Okay, tell her I said 'congratulations', 'I love you', and 'be good' okay?" AJ asked Howie. "Alright. I'll do that. Now if you'll excuse me I think I'm gonna go so my fiancée can warm me up." Howie joked. He was the happiest man on the face of the earth at that moment and it showed. "Eh, D? Too much information, man." AJ said as he smiled to himself. "Yeah, I know. Anyway, you can tell the others." Howie replied. "Cool!" AJ almost shouted. "Shit, AJ. How much money did you make this time?" "Only 50 bucks. We knew why you two were going to London, we just made a bet trying to guess which day you'd actually get the balls to ask." AJ explained while Howie sighed in disbelief. "Funny. Anyway, I gotta go. Later, man!" Howie said into the phone before clicking the off button. AJ hung up his cordless and smiled. "Why do you look so happy?" Mya asked as she walked into the room. AJ looked up at her with a glimmer in his eyes. "He beat me." AJ replied. "Who? And at what?" She asked. "Howie. He beat me. He and Breanna are engaged." AJ answered. "It's about god damned time." She stated as she sat next to AJ on the couch. "But what I don't get is the 'beat you' part. I didn't know that getting married was a game to win. I always thought that it was a serious part of life, not some joke." Mya stated. 'Here we go.' AJ thought. "I didn't mean to make it sound like a game, My. I'm just saying that I thought I would get married before he did." AJ replied without really thinking. "You probably would have if you had ever asked." Mya replied before getting up to leave to room so she wouldn't something she would later regret.

"A date? You want a date!?" Brian shouted. Izabel sat down hard on edge of the bed and stared down at her ring. "Is that like a crime or something? Because when we became engaged I figured that it meant that we would get married within two years." Izabel stated as she glanced up at Brian. "Okay, fine. We'll set a date!" Brian replied as he glared at Izabel from across the room. Brian was under a lot of stress and didn't realize that he was taking it out on Izabel. Her request was reasonable but to Brian it was another burden to add to his already long list of stressful things. The recording of their latest album wasn't going well, Nick's solo career was starting to take off, Kevin's producing career was as demanding as Max Martin's, AJ was doing a few roles here and there in independent films and Howie was too busy with his girlfriend and daughter. He didn't know where his career was or if he still had one. He was the most popular voice in the group yet he wasn't sure if he could handle a solo career or even if he wanted one. His health wasn't that great, either. His doctors had been warning him to stay away from fast food because the fatty build-up in his arteries could be life threatening for him and to top it all off he wasn't sure about his relationship with Izabel. Things were starting to become stressed between the two of them and now Izabel wanted him to set a permanent wedding date. "You know what? Keep this until you decide if you even want to get married!" Izabel shouted as she tossed her ring at him.

"Now let me tell *you* something!" Natasha shouted. "Oh I can't wait to hear this." Nick sarcastically replied while the couple argued in their bedroom. "Shut up, Nick, and listen. I've put up with all of your crap. From your ego trips to your self conscious issues to your crazy, psychotic fans who have tried to hurt me. PHYSICALLY hurt me, Nick. I've put up with your demanding schedule, and never seeing you. I've canceled dancing auditions to go on the road with you. I've even put up with your new career that is starting to gain you even crazier fans if that's possible. I've put up with it all! But I'm still here. Why? Fuck if I know. Probably because I love you but lately I'm not sure anymore." Natasha concluded. Nick was taken aback when he heard her mention possibly not loving him anymore and it felt like a dagger was punched through his heart. "Fine. If you don't love me anymore then what are you still doing here?" Nick asked harshly. "I'm not sure. I just want this to change." She replied quietly, not meeting his eyes as he glared at her. "What to change, Natasha?" He asked firmly. "THIS! You not taking me seriously. Not taking *us* seriously. You go out with Brian and get drunk then come stumbling through the door at the crack of dawn and expect me to just roll over and pretend that I wasn't up all night worrying sick that something happened to you. You spend all your free time elsewhere and come home and expect me to just drop whatever I was doing or planning to do to hang out with you. You never call me to tell me what's going on. You have your *people* call me, Nick. What the fuck is this? I want a relationship but you don't seem to care anymore." Natasha said quietly. Nick sighed while shaking his head. "You're right. I don't care."

AJ got up from the couch quickly and followed Mya upstairs. "Okay, so now you're going to turn this around so that it's my fault?" AJ asked. Mya stopped at the top stair and turned around to face AJ who was 10 stairs below her. "Your fault? What are you talking about?" She asked. "You said I would probably be married by now if I had asked you." AJ stated. "It seems like your trying to pin this on me." He added as Mya turned around to continue towards their bedroom. "I'm not *pinning* anything on you, AJ. But, I'm right. You never asked me so it's your fault." She stated. Mya pushed her long black hair out of her face and walked into the bedroom. AJ was directly behind her as she walked around the room looking for her pajamas. "See? You're saying it's my fault. But you know what? I would have asked you way over a year ago but after we got back together you said that you never wanted to get married because it always ended in heartbreak like it did for your mother and mine." AJ stated. "I never said that!" She shouted. "You did, too! I remember everything! We were in Paris walking around the Eiffel Tower...Kevin and Eve just got engaged and we were talking about it...you said 'I don't think I could ever get married. I don't think my heart could handle the heartbreak when the marriage ends like our mothers did'. Those were your exact words!" AJ shouted. "You're wrong!" Mya shouted back as she desperately tried to remember that night. "No, I'm not! You were wearing that long black dress with the slit all the way up the side and your hair was in a French twist. You're burgundy lipstick was smeared because we had been kissing all night. I remember that night so clearly, Mya! I remember it because that was the night I was going to ask you. I even had the ring in my pocket, but when you said that, I realized that you never wanted to get married. And now you have the nerve to tell me that I never asked you? Maybe you should think twice before you say something that could change everything." AJ replied. Mya sat down hard on the bed as tears came to her eyes. She remembered that night clearly. She remembered saying those words and his reaction. He became 'tired' all of a sudden and wanted to go back to the hotel. Mya slowly looked up at AJ as he watched her. "I'm sorry." She whispered. AJ shook his head before looking up at the ceiling. "No...how were you supposed to know what I was planning?" He asked. Mya shrugged her shoulders. "This just proves that we need to learn to communicate better. We can't get married until we at least master the basics of a relationship." Mya joked. "I won't ask you any time soon, either. I want to ask you when you least expect it." He stated. "So, we're okay now?" He added. "Yeah, I'm sorry, though. For what I said..." "Mya, don't be sorry. Forget about it. Let's just go to bed and sleep this off, k?" Mya looked up at AJ and smiled. "Okay. I love you." She stated. "I know, me too." He added before kissing her.

Brian looked down to the ground where the ring laid. He bent down to pick it up and ended up sitting on the ground fumbling with the ring between his fingers. He stared at the ring unsure if he should go after Izabel or wallow in his own self pity. He continued to think about his career while he stared at the ring. He felt like he was in a depression. His career was in turmoil, his future with his fiancée was in question, but when he thought about his son he realized that Thomas was the only part of his life that he felt no anger, regret or unhappiness towards. After two hours of thinking Brian stood up and walked out of the bedroom determined to find Izabel and talk to her. He really didn't see why it was so important to set a wedding date and he intended to argue his point. Brian walked down the long hallway and peered into all the bedrooms until he found her. Once he reached Thomas' bedroom he noticed that the door was open but the room was empty. Brian felt a little uncomfortable and walked downstairs. He looked through most of the first floor rooms and couldn't find anyone. The uncomfortable feeling he had quickly turned into panic when the thoughts of Izabel leaving with Thomas filled his mind. He started to walk faster around the house looking through all of the rooms in the large house until he was almost running. He quickly stopped when he heard muffled voices down the corridor. He stopped a foot away from the den and heard Izabel talking softly. "Shhh...it's okay. It was only a bad dream. It wasn't real." Brian heard Izabel from behind the wall. Brian slowly took a few extra steps until he was standing in the doorway that lead to the den so he could see Izabel. He saw Izabel sitting on the couch with Thomas in her arms, crying. Izabel continued to comfort Thomas by whispering softly to him while rocking him lightly in her arms and stroking his dark blonde hair. Brian continued to watch before something dawned on him. His whole life was in front of him. It wasn't his career or the music world that mattered to him. It was Izabel and Thomas. He didn't need his career because he had enough money to support his family for the rest of their lives but he needed Izabel and Thomas. They were really the only two people who made him happy. Brian felt guilty and selfish all of a sudden for not giving Izabel what she wanted. As he watched her comfort their son he realized that he wanted to marry her more than anything. Brian walked into the den and sat down next to Izabel. She continued to whisper to Thomas but it was obvious that the little boy was fast asleep. "Iz, he's asleep. Let me put him to bed." Brian said quietly as he shifted his body on the couch to face Izabel. Izabel glared at Brian in reply. "No, I can take him myself." She stated. Brian reached out and softly grabbed her wrist. "Iz, let me put him to bed. I want to talk to you." He said quietly as their eyes met. Izabel let down her guard and let Brian take Thomas upstairs to his room. Izabel followed them and watched as Brian carefully placed Thomas in his bed before leaning down to kiss him. Brian walked out of the bedroom and closed the door part way. Without words, the couple walked into their bedroom and shut the door. Izabel sat on the bed and watched as Brian paced around the bedroom before turning to face her. "Lately I've been questioning everything in my life. Especially my career. I haven't been putting your feelings first like I should. I've been too busy thinking about myself. But after watching you with our son tonight, I realized that you're all I want. Who cares about my career. It's still there, it's not going anywhere. But you? I could lose you if I don't watch it and I don't want that to happen. I guess I've been so concerned with my career because I wanted you and Thomas to be proud of me." Izabel listened patiently before she decided to speak. "We love you unconditionally. If you were to hit rock bottom and you were to lose all your money, I would still love you. And Thomas just wants his daddy to be around." Izabel explained. "I know, but I didn't think about that until I saw you two on the couch. I want to get married no matter what and whenever you want to get married, I'll be there." Brian stated with a large smile. "Next summer." Izabel stated without blinking an eye. Brian's eyes grew large while a silly grin appeared on his face. "You don't waste any time do you?" He joked as he held her ring out. "I've been waiting for two years." She reminded Brian as he placed the ring back on her finger.