Lara almost squealed as she put down the telephone. She couldn't believe she had finally gotten a big interview.

"Oh my gawd," she whispered under her breath. She'd been trying to convince her editor to give her a big interview for over a year, and now she was finally going to get her chance. She couldn't believe the reporter who was supposed to do the interview had fallen ill. What luck!

Lara glanced at her watch and realized she had to leave immediately if she was going to be on time. She grabbed her notebook and recorder and headed to the hotel where the interviews were being held.

Her heart raced as she opened the glass doors and stepped into the lobby. She walked quickly to the elevator and waited somewhat impatiently for it's arrival, before she stepped into the elevator and the doors slid shut.

The elevator doors opened on her floor and she was immediately surrounded by security. They checked her credentials and made sure she wasn't carrying any weapons before ushering her into an empty room. Finally Lara had a moment to breathe. She sat down in one of the chairs facing the door and waited. And waited.

When it came to interviews, Lara was usually a very patient person. She understood all the delays that could come up in the life of an entertainer, even an unknown one as she usually interviewed. But this time, she couldn't sit still. About twenty minutes after she arrived, the door opened.

"Lara Dale?" You're up, if you'll follow me." Lara got up from her chair and followed the other woman down the hallway past several doors. They stopped outside one through which she could hear a large amount of noise. The other woman knocked on the door, and then swung it open, bringing the noise to an abrupt stop.

Lara couldn't help but stare at the scene in front of her. There was a tangle of arms and legs in the middle of the floor, which was being encouraged by someone who was obviously trying not to be physically involved. Two others were engaged deep in conversation on the other side of the room. Lara took a step inside the room as a blondish head looked up from the mess on the floor.

"Uh, hi." He untangled himself and pushed the other guy off of him to go sit in one of the empty chairs. The taller of the two suddenly realized he was alone on the floor and stood up to look at Lara before heading over to another chair. On his way he stole the hat off the one who'd been cheering and rushed off before anything could be done.

"Nick, behave!" Lara heard what sounded like a fatherly voice come from the opposite corner, and she almost giggled. Somehow, after all the reading she'd done to prepare for this interview this was exactly how she'd pictured the Backstreet Boys. But she'd never expected to see it in person. She realized that she was staring at them, and it wasn't very professional, so she moved toward the only empty chair.

"Hi, I'm Lara Dale. I write for Break." She glanced at the five faces that were listening to her. As she reached the fifth, she realized he was looking intently at her; she cleared her throat out of nervousness, and spoke again. "So, uh, you're the Backstreet Boys." As soon as she said it, Lara felt stupid. She couldn't believe she sounded like such a bimbo.

Brian, sitting at one end of the row, looked at the other guys. "We are? Man, I wondered what all those screamin' girls were about." Nick, Howie and AJ, laughed and Lara felt her face flush.

"Guys, let the woman do her job." Lara looked toward the voice that was defending her, and found herself looking directly into Kevin's eyes.

"Thank you." She paused a second until she could look away. "You'll have to excuse my stupidity. You are my first major interview and I'm a little nervous." She caught a glance of a warm smile to her left and suddenly felt comfortable enough to continue with the interview.

She asked most of the questions she had prepared for the magazine, aware of a pair of emerald green eyes to her left that hardly left her face. "Okay, guys, I only have a couple more questions." She noticed Nick fidgeting in his seat. "You won't have to sit still much longer Mr. Carter." Nick's head snapped up at the mention of his name, and Lara heard AJ and Brian laugh.

"She got you, Nick," Howie chuckled. Lara couldn't help but take in the smiles on their faces when they laughed. All the articles were right, they were like family.

"So, how hard is it to stay normal, being in the group? Do you all have like one person who keeps you sane or what? Like girlfriends or someone?" Lara noticed her wording was really slack, but that just meant she was really comfortable with these guys; she didn't feel like speaking formally. Brian was the first to speak.

"We always say when we're asked this question that having a girlfriend at this point is too hard. With traveling all the time, it just can't work. Personally, I've got my friend Raelene, who makes sure my head doesn't get too big, and I think we all have somebody like that, right?" Lara watched as AJ nodded, and then Nick spoke.

"It really helps to find friends who don't really care that we're in the group. Like Rachel, didn't know who I was when I met her, same with Liz, right AJ?" Again, AJ nodded. Lara felt a twinge of jealousy towards these girls, who obviously had the trust and respect of these amazing guys.

"Our families are really good at reminding us that we weren't anybody special before and we're not now, even though we've got all this attention," Howie added. Everybody's attention turned toward Kevin, who wasn't saying anything.

"Yo, Kev, wakey wakey." Brian shouted down the row. Kevin looked toward Brian, and leaned back in his chair with a slightly embarrassed smile, and Lara sighed, as they all started mumbling between each other.

"I guess, I won't go on, since nobody's paying that much attention to me anymore." Lara saw Brian lean toward AJ, and heard him say something about somebody paying too much attention to her. "Anyways, thanks for your time guys. I'm sure you're really busy. I'll send a copy of the article to your management when it's published. Here's my card, " she held out a business card for someone to take, "in case you have any questions or concerns." Lara realized she was still holding the card. "So, nobody wants this?" Howie was closest to her, so he took the card, before Kevin quickly snatched it from him. Lara noticed the quick movement but was unsure what had happened.

She stood up and said, "Thanks again, good luck in the future," as Brian reached to shake her hand.

"Nice to meet you."

Lara nodded, as AJ waved and said "Peace." Nick smiled from behind Brian as Howie shook Lara's hand, and then she turned to Kevin. Lara made the mistake of looking up into his eyes and for a minute she couldn't look away.

Finally, she had to blink and grudgingly turn away because she knew how unprofessional it must seem. Suddenly she wished she had extended the interview for as long as possible. She knew that she'd never see those beautiful eyes again. She knew her moment was over. She said goodbye and calmly left the room.

By the time she got to her apartment, Lara was anything but calm. She couldn't believe she had just interviewed the Backstreet Boys. She had long since stopped thinking about her connection with Kevin, knowing that there was no point dwelling on the impossible.

She was starting to come down from her high from the excitement of the day when the doorbell rang. Thinking it was just one of her friends, that would let herself in eventually, she didn't rush to the door. After a minute, the doorbell rang again. This time, she went quickly to the door, wondering who it could be.

"Sorry," she said as she swung the door open, "I was caught up in something before and ... " She stopped mid-sentence realizing that Kevin Richardson was standing in her doorway.

Lara heard him say, "Hi, Lara," before she promptly fainted.

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