 Six days seemed to fly by before the guys had another off day and then they were slated to head farther north on the rest of the tour. Justin took off right after the show, for a visit with Britney, so Alissa had said goodbye to him, leaving her to spend the entire free day with Lance. They didn't have make any particular plans, and although there were a lot of places Alissa would have liked to go, she didn't suggest them, knowing that if they went anywhere too public their day together would be delayed by fans. Alissa didn't mind the fans, and not as many of them noticed Lance when he wasn't with any of the other guys, but today she didn't feel like sharing him. They were wandering along at a street fair when Alissa felt Lance looking at her. She had been looking enthusiastically at unique little trinkets all the way along the street, but had yet to decide to buy anything. She watched him out of the corner of her eye for a second, as he smiled, and then she turned to face him. "What?" She couldn't help smiling back at him while she waited for him to answer. "Just watching." "Watching what? What did I do?" Alissa was suddenly slightly paranoid. Lance chuckled and held her hand, when he shrugged. "I don't know, because you're you." "Oh." She had stopped in front of a table full of cute trinkets, and she glanced at some of them, when she heard Lance say something. "What?" He looked up, as if he didn't realize he'd said anything out loud. He held up a beanie baby. "I don't have this one." Alissa looked at him curiously. "You mean, you collect those too?" He shrugged. "Might as well, get most of them from the fans anyway." Alissa nodded. "Oh, of course. Just like . . ." "Like who?" Alissa shook her head. "You don't want me to finish that sentence." Lance smirked. "Must be one of your Boys. Let's see. Nick?" Alissa was stunned. "How did you get that?" She pointed an accusing finger at him. "You research them, don't you? You know as much about them as I do." "Don't EVER tell the guys I got that right. I guessed, I swear. I don't know anything else." Alissa laughed. "Ooooh blackmail, baby. You keep hanging out with me and you'll be a Backstreet expert before long, y'know." She threw her arm across Lance's shoulder. "It's like osmosis or something." In a smooth movement Lance turned and kissed her, before replying. "It's a risk I'm willing to take, if I'm spending time with you." Alissa was silent. Lance's statement hit on exactly what she had been thinking about for the past few days. After 7 days of being together all the time, the only exception being during the concerts, how would they go back to phone calls and distance. "Alissa? Are you okay?" She stared at the ground in front of her, and was about to speak when she heard another voice. "Excuse me?" Alissa looked up to see the fan that had cornered Lance. "You're Lance. Can I have your autograph?" Alissa watched as he signed several pictures for the girl and then went on to the other girls who had joined her. Alissa felt herself being pushed farther and farther away from him by the small crowd. Eventually she turned away from the group, and looked at a boot that was nearby. "Is that your boyfriend, getting all the attention over there?" Alissa looked up as the mature voice broke into her own thoughts. "Um, ya, I guess so." She tried not to glance toward where Lance was still surrounded by teenage girls. She couldn't see him, but he was looking around trying to find out where she had gone. "You should go stake your claim, hunny. Don't let them girls push you out like that." Alissa locked eyes with the woman in the booth. "I can't do that. They're his fans, they're important to his career." The woman shook her head. "Don't think they're more important than you. He probably doesn't." Alissa let her eyes fall, looking sightlessly at the table in front of her. As she turned, she mumbled, "Probably. . ." She headed back toward the group that had started to disperse, but was still larger than Alissa had hoped. Apparently once one person figured out who he was, they all came out in full force. Alissa stood on the fringe edge of the group, wondering if Lance had noticed she was gone. She didn't wait long for her answer. "Alissa!" He looked up, motioning to her, causing the teenies to turn their attention towards her. "Who are you?" One particularly bold girl turned and was instantly suspicious. Alissa tried to stare down the glare that the girl was giving her. "I'm a friend, of Lance and the rest of the guys." Alissa, even though she knew how fans could be, was not prepared for the icy and innuendo laden response. "Sure, just a friend. I'll bet." Alissa didn't know how to defend herself, and didn't know if she actually wanted to or not. She didn't have to because Lance chose that moment to tell them all that he was done. Alissa looked at him gratefully, not knowing if he realized what she had been involved in. She watched the crowd disperse and felt Lance step up beside her. "It gets easier, I promise." Alissa raised her eyebrows. "Somehow I doubt that. I am one of them, when it comes to Backstreet. I know how they work. They'll never really like that I'm around. It doesn't matter how mature fans try to be, there's always jealousy. It's hard to accept that there's no chance." She felt Lance's arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "They'll just have to deal with it. You're here, and they're not. That's the way it's going to be." Alissa sighed, and felt tears start to fill her eyes. She felt silly, crying right there, but she couldn't help herself. Lance put a hand on her cheek and turned her to look at him. "What?" Alissa wiped at her eyes, and laughed lightly at herself. "It's silly." Alissa paused, and looked into Lance's eyes. "What about when you're gone?" "Nothing changes. You're still my girl." Alissa giggled, despite herself. "That sounds SO goofy." She kissed him quickly, "but thank you." They met up with JC and Carrie, Joey and Chris a little while later, and Alissa knew that their departure was not going to be easy. Lance noticed Alissa's sudden change in mood, and pulled her closer to him. "Hey, I'll come back as soon as the tour's done, and you can come out, too." Alissa sniffled, thinking about how silly she must seem. She didn't know why she was so upset, she knew she'd see him again. It was totally irrational to be so emotional, and yet, she couldn't help it. She hugged Lance and seemed to cling to him as if she was holding on to a life line. Finally, she let go and took a step backwards, her fingers lacing tightly in his, her eyes downcast. She heard Joey and Chris board the bus, and JC said a final farewell to Carrie before he followed them. "C'mon Lance, we gotta go. Bye �Lissa." Lance pulled her back towards him and kissed her, before reaching up with one hand to wipe away a tear that had escaped her eye. Their eyes locked for a second as he took a couple of steps backwards, one hand still hanging onto hers. Then in one quick movement he had pulled her back into his arms. She could feel him brushing her hair away from her face, and was startled as she heard him whisper in her air. "Love you." Before she could respond he had let her go, and turned to get on the bus, not looking back. Alissa knew Carrie was standing nearby, but she couldn't take her eyes off the bus as it pulled away. She watched it disappear, and then Carrie spoke. "We are SO sad, �Liss. They'll be back in a couple of weeks, anyway." Alissa smiled, looking at Carrie and noticing that her eyes were red-rimmed from crying as well. "We are pretty pathetic, aren't we?" She brushed a hand across her eyes, ridding herself of the last few tears. "Let's go do something. We've gotta spend some quality girl time while you're here." She held out her arm to link it with Carrie's and giggled as they walked away, trying to put Lance's last words momentarily out of her mind.
 "Carrie, gimme a hand over here, wouldya?" Alissa tried juggling the packages in her hand to put the key in the lock of her apartment, as Carrie staggered up behind her, holding just as many. "What do you expect me to do? I've got just as much stuff as you do. Chuck it on the floor." Carrie cringed, and heard Alissa sigh as all the packages crashed to the floor. "I didn't mean literally, geez." Alissa sighed again. "As if that's what I intended to do. Who said shopping our blues away was a good idea? Did I really need all this crap?" She finally got the door open and pushed several of the packages inside with her foot before picking up the remainder and carrying them inside. Carrie stepped gingerly in the door, still doing a precise balancing act with her bundles. "OF course you didn't need it, that's the whole point of shopping. Buy a whole bunch of useless crap, so that you feel like you've got worse problems than the ones you left with. Now you're broke. Isn't that worse than having your boyfriend leave on tour?" She suddenly dropped all her purchases on the couch and then flopped down beside them. "Ah... I am so tired." There was no response. "Alissa?" Alissa glanced up from her spot near the answering machine. "Hmm?" "Oh nothing, just wondering if you were paying attention. Obviously not. Got messages?" Alissa pushed the rewind button. "Yup. Just one." "Oooo, do you think JC called me? Huh, ya think?" Alissa threw an annoyed glance at Carrie. "Oh hush up, or you won't hear if he called or not. And neither will I." She quickly pressed the play button and waited. "Hi Alissa. Wanted to let you know how much I miss you already. Call me. Whenever. Bye." Alissa heard a dreamy sigh from Carrie. "Aaw, Lance is so sweet �Liss. You're so lucky." She started to pout, "JC didn't call me. I knew there was a reason why Lance was my favorite." Alissa glared at Carrie. "Hey, now. You gave him up, there's no going back now." Carrie growled. "That's no fair. I saw him first, you didn't' even like him." She paused for a second, to think. "Maybe we could arrange a swap." Alissa wrinkled her nose. "Ew, that just sounds bad, Care. Besides I already had my shot with JC." Carrie nodded, realizing that her idea had just plummeted, but she hadn't been serious anyway. "That's true. That's alright. I think he'll do anyway. Even if he doesn't call me." Alissa laughed and rolled her eyes.Six days seemed to fly by before the guys had another off day and then they were slated to head farther north on the rest of the tour. Justin took off right after the show, for a visit with Britney, so Alissa had said goodbye to him, leaving her to spend the entire free day with Lance. They didn't have make any particular plans, and although there were a lot of places Alissa would have liked to go, she didn't suggest them, knowing that if they went anywhere too public their day together would be delayed by fans. Alissa didn't mind the fans, and not as many of them noticed Lance when he wasn't with any of the other guys, but today she didn't feel like sharing him. They were wandering along at a street fair when Alissa felt Lance looking at her. She had been looking enthusiastically at unique little trinkets all the way along the street, but had yet to decide to buy anything. She watched him out of the corner of her eye for a second, as he smiled, and then she turned to face him. "What?" She couldn't help smiling back at him while she waited for him to answer. "Just watching." "Watching what? What did I do?" Alissa was suddenly slightly paranoid. Lance chuckled and held her hand, when he shrugged. "I don't know, because you're you." "Oh." She had stopped in front of a table full of cute trinkets, and she glanced at some of them, when she heard Lance say something. "What?" He looked up, as if he didn't realize he'd said anything out loud. He held up a beanie baby. "I don't have this one." Alissa looked at him curiously. "You mean, you collect those too?" He shrugged. "Might as well, get most of them from the fans anyway." Alissa nodded. "Oh, of course. Just like . . ." "Like who?" Alissa shook her head. "You don't want me to finish that sentence." Lance smirked. "Must be one of your Boys. Let's see. Nick?" Alissa was stunned. "How did you get that?" She pointed an accusing finger at him. "You research them, don't you? You know as much about them as I do." "Don't EVER tell the guys I got that right. I guessed, I swear. I don't know anything else." Alissa laughed. "Ooooh blackmail, baby. You keep hanging out with me and you'll be a Backstreet expert before long, y'know." She threw her arm across Lance's shoulder. "It's like osmosis or something." In a smooth movement Lance turned and kissed her, before replying. "It's a risk I'm willing to take, if I'm spending time with you." Alissa was silent. Lance's statement hit on exactly what she had been thinking about for the past few days. After 7 days of being together all the time, the only exception being during the concerts, how would they go back to phone calls and distance. "Alissa? Are you okay?" She stared at the ground in front of her, and was about to speak when she heard another voice. "Excuse me?" Alissa looked up to see the fan that had cornered Lance. "You're Lance. Can I have your autograph?" Alissa watched as he signed several pictures for the girl and then went on to the other girls who had joined her. Alissa felt herself being pushed farther and farther away from him by the small crowd. Eventually she turned away from the group, and looked at a boot that was nearby. "Is that your boyfriend, getting all the attention over there?" Alissa looked up as the mature voice broke into her own thoughts. "Um, ya, I guess so." She tried not to glance toward where Lance was still surrounded by teenage girls. She couldn't see him, but he was looking around trying to find out where she had gone. "You should go stake your claim, hunny. Don't let them girls push you out like that." Alissa locked eyes with the woman in the booth. "I can't do that. They're his fans, they're important to his career." The woman shook her head. "Don't think they're more important than you. He probably doesn't." Alissa let her eyes fall, looking sightlessly at the table in front of her. As she turned, she mumbled, "Probably. . ." She headed back toward the group that had started to disperse, but was still larger than Alissa had hoped. Apparently once one person figured out who he was, they all came out in full force. Alissa stood on the fringe edge of the group, wondering if Lance had noticed she was gone. She didn't wait long for her answer. "Alissa!" He looked up, motioning to her, causing the teenies to turn their attention towards her. "Who are you?" One particularly bold girl turned and was instantly suspicious. Alissa tried to stare down the glare that the girl was giving her. "I'm a friend, of Lance and the rest of the guys." Alissa, even though she knew how fans could be, was not prepared for the icy and innuendo laden response. "Sure, just a friend. I'll bet." Alissa didn't know how to defend herself, and didn't know if she actually wanted to or not. She didn't have to because Lance chose that moment to tell them all that he was done. Alissa looked at him gratefully, not knowing if he realized what she had been involved in. She watched the crowd disperse and felt Lance step up beside her. "It gets easier, I promise." Alissa raised her eyebrows. "Somehow I doubt that. I am one of them, when it comes to Backstreet. I know how they work. They'll never really like that I'm around. It doesn't matter how mature fans try to be, there's always jealousy. It's hard to accept that there's no chance." She felt Lance's arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "They'll just have to deal with it. You're here, and they're not. That's the way it's going to be." Alissa sighed, and felt tears start to fill her eyes. She felt silly, crying right there, but she couldn't help herself. Lance put a hand on her cheek and turned her to look at him. "What?" Alissa wiped at her eyes, and laughed lightly at herself. "It's silly." Alissa paused, and looked into Lance's eyes. "What about when you're gone?" "Nothing changes. You're still my girl." Alissa giggled, despite herself. "That sounds SO goofy." She kissed him quickly, "but thank you." They met up with JC and Carrie, Joey and Chris a little while later, and Alissa knew that their departure was not going to be easy. Lance noticed Alissa's sudden change in mood, and pulled her closer to him. "Hey, I'll come back as soon as the tour's done, and you can come out, too." Alissa sniffled, thinking about how silly she must seem. She didn't know why she was so upset, she knew she'd see him again. It was totally irrational to be so emotional, and yet, she couldn't help it. She hugged Lance and seemed to cling to him as if she was holding on to a life line. Finally, she let go and took a step backwards, her fingers lacing tightly in his, her eyes downcast. She heard Joey and Chris board the bus, and JC said a final farewell to Carrie before he followed them. "C'mon Lance, we gotta go. Bye �Lissa." Lance pulled her back towards him and kissed her, before reaching up with one hand to wipe away a tear that had escaped her eye. Their eyes locked for a second as he took a couple of steps backwards, one hand still hanging onto hers. Then in one quick movement he had pulled her back into his arms. She could feel him brushing her hair away from her face, and was startled as she heard him whisper in her air. "Love you." Before she could respond he had let her go, and turned to get on the bus, not looking back. Alissa knew Carrie was standing nearby, but she couldn't take her eyes off the bus as it pulled away. She watched it disappear, and then Carrie spoke. "We are SO sad, �Liss. They'll be back in a couple of weeks, anyway." Alissa smiled, looking at Carrie and noticing that her eyes were red-rimmed from crying as well. "We are pretty pathetic, aren't we?" She brushed a hand across her eyes, ridding herself of the last few tears. "Let's go do something. We've gotta spend some quality girl time while you're here." She held out her arm to link it with Carrie's and giggled as they walked away, trying to put Lance's last words momentarily out of her mind.
"Carrie, gimme a hand over here, wouldya?" Alissa tried juggling the packages in her hand to put the key in the lock of her apartment, as Carrie staggered up behind her, holding just as many. "What do you expect me to do? I've got just as much stuff as you do. Chuck it on the floor." Carrie cringed, and heard Alissa sigh as all the packages crashed to the floor. "I didn't mean literally, geez." Alissa sighed again. "As if that's what I intended to do. Who said shopping our blues away was a good idea? Did I really need all this crap?" She finally got the door open and pushed several of the packages inside with her foot before picking up the remainder and carrying them inside. Carrie stepped gingerly in the door, still doing a precise balancing act with her bundles. "OF course you didn't need it, that's the whole point of shopping. Buy a whole bunch of useless crap, so that you feel like you've got worse problems than the ones you left with. Now you're broke. Isn't that worse than having your boyfriend leave on tour?" She suddenly dropped all her purchases on the couch and then flopped down beside them. "Ah... I am so tired." There was no response. "Alissa?" Alissa glanced up from her spot near the answering machine. "Hmm?" "Oh nothing, just wondering if you were paying attention. Obviously not. Got messages?" Alissa pushed the rewind button. "Yup. Just one." "Oooo, do you think JC called me? Huh, ya think?" Alissa threw an annoyed glance at Carrie. "Oh hush up, or you won't hear if he called or not. And neither will I." She quickly pressed the play button and waited. "Hi Alissa. Wanted to let you know how much I miss you already. Call me. Whenever. Bye." Alissa heard a dreamy sigh from Carrie. "Aaw, Lance is so sweet �Liss. You're so lucky." She started to pout, "JC didn't call me. I knew there was a reason why Lance was my favorite." Alissa glared at Carrie. "Hey, now. You gave him up, there's no going back now." Carrie growled. "That's no fair. I saw him first, you didn't' even like him." She paused for a second, to think. "Maybe we could arrange a swap." Alissa wrinkled her nose. "Ew, that just sounds bad, Care. Besides I already had my shot with JC." Carrie nodded, realizing that her idea had just plummeted, but she hadn't been serious anyway. "That's true. That's alright. I think he'll do anyway. Even if he doesn't call me." Alissa laughed and rolled her eyes. "Like you'd ever give him up now." Carrie made the most demented face she could, and imitated the Bugs Bunny cartoon that she remember watching as a kid. "Never, I will love him and hug him, and call him George." Alissa giggled before Carrie went on. "Well, maybe not the George thing. I don't like that name much. But he'll never get rid of me now." Alissa giggled some more. "You're a freak."
Carrie's flight was scheduled to leave the next afternoon, so they packed up her stuff and headed out for lunch before going to the airport. "Okay, so where are we going?" Alissa pulled the car out of the parking lot. "McDonald's." "You're kidding. How much of that stuff have we eaten this week?" "You can NEVER have too much Mickey D's. It's a staple of life." Alissa shook her head. "Whatever." She noticed Carrie playing with the car radio until she found something she wanted to listen to, and started singing along. "You might been hurt, ba-abe. It ain't no lie..." "Gawd, Carrie, we've heard that song every day for a week. You're not sick of it?" "Hell no, it's the guys, now shush, it's JC's part." Alissa rolled her eyes, and waited until the song ended, before pushing in a cassette tape. "Much better," she said and started humming along to �I Want It That Way'. Carrie groaned. "Oh, Alissa, you were doing so well. I thought we've moved past the Backstreet obsession." Alissa pulled in the McDonald's parking lot and turned to Carrie shaking her head. "Momentary distraction, that's all. I had other things on my mind." Carrie shoved her playfully. "Other things named La-a-ance." "Oh shut up, JC woman." While they were sitting at McDonald's, Alissa got the feeling like she was being watched. Looking around she noticed a pair of young girls giggling and pointing at her, until they noticed her looking at them. "Care. Check it out." She motioned with her head in the direction of the girls, and Carrie turned to look at them. "Hello, stare much?" Carrie went back to her fries, and Alissa glanced back at the girls. "That is so weird." "What?" Carrie mumbled with her mouth full of fries, making Alissa laugh. "Manners, manners." She glanced at the girls again. "Why would they stare at us?" Carrie shrugged stuffing more fries in her mouth. "Who knows, who cares. Maybe they think you're some strange alien." She looked at her watch. "We gotta go �Liss." Alissa sighed, and shook her head, as she gathered up her tray. "I will get you back for that alien thing." Carrie waved her hand dismissively. "Ya ya." When they got to the airport, Carrie still had a few minutes to wait until it was time to board her flight. Alissa flopped into one of the seats in the waiting room and Carrie put down her backpack. "C'mon Alissa, you're acting like a senior citizen. Get up." From some odd reason, Carrie was full of energy, despite the few hours of sleep they'd gotten the night before. "Carrie, just let me sit here for a couple minutes. You've been hyper all day." Carrie sighed in exasperation. "Fine, you rest. I'm going right over there to find some magazines for my flight." Carrie hoisted her backpack back up onto her shoulder and wandered over to a magazine rack at the nearby store. Alissa slouched in the seat, enough to rest her head on the back and closed her eyes momentarily. All she had to do was get her friend on the plane and her life would go back to normal. Not that she didn't love having Carrie around, but she felt like she could hibernate for a year and still be tired. She shifted in her seat and her mind started to wander until she heard Carrie shriek. Instantly her eyes flew open and she was on her feet running over to Carrie. "What?" She scanned the area around Carrie before realizing that Carrie was staring intently at a magazine. "Ohmigawd, �Liss. LOOK!" Carrie pointed to two of the pictures in the magazine. "Ya?" All she saw was the normal tabloid-type pictures, one of Justin with a girl, and another of Lance with what appeared to be the same girl. She didn't see the big deal, it was probably an old picture. "Do you recognize someone in those pictures?" Alissa gave Carrie a look that clearly said �DUH!' "Justin and Lance, perhaps?" Carrie shook her head. "MORON, look more closely. At the OTHER person. I think we've just discovered why those girls were staring." Alissa took the magazine from Carrie's outstretched hand and looked carefully, first at the Justin's picture, then at Lance's. Carrie watched as Alissa's eyes flicked back and forth between the pictures. Alissa's breath caught. "Ohmigawd, that's ME." Her voice was eerily calm, and Carrie looked at her. "Are you okay?" Alissa blinked, and shook her head. "I'm fine... I think." She looked at the picture for another second, before suddenly shrieking. "Ohmigawd, Carrie! I'm in the flipping magazine!" She hopped up and down for a second before she realized she was calling attention to herself. She lowered her voice and looked at Carrie. "Why am I excited about this?" Carrie was giggling at Alissa's reaction, and had to stop to catch her breathe before answering. "I don't know, girl. But I can tell you, that I'd be doing the same thing if that were me and JC in there. And not just you and Lance, but Justin too. Double the fun." Alissa swatted at Carrie's arm, as the PA announcer called for Carrie's flight to board. "Looks like it's time for you to go." The girls hugged, and then Carrie started to walk away. "Call to let me know you got home, kay?" Carrie nodded. "Yes, mommy." Alissa laughed. "Just go already." Carrie stuck out her tongue and turned, handing her ticket to the attendant, and then turned to wave. "Bye bye bye, �Liss." Alissa tried not to laugh and buried her face in her hand.
  
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