"What time does your flight get in?" Ashley asked Nate. It was the middle of October, and Ashley was going to be performing in her first concert. She'd invited Alex and Nate out, but Nate was the only one who'd accepted, since Alex was going to be busy.
"Ten tomorrow morning," Nate told her.
"Ten? Damn, that's early." Ashley sighed. "But I'll be at the airport to pick you up."
"Thanks, babe. Miss you, love you. Can't wait to see you again."
"Love you and miss you, too. And I definitely can't wait to see you tomorrow."
"Getting nervous?"
"No, not yet."
Nate laughed. "You will be."
"Shut up, you're gonna cruse me."
"Ok, I'll shut up. But trust me-"
"Nate, say anything more and you'll be sorry."
"No need to get bitchy."
"You haven't seen bitchy yet."
"I think Alex made the right decision when she decided to stay home."
"She told me she was busy."
"Yeah, well, from what I've heard, N'Sync is gonna be in NYC for the entire week."
"Why, that little bitch. Choosing five guys over my first concert." Ashley's eyes narrowed. "I oughta-"
"I'm glad I got your mind off of the concert tomorrow night," Nate commented.
"You mean you only told me that to get me to stop thinking about the concert?"
Nate laughed. "I know they're gonna be in NYC, I heard it from a friend. But I'm not sure if Alex stayed home just to see them. She might be busy. After all, she's probably got mid-terms or something."
"I'm still gonna call her and make sure she is busy." Ashley hung up the phone on him before Nate could say anything, and dialed Alex's number.
Alex picked up on the third ring, sounding dead tired. "Hello?"
"Alex, you better be busy, and not using school as an excuse to stay in New York and see N'Sync while I go through my first concert."
"Oh, hi Ashley. Nice to talk to you, too. How have you been? Me, I've been fine. Tired, because I have five mid-terms coming up, but other than that, fine."
"Hi, Alex. I'm doing ok. Nervous about the concert and all, but still, okay."
"I'm glad. And no, I'm not staying up here just to see N'Sync. Why the hell would I want to do that?"
"Well, you are seeing Justin."
"We don't have a serious relationship, or anything. I don't think I'm gonna be seeing him, or the others, this week. I have one more mid-term left, and then I'm catching up on sleep I've been losing thanks to the ideas I have right now."
"Been doing a lot of writing?"
"I go to school, do some studying and homework and stuff, then write. I do nothing else."
"I hope you shower and go to the bathroom and eat."
"Of course I do things like that, well, not a whole bunch of eating, but I do shower daily and go to the bathroom."
"Good, because I think you'd start to stink otherwise." Ashley heard the doorbell ring in the background. "Got visitors?"
"No, Ashley, my doorbell rings every hour just to remind me that I'm inside."
"Very funny, Alex. Who's visiting?"
"How the hell would I know? I haven't answered the door yet."
"Then go answer."
"I am." Alex peeked through the peephole. "Great, just what I need," she moaned.
"Who is it?"
"Them."
"Them who?"
"Who were we just talking about?"
"Oooohhhh," Ashley drawled. "Them. N'Sync."
"Yeah."
"Are you gonna let us in, Alexandria?" Justin asked from the other side of the door. "I know you're in there, I can hear you," he said, attempting a creepy voice
Alex giggled. "That makes you sound like a lame attempt to spoof of a horror movie, Justin."
"Gee, I love you too, babe."
"I know you do."
"Well, are you gonna open the door?"
"Nope. You're a bad spoof of some psycho killer. I know better than to open the door to someone like you."
Ashley was rolling with laughter on the other end of the phone. "God, girl, I can't believe you actually told him that."
"Neither can I," Alex said, giggling more.
"I gotta go get something to eat. Talk to you later. Make Ego Boy beg."
"Of course. Good luck tomorrow night."
"Thanks, I'll need it."***
"Oh God," Ashley moaned, as she peeked out the curtains and stared at the huge arena filled with 10,000 screaming fans. "I can't believe this. I actually have to go out there and sing. In front of all of them." She turned around and began pacing. "Nate, how the hell did I wind up in this position?"
"You entered a contest and won?"
"Why the hell did all of you let me do this?"
"It's one of your dreams, Ashley. Stop worrying. You'll do fine."
"No I won't. I'm gonna go out there, forget all of the lyrics, and make a complete and total fool of myself."
"Ashley," Nate began. He gripped her shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. "You'll do wonderful. This is just like rehearsal. Just ignore everyone. Go out there, and do what you love to do: sing and dance. Nothing else matters. And I'll be back here, cheering you on."
Ashley smiled at him, wiping her eyes. "Thanks. Now I remember why I love you so much." She kissed him on the cheek. "I gotta go fix my make-up. Love you. I'll see you after the concert."
"You'll do wonderful. I'll be waiting for you." Nate kissed her, then let her go. "Hurry and fix your make-up. I love you."
"Love you, too." Ashley ran to her dressing room so she could get her make-up fixed.***
"You were wonderful," Nate told Ashley after the concert. "No, you were better than wonderful. You were amazing."
"I can't believe how everything went," Ashley began, slightly out of breath. She was still hyped up from the concert. "It was perfect."
Nate hugged her, pulling her down to the bed. They were at Ashley's apartment.
"This has been one of the best nights of my life," Ashley continued. "The only thing that could make it better is...." She let her voice trail off, looking up at Nate.
"Make love to me, Nate," she said, in a breathy whisper. "Make this night perfect."
"I love you," Nate said, as he dropped a kiss on her neck. "And I'll do anything you want."
Ashley pulled his head down to hers for a passionate kiss. There was no turning back.***
"My night was perfect." Ashley all but shouted the words into Alex's ear the next day.
Alex rubbed her ear. "Um, that's nice, but must you yell?"
"Sorry." Ashley lowered her voice. "The concert was perfect. And then, we spent a little time celebrating, and then everyone went home. Nate's staying over here, and well, we ended up making love. Oh, it was wonderful. No, perfect. Amazing. I love him sooo much."
"I'm happy for you," Alex told her, carefully stepping over Chris Kirkpatrick, who was crashed out in the middle of the hallway. "And glad everything went so well."
"So am I. I loved it last night. Performing was amazing. It was like I was floating on a cloud and nothing could bring me down. And the making love with Nate. It was the most perfect thing. It felt so right."
Alex stifled a groan as she stubbed her toe on the shoe Joey Fatone had left in the doorway to the kitchen.
"So, what are you up to?" Ashley asked.
"Murder," Alex muttered under her breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing," Alex said. "Trying to catch up on sleep, recovering from the test I had yesterday."
"You ever let Justin in the other day."
"Regretfully, yes."
Ashley laughed. "I take it you regret that."
Alex surveyed the disaster that was her once spotless kitchen. "Definitely."
"I'm gonna go hop in the shower, so I'm all fresh and clean when Nate wakes up. Maybe seeing me in just a towel will put him in the mood, and we'll spend the morning having sex."
Alex groaned. "I didn't need to hear that, Ashley."
"Opps." Ashley giggled.
"Didn't need to hear what?" Justin asked from behind her.
"Was that Justin?" Ashley asked.
Alex, not wanting to make a whole bunch of explanations, quickly ended the conversation. "Go take your shower. Talk to you later." She hung up, and turned to Justin. "I didn't need to hear that Ashley and Nate were gonna spend the morning having sex."
Justin laughed, and wrapped his arms around her. "That's just how I'd lie to spend the morning," he whispered, nuzzling her neck.
"Then go find someone willing. I wouldn't have sex with you last night, I sure as hell ain't gonna have sex with you now."
"Just seeing how you'd react." Justin placed a kiss at the nape of her neck, and felt her shiver. "I'm glad you won't have sex with me now."
"You are? Why?" Alex turned to face him.
"It's building the anticipation, so when we do finally have sex, it'll be even better."
Alex rolled her eyes at him, and turned around to look at the kitchen again. "You guys are so gonna be cleaning all day."***
"I'll miss you," Ashley told Nate the next day, as she drove him to the airport. "I can't wait until we get a break and I can go up there and see you."
"Same here. I'll be counting the days."
"Fifty, exactly."
"Fifty? Damn, that's a long time."
"Nearly two months."
"It'll be an eternity, Ashley. I love you."
"I love you, too." Ashley hugged him before he walked into the airport terminal. She'd opted to say good-bye to him outside, before he had to board, because she didn't think she could bear watching him board the plane, then watch the plane leave. She wasn't good at good-byes. "Call me when you get home."
"I will, babe." Nate kissed her, gave her one last hug, then walked into the terminal.
Ashley wiped away the single tear that coursed down her cheek. She so hated good-byes.***
"You guys are never staying here again," Alex threatened, as the guys were packing their things. "I can't believe how disastrous this place looks."
"Hey, we cleaned the kitchen," Chris Kirkpatrick told her.
"Not half as good as I wanted it," Alex shot back.
"It'll look better once we leave," Lance Bass said.
"Don't worry, guys, she'll let us stay here again," Justin said.
"You'll have to convince her, I think," JC Chasez told him, seeing Alex's gold eyes spark.
"That'll be easy." Justin turned her around, and pulled her into his arms. "Can we stay here again?" he asked, kissing her before she had a chance to say anything.
When they finally broke apart, Alex's face was red. "No," she told him, silently cursing herself.
"Ok, I guess I'll just have to do some more convincing." Justin kissed her again.
It took three kisses before she agreed. And that was only because the others were whistling and cheering Justin on.