Chel stretched her legs as she walked into the little mini-mart next to the gas station. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon and the buses had made a stop for gas. The drivers had chosen a remote area for obvious reasons and the guys had stayed on the bus. Kayla had taken advantage of the stop and was paying AJ a visit. Chel went into the little mini-mart in search of food. She was getting bored with the hotel food, catering, and the daily trips to McDonalds.
They had been on the road for a little over two weeks and, so far, everything was going well. Chel was proud of her best friend, who was getting more and more confident on stage. The two of them were having the time of their lives and on down time, hung out with the other dancers. Another thing that seemed to be going very well was her relationship with Nick. During the course of the tour, the two of them had grown very close. They could tell each other anything and Chel could stare into his eyes forever. Her thoughts were on Nick as she paid for the food she had and walked out of the store.
As she walked towards her bus, she heard somebody call her name. She looked up and saw it was Kayla, motioning to her from the Boys bus. "Come on! We're spending the rest of the day on here. Everybody is...Its a PARTY!!!" Chel laughed and ran up the steps of the bus. She was glad that Kayla, and the guys had the night off and could spend it any way they wanted to.
As she boarded the bus, she saw Brian, Lisa, Paula, Kevin, Howie, his girlfriend Nanc, and on the couch snuggling, Kayla and AJ. "Wheres Nick?" She asked. As if to answer her, they heard a shout from the back of the bus. "DAMMIT!! Thats not fair!!" She gave the others questioning looks. "Mortal Kombat?" They nodded and she headed towards the back of the bus. She heard Zak, the boys bus driver, as he gave a yell, "Everybody on? We all set?" She heard a chorus of "yups." They were on the move again.
"God Damn stupid......UGH!!" She was right behind Nick and smiled as she slipped her arms around his waist. He turned, startled. "Hey Chel." Although she knew he was glad to see her, she could see the fruteration on his face. She sat down next to him and pulled the controller from his hands. He looked at her, "Chel, I was playing that." She gave him a sly smile. "Sh! Dont say anything." She moved closer to him and placed a kiss on his lips. He followed her lead and drew her deeper and deeper into his kiss.
They had been kissing for a while when they heard Brian yell, "Hey!! Whats going on back there? Its too quiet!!" Chel laughed when she heard him mutter, "Ow," then she heard Kayla yell at him, "Brian, leave them alone. Wait, Guys come out here, Ive got a great idea!" Chel looked deep into Nicks eyes, knowing that the moment had been lost. She gave him one final kiss then told him, "Lets go before the goof troup out there sends out a search warrant." Both in a fit of laughter, they walked towards the front of the bus.
As they got to the front, Chel and Nick sat down with AJ and Kayla. Before sitting down, Chel grabbed two cokes from the small fridge, her eyes resting on the "kitchen table". She noticed a pack of marlboro lights cigarettes on the table, half hidden by a stack of papers. Confused as to whose they might be, she threw a questioning glance at Kayla, who directed her eyes towards AJ. Kayla had just found out last week that AJ smoked. He had told her that he didnt smoke often, only when something was bothering him. She didnt like the fact that he did smoke, but she loved him and wasnt about to preach to him about it.
"Chel, can you toss me a Surge?" As she caught the can, she thought about the great idea she had for the afternoon. All she had told the guys was that they were gonna watch a video. Kayla still had not watched the Homecoming video and had thought to herself, what better way to watch it than with the stars of it themselves. Chuckling to herself, she popped in the video. Kyal watched the looks on the guys faces as the opening beats of "Everybody" filled the front of the bus. There on the screen were the words"the backstreet boys in concert:Coming Home" "No way!! Not a chance, I AM NOT watching this!" Brian was shaking his head, laughing. Chel was laughing hysterically and cheering the video. Her friend was insane for doing this but she knew that everybody would get a kick out of watching it. "Oh yes you are Brian. This is gonna be awesome."
Kayla laughed as AJ whispered in her ear, "Baby, do we have to?" She kissed him, and simply said, "Yup." She turned her attention to the screen. It was the first song, looking at the box, she saw it was called "Thats the Way I Like It". Damn he looks fine, she thought, looking from the screen to AJ. She couldnt believe that she was actually sitting on the couch snuggled in the very same persons arms that she was watching on tv. "Yo, Bone, you were looking a little under the influence." Nick was laughing and his statement made Kayla laugh. She looked at AJ and asked him playfully, "Alcohol AJ? Bad bad boy". He gave her his best innocent look and said, "Yeah well maybe just a little," turning towards Nick he continued, "And if I remember correctly, Mr. Precious little Nicky, you were feeling no pain after that show." Nick shot him a "death look" as the girls just watched and laughed.
Through her laughter, Kayla heard Kevin attempting to explain. "Guys, It was New Years Eve, we all had a little something to drink." For some reason, listening to Kevin's explanation made them laugh even harder. After she calmed down a little bit, Kayla looked at the screen and realized that "Hey Mr. DJ" was on. This had become one of her favorite songs and since the boys didnt perform it any more, she had never seen it done live. She watched AJ as he was singing and saw him sexually lift his shirt, causing the fans to scream even louder. Teasingly, she looked at AJ and said, "You never do that for me." "Wait til were alone," was all he would say.
Feeling her face turn red, she rested her head on his shoulder. "Just To Be Close" was on and Kayla had never heard it before. She watched intently.
~~I want you to be, the only one that i see, cause i believe, Its our destiny~~
AJ's voice still has the power to make me melt, she thought. As she watched them singing the chorus, a question came to her. "What are you guys thinking of as you're singing?" She was watching them on the video and had seen them during the shows, but she often wondered what they thought about. As a dancer, the main thing going through her mind was how not to mess up. Usually, she just lost herself in the music. She wondered if it was different for the boys.
Kayla looked back at the screen, waiting for their answer. On the screen, she saw Nick and Brian playing "keep away" with a stuffed basketball. Looking from Boy to Boy, she saw they were thinking about her question. After a few more seconds, both Nick and Brian chimed up with "Food!" Chel smacked Nick kiddingly on the head, "You dont seriously think about food, do you?" He nodded and looked at her. "Yup, food and you." He said, giving her a kiss. Kevin told them, "Choreography! Thats what I am always thinking about." Kayla had seen Kevin struggle through certain routines in rehearsel and wasnt sure whether or not to comment. "Um...about Kevins dancing...." She saw kevin giving her a mock warning look, "...Its great." She said with a smile. She looked around the room and saw everybody looking at her. "What?" She asked innocently, as everybody laughed.
Howies solo was just coming to an end on the video and Kayla heard Chel say, "You need to pay close attention to the next song." This was followed by laughter, then Brian saying, "Oh, Im sure she will." Confused, Kayla turned her attention back to the screen. She saw it was AJs solo. She turned to him and said, "Baby, you look good in that see through shirt." He pulled her closer to him. "KAYLA!! Keep watching!!" Chel was pointing at the tv.
"Alright alright, dont have a freak out on me!" Kayla said as she turned her attention back towards the tv. It was another song she didnt know, but she did know that the sound of his voice was giving her goosebumps.
~~Tonight, we'll find...find just what we've been looking for....good good lovin and a whole lot more so....hold on....real tight....HOLD ME AND DONT YOU LET GO, Not til I tell you too~~
Kayla felt her jaw drop as she watched AJ on the tv. "Oh my god, " was all she could say as she turned to look at AJ, who was wearing that killer smile that she loved. She heard the guys laughing and teasing AJ. "Bone, did Kayla know you did stuff like that?" AJ just laughed, looking slightly embarrassed. He brought his lips towards Kaylas and she felt herself getting lost in his kiss as the song finished playing. When they were finished kissing, Kayla looked around at everybody. "Damn, I need to have that song." She said with a smile as everybody laughed.
The song turned upbeat as Kayla heard "Orlando Florida, I need you to put your hands together, come on!" She heard paula say, "Kev, its your song." Kayla watched as she saw Kevin come dancing across the screen. Laughing to herself, she realized that he had been telling the truth about thinking about the choreography. She could see the concentration on his face. Still, she liked the song, it was very dancy. She heard Lisa say, jokingly "Ooohh, Brian, you know i love you more than Kevin, i was just checkin out his ass. Your songs up now and believe me, i will be checkin out your ass more than his." Kayla rolled her eyes as Brian stood up and waved his butt around for all to see. "Didnt need to see that Bri Im blind for life now!" He sat back down, pouting and Lisa gathered him in a hug, then kissed him. Kayla thought Brians song was very sweet, but at the moment she was trying to focus on playing footsie with AJ.
Chel saw Kayla and AJ playing footsie, and laughed. They were the perfect couple, although, she had to admit, they were a little too mushy at times. She thought about her and Nick, who she loved very much. He is the biggest sweetheart, she thought. At the moment, Chel was lying across the couch with her head resting on Nicks lap. She looked up into his blue eyes and thought about how lucky she was. On the tv, Nick was singing his solo. She remembered the first time she had seen this video and how sexy Nick had looked. She loved to watch him sing, watch his facial expressions. Now, a little over a year later she was lying here as Nicks girlfriend. A little over a year ago, he had seemed like some untouchable star. The most surprising thing about her relationship was finding out how normal they were, all of the guys.
~~Cause i see heaven...in your eyes~~
Chel looked up and realized that Nick was softly singing the song to her. She sat up and moved closer to him, snuggling in his arms. She looked up when she heard AJ laughing. "Whats so funny?" She asked him. All he could do was point at the tv screen. Chel looked and saw that the song "party" had started. Still not understanding, she saw that Brian, Howie and even Kevin were laughing. "What?" she asked again.
"It wasnt that funny, you guys." Chel heard Nick saying. He looked at Chel and explained, "I was having a little bit of trouble remembering the routine for this song that night. I looked to these dorks for help and got nothing....no help, no help at all." He looked at her with puppy dog eyes. Chel just laughed. "Aww, my poor baby. Let me make it better." She gave him a kiss and gave the rest of the guys warning looks. That made everybody start laughing and she said, "Cant you see, youve upset him." she looked at Nick and gave him her biggest smile, her eyes sparkling. "Love ya babe!"
Kayla watched as Chel teased Nick. She thought it was funny the way the guys picked on each other. Kayla had noticed the confused look on Nicks face in the beginning of the song, but didnt say anything until AJ had started laughing. It had moved on to the next song now. Well, Kayla thought, not a song but Howie talking about a song. Feeling hungry, she asked Chel, "What did you buy at the store? Anything good?" Chel nodded and pointed at the shelf above the little fridge. Kayla got up to see what was there and decided on a bag of cheez doodles. She grabbed them and sat back down.
She heard the band intro a song with rock guitars and she immediately looked at the screen. It seemed that Howie was getting into it with the band, as they once again tried to start the song. Laughing, she looked at Howie. "Were you having troubles, D? The band wasnt cooperating?" Rolling his eyes, Howie told her, "Just watch." She looked back at the screen and saw the drummer throwing his drum sticks at Nick. Nick plays the drums?,she thought to herself. She heard a familiar voice say, just off camera, "Bass me." She watched and saw AJ putting on the bass guitar. "Ive been bassed, haha." She looked at AJ saying, "I didnt know you played bass." Answering her before AJ could, Brian said, "He doesnt." He laughed evilly as AJ grabbed a handful of cheez doodles and threw them at him. "Smartass." Not to be out done, Brian grabbed one of the many stuffed animals and threw it in AJs direction. His aim was off and it hit Kayla. She glared at him, "Thats it Littrell!! You are going down!!"
In a matter of minutes, all of them were throwing cheez doodles, stuffed animals and anything else they could get their hands on. After about five minutes, Kayla looked up at the mess. "Oh my god, you guys!!" She said as everybody looked around. She was overcome by laughter. "I...cannot believe....we just....did......that." She was laughing so hard that she was crying. she collapsed down onto the couch and waited for AJ to make his way through the mess and sit back down with her.
When he finally made it to the couch, he flopped down next to her saying, "We'll clean it later." He laughed and slid his arm around Kaylas shoulder. On the tv, Kayla recognized the song as "Ill Never Break Your Heart." It was halfway through the song and Kayla felt AJ pull her closer to him. "I love you baby." She looked at him. "I love you too." From across the room, she heard Nick yell, "AW!! Look at the love birds. Smoochy smoochy." She laughed when Chel smacked him and he got a mock look of pain on his face. "OW! That hurt!" Kayla knew that Nick was just teasing them, but she didnt care. She wanted everybody to know how she felt about AJ. She loved him, she was sure of it.
~~As time goes, by you will get to know me, a little more better, girl thats the way love goes~~
She felt AJ move next to her and saw he had turned to face her. "This song, thats the way i feel about you baby. Dont you ever forget that." Kayla stared into his eyes and moved closer to him. She loved the way she felt in his arms. Safe, like nothing could ever hurt her. She watched as he leaned in for a kiss, a small one this time. She closed her eyes and rested her head against his chest, listening to his heart beat. As they watched the last four songs of the video, Kayla knew this is exactly how she wanted her life to be.
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