Friday morning came all too quickly, and it found Leslie getting dressed in a meticulous fashion in hopes that the slower she went the more chance the entire thing would just go away. But this came to no avail and the ringing of the telephone soon broke the deafening silence.
Shaking, she reached for the phone and answered with a cautious, "Hello?"
"Ms. Flynn, your ride is waiting down here for whenever you're ready."
Recognizing the voice of the young man from the front desk, she slowly exhaled, and replied, "Thank you, sir. I'll be right down."
With that, she released her death grip on the phone, and with tears in her eyes, she took a long lingering look at the beautiful view outside before grabbing her purse and heading out the door.
~
He didn't want to go. His best friend couldn't be dead. It was impossible. The doctors said he'd be fine, just needed to take it easy for a while. Without him, they couldn't go on. The group would diminish, completely fall apart.
He was afraid. He didn't think he was any good at anything else. Well, except basketball. But he couldn't play without Brian. The whole reason he fell in love with the game was because of him.
Maybe he could act, but he knew it would be impossible for him to stay in the public eye without his best friend, his brother, to keep his head straight and help him out.
"Bri, what am I going to do without you?" he asked towards the cloudless blue sky, something he saw as being too bright for this dismal day.
He knew too well the tears would fall. He didn't even want to go! But knowing this would be his last chance to see his best buddy, he knew he had to. Something else was dragging him towards the funeral too, but he just couldn't tell what it was.
"Hey Nick, time to go," A.J. said softly, as he placed a comforting hand on his dismal friend's shoulder.
Nodding, Nick slowly followed his friend towards, what he perceived to be, his funeral as well.
*
An hour later, Leslie found herself standing in front of the Lexington Baptist Church, silently willing herself to go in. After standing there for five minutes, her driver asked, "Miss, is this not the place?"
Startled that he was still there, she turned around, quietly saying, "No sir. This is the right place."
Turning away, she slowly walked towards the entrance of the large church, grasping the red rose she held in her hand. She was so numb, she didn't even notice the thorns cutting into her hands.
~
They had given up the search. The police said it was obvious that she'd run away, but nobody knew where, and she'd come back only if she wanted to.
Charlotte wouldn't accept that, but she knew deep down that this wasn't anything, and the worse was yet to come.
*
Walking into the room, Leslie was met by plenty of unfamiliar faces, and as she scanned the room, her eyes filled with tears as they met with Brian's mom, Jackie. After a questioning look from Mrs. Littrell, she continued to search the room until her eyes rested on the coffin.
Slowly, she approached it until, only a few feet away, she came face to face with her idol. "We finally meet, yet under different circumstances than I imagined," she said softly, as she placed the rose against her lips and tired to ignore the questioning stares that were coming from around the room.
~
Listening to the quiet conversation taking place in between her husband and her brother, Jackie Littrell tried to understand what was going on. Her baby duck wasn't dead. He couldn't be. This was all for someone else. Her son was performing for thousands of screaming fans in Europe!
As she tried to break from her thoughts and catch up to the conversation around her, a young girl walking through the door caught her eye.
She didn't look the least bit familiar, with her long brown hair and dark rimmed glasses. She was wearing a simple thin strapped, black silk dress with slits up the sides. Despite her short stature, which she was trying to hide with three inch heeled boots that came up to her knees, she looked as if she was about Nick's age or a little younger. The girl looked as if she were scared to death, confused, like herself, and clutched a single red rose in her tiny hands as if her life depended on it.
Looking around the room, the girl's eyes met with Jackie's. The petrified look in her dark green eyes that were quickly filling with tears made Jackie wonder, but the girl quickly turned away, and walked towards Brian's coffin.
Jackie continued to watch as the young girl talked to her deceased son before bringing the rose to her lips and letting silent tears leave her eyes.
Gently putting his hands on Jackie's shoulder, Harold, her elder son, motioned to the girl and asked, "Who's she?"
Blinking back tears as questions for Brian filled her mind, she said, " I don't know, honey."
*
Leslie had been standing there for quiet some time, staring into the coffin. Most of the questioning looks were dropped as a slight commotion from outside could be heard. Ignoring the noise leaking in from the hallway, she once again started talking to Brian's still body.
"I came Brian, and it hurts more than anything. Why was I suppose to come?" she barely whispered.
As if answering her question, she spun around to see the doors to the room being slammed open by a very upset young man who was closely pursued by two others.
After two steps into the room, the distraught young blonde was caught by his chasers.
"Let me go, damn it! I have to see him!" he yelled angrily, tears of sorrow and pain, like her own, running down his face as he struggled to pull away from the others.
"No Nick. You need to calm down before we can let you go. You're making a fool of yourself," the tall dark headed one hissed just loud enough to be overheard.
Getting frustrated, Nick's tears subsided as his anger overcame him, and he pushed both of his restraints to the floor before running further into the room.
Reaching his destination without any more obstacles, Nick fell to his knees in tears grasping the edge of the coffin. "Brian, please don't leave me," he said before sobs racked through his body once more.
~
The whole time in the car, Nick hadn't said a word. He didn't have anything to say. He had overheard Kevin and A.J., assuming he wasn't listening, talk about him.
"You think he'll be okay?" A.J. asked as he glanced towards the back where Nick had curled up into a ball, staring out the window.
"I don't know. He's taking this harder than all of us, but then again, they were best friends. He's young, strong. It might take him awhile, but he'll be okay. It's gonna take all of us a long time to get past this," Kevin responded as he pulled into the church parking lot.
They had to force him out of the car. He insisted that Brian wasn't dead and fought with his other companion, Howie, when he tried to coax him out of the car.
Once they finally headed towards the church, Nick's mood turned from angry to sad. Out of nowhere, Nick started running towards the church entrance saying "I have to see him" over and over again as if it were a type of chant.
Chasing him down, the three others fought with him to calm him down.
�Why won't they let me see him?? Brian's dead and they won't let me see him�
Finally entering the main church, Nick could see the coffin, but was stopped once again by Kevin and A.J.
Screaming curses, Nick finally knocked both men to the ground, and reached the coffin.
Taking no notice of the girl standing a few feet away, he looked down. Seeing his best friend, pale, unmoving, without the normal cheeky grin on his face, he burst into tears as he fell to his knees, grasping the edge as his only support.
"Brian, please don't leave me."
*
As she watched him cry over his loss, she couldn't help but feel a connection with the boy. He was mourning the loss of his brother, his best friend, and with each sob he cried, a small piece of her heart broke for him.
Seeing as no one else was reaching out to him in support, she slowly stepped towards him and placed one of her small hands on his shoulder.
Startled, he stopped crying for a second as he lifted his head up. Leslie's eyes were met with the most beautiful blue eyes she'd ever seen. Looking deep within him, she saw the sorrow and felt a shock run through her body.
Nick slowly got off the ground, and despite the fact he towered over Leslie, he fell into her arms, crying like a baby. She pulled him into a tight embrace and slowly, her tears also began to fall, mixing together with Nick's as they fell to the floor.
Neither of them cared that all the others gawked at them in surprise, and neither budged when Jackie fainted.
~
The sudden feeling of a hand on his shoulder brought Nick back to reality, and also scared him, his tears abruptly stopping.
Looking up, his eyes were met with a beautiful girl whose face was covered with a pained expression that matched his own.
He felt her look into his eyes and immediately felt a bolt of electricity and a bond that pulled him towards her.
Feeling his pain reflected in her, Nick pulled himself off the ground and into her embrace. He was met with immediate comfort and reassurance, and allowed his tears to flow freely. Soon, he was unable to tell his own from those of this mysterious girl.
*
�Who the hell is that girl?�
A.J. looked towards the girl dressed in black from head to toe that was holding onto one of his best friends. Something was wrong with the picture, but he soon was distracted as Brian's mom, Jackie, passed out on the other side of the room.
~
The two held on to each other for a while, until it appeared Nick's tears were about to subside. Believing Nick would no longer need her embrace as comfort, Leslie was about to step back when another wave of sobs came.
His new bout of tears made her heart ache and caused her more pain so Leslie began to cry harder.
*
Thankful for the comfort, Nick's head began to clear some, his tears began to slow, and he suddenly realized he held a beautiful girl in his arms. Feeling the curves of her body beneath him, he had the sudden urge to kiss her.
�Oh my god, she feels so good in my arms. I wish I could� Wait! My best friend is dead, and I'm wanting to make a move on a girl? What type of best friend am I?�
As those thoughts filled his head, he once again burst into tears, and automatically pulled the mysterious girl closer.
~
Two hours later, Leslie found herself sitting next to Nick as the funeral service ended and people began to disperse from the church.
Neither one of them had said a word to the other, but an unspoken message had been said; they knew that if they wanted to get through this, they had to stick together.
Kevin and Harold had both said something about their lost family member. A.J. and Howie also got up and talked about their band mate. Even Nick, after getting a reassuring look from Leslie, had spoken about his best friend despite the tears he was trying to hold back. But she didn't talk. Everything she needed to say had already been said, and Brian already knew, so what was the purpose?
Leslie, after finally releasing her embrace on Nick, had heard that Jackie passed out, and once awake, claimed she'd seen Brian standing near her and Nick. Most of the people assumed it was the crazy talk of a distressed mother, and they had rushed her out as soon as the funeral was over. But Leslie knew they were wrong.
She had seen him too.
Looking towards Nick, who appeared to be deep in thought, Leslie picked up the rose from her lap and returned to her place near Brian's coffin.
*
�Brian's dead, Jackie clams she saw him standing near us, and my only hold on reality is the mysterious girl sitting next to me, who I have never seen, spoken to, or figured out her name�
Looking next to him, Nick realized she'd left, and starting to panic, scanned the room before his eyes landed on the figure of the petite girl. Getting up the nerve to finally talk to her, he was stopped by Kevin.
"Nick, let's go back to the hotel," he said softly, his eyes bloodshot from crying.
"Hold on a sec, Kev. I gotta go say goodbye to someone," Nick said.
Thinking he meant Brian, Kevin nodded in understanding before saying, "We'll wait outside."
Turning away from Kevin's retreating figure, Nick realized they were the only two left. Walking towards her, he noticed she was talking in a hushed whisper. Afraid he might interrupt something, he softly cleared his throat to make his presence known.
Startled, the girl jumped before wiping her eyes and turning around.
"Um, I'm Nick Carter," he said, placing his hand out in an awkward greeting.
"I know," she said, before meeting his eye. Grasping his out reached hand, she appeared to be in debate with herself before saying, "I'm Angel Thomas."
He looked at her for a moment. "The name fits. I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I�" Before he could go any further, "Angel" placed her hand on his chest and said, "There's no need to apologize. We both needed someone�"
"Do you need a ride home?" he asked as he looked around to see if anyone was with her.
"Actually, I'm just going to catch a cab. I�m staying at the Hilton, and I don't want your friends to have to go out of their way to drop me off."
"My friends?" he asked, completely clueless.
Getting a puzzled look on her face, "Angel" replied, "Those people you came with?"
"Oh! Oh, yeah, um� actually, we're staying there also, so it wouldn't be out of the way."
Nodding, she replied, "Then I'll accept your offer, but can I be alone for a second?"
"Yeah, I'll wait outside."
Walking closer to Brian, Nick said, "I'll miss you like crazy, buddy, and we'll never forget you."
~
As she listened to Nick, tears threatened to spill over once more.
Once he left, Leslie looked down at Brian's peaceful face.
"I'll take care of him, Brian, and I won't let him forget. I'll miss you, and hopefully, I'll make you proud."
With that, she pressed her lips up against his cool forehead, ran her fingers across his cheek, and laid the tear soaked rose across his chest.
"I love you, Bri."
And with that, she left the church to never look back.
*
"Yo, guys, we're gonna be taking this girl back to the hotel," Nick said with a little bit of enthusiasm evident in his voice.
"Why? Who?" Howie questioned, looking at his young friend with wonderment.
Nick's mouth formed a small smile as he saw "Angel" walk out of the main room of the small church. A.J. turned to see what Nick was gazing at and felt a sick feeling overtaking him.
It was obvious she'd been crying and her eyes were filled with pain as she slowly walked towards the group.
Nick met her half way, reached his arm around her waist, and guided her towards his friends.
"Guys, this is Angel Thomas."
~
She was scared. Here she was sitting in a large car with her idols� well, four of her idols. They thought she was someone else. The only person who seemed to doubt her was A.J. He actually almost seemed to be scared of her.
Leslie shared few words with them in the church. As they were leaving, each of the guys had paid their respects to the Littrells, and feeling as if some invisible force were pushing her, she went too. As she walked towards Mrs. Littrell, Leslie noticed that her eyes filled with fear and wasn't surprised when Mrs. Littrell excused herself from the room.
Harold, on the other hand, walked towards Leslie and grabbed her in a hug before apologizing for his mother's odd actions.
Dazed by the strangeness of it all, Leslie quickly followed Nick out the door to their car.
And there she was, in the backseat of a car with the remaining Backstreet Boys with a dark feeling growing within her.
*
Once at the hotel, Leslie thanked the boys for the ride, and quickly tried to leave. Somehow, she knew if she stuck around, something bad was going to happen. So she simply ignored Nick calling out her "name" as the elevator doors closed.
Once she was safely in her hotel room, she climbed into bed and fell asleep, not even bothering to take her boots off.