~*~ Chapter 5 ~*~

NEW YORK CITY, NY - MTV Studio

     Kirstin felt a hand touch her shoulder. When she turned around to see who it was, she was shocked. It was Ashley. She didn't know but, he was just as shocked as she was. He couldn't believe it was really her. They just stood there, staring at each other, no expression on their faces. They weren't hearing anything or seeing anything but each other. It felt like the world had simply stopped the minute their eyes met. A while later, uncomfortable with the silence, Ashley decided to speak, but all he could think of at that moment was:

     “It was you.”

     It took a moment for Kirstin to say something. She couldn't believe Ashley had actually found her. She refused to believe that the man and the feelings she had been running away from for the past 2 years was back in her life.

     “What?”

     “It was you that I saw yesterday. I couldn't believe it was you. I thought I had gone crazy.”

     Kirstin didn't know what to say. She just stood there, her eyes never leaving his. She was so confused. What would happen now? She then heard a horn. Turning her gaze, she saw Stephanie waving for her from the car. She felt a bit relieved. She could run away from him again and pretend nothing had happened. She knew Ashley wasn't gonna let that happen, but she had to give it a try.

     “I'm sorry, I have to go now.” she said leaving, beginning to walk away, not looking at Ashley “My friend is here and…” she stopped. Ashley had grabbed her wrist.

     “You can't go. I won't let you. We need to talk, Kirstin! It took me 2 years to find you again and do you really think that I can let you go now? Do you have any idea how these past 2 years have been to me? You ran away after the prom, you don't call, you don't leave a number, address, anything! Just vanish! I thought you felt something for me, especially after YOU kissed ME! I thought we were feeling the same way. Obviously, I was wrong. Do you have any idea how much it hurt when I went back to your house and you were gone? I spent the last few years trying to find a reason for that, thinking it was all my fault, that I had done something wrong…”

     “Ok, stop it right there, Ashley. You don't think it was equally bad for me? It was worse, I bet. It's much harder when you're the one running away. But I couldn't do it. I had to go away.” The horn was heard again and Kirstin continued “I'm sorry, but I really have to go now.”

     “So you're running away again? Is that it?”

     “I'm sorry, but I got this paper to do.”

     “I'll let you go if you promise me we'll meet tomorrow.”

     Kirstin didn't wanna say yes, but now that Ashley had found her, she knew he wouldn't let her get away again.

     “Ok. We'll meet here.”

     “Here at MTV? By the way, what are you doing here?”

     “I work here. But I don't want to meet at MTV. Instead, we'll meet out here, by these doors. And then we'll find some coffee place around here where we can talk.”

     “Ok, great. What time?”

     “I get out of work around 3:30. We'll meet here then.”

     “Ok, it's a date.”

     Kirstin smiled and headed to Stephanie's car. Ashley was left with a smile on his face. He was happy. He had found her. He had found the girl he loved. When Kirstin was out of his sight, he turned and headed back to the MTV studios.

NEW YORK CITY, NY - Stephanie's Car

     “I'm sorry for keeping you waiting.”

     “Don't worry about that. But was that that guy from O-Town?”

     “Ashley, yeah. You know them?”

     “My sister is a big fan. What did he want from you that took so long?”

     “Oh, nothing much. We went to high school together. He saw me and thought of asking me what was going on with my life.”

     “Oh, that was sweet of him.”

     “Yeah, I guess…”

     “Were you close friends?” Stephanie kept asking. Kirstin didn't really want to talk about it, but she didn't wanna be rude to her friend, so kept answering her.

     “Well, kinda. I joined the high school he was on when I was a junior, so we only had 2 years of high school together, and I haven't seen him since our prom.”

     “I bet he was Mr. Popular!”

     “Yeah, he was…” Kirstin couldn't hide her smile. She remembered the Friday night football games and people treating Ashley like a king every time they would win a game. And then, later in the evening, he would go to her house and they would stay up all night talking, out on the swing Kirstin had on her front yard. One thing she never understood was why he spent so much of his time with her when he could be out on a date with any cheerleader he wanted to. She remembered when she asked him that one question that all he said was “Because none of them has your smile.” It was the one time he made her blush.

     “Ok, we're here.” Stephanie's voice woke Kirstin from her thoughts. They got out of the car and went to the library to get their paper done.

NEW YORK CITY, NY - MTV Studio

     Ashley found his way to the O-Town dressing room. When he got in, everyone was looking at him, waiting for an explanation, but only Jacob felt the need to say something:

     “What the hell happened?”

     “I'm really sorry. I saw this friend of mine from high school that I haven't seen in years getting the elevator and I had to go. Sorry.”

     “Was that the same one from yesterday?” Jacob asked.

     “Yesterday?” Dan faced Jacob.

     Disregarding Dan's comment, Ashley continued:

     “Yeah, as a matter of fact, it was her yesterday. Turns out that she works here.”

     “Oh! She! I thought it was strange for you to go chasing a dude, but it's a ‘she’! Now I get it.” Trevor joked about the situation.

     “Shut up. Anyway, we have a date tomorrow at 3:30. Do you think we'll be free at this time?” Ashley asked Mike Cronin, who was standing near the couch.

     “Yes. The thing you guys had to do here tomorrow was cancelled, so you just have one radio interview and a photo shoot in the morning, then you’re free for the rest of the day.”

     “Terrific!” Ashley said with a big smile on his face.

     “Wait a second! Did you just say date? What about Jen?” Jacob asked, seemingly confused about the situation. And Ashley was too. He hadn't actually thought about Jen 'til that moment.

     “It's not an actual date. We're just gonna talk. Remember the old times. It's gonna be at 3:30 in a coffee shop! How much of a date is that?”

     “I don't know… judging by the big smile you had on your face when you told us you had met her, I'd say it's a big date!” Erik answered his band mate.

     “Well, it's not. I have a girlfriend, and she probably has a boyfriend too, so…” the thought of her with another guy made Ashley's smile disappear.

     “If you say so…” Erik said dropping the subject.

NEW YORK CITY, NY - Hotel 

     “Yo, Ashley, wait up!” Erik called from the elevator to Ashley, who was going to his room.

     “Yes?”

     “Are you gonna tell Jen about the 'not-a-date' thing that you have tomorrow?”

     “I thought about it on our way here and I decided not to. It's not a big deal. It's just two old friends having coffee.”

     “If it's not a big deal, then what's the problem on telling her?”

     “I'm not afraid to tell her. I just don't see a point.”

     “Maybe because she's your girlfriend and she should know what's going on with her boyfriend's life.”

     “Well, I'm not gonna tell her. If something really important comes out from this date, then she'll know about it.”

     “Ok, it's your choice. But I just think you should tell her. It would be worse if she finds out about it some other way.”

     “She won't find out about it and thanks for trying to help Erik, but it's ok.”

     “Ok, then. Later, dude!”

     By the time Ashley got to his room it was late already, 11 P.M., but Jen was awake and watching TV.

     “Hey Ash. What took you so long today? I thought you were gonna get here and I'd be sleeping again.”

     “We had the MTV thing to do and they we got stuck on this photo shoot and magazine interview that we had to do, so…”

     “I see.” Jen noticed a worried look on her boyfriend's face while he was getting his shirt and pants off to join her in bed “Are you ok? You seem a little worried.”

     “It's nothing, I'm fine.”

     “Are you sure?”

     “Yeah…” he said leaning to kiss her on the lips.

NEW YORK CITY, NY - Kirstin's apartment building

     “Thanx Steph. See you tomorrow.” Kirstin jumped out of Stephanie's car and got into her apartment building. When she got to her loft, she went straight up to her room. She was tired. She had been at the library since the afternoon. At least their paper was done. But it wasn't the paper she was concerned about. While she changed to go to bed, her thoughts were driving her insane:

     “Why did I agree to that stupid date tomorrow? Oh man! It's gonna be a disaster! What am I gonna say to him when he asks me why I ran away from him after the kiss? Because I know that he is gonna ask me that for sure! He already mentioned the kiss today! Oh God, why did he have to find me? And if he saw me yesterday, why didn't he come and talk to me then? That's what I am gonna ask him. But he does look good. My God, his eyes! They still drive me crazy! I could just look at them for the rest of my life!” realizing what she was doing, Kirstin criticized herself “Kirstin, stop it! You know you can't fall for him. Not again. You will get hurt. Just like you did before. You can have coffee with him, that's nothing, but just don't fall for him again. Tomorrow you go, have coffee with him, have a nice chat and that's it. You're never gonna see him again anyway. Just… don't fall for him.” What Kirstin didn’t wanna face was the fact that she was already in love with him. She had always been. She was just fighting back her feelings. And it wasn't working. The next day, she would have a date with Ashley. And she couldn't wait for it.

* Thanx Caitlin for editing and correcting the grammar on this chapter

~*~ Chapter 4 ~*~

~*~ Chapter 6 ~*~

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