-make it alright-
-chapter twenty-six-

Nick felt as if his head was going to explode. So many emotions floated around his mind, he didn�t know what to do with them. Where to put these feeling, how to deal with them. Even a warm, pre-summer evening at the beach did little to help him relax.

He wanted to talk to Mandy about everything. Confess everything, and have her help sort out his life and put it back into place. But she was mad at him. What else was new? They got into fights constantly. The tiniest little thing could set it off.

The current argument was had been on-going ever since his eighteenth birthday. Now that he was legally an adult, Mandy wanted Nick to start acting like one. She�d been begging him to move out of his family house- to buy a place of his own where she could move into.

But Nick wasn�t ready for that. As it was, he was on the road over 200 days a year. On those rare occasions when he had time off, Nick liked to spend it with his family. He wasn�t ready to be on his own, let alone moving in with Mandy.

Mandy couldn�t understand that. Mandy couldn�t understand a lot of things that had to do with their relationship. And when Mandy didn�t understand something, she wouldn�t let it go. She�d fight and fight and fight until she got her way.

Mandy�s life was Nick. She�d left high school to go on tour with him. And since she had no other commitments then him, she expected the same in return. But Nick�s life was complicated. And busy. He would never be able to give Mandy the amount of attention she needed. And when Mandy wasn�t feeling loved, she wouldn�t love in return.

That�s what Nick needed most right not. Love. He needed someone to love him and be there for him without expecting something in return. But if Nick ever expected to receive that kind of love, he was seriously fooling himself. There was no one in his life capable of loving Nick so unselfishly. At least, not at that moment.

Brian recently underwent heart surgery. It had been scary for all of Brian�s band mates, but it was especially hard for Nick. Nick was the youngest, and had literally grown up with the Backstreet Boys. He�d never had to deal with something as serious as surgery before. And the fact that Brian was Nick�s best friend poured salt on an open wound.

Nick was only eighteen, Brian just twenty-three. Death was something that only happened to old people. At least, that�s what Nick used to think. Brian�s surgery opened Nick�s eyes to the very real possibility of people his own age, his own friends, could pass away before they grew gray hair.

And of course, management did nothing to appease the situation. Deep down inside, all the Boys had felt they were going to be screwed over for quite some time. But so many amazing things had happened to them in the last year, that the Boys had ignored their feelings. �Everybody� had just been released in the U.S., and from the way things were going, it looked to be the hottest song of the summer. The Backstreet Boys had finally made it big in their home country. How could things be so good and so bad at the same time?

Brian had known he needed surgery for months. EVERYONE had known. But management had made him postpone the surgery not once, but twice. Fame was on the horizon in the U.S., and there was promotion to be done. Money to be made. When Brian finally went under the knife, the doctors had discovered a second hole in his heart. They were able to fix the problem, thankfully. But had he waited any longer for surgery, the results might not have been so happy.

And in just a few weeks, Brian would be onstage performing again. An hour and a half show of intense dancing, just weeks after surgery. They�d already hired a doctor to come on tour. To be ready backstage with oxygen on hand.

Life was complicated, that�s for sure. Nick had done a lot of growing up since his eighteenth birthday. He�d done a lot of rethinking. All the problems with management had reminded Nick of Melissa. She�d been right about Lou. She always was.

Nick still felt strongly that Melissa was the one who owed an apology to him. But he also now realized that life is short. Melissa meant more to Nick then his stubborn pride. If he didn�t make up with her now, he may never get the chance. And Nick wouldn�t be able to live with himself if something happened to Melissa before they made up.

He�d tried calling Brent. They�d remained close, even though Nick and Melissa hadn�t. But Brent�s mom had answered. Brent was in Houston, for Melissa�s senior prom.

Nick had almost forgotten Melissa was a senior. Of course, he was in his last year of school too. But he had a tutor, and things were different. He�d never had a senior prom, be voted in the senior poll, or get to wear a cap and gown. He�d known what he was giving up when he joined the Backstreet Boys. But a part of him had always thought Melissa would invite him to prom, so he�d at least get to go, even if it wasn�t his school. But he�d messed up that opportunity, and there was no turning back time.

But he could fix the future. It had taken him all night to gather up the courage, but he was finally ready. After a year of absolutely no contact with his best friend, Nick was going to call Melissa. His hands were shaking as he handled his cell phone. He still had her number in his speed dial.

One�two�three�four�five rings. Click. �Hey y�all�its Melissa. You chose the wrong night to get a hold of me. I�m out having the best time of my entire life. Senior prom baby, class of �98. Leave me a message, and I�ll call you back when I�ve sobered up.� There was a pause. �I�m kidding, Mama! You know I don�t drink!�

He couldn�t help it. Nick had to laugh. He waited for the beep before speaking. �Hey, Lissie-Liss. It�s me�God, I hope you haven�t forgotten my voice already. It�s only been a year. Anyway�this is Nick. I, um�liked your message. It made me laugh. For the first time in a long time. Anyway, I wanted to tell you that you were right. Management did screw us over. You�ve probably heard about Brian. Um, things have been tough lately. Really tough. I�d kinda like to talk to you, if you get the chance. You were right, Liss. You�re always right.� The answering machine cut him off. He didn�t get the opportunity to apologize. But Liss will understand. She has to. I just hope she calls me back- and soon.

Tonight was Melissa�s night, and everyone knew it. She felt amazing, and it showed. Every inch of her being glowed. She looked more beautiful then she ever had before.

Melissa wasn�t the typical teenage girl. And her prom dress wasn�t typical, either. Against a sea of full skirts and rhinestones, Melissa looked like an angel. Her dress had been handmade by Grandma Baras. It was a traditional Mexican dress. It was white cotton, trimmed in hand-embroidered flowers. Her long, curly hair hung cascaded down her shoulders, fresh flowers forming a headband around her hairline. She wore no make-up because she needed none. She was perfect just the way she was, completely natural.

To top it off, Melissa was the only girl in the entire place with two dates. Brent and Jorge had been on either side of her all night long, and Melissa loved it. She was eating it up, and the rest of the room had to stop and watch. The threesome had spent most of the night in the middle of the dance floor, bumpin� and grinding.

Will Smith�s �Getting� Giggy Wit� It� faded out. In its place, �All My Life� by K-Ci and Jo-Jo took its place.

�Hey kids, hate to break it to you, but this is the last song of the night.� The DJ announced. �So find the one you love and get really close. This is your senior prom guys, so make it count.�

Jorge took it as his cure to leave. �I think I�m going to find Mrs. Sampson, and ask her to dance.�

Mrs. Sampson was their sixty-year-old history teacher. She was on hand that night as a chaperone. Melissa smacked Jorge on the butt as he retreated. �Hey, don�t get to fresh with her! We have finals coming up.�

Jorge laughed. �I�ll try not to keep my hands where they belong.�

Melissa turned to Brent, wrapping her arms around his neck. She gazed up at him adoringly. He looked so adorable all dressed up in a tux. His arms wrapped around her waist, they swayed together gently. Brent looked down at Melissa with the same look she gave him.

It�d been a hard year, for the both of them. In early October, Melissa had dislocated her knee. She�d been ordered eight weeks bed rest. That meant no dancing in the Christmas recital, no audition at NYU and Julliard.

Melissa�s mother had been devastated. She�d always dreamed of Melissa attending Julliard. Teresa was convinced that Melissa had deliberately injured herself. And maybe Melissa subconsciously had. She hated cold weather and couldn�t imagine spending a winter in New York.

Teresa had made Melissa�s senior year a living hell. And all the way in Florida, Brent was going through his own kind of hell. His junior year of high school proved to be extremely challenging academically. And if there was one thing Brent was not, it was an academian. College was out of the picture. He�d be lucky just to graduate on time. Brent now faced the truly scary prospect of having to find a real job in a year.

But it hadn�t been all bad, for either of them. Their difficulties with school and home had only bonded the two together. They�d grown to depend on each other for support. They were closer and more in love then ever.

The school year was coming to an end. Both Melissa and Brent were determined to make the next year the best yet. Melissa had been accepted into the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. She�d start school in August, and planned on majoring in dance. She�d also tried-out for and been accepted into the UNLV dance team- the Rebel Girls. Teresa was displeased, to say the very least. The thought of her only daughter living in the city of gambling, the mafia and legalized prostitution wasn�t very appealing. But Melissa couldn�t wait. For the first time in her life, she�d be away from her mother and on her own.

Gazing into each other�s eyes, both Melissa and Brent felt content for the first time in awhile. There was no need to voice their feelings. As their love had developed over the past year, Brent and Melissa had come to learn each other better then ever before. They now felt comfort in silence. There wasn�t a need to constantly speak- they knew each other better then that.

Balloons and confetti fell from the ceiling, as the final notes to the song faded away. Melissa rose to the balls of her feet, planting a kiss on Brent�s lips. He could taste her pineapple lip balm. She could smell the Altoids on his breath. It was the perfectly sweet ending to a difficult year.

As they pulled apart, Brent leaned down to whisper into Melissa�s ear. �I�ll get out jackets from coat check, and find Mr. Lover Boy Jorge. Meet you outside?�

�I don�t want to leave,� Melissa pouted.

�Don�t worry,� Brent reassured her. He took his thumb and massaged small circles into her cheek. �There�s always my Prom next year.�

That left Melissa with a smile on her face. She grabbed her purse from off the table, and slowly exited the ballroom. She was surrounded by her classmates as they left the building. All were eagerly discussing which after-Prom party they�d hit first.

Melissa found a quite corner just outside the door to wait for Brent and Jorge. Force of habit, her hands went to the cell phone in her purse. Her mother had taught her well- always check your messages. She pressed the phone to her ear, listening to see who had called her.

�Hey, Lissie-Liss. It�s me�God, I hope you haven�t forgotten my voice already. It�s only been a year. Anyway�this is Nick. I, um�liked your message. It made me laugh. For the first time in a long time. Anyway, I wanted to tell you that you were right. Management did screw us over. You�ve probably heard about Brian. Um, things have been tough lately. Really tough. I�d kinda like to talk to you, if you get the chance. You were right, Liss. You�re always right.�

Melissa frowned as she heard the message. It had been the perfect night, and Nick had to ruin it. Whenever anyone mentioned him, it conjured up bad feelings in her stomach. She�d been so busy, she hadn�t heard about Brian. And unless it was a life-or-death matter, she didn�t really care. But Nick hadn�t mentioned an emergency. Or made an attempt to apologize. And until he did, she didn�t really care what he had to talk to her about.

The nagging voice messaging recording kept repeating over and over. �To erase this message, press seven. To save this message, press nine. To reply to this message, press four.�

Melissa pressed four. She waited for the beep before she spoke. �Its me. And of course I�m right. I�m always right. I�m glad you finally realized I knew what I was talking about when I warned you about Lou. Now maybe you�ll take a hint and ditch the bitch. Mandy�s not the one for you. So I�ll say good-bye until you realize that.� Click.

Nick was still sitting on the beach. He�d been there since after dinner, just watching the waves go in and out. It had been hours, must be after one AM by now. Beside him, his cell phone began to beep. He had messages. He eagerly picked up the phone, hoping it was Melissa who called.

�Its me. And of course I�m right. I�m always right. I�m glad you finally realized I knew what I was talking about when I warned you about Lou. Now maybe you�ll take a hint and ditch the bitch. Mandy�s not the one for you. So I�ll say good-bye until you realize that.� .

Nick didn�t allow himself to get upset. Instead, he dialed another number in his cell phone. It was answered on the first ring.

�Hello?�

�Mandy? It�s me. I�ve been thinking. I think I�m ready for us to move in together.�

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