Dawn and D met Noah at the airport and boarded the plane without any hassles. A few fans recognized Dawn and she stopped to take pictures with them. They recognized her more as AJ’s fiancé than as a recording artist, though. She hoped that would soon change. When they boarded the plane D noticed that Noah was in her seat next to Dawn.

"Um, this is my seat. See, that’s what my ticket says," she flashed her ticket in his face.

He looked at her annoyed.

"Can't you just sit in my seat? I already have my stuff in the luggage compartment."

"No way, dude. I’m sorry but we have to talk about our men. Now move your ass out of MY seat," she joked.

"Fine," Noah huffed, getting out of the seat and grabbing his bag out of the compartment. He gave D a glare and sat down in his seat. She stuck her tongue out at him and sat down.

"Boy, who pissed in HIS Cocoa Puffs this morning?" She joked as Dawn laughed.

"This is going to be such a LONG flight," D groaned, settling into her seat.

Dawn looked at her and smiled.

"Just think of it this way. They’ll be plenty of time to get drunk on all this free alcohol."

"Hell yeah!! Gotta love First Class. And there’s also plenty of time to talk about your night with J," D said, giving her an evil grin.

"My night with Alex is none of your business," Dawn answered back, laughing.

"Oh yeah right, Dawn. Like you’re not going to tell me about what happened."

Dawn just sat there pretending to read her magazine. D just looked at her waiting. When she didn’t answer she shook her head and laughed.

"You’re such a bitch."

Dawn laughed and put her magazine down.

"If I tell you then you have to tell me about you and Nicky."

"Deal. Now spill!"

"Okay, okay. He made me a picnic dinner out in the backyard. It was beautiful. There was wine and strawberries. There were candles everywhere. It was so romantic."

"Wow. That sounds so wonderful. I never pictured J as the romantic type."

"Really?" Dawn asked, surprised. "He's the most romantic guy I've ever met." Dawn sighed.

"How did he like his ring?" D asked excitedly.

"He loved it. He told me he would never take it off until he could replace it with his wedding band."

"Aww, that’s so sweet! You got it a size smaller so he can't get it off, right?" She joked.

Dawn laughed. "No, I trust him".

"I was just teasing. So, what did he get for you?"

Dawn started to reach into her carry-on bag.

"You promise not to tell him I showed you? He would be kind of embarrassed."

"AJ? Embarassed? As in AJ McLean?? We're talking about that AJ, right?" D looked at her shocked.

"Yes, we're talking about the same one," Dawn couldn't stop laughing.

"I swear I won’t say a word," she promised, holding her right hand up.   "I have to see this".

Dawn held the blankie up for her to see.

"He gave me this."

D looked from the blankie to Dawn then back to the blankie.

"What the hell is it?" She asked, confused.

"It’s Alex’s blankie from when he was little. He used to take it on every tour so he wouldn’t feel as lonely. He gave it to me to take with me."

D covered her mouth with her hand.

"Oh my God, that is the sweetest thing."

"He also gave me this."

Dawn held out the necklace and showed it to her.

"It’s a smaller version of the one he wears all the time. The diamond was taken from his cross."

"Damn, that’s beautiful," D told her with a sigh. "I envy you guys so much."

"What the hell are you talking about? Aren’t you happy with Nick?"

"I am SO happy with Nicky I could just burst. I just want him to love me like AJ loves you."

"How do you know he doesn’t?" Dawn asked her seriously.

"Because he hasn’t told me."

"Well, you have to remember that actions speak louder than words. You also have to remember that Alex and I have known each other for almost 8 years. It took a lot of patience for us to get where we are today".

D sighed. "I know, I'm just impatient, I guess".

"What did you guys do last night?" Dawn asked.

"He took me to dinner at D’Angelos and we went for a walk on the beach. He had sleeping bags and a fire set up. We spent the night under the stars. It was so beautiful and romantic."

"Wow. That sounds so perfect."

"Oh it was. We talked about everything. I’ve never felt so close to anyone. I wanted to tell him that I loved him last night but I couldn’t do it."

"Why not?"

"I think it’s too soon. I always fall so hard and so quickly. I don’t want to scare him away."

"Well, I’ve known Nick for awhile now and I haven’t seen him look so happy. He’s crazy about you. You can see it in his eyes. You aren’t going to scare him away." Dawn assured her.

"He did give me something."

"I’ll bet he did," Dawn joked, smirking.

"Not that you hornball. He gave me a CD of songs that remind him of me. Some are songs that he wrote and recorded in his studio." D took it out of her bag and handed it to her.

Dawn looked it over and smiled.

"That’s so sweet. And you say that boy doesn’t love you."

D smiled and took the CD back and put it in her bag.

"Soooo, did you and J do it like they do on the Discovery Channel?" D asked, out of the blue, making Dawn burst out laughing. If she only knew...

"Well, we made good use of the candle wax, strawberries and wine."

D stared at her, eyes wide and mouth agape, making Dawn laugh again.

"I think I scared Alex a little, but he loved every minute of it. Let's just say, he will remember it for a long time, and he has the marks to remind him," she chuckled.

"Damn, you don’t seem like the kinky type. I’m sure he was pleasantly surprised."

"You sure don't know me as well as you think you do," Dawn gave her a sly grin.

"Apparently not!" D stated and took a long sip of her champagne.

They looked at each other and burst out laughing again.

A few hours later...

D had fallen asleep listening to her CD and Dawn had just finished reading her magazine. She rummaged in her bag for her CD Player and popped in her Aerosmith CD. Halfway through the second song the CD Player turned off.

"Damn batteries. And I forgot to pack new ones." Dawn cursed and put it back in her bag.

She sat back, sighed and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she saw Noah holding a CD Player with a smile on his face.

"You can use mine if you’d like. Or we can talk a little bit."

"I'd love to talk to you," Dawn smiled.

"Yeah, I figure we're going to be spending an awful lot of time together, we probably should get to know each other a little better. So, are you nervous about the tour?"

"I am a little. It’s going to be the first time I’m going to be onstage in front of thousands of screaming people. I hope I don’t fall on my face."

"Nah, have some confidence in yourself, you're going to blow them away. As soon as your CD is released, it's gonna fly off the shelves."

Dawn chuckled.

"Yeah, as soon as Jive decides when they're gonna release it".

"I got word this morning that it will be released in Europe in two weeks, on the eighteenth, and it'll be released in the States a week after the tour is over".

Dawn looked at him shocked.

"Really? Oh my God, I'm finally gonna have a CD out! That's awesome! I can't wait to tell Alex! He'll be visiting me around that time, too, just in time to celebrate with us!"

Noah looked at her seriously.

"He's gonna be visiting that soon?"

"That's not soon enough for me. I miss him already", Dawn sighed.

Noah thought he was going to puke.

"So, how long have you two been together?"

"As a couple, about two and a half years".

"How did you meet?"

"We were good friends in high school, then he dropped out when the Backstreet Boys took off. About five years later he called me up out of the blue and asked if I wanted to sing backup for them. The rest, as they say, is history".

"You two seem pretty tight," he probed.

"He's my best friend. We've been through a lot together. He's helped me with a lot of things. I wouldn't be where I am if it weren't for him".

"Give yourself some credit, you're a very strong and talented woman".

"Maybe, but I owe a lot to him. I couldn't have gotten through it by myself. He's stuck by me through some very difficult times"

"Yeah, I kind of got that drift when you sang him that song at your going away party. Almost everyone was in tears. What was that all about?"

Dawn sighed, she really didn't want to dwell on the past by going into detail. She wasn't sure how much she wanted to divulge to Noah anyway. He must have sensed that she was uncomfortable and didn't want to answer the question, because he changed the subject.

"So, have you guys set a wedding date?"

Dawn looked down at her hands.

"No, not yet. When the tour is over we will. I just figured that with the tour and being so far apart and all, it would be too hard to plan a wedding".

He sensed that there was another reason.

"Is that all?"

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked, defensively.

"It just seems like there's more to it, that's all. I don't mean to be nosy. I'm just trying to get to know you better. I'm sorry."

"You're not being nosy, I just don't really like to talk about my problems. It's difficult to rehash it. We do have other issues that we need to work through, but we'll get through it. "

Noah almost jumped for joy that he had finally found a crack in their relationship. A small glimmer of hope was all he was looking for right now. He placed his hand over Dawn's.

"Well, you know, if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm always here, I'm a good listener".

Dawn looked over at him, smiled and squeezed his hand.

"Thanks. That means a lot to me".

There was silence for a moment.

"I do think you need to really take this wedding thing slow," he said letting go of her hand.

Dawn looked at him puzzled.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, amongst other things, relationships are hard to keep up when there's so much distance between you".

"We're used to being apart for periods of time," she replied, defensively.

"Sure, when HE goes on tour and you stay home, it's different now. This tour is going to make you famous. You're going to meet so many different people, your life is going to change so much over the next few months. Don't be surprised if you discover that he doesn't fit into your life at all. Take it from me, I see these things happen all the time in this business".

Dawn just sat there and looked at him, shocked. She tried to digest everything that he was saying, but she just couldn't.

"You also have to look at his situation and how getting married will impact his career. You're just starting out, so it won't affect yours that much, but it will his. Plus, your fanbase isn't whordes of fickle teenage girls".

Dawn didn't know what to say. Her and AJ would get through this, they had gotten through worse, much worse. But maybe Noah was right about a marriage affecting AJ's career. What about the other Boys? She didn't want to hurt anyone's career's, they had worked too hard, they deserved all the success they were now experiencing. And where did Noah get off saying that she would discover that AJ didn't fit into her life?? She didn't know what to do, she just knew that she didn't want to hear anymore. She felt the tears start to well up in her eyes, she had to get away and be alone for a minute to gather her thoughts.

"Excuse me," she said, getting up from her seat.

She climbed over D and ran to the bathroom, trying to fight back tears.

Chapter 16
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