"Yo Rok! What's up?" Nick shouted coming down the hall of the hotel with his bodyguard..
"Hey Nick! Hey Billy! Nothing much, what about you? Not having a too bad headache?" Brian grinned.
"No! I didn't drink that much yesterday...."
"That surprised me a lot!" Brian laughed. "Where were you heading?"
"To the gym... Shoot some hoops or just work out...wanna come?"
"Nope sorry, Mary and I are going swimming."
"I see! Well....have a good time!" Nick said before to walked in the elevator. He stopped at the 1st level, and made his way to the gym with Billy.
He stepped in the vast quiet gym, his baskball under his arm. There was no one beside him what surprised him. But he heard a noise of steps in the other room of the gym. He walked to the door and peeked inside. Lylian was there, her headphones on her ears as she made some cool dance moves. There were mirrors covering the wall in front she was standing but she didn't see him coming in because her eyes were closed. Nick smirked and leaned against the wall. It took a few minutes before she realized someone was watching her.
"God you scared me!" she giggled. "For how long have you been standing there?"
"A long long time..." he teased.
"Did you like what you've seen of the routine??" she asked.
"Yeah you look great..." he replied but soon realized that was not the answer he was suppose to say. "It look great..sorry.." he apologized, blushing.
"Thanks!" she giggled shyly.
"Is this the song we're gonna do?...I mean, with all the effects and things like that?" Nick asked, pointing at her hearphones.
"It suppose to be! That's what Kevin gave me... But you can make some changes... I'm used to work fast..."
"Show me what you've done so far...I'm curious..." he grinned, crossing his arms on his chest. She stared at him for a few seconds, not feeling too sure about it. It was not the final version, she had started working on this routine only a few days ago.
"Ok.." she said. "But, that's not necessarely what it will looked like, I'm warning you. There might be a lot of changes and there are part that will be like... duos or things like that so...it will look better..."
"No problem about that! Just show me what you got!" he replied.
"Alright..." she sighed and put the tape in the radio that was on the floor. She pushed the play button and took her place. "That's mostly what you guys will do...the dancers part will be different at some ways.." she said just before the song started.
The music remixed of 'The Call' started and she danced and showed him what she have done so far. Nick couldn't believe his eyes. Even if she was dancing alone, it was looking really cool with the music. But the routine seemed complicated, what scared him a little bit. She stopped just after the second chorus.
"That's all...for now.." she said as she walked to the radio to stop the tape.
"Man...it looks really cool....and tough!" he laughed.
"Oh...you think it's a little too complicated?" she asked with a worried look.
"No...well... I don't know...it looks complicated but maybe it's not..."
"You want me to show you some steps so you can tell me if it's too much works or not??"
"Sure why not?!" he smiled.
"Good!" she smiled back. She showed him a good part of the choregraphy and to Nick's surprise, it wasn't that hard. Or maybe Lylian was just a good teacher...he didn't know but he knew he liked to have private dance classes with her. She had this way to explain the movements with a hint of humour.
They both didn't see the time pass by and Billy had to warn them that they were living in half an hour for rehearsal.
"Already?" Lylian asked with amazement as she looked at the clock.
"Oh God...I haven't seen the time gone by..." Nick chuckled. "Well, thanks for the lessons!" he winked as they walked to the elevator.
"No problem! At least... you'll know it before everyone else so you won't whine..." she jocked.
"I never whine..Did I say something while you were showing me the moves?" he asked.
"Nope..."
"See...I don't whine!" he smiled.
"We'll see about that..."
"And if I do...you'll just have to give me some more private lessons..." he grinned.
"Maybe..." she laughed. "See ya later!" she added as she stepped out of the elevator at the 4th floor. She went to her bedroom where she found Gaby, still sleeping.
"Gaby what the hell are you doing still sleeping???" she shouted but of course, she didn't answer. "Hey, sleepyhead, get up!!" she said, shaking her friend's shoulder.
"Huh??" Gaby groaned, not opening her eyes.
"We're leaving in half an hour for rehearsal...Wake up girl!"
"What rehearsal?"
"You know...I'm a dancer for the Backstreet Boys and we have a rehearsal for the concert tonight!!!" Lylian said. "Get up!"
"I don't want to..." Gaby sighed, opening her eyes slowly.
"Oh come on Gaby! It's the first rehearsal where I'm all by myself to run everything...Fatima is gone now... you have to be there with me!" Lylian whined.
"Alright alright..." she mumbled, standing up and walking straight to the bathroom.
"How come you're still sleeping at 3:30pm???" Lylian asked when Gaby came out.
"I was tired...duh!" Gaby laughed.
"Yeah but... 3:30!! I was up at 11am!!"
"You're a freak..that's why. No one is dumb enough to wake up at this time!" Gaby replied as she put her shoes on.
"I needed to work on the VMA's routine... "
"You've worked on it all afternoon??" Gaby exclaimed.
"No...from 1pm to...now!"
"I see...well...that's cool! I can't wait to see it!"
"Thanks!" Lylian smiled. "Ready?"
"Yup!"
"Alright, let's go!" and with that, the two friends walked out of the room and joined everyone in the tour buses.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
*** At The Rehearsal ***
Everyone took their places on the stage and they went through some of the routines of the show a single time because everything was looking great in general. Lylian then sat at the 3rd row and watched the other girls as they danced to the souncheck of More Than That.
"Ok...um..Amanda...at this place..." Lylian started, showing her the movement. "Your head should go more on the left..."
"Like this?" Amanda asked, doing the move with the corrections.
"Yep! That's great!" Lylian smiled. "Am um..Tania, you're a little late at the second chorus...but it's not a big problem...just work on it.."
"Sure!" the asian girl said.
"Rose...it was perfect! And Ally too... just lift your leg a little higher..."
"Alright boss!" Ally murmured. Lylian acted like she haven't heard and told them and the male dancers to make the routine for Backstreet's Back.
"Ok...during the second verse...from where I'm standing, I can't see Deryck and Rose...so just move a little to your right...just a little" Lylian said. "Yes like this! Great!" she smiled. "Ally and Don...move back a little...alright! That's it!"
She did this with some of the routines, only getting a few little details straight as the Boys made the soundcheck.
"You did a great job!" Mary told Lylian as they walked to the dressing room.
"Thanks! It wasn't really complicated...I didn't make any big changes!"
"Well, it's a good start!"
"Yeah...but I don't know how it will go when I'll have to teach the VMA's routine.." Lylian sighed, unsure of herself again.
"I've heard you're a pretty teacher...oh sorry, pretty good teacher!" Mary winked.
"I see..." Lylian chuckled, knowing full-well who had said this.
"So you gave Nick some private classes this morning?"
"He wanted me to..." Lylian defended.
"Oh! So that's what was keeping you so busy!" Gaby exclaimed, running to them.
"Stop!!!"
"So you show him the choreography but you don't show me?! Me, your bestfriend of all time?! That's lame..." Gaby pouted.
"It's not finished yet! That's why!"
"But you've showed it to Nick..." Mary said.
"Because he was there and I wanted to know if it was alright for them!" Lylian exclaimed, getting angry.
"Ok! Ok! Don't get mad! I'm kidding!" Mary laughed. "So what did he say?"
"I think he liked it!"
"Good!" Mary and Gaby said at the same time.
"Well, I'll see you guys later! Gotta go see my man!" Mary smiled happily as she left the two others. She went straight to Brian's dressing room and opened the door slowly. She found him laying on the couch, his eyes closed. She quietly walked up to him and layed on top of him and kissed his neck.
"Hi you.." he smiled, leaving his eyes shut.
"Hey..." she said before to plant a kiss on his lips.
"Mmm..." he moaned, his hands roaming her back.
"How you doing?" she grinned.
"Better now..." he replied, finally opening his eyes.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing! ..."
"Come on...tell me..." she said, knowing he was lying.
"Well, I'm trying to find a way to talk to Gaby... about you know, her past life. But I don't know how and I'm not sure she wants to..." Brian answered. "But I'm fine!"
"Ok...first.. are you sure it's her??"
"Oh yeah! 100%! She's exactly the same! She's just older! And I'm sure my mother could tell the same thing..."
"Then... just ask to talk to her, in private! Maybe she'll feel better if there no one around..." Mary suggested.
"Maybe... I think I'll ask her to go for a coffee or something...just to talk." he shrugged. "Who knows?"
"Yep! But if she doesn't want.. don't freak out. I think she's probably a little shocked to learn that you were her babysitter but mostly, that she lived with her mother you know.."
"Yeah... I'll wait until she's ready to... but she needs to know some things. Maybe then she'll try to find her mother.." Brian said.
"Maybe!" Mary smiled.
"Thank you sweetie..." Brian told her, his eyes full of love.
"You're welcome! I love you!" Mary smiled and kissed him.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
*** Later ***
"Knock knock!!! I don't wanna interrup anything but Brian, some people are waiting for you!!" Gaby's voice said through the door. Brian pulled away from Mary and looked at her to know what he should do.
"Ask her!" Mary said.
"You sure?"
"Of course... come on, if she tell you no, that just means she's not ready to know yet..."
"Yeah..I love you baby!" he smiled and kissed her passionately.
"I love you too!" Mary replied, watching him leaving the room.
Brian walked out of the dressing room and joined Gaby outside.
"Who wants to see me?" he asked.
"Meet and greet..." Gaby simply answered, looking at the floor.
"Already?" he exclaimed, looking at his watch.
"Yeah..."
"God, I didn't see the time go by..." he chuckled. Gaby didn't reply anything, she just walked, looking straight in front of her. But she didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to think...
"Hum..Gaby, I'm sorry for what I said yesterday night... I had no idea..." he started.
"It's ok.." she cut him off. "You didn't know.."
"Listen.." he said as he stopped walking. She did the same and they stood in front of each other, staring at each other.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"I know you don't remember those 2 years you lived in Lexington...but I think that if you want to know more about you mom... we could talk together! There are a lot of things you can learn... and even if you don't remember...I do and...we were pretty good friends at this time..." he said fastly like he was scared she was gonna run away.
"Friends?" she exclaimed. "With those 8 years between us?"
"It was more than friends... you were like my sister...the little sister that I lost so fastly when your mom ran away with you..." he said, sadness in his voice.
"I don't understand..." she replied, on the verge of tears.
"Look, I don't think it's the best place to talk here... why don't we go for a coffee or something after the concert? In the restaurant of the hotel so we can talk freely??" he asked with hope.
"Um...yeah...alright!" she said weakly.
"Great... Meet me there when you'll be back from the concert...I'll see ya later." he smiled. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and ran in the hallways to join the guys for the meet and greet.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
*** After The Concert ***
"I'm so tired.." Kevin yawned, leaning his head on Vickie's shoulder.
"Poor baby... " she said, stroking his hair. "We'll be at the hotel in 2 minutes!"
"No party for me tonight..." he replied, closing his eyes.
"You keep him so busy Vick.. look at him now! He's almost dead!" Brian giggled.
"I keep him busy??? Excuse me but I haven't seen him of the day!" she retorted.
"Oh, you're such a liar!" Brian jocked.
"Am not!" Vickie exclaimed.
"Oh yes you are!!"
"Ok enough you two..." Kevin interrupted, opening his eyes.
"Yeah...you're always arguying over nothing..." Mary nodded.
"We're not arguying.. it's total friendship!" Vickie defended.
"Yeah yeah..anyways, let's go!" Kevin stood up and they all followed him in the hotel.
Everyone went straight in their rooms to go sleep and rest. They were leaving the next morning for some concert in San Diego. Brian waited nervously in his room. The rest of the crew was going to arrive pretty soon and he didn't know why, he felt nervous about his talk with Gaby.
"Brian... stop worrying, you'll just talk together..." Mary sighed.
"I know but...what if she doesn't believe me or ...start crying?"
"You comfort her... let her know she can trust you!"
"Yeah but..."
"Not buts alright? Everything will be okay..." Mary told him softly.
"They must be here by now..." Brian said, looking at the clock.
"Yeah they must be!"
"Yeah..." he whispered, not moving.
"Brian are you waiting for me to kick your butt so you can move?" Mary laughed.
"Baby, why are you pushing so much to go??" he asked, turning to her.
"Because I know it's upsetting you and the faster you'll get over it and talked to her, the best it will be... I don't like to see you so...distant and always lost in your thoughts..." she half smiled.
"I'm distant?"
"Yeah! You're always looking somewhere else and you don't listen to me..." she pouted.
"I'm sorry...I didn't realize. I'm juste often thinking about that old time ... I'm trying to remember the more things I can so I'll be able to tell her more about her childhood..." Brian apologized, taking Mary's hands into his.
"I know baby... and I think it's the best thing to do.." she said.
"I only met her yesterday..that's what is weird..."
"But you've known her before so.. "
"Yeah I know..well, I should go if I want to get over that..." he sighed.
"Yes...I'll be waiting for you right here.." she smiled.
"Thank you so much for being there... " he said, hugging her.
"No problem!" she replied. And after a kiss, Brian made his way to the restaurant where he saw and waited...waited...waited...He knew the crew was back..then why wasn't she there?
"She won't come..." a voice said behind him. Brian turned around and saw Lylian standing there. "I'm sorry...I told her how good it would be for her to come but... she just didn't want. And I thought you should know so you won't wait all night..."
"Oh... well...thanks.." he sighed, dissapoint.
"I'm really sorry..." she apologized, for her friend. "You know, I really thought she was going to go... because I thought she finally was ready to talk about it... but ... I guess she's still scared."
"I understand... well, tell her that as soon as she's ready to know or just talk... I'm here.." he smiled warmly.
"I will...thanks a lot for her. If she could finally see something happy about her life..." Lylian sighed.
"It's been that horrible?" Brian asked.
"Oh yeah... I've known her for like 6 years...and since that time, I never really saw a complete...I mean, a true smile. She's a pretty good actress when it comes to hide her feelings... unfortunately."
"That's so bad..."
"Yeah...she's been through everything... her friends weren't the best people you would have liked to see her with...they were older than her and were stealing, on drugs, alcohol... I'm the one who told her she had to do something... and then since a year, it started getting better, except for that psycho boyfriend she was with... and now, I'm hoping this time away on tour will help her realize some things.." Lylian explained.
"God...I hope it will help too...at least, she has you as friend.." Brian said.
"Thanks...but..I don't think I'll be able to help her much longer...there are things she has to work out by herself..."
"You're right...just leave her some times... "
"Yeah..well, I'll go back in the room..thanks for your help.. maybe some other day, she'll realize what you are trying to do...I hope so.."
"Me too...thanks for coming. See ya tomorrow!"
"Yep! Good night!" she smiled and left the restaurant.
