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***RECAP: "Well, a lot of shit went down, but I think it’s safe to say that we’re not a group anymore," he answered. "W-what?" she stuttered, not thinking she heard him correctly. "Lauren," Nick said, "we broke up....the Backstreet Boys broke up."***
"Wait, wait," Lauren said, backing up a bit, "you guys broke what?!"
Nick smiled, despite himself. It was so good to hear her voice on the other end of the line, even though she was thousands of miles away. "We broke up," he said sadly, "as in, we’re no longer a group."
Lauren was silent. Even though it was so good to hear his voice again, she was shocked. "You mean to tell me that you five aren’t Backstreet Boys anymore?" she was finally able to get out.
"Yes."
"Nick, I....." she continued, "I...I don’t know what to say! But you guys were going so good! What happened?" Nick sighed, not wanting to tell her the real reason everything fell apart. The truth was, it all started with her. "We, uh, just had some disagreements," he lied.
"Nick, don’t lie to me," she answered back, hearing the uncertainty in his voice, "what’s the real reason?"
Nick was silent. He didn’t want to say a single thing. He didn’t want to say how he’s been miserable since she left; he didn’t want to say that AJ hasn’t been of sound mind since he found out they were siblings, and he definitely didn’t want to say that he wasn’t even speaking to his best friend. "I can’t really say," was the best thing he could come up with.
"Nick...." she said, trying to coax more out of him, "please tell me?"
"I can’t," he said, wishing he could, "but you have to promise you won’t tell ANYONE about this....it’s not official yet, and we don’t want the public to find out about it yet."
"This is ridiculous," muttered Lauren, shaking her head in disbelief, "you guys were gold!"
"Lauren," whined Nick, "this can’t go to anyone....you have to swear!"
"I swear I won’t tell anyone," she promised, "but you guys can’t do this....you know that, right? Something has to be done!"
"Like what?" asked Nick, "what do you suggest?"
"I don’t know," answered Lauren, "but I’m going to be there to help you figure it out."
***************************
"AJ, honey, you don’t look so well today....is everything all right?" asked Denise, AJ’s mom when he was at her house.
AJ shrugged and said, "Well, if losing your job and friends counts, then, yeah I’d have to say that I’m not doing too well right now." Denise sighed and looked at her son. "Alex, I know you’re upset about the whole situation with your father and everything...."
"Mom," he interrupted, "it’s more than upset. I met a girl who I thought I loved, and it turns out she’s my half sister! No one even bothered mentioning before that I had half siblings out there somewhere, and I was incredibly surprised!"
Denise gave a sympathetic look to AJ, and ran her hand lovingly down his cheek. "AJ, sweetie, I know you’re upset, but I met Lauren, remember? And she was a nice girl.....she really cared about you. And as for the Backstreet Boys...."
"Mom," he interrupted again, "there are no Backstreet Boys."
****************************
"This is absolutely ridiculous," Lauren said out loud to herself, as she walked briskly through the airport in Orlando, Florida, "I don’t believe I’m getting myself into this again."
After she had hung up the phone with Nick, she raced home, threw a bunch of clothes in a suitcase and made a beeline for the airport, hoping she could catch any flight available to Orlando that afternoon. Luckily, she had found a flight and was there in less than four hours. She hadn’t even told Nick she was coming....she wanted to make it a surprise and try to set them all straight.
Lauren hailed a taxi and told him to go to the Holiday Inn, which was located five minutes from Nick’s house. Her stomach was filled with nervousness and anxiety, all wrapped into one. When she got to the hotel, she booked a room, checked in, and threw her suitcase on to a bed. "I can’t believe I’m doing this," she muttered, as she quickly hailed another cab that took her to Nick’s driveway.
***************************
Nick sighed as he aimlessly changed the channels on his T.V. He was wearing sweat pants and a ripped up t-shirt...his hair was a mess and he hadn’t left the house for three days now. His parents were very worried about him, but he didn’t care. He was a washed up superstar, and it didn’t matter anyway.
DING DONG! The doorbell rang, making Nick jump a little from his seat on the couch. "Someone get the door!" he called to anyone in the house, but no one responded. "Mom!" he called again, but there was no answer. "BJ! Leslie! Aaron? Someone answer the door!" No answer. "Fuck," he muttered, when he realized that no one was home. He stood up and stretched. DING DONG! The doorbell rang again. "I’m coming!" he called harshly, as he made his way to the door.
He opened it up, and there stood Lauren. Nick’s mouth dropped open, as Lauren smiled sheepishly. "Hi," she said shyly.
"What-what are you doing here?!" sputtered Nick, blinking numerous times, hoping he wasn’t just seeing things. "I’m here to help," she answered, "that is, if you’ll let me....can I come in?"
"Um, oh yeah, sure," he stuttered, opening the door wider and letting her in. "Do I get a hug?" she asked, holding out her arms. Nick smiled, as he realized what a slob he looked like. He just couldn’t believe Lauren was standing in his front hall. He leaned over for a hug, as he felt all his old feelings for her come back in an instant. "I did miss you guys, ya know, even if some of you didn’t miss me," she said, kissing him on the cheek.
Nick blushed and looked down. "Lauren," he began, "things are really different now....we aren’t together....like, we aren’t ‘the five of us’ anymore...we’re just sort of.....separate."
Lauren bit her lip sadly, as she looked at the blonde beauty standing in front of her, with messed up hair and messy clothes. It looked like he hadn’t seen the light of day in a while. "I wanna help you," she said, "and I wanna do as much as I can."
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