~~~~~~~~~~» About Two And A Half Months Later «~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~» Bri «~~~~~~~~~~

"Yo Rok...your phone was ringing a little bit ago..."

I opened my eyes and rolled over a little to see Nick walk into the back ‘bedroom’ section on my bus. He held up my phone a little before he tossed it to me.

"I didn’t answer it, so you might wanna check your messages," he added as I picked up my phone from where it landed on the bed beside me. "Oh yeah...we’ll be stopping in a minute, so I’m gonna hop onto my bus."

"Alright man...I’ll see ya at the hotel," I replied as he turned to walk back to the front of the bus.

I don’t know why, but I waited until I heard the click of the door shut before I dialed my voicemail box number and held my phone up to my ear.

"You have one new message," the machine told me. "Wednesday January eighth, 8:38 pm."

I looked at my watch while I waited for the message to play. 9:17.

"Brian..."

I could hear the tears in the girl’s voice, even if I couldn’t see her face. I sat up slowly as the message continued playing, eventually realizing who it was.

"Brian...I need you," the voice said in desperation between sobs. "Please..."

My heart dropped a little when the click of her phone echoed in my ear before the message ended. It was probably best that Nick didn’t answer the phone earlier, but a part of me wished he had anyway. I didn’t have her number, so I couldn’t call her back. None of us had her number...she always called us, but never gave us her number. The only thing I could do was wait and hope that she’d call back soon.

"Come on hun...call me back!" I said out loud while saying a silent prayer at the same time.

The phone rang about two seconds later. I answered it after the first ring.

"Hello?" I asked quietly.

"Brian..."

Her voice sounded a little hoarse, really tired, and sad. ‘Thank g*d’ I mouthed silently.

"Liz hun...you ok?"

"I need you Brian," she said between quiet sobs. "I want to go away forever..."

"Sshh," I said in a surprisingly calm voice. "Don’t say that Liz. I can’t let you go away forever...I’d miss you too much."

I could hear her sobs on the other end and wished that I could just give her a big hug and tell her that everything would be ok.

"Come on hun...talk to me," I said gently. "Remember what I told you. Just between you and me."

"I...I didn’t tell you...I didn’t tell you everything," she said between staggering breaths. "I’m sorry...I just..."

"It’s ok. If you want me to help you, you’ve got to tell me."

Her end of the line was quiet as she tried to control her tears so she could talk to me. I waited until she was ready.

"Rainbow’s making me go to the shrink," she said suddenly in a voice that was barely audible, sounding as if she was loosing her voice. "They think that I’ll slip into depression and......and..."

I braced myself on the bed as the bus turned into a parking lot and then pulled to a stop.

"I told you this whole thing was my fault...that was true," she added.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "I don’t understand..."

I could hear my driver getting off the bus up front and then the door shut.

"Rok...where are ya man?" someone called out.

I didn’t realize that it was AJ until he had opened the door and started talking to me even though I was on the phone. I put my finger up to my lips, signaling him to shut-up pronto, but he was too caught up in his story.

"No...no...No...NO!!!" I could hear Liz say softly over and over when she heard him until she was yelling and crying.

"Wait...don’t hang up! Please!!" I pleaded, but was answered with a click as the line went dead.

"Sh*t!!!" I yelled as I headed for the front of the bus, causing AJ to fall silent as I walked off the bus.

After I was safely in the confines of the empty men’s restroom of the gas station that security had cleared out (besides the worker) for us, I dialed Chrys’ cell number and waited for it to connect.

"Hey babe," she said happily after a few rings.

"How did you..."

"Caller ID," she replied with a laugh before I could finish my question.

"Oh," I said. "Listen, I need you to give me Liz’s cell number. I know that she doesn’t want you or anyone else to give it out, but this is extremely important."

"But..."

"Honey, do you trust me?"

"Yes, but..."

"This is literally a life or death situation."

She was silent for a second.

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

I could sense the concern in her voice.

"You’ve just got to trust me," I said in reply. "Where are you anyway?"

"We’re in the busses on the road to...Oklahoma...I think..."

I subconsciously rubbed my forehead with my free hand as she told me the schedule for the remainder of their tour day.

"Is anyone on Liz’s bus with her?" I asked, trying desperately not to sound too worried so I wouldn’t get her worried too.

"I...I’m not sure," she replied. "Her sisters ride on there a lot with her even though they have their own bus...and the dancers are like always on there, so I really don’t know."

She paused for a small moment.

"You have something to write on?" she asked.

I nodded, but realized she couldn’t see me.

"Yeah, go ahead," I replied, holding a pen in my hand, ready to write the number on the palm of my other hand.

I held my phone with my shoulder while she told me the number and then made sure that I had it right.

"Thank you babe. I owe you everything and then some," I told her hurriedly.

"I love you," she said softly.

"I love you too," I replied, equally as quiet. "And I miss you so much."

"I’ll see you in a few days ok?"

"Ok. Love you," I told her again.

"Love you too," she replied happily before she hung up.

I jumped when someone pounded on the locked door to the bathroom.

"Hurry up Rok! We gotta hit the road," Nick called to me through the door while I unlocked the lock.

"Sorry man," I said, holding up my cell phone with a shy smile.

"Aaawww. Talkin’ to Chwystal again..." he said in a baby voice as he turned and ran for the door.

I ran after him and followed him all the way to his bus before I smacked him in the back of the head. He didn’t expect that, so I ran back to my bus, barely shutting the door before he reached the bus to get me back. I pulled the curtain back and stuck my tongue out at him as he stood outside the door as if he expected me to open it again. When my driver slowly began to pull the bus out of the lot, I waved to Nick with a grin as he stood there watching my bus leave.

"Hey man...your phone’s ringing," my driver pointed out to me as I watched a disappointed Nick turn and walk back to his bus.

"Oh. Thanks," I replied as I walked to the back of the bus and sat down on the bed before I answered the phone. "Hello?"

"What’s goin’ on?"

"Nothing," I replied.

"Well AJ told me that you were freaking out because he walked in while you were on the phone," Kev said.

"It was just a very important call," I told him, hoping he wouldn’t ask anymore about it. "Tell him I’m sorry...I didn’t mean to overreact like I did."

I turned my hand over and looked at the number on the palm of my hand as Kev jabbered in my ear.

"Listen Kev...I’ve got to go," I said, cutting him off, though I didn’t want to seem rude.

"Ok man," he replied. "I’ll see you at the hotel."

"See ya there."

I hung up the phone before I dialed in the numbers to Liz’s phone as fast as I could before I hit the send button and held the phone up to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Els?"

"Brian?"

"G*d, are you ok?"

"I...I dunno," she replied sadly.

"Talk to me Liz."

When she didn’t say anything, I got a little worried.

"No one’s here but me...I’m alone," I told her. "Please talk to me. I’m worried about you."

"Brian...Do you remember last Valentine’s day?" she asked after a few seconds.

"Yeah. You had that party at your house," I replied, not sure why she had brought it up.

"That was also the night that ruined my life," she said sadly, almost on the verge of tears. "I knew that Alex didn’t want me to have that party and after everyone left, we got into an argument."

I did remember that. That was the night that AJ put the hole in his wall.

"Brian...the night before that I got a call from Jay," she said softly. "He told me what the doctors had told Rachel only hours before. He tried so hard not to make it out to be a big deal, but I knew that it was."

‘Oh g*d’ I thought to myself as I realized what she was telling me.

"I tried to not let it show...I...I hurt the person that I loved the most," she said in sobs. "And then when I came back, I hurt him more by telling him that I didn’t want to give us a chance."

"Liz, he loves you sooo much," I said quietly. "He’d give his life if it meant he could save yours...he’d give up everything if you said the word...he loves you that much."

"I lied to him," she replied sadly. "I lied to him when I told him that I didn’t want to work things out...I lied..."

She was silent for a few seconds before she continued.

"They told me that Rachel was supposed to be ok. They said that radiation and chemo would work. I’d give anything to take her place...to give her the breath of life and take all her pain away...I’d suffer through it all just to see her smile again."

"There’s someone that feels the same way about you," I told her. "G*d Liz...he loves you so much that it hurts. His life is nothing without you there, and I see him struggle to continue on with everything knowing that you aren’t there sharing it with him. He won’t do it forever..."

She burst out into tears.

"I just want to tell him that I’m sorry..." she said finally. "I’ve been so selfish...I...I wouldn’t even know what to say..."

"We’re going to be leaving for Europe in four days," I told her. "You won’t see us until the wedding in April unless you come and see our last show in New York."

~~~~~~~~~~» Two Days Later «~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~» AJ «~~~~~~~~~~

"Sadness is beautiful. Loneliness is tragical. So help me, I can’t win this war," I sang out to the sold-out arena.

‘If they only knew how true those words are’ I thought to myself as I walked across the stage while I finished the verse. The rest of the show trudged on, and by the time it was over, I was *very* ready to go relax in my hotel room.

"Hey honey...great show," Mom called to me as I walked down the stairs from the stage.

"Thanks Ma," I said with a half-smile as I continued down the hallway, where she joined me.

I put my arm around her shoulder and pulled her short body closer to me as we walked.

"Ma, do you think she’ll come back?" I asked quietly as we came to a stop outside one of the dressing room doors.

She looked up at me for a second before she stepped out of my arms.

"As long as you still love her, she’ll always come back," she answered with a warm smile before she gave my hand a gentle squeeze and then walked away.

I just stood there and watched her as she got further and further away before she turned a corner and disappeared.

"Hey man..."

I turned my head when I felt someone’s hand on my shoulder and saw Bri standing next to me.

"Hi."

"Listen...I, uh, have this for you," he said shyly as he held out an envelope to me. "Go ahead...open it."

I took it from his hand. He smiled and watched expectantly.

"I’ll do it later," I said as I started to turn towards the closed door of my dressing room.

"No!" he said hurriedly as he grabbed my arm so I couldn’t go any further. "You have to do it now."

I turned back and noticed the serious look on his face.

"Please," he said with a smile when I gave him a skeptical look.

"Fine, fine," I replied before he let me go.

Once he saw that I was opening the envelope, he walked away. I pulled out a card after I got it open. I turned it over to the front and read what it said under the picture of a cake that was completely covered with candles. I opened the card and stared at the writing that was inside. ‘Happy Birthday’ the text said.

I read the writing before shutting the card in disgust.

"This isn’t funny Brian!!!! I can’t believe you’d pull something like this!" I yelled to his retreating figure as I turned the door handle and pushed it open.

I threw the card into the garbage can that was right inside the door before I realized that music was playing. I looked up to see Madi walking across the room towards me. I just sort of stood there in shock as she carefully walked across the room, trying to keep her balance as she did so. When she reached me, she held up her hands with a cute grin, wanting me to pick her up.

"Oh my G*d!!! When did you learn how to walk?" I asked her with a smile as I bent down to her level.

She moved closer and leaned her head on my shoulder.

"She’s been walking for a couple of weeks now."

I looked up and saw Liz sitting on one of the couches on the other side of the room while I stood up with Madi holding my hand as she stood next to me. She stood up slowly, holding her arms loosely across her chest as she turned to face the other way.

"You thought it was a joke?"

Her voice was soft and sad, as if she was about to cry.

"No...I just..."

She turned back to face me with a hurt look in her eyes that silenced me immediately.

"Coming here was the hardest thing to do in my life and you thought it was a joke," she said, sadly looking up into my eyes.

I let go of Madi’s tiny hand when she started to walk towards the couch. I didn’t know what to say as we stood there in silence.

"You’ve found someone else haven’t you? I should have known you would," she said after a few seconds of silence. "You could have any girl in the world...it’s silly really to think you would still want me after everything I’ve done to you. Brian was right..."

She turned around and walked away before I could say anything. I watched her as she stood next to the couch.

"Come on honey...it’s time to go," she said softly, holding her hands out to Madi as she sat on the couch, staring up at her mom.

Neither Liz nor Madi moved, Madi somehow knowing that they needed to stay, and Liz knowing deep down that she didn’t want to leave.

"No. You can’t go..."

Liz turned her head a little and looked up at me with sadness in her eyes.

"You can’t go because I want you to stay," I told her, walking over to stand next to her.

I was surprised when she let me put my arms around her and pull her body to mine.

"I’ve been praying for this day for sooo long," I whispered to her as she rested her forehead on my chest. "I missed you."

I was almost positive that she could hear my pounding heart when she lifted her hands from her sides and wrapped them around me. Madi squealed and laughed in delight as she clapped her hands together, watching the two of us. For some reason, she was enjoying everything that was happening, up until someone walked in the door, when she fell silent again. Liz instantly pulled away when she heard the door open. She stepped away from me, backing up towards the couch.

"AJ, come on! The rest of the guys are ready to leave..."

I turned my head a little, only long enough to acknowledge that I knew already. Liz took a quick glance behind me, and I knew from the shocked and surprised look on her face when she looked back at me that she felt betrayed even though there was nothing going on. She turned and picked up Madi in her arms, hugging the little girl to her body.

"Oh...sorry if I interrupted!"

"No. You didn’t interrupt anything," Liz replied coldly as she walked past me towards the door.

I turned and watched as Liz approached the door, hoping that there wouldn’t be a scene.

"It’s good to see you Liz."

"Likewise," Liz replied civilly, though I knew it was taking every bit of her willpower not to say something else. "I have to go...Izzie’s waiting for me."

I wanted to say something to make her stay, but I didn’t know what to say, and I certainly didn’t want to make the awkward situation any worse. I sadly watched her walk out the door and out of my sight.

"AJ...you idiot! Go after her!" was being yelled at me, causing me to look away from where I’d been looking.

"But she thinks..."

"I know what she thinks AJ, but you know it’s not true...and I know it’s not true, so go after her already."

I looked up into the brown eyes that I’d known for so long, staring back at me, and gave her a thankful smile. She knew me almost too well, but I didn’t mind.

"Thanks Manda," I replied. "I owe you."

She laughed a little.

"I’ll see you at the hotel," she said as she gave my hand a small encouraging squeeze and then let me go.

I rushed out the door, but didn’t see anyone anywhere but the roadies working on taking the stage down. ‘Don’t leave...don’t leave...don’t leave’ I thought to myself as I ran down the hallways until I finally came to the one where the door that went outside was. I slowed down a little to scan the length of the hallway after I’d turned the last corner.

"Liz...wait!" I yelled after I saw her blond hair, walking up to the door with Izzie and another guy behind her, blocking her view. "Please!!!"

I wasn’t sure if she heard me or not, since they were at the other end of the hallway. I felt as if my feet were glued to the ground since they wouldn’t move fast enough. As I got closer, it seemed as if the narrow hall instantly filled with people carrying things, blocking the way.

"WAIT!!!" I yelled sadly, though I felt as if no one could hear me.

By the time I made it to the door, they were gone. I asked the guard at the door if he knew where they were going and he just looked at me like I was idiot.

"They’re headed the same place you’re supposed to be going," he said in a condescending voice with a hint of arrogance that made me feel less than worth something. "’Cept you have to wait until your security comes back since they already left to take the other guys."

The walk back to the dressing room seemed to take forever as I walked down the now somewhat quiet halls alone. When I got there, I found a note from Amanda saying that she left for the hotel and she’d see me later. Now all I had to do was wait for security to come back and get me, since I didn’t want to be mobbed by fans. ‘Please hurry!’ I thought to myself as I sat down on one of the chairs and sat there in silence.

~~~~~~~~~~» Kev «~~~~~~~~~~

As usual, we had a whole floor at the hotel reserved for us on the suite level, so most of us (including the dancers, guards, and crew) left our doors open unless we were getting dressed or wanted more privacy, which half of us left them open for anyway. Most of the hotels that we stayed at had room keys opposed to key cards, since they were more upscale than usual hotels, but most of us didn’t mind either way. Once I got to my room, I opened the curtain and let the warm spring sun shine in through the window. Arti was with Meg and Jane talking about wedding stuff, so I had a little while to myself, which was nice for a change. I was going to lie down on the bed to read a book when I noticed a medium sized duffel bag sitting on the bed.

"Wonder who’s this is," I said out loud as I picked it up and examined it, seeing a hotel luggage tag on it, but it didn’t have a room number. "Weird..."

It wasn’t very heavy. Since it didn’t have a name or number on the outside anywhere, I decided to open it up and see if there was a name anywhere on the stuff inside. I felt kind of bad about opening it and looking through it, but I sort of felt obligated to find out who’s bag it was. I slowly unzipped the long zipper on the top to see a few neatly folded T-shirts, a couple pairs of socks, and a pair of shorts. I had to take out the clothes so that I could see what was in the bottom, so I carefully set them on the bed next to the bag. After I’d pulled out miscellaneous traveling necessities, I found something at the bottom of the bag that I found interesting. I picked up the brown pill bottle with the white cap and held it up, turning it around so I could read the label.

"What the h*ll?!" I asked, probably loud enough for the whole floor to hear.

Just to make sure, I reread the label, and I found the same thing as the first time.

‘Prescription for: Elizabeth Ann Holder
Medication: Prozac
Dose: 1 pill every 6 hours as needed’

"Holy sh*t!" I said in a softer voice as I read the rest of the directions on the label.

"Hey Kev..."

I looked up for a split-second and saw Bri walking down the hall.

"Rok! Come here," I called to him, hoping he’d heard me.

A few seconds later, he was walking in my door.

"Since when does Liz take Prozac?" I asked, holding up the pill bottle.

He just sort of stared at me in silence before he reached out to take the bottle from me. Of course I wasn’t going to give it to him until he told me what this was about, so I kept it in my hand and put it above my head so he couldn’t reach it.

"Kevin, give me the g*dd*mn bottle," he said in complete seriousness, surprising me with the tone of his voice.

I reluctantly gave it to him and watched as he gathered the clothes and things back in the bag before he started to leave.

"Some questions are better left unanswered for the time being," was all he said before he walked out the door and down the hall.

After wondering what he meant by that for a few seconds, I lay down on the bed and tried to read my book, but found my mind hardly concentrating on the book.

~~~~~~~~~~» Liz «~~~~~~~~~~

"No...they were supposed to deliver my bag to my room and it’s not here," I told the clerk on the other end of the phone as I stood at the window.

The clerk put me on hold while he went to check with the bellhop or whoever delivered my bag, obviously to the wrong room. There was a knock at the door, though it was open.

"Come in," I called out, thinking it was either Bri wanting to talk or Meg with something about Madi, as I held the phone up to my ear with one hand and pulled the curtain back a little to look outside with the other.

"I’m sorry Miss, but your bag was delivered to the wrong room," the clerk said apologetically after he came back. "If you’d like, we will get it for you."

"Could you just tell me what room number it’s in?"

"Yes. It’s at room 716," he said. "Again, we’re very sorry and we assure you it won’t happen again."

‘716...good thing that’s just a few doors down the hall’ I thought to myself as the clerk repeatedly apologized in my ear.

"Thank you," I said before I hung up the phone and pulled my hand away from the curtain, letting it fall back into place as I set the phone back on its cradle with a sigh.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly as I gently rubbed my forehead a little before running my hand through my hair.

"Liz, can I talk to you?"

I slowly turned around and found Amanda standing just inside my door with her arms folded loosely across her chest, patiently waiting for me to finish on the phone. This was definitely not what I was expecting, but if she wanted to talk to me, I didn’t really have a legit reason to say no. I nodded a little before sitting down at the head of the bed.

"Come in," I said, gesturing for her to come in instead of just standing by the door.

She came in, leaving the door open, and happily sat at the end of the bed. Her happiness was infectious, which I found kind of ironic. I’d never really had a chance to talk to her, so I didn’t know what she was like.

"Where’s the little one?" she asked with a smile as she quickly looked around the room.

"Oh...she’s with Meg and Arti in Jane’s room talking about the wedding," I replied with a small smile as I stared at the spread that covered the bed. "They just can’t seem to get enough of her."

"She is a cutie," she added enthusiastically before she paused for a few seconds. "Listen, I know what you’re thinking about me and AJ, and I just wanted to explain to you why I’m here."

I looked up at her and found her watching me. I pulled my feet up onto the bed and sat Indian-style like she was, to get more comfortable.

"He didn’t even ask me to come...the other guys did," she added. "AJ has a tendency to sort of let things trap him in if he doesn’t have someone there to hold everything into place, as I’m sure you know."

I nodded again. I knew exactly what she was talking about because I was the same way.

"When Howie called me and told me how he’d stay in his hotel room by himself a lot, and he’d keep to himself about a lot of things, I knew that it was happening again," she said. "It’s like a cycle he’d get into and couldn’t get out of by himself. He’d drink, which would temporarily ease the sense of desolation, but everyone except himself could see what he was doing."

She leaned over a little, causing me to look up at her.

"I’ve known AJ for a long time, and in another time and place, things probably would have worked out, but it wasn’t the way it was meant to be," she said. "I know that the word ‘ex-girlfriend’ carries negative connotations, but it’s not like that with AJ and me."

"Don’t forget, I’m an ‘ex-girlfriend’ too," I said, looking away again.

"Yeah, I know," she replied with a serious tone. "It’s just that he’s one of my best friends...we’ve been through so much together, helped each other through hard times and celebrated the good times, and it hurts me to see him like this."

I didn’t know what to say.

"I knew after the last time we broke up that we wouldn’t get back together and I was hurt, but I also knew that he just wasn’t the one for me," she said. "But I’ll always be grateful to him for what we shared. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have met my fiancée." (AN – No, Amanda is NOT engaged in real life as far as I know...it’s just fiction, and it had to be that way for the story’s sake, so don’t go spreading rumors ‘cause rumors SUCK!!!)

"You’re engaged?" I asked, looking up to see her smile brightly.

She nodded happily as she held out her hand to show me her gorgeous ring.

"Congratulations," I said with a smile. "He’s a lucky guy."

"Thanks," she replied happily. "I think you’ve got it backwards though...I’m the lucky girl!"

We both laughed lightly. She was quiet for a few seconds.

"I don’t understand why you and AJ aren’t together though. The love that you two shared was so pure and true," she said with a confused look on her face. "Most people spend their whole lives finding the one person that can share that kind of love with them, but you were lucky enough to have found it already."

I closed my eyes momentarily, listening to the words she was saying and knowing exactly why we weren’t together anymore.

"I just hope that our love will always be like that," she said softly as she studied her engagement ring.

"It will be," I replied, reaching over and giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

"Thanks," she said, looking up with a smile.

I smiled back, and we both sat there, momentarily absorbed in our own thoughts.

"Sooo..." she said, jumping up off the bed. "Let’s do something fun!"

"Ok."

I laughed when she turned the TV on to MTV2 and began dancing around the room to the music that was playing. They were playing hip-hop/r’n’b/rap videos all day as some sort of special, so she turned the volume up a little more, just for good measure. I laughed even harder when she came over and took hold of my hands, pulling me off the bed, and onto the floor to dance too. When a few of the dancers walked by and saw us goofing off and having fun, they joined us.

Once that song was over, another one of my favorites came on, which enticed me to jump around the room and dance around with everyone that had joined us. By that time, Bri and Chrys had joined us along with Nick and Linni. Both girls had come out to visit the guys before they left for Europe, so they were here too. Meg, Arti, and Jane also joined us with Madi in tow.

It was the video remix, so the song continued while I danced around some more. The next song started, and within the first five seconds of the song, I knew which one it was. When one of the dancers took hold of my hands and started swing dancing with me, I smiled and sang along as we danced.

I laughed a little as we danced before someone else cut in. It was all fun until I noticed AJ standing in the doorway watching us, when I calmed down a little. I went and sat on the bed next to Jane and Madi as they happily watched everyone have a good time. Jane picked Madi up and walked around the room talking to people, so I lay back on the bed, and laughed when Amanda jumped on the bed next to me, laughing too.

"I haven’t had this much fun for a long time," I said between laughs as we both laid on the bed while the room filled with more and more dancing people.

"Come with me," Manda whispered happily before she rolled off the bed and quietly made her way towards the door.

I followed her and noticed that AJ wasn’t standing there anymore. We made it to the hallway without anyone asking us where we were going. We quietly walked down the hallway towards the elevator.

"And where are my girls going?"

Both Manda and I jumped about a mile before we turned around and found AJ walking right behind us.

"You jerk!" Manda said playfully. "You’re not supposed to sneak up on girls like that...unless you don’t want to have any children in the future."

I couldn’t help but laugh. She had a serious look on her face, but we all knew she was joking.

"I don’t think you two could hurt me if you tried," he replied cockily.

"Oh really?" Manda asked matter-of-factly as she walked closer to AJ.

I followed her lead and moved closer as well. I couldn’t help but smile knowingly when she put her hand on his chest and gently backed him into an open door of one of the rooms. She looked up at me with raised eyebrows and let me enter the room before she did.

"After you," she said before she followed me in. "We promise we won’t hurt you too bad."

I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. AJ just kind of laughed nervously, realizing that there wasn’t anyone to save him from the two of us.

"Ok ok...that’s enough. I believe you," he said when he saw us walking closer as he backed up.

"Oh I don’t think you do," I said, shaking my head a little as I walked closer to AJ until I was about 8 inches away from him. "It’s seriously too bad that you don’t think we could hurt you. First of all, you’re outnumbered. Second, you have NO idea what we’re capable of..."

I saw Manda walk around us out of the corner of my eye until she was behind AJ. She gestured to me that she was ready, so I made my move.

"And third..." I said in a low voice as I leaned closer so my face was about two inches from his.

I watched in triumph as his eyes fluttered shut in anticipation. I silently lifted my hand to tell Manda to make her move. She quickly pulled his arms back from his sides and held them up behind his back, pinning him in her grasp. The surprised and shocked look on his face was priceless. I moved closer, setting my hands on his stomach as I spoke to him in the same low voice while I looked in his eyes.

"You’re just WAY too weak," I said with a knowing smile and a laugh.

I watched triumphantly as Manda guided him over to one of the smaller rooms of the suite that we were in before she shoved him in the room and hurriedly shut the door before he could catch the door in time. We both laughed as she locked the door and gave me a high five while we walked into the hallway.

"How long do you think it’ll take him to notice that there’s another door to get out?" she asked between laughs after the elevator doors shut behind us.

"At least an hour," I replied with a grin.

"We are sooo evil!" she added with a grin of her own. "I love it!"

When we walked back in the hallway about an hour later, we both had shopping bags in both hands. They don’t call it the city that never sleeps for nothing. We talked about everything we could think of. She told me about how she met her fiancée and how she was recording for her debut album that would hopefully be out soon. I even invited her to come visit me while I was on tour, which I didn’t think would happen in a million years, but now that we sort of understood each other, things were different.

"I’ll see you in the morning ok?" Manda asked as we walked up to the door of her room, which was between AJ’s and Bri’s.

My room was on the other side of Bri’s.

"Ok! G’night," I replied as she walked in her door while I continued on to my room.

By the time I was ready for bed, I was exhausted. I made sure that Madi was asleep in her crib before I crawled up onto the bed and under the covers. Within 5 minutes of my head hitting the pillow, I was fast asleep.

© Liz Holder 2001