~The Next Day ~
~Chrissy~
 

"OMG! That is awesome! Did it hurt?"

I giggled watching Beth admire my new tattoo. It was on my ankle and consisted of roses and barbwire intertwining between them.

"No not really," I managed to get out without it sounding all funktified, "The only thing that hurt was this," I said sticking out my tongue showing off my tongue ring.

Beth gasped and I laughed. "What does it look bad or something?" I asked pulling out my compact looking at it in the mirror.

Liz laughed, "So that's what got you and AJ in so much trouble with Kevin?"

I shrugged, "Kev isn't mad at me. I think he's angrier at AJ because he pierced his bottom lip. I guess Kev doesn't know how it'll affect his singing though it shouldn't." I said with a laugh.

Liz laughed sitting on the couch next to me, "Oh is that so?"

"Sure," I said leaning back into the couch even farther.

We left the hotel a few hours ago and I was actually riding on the dancer's bus and I was already getting antsy to get off.

Liz just shook her head when the walkie beeped that was sitting next to me. I smiled, obviously my Nintendo buddy was bored.

"Speak," I replied letting him know I heard him.

"I'm bored what are you doing?"

"Talking about you," I said with a smile while Liz and Beth laughed. All the other dancers were at the front of the bus so we were pretty much on our own.

"Thanks I feel so loved," he said.

I laughed even harder, "Yeah by millions of girls. Why do you need one more?"

"Ouch!" he muttered, "That hurt."

"Oh I'm sorry," I said rolling my eyes causing the girls to laugh even harder. "What could I possibly do to make it up to you?"

"When we stop come on the bus so I can actually have a challenge. Brian won't play anymore cuz I beat him to badly."

I laughed, "Only if the girls can come too."

"Ummm…. Sure sounds good to me."

"Then I'll see ya when we stop somewhere which please beg and tell Kevin that I'm going crazy on the bus and that I need off soon before I go even crazier than what I already am."

He laughed into the walkie, "Ok fine. I will but no guarantees. "

"Just try that's all I ask."

"I will. Bye."

"Bye," I said setting the walkie down.

"Dang! How'd you score in so good with them? They NEVER let the dancers ride with them," Beth said literally jumping up and down. "I mean the only time we get to hang out with them is either at the hotels or after the concerts when we go and do something. Isn't that PATHETIC? Then here you come and boom it's like they want you around. I feel left out. I've known Bri all my life…"

I threw a pillow at Beth hitting her in her head, "Shut up! I don't know why they want me around. Maybe it's cuz I act like a little kid and fit in with them?"

"That's for sure. Get you around Nick long enough and I have no clue which one of you is older," Liz said with a giggle.

I stuck my tongue out at Liz with a smile, "Well he's YOUR boy. Not mine so you keep him in line."

Liz turned bright red and threw a pillow at me missing completely.

"Ya missed me!" I said laughing as she literally jumped on me and started tickling me.

At that moment the bus jerked to a stop and I know my face lit up. "YES!! BREAK FROM THE BUS!!!" I screamed pushing Liz off me before running off the bus with her and Beth following close behind me.

 

~Nick~
 

Not more than a minute after I was off the bus I was literally attacked by a screaming girl. Not that I didn't mind or anything but geesh she could have waited a few more minutes.

"THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!" Chrissy screamed knocking me to the ground.

I couldn't help but laugh. She really wanted off the bus.

"No problem. So you up for the video game challenge?" I asked after getting up and brushing myself off.

"Yep," she said running off when she saw AJ climb out of the bus. I swear there was something between those two but there was no way to truly tell with them.

I shook my head looking around when I noticed Liz standing by a vending machine. We were at a road stop on the interstate and I guess everyone was a little happy to get off the bus. I walked up to her swallowing the lump that formed in my throat. I wanted to tell her so badly how I felt about her but I know she would just laugh. She's so pretty and talented and I know she wouldn't want to tie herself down to me. It was just a known fact.

She turned around when I got there and smiled at me. I smiled back feeling the butterflies form in my stomach.

"Hey Nicky, ummm could you help me?" she asked holding up her dollar, "I can't seem to get the machine to take my dollar and I'm craving some Sun Chips," she said pointing over her shoulder at the machine.

I nodded, "No problem," I said taking the dollar brushing her hand slightly and I swear it felt like my skin was on fire. I shook my head and fed the machine the dollar wondering what the hell was wrong with me. "There you go," I said stepping out of the way after I got the machine to take her dollar.

"Thanks Nick," she said wrapping and arm around my waist and giving me a quick hug before stepping in front of the machine and pressing the button for the chips she wanted.

I watched her wondering what was up with her actions. She acted like she was interested in me. She turned back around and smiled at me.

"Thanks again," she said before she kissed my cheek lightly and ran off towards our bus where Beth was waiting for her.

I turned back around and faced the machine playing what just happened over and over in my head. I must have been standing there for awhile because the next thing I knew Chrissy was standing next to me.

"Yo Nick! You coming or what? We can't exactly leave a Backstreet Boy stranded at a rest stop," she said walking up to me. "Hey you look like you've just fallen head over heels in love. What's up?" she questioned with a smile.

I looked at her and smiled, "I'll talk to you later about it. I don't need the guys to know. They'll tease the hell out of me."

"Too late I think they saw the shitty grin. Come on, let's go. Just tell them you couldn't decide what you wanted and you should be fine."
I nodded and started to follow her. She stopped all of a sudden and looked at me.

"What Chris?" I asked wondering why she stopped walking to the bus all of a sudden.

She bent down into a crouching position and started taking deep breaths.

"Chris what's wrong!?" I asked kneeling down next to her. She was scaring the crap out of me and she wouldn't answer me.

I saw her start to sway a little and I knew that she was going to pass out.

"Shit," I said stretching my arm out to balance her a little, moving so I was now in front of her so if she passed out she'd fall into me, "AJ! KEVIN! BRIAN! SOMEONE HELP!" I shouted knowing one of them would come running.

AJ and Kevin came running out of the bus the moment I stopped yelling.

"What's going on…? SHIT!" AJ yelled.

At that moment Chrissy passed out and AJ was right by my side. He sat down and I rolled her off of my lap onto his so her head was in his lap.

"OMG! CHRISSY!" Liz screamed running up to us with Beth close behind her.

"Did she eat anything?" AJ asked out of the blue.

"No, we don't have anything to eat on our bus," Liz answered looking at us, "Why did you ask AJ?"

Kevin immediately went to the vending machine getting a chocolate bar while I ran and got some wet paper towels. I knew why AJ asked that. Chrissy told me that when she goes a long time without eating she passes out.

"Why'd you ask Alex?" I heard Liz ask again as I walked back up to him handing him the wet towels which he placed gently on her forehead.

"Because she passes out when she doesn't eat and I know none of us had breakfast this morning and we didn't stop for lunch," AJ explained, "Which means if you guys don't have any food on your bus she didn't eat and has literally been running on empty."

"Why the hell didn't you tell us you guys didn't have any food?" Kevin asked the anger and hurt apparent in his voice.

"Because we did until the guys got into it!" Beth shot at him. "Liz and I haven't eaten either so don't snap at us. If Reggie and them could go five minutes with out eating we could have gotten something."

"Why didn't you tell us to stop then? We would have stopped if you told us!" Kevin shot back and I knew this was going to turn into a brother/sister type argument.

"How the hell are we supposed to get a hold of you Mr. Richardson? We have no way to get a hold of you except through the walkies that Chrissy and Nick have." Beth said standing toe to toe with Kevin.

"Would you two knock it off!?" AJ yelled, "You two should freakin be related! This isn't the time or the place. This isn't her fault and it's not Chrissy's or Liz's either. Back off Kevin!" he finished picking Chrissy up in his arms. "I'm taking her onto the bus to see if that helps. Besides that we can get going to a food place," he finished walking off towards the bus.

"AJ's right," I said walking back to the bus with Liz.

"I'm sorry," I heard Kevin mutter to Beth before the two of them climbed on the bus and we were off.

 

~AJ~
 

No more than two minutes after the buses took off again Chrissy finally came too. I had placed her in my bunk and didn't leave her side. I didn't want something to happen to her. I don't think I could have forgiven myself if something happened to her while I was a way so I didn't leave.

"What happened?" I heard her mumble and I smiled.

"You passed out. Here," I answered her handing her the candy bar that Kevin got her out of the vending machine.

She sat up and scooted over in the bed so she was near the wall and I climbed in next to her. She took the candy bar from me and smiled while looking at me.

"I'm sorry. I actually thought I wouldn't pass out. I was feeling fine until I went to get Nick," she said quietly. "It just all of a sudden hit me."

I watched her and sighed softly wrapping my arm around her shoulders, "Don't worry about it. You will have to worry however if Kevin finds out you're up and haven't eaten that candy bar."

She giggled and took a bite of it, "Happy?"

I smiled, "Very."

She looked around my bunk at the pictures I had everywhere. Mostly they were of my mom and my grandparents but I still had a few up of Amanda. I couldn't bring myself to take them down.

"I thought you guys broke up back in Orlando," she said pointing at a picture of Amanda.

"We did break up after that concert. I felt bad about having feelings for this mystery girl and she was being a real bitch lately anyways so it was about time it happened."

"So why keep her picture up?" she asked finishing her candy bar.

I shrugged. I really didn't know why I kept her pictures up.

"I don't know. I guess I don't have anything to replace them with, that I haven't gotten around to doing it."

"Well here," she said reaching up and taking them down placing them in her lap,

"Hand me my bag," she said pointing at it.

I gave her a funny look but grabbed it anyways and handed it to her. She took out a photo album, flipped through it then took a few pictures out of it, before placing it back into the bag then tossing it to the foot of my bunk bed. She then proceeded in pinning up the pictures where Amanda's were.

"There you go. Now they're down AND you have replacements," she said smiling at me handing me the pictures of Amanda.

I looked around and the pictures she pinned up. They were of the group and the dancers, some of just her and the girls and some were of just us guys. I noticed that they were recent pictures too. "Thanks. You didn't have to do that."

She leaned into my shoulder a little, "No problem. Besides those were your copies anyways," she said smiling.

I smiled back and let out a soft sigh.

"Hey Bone is she up yet?"

Chrissy let out a giggle and I stuck my head out of the curtain and around the corner,
"Yes Kev she's up."

Kevin came and stuck his head in and looked at her, "Hey you. How ya feeling?"

"Hungry but other than that I'm fine," she answered honestly.

"We're gonna stop somewhere soon for ya. Why didn't you tell Nick that the guys ate all of the food on that bus?" he asked.

Chrissy rolled her eyes, "Because I honestly thought I wouldn't pass out."

Kevin sighed, "Next time tell us please. You scared us and poor Nick about had a heart attack."

"Shit! I didn't mean to scare him. Is he ok?" she asked worry written all over her face.

Kevin chuckled, "Yeah he's fine. He's been hanging out with the girls. Come on out when you feel up to it."

Chrissy nodded as Kevin walked away. She let out a small sigh and I looked at her.
"You ok?"

"Thanks AJ. I didn't mean to pass out."

"I know you didn't and why are you thanking me?"

"Because I know you were the one who was stuck taking care of me," she said looking at me.

"Actually it wasn't a task. I kinda wouldn't let anyone else take care of you."

She looked at me and smiled, "Thank you J."

I returned the smile, "You're welcome."

I don't what came over me but I never broke her gaze and she didn't break it either. We just stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like five or ten minutes though it was more like two. I couldn't describe what I felt or what kind of control she had over me but I wasn't complaining any.

"Maybe I should go let the others know I'm ok," she said softly breaking the gaze and the silence.

"Yeah, maybe," I answered getting out of my bunk bed then helping her out.
I watched as she walked to the back of the bus while I made my way to the front still trying to figure out what just happened between us.

 

~Liz~
 

"Why's Chrissy sitting by herself?" Beth asked me.

I looked at Chrissy who was sitting in a booth by herself. She hadn't even made it to the counter yet.

"I don't know. Hey J, why hasn't Chrissy even made it to the line yet?" I asked AJ who was standing beside us at the Wendy's we stopped at.

"I dunno," he answered with a shrug.

"Because Kevin won't let her do anything."

I looked up and saw Nick standing next to AJ.

"And why the hell not? He's not her keeper," I shot at Nick. I couldn't believe how Kevin was acting.

So what if she passed out. It could have been any one of us, it just so happened that Chrissy didn't eat dinner the night before either.

"I don't know. You know how Kevin gets," Nick said moving up in line.

That is true. Kevin gets really protective over the girls on tour, especially Beth and me. Chrissy has just recently joined our boat.

"Well he needs to back the fuck off," I said stepping out of line, "HEY CHRIS! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE! YOU CAN EAT WITH US!"

I watched as Chrissy's head shot up at she looked over at us. She smiled and came running over to where we were after she looked to see where Kevin was. He was actually no where to be found.

"How ya feeling?" AJ asked the moment she got to us.

She shrugged, "Like shit. I feel like I'm gonna pass out again actually."

The moment Chrissy said that AJ snaked his arm around her waist and stood behind her. She casually laid into his chest. It was like they were dating though everyone knew they weren't.

"What do you want guys?" Nick asked now that he was up at the counter.

"Ummm, I want a number one with cheese, no tomato or onion, with a Sprite," I said smiling at him. He smiled back and nodded.

"Beth?"

"Uhhh… get me a number six with a Fruit Punch."

"Chris?"

"Number seven with no tomato with a Coke."

"J?"

"Same as Liz I guess. Here," he said holding something out to Nick.

I glanced down and saw that he was handing money over to Nick and Beth and I did the same.

"Do want those meals Biggie sized?" the girl behind the counter asked.

"Sure," Nick said taking all of the money from us.

Nick paid and I grabbed the first tray that had the drinks on it, and headed to a table. Beth followed me while Chrissy and AJ got napkins, ketchup, and straws. Nick came a few minutes after us with the food.

Chrissy took a deep breath and sighed, "Food!"

"Here," AJ said shoving a french fry in her mouth causing her to laugh.

"Hot!" she said in-between laughs.

"Duh, they did just come out of the fryer," Nick said laughing at AJ and Chrissy.

"Look who finally came into the building," Beth said snapping everyone out of what they were doing to look at the door.

"Mr. Body-Beautiful finally decided to come into the restraint huh," Liz said with a giggle.

I watched as Chrissy hung her head and bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing. AJ just stared out the window eating a few of his fries. Kevin looked at the booth Chrissy was sitting in then scanned the rest of the restaurant until he found her.

"Hey Chris, Kev's looking for you," Nick said with a chuckle as he approached our table.

"I thought I told you not to move Chrissy," Kevin said as he approached our table.
Chrissy let out a soft sigh and looked at him, "Kev you didn't expect me to eat alone did you?"

"No but I expected you to wait for me," Kevin said looking at the rest of us.

Chrissy stood and looked at Kevin in the eye and I knew that her anger was rising.

"If I didn't start eating when I did I would have passed out again KEVIN! I am NOT your child and YOU ARE NOT my keeper, so stop acting like it. Nick and AJ got me food and I'm eating that should be enough to satisfy you," she said closing her hands into fists.

AJ reached out and pulled her back down into the booth and Kevin just walked away. Chrissy just sat there and stared at her food. Everyone was quiet for a minute trying to place what just happened.

"Chrissy what's wrong?" AJ asked softly.

"I am not as fragile as everyone thinks I am. Yeah I screwed up and fainted. It happens to everyone when they don't eat but I don't need people standing over me every second so it doesn't happen again. I have been through so much more than what you all could ever believe and I'm still here so please can't everybody just back off of me?"

I looked down at my food knowing exactly how Chrissy was feeling. Kevin made all of us feel that way at one time or another.

"I'm sorry guys. I guess I'm just used to fending for myself," Chrissy added quietly.

"Hey it's ok. We're here and we understand where you're coming from about Kevin.

He's been that way all his life," Beth said watching as AJ slipped his arm around her shoulders.

It wasn't long before our conversation picked back up to a lighter note and we finished eating. I couldn't help but wonder what was going on with AJ and Chrissy, though the more I thought about it the more I couldn't help but wonder if Chrissy told him she was the mall girl. I made a mental note to ask her that later as we climbed on the bus heading for our next stop.