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Chapter 54

“That sounds so romantic, Claire!” Laureen gushed and then sighed. “I would love to get married on the ocean.”

Claire smiled. “Thanks. I’m getting so excited! I know the next seven months are gonna fly; there’s going to be so much to do… but right now it seems so far away. I wish we could just get married now.”

“You could always fly out to LA and elope,” Lauren suggested with a teasing grin.

“So tempting,” Claire laughed, “but I have a feeling my mom would kill me. She’s really into planning this big wedding with me.” Claire had been describing the details they’d decided on so far to Laureen as the two women stood at the deli of the grocery store down the street from their work, waiting on their lunch orders. She’d found that thinking about the wedding helped when she started missing Nick; it kept her occupied and gave her something to look forward to. Sometimes it really was tempting to think about just hopping on a plane and marrying him right then and there, but she never acted on those impulses, determined that if they were going to get married, they were going to do it right – in a real ceremony with their families and friends present, the kind of wedding she’d dreamed about since she was a little girl. It was finally going to happen… she just had to wait a little longer.

“Aww, that’s cool,” said Laureen, smiling again as she reached for her sandwich across the deli counter. “So, how is Nick?” she asked, as she and Claire carried their lunches up to the checkout lanes at the front of the store.

“He’s great,” answered Claire. “He sounds really happy to be working on new music and all that again. It’s what he loves.”

Laureen grinned. “I know. God, I’m so glad it’s happening – a new Bsb album, I mean. We weren’t really sure, you know, what was going to happen…”

When she said ‘we,’ Claire knew she was talking about the Backstreet Boys fans. What a different perspective they must have had these last few years. She’d been around to watch Nick suffer through all that he had in that time, while they’d been kept largely in the dark about what was going on with him. She knew they were aware of the basics – she recalled the guys doing press conferences and interviews concerning Nick and his health last year – but for the most part, Nick had been keeping a pretty low profile. She’d seen him through all the ups and downs of the last year, while his fans hadn’t really seen him at all. It had to have been hard for them, not really knowing how he was doing or what he was up to, nor what was going to become of the Backstreet Boys. Then again, she supposed no one had really known that.

She returned Laureen’s smile. “I’m glad it’s happening too,” she agreed. She didn’t care so much about the album itself, and she certainly didn’t care for Nick being away from home, but he was off doing what made him happy, and for that, she was glad. He deserved to be happy.

They filed into the fast checkout lane and stood in line behind an elderly woman who was slowly taking her groceries out of her shopping basket and setting them on the counter one by one. Claire turned to the magazine rack while they waited, immediately stooping to check out the headlines on the most outrageous of the tabloid newspapers at the bottom. She was just about to get Laureen’s attention to point out a picture of The Amazing Crab Person (half-man, half-crab), which graced one of the covers, when she heard Laureen gasp.

“Claire!” she hissed in a loud whisper. “Oh my god, look!”

Claire rose quickly and followed Laureen’s finger to a small picture in the corner of the cover of Star magazine. She was hit first with shock, then déjà vu, as she realized the picture was another one of Nick and her at the airport from the week before, captioned by the headline, Nuptials for Nick? Shaking her head, she sighed and muttered dazedly, “I can’t believe this…”

“Neither can I! You’re on the cover of Star! That is so… gosh, I dunno whether to say it’s cool or creepy! What do you think?”

“I’m beginning to think creepy,” replied Claire, grimacing at her picture.

“Well, c’mon, we gotta see what it says!” cried Laureen, snatching a copy as the lady in front of them finished counting out her change to pay the cashier. Claire chuckled and shook her head, secretly dying to find out what the tabloid had printed about Nick and her.

As soon as they had made it into Claire’s car, they abandoned their sandwiches and tore into the magazine instead, flipping through the pages until the found the article about Nick.

“Nuptials for Nick?” Laureen read out loud, holding the tabloid out so Claire could see the article too. “By the time the next Backstreet Boys album hits the shelves, the boyband’s youngest member, Nick Carter, might not be a Backstreet Boy, but a married man. After speculation over photos taken of Carter and his girlfriend early last week, in which what appeared to be an engagement ring was clearly visible, Carter released a statement via his publicist that confirmed his engagement.

“The said girlfriend is a dental hygienist named Claire, of Tampa, Florida, Nick’s hometown-“

“How do they know my name?!” Claire cried in surprise. She’d seen the statement Nick had had his publicist put out last week regarding their engagement, and it had not included her name. “And what I do for a living??”

Laureen bit her lip and shrugged. “I don’t know… I guess they have ways of finding out. At least they don’t know your full name, or didn’t print it anyway.”

“Yeah…” Claire swallowed, uncomfortable with the idea of national tabloid reporters somehow digging up information about her. “Oh well, keep reading.”

Clearing her throat, Laureen continued, “The couple has kept a low profile, but Star investigators tell us they have been together for at least one year. In fact, Nick brought his now-fiancée to last year’s MTV Video Music Awards, at which the Backstreet Boys made a rare surprise appearance, following the amputation of Nick’s left leg due to a form of bone cancer.

“We weren’t actually dating then,” Claire interjected automatically, studying the picture the tabloid had printed of her and Nick at the VMA’s.

“Unlike many of his fellow pop stars, such as musical rival Justin Timberlake, who has been dating Cameron Diaz since 2003, after breaking up with Britney Spears, Nick has been known to date women who are outside the entertainment business. In 2003, he was paired with a local exotic dancer. The two were also rumored to have been engaged for a time, but have since parted ways.

“God, they do know their stuff. Leah…” Claire trailed off, making a face as she remembered her encounter with Nick’s ex at work. There was even a small picture of her and Nick together in the bottom corner of the page.

“Yeah, I kinda remember her,” Laureen stopped to say. “The fans weren’t too happy about that relationship. One of these tabloids printed a story about Nick and her a couple years ago, but then we didn’t hear too much more about her. The only relationships that get a lot of press are the ones with two celebrities. It’s not as exciting when a celeb just dates a regular person… well, unless it’s Britney, I guess.”

Claire laughed. “Well, that’s good to know… I don’t want press about me; it freaks me out! I guess I should have thought about that more when I started dating a Backstreet Boy, but I didn’t really realize.”

“I don’t blame you! I think it would be kind of freaky too!” Laureen agreed. “I wouldn’t worry about it though… no offense, but I don’t think they’ll keep on talking about you like they did with ‘Bennifer,’ just cause you’re not famous. If Nick was with J.Lo or Paris Hilton or somebody like that, then it would be big news.”

“Didn’t she die? Paris Hilton?”

“Yeah - bad example. But I meant, like, if she were still alive… someone like her.”

“I get you,” replied Claire. “Sorry for interrupting; you can keep going.”

“If Nick and Claire’s engagement lasts all the way to the altar, Nick will become the third Backstreet Boy to tie the knot. Bandmates Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell each married in 2000.

“The Backstreet Boys have just begun work on their next studio album, which is tentatively scheduled for release sometime next year.”

Laureen finished the article and turned to Claire, looking at her expectantly. “That wasn’t too bad, for a tabloid,” said Claire with a shrug. “Could’ve been a lot worse.” Listen to me, rating my own press, she thought and laughed at herself. This was just the oddest thing, seeing her name printed in a national tabloid. Obviously, the focus on Nick, not her, but still… it was weird. She wondered if he knew about this article yet. “Hey, would you mind if I took that home so I can read part of it to Nick? I’ll give it back to you at work tomorrow.”

“Nah, just keep it,” Laureen said, handing her the magazine. “You should save that article for a scrapbook or something.”

Claire laughed. “Yeah, maybe I’ll buy a new scrapbook just to keep my press clippings in,” she joked, and they both had a good laugh before finally getting around to eating lunch.


[AN: I hope I don’t need to say this, but just in case… no, Paris Hilton is NOT really dead, at least not at the time at which this chapter was written (if she has died of some venereal disease or something since then, my apologies), but remember that she did die in this story… the tragic carnival accident, remember? ;) Haha. Just didn’t want anyone to freak out…]

***

Smack.

“Dude, have you seen this yet?”

Blinking, Nick’s eyes shifted up from the copy of Star magazine that had just landed on the table in front of him, nearly upsetting his can of Mountain Dew, to the person who had dropped it there. AJ.

“Yeah. Well, I heard about it anyway,” answered Nick, glancing briefly at the picture of him and Claire in the corner of the tabloid’s cover. “Claire told me all about it on Monday; she was kinda freaked out.”

“It does take some getting used to,” AJ said with a shrug. “So, you got any plans for tonight? Up for doing anything after we get done here?”

It was a Friday evening, and the five guys had been together all afternoon, listening to demos of songs that other people had written and choosing some for potential tracks of their own. Nick always enjoyed hearing new music, but after awhile, it got a little tedious. All of the songs had started to sound alike to him, and he was ready to call it a day and do something else. Just what, he did not yet know.

“Nah, I don’t got anything planned,” he told AJ. “What’d you have in mind?”

“Well, Mary was talking about wanting to hit some clubs, so I thought maybe if you and D wanted to come along…”

“Have you asked Howie yet?” Nick wanted to know. He wasn’t about to agree to clubbing with just AJ and his girlfriend and end up being the third wheel all night.

“Yeah, he said he’s up for it if you are.”

Nick thought for a second and then nodded. “Cool, count me in then. You and Mary, me and Howie – it’s a double date.” He grinned cheekily up at AJ, who smirked back at him.

“Awesome. Any particular spot you wanna hit?”

Nick shrugged. “Somewhere kinda low-key?”

“Sure, bro, sounds good. I know some places,” said AJ with a nod. “Well, I guess we better get back in there. I think we have a few more tracks left to listen to before we can blow this joint.”

Nodding, Nick downed the rest of his soda and rose from the table, following AJ in to rejoin the others.

***

Clubbing just wasn’t what it used to be, Nick thought as sat at the bar, nursing a beer. The nightclub AJ had picked had the perfect atmosphere and was packed with the kind of people who could care less who they were. There was good music and enough hot women to go around, but Nick was too insecure to attempt to dance to the music and too engaged to flirt with the women.

He’d settled for getting shitfaced instead, knowing his friends would take care of him. Howie, who was sitting to his left, talking to a sexy Asian woman, was drinking as well, but didn’t appear to be getting too smashed. AJ, who usually occupied the seat to his right, was not drinking at all. He and Mary had spent most of the night on the dance floor. Craning his neck, Nick turned and tried to pick them out of the lively crowd. He spotted them near the back corner, grinding against each other in time with the pulsing music. They looked like they were having fun, as always. AJ had finally learned that it was possible to go out and have fun without getting plastered.

I haven’t quite learned that one yet, thought Nick, taking a deep swallow of beer. As the bitter liquid tumbled down his throat, he glanced up at the menu behind the bar, contemplating ordering a shot of something more potent.

“Whatever you’re ordering… make it two,” said a voice in his ear, almost startling him. He turned to see a young woman shimmy onto AJ’s bar stool next to him. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the bar, and peered over at him with a seductive sort of smirk on her face.

Acting on instinct, he gave her the once-over, sizing her up. He could tell she was an attractive girl, beneath all the makeup she wore, but she was packed into an outfit that looked about three sizes too small, making her appear heavier than she probably was.

Noticing him checking her out, she turned towards him, exposing ample cleavage, and smiled. “I’m Larissa,” she introduced herself, offering him her hand. He took it reluctantly and shook.

“Nick,” he said.

Her smile grew. “Carter, right? I knew that was you.”

He offered a tight smile in return. “Yep. That’s me.”

“It’s so nice to meet you,” she said with a flirtatious giggle, twisting coyly on her stool. All an act, he was sure – there was nothing shy about this girl. Remembering Diana, the girl he’d kissed in the bar back home, he was about to tell Larissa he was engaged and wasn’t interested when she added, “So, aren’t you going to buy me a drink?”

Nope, definitely nothing shy about this one.

He gave into her request and doubled his drink order. Seeing as he wasn’t at all interested in this girl, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to have a drink with her – at least it would give him someone to talk to.

They made small talk as they sipped on their drinks, but the motive behind Larissa’s flirting quickly became clear when she said, “Hey, here comes my mom – would you mind taking a pic with us? She’s a big fan.”

“You brought your mom clubbing?” Nick asked incredulously, but Larissa didn’t hear him. Shifting on his stool, he followed her gaze to an older woman who was squeezing through the crowd to get to them. She had to be pushing fifty, but she was obviously trying to look much younger, squeezed into a tight miniskirt and girlish top that showed off too much of her leathery, tanned skin. He fought the urge to make a face and forced a polite smile instead as Larissa introduced him to the older woman.

The mother/daughter duo flirted almost competitively with him for almost five minutes before he finally squeezed between them for a quick picture and then excused himself to the restroom, anxious for an escape. He took his time, and by the time he’d returned, both women were gone. Howie was still there, totally engrossed in a conversation with the woman he’d been drinking with all night, but he was oblivious to Nick.

With a sigh, Nick climbed back onto his stool and slid his glass across the bar to the bartender for a refill.

***