"Lizz, are you doing alright?" Lee asked softly, smiling.

I groaned. "I wonder if Nick feels this crappy."

She chuckled. "I'm sure he does. Maybe if you guys hadn't tried to out-drink each other..."

I grinned, remembering our boasts to each other the night before. Nick seemed to think it was hilarious that I would even think that I could come close to winning since I was just a "tiny little thing." I gleefully pointed out that being half-German and half-Irish gave me a higher tolerance for alcohol than I probably should have. So started the war.

I think we both lost.

"Morning Ladies." AJ appeared in front of us. I hadn't even noticed him come up.

"What are you grinning at?" I stared up at him, indignant.

"Nothing, nothing at all." His smirk grew wider.

I shook my head, immediately regretting the action. The rest of the guys filed in and I observed that Howie looked pretty haggard. Nick was the last to straggle in, looking rather spaced out. He offered me a sorry attempt at a smile and sank into the chair next to me.

"How are ya feeling?" He asked, softly.

"Mmm...shitty, you?" I replied, smiling faintly.
"I want to crawl into a hole...a dark hole, and die." He mumbled.

"Yeah, and you have to go on TV feeling like that, too." I shook my head sympathetically. Dang it! Why did I keep doing that? You'd think I would have learned the first time, but nooooo. It would appear that I wanted to keep this headache.

"Hi Lizz, how are you feeling this morning?" Brian asked, after affectionately greeting Lee.

I groaned. "You have to ask?"

He frowned. "I knew you were a feisty one, but I don't think I expected last night."

"Lay off her." Nick growled.

I put a hand on Nick's knee. "Aw, don't be mad at me Bri. It's just that last night was the first time in sooooo long that we all could go out and have fun. Things actually seemed normal for once. Well, sorta..." I gave him the 'sad puppy-eyes'. I hated the idea that he was upset with me. "Besides, I wasn't that bad. I do remember everything that happened last night." I snickered. Nick never remembered anything after a night of partying. Way back when we used to chat online, we would have whole conversations when he was a little less than sober and he never remembered any of it when we talked the next morning.

"You sure you remember everything, Lizzard?" AJ asked, folding his arms over his chest.

A feeling of uneasiness washed over me. "What do you mean?"

Nick's head shot up also and I swear I felt him stiffen next to me.

AJ glanced at Howie and Kevin before continuing. "So, I guess the secret's out between you and Nick, huh?"

My heart stopped, it really did. Did I really say something last night about how I felt? Could I really have spilled my feelings in front of everyone? I suddenly felt very hot and I knew I was blushing furiously.

"Come on, AJ, knock it off. Leave them alone." Kevin chastised, biting back a smile.

"Dammit old man! You aren't any fun at all, you know that?" AJ huffed.

"Good morning, gentlemen. Are we ready to get started?" A smartly dressed woman pleasantly asked, coming out of nowhere.

Nick didn't even look at me as they all followed the woman to go get prepared for the interview. That suited me just fine. I was too embarrased. As soon as they left, a man came and asked Lee and I if we wanted to watch the guys from "behind the scenes." As we followed the guy to wherever he was taking us, I tried to work up the courage to as Leighanne what had really happened last night.

"Uh, Lee?" I ventured, hesitantly.

"Hmm?" She looked at me as we turned down another hallway.

"Did I, uh...um, say anything,last night, I mean. About Nick? Or um, how I, uh..." I stammered, hopelessly.

Leighanne chuckled. "No, honey. AJ was just teasing you guys."

"Thank God." I murmered under my breath, visibly relieved.

Lee smiled at me. "Would you like to talk about anything, Lizz?"

I opened my mouth to spill my guts, before I even realized it. She just had such a warm aura around her that made it easy to want to open up to her. Too easy. Catching myself, I clamped my mouth shut. No way in hell was I telling anyone how I felt. "Thanks, Lee, but everything's cool." I said lamely. Immediately I wanted to smack myself. How obvious was I? Idiot.

"Okay, but if you ever want to talk, I'm here." She smiled again.

"Thanks." I returned the smile, wanting more than anything to tell her EVERYTHING. Ugh.

The interview started a few minutes later. As many times as I have seen them on TV, this was totally different. It was so much more. I watched them, grinning ear-to-ear. Nick did a masterful job of being his usual self. Only because I knew him so well did I know that he felt like crap. Otherwise I never would have guessed. I thought about all the fans out there. If they only knew. I had to bite back a snicker, seeing as the sound crew told us that we had to stay completely silent.

The morning show host, whatever his name was, asked the usual interview questions. Most of them were from fans that had written sent their questions in. I waited nervously for that expected and dreaded question. Sure enough...

"So, Nick? A number of the fans wrote in to ask about Lizz. It seems that everyone wants to know if you two have become an item."

I held my breath and didn't move a muscle.

"We're uh, just close friends." Nick replied, after a moment's hesitation.

They moved on and I let out a sigh. I don't know if it was a sigh of relief or of disappointment. I rubbed my eyes with two weary fingers. I jumped when Lee reached down and squeezed my free hand with one of hers. She knew. Her eyes told it all, she knew.

"Well folks, that concludes our intwerview this morning. We'd like to thank the Backstreet Boys for coming to visit with us this morning and answering our questions. Stay tuned for a listing of their U.S. tour dates in a city near you."

The guys waved and smiled until the cameras stopped rolling. They filed off the set and over to where Lee and I were watching.

"Did I look as bad as I felt?" Nick sat back down next to me again.

"No, no, you looked great." I assured him. Instantly I froze. Did that sound obvious? NO! I was not going to let things get all weird between us.

"Lizz,are you are okay?" Nick stared at me.

"Huh? Yeah, I was just thinking. So what's next? Please tell me it's breakfast." I asked hopefully.

Nick laughed. "We'll see what we can do."

"Mr. Littrell? I've got a package for you. It was dropped off here at the station, but I didn't get a chance to give it to you before you aired." A young woman rushed up. She looked like she was probably a secretary. She thrusted the package into Brian's arms. He accepted it, mildly surprised.

I turned to Nick. "Is this a normal thing? How did anyone know how to get this in here to him?"

Nick frowned. "I don't know. No, this isn't how things are usually done. When fans send gifts, they don't go straight to us."

A small knot formed in the pit of my stomach as we all watched Brian tear the brown paper packaging off his gift. His look of confusion changed into an expression of shock and horror. His hands shook a little and he sank into the chair that was behind him.

"Honey?" Leighanne asked, alarmed.

"What is it?" Kevin reached for the object in Brian's hands.

All the color had drained from Brian's face. He pulled the rest of the paper off to reveal a magnetic letter board. Just like the one he had to use until he was able to regain his speech back.

"What is this? Why would...who..." He whispered, looking around at us.

I gaped at the letter board and the knot in my stomach grew bigger.

"Where did that come from?!" Kevin demanded.

The young woman looked shocked. "I, uhh...I don't know. It was left on my desk, but I never noticed anything out of the ordinary."

"How could you not have seen anyone?!" AJ glared at the girl.

"AJ." Howie said quietly, putting a hand on AJ's arm.

"I-I don't know. Maybe someone else saw someone. Should I ask around?" She suggested timidly.

Kevin nodded. "Please."

As soon as she left, Lee looked up from her seat next to Brian. She had a comforting arm around his shoulders. "Would someone please tell me what is going on?!" Her voice quivered.

"Brian used a letter board like that while he was recovering from whatever Agnes poisoned his system with." Howie told her softly.

"Do you think it's them?" AJ ventured, his voice barely audible.

"NO!" I exclaimed.
Nick put an arm around me. "Lizza..."

I pulled away. "No! It can't be them. It can't be..." I trailed off, putting my head in my hands. There was no use arguing the point. It was clear that it was them. Somehow they had found out that we were here and had gotten in.

"Why would they do this?" Asking what Brian had tried to ask before, but could barely get out.

"To scare us." AJ said bitterly.

"What if it's more than that?" Leighanne suggested in a hushed voice.

We all looked at her. "Lee's right. What if it was a threat?" Howie agreed.

"The hell it is!" Nick exploded. "They get near him again and..."

"Um, excuse me." The secretary interrupted. She had several people with her, one of them probably her manager and two security guards. "I asked everyone on this floor and no one noticed anything."

I barely paid attention as the man introduced himself as some manager and explained that nothing out of the ordinary was called to his attention. Calls were made and it seemed like everyone was grilled, but nothing turned up. The guys' managers decided that security would be tightened, but didn't see the "gift" as a real threat. We were too well protected, they said.

My confidence was still shaken. I could tell Nick's was too because he stayed right by my side and Brian's as well. We ended up being stuck at that TV station for another two hours while details were ironed out and precautionary measures were taken. We were all reassured that we had nothing to worry about, but the damage had been done.

I could hardly look at Brian. The look on his face just broke my heart. Seeing that magnetic board and being forced to so vividly remember going through all that...I don't think any of us had any idea how hard that had to have been for him. Being stuck, helpless, in a body that wouldn't work and not knowing if he was ever going to recover. Not knowing if he was ever going to be able to sing again. Not being able to have his wife there with him and the uncertainty of not knowing if he was ever going to see her again. He still wasn't 100% yet, but then that wasn't going to happen this soon.

Four days later and we were in North Carolina. I think...Nick kept telling me that I was going to get tired of touring and I'm sure it'll happen, but so far, it was still too new to me.

The magnetic letter board scare turned out to be just that: a scare. We were all on edge for the next couple days, like waiting for disaster to strike. Nothing happened though so we all sort of eased back into the life of touring. My nightmares came back full throttle, but other than that, things were better.

My worry that things might turn awkward with Nick because of how I felt were unfounded. There was nothing that could come between us, not to metion, I hid my feelings well. Unfortunaltey, they were getting stronger, if that was at all possible.

"Niiiickkkkk...I'm boooorrreeedddd." I whined. We had just gotten to the hotel about an hour ago. We had recently found out that the fans had somehow been misinformed on our whereabouts. Evidently a rather large crowd had formed at a nearby Sheraton. We were in a Radisson. For some oddball reason, this greatly amused me and I wanted to run with it.

"What did you have in mind?" Nick was reclining on the other bed in our room. After some arguing, Nick managed to convince Brian that it was fine for us to room together, provided we didn't drink.

I gave him a mischevious smile. "I dunno, you're the expert."

He laughed. "Ya know, I did see some vending machines..."

I stared at him, my eyes growing to saucers. "Oh my god, the pop-tarts!" I exclaimed, busting up.

"You want to?" He gestured to the door.

"Hell yeah!" I grinned enthusiastically. Another thing from our chats "way back when." It was the great poptart scheme and I laughed so hard when he told me about it that I nearly fell out of my chair.

"Let's go up a floor, that way we won't get caught." He suggested, slipping the key card into his back pocket. I followed him out the door, looking cautiously for anyone that might get us into trouble. We weren't supposed to go anywhere without telling detail first.

Thankfully, the hallways were empty so we hurried to the staircase at the end of the hall. "You have change?" Nick whispered as we climbed the flight of stairs.

"Yup." I snickered. We stopped at the landing and Nick carefully opened the door. I peeked around him and was surprised to see this hallway empty too. "Where is everyone?" I whispered.

"Waiting for the perfect time to use the vending machines." He whispered back, grinning.

We made our way down the hall and around the corner. There was an ice machine, a pop machine and a vending machine all side by side.

"Here, give me the money." He whispered, holding out his hand. I swear, two little horns were poking out of the top of his head.

"Sweet! They've got em!" I pointed to the blueberry poptarts on the third row.

Nick smirked as he fed the quarters into the machine and the poptarts thudded to the bottom. As he was reaching in to get them, I heard the elevator button ding.

"Nick, hurry! Someone's coming!" I hissed.

He looked over his shoulder and hastily tore the paper off the poptarts. With a quick grin to me, he shoved the poptart into the money slot, crumbs falling everywhere. I started kicking at the crumbs to hide them, but Nick grabbed my hand.

"Come on!" He pulled me back into a tiny corner with him. We were wedged between the ice machine and the wall, barely out of sight. We held our breaths as the footsteps grew louder. They stopped and I had to fight the urge to peek around the corner. I heard a rustling then, "What the hell?!"

Nick and I looked at each other and I started to snicker. He swiftly clamped a hand over my mouth, his own twitching. More footsteps sounded and we both froze, listening.

"Hi, there."

"Yeah, hi. Uh, I hope you weren't planning on getting something out of there. Some dumb kid shoved something in the money slot..." The irritated man explained.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding." A woman's disappointed voice replied. "Well, maybe another floor then. Would you like to join me?"

"Nah, thanks. It ain't worth the trouble." The man grumbled.

Nick's eyes met with mine and I could tell it was taking all of our power to not totally bust up. When I figured I was composed enough, I took his hand off my mouth. Only I didn't let go right away.

He didn't either.

Suddenly I realized how close we were standing. Our eyes locked and my heart started beating a little faster. Instinctively I started to close my eyes.

"Hey! What the hell?" An all too familiar and annoyed voice demanded.

Busted...