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The tour ended in Tampa.  Home turf.  Going out with a bang!  The audience stood up when the band came on stage, and they never sat down.  Even during the ballads, they stood and swayed back and forth.  The screaming for Alias Me drowned out the entire first verse.  At the end of the concert, the entire band gathered on stage for a final bow.  Nick put his arm around Mel and wouldn’t let go of her. They bowed and waved and left the stage, his arm still firmly around her.

Nick and Mel spent the last week clinging to each other desperately.  There was no one on the crew who hadn’t figured it out at this point.  Tom was afraid someone would let it slip or accept a payoff from one of the scandal rags for the information.  But the people who worked on the crew had been treated well and had had a great time.  And they wanted to continue to work in this industry.  And if you sold out and got caught… So admiration for the happy couple along with good career planning kept the secret for them.

Nick and Mel spent their nights making passionate love…reaching to the depths of each other’s soul.  Neither one would voice the secret fear…that the relationship could not sustain itself over time and distance…that it was a product of the proximity of the tour.  Neither one believed it for their own heart. Both feared that it might be true for the other.

“How will I spend ten weeks without this?” whispered Nick, as he cradled her in his arms.  They were both spent, covered in a thin sheen of sweat, eyes glazed with passion.

“Only four,” said Mel, her voice husky.  “Carly’s tour goes through Seattle in a month.” 

Nick was spending the next ten weeks in Seattle making a movie.  He had been offered the lead but had accepted instead a secondary role that had a little more character to it.  The leading role had been a blond airhead who used his looks to get girls and intimidate other boys.  The secondary character was his geeky friend…the guy who starts out being a chauvinist, but sees the light at the end and tries in vain to save the hero from himself.  It was a teenage ‘B’ movie.  But it was the best Nick could get at the moment. 

His part didn’t require him to be there for the whole ten weeks.  But Nick wanted to learn everything about making movies, and he had asked if he could hang around.  The director wasn’t planning on making teenage movies his entire career and was delighted to show Nick the ropes.  This was a guy on the way up, figured the director.  It couldn’t hurt to have him for a friend.

“Four weeks?  No way,” said Nick.  “I’ll never make it.”

“Well, there’s this new invention…it’s called the telephone.”  Mel ran her fingernails over all the places that she knew would drive him wild.

“But can the telephone do this?” asked Nick, reciprocating her actions with his hands until she squealed.

Mel pushed him onto his back and raised herself over him.  She stared into his eyes as she lowered herself onto him.  It was hard for her to do it this way.  Nick was so big, and she was so small.  He filled her completely, and she was stretched to the limit, unable to squeeze her walls around him, having to settle for swiveling her hips.  Nick didn’t seem to mind.  He put one large hand on her hips and raised her and lowered her, using the thumb from his other hand to stroke her center.

“I love you.”

It didn’t matter who said it first.  All that mattered was that it was said.  Over and over again by both of them.  And by the end, it was all they said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Do you miss him?”  Mart asked the question, knowing the answer was obvious, but trying to break through the wall of silence.

“Yeah.”  It was a whisper.  “Yeah.”  Then a stronger voice.  “But we talk on the phone whenever we can.”

“How’s the movie going?”

The two friends exchanged small talk…about the movie, about the plans for the tour.  Rehearsals were going well.  Carly wanted to involve the musicians more in the show.  She had tried to talk Mel into a solo, but the best she could convince her of was a duet with the male guitarist.  They practiced it in several different ways.  It was hard for two people to sing a duet and play guitar at the same time, especially for the intimate song that Carly had picked out.  They were still working on the proper staging.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did Melody miss him?  More than she could ever have imagined.  There was a gaping hole in her life.  Part of it was coming down after the tour, she knew that.  There wasn’t the constant rushing around, the need to be here and then there and then back here again.  She could get up early or sleep in, and then fill her day with whatever she wanted.  But who wanted to sleep in when you woke up alone?

She missed the people.  For the better part of a year, she’d been surrounded by people constantly.  Now she was alone.  It was hard to do.  She kept thinking things like, ‘I must tell that to Blaine’ or ‘I’ll see what Rashad thinks about that’.   She actually found herself turning to speak to someone who wasn’t there…Gus, Tofu, Nick…

And of course, she had to do her own laundry again.

Stevie Ray told her to take some time off, but Mel didn’t want to.  She wanted to be busy.  So she went into rehearsals with Carly after only four days.  Four of the longest days of her life. 

When she got back to work, Melody talked to Nick less.  His schedule and hers didn’t mesh all that well, and they were still trying to work out the best timing for phone calls.  Oh, but when those phone calls came through, her heart soared.  Nick told her that the publicity people on the movie were trying to encourage him and the female lead to ‘be seen together’ and warned Mel not to buy into any nonsense that she might see in the media.  She promised him that she wouldn’t and that the rumors of her affair with Justin Timberlake were just that…rumors.  Nick didn’t find that as funny as she did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was the last night of the gig at Pineapple Ranch.  Next week, they would be on tour.  And the week after that they’d be in Seattle.  Mel hadn’t talked to Nick in two days.  He was on a heavy schedule over this weekend.

“Okay,” said Carly.  “Next up we have a duet…This is a Faith Hill/Tim McGraw song…called Let’s Make Love*.  Take it away, Mel.”

Melody sat on the stool at the front of the stage.  She felt funny without her guitar.  This was the latest in a long line of ways they had tried this song.  Todd still had his guitar and was standing off to her left.  Mel didn’t think this would work, but Carly was the boss. 

She glanced over at Carly and smiled.  Carly nodded and played the opening notes.  Melody closed her eyes and saw Nick in her mind.  She put the mike up to her mouth and sang the words to him.

Baby, I’ve been drifting away
Dreaming all day
Of holding you and touching you
The only thing I want to do
Is be with you, as close to you
As I can be.

Mel raised her head and looked out at the audience.  There was a spotlight on her, and she couldn’t make out any faces in the glare, but she knew there were people there.  She gave a lazy, sexy grin and broke into the chorus.

Let’s make love
All night long
Until all our strength is gone.
Hold on tight, just let go.
I want to feel you in my soul.
Until the sun comes up…
Let’s make love.

Mel looked over at Todd, who smiled back at her.  She nodded at him, but he slowly shook his head and took a step back.

Do you know what you do to me?

The sound came from her right.  Mel snapped her head around and saw Nick walking toward her, a microphone in his hand.

Everything inside of me…

“Nick!”  She blurted the word out. 

Nick smiled sweetly and kept singing.

Is wanting you and needing you
I’m so in love with you.

He reached her and took her chin in his hand.  He put his face close to hers.

Look in my eyes,
Let’s get lost tonight
In each other.

“Sing with me…” he breathed.  He ran his fingers down the side of her face.

Let’s make love

Mel could only stare at him.

All night long

Nick smiled and raised his chin.  Come on… And the music found her, and she joined in…

Until all our strength is gone.
Hold on tight, just let go
I want to feel you in my soul.
Until the sun comes up…
Let’s make love.

During the bridge, she looked over at Carly, who was grinning from ear to ear.  Melody stood up from the stool and put her hand out to Nick.  She touched his chest to make sure he was real.  He was.  And they sang together.

Let’s make love
All night long
Until all our strength is gone.
Hold on tight, just let go.
I want to feel you in my soul.

Mel smiled as Nick did his line solo.

Until the sun comes up

And she threw her head back and sang her line with joy (oh, until the sun comes up).

And they finished the song together.  The audience could have gotten up and left.  Neither of them would have noticed.

Let’s make love…oh, baby, let’s make love
All night long…let’s make love.

As the last notes died away, Melody gave her head a shake to clear it.  She glanced over at Carly, who looked back blandly but said nothing. 

Mel looked out at the audience.  She cleared her throat.  “Ahem.  Well, this pleasant surprise is my friend…Nick Carter, ladies and gentlemen.”

There was applause, which stopped abruptly when Nick put his microphone to his mouth and said, “I’m not her friend.”

Melody looked at him.  What?

“Well, I am her friend,” he corrected.  “But I’m also her lover.”

Mel’s eyes bugged out.  What are you doing, Nick?

Nick turned to the audience.  “She’s my heart and my soul.”  He turned back to Melody.  “Oh, by the way, did I tell you, Honey, I’m thinking of going public with our relationship.”

Melody knew her mouth was hanging open.  She made a conscious effort to close it.  “Um…I see… and in kind of a big way…”  She motioned at the audience.

“Oh, you have no idea,” said Nick, with a grin.  “Stevie Ray, can we have the houselights up, please?”
The spotlight went out, and the house lights went up.  Melody squinted through the change in lighting and could see familiar faces.  “Mom?” she said.  She looked back at Nick.

“Melody Elizabeth Jones,” said Nick, dropping to one knee.  “Will you marry me?”

Melody was frozen.  She couldn’t react.  Her brain couldn’t process what was happening.  There was a long pause, which threatened to become embarrassing.

“Do it, Mel!” 

She looked at the owner of the voice.  “Tofu?” she exclaimed.

“Yeah,” came another voice.  “And remember, I don’t look good in orange.”

“Mart?”  Melody ’s voice broke on the word.  She looked back at Nick, who had risen to his feet.

“Be with me,” he whispered.

Melody slowly nodded her head.

“Because I don’t know how to be without you anymore,” he continued.

“Then don’t be…” she breathed.  She set the mike carefully on the stool and stepped into his arms.

Neither one of them noticed the standing ovation…the cheering, the yelling, the crying.  They were lost in each other.






The End