(The song ‘Time of the Season’ is playng)

"Where the hell are Nick and Layla?" Alex and Sarah had been sitting in a discussion for nearly three hours. Though it had been entertaining, he was ready to leave.

"I'm sure she's just introducing him to people. Let yourself have some fun."

"That's what I'm afraid will happen," he quietly confided to her.

"Alex, this is the best kind of place to test your strength."

He squinted his eyes and watched as she continued with life. He loved her, but she had annoying qualities. Her biggest one was that she would rather ignore a problem than deal with it.

"Alex, you want a beer?"

He looked at Steve and fought off every urge to punch him for his offer. Maybe this was one idiot that actually missed the three ring circus that surrounded his stint in rehab. "No thanks, man. I'll stick with water since I'm driving tonight." He looked towards the direction of a window, wishing Nick were around.

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(The song ‘Hole In My Soul’ is playing)

"Believe me; I've been in a relationship before that consisted of the girl doing nothing but taking from me. It will physically and emotionally drain you." Layla listened as Nick began to open up more and more. Her instincts were telling her he was a beautiful person that had already lived through a lot for his young age. "I mean, once you've been in that kind of relationship long enough, you start thinking everyone is like that."

"Do you still think everyone is like her?"

"It's hard for me to trust people, but I don't think the whole world is evil. All I'm saying is that you seem to have a very trusting nature. It'd be a shame to lose that, even though it can get a person into trouble."

"I am trusting, but only of people I know...and people I'd like to know better." Her sweet smile returned.

"You're the first person to worm their way into my heart so quickly. Believe me; you'll probably end up learning more than you want to."

"Eh, I bet there's plenty about me that you'll find freaky." "Hey, as long as you stay away from the best drugs to screw on topic, we'll be just fine," he giggled.

"Damn, that was going to be up next for discussion." She looked at him, hearing his laughter stop. "Gotcha! So, you think Sarah and Alex miss us yet?"

"Are you kidding? Alex can fit in anywhere. He may look weird, but the man is intelligent as hell. He could talk to strangers about practically anything."

"Were you there with him? I mean, when he was going through his problems?"

"Yes, all the guys in the group were there for him. Like I said, he's intelligent, but he has a lot of pain and anger from his past. His Dad took off when he was young and then once we were in the spotlight, AJ got in contact with him. When he went over to his place, his Dad had a bunch of Backstreet Boy memorabilia hanging on the walls. Alex just couldn't understand why his Dad didn't get in touch with him. Then his Grandmother passed away, and she was like a second Mom to him, so that blow was worse than the Dad thing. I know Sarah makes him happy, but I sometimes wonder."

"You wonder what?"

He paused, remembering he was talking to one of closest Sarah's friends, and contemplated on whether or not to continue. "Look, I know you're friends with Sarah but you also want to be my friend, right?"

"Right."

"Can I trust you with something?"

"Definitely."

"There's this woman, someone AJ was involved with before Sarah. All of us pretty much thought she was the one for him. I mean, they might as well have been the same person. I just sometimes wonder if this would have all happened with him if they were still together."

"You think their breakup contributed to his problem?"

"It's not just that. I'm sure it was one of the factors. Believe me, when Sarah entered the picture it seemed like Alex forgot about every other girl. But, I think he still misses her. You know, when he's alone at night and has time to think back."

"It would only be appropriate if he did miss her. This girl sounds like she was very special to him. I'd find it odd if he was able to push every single memory of her out of his mind."

"You're right, but not totally understanding what I'm getting at."

"Okay, maybe you should spell it out for me then," she laughed.

"Amanda, that was her name, was very religious. Whenever something went wrong with her and AJ, or even just life in general, she'd always have them sit and pray. I'm not someone who's high and mighty on religion, but he seemed peaceful at the time. I'm just not sure if Sarah is comforting in that way. I know she loves him, but I wonder if she realizes the responsibility that goes along with him."

(The song 'By the Way' begins playing)

"You're worried for him."

"We've had our differences in the past, but we're the two in the group that's probably had the roughest time of things. Neither of us grew up normally. Not to toot my own horn, but we grew up knowing that we had talents and that those talents could actually get us somewhere. We both got made fun of in school, both got laughed at. I know I was annoying to him when the group first got together, but he seemed really cool to me. As we got older, I think he began seeing we stumbled across the same problems. He's a very good friend to me."

"I love it when men can push aside the macho bullshit and act like normal human beings."

He smiled shyly, adverting his eyes. "I just don't want you thinking that I'm saying Sarah's a bad person."

"I know that's not what you're saying. You're simply stating that you're not sure either of them is ready for the relationship to go further. That doesn't make either of them bad people."

"I just don't want to see Alex go through anymore pain. It's the last thing he needs right now."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Who's been there to watch out for you and your pain?"

"I don't let my emotions show too much."

"You've been doing a pretty good job tonight."

He laughed lightly. "Tonight hasn't even scratched the surface."

"All in due time, I guess." Her lips then formed that smile that drove him crazy already. "Should we head back inside, drag Alex and Sarah away from the fun?"

He looked at his watch, his eyes bulging out. "Uh, yea. As it is, I'm not gonna make it home."

"What?"

"I live in Marathon. I doubt Alex will drive all the way there and then to his place this late."

Layla bit her lower lip, feeling a little guilty for keeping them out. "You can crash at my place."

His body stiffened as his stomach flip-flopped. But, he kept his cool. "Nah, I don't wanna put you out like that."

"Honestly, I don't mind. Plus, do you really feel like listening to those two grunt and groan?"

"Well, as long as you don't mind."

"It's midnight now. After we pick up my car and make it back to my place it will be one. The night is young and there's plenty of fun still yet to be had!"

"Okay, the perky act is cute for now, but could get annoying," he laughed.

"Just for that, I now have something extra special planned for us." She picked up the radio and looked at it. "By the way, much to my disbelief, I've enjoyed the station you chose. There just might be a normal person that has an effect on me yet!" she giggled.

He began following her back to the house, becoming slightly flustered. The little things this girl was saying were leaving him with feelings that she had no clue about. He knew to keep it low though. He had never before gotten this attached to someone so easily. Nor had he ever found a girl so interested in him and who he was. No, he couldn't mess this up by making premature advances. Nope, all he could do was enjoy the moment.