*Okay, so far, things seem great,* Miranda thought as they sat in the hotel restaurant *He hasn't brought up anything about last night though. Does he regret it?* "This is real nice," she smiled.

"Thanks, I was hoping you'd enjoy it." *Shit, nothing's been said about last night. Does she regret it? Even worse, did she think I was lousy in bed?* He flashed her one of his million dollar smiles and continued with his food.

"Are you getting excited about the concert? You always talked about getting that rush before you went out and performed."

"Yeah, I love bein' on stage. The fans here are great too. A little wild and crazy, but I love it."

There was an uncomfortable silence. "So," they both started at the same time, and then laughed lightly.

"I guess you guys will be doing this for a while, huh? I mean, being in the business and all."

"Uh huh! We have a three record deal with Jive. It's gonna be great once we're able to take everything back to the states. It's the thing we're striving for the most."

"So, you are going to be returning to America? You won't be overseas for a long period of time?" *Maybe something could work out.*

"Yeah, we plan on coming back; we just have to find the right time in the music scene. That's when we tour worldwide!" His grin was so big.

"Worldwide? That sounds...amazing." She tried putting on a smile, but it was completely fake.

Nick wanted to drop the subject of touring. It only reminded him of the pleasures in life he couldn't enjoy. "It's no biggie. I mean in order to have this there are tons of small sacrifices we have to trade in."

"Yeah," she replied quietly, quickly losing her appetite.

He noticed her mood, acting on it quick. "I wanna see you again, Randa."

"Whatcha mean?" she asked with a small smile.

"Stallion wants to see ya again," he whispered, leaning closer to her.

Randa smirked slightly, knowing in her heart she should say no but wanting too much to say yes. "When would Stallion want this meeting to take place?"

"Tonight, after the concert. I really wish you could stay here longer. There's so much to see here and...." he stopped, listening to his thoughts for a moment. *There's so much we need to talk about.* He snapped out of his world when he noticed the expectant look on her face. "There's just so much to do," he finished quietly.

"Nick Carter, you're one man I can't refuse," she smiled.

"That's right; I am a man now, aren't I!" As soon as he heard her giggle, he was gone. "Come here," he whispered.

"What?" she smiled.

When she came close enough, Nick claimed her lips softly. "That's what," he said sweetly.

"Hey hey!" AJ yelled as he and the other boys entered.

"Shit," Nick mumbled under his breath.

"Thought we'd better get Nicky boy since we have rehearsal in about an hour," he smiled.

"Thanks Bone, don't know what I'd do without you." He was thoroughly not amused, and it showed.

"You girls are gonna come with?" Brian interjected. "That way there's no trouble with you gettin' in."

"This oughta be interesting," Nick smiled, looking at Miranda.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The three girls stared in awe at the inside of the luxurious limo. "This is just...this is wow!" Neenah laughed.

"Reminds me of how I felt last night," Nick whispered with a smirk to Miranda. Her only response was a small giggle.

"What are you two up to?" Katie questioned.

"Yeah, Nick, whatcha up to?" AJ pushed with a huge grin.

"Nothing," Nick replied, a bit agitated.

"Neen, Katie, let's find out a little more about yourselves," Brian interrupted, trying to shift the attention away from the duo.

The rest of the ride was smooth, the two girls chatting away about their lives and filling the guys in on what they wanted to know. Brian noticed throughout the entire conversation that Nick and Miranda exchanged whispers every moment they could. He'd only hoped they wouldn't let themselves become too involved that they ruined whatever friendship was left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If the girls thought they were in awe of the limo, they were about to get knocked on their asses once they reached the venue. The front of the place was surrounded with hundreds of screaming fans...young girls.

"Does this happen everywhere you go?" Miranda questioned, beyond stunned.

"See, I told you women loved me!" smiled Nick.

"Nick, if you're proud that ten to fourteen-year-olds wanna jump your bones, you got a major problem!" laughed AJ.

Neenah eyed Nick's agitated look that was given to AJ. "Hey, do we actually get to go in the back way?" she asked excitedly.

Brian laughed lightly. "Yeah, you get to go in with us. We'll have one of the guys go and get your tickets. There's no way we coulda dropped you off out front...you would no longer be alive."

Twenty minutes later, the girls were sitting in the venue. Their seats were front row, dead center. "Geez Randa, you should screw Nick more often if it'll get us seats like this," Katie whispered.

Miranda turned to Katie, her eyes almost blazing. "I know you did not just say that," she said calmly. "Cause if you just said that, I'll have to knock you across the venue." Katie stared at her blankly, not knowing what to say. Miranda turned to Neenah. "How did she find out?"

Neenah wasn't quite sure how to respond. She had no clue as to where Nick and Miranda stood and wasn't exactly sure her mood on the whole subject. "Umm...well, she kinda heard ya last night too," she replied, nothing but worry filling her voice.

Miranda sat there, the tornado feeling returning to her stomach. "Look, I don't see the need to discuss this any further. What Nick and I did is our business..."

"Yeah, until you get hurt, then it's our business," Neenah said sadly. Miranda leaned forward, her long hair covering the sides of her face. It made her mad enough that these two thought they knew what was best for her, but she would be damned if they saw how it affected her. "Hon, he's sixteen," Neenah continued. "I don't want to see him and his unstable hormones cause you nothing but tears, that's all."

Miranda waited until the feeling of her tears falling passed and jerked her head around. "Look, whatever Nick and I decide to do about this situation will be decided by him and me. I appreciate the mothering but I really don't care to hear any of it at this point in time. Now, I came here to enjoy a concert and that's what I intend to do." Not a voice was raised, not another question was asked. Just as the tension seemed to fade, Nick appeared on the stage.

"You guys get to hear my drum solo tonight!" he yelled proudly. "Come up here, Randa!"

Katie and Neenah both eyed her bouncing figure as Miranda made her way to the stage. "She's gone. Gone as soon as he walked into our hotel room last night," Neenah sighed sadly.

"Whatcha wanting, Sparky?" Miranda smiled.

He had the slyest grin plastered to his face. Taking his place behind the drum set, his gaze returned to her. The outfit she had chosen to wear that day would definitely keep him on his toes while they performed. Her silky midnight blue tank top did nothing but accentuate her assets in the best way. Her wide leg black pants hugged her hips and butt nicely, as Nick had noticed on their way into the venue. He had no clue why he was having these thoughts. All he could do was think about how her outfit matched her personality. She was mature, yet mischievous. He'd forgotten all that he liked about her in their time apart. She had never left his thoughts, but the bond had disappeared slightly. It was amazing to him how quickly it returned. "Come here," he said quietly. She stepped closer, standing beside him. "No, I mean come here," he grinned, pulling her down on his lap.

Her giggles soon echoed throughout the venue. "Nick, what are you doing?"

"I'm gonna let you bang on my drums, baby," he replied in a deep sexy voice that only made her giggle more. "Go on, you bang on the drums and I'll take care of the peddle," he smiled.

"What'll I play?" she laughed.

"Just bang out a rhythm, whatever comes to mind. I'll follow along."

To Nick's surprise, she mapped out a rhythm pretty well. Not missing a beat, he followed along. Neenah and Katie watched in amusement.

"They really do look cute," Katie whispered.

"I know. I just wish the inevitable wasn't the inevitable," she sighed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two hours later, the stage was set and the girls were screaming. The three girls were still in awe of it all and even more taken back once the boys appeared on stage. Miranda's eyes were glued to Nick's moving figure as they did their opening dance sequence. For someone who was known as a klutz, his foot work was flowing like honey. The girls were even more in shock once the first song started playing. Miranda's eyes brightened as she noticed the tune. It was Nick's solo, ‘Let's Have a Party’. She didn't know if it was just her imagination, but he seemed to be aiming the line, "Shake it baby" at her. The presence he owned onstage had only grown over the years. The self confidence he once lacked seemed well in tact now. The eye contact between the two of them only grew more. It wasn't until a one the boys' security guards, Johnny, came up to her that she was knocked from her thoughts.

"You're wanted backstage!" he yelled.

"Wanted for what?"

"Just follow me!"

Miranda looked at her friends and just shrugged her shoulders, but became more intrigued once she saw two more young girls being lead by two more security guards backstage. "What's this about?" she asked him once they made it behind the stage.

It seemed all he could do was grin. He moved further away from the other two girls and edged her with him. "We're not normally supposed to do this, bring girls up that the boys know. Hell, this won't even be in their act for much longer, but Nick practically insisted on this tonight."

"You've lost me. I have no clue what you're talking about. Remember, I've never been to one of their official concerts before. I went to the dinky ones!"

"You're going out on stage as Nick's partner for ‘I'll Never Break Your Heart’. Whatever you do, just act like one of the fans. You, as a close friend to them, aren't even supposed to be up here. Nick insisted though."

"What am I doing? What's this about?"

"Look, they're about to start. Just follow Nick's lead and you'll do fine," he assured, pushing her closer to the side entrance of the stage.

Miranda stood there, a bit shaken. She was about to step out on a stage in front of God knows how many people and she had no clue what the whole purpose of it was. That's when she heard the commotion on the stage and looked up to meet Nick's stare. Kevin was doing a brief into to the song, but his words didn't even faze her. She was brought back to earth with a slight nudge from the girl behind her. She looked back, smiling apologetically. "Sorry," she whispered and made her way onto the stage, feeling like the smallest molecule on earth.

Nick was smiling just a bit too big as she made her way to him. He pulled the chair out that was placed in front of the small round table, signaling for her to take a seat. She did so, knowing her legs would give out from fright if she didn't. Nick continued with the routine, giving her a flower and serenading her the best he knew how. His eyes shot her looks that only she would understand. It soon came time for each of the couples to dance.

"I'm glad I got my way," he whispered, his lips practically touching her ear. "I wanted one dance before you left." He kept his arms wrapped around her tightly as she did the same to him. Nick knew he had to keep his mind partly clear so he didn't screw up the act by completely losing himself in thoughts from the night before as he continued his tight hold on Miranda. The moment came when the song ended, leaving Nick kneeling before her as he sang the last lines to the song.

Miranda did best to keep her composure, trying to not take the words of the song seriously since she had this tie to Nick. Yet, his eyes seemed to speak so much as the words left his mouth. *It was a song. It was words compiled by someone so they could have a big hit. There is absolutely NO meaning behind that song for either of us.* Now, if only she actually believed what she was telling herself as she exited the stage.