"Alex, please, I can't go through this again. Don't do this to me," Lauren pleaded.
"Baby, I swear, I'll never hurt you again! I promise, please, just take me back!" AJ replied, near tears.
"Alex, I can't, you know that. All the fans, there's no way I can deal with them anymore. AJ, I'm sorry. Have a nice life," she said as she walked out of the hotel room.
~*~*~
Then Quit Playin' Games hit. And the world fell in love with AJ McLean, better known as Bone from the Backstreet Boys. Lauren continued on with her life, but never fell in love again, not the way she had fallen so hard for Alex. She never forgot about him, but then again, who could? His face was plastered all over every magazine, his voice was all over the radio, it was physically impossible to get away from him. Every time Lauren saw him, she fell harder and harder for him. Her heart grew heavy when she found out that he had found a new love, his "shooting star I wished for, Amanda." She immersed herself in her work, not wanting to stop for anything. Her best friend finally got her to stop staring at a computer screen to go to Pleasure Island for a night.
"Come on, Lauren, let's go and dance," Kristina yelled over the music.
"I'm really not in the mood, sorry Kris," Lauren yelled back.
"That is IT! Lauren Maxine Hilliard, you have GOT to get over Alex! He isn't here, now can you please at least try and have some fun? For MY sake?"
"Oh, fine, let's go," Lauren replied before being dragged toward the dance floor.
Ten minutes later, a dark haired man wearing sunglasses made his way to Lauren. "Hey baby, wanna dance?"
Lauren took one look at the sunglasses on the guy, and recognized them as ones she had given her ex-boyfriend for his birthday two years prior. "No, I don't," she said coldly as she turned to leave.
"Wait, Lauren, please, just talk to me!" AJ yelled as he followed her to her car.
"No, Alex, just leave, okay? I've had enough of you hurting me. I can't stand it anymore. Please Alex, for me, just leave me alone, okay?"
AJ's heart sank to his knees when he saw the tears in her eyes. He wanted to run to her and hold her, to tell her that everything would be alright, to tell her that he loved her and that he had been in love with her for eight years of his life, since he was fourteen years old. But for some reason, he couldn't move his legs. So he let her leave, and watched as her car turned into a speck on the horizion.
~*~*~
Three years later, Lauren had finally gotten over Alex. She was free to do whatever it was that she wanted to do, guilt-free. Without any unexpected surprises in her life.
She woke up that morning, treating the day as if it were just another normal day. She walked to her kitchen and got a glass of orange juice, like she usually did. She got dressed and went to work, like she usually did. She came home from work and ate a slice of pizza, like she usually did on Fridays. But she decided to go to the beach and catch a few rays while the sun was still out. She got into her suit and walked toward the beach.
When she got there, she stood on the shore, watching the water lap at her feet. Suddenly, she had a memory flash. She and Alex were standing on the same beach, in the same spot. Alex had his arms around her and was telling her that he loved her and he would never ever leave her. She felt her eyes fill up with tears as she forced the memory from her mind. "Why are you crying?" came a deep voice from behind her.
She spun around and stared. There was Alex, standing behind her with his hands in his pockets, the sunglasses she gave him on his face. "Alex, I..."
"Don't start. I'm only here to ask you one thing and if you say no, then I will leave you alone forever. I'll never speak to you again, I'll never see you again. Just hear me out, okay?"
"Okay, you have two minutes. Talk," she said, taking a seat on the slightly damp sand.
"Lauren, I love you with all my heart. I have loved you for eleven years. I want to be with you so much it hurts. Marry me?" With that, he pulled out a diamond engagement ring out of his pocket. ,p>Lauren was stunned, she didn't know what to do. He was asking her to marry him, after not speaking to her for three years. She was still in love with him, and he was still in love with her. This was all she wanted, all she needed, all she could ever wish for. She didn't have to think about it, the word came out of her mouth automatically. "Yes."
Alex slipped the ring on her finger, picked her up and kissed her, the perfect beginning to their life together.