Nick stared out the window of th tour bus as the rain pelted the ground in cold, watery sheets. He had since secluded himself from his four friends, afraid of conversations that could arise, afraid of what they would say. He glanced back to the sketch pad in his lap and sadly smiled. His latest project was so dear, so personal nobody had seen it but him. The smooth white page before him was tranformed into photo-memories he had of his Melissa. He had always wanted to draw her, but never knew how to approach it...but now, as he realized he loved her, all emotions took over, driving his pencil over the page. He drew her smiling at him as she always did when he returned home. He drew the serious pose of her high school senior picture. He drew her sad face, tears streaming down her round cheeks the day he left for their first tour. He drew her walking on the beach, the muscles of her legs defined below the hem of her board shorts. He sighed as he dropped his pencil into his backpack and leaned back to gaze at his work. He captured the curves of her face, the wildness of her hair, but the one thing that he wanted he couldn't get...her eyes. The way they twinkled merrily as she smiled, how they danced when she laughed, how her dark eyelashes curled so perfectly...he couldn't capture them with a mere pencil.

He slowly closed the cover and put it in his backpack before leaning back in his seat to stare at the rain again. One more day....just one more day...

"Nick?" Kevin's wary voice came into the back section of the bus where Nick was sitting.

"Yeah?"

"What are you up to? You're rarely this quiet and secluded..."

"Just thinking of Mel..." Nick softly replied, his gaze never leaving the empty streets. "I miss her..."

"I know you do..." the older man said as he supportively rested his hand on Nick's shoulder. "I'm always here if you need a friend..."

"I know. I just wanted to be alone to think of her..."

"Alright...we'll get you before we eat..."

"Thanks..."

"No problem..."

Nick walked out of the diner and punched some numbers in his cell phone after they had ordered. He impatiently paced the sodewalk as the other end continued to ring. Soon the answering clicked on. "Mel...we just stopped for dinner...we're about 3 hours away. I'll talk to you soon, sweetie..." he said before hanging up and walking back inside.

"And lover boy returns!" AJ declared as Nick sat back down at their table. "And what did the wife have to say?"

"I got Melissa's machine is you must know..."

"Aw...poor baby...Anyway, Nick. WE never did finish our conversation..."

"What conversation?" Nick innocently asked as he lifted his soda to his lips.

"First time buddy....you gotta spill sooner or later..."

"AJ, could we please just have a civilized conversation over dinner for once?" Brian asked, noticing the smile of gratitude from Nick.

"Ok, Mr. Civilized....what shall we talk about then?"

Nick was still awake as the bus rolled past the city limits of Orlando at 2 am. The bus slowly rolled to a stop and Nick got up and walked to the doors. "I'll see you later," he said to the bus driver before getting out and walking to his truck as the others were woken up.

Nick was halfway to his house before they even exited the bus.

Nick pulled into his driveway and parked his truck in the garage before he looked across the street. Mel's still awake....lights are on... he thought as he slowly walked across the street. The door was unlocked so he walked inside as he usually did. He found the kitchen lights on with soft music flowing through the whole house...Leave it eo Mel to be up at 2 am listening to Les Mis.... The mere thought of her was enough to make him hard. He wanted her so bad...if only I wasn't...

Nick walked into the kitchen to find Melissa kneeling on the floor painting the legs of her kitchen table green with large sunflowers. He stepped beside her, and she looked up, streaks of paint across her cheeks and a smile on her lips. Her gaze rested on his face for a moment before dropping for a moment to the bulge hidden mostly by his baggy jeans right by her face. Her eyes lifted up to his face again, an evil grin pulling her smile wider across her face.

“Welcome home, Nick…” she softly whispered, the depths of her green eyes slowly growing heated with the fire of passion and desire.

“I missed you…wanna stand up so I can get a kiss?”

“What’s wrong with where I am?” she replied before leaning forward to place a soft kiss on the stiffness under his pants.

“Mel…” he half choked out as he tried to control himself.

“Yes?” she replied as her fingers walked up his legs to the zipper of his pants. She tugged it down in the sweet whisper of metal against metal, before releasing the button as well. She then gently rubbed her hand over his manhood, now shielded by his underwear. Opening the flap of his underwear, she slowly pulled out his heated shaft before running her tongue from the tip to the base. He groaned involuntarily before she took the tip of him into her mouth, moving her tongue around him, taking him in a little further, teasing him as his fingers tangled in her hair, his knees going weak at the sensations running through him. His body was on fire until the heat grew in his lower belly and suddenly exploded, filling her mouth with his seed. He shuddered slightly at his release before sinking to his knees beside her, pulling her into his arms and kissing her deeply, the taste of himself clinging to the inside of her mouth as he pressed her body to his. He slowed the kisses before pulling away.

“Oh, Mel…” he whispered.

“I love you, Nick…I guess I wanted to prove it somehow…” she replied as her cheeks tinted a pale pink and her eyes lowered slightly.

“I love you too…” he softly said as he tilted her chin up with his fingers. “But…Mel. The reason I came over here is…I need to talk to you…”

“Ok…” she replied softly as he helped her to her feet. He fixed his pants before they went into the living room and sat on the sofa. She nervously bit her lower lip at what he might say, worried something was wrong.

“While we were on tour, I talked to Bri a little bit. Mel, I’ve been keeping something from you…and I really should tell you…I just am scared…”

“Nick….what ever it is…” she said softly, placing her small hand over his. He gently clasped her fingers and looked at them for a moment.

“Well, you know how we don’t sleep together? I mean, most couples that are together this long do….”

“Nick…” she laughed slightly. “There’s more to life than sex…”

“I know…but I know that the next step in this relationship is that…and…”

“Nick, just tell me. Do you have some disease or something? Did you get a girl pregnant? What is it?”

“Nothing like that…It’s just that…I’m…I’m not very experienced with that stuff. I mean I joined the band when I was 12…not exactly the prime age for women…”

“What do you mean Nick?”

“I’m a virgin, Mel…” he whispered, almost as if he was ashamed of himself.

“What’s wrong with that? I never would have guessed because you’re…”

“Because I’m a Backstreet Boy, right?”

“Well…” she hesitated. “That’s besides the point though…”

“Is it? Yeah…I guess it is. But, I wanted you to know…”

“Thank you for telling me…but…”

“But?”

“Well, while we’re sharing secrets, I guess I can tell you one too…”

“What?”

“I am too…”

“You are?”

“Yeah…I had never found the right guy…although…” she suddenly looked away.

“Although what?”

“I might have found him now…” she whispered, her face still turned away, her eyes lowered.

He gently turned her face toward him before kissing her softly. When he pulled away, he whispered, “One question…How’d you learn to do that in the kitchen then?”

“You know I read a lot…” she said, her eyes twinkling.

“Oh really? Anything else you want to demonstrate?”

“Not right now…” she smiled.

"Aw, shucks..." he replied with a grin before he yawned.

"Come on...it's bedtime..."

She grabbed his hand and led him upstairs, where she changed into a hockey jersey in the bathroom while he stripped down to boxers and a T-shirt. Crawling into bed beside him, she rested her head on his chest as he turned out the light. So many times they had spent the night curled together in that bed, but now Nick wished they had spent the time making love. He had loved her for so long, and his want for her was not a new feeling. But now, he wasn't sure how much longer he could wait. He looked down at her, the silver moonlight filtering through the window and dancing on her pale cheeks.

"I love you..." he whispered before kissing the top of her head and going to sleep himself.