ONE WEEK LATER
Liz’s point of view

I was sitting on the couch in the entertainment room watching some pointless TV show. Actually, I had no idea what it was about, I’ve been pretty much staring aimlessly into the TV for about two hours. I heard footsteps and turned around to find Nick standing there.
“Hi,” I said quietly. For the past week, we’ve pretty much managed to avoid each other as much as possible and whenever we were in the same place together, we remained civil and tried not to fight…much.
“Hey,” he said uncomfortably.
“Did you want to watch TV or something?” I asked.
“No, actually I needed to ask you something,” replied Nick coming closer to me and sitting on the armchair.
“Okay, ask away,” I said and waited.
“Okay, so here’s the thing. Me and the other guys are flying to New York to put in an appearance on TRL tomorrow. We’re only going for one day, so basically we’ll get there in the morning and leave in the evening,” said Nick avoiding eye contact with me. “So I was wondering if you would like to, you know, come with us, see your friends or your boyfriend or something while me and the guys are doing promo stuff.”
“Really?” I asked not believing what I was hearing.
“Yeah, so you wanna come or not?” asked Nick finally looking at me and waiting for an answer.
“Of course I wanna come,” I replied smiling.
“Okay, cool, so we’re leaving tomorrow at seven. The guys are picking us up here, so be ready by like six thirty in case they come early,” said Nick to me and then got up.
“I’ll be ready, and thanks,” I said and to my surprise, I actually meant it.
“Yeah, you’re welcome, see ya later,” mumbled Nick and walked out of the room.
I was so happy! I would be able to see Josh and spend the entire day with him! I couldn’t wait until tomorrow!
I quickly ran up to my room and tried to decide what to wear. I looked through my clothing and finally settled on the white shorts and baby blue shirt that I had bought a week before with Brian and AJ. Satisfied that I knew what I was wearing, I went back downstairs to get a snack.

Nick’s point of view

I woke up the following morning at 5:30 to the annoying sound of my alarm clock. I tried to turn it off without opening my eyes and wound up knocking over the glass of water that was on my nightstand. After the water spilled right onto me, I woke up and jumped out of bed.
“Damn it,” I said under my breath and ran to the kitchen to grab some paper towels to clean up the mess. By the time I was done it was already 5:45, and I quickly jumped into the shower. After I was finished, I rummaged around my closet for something decent to wear since I was going to be on national television and all. I finally grabbed a pair of khaki shorts and a white t-shirt and put them on. I then put on socks and sneakers and went over to the mirror to fix my hair. I stared disapprovingly at my reflection and sighed as I prepared myself for my usual battle with my hair. Amazingly enough, my hair actually decided to behave on that particular morning and I was done ten minutes later. I looked over at my alarm clock and saw that it was 6:15 and I realized that I had actually gotten ready early for once. Well, at least now the guys couldn’t blame me if we were gonna be late. Since I had some free time, I decided to clean up my room a little cause frankly; it was beginning to look like a mess even to me.

Liz’s point of view

I was standing in front of the mirror and checking over my hair and make-up one last time when I heard Nick yelling for me to come downstairs cause the other guys had arrived. I grabbed my small white purse and ran out of my room and down the stairs.
“Hey everyone,” I said breathlessly when I saw the five guys standing downstairs.
“Hey Liz,” said Brian warmly smiling at me. If I had to choose, I’d probably pick him as my favorite.
“Hey gorgeous,” came AJ’s greeting and I laughed. AJ was no doubt the flirt of the group.
“Hi,” said Kevin and Howie at the same time and I smiled at both of them. Kevin was definitely the ‘big brother’ figure and Howie was simply one of the sweetest guys I knew.
“You ready?” asked Howie and I nodded. “Okay, then let’s all go to the airport,” he said and then we were all out the door. We got into the van waiting outside and drove off.
The ride to the airport was surprisingly short and before I knew it, we were all seated on the plane ready for take off. I was sitting next to Brian, Kevin was sitting next to AJ, and Nick was sitting next to Howie. I was glad that I didn’t get stuck sitting next to Mr. Know-it-all because then it would’ve been a very long two-hour flight.
When the plane landed in the JFK airport I looked out of the window and was shocked to see a huge crowd outside.
I turned to Brian, “Are those your fans?” I asked.
Brian looked into the window himself and grinned. “Yep, that’s them,” he said.
“Wow, that’s a pretty nice welcome,” I commented.
“Yeah, it’ll be very nice if we don’t get mobbed,” said Brian chuckling. At that moment the six of us were told that we would be getting off the plane and we got up from our seats. I walked down the aisle of the plane behind Brian and in front of Kevin. When we reached the door, I saw that there were six bodyguards waiting for us. I was a bit shocked that everyone was making such a huge deal about five guys, but I shrugged it off. We were escorted out of the plane and into the waiting limo in a matter of minutes. But this time I did get stuck sitting to Nick and I didn’t like it one bit. I knew that he didn’t like it any more than I did. When we got to some place where the guys were supposed to do some promo stuff, I was informed that the limo would drop me off at Josh’s house and would pick me up that evening. I said bye to all of the guys and then I was off to see my boyfriend.
I rang Josh’s doorbell and waited anxiously for him to answer. He finally opened the door and stood there looking as gorgeous as ever in black shorts and a gray muscle shirt.
“Hey!” he exclaimed when he saw me and immediately picked me up and spun me around. After he set me down he leaned in and kissed me. Wow, I’ve missed those lips more than I had imagined possible.
“I’m so glad that I’m here!” I exclaimed as I buried my face in his shoulder inhaling the familiar scent of his cologne.
“I know, I missed you soooo much!” said Josh and then his face expression turned serious.
“What’s wrong?” I asked looking up at him.
“I think we should see other people,” he said dropping the biggest bomb of my life on me.
“WHAT??” I exclaimed.

Nick’s point of view

“Hey Nick,” said Kevin sitting down next to me. We were all sitting in some room of the MTV building. We still had a while before we had to make our appearance so we were just hanging out and resting.
“Hey,” I mumbled.
“So how are things between you and Liz?” he asked. Why did everyone keep asking me that? It was so annoying!
“They’re perfect, couldn’t be better,” I said sarcastically.
“Why is it that everyone else gets along with her just fine? Why is it that only you are the one who can’t stand her?” asked Kevin.
“Gee I don’t know, maybe it’s because I live with her and because we’ve always hated each other?” I asked mockingly.
“You know, I bet that if you would just get past the whole I’ve-known-her-all-my-life-and-hated-her thing, you and Liz would probably get along great,” stated Kevin.
“Yeah sure Kev, whatever you say,” I replied. I then got up and walked to the other side of the room cause I didn’t really want to hear anymore about Liz.

Liz’s point of view

“Did I hear you correctly?” I exclaimed still not believing what Josh was telling me.
“Yeah you did,” he replied and motioned for me to come inside. We went to the living room and sat down.
“Josh, what’s this all about? And please tell me that the answer is something like ‘I’ve lost my mind temporarily but I’m okay now’,” I said, softly now.
“Liz, I don’t want to do this believe me,” he began.
“Then why are you doing this?” I said in disbelief.
“Because, we’ve only been away from each other for a week and I’ve missed you so much it’s scary. I won’t be able to go without seeing you for three months; it’s impossible. I’m afraid that if we continue this relationship, one or both of us will do something stupid during the summer because we miss each other so much, and then our relationship will be over anyway. I just think that it’s better to end it like this, rather than a hurtful breakup later on,” he explained.
“Well, that’s your opinion,” I said my eyes filling with tears.
“Liz, I’m really sorry, but I think it’s for the best,” he said apologetically.
“Yeah sure, whatever,” I said, and then I got up and headed for the door.
“Where are you going? I thought the limo was supposed to pick you up here in the evening,” asked Josh when he saw me leaving.
“It is, I just need to be alone, I’ll be here when it’s supposed to pick me up, but I’ll stay outside,” I replied and closed the door behind me.
I walked down the familiar street with tears running down my cheeks. I couldn’t believe Josh could just end it like that. Didn’t he care about me at all? And I believed him when he said that he loved me. I thought I loved him too, in fact, I knew that I still did, even after what he had done.
I was walking around and thinking for about two hours when my cell phone rang, startling me out of my thoughts.
“Hello?” I said picking it up.
“Hey Liz, what’s up?” said AJ, his voice cheery as usual.
“Nothing,” I said quietly.
“Did I interrupt you and Josh?” asked AJ mischievously.
“No,” I replied.
“Oh, did something happen?” asked AJ, his voice instantly becoming concerned.
“Yeah, but I really don’t want to talk about it,” I answered knowing that if I started telling AJ what happened, I would start crying again.
“Are you sure?” he asked softly.
“Yeah, I am, I’ll see you in a few hours,” I said.
“Okay, later then,” he said.
“Bye,” I said and hung up the phone. I then realized that I was hungry, so I went to a nearby diner to get some food, and think things over.

AJ’s point of view

“Something’s up with Liz,” I said to the other guys. We finished doing the whole TRL thing and were now back in the limo heading to get some food.
“How do you know?” asked Brian.
“Cause I called her and she sounded upset, and when I asked her if something happened, she said yes but that she didn’t want to talk about it,” I replied.
“You think it has something to do with Josh?” asked Kevin.
“Yeah, what else could it possibly be?” I asked.
“Good point,” said Kevin and leaned back in the seat.
“I don’t think we should ask her what’s wrong though,” said Howie. “When and if she’s ready to tell us, I’m sure she will.”
“I guess you’re right D,” said Brian and I agreed. During this entire conversation, Nick sat silently looking into the window.
“Hey Nick, what’s your take on this?” I asked.
Nick turned his head around to face all of us, “I don’t have one,” he said simply and went back to staring into the window. I fought the urge to give him a piece of my mind but then figured that it wasn’t worth it. Whether Nick knew it or not, he was going to come around, sooner or later.

Liz’s point of view

I was standing near Josh’s house when I saw the limo pull up. I quickly got in and closed the door behind me. I sat down in the only free space. Thankfully it was between Brian and Howie.
“Hi,” I said to all of them. They all said hi back, but they all looked at me like they knew what happened. But I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, AJ couldn’t keep a secret.
“Tired?” asked Brian. I nodded and rested my head on his shoulder. He comfortingly put his arm around me and that was all. No one asked me what happened and I was glad, cause I really didn’t want to get into it.
After our arrival in Florida, I fell asleep, with my head on Howie’s shoulder this time, on the way back to Nick’s house.

Nick’s point of view

The car stopped in front of my house and I was about to get out when Howie stopped me.
“Aren’t you forgetting someone?” he asked gesturing towards Liz, who was asleep.
“Right,” I said sighing. “Wake her up,” I told Howie.
“Why? She looks perfectly content the way she is, besides, from the looks of it, she’s had a long day,” said Howie.
“Well if she’s asleep, how is she supposed to come inside?” I asked frustratingly.
“You carry her,” replied Howie matter-of-factly.
“No way,” I said. “She’s asleep on you, so you carry her,” I told him.
“It’s your house,” said Howie.
“Oh for crying out loud,” said Kevin and moved from his seat. He picked up Liz easily and motioned for me to go unlock the house. “Where’s her room?” he asked after we were inside. I went to the second floor and pointed at Liz’s door. “At least turn on the light will ya?” said Kevin irritably.
I flipped the switch. “Anything else?” I asked.
“Yeah, pull back the comforter on her bed so that I can put her down,” said Kevin. I did as he told me and stood near the bed. Kevin gently lay down Liz in her bed. He took off her sandals and covered her with the comforter. We then exited her room. Kevin left without saying another word to me. I didn’t care; I went straight to my room, and then straight to bed. I was asleep within minutes.

Liz’s point of view

I woke up and for a few seconds didn’t realize where I was. I then remembered what happened the day before with Josh and how I fell asleep in the car on the way back to Nick’s house. I figured that one of the guys must’ve gotten me to my room somehow. I was sure that that guy was not Nick. I promised myself that I wouldn’t start crying as I got out of bed and headed for the shower. I managed to keep that promise until I was out of the shower and back in my room. My emotions overwhelmed me and I started crying all over again.
A half an hour later I had calmed down enough to go downstairs to get some breakfast. I got to the kitchen and saw that Nick was already there.
“Morning,” I said.
“Morning,” mumbled Nick, I barely heard him. I noticed that he didn’t look like his usual self. He looked…worn out.
“You okay?” I asked. Nick looked at me in surprise that I actually asked something that sounded like I cared.
“Yeah, I’m fine, later,” he replied and left the kitchen. I shrugged and went back to my very busy morning of sulking.

A FEW HOURS LATER

I was lying on a lawn chair near the pool and trying to get a tan. Then I felt someone standing near me because I couldn’t feel the sunlight anymore. I opened my eyes and saw Brian blocking the sun.
“Hey, you’re up,” he said cheerfully and sat down next to me.
“I wasn’t asleep,” I told him raising myself in the chair.
“Oh, okay, so what’s up?” he asked.
“Nothing, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?” I asked smirking.
Brian laughed. “Actually, I came to see Frack, is he here?” asked Brian.
“I don’t know, I’ve been outside for the past couple of hours, he might be inside the house,” I said shrugging.
“Okay, in that case, I’ll be right back,” said Brian and disappeared into the house. He came out a few minutes later. “He’s not home,” he stated.
“Oh, okay, he has to come back sometime, he lives here,” I said.
“True, but I needed to tell him that our video shoot has been moved from two weeks from now to next week,” said Brian.
“What song is the video for?” I asked.
“’Get Another Boyfriend’,” replied Brian.
“Never heard of it,” I said shrugging once again.
“Did you hear any of the songs off of the album we released back in November?” asked Brian.
“Nope,” I said shaking my head.
“Wanna hear some?” he asked grinning.
“Sure,” I replied.
“Okay, come on over to my house, I have an extra copy of the cd,” said Brian getting up. He held out his hand to me and then pulled me up.
“Alright, just let me change clothes,” I said heading inside. Brian followed me.
“Sure, I’ll stay here while you change,” he said plopping down on the couch.
“Okay, I’ll be back in ten minutes,” I said and ran up the stairs to my room. I quickly changed clothing and ran a comb through my hair. I was back downstairs in five minutes. Brian was sitting and watching TV. He looked up when he heard me come into the room.
“Ready?” he asked turning off the TV. I nodded. “Okay, let’s go,” he said getting up and heading towards the front door. We got into Brian’s Jeep and drove to his house. It was a very short trip, ten minutes the most.
“Very nice,” I said stepping into his house.
“Thanks,” said Brian smiling. We walked into what I thought was the foyer, in the middle there was a beautiful staircase leading upstairs, to the left I saw a spacious kitchen, and to the right I saw a large living room, with stereo equipment similar to Nick’s.
“Do all of you guys have houses like this?” I asked looking around.
“Yeah pretty much, it comes with the territory I guess,” replied Brian grinning. He then walked over to the huge stack of cd’s near the stereo and grabbed one. “Here you go,” he said handing the cd to me. I looked at it and saw the words ‘Black and Blue’ on the cover, but there was no picture of the guys.
“Decided to keep your faces off of this one?” I asked flipping open the cd booklet.
“Yeah, we figured we’d do something different,” answered Brian and sat down on the couch next to me.
“That’s cool. Thanks for the cd, I’ll listen to this when I get home,” I said putting the cd into my purse.
“You’re welcome,” said Brian and then turned to face me with a serious expression. “Liz, are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah I’m fine,” I said. Yes I was lying, but Brian didn’t have to know that.
“Why don’t I believe you?” he asked carefully.
My shoulders slumped in defeat. There was no reason for why I should hide what happened from Brian, he was almost like my best friend here. “You probably don’t believe me because I’m lying,” I admitted.
“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked gently.
“Yeah, I guess that would help,” I replied and leaned back on the couch. “Josh broke up with me yesterday.”
“I figured as much,” said Brian nodding. “Did he give you a reason?” he asked.
“Yeah, he said that it’s better to end it now rather than have a painful break-up in the end of the summer. He thought that since we were gonna be apart for so long, sooner or later one of us would do something stupid and our relationship would end anyway,” I explained.
“That’s a pretty dumb reason to break up with someone,” said Brian bluntly.
“I know,” I said sighing. “It was just so sudden, I guess that’s why it hurts so much.”
“You love him a lot,” said Brian, it was more of a statement than a question.
“Yeah you’re right I do,” I admitted.
“Well, if you ever need to talk, I’m here for you, and so are the other guys,” said Brian, comfortingly smiling at me.
“Thanks, that means a lot,” I said gratefully.
“So, do you wanna hang out here, or go back to Nick’s?” asked Brian.
“Do you mind if we hang out here?” I asked. I really didn’t want to go back to Nick’s house.
“Not at all,” said Brian grinning. “TV?” he pointed at it with his finger.
“Sure, sounds good,” I said and found a more comfortable position on the couch. We watched some movie on cable for the next couple of hours. After the movie was over, Brian ordered some pizza because both of us were starving. I was feeling much better about Josh, probably because Brian wouldn’t let me get depressed again. He kept me laughing the entire time I was at his house. After we ate, we started watching another movie, but this time, I fell asleep.

Nick’s point of view

I got home to find my house empty. There was no sign of Liz and I really didn’t mind. I basically spent the entire day at my parents’ house, so when I dragged myself home, I was exhausted to say the least. Frankly, I haven’t been feeling so great for the past day or two and it was beginning to show. If Liz actually asked me if I was okay, then it must really show. I was about to climb into my nice comfortable bed when my phone rang. I considered not answering it, but then thought that it might be something important.
“Hello?” I said turning on the phone.
“Hey Frack,” said Brian.
“Oh hey Bri,” I replied. This couldn’t be important.
“Listen, I came by earlier to tell you that the video shoot has been moved to next week,” stated Brian.
“Next week?” I echoed. “When exactly next week?”
“We begin on Monday,” replied Brian.
“But today is Saturday!” I exclaimed.
“Yeah, but it’s still technically next week,” said Brian in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Okay fine, anything else?” I asked. I wasn’t happy about the schedule change, not happy at all.
“Yeah, Liz is at my house. She fell asleep on the couch while we were watching a movie so I’m just gonna let her sleep,” said Brian. Oh, so that’s why she wasn’t here when I got home. Oh well, better for me.
“Got it,” I said. “That’s it?” I asked wearily.
“Yeah, it is,” replied Brian. I heard him hesitate. “Nick, are you okay?” he asked.
“Yes I’m fine, why does everyone keep asking me that?” I asked irritated.
“Who’s everyone?” asked Brian.
“First Liz, now you,” I answered.
“Well, I was just concerned that’s all, don’t bite my head off for it,” said Brian defensively.
“I know, I’m sorry Rok, I’m just tired that’s all,” I apologized.
“It’s okay, so get some rest okay?” said Brian.
“Yeah I will, night,” I said.
“Night,” he replied and I hung up the phone. I then climbed into my bed, but sleep wouldn’t come. I spent the next two and a half hours twisting and turning, and then finally falling into a sleep filled with dreams that I could not recall.

chapter 2 chapter 4