When Nick and Julie got downstairs the four other guys and the three girls were getting ready to leave.
"Hey Nick, how are you feeling?" asked Brian when he saw his best friend.
"I'm ok, I'll live." Said Nick with a smile.
"That's good to know, cause you know, you can't just leave us hanging with only four people in a group. So get well soon and we'll see you in the studio in a few days hopefully." Said AJ.
"Yeah, hopefully. But with Julie taking care of me, I'm sure I'll be fine in no time." Said Nick looking at Julie. She blushed slightly.
"Good, so we're outta here and we'll see you all in a few hours." Said Kevin. And then everyone left.
"Wow, we have this house all to ourselves." Said Nick smiling.
"Yeah, don't get any ideas, you're going to eat remember?" asked Julie.
"I remember, and I'm going, see, I'm walking." Said Nick and started walking towards the kitchen. When they got there, he got a sandwich and some hot tea and sat down to eat. After he was done, both him and Julie saw that there was no point in Nick going back upstairs so they settled on the living room couch to watch some TV and relax. Nick leaned on the back of the couch while Julie leaned comfortably against Nick. After a few hours, Nick adjusted his position on the couch.
"You know, you have no idea how much I want to kiss you right now." Said Nick looking at Julie.
"So go ahead, what's stopping you?" asked Julie smiling.
"Well, let's see, there's this thing about me being sick…" started Nick and trailed off.
"So?"
"So I don't want you to get sick." He finished.
"I won't get sick."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because I just am."
"If you get sick, I'm going to blame myself for it." said Nick.
"But you'll have nothing to blame yourself for because I won't get sick." Assured Julie.
"Ok, but if you get sick, don't tell me it's my fault."
"I wouldn't dream of it." And then they started kissing. At that moment, everyone else came back from the studio and went straight to the living room.
"Hmm, maybe he's not as sick as he says he is, what do you think Brian?" said Howie when he saw Nick and Julie making out on the couch.
"I think you're right, he's just pretending to be sick so he can stay home and make out." Said Brian but he couldn't hold back a grin.
"Ok, ok, you caught us." Said Nick tearing himself away from Julie.
"No kidding." Said Jen laughing.
"So Nick, you feel any better?" asked AJ smiling. "I mean, with that kind of medicine, you should be perfectly fine now."
"Very funny guys, you know that he's sick." Said Julie trying to defend Nick but at the same time, saw how funny this situation really was.
"Yeah, very sick." Added Nick. He then coughed to prove his point.
"Ok, whatever you say." Said Angela.
Afterwards, everyone decided to just relax for the rest of the day. Kevin, Jessica, Brian, Jennifer, AJ, and Angela all went to a club to have some fun. Howie invited the girl he had been dating over and they settled in the living room to watch a movie they rented, and Nick and Julie went to Nick's room.
"So, what do we do now?" asked Julie when she and Nick got to Nick's room and closed the door.
"Well, I have a few ideas…" said Nick, not finishing, because he knew that Julie would know what he meant.
"I don't think so. How about we play a game or something?" she suggested.
"Video game?" asked Nick hopefully.
"Sure, why not." Agreed Julie. Nick then got his Nintendo and they started to play. After a couple of hours, they both got tired of staring into the TV so they turned the game off. Nick's fever had gone slightly up from playing the game, so he crawled back into bed and took an Aspirin. He fell asleep soon after and Julie decided to go back to her room. She got to her room and dialed Christina's number.
"Hello?" came her best friend's voice over the phone.
"Hey, what's up?" said Julie.
"Nothing much, how's it going, living with the Backstreet Boys must be so great!" said Christina excitedly.
"It is, I'm having the time of my life, and you'll never guess what happened!" said Julie mysteriously.
"What?? Tell me!!"
"I kind of blurted out to Nick that I love him a couple of days ago." Told her Julie.
"Are you serious?? Wow! And how did he react?" prodded Christina.
"Well, unfortunately, he doesn't love me, but we are giving a relationship a try and it seems to be going pretty well so far. In fact, we had our first real date yesterday." Said Julie.
"And what happened on it?" asked Christina.
"Well, it was so romantic, we had dinner at an Italian restaurant and then we went for a walk on the beach under the stars. And while we were sitting, we saw a shooting star, and made a wish and then pretty much started kissing…a lot." Julie then proceeded to tell Christina what happened after.
"Wow, that's one exciting date. How's Nick?" asked Christina concerned.
"He's sleeping, but he seems to be doing much better today than he was yesterday." Replied Julie.
"That's good news. And this explains why you're talking to me and are not with Nick." She added.
"Well, I'll go back to his room soon. I really do love him and I want to spend as much time with him as possible before the new tour starts. I just hope that someday he will feel the same about me." She said wistfully.
"I'm sure he will, I mean, how can he not?" said Christina, she sounded like she knew exactly what she was talking about.
"I hope so, but I guess time will tell."
"Yes it will, and you'll see, before you know it, you and Nick will both be head over heels in love and nothing or no one will be able to come between you two." Promised Christina.
"I'll look forward to that." Said Julie. They chatted some more and then hung up. Julie unpacked the remainder of her things and then went back to Nick's room. She walked in and saw that he was already awake.
"Hi, did you wake up a long time ago?" she asked sitting down.
"Nope, just woke up, you have perfect timing." Said Nick smiling.
"Well, you look like you feel a lot better." Said Julie observantly.
"I do feel better, and this time, I'm very sure that I don't have a fever anymore. Here, feel my forehead." Nick took Julie's hand and put it on his forehead.
"You're right, you don't have a fever, but that doesn't mean that you're perfectly fine now." She said.
"Yeah, I know, but it's better than nothing." Said Nick.
"Definitely." She nodded. Nick got out of bed and walked over to the window.
"It's so nice outside." He commented. Outside, it was a beautiful summer evening. The sun was just about to set so the sky was lit with several beautiful colors. A gentle breeze moved the leaves on the trees and it was very peaceful.
"Yes it is." Agreed Julie and went over to Nick.
"How about we go and sit outside in the backyard?" suggested Nick.
"I don't know, you're sure you're up for it?" she asked.
"Yeah, I feel fine, I'm sure I'll be as good as new tomorrow." He said while looking out the window.
"Well, ok, why not." Said Julie. Nick then put on his shoes and both him and Julie went downstairs. They saw Howie and his new girlfriend Stacey on the couch watching an old movie. Nick and Julie went out the backdoor quietly because they didn't want Howie to hear them since they didn't want to disturb his date. They went outside and sat on the large porch overlooking the spacious backyard.
"It's so peaceful here." Said Julie snuggling against Nick.
"Yeah, I love it." said Nick as he put his arms around Julie.
"You know what?" said Nick.
"What?" asked Julie quietly.
"This is so perfect, me and you, the sunset, what more can a guy ask for?" said Nick and then looked and Julie. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing deeply. She fell asleep in his arms. Nick smiled, kissed Julie's forehead and leaned back in the chair.


chapter 4 chapter 6