The guys woke up at 6 am to meet Fatima, their choreographer, at the studio. After four hours straight, of learning new steps, trying them, and practicing them, Fatima let them rest for half an hour.
"Hey, A.J.! Come here!" called Howie from the corner of the room. He was fussing around in his gym bag.
A.J. jogged up to him. "What's up?"
"You know it's our four month anniversary in two and half weeks, right? Elena and me?"
"Yeah. What did you get her?"
Howie finally found what he was looking for. He pulled out a small emerald green box and opened it to show A.J. what was inside.
"Holy shit!" shouted A.J. Inside was a ring. But not just any ring…a gold ring with a huge diamond…an engagement ring.
"Shhh!" hissed Howie. "You're the only one I'm telling!"
"Oh my Lord! Why?!"
"Because you're my best friend! And I'm not ready to tell the other guys yet!"
"Howie, are you sure?! Y-y-you've only been dating for four months!"
"I knew you'd say that! Yes, I'm sure. It's been more than just 'dating'! I know it seems kind of soon, but I know how I feel! And I know I'll never feel the same way with another person! I love her and only her."
A.J. was shocked! Marriage?! What would the others say? What would management say? What would the fans think?
"I know what you're thinking," continued Howie, "and I don't care what management or the fans say! I'm going to ask her. And if she says yes, I promise to keep my career and my private life totally separate!"
Howie definitely made up his mind.
"S-s-so," stammered A.J., "when are you going to ask her?"
"After she comes back from her assignment."
"Oh."
"Please, don't tell anyone."
"I promise. I won't tell a soul."
"Thanx, A.J."
"Uh-huh."
All of a sudden, Nick jumped on A.J.'s back, nearly knocking him down.
"Hey, guys! Watcha doin'?"
Howie quickly put the ring back in his gym bag, before anyone saw it.
"Nick! Get the fuck off me!" he screamed.
Nick was taken back by A.J.'s reaction. He usually was the one who could take a joke! But he sounded truly angry!
"Sorry, A.J.! I was just playin' with ya! Jeez!" cried Nick not sounding very apologetic.
A.J. just walked away with a very annoyed expression on his face.
"What's wrong with him?!"
"I don't know," answered Howie, also confused.
A.J. wandered the building in which they were practicing, wondering why he snapped at Nick like that. He felt really bad.
'Dammit! What the hell is wrong with me?! I should be happy that my best friend finally found someone to spend the rest of his life with!' he thought, angry with himself.
But A.J. knew the answer. He just didn't want to believe it. Howie was marrying Elena. Of course, she would say yes! He was jealous. He still had a "thing" for her, but now there was definitely no way in hell that she would think of him as anything else but a friend.
"A.J., snap out of it!" he chided himself. "Ok. I'm going to go back, apologize to Nick, and go on with my life." He took a deep breath, which calmed him down, then returned to the studio. The guys were already there ready to start.
"Hey, A.J.! Where have you been?" asked Fatima.
"Nowhere," he mumbled.
"Alright, well, come on, get into position."
A.J. walked over to his place, beside Nick. Nick didn't even look at him.
"Hey, Nick," he whispered. Nick turned to face him with no expression on his face.
"I'm sorry."
Nick smiled and answered back, "It's cool."
"Alright, guys!" shouted Fatima, "Ready? Let's do it! And a one, and a two, and a one, two, three…go!"
The music started and the boys did their stuff. They rehearsed until 7 p.m., then went home pooped, and eager to sleep.
Finally, Tuesday came. A.J. and Howie drove Elena to the airport to see her off. They talked until her flight was called.
"I'll miss your freaky and funky ways, A.J," she said as she hugged him.
"Don't worry, I'm sure Aerosmith is just as fun!" he joked, knowing that she didn't really like those kinds of rock bands.
"Thanks," she said rolling her eyes. Then she moved on to Howie.
"Ooh, I'm going to miss you, so much."
He put his arms around her and held her tight. "Don't worry, I'll still be here when you come back. Bye."
"Bye," she whispered, smiling, then kissed him.
Finally, they let go of each other and she proceeded to make her way to the plane.
The next day, A.J. and his mom went to visit his grandparents, Adolph and Ursula.
"Denise! Alexander!" cried the elderly woman as she hugged them.
"Hi, Grandma!"
"Oh, you've gotten very tall, Alex! You better stop growing or you will be ten feet tall!"
"Grandma, I did stop growing! Like three years ago!" laughed A.J.
"Ok. You've been in the radio and TV a lot! I brag to everyone I know, I say 'that one's my grandson.' They say, 'which one?' I say 'the one with the blue hair' and they are so surprised!"
Everyone just laughed.
"Where's Dad?" asked Denise.
"Oh, he's in the living room, watching 'Schindler's List.' Very good movie, but very very sad."
They walked into the living room, where they saw Adolph yelling obscenities in German at the TV every time a Nazi soldier killed a Jew.
"Dad, calm down!" Denise said as she hugged and kissed her father.
"I won't calm down! Those poor excuses for German soldiers are making me mad!"
Adolph and Ursula had fled Germany just before WWII really got bad! Although they personally didn't experience the war, the horrors that they heard of during the war, and the post-war devastation still affected them as it still affects many others. Some things just can't be forgiven or forgotten.
"Hey, Grandpa, why don't you tell us more of your childhood stories," suggested A.J. His grandfather loved telling them about his days as a young boy at a farm, his trip to America, and how he met Ursula and everything. Basic grandfather talk. He was delighted to.
"Alright…when I was your age…" he began.
They stayed pretty much the whole day with Adolph and Ursula. Denise finally decided that they had to leave at around 9:30 p.m.
"Thank you for a wonderful day. Bye, Mom, Dad."
"Goodbye, sweetie. And Alex, stay the prince that you are!"
Ursula always ended their visit that way.
"Yes, Grandma. I'll try. Goodnight."
After saying their 'goodnights,' A.J. and Denise hopped into the car and began their journey home.
"A.J., take those sunglasses off. It's night time!" said Denise kind of annoyed that her son insisted on wearing sunglasses 24/7.
"Sorry, Mom. Force of habit," he retorted as he took them off to please his mother.
"Well, why do you wear them so much? No one ever gets to see those beautiful eyes of yours!"
"Mom!" He blushed. It feels weird when your mom compliments you.J
They turned the corner and drove into the small quiet street they always used. But something made it feel different. An eerie kind of different.
All of a sudden, they hit a huge bump that made them fly ten feet up in the air.
"Holy shit! What was that?!" exclaimed A.J.
Then they heard a whistling sound coming out of the right front side of the car.
"Oh, damn! Don't tell me we got a flat!" said Denise.
"I'll go look."
A.J. got out of the car and proceeded to inspect the tires. The front right one was deflating. It was too dark to see exactly where the tire was punctured, but it was clearly damaged.
"Yup. A flat. We got a spare in the back right?"
"Yeah, I'll help you."
She got out to help A.J. with the tires.
"What the hell did this!" She looked around trying to find the source of the problem. "Ouch!!!" A sudden pain shot through her foot.
"Mom, are you ok?"
"Ahh, yeah, I just…" she looked at the ground to see what she had stepped on. A bunch of small pointy things glimmered in the moonlight. "stepped on a bunch of nails!"
"Nails? Where the hell did nails come from?!"
She didn't have a chance to respond to that because at that moment, a tall, dark figure grabbed A.J. from behind and slammed him against the wall of the nearby brick building. A sharp pain shot through his back and head as his body hit the wall.
"Oh my God!!!" screamed Denise.
The dark figure took out a small shiny handgun from his pocket and aimed it her.
"Shut up, bitch! Or I'll blow your friggin' head off!"
She immediately froze and A.J.'s eyes grew wide in fear. He didn't move. He couldn't really see the guy's face because it was hidden behind a ski mask and the collar of his jacket. But A.J. saw his eyes. They were blue---ice blue. They were cold, full of anger, hatred, evil, and madness. Anything could set this guy off. He prayed that nothing would startle the mugger or his mother was a goner. Then the dude turned his attention to him.
"Ok, rich boy, gimme all ya got! And you, gimme all your jewelry!" he commanded Denise. She pulled the rings off her fingers and snapped off her earrings and cautiously walked up to the man and handed them to him.
Then with trembling hands, A.J. pulled out his wallet. "Here! Take it! Take it all! Just don't hurt her!"
The guy took the wallet, but didn't look satisfied. "I know you got more, Mr. McLean! Yeah, I know who you are! You're one of them Backstreet bastards!"
The guy then took the gun and dug it into A.J.'s stomach. A.J. closed his eyes. 'Oh God, he's going to kill me!' he thought.
"Maybe we should see what makes you tick, first hand!" The man had his finger on the trigger. Any sudden movement…
A.J.'s life flashed before his eyes. He was hardly aware of his surroundings. Everything turned blurry and he could barely hear his mother's fearful cries.
"No! Please, no! Oh, God!" she screamed now in tears.
"Wouldn't it be interesting to see your precious boy totally fucked up with a million holes in his body?!" He dug in the gun deeper. 'This is it,' A.J. thought. He braced himself for what would happen next.
"But then my little sis would be so upset to learn that her favorite Backstreet Boy was blown to bits! So I'll let you live! Goodbye, freak!"
The guy punched A.J. in the stomach and ran off with his loot. He fell to his knees weak from the pain and shock. Denise ran up to him, still crying.
"A.J.!" She put her arms around him and held him tight. "Oh God! I thought he was going to shoot you right before my eyes!"
A.J. was speechless. He just sat there, not responding to his mother's joyful cries or kisses. He was numb with shock. But several thoughts were going through his mind. This shook him up pretty bad. Really bad. So bad that A.J. began to have second thoughts about his future. About being a Backstreet Boy.