Nick peered around the corner of two adjacent halls, his eyes scanning the area as he held his water gun up, ready to shoot. Suddenly, he heard a slight giggle behind him and found the back of his head being drenched with ice cold water. He turned around to find Melissa already running and ducking into the next hallway.

He started to run after her, rounding the corner only to get hit in the face with a water balloon. Her giggles echoed down the hallway as he wiped the excess water off his face and looked at her. She stood before him, practically dry except the few spots he actually hit on her shirt and jeans. She was looking up at him as a child would, her hair framing her face and the lighting making her look almost angelic.

"You win..." he said with a shrug as he stepped closer to wrap his arms around her waist.

"But of course..." she replied as she wrapped her arms around his neck, the water gun still in her hand. Just as he leaned in to kiss her, she slid the barrel down his shirt and pulled the trigger.

Nick started to scream in surprise but soon found Melissa's mouth covering his in a passionate kiss.

"Thank you..." he said sarcastically as he took both their guns and tossed them to the floor. He wrapped his arms back around her waist and rested his forehead against hers. "Mel...Come on tour with us..."

She looked up unbelieving and tried to laugh it off. "You're serious?"

"Yeah..."

"But I have school. My dad said Tiff and I both have to go to college..."

"Do you really want to?"

"No..." her voice softened. "But you don't understand my father..."

"Oh..." he said as his arms fell away from her. "Never mind then..." He turned and started to walk toward his room.

"Nick! Wait! Don't leave!"

"I'm sorry, Mel. But maybe we shouldn't spend time together now...since I'll never see you again..."

"Don't say that Nick...I love you!"

"I know..." he whispered before he walked off, leaving her alone in the hall. She watched him go, his shoulders slumped forward, his wet shirt clinging to his back, his head down.

Not knowing whether to cry or scream, she ran after him. She reached him just as he was about to open his hotel room door. "I'll talk to him," she blurted out.

____________________________________________________

"Daddy? It's Melissa..."

"Hi, sweetheart. How are you?"

"I'm good. Daddy...I have a question."

"Yes, sweetie."

"Ok. Well, I met Nick and we have become really close friends...and he asked me to go on tour with them..."

"You're joking. You can't. You have school."

"But, I don't want to go to school. I want to go with Nick."

"You're too young to know what you want. And you aren't dropping out of college to go running around the country with some guy!"

"But I want to! I love him, Daddy! And I want to spend time with him!"

"How can you love him?! You just met him!"

"You don't understand, Daddy..."

"Maybe I don't, but I'm not going to let you throw your life away!"

"It's not throwing my life away!"

"You think that now! What happens when you're on your own, with no education and no one to support you?!"

"What makes you think that will happen?"

"Fine. Do what you want. But when you realize it was all a mistake don't come running back to me!" With that, he hung up the phone, leaving her with only the sound of the dial tone ringing in her ear. She gently placed the phone back in the receiver and sat back on the bed. She knew Nick would never leave her for no reason, and she knew that she loved him. With a sigh, she stood up and slowly walked to the door and went over to Tiff's.

____________________________________________________

"You're going to what?!" Tiff shrieked once Melissa told her the news. She was happy and upset all at the same time. Touring with the Backstreet Boys was a once in a life time opportunity, but giving up a family and an education were horrible sacrifices.

"I'm going to go. I love him, Tiff. I know it seems sudden, but we connect. It was meant to be..."

"It's your life..." Tiff quietly replied. She gave her sister a hug, holding on as if releasing her would mean letting her go forever.

"I'll call you all the time. And I'll write. And I'll come visit you as much as I can...."

"I know you will..."