Rachel came back to the apartment after an exhausting time at volleyball practice. Kristin was sitting on the couch watching MTV.

"Hey, Rach. How was practice?" she asked, not looking away from the TV.

"It. . .was. . .really. . .tough," Rachel said in between short breaths.

Kristin shut off the TV and looked over at her in concern. "Rach, you all right? You seem to be out of breath."

"No. . .I'm okay. I just. . .need to. . .sit down," she said as she headed to the kitchen.

Kristin followed her and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge. "Here drink this."

"Thanks," Rachel said as she took little sips.

"Geez girl, what did you do at practice?"

"It wasn't from. . .practice. It was from running. . .from the gym. . .back here," Rachel said, struggling for breath.

"YOU RAN ALL THE WAY OVER HERE?" Kristin said, raising her voice. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?"

"I have to. . .get in shape. . .somehow. College. . .volleyball. . .is tough."

"Rach you know what can happen if you overdo yourself. You're going to wind up back in the hospital like. . .like. . ." her voice faded.

"Like two years ago?" Rachel finished. Kristin nodded, close to tears. "Kris, I know what I'm doing. I'm not going to let a little heart condition stop me."

"Little heart condition? Rachel you almost died. I don't want to lose my best friend. Just promise you'll be more careful and not do anything crazy like that again." Rachel sighed. "I promise," she said softly, regaining her normal breathing speed. Kristin smiled and hugged Rachel. "Come on lets go get ready. We have a concert to go to!" Rachel said while standing up quickly, causing the room to tilt. "Whoa," she said while putting her hand on her head.

"You okay?" Kristin asked with a look of worry.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just a head rush," she lied.

"Okay, well I'm going to get ready," Kristin said, leaving the kitchen.

"Okay. . ." Rachel trailed off, her mind focused on what just happened. I never had that happen before, she thought. Feeling a slight pain in her chest, she sat back down. It's probably nothing. I better get ready for the concert. I'm sure everything is fine, thinking to herself then headed to her bathroom. Rachel got up and took a hot bath. She freshened up her make-up and fixed up her hair. When she was done she got out and let Kristin in. About an hour later Rachel knocked on the bathroom door.

"Kristin hurry up. We're gonna be late."

"Okay okay I'm coming!" Kristin said as she opened the door. She looked at Rachel and asked, "Do I look okay?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "No, you look terrible," she said sarcastically.

"Well, I don't wanna look bad."

"You look fine."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. Now let's go," she said as she dragged Kristin out the door.

They hopped into Kristin's car and drove to the stadium where the concert was being held. Kristin parked her car and looked over at Rachel.

"You got the camera?"

Rachel held up the camera. "Check."

"Backstage passes?"

"Got em," she said as she put hers on and gave Kristin the other one.

"Tickets?"

Rachel's face went blank. "Oops!" she said.

"Rachel, you didn't."

"I know I was forgetting something."

Kristin glared at Rachel. "I'm gonna kill you."

Rachel laughed and help up the tickets. "Gotcha!" she shouted.

"That wasn't even funny. Don't ever do that to me again."

"Sorry Kris, you're too easy."

Rachel and Kristin got out of the car and carefully dodged through the screaming fans. They showed their backstage passes to the security guard and he let them in. Kristin and Rachel ran backstage and found Nikki walking down the hall. She smiled when she saw them.

"Hey guys!" she said.

"Hey Nikki," said Rachel. "Where is everyone?"

"Amanda and the guys are in the dressing room. Come with me and I'll show you where it's at."

Rachel and Kristin followed Nikki to the dressing room. She knocked on the door and Aaron Carter answered the door.

"Hey Nikki!" he said as he hugged her.

"How's it goin' bud?" Nikki asked him.

"I'm great and ready to perform," Aaron said while bouncing up and down.

Nikki laughed and walked into the room. "Hey guys," she said as she timidly glanced at Howie.

"I'm pumped and ready to go!" AJ shouted.

"Calm down hon," Amanda said.

"Why don't you make me?" he said with a sly grin.

She laughed and kissed him on the lips. "Are you cool now?"

"I'm as cool as cucumber," he replied.

Brian looked over at Rachel, who was standing by the door. He walked over to her and grabbed her arm.

"Come with me. I wanna talk to you." Rachel followed him outside. He leaned against the wall and looked her straight in the eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

"What do you mean?"

"You were crying last night. Are you sure you don't wanna talk about it?"

Rachel smiled. "That's really sweet that you're concerned, but I"m fine."

"You sure?"

"I'm positive."

"I just hate to see you so upset. If there's any way I can help---"

Rachel cut him off with a kiss. "I'm fine."

Brian stood there in shock for a second then looked down into her eyes. "Okay. . .if you say so." Brian said suspiciously. "Let's go back in the dressing room. I gotta finish getting ready."

They went back inside and Brian went to the mirror to fix his hair where Kevin stood.

"Man look at my hair!" Kevin grumbled.

Brian laughed. "What's wrong with it? It looks fine."

"No, it doesn't," Kevin said as she ran his fingers through his hair.

"Why are you so nervous?" Brian asked.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that? I am NOT nervous!" Kevin picked up his toothbrush and attempted to put the toothpaste on it, but wounded up getting it all over the mirror.

Brian laughed at Kevin's mishap. "Not nervous huh?"

Kevin glared at Brian. "Shut up Frick!"

"Whoa chill out cuz."

Kevin sighed. "Sorry, I guess I really am a little nervous."

"A little?"

"Hey I said I was sorry."

"What have you got to be so nervous about?"

"Sarah," Kevin said while blushing.

"Who's Sarah?" Brian asked.

"This girl I met," Kevin said self-consciously.

Brian beamed. "You met a girl? When was this?"

"I met her at the bookstore a couple of days ago."

"Kevin you dog," Brian said as he punched Kevin on the shoulder.

"It's not like that," he explained. "She's got a boyfriend."

"I think you've let AJ become an influence on you."

Kevin laughed. "No, I really like her and I want to get to know her. I figured then we can at least be friends."

"That's really cool cuz," Brian said.

"Hey guys let's go!" shouted Howie.

"It's party time!" AJ said while bobbing up and down. He gave Amanda a kiss, then headed out the door.

The girls took their seats in the front row and watched the guys perform. They all noticed through out the whole show Kevin kept looking down at the front row. Each time he looked the more disappointed he looked

The concert ended and the girls went back to the dressing room to see the guys. Kevin was sitting on the couch with his face in his hands. Brian sat down next to him.

"Maybe something came up and she couldn't make it."

"No, I know what happened."

"What?"

"She stood me up."

"I'm sorry cuz," Brian said as he patted him on the back. "Are you gonna come to dinner with us?"

Kevin sighed. "No, I'm think I'm gonna have the limo take me on home."

"Are you sure?"

Kevin got up and walked to the door. "Yeah, I'm sure," he said as he left the room.