Brian:
I felt kind of stupid when Skylar went in to take her shower. I think we're getting a lot closer. We flirt all the time and it makes me wonder if she has any true feelings for me. But still, I'm afraid to make any moves yet, what if she's not ready yet?
She came out of the bathroom looking like a goddess. She had a white towel wrapped around her body and another white towel holding her hair. She walked past me and joked, "I was thinking that this should be my outfit tonight. White towels all the way! What do you think?" She looked at me almost seductively.
"I think that you're crazy. But crazy is good." I answered her. It was all I could do not to grab her and kiss her passionately. Skylar tucked part of the body towel under so that it would stay without her holding it. Then she let go so that she could comb her hair. Of course, my eyes were fixed on her, I couldn't help but stare. That's when the towel began to drop. I could see it happening, but I couldn't get the words out to warn her.
Skylar:
It was embarrassing to a degree, but then, it's only Brian and he only saw my boobs, no biggie. "Whoops!" I shouted. I looked back at Brian, but he was too shocked to speak. It was kind of funny because his mouth was hanging open in surprise and his eyes were fixed on me. "I must be one big shock to you today, huh?" I said. His eyes met mine and then we both smiled.
"You don't shock me at all." he said calmly.
"Uh, huh. Is that right?" I asked.
"Yep. You're just... we're just... connected somehow. I know what you are going to do two seconds before you do it." he confessed. I smiled smugly at him.
"You think you know me so well. You think you do... but..." I walked towards him and stopped once I reached him. I playfully punched him in the chest and fell into him so that we both fell back onto one of the beds. Still wearing the towel, I managed to pin him down. "you don't. You probably thought that I'd do something else, or that I wouldn't be able to pin you just because I'm a girl, but-" I was abruptly cut off when Brian lifted his head and kissed me hard on the mouth. Unsure of any of the feelings bouncing off the rooms walls, I got up, grabbed my dress and makeup, and ran off to the bathroom.
"Sky!" Brian called. But I was already safely locked in the bathroom. Who knows what would happen if I stayed out there with him because I don't know that I can control my feelings for him. Then again, I don't know if these feelings are real or just a momentary attraction. But my thoughts on that controversy ended when I heard Brian outside the bathroom door. "Sky, I'm so sorry if I've caused a situation. I probably shouldn't have confused you by kissing you, it's just that, well... Let's just leave it at that. I'm sorry, so so sorry. I'll switch rooms if you want. I really didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I..." I felt bad because he was feeling guilty about something that I'd enjoyed quite heartily. I wanted to freaking jump on the boy, but maybe he's just looking for a little action. I don't know. But I don't think that I could live with less than all of him, body and soul. I should've said something to reassure him that I wasn't mad or anything, but all I could do was sit there on the cold tiled floor silent. I heard him walk out the hotel door, he was probably going to one of the other rooms. We'll settle this tonight, I thought. I'll let him know how I'm feeling so that we can get it all out in the open. Whether that will happen by choice or chance (such as telling him while drunk,) I will tell him how I feel about him so that there are no bad feelings floating around us towards eachother. I really don't want to lose him as a friend. I'd like more, but this probably isn't the best way or time to jump into anything.
Waiting backstage at the Late Show was one of the most nerve-racking experiences of my life. One of the show's assistants came into the dressing room to let us know the night's setup. She said that after Conan and Andy's opening, the guys would do their song and then have an interview session after a commercial break. Basically, the guys are going to chit chat until the next commercial break, and then I'll be introduced.
"Well, this is it, I guess." I said quietly.
"Are you going to be okay?" asked Kevin. "You look a litle pale."
"No, no, I'm fine. I'm just nervous, but I'm sure it'll go away in a few minutes." I answered back. I looked across the room and noticed Brian watching me with a concerned expression. "I'm okay." I reassured him and the group. "Honestly. I just need a glass of water." A.J. hopped right on it and brought me a glass of ice water.
"I used to get real nervous when I first started out. But it passes, and by the time you get out onto the stage, you'll be fine."
"Thanks, I'll try." I said.
Just then, the assistant poked her head back in, "Five minutes, guys. We need you to setup out here now."
All five guys walked past me and out the door. Brian was last, and as he passed he reassured me saying, "Relax, it'll be fine." He lightly punched my arm, "Be tough."
Dakota:
That night I got into my pajamas early, popped some popcorn, and then settled in front of the television. It was good TV night after all. Friends was funny as usual and the rest of the shows was a blur, until ER. My other favorite show. How can so many beautiful people work at one hospital? That just doesn't happen in real life. I must have fell asleep though because then the next thing I knew, Conan was on TV. Please tell me I didn't miss the guys. Oh good. It's just the beginning. I quickly popped a tape into the VCR so I could tape it and then relaxed, watching the show.
Skylar:
As I watched them walk down the hall, I tried to calm myself down. I heard them begin their song. Nervousness took over me and I began to worry that I wasn't going to make it. I repeated Brian's words over and over in my head. Be tough, be tough, be tough... But apparently, my mind and body weren't on the same wavelength. My throat began to ache and I ran to the bathroom. The boys finished their song and the show went to its commercial break. As I sat next to the toilet and was leaning over, I heard Conan say, "Meet the Backstreet Boys, ladies and gentlemen!" I heard several screams and shouts from young girls in the audience. Oh, great!, I thought. They're out there praising my boys while I'm in here praising the porcelain god. The assistant yelled into the room,
"Miss Jeffries? Are you there?"
"Yeah, I'm here!" I managed to get out. She came back to where I was and asked,
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm feeling much better now." I answered.
"Well, you've got three minutes, and then Conan will introduce you, okay?"
"Sure, I'll be out in a second." I said. The assistant left and I quickly splashed some water on my face. I reapplied some makeup, washed my mouth out with water and grabbed a piece of gum from my purse. "This is going to be interesting!" I said under my breath. I walked over to the stage entrance and straightened myself out. My hair was still in the wispy french twist that I'd put it in earlier. It had strands coming out of it, but that was done purposely because I was going for the messy but chic look. I heard the band start playing the theme music and held my breath. This is it!
Conan's voice broke through the intro, "Our next guest is the woman who keeps these guys in line, is this right, boys?" All the guys agreed and Conan announced my name, "Please welcome Skylar Jeffries, the Backstreet Boys' personal fitness trainer." I smoothly walked onto the stage. In order from the opposite side of the desk sat Howie, Nick, Kevin, Brian and A.J., who all stood up as I passed them. I hugged Conan before taking my seat between his desk and A.J. "It's nice to meet you, Skylar."
"It's nice to meet you, too." I replied. "For a minute there, I didn't think you were going to make it." He looked at the audience as he said, "During the commercial break, my assistant, Sarah, came out and said that Skylar was unavoidably detained. Skylar, what happened?"
I blushed a little and looked to the guys for support.
"I kind of got sick." I said.
"Sick?" Conan asked. All the guys looked at me with concern. I started laughing.
"Yeah, I was a bit nervous and I was puking my brains out in the dressing room." I said still laughing.
"Well, the fact that you're sitting here chuckling leads me to believe that you're feeling better."
"Oh, yeah. It was just a case of nerves. I was so anxious to meet you, I just..."
"Well thanks. I wish all my guests were like that." he joked.
"But really, I'm fine now." I said.
"And I notice that you're chewing gum, words can't express my thanks.
But anyways, you get the fun task of waking these guys up bright and early every morning, huh?" he said changing subjects.
"Yeah, it was tough waking them up at first, they kind of refused to.
But they're getting better. We've been collaborating now for quite some time and we've established a routine." I said calmly.
"What kinds of things do you make them do to keep these guys buff?" he asked. The guys all started chuckling at the word 'buff' and I couldn't help but smile.
"Well, fortunately, all the guys enjoy weight lifting, so we do that several days a week." I said as Brian and Nick stood up and jokingly flexed like body builders. I laughed, "Not bad, huh ladies?" The audience went wild.
"We also play games like basketball, volleyball, football, we swim, we play anything that can be done on the beach, we surf, you name it, we've done it. Plus, we run five to six days a week, which they love." I said sarcastically as the boys all groaned.
"What's wrong guys? You don't like running? I mean, what's not to love? You get to run with this beautiful woman... and..." Conan trailed off. Of course, A.J. had to answer that one.
"Hey, no offense," he said touching my arm, "But she's a tough trainer. She works us real hard. We do need that extra push, we just don't enjoy it. Don't get me wrong, outside business hours she's fun, but when we're working out, she's tough."
"That's another thing," Conan started. "I know that Skylar, you're close in age to these guys, any romance? Or do you already have a boyfriend?" he asked. "You know, I'm available." he joked, wiggling his eyebrows up and down suggestively.
"We're all good friends." I laughed.
"How about the rest of you, any girlfriends?" Conan noticed Nick's face blush bright red. "So who's the lucky lady, Nick?"
"Well, I'm not going to get into it, but I've been seeing someone for awhile." he said in a shy voice.
"Actually," started A.J., "I brought some pictures to show the audience." I looked over at Nick who looked like he was about to shit his pants. Howie, Kevin, Brian and I all started laughing as A.J. whipped out some pictures of Nick and Kota sleeping together on the couch and handed them to Conan.
"Wow, these are pretty good. She's very attractive, Nick. Now can you tell us a little bit about her since people all across the country have now seen her picture?" Nick sat up in his chair.
"Well, her name is Dakota and she's a model. She was going to come with us but she had a photo shoot."
"Not bad." said Conan. "Definite potential there."
"Oh, and what's this?" A.J. asked in an extremely sarcastic tone. "It seems that I've also brought along some fun photos from our plane trip to New York." A.J. handed some more pictures while my face froze.
"Look at these!" yelled Conan. "This must be Brian and Skylar being 'just friends' on the plane. What do you do in the privacy of your home?" he asked with a funny grin.
Brian answered, "We were just chillin' on the plane. We couldn't get comfortable so we used each other as pillows, that's all." I looked over at Brian and flashed him a look of thanks. He flashed one back that said 'anything for you' and my heart jumped. "and at home," I added, "we all live together, separate rooms."
"Uh, huh." Conan said in a 'wink-wink' kind of voice, like he was saying, sure, I believe you... not! Luckily, someone changed the topic of conversation and the rest of the interview went by without any flaws.
As soon as the show ended, I gave A.J. a harder than playful punch in the arm. "You doofus! Why didn't you tell me you brought pictures, or that you took pictures for that matter? At least I could've been prepared."
Nick and Brian, who had been joking around, noticed the commotion and came over.
"That was a pretty slick trick you pulled tonight." Brian said. Nick nodded in agreement,
"Yeah, you're smooth." The look on my face must have shown my feelings because Brian quickly asked,
"What?"
"What?!" I said in a flustered tone. "Weren't you embarrassed that the world saw that?"
"I'm not embarrassed by you, sorry." he replied.
"It's not anything like that." I said. "Nick, weren't you mad that A.J. just told the world about you and Kota?" He looked at the guys and then back at me.
"Honestly, it saved me a lot of trouble. The last thing I want is a bunch of teenage girls consulting over the internet each night about whether or not I have a girlfriend. I don't have to worry about it. I'll just have my agent release a formal statement and it will be completely taken care of. A.J. here actually helped me out." I looked at him bewildered.
"I'm sorry, A.J. I'm obviously blowing this way out of proportion. I guess I'm just not used to these kinds of things. I'm going to go catch a cab. I'll meet you guys at the hotel." I said and humbly walked away. I went back into the dressing room and grabbed my coat and purse. As I was walking out to the curb, Brian ran out of the building and stopped me, just in time to see a teardrop slide down my cheek.
"Sky, don't worry about it." he said as he pulled me into his arms. "I'm sorry if I seemed insensitive back there." As I hugged him, I realized that this was what I wanted, for Brian to just hold me forever.
"I'm sorry that I over reacted. I just don't want our friendship to hurt your career," or something like that, I thought.
"Come on, the guys want to go to this club down the street. Are you up for it?" he asked.
"I don't know, I'm feeling kind of stupid now." I admitted.
He stepped back and looked into my eyes.
"Well don't feel bad because the guys and I have all done some seriously stupid things in the past few years. This wasn't that big, honest."
"Thanks for trying to make me feel better, even if you failed miserably." I smiled.
"Hey, at least I tried. So what do you say? You want to go out and drink? I know, I know, you don't do this all the time, blah, blah, blah. Come on, you're feeling crummy, a couple of shots and you'll be feeling better." he said.
"No, not tonight. Thanks for the invite, but I'm gonna have to pass." I said.
"Do you care if I still go?" he asked
"No, not at all. Call me if you need anything, okay?" I told him.
"Yes, ma'am." he joked, and then ran back into the studio. God, I thought, I would love to jump that boy! Cool down, Sky. He's just your friend... just your friend, I reiterated in my mind. Just friends.
Dakota:
Holy shit! I want to hug AJ! He showed my picture on TV. I was shown on TV and Nick said my name on TV. YAY! National coverage, BABY! I started doing a little dance while jumping on the couch. Calm down......I CAN'T!!! For no reason at all I was laughing hysterically when the phone rang.
"Dakota, here," I said, answering the phone.
"Hi, Baby," Nick said on the other end of the phone.
"Hi Nick! " I was so giddy at this point it wasn't funny.
"Did you see the show?" he asked hesitantly and I just giggled.
"See it? Hell I taped it! I was on TV! This is great!"
"Oh good. You're taking it well," he said and then let out a huge sigh of relief. "I thought you were going to hate me for mentioning our relationship."
"Of course not, sweetie! I was estatic. Hell, I still am. Plus you gave me a plug, maybe I'll get another job because of that. And its not like I'm ashamed to have you as a boyfriend or anything," I giggled a little and then finally calmed down. "Honestly though, you looked really hot on the show."
"Really? Why thank you. I'm sure you looked really fine at your photo shoot today."
"Nick, you are not going to believe these pictures. They're incredible! It's not me...." I giggled a little and then the phone went silent.
"I miss you, Baby."
"I miss you too. I'm here all by myself. At least you have the guys. I'm all by myself." I stopped and yawned. "Dream of me tonight...."
"Always do," Nick replied "Go get some sleep, you sound tired."
"Yeah, I'm kind of beat. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night."
"Bye." I hung up the phone and laid back on the couch, thinking about everything that happened tonight.
Skylar:
When I got back to the hotel, I couldn't sleep at all. I tossed and turned in my bed for a few hours, secretly waiting for Brian's return. It's not that I didn't try to fall asleep, I just didn't try hard enough. I really needed to talk to Brian, just to sort out this thing. Listen to me, I've made it a thing! It's not even that big. So we kissed, it's not like it meant anything. At least, not to him. I was totally blown away, though. I was trying so hard to be a tough independent woman, challenging him at every turn. For God's sake, I strutted over to him in a towel and by pure will managed to pin him. You'd think that, first off, I wouldn't be able to pin him because he's stronger than me, but I managed. Then, the fact that I was in a towel makes it seem less convincing. But, I think that he was letting me pin him. At least, that's what I'm trying to convince myself of. At about three-thirty, the door opened and Brian stumbled in. I could hear everyone else loudly tromping back to their rooms down the hall, singing some old bar song. I untangled myself from my covers and shut the door.
"You okay, Brian? You look like you had a few too many."
"I did have a few, but the effects are slowly wearing off." he said quite soberly.
"I guess so. It looks like your motor skills haven't returned yet, though." I said as I watched him trying to untie his shoes. "Want some help?" I asked.
"Do you mind? I'm sorry if I woke you up or whatever. You should've come with us, we had so much fun. Our photo shoot for tomorrow was cancelled, so we stayed out a little bit longer."
"Maybe next time. I just needed some silence tonight, you know?" I said, not expecting a response.
"Yeah, I probably should've just stayed here, but I thought you might feel uncomfortable again." he said quietly.
"I wasn't uncomfortable before." I whispered, thinking that he probably wouldn't remember anything I say tonight, so I should just get it all out. As I helped him get up, I added, "I was just scared..." I helped him over to his bed.
"Scared?" he asked in a childlike voice.
"Yeah, I... have a lot of jumbled up feelings right now. And I'm not the best at handling emotional stuff." This is so easy! I can say anything and he won't remember it tomorrow. There's no possible way that he could remember with the alcohol he's taken in tonight. "I guess I'm afraid to jump into anything. Call it fear of commitment, I don't know."
He looked at me with sincere eyes, "Everyone has fears. I used to be afraid of monsters in my closet." Yep, he's completely wasted! "But then I faced my problem. One night, I turned on my bedroom light, opened the closet and realized that there were no monsters there to be afraid of." As gone as he was, it was making perfect sense to me. Maybe there isn't really anything to fear about starting something with Brian. "I'm so hot!" he groaned, trying to unbutton his shirt.
"Let me help you." I said, starting to unbutton the shirt.
"Thanks." he whispered softly.
"Hey, what are friends for?" I stated. But wouldn't I love to be more than friends with you!, I thought. I finished unbuttoning his shirt and helped him remove it. Whoa! Resist the temptation!, I told myself. "Can you get the rest?" I asked, referring to his pants.
"I think so." he mumbled. He tried to unbutton the jeans but it just wasn't happening. I leaned over and helped him unbutton, unzip and remove the pants. It was a moment of pure joy for me as I saw him in nothing but his bright green boxer shorts. I turned back the covers from the side of the bed that he wasn't on and patted it.
"Come on, under the covers." He hopped under the covers and rolled over so that he was facing my bed, which I quickly got back into.
"Nite." he whispered. "Sweet dreams."
"Goodnight, Brian." I whispered back.
Dakota:
It was the day that everyone was coming home and I was really missing Nick. It's kind of insane to miss a person like this, but I do. When I walked down the hall to my room, I passed Nick's room and just out of boredom I went inside. He had some clothes thrown on the floor which made me laugh a little and on the walls there were tons of different posters hanging everywhere. His bed was still rumpled from when he must of left quickly. I walked over to his closet and looked threw it a few items, but then I was drawn to a button down shirt that was on the floor. I picked it up after staring at it for a minute and then brought it to my nose where I could still smell traces of his cologne. After just holding it for awhile, I put it on and pretended like it was his arms wrapped around me inside of just his shirt. Sighing to myself, I sat down on his bed and just let my mind wander. I awoke in the middle of the night to find myself under the covers in his bed and then I heard a jiggling of the doorknob. Oh god! He's home. I threw the covers back over my head, praying to god that I would just disappear. He never turned on a light though and within minutes he slid into bed next to me, wearing only boxers. I felt him wrap his arms around my waist and then he gave me a kiss on the cheek.
"Hey Kota," he laughed a little, but just continued laying there. I sat up abruptly and turned on a lamp.
"I'm sorry Nick. I know I shouldn't have been here....I just missed you," I admitted, quite ashamed. He just touched my cheek lightly and brought my gaze to meet his.
"It's okay, Baby. Anytime you feel like coming in here and putting on my clothes... feel free," Nick smiled and my ashamed looked was replaced by a small smile. I looked down at myself and noticed that I was still wearing Nick's shirt. Yup I've officially became a stalker. With a pat on his hand and I smiled, I started to get out of the bed when he grabbed my arm.
"Stay..."
"Wh..what?" I asked surprised. He pulled me closer and now I could feel his breath on my cheek.
"Just stay," he said simply, but it said so much more. He leaned down and our lips met in a fiery kiss that took my breath away. I wrapped my arms around him and deepened the kiss. Without breaking away from the kiss, Nick started to slowly unbutton my shirt, fumbling with a button ever so often. He eased us gently down onto the bed and that's when I freaked out. My shirt was fully unbuttoned and I was getting so lost in the kiss.....but....
"Nick, stop," I stated, while he was trying to get my shirt off. He stopped immediately and looked at me with a confused expression.
"What?"
"I really don't want to go any farther. I'm not ready for it," I mumbled quietly, trying to re- button the shirt I had on.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to push you....it's just....I don't know how to describe it. It's just something you do to me. I should've pushed though...." He had this pained look on his face that made me feel bad. It's like he was just accused of forcing himself on someone.
"Nick, don't apologize. I did as much pushing as you did. It's just that when the time came to what was actually happening. I got scared. I mean.....it's just....I've never......" I tripped on the words that I was trying to say. Half of me wanted to tell Nick the truth and half of me didn't.
"If you're trying to say you're a virgin.....well its not a big deal. Because to be honest. So am I." Wow! He must have some restrain. "So I know how you're feeling because honestly I'm feeling it too. You're just special Dakota. You're the only person that I've felt THIS much attraction too." He leaned over and gave me an affectionate kiss on the lips.
"Good night, Nick," I smiled and then once again I tried to get off the bed. Then once again, Nick stopped me.
"Can I just hold you tonight?" he whispered. A stray tear slid down my cheek and he wiped it away. I laid down facing him while he just held me tight.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For letting me meet you."