After dashing over to her house to get some dry clothes, Cairo returned, her soaked hair pinned up, dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, to find Nick and Brian engrossed in front of the TV.

"Whadaya doin'?" she asked imitating an annoying child.

"Racing game," Nick called over his shoulder as he watched the screen out of the corner of his eye and manipulated his controller.

"Video games, figures!" Cairo said, rolling her eyes. She walked outside, to where Howie, Kevin and AJ were still sitting.

"So what's up guys?" Cairo asked.

"Nothing much. Just waiting for the others to settle their argument with that video game," AJ explained, then told the story about a bet to be settled by the outcome of that race.

"Man, he's so competitive!" Cairo explained.

"That's kind of our fault. We picked on him a lot when he was younger so he always feels like he's gotta prove something…Oops," Howie said, matter-of-factly.

"I figured as much. Um, I don't mean to put you guys on the spot or anything, but if you have time later, would you mind signing this thing for my cousin? She'd freak out!" Cairo explained, a little shy about her request.

"Hey, no problem. So, uh, you and Nick are pretty close, eh?" AJ said.

"Yeah, he's been wonderful. I was beginning to get lonely and cave in to my family and move home, but now I have someone to hang out with when I want to escape my job," Cairo said.

"Cave into your family? You mean they're still in Canada?" Howie asked, incredulously. She looked a little too young to be by herself.

"Yeah, they were completely against my move here. But I figured that the experience would be…well, an experience. I'm just sick of them thinking that they have to take care of me all the time. I want time to look after myself for a few months," Cairo said.

"Wow, that' s pretty mature," Kevin said, surprised.

"Well, I guess after the water fight, I don't exactly seem the most mature type. But Nick's a lot of fun, it's hard not to act like a kid around him all the time," Cairo explained.

"Yeah, you guys are a bunch of hell raisers. Wasn't it hard to leave your family and friends and stuff? I mean, we have enough trouble just going on tour, and we know we're going to be back home soon," Howie.

"It was, but that's the purpose. I'm a writer and it got to the point where I hadn't written anything in months. It was horrible. I made the decision because writing was so important to me; I was willing to sacrifice my little 'niche' of my family. I have people that are huge fans and constantly look forward to my new novels. I feel like a responsibility to them, you know? Don't you guys feel like that after you finish touring a CD? Like you have to put out a new one as soon as possible?" Cairo asked.

"Yeah, something like that. A lot like a feeling that if you're not out there soon enough they're going to forget about you," Howie said.

"It's almost like that, except that it takes so long to get a novel out on the shelves after it's even finished writing. Editing and publishing take about a year before it hits stores, so I have to be on the ball, otherwise I'm done, I'm forgotten," Cairo said, seriously. And unfortunately, every word was true.

"See, it doesn't take us that long to put out a new album, although we constantly are recording new stuff, all the time, and then after we have a whole bunch, then we go through them and decide what goes on and what becomes the B side," AJ said.

"Yeah. It seems like so much work while you're working on it, and then to see the finished product cut and sliced away, it's like an insult or a slap in the face. With my first novel, there was so much of it that was cut away that I barely recognized it when I got the published copy, it was…so maddening," Cairo explained, getting exasperated in her anger.

"Yeah, see, it's great to find someone that understands everything," Howie declared. Cairo smiled.

"I just wish that my family would understand. For instance, if you couldn't sing, how would you feel? Like you were blind or like someone had cut off your legs. You would feel…incomplete. That's how I feel when I can't write anything, it's really frustrating and I don't feel like a whole person. So, if you needed to do something to feel whole again that your family didn't approve of, would you still do it?" Cairo said.

"Yes. Without a second thought. Music is our lives, it's the reason we are who we are today, and I don't know what I would be and what my life would be like if we didn't have it. It would be whole, like you said," AJ agreed, relieved to find someone who felt as passionate about something like he did.

"So, I just gotta sit back and hope one day they understand. My sister is finally giving in. I think she's just annoyed that I got away from it all and she's stuck with two kids and a husband that works all day. But my parents and Brad…well, we haven't spoken much in the past month," Cairo said, looking down.

Howie, AJ and Kevin shot each other a look that shared the same thought. Brad? Poor Nick, this girl is attached! Cairo was lost in her thoughts so she was completely oblivious to their look.

* * * *

Cairo rolled over and snuggled her soft, cool pillow. It had been a wonderful day. At first, she felt ill at ease around the rest of the Backstreet boys, but after their conversation out on the deck, she felt like she had known them all their lives.

They had really hit it off. They spent the rest of the night just talking about anything and everything. She had never had such interesting conversations with guys (a room full of them, to boot!) before, and they had been at Nick's until really early in the morning, until the need for sleep became too urgent to ignore and they disbanded their party.

Even though it was still late, Cairo had decided to try Brad one more time. After four rings, voice mail picked up.

"Well, Brad, it seems that you are conveniently not here to catch my call. Its Cairo, sweetie. We haven't spoken in over a month and it's hell. I miss you and I love you with all my heart. Unless you talk to me, I can't keep playing this game. I guess this is my last attempt. If you get this, please call me as soon as you can, otherwise you won't be hearing from me again. I love you, baby," she said into the phone, trying to keep her voice shaking with unshed tears. She waved her hands in front of her face to try to dry the tears before they overflowed, and she paced around her house for a few minutes, trying to calm down.

Cairo looked at the clock. It was three in the morning. She had thought she would get up early and watch the sunrise before she settled in for hours of writing.

Well, you can kiss that thought good-bye, she thought. You'll be lucky if you see daylight before 2 tomorrow! She closed her eyes and was about to drift off when a sudden crash woke her with a start. She darted upright. She had heard the unmistakable sound of breaking glass. Her sliding glass door!

Turing on a light and grabbing her portable phone, Cairo quietly slipped out of her room and stood cautiously at the top of her stairs. She heard footsteps pacing around her living room. She gasped and walked back near her room and dialed Nick's number.

After six rings, she hung up the phone. Then suddenly it hit her. If Nick's not home, and then that's probably him, being a pain like he normally is. I wonder what he's up too! So she turned around, quelled her panic and walked down the stairs as if nothing was wrong.

"Hey Nick, next time, try the front door, that way you don't destroy my property!" she yelled around the corner. Then she caught a glimpse of shards of glass glinting in the moonlight, and widened her eyes in terror at the sight.
Her sliding door was completely destroyed. There was a crowbar lying in the middle of the floor, obviously what had been used to break the glass. Nick wouldn't do this; he wouldn't destroy my back door! He's not that desperate to get a laugh, she thought, panicking. Someone else was in her house!

Suddenly she felt someone grab her around the waist and place a hand over her mouth and her fear nearly overwhelmed her when she felt a cool, sharp object placed at her neck.

"Don't make a noise or I will kill you," a low, dangerous voice said. Cairo took a deep breath to steady herself and shook her head. The attacker released their grip on her mouth and she was able to speak.

"Who are you?" she said, carefully, trying not to sound like she was demanding an answer.

"That's not important. My question is who are you and why are you in this house?" the person said, pressing the knife closer to the delicate skin on Cairo's neck.

"I live here. I'm-I'm Cairo Williams. What do you want?" she said, shaking a little with uncontrollable fear.

"You don't live here. Quit lying! Remember who is holding the knife!" the person said. By this time, Cairo had guessed that it was female and whoever she was, she wasn't going to let Cairo go too easily.

"I do live here. I have envelopes, with my name on the address. Why else would people send me mail here?" Cairo pleaded, hoping that she would see reason.

"Really? SHIT! That means that I got the wrong house! How could I do this?" the woman yelled, flinging Cairo to the floor. Cairo gasped, relief taking the place of fear.

"Whose house were you looking for?" Cairo asked, between gasps.

"Nick Carter. Do you know where he lives? It's got to be around this area; I've been following him around for weeks, and he always ends up here," the woman explained. Cairo thought frantically about what to do. Should she sick this psycho on Nick, or should she lie and possibly dig herself in deeper?

"Nick Carter? Can't say that I have. Listen, if you want to take off, I promise I won't call the police or anything. I never saw you," Cairo said evenly. Just then the phone rang. The woman reached into her jacket and pulled out a gun.

"Don't make a move for that phone, or I will kill you," she threatened. Cairo looked longingly at the phone. After a dead silence that was repeatedly broken by the shrill ring of the phone, Cairo heard her message on her answering machine.

"Hello, and thanks for calling. You've reached Cairo Williams, and I guess I'm just not there to take your call. So just sit back and wait for awhile and if you're lucky, I'll call you back. To help me with this, you gotta leave your name and number, okay? Thanks," her message said. Cairo groaned inwardly at the really bad message and made a mental note to change it.

"Hey Kay, it's your favorite basketball opponent. Just wondering why you called a few minutes ago, I was asleep and you didn't leave a message. Just checking to make sure everything's all right. But now here's the important question. If you called five minutes ago, why aren't you answering now? Anyway, I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow. Oh wait, I have a promo to do, so I might not see you. Anyway, call me! Just in case you don't know who it is, it's Nick," Nick's familiar voice said. Cairo cursed her luck. The one time the guy decides to leave a message is the one time when it couldn't be worse for him to call. The woman walked over to the answering machine and looked down at the call display panel.

"Carter, Nick. So you don't know him, do you? Why did you lie to me?" the woman yelled. Cairo backed up against the wall, unable to move. The woman came over to her, swung out her arm and hit Cairo below her eye, with the butt of her gun. Cairo screamed and fell down.

"Now tell where he is!" the woman yelled, as she pulled back her foot, then kicked Cairo in the chest, causing Cairo's breath to be knocked out of her.