Ten months ago…

A frantic knock at the door had him sitting bolt upright. Dazed by the effects of sleep and the intensity of hi dream, he tried to remember where he was. A quick look at the décor brought back his location. Only hotels could be so tastelessly coordinated.

As the knocking continued, he stumbled out of bed in a hurry, paused for a quick appearance check, a second-nature reflex due to the number of fan-related visits he had received, and continued to hurry to the door when the knocker called out, causing him to slow down.

"Rise and shine, Florida Boy!" the unmistakable voice hollered. He then sauntered over to the door slowly, and opened it with reluctance. Her smiling face and obvious perkiness annoyed him, and roused his sleepiness.

"I think you enjoyed that way too much," he grumbled. Cairo pouted.

"Aren't you glad to see me? I flew all this way when I could have just gone home-"

"Cairo, honey, get your ass in here so I can attack you with my morning breath," he ordered, as her pout dissolved into a smile as he pulled her inside closing the door behind her. He caught her in his arms, relishing her presence after a three-week absence, and kissed her.

After the greeting had been carried out, Cairo pulled away from him, and looked thoughtful, until she asked, "Breath mint?"

Groaning, Nick turned away, and dived towards hi bed. His temperament did not appreciate criticism after being woken at an outrageously early hour.

"Wait until I tell you AJ gave me the key and I chose to torture you instead of using it," she called to him. Rolling onto his stomach, he groaned again. She looked at him lying on the bed, faced squished into the pillow, and had an urge to wrestle him. Never one to deny her urges, she took a running leap and landed beside him with a flop. She attacked him, tickling him until he gave in, rolled over and fought back, grinning.

Cairo rested her head on his chest and sighed.

"Have a good flight, baby?" he asked as he hand wandered to the swish of her soft hair spread over his chest.

"Suppose so. Glad the tour's over. Two tours at the same time sucks," she said, thinking of the hellish 3 week book promotional tour she had just finished.

"Mm-hmm," Nick sighed contentedly, drifting to sleep.

"Wake up! NO falling asleep when seeing Cairo for the first time in a very long three weeks," Cairo ordered, her own eyes growing heavy with the rhythmic movements of Nick's breathing.

"Kay," he answered.

"Kay as is 'okay' or Kay as in that abominable nickname?" she asked, then sighed in frustration. He was already asleep. Might as well take advantage of this while I can, she thought. Easing carefully off the bed, she soundlessly set out the souvenir she had found for him, then collapsed back into the bed. Snuggling up to his warm body, Cairo gave into her jet lag.

An hour after she had fallen asleep, Nick woke suddenly, realising she was with him again. After enjoying the feel of her body against his for a few moments, he decided to take advantage of her sleeping state to arrange the welcome back gift that he'd been planning since she had left.

* * * *

"Where's your better half?" Brian asked later in the day, as Nick arrived late for the interview scheduled the day before. Nick just grumbled at his friend, avoiding saying anything. Then Brian noticed the hat.

"Don't tell me the two of you are at it again! What she'd get you with this time?" Brian asked. Nick glared at him, then pulled off the hat to reveal bright pink hair.

"That girl get more inventive with each passing hair colour, I swear. And you thought the green hair was bad. This has to be the worse," Brian laughed as Nick grudgingly shoved his hat back on.

"I didn't even notice what she'd done until after I switched her toothpaste," Nick said.

"So I guess that's why her mouth is blue," Kevin joined the conversation. Nick turned around, to where an unsmiling Cairo was standing. Pointing to the hat, she raised an eyebrow. He exposed his day-glow hair for her scrutiny.

"Let's see those pearly whites," he called. She smiled, her mouth dyed blue. She strode towards him, and he backed away, knowing he was going to get it. Just in time to save his skin, the interview coordinator tapped him on the shoulder and instructed Nick to follow him. Nick shrugged in Cairo's direction, and followed him out with the rest of the guys into the studio. Cairo glared at him, then remembered her stained, and clamped her mouth shut.

* * * *

"And now we're going to an audience question," the host said.

"Hi, my name is Carla from Orlando and my question is for Nick. Why do you keep wearing hats? I reeeeaaaalllllyyyy love your hair and you keep hiding it under those hats!" the girl, about 9 years old asked. Cairo, watching on a television behind the scenes, as she watched Nick turn a bright shade of red.

"Well…Someone decided to mess around with my shampoo…and well, she dyed my hair an interesting colour," he said.

"Can I see it?" the girl asked. Without giving Nick a chance to refuse, AJ pulled the hat off his head and a few gasps and a lot of laughter was heard.

"Man, I love Carrie's sense of humour," Brian chuckled.

"She was just mad because I switched her toothpaste and dyed her mouth blue," Nick explained to the audience, still laughing at his expense.

* * * *

"Kay? Where are you?" Nick called.

"Saw her take off, like three seconds ago," someone answered his call.

"That girl is insane," Nick muttered to himself. Despite the fact that he did try to downplay their relationship in the media, she was often the victim of harassment wherever she went. Both of them being recognisable people, it was hard for them to be together in public, and even worse for her to be around during appearances by the Boys where over-zealous fans would be hanging around.

"Any girl that would play with hair that good is definitely insane," Megan, the tour coordinator said.

"No kidding. I just hope this stuff's not permanent," Nick sighed.

"I think she said that she had to go back to the hotel for something," Megan offered. Nick thanked her and pulled out his cell phone and dialed her cellular number.

"Hello, MacDonalds, and no, we don't have any damn Beanie Babies left," Cairo's voice said.

"Kay, behave."

"You never let me have any fun. Hello honey. You done your interview?"

"Yup. Why'd you disappear?"

"Bad news. But it can wait 'til I see you in person."

"What kind of bad news?"

"Did you not just hear me say that it could wait?"

"Whoa, attitude."

"Nick, I get the fact that your career makes it hard to have a girl friend, but do you have to constantly use the god awful term 'someone' when you're speaking about me? Words cannot describe how much I hate that."

"Baby, I don't like the way they harass you. They don't need more fuel for their fire."

"Right. Anyway sweetie, I'll see you later, okay?"

"Sure."