Pulling into the driveway of her parent's house, Alesha sighed. It had been about 3 years since she had been home, and she wasn't all that thrilled to be here despite the circumstances. It's not that she didn't love her family, there was just too much past for her to handle. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the neck rest of her car.
"You okay babygirl?" Nick asked sleepily. He had awoken when the car stopped moving.
"Yeah, I -"
"LITA!!!!!!" someone yelled as her door was swung open.
Alesha laughed. "Hey James," she smiled as her little brother hugged her. "That's just wrong," Alesha mumbled climbing out of the car.
"What?" James asked.
"You. You aren't even 17 yet, and you're a giant," she laughed. Nick got out of the car, walked over and stood by Alesha.
"Nick, this is my little brother James. Well, he's not so little anymore," she smiled realizing that James was about an inch shorter than Nick. "James Glenn, this is Nick." She leaned closer to James and whispered. "He's a Backstreet Boy."
James groaned. "Don't even start, yo." He looked at Nick and smirked. "An there's NO WAY he could be one of THOSE."
Nick looked from James to Alesha in confusion. "One of what?"
Alesha laughed. "He doesn't believe that you're a Backstreet Boy."
"Oh," Nick grinned. "Why wouldn't he?"
James shook his head. "Because how could something like HER," he pointed at Alesha, "hook up wit someone famous, even if it is a Backdoor Boy."
Nick laughed. "He's DEFINITELY your brother," he said draping his arm across Alesha's shoulders. "So, you don't like the Backstreet Boys?"
James made a face, which caused Nick to almost fall over laughing. James looked at Alesha, they both shrugged and he said, "Teenybopper, bubblegum crap."
Nick grinned. "Hmm…and what do you listen to?"
James shrugged. "Everything," he grinned.
Alesha laughed. "Ignore him, he's just a pain in the butt."
"Why, hello there," a thin girl with a dark complexion and short, dyed black hair said walking up. "Who might you be?" She eyed Nick intently while giving Alesha a quick hug.
"Amy, this is Nick. Nick, this is my little sister Amy," Alesha murmured watching Amy hug Nick a little too closely.
"Where on earth did you find this one, sis?" Amy asked smiling flirtatiously up at Nick.
Nick shifted his weight from one foot to the other, uncomfortable under her stare. "Mom's waiting inside," James said noting Nick's unease.
"Yeah, and so's that brat Taelen," Amy pouted.
James rolled his eyes. "He's only a brat to you because he doesn't like you."
Amy shrugged. Hooking her arm through Nick's she started babbling away as they walked in the house. "Tell me again why I have to put up with her?" Alesha grumbled looking at James.
"Because she's YOUR sister," James grinned.
"No. She's YOUR sister. I just put up with her because ya'll are related," Alesha laughed as they walked inside.
"Who's the guy your sister is dragging around?" Alesha's mom asked as they walked in the door.
"Hello to you, too," Alesha mumbled shaking her head. Giving her mother a hug, she said, "His name -"
"Ohmigawd!! That is NICK CARTER!!!" Amy exclaimed running in the room.
Giving her sister a look, Alesha turned back to her mother. "As loud butt just rudely proclaimed his name is Nick Carter -"
"And he's a member of the Backstreet Boys," Amy interrupted again.
"Backstreet Boys?" James repeated. "Ya mean, he really is?" He blinked in shock. "What the crap, yo?"
"Backstreet Boys?" Alesha's mom asked.
"They're a music group," Amy explained.
"A music group? Alesha Dawn. What are you THINKING?"
Rolling her eyes and glaring at Amy, Alesha sighed. "Just because Bride of Satan over there happened to figure out who he is, doesn't mean she listens to them. That in itself should tell you something. Here," Alesha said going over to one of her bags and pulling out a CD. She put it in the player switching it to track #12.
"I don't want to listen to that devil music," her mom said shaking her head.
James laughed. "Devil music? Hehe. It's not DEVIL music mom. Annoying, girly music maybe, but not DEVIL music."
"Trust me, it's nothing like the death metal garbage that Amy listens to," Alesha said. She grinned in satisfaction as Amy cringed when Brian's voice drifted from the speakers singing "The Perfect Fan".
Nick, who'd been standing in the doorway, blushed when Alesha's mom came over and hugged him. "I'm Donna. You can call me mom, though." She turned back to Alesha. "Taelen's taking a nap in my room. Are ya'll staying the night?"
Alesha shook her head. "I have to get Nick up to St. Louis. He has a show tomorrow night."
"Man," James complained. "I wanted to play some video games, Lita."
"Stop calling her that. You aren't five years old anymore," Amy snapped at him. Nick had slipped his arm around Alesha's waist which invoked a dirty look from Amy.
"What's it matter to you?" Alesha asked. "It's my name."
"What system do you have?" Nick asked looking at James.
"All three Nintendos," he answered giving Nick a strange look.
Alesha laughed. "Don't worry James, he's not gonna break out dancing or anything."
"What games do you have?" Nick asked as James took him to his room.
"He is so FINE, Lesh," Amy sighed dreamily.
"Yeah, so," Alesha shrugged sitting in her dad's big chair, grabbing the remote and flipping through the channels of the TV.
"So. You don't even realize who you're dating do you? Do you realize how much money that guy has to have? Have you seen his house? What kind of car does he drive? Have you met the other guys?" Amy asked.
"What?" Alesha said looking over at her. "You didn't even care who the Backstreet Boys were until you met Nick. I know who he is. I know who I am. I know what our relationship is. And unlike most of the girls that he comes in contact with, I can differentiate between them all."
"What's that suppose to mean?"
"That you are just like the other 98 percent of the girls in the world. They look at him as an object. Not as a person. God, sometimes I can't believe that we're even related," Alesha grumbled tossing the remote down in disgust and walking into the kitchen.
"So, how did you meet him?" her mom asked as she sat down at the table.
"He needed a battery for his game system. Then I talked to him online some," Alesha shrugged.
"Hmm. Do you love him?"
Looking at her mom, she nodded. "Yes."
Her mom nodded. "How is work by the way?" Alesha smiled and told her mom about her new job as web page editor. She also told her about moving into Nick's house. "And how does he feel about having Tae stay with you?"
Alesha smiled. "He wouldn't let me stay anywhere else," her smile slowly faded. "Especially when he found out about Chad."
She chatted with her mom for awhile, telling her about her life in Florida, her meeting Nick and Lori and Kevin. They were interrupted a couple hours later by Amy shouting, "Dammit Taelen. Go away," from the front room.
Alesha grinned and walked in there. "LITA!!!" Taelen shouted when he seen her.
"Tae baby. How are you?" she asked wrapping her arms around him. She laughed when she seen him stick his tongue out at Amy. "Stop," she whispered, grinning.
"Mama's sick," he said.
"I know darlin. I'm gonna take you to Florida with me."
"Cool," he said.
"You all packed and stuff?"
"Yuppers," he grinned.
Alesha smiled and shook her head. Walking back in the kitchen she sighed. "I guess we should be going. I want to stop at the hospital before we head out." Nick had emerged from the depths of James's room, James following close behind. "Well, if it isn't the game freaks," Alesha teased.
"Who's THAT?" Taelen asked looking at Nick.
"That is Nick. He's going to be coming with us."
"Oh." Taelen looked at him, his blue eyes wide.
"Hey there," Nick smiled down at him.
"Hello," Taelen whispered. "You like video games?"
Nick nodded. "I have lots of games at my house."
Taelen smiled. "Really? Do you have all the Mario games?"
Nick nodded. "I LOVE Mario. Maybe we can play sometime." He looked over at Alesha and pointed at James. "He beat me," Nick complained.
Alesha laughed. "Oh, we'll just have to call the police and have him arrested then."
James grinned. "Hey Lesh, can I come stay with you this summer? Nick said that he has a basketball court and stuff that we'd go play at."
Raising a brow, she looked at her little brother. "This coming from someone who HATES Backstreet Boys?"
James shrugged. "He's not so bad."
Alesha laughed. "We'll see what happens."
After about thirty minutes of goodbyes, they left, heading towards the medical center where Bethany was at. Nothing her mother had told her about the accident could have prepared her for the vegetable that was her cousin. Leaving the hospital, Alesha knew it was probably the last time she'd ever see Bethany. She was in too much of an emotional wreck to drive, so she gave the keys to Nick, who held her hand tightly as they headed off to St. Louis.
