The guys had just spent a grueling hour in front of the reporters telling them all they wanted to know about their next musical endeavor; the projected release date, the type of songs on the album, the new tour, etc. They also touched on the subject of solo projects; solo tours and albums, solo producing and writing, and acting. It was time for the reporters to dive into the guys' personal lives. The first question of course was directed to AJ about his news on fatherhood and how he thought it was going to affect the band's future.
"I'm sure there will be a lot of fans out there that are disappointed and will probably shun us. I'm sorry that they feel that way. I'm happy. I love the idea of being a dad. As you all know, mine wasn't there for me. I will get the chance to do all the things that were never done for me, and perhaps in doing so I might be able to understand where my dad's thoughts and ideas of fatherhood came from," he shrugged.
He was then asked if he had plans on marrying the girl, they assumed it was the infamous Lori. AJ chuckled. "Yeah. It's Lori," he grinned. "And as far as marriage goes, that is up to her. She's the one that would have to put up with me. Of course I wanna marry her. She just hasn't answered me yet," he winked at her. "What's that?" he asked cupping his ear in her direction. Lori's face was red as she hid it on Leighanne's shoulder. "Yes you say?" he grinned. "Yup, we're going to be married, then." He nodded. The room was filled with chuckles at AJ's antics.
Then it was Howie's turn. Being that Rebecca was a relatively new addition to the "Backstreet Family" there wasn't a lot of media coverage on her. She was considered to be the "photo elusive" one. And those in the room were ready for Howie to talk about her.
"Well, her name is Rebecca and she's from Orlando. Umm…Alesha actually introduced us. And as I'm sure you all know we're engaged and stuff," he grinned.
This of course brought on the questions of how long he'd known her, the details of their meeting, and of course when the wedding was going to be, who was going to be there. Howie indulged most of their curiosity, skirting around stuff that he knew would bring controversy. Being that the date to the wedding hadn't been set yet, he was unable to answer their questions but promised to keep them informed. You could tell the guys had been groomed for the media and had lots of practice in handling them.
Someone brought up the subject of Nick and Alesha, causing the guys to look from one to another wondering who was going to answer the questions. Being that he was the best friend of the absent Nick, Brian was nominated by silent vote.
"Umm…well, he's…on…he's taking a private vacation," he said his eyes darting wildly from Leighanne to the reporters and back. "Umm…he's kind of taking a break from everything to deal with stuff. It was kind of a difficult break-up. They're still friends and all, but they need time apart before being thrown back together with work and all."
There was a couple of more questions from the media about it, and Brian answered them as smoothly and truthfully as he could. Just as they were about to wrap up, Terrance handed a phone to Brian who looked at it in confusion. Howie took over answering questions about Alesha, as Brian talked to the person on the phone. Suddenly, Brian's face broke out in a large grin, and he motioned for Terrance to turn on the speaker phone. "Okay," he said.
"Hey, ya'll. This is Nick. Sorry I couldn't be there today. I had to take care of some stuff," Nick's voice came through the speakers, crackling slightly. A murmur spread throughout the room as the reporters looked from one to the other with questions they knew weren't going to be answered any time soon. "To answer ya'll's questions, I'm currently in Scotland. I'm actually standing in the airport," he chuckled. Lori looked over at Leighanne and then up at the table where the guys were sitting. Everyone was confused as to why he'd be in Scotland, unless it was to prevent Alesha from meeting DarkStar. "And for ya'll's information, Alesha and I are back together. Happy and all that sappiness that you'd expect from us. Don't go falling out of your seat. That dark star that she was chasing after finally fell," he said softly. The reporters in the room all looked confused at that statement, but everyone in the Backstreet Party was smiling at each other knowing things were okay between their friends. "But anyway, I have to cut this short. I just wanted to make my 'appearance' and say that all is well. So bye ya'll," he said and hung up.
"I guess that answers the question of Alesha and Nick," AJ grinned.
Walking into the back room, Brian dialed Nick's number only to receive his voicemail box again. "Grrr. Answer your phone dammit. I want to know what is going on."
"What's going on my dear cousin, is Nicky got smart. He actually did something that no one would have expected of him," Kevin said as he sat down.
"What do you mean?" Brian asked looking at him in confusion.
"Nick was DarkStar," Lori pointed out. "Alesha thought he was at first, but that boy pulled it off so that even she who knew so much about him, didn't think it was him."
"Wait a second. You're saying that Nick was the one chatting with her, emailing her, and causing her to get over him?" AJ asked.
Leighanne started laughing. "How ingenious of him," she said.
"Wow. I'm quite impressed," Howie said nodding. "Didn't think he had it in him."
"Wait a second!!" Brian said shaking his head. "He was always so mad when we brought up the topic of DarkStar. He always looked desperate that she'd fall in love with the net guy and he'd lose her forever."
"Maybe it was an act," Carrie grinned. "He's a pretty decent actor," she said.
Rebecca shrugged. "Maybe he was afraid that the only way she'd ever be able to love him WAS on the computer. Remember he use to whine that she'd never be able to forgive him. Perhaps he was afraid that if she fell for him online and then met him in real life, she'd run away."
"Yeah, but…he was upset. He'd get MAD. And then when DarkStar was suppose to meet her at the mall, Nick decided…to…show…" Brian said slowly. Looking up at the group he started laughing. "That weasel," he grinned. "He had us ALL going," he said shaking his head.
"So tell me," Alesha said, snuggling up to Nick as they lay on the bed wrapped in each other's arms. "Why go through all the trouble of pretending to be someone else?"
"I wasn't pretending to be someone else. I was just trying to find out if you were still capable of loving me," he whispered kissing the top of her head. They had gone back to the hotel to talk, laying in each other's arms like they use to.
"But I didn't know it was you I was loving," she said, moving her head so she could look at him.
"Sure you did. Everything in you was saying it was me, wasn't it?" he asked looking deep in her eyes.
Looking away she thought about all their conversations. All the things that he'd said, all the feelings he'd given her. Smiling, she knew he was right. Even the name itself held meaning for them. "DarkStar," she whispered.
"What about it?" he asked resting his cheek on her hair.
"It was gone. You seen it come back that night, didn't you?" she asked.
He nodded. "You were sitting out on the beach, watching as well. I seen you. Breaking those bottles. Then you sat down. I wanted so much to know what you were thinking."
"Of you. As always," she smiled.
"What was it that you threw into the ocean? You watched it fall as if you were throwing away a part of you that you'd kept hidden for so long. As it sunk into the depths of the water, it was as if you changed. You lost a bit of the mysterious darkness that surrounded you."
"You noticed all that from your spot on the deck?" she asked softly. He nodded, squeezing her to him. "It was a kit," she said.
"A kit? For what?" he asked confused.
Alesha sighed and pulled away from him slowly. Sitting up, facing him, her legs crossed Indian style, she played with the buttons on his shirt as she talked. "That day, AJ had come to visit me. It had been a couple of months since…since that day Chad had shown up. I had been drinking excessively. There wasn't a moment that I can remember that I didn't have a glass of SOMETHING in my hand. Mostly Tequila," she shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. "Poor Taelen. He had no idea what was going on. I'd lock myself in my room for hours, drinking, writing, whatever. Anyway, that day, AJ came over and basically told me I was wasting away to nothing and that if I continued down the path I was going I was going to lose you forever. At the time he said it, it didn't affect me any. I was too drunk, too hurt," she said softly. "He took Taelen home with him, leaving me alone. Not that it mattered. The world I'd shut myself in kept me that way all the time. Walking into the front room, I picked up my keys and my wallet and drove to the other side of Tampa." Alesha could feel Nick tense under her hand as she mentioned that awful part of town that people only visited for reasons not usually spoken of in normal conversations. She looked up at him to find his eyes closed, a pained expression on his face. Closing her eyes, the tears sliding down, she continued. "I really don't remember much about what I was doing. It was so automatic. Kind of like a robot working. I do know that I spent about two or three hundred dollars on the best heroine you can find. I drove back to the house, locking the door as I went in. I found the kit I had been given years and years ago by Chad. Why I still had it, I'll never know. Probably a reminder of the scum that I had been. Anyway. Like a zombie, I prepared the heroine sucking it up in the syringe. I had the needle at my arm, hoping that once again it would deliver me from all the pain and the hurt and the heartache I was going through. Just before I stuck it in, the radio played a song that although the words didn't say it, it made me wake up and realize exactly what I was doing. That was when I grabbed up all the stuff, the liquor, the drugs…everything and drug them outside. What I threw into the ocean was the last of my link to the so-called escape that I had used in the past. The darkness you seen leave me, was the weakness that I'd carried with me and had been hiding in. I realized that there was no running from this problem. That by running from it, I'd perhaps lose the only real thing I had in my life. My love for you. And that was when I looked up in the sky and seen the star. Faint, but it was there. Showing me that it might take some time. It may not be right away, but one day I'd be with you again," she said softly. Looking back up at him, her eyes met his. She was surprised by the amount of love and affection she seen in his eyes. The tears sliding down his face echoed the feelings she could tell were raging inside him.
"I am so sorry babygirl," he whispered pulling her back into his arms. "I'm sorry for pushing you away and hurting you. I'm sorry for making you fall back on all that you'd been so strong walking away from. I love you," he said softly. He was silent for a moment, relishing the feel of her in his arms. "Do you know that Chad came back to see me, not too long after…you…moved out?" he said slowly.
Alesha looked up at him. "What?"
Nick nodded. "He wanted to know where you had gone. Threatened me and stuff. Being that he never found you, I think he took me serious when I said that if he said or did anything to you, I'd do something awful to him."
Alesha felt the hate for Chad radiating off from Nick. "Oh baby. I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Why are you sorry? He didn't come back did he?"
"No. But I'm sorry that you had to deal with him. I'm sorry for ever getting involved with him," she said.
"Are you? You wouldn't have Taelen if you didn't."
"True," she said smiling softly.
"Leshangel, I…umm…I have something to ask you," he said softly. "About Taelen."
"Okay," she said looking up at him confused.
"Could I…I mean…would you mind if…if I adopted him? I know I'm only like 20 and stuff, but I know that I love him and I want to be a dad to him. But only if you would let me," Nick said, his eyes begging her to say yes.
"But Nick. To adopt my son, that means that we have to be married. And well…we aren't," she said.
A smile slowly formed on his lips. "I know," he said as if he was up to something. "That's kind of what I'm asking," he whispered, kissing her on the neck.
Alesha laughed. "Ya know. You have the strangest ways of doing things."
"Is that a yes?" he grinned up at her.
Shaking her head, she watched as his smile faded, thinking she'd rejected him. "You're a riot. Of course it's a yes, silly man," she said kissing him softly.
