Caught In The Middle by Melissa (Lissy4859@aol.com) and Marianne (Pnut1515@aol.com) Chapter 6 The next morning at Kevin's apartment, he was sleeping in until the sound of a ringing phone woke him up. "Hey, is Kevin there?" came a sweet voice over the other end. "This is him," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes, "and to whom would I be speaking to?" "It's me, Brittany!" she answered in a perky voice. "Oh hey! What's up?" He said, now pretty much awake. "Not much, Mel's gotta work later, and I'd hate to be cooped up in this place, wanna do something?" She asked. "Well, sure! I got a recording session in...20 minutes! Shit, I’m late! I can pick you up at, 1:30?" "Sure! I'm gonna be hanging with Nick around 6 though." "Oh," Said Kevin, let down. "But," exclaimed Brittany, sensing a depressing tone in his voice, "Brian is taking Melissa out for a nice dinner, then they are gonna take a dip in her pool, wanna join us?" "Alright ba-bay!" Kevin said, doing his best impression of Austin Powers. "See ya at 1:30 then!" He said enthusiastically. "It's a date!" she replied, hanging up. He smiled to himself, before stripping for a shower. ***on the other end of the phone*** Brittany hung up the phone slowly, glowing inside. She hadn't felt this way about a guy since her break-up with her 3-year boyfriend, Christian back in NYC. She was unusually attracted to guys like him, innocent, spunky, and creative, which are qualities she saw in Nick. But Kevin was different. He had all those qualities in him, beneath his shy, sexy exterior. He seemed to her, like a locked chest full of treasure. She knew in her heart that she was the key. But, for some reason, she was slightly attracted to Nick. "Brit!" Her new housemate interrupted her thoughts. "Yeah Mel?" Brittany said, responding. "Nick just called on the other line, looking for you, he wants you to call his cell. I gotta go, apparently Annie got in a little trouble last night, I'm worried. Page me if you need anything. Annie crashed at AJ's, so that's where I’m headed." ***At AJ's*** "GIVE ME A SIGN.....HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME....." Annie reached over to turn off the clock radio that just went off. She looked at the clock. "Shit! It's 11:00, I'm late for school!" She looked around and realized where she was, and remembering that AJ had said he would call in sick for her. She slowly got up, holding her head, and walked into the kitchen. She found a note on the table saying that AJ and Nick went to the recording studio, and would be back around 1:00 to check up on her. She grabbed the box of Frosted Flakes out of the cupboard. "Hmmmm.....I didn't know they named a cereal after Brittany!" She thought, reading the title. After saying that, it made her think of Brittany. What did Brittany have that Annie didn't have? What was it about Brittany, that Nick was so attracted to? Was it because she was tall, or because she was blonde, or was it the way she dressed? After moping through her bowl of Frosted flakes, she came to the conclusion that it must be a combination of all three. And Annie knew that she didn't have any of that. Her headache changed the subject quickly, the only things on her mind were Nick, Brett, and how she had fucked up the night before. ‘I shoulda just went home last night!' she thought, but knew nothing could change the past. She got a glass of orange juice, and downed the whole thing, then reached for the Advil bottle, her head was killing her! She found it and took two tablets right away. As she took the aspirin, she tried desperately to remember exactly what had happened last night. But she couldn't. Annie, didn't quite know what to do around AJ's apartment, so she sat down and watched TV. She found a really great movie on, so she watched that for awhile..once she was settled in, the buzzer rang. "Annie , its Melissa!" "Come on up!" she replied, buzzing her in. She hated the fact that Melissa was the one that started the whole Brittany thing, but was glad to have her best friend there to talk to. "Oh my god, never do that to me again" cried Melissa, running in to give Annie a huge hug. She had tears running down her face. Annie smiled, glad to know that her friend still cared. "I won't be doing that to me again, don't worry! I can't believe what AJ told me!" replied Annie "So, what actually happened?" Annie told Melissa he whole story, telling her how Brett got her drunk, then tried to have sex with her when she was smashed. "I just can't believe Nick didn't leave the club with me! We always help eachother out, he's my best friend, besides you. But something just came over him.." she said, finishing her story. "Don't you see it? Nick's in love! With Brit! Oh my god, that would be so cute! But so would Brit and Kev. Not many girls get to choose between Backstreet Boys! I knew it, I can always tell when someone's in love!!" said Melissa, excitedly. "Sure you can." said Annie to herself. Then came back to Melissa, and smiled. "Brittany is just little miss popular, isn't she? "she said, sarcastically. "Well, she deserves it, if I could only tell you what she's been through. I know what you think about her, but if my 2 best friends can't get along, I'll die! Why don't you come over tonight and go swimming with us! Brian is coming, it'll be fun!!!" Annie smiled. Then remembered something. "Sorry, I can't, I have school tomorrow, and I already blew off today. Maybe some other time?" "Anytime, shorty!" said Melissa, giving her friend a playful squeeze on her arm. They chatted for awhile, before Melissa had to leave to go to work. Annie decided to get dressed, and call her mom, to tell her everything was OK. Her mom would understand, after the hell Elizabeth has put her through, Annie seemed angelic. After she was done, she decided to get up. It was getting to be around 1:00 and she was still wearing the clothes from last night and she wreaked of alcohol, so she decided to take a shower. Annie went into AJ's room and grabbed a pair of boxers and a t-shirt to put on until she went home. Then she went into the bathroom, turned on the shower, stripped, and jumped in. *****at the studio****** The guys were almost through recording one of their new songs for the next album. "There you are, wild and free, reaching out like you needed me. A helping hand, to make it right, I am holding you all through the night, I'll be the one, I'll be the one, who will make all your sorrows undone. I'll be the light. When you feel like there's no where to run, I'll be the one." They sung, perfect after the 15th time. "And cut! That’s it for now, guys, take a lunch break, then we got an hour to go!" said Lou Pearlman, their Transcon producer, and manager. He always came with them to record. The guys decided to go to the subway in the foodcourt of the building, got their food, and sat down. "So, AJ, heard you were Superman last night!" brought up Brian. AJ sighed. "Come on, any of you would've done the same, I hope. I know that she would've helped me out." They all agreed. "Annie's a special person, you’re right, I can see her doing anything for any of us!" agreed Howie. "Is she OK?" "Yeah, I called her school this morning to bail her out. Nick took care of her last night. It was so sweet!" said AJ, in a playful voice "AAWWWWW" teased Kevin and Brian. Nick turned red, trying not to laugh. "Come on, guys, me and Anne Marie Kenyan ... it wouldn't work....we're to good of friends...no." He defended himself. All was silent for awhile, before Nick spoke up again. "Sure, she's sensible, smart, naive and experienced at once, and has my sense of humor, and...."he trailed off. "Pretty?" piped Howie. "Huh?" questioned Nick. "And she's pretty." "Are you kidding? She's gorgeous, not in the same way as Melissa , or --" "Brittany" finished Kevin. "Yeah, Brittany" The other guys didn't want to get it all tense, so they changed the subject, and finished eating. When they were done, they went back and rehearsed for awhile, then went their separate ways. Nick rode back with AJ to check on Annie. "Nick, will you turn that crap off, you know I cannot stand that loud noise you call music!" AJ said, referring to the radio station they were listening to in the car. "Fine, change the channel then. I don't care." Nick said pouting. They were about 5 minutes away from AJ's apartment. "So, Nicky my boy, you like this Brittany chick, huh??" AJ inquired, being a little nosy. "Yeah, I do," Nick answered, starting to blush, "She's such a great person, and she is so beautiful!" "That's cool, are you two going to get together tonight?" "Yeah, hopefully, I told Mel to have her call my cell, but she hasn't yet." "I'm sure she will man, what woman can resist our little Nicky!!!" AJ said, embarrassing Nick. But Nick was pre-occupied for some reason. "Hey AJ, what do you think about Annie?" he asked. AJ turned down the radio. "Well, the whole time we were on tour, you kept wondering what Annie was up to, if her sis was driving her nuts, if she won her basketball game, and stuff. I think, deep down, you know what you think about her, too." Nick wasn't the type of guy to deal with his feelings, so he turned his thoughts to Brittany. "AJ, can I use your cell, I think I’ll call Brittany now." "Sure, bro" He called up Melissa's to see if Brit was there. Melissa picked up. Brittany wasn't there, but would call him back as soon as she got home. Melissa also invited Nick to come hang w/her, Brian, and Brittany later that night at her house. They talked for a sec, then hung up. They turned down the street that AJ's apartment is on, and they parked in front of the apartment. "Oh my god AJ, I gotta pee soooooooooo bad! Please let me in quick! I'm gonna burst!!!!!" Nick was complaining, as AJ was taking out the garbage and cleaning up in his car. "You can hold it for a few min Nick, I have to finish cleaning up!" "Fine!" Nick said jumping up and down, trying to contain himself. ***Inside the Appartment*** Annie was still in the shower. She was just sitting in the shower, thinking about what had happened the night before. She had remembered saying something to Nick, but she couldn't remember what. It was really beginning to bother her. ***back outside*** "C'mon AJ, I can't hold it anymore!!!!" Nick said, still jumping up and down. Just then Melissa's car pulled up. She stepped out of the car. "Hey guys! What's up? I just came here to see Annie, where is she?" Melissa said. "She's inside, probably still sleeping." AJ said. Then he got his keys out and let poor Nick in to go to the bathroom and letting Melissa in. Nick ran to the bathroom faster than light!!!!! He was just about the open the door, not knowing someone was in the bathroom. Annie was just stepping out of the shower. Nick opened the door. His mouth dropped! He quickly reacted by covering his eyes. "NICK, WHAT ARE YOU DOING???" Annie screamed. "Oh my god I am soo sorry Annie!" Nick apologized and turned around and shut the door. He could not believe what he just saw, his best friend bare naked. Next: Chapter 7 -FanFics -Home