Howie and I kept in touch all through the tour, and so did Alicia. We were careful not to be talking to them or about them in front of Krystal, because she would start crying like hell when we did. I knew why Krys dumped AJ, but it was all unbelievable. I don’t think Krystal, who was always cautious about relationships, knew how much AJ loved her. After the tour, they came to our house to just say hi.
"HOWIE!" I rushed towards him as soon as they stepped into the house. I had finally convinced Krystal to stay and meet them. He swooped me up and into a passionate kiss. "I missed you so much, babe! Don’t you ever leave me again!"
Alicia was also tremendously happy about Brian. So much, in fact, that we forgot about Krystal who was looking down at the floor behind us. Nick was the first to approach her.
"Hi, Krys," we heard him say. I turned around, just in time to see Nick hug her in a friendly way. We heard her shudder a bit, and I think she needed that badly. Just a friendly hug from one of her good friends. I felt bad and tremendously guilty. We hadn’t done that in a long time. Then, Howie gently let go of his grasp and hugged her also.
Soon, every Backstreet Boy had hugged her except for AJ. He had his darkest sunglasses on, so we couldn’t see any emotion in those ambigous eyes of his. We all sat down, Krys next to Brian and Kevin, and we talked a bit about the tour.
"So, how were you guys?" asked Kevin.
"Pretty good, but I missed y’all so much!" Alicia replied, tightening her embrace on Brian.
"Same here," I said.
"What about you, Miss Krystal?" a dark, raspy voice asked surly. I was stunned. It was AJ. It seemed as though he was angry about the breakup. What bewildered us the most was that Krystal actually replied!
"Just fine, Alexander," she said coldly. Then, they both stood up saying, "I gotta go." They eyed each other evily and left in a huff.
When they left, we all stared at each other. I spoke up. "This is getting too much."
"I know. AJ’s been like this, rude and nasty, all through the tour. When I said something about Krys, he punched me," Kevin added, wincing as if he still remembered the pain.
Alicia sighed, "So was Krys. She would lock herself up in her room for days, until we finally coaxed her to come out and eat. Then, she’d lock herself up for a few more days. We have got to get this matter settled NOW."
"Wait!" We all turned to see Nick. "This is their problem, not ours. Besides, you know how pissed they get if we interferred. I think that the best thing we could do is just help a little and tuck the corners in, if y’all know what I mean."
We all stared at each other. After a while, Brian finally said, "Y’know, that little Frack may be right."
"But, WE are the ones who have to make the first step. Y’all know that Krystal and AJ are definitely NOT going to," I cried.
Kevin then spoke up. "How about they meet in a restaurant?" Ali and I exchanged glances.
"Umm… Kev? I don’t think you exactly know what we’re dealing with here. It took us about five days to finally convince Krystal to stay when you guys are coming. Unless…" Alicia got that little devil look on her face. "I can invite her to the restaurant for something. I don’t know what, and Howie, you can invite AJ to the restaurant for something, and we’ll both be a little late. We can reserve beforehand and make sure that the waitress gets tables that are close to each other. Maybe, God help us, they’ll start talking and we’ll have a romance again!"
"Y’know," Brian finally replied, "I think that my little girlie has something there."
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