"Oh nothing," he lied.

"No just tell me," I begged.

"No, it'sokay, I'll just tell you later," he said obviously disappointed at something.

"Okay then," I said accepting his wishes. I followed him towards the entrance in silence. Whatever he said it must have been important, to him at least,cause he seemed very disappointed. We met up with the boys, they were already on the bus kicking back on the comfy sofas. Eric went up to start up the bus and

Nancy asked me in a motherly tone of voice, "And where were you younglady?"

"With Eric mother, I'm surprised anybody noticed. All y'all seemed too preoccupied with your singing when we left you guys," I replied sarcastically.

"Where you guys wanna eat?" Eric asked yelling from thefront of the bus.

"There's a Denny's right before we get onto the freeway, if you guys wanna eat there," Nancy suggested, we all agreed.

Brian yelled to the front of the bus, "Denny's!!"

I tried not to get comfortable since our stop was only a minute away. We entered the restaurant in a crowd.

"Do you have a booth for..." Brian paused to turn around and count the people he was with."11?" he finished asking the matre'd.

"No but we do have two available booths that seat 6 each, they're right next to each other, if you don't mind," he answered waiting for a reply. We all nodded in agreement and followed him to our seats. It was Eric, Nick, Nancy, Jeff (one of the bodyguards), Brian and I in one booth while Howie, AJ, Kevin, Alex and Mike (the other two bodyguards).

I naturally sat next to Eric, he still seemed a littletense from earlier. I caught him staring off into space when I asked in a low voice so nobody could pick up on our conversation, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah"

"Are you sure? Cause you seem to have a lot on your mind"

"Just thinking"

"About what?"

"Its a who"

"Oh then about who?"

"None of your business"

"Do I know this person?"

"Do you really know anybody? I mean you can say you know somebody when you barely know them at all"

"True, true. Sometimes people just hide themselves forgetting their trueself everyday that they hide"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, people can judge you by the way you act every day and still not know who you are because you've built this mask that covers up the real person you are"

"But sometimes you have a good reason to build that mask. You can really be depressed inside, and it sometimes seems worse to put the people you care about through the worry of you being so sad that you act happy. When you're really burning inside with loneliness"

"But hiding your true self from people makes you even more alone than you really feel"

"I guess"

"The very people you're hiding yourself from are the people who can help you to deal with your loneliness"

"Yeah I know. Your friends. Then you realize that sometimes the mask gets too thick and you end up not knowing yourself anymore and the person inside slowly fades away"

I remained silent for a while just taking in all that he and I just said. In a way I felt like we were talking about me, yet there was a little bit of him he was talking about. I couldn't hide myself from him any longer, the mask that I built was torn down by the truth of his words and the sound of his voice. I could tell that he understood everything that I was going through, the loneliness and the emptiness. I took a sip at my pink lemonade and said staring out the window, "I just love watching the sun set, wondering what colors will appear. Then see the speck of light fades into one color ... midnight blue."

He turned around to look out the window and said, "Very poetic"

"Thank you," I replied. "Happiness is a sad song," I mumbled under my breath.

"What?" he asked. "Oh nothing, only I understand what I mean," I responded.

"What do you mean?"

"Just that I'm the only person that understands anything that I say,since I am the person who said it. And it would be a waste of time trying to explain to anybody what I mean"

"Unless that person knows what you're going through"

"How can anybody know what I'm going through?"

"Because that person might be going through the same thing"

By then Eric and I were in our own world, we didn't even notice the people around us. We just talked in low tones of voice so nobody could hear us.

"How do you know if someone is going through the same thing you are?" Iasked.

"You talk to that person and see how they feel, learn to take things through their perspective. Slowly you'll realize that their perspective is yours, and you'll know that they're going through the same thing" "What are you feeling?"

"That everything I've ever hoped for could be found in this person thatI've been thinking about. What about you?"

"Same here," I replied shyly.

Once again there was that uncomfortable silence.

"Happiness is a sad song," I sighed.

NANCY SHALL TAKEOVER NOW...

"What's up with Cindy and Eric? They've been talking in a whisper all evening," Nick casually broke into the conversation I was having with Brian. Thank God he did since all Brian was talking to me about was Cindy. Why?I have no clue, actually I might have a clue but I shouldn't say. "Beats me, so Nick where did your parents move to in LA?" I asked shutting out Brian.

"Umm... I'm going to visit them tomorrow morning before our plane leavesfor New York. Did you wanna meet them?" Nick asked politely.

"No, its okay,I just had to change the subject before Brian begins to talk about Cindy again," I said rather loudly making sure at least the whole table could hear.Brian kicked my leg, Cindy didn't even pop her head out of her possibly interesting conversation she was having with Eric.

An hour later the waitress came by with the bill, Brian took care of it with his ever so valuable credit card.Everybody scooted out of the booth except for Cindy and Eric.

"Damn, will somebody please snap them out of it?" Nick pleaded.

Without a word I grabbed the pitcher of ice cold water that was left on our table and splashed it onthe two (possible) lovebirds. Cindy slowly turned her head towards me giving one of those 'if looks could kill' looks. She and Eric slowly crept out ofthe already empty booth. Eric didn't seem too bothered by my actions, but Cindy just stormed by me intentionally bumping into my shoulder.

"Sorry!!" Iyelled to her apologetically obviously too late.

"Why'd you do that?" AJ asked me as we slowly made our way towards the bus.

"Nick told me to," I blamed Nick, running away from Nick for I knew he was about to chase me.

"And if Nick told you to jump off a bridge would you?!?!" AJ yelled at me. I didn't answer,but Brian did, "Yeah, she'd do any thing for the one she loves!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Hey I heard that!!" I yelled as I ran by them while Nick caught up to me.Grabbing me by the waist he carried me to the nearest trash can.

"OH YOU BETTER NOT!!!" I yelled as he attempted to throw me over the edge of the can."LET GO OF MEEEEEEEE!!!" I pleaded.

"If you say so, " he replied putting meinto the trash can, thank God it was only one of those tin can ones and not one of those big ass trash cans you find in the back of an alley.

"YOU LITTLE BASTARD!!!" I yelled getting out of the can. I chased him all the way tothe bus, he quickly boarded the bus closing the door behind him. My brakes didn't work so I found myself ramming into the door.

CINDY'S TURN...

Eric and I boarded the bus first, we were shortly joined by the others except for Nick and Nancy. About a minute later Nick came running onto the bus laughing his ass off, he closed the door behind him and there was a loud smack that came from the door.

"Uhh Ohh," he muttered opening the door only to find a very pissed off Nancy clutching her nose. I laughed my ass offand soon the whole bus was rumbling with laughter. Nick left the bus making a mad dash towards the restaurant, he came back with a bag of ice in his hand.We laid Nancy in the entertainment room on one of the couches.

"Are you okay?" Nick asked worried.

"I possibly have a broken nose thanks to you, now does that spell okay?" Nancy asked sarcastically in a nasal tone.

"Sorry,"Nick apologized with one of those irresistible lopsided smiles.

Knowing Nancy she did exactly what I knew she was going to do ... cave in.

"It's okay,"she said giving him a hug.

"Omigod," I remarked under my breath at the pathetic view that lay before me. Brian, who was sitting next to me, laughed atmy comment. I smiled at him and leaned towards the window, staring outsideI began to think of what Eric said right before Nancy splashed water on us. I unintentionally looked down at my clothes, they were soaking wet.

"Shit," I mumbled.

"What's wrong?" Brian asked overhearing my little mumble.

"Oh its just that I just realized how wet I am," I replied with stupidity.

"Need some clothes?"

"No, its okay, I got some in my backpack." I replied to his generosity.I grabbed my backpack that I sloppily threw to the corner and headed toward the bathroom. I always bring extra clothes with me whenever I go to SixFlags. I quickly changed my clothes and headed back to the entertainment room where I found a few bodies missing. I shrugged it off and sat back in my spot, everything was silent so I naturally turned on the radio to my favorite station at night... 92.3 The Beat. they always play smoothed out R&B at night with Kevin Nash and the Night Beat. I continued staring out the window gazing at the stars, I took one glance around the room and noticed everyone was preoccupied. Nancy was still lying down on the couch with the ice pack to her nose, either she was drifting off to dreamland or she was resting her eyes, whatever it was she seemed peaceful. Just like when I was talking to Eric I thought. He just made everything seem so clear I thought once again staring back outside the window. The stars ... my escape from reality, where everything isn't as it seems...

I KNOW I DO THIS A LOT BUT THERE ARE CERTAIN SPOTS IN THESTORY WHEN BEST TOLD BY NANCY...

It was 10:00 PM and we were in the middle of nowhere heading back to LA,I had closed my eyes thinking of the whole day and all the wonderful/unfortunate things that had happened to me. For one I got to get to know the infamous Nick Carter along with the rest of the BackstreetBoys, but on the other hand the same guy that I worship the ground he walks on broke my nose ... but all in all it was a lovely day. A huge thud broke into my thoughts and I opened my eyes only to be blinded by the ever so bright lights. The side of the bus began to wabble as I could feel Eric pullover to the side.

"Flat tire," Brian mumbled not once pulling his head out ofthe magazine he was reading.

"What do you mean 'flat tire'?" I asked a bit paranoid as I sat up still holding the ice pack to my nose.

"Don't worry we got extras, we never leave a major city without spares," Nick said reassuringly.

Everyone except Nick, Brian, Cindy and I had gone to sleep in their comfortable bunks. I guess they weren't bothered by it since they didn't get up and ask what happened. A frantic Eric burst into the entertainment room and calmly said, "We have no spare tires."

All heads snapped in his direction.

"I called for help but all of the nearest shops open in the morning, so basically ... we're stranded," he continued.

"No biggy, it's a big bus and half of us are already asleep," Cindy commented gazing back out of her window.

"If you put it that way then I guess I'll catch up on some of my beauty sleep," Eric replied heading towards the bunks.

I looked around the room and could easily tell that everyone had something or someone on their mind. Brian was reading his magazine but it didn't seem like he was reading just looking at the words which he could not comprehend. Nick was mindlessly doodling in his notebook. But what really worried me was Cindy, she was literally staring out into space. With a stone expression on her face she watched the twinkling stars, her eyes reflected the same sparkle. The silence was unbearable even with the radio on.

"Anybody want some coffee?" Nick asked breaking the silence. Brian got up and followed his friend to the kitchenette.

I slowly began to lie down again when I heard some sniffling from Cindy's direction. I looked at her, she was crying.

"What's wrong?"I asked trying to soothe her as I sat down next to her.

"Nothing," she lied.

"Need a tissue?" I asked. She nodded as more tears came tumbling down. I walked towards the bathroom inadvertently over hearing Brian and Nick talking as they drank coffee in the small kitchenette.

"What's wrong ,B?" Nick asked concerned.

"What do you mean?"

"You've been spaced out all day, you know what I mean"

"I've just been thinking after me and Cindy talked this morning"

"Thinking what?"

"I don't know, but its probably cause I miss Leigh Ann"

"Yeah I know what you mean, its sorta fun having Nancy around. She reminds me of Mandy too"

"Yeah but Cindy's nothing like Leigh Ann, she's the complete opposite"

"Oh then I don't know what to say to that"

"Sometimes she reminds me of Le Lu"

"Who?"

"Fifth Element!"

"Oh Le Lu, how? Cindy doesn't have nappy hair"

"Shut up! Its just that she looks brave on the outside yet so fragile on the inside ... like she needs to be loved"

"By who?"

"I don't know"

"By you?"

"I didn't say that, and anyways its too early for me to think I love her"

"But you might"

"I don't know"

"Just give it some time, the feelings will go away. I mean what are the chances we'll ever meet them again right?"

"Right"

At that I got what I needed from the bathroom and rushed to Cindy's side. I didn't tell her what I heard, mainly because I thought whatever she was going through she didn't need to hear it.

"Are you okay?" I asked gently,giving her the tissues.

"Yeah I'll be fine," I knew this time she wasn't lying.

"Are you gonna tell me what's on your mind?" I asked.

"Just stuff that Eric said"

"Like what?"

"Like before you so rudely interrupted our secretive conversation he was telling me that whenever I was feeling down he'd always be there to say 'everything's gunna be all right even if we both knew everything wouldn't be all right' and that just got to me"

"Why?"

"Cause never in my life did anybody say that to me when I was down"

"But why the water works?"

"Oh just because maybe around 5 years ago I wrote in my diary that Iwanted a guy that would say everything's gunna be all right even if we both knew everything wouldn't be all right"

"So either he read your diary or you might possibly think that he's the one for you"

"I burned that diary so I'm leaning towards the second one here"

"Oh well whatever you end up doing before he leaves tomorrow just don'tdo anything stupid, okay?"

"What that's it? No 'go for it!' or 'he's a bad pick'?" she asked smiling, at least she was smiling.

"Okay then ... go for it!!" I replied smilingback.

"Are you serious?" she questioned rather taken aback by my comment.

"No,just do what you think is best," I said more seriously this time. Brian and Nick walked in and joined us.

"What happened?" Brian asked concerned looking at Cindy.

"Yeah Cindy you look like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with a bad case of pink eye," Nick responded.

Cindy laughed at his comment and said, "Oh nothing, I'm fine now."

"Okay, if you say so," Nick said returning to his notebook.

I still had Nick and Brian's conversation in my head but I just went to my comfortable spot on the couch and drifted to sleep with my ice pack still on my nose. I was rudely awoken by a pillow smacking my nose.

"OOOOOOUUUUCCCCHHHHHHH!!!!!" I screamed putting my hand over my nose.

"Ooops, sorry Nance... I think our pillow fight got a little outta hand," Brian apologized helping me up.

"I think I should find safety in a comfy bunk where no stray pillows will hit me," I said still grabbing my nose.

"I'll help you," Brian offered leading her to an empty bunk.

NICK PULLED TIME OUT OF HIS BUSY SCHEDULE TO CONTRIBUTE TO THIS STORY SO YOU BETTER ENJOY...

I glanced over at the clock as Brian and Nancy walked away, it was 2 inthe morning and it was amazing to watch us three compiled with enormous energy. "So, what were you crying about?" I asked still concerned with Cindy's feelings.

"Oh just something that made me really happy to hear," she replied with a smile.

"Elementary my dear Watson... so they were happy tears and not sad tears," I concluded with the best Sherlock Holmes impression I can do.

"Yeah," she responded looking at me weirdly.

"So ... what did Eric tell you to make you so happy?" I questioned persistently.

"And you're assuming its Eric that told me something because...?"

"Well, you were talking to him throughout dinner, I just thought it was him that made you happy"

"Make me happy?"

"Well, you did say whoever's words made you happy and that's why you were crying"

"Happy?"

"Yes, happy"

"He makes me happy," she said under her breath.

"Who makes who happy?"Brian asked entering the room with popcorn in his hands.

"Oh nothing!" shesaid.

"That conversation is a secret therefore it never happened ... hear me?" Cindy whispered to me in a threatening tone.

"Is that a threat?" I asked jokingly.

"I'm serious, please don't tell anybody Nick," she pleaded.

"Tell anybody what?" I asked.

"Now that's the spirit!" she replied playing along.

We stopped whispering and Brian popped in a movie.

"What movie is it?"Cindy asked.

"Shaving Ryan's Privates... I mean Saving Private Ryan," Brian answered, we all laughed at his perverted answer.

Half way through the movie Cindy fell asleep on Brian's shoulder, actually she just fell asleep only her head drifted to his shoulder.

"Happy?" I asked Brian.

"Why do you ask?"

"Oh just that Cindy fell asleep on your shoulder"

"Why would I be happy about that?"

"I thought you liked her"

"Well you thought wrong"

"Why?"

"Cause I think I love her"

"But you don't know her enough to love her"

"I know her a whole lot"

"Are you sure about this though?"

"Right now? Yeah, but like you said in time these feelings might go away"

"Well just dont hurt anybody in the process"

"Like Leigh Ann?"

"Like Leigh Ann"

The conversation ended there and we both returned our attention to the movie. Towards the end I slowly took my attention off the movie and watched as Brian slowly put his arm around Cindy's shoulder. What would Leigh Ann think? Like she'd ever know, I thought to myself. He looked down at her then looked at me and said, "I think I could get used to this."

I smiled at him and turned off the VCR so I could do a little channel surfing. When I turned around to ask Bri what he wanted to watch I was only met by the two sleepy heads fast asleep. I let out a small sigh and settled on watching late night infomercials. Shortly after watching some beautiful lady demonstrate howto use the all-purpose salad maker/ fat scraper I grotesquely fell asleep.I was awoken by the rudness of someone shaking me and was met with eightpairs of eyes... all of which belonged to Eric, Nancy, Jeff, Alex, Mike, AJ,Howie and Kevin. They all had the same look on their eyes which I translated to 'How did Brian and Cindy end up like that' or something like that.

But before anyone could say a word I quickly answered, "Cindy fell asleep with her head tilted back and as time went by her head slowly went in the direction of Brian's shoulder. As the movie ended Brian put his arm around her, dont ask why, and he fell asleep as I was channel surfing. Satisfied?"

The look on their faces slowly turned to satisfied yet confused looks, but I think it solved most of their questions. They all let the information sink in and let out a chorus of OOOHHHH's waking up the two sleepy heads. Cindy began to stir and everyone cleared the room as fast as they could so she wouldnt suspect anything. Her stirring caused Brian to stir and they both finally woke up together rubbing their eyes.

"Oh... umm, sorry. I didn't know that I fell asleep on your shoulder," Cindy apologized as Brian slowly removed hisarm from around her.

"It's okay," he replied sheepishly. They both got up and headed towards the food which was in the kitchenette, I followed behind.

We entered the room and all heads turned.

"What?" Cindy and Brian asked in unison.

"Oh nothing ... nothing at all," Nancy answered knowingly.

Brian and Cindy gave them weird looks as the rest of them smiled omnisciently. We ate in peace as the tire got fixed. We all headed back into town which was LA. Cindy talked to Eric as he drove us back, while Nancy and I talked.

"So why did Brian put his arm around her?" Nancy asked out of the blue.

"Oh I am confined to secrecy," I answered.

"Aww come on just tell me"

"I can't, he's my best friend and I cannot betray his trust"

"You suck"

"What's up between Eric and Cindy?"

"I am confined to secrecy ... if I tell you then that would be betraying my best friends trust"

"You suck!"

We finally reached town and we dropped off Nancy and Cindy at Cindy's house before rushing to the hotel to pick our stuff so we could get to the airport on time. The boys and I were really disappointed that we couldnt visit my family while we were there but my parents understood. I said goodbye to Nancy and Cindy while everyone else gave them hugs and bid their goodbyes too. Brian and I watched as Eric walked Cindy to her door and Nancy walked down the block to her apartment. Eric gave her a small box and as she opened it, her eyes widened in surprise and he lifted the tiny pendant out of the box and gently laid it around her neck leaning in closer to clasp it tight. The silver necklace lightly glistened in the sun as it hung around her neck.As Eric backed away she tightly hugged him... she let go slowly backing away. Eric gently grabbed her wrist pulling her in for a sweet kiss, she kissed him back wrapping her arms around his neck. I turned to Brian, he had a look in his eyes... full of rage, love and pain. I warmly patted his back to assure him that I was there. I looked back at the sweet lovers kissing, they pulled away at what seemed to be a long awaited kiss and said goodbye once more. I turned back to Brian and we both pulled our attention off the two.

"Are you okay?" I asked Brian as Eric drove us to the airport.

"Yeah, why wouldnt I be?" he replied.

"Oh you are such a bad liar"

"So what?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yea... I think... I mean its not like we were together"

"Well at least she has someone to love her... and thats what you wanted right?"

"Yea... but in time these feelings will pass, I just gotta deal for now"

"Okay... but you kno I'm always here to listen"

"Thanks bro," he said giving me a hug.

"No problem... thats what friends are for," I said returning his hug.