"We look like we're gonna rob the damn place," Chris whispered to AJ as they walked into her local video store, sunglasses and baseball hats covering their faces. Maybe one person looking like this, fine, but 4 of them? With big huge scary looking men (and Elaine) tailing them, they looked rather intimidating.
"We do not. At least not once the camera crews catch up with us." AJ laughed and held the door open for her. "After you, milady."
"Thank you, sir," She followed Nick and Brian inside, laughing when Nick ran straight for the cartoons. "Oh no..."
"I insist on live actors, sorry man," AJ called after him.
"No way!" Nick shouted, ducking his head bashfully when the few other people in the store turned to stare at him.
"Way to not attract attention, Frack," Brian grabbed Nick's arm and pulled him over to another section. "Let's look at movies we may actually want to rent, ok?"
"Heavy Metal 2000, B-Rok, come on, you wanna see it, I know you do," Nick pouted.
"Nick?" Brian stopped and turned to face his friend, face serious.
"Yeah, B?"
"Aaron moment."
"Oops." Nick hung his head and grinned at Brian. "You'll keep telling me when I do that?"
"Of course." Brian caught up to Chris and leaned his head on her shoulder. "So what are we getting?"
Chris held up two boxes, "I think we've got two, and we're looking for a third."
"Animal House and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," Nick read the titles. "You won't let me get Heavy Metal, and you get Willy Wonka?"
"It's a classic!" Chris dismissed him with a wave and studied the boxes on the wall carefully. "Oooh," she squealed, and picked up a box. "This could be fun."
"You have got to be kidding me." Nick looked at her in disbelief. "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat starring Donny Osmond?"
"Oh yeah, it's probably terrible," Brian looked at the box. "It'd definitely be fun to watch."
"Come on, we could sing along, tear it to shreds. I love this musical, you guys have got to know it too, how could you not." Chris looked at them all, grinning from ear to ear. She started singing quietly, in a whiny voice, "Joseph, how can we ever say all that we want to about you. We're so glad that you came our way, we would have perished without you." Her voice grew deep, "hey hey hey Joseph.."
"OK, before you go off on the Elvis impression," AJ grabbed the box from her. "Why not."
"Yay," Chris hugged AJ. "You can pick the order we watch them in, ok Bone?"
"I think I'd better let Nicky do that," AJ said with a sideways glance, "he's a bit unhappy with our choices here."
Chris hugged Nick as they made their way to the counter. "Don't worry Nicky, you'll like the movies."
He looked down at her, and smiled. How bad could it be, when she would be there watching them with him. Seeing her smiling at him again had made him feel a thousand times better, Donny Osmond be dammed. "Yeah, I guess."
***********************************
"We got any more beer?" AJ asked the room from his spot on the floor. "Anyone?"
"Yeah," Julia pushed herself up from the couch. "I'll get."
The group had happily worked their way through a ton of pizza and beer, 2 movies, and were ready for the last. Nick had intentionally saved Joseph for last, figuring that he'd be either asleep or drunk enough by then that it wouldn't matter.
"We really have to watch this?" He asked again before putting the tape in the VCR. While he was definately tipsy, he wasn't drunk, and he was very much awake, which meant he was going to have to actually watch this thing.
"Just stick it in, Nicky." Brian cooed suggestively, and the room erupted into laughter.
"Brian, I never knew you felt that way..." Nick turned to Brian, eyes wide. "I'm sorry, you're just so not my type."
"Oh Nick, you're breaking my heart." Brian laughed, before throwing a pillow at him. "Can we watch the stupid movie now?"
"What a sweet couple." Howie remarked, wrinkling his nose when Brian shot him a look. "Frick and Frack, right?"
"Yeah, yeah." Nick sat back down on the couch next to Chris. "You're not going to drool over Donny Osmond, are you?"
"Maybe a little," she confessed, laughing when Nick groaned. "Come on, he's not so bad."
"Oh please," Nick slid his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his chest. "He's beyond cheesy."
"Some people say the same about the Backstreet Boys." Chris replied, watching the television as the movie started.
"She's got you there, Kaos," Kevin laughed.
"Yeah, take the girl's side, thanks Kev," Nick grinned. He could tell that Kevin still felt bad for what he'd said about Chris, and was trying to make it up to him. Another one of those things that would come in time?
"And the youngest one, well, he's just the corniest of them all. With that bleached blond hair?" Chris continued, "I mean, how cheesy can you get."
"Now, Chris," Nick looked at her closely, aware everyone in the room was listening to them. "You know full well I'm a natural blond."
Chris blushed bright red and turned back to the screen. "I think we should watch Donny Osmond."
"He can't sing." Brian remarked, and began singing loudly over the television.
AJ and Chris joined in, laughing as they stumbled over the words.
"So you were in Joseph, Chris?" Kevin had been watching her sing carefully, taking note of the way she sat up to breathe properly as she sang.
Chris nodded, "First musical I ever did. I was in it twice, almost 10 years apart."
"Who were you?" Howie asked.
"Benjamin when I was a kid, then the Narrator in high school." She grinned. "I loved doing this show."
"You've had vocal training." Kevin observed.
"Yup," Chris sat back on the couch, feeling Nick's arm pull her tight. He hadn't let go of her for more than 10 minutes all night, it was sweet. She could see how happy he was that they were getting along again, and was glad to have put a smile back on his face. "All through high school, and a few years in elementary school. Private voice lessons were one of the side benefits to one of the choirs I was in."
"Why don't you sing more?" Nick rubbed her back, not noticing her tense up as his hand moved down her spine.
"Singing was just a fun thing I did when I was younger. I have a real job now." She moved away slightly, Nick's hand on her back felt far too good. One thing she couldn't let happen again....she wasn't even going to think about it.
"A real job? As opposed to our fake one?" AJ took a gulp of his beer, looking at her over the bottle.
"Yeah, explain!" Nick's eyes were laughing, but his face was deathly serious.
"You know I don't mean it that way," Chris protested, laughing at Nick's hurt expression. "You guys are talented enough to make a career of it, that's what I meant. I'm not." She raised her hand as Kevin's mouth began to open. "And don't you flatter me, I don't want to hear it."
Brian let out a wail along with the television, "Joseph's luck was really out..."
"Oh god, Chris, you better sing the Narrator, I think Brian may hurt himself trying," Howie suggested.
Chris gladly complied, singing along with the rest of the show, Brian singing Joseph, AJ the Pharoah, and the other guys joining in on some of the harmonies. They sounded pretty good together, she had to admit, and nicely drowned out the sounds of Donny Osmond ruining a great musical. When the show was over, she flicked off the tv and surveyed the room around her. "Who's still awake?" People had been dropping off to sleep as the night grew late, and the dim lights in the room weren't helping to keep anyone awake.
"Me." Kevin stood up and stretched, looked around. "I think I'm gonna head back to the hotel."
"I'll come too," Howie gently removed Julia's head from his chest, placing it on a pillow next to him. "She's out cold." He stood up, smiling. "So's AJ."
"Nicky too." Chris slid out from Nick's grasp, standing up. "You guys are more than welcome to stay here, you don't have to go all the way back across town."
"It looks like all your extra space is accounted for." Kevin grinned, looking around. Between Nick, AJ and Julia, the couches and chairs were indeed taken.
"I have a big bed?" Chris laughed. "Well, big enough for one of you, and me."
"Me." Brian yawned, rubbing his eyes. "I'm dead tired. Do you mind, Chris?"
"Not at all," Chris pointed to her bedroom. "Bed's right in there."
Brian stumbled into her bedroom, leaving the door wide open behind him. "Nite."
"Nite, cuz," Kevin shook his head, watching Brian flop onto Chris' bed, face down. "Guess he's a little sleepy."
"Guess so." Chris hugged Howie. "Tonight was fun, thanks for coming."
"Thanks for having us." He replied, hugging her back. "You going to be ok with all these sleeping fools?"
"They're sleeping, how hard could it be." She smiled, and turned to hug Kevin. "Have a good night."
"You too." He turned to leave, then hesitated. "Can I just catch a cab outside? It's late."
Chris laughed and pushed him out the door. "It's Manhattan, you'll be fine. Night." She locked the door behind them and walked through the apartment quietly, turning off the lights. What a day, huh. She'd gone from feeling miserable, to feeling the way she'd felt back in October, when everything had felt right with the world. When the seven of them had felt like one big happy family...before things had started to fall apart. She looked at Nick, curled up on her couch, his hair sticking straight up in the air, and couldn't help smiling. It definitely was much easier just being friends with him, instead of overanalyzing every word he said, taking every sentence personally. She flicked off the main light, resisting an urge to laugh when AJ started snoring loudly.
She made her way to her room and slipped into bed next to Brian, chuckling softly at him sprawled on top of the covers, mouth wide open. "Goodnight, Brian," she turned off the light and curled up under the covers. She fell into a deep sleep quickly, more relaxed than she'd been in a long, long time.
*********************************
A Day in the Life Of... (Day 168) New York City - Charlotte
Chris woke up to the smell of coffee brewing, and sat up with a smile. "Now that's a way to wake a girl up." She looked down to see Brian still sound asleep next to her and slid out of bed quietly, closing the bedroom door behind her. "Who's making coffee?"
"Me." Nick handed her a cup with a smile. "Figured I might as well put my newly found talent to use."
She took a long sip and nodded. "Talented you are."
"Today's Rosie, isn't it?" Julia called from the couch, where she was sitting and drinking coffee with AJ.
"Yeah, I need to go take a shower." Chris ran her hand through her hair. "I shouldn't have had anything to drink last night, I probably look awful."
"Naw, you look gorgeous." Nick grinned at her, sending a shock down her spine.
"What do you know, last night you turned down Brian." Chris laughed. "Who knows what your taste runs to."
Nick pushed her in the direction of the bathroom, "Go, you don't want to be late."
"Going, going." Chris set her coffee cup down on the counter. "You may want to go wake up Brian, he looked like he was set to sleep all day."
"Brian?"
"In my room." Chris explained. "Kevin and Howie went back to the hotel, but Brian was too tired to make it."
"Oh, I'll wake him up alright," Nick's eyes got an evil twinkle as he turned to AJ. "Shall we wake up Brian?"
Chris made her way to the bathroom quickly, determined to be far out of the way by the time they woke him up. Her timing was just about perfect, she was just rinsing the shampoo out of her hair when she heard a scream from her bedroom. "Oh yeah, they woke him up." She muttered to herself, stepping out of the shower. She got dressed and ran a comb through her hair, cautiously leaving the bathroom. "Is it safe to come out?"
"I'll get my revenge later." Brian was sitting on the couch next to Julia, grumbling into a cup of coffee.
"It was sweet." AJ told Chris, winking. "Shame you missed it."
"I'll live." She smiled. "I need to get going, just lock the door when you leave, ok?"
"Want company?" Nick asked.
"I'm going to Rosie O'Donnell, Nick." Chris looked at him carefully. Did he really want to come with her to a talk show??
"I know." He stood up and joined her by the door. "I figure if I show up with you there, it should look pretty good, right?"
Chris smiled and hugged him. "Yeah, it'll look pretty good. Thanks, Nicky."
"You're welcome, Chrissy." He would set things right again, he knew he would. One step at a time.
**********************
"....the Executive Producer of 'A Day in the Life Of...Behind the Scenes with the Backstreet Boys,' Christen Johnson" Rosie hollers out her introduction, jumping up to hug Chris as she makes her way onstage. "It is so good to meet you! Well, I've met you before, but we didn't get to talk on Valentine's Day."
Chris nods, and grins awkwardly at the audience. For some reason this is more intimidating than Letterman, she can actually see faces in the crowd here.
"But that dance you did with the guys," Rosie continues, smiling ear to ear. "How hot is that! Do you love doing that every night?"
"I think I'll be having dirty dreams for the rest of my life based around that dance," Chris grins, answering exactly as Denise had coached her. "Of course, it's a lot of fun."
"Now this show on MTV, I gotta tell you, I am HOOKED! I watch it every week, I love seeing what's going on in the guys' life. So what aren't we seeing?"
"Not much, honestly. There has been very little that we haven't aired, it's rather remarkable exactly how personal some of our episodes have been."
"For you as well," Rosie said, her expression becoming a bit more serious. "I have to admit, I've been rooting for you and Nicky since day one."
Chris laughs, "Me and Nicky?"
"Of course, come on, who hasn't!" Rosie looks to the audience for support, clapping when they cheer. "You and Nicky belong together. So I gotta ask, what happened in the Caribbean?"
Chris sighs, looks out at the audience. "I think Nick explained it best, how you kind of explode when you have some time off? That, combined with the cameras suddenly being gone, was very strange. All of a sudden we could say anything, do anything. Going back to the way we'd been before was difficult."
"But you two are getting along now?"
"We're getting along fine, Nick's actually here with me today." Chris grins as the crowd screams.
"Where is he?" Rosie stands up, looks at the crowd.
Chris points to the front row, where Nick's sitting, wearing a baseball cap. He pulls off the cap and smiles at Rosie. "Right there."
"Such a cutie." Rosie waves Nick over. "Join us!"
Nick is reluctantly pulled over to the stage by a producer and sat down next to Chris on the couch after a big hug from Rosie. "Hi," he whispers to Chris, finding her hand and squeezing it tight.
"So, I hear the fans have been kind of tough on you about Nick?" Rosie asks, looking at Chris.
"Yeah, it's understandable. The fans love Nick, they want to protect him. They think I'm hurting him so...one thing follows the other. It hurts, but I can get why they're doing it." She looks at Nick and smiles. "How can you not love this guy?"
The audience screams and Nick grins. "Can I just say one thing?" He looks at Rosie.
"Of course."
"Let me put this very straight. Chris has never hurt me in any way. NEVER. I want everyone to know that. But what's going on right now at our concerts, that hurts her, and THAT hurts me. So if you guys really want to make sure I'm ok, stop hurting Chris." He sits back on the couch and smiles at the camera. "I'm done."
Chris looks at him, eyes wide. Never in her wildest dreams did she think he would do something like this...should stop the fans dead in their tracks. "Thank you," she says softly.
"My pleasure." Nick whispers, giving her a quick hug.
"We'll be back with more, right after this!"
***********************************************
Chris slid into her seat next to Julia, waving at her to get her attention. "Hello, sleepyhead."
Julia pulled off her headphones and winced. "Talk softly please, head hurts."
"You didn't drink that much last night, did you??" Chris asked, concerned. "I think I have some Advil in my bag, if you want?"
Julia shook her head. "I took aspirin already, it's not a hangover, just a headache." She held up her coffee cup with a weak grin. "Hoping the caffeine will help."
Chris pulled her laptop out of her bag, preparing for another plane ride filled with paperwork. "You should try to get some sleep."
"Not when you have Nicky scoop for me, so don't go opening that computer just yet." Julia laughed lightly. "I had been wondering if my source was going to run dry, but nope, what a photoshoot, what a show this morning. What happened, Chris?"
Chris sighed. "Nothing happened, Nick just said he was sorry."
"That's it?" Julia stared at her in disbelief. "After all the bitching and moaning you did about him, you take him back with an I'm sorry?"
"I didn't take him back, Julia, we're just friends again." Chris fidgeted with the seat in front of her. "It's easier getting along than ignoring him, that's all."
"So you haven't forgiven him."
"There's nothing to forgive." Chris looked out the window as the plane began to move. "We're not a couple, it's not like he owed me anything."
"That's it? You're friends. Nothing more."
"Nothing more."
"Does Nick know that?"
"Enough, Julia."
"I saw Rosie this morning."
"I'm sure a lot of people did."
"You know what that looked like."
"I'm getting really sick of hearing about what things 'look like.' Nick did a really sweet thing on Rosie this morning, fuck what it looked like. If it keeps me from getting booed on stage again, thank god for it."
"Ok, ok, don't get upset." Julia shrugs. "I can wait, I have faith you and Nick will give me something juicier before this tour is over."
"Don't count on it." Chris looked at her friend, changing the subject. "So how are you doing, beyond the headache?"
"Alright. Tired. Looking forward to seeing the concert tomorrow night for what, are we up to 100 times yet? Sick of airplanes." She grabbed the armrest tight as the plane took off. "Annoyed I wasted a night I could have spent in my own apartment passed out on your couch. "
"I didn't even think about that Jules, I'm sorry, I should have woken you up."
"Don't be silly. I just shouldn't have fallen asleep in the first place. Oh, see that guy?" Julia pointed to a man talking to a very unhappy looking Nick.
"Yeah?"
"That's the reporter, the one who's writing the article for Time. Name's Bill something or another, he's with us for the weekend."
"Nick looks like he's made a new friend." Chris watched Nick squirm as far away from the man as possible, which wasn't far, even in first class airplane seats.
"He's a reporter, of course Nick's thrilled to be seated next to him for the entire flight.
"Who did the seating, anyway? Someone was getting Nick back for something, he's normally next to..." She smiled as it hit her and turned her head to look for Brian.
"I have no idea." Julia shrugged. "We all have to spend a good chunk of time with this guy, I guess this is just Nick's turn."
Nick caught Chris' eye and mouthed 'help me,' making his best wide-eyed puppy dog face until she started laughing.
"Oh yeah, he's having a blast." Chris grinned, turning to face Julia. "Beyond my help, though. I bet this is payback for this morning."
"Aah that. Yup, bad Nicky deserves his punishment." Julia agreed. "Nicely done, Brian."
"Very nicely done." Chris cheered. "Go B-Rok, go B-Rok!"
Nick sat in his seat, glaring at them both, swearing revenge.
"Talk to the nice reporter now." Chris suggested sweetly, batting her eyes at him.
"Have fun, Nick!" Brian shouted from his seat near the back of the section of the plane.
"Fuck off, Frick!" Nick called back. He looked back at Chris and Julia, "Shut up, all of you."
"Aaron moment!" Brian yelled.
Nick's face turned bright red as he stared at Chris and Julia, who were both laughing hysterically. "That is so not funny." He jerked away as the reporter bent close to ask him about what had just happened.
"Oh, this is priceless." Chris laughed. "What did that mean?" Whatever Nick was telling that reporter right now had to be interesting.
"He should just tell the guy he channels his little brother. Would explain this, and so much more." Julia remarked seriously, which set the two off into another fit of giggles. Another glare from Nick, and they were lost, laughing and joking with each other for the rest of the flight.
**************************************************
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