Chapter 11

"She kinda grilled me about that, but it wasn't so bad 'cause my dad was there. She asked me if I was still going to see you. I told her what I did was my business and my choice." Nick nodded and continued trying to stuff more clothes into an already full bag. "You know," said Stacie, watching the process. "You'd be able to fit everything in better if you folded the clothes instead of just balling them up and stuffing them in there."

Nick looked at the bag, then said, "You're probably right." and dumped everything out of the bag. He folded everything and managed to fit it all in. He added the bag to the rest of his stuff and held out his hand to pull Stacie up. "C'mon. We gotta go," he said. The two hauled everything out into the main room. Everyone else was in the process of getting things out into the room. "Everybody got everything?" asked Kevin. Everyone nodded and loaded everything on to the luggage racks the hotel had provided. Once everything was loaded, people from the staff came and took them to the bus. The group donned hats and sunglasses and headed towards the door.

The bodyguard checked around in the hall and said, "Okay, coast is clear." They took the elevator down to the second floor and then walked down the back stairs to avoid the media and the rest of the crowd. The back stairs led to the back parking lot where the bus had been parked. They loaded everything on the bus in record time. They could hear the media around the front of the hotel, talking to anyone coming or going or looked like they might know something. They all piled themselves into the bus and got ready to go. A friend would be bringing Chloe's 4Runner up to the college later. Once they were settled, the driver started off down the driveway around the hotel, towards the front. The crowd immediately turned into a frenzy when they caught sight of the bus. Stacie, Nick, Chloe and Kevin were sitting near the window, watching the events. Stacie and Nick were making faces at the cameramen who were snapping pictures, even though the windows were tinted so the people outside couldn't see in. "Vultures," said Stacie, sticking her tongue out at all the media. The bus was going very slowly as security moved people out of the way. After what seemed like forever, they made their way out and on to the road. Brian, A.J. and Howie were playing video games and Chloe and Kevin were sitting watching and giving random advice. Stacie and Nick were talking, she in his lap. "Think you're gonna tell your family about us?" he asked. Stacie sighed.

"I know," she said. The two settled back, watching the guys play and the passing scenery. When they looked behind them, they saw a few cars with reporters in them following the bus. When it was time fore lunch, they stopped at a small diner and one of the bodyguards went in and ordered them some food. As he went in, the reporters hounded after him, trying to get answers. He managed to make it the diner and back in one piece somehow. The guys considered talking to the reporters, but decided to wait until they spoke to their manager more and then they would release an official statement. They turned on the TV to see if there was anything good on. They turned it on MTV just in time to catch an MTV News Brief.

"Hi, I'm Kurt Loder with an MTV News Brief. Yesterday we brought you the story of the kidnapping/sexual assault of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter and girlfriend Stacie Redson on Monday night." A short clip of the two was shown. "Later yesterday afternoon, the man charged with the crimes, Vladimir Rhutvianan, was found and apprehended by police and is currently awaiting a trial date. He still insists that he is innocent and being framed despite the large amount of evidence against his claim. Here are some things the groups fans have to say about the incident." They then saw a clip of crying girls pleading for Nick to be okay and to break up with Stacie. The pleas just made Nick tighten his arms around Stacie. "Some of the Backstreet fans. No word yet from the Boys or their management about this situation. We'll tell you more when we have the information. That's the news for now. More news at ten to the hour, every hour, right here on MTV News." Everyone was kind of quiet after seeing that.

"Well, at least they got the story right," said Nick. Everyone nodded and continued eating. When everyone was finished, they started back out on the road. Night seemed to come quickly, before any of them fully realized it. When they realized that they should stop for the night (around 11 o'clock), they were a good hour and a half from the nearest town. Basically, they were in the middle of nowhere. In a unanimous vote, they decided to sleep in the bus instead of trying to drive to the next town. The guys each climbed in their bunk. "I'm sleeping here," stated Stacie as she climbed in Nick's bunk without asking him first. Chloe giggled and shook her head. She was about to climb into one of the spare bunks when Kevin asked if she wanted to sleep in his bunk. Chloe thought a sec, then said okay. Once everyone was settled, everything was quiet. Soon everyone had drifted off to sleep.

Around 3 AM, Stacie woke up suddenly. She heard a sharp scratching sound coming from somewhere in the bus. She tentatively peeked out into the hallway. She couldn't see any of the guys out, but could still hear the noise. She was about to wake up Nick when they noise stopped. She peeked out into the hall again. Everything was quiet. She was about to try to go back to sleep when there was a sound like something being slid open. She quickly shook Nick awake. "Nick, wake up," she said urgently. Nick slowly woke up.

"Stacie thought she heard something and I'm-" Nick was suddenly cut off by the sounds of someone rustling around in the front of the bus. Kevin was immediately out next to Nick in the hallway. Chloe looked wide-eyed past the two to Stacie, who looked about as scared as she was. Kevin silently gestured for Nick to follow him and the two slowly and quietly made their way to the front of the bus. Chloe and Stacie were watching from the hallway. Suddenly there was a great crash and the sounds of someone scrambling. Nick and Kevin immediately rushed to the source of the sound, but were too late. The intruder was already out the window he had pried open. The sound of a car being started up and roaring off was heard outside before any of them had the chance to fully comprehend and react to what had happened. By now everyone had made their way to the front of the bus where Kevin and Nick where standing in a pile of papers that had obviously been shuffled through and discarded when not needed. "What happened?" asked Howie, surveying the mess. "Someone broke in and was looking for something. Who ever it was fled when a pile of stuff fell and made a loud noise," explained Nick.

"That someone was a reporter named Travis Kaln," spoke up Kevin from his spot looking through the papers. He held up the press pass that had the man's name and photo on it. The pass was set aside for the time, the group having decided to wait until they got to the college and got everything settled before deciding what to do about the intruder. The group quickly cleaned up as best they could before climbing back into the bunks and attempting to get some more sleep.

The next day and a half passed much as the first did. The number of reporters had dwindled down to one or two. Everyone let out a sigh of relief when they caught sight of the college. Everything was quickly arranged with the security who promised not to let any of the reporters in. Soon the guys were helping the girls move everything back into their dorm room. The room was fairly large and spacious, so the girls figured the guys could stay here for at least a little while. All of the guys laughed when they saw the huge Backstreet Boys poster on one of the walls. When everything was back where it belonged, the girls offered to take the guys on a tour of the campus. The guys agreed and the group started off, pointing out different things about the campus and it's programs. After the tour, the group decided to order pizza and chill out the rest of the night. The pizza arrived and after it was completely devoured, everyone opted to watch movies. They watched until everyone had fallen asleep.

The next day, everyone woke up around 10 and decided to go grab some breakfast. While they were at the small cafe near the campus eating, Stacie and Nick began eagerly discussing something with one of the bodyguards. They had been talking quietly among themselves for about a day or so and now seemed to be planning something. After they were done talking to the bodyguard, they came over and told the rest of the group they were going to look around town a little. The rest offered to go look around with them, but they were quickly turned down, Stacie and Nick saying they wanted to explore on their own some. After everything was settled, the two went off with the bodyguard they had been talking to. The rest of the group was a little puzzled, but shrugged it off. The remaining ones went off on their own little exploring trip. They arrived later in the afternoon at the dorm exhausted. Stacie and Nick were still gone, but everyone figured it was okay since they had someone with them. Around 6 the two burst in, very happy and giggly. "Hey guys!" said Nick. "Guess what?"