She was just slipping back into her dream, when another sound aroused her. "Damn." She snapped, sitting up. "It's six in the morning. Who's calling at this hour?" Clearing her throat, so she wouldn't sound so groggy when she picked up, Aimee clicked the 'on' button on her cell phone. "Hello?"
"Aimee?" The voice on the other line was so unexpected, that it almost made her forget for a minute that he'd called in the middle of her favorite time of day- the time when she got to sleep. "Um, this is Bri. I mean, Brian. You know, Brian Littrell. We, uh, we used to date. . ."
Aimee laughed. "I remember you, Brian. We did date for three years you know. And it's not like we broke up that long ago."
"Yeah." He sounded releived. "Yeah. Good. I- I thought you might remember, but I wasn't that sure." He was stumbling over his words, and Aimee had to smile to herself. She wasn't mad at him anymore. Even if he had cheated on her- that was over now. And, as much as she hated to admit it, she still wanted him in her life.
'I'm glad you called, Brian. I kind of missed you." She said, turning a little shy herself. "What's up?"
"Well, actually, I- I missed you, too. And I was kind of wondering if- well, first of all, I wanted to say that I'm really sorry. For, you know, Leighanne and all." Aimee could just imagine him, wherever he was (probably in Germany or some such place where he wouldn't notice that he was calling before she even got out of bed) switching the phone from ear to ear, like he always did, and biting his lip. "But, anyway, I was wondering if, maybe, we could, maybe, hang out sometime. Maybe." Aimee didn't answer immediatly, and he rushed on. "Because we're coming back in a few days, and I really, honestly, do miss you."
"Sure. We can hang out sometime. I was hoping that you were calling about something like that." She blushed, realizing that she was sounding too eager. "I mean, with John being out of town and everything, I could use someone to chill with."
Now it was Brian who became quiet. "John? Is he your. . . boyfriend?"
"Well, I wouldn't say that, excatly. I mean, it's not that seroius. We just, you know, go out sometimes. . ." She sighed. John's name wasn't supposed to come up. She hadn't meant to mention him. But it had slipped out- she couldn't think of a different way to let Brian know that she was moving on.
Neither of them spoke for a minute, and finally, Aimee said, "Look, I've got to go. I got a new job at that coffee place down on Fourteenth, and I need to leave pretty soon. But I'll see you soon. Call me as soon as you get back, okay?"
"Sure." Brian answered. "See ya."
"Bye." She hung up.
"Yeah. Bye." Brian held the phone in his hand for a minute, wishing that he'd had the courage to tell her the real reason he called. But she probably wouldn't want to hear it now anyway, what with John being part of her life now.
He sighed, and slowly pushed the off button. "Bye, Aimee."
Nick Carter looked over at Brian, who was sitting in the seat next to him, his headphones on, and his eyes closed. He wasn't asleep, because when he did sleep, he always snored. Must be thinking. Nick concluded. Probably about Aimee.
Aimee was the one part of Brian's life that Nick wasn't completely clued in on. Sure, he knew that they dated, and that their relationship was pretty serious. He knew that they met in a club, and bonded immedialty. But, he'd never actually met her, and all he knew about why they broke up was that Leighanne had something to do with it. Ever since the night that Brian had stumbled onto the bus, his eyes red and his cheeks stained with tears. All he'd said was that they were over, and that was that. He didn't want to talk about it, and that was obvious.
But, he and Leighanne had gotten together very shorty afterwards, and Nick knew that Leighanne loved Brian. And Brian said he loved Leighanne. But, in truth, it was plain to see that he didn't. It had been half a year since they broke up, and everyone knew that Brian still loved Aimee. He loved her a lot, too. And it hurt him that she didn't love him back. But atleast he had Leighanne.
Even if it wasn't Leighanne that he wanted. Atleast she could keep his mind off of Aimee. Because when it was on her, Brian was miserable.