Grace of God
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"People, Teen People, Guitar World? Who reads that?...There it is! Rolling Stone! Finally" The young red head bent down and grabbed the magazine from the rack, vigarously scanning the pages until she came apon teh article she was looking for.

At 21, Grace was older than most Backstreet Boys fans but sometimes conducted herself as if she were still in junior high whenit came to her boys. She'd been waiting for months for that issue of Rolling Stone and was very proud of the boys for making the cover. Tucking the magazine to her side she walked to the front of the store and purchased it. She hid the magazine, along with her purse underneath her jacket as she sprinted through the rain to her car.

Grace climbed intothe driver's seat and tossed the magazine to the passanger's seat and pulled her visor down to look in the mirror.

"Great." she muttered as she ran a hand through her unruly curls. She'd grown up with not only red hair but with curly red hair. It wasn't until a few years back when she'd turned sixteen that she'd learned to take care of her hair and appreciate it's uniqueness.

Snapping the mirror closed and the visor up, she started the car and pulled out of the Kroger parking lot.

Thinking ahead to her plans of the weekend, Grace smiled to herself. As a birthday present, her bestfriend Micheala somehow obtained for her backstage tickets to a Backstreet Boys' concert. When she'd found out that she would be included in one of the Backstreet Boys' exclusive "meet and greets" she was estatic.

Grace pulled her car into her own driveway and pulled it as close to the door as she could manage. She grabbed her magazine and once again bolted through the rain to her door.

She walked inside and shut the door behind her. She walked into the kitchen and sat her magazine on the table as she made a pot of hot chocolate. After she had that going, she walked into the living room and started a fire in the fire place.

As she got it going, she looked around her small house. The one story, two-bedroom log cabin had been her home ever since she'd moved out of her mother's house at age 18.

Grace walked back into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of the hot chocolate and grabbed the Rolling Stone magazine off of the table as she left the room.

Grace found a comfortable spot in front of the fire and settled down to read the magazine.

She skipped to the back of the article and read Kevin's section first since he was her favorite and then went back and read the other articles in order. After she read AJ's section, she closed the magazine and tossed it on the floor in front of her without reading the rest.

AJ had always been her second favorite but after reading the article, Grace felt that she'd lost a lot of respect for him.

It wasn't the fact that the article revealed that he was a smoker or even his constant references to his girlfriend that made Grace loose respect, it was something of a far more personal aspect.

In the Rolling Stone article, AJ revealed that he didn't spend any time with his father. It wouldn't have effected Grace so much if it were because of the father but the article revealed that it was AJ that caused the rift and wouldn't even answer his father's phone calls when he called.

Grace sat back and shook her head. She wished that AJ would realize that life was a precious gift and should be lived without held grudges. She for one had to learn that the hard way.

When she was three and a half years old, her parents seperated and Grace didn't hear from her father for twelve more years. Finally at the age of fifteen her father finally decided to contact her. Never having been familar with the man, Grace refused contact with him and would not respond to the many messages he left for her. One day, Grace happened to pick up on one of his many calls and ended up yelling at him and demanding that he stay out of her life forenver. Her father silently agreed and didn't call back. Six weeks later, he died from a stroke, not ever being able to make up to Grace all the lost time

After her father died, Grace realized how selfish she'd been. She was his only daughter and all he'd wanted to do was to make it up to her for running out of her life. Through her selfishness Grace drove away her only chance to ever have a father figure. Everyday of her life after her father died, she lived to regret not ever letting him into her heart and her life. Years after, she frequently visited her father's grave to try to make upt ot him all of the time they could have had.

**********************

Standing in the small room surrounded by at least a dozen pre-pubesant girls, Grace was almost shaking in anticipation.

Finally, after a long wait, the Backstreet Boys finally emerged and entered the room. They circulated the room and signed many autographs. Grace played the part of the eager fan but silently looked around the room for AJ and waited silently for the right time to approach him. She finally found her opening and rushed over to him before anyone else had a chance to.

"Hey AJ." she said, shaking his hand.

AJ smiled at her and said "Hey, What's your name?"

Grace." she said and handed him the glossy picture seh carried for him to sign. He scribbled out an autograph and handed the picture back to her.

"Well Grace." he said "Enjoy the concert, ok?" and started to turn away.

"AJ, wait." she blurted out impulsively and AJ turned back to her with a smile.

"Um...."Grace said "I know it's not any of my business...but I would really like to tell you something." AJ nodded and she took a deep breath before continuing. "Uh...I just got the new Rolling Stone article and I have to say when I read your article...I was very disappointed in you." She stopped there and watched as he frowned slightly.

He appeared to think about it for a moment then said "Oh I see...it was the smoking, right? Or was it the part about Amanda? My fans always get mad at me for talking about her."

"No, It wasn't that, AJ. It was the part about your father. and before you tell me, I know it's not any of my business but I'd just like to tell you my opinion. I grew up the same way you did, my father ran off and left my older brother, my mother and I behind and conveniantly forgot about us for twelve years. Then when he decided to try to be part of our lives I did the same thing you're doing now, I pushed him away. I kept pushing until I drove him completly out of my life. And then six weeks later, he died and I never had the spportunity to see if their was any good in him. And now there is never a day that passes by I don't regret what I did. So, AJ, you may think it's cool now to blow him off, but he's not going to be around forever. Life is too short to spend it holding grudges and worrying about your pride." At that Grace ended her speech, and spun around and left, leaving AJ standing there.

************

Hearing the doorbell ring for the third or fourth time, the tall skinny man finally roused himself from his bed and padded through the living room to answer the door.

"I'm coming." he mumbled as the doorbell rang a fourth time. Pulling his robe tighter around himself, he finally pulled the door open.

A young man, in his early twenties had his back to the door, appearing to have given up on getting an answer to the doorbell.

"Can I help you?" the man said and gasped as the youner man turned around.

"Alex?" he said, disbelieving.

"Hi dad." AJ said and walked into the older man's arms.