DWLYN
Prologue...part
one
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _JULY 2001_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
(In the Boys' Tour Bus)
"To a great tour!" Jenny laughed.
Brian nodded, swinging his left arm around her and raising his glass in
his right hand.
"Cheers!" everyone chorused.
"How many more months to go?"
Nick leaned on Julie.
"Four..." she replied, smiling.
"Are you guys sure about this?"
Hannah raised an eyebrow and took a sip of her Gingerale. Lance was nodding
off to sleep beside her. The Boys had just given another Black & Blue
tour concert a few miles away from where 'NSync's Pop Odyssey was presently
stationed, so the blond boy had taken a drive to visit everyone.
"Positive... We've all discussed
it in the past months. BSB is taking a break..." AJ leaned back in his
seat, his arms around a sleepy Chin.
"So how long will this break
last?" Cathy yawned.
"Not too long... we're not gonna
set a length of time or anything...we'll be writing the whole time. It's
just that the main focus will not be on BSB but rather ourselves as individuals,"
Kevin explained.
"Leave it to Kevin to make everything
sound so proper." Sarah nudged him. He rolled his eyes and shrugged in
return.
"Well, he's right. You girls
are gonna be off doing your own things, as are we..." Brian stated. He
took a moment to think something over, then spoke up again. "Hey, how's
about every four months, starting today, we'll meet up at the house?" Brian
suggested, "just to make sure we don't lose touch?" he finished. Everyone
who was awake looked at each other and nodded. "Agreed?" Brian asked.
"AGREED!!" everyone yelled.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _NOVEMBER 2001_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
"Julie, I'm sorry. If this seems
too--"
"No. No, it doesn't. I...I...I
a-agree."
"Are you sure?"
"Sure. Absolutely."
Nick felt like stabbing himself
as he read Julie's face like a book. Her eyes were cold and she was desperately
trying to hide how hurt she was. But he had to do this...right? Yes...he
had to...he just needed to keep telling himself that.
Why? Why are you doing this,
Nick? Oh, yeah...to find out if I'm really "the one"..."Testing the waters"...But
why at my expense?...Dammit, I can never have it back, Nick...you took
it...and now this?
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _JANUARY 2002_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
She drew in a sharp breath and
fought back her tears. Her fingers lightly traced his figure as the plane
pulled away from the terminal. She could still see them all, standing
behind the glass, waiting to see her off. All their figures grew smaller
and smaller as the plane backed away. She could still see it in his eyes.
Why? She yelled at herself,
trying to prevent the tears from falling...why did you let this happen?
Soon, she couldn't see any of
them anymore. The only view she was left with was just clouds and the bright
blue sky. It didn't fit her mood. She yanked down the shade and leaned
her head against it, breathing deeply. Slowly her eyes began to close and
she fell asleep... dreaming of everything she used to have with Brian.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _MARCH 2002_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
"Don't say that, Sarah..." Kevin
sighed and pulled her close as they walked along the streets of Disneyland.
The sun had set and lights were slowly flickering on all around them as
they headed for Fantasyland.
"Well, look at everyone! Maybe
it would have been better if this reunion just didn't happen," Sarah muttered,
a little peeved. "I mean--"
"Sarah... stop that right now.
We all promised. Now before anyone even thinks about breaking the agreement,
do you want to break it for us?" Kevin raised an eyebrow, his eyes
looking down at her intently.
"No, " she whispered.
"Ok then..." Kevin hesitated
to tear his eyes away from her to see what she was talking about.
Inside he felt exactly like she
did... but refused to let anything ruin her birthday. If anything, he wanted
her to believe that everything wasn't as bad as it seemed.
Nick and Jenny were off to his
left, laughing their heads off. Occasionally, however, he would catch
Jenny glancing to where Brian and Julie were walking. She would study
Brian for a moment and then resume laughing with Nick. Brian would also
be seen glancing at Jenny at times, but it was only expected...both their
actions were. It had only been two months...
Julie kept herself busy by laughing
at Brian's jokes and was never seen once looking at Nick. Maybe she was
getting good at hiding the pain? Or maybe she was actually getting over
it? ...Nick, on the other hand, had been dating incessantly. Everyone used
to joke around about him acting like AJ used to once upon a time. Then there
was the jab about Nick actually being more like what Brian had been like…but
that had stopped when a huge argument had left everyone tense for a few
weeks.
Howie and Cathy were still going
on strong…the same went with Hannah and Lance. Both couples were walking
in the front of the other six, all holding hands.
Chin and AJ were a different
matter. April would bring a 2 year anniversary for them, but there was
something in the air, and it wasn't good. Kevin looked at them, walking
ahead of all of the rest. Chin seemed curiously paranoid all the time,
jumping every time AJ wrapped his arm around her or even touched her...
"Kevin?"
"Yeah?"
"What are you thinking about?"
Kevin glanced down at the birthday
girl. "How to get you near a pool..."
"Oh no you don't!" Sarah screeched
and ran off, breaking Hannah and Lance's hold on each other.
"Hey!" Hannah yelped and chased
after Sarah. Chin began laughing but stopped when Jenny walked by, dumping
her bag of popcorn on her. Then it was Jenny's turn to be chased. The Boys
watched in amazement.
"That used to be us watching
you guys do that... What happened?" Julie laughed.
"Hey!" Brian and Kevin yelped.
They took off after her and Cathy glanced at the remaining Boys.
"Welcome to the twenties..."
Nick smiled and wrapped an arm around Cathy, pulling her from Howie's grasp.
"Kevvy Kev is in his thirties,
though..." Cathy noted. She was hit by a popcorn bag as Kevin whizzed
by. "You're getting it!" She ran after him.
"Well, it's just you and me,
guys..." Nick swung his arms around Howie and Lance.
"You stole Cathy from me..."
Howie jokingly growled.
"Uh-oh..." Nick yelped and took
off with Howie right behind him.
"Come on, Lancie Boy." Hannah
yanked him along with her as she chased Sarah.
"Fine, fine," Lance laughed.
It was good to laugh again.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _APRIL 2002_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
A loud crash echoed throughout
the cold house.
"What the...?" Chin muttered,
pulling her blanket tighter around her. The crash seemed to have come from
the balcony. She thought everyone had left to go to the beach...She shuffled
towards it and opened the door. A blast of wind hit her. "I usually love
you, but that's when you're not hitting me in the face, " Chin growled
at the breeze and shut the door behind her. Her teeth chattered and she
glanced over the balcony. In the moonlight, could barely make out a few
roses and some shattered pieces of--Chin's blanket dropped to her feet.
No...
She yanked open the balcony door
and flew down the stairs.
No... Don't do this to me,
Alex...Please...
She burst through the backdoor
and confirmed what she thought she had seen. There, in pieces around the
patio and the pool, was her vase, surrounded by the 24 red roses. She
glanced around the backyard for a sign of him, but there was nothing. Just
the remains of what they had.
"Alex?" she called out, but her
eyes were on the flowers. She bit her lip and bent down, silently picking
up the pieces to take them inside.
Don't cry, Chin, don't cry...
she told herself. But it didn't work. The tears came flowing down.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _MAY 2002_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
AJ was somewhere in the country
on his Johnny No Name tour and Jenny couldn't make it down considering she
had already taken a break in March--the rest of the Boys, however, including
Lance, were all present and accounted for. The crowd cheered as the former
undergradute college students tossed their graduation caps into the air.
After a bit of picture taking and congratulations, Cathy pulled from the
crowd in search of her cap. Everyone else had already found theirs.
"It's gotta be here somewhere..."
she muttered, her eyes on the ground. She ran into a pair of feet. "Sorry..."
She glanced up to see Howie smiling at her.
"Hey, sweetie," he smiled and
squatted down in front of her, holding a graduation cap, "Looking for something?"
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _JUNE 2002_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Lance yawned and rolled out of
his bunk, stumbling toward the bathroom. Just before he reached the door
a, flash went off. "Wha...?" he looked up to see Hannah with a camera and
heard JC and Chris laughing from the kitchen area of the bus. "Real cute.
Now hand over the camera, Hannah..." Lance stuck his hand out.
"You'll have to catch me first!"
Hannah leaped toward the kitchen and hid behind Chris.
"Don't make me threaten you..."
Lance growled as he entered the kitchen. Another flash went off. "Hannah!"
"What?" she smiled innocently.
"Come on, one more left!" Hannah snapped another picture. Before Lance
could get at her, she tossed the camera outside.
"That was smart..." Lance noted
as he stuck his head out along with Chris and JC. He could hear Hannah laughing.
"Just on my way to get these
developed..." Justin was standing right below the window, holding up the
camera. Joey drove up and Justin jumped in. Joey flashed a grin from the
driver's seat as they drove off. Lance turned, to Hannah speechless. She
just shrugged and gave another one of her famous innocent smiles.
>>part2