In the family room, there was a long silence. No one had anything to say because of what had just happened. They didn't want to break out anymore arguements and they were in complete shock. "Theresa?" Dawn whispered to her. "Could I please talk to you?" she said. "Alone?" she said looking at Travis.
"Umm.. yeah," she said uncomfortably. She had been thinking about what she had just done, and she knew she had made a fool of herself. She knew that Nick wasn't going to forgive her for what she just did, 'What an impression I made on the Backstreet Boys, all I wanted was to be friends? God, why am I like this?' she thought.
The two got up and headed towards the backyard. "Theresa? Why did you blow up like that? That's not like you." Dawn asked. "What's going on with you, what's going on through your head? Have you lost your mind?"
Theresa just bursted out crying. "Dawn, look at you, you have the perfect life. You've got Aaron and the guys don't hate you."
"Theresa, I don't understand. You have Travis, isn't he making you happy? The guys don't hate you, they're just confused on why you would do such a thing." Dawn said.
"I don't know what got into me, earlier Nick asked to talk to me and we came out here and he asked me about the last BBQ, why I ran out crying that night? I couldn't answer him, and I just left him here as I ran back inside ignoring his question." Theresa sobbed. "I... I didn't want to come tonight, but I felt that I needed to, after all, these guys made the beginning of our vacation a lot of fun. Oh god, Dawn, what have I done?"
"Theresa, you still like Nick don't you?"
"Yeah.. I mean no, I have Travis.. he makes me happy, he's been there for me..." Theresa said.
"Honestly?" Dawn said suspiciously.
"Yeah..no..I mean I don't know. I don't know what I want, I know we've always dreamed of meeting the Backstreet Boys and now we have the chance to be their friends." she said. "But I want more than that from Nick. He's the guy I've dreamed of for so long, but he doesn't return those feelings and I have to move on."
"Theresa, I know you don't want me saying this, but you have to forget him, you had no right on putting the blame on Karen. She didn't do anything to you. Whether you like Nick or not, she doesn't know that and she hasn't said anything to you to make you hate her." Dawn explained.
"She has a lot to do with it. Dawn you know perfectly well, if we didn't run into Karen, Nick and I could be together right now."
"You don't know that. Maybe it's fate, maybe she belongs with Nick. There has to be a reason why Karen all of a sudden appeared, sure, she disappeared for awhile but then out of nowhere she shows up again, that has to say something."
"How can you say that, Dawn? You're my best friend."
"I know I am, but she seems harmless and she hasn't done anything to make me judge her wrongly. Plus, she was kind enough to come talk to me, I can tell she wants to be friends."
"Dawn, I can't believe you. I'm going to leave now, I can't stay here any longer, seeing people mock me and hate me, I can't. And my best friend betraying me like this."
"God, Theresa, lately, it's been YOU YOU YOU. You're not the same anymore, I don't know what's gotten into you but to me, I don't like that. I've tried so hard to try and talk to you about things but you push me away. I'm telling you this because I'm scared, I'm scared of what might happen to you. All I have to say is if you leave right now, those guys are going to judge and think of you as a BAD person. Don't tell me I'm wrong, because I know what I'm saying. I'm beginning to see that myself." Dawn said angrily. "And you had NO right on yelling at Karen in front of everyone, that won't get you anywhere. Getting angry at me or anybody else isn't going to do you any good either. But if you want to leave that's your decision, you just lost a bunch of good friends that treated you well, and this is how you repay them for showing you around town and for allowing you to be a part of their BUSY lives. Theresa, I can't think of anything else to say...but you should feel lucky enough because these guys are actually still talking to you after what has happened and they've only known us for a month." she immediately got up and went back into the house leaving Theresa there by herself.
Theresa sat there stunned at what her best friend had just said, she realized that Dawn was right about one thing but she wasn't right about Karen. Theresa dispised Karen and nothing can change her mind from that. 'Dawn's right, I shouldn't have yelled at Karen in front of everyone, and I'm not going to leave or they'll never invite me over again. But nothing, and I mean nothing is going to make me like her.' She got up and walked back inside the house, and joined Travis. Everyone in the house was now talking and had forgotten the arguement except Brian.
Brian sat down quietly, 'I'm glad Leigh Anne and I decided to stay friends, she knows me and how I act. She knows that I never want to have enemies. She's very understanding. I love her for that.... but she doesn't love me.' he thought sadly.
"Well, I'm going to start up the grill and start roasting some meat... anyone want to join me? I could use the help because it makes it faster and we could eat sooner." Kevin said.
"I'll come." Howie said. "I'll start up the other grill too."
"Yeah, I'll help you too," Aaron and Dawn said at the same time.
"I'll go mix a salad," Leigh Anne suggested.
"And Amanda and I will come out back and watch." A.J. grinned.
As everyone left the family room, it left Theresa, Travis and Brian. Brian couldn't take his eyes off Theresa, 'Why would she do that to Karen?' he kept telling himself.
"Theresa, are you okay?" Travis asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Theresa said noticing Brian's eyes on her. "What's his problem?" she asked Travis.
"I think he's wondering what happened. Remember he wasn't in here when everything happened."
"Yeah," Theresa said. "Umm... Travis, I'm sorry you had to see me like that."
"It's okay, I didn't want to jump in because I didn't know what was going on, but I was surprised at what you were doing, I've known you for doing crazy things but that was REALLY psycho." he said.
"Ha, I know, I don't know what got into me." Theresa smiled weakly.
"Well, I'm never going to get on your nerves." Travis joked.
Theresa laughed and gave Travis a hug.
'I never thought Theresa would do such a thing.' Brian thought. The thought of Karen getting hurt again when her life was just starting to go on well just hurt Brian so much. He didn't know why anyone would hurt such a harmless girl, she's been through enough why put her through more. He couldn't sit there any longer, so he went out back to join other people.
"Dawn, is Theresa okay?" Aaron asked.
"I don't know, but I hope she thinks things over and at least give Karen a chance.." Dawn said. "She jumped to conclusions about her and... " she continued. "What I don't get is why she is so bothered by Karen. She seems harmless and I have to admit she's really nice."
"I agree, Karen's a cool person." Aaron said. "But do you think it has something to do with Nick?" he asked.
"I don't know, but I wouldn't doubt it, she really did like Nick."
"What about Travis?"
"I don't know, right now I think Theresa is really confused on what she wants."
"I hope she finds out soon." he said. He was thinking about when he caught Nick and Karen kissing earlier, he didn't want to tell Dawn just yet because if Theresa finds out who knows what she'll do.
"Yo, Brian, want to go get Nick and Karen, we're almost done."
"Okay."
Brian went back inside and up the stairs to get Nick and Karen. He saw the door opened to a crack. 'It's quiet in there, I hope she didn't leave.' Forgetting to knock he walked in and saw Karen sleeping in the arms of his best friend. Nick, too, was asleep. 'They do look cute together,' he thought. 'I'm not going to wake them up.'
As he was about to close the door. "Frick? Is that you?" asked a drowsy Nick as he looked at Karen who was sleeping peacefully.
"Yeah," Brian said, "I just came to tell you that the food's almost ready. But I saw that you were sleeping and I was just going to leave you alone." he said.
"Oh no, it's okay. I'm kind of hungry anyways, she asked me to sit here till she fell asleep and I guess I dozed off too. Do you want to help me move her so I don't wake her up?" Nick asked quietly.
Brian walked over to the bed and helped Nick get out from under Karen.
"Thanks." Nick said. He said as he was leaving the room.
Brian stood there looking at Karen. "Umm.. Nick can I talk to you?"
"Sure, about what?" Nick said.
"Let's go talk in my room." Brian suggested. The two headed to Brian's room. "Nick do you know what's up with Theresa?"
"No, I don't. I asked her about the other night earlier and she ran out on me and when I went inside she was yelling at Karen." Nick explained.
"What happened down there? No one wants to tell me anything." Brian asked.
"I walked in when Theresa was saying how we were only accepting her into our lives because of pity. She told Karen she was worthless and saying that she had some disease because we found her off the streets and so on." Nick said. "I honestly don't know Brian. I thought Theresa was different than that but I don't know what got into her."
"But why? What started it?" Brian asked.
"I have no clue." Nick shrugged his shoulders.
"I have another question."
"Ask away."
"How are you and Karen doing?"
"So far I think we're doing okay, I mean we kissed but this time I didn't make the move. She did." he said amazed. "A couple of times things were so heated up that I had to push myself away from her. I didn't want to do anything wrong." Brian sat there listening intently. Nick continued. "Brian, I think I like her."
"Did you ask her out?" Brian asked.
"No, I never exactly asked her out. I want to but I don't know how. Brian, how come you never show up when we plan to do things?" Nick wanted to know.
"I felt I should leave you two alone because I knew how much you liked her." Brian smiled.
"Thanks, you're the best." Nick said. "How can I repay you?"
"Treat her well, that's all I ask." Brian said dearly.
"Is that all?" Nick asked surprised at his response. "Your usually more tough on me..."
"Yeah that's all." Brian smiled. 'I only want her to be happy.' he thought to himself.
"Thanks, Rok. You're the best." Nick said, "Now let's go get some grub." He got up to leave the room.
"I'll be down there in a sec." Brian told him.
"Alright, see you down there." Nick called back.
When Nick was out of sight, Brian walked towards Karen's room and watched the sleeping girl. 'I'm glad that her and Nick are getting together like I planned. I just want her to be happy.' He walked over to her bedside. 'She sure is beautiful. She deserves Nick.' He leaned over and gave her a kiss on her forehead. 'I'm glad that she is finally happy, with US all.' he thought. He turned around and headed down the stairs closing the door behind him ever so quietly.
Meanwhile, in the backyard, everyone was sitting around talking, enjoying themselves, forgetting about what had happened earlier. Amanda was off talking with Leigh Anne. Kevin and Howie were talking as they continued to barbeque ribs. A.J. was talking with Travis, Aaron and Dawn. And Theresa was sitting on the swing set thinking about what she did earlier and Dawn's words were sticking to her mind.
Nick looked around the backyard and saw that everyone was mingling and his eyes were set on Theresa alone on the swing set. He decided to walk over, he didn't want to be left hanging. He wanted to know what her problem was. She wasn't the same person he knew when they first met. He sat down next to her on the swing and it kind of startled her. She looked at him and quickly looked away. "Theresa, we really need to talk." Nick said. She didn't respond. "I don't know how to get through to you and I know we hardly know each other, but I thought we agreed to be friends, I thought we were going to trust each other with things." He said slowly. "Aren't friends suppose to share their problems with each other? Aren't they suppose to help each other out? And whatever is bothering you, I want to help."
"Nick, leave me alone!" she said rather rudely.
Offended Nick said. "No! Theresa I thought I knew you, When I first met you I thought you were alright. I didn't think of you as a maniac fan who just wanted me to love them because they think they know me. I thought of you as a friend. You treated me equally and you allowed me to trust you with some things. I thought we had something going here."
Theresa sat there and listened to him. 'I'm glad he thinks of me like that, but... I want more than a friendship.' she said to herself. She continued to listen to him.
"Theresa, please tell me why you ran out the other night. I don't know why you ran out like that and I don't know why you cried. Did I do something wrong? If I did I'd like to know so I can fix it. And then you and Karen. What was that all about? Why did you and Karen yell at each other?"
"Nick, I don't want to talk about it."
"Why not? Am I not your friend?"
"You are... It's just that..." she started to say. "Look, I didn't mean to walk in on you and Karen the other night. I didn't know anyone was in there and I was embarassed walking in on you guys." she continued. "And tonight, I have just been under a lot of stress lately, I didn't mean to bitch at her like that." she lied.
"What provoked it?" he asked curiously.
"Nothing," she lied.
"Nothing?"
"Well, it's..."
"You had NO right on saying any of the things you said to her. We didn't accept her out of pity, we wanted to help."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know what I was saying. It just came out of my mouth." she said snobbishly.
"Maybe you should be telling that to her."
"I.. I can't."
"Why not?"
"Look, I just can't alright?" she said rudely. "My life was perfect until SHE came along!" Theresa got up and walked over to Travis.
Nick sat there, he just didn't get her. 'What did she mean by her life was perfect until she came along. She hardly even knows her. Why all of a sudden this attitude change?' he wondered.
Then, "Hey guys, Leigh Anne and I need to share with you guys some news?" Brian said.
"Are you guys getting married?" Kevin asked excitedly. "I knew you'd be the first."
"It's about time." A.J. commented.
Leigh Anne and Brian looked at each other and smiled weakly. "No, it's not that." Leigh Anne said.
"Then what?" Howie asked. "Are you pregnant? Wow, a Backstreet baby."
"Alright B-Rok!" A.J. encouraged.
"No, it's not that either." Brian said slowly.
"Then what is it?" Amanda asked.
"Well, we don't know how to tell you guys this.." Brian said fidgeting. "Leigh Anne and I... Leigh Anne and I..." he looked around and he saw everyone standing there with interest. "Leigh Anne and I..." he still couldn't bring himself out to say it.
Then Leigh Anne spoke up and finished off his sentence. "What he's trying to say is, Brian and I broke up. We aren't together anymore."
They looked at each other and then at everyone else. Everyone was in shock. They didn't know what to say.
