The Day After Valentine's Day, 2001

Brian stood knocking on Nick's hotel room door for a good five minutes before Nick opened the door.

"What?!" he exclaimed as he flung the door open.

"Whoa! Down boy! Just wanted to make sure you were awake so you don't miss breakfast," Brian explained holding both hands up in defense.

"Yeah, well I'm awake," Nick snapped. And he turned from the door, not bothering to hold it open for Brian.

Brian slapped his hand onto the door and held it open for himself as he let himself into the room. "What is your problem this morning?"

Nick was digging through his duffel bag and pulled out a t-shirt. "Nothing," he mumbled. He slipped the shirt over his head and looked at Brian. "Don't you have a wife here or something?"

Brian looked to the side and bit his tongue. Something was eating at Nick, and it was these little potshots that were his way of dealing with it. "She's downstairs."

"Don't you think you should join her? I mean, I'm sure your love fest has far from ended since last night."

Brian plopped down on the couch and leaned his head back on the cushion. "OK, I'll bite. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Nick answered. He was now digging in his duffel bag for socks. He found one and was ripping everything apart to find another.

"Yeah, sure," Brian replied. "C'mon. What's up? None of this 'nothing' crap either, because I want to know what's wrong and I don't want any beating around the bush."

Nick looked up at Brian and knew that he meant business. If there was anyone he could talk to about what was bothering him, it was Brian. So, he might as well get it off his chest.

"Fine," Nick huffed. "It's Danielle."

Brian rolled his eyes. "What?"

"What? What, you ask? Well let me tell you. She's all sad and lonely cause it's Valentine's Day yesterday. She told me she was going to be at home all alone cause she doesn't have a Valentine. So I send her flowers, tell her some sweet things and then she doesn't even bother to call," Nick started explaining, his frustration clearly coming through.

"Maybe she didn't get the flowers?" Brian offered.

"No, she did. I called the florist," Nick told him.

Brian shook his head. "Well, was she supposed to call you?"

"I told her I was going to call her after the show last night, and she said she would be there."

"Did you call?" Brian asked.

Nick looked at him in disbelief, "Ahhhhhh, yeah."

"Leave a message?"

"Uh-huh," Nick replied. "And no call back."

Brian smirked, "And I thought you were, what did you say? Just friends?"

"We are!" Nick yelled. "But. . ."

"But what?" Brian quickly cut him off, the anticipation evident.

Nick took a deep breath and looked at Brian in defeat. "Can you please, PLEASE keep a secret. Just between us?"

"Man, you know you can trust me," Brian answered. "This is ME."

Nick walked over and sat on the loveseat across from Brian and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and his hands folded together covering his mouth. He took another deep breath.

"You were right," he said quietly staring at Brian.

"I was? Hmmmm, about what?" Brian asked pretending not to know what he was talking about.

"Shut up, man, you know what I mean," Nick said. "Danielle? Me? I like her, okay?"

"Ok, now tell me something that I didn't already know," Brian smirked.

"I mean it, man. She just grew on me. I don't know when it happened, but she just, well, I don't know. I like her, ya know?" Nick tried to explain.

"I know, Nick," Brian nodded. "So, you think she just blew you off last night? Maybe she went out with some girlfriends or something. Birds of a feather flock together. Leigh was just telling me that whenever girls don't have Valentines they tend to go and get drunk together or something. Maybe she did that?"

"I guess I didn't think about that," Nick thought for a moment. "Maybe she did."

"Nick, does she know that you are developing feelings for her?" Brian asked.

Nick shook his head quickly. "Oh no! We're just buds ya know?"

"Do you think she has feelings for you?" Brian asked.

"Man, I don't know. Sometimes, it's just. . .so. . .there, ya know? And other times it's like. . .ya know. . .she's so wrapped up in school," he said.

"My advice to you, buddy. If it's gonna happen it will. But, don't get yourself so worked up. Remember, you guys as of right now, are just friends. I seriously doubt she's looking to jump into another relationship. So be careful. Don't get too close yet," Brian told Nick.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me," Nick replied with a grin.

"Good. Can we go eat now?" Brian motioned for the door.

Nick laughed and nodded and they headed off to breakfast with the others. Everyone was already down there except for AJ and Sarah, who joined the others rather fashionably late. AJ held the USA Today under one arm as he waltzed over to the table.

"Good morning everyone," he announced. "And, did everyone have as excellent of a Valentine's evening as I did?"

He looked around the table and continued, "Kevin looks satisfied. . .Brian looks pretty happy. . .Howie? Yeah, Howie you look like you had a nice evening. Me?" he looked at Sarah, "I KNOW I had a nice evening. . ."

As AJ pulled out the chair for Sarah to sit in he continued his calm rant, " Nicky, Nicky, Nicky. Something about your demeanor tells me you didn't have as good a night as the rest of us. I wonder. . .could it be related to the beautiful Miss Miller?"

"Shut up, AJ. You don't know what you are talking about," Nick replied trying to ignore him and he took a sip of his coffee.

"I don't? Oh, I think I do. Check out page three here in our nation's newspaper. Looks to me, like there was a reason you were all alone last night," AJ shot back and smacked the newspaper down in front of Nick.

Nick grabbed the section AJ was referring to, and there on page three was a roundup of celebrity Valentine's Day spottings. And smack in the middle of a sea of celebrities was a picture as clear as the subtitle underneath it. It was a photo of Joey and Danielle leaving a Tampa restaurant. Holding hands. And smiling.

Nick couldn't believe what he was seeing, "This is an old picture, right?"

"Fraid not, my boy," AJ answered.

Nick read the subtitle:

Joey Fatone, of NSYNC, escorted longtime girlfriend, Danielle Miller to a romantic dinner near the beachfront restaurant scene.

That was all Nick needed. He studied the photo for a moment and noticed that Danielle wasn't wearing a watch. This wasn't an old picture. This happened. But how? Why didn't she tell him? Nick flopped the paper back down and got up from his seat. "So much for your theory," he snapped at Brian, and left the dining room.

"Nice job, AJ," Brian glared at AJ. "Just great."

"What? I knew he should have banged her when he had the chance," AJ shot back.

Sarah smacked him on the arm, "Alex! Be nice. You're acting like a jerk!"

"Excuse me? I don't think so. I've been telling him from day one with her to screw her and get it over with. She's fucking trouble. Now look at him. He's a mess and it's cause she screwed with his head," AJ exclaimed.

"He's got a point," Kevin agreed.

Brian didn't want to admit it, but it did look that way. Nick was good enough to have around while Joey wasn't there. Now it appears that Joey was back, so where did that leave Nick?

That same day. . .

Danielle had hopped on the red eye flight to Los Angeles shortly after Joey left. She totally blew off classes the next day without giving it much thought. That was something she hadn't done in a long time. There was only one person that she wanted to see. And that was Britney. She didn't want to deal with Nick, she knew he would be disappointed in her and she just couldn't deal with him telling her what deep down she knew: She shouldn't have trusted Joey at all.

Danielle showed up at the set for where Britney was shooting a movie. Justin had been out there the night before, but had to get back to their tour. Danielle had called Britney when she landed in L.A. and Britney arranged for a car to pick her up and bring her out to the set.

Danielle was brought to Britney's trailer where she was trying to relax. She had just got her makeup finished and had about an hour before she was needed on set. The two friends saw each other and embraced. Danielle's tears began to fall immediately.

"Oh, Dani. It's okay. Let it all out," Britney whispered as she hugged her friend. The two slowly parted and Britney continued, " Now, what happened?"

Danielle told Britney about how Joey showed up at her doorstep with flowers and how he seemed just like the old Joey she fell in love with. She described how great the evening was and how they ended up back at her place, and nearly made love.

"I saw the paper this morning," Britney began. "I thought that maybe you guys had patched things up. What happened?"

"He had to go and bring up Nick!" Danielle blurted and burst into tears again.

"Oh no. Honey? What about Nick?" Britney asked.

"We're totally on the verge of ripping each other's clothes off, and then he goes and asks me if I have forgotten about Nick yet! I mean, why the hell ask me something like that?" Danielle asked. "So, I asked him what he meant by that, and he got all defensive and told me that I practically jumped into bed with Nick just as soon as I could after we broke up!"

"He said that?" Britney asked.

"Pretty much!" Danielle told her. "So I told him to get out. Brit, he was only there to stake claim. He didn't want to get back together. He just doesn't want me with Nick. He doesn't even know the whole story and he assumed the worst of me!"

Britney put her arm around Danielle's shoulders and gave her a squeeze. "Dani, let me ask you something. Are you still in love with Joey?"

"I thought I was," Danielle sniffed.

"Did you want to get back together with him?"

Danielle placed her face in her hands and shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe. I don't know. I just know that it felt so good to have him back again. But, now I know. It's over, Britney."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

Danielle sniffed again and nodded her head. "I'm sure Britney."

"So, what about Nick?" Britney asked.

Danielle began to cry again. "I don't know!"

"Okaaaaaaaay," Britney began. "Are you willing to give up everything with Joey because of your friendship with Nick?"

"I know. . .I know that I don't want to give up everything with Nick because of Joey. I stay with Joey, and that means I have to cut all ties with Nick."

"And, you're not willing to do that? Not even for Joey, who you have loved with all your heart for a really long time?" Britney asked.

"I don't think Joey has my heart anymore," Danielle whispered.

"Dani? Are you sure about what you are talking about?" Britney looked at her with caution.

"I don't know what I am feeling, Brit. I just know, that Nick is in my life now. I want him to stay in my life. And, I need him to know that," Danielle told her.

Britney took Danielle's hand, "Are you sure what you're feeling isn't rebound related?"

Danielle shook her head. "No. No. Brit, I can't explain it. There's just something. . .there, you know?"

Britney nodded and the two friends stared at each other in silence. Their eyes talking for them. When Britney finally spoke, "I think I know what you have to do now."

"I know," Danielle nodded.

"Go to him, Dani."

Before she knew it, Danielle was on a plane headed to Minnesota. Who would have thought she would be heading to her home state? She called her brother from the plane to let him know that she would be in Minneapolis today for sure and maybe another day or so. She wasn't sure what her schedule was going to be, but she figured that if she was going to be there she wasn't going to miss an opportunity to see her dad and brother.

She arrived in Minneapolis around 9pm and rented an SUV for her stay. She knew which hotel Nick would be staying at since it was the same on that NSync always stayed at while in Minneapolis. By the time she arrived at the hotel it was a little after 10pm. She checked into her room and tried to figure out how she was going to get to Nick. She had tried calling his cell phone earlier but he never answered. They had a show that night, and she was assuming that he would go out afterward. She took a shower to help her relax and then went downstairs to the lobby bar to get something to eat. She was surprised that the number of fans in the lobby had dwindled. Either security was getting better at the hotel or the fans were just too dog tired to hang around. She was relieved; there wasn't much that separated the lobby area from the hotel bar. She was exhausted, but she knew that if she were to retire to her room she would miss Nick, and she really needed to see him.

Her eyelids were growing heavier. She stuck to Diet Coke, coffee and water to help keep her awake. Around midnight, she felt a presence come up behind her.

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in," a male voice approached her.

Danielle turned to see AJ taking the seat next to her at the bar. "Jack and coke, please," he told the bartender.

He lit a cigarette and waited for his drink before saying a word to Danielle. He took of sip, and then spoke up.

"So, dear Danielle, what brings you all the way to Minneapolis? Surely, NSync is not playing here tomorrow or anything like that?"

"No, AJ, they're not," she retorted. "I wouldn't be here even if they were."

"Sure about that? Cause I'm pretty sure from the looks of the way you brushed young Carter off yesterday and by the looks of the photo everyone saw in the paper this morning that you and Fatone are pretty cozy again."

"Looks can be deceiving," she said shortly. "I'm here to see Nick."

"Do us all a favor, and don't," he told her firmly.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"Excuse you? You heard me," he replied sharply. He set his drink down and turned his body to face Danielle. "You don't get it, do you?"

"What are you talking about, AJ?" she asked, getting impatient with him.

There was a small commotion coming from the entrance of the hotel. From where the lobby bar was, Danielle and AJ had a clear view of the hotel entrance. Danielle felt a pit in her stomach when she saw who was coming in the doors. And not alone.

"That's what I'm talking about,"AJ replied.

Nick was staggering through the doors, obviously drunk, and accompanied by an attractive blond under his arm. They walked right past all the fans and straight to the elevators.

Danielle turned her head back to her cup of coffee, and tried to not let what she saw bother her. At least, she tried to not let AJ know it bothered her. Why did it bother her though? She was not Nick's girlfriend, he was free to do whatever he wanted with whoever he wanted. She certainly didn't think he was sitting around in his hotel room every night. But, seeing it. It tore at her heart.

"I'm sure you know what THAT was all about, don't you Danielle? You're a smart girl, huh?" AJ said snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Of course I know what that was all about AJ. I've been around this scene, you know."

"So, you are telling me that you don't know what this whole thing with you was all about?" AJ pointedly asked.

"With me?"

"Yeah. Why do you think that Nick has been so nice to you? Why do you think he approached you in the bar in the first place?" he pressed.

Danielle was speechless. She wasn't sure what AJ was suggesting but she could only stare at him, pleading with him with her eyes to continue what he was going to say.

"You were about THAT," AJ continued pointing in the direction of Nick and the girl. "You think he actually gives a damn about you? YOU, were a pawn, my dear. Simple as that. A good fuck for him, and an even greater fuck to throw in your boyfriend's face," AJ explained.

"I don't believe you," she told him and took another drink of her coffee.

"Believe it, baby. Cause right there, what you just saw, THAT'S the real Nick. Too bad, it's had to go on this long though. He held out good. Only to have you turn around and go back to your boyfriend. All this and he still didn't get any ass from you."

Danielle slapped AJ across the face and got up from her seat. "YOU. . .are an asshole, AJ. I can't believe you call yourself his friend."

AJ grabbed her wrist, "I AM his friend, honey. Me. Don't you forget it. You will never, be one of us. Pack up and get the hell out of here."

Danielle yanked her wrist from him, gave him one final glare, turned and calmly walked away. There was no way she was going to let him see what was coming next. As a tear formed in her eye and slid down her cheek. She went to the elevators and went up to her floor. When the doors opened, she saw Brian standing on the other side.

"Danielle? Is that you?" a surprised Brian asked.

Danielle looked up at him, teary-eyed, "Yeah, it's me."

"What are you doing here? What is wrong?" he asked.

"I came here to see Nick. But I know now that was a mistake. I'm getting my things and I'm leaving," she explained.

"Wait, wait a minute," he stopped her when she walked past. "Why did you come here to see Nick? What about Joey?"

"What about him, Brian?" she snapped. "Does it really matter? I know you really don't care and neither does Nick, so what about him?"

"Why would you think that Nick doesn't care?" Brian asked.

"I'm not stupid, Brian. I know now what's really going on. So don't worry, I'm done with Nick. And, since you asked. . .I'm done with Joey too. He's a manipulative bastard who didn't deserve the slightest second chance I gave him last night. And you know what? I'm glad I came out here to find out that Nick is just as manipulative. You guys. . .you're all the same," she stated calmly and walked away.

Brian was confused. He was supposed to be angry at her for playing with Nick's head. But, now he didn't know what to think. Did Nick say something to her to make her this upset? But, why did she come all the way out on tour to talk to Nick in the first place? She must have been telling the truth about Joey if she was here. But, all the stuff about Nick being just as bad as Joey? He just couldn't figure it out.

Brian was on his way to the workout room, but now he opted for Nick's room. He needed to find out what was going on and just what was said between them two. He went up to the next floor and knocked on Nick's suite door.

No answer. He knocked again. No answer. Well screw this, Brian thought. He grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Nick's number. He stood outside the door and after a few rings Nick answered. "What!"

"It's me," Brian said. "Come and open your door."

"Was that you doing all that knocking?" Nick asked.

"Yes! Now come and open this door. I need to talk to you."

"Brian! I'm a little busy right now," he said with a slyness in his voice.

"Oh, really? Well, would you mind telling me what in hell happened tonight?"

"What?"

"Come and open the fucking door!"

"Fine. . .fine," Nick hung up and seconds later he was opening his hotel suite to Brian. Brian brushed past Nick and into the room.

"First and foremost," Brian began. "Get the girl out of here."

Nick took a deep breath, rolled his eyes and turned back to the bedroom. He knew at this point it was no use to fight with Brian, and frankly, he wanted to know what he needed to talk to him about in the middle of the night.

Nick poked his head in the bedroom, "Hey! Get dressed. You are leaving."

"But, Nick, I thought. . ." Brian heard the girl talking.

"No buts, just get dressed and go," Nick cut her off.

Within seconds the girl was exiting the room. "Oh my God! Brian!" She shrieked.

"Yeah, yeah. Hello. . .nice meeting you. . .goodbye," Brian calmly stated as Nick led her to the door.

Nick saw the girl out and turned to Brian.

"Okay. What's going on?" Nick asked plainly.

"Would you mind telling me what happened with you and Danielle?" Brian asked.

"Danielle? Let me see. . .she got back together with Fatone and totally disregarded me as a friend, a person with feelings. . .ya know?"

"But, she DIDN'T get back together with Joey. Didn't she tell you what happened, or didn't you give her a chance?"

"I never answered any of her calls, B. I really just don't want to talk to her right now."

"Calls? You mean, you haven't seen her?" Brian asked, confused.

"Seen her? Be a little hard to do that beings that I'm here in Minnesota and she's in Florida, Brian. . .duh!" Nick told him and he began to dig through his mini bar for snacks.

"Oh boy," Brian breathed, rubbing his hands over his face. "She's here, Frack."

Nick stopped digging and looked right at Brian. "She's here? What? I don't understand."

"She came here to see you, but for some reason she's got you on the same slime level as Joey right now. I thought you had gotten into a fight with her or something. She said she was leaving and we wouldn't have to worry about her being around anymore."

Nick's face immediately looked desperate. Why did she come here to see him and what happened to make her so upset? "Do you know where she is?"

"In her room I would imagine," Brian answered.

"Man, I can't believe she came all the way out here to see me," Nick said running his hand through his hair. He picked up his room key and headed for the door, "C'mon, we're going to the front desk, let's find her."

Nick and Brian took off out of the room and ran right into an inebriated AJ.

"Hey Nicky! Brian? What are you still doing up?" AJ laughed.

"I ran into Danielle," Brian told him.

"Yeah, me too!" AJ said. "Nicky, I told her what's up. You can get on with things now."

Nick slowly spun on his heel and looked cautiously at AJ. "What do you mean you told her 'what's up'?"

AJ patted Nick's shoulder, "I sent her on her way, bro. She ain't gonna play with your head anymore. I told her about your quest to sow some oats with her."

Nick's eyes flashed with anger. "You what?" He yelled.

"Well, yeah. That's all it was, wasn't it?" AJ asked Nick with an obvious sound to his voice.

Nick tried to contain his anger. He wanted to grab AJ and throw him down the hallway. He wanted to scream at him at the top of his lungs. He bit his lower lip, his nostrils flaring with anger.

"AJ, you stupid son-of-a-bitch!" Nick screamed through his teeth. Brian immediately jumped in between AJ and Nick as he saw Nick begin to take steps toward AJ.

"Nick! Nick! Nick! Don't even think about it," Brian stopped him.

"You know what, AJ? I ought to pound your head into that wall there," Nick yelled. "How many times did I tell you that's not what our friendship was about? Huh? HOW MANY?"

"I KNOW you, Nick," AJ tried to explain. "You can't tell me that you didn't want to fuck her."

"Look at her Age. Who wouldn't want to fuck her? I just happened to care about her feelings, too. I'm not about to use her to pit Fatone and the others against us any more than they already are. It's not fair to her!" Nick yelled quietly.

"Guys. . .we need to take this somewhere else," Brian jumped in. "Out of the hallway, out of sight."

Nick looked at Brian, then back at AJ. "AJ needs to go to his room and get out of my sight for awhile. Brian, let's go use some influence to find out where her room is."

Nick gave AJ one final glare before he turned to the elevators with Brian in tow.

"She was on the same floor as me, that's the floor she got off on when I got on," Brian told Nick.

"I'm not going to knock on every door Brian," Nick said. "This will be easier."

Brian and Nick made it to the front desk and luckily there were no fans in sight. They must have all given up for the night. Which was a blessing because the last thing Nick wanted to do was get stuck in a fan circle for the next hour signing autographs and smiling for cameras.

"Can I help you sir?" The front desk clerk greeted them.

"Yes, I'm Nick Carter and one of my good friends checked into the hotel while my band was performing. I was hoping that you could give me her room number?" Nick asked, putting on his charm.

"Mr. Carter, you know that I can't give you the room number, but I can ring the room for you," she replied.

"OK, ring it. She can give it to me herself," he said.

"Certainly. What's the name?" the clerk asked.

Nick hoped she didn't use aliases at hotels, "Danielle Miller."

The clerk typed and searched for a moment. "I'm sorry but Miss Miller just checked out about 20 minutes ago, Mr. Carter."

"She. . .she's gone?" he asked. "Did she leave any messages for anyone?"

"No sir, I'm sorry she didn't."

He had just missed her. If he hadn't run into AJ he would have got to her in time. If she hadn't of run into AJ she would have never left in the first place. Damnit AJ! He thought. It were times like these where he wished he didn't have obligations. Where he wished he didn't have to leave town in the morning for the next city. He needed to talk to her and straighten things out. Find out why she was there, find out about Joey and let her know that he would never ever use her the way AJ described.

He turned to Brian, "Now what do I do?"

Brian shook his head, "I don't know bro. I don't know."

Chapter 9
Chapter 7
Table of Contents
Hosted Stories