Los Angeles

Danielle had decided before she graduated that she was going to take the entire summer off. No working, just relaxation. She would worry about finding a job in the fall. Since Danielle was planning on taking the summer off, Nick invited her to come on tour with him. Danielle was more than happy to accept this invitation. Especially now that she had no obstacles keeping her from being with Nick.

It didn't take long for Danielle to fall into the routine of life on the road. She had been used to it from touring with Joey, so going on the road with Nick wasn't too much of a shock to her system. She knew to pack light and be prepared to do a lot of laundry and also buy a lot of new clothes.

The boys were a week into the second leg of their tour, and they had just arrived in Los Angeles after a long, late night flight from D.C. The whole bunch were taken to the hotel where they could get some decent rest, which was much needed for the following day's all day concert event. Nick and Danielle went straight to their room and right to bed. Both of them were exhausted from the long flight. Before Danielle went to sleep her thoughts began to wander. She rolled over next to Nick and slid her arm around his waist. He was already asleep. She tried to close her eyes and fall into slumber as well, but she couldn't let her mind rest.

Wango Tango was the premiere event of the summer with all the biggest acts. Danielle was excited because she would get to see Britney, but she also had a pit in her stomach over some information that Britney had given her. Not only were The Backstreet Boys and Britney performing, but Britney had told her that the NSync boys were also going to be there. They weren't scheduled to make an appearance, but they were in California and it was an off day. Since Justin wanted to see Britney, they all decided to go and hang out. She didn't let Nick know about her uneasy feeling, figured it would just drudge up some bad feelings between the two of them. She certainly wasn't still in love with Joey, but at the same time, she just didn't want to have to deal with seeing him, much less actually have to talk to him. She did tell Nick that he was probably going to be there, and she left it at that when Nick answered her statement with silence.

She inched closer to Nick and held him a little tighter as she kissed his shoulder. The last person in the world she wanted to think about was Joey. He was her past. That's the way it is, and the way she wanted it to be. I have this wonderful man in my arms. This is the one I love. The one I want to be with. The one who will never hurt me. She rested her head against his shoulder blade and with the thoughts of her and Nick now filling her mind, she began to fall into a peaceful sleep.

Wango Tango

Upon arrival, everyone was handed their security passes. "You'd be surprised how fast a real girlfriend can get shipped out of backstage without one of these babies on," Billy had told Danielle. She believed it. It had happened to her once while she was with Joey. They had arrived late to some show and the boys were whisked off before anyone got their passes. Security stuck with the group and it was Danielle and Bobbie, JC's girlfriend, who were booted from the backstage area because no one had given them a pass before they were whisked away. The venue security didn't believe they were who they were and they found themselves sitting amongst the throngs of women waiting to catch a glimpse of their idols. Thank goodness for cell phones, and thank goodness Bobbie had hers with her. Once she was able to get a hold of JC (which took some time), they were rescued from the fans who were laughing and snickering at them for being kicked out of backstage. Danielle could look back on that now and laugh, but she sure never wanted it to happen again.

This time, so far so good. The atmosphere was pretty casual and everyone was just kind of hanging out with everyone. It was a party backstage and there were quite a few entertainers who were already hitting the liquor, AJ included. They spent the majority of the afternoon playing basketball, eating appetizers, mingling with other industry people. The boys had to tape some interviews periodically, and Danielle took advantage of their busy time to spend some time with Britney. Justin wasn't there yet, so they got to really talk and catch up.

The Boys were getting ready to do a meet and greet and were heading to another part of the backstage area when the inevitable happened. Joey was just turning a corner with Chris when he spotted Danielle and Nick leaving the BSB area together. Nick was behind Danielle with both of his hands on her shoulders, following her out. Danielle didn't see Joey, but when Nick glanced over in their direction he took a double take upon seeing him. Joey stopped walking and folded his arms in front of him when he noticed he had caught Nick's eye. Danielle kept walking with Nick on her heels, but Nick's eyes were locked on Joey's. Nick pulled Danielle back closer to him to wrap his right arm around her waist and his left arm slid from her shoulder to around her neck. He kissed Danielle on the head as she giggled at his playful move. Yes, he was being playful with her, but the glare in his eyes staring at Joey as he kissed her was sending a clear message. He wanted Joey to know that Danielle was HIS now.

Joey's nostrils flared and Chris grabbed onto his arm when he started walking toward Nick and Danielle. When Nick saw Chris grab him, he just laughed. Danielle reached around the back of her to grab onto Nick's side while he still held her in front of him.

"What are you laughing at?" she asked Nick starting to look around.

Nick quickly tried to divert her attention away from where Joey was by starting to tickle her, "You! Do you like that? Don't laugh! Don't laugh!" he teased her. Nick shot one final look back at Joey and laughed again when Joey flipped him off.

Nick and the rest of the boys were headed to the meet and greet when Danielle went to visit Britney again. She had about 20 minutes before Britney was going onstage and that was the perfect timing because the boys would be finishing up their meet and greet around then.

"I thought for sure Jus would be here by now," Britney pouted. "I've got to go onstage in a few minutes."

Danielle sighed and rolled her eyes, "He can take all the time he wants. Hopefully, they show up long after I'm gone."

Britney gave her a knowing glance, "Dani. You're gonna see him. You're here, he's gonna be here any second."

"Then I better get going," Danielle started to get up.

"Dani! Stop right there! Now, just stop!" Britney scolded. "Talking to him isn't going to hurt anything. This is still Joey were are talking about."

"I just don't want to see him, Brit," Danielle looked at the ground. "I just, really do not want to see him."

"Are you afraid of your feelings? I know you, Dani," Britney looked at her carefully.

"No, NO. I just think that nothing good can come of us talking right now," Danielle told her. "I mean, I'm already here with Nick. He's gonna be in a bad mood anyway."

The girls were interrupted by a man poking his head in informing Britney that she had five minutes before stage time. The girls said goodbye and planned on meeting up later at the hotel for a little while. Nick and Howie were going to a birthday party that night and Danielle opted to stay in while the boys had their fun.

Danielle was just passing the port-o-potties heading back to the BSB camp when Justin ran up behind her and pinched her sides, "Boo!"

"AH!" Danielle jumped and turned quickly to see Justin laughing at her.

"Dani! Where you been girl?" Justin yelled in her face.

"Jus!" Danielle squealed and jumped into his arms. She was genuinely happy to see her friend. She hadn't seen Justin since Valentine's Day when their paths crossed when she was visiting Britney in L.A. The two friends hugged and Justin whispered in her ear, "You here with Blondie?"

They released their hug and Danielle nodded giving Justin a knowing look. "Yeah, I am," she answered him.

"We sure do miss you, you know?" Justin added quietly as Joey came up behind them.

"J, can you give us a minute?" Joey interrupted. Danielle's smile turned into a plain expression. Justin took a step back from Danielle and they both looked at Joey. JC then popped in between Justin and Joey, "Hey Dani girl! Long time no see!" he broke past Joey and grabbed her in a hug.

"Hey Jace," Danielle hugged him back.

"Guys!" Joey blurted in frustration. "Can we PLEASE have a minute, here?"

"I don't think we NEED a minute, Joey," Danielle told him bluntly.

He grabbed her arm and started pulling her away from Justin and JC, "YES, we do."

"Joe! Let go of my arm!" she yanked her arm free.

Justin and JC weren't going to leave anytime soon. They both knew how upset Joey was over Danielle seeing Nick, and his mood wasn't any better now. Justin followed after them and grabbed onto Joey after Danielle broke free from his grasp.

"Joey! Dawg, just leave her alone," Justin said trying to calm him down.

"Both of you," Joey said pointing at both Justin and JC. "Leave. Now."

JC looked at Danielle for her approval, in which she nodded, "It's OK guys. We're just gonna talk."

Justin and JC looked back and forth at Joey and Danielle before leaving them alone. Danielle watched them leave and then turned her attention back to Joey, "OK. What? You wanna talk? Talk."

Joey stood before her and the expression on his face changed from anger to a soft loving one. He looked Danielle up and down, "You look great, Dani. I can't tell you how much I have missed you." He reached out to touch her shoulder but she backed away quickly.

"What? I can't even touch you now?" he asked surprised by her sudden reaction.

"No, Joey, you can't," she said flatly. "And, I really don't care if you've missed me or not."

"I think you do care," he said stepping closer to her.

"Joe, what do you want?" she sighed allowing him to enter her personal space, since she was already up against a port-o-potty.

"Dani, I just want to make sure you know what you are doing. What you are getting yourself into. I know you're with Carter and all, but I don't believe that you are ready to just leave me, us, behind," Joey's tone was soft and he had no anger in his voice.

Danielle looked up at Joey and began to put her defenses down. He wasn't yelling at her, and she was prepared for a fight. She wasn't prepared for this kind of confrontation. She didn't want to fight with him. She just wanted him to know that she really has moved on.

"Joe, I know what I'm doing," she replied softly.

In the meantime, Nick and the rest of the boys had finished up their meet and greet and were going to be going onstage in about an hour. Nick was checking all over for Danielle but couldn't find her.

"Sarah!" Nick yelled.

Sarah looked up at Nick, "What?" she yelled back.

"Do you know where Dani is?" he asked.

"She went to see Britney while you were signing. She's onstage now, I haven't seen Danielle since she left," Sarah told him shrugging her shoulders.

"Oh. OK, thanks," Nick said. He was kind of confused and hoped she didn't get kicked out or something.

"I'll be right back, I'm gonna see if I can find her real quick," Nick told the others, most of whom weren't even listening. He looked around to see if anyone would respond to his announcement and nodded to no one. He motioned with his hands that he was heading out the door, "Oookay, I'll just be going then."

He began to walk near the bathrooms when he saw Chris walking from that way. The two glanced at each other. Nick tried really hard not to look at him, but couldn't help it when Chris piped up, pointing in the direction of the port-o-potties as he passed Nick, "You'll find her with Joey over there."

Nick stopped in his tracks and whipped his head around towards Chris, "What?"

"I said that you'll find Danielle with Joey, over THERE," Chris said slowly and sarcastically as he again pointed in the same direction.

"You got a problem or something?" Nick steamed.

"Nope. I don't. But I think you do," Chris said casually turning and walking away.

With Joey? She better not fucking be with Joey. That was all that was going through his head. Over and over as he stormed off faster in the direction of the potties. She better not fucking be with Joey. As he approached the area, he could hear talking and sure enough it was Danielle's voice. And yes, she was talking to Joey. Nick was just about ready to break up the party when he decided to stand by and listen for a bit. He was just on the other side of the potties and could hear every word Joey and Danielle were saying.

"Joe, I know what I'm doing," Danielle replied to Joey softly.

"Do you? Cause I don't see you getting the same kind of reception from his friends as you just got from Justin and JC. Or the rest of the boys. Everyone misses you Dani. Especially me," he told her, still with no anger.

As much as she wanted to disagree with him, he was right. She missed the other guys terribly. Missed the other girlfriends. She has yet to have a real good reception with any of the boys. Sarah was really the only person that was excited to see her, aside from Nick.

"I can see it on your face, Dani. None of them know you like we do," Joey said reaching out to touch her again. He put his hand on her shoulder only this time she let him. "Don't you even miss me a little bit?"

"Joey, honestly. There was a time when I was ready to throw everything you told me on New Year's aside and start over with you," Danielle began, looking into his eyes.

"We can still start over, Danielle," Joey said running his hand down her arm from her shoulder to her hand.

What? Nick yelled in his head. His hand flew up over his mouth to make sure he didn't make a peep. Dani, you don't mean that! He wanted to yell. He wanted to run right around the corner and start yelling, but he held back.

Danielle pulled her hand away from Joey. She wanted to cry. She felt the tears starting to well up, but she fought them back. "Not anymore, Joey."

"Danielle, you can come with me right now and we can start over. Don't you remember all the time we shared? How much I love you?" Joey began to plead.

Danielle searched Joey's eyes. She knew she should feel some sort of remorse for their lost love, but she couldn't find him in her heart. As much as she kept seeing her Joey in front of her, she couldn't feel him in her heart. "You said you would love me forever, Joey."

"And I will," he told her softly reaching out to her again. She felt his fingers on her hand and after a brief moment of him caressing her hand, she slowly pulled it away.

"But, then you turned around and ripped your love away from me," she shook her head. "That's not love Joey. Loving someone one second and then throwing them aside the next?"

"Danielle, I know I fucked up. I'm sorry!" he pleaded more. "Dani, please, just leave with me. I promise, things will be the way they were."

Nick stood there listening intently. It took all his strength to stand aside and listen to them hash this out. He prayed that Danielle wouldn't leave with Joey. But, he really couldn't be sure that the love they shared could compare to the love that her and Joey shared. They had a lot of history together. Now, all he could do was keep his fingers crossed.

"No Joey. We are over. We can never go back. I'm with Nick now," Danielle told him. He began to look away from her as to dismiss what she was telling him. "Joey! Listen to me! Look at me and listen!"

He stopped and looked her in the eyes, "You don't mean that, Dani."

"Joey, listen to me. I. Love. Nick. I'm. WITH Nick. That is what I want. To be with HIM," she told him firmly looking him straight in the eyes.

Nick smiled to himself. She really did love him. She really chose him over Joey. YES! He thought. You're truly my babygirl. He had heard enough. He didn't need to listen anymore. He quietly started walking back to the BSB area, with a smirk on his face and in a confident stride.

Joey clearly did not want to accept what Danielle was telling him. He just kept telling her that she was wrong, and that she needed to give them another chance. Danielle finally just walked away from him. He followed her, yelling for her to stop and talk to him, until she got closer to the BSB area. She turned abruptly, "You want to join me in here, Joe?" she yelled pointing to the curtained area where they both knew the full BSB camp was.

"Fine Danielle!" Joey yelled throwing his hands up in frustration. "Go ahead and fuck whoever you want! If you want to believe he loves you, fine! When he dumps you for some slut, don't come crawling back to me!"

Nick came running to the curtain entrance hearing both of them yelling, "What's going on out here?"

Danielle turned to see Nick running up to her, "Nothing. Let's go." She told him turning her back on Joey to ignore his comments. Nick stood there and let her enter the curtained area ahead of him. He wanted to make sure Joey kept his distance and went on his way.

"You heard what I said, didn't you Carter?" Joey yelled. "I KNOW you don't love her. You never could! You don't understand what she needs. . .what she wants!"

"Get the fuck out of here, Fatone!" Nick yelled at him motioning for him to leave.

Joey stepped closer to Nick, "She'll always be mine. You know it. I know it. I have something that you will NEVER have. Girls never forget that."

Nick's hands began to ball into fists and he was fighting the urge to hit Joey square in the jaw. Two can play at the words game, and Nick had the upper hand. "Who's she with, huh? Who's taking her home tonight? She's coming with me. . .to MY bed," Nick smirked.

The tension between the two of them was thick. Kevin and AJ, along with Billy, came running out when Nick didn't return with Danielle. Joey took a swing at Nick, but Nick was able to quickly duck the swing and throw his shoulder into Joey's chest punching him in the gut. Kevin and Billy jumped on top of the two men and pulled Nick off of Joey. Billy held onto Nick and Kevin grabbed Joey. "Enough!" Kevin yelled. "AJ! Get him out of here!" AJ and Billy pulled Nick back to where everyone else was, while Kevin took care of Joey.

"Kevin, this has nothing to do with you!" Joey yelled at him.

"Fuck that, Joey. Listen to me and listen to me good. Whatever is going on between you and Danielle, is between you and Danielle. But when you start something with Nick, then you are dealing with MY family, which IS my business," Kevin told him sternly.

"You guys don't want her here any more than I do," Joey said to Kevin.

"That's not what this is about," Kevin said. "Danielle is a sweet girl. And right now, she has chosen to be with Nick. Let her be happy, man."

Kevin let go of Joey by gently throwing him aside. "Now get out of here and leave Nick AND Danielle alone," he ordered.

Joey watched Kevin walk back to their area and then looked up at their security team, which had formed a barrier at their curtained area. The men looked wickedly at Joey, who took a couple deep breaths before heading back to his own crew.

Danielle sat with Sarah and the wives in the audience on the side in a special reserved section for guests. They were still in the audience, but they didn't have to deal with the hoards of fans pushing and shoving in the general admission, plus they had an excellent view of the stage and the boys. Right up front, but off to the side.

They began More Than That, and Danielle was tapping her foot to the music watching Nick. Nick was feeling overwhelmed with his emotions over Danielle. She had proven to him that she loved him. And he wanted to prove to her that she made the right choice. He looked at her and smiled. He then pointed right at her and nodded to her. She smiled at him and pointed back. He continued to stare into her eyes as he sang,

OOOH, I will love you more than that

I will love you more than that

By the end of the chorus that Nick was singing to her, he was on his knee and grabbing his heart while singing into her eyes.

She began to tear up and Sarah nudged her, "I think he's trying to tell you something."

Danielle smiled and nodded, "Yeah, I know."

Joey watched the whole exchange alongside Chris backstage. He fumed and stormed off muttering under his breath, "He'll never love you more than me."

Chris took a glance at Danielle before turning and following Joey out. He was on Joey's side. She would figure out who she was meant to be with. And he knew that it was Joey.

The next morning on the plane. . .

They boarded the plane and Nick was quite hung-over from the night before. He had come back to the hotel only about two hours before they had to leave. He was a mess. He had cake all over his face and clothes and stumbled into the bed. He proceeded to get cake all over Danielle before she got him up and into the bathroom to take a shower.

Nick sat up on the couch he was laying on to join Danielle in her seat. He plopped down next to her and drank some water. Danielle glanced at him and then squinted to look at him closer. She began to chuckle. "You still have cake. . .in..." she began to laugh quietly. "In your ears." She grabbed some cotton swabs out of her carryon and helped him clean the cake out of his ears.

Everyone was exhausted and most were sleeping. Danielle rested her head on Nick's shoulder, neither of them were asleep quite yet. Nick began to jot some things down in a notebook, yawning and stretching every so often.

Danielle opened her eyes again to glance at what he was doing. She heard him yawn again. She placed her hand on his forearm, "Why don't you close that notebook and try to get some sleep. You've got a show tonight and you haven't gotten any sleep."

Nick rubbed his eyes and kissed the top of her head. He closed the notebook and pulled a blanket up over his shoulders. "Yeah, you're probably right."

He reclined his seat back and Danielle sat upright in her seat and reclined hers. "Hey, where you going? Put that head back over here," he told her patting at his shoulder. She complied and got comfortable next to him.

"What a night, huh?" he whispered. She lifted her head up to rest her chin on his upper arm and looked up at him.

"You could say that," she whispered back. She watched his expression as he closed his eyes. She couldn't tell what he was thinking about the whole thing with Joey from yesterday. They hadn't had a chance to talk about it. They had to go onstage right after the incident and then after their performance they were all hurried off to their own events.

Nick opened his eyes again as he felt her eyes looking at him. "What's wrong?"

"I'm okay. I'm sorry about the whole scene with Joey. He never should have said anything to you," she began.

"I should have just followed you back into the tent," he interrupted her. "I just. . .I don't know, what I was doing."

"Still. I'm sorry," she said again.

"Don't be," he told her. "He'll get used to it. He has to, doesn't he?"

She nodded on his arm. There was a brief silence between them and Nick closed his eyes again.

"Nick?" she whispered.

He smiled and kept his eyes shut, "Yeeeees? I thought it was time for me to sleep?"

"It is. I'm sorry. I just. . .can I ask you something?" she said.

He kept his eyes closed, "Mmmmhmmmmmm."

"Last night? During More Than That? Were you singing to me?" she asked.

He peeked one eye open at her, "You caught that huh?"

"I think so," she replied.

"I meant it," he opened both of his eyes to look at her. "It fit perfect for what happened yesterday, don't you think?"

"That you will love me more than Joey did?" she whispered.

"Mostly that I'll never tell you I love you and then take that love back," he whispered to her.

"Really?"

"Really," he answered her, leaning over and giving her a light kiss on the lips. "Now, let's get some sleep, babygirl."

"K," she replied and leaned back in her seat. "Nick?"

"Yeah?" his eyes were closed again.

"I love you," she whispered, her eyes now closed and her head lying back on her seat.

He smiled and reached out his hand to find hers. Once he did, he squeezed it then laced his fingers in hers holding her hand gently. "I love you, too," he whispered back.

Lyrics from More Than That by Backstreet Boys ©2002

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