The other four members of the Backstreet Boys -- AJ, Howie, Brian, and Nick -- were backstage getting ready for the show that night. Suddenly Brian noticed that Kevin wasn't with them.

"Now where did he disappear to?" asked Brian.

"I don't know. He was just here a few minutes ago," Howie replied.

"Hey D, have you noticed that Kevin has been acting kind of strange lately?" Brian wondered.

"Yeah, he's been so distracted. His mind just hasn't been on the business the last few days. Ever since we were in Chicago."

"What's up with that?"

"I don't know, Brian. Maybe you should talk to him and find out if he's okay."

Just then AJ walked over. "Hey, where's Kev?" he asked.

"We don't know. We were just talking about how strange he's been acting the last few days," answered Brian.

"Yeah, I've noticed that. Hey Bri, maybe you should talk to him, huh?"

"That's what Howie just said," Brian answered.

"Well, you're probably closer to him than any of us," said Howie. "If he'll talk to anyone, it would be you."

"Okay, I'll talk to him the first chance I get," Brian replied.

A few minutes later, Kevin returned to the dressing room.

"It's about time, Train. We thought we were going to have to send out a search party," joked AJ.

"Very funny, AJ. What's the matter? You needed me to zip you up?" Kevin retorted.

"Getting kind of desperate, aren't we, Kev? What's wrong? Been too long since you've had a girlfriend?" AJ laughed.

At this Kevin turned away and said almost under his breath, "Yeah, something like that."

AJ didn't quite know what to say. Something was definitely up. "Kevin? Sorry, I was just joking."

"Yeah, well we've got a show to get ready for," Kevin replied.

"Ok, whatever," muttered AJ.

He shot Howie and Brian a look, but they just shrugged.

They finished getting ready, then took their places as they waited for the music intro that would announce the start of the concert, and their entrance.

Later that night, after the show was over, they were once again on the buses headed to the next city. Kevin was vegging in front of the tv, trying to think of anything but Kelly, when Brian walked back and sat on the edge of the bunk across from him.

"Hey Cuz, what's up?" asked Brian.

"Nothing much, just doing some thinking," Kevin replied. "Why? You got something on your mind?"

"No, actually I was wondering what's on yours," said Brian. "We've all noticed how distracted you've been lately. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine."

"You sure? Because I'm kind of worried about you. You've disappeared on us a few times, and Howie said that you can't seem to sit still. He said last night on the bus you were pacing back and forth."

"Oh, yeah....that. I've just had some things on my mind lately."

"C'mon, Kevin. You know you can talk to me. And sometimes it helps to talk it out with someone else," Brian offered.

"Maybe you're right. Brian, let me ask you something. How long did it take you to fall in love with Leighanne, and how did you know it was love?" asked Kevin.

"Oh ho ho, so that's it. It's a girl!" laughed Brian. "I should have known."

"C'mon, man. I'm serious here," Kevin said.

"Okay, okay. Sorry, I've just never seen you like this before," Brian replied. "Hmm...I guess my heart knew right away, but it took a little bit longer for my head to figure it out."

Kevin thought about this for a moment, and then nodded his head.

"So tell me about this girl that's got you all in a tizzy," teased Brian.

"You're gonna laugh when I say this." Kevin hesitated. "She's a fan."

"A fan? Really? I mean, I know we've always said that dating a fan is a possibility, but I guess I never thought you would be the one to actually do it."

"It's not like it sounds," protested Kevin. "We actually met by accident, and at first I didn't even know she was a fan. Remember that night in Chicago, when you all went out, but I stayed back at the hotel? Well, I couldn't sleep, so I walked down to the lounge where they had that piano because I thought I would play for a while, and she was sitting at it when I got there. And she was playing this song. You should have heard it, Brian. It was an original song that she wrote. And it's so perfect. It's almost like she wrote it just for me. She didn't even know I was there until she got up from the piano. We started talking and talked almost the whole night. She's incredible! And she's the most beautiful woman I've ever met."

Brian had never heard Kevin so passionate about anything other than music. Oh, yeah. That boy's got it bad, he thought. "What's her name?" he asked.

"Her name is Kelly. She lives in San Diego. You'll get to meet her because she's going to be at our concert there. I'm setting her up with some backstage passes."

"That's really great, Kev. I can't wait to meet her," Brian said. "The other guys will be relieved to know that there's nothing wrong. They were kind of worried about you."

"Well, now you can let them know that I'm not having a mental breakdown," joked Kevin. "I hope they're not too disappointed!"

Brian just laughed and headed back up to the front of the bus.

He couldn't wait to meet the girl that had stolen Kevin's heart.

Chapter 9
Chapter 7
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