*Nine Months Later*

Kelly sat in the hotel room, the TV on, waiting for TRL to start. The Boys were going to be on today, premiering their new video, and she didn't want to miss one minute of it. The new album was finally finished and would be released in November, and this was the video for their first single off the album.

The last couple months had been a dream come true for Kelly, and she couldn't imagine how it could get any better. She was here in New York City waiting for the most important premiere of her life. She was extremely excited, but also extremely nervous.

There was a knock on the door. Who could that be? Kelly wondered. She wasn't expecting anyone. She walked to the door and opened it.

"Surprise!!" Before Kelly even had a chance for it to register, she was being bombarded with bodies and luggage, and pushed back into the room. Once she stopped the backward momentum and took a good look at who was invading her hotel room, she was stunned. "Beth? Kimberly? Hayley?" she said looking from one to the other. "What are you guys doing here?"

"It's not every day that our best friend gets her song on TRL!" exclaimed Hayley.

"Oh my gosh, Kelly! I can't believe the song you wrote is the Boys' new single!" said Beth.

"We had to be here, Kel. We couldn't miss your moment of glory," said Kimberly.

It was true. The Boys had decided to put Song For The Road on their new album. Kevin had worked with Kelly on it, tweaking the lyrics a little and then producing it. Kelly was amazed at how it sounded when they were done.

"Well come on in then or we're gonna miss it," said Kelly laughing. "It's just about to start."

They gathered around the TV just as TRL started. Kelly was very nervous, and it seemed to take forever until finally Carson brought the Boys out, and it was time for the video to premiere.

Carson talked to them for a few minutes, asking them about the new album and the song that was their first single. Kevin explained what the song was about, and then mentioned that it had been written by a close friend for the Backstreet Boys. He and Kelly had discussed this ahead of time and decided that was the best way to handle it.

"And now here it is, the latest from the Backstreet Boys...Song For The Road," announced Carson.

Kelly held her breath as the video opened with a shot of Kevin staring out the window of the tour bus as it traveled down the road. 'I've spent so many lonely times...' the song began with Kevin singing the first few lines. Kelly watched as the video continued, spellbound by what she saw. This was the first time she had seen it, although Kevin had asked her numerous times over the last few days if she was sure she wanted to wait.

The video ended and TRL went to a commercial. Hayley was the first to break the silence. "Wow. That was just...wow."

Kimberly and Beth were quick to agree with her. They were so proud of Kelly, and congratulated her over and over. Kelly could barely speak, she was so overcome with emotion. She had been through so much in the last year, and now it seemed that her dreams were all coming true.

As she looked around at each of her friends, Kelly smiled. She wasn't sure what the future held for her...or for her and Kevin...but for this moment, she had everything she wanted.

Chapter 25
Table of Contents
Hosted Stories