While Nick spent the day being alternately hyper and worried to death, A.J. found himself cornered by Mindi.
"Alexander James McLean," she began in a severe tone, "you are an idiot."
"You gonna choke me to death too, Mins?"
"No, but I might smack you around a little," she replied evenly.
"I don't get it. What did I do that was so wrong? I *helped*, didn't I?"
"You broke a cardinal psychic rule. Psychics do not contact each other in the real world unless they can find a real world reason they might meet. It makes life hard sometimes and occasionally, it can be bent, but it cannot be broken. Especially," she poked him in the chest, "not by famous people whose entire lives are a matter of public record!" Mindi smacked him upside the head.
"Ow!"
"Don't you think? Ever?"
"What do you mean?"
"Nick and Lina have spent years looking for a way to meet that their familes, friends, the international media and your fans will believe. Now if someone asks, how did *you* meet her?"
"No one's gonna ask that!"
"Really? Alex, anyone Nick's talked to today about okaying her visit, talked to you last week about your "friend" Lina. Everyone's assuming you introduced them."
"Uh oh."
"So start thinking."
At just after five, Kevin was seriously contemplating putting a leash on the youngest of his groupmates and telling him to "heel". Nick hadn't been able to control his high spirits all day, fooling around in both their radio interview and an instore. Kevin felt decidedly sorry for the poor reporter who had chatted to Nick on the phone for ten minutes. He had pulled it together long enough to get through soundcheck, but with that done and Lina almost finished work, his pacing was driving everyone nuts. When Nick whizzed by their table for about the twentieth time, Kevin finally lost his patience.
"Nick, sit!" he barked. Startled, Nick immediately dropped to the floor cross-legged. Brian chuckled.
"Now, roll over," he drawled.
"Yeah Nicky, give us a paw!" Howie chimed in, patting the blonde head.
"I feel the love in this room, I do." Nick growled. He pretended to bite Howie, who just laughed and went back to the buffet.
"What's gotten into him?" Randy, Kevin's bodyguard, asked good-naturedly.
That, of course, was part of the problem. Back on tour, the Backstreet Boys *tried* to have as much private time as possible, but at the moment they were surrounded. The impromptu canteen deep within the arena was populated by not only the Boys but their security, various PR and management people, dancers, band members, and a few techies, not to mention the catering staff themselves. The area was huge, and few people stayed long, but it still wasn't a place for having conversations about psychic affairs.
Kevin caught a look pass between Nick and A.J. For a moment, he almost wished he was psychic himself.
You're quiet. Plan worked, I thought you'd gloat!
Mindi gave me a lecture. I'm trying to think up a how-I-met-Lina story.
Ohh. Good luck.
You've really been trying for years?
Oh yeah. It's not easy to explain how a kid from Ruskin and a girl from Toronto would meet, much less hook up. Hey! Nick jumped to his feet, completely losing his train of thought. She's here!
Huh? A.J. looked around.
Outside the venue. She just 'ported in.
"Nick?" Brian questioned warily."Y'ain't gonna go running off somewhere, are you?"
"He's gonna stay right there," Kevin responded without missing a beat.
How do you know?
How tight are you sheilding? Listen!
Some psychics percieved energy as light, colour, or smells. A.J., predictably, percieved energy as sound. He listened hard for a moment, ignoring the mild hum of non-psychics, the dull roar that was Nick, and the soft saxaphone melody that meant Mindi. Soon, he pinpointed a new sound. He understood Nick's disbelief the moment he heard it. Lina was sheilded, like any other psychic, but she still rang with power like a set of church bells. It was pretty damn impressive.
"Nick, go get something to eat!" A.J. looked at Brian, almost laughing. At this point their groupmate was beyond hearing anything but those bells. But he got the point. It had been easy enough to pass off the rest of Nick's odd behaviour as going silly over a girl. Now, he was just plain weird.
Nick, SEP field.
No! Nick's response was vehement. This is going to actually happen. People are going to remember it.
Leave him alone, Alex. Mindi had, not completely coincidentally, chosen this moment to grab some food. She sat at the other end of the room. This is their moment, messed up as it is. But Nick, make an effort!
With a sigh, Nick wandered over to the buffet and pretended interest in the deli trays. A.J. sensed the others' frustration and knew they were going to have another group meeting that night just for curiosity's sake.
Randy's radio beeped. After listening to the message, he nodded and leaned over to Kevin. "Hyper Man's girlfriend is here. You wanna tell him?"
"She's on her way down?" at Randy's nod, Kevin shook his head, realising why Nick was even worse at the moment. "No thanks. I like my ribs, don't need 'em cracked in a hug. Just leave him."
Lina could have made her way down alone. The Boys had played this arena before, she remembered the layout. And even if she hadn't, Nick's shining energy was a little difficult to miss. For the sake of appearances, she consented to an escort. She picked up from various people that she encountered that people assumed she was an acquaintance of A.J.'s and got some idea of how Nick had been acting all day. The person leading her to the canteen was dying to know what she'd done to have such an effect on Nick, but was too professional to ask.
Lina herself was nervous. She had no idea what she was going to say or do. The whole idea of actually meeting Nick in real life, in public, was scary. This wasn't a planned thing they could really explain, either. On top of that, she wasn't looking forward to the inevitable fight any talk about their problems was going to cause
But still...
Meeting in public had been their unspoken goal for years. The "one day" that would somehow make everything fall into place, bring them to the full partnership that everyone said they were incapable of. Now that the moment was here, Lina knew it wasn't going to solve everything, but how could she resist? Even with the partnership in ruins it had so many implications - Nick had made the perfect peace-offering. She entered the canteen with the tiniest bit of hope in her heart.
Nick tried not to react to Lina's presence, but it was a losing battle. To his psychic senses, the room lit up the moment she entered. He was barely able to restrain his impulse to reach out for her mind, a gesture she had made clear would send her running. Telling him he couldn't look either, was demanding the impossible. He drank in the sight of his partner moving hesitantly towards him.
Lina felt Nick's gaze on her and swore she wasn't going to look...until she threw herself off balance manoeuvring between a chair and a crew person. Their eyes locked. Those blue eyes were so dark, so intense, so wanting. A girl could drown in those eyes. Millions did, but right now those eyes were only for her.
Nick didn't realize he was standing until he felt A.J.'s hand on his arm. He tore himself away from those magical green eyes and looked down.
Love at first sight's one thing. Don't be so obvious.
Wise advice from the idiot who got us into this. But since he was right, instead of going to her, he gave Lina a wave.
Having regained some sense, she simply smiled back and quickened her pace a little, as if she'd only just figured out where he was. She even remembered to stop and greet A.J. before finally reaching her destination.
Once he had her in his arms, Nick wasn't entirely sure he could let her go again.
"Is this really happening?" he whispered low into Lina's good ear.
"If it's not, don't tell me," she replied quietly. "God Nick, why did this have to wait till now?"
For once, he was the one to put her off. "Later." For just one minute he didn't want to think about anything at all, wanted to just feel her, real, alive, there with him. Because one minute was maybe all they'd ever have.