Chapter 18 - The Lake (Epilogue)

Three cars pulled up the dirt road and stopped in front of two small cabins.

"Are we all gonna fit here?" Karen asked.

Becky sighed. "Yes, Karen. I told you; I worked everything out. Trust me."

The group of twelve piled out of the cars and looked at the two houses.

"Now, who’s going where again?" Ellie asked.

"Okay," Becky said, taking charge. She pointed to the smaller yellow house. "Kevin, Sierra, Maggie, and Tom go in there." Those four started digging for their luggage to go into the house. "Ellie and Brian are in that little bunk house," she said, pointing to the small building behind the yellow house. She looked at the other house. "Nick and I get the other house to ourselves. And the rest of you are in the double bunk house behind it. There."

Everyone found their luggage and began unpacking.

Nick looked out the slider window of the little house. "The lake’s so beautiful," he breathed.

Becky came up behind him. "It’s better when we get of this cove and into open water."

"Whole house to ourselves, huh?" he asked, grinning.

"Well . . . there isn’t really a lot of room in the bunk house. They’ll have to come in here during the day . . ."

He pulled her close for a kiss. "I’m glad you thought of this place."

"Me too."

~~~

"Are they back yet?" Tom whined.

"Not yet," Sierra said, sitting on the deck. She watched Ellie, Karen, AJ, and Hazel tackling each other in the shallow water. She smiled.

Maggie was inside, typing away at her laptop.

Tom came behind her, putting his arms around her waist. "Now we’re vacationing with the Backstreet Boys. I feel like I should beat myself up."

Maggie laughed. "Yeah, but they’re footing the bill."

"I see them!" Sierra shouted as she saw two motor boats speed into the cove. They slowed down so as to not make wake. Becky was driving one, with Nick beside her. Kevin was driving the other, with Brian in the passenger’s seat.

The group ran out to the dock to meet them.

"Can we go for a ride now? Huh? Huh? Canwecanwecanwecanwecanwecanwe?" Ellie asked all in one breath.

"Hop in!" Becky cried. "And someone grab the skis and tube."

Howie came driving up to the houses. "Wait for me, guys!"

Karen smiled. "We wouldn’t leave without you."

He kissed her cheek. "Oh, I know you wouldn’t . . ."

Maggie, Tom, Sierra, and Ellie climbed into Kevin and Brian’s boat, while the others climbed into Nick and Becky’s boat.

"Kev, follow me!" Becky shouted as they backed away from the dock.

Kevin nodded.

Becky guided the boat slowly out of the cove, they sped up into open waters. They circled around for a while, then stopped to let various people try tubing and water-skiing. Nick, Brian, and AJ proved to be quite good at skiing. Ellie, Maggie and Hazel sat in the front of their boats for the ride back. Thoughts of Silvanus, Alejandro, Nolan, screaming fans, and nosy reporters were pushed from their minds. The calm of the lake filled them. Once they were back, they worked together to prepare a huge barbecue dinner. They ate on the deck of Becky and Nick’s house.

"It’s so beautiful out here," Kevin remarked.

"You know, I thought I’d be really sick of the wilderness after all that happened," Maggie commented. "But this place is different."

"Yeah, we don’t have some assholes watching our every move," Ellie said.

Brian kissed her cheek. "C’mon, don’t think about it. It’s behind us."

"It just feels like being here slows down my pulse and calms me," Becky said.

"It is really relaxing," Howie agreed.

"So, Hazel what did your parents say when you told them about your new . . . ahem . . . boyfriend?" Karen asked.

Hazel blushed. "They were . . . displeased. Let’s leave it at that."

AJ hugged her.

"We should play a game or something after dinner," Nick suggested.

"The paper game!" Sierra cried.

"Oh dear . . ." Ellie moaned.

~~~

((Author's note: The Paper Game is a game in which a group of people write stories one piece at a time, having no idea what the person before them wrote. This results in disjointed, usually hilarious stories.))

"Okay, okay, everybody be quiet so I can read this!" Ellie shouted above the laughter. She tried to contain her own giggling. "Let’s see. Howie and Hazel . . ." She paused for much razzing from the group. "Met in Nick’s underwear." The group burst out laughing. "He said, ‘Excuse me, did you just step on my head?’ She said, ‘PINKY POKE!’ " The group tried to contain their laughter so Ellie could continue. "What happened: They got trapped in the haunted house from ‘Everybody’ and got eaten by the psycho bus driver. And the moral of the story is . . . Trent Reznor is God." Everyone burst out laughing.

"Who wrote that they met in my underwear?!" Nick cried.

"I did," AJ answered.

Nick threw a pillow at him.

"My turn!" Becky cried. "Let’s see . . . Brian the pimp werewolf and Karen met in a slice of cheese pizza. He said, ‘You’re going to turn me in to the police! I know it!’ She said, ‘I want to sleep with Carson Daly.’ What happened: They killed N’Sync." The BSB and Becky cheered. "And the moral is . . . Though I like Nine Inch Nails much better, I would undoubtedly rather be kidnapped with the Backstreet Boys than Trent Reznor." Becky turned to Ellie and gave her a strange look.

Ellie shrugged.

"Another round! Another round!" Hazel cried.

"Yeah!" Sierra agreed.

"We could be at this all night," Brian remarked.

"Sounds good to me!" Ellie replied.

~~~

"You know it would really suck if the bed collapses or folds up with us in it," Tom remarked as he and Maggie laid on the fold out bed.

"Don’t say things like that," Maggie told him, snuggling up against him.

"You know, you were right. It’s nice being out here, knowing that the Backstreet Boys are footing the bill. Even if I don’t swim in the lake."

"Darn, you’ll just have to spend all your time here with me."

Tom grinned, kissing her.

~~~

Sierra and Kevin climbed into the double bed, a little awkwardly. They lay in silence for a minute.

"This is a really nice cottage," Kevin said, trying to make his voice sound normal.

"Yeah, it’s just perfect," Sierra agreed.

"You know, if you’re really not comfortable, I could always go sleep on the couch in the kitchen . . ."

"No, no, it’s fine. Really."

There was a short silence.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Well, you’re not going to try and rape in the middle of the night, are you?"

Kevin laughed. "No, of course not. You’re right. This is silly worrying about this."

Sierra nodded, letting herself slide a little closer to him. "Goodnight."

He leaned over and kissed the top of her head. "Goodnight, Sierra."

~~~

Brian and Ellie turned their backs to each other as they got undressed.

Ellie was blushing madly and trying not to let him see.

"You done?" he asked after a minute.

"Not yet," she said quickly.

"Take your time," he told her. "And don’t worry, I won’t peek."

"Who’s worried?" she asked, trying to keep her voice under control.

Brian snickered.

"Shut up!" she cried. "I’m done."

He turned to face her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Can I kiss you?"

Ellie tried not to freak out. "Uh . . . sure."

Brian closed his eyes and leaned closer to her.

"Wait!" Ellie cried before their lips met. "I changed my mind!"

Brian opened her eyes, puzzled.

"I . . . I don’t know if I can."

His face softened. "Ellie, I’m not going to hurt you. Let me get close to you. At least let me try. If you find out you hate me, I swear I’ll back off. But you’re not letting me in."

"I’m not good at that," she said, trying not to cry.

"Shh," he told her, pulling her closer. "Just relax and trust me. We’ll go slow." He gently brushed his lips against hers. When she didn’t pull away, he kissed her again, a little longer.

She yelped as he suddenly scooped her into his arms. He smiled and laid her down on the bed, pulling the blankets over her. "Your knight will keep you safe tonight, m’lady."

She rolled her eyes. "I don’t want a knight in shining armor. I just want a regular guy."

He winked. "I can handle that."

~~~

Howie and AJ knocked on the bunk house door. "You girls dressed?"

"Yeah," Hazel and Karen answered.

The guys went in. AJ grinned and jumped on Hazel’s bunk, tickling her.

Hazel burst into her high-pitched giggle.

Howie smiled and sat next to Karen, hugging her. "AJ, it’s not nice to torture the poor girl."

AJ pouted. "But listen to her laugh!" He pulled her to him. "She’s so damn CUTE!"

Karen and Howie laughed. Hazel was still recovering from the torture.

Karen shook her head. "A Mormon and a guy with tattoos and dyed hair. What a combination."

"Who woulda thought," Howie added.

AJ grinned and kissed Hazel’s cheek.

"C’mon guys, let’s get some sleep," Howie said, kissing Karen on the mouth quickly before climbing into the top bunk.

AJ hugged Hazel and also climbed into the top bunk.

"Everyone all set?" Karen asked.

"Yup," three people answered.

Karen turned off the lamp.

~~~

"Now we have the house to ourselves," Becky said as she laid down beside Nick.

He turned off the light. "Yeah, kinda nice . . ." he said as he nuzzled her.

She giggled. "So, I take it you like it here?"

"I love it," he answered. "It’s beautiful . . . almost as much as you."

She rolled her eyes. "Right."

He kissed her on the mouth. "Don’t argue with me."

She stuck out her tongue at him.

He kissed again before she got it back in.

A few minutes later, they broke apart.

"You know, maybe we should all get married and become the Backstreet Family. We could go touring around the world," she said randomly.

He laughed. "That’s not a half bad idea. Are we including Maggie and Tom in that?"

Becky choked. "Yeah, right. Like Tom would that!"

"Oh yeah." He kissed her again. "Well, you can come on as many tours as you want."

"Thanks," she replied.

"In fact, why don’t you just stay around me 24/7?"

She grinned. "Sounds good to me."

~~~

Six months later . . .

"WAI WAI!" Ellie screamed, jumping up and down. "Lookie! It’s got my NAME on it!" She jumped around the room, holding the book to her chest.

Everyone in the room just look on, amused. Finally, Brian caught her in his arms and kissed her.

"Our story immortalized forever," Hazel remarked.

"We’re gonna make a lot of money off of this," Howie added.

"Yeah, but who cares about that?" Becky asked.

"Yeah, I don’t think Ellie’s been this happy in years," Sierra said, laughing.

"They published my book!" Ellie announced for the tenth time. "And they liked the manuscript for Image!"

"Yes, bitch monkey," Maggie said, patting her head. "You’ve told us."

"We have an announcement to make," Nick said, holding Becky’s waist.

"We already know you’re engaged," Karen said, looking at them suspiciously.

"Yeah, but we’ve also started work on a duet album," Becky said.

"That’s awesome!" Ellie squeaked, jumping around the room again.

Everyone congratulated the two.

"By the way, we’re engaged, too," Tom said nonchalantly.

"YOU ARE?! WAI WAI!" Ellie yelled.

"Anyone else have any cheerful announcements?" Kevin asked.

"I HAVE A BOOK!"

AJ sighed. "Brian, is she ever going to get over this?"

Brian smiled. "I don't care if she does. She's adorable when she's like this."

That caused Ellie to stop. "I'm not adorable! I hate you!"

Brian grinned charmingly.

Ellie attempted to keep the scowl on her face. "Especially when you do that."

"Riiiiight," AJ said.

"You know, if it wasn’t for those video-taping assholes, none of this would’ve happened," Maggie pointed out.

For a moment, no one said anything.

"BUT I HAVE A BOOK!"

Everyone sighed.

"You know, I think it’s a good thing we didn’t become the Backstreet Family," Nick said, ignoring the horrified faces of Maggie and Tom. "I don’t think I’d want to be related to her."

~~~

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