Hayley arrived at the venue where the Backstreet Boys were playing. She was shocked to find out that she and Nick Carter were married. She didn’t know how it happened or why. She found a marriage license with their signatures. She took it to a lawyer and he said it was real. She went backstage and saw the guys messing around. Brian saw her and he stopped. The rest of the guys looked at her. She bit her lip.

        "Can we help you, miss," Brian said.

        "Um, I need to talk to Nick," Hayley said. The guys looked at each other and Nick came forward.

        "What's this about, are you a fan?" Nick asked.

        "No, Nick, I'm your wife," Hayley said.

        "What, how?" Nick said.

        "That's just it, I don't know, I found this and I took it to a lawyer and he said it was legal," Hayley said. She showed him the marriage license. He looked over it. He showed it to Kevin.

        "Is this a trick or something," AJ said.

        "No, it's not, I swear, I didn't plan this, I am not a con-artist, I

didn't do this," Hayley said.

        "There is a clause where we cant get an annulment or a divorce," Nick said.

        "I didn't see that," Hayley said looking at it.

        "We will have our lawyers look at this," Brian said.

        "Look I'm sorry about this, I just thought you should know about this, Nick, we don't have to be together, I just wanted you to know about this, I'll be going now," Hayley said.

        "What's your name," Nick said.

        "Hayley,"Hayley said.

        "Last name?" Brian asked.

        "Well, obviously it's Carter, guys," Nick said.

        "It was Hardin," Hayley said.

        "Well, you two are married and are stuck that way, we will have Billy go with you and you can get your stuff," Kevin said.

        "My stuff is in my car, I told my parents, they kicked me out, I was going to go find a place to stay, I just stopped to tell Nick about this and be on my way," Hayley said.

        "Your parents kicked you out?" Brian asked.

        "Yeah, they think I'm crazy, they think I had something to do with this which is not true," Hayley said.

        "This is our last concert stop, let's go back to Florida and we can show this to our lawyer," Kevin said.

Two days later, they all were at the lawyer's office in Orlando. Sam, Nick's lawyer, was looking the marriage license over.

        "Well, as far as I can see, this is real, it has the state seal, this

is real, guys," Sam said.

        "So Hayley is really my wife?" Nick asked.

        "Yes, she is," Sam said.

        "Is this legal, I mean, was this illegally done?" Hayley asked.

        "As far as I can tell, this is a legal marriage license, but I will

look into it," Sam said.

        "Thanks, I think we all would appreciate that, I mean, this was

something totally unexpected, this marriage license has caused me alot of pain, unexpectantly married and disowned by my parents," Hayley said.

        "I will send a letter to your parents, explaining the truth," Sam

said. Hayley gave him her parents’ names and address.

        "Thank you for clearing this up for us, Sam," Nick said.

        "It's no problem, I will work on this and see what the truth behind all this is," Sam said. The guys and Hayley left the office.

        "Well, it's true," Kevin said.

        "Yeah," Hayley said.

        "Well, I guess there is only one thing to do," Nick said.

        "What's that," Hayley said.

        "Be married," Nick said.

        "I don't know, I mean, I just wanted to tell you, I didn't expect you to want it to work, I can find a place to live and a job, I'll be okay, I don't want to be claimed as a gold digger or anything, I just want to live my life without any hassles or anything," Hayley said.

        "Hayley, we are married, my mother raised me to do what I think is best, and what is best is that we work on this marriage, be a happy married couple," Nick said.

        "We hardly know each other, I mean, I know I'm a fan and all and I know you, but I don't know Nick Carter, only Nick Backstreet," Hayley said. Nick smiled.

        "Well, I can see the way you think of me," Nick said.

        "What," Hayley said.

        "You want to get to know the real Nick Carter," Nick said.

        "Well, yeah," Hayley said.

        "You don't care what I do," Nick said.

        "Nick, you do what you do because you love it, I can tell you guys do what you do because you guys love performing," Hayley said. Nick smiled at her.

        "That's true," Nick said.

Chapter 2

They arrived at Nick's house. He put their stuff down as Hayley looked around.

"Nice house," Hayley said.

"Thanks," Nick said. He turned on the TV and the weather was on.

"Hurricane Ivan is heading for the Florida Keys and possibly the state of Florida. It is a category 5 hurricane, possibly downgrading to category 4, it will hit the USA by Monday, evaluations have begun, this hurricane is extremely powerful, more powerful than Hurricane Frances, we will keep you informed," the newscaster said.

"Back in my home state, I had to worry about tornadoes, now it's hurricanes," Hayley said. Nick looked at her.

"We'll get through this," Nick said.

"Evaluations are underway, how about leaving Florida until the storm is over," Hayley said. Nick nodded.

"We could go out to my parents' house in California" Nick said. Hayley nodded and got some stuff together. They went and got the guys and their wives and got on the DLF jet and headed to California. Hayley sat there looking out the window. Leighanne and Kristin came and talked to her. When the plane landed, they got into a limo and headed to Nick's parents' house. They got out and Hayley looked at the house. Nick came up to her.

"There is nothing they can do to change anything, Hayley, they can't do anything about it, don't worry," Nick said.

"I just hope they don't hate me or anything, what if they think I did it," Hayley said.

"The guys and I know you didn't," Nick said. They went in and heard yelling.

"This is my house now!" a man yelled.

"Not according to the courts!" a woman yelled. They went in and saw his parents fighting.

"Mom, Dad," Nick said. They stopped and saw him and everyone behind him.

"Nick, this isn't a good time," Jane said.

"Mom, we didn't have a choice, Hurricane Ivan was heading towards the state of Florida and we had to evaluate," Nick said. Jane saw Hayley.

"Who are you?" Jane asked coming over and standing in front of her.

"This is Hayley, Mom," Nick said.

"Your new girlfriend?" Jane asked.

"Yeah, is that a problem?" Nick asked. Hayley looked at him. She looked at Leighanne and Kristin. The guys looked at each other.

"Did you have to bring her here?" Jane asked coldly.

"Mom, the whole state of Florida had to evaluate," Nick said.

"Where are you from, Hayley?" Jane asked.

"Missouri," Hayley said.

"Why don't you go back there, you are not welcome here," Jane said coldly. Hayley ran out the door. Leighanne and Kristin went after her.

"What is your problem!" Nick yelled.

"I don't think she should be here, she doesn't belong here!" Jane said angrily.

"She belongs where I am, Mom, she is welcome here as long as I am, I am your oldest son!" Nick said.

"I know you are, but only family is allowed in this house!" Jane said.

"Jane, shut up," Bob said.

"No, this is my house now!" Jane yelled.

"This is Nick's house now," Bob said.

"What!" Jane yelled.

"Since we couldn't decide who gets the house, Nick gets it being the eldest of our kids," Bob said.

"Hayley is family, Mom," Nick said.

"What!" Jane said.

"She is my wife, Mom," Nick said. Nick told them the story.

"She did this!" Jane said.

"No, she didn't," Nick said.

"She set this up to be married to you because she is obsessed with you!" Jane said.

"You don't know her!" Nick yelled.

"Neither do you!" Jane said.

"I know her better than you, she is not a bad person, she is not obsessed," Nick said. Leighanne and Kristin came in.

"Nick, Hayley's gone, she's going back to Missouri," Leighanne said.

"Thank god!" Jane said.

"Oh shut up, she is your daughter-in-law whether you like it or not, if Nick wants to be with her, that's his choice, not yours, it's his life, not yours, stop controlling his life and choosing who he should be with, it's his choice on who he wants to be with, we can tell that Hayley cares about him," Leighanne said.

"We know Hayley didn't have anything to do with this," Kristin said.

"The marriage had the Florida State Seal on it, so it came from Florida, not Missouri," Kevin said.

"I don't care, she is not welcome in this house, this house is mine!" Jane said.

"Guys, let's go find Hayley and go somewhere else," Nick said. He and the guys left and went to the airport and found Hayley and they got on a plane and went to Missouri.

Chapter 3

Nick went to the airport with Kevin, Brian, Leighanne, and Kristin while AJ and Howie went to find a place for them to stay. Nick saw Hayley sitting by a gate waiting for a flight to Missouri. Leighanne sat down beside her. Nick stayed out of sight but in earshot.

"Hayley, don't go," Leighanne said as Kristin sat down beside Leighanne.

"Yeah, you and Nick are married, no one, not even Jane can do anything about it," Kristin said.

"I don't want to come between him and his mother," Hayley said.

"Hayley, don't worry about Jane, she doesn't know you like we do," Leighanne said.

"You guys don't know me that well, we talked on the plane, that's all," Hayley said.

"I can tell by the first impression that you really care about Nick and the guys and would not do anything to hurt them and you wouldn't lie to them," Leighanne said.

"She is his mother and she doesn't like me, I can't stand to be around someone who doesn't like me," Hayley said.

"Hayley, she can't do anything but deal with it, she can't do anything to stop you two from being married, who cares what she thinks, it's what you think that matters," Leighanne said.

"I just can't handle knowing that his mother doesn't like me," Hayley said.

"Hayley, he doesn't care what his mother thinks, he wants this marriage to work," Kristin said.

"Okay, I won't go back to Missouri," Hayley said. Nick came over and sat down after Leighanne got up.

"Good, because I don't want you to go back, you belong here with me and the guys, and Leighanne and Kristin, you are part of our family, who cares what my mom thinks," Nick said. They were talking when the whole airport starting shaking.

"Earthquake!" someone yelled. Parts of the ceiling started falling. Everyone ran for a doorway. Nick pulled Hayley close and held her as they stood in a doorway. Suddenly the floor gave out beneath Nick and Hayley. They fell through the floor with Hayley screaming.

"Nick! Hayley!" Brian yelled. He held Leighanne tight. Kevin held Kristin tight.

Chapter 4

Nick woke up and looked around and didn't recognize where he was. He then remembered the earthquake and falling through the floor. He looked around and saw Hayley sitting up holding her head. He moved over to her.

        “Hey, you okay,” Nick said.

        “Yeah, how are we going to get out of here?” Hayley said.

        “I don’t know,” Nick said.

        “I’m scared, what if we never get out of here,” Hayley said.

        “Hayley, we have to stay calm, we will, the guys know we fell through the floor, they won’t give up,” Nick said. Hayley looked up and saw the hole and saw Brian and Leighanne look down.

        “There they are!” Brian said.

        “Brian, get us out of here,” Nick called up to him.

        “We are working on it,” Brian said.

Three hours later, Nick and Hayley were out of the hole and back where everyone else was. Leighanne and Kristin hugged Hayley.

        “Thank god you are okay,” Leighanne said.

        “I was scared,” Hayley said.

        “Nick wouldn’t let anything hurt you,” Kristin said.

        “I know, I think I’m beginning to have feelings for him,” Hayley said. Leighanne smiled.

        “Maybe sometime, you two can make this marriage real, with real love and commitment, we know he cares about you a lot and does want this marriage to work, maybe it will be for real, with love,” Kristin said.

        “I don’t know what to do,” Hayley said.

        “As soon as we get back to Florida, we are going shopping and we are getting you a whole new wardrobe that will blow Nick away and make him love you,” Leighanne said.

        “Maybe it should go slowly, we are just getting to know each other,” Hayley said.

        “Girl, you are starting to have feelings for him, it’s time to speed up the process of you two having a real marriage,” Leighanne said.

        “I don’t want to rush into anything,” Hayley said. Nick came over.

        “Girls, can I have my wife back?” Nick asked before leading Hayley away.  Leighanne and Kristin looked at each other.

        “I can tell he wants a real marriage,” Leighanne said.

        “Yeah, he does,” Kristin said. They smiled and watched as Nick held Hayley close to him as he talked to Kevin.

Two weeks later, they were back in Florida and Leighanne and Kristin took Hayley shopping. They got new clothes and then took her to Kevin’s house and gave her a total makeover. Then they took her home to Nick’s house and walked in and saw the guys sitting around. They saw Leighanne and Kristin.

        “Hey, where’s Hayley,” Nick said.

        “Uh,” Leighanne said.

        “Leigh,” Brian said.

        “Um…” Leighanne said. Hayley came in and they saw her and their eyes widened. She went from straight brown hair to curly brown hair with blond highlights. She had a blue tank top on with white Capri pants and white shoes.

        “Girls, what have you done to my wife?” Nick asked.

        “We gave her a makeover, doesn’t she look great,” Leighanne said. Nick looked at Hayley.

        “Yeah, she does, but she did look great before too,” Nick said.

        “We wanted to give her a new look,” Leighanne said.

        “We got her a whole new wardrobe and everything,” Kristin said. Hayley looked at Nick.

        “What for?” Nick asked.

        “Well, we just wanted to be friendly and take her shopping and everything,” Leighanne said.

        “You can do other things to be her friend than give her a makeover and new clothes,” Nick said. Hayley ran upstairs. Leighanne looked at Kristin.

        “We did it to make her look better for you, to make you two have a real marriage,” Kristin said.

        “She looks fine the way she is, because it is how she wants to look, not how you want her to look,” Nick said before going upstairs. Leighanne and Kristin sat down.

        “You guys spent our money to get her to look different,” Brian said. Leighanne nodded.

        “We want them to have a real marriage with love and commitment, like we both have with you and Kevin,” Leighanne said. Brian sighed.

        “It should have been Hayley’s decision to have a makeover and new clothes, not yours or Kristin’s,” Brian said.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Nick went into the bedroom and saw Hayley sitting on the bed hugging her legs.

        “Hayley, it’s okay,” Nick said sitting on the bed.

        “I thought you would like my new look,” Hayley said.

        “You mean you like this makeover?” Nick asked.

        “Yeah,” Hayley said.

        “I just want you to be who you want to be,” Nick said.

        “I want to be your wife,” Hayley said.

        “You are, it doesn’t matter how you look, you are still my wife,” Nick said.

        “It’s just that, Nick, never mind,” Hayley said.

        “What, Hayley, you can tell me,” Nick said.

        “I have feelings for you and I got this makeover so that you would notice me and I thought we could have a real marriage, like Kristin and Kevin and Brian and Leighanne,” Hayley said.

        “Hayley, I have noticed you, it doesn’t matter how you look, it’s what’s inside you that counts, you could be dirty and wearing rags and I would still think you are beautiful,” Nick said.

        “You think I’m beautiful?” Hayley asked.

        “Yeah,” Nick said. He pulled her up and cupped her face in his hands. He leaned down and kissed her softly. The kiss deepened and they held onto each other.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Leighanne and Brian slowly and quietly went upstairs and looked in and saw Hayley and Nick in a heated kiss. They looked at each other and smiled and went downstairs and told Kevin, Kristin, Howie, and AJ what they saw. They all smiled.

Three months went by. Brian, Leighanne, Kristin, Kevin, Nick, and Hayley were out to dinner at Café Russe. Kristin, Hayley, and Leighanne were in the bathroom talking.

        “We have a problem, it’s AJ,” Leighanne said.

        “What is it,” Kristin said.

        “Brian told me that AJ wants you, Hayley, AJ admitted it to Brian,” Leighanne said.

        “What, but I’m married to Nick and we are happy, we are officially in love,” Hayley said.

        “He told Brian he knows that but he can’t deny his feelings for you,” Leighanne said.

        “Oh my god, I’m scared, Nick and I are getting along great, it’s getting to the point where I don’t want to be without him,” Hayley said.

        “Just don’t be alone with him, try to stay away from him,” Kristin said.

        “Okay,” Hayley said. They went out and saw Kevin sitting at the table.

        “Where did Nick and Brian go?” Leighanne asked.

        “Nick knows about AJ’s feelings for Hayley,” Kevin said.

        “Oh god,” Hayley said running out of the restaurant with Leighanne and Kristin behind her. Kevin came out after paying and they went to AJ’s house and ran in and saw Nick holding AJ against the wall.

        “How dare you have feelings for my wife!” Nick yelled.

        “I couldn’t help it!” AJ said.

        “You know she is my wife, AJ, you know she is, you don’t go after other people’s wives, especially mine, we are suppose to be friends, man!” Nick said.

        “I couldn’t help it, man, it’s not like I wanted to have feelings for her!” AJ said.

        “Nick, let me talk to AJ alone,” Hayley said.

        “Hayley,” Leighanne said.

        “I can handle it, I have nothing to hide,” Hayley said. Nick let go and went out the door. Everyone went outside. Hayley looked at AJ and shook her head.

        “I can’t believe you, AJ, you know how I feel about Nick, I don’t have any feelings for you,” Hayley said.

        “Hayley, I know you are Nick’s wife, god, I wish I didn’t have these feelings for you, but I can’t help it,” AJ said.

        “You have to try to get over them, I can’t help you, I want to be faithful to my husband,” Hayley said.

        “I know, I know!” AJ said. Hayley went out the door and went over to Nick and hugged him.

        “Let’s go home,” Hayley said.

"Do you have feelings for him?" Nick asked.

"No, I don't," Hayley said. They went home.