No one ever said
That love was gonna be easy
Gotta take the ups and downs the in-betweens
If you take this journey
Gotta give yourself completely
                    ---Christina Aguilera "Love Will Find A Way"
 

Life sucked.

It really sucked.

Damn live radio.  Damn Shannon for making her do press tours.  Damn the DJ.  Most of all damn the smug 
look permanently attached to Ritchie Neville’s face.

“You just had to open your big mouth…” Aliesa said, leaning against the shaded widow of the car.  “She’s think he’s BRILLIANT!  In fact she’s going to be making an appearance with me tonight!  We wouldn’t miss it!” she mocked echoing the words Ritchie had uttered on live radio a few hours before.  Aliesa glared at the man sitting next to her.  “TONIGHT!  Who said I was going anywhere tonight!  Shannon please tell me that you can fix the mess that this moron put me in!” Aliesa complained as she looked forward helplessly at her friend.

“Aliesa I told you earlier that there is nothing to do.  Ritchie did the right thing.  Abs is in town.  You can’t just  ignore that.  It wouldn’t look right if he showed up at the club he’s spinning at without you.” Shannon shrugged glancing back at the pair through the rear view mirror.

Ritchie smirked.

Aliesa narrowed her eyes at him menacingly.

“Well he didn’t have to announce it to the entire LA area!” Aliesa sighed.  “I could have made up an excuse 
for not going…not feeling well or something!  I don’t think that it’s fair that after another day of constant
press I should use my down time to be shoved into another public arena to play house with Mr. I think I’m 
God’s gift!” she continued exasperated.

“Oh is the pop princess upset!  I’m tearing up here,” Ritchie retorted.

“And you wonder why you can’t get someone over the age of 12 to go anywhere decent with you!” Aliesa 
responded annoyed. 

“Why do you have to be such a drama queen?”

“Why do you have to be such an egomaniac?”

“Spoiled Brat.”

“Repulsive Creep.”

 “WILL YOU TWO JUST COOL IT!” Shannon cut-in, as she gripped the steering wheel.   Ritchie and 
Aliesa immediately stopped, shocked at the unexpected outburst. 

“Need I remind you that you BOTH put yourselves into this mess and you BOTH will have to help each 
other to fix it.  Constant arguing is not going to make this entire situation go away.  Not only are you making 
it more difficult but you guys are also giving me a headache…And LOOK at me!  You’ve got me sounding 
like my mother!” 

The car came to a halt and Shannon turned around to look at both of them.  She waved her hands at them 
frantically before placing them on the seat calmly.  “If you can’t deal with it I suggest you pull out of this 
entire thing right now okay?  Because this is not going to work if you both are at each other’s throats 24 
hours a day.  Got it?” 

Aliesa pulled at her skirt. 

Ritchie let out a tense breath. 

Neither of them said a word.

Shannon rolled her eyes. 

The door opened.

Without a hesitation Ritchie took a hold of Aliesa’s hand and slowly exited.  She followed obligingly.  Shannon breathed a sigh of relief.

“How am I supposed to work with this?” she mumbled shaking her head as she watched the pair walk off 
towards the club. 

     Ritchie instinctively pulled Aliesa close as they headed towards the entrance, bodyguards instantly 
surrounding them as piercing screams filled the air with their recognition.  Aliesa tried to smile at the flashing 
cameras, even though her stomach turned uneasily as the small crowd swarmed at them.  Though she should have been used to all the attention by now, she wasn’t.  It still made her feel almost claustrophobic.  She 
looked over at Ritchie wondering how he could be so unfazed by it all.  It was like he could tune out all the 
screaming.  He continued walking steadily forward, tugging her along.  She slowed momentarily as the 
shouting grew.  Ritchie abruptly stopped as he felt her hesitation.   He looked down at her questioningly.  She blinked.  The shouting continued and she braced herself as the shouts became more and more directed at her. 

“Is that Ritchie and Aliesa?”

“RITCHIE!  ALIESA!”

“Is that really her?”

“They really are together!”

“What is it about her?”

“My brother thinks she’s hot but I don’t see it.”

“How did she get someone like Ritchie?”

“Do you think she’s just using him?”

“What is with her hair?”

“She seems sort of stuck up.”

Aliesa couldn’t take it anymore.  “Ritchie wait,” Aliesa said as she removed her hand from his grasp.

“Ali?  What are you doing?” Ritchie asked as she motioned for the bodyguards to move aside.  She didn’t 
even flinch at his use of her shortened name.  She just moved towards the crowd, to what she needed to feel comfortable.

“Hey.  How are you guys?” Aliesa asked as she stopped in front of a group of girls who had 
just moments before been screaming for Ritchie.  They stood there, mouths gaping in shock that she had 
stopped to talk to them.

“You’re Aliesa Montaine.” one of the girls blurted out still surprised that she had stopped to speak to them.

“That’s me.” Aliesa smiled.  “And who are you all?” she asked as they thrust papers at her. 

“I’m Gretchen and this is Jamie, Caroline, and Carmen.”

“Nice to meet you girls.  Here to see Abs DJ?” Aliesa asked sincerely.

“OH YEAH!  We came all the way from Florida…” Gretchen began.

“That’s a long way just to see someone DJ!” Aliesa mused.

“It’s SO SO worth it though!  We LOVE Five!” Jamie said enthusiastically. 

“Really?  Is Abs your favorite?” Aliesa asked as other fans made their way towards her. 
The screaming seemed to die down a little bit, and now all Aliesa could hear were curious whispers.

“He’s Carmen’s and Jamie’s!” Gretchen pointed as her friends blushed.  “I like Scott best!”

“How about you?” Aliesa said turning her attention to their quiet friend.  “Caroline right?  Do you have a favorite?”

“Yeah,” she answered softly not saying anything more. 

“Don’t mind her- Ritchie’s her favorite.  So she’s a little bummed that you know--” Gretchen quickly cut-in, putting her arm around her friend and motioning towards Aliesa.

“No offense or anything,” Carmen added as Aliesa handed her back her paper.

“You’re just really lucky!” Caroline blurted suddenly.  “I’m completely jealous!” she sighed looking at 
Aliesa.

Aliesa chuckled.  “Thanks.  But I wouldn’t be too jealous…” she stopped and leaned in towards Caroline. 
“The boy has terrible hair in the morning.  But don’t tell him I said so,” she finished lightly. 

“Ritchie is so HOT though!” Caroline protested smiling at her.

“I’ll be sure to tell him that you think so,” Aliesa said, amused at the thought. 

“Can you give this to Abs for us?” Caroline asked as she thrust a photo album at her.  Aliesa nodded, 
reaching forward.  Before the exchange could be made however Caroline squealed almost dropping the 
album and startling Aliesa. 

“OH MY GOD!”

 “Sorry to interrupt ladies.” Ritchie’s familiar voice called out next to her.  Of course…Ritchie.  She turned to him, her practiced expression of love and adoration already in place. 

“Hey you”, she said as he took a hold of her hand.  He returned the gesture with a lop-sided grin.  Aliesa felt the knot in her stomach form at the sight, and quickly turned away before she revealed their true feelings. 
She smiled widely at the girls in front of her and reached again for the photo album that Caroline had been 
trying to give her before Ritchie had come up.  “Caroline here thinks you’re hot,” Aliesa nudged Ritchie 
motioning to the blushing girl, as she took the album.

“That’s because she has good taste!” Ritchie joked.  Caroline looked like she was about to faint. 

“Can we get a picture?” Caroline asked bashfully.

“Don’t know?  Ali can they get a picture?” Ritchie teased his wife.  Aliesa saw the glint in his eye.  The smug look.

Aliesa pushed him playfully.   “Idiot,” she replied as she leaned in towards him and smiled for the camera. 

“You guys are SO cute!” Jamie cried out thrusting out a pen and paper for Ritchie to sign.  “Congratulations and everything!  We weren’t sure about you Aliesa but I’ll be sure to tell everyone I know that they were 
SO wrong!  You are SO nice!” she exclaimed as Ritchie finished signing and handed back the autograph.

“Thanks I think?” Aliesa said shaking her head a little and giggling slightly. 

“We have to get going, but we’ll see you girls inside,” Ritchie winked, as he moved forward, Aliesa in 
tow. 

“See you later!” girls cried out as the pair made their way backstage, bodyguards once again surrounding 
them.

“What were you thinking?” Ritchie whispered as he waved at some familiar faces as they kept on walking.

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean- the sudden need of fan interaction outside.”

“I just wanted to say hi.  They were standing there after all,” she replied.

“You do know that it’s dangerous to just stop and move with a crowd like that around,”he chastised.

“Ritchie I would hardly call that a crowd.”

“Aliesa it was a crowd.  Something could have happened.”

“Since when do you care?”

This time it was Ritchie that stopped.  His blue eyes stared down at her coldly.  “Since it would become a public relations nightmare for me to find you mobbed by fans who would like 
nothing less but to tear your hair out.”

“You apparently think highly of your fan following.”

Ritchie pulled her closer towards him. “Aliesa sometimes as much as I would love to we can’t stop and say hello and sign autographs for everyone.  You of all people should know that.  The next time we’re moving with bodyguards-TRUST me enough to know when you can’t stop!” he hissed in her ear.

“Just because you’ve been in the business longer than me does not give you the right to tell me what to do. 
If I want to stop I’ll stop…end of story,” she answered lifting her eyes up to meet his, not relenting from the 
argument.

“And here are my lovebirds!  Chirping away, preparing for another mating ritual I’m figuring…”

Aliesa retracted herself away from Ritchie and smiled brightly at the man in front of her.

“ABS!” she said warmly, going over to hug him.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” he cracked as his arms wrapped around her waist. 
“Hey man!” he nodded at Ritchie from behind Aliesa’s embrace.  “Glad you guys could make it.”

“We wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” Aliesa said looking up at Ritchie, daring him to say otherwise.

Chapter 6
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