Nick sat there at a table in Tabu with his band mates, Howie, AJ, and Brian They were hanging out after finishing up their new album. They were the Backstreet Boys. They knew they could go to Tabu and not be bothered since Howie owned the club and Orlando was their home base. There was an occasional autograph here and there but mostly everything respected their privacy. Nick drank his beer and looked around. He may be at a table with his three best friends but he never felt more alone. His wife disappeared a year ago and he hasn’t been able to find her. He doesn’t want to give up but he knows that it is possible she’s not coming back to him. He hadn’t received divorce papers or anything to show that she’s still alive. He never gave her a reason to leave him. He sat there at the table and watched Brian with his wife, Leighanne. He looked around and saw two girls come in and look around and sat down at a table. He got up and went to the bar and sat down.  He ordered another beer. He felt someone come up next to him. He looked and saw one of the girls he saw come in. She looked familiar to him but he didn’t recognize her. She smiled at him.

        “You are Nick Carter, aren’t you,” she asked.

        “Yes,” Nick said.

        “I’m Ashley, I’m a fan,” she said holding out her hand. He shook her hand.

        “Do you want an autograph or something?” Nick asked.

        “Nah, I just saw you and you looked like you were about to break down, I can usually tell when someone is about to, I thought if you wanted to talk about it, I am a good listener,” Ashley said. What Nick didn’t know was that Ashley was really his wife, Hayley, although she has no memory of being Hayley. She had been in a car accident and got amnesia and needed plastic surgery for her face.

        “I guess it wouldn’t hurt,” Nick said. Ashley smiled at him and took his hand and pulled him out of the club and they went to the beach and walked along the shoreline.

        “So what’s going on in that head of yours that makes you look like you lost a best friend,” Ashley said.

        “I’m married, but my wife left me a year ago, no note, no nothing, no divorce papers, nothing, not one sign that she’s still alive, I have people looking for her, but nothing has turned up, I loved her so much, I still do, I never gave her one reason to leave, I never cheated, she seems so content as my wife that I didn’t think she could be unhappy, I grew up with her, I’ve known her since we were babies, we were best friends up til a few years after I joined the group and things became more than friends, we became a couple, fell in love, got married, she became pregnant but lost the baby but she seemed so determined that one miscarriage wasn’t going to stop her from having a family with me, I just don’t know what happened, I don’t know what I did wrong to make her leave, we never fought, we never argued,” Nick said. Ashley looked at him.

Chapter 2

Nick stood there looking out at the ocean. He looked at Ashley.

        “I should get back, the guys are probably worried about me,” Nick said.

        “My friend is probably wondering the same thing,” Ashley said. They headed back. Ashley handed him her phone number.

        “Call me sometime if you want to talk,” Ashley said.

        “How about coming home with me, we can continue talking,” Nick said. Ashley smiled.

        “Okay, just because you asked,” Ashley said. She went to talk to her friend while Nick talked to the guys.

        “Nick, are you sure, you don’t know her that well,” AJ said. Nick smiled.

        “Gotta move on sometime, right, I’m not going to do anything stupid, guys, she’s a good listener,” Nick said. Ashley came over to them.

        “Hi guys,” Ashley said.

        “Everyone, this is Ashley, Ashley, this is Brian, his wife, Leighanne, Howie, and AJ,” Nick said.

        “Hi,” they said.

        “Hi, you ready to go?” Ashley said. Nick nodded and they went to Nick’s house. Nick unlocked the door and Ashley walked in and looked around.

        “This place seems familiar, even though I haven’t been here before,” Ashley said.

        “Well, it’s home,” Nick said.

        “Did your wife live here with you?” Ashley asked.

        “Yeah,” Nick said. Ashley looked around and saw pictures. She went and looked.

        “Is this your wife?” Ashley asked.

        “Yeah, Hayley,” Nick said. He turned and put his keys on the counter and looked at his mail. He heard glass shatter and swing around and saw the picture frame on the ground. Ashley stood there with her hands on her mouth.

        “What the,” Nick said as he looked at the picture frame.

        “I’m so sorry, I was looking at the picture and I had these flashes of what happened in that picture and it shocked me,” Ashley said.  Nick looked at her.

        “How can you have that if you weren’t there,” Nick said.

        “I don’t know, that’s what shocked me,” Ashley said as she sat down.

Three months went by. Nick and Ashley spent a lot of time together and it grew into a relationship. She moved in with him and they were enjoying each other’s company. The guys were over for a barbecue. Ashley was in the kitchen with Leighanne. She was cutting up some vegetables and she suddenly leaned on the counter.

        “Ashley, are you okay?” Leighanne asked.

        “Yeah, my head’s hurting,” Ashley said. She put her hand on her head and sat down at the table. Nick came in and saw her and knelt down beside her.

        “Hey, you okay?” Nick asked. She looked at him and nodded.

        “My head hurts,” Ashley said.

        “Maybe you should go lay down for a bit,” Nick said.

        “Okay, that sounds like a good idea,” Ashley said. She went upstairs to her and Nick’s bedroom and laid down and closed her eyes.

Nick stared in Hayley’s eyes as they stood in front of the minister and were pronounced husband and wife. They kissed and hugged.

        “I love you, Hayley, forever and always,” Nick said resting his forehead against hers.

        “I love you, Nicky, forever and always, I never want to be apart from you,” Hayley said. They walked up the aisle and went to the reception.

Ashley sat up and held her head. She sat there wondering why she was having those dreams. She laid back down and closed her eyes.

Nick collapsed on top of her and buried his face in her neck.

        “God, Hayley, I love you so much, I can’t ever lose you, you are my life,” Nick said.

        “I love you, too, Nicky, and you are my life,” Hayley said. He kissed her deeply as he made love to her again.

Ashley sat up again and shook her head. Why was she having dreams of Nick making love to his wife.  She got up and went downstairs and went to the hospital. She asked for a blood test to see who she really was. The doctor came in.

        “The tests show you are Hayley Carter,” the doctor said.

        “What, are you sure?” Ashley asked.

        “Positive, it shows that you were in a car accident a year ago and had reconstructive surgery on your face and amnesia, which is why you don’t remember who you are,” the doctor said. She thanked him and went back to Nick’s. Leighanne came in from the kitchen.

        “Ashley, girl, what’s wrong,” Leighanne said. Ashley pulled her up to Nick’s room and checked it and closed the door and locked it and sat on the bed. Leighanne sat down.

        “I’ve been having these dreams, about Nick and his wife’s wedding day and then of Nick making love to his wife, I wanted to find out why I was having them so I went to the hospital for a blood test, Leighanne, the tests show that I’m Hayley Carter, and that I was in a car accident a year ago and had reconstructive surgery and got amnesia, I’ve been walking around for a year as Ashley when all along I’m Nick’s wife, it doesn’t make any sense, why didn’t anyone contact Nick if I’m his wife, why was I allowed to walk around as someone else when this is where I belonged,” Ashley said. Leighanne hugged her. She looked at Ashley.

        “I’m Hayley, I have to tell Nick,” Ashley said.

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

(From this point on, Ashley will now be known as Hayley)

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

Leighanne ran downstairs with Hayley behind her.

        “Nick, Hayley’s home!” Leighanne said.

        “What,” Nick said. Hayley came out.

        “That’s Ashley, where’s my wife,” Nick said.

        “Ashley is Hayley, only with amnesia, Nick, her headaches was the beginning of her memory coming back, Hayley was in a car accident a year ago, she doesn’t know why no one called you, she had reconstructive surgery on her face because of the accident and she had amnesia, she’s been walking around as Ashley because she had no idea she was Hayley, until she had these dreams of you and Hayley so she went to see who she was, the blood test she took said she is Hayley,” Leighanne said. Nick looked at Hayley. She nodded.

        “I’m sorry, I honestly didn’t know that I was Hayley, I still don’t remember much of anything, that is what I found out from the doctor, I don’t know why you weren’t called,” Hayley said. Nick hugged her as she cried on his shoulder.

        “I will help you remember, okay, I will help you get back to normal, you won’t be lost anymore,” Nick said. Hayley nodded and hugged him.

Chapter 3

That night, Hayley laid in bed, staring at the ceiling. Nick got into bed and faced her.

        “I know I look different,” Hayley said. Nick smiled and stroked her cheek.

        “Actually you look beautiful, like you were before,” Nick said. Hayley looked at him.

        “Really?” Hayley asked.

        “Yeah,” Nick said. He kissed her forehead. She grabbed his face and kissed him hard on the mouth. The kiss deepened.

        “Nick,” Hayley said.

        “Yeah,” Nick said.

        “Make love to me,” Hayley said. Nick kissed her slowly as he slowly removed her clothes and his and he gently made love to her. They fell asleep in each other’s arms. The next morning, Nick woke up and saw he was alone. He looked around and sat up and got up and got dressed and searched the house. He went out back and saw Hayley standing there looking at the ocean. He went and put his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. She rested her hands on top of his and linked her fingers through his.

        “How are you doing,” Nick said nuzzling her neck.

        “Still the same, but I am remembering our wedding day, I remember up til then but nothing after that,” Hayley said.

        “Just take it a day at a time, baby, I’m here and I’m not going anywhere without you, and you aren’t going anywhere with me,” Nick said.

        “I never want to be by myself anywhere ever again,” Hayley said. Nick smiled and kissed her shoulder.

        “You won’t be alone anymore, when I go on tour, you are coming along,” Nick said. Hayley smiled and turned in his arms and hugged him.

That night, Hayley laid in bed. She held her head as her head started to hurt. Nick came in and saw her and got into bed.

        “Another headache?” Nick asked. Hayley nodded. Nick held her close.

        “I never had these kind of headaches before,” Hayley said.

        “Must be your memory working again,” Nick said.

        “I want to remember everything, Nick, I don’t want to be clueless about anything,” Hayley said. Nick kissed her forehead.

        “I’m here for you, baby,” Nick said. Hayley smiled and cuddled up to him. They went to sleep.

The next morning, Hayley sat up and looked around and saw Nick gone. She got up and ran downstairs and looked around and couldn’t find him.

        “Nick!!!” Hayley called. She ran through the house calling his name. She ran into the kitchen just as he ran in the backdoor.

        “Baby, what’s wrong,” Nick said. She ran into his arms.

        “I remember everything!” Hayley said. Nick hugged her tight and pulled back and looked into her eyes.

        “What do you remember?” Nick asked.

        “I remember driving and hearing this loud crash and everything went black, I wasn’t leaving you, Nicky, I was going to Miami because I saw something online that I wanted to get you and they had it at a store in Miami so I was going to Miami, I thought I would be back before you were so I didn’t leave a note, but I should have, I wouldn’t have lost so much time with you, and starting our family, god, Nick, before the accident, my doctor called and said that I was pregnant, I was trying to call you when the accident happened, I don’t know why no one called you, everything was in the car that showed my identity, I never felt so lost in my life!” Hayley said crying. She laid her head on his chest and sobbed.

        “I’m here, baby, and you aren’t lost anymore,” Nick said. She smiled and they kissed deeply.

Epilogue

One year later, Hayley sat in the nursery and watched her and Nick’s baby girl, Alexis Marie Carter, sleep in the crib.  Nick came in and stood behind Hayley and gazed at his daughter.

        “She is so beautiful, Nicky,” Hayley said.

        “I know, just like her mother,” Nick said.

        “She isn’t going to look like me now, she’s going to look like me before I had plastic surgery,” Hayley said.

        “You are beautiful, like you were before, just like the song we have, what makes you different, makes you beautiful,” Nick said. He kissed her forehead.

        “But she’s going to have Carter written all over her,” Hayley said.

        “Oh yeah, I better keep the boys away,” Nick said.

        “Who knows, maybe when she grows up, she might hook up with Baylee,” Hayley said. Hayley and Leighanne gave birth at the same time. Leighanne and Brian named their baby boy, Baylee Thomas Wylee Littrell.

        “She’s not dating until she’s 30,” Nick said.

        “Nickolas,” Hayley said.

        “She’s my little girl, I have to protect her,” Nick said.

        “Nicky, who said she’s the only child we are having, you said you wanted a big family,” Hayley said.

        “She’s my first child, though,” Nick said. Hayley kissed him deeply.

        “But we can see what happenes,” Nick said. They sat down and watched their daughter sleep. They knew everything was going to be okay.

THE END!