"Remind me again why we're at the mall when Bess didn't drag us here?" George Fayne asked, running her fingers through her shoulder length curly hair.

Nancy Drew laughed "I don't know. It just seems right to honor Bess while she'd out of town."

"Town?" George scoffed "You mean country!"

George's cousin, Bess Marvin had gone to Ireland to spend some time with a preschool friend that she had kept in touch with.

Ned Nickerson chuckled "I guess I'm standing in for Bess today."

Nancy looked up at her longtime boyfriend and grinned "You're the complete opposite, my friend."

It was completely true. Besides the fact that Bess was a girl and Ned was a boy, Bess was about five foot three with long, straight blond hair and blue eyes and slightly chunky. Ned was almost six feet with dark brown hair and eyes and was a constant sport player, which resulted in staying fit. He was currently on semester break from Emerson College.

"Wow." Nancy mumbled as she pushed open the doors to the mall "I noticed that the parking lot was unusually full. But could all these people fit into all those cars?"

The mall was packed to say the least. People were pushing and somewhere closer to the middle, there was a heap pile of screaming and cheering going on. Not to mention camera flashing.

"What is going on?" Ned shouted above the noise.

"I have no idea!" Nancy answered.

George swiped a brochure from a nearby rack "Um... let's see. Oh. There's a Pop group here." she answered.

Nancy looked at her "What? A pop group? In River Heights?"

"Yup." George nodded as she flipped through the pages "Apparently there's this pop thing going on with a bunch of amateur singers trying to get their big break, or something. That's what all this is. I've never heard of any of them so I don't care." she pointed towards the other side of the mall "Let's just get what we came here for and leave."

"Agreed." Ned agreed.

"Okay." Nancy nodded. They pushed through the crowd, slipping into the small stores when they could. They were almost halfway there when the loud speakers hanging from the rafters suddenly came to life with a loud roll down the piano. Then a voice rang out across the mall:

"Weeeeeeeeeeelllllllll!"

Nancy froze "Wait..."

"You know you make me want to SHOUT!

Kick my heels up and SHOUT!

Throw my hands up and SHOUT!"

"Throw my head back and SHOUT!"

Nancy turned towards the crowd but couldn't see over their heads "That sounds an awful lot like..." without another word she started to push through the screaming crowd as a girl's voice started singing.

"Come on now!

Don't forget to say you will.

Don't forget to say yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah."

"I knew it!" George exclaimed "She's crazy!"

"We'd better follow her." Ned shrugged, mainly curious to see who this singer that Nancy knew was.

When Nancy finally managed to make it to the front of the crowd, she was exhausted. But as soon as she spotted the 'popstars' she burst into laughter.

Just as she had thought, it was Frank and Joe Hardy and Callie Shaw!

Callie and Joe were doing the singing. Frank was standing off to the side bobbing his head to music and playing an electric guitar.

"Wow!" George laughed once she caught up "Who knew?"

"I know!" Nancy jumped a little then started clapping her hands along with everyone else.

It had been months since she'd seen the Hardy brothers! They hadn't talked much either because they both had been busy with cases that generally resulted in leaving the country.

Joe's hair was bouncing all over the place as he sang, making use of that microphone stand 'Elvis' style. Joe was already a 'lady-killer' with his blond hair and bright blue eyes. And him jumping around and singing really made him look cute.

Then she turned her attention to the older Hardy that wasn't being half as active. She felt her heart skip a beat like it normally did at the sight of him.

Right at that moment, he looked at her. A bright smile crossed his face and his dark brown eyes started to sparkle.

She sent him a small wave which he nodded in response.

When the song ended a minute later, the crowd went crazy!

Joe waved at them "Thank you! We must be off!"

Security split the crowd and the three, with their band started to leave. Pausing to sign random autographs and give random fans hugs.

When Frank was finally close enough, Nancy waved at him and was about to call his name but one look in his eye told her not to. When he reached her he gave her a quick, popstar style hug and quickly whispered "Meet you later." then he was gone.

"Come on." Nancy said to her friends "Let's go."

~*~*~*The-Deadly-Song*~*~*~

"Are you sure this is where they want to meet?" George asked.

"Positive." Nancy nodded.

"I didn't expect Frank and Joe to show up." Ned commented.

"Neither was I." Nancy chuckled "I can't wait to find out what they've been up to."

"She is good!" Joe's voice said behind them "She must have read our minds!"

Nancy slid out of the booth and turned to face the brothers "Did you two give up the investigating business to go famous?"

Frank shook his head "Not in a million years."

Joe grinned "Only because he won't let me." he struck a pose "Can't you see it? Rock star spy!"

"No." Nancy laughed.

Joe shrugged "It was worth the try." then he held his arms out to her "Give me a hug."

Nancy quickly hugged him then moved out of the way so George could get her hug and turned to face Frank where she was greeted with a wide smile.

"It's good to see you, Drew."

She stepped into his arms and hugged him tightly "It's good to see you too, Hardy."

She knew the hug lasted longer than necessary but it just felt so... right.

"Hey look," Joe teased "They're on last name basis!"

George laughed "I swear they call each other by their last names more than they do by their first."

Nancy shook her head then smiled at Callie "Hey."

Callie nodded "Hi, Nancy."

Ned stood from his seat and shook Frank's hand "Long time no see."

"Sure is." Frank responded.

Then everything was quiet... tooooo quiet.

Joe leaned over to George and mumbled "Awkward!"

George snorted "You're not kidding."

"Shall we get something to eat and catch up?" Nancy volunteered, trying to break the awkward silence.

"Food! Yes!" Joe cheered.

As they slid int their seats, Frank, Joe and Callie were on one side, Ned, Nancy and George were on the other.

Joe squirmed in his seat by the wall "Why do you always stick me in the corner?"

Callie grinned "Because you're not home enough for you mom to do it."

They all laughed then ordered their food. As soon as the waitress was gone, Nancy leaned forward in her seat to talk to Frank who was sitting directly in front of her "What's the mystery?"

Frank sent her a slow grin that reached all the way to his eyes as he leaned forward to match her position on the table "What makes you think there's a mystery?"

She raised an eyebrow "Because I know you, Frank Hardy. You wouldn't be posing as a 'wanna be' pop star unless there was."

"Ouch." Joe whistled "And it's rock star." he nudged his brother in the side "I told you you should be more like me. You might actually take Nan by surprise."

Frank shook his head as he returned his attention to the red head across the table "I doubt it."

Nancy felt her face start heating up and desperately wished she had something to distract herself.

"So about the case." George said.

Just then their waitress returned and started handing out the food.

Frank grabbed a napkin and while no one was paying attention scribbled something on it real quick, then he slipped it under the table.

Nancy felt a slight nudge on her foot and glanced down to see the napkin caught in between Franks shoes, which were very close to her.

She nonchalantly snatched the napkin and looked at the note. It read:

Can't talk about case here.

Network.

She folded the napkin and stuck it in her pocket then nodded at Frank and started eating her food.

The Network was a top secret government agency whom the Hardys teamed up with every once in a while. No one was supposed to know about the Hardy's work with them. Not even their father. Which also meant, no Callie and no Ned.

They talked companionably about their previous cases and whatnot.

"I thought he'd been killed!" Joe exclaimed "I mean he got a knife thrown into him!"

"But Joe, you forgot we were at a theater." Frank chuckled as he patted his brother's back "It had a slide in edge."

Joe put on a pout "But you sure acted like you'd been killed."

"That was the point."

Nancy smiled as she watched the banter between the brothers.

Even though Joe was acting sour, she could see he was enjoying the attention. Frank reached over and ruffled his brother's hair.

"They're so close." she thought with a smile. Sometimes she wondered what would have happened if she had had a sibling. But Joe had become the little brother she'd never had. Frank on the other hand...

She tried to see him as a brother. But it was hard when every time he looked at her it made her heart skip a beat.

Frank glanced at her just then and sent her a quick wink which made her face heat up.

Apparently though, Ned saw it because he tensed.

Frank cleared his throat when he realized what he had just done and slid his arm around Callie's shoulders the same time Ned put his arm around Nancy.

And there came that awkward tension again.

"So..." George said "What's your newest case?"

"We're just keeping an eye on a couple of our competitors." Joe shrugged "People can get crazy when there's a competitive spirit going around."

"Don't I know it." George shook her head "People go downright Crazy!"

George was into all kinds of sports and competitions, so she had plenty of experience with over -zealous competitors.

Joe winked at her "Good thing you've got body guards for most of your competitions."

George raised an eyebrow "Body guards?"
"Yep." Joe looked out the window, pretending to ignore her "You would have been lost in Copper Canyon without me."

"Oh yeah right!"

Nancy chuckled and tapped her fingers absently on the table.

Frank grinned. He knew she was dying to know about the case. And in all honesty, he was dying to tell her.

"Dessert?" the waitress asked as she returned.

"Sure." George nodded.

"Definitely!" Joe piped up.

Ned and Callie agreed.

Nancy was about to speak when she noticed Frank glance at her from the corner of his eye and smile slightly. Then she realized what he was thinking. Perfect getaway!

Frank stretched in the booth "I think I'll pass. That meal filled me up!" he slid out of his seat "I think I'm gonna go get some air."

"Mind if I join?" Nancy asked casually "I'm pretty stuffed myself."

Frank shrugged "If you wish."

She didn't miss the glint that came to his eyes as he watched her slide out.

"I can come along." Ned volunteered.

"That's okay." Nancy smiled at him "Enjoy your dessert."

Joe sent a slight nod at his brother as the two left the cafe.

(Attempting another ND-HB story! Woohoo! And yes, Ned and Callie are here... Awkward! Oh yeah! You see that cover picture up there? Guess what... I DREW IT! And colored it! I'm soooo proud of me *pat self on the back*. It's my first attempt at a kissing couple, so... yup!

Well, Laterz! =D)