NINTENDO ANYONE?

Chapter 2

And talk we did. I learned so much about Nick. What he wanted for the rest of his life. How long he expected the group’s popularity to last. What he wanted when they finished with the group. He didn’t see them breaking up at all, which made me very happy. We didn’t mention the kiss until hours later.

“Nick, I just wanted to say that I really don’t go away with strangers to their houses and then kiss them out of the blue. I usually am very cautious.” I started.

“I understand. It was just something that happened. I enjoyed it. It has been a long time since I have been kissed like that.” He said sadly. I knew that he had never had a really serious girlfriend, he spent most of his life with the band, traveling.

I had to lighten the mood. The storm was still raging outside. I was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to make it back to the hotel. “So, are you going to feed me or are you just going to let me starve?”

“Well,” Nick laughed as we got up to go toward the kitchen, “We need the stove to cook and unfortunately, it won’t work since the power hasn’t come back on. Can’t use the microwave either. So, I guess we are going to have to eat cereal.” He said as he looked in the cupboards for something to eat.

“Not necessarily. Do you have a barbecue?” I asked.

Nick spun around to face me, without thinking what he was doing he grabbed my face and planted another kiss on my lips. “You are a genius. We do.” Nick led me over to the patio doors, I didn’t say a word. If Nick Carter wanted to kiss me, who was I stop him? He pointed out a barbecue just off to the left of us. It was soaking wet and if we were going to cook with it, we would be even wetter. “I think that there is some chicken in the freezer and we have potatoes. I will admit that I am not much of a cook though.”

I laughed, “That’s okay. Why don’t you just get me some light, and if you don’t mind me poking around in your cupboards, I will cook for you.” I finished while walking back into the kitchen.

“Be my guest. I am always up for a good home cooked meal. We don’t get many of those on the road.” He said while looking for some candles. Within minutes, Nick had surrounded the kitchen in candlelight. He sat down at the island and just watched me work.

I had taken some of the chicken out and had it sitting in the sink with some warm water to thaw it out. I looked around for what I could make with it. Luckily there was a supply of potatoes in the fridge. I grabbed a couple of those and washed them. I spun around the kitchen, looking for the knives.

“What da ya need?” Nick asked.

I looked over at him. The candle light danced across his face, making him look even more sexy and alluring than before. If that was possible. “I need a sharp knife.”

He pointed to a drawer just beside the stove, “Over there. So, Kielly, I know a little about you, but why don’t you tell me how you came across our music.” Nick said.

“Well,” I started as I went through the drawer looking for a knife. “Just as I was getting over the break up of New Kids, a friend told me about this new band. She lives in Quebec, which is where you guys got your start. She told me that a lot of people were comparing you guys to the New Kids. I hated that. So I will admit that when you first made it in Canada, I was not a fan. I was being too loyal to the New Kids. But then I started to listen to your music and it hit me. It was the kind of music that I loved. I can sit there and sing along with it all day and not have a headache after. It didn’t take long to get totally addicted to you. I bought all the cd’s within a couple of weeks, anything that I could get my hands on, I would buy it. Within reason of course.” I paused as I went over to the fridge to get some butter for the potatoes.

“Within in reason of what?” Nick asked.

“Well,” I went back to the island in front of Nick and smiled, “I feel that I am too old to be collecting all the magazines and pictures that I did with the New Kids. So, basically, I rely on the videos to look at your handsome faces and whatever I can get off the Internet. I need some aluminum foil.”

“The drawer right under you.” Nick replied, “So you don’t have an extensive collection of Backstreet stuff then?”

I shook my head as I looked through their spice rack. “No, but I have the cd’s and the videos. The magazines, you guys don’t make any money on anyway. I haven’t seen you in concert yet, so I haven’t gotten actual concert T-shirts. I was a little upset when you guys announced your Millennium tour and there was no dates in Alberta.” I confessed.

“Yeah, we got a lot of mail on that. Maybe you can come to the one in Toronto. I can get you tickets.” He offered.

“You should go start the barbecue. These are ready to be started. I thought that the shows were all sold out?” I inquired. I picked up the potatoes and followed Nick to the patio doors.

We looked outside, then at one another and started to laugh. “Let’s make a run for it.” Nick said opening the door. It never occurred to us to simply move the barbecue closer to the patio doors.

“Okay, on three. Ready,” I started, “One, two, three.” I whispered. We ran out the door and over to the barbecue. Nick got it started quickly, I threw the potatoes on and we ran back to the house. We were both soaking wet.

“Okay, this is silly for the both of us to be getting wet. Why don’t you go up to my room and change into some sweats and a sweater, I’ll grab something after dinner is ready.” Nick said as he took off his shirt to ring it out.

I had to swallow back the little cry that wanted to escape from my throat at the sight of him with no shirt. I sighed heavily and turned around to head for the stairs. “Which room is yours?” I asked at the base of the stairs.

“Third door on the left.” Nick said, pulling his shirt back on.

I walked carefully up the stairs. I had taken my socks off so that I wouldn’t get water all over the house. At the top of the stairs, I saw the bathroom straight ahead of me. I had to use that when I was done. The door to my right was open, the first thing that I saw was a picture of Brian and his girlfriend. I fought the urge to go into all the rooms to see what I could find. These guys were my life, I wanted to know as much about them as I could find out. But Nick was trusting me that I wasn’t going to turn into some mental fan. I found the door to Nick’s room and carefully opened the door. I had heard from several sources that he tended to be a slob. I was surprised when I looked inside. His room was clean.

I went over to the dresser and opened the drawers to see where he had everything. I pulled out a pair of black University of Florida sweats and then I found a huge white sweatshirt with Nick’s name on it. I closed the door and got changed. Nick’s clothes were huge on me. He was more than six feet tall. I was just over five seven. I felt so comfortable in them. I gathered all my clothes and went to the bathroom. I saw that the guys had little shelves for all of their stuff, hoping I was grabbing Nick’s brush, I quickly ran it through my hair.

I felt much better. I gathered my clothes again and headed back downstairs. Nick was sitting in the living room, he had found a yellow raincoat and was sitting on that. He had rubber boots on as well. “I feel much better. Where can I put these?” I asked.

“We can put them in the dryer. You will need them eventually.” Nick said taking my clothes. “I see you found my favorite sweater.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” I started looking down, “I can change if you want it after dinner is ready.” I offered.

“No, that’s okay. It looks better on you.” Nick replied, looking at me out of the corner of his eyes. I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment. I stayed up stairs and got the rest of the food ready for dinner while Nick took my clothes downstairs. I heard him laugh and then saw him at the top of the stairs. “The dryer won’t work with no power.”

“No, I guess not. That’s okay. These are pretty comfortable.” I laughed. “You should check those potatoes. They could probably be turned.”

“Sure thing.” He said and bounded outside. A minute later he returned, “They are feeling pretty soft, did you want to give me the other stuff?”

“Here you go.” I replied walking over to the door. I watched as he ran over to the barbecue and put the food on. It was going to be tricky turning the chicken, but I was sure Nick could do it. When he made it back to the door, I grabbed the towel that was sitting on the chair. After he stepped through the door, I placed the towel carefully on his face and wiped it dry. I had to hold back the emotions that were running through me. I wanted nothing more than to take Nick on the kitchen floor right there and then. But I gained control before I did something stupid.

“Thank you.” He whispered as he took the towel from my hands and dried his hair a little. Our eyes never left each other. I hoped that Nick was feeling the same things that I was, but I wasn’t going to bring it up.

“Well, things should be ready soon. Chicken usually doesn’t take too long.” I said going back to the kitchen to set the table.

While Nick finished with the food, I grabbed a couple of plates and some cutlery. Setting the table I put candles around so that we would be able to see what we were eating. Ten minutes later, dinner was ready. Nick brought everything in and then went upstairs to get changed. I got everything on the table and waited for Nick.

He took my breath away when he walked down the stairs. He was doing that a lot. He was wearing a pair of white sweats and a dark blue sweatshirt, his feet were bare and he had slicked his hair back, I loved it that way.

“Everything is ready. We have to eat quickly, I don’t know how long these candles are going to last.” I joked.

Nick walked over to the table and came to my side, “It looks great.” He said and kissed me on the cheek. He pulled my chair out for me and helped me sit down. “This is great. Nothing like a power outage to relax a person.”

I waited while Nick tried the food, the look on Nick’s face gave it all away. “Kielly, this is fantastic. You are an awesome cook.”

I looked away and lifted my fork, “Well, I just got it ready. You cooked it.” I whispered.

“True, but most of the work is in the preparation.” Nick assured me.

After a minute, I smiled up at Nick, “Well thank you. I hope that I can cook for you again.”

Nick met my eyes, there was instant sparks around us. And not just from the candles. He reached for my hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “I think that can be arranged.” He replied.

“You said something about going to see you in Toronto. How can I get in if the show is sold out?” I asked. I would do anything to see them in concert.

“We always have a couple of special seats set aside for family and special guests. I can give you an all access pass and that will get you back stage.” Nick looked at me, “I would really like for you to be there.”

“I have to see if I can afford it. How will I be able to get in contact with you?”

“I’ll give you my number. Just don’t give it to anyone else.” He said.

“Promise.” I replied crossing my heart. Just then two of the candles went out. “Oh, oh, we are losing our power. We better hurry up and eat.” I laughed. There was just too much going on every time that I looked at Nick. I hadn’t felt like this for years.

A few minutes later we were finished. Nick cleaned off the table and when I mentioned doing the dishes, he brushed it off. The thunder and lightening had calmed a while ago, but now as I stood at the window and stared outside, I could see that another storm was coming. Just as Nick was coming to my side, there was another clap of thunder. It wasn’t as loud as the others, as the storm was still a ways away. I tensed up, Nick sensed it.

“You really don’t like thunder do you?” He asked.

“No I don’t.” I whispered and went to sit down. “So Mr. Carter, how long are you going to keep me here?”

“Well, I guess I should tell you the bad news.” Nick started sitting beside me.

“Bad news?” I questioned.

“We parked in the garage. Can’t get out without power.” Nick smiled.

I don’t know why it was so funny, but I started to laugh and couldn’t stop. I was laughing so hard that tears were coming out of my eyes. It got so bad that I couldn’t get in a breath big enough to keep me going. I started to gasp for air, Nick took charge. He quickly got me a glass of water and told me to relax. I calmed down and a few minutes later I was better.

“Thank you.” I whispered. “I don’t know how that happened.”

“No problem. I guess it was just all the things that we can’t do because we have no power.” Nick said.

“Probably.” I yawned and looked at the clock. “Holy, it’s after midnight? When did it get so late?”

“Are you tired? Did you want to go to bed?” Nick asked and then suddenly realized how that sounded, “I mean, separately.”

“Yeah. I could do with some sleep. I can just crash on the couch.” I said stretching out, casually putting my legs across Nick.

“No, no, there is a guest room in the back, you can sleep there.” Nick laughed. He placed his hands on my legs, rubbing lightly.

“Sounds good.” I replied yawning again, trying to ignore the fact that Nick was touching me.

“Okay, come on. I’ll show you where it is.” He helped me up again, not letting go of my hand as he led me to the guestroom. “Here it is. There should be enough blankets and what not. If not just let me know.”

Nick opened the door and showed me inside. The guys had decorated it in dark green and mahogany colors. It was a beautiful room. “Thanks Nick. I guess this is goodnight.” I whispered looking up at Nick.

“Yeah. Sleep tight.” He said. It appeared that both of us didn’t want to leave. Nick bent down and gently kissed me on the cheek, then reluctantly left. Just as he was about to turn the corner, we saw a flash of light and then the thunder. Nick turned back to me, “Are you going to be okay?”

I nodded my head, “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Good night Nick.” I said as I closed the door.

I padded over to the bed, carefully took off the extra pillows and pulled the covers back. The guys had obviously spent good money on the bedding. As soon as I climbed in, I was surrounded by warmth. There was another crack of thunder, I tensed up a little and then relaxed. I closed my eyes and tried to go to sleep.

I couldn’t do it. All I was doing was counting how close the thunder was. The rain was still pouring down. There was a window to the right of the bed. Whenever the lightening would strike, the light would flood the room. Then the thunder would come. Try as I might, I couldn’t block out the thunder. After about a half an hour I couldn’t take being alone anymore. I crawled out of bed and walked out in the darkness.

I felt my way along the wall, finally making my way to the living room. Nick had put the fire out, but you could still feel the warmth and the smell of the burnt wood. There was a flash of lightening that lit up the living room, showing me where the stairs were.

Should I go up to Nick’s room? Maybe I should just suck it up and go back to the guestroom. Just as I was turning to go back, there was a loud crack of thunder. I bolted up the stairs two at a time. I reached Nick’s door the same time as he was coming out. I threw myself into his arms, shaking.

“Kielly.” Nick said holding me tight. “It’s okay. You’re shaking like a leaf. I was just coming to check on you.” He finished leading me into his room and closing the door behind us.

I sat down on his bed, suddenly realizing that the only thing I was wearing was Nick’s sweatshirt. It was long enough, but I still pulled it up and over my legs. Tears were falling down my cheeks.

“I’m sorry, I just can’t be alone anymore.” I whispered as Nick sat down beside me.

Nick put his arm around me, “That’s okay.”

“Nick, I know this is a lot to ask. I know that we hardly know each other. But can I sleep in here with you?” I asked shyly.

Nick looked at me. Shocked at first, then more softly, “If that would help and make you feel better, sure.” He got off the bed and walked to the door. “I’ll just go get some blankets and sack out on the floor. You can have the bed.” Nick walked out of the room, returning a minute later with blankets and a pillow.

“Thank you Nick.” I said from deep beneath his covers.

“No problem.” He replied as he got comfortable on the floor. “Sleep tight Kielly.” He reached his hand up and gently touched my face.

At the touch of Nick’s fingers, I was instantly calm. The storm raged on outside, the lightening continued, the thunder crashed around the house. I managed to fall asleep for a few hours. Knowing Nick was so close had a calming effect on me.

Early in the morning I heard Nick get up. I opened my eyes and looked at Nick’s clock - 4:30 - flashed back at me. I groaned, turned over and pulled the covers tighter around me. I was fast asleep by the time Nick returned I didn’t notice when he crawled in beside me. The only thing I noticed was a calm peaceful feeling surrounding me.

--> chapter 3

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