NINTENDO ANYONE?

Chapter 4 

As soon as Nick was gone everyone turned to me. “So what really happened last night Kielly?” Howie asked first.

“Nick didn’t tell you?” I wondered.

“All he said was that nothing happened.” Kevin said.

“That’s exactly what happened. We came back here, he showed me the advantages of Nintendo role-playing games, the power went out, we talked, had some dinner, went to bed.” I explained, trying to be as nonchalant as I could be.

“Bull.” Tara and Michelle both said. They knew me better than anyone.

“Seriously. Nothing happened.” I assured them all.

They were all looking at me with questions. “Then why were you and Nick sharing a bed this morning?” Brian asked. I could see that he was worried about Nick, they were like brothers. The closest of the group.

“Probably because I was scared to death of the thunder last night, I asked Nick if I could sleep with him in his room. I fall apart when I hear thunder.” I said looking to Tara and Michelle for confirmation. They both nodded their heads. Nick slept on the floor until about 4:30 or so. He got up to go to the bathroom and when he came back he must have forgotten that I was there in his bed. That’s all, I think you guys are reading too much into this.” I finished shaking my head.

“I don’t think so. I think Nick is falling in love with you.” Brian stated.

I stared at Brian. I had only known him for a few hours, why was he doing this? I looked around at everyone else who were nodding his or her heads in agreement. “And Kie, you know that you love Nick.” Michelle said.

“You guys, this is ridiculous. I love Nick Carter, yes, but as the performer. The guy that you see up on stage every night shaking his bootie for thousands of girls. I don’t love Nick Carter the regular guy. And Nick hardly knows me, how can he be in love with some one that he doesn’t know?” I asked.

“I know Nick. I know how to read him. He won’t admit it yet, but I can see it.” Brian told me.

At that point Nick returned, his hair slicked back, wearing jeans and a T-shirt. He looked so good, my heart skipped a beat. “Thank God. Can we go now?” I jumped up and headed inside.

“The rest of us need to get ready and we should get some food together.” Howie pointed out.

“Okay, well you guys get ready, I will put together some food.” I offered.

Everyone went their ways, Nick went upstairs, Tara and Michelle followed me into the kitchen.

“Kie what’s up with you?” Tara asked.

“Nothing. Why do you ask?” My head was buried in the fridge, so they couldn’t see the look of worry on my face.

“Why are you trying to deny what Brian said?” Michelle questioned.

“Deny it? I am not denying anything. You guys know that I love Nick. But like I said before, it is Nick the performer. And Nick hardly knows me, he can’t be in love with me.” I stated.

“Kielly,” Michelle started. When she called me by my whole name I knew that she was gonna pull age on me. She was exactly three months older than I was. “I can see it every time that you look at Nick. You have that far away gaze. I know you. We both do.” She said looking at Tara, who nodded. “Why won’t you admit that you are falling in love with the real Nick Carter?”

I slammed the knife down on the counter. I didn’t know why I was suddenly so mad, but I could have just hit Tara and Michelle. “Jesus Christ, you two. For the last time, I am not falling in love with Nick Carter!” I said loudly. Luckily for me, it was just in time for the guys to walk down the stairs. I looked over at them, Nick was hurt. I could see that plain as day. “Shit.” I mumbled. I forgot about the food that I was preparing, I gave Tara and Michelle a dirty look, walked past Howie, Brian and Kevin. My mistake was looking Nick in the eyes. The second I did that, tears started to fall. Which made me even madder. I walked out the front door and sat on the step.

I was not falling in love with Nick. No way. I wouldn’t allow myself that. I couldn’t live that kind of life. Staying at home, wondering where he was, who he was with. I wouldn’t put myself through that. Nick and I could only ever be friends. I pulled myself together as best as I could and started to walk down the walkway. I couldn’t stay here now that I had made a complete fool of myself. I was halfway down the front walk when the front door opened.

“Kielly! Wait.” Howie called after me.

I turned around, “What?”

“Don’t go. Tara and Kevin are finishing the sandwiches. We will be ready to go in a few minutes. Don’t you want to go out on Nick’s boat?” He asked running to my side.

“Of course. I just don’t want to be lectured about why I am denying that I am falling in love with Nick. Because I am not.” I announced.

Howie put a hand on my arm, “We won’t. It was just a shock for us guys to discover that Nick was with a girl. He’s not that experienced. And it was so out of the blue. I won’t lie to you, Kielly, but there is a connection there. But it is up to you and Nick to decide what you are going to do about it.” Howie told me honestly.

I looked at Howie intently for a minute and then smiled. “You really are the peace maker of the group aren’t you?”

He laughed a little and lowered his head. “Yeah, I am. It’s a curse.” he joked. “So what do you say, you want to join us on the boat today?”

“I would love it.” I whispered. Howie put his arm around my shoulder and led me back into the house.

We quickly got everything together and then piled into several cars. Kevin, Tara, Howie and Michelle in one. Brian took his own car as he was going to pick Leighanne up on the way. AJ had been called and would meet the rest of us at the boat. Nick and I went in his car.

“Everything okay?” Nick asked once we were on our way.

“Fine. You?”

“Fine.” He replied. “You aren’t mad are you?”

“No. Should I be?” I knew that I was being very vague with him, but I didn’t want to get into another conversation on my feelings for him.

“No, just wondering that’s all.” He finished.

We were quiet for the rest of the ride to the docks. AJ and his girlfriend were all ready there. Introductions were made and just as we were getting on board, Brian and Leighanne arrived. More introductions, Nick went around and checked his boat out and we were off. Nick was obviously at the helm of the ship, I stood by his side as he told me all about sailing.

Just after noon we all sat down around the deck and had some lunch. With the addition of AJ, the group was complete. They were hilarious when they were all together. They kept Tara, Michelle and I laughing. I could tell by watching Tara and Kevin that they were interested in one another. As was Michelle and Howie. I was happy for them. I just hoped that they would remember that it was I who got them together in the first place.

The afternoon turned into night. Nick steered the boat back toward the shore and when he was confident that I could handle it, he handed the steering wheel to me. I was a little nervous at first, but I relaxed after a few minutes. Once we got closer to shore I handed the reins back to Nick and he brought the boat into shore with ease. We all decided to go to a nearby restaurant for some dinner. The guys attracted a certain amount of hype. After all they are the Backstreet Boys. And everyone wanted to know who the other three girls were.

The meal was fantastic. The guys definitely knew the right places to go. After a few hours we decided to head back to the house. I knew that eventually I was going to have to leave Nick and go back to the hotel. I just didn’t know how hard it was going to be. We all sat around the house for a few more hours. We had made plans to do some sight seeing the following day, with the guys as our tour guides.

At about two in the morning, Tara started to yawn. “Well I guess we should probably get back to the hotel. We need some rest before tomorrow.” She stood up and stretched. Kevin reached over and tickled her.

“Stop that.” she ordered as she playfully slapped his hand away.

Michelle and I stood as well, then it hit me. “How are we going to get back to the hotel? We don’t have a car.” I said spinning around to look at Tara and Michelle.

“Why don’t you take my car.” Nick offered. He stood up and handed me his keys, “We will see you tomorrow, I can get it back then.”

“Uhm, thanks Nick. That’s great. I will drive carefully, I promise.”

Kevin, Howie and Nick walked us girls upstairs. Brian and Leighanne escaped to his room, AJ and his girlfriend, prepared to head to back to AJ’s. I gathered all my things and headed out to Nick’s car. Kevin was deeply into saying goodnight to Tara. Michelle and Howie were dancing around one another, waiting for the other to make the first move.

“Mich just kiss him all ready!” I yelled over to them. Michelle turned to tell me off, as she turned back to Howie, he seized the moment and grabbed Michelle and kissed her. Within seconds they were oblivious to the rest of the world.

“That was pretty sneaky.” Nick laughed.

“Well, they both wanted to do it. If we had to wait for them, we would be here until Christmas.” I joked unlocking the door to Nick’s car.

“So Kielly, I just wanted to make sure that everything was okay with us.” Nick whispered.

“Of course it is. Why do you ask?” I wondered. Even though I knew what he was talking about. I wanted to keep talking, I so badly wanted Nick to kiss me, but friends didn’t do that sort of thing.

“Well, with what the others were saying earlier. Brian cornered me this morning and asked me a few questions. He told me what they asked you this morning. Then just before we went out on the boat. I just want to be sure that we know what is going on here.” Nick explained.

“We are friends Nick. I don’t know what all these guys think that they see.” I stated and opened the car door, throwing my things in the back seat. I looked back up at Nick, there was a flicker of sadness in his eyes, but it was gone just as quick.

We were silent for a few minutes before Nick spoke, “Kielly, this may be out of line, but can a friend give you a goodnight kiss?”

I gazed at him, those blue eyes were more than I could handle, I couldn’t turn him away, “Sure.” I whispered.

Slowly Nick bent down to me. Our lips met and just like the night before, it was like fire works had been lit around us. Against my own will, my arms went around Nick’s neck, my hands found his hair and ran it through my fingers. Nick was holding me tight in his long arms. I never wanted to move from this very spot. It held everything that I wanted so badly. Although I would not admit it to anyone.

We parted after a few minutes. I quickly looked around to see if anyone was watching, relieved when I saw that Tara and Michelle were still occupied. “Well I guess we will see you tomorrow.” I whispered, my fingers trailed across my lips.

“Yeah. Sleep tight.” Nick replied.

I reached into the car and honked the horn. “Let’s go you two. Enough kissey facing all ready. I want to go and sleep.” “And cry.” I said to myself.

A minute later Tara and Michelle joined me in the car. We all waved to the guys and I pulled out of the driveway. “Can you believe this? How lucky are we?” Michelle asked.

Not very, I thought to myself. All I wanted to do was cry. I knew that there was no possible way that Nick and I could be anything more than friends. So why did I want to turn the car around and go back to him?

I tossed and turned all night. Images of Nick floated around in my head. It was a good thing that we all had separate rooms, Tara and Michelle stayed up through the night talking about Howie and Kevin. When I woke the next morning I had decided that Nick and I were only going to be friends, I would put all of my energy into that. There would be no kissing, no being alone. I was going to turn off these feelings like a tap. Just shut everything off.

That lasted about as long as my shower. When I got out, Nick and the guys were waiting for us. Tara had let Nick into my room, it was a good thing, I had my bathrobe on. I turned the corner and saw Nick on my bed watching tv. “Comfy?”

“Absolutely. This bed is almost as good as mine.” He laughed.

“Not quite.” I replied, remembering how it felt to cuddle into Nick’s covers. The smell of his cologne, mixed with his soap. “Is everyone else here?”

“Yeah, Kev is with Michelle, Howie is with Tara and Brian and AJ are waiting downstairs. The guys had a brainstorm last night. They decided that they should rent a limo. Let you guys see Florida in style.” Nick explained.

“That would do it. Did you guys do any talking after we left last night?” I asked as I started to do my hair.

“Yeah we did. Talked for a about an hour. Why?” Nick wondered.

“I was just wondering what Howie and Kevin thought of Ra and Mich.” I replied.

“I think that they are both hit. It appears that way to me. I had to tell them both to be quiet so that I could get to sleep.”

“That’s good. I am happy for them.” I went over to my suitcase and picked out my clothes for the day. “I’ll be right back.” I walked back across the room and went to the bathroom.

I closed the door and leaned against it. Seeing Nick lying on my bed, was too much. I couldn’t deny it. I was in love with him. “But you can’t date him. It would never work. You know that Kielly.” I said quietly to myself as I got dressed.

“Why wouldn’t it work? You don’t have a job yet. You were just going to live off your parents for a while and then work for a year or so and then go back to school. You could easily join Nick on the tour. He would love to have you there. Brian is right, he is in love with you. That much was apparent when he kissed you last night.” I told my image in the mirror.

“You are kidding yourself, Kielly. It would never work. You are very jealous. You couldn’t take all the girls screaming and crying for Nick. And let’s face it, Nick is the most popular of all the guys, there is a lot of them. You can only be friends with Nick. Face it.” I scolded myself. I looked at the eyes in the mirror. “Friends.” I repeated.

Satisfied that I looked presentable, I went back out into the room. “Well, this is the best that I have to offer for today. I hope guys didn’t have anything to fancy planned.” I joked.

Nick walked up to me, placed a kiss on my cheek and smiled. “You look fabulous. And no we don’t have anything fancy planned. Let’s go find the others.” Nick reached for my hand. As much as I wanted to, I just couldn’t let go.

We met up with the others in the lobby of the hotel. We all piled into the limo and set off on our day. Obviously I had to let go of Nick’s hand to get into the limo, he made sure that we sat beside each other and casually put his arm around my shoulders.

The others noticed this and all smiled. Tara and Michelle got another dirty look, if I was going to stand by my resolve to only be friends with Nick, they were going to have to support me.

The first place the guys took us was to the market where they got their name. It was an awesome place. We all strolled around the market. The ten of us made quite a group. Howie and Kevin bought Michelle and Tara anything that they looked at. I had found a beautiful silver ring that I fell in love with. However when I saw the price, I had to leave it behind. I was sad to leave it, but I just couldn’t afford it.

Early afternoon we left the market. Nick disappeared for a few minutes and met back up with us at the limo.

Our next stop was the beach. The guys had brought Nick’s boat closer to the beach. They had arranged to have a light lunch on board. Everything was spectacular. The guys really went all out. We spent the remainder of the afternoon at the beach just hanging out.

For dinner that night, the guys took all of us girls to the best restaurant in town. We were treated like royalty. Nick and I had been inseparable the whole day. Not a second went by that we weren’t holding hands. But I knew that we could only be friends.

When the guys dropped us off at the hotel, I gave Nick his car keys back. We walked over to the car as the others talked in front of the hotel.

“Did you have a good time today?” Nick asked.

I smiled up at Nick, “I had a fabulous day.” I shook my head, “This whole trip has been fabulous. I love Florida, I hate to leave.”

Nick looked at me shyly, “I wish you didn’t have to leave either.” Nick leaned against his car. “You are going to make it to Toronto?”

“I will. I have three months to save the money.” I told Nick.

“What time do you leave tomorrow?”

“We have to be at the airport at noon. What are you guys up to tomorrow?” I asked. I wanted to ask Nick if there was anyway that he could take me to the airport.

“Did you want a lift to the airport? I’m sure Howie and Kevin will want to take Tara and Michelle. And I wouldn’t mind one more chance to say good bye to you.” Nick admitted.

“That would be great.” I stood beside Nick and sighed. “You know Nick, it’s gonna be hard to say goodbye to you tomorrow. I have grown attached to you.” I admitted.

“I know,” He whispered. Nick reached for my hand and brought it to his lips. “You know Kielly, over the last two days I have been trying to make sense of what has been going on with my head. I think right now, I finally figured out what it is.” Nick turned to face me, his hand reached up to my face. I closed my eyes and tilted my head to his touch.

I breathed in deeply, “Nick, I ...”

Nick’s finger went to my lips, silencing me. I opened my eyes, looking right at Nick, “Shhh.” He started, “Kielly, I just wanted to tell you ...” A horn honked and the guys started yelling at us.

“Nick, let’s go! We’ve got plans to make for tomorrow!” Kevin hollered. Tara and Michelle ran over to Nick and I, they grabbed my hands and dragged me into the hotel.

Once we were in Tara’s room, I lost it. “You guys! What the hell was that? Nick was just about to tell me something.”

“We had to get you away. Kevin and Howie said that they were going to plan a surprise for us, but they had to get started.” Tara started.

Michelle nodded her head in agreement, “That’s right. If we waited for you and Nick to finish, we’d all be old and grey.”

“Kind of like you and Howie trying to kiss last night?” I smiled, laughing at my own joke. Michelle did not find it as funny.

I flopped down on Tara’s bed, “You guys, Nick was going to tell me something very important.” I repeated.

“Kie, we all know that Nick loves you. Why won’t the two of you admit it?” Michelle asked coming to my side.

“It doesn’t matter if we love each other or not. We can’t be together.” I said.

“What?” Michelle wondered.

“Why the hell not?” came from Tara.

I looked up at my two best friends. How was I going to make them understand this? “Because he is Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys. I am just me. Kielly Aurora Andrews. I couldn’t take being apart from him all the time. I couldn’t take sitting at home wondering if he was being faithful to me or not. I couldn’t take seeing all those girls in love with the man that I love.” I explained.

“So you do love him?” Michelle asked.

I smiled, “Of course I do. How could I not? There is just something about him. I can’t explain how this has hit me you guys. I want to be with him, but I know that I can’t. It would never work.”

Tara and Michelle came over to me and hugged me tight, “Kie, we will find a way to make it work.”

We sat around and I poured my heart out to Tara and Michelle. It wasn’t until about three o’clock that I actually got to sleep. Again all my dreams were about Nick. I saw us together at the concert in Toronto. Nick was singing to me. One of my favorite songs, the one that had been playing when he bumped into me.

--> chapter 5

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