Everyone returned to the guys' hotel at midnight, exhausted from their "German adventures." Leah was going to drive home soon, but first she wanted to talk to Nick about his earlier behavior. After he'd walked away from her in The Hat Shop earlier in the day, he'd ignored her for the rest of the time they'd been in Leavenworth and in the car on the way back to Seattle he'd conveniently "fallen asleep" just to avoid her.
Leah said goodnight to the other guys with a hug and kiss and watched them flock to the elevator to go up to their rooms. Nick was busy retrieving his mail from the front desk when Leah walked over, standing next to him, waiting.
"Thanks," Nick said to the woman at the desk, while slipping his mail into his backpack. He turned to look at Leah, knowing that she'd be going home soon and if he didn't say bye it would be far too obvious that he was upset. "Hey, Lee... I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
As he began to walk to the elevators Leah grabbed his hand, stopping him, "Uh uh... No you don't. I'm comin' with ya - we need to talk."
Nick sighed and headed to the elevators, Leah following.
~ * ~
Leah watched as Nick opened his hotel room door, his frustration clearly shown on his face. Their elevator ride up had been excruciatingly quiet. Lee was beginning to become flustered with the way Nick was acting, but she promised herself that she was going to try desperately to keep her cool.
"Alright, spill it, Nick," she ordered gently as they walked into the room, dropping their things on the couch. "What's been up with you today? You're scaring me... you're never like this."
"How would you know? You hardly ever see me," Nick retorted, being a smart alic.
Leah just looked back at him, completely not amused.
"Look, nothing's wrong," Nick sighed, flopping down in a chair, but continued to watch her as she sat on the edge of the coffee table. "I'm just tired or something."
"Nickolas, it is almost 12:30 in the morning, I am tired too, and I don't want to stay around here 'til 5 a.m., torturing it out of you... so what is wrong?" she spoke evenly.
"I don't want to talk about it, but I'm tired and if you're not going to leave before I tell you, then I will... you're MY friend, NOT theirs!"
Leah stared at him, her eyes growing slightly larger than normal. "I'm their friend too, Nick. Are you jealous??" she was shocked.
"I'm jealous of your time!! I don't see you as it is... you're my best friend and when I came to see you you just hang out with them!!"
"Well, you're gonna have to get over that, Nick," Leah huffed angrily. "They're my friends, but that doesn't mean that you're not."
"You're were mine first," Nick said quietly, looking down.
Leah sighed, "I'm sorry, Nick - I didn't know I wasn't allowed to have other friends."
Leah grabbed her shopping bags and purse and left. Nick sighed, running his fingers through his hair as he walked into the bedroom part of his hotel room and fell back on the bed.
