Part 4: To Make You Feel My Love
Kelly walked down the long corridor that led to her dressing room. She'd stood in the wings watching the entire concert that night. Watching Nick was mesmerizing and that night he was even more amazing than usual. After the concert, she'd left immediately, partly because she wanted to get a shower before going back to the hotel, but mostly because she was afraid of running into Nick. What if he could see what she was feeling in her eyes?
"Hey, Kel!" James ran up behind her and threw an arm around her shoulder. After their initial meeting, he'd warmed up and was finally beginning to treat her as he treated Nick . . . an equal. If only Nick would begin to do the same. "Great show tonight."
"Thanks, James." She smiled at him as they turned the corner. "I'm just gonna grab a quick shower, okay?"
"Yeah, that's fine. Nick went to shower too. Hey, do me a favor," he called as he began to walk back in the direction he'd come from.
"Yeah?"
"Get Nick when you're done showering. The press would be relieved to see you two walk out to the vans together. They're starting rumors about you guys not getting along. See you in fifteen!"
And then he was gone.
"We don't get along," Kelly mumbled to herself as she opened her dressing room door and headed for the bathroom.
She'd stood there knocking for three minutes now. This was getting ridiculous. Maybe he was still in the shower with the water running and couldn't hear her at the door? Whatever the reason be, she couldn't wait any longer. She and Nick were supposed to have been at the vans five minutes ago.
Kelly turned the handle and poked her head inside, relieved to see Nick dressed and tying his shoes. Okay, maybe not relieved but it was probably a little too soon to run into him naked. It would have been quite embarrassing, even if it were pleasurable.
Nick looked up and saw her standing there staring at him. What was wrong with her lately? Every time he looked over at her, she was gazing at him. It was really starting to freak him out. Sure, she was cute and it was flattering, but he wasn't one hundred percent sure she was staring at him out of adoration. For all he knew, she could be casting a spell on him.
"Yeah?" He looked at her expectantly and sighed as she blushed. Okay, maybe not casting a spell.
"I knocked."
"I know." He stood and grabbed his bag. "Usually people just knock and walk away. That's the sign that the vans are ready."
"Oh."
"That's all right. Come on, we're late."
Kelly stood there dumbfounded as Nick walked past her and out of his dressing room. That's all right? Since when did he use phrases like that with her? She ran to catch up with him and they walked the rest of the way in silence. She stopped him from opening the door to the parking lot where the vans were waiting for them when they reached the end of the corridor.
Nick looked down at her expectantly. Their hands were touching and her gaze looked so incredibly tender as their eyes met. "Yeah?"
"I just wanted to tell you . . . " she paused. They were actually talking without rude comments. This was too strange. "I wanted to tell you how sweet you were today . . . with that little girl."
So that's what this was all about. That's why she'd been staring at him on the hotel steps. She'd seen him take care of the little girl who'd lost her mother.
"Um . . . thanks. I mean, I couldn't exactly leave her there."
Kelly smiled gently and moved her hand from his.
Three days later, Kelly was practically having a panic attack before going on stage. Sure, by now, she was used to performing in front of incredibly large crowds. That wasn't the problem. She wasn't sweating herself to death because thousands of fans were screaming just beyond the curtain. No, she was hyperventilating because she was about to do something so daring, so spur-of-the-moment, so possibly stupid.
She'd already sang her nine songs and was coming back for her tenth, her mini-finale. Normally she would be singing A Moment Like This, but instead she'd worked it into her set earlier that night. Now she was singing a song for Nick . . . whether he knew it or not.
She knew there was no way she could just walk up to him and tell him that she had fallen so madly in love with him. He'd think she had lost her marbles. Instead, she'd decided that if she sang a song for him and he figured it out, then so be it. If he didn't, it wasn't meant to be. Maybe it was a stupid rationalization, but frankly, Kelly's love for Nick had driven her to a small degree of stupidity.
The curtain rose. The fans screamed. And Kelly sang.
"Ooh... When the rain is blowing in your face and the whole world is on your case I would offer you a warm embrace to make you feel my love. When evening shadows and the stars appear and there is no one to dry your tears I could hold you for a million years to make you feel my love."
She walked to the edge of the stage, praying Nick was listening and at the same time praying he wasn't. There really was no way for him to know that she was singing to him. She was just singing an old love song . . . so what, big deal. But maybe, just maybe he would feel it too.
"I know you haven't made your mind up yet, but I would never do you wrong. I've known it from the moment that we met. There's no doubt in my mind where you belong. I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue, I'd go crawling down the avenue. There ain't nothin' that I wouldn't do to make you feel my love Ooh..."
She knew that if she were to tell him her feelings he would reject them. For reasons unknown, there was something about her that threatened Nick. She had yet to figure out what that something was. But she knew he felt the same way. Ever since she'd started to have romantic feelings for him, she'd noticed the looks that he gave the male fans who would talk to her or hug her or flirt with her. She noticed the strange expressions that would sometimes cross his face so quickly, and leave even quicker, when he would look at her. He loved her too . . . she knew it. She just needed him to admit it.
"The storms of rage are rollin' wild and free. And down that highway of regret, the wind of change is blowin' wild and free, but you ain't seen nothin' like me yet."
She looked to the side of the stage and noticed Nick standing there, watching her. Oh my gosh, he was listening. And for some reason, she couldn't look away. She couldn't turn back to the fans. She finished the song, facing him, staring into his eyes, as if she'd been transformed to an entirely different place . . . a remote location where only she and Nick existed.
"There ain't nothin' that I wouldn't do. Go to the ends of the earth for you. Make you happy, make your dreams come true to make you feel my love. Ooh... to make you feel my love."
Well, if he hadn't known before, he sure knew now.
*Song Credit: To Make You Feel My Love; Kelly Clarkson (CD: demo)
