Nick and Kelly:

Piece 5: Stuff Like That There

Kelly unlocked her hotel room door and went inside, quickly shutting the door behind her. So her original plan had been to sing to Nick at the concert, if he figured it out then it would be up to him. But original plans can change, right? Because she never wanted to see him again. She was so embarrassed, so mortified, by what she'd done. How could she ever face him again? What if she had read his signals wrong and he didn't feel the same? What if there had never been signals in the first place?

Kelly had skipped a shower at the venue and kicked butt out to her van, before Nick had even finished his entire set. She'd waited inside the van and watched from the window as he came out of the venue and looked around for her. She'd heard him ask James where she was; James had pointed to her van and Nick had sighed before getting into his own.

Now Kelly wanted nothing more than to take a long, hot shower and forget about everything that had happened that night. In her opinion, the night had been a royal disaster.

I've become so pathetic, she thought to herself as she stepped into the hot water and began to wash her hair.

There was a knock at the door just as she'd lathered a palm-full of shampoo into her hair. With a groan, she stepped from the shower and wrapped a towel around her body.

"I'm coming," she yelled at the incessant knocking. "Gi'me a minute!"

Definitely should've looked first, she thought when she was greeted with Nick and his sheepish smile.

"Hey, Kel."

He actually sounded shy. She was shocked. Not only had he come unannounced, but she was standing half-naked in front of the man she'd just professed love for.

"Nick. Hi."

"Can I come in?" he laughed and pushed on the door a little.

"Oh," she blushed. "Um, yeah." She let him in and watched as he took a seat on her couch, looking around at his surroundings. "Could you give me a minute? I sorta need to wash this crap outta my hair and get dressed."

"Yeah, sure, go ahead."

Kelly walked back into the bathroom and closed the door behind her, making sure to lock it. She leaned against the door and groaned. How much worse could this night get? She found that out as soon as she stepped out of the shower to get dressed. When she'd initially gone to take a shower she hadn't brought clean clothes with her into the bathroom, because she hadn't expected Nick to be sitting in her family room, which just so happened to be between the bathroom and her bedroom.

Dreading having to ask, Kelly poked her head out of the bathroom door and offered an embarrassed smile. "Hate to have to ask you this, but um, could you maybe get me some clothes?"

Nick laughed and stood from the couch, going into her room and locating her suitcases. "What do you want?" he called to her, unzipping one of the bags.

"Um." Okay, Kelly thought, nothing embarrassing. "Just jeans and a T-shirt. Whatever."

A moment later, Nick came out of the bedroom and handed her a pair of jeans and a T-shirt he would love to see her in. Kelly took them, said thank you, and slipped her head back into the bathroom, locking the door once again.

"Sh*t," she cursed, looking at the clothes in her hands. "Um, Nick?" She opened the door again and was immediately met with a pair of lacy black underwear dangling from his finger. She gulped and grabbed them with a blush. Yes, she'd noticed he hadn't offered a bra, but she wasn't about to ask him for anything else.

Nick bit his lip to stop himself from laughing and went back into the bedroom, putting the matching bra away. Hey, he wasn't about to argue.

Kelly stepped from the bathroom feeling self-conscious and incredibly humiliated.

Stop being such a baby, she scolded herself as she looked around.

Where was he?

"Nick?" she called, before walking into her bedroom and finding him sitting on her bed, playing her Gameboy.

"Sorry," he grinned childishly. "Got a little bored."

"Um, that's okay."

What was the point of this visit again? Care to fill me in?

"Anyway, you're probably wondering why I'm here."

Yeah-huh.

"Have a seat."

Oh, may I have a seat on my own bed? Thank you, sir.

Kelly smiled, trying not to laugh, as she took a seat in front of him. "What's up?" She was surprised to find how relaxed she suddenly felt. She'd done what she'd done. The hardest part was over. All she had to do, now, was hear Nick's response. If it was bad, she'd figure out what to do about it then.

"Hmm, I don't really know how to start this conversation."

Just spit it out, Nick, she thought to herself as she looked down, running her fingers across the coarse bedspread, waiting silently.

"Can I ask you something? And will you be honest with me?"

"Yeah," she looked up at him and their eyes met. "Of course."

"What happened tonight . . . on stage?"

He looked so adorable at that moment; all Kelly wanted to do was throw her arms around him and kiss him forever. "What do you mean?" she asked innocently. She'd promised to be honest; that didn't mean she couldn't make him sweat a little more than he already was.

"Kel, c'mmon," Nick laughed quietly before reaching over and taking her hands in his.

Kelly looked up at him in surprise. She hadn't been expecting that.

"Our eyes met," he looked away, a light blush creeping across his face, "while you were singing . . . right?"

She looked into his imploring eyes and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. Wow, this was really happening. "Yeah . . . they did."

"Were you singing to me, Kel?"

She nodded and pulled away with tears in her eyes, suddenly more embarrassed than she'd thought she would be.

"Hey," he whispered, lifting her face back up to his, "don't cry. I didn't mean to make you do that."

She laughed quietly and looked up at him once again, relieved at the smile she saw on his face. Was it really possible that he was in love with her too?

"Did you mean what you sang?"

She nodded. They stared at each other for a few silent minutes and finally, when Kelly was about to burst into tears, Nick leaned over and kissed her gently.