Ally watched from the bus as a limo pulled up. She saw Natalie step out and flip her long, curly, blond hair over her shoulder. When Natalie’s boyfriend got out, Ally almost had a heart attack. “Celeste! Celeste, come here!” she called.
“Some of us are trying to sleep,” Kristen whined from her bunk.
“No, just you, Kristen,” Celeste said snippily, jumping down from her bunk and dashing to Ally’s window. “Oh, my God! Is that-“
Ally answered her unfinished question with a nod. “Yeah, it is. Oh, shit, Celeste, what am I going to do?” She sighed and watched as Nick Carter followed Natalie to their tour bus. “I can’t face him again. He probably hates me!”
“Why would he hate you?”
“I just up and left. I barely even said goodbye. I didn’t give him a number where he could reach me. I didn’t call or write. I just left. I’m sure he hates me for that!”
“I don’t think so. Why don’t you go out and say hi?”
“I can’t.”
“Well, you’ll have to talk to him sooner or later. You can’t just avoid him for the whole damned week he’s here.”
“Who is it? What are you guys talking about?” Kristen interrupted.
“Nothing. No one. Long story. We don’t want to get into it now,” Celeste replied. “So are you going to talk to him?”
“I can’t do it right now. I’ll do it later,” Ally murmured. Her friend looked at her doubtfully. “Really, I will. I promise.”
‘This is ridiculous,’ Ally thought as she sat on her bed, locked in her room. There was no way she wasn’t going to see him in his week on tour. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to go talk to him. She knew what was going to happen; she was going to fall in love with him all over again, and that would probably cause her to quit or get fired. Not that it really mattered, since this was the last week, but still.
Her stomach grumbled, bringing her back to reality. She stood up to go to the vending machine down the hall. When she opened the door, though, she was in for something else. Something else…a tall, blond, sexy something else.
“Ally?” Nick exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”
it took a few minutes before she found her voice. “Nick! I…I’m one of Natalie’s backup dancers.”
Nick looked down guiltily. “I’m her…I’m her…”
“You’re her boyfriend. I know. It’s okay, Nick. You and I are over now. We’ve been over for two years.”
“I know, but I still feel bad.” He wrapped her in a friendly hug. “I missed you, girl! Where did you go?”
“I went to New York. I just needed a fresh start, new surroundings, new people…”
“Because of me?”
She looked away. “Not really,” she lied. “Okay, so yeah, it was partly because of you, but I needed it anyway.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m still sorry I hurt you,” Nick said softly. “I know that doesn’t help much, but…”
“Thanks, but don’t be sorry. I really like my life now. I live with a girl named Celeste, and I talk to Josie a lot, and before the tour started, I worked with Celeste at a coffee shop. What have you been doing?”
“Not much. A little while after the tour, the Backstreet Boys broke up, as you probably heard. We just didn’t feel like making any more music. I traveled and spent time with my family and I just recently met Natalie at a party at Brian’s place. What about you? Any boyfriends in your life?”
“No, not really. I’ve dated a few guys, but nothing like-“ she stopped herself before saying what we had. “Nothing special,” she finished.
“It was the same way with me for a while. I really like Natalie, though. She’s really sweet.”
“That’s nice.” There was an awkward silence for a moment before Ally ended the conversation. “I’m going to get something from the vending machine. I’ll see you later.”
Nick let out an audible sigh of relief. “Bye.”
After getting some chips, Ally dashed back to her room. When she got there, she collapsed on the bed in tears. This last week was going to be hell.
Celeste opened the door to her room and stepped inside to find Ally sobbing on the bed. “Oh, my God, sweetie, are you okay?” she cried.
“I saw him. I’m already falling for him again.” She paused. “I miss him so much, Celeste. He was amazing, even just as a friend. We used to watch movies, and talk, and laugh, and joke. I don’t think things could ever go back to the way they were, before I broke up with Craig, before Nick and I got together, before the tour ended… He was visibly uncomfortable around me, and I was uncomfortable, too.”
“You’ll get over it, hon. It’ll just take a few days,” Celeste assured her. “Besides, that hot band guy was checking you out. He’d provide a nice distraction. What was his name? Josh? Yeah, Josh.”
“Thanks, but I’m not you. I can’t just distract myself from him,” Ally murmured. “I’m sorry. No offense. I just don’t work that way. Once someone is in my heart, that someone remains there for a long time.”
“I’m sorry, Ally. I really wish I could help you, but you’re right. We’re two different people, and we handle things in different ways. In this situation, I would turn to Josh, but I understand why that wouldn’t work for you.”
“I wish I had gotten back together with Nick when I had the chance. He begged and begged…I just was afraid he’d hurt me again,” she whimpered. “All those feelings I had for him came back when I saw him. I thought I’d finally gotten rid of them all, but I guess not.”
“I know you’re not going to like this, but I have a suggestion,” Celeste said. “I think you should tell him everything you just told me.”
“I can’t do that!” Ally exclaimed. “He really likes Natalie. He told me himself. Besides, she’s so sweet. I wouldn’t want to do that to her.”
“You don’t have to do it to get him back. Don’t try to break them up. Just tell him what you just told me, and I bet you’ll feel a lot better after you get it out,” Celeste stated.
“I don’t know. Maybe.” Ally knew she’d never actually be able to do it, but if it helped Celeste get to sleep at night, she’d pretend to think about it.