She drifted off to sleep but was rudely awaken when someone was knocking on her door, and her cat was crying. Claire got up and plodded over to the door, pulling it open.
Nick pulled her into a soft kiss that took her breath away. When he pulled back he flashed his famous Carter smile at her and she started laughing.
"What do you want?" she asked.
He started laughing, "What? A guy can't just stop in to see his girlfriend?"
"That grin is all too familiar." she scoffed.
Nick sighed, "Okay, okay. We are going on a road trip!" he cheered.
"We...?" she asked running her hand through her hair.
Nick smiled hugely, "We. As in me, Aj-"
"To where?" Claire interrupted.
Nick chewed on his lip for a second and Claire smacked her forehead, "Dear god, you don't even know where we are headed to?!" she laughed.
Nick smiled shyly and Claire realized she might have hurt his feelings. She closed the door behind him and drew him in for a long, passionate kiss. Nick kissed her back thoroughly and it made her knees feel weak. He kissed her as she took a few steps back to gain her balance and they heard a loud cry.
Claire pulled back from Nick when she saw her cat Madeline bolt across the room. She made a sympathetic face and went after her.
"The cat is fine, come here." Nick said trying to kiss Claire again.
"Nick, I could've hurt her. I'll be right back." she said placing a quick kiss on his lips before walking off to her bedroom.
Nick shook his head, sat down on the couch and leaned his head back. Claire came back, sat on the couch next to him and smiled cheekily.
"Okay, so about this road trip..." Claire said.
"So far, it's me, Aj and Angie." Nick said, "I am calling Howie, Kevin and Brian after you tell me your answer."
"How long are we going?" she asked.
"A week." he said with a yawn.
Claire cringed, "I can't Nick. I'm sorry."
Nick tried not to gape open his mouth, "Claire, I love you, and nothing would make me happier than if you were with me."
Claire bit her lip, "Well, it's just, my boss would never agree to it."
Nick beamed, "Oh, I already called him and-"
"You what?!" she fumed.
"I called him to see if you could-" Nick started.
"Jesus Nick! Are you trying to get me fired or what? You can't just call up my work and make buddies with my boss." she said not believing he had, "What did you say, oh this is Claire's boyfriend? Gee, that sounds professional."
"What, are you ashamed of me or something? You seem to have a problem saying I am your boyfriend." he said feeling horrible.
"Whatever Nick. If you actually think that about me, then you don't know me at all." she said getting up and walking away.
A minute later, Nick heard her bedroom door slam. He got up and stormed out of her apartment, making sure he slammed the front door even louder.
Over at Angie's, she sat with her legs crossed with a list in front of her. Aj sat across from her on the chair and yawned. Angie had been sitting there making a list of everything they could need.
"Baby, what about tissues?" she asked.
Aj looked up at her from the hourglass her had been playing with, out of boredom.
"Huh?" he said to her.
"Tissues. What about tissues?" she asked.
"Can't we use toilet paper if we need a tissue?" he asked skeptically.
"No, no. You get that sore, red nose from that." she said peering at him over her black wire framed glasses that she wore for reading or writing.
She chewed on the end of her pencil as she thought of what else they could need. Aj smiled at her before turning his attention back to the hourglass.
"I think the list is done. Here it is: clothes, shampoo, conditioner, Dove soap, face clothes, handy wipes, antibacterial gel-" Angie said reading all her items.
"There's only one thing I need with me." Aj interrupted. "What's that?" she said getting her pencil ready.
"You." he said sweetly.
She made an 'aww' face at him and Aj came over and kissed her softly on the lips. She smiled and looked at him adoringly.
"I love you Aj, I really do." she cooed.
"I love you too." he said kissing her once more.
Over at Nick's, he got in his car and drove over to Brian's house. When Brian let him in Nick went in and sat on the couch.
Nick shifted to face Brian, "Okay, before you interrupt me, let me get through this. Me, Aj and Angie are going on a road trip-"
"What about Claire?" Brian asked.
"I thought I said not to interrupt me!" Nick complained.
Brian rolled his eyes and told Nick to keep talking.
"Okay, so we haven't figured out where to yet. But we are going on a road trip to somewhere. We are renting a big RV and I wanted to know if you want to come?" he asked.
"Sure, I have nothing better to do." Brian said, "But now I want to know why Claire isn't coming."
Nick sighed, "She .. We ... I guess we are having problems."
Brian nodded, "You want to talk about it?"
Nick shook his head no and offered to help Brian pack. Brian thanked him and the two headed upstairs.
Within twenty minutes, Brian had heard Claire and Nick's entire relationship history. He had known everything from the first date to the last fight.
"So does she not appreciate me, or is she ashamed? I mean, this is the first girl I have ever been this crazy about. When I wake up, she's the first thing I think of." Nick admitted.
Brian sympathized Nick, "I think there is more to it that that. She seems like she is scared to get too close to someone. Maybe something happened in her past...?" he suggested.
Nick shrugged and grabbed Brian's basketball and threw it in the bag.
"A basketball?!" Brian laughed.
"From what I hear, road trips can get boring." Nick said with wide eyes.
Brian laughed at Nick's innocence and packed another pair of pants, before zipping up the bag and announcing he was finished packing.
Over at Aj's, Angie had dragged Aj to his own house and made him pack. She sat in a chair with one of Aj's dogs in her lap, as she read off items to pack. Aj was going from one end of the house to the other.
He sat down and Angie scolded him, "Aj, I know you. You will never pack unless I motivate you. You should be thanking me."
Aj rolled his eyes and kissed her cheek, "Thanks."
Angie narrowed her eyes at him and just shook her head with a laugh.
By 11pm that night, Aj, Brian, Angie and Nick were packed to go on the road trip. Kevin had decided to spend his time with his girlfriend and Howie was flying out to visit his mom, and to do another Lupus concert. They decided on going to Montana since Nick thought 'Who actually takes a vacation trip to Montana?' Aj and Brian made fun of him for this idea, but Nick had his heart set on Montana.
Claire opened her eyes and looked at the clock, seeing it was midnight. She sighed and pulled the covers off herself. She had tossed and turned for hours because of how she had treated Nick. He shouldn't have called her work, but he did it because he wanted to spend time with her. What kind of girlfriend would get mad at that?
Claire climbed out of bed before packing a bag for the week and walking over to the apartment next to hers. She and the woman that lived there had been friends ever since Claire moved in. She knocked lightly on the door and a few minutes later, the woman opened the door.
Claire smiled sheepishly, "Hi Mrs. Montica. I am really sorry to wake you-"
"Oh honey, I wasn't sleeping! Tom Hanks is on Jay Leno and I wouldn't miss it for the world." she smiled.
Claire laughed lightly, "Well I am leaving for a week and I was wondering if you could just stop in and feed Madeline once a day? There is plenty of food and I will leave the key under the mat. I will pay you too."
Mrs. Montica smiled kindly, "No problem dear. Have a wonderful trip."
Claire thanked her and went back to her apartment. She grabbed her bags, and a change of outfit for the next day. She patted Madeline good-bye before closing her door and going to see Nick.
