"Thanks guys, I do it every week," she said.
"That was so awesome," Nick said.
"Thanks." After they watched a few more acts and Jess managed to get Nick on the dance floor, it was time for open kareoke where anyone could sing.
"Hey, you guys should go sing!" Jess told them.
"We do it everyday, why again?" AJ asked.
"Oh come on! It'll be fun! I'll sing with you!" she said.
"Why don't you and Nick do a duet?" Howie asked. Everyone looked at Nick.
"Ah, what the hell. Let's go," he grabbed her hand and they went to pick a song.
"I only know one country song," Nick said.
"What's that?" Jess asked.
"It's called 'From This Moment', we sang it with the woman who wrote it." (AN: BSB DID SING THIS WITH SHANIA TWAIN BUT NOT AT THIS POINT IN TIME)
"Oh my gosh I love that song!" she said.
"The let's do it babe." As they got onstage, everyone cheered.
"Um...ok I'm back, me and my friend Nick here are going to do a little duet for you. Here's from this moment," Jess finished as she took the first line:
"From this moment, life has begun,"
"From this moment, you are the one," Nick sang.
"Right beside you,"
"Is where I belong,"
They both joined in harmony to sing "From this moment on."
As they were singing, Jess looked into his eyes but couldn't seem to look away. It was like she was trapped. When he held her hand, chills went up her spine. She couldn't quite figure it out but it seemed as if she was falling in love. They finished the song and both were at a loss for words. They walked off stage hand in hand but couldn't hear the enormous cheering in the background. They stopped and looked at each other. Nick didn't know if he should kiss her but he couldn't stop himself. The next thing they knew, they were in a deep passionate kiss but it was soon interrupted by the shrieking of AJ and Brian.
"Whoo-hoo!"
"Go Nick-ay!" The two pulled away and blushed.
"Guys, leave'em alone!" Kevin said pulling Brian and AJ away. Jess laughed and looked up at Nick.
"So...how long are you guys here for again?" she asked.
"The whole summer. That's about...3 months,"he said,"and I'm hoping to spend it with you. Get to know you a little better, if thats ok with you of course." He said smiling.
"Of course," she looked at her watch, "Crap. It's ten till ten! I've gotta go Nick, I promised my dad I would be home at ten and if I run I might get there at 10:15."
"I can give you a ride. Our hotel is right down the street and I can borrow Kev's rental car."
"Really? Thank you so much."
"Come on, lets go tell the guys and we can go," he said. They cleared it with Kevin adn left for the hotel. On the walk, Nick held her hand which made her shiver up and down. She never really believed in love at first sight, until now. They reached the hotel and Nick helped her in the car. They drove with little conversation except Jess' directions to her house. Nick pulled up in front of the house.
"May I walk you to your door?" he asked sweetly..
"Actually, you better not. No telling what my dad might do."
"Ah, over protective parents?" he asked.
"I guess you could call it that. My mom died when I was real little and I have lived with my father for almost 13 years now. When mom died, he started drinking and he has been an alcoholic since then."
"Wow, it must be tuff, huh? Im sorry about your mom...and your dad for that matter."
"It's ok, I justr have to wait till my dad isn't drunk and is in a good mood to bring a guy to the door." She laughed.
"Well, in that case, I'll just say goodbye here." he said and leaned over and kissed her cheek. She smiled.
"Bye Nick, thanks for tonight."
"Bye."
"Oh by the way, will I see you tommorow?" she asked.
"You can count on it. I'll call you, whats your number?" She wrote it down for him and said goodbye. He watched her go into her house and knew, he was falling for her. Bad.
Jess got inside the house and lucky for her, her dad was asleep. She made a quick sandwhich and grabbed a soda and went upstairs. She fell asleep and had sweet dreams of Nick all night.