He Lived In Her Heart
Chapter Seven
"Chloe? Omigod, wake up!"
The voice came from far off in Chloe’s mind. She squinted in her own darkness at the familiar tone, struggling to figure out who was calling her. Whoever it was sounded an awful lot like her baby. "Nick?" she whispered, her voice raspy. She realized only then that she’d been sleeping.
"Wake up, silly! I can’t believe we fell asleep here!"
Chloe opened her eyes slowly, hesitantly. It was still dark, the sun was barely over the horizon. Nick was leaning over her face, chuckling and smiling. "Where are we?" she groaned, trying to roll over. Her support was soft and grainy, and seemed to have molded to her frame. Her shoulders ached slightly.
"We’re on the beach," Nick reminded her, sitting back on his knees.
"Remember?" He grinned mischievously, and began to play with the sand.
"The beach? We fell asleep here?" Chloe, extremely disoriented, raised her hand to her forehead which was starting to throb. It was then that the memories began to inch their way back to her, piece by piece. Despite herself, Chloe smiled.
Nick had brought her to Disneyland the night before. He’d opened the theme park for just the two of them, and he’d taken her on a tour by monorail. He’d kissed her, in their own private world, and had held her close for the remainder of the ride. They’d both been so enchanted by each other’s presence that they didn’t want to leave just yet, so they’d gone back to Nick’s car and drove down to the beach. Chloe remembered how Nick had been watching her, telling her how beautiful she looked with her face lit up by the moon. She remembered how he’d laid down on the sand and had motioned for her to come lay beside him, and how the two of them had watched the shooting stars of a California night dance across the sky. She remembered how her eyelids had started to fall, and the feel of Nick’s embrace as he’d drawn her in and laid her head on his chest. She remembered how he’d stroked her hair, and sang a bit to her as she’d drifted off. And far off, in the corner of her soul, Chloe remembered hearing her baby’s voice, whispering to her as he’d done so many times before.
"Baby, can you see me?"
Chloe squinted and focused her eyes. Nick was still there, still smiling down at her. She grinned tiredly and nodded. "I can see you," she whispered. "I was just remembering last night."
Nick laughed bashfully. "You fell asleep," he informed her. "I didn’t want to wake you, and I thought you might get cold. So I…" He stopped."You held me," Chloe finished, her face lighting up. "Thank you, Nick."
Nick shrugged. "I wish I could do that more often," he teased, leaning forward to brush some sand out of Chloe’s hair. "But you know something?"
"What?"
"We have to be at a video shoot in 45 minutes!"
Chloe gasped. "Omigod, I forgot!" she exclaimed, checking her watch frantically. It was only 4:30a.m. "What do we do, I didn’t even get a chance to shower?!"
Nick wiggled his jaw suggestively towards the ocean behind them. "I’m up for a bath if you are," he said hesitantly, grinning.
"Nick!" Chloe giggled and fell back on the sand. "I met you two days ago!" She couldn’t help blushing at his comment.
Nick laughed right out loud. "I do it all the time!" he told her.
"C’mon, it’s warm, and we gotta be quick anyway. I’ll leave my boxers on if it bothers you THAT much!"
Chloe slammed her eyes shut, her face burning. And yet, she had no other choice. When she opened her eyes again, Nick stood playfully before her, decked out in black boxers that proclaimed ‘Frack’ in bright green letters. Despite her own discomfort, Chloe giggled. "OK, OK, I’m coming!" she squealed finally, responding to Nick’s adorably pleading puppy-dog face. Remembering that she and Nick had changed out of their bathing suits after yesterday, she groaned.
Nick stood waiting impatiently in the sand. "Baby, we have about 10 minutes to get in there and get out if we’re gonna get out of the city in time." He took a step backwards towards the ocean. "You coming?"
Chloe laughed and nodded. She couldn’t believe she was about to do this with Nick Carter. As he leapt a few feet towards her, kissed her, and tore off down the beach, Chloe couldn’t help but think how much he reminded her of her life 2 years ago.
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"Shan-babe!!!"
Shanna spun around on her heel, hearing someone familiar call her name. She’d just arrived at the empty airport warehouse in rural LA, and she’d thought she was early. Apparently not. Brian Littrell was running full speed towards her, a monkey grin plastered on his adorable face. Shanna felt her heart skip a beat and she broke out smiling. "Brian!" she exclaimed, her excited voice echoing off the high walls. Brian never slowed, and he collided with Shanna a few seconds later. Giving her a goofy, awkward hug, he blurted out, "I was afraid you wouldn’t come!"
Shanna giggled and wiggled in his tight embrace. "I came to see you," she teased. "I’m not pretty enough to be in the video, so I gotta beat up the competition." Turning on his deep Kentucky accent, Brian drawled, "Darlin’, yer the pertiest darn girl this side of the Mississippi, and I dun woulda chose ya to be my girl if it were up to me. Ya know that!"
Shanna felt her heart melt, and she blushed. She’d only met him two days before, and he was just as sweet as she’d figured him to be.
Giggling, she remembered the day. She’d been sitting patiently waiting for Chloe to finish her audition, and when three hours had passed, she was the only one left in the sitting room. She’d been so riled up that Brian Littrell was right in the next room, that she’d even resorted to standing up on her chair and doing a little song and dance. "I’m gonna meet my Bri-babe!" she’d chanted over and over. It wasn’t until she heard a southern chime of laughter behind her that she’d realized she wasn’t alone. Mortified, she turned slowly atop her chair, coming face to face with the one and only Brian Littrell, standing in the doorway that Chloe had just gone through a few hours before.
"I guess you’re meeting me sooner than expected, huh," Brian had said with an adorable grin on his face, and a twinkle in his eye. He’d chuckled, stuck his hand out to Shanna, and said, "Hey, I’m Bri-babe."
Shanna, feeling faint, had almost fallen right off her perch. As if things couldn’t have gotten any worse, the first words that came out of her mouth had been, "Uhh…umm…hi…I’m…uhh…Shan-babe."
Brian had burst out laughing, and the awkwardness of the whole situation had caused Shanna to giggle right along with him. He’d came out to tell her about Chloe fainting in the audition, but the two had ended up talking for the next half hour. Regretfully, Brian had told her that he had to go, because he wanted to be there when Chloe regained consciousness. He’d begged her then to show up at the video shoot the next day, just to hang out with him during off time. In a daze, Shanna had agreed, and here she stood now, less than 2 feet away from Brian Littrell, and completely at ease.
"So, Bri-babe," she teased, poking his shoulder playfully. "What time does the video shoot start?"
Brian checked his watch. "Well, it’s 5a.m." he replied, groaning and rubbing his eyes. "Too early! The shoot starts in 15 minutes, but Nick’s not here, and neither is Chloe." He grinned suggestively. "Last time I saw Frack, he was leaving our hotel room real early yesterday morning."
Shanna gasped. "That’s the last time I saw Clo, too!" she exclaimed, remembering the click of a closing door and laughing voices in the hallway the morning before. "I mean, she left me a note that she was gonna spend the day with Nick…but the NIGHT?" She started laughing in amazement.
"Do you think they’re together?"
Shanna shrugged, shaking her head in disbelief. "This is incredible!"
Brian grinned, and began to dance around in a circle. "Chloe and Nicky sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G." Shanna giggled. This is really happening, she thought dizzily. I’m really here with Brian, Chloe is really here with Nick. It’s almost like fate. Almost like they were in our hearts the whole time, but it just took us this long to find them.
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"Nick, hurry! We’ve got 4 minutes to get there and be on time!"
Nick grinned and pushed his foot harder down on the gas pedal. Glancing over at Chloe, he winked. "Don’t you worry, baby," he assured her. "They can’t exactly start without us!"
Chloe giggled. "In that case, let’s go back to my hotel, I need to shower!"
Stopping at a red light, Nick leaned over and kissed Chloe’s left temple. "You look gorgeous," he told her. Slowly, he brushed a wet strand of her hair behind her ear and a few grains of sand dropped down onto the seat. "They have showers at the warehouse, if you really want to use them."
Chloe blushed, feeling chills run through her body at the touch of Nick’s lips. "Do they have clothes for me there too?" she asked. Nick leaned back up and started forward again. "Who needs clothes," he teased. "The shoot’s in the water, all you need is a bathing suit!"
Chloe’s jaw dropped in amazement. "There’s a pool at an airport warehouse?"Nick nodded as he pulled into a large parking lot. "You wouldn’t believe half the stuff they have set out for us in there! You’d think we were superstars or something!"
Chloe giggled. "You are, silly!" she told him, leaning her head back against the seat. "So the shoot’s in an indoor pool?"
Nick wiggled his eyebrows in his signature flirtation. "You’ll see," he teased. "It’s in a few different places."
"Really?"
Nick nodded. "Uh huh," he said, pulling into a parking space. "We’re here." He grinned at her and cocked his head to the side. "Welcome to the video shoot for ‘If I Don’t Have You.’ May I escort you to the door, miss?"
Chloe bit her lip and smiled. "Of course, fine sir," she replied, playing along as Nick jumped out of the car and ran around the other side to open Chloe’s door. Leaning over, he took her arm, and the two walked towards the building looming ahead of them.
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"What do you mean, she didn’t show up?!"
"She’s not here. I had management call her house, I had her cell phone traced. No answer anywhere, and she’s not here."
"Well, what do I do? I don’t have a girl now for my scene?"
"Brian, calm down. We’ll find someone. How about that girl you were with earlier this morning? She was pretty."
Shanna gasped and nearly screamed. She was washing her hands in the bathroom and listening to the conversation wafting through the vents between Nigel Dick and Brian. Apparently, the one who was to play Brian’s girlfriend in the video hadn’t shown up and they were desperate for someone to take her place. The shoot was 10 minutes late getting started; time that the crew couldn’t afford to waste. Quietly, Shanna listened to the continuing conversation between Brian and Nigel."Shanna? My girl? Really???" Brian was saying incredulously. Nigel laughed. "Sure, go find her and see if she’s up to it."
"Wowzers!" Brian exclaimed in excitement. "Oohh, she’s gonna love me!"Shanna felt her face go white, and the water turned cold on her hands. Her heart started to beat faster by the second. She was going to be in the video. She was going to be Brian’s girl.
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"Shhh." Nick placed his index finger over Chloe’s lips and smiled flirtatiously. The two had just entered the warehouse and were standing beside one another behind a stack of boxes.
Chloe smiled. "Why do we have to be so quiet?" she asked, peeking over Nick’s shoulder. The warehouse seemed empty to her.
"We’re gonna sneak up on Brian."
Chloe cupped her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. "Do you see him?"
"Yeah, he’s right over there, talking to Nigel."
Chloe squinted. In the distance, she could see a figure in a baseball cap and red Bulls jersey. She felt her heart leap. That was Brian Littrell! "Wow," she whispered in awe.
"What?" Nick demanded. "Knuckle head over there? He’s nothing special." He chuckled and crept forward. "The name’s Carter," he whispered in a deep, mysterious voice. "Nick Carter."
Chloe giggled. "007," she added, falling into step behind him. He was creeping along with his shoulders hunched over and his lips pursed. His hair bobbed on his head as he moved. She could feel herself falling for him harder than she had last night, and she had a sudden urge to tell him that she loved him right then. "Nick?" she whispered, taking a deep breath.
"Chloe? Is that you?"
Chloe spun on her heel towards the unfamiliar voice behind her. It was Chris.
