Gwen woke up and she still had a sore throat and headache. She groaned and rolled over in bed. She saw Illie sitting in the recliner next to the bed.
"Hey!" she greeted.
"Augh," Gwen grumbled.
"Not feeling better I suppose," Illie said, getting up. She got Gwen a new glass of Sprite. "I came to check up on ya."
"I hate being sick," Gwen said.
"It sucks, I know," Illie said. "I fed the dogs so don't worry about them." Gwen was debating whether or not to ask Illie about Amanda.
"Illie..?" Gwen asked.
"Yeah?"
"Who's Amanda?" Gwen asked. Illie was caught off guard. She wasn't expecting to be asked that.
"What hun?" Illie asked.
"Who's Amanda?" Gwen repeated.
"Uh...Amanda Brighton?" Illie asked. Gwen knew by her tone that it wasn't good.
"Yes," Gwen said.
"Didn't AJ tell you?"
"No, who is she?" Gwen said.
"Well, she's AJ's ex-girlfriend," Illie gently told her. Gwen's heart sank. She knew AJ was hiding something. "Why do you ask?"
"Because she sent him a birthday card," Gwen said, pulling the card out and handing it to Illie for her to read. Illie read it and sighed.
"I hated the whore personally," Illie said.
"Did anything happen that I should know about? I dunno why AJ never told me about her," Gwen said, coughing.
"No.." Illie said, becoming nervous. She shouldn't be the one telling Gwen this. "She was just AJ's first big lust. That's all," Illie said.
"Then why didn't he tell me?" Gwen asked.
"I dunno Gwen," Illie said. She really did know but didn't want to hurt her friend. Gwen hinted something in Illie's voice.
"Are you sure?" Gwen asked. Illie took a deep breath.
"AJ was planning on asking Amanda to marry him and he caught her with another man. It broke his heart and he was never the same...until he met you," Illie confessed. Gwen's heart dropped. He was going to marry her?!
''Oh my god..." Gwen gasped. Gwen got a bad feeling he still had feelings for Amanda. If he didn't, then he would have told Gwen about her. Gwen was hurt because she thought they told each other everything. Illie looked over and noticed Gwen's hurt look.
"Don't worry about it. You're the only one he cares about," Illie tried to cheer her up. Gwen coughed and Illie left her to get more sleep.
~~meanwhile on tour~~
Ashleigh was sitting in the empty venue watching Nick have a sound check.
"Alright Nick, you're good!" the tech crew called out. Nick hopped off the stage and walked over to Ashleigh.
"Hey Baby, come here often?" Nick joked. Ashleigh laughed. "Wanna walk around?" Nick asked. Ashleigh nodded and they took off. The doors weren't opening for another 3 hours so they were fan-safe.
"Talk to Gwen yet?" Nick asked.
"No, but AJ talked to her this morning," Ashleigh said. Nick was silent.
"Have you talked to your parents since you left?" he asked, carefully. Ashleigh looked at him.
"No," she answered firmly.
"Ash...I think you should talk to them. They are your parents," Nick suggested.
"Nick, I don't want to. I'm not ready yet," Ashleigh said. Nick noticed the anger in her voice and hugged her.
"Okay...I'm sorry," he said. She loved it when he hugged her. She felt so safe with him. Nick held her out in front of him and they starred into each others eyes. Nick knew Ashleigh wanted to take things slow, but when he looked in her eyes, he couldn't hear anything but his heart. They leaned in closer to each other and she could feel his breath on her cheek. Nick tipped her chin up and their lips met. Ashleigh felt a shiver go through her whole body. Nick felt the same thing. They wrapped their arms around each other and got lost in their thoughts. Ashleigh pulled away and stepped back. She put her fingertips to her lips and looked shocked. Nick shook into reality.
"Ashleigh..." Nick said.
"No!" she shouted. "No! I can't fall for you Nick!"
"What are you talking about?" Nick asked, but he was afraid of the answer.
"Nick..I'm not ready to love yet," Ashleigh said, quietly. Nick took her hand but she tore it away.
"I know Ashleigh...but you know how I feel about you. I would never break your heart and you know that," Nick said, sincerely.
"How can I trust you Nick?! No!" Ashleigh cried. Nick felt like he was getting stabbed in the heart.
"Ashleigh, I know you better than anyone. Admit it. And you know me. If I would have thought you weren't ready or you weren't healed, I wouldn't have kissed you. Why are you so afraid?" Nick asked. Ashleigh looked up at him.
"I don't know," she said, quietly. She considered Nick to be the best friend she ever had and she knew he was right.
"Ashleigh..." he said, stroking her face. "I love being with you. I know how that asshole hurt you but I would never, ever do that to you. I love everything about you. You complete me and you are my soul mate. And we can take it as slow as you want," Nick whispered in her ear. Ashleigh knew she loved Nick. They had a connection that was indescribable. She looked into his eyes and he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck.
"I'm sorry..." she whispered.
~~~~~~~~
AJ lugged around the bus, missing Gwen like mad. He clasped down on the sofa in the entertainment room.
"Dang Bone, you really miss her don't ya?" Brian asked.
"Terribly," AJ answered from under a pillow.
"I can tell. I've never seen you like this before dude," Brian said to his friend.
"Bri..were you nervous when you proposed to Leigh?" AJ asked. Brian was a little surprised AJ asked him that.
"Yeah..a little. Why?" Brian asked.
"Every time I try to even talk to Gwen about marriage, I freak out," AJ confessed.
"Whoa AJ..this is big stuff! I didn't know you wanted to marry her," Brian said.
''I love Gwen more than anything and I know we are meant to be but every time I think about proposing...the Amanda scene comes back to me," AJ said. Brian remembered what his friend was talking about.
"Oh yeah," Brian said. "But Gwen isn't Amanda and this is a totally different situation."
"I know but the same thing could happen. I could ask Gwen and she could say no and I go back to being Drunk AJ again. Just like that," AJ said, snapping his finger. Brian felt bad for his friend and patted his back.
"Gwen won't say no Bone. It's all in your head," Brian said. AJ nodded, hoping he was right.
~~~~~~~~~
Gwen's three days passed and she was feeling all better. Illie dropped her off at the airport with Joe to catch a flight to Boston to meet the guys for a show there that night. Gwen slept most of the way there and was fully awake when the plane landed. She hadn't said anything to AJ yet about Amanda. She still had hope he would tell her. They walked out of the terminal and Gwen saw AJ standing near by wearing shades and a hat. She ran to him and jumped into his arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he swung her around.
"My baby is back!" AJ said, kissing her wildly. She laughed and he set her down.
"I missed you so much," Gwen said.
"I see you are all better now that you can say a full sentence without coughing or sneezing on me," AJ joked. They kissed and Gwen realized how much she really did miss him. They got all their luggage and walked out to the car AJ borrowed to take them back to the venue. Gwen sat up front with AJ while Joe sat in the backseat.
"So, anything happen while I was gone?" Gwen asked.
"Nope. Except that Nick and Ashleigh are now a couple," AJ said.
"Yeah, she told me last night on the phone," Gwen said. AJ looked over at her, expecting her to be mad.
"You aren't pissed..?" AJ asked.
"Nah..she knows what's she's doing," Gwen said. AJ held her hand with his free hand.
"So...anything else? Anything you need to tell me?" Gwen asked.
"Anything you want me to tell you?" AJ asked.
"No.." Gwen said, looking out the window. "Nothing at all."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
