"Hey guys, welcome!" Cherie said as the Backstreet Boys entered Point & Shoot. Howie proceeded to walk right up to her and hug her. "And a special 'hello' to you," she said, giving him a kiss.
Brian laughed. "I take it you guys know each other..."
"Yeah, sorry... this is Cherie, the girl I've been seeing the past couple weeks." Howie replied, as everyone shook Cherie's hand.
"Well, anyway, they're all ready for you in the studio, so you guys can go right to wardrobe and makeup and get ready," Cherie said and walked them down to the wardrobe room.
Then it was on to makeup. Nick looked about the room for Laura, but didn't see her. "Hey, where's Laura today?" Nick asked Misty, who was already busy putting makeup on AJ and Kevin.
"Sick today," Misty replied. "Got a cold or something."
"Oh, that's too bad," Kevin chimed in. "I hope she's feeling better soon."
Nick shot Kevin a dirty look. "Yeah, I hope so too," Nick said, very bummed that Laura wasn't there. Perhaps he would have to pay her a visit that evening...
"Six wardrobe changes and ten hours later, and I'm beat," AJ said smiling, changing back into his street clothes. "I think my face is permanently stuck like this," he joked, pointing to his smile, then massaged his face.
"Oh, like it's gonna kill you to be smiley from now on," Brian joked, making fun of AJ's often serious looks in previous photo shoots. "So, Nick, wanna shoot some hoops?"
"Uh, I don't think so, Rok... I'm gonna go over and see Laura later. See if she's feeling better."
"Ooh, sounds like love to meeee," Howie joked, punching Nick in the arm.
"No, just concern. Anyway, I'm going home first to check on my pups, then going to check on Laura."
"Concern... love... whatever you wanna call it," AJ said, snapping a towel at him.
Nick shook his head and laughed as he walked out of the studio.
Laura was in the kitchen getting some juice as she heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?" she managed to squeak out, along with a throaty cough.
"It's me," the voice said, as Laura opened the door, still chained, to see who was there. She then closed the door a bit to undo the chain.
"Kevin," Laura said, stunned. She had hoped it would be Nick, but she wasn't objecting. "Um, what are you--I mean, come in. Come in."
"You were going to ask me what I was doing here, right?" Kevin said, as Laura led him to the kitchen. "We were in for our photo shoot today, and Misty and Jenn said you were sick, so I thought since I had the time I'd stop and see how you were doing."
"I'm better," Laura said, her voice squeaking again. She laughed. "Heh heh... sorry. Kinda have a bit of laryngitis, too."
"No problem," Kevin said as Laura coughed again. Kevin's face turned sour. "Oh Laura, that sounds so painful. Poor thing..."
"Well, it doesn't feel good, that's for sure," Laura replied, sitting down a soda in front of Kevin and a glass of juice for herself, then sitting at the table with him. "My neck and back is so sore from coughing so hard. I feel like I'm gonna cough up a lung," she laughed, then coughed from her laughing.
"Ohhh," Kevin said sympathetically, "shhh, don't talk. Just close your eyes." Laura looked at him suspiciously. "Trust me." His green eyes met her blue eyes and she knew she could trust him. Laura sighed and did as he asked, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Kevin stood up and walked around to Laura's side of the table, and stood in back of her. He brushed her hair out of the way and put his hands on her shoulders. He started to massage her. "You are tense," he said, massaging up Laura's neck and back down to her shoulders. Laura sighed as she felt all her tension released.
"OK, you're hired," Laura said joking, as she relished in the relaxed state she quickly slipped into. But, just as quickly as she entered her state of relaxation, she tensed up again as she heard another knock on her door. "Uh, yeah, I should get that," she said, getting up and rushing to the door.
Opening the door slightly to see who it was, Laura was ecstatic. It's Nick, she thought as she opened the door all the way. "Nick!" she said, throwing her arms around him.
"Hey, girl, how are ya feeling? I heard you were sick," Nick said kissing her on her forehead and hugging her tighter before letting her go and entering her apartment.
"Well, I just seem to be the popular subject of conversations today," Laura joked as Nick follwed her to the kitchen.
"Why? What makes you say that?" Nick asked, curious as to what she meant.
"Oh, nothing. It's just that Kevin stopped by to see me, too. In fact, he's here," Laura said, as they entered the kitchen. Kevin met Nick's gaze, and turned away quickly, for he knew that Nick was really pissed at him now.
Nick took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself, because he didn't want to make a scene in front of Laura. "Kevin," he said shortly.
"Hey Nick. Uhmmm, Laura, I think I'm gonna go. I'm glad you're feeling a little better," Kevin said, wanting to get out of there as quick as possible. Nick was still looking at him with a fierceness in his eyes like he had never seen before. If looks could kill, Kevin would have been dead 100 times over. Still avoiding his gaze, Kevin said, "I'll show myself out. Thanks for the soda. Bye. Bye Nick."
"Bye Kev," Laura said, smiling. Don't let the door hit ya in the ass on the way out, Nick thought to himself. As he heard the door shut, he relaxed and sat down with Laura at the kitchen table. "I'm so glad you stopped by, Nick. In fact, I was kind of expecting you, so much that when Kevin stopped I thought it was you," she laughed. Nick barely cracked a smile. It was obvious that Nick was mad at Kevin for something, maybe something that happened at the photo shoot she assumed, so she decided to change the subject. "So, whatcha got there?" Laura asked, smiling and winking at Nick, as she pointed to the brown paper bag he brought in with him.
"Oh, yeah... I brought you some chicken noodle soup and some good ol' Florida orange juice. A couple of the best things to have when you're sick," Nick said, taking the items out of the bag.
Laura smiled at him. "Oh, Nick, how sweet," she said, grabbing his hand as he sat back down. "I'd give you a kiss but I don't wanna get you sick."
"Well, you'll just owe me one. I'll put it on your tab," Nick said with a sexy smirk, running his hand through his hair playfully. How Laura loved that when he did that, it drove her crazy. She blinked her eyes as he continued to speak. "So what can I do for you, Laura? Anything I can do for you to make you feel better?"
"You've gone above and beyond the call of duty, Nickolas. Really," Laura said, smiling back at him. She thought for a few seconds and continued. "Well, I guess if you want, you can reheat the soup for us and have some with me," she said.
Nick smiled. "Your wish is my command," he said, kissing her on the forehead again as he began heating up the soup and making a couple sandwiches to go with. Anything for you, he thought as she smiled at him, and they began to chat about their day.
