Out of the Box



A week had gone by, and Nick was learning to live with Ava. Despite the sexual frustration lingering over their heads, they managed to get along like normal roommates. Ava even found herself hanging out in his room, watching movies with him. Joking around with him. Hugging him and being tickled by him sometimes. She was worried that the little feelings that had for each other might surface, but she couldn’t help enjoying his company.

Jason managed to weasel Nick’s number from Myah, and called Ava to see how she was doing. Nick answered the phone.

“Hello?” Nick asked.

“Yeah, hi. Is Ava there?” Nick handed the phone to Ava, who as lying on the bed next to him eating chips.

“Hello?” She asked, figuring it had to be Myah since Myah was the only one who knew she was there and called her.

“Hey Ava. I finally caught up with you.” Jason said. Ava was shocked to hear his voice instead of the voice of her best friend.

“Jason? How did you get this number? Why are you calling here?” Ava sat up, Nick got a little worried.

“I really wanted to talk to you. I miss you. I miss us. I told Myah that it was an emergency and she gave me the number to your new place. Who was it that answered the phone anyway? You’re not seeing anyone, are you?” Ava looked at Nick and was at a loss for words.

“He’s my room mate. And why do you care if I’m seeing someone or not? It’s none of your business.” She spat with an attitude. Nick just took the chips from her hand and started to eat a few. He tickled leg with his toe and she giggled.

“What are you laughing at?” Jason asked.

“Nothing, nothing. But anyway, what did you call for?” Ava avoided telling him why. Nick just crawled closer to her and bit her on the neck, playfully, just to make her squirm.

“I called to ask if we could get together sometime. Like on a date. I want to start over, try again. We had so much fun when we were dating before. Why not wipe the slate clean and give it another go.” She was trying hard to ignore Nick and focus on her conversation with Jason, but it was too difficult. Nick snuck his hand under her shirt and unsnapped her bra with a quick turn of the fingers. She jumped off of the bed, phone still in hand, and struggled to fix her bra. Nick rolled all over the bed laughing.

“Sure, Jason. We can go out again, sometime.” Nick laughed himself right onto the floor which caused Ava to laugh.

“What’s going on there?” Jason questioned, getting quite a bit angry with her silliness.

“Uh, I have to call you back! By....” She hung up the phone before she could finish the word. Nick stood up and pulled her back onto the bed with him, tickling her everywhere. They both got caught in the moment, and their lips met. Ava pulled away, a little scared. But looking into his eyes, she couldn’t deny the longing to kiss him again. Just as Nicks tongue met hers, the phone rang. She slipped out of his arms and picked the phone up from the floor where it had fallen.

“Jason, I told you I had to call you ba....”

“This is Myah! Have you two seen the front page of the Enquirer? You’re on it as well at Nick. They’ve got two whole pages about the pregnancy. And a whole shit load of pictures of you two... in the grocery store, in front of his house, outside of the doctor’s office!” Ava’s heart climbed up to her throat.

“I’ll call you back.” She hung up the phone, turning to Nick slowly.

“Get the keys. We have to go.” He didn’t question her and got the keys to his truck. They drove to the closest store, which was a 7 Eleven. She went into the store and bought the magazine. When she got back out to the car, Nick saw their faces on the front. A picture blurred after being magnified. He was wearing his favorite Nike hat, the bill low over his face. She was wearing sunglasses. Still, someone caught onto them.

“Backstreet Boy Knocks Up Teenage Fan!” Was the headline. He knew that the paper would be in every grocery store, convenience store, book store, and probably in the hands of many mother’s who’s daughter’s were huge fans. Now he knew why Ava was so frozen and shocked.

“Please tell me you didn’t tell anyone!” Nick said in a low, stern voice.

“Only Myah. And the only person you told was Brian. They would never tell anyone else.” He looked at her, trying to see if he could sense if she was lying. She looked sincere, Ava wasn’t a liar anyway.

“I’m ruined. I might as well shoot myself, because my life is over as of now no matter what I do!” He started the truck and pulled off, speeding. Ava closed the magazine and hid her face with her hands. Nick heard her crying and it made him want to get her home even more.

The minute they got back to his house, she ran up to her room and to the bathroom. Nick sat on her bed, waiting. He didn’t know what he was going to say to make her feel better. He was hoping she would know what to say to make him feel better. He thought about calling Brian, but he didn’t feel like talking to anyone else but her.

He heard the shower water running, then steam flowed from under the bathroom door. Still, Nick waited. Only a few minutes passed before she opened the door. The bathroom was filled with steam and Nick could feel the warmth surround him. He could smell her fancy soaps and shampoos as well. She laid herself on the bed and rested her wet head on his lap. Nick didn’t care, he just stroked her soaking wet locks.

“I’m sorry.” She said, barely above a whisper.

“Don’t be sorry. We got in this together, and we’ll get out together. We’ll just tell the presses that you’re my girlfriend and you’re not pregnant.” Nick figured, knowing the media would still investigate it until their last breath.

“What about the pictures of us going to see my GYN?” She asked, still in the softest voice.

“That could just be me taking my girlfriend to her doctor to get her boobs checked or something. Women like male support when they think they’ve got breast cancer, right? So we’ll just say I was giving you loving support while you got your boobs checked.” He reached down and squeezed one, knowing it would make her laugh.

“Stop, you horny toad!” She said, in a voice a little louder than before. They scooted back on the bed so that both of them rested on pillows. Their faces were close together, noses touching. He would kiss her every few minutes. Touching her face as well. He whispered sweet things to her. Telling her how pretty she was. How he loved her being there with him. How he loved to kiss her.

Ava fell asleep listening to Nick’s whispers and feeling his tender kisses. Once he was sure she was truly sleep, he got out of the bed and sat on the stairs. He pulled the magazine from his back pocket and started reading the actual article.

“They had a harsh argument the day she told him she was having his child says a close friend of Carter’s?” Nick read out loud. “A close friend?” He repeated. He thought about it, and the day Ava told him about the baby, Heather had just left the house. Then he realized, she never really left. She had been there the whole time, listening to their conversation. She ratted to the media. Could she be that shallow and heartless? He looked into Ava’s room and she was still fast asleep.

Nick ran all the way to Heather’s house, Enquirer in hand. He rang the bell at the gate. He heard her voice come over the intercom.

“Yes?” She asked in her posh accent.

“Open the fucking door, Heather!” Inside, she smiled devilishly and pressed the button to open the gate. Nick ran in and went right to the front door. She opened it and he let himself in.

“And why are you coming here at this hour?” She asked, walking around him in a circle.

“You fucking know why, you bitch!” He threw the magazine at her and it hit her in the face. She frowned her face up in anger.

“How dare you!” She started.

“No, Heather, how dare you! I never, ever did anything to you! And you go and spread this. Worldwide no less. This is my personal business. Between me and Ava. And you violated that!” Nick screamed. She stepped up to him.

“And you just threw me to the side. Me! You haven’t visited or called! You just spend all day with her, the dirty little slut! Well, that will soon change. You see, Nickolas, I have those test results she showed you that night. I stole them while you parked her car. All I have to do is hand them over to the press, and you are ruined for good.” Nick wanted to strangle the life out of her, but restrained himself.

“Father’s not going to win this bet.” She added, walking into the library. Nick followed her.

“Bet?”

“Oh yes. You’re just a pawn in my game. Father bet me that I couldn’t marry a wealthy American before I was 21. He thinks that I’m too proud to wed an idiotic yank. But to hell with the old fool. I’m marrying you.” Nick shook his head no.

“Oh, you will marry me. Or your career will parish!” She opened a safe, hidden behind a portrait of her family. Inside were the papers she spoke of. The tests Ava had done to confirm her pregnancy.

“You have until tomorrow night to get her out of that house and out of your life. You also have until tomorrow night to place a very expensive engagement ring onto my finger.” She put the papers back into the safe and locked it.

“I can’t do that. She needs me. She has no other place to go.” Nick protested.

“You have millions. Give her all the money she needs to find a place to stay. Pay her to stay away.” She went to him, placing her hand on his cheek. He snatched it off with force. His cell phone rang, he reached into his pocket and answered.

“Nicky, where are you?” Ava asked, he turned away from Heather.

“I just needed to take a walk. I’m not far from the house. I should be back in a few minutes, ok?” He assured her.

“Ok.”

“Wait up for me.” He added before hanging up. He had formed a smile just hearing Ava’s voice, but the sight of Heather brought back his scowl.

“You’re gonna pay for this, you sick bitch!” He left the house, slamming the door so hard that it opened again. Heather watched him leave through the gate and laughed at the sheer genius of her plans.

Nick went straight to Ava’s room when he got home. She was lying on the bed, waiting for him, reading. When she saw him, she put the book down and sat up. He took his shoes off and laid on the bed beside her. Burying his face in the pillow.

“The article still has you worried, huh?” She asked, stroking his hair. It was slightly damp from his sweat. She moved her hand toward his back and felt tension in his muscles. She climbed on top of his back and started massaging his shoulders.

“I found out who ratted us out.” He said, mumbling into the pillow.

“Who?”

“Heather. She didn’t go straight home that night. She listened to us. She even stole the test results you had. She knows everything. She’s gonna black mail me with it too.” Ava couldn’t believe what he was telling her. She knew Heather was evil, but how could she do something so awful. Ava bent over and rested her chin on the back of Nick’s head.

“So what does she want from you?” Nick started to turn over, so Ava got off of him. He faced her and held her hand. As he told her everything Ava told him, he saw the tears building up in her eyes.

“That’s the only way? Nick, I don’t want to go yet.” She admitted, without thinking about what she said. Nick knew what she meant. They were just learning to get along. They loved spending time together. And now, Heather was forcing them apart.

“We still have tonight.” He whispered. She looked up at him with hopeful eyes. He brushed the hair out of her face and kissed her. Ava reached over to the night stand and turned the light out.

The next morning, Nick woke up in Ava’s bed alone. He could smell her down in the kitchen cooking breakfast. He was accustomed to it. He searched all over the bed for his boxers, finally finding them tangled in the sheets. Before he even stood up, Ava had brought his food to the room. As well as a hot cup of coffee. He got turned on looking at her wearing the shirt he had on the night before. It just barely covered her, and when she bent over to put the tray down, it covered nothing.

“I can’t believe we actually...” Nick started, but she put her finger to his lips to quiet him.

“Just eat. Enjoy this while it lasts.” She sat next to him, feeding him. Pampering him. He understood why. The feelings that had for each other had finally surfaced the night before, and she wanted to leave him on a positive note. So, she pampered him and treated him like a king so he would remember her and how much fun they had, always.

“When you finish, we’ll shower together. Kill two birds with one stone. Then we’ll go out and find this wonderful ring she wants. After that, we’ll have the rest of the afternoon to enjoy each other’s company.” He hated that it would have to be the last time he ever saw her.

“No. I won’t do it. Let her tell the world. I would rather lose my career then lose you... just when I found you.” He wanted to say that he loved her, but wasn’t sure if the time was right. It was too soon and they hadn’t even known each other well enough for love.

“There is no other way. You have to marry her. Give her whatever she wants. Just until I have the baby. Then, it won’t matter. The baby will be in a good home, and no one will be the wiser. She could tell the Pope, and even he wouldn’t believe her.” She looked into his icy blue eyes. “Besides... you can always tell her you’re going out with your friends when you’re really coming to roll around in the bed with me.” They both smiled.

Even though Ava seemed like she was calm about the situation, Nick felt that he had to do something to prevent all of this. She continued to feed him, all the while he tried to think of ways to conquer Heather in her own sick game.




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