One Step At A Time

“Kate, will you please relax?” Nick asked, impatiently, as she paced her hotel room.

“I’m worried about her, Nick,” she answered, plopping down next to her.

He began rubbing her shoulders. “I’m sure she’s fine. Ang is a big girl. She’s responsible. She wouldn’t do anything stupid.”

“I know,” Katelin agreed, leaning her head back against his chest. “That feels so good.”

Nick smiled inwardly. He loved the fact that his touch had such an effect on her. He continued rubbing her shoulders, causing her to basically melt in his arms. “Feel better?” he whispered.

“Mmm…” was her response. Nick bent down and laid a soft kiss on her shoulder, causing a shiver up Katelin’s spine. “Nick,” she moaned, feeling his hands slip under her shirt and caress her toned stomach.

“What?” he questioned, moving his lips to her ear.

Katelin didn’t offer a response. Instead, she turned around in his arms and placed her lips on his. Nick moaned against her mouth before slipping his tongue into her mouth. He slid up on the bed, pulling Katelin with him, until he was laying flat on his back with Katelin on top of him.

“What are we doing?” She asked, breathlessly, a few minutes later.

“What we should’ve done a long time ago,” Nick replied, rubbing her back. He rolled them over until he was on top of her. Their blue eyes locked and Katelin knew just how right this was.

“What about Becca?” she questioned.

“What about her, Kate?” Nick responded, dropping his lips to the top of her chest. “She doesn’t have to know. This is right, Kate.”

“I know,” she whispered in reply. Nick looked into her eyes and saw all of the love she had for him. There was no turning back now. He slowly bent his head down and placed his soft lips on hers. Their tongues dueled one another for a minute or two before he trailed his lips to her neck. Katelin’s hands found their way to the hem of Nick’s shirt and she pulled it over Nick’s head, running her hands along his bare back.

“Kate,” he moaned. “I need you.”

“I need you too,” Katelin whispered. Soon, their clothes were discarded and Nick placed himself in between her legs. “Are you sure?” He questioned, silently praying she would say yes. Katelin bit her lip and nodded, knowing there was no turning back now.

Nick slowly entered her, knowing that it had been a while for her, letting her get used to the feel of him being inside of her. He paused momentarily, relishing in the feeling of her tight muscles surrounding him, before he began a slow pace, pulling almost all of the way out before going all the way back in.

“You okay?” he asked, breathlessly. He watched as her eyes seemed to roll back in her head and her eyelids slowly fluttered closed. “Keep your eyes open, baby. I want to see what I’m doing to you.” His request sounded so erotic to her that she struggled to comply. She would’ve done anything for him at this point. That’s how much power he had over her. She couldn’t believe how good he felt inside of her. She never remembered it being this good.

Nick picked up the pace as the minutes passed on. He had tried to go slow. To relish in the feeling of finally being with her again after so long but that was soon replaced by a feeling of complete euphoria. For both of them. Soon enough, Katelin came, Nick’s name echoing off of the walls. Nick was soon to follow, exploding inside of her as her name escaped his lips. The two lovers collapsed on top of each other, completely out of breath.

Nick pulled her close and wiped her sweaty blond hair away from her face before placing a lingering kiss on her forehead. “Are you alright?” he questioned, quietly. Katelin bit her lip and nodded, tears burning her eyelids. “What’s wrong?” He asked.

“Nothing,” she answered tearfully.

“Then why are you crying?” he asked, smiling slightly.

“I’m not sad, Nick,” she told him. “That was so perfect. I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” Nick told her quietly. He rolled over and turned out the light before pulling her back into his arms.

“What do we do now?” Katelin asked into the dark.

Nick lightly trailed his fingers along her bare arms. “We take it one step at a time, baby. One step at a time.”

Brooke woke up to the bright Los Angeles sunlight streaming through the hotel windows. She groaned, quietly, the throbbing pain in her head become almost too much to bear. She lay there for a minute, wondering just how much she had to drink the night before, and then rolled over to get out of bed. She gasped at the sight she was greeted with. Kevin was next to her in the bed. “Oh shit,” she whispered to herself. She quickly grabbed the sheet and wrapped it around her naked body. “Oh shit, shit, shit. What the hell did I do?”

Kevin groaned and rolled over. “Morning Brooke.” He shot up in bed. “Brooke?!”

“Um…hi?” she said, nervously.

“What are you doing in my room?” Kevin asked.

“Um, actually we’re in my room,” Brooke stated. “What you’re doing here, I don’t know. But I have a pretty good guess.”

“Yeah, me too,” Kevin responded. “I guess I should go.”

“Yeah, that would probably be a good idea,” Brooke said, quietly. She watched quietly as Kevin gathered his clothes from around the room and threw them on. “I’m sorry this had to happen.”

Kevin turned around and looked at her, his hand on the doorknob. “I’m not.” And then he disappeared from the room.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Katelin rolled over in bed, expecting to see Nick’s sleeping form beside her. Instead, she was greeted with cold sheets. She sat up, pulling the sheet up to her chin. Did she imagine what happened last night? She couldn’t have. She looked over to the clock, wondering what time it was, when she noticed the paper with her name scrawled on it in Nick’s messy handwriting. She smiled as she picked it up and began to read.

Good morning, baby,

Don’t think that I just ran out and planned to leave you hanging. You know I would never do that. Last night was amazing. Absolutely perfect in every way. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I’ve missed touching you, being with you. But we all know that if the bitch found out, we would be dead so I made sure I was all tucked in my own room before she could wake up. Don’t want Daddy Taylor to find out I was in bed with his beautiful daughter. I can’t wait to see you today. I love you.

Love,

Nick

Katelin leaned back against the headboard and smiled dreamily. She couldn’t believe that she was back with Nick. Well, sort of. They would have to keep it a secret because if her father or Becca found out, all hell would break loose. That was something Katelin was not going to let happen. She loved Nick too much to let his career suffer for her.

The ringing of her cell phone broke into her thoughts. She glanced over at the clock, wondering who the hell was calling her so god damn early. She groaned and picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“Hey Kate. It’s Kris.”

“Krista! It’s good to hear from you. How have you been?”

“Bored, lonely, and fat. Ready to have the baby.”

Katelin laughed. “Well, you’ve still got a few months.”

“Yeah, thanks for reminding me. Anyway, I’m really sorry to call you so early but I’m looking for my boyfriend. Any idea where he might be?”

“No. Last I saw him was last night.”

“That boy better not have brought home a girl with him or he will be soooo dead.”

“He didn’t. He came home with Nick and I.”

“You and Nick? Where was Becca?”

“Drunk as a skunk and completely passed out.”

“Ah. So I take it Nick isn’t the epitome of evil anymore.”

“Nope. As much fun as that was, I think I like this arrangement just a tiny bit better.”

Krista giggled. “Anyway, so you have no idea where the tattooed one might be?”

Katelin thought for a minute. “Ohmigod! Ang!”

“Excuse me?”

“He’s probably looking for Ang. She and Brian got into a fight and she went nuts with the alcohol. She left the club with some guy and I don’t think she ever came back here last night. Kris, I gotta go. As soon as I find AJ, I’ll tell him to call you. Okay? Bye!” She quickly hung up the phone. On her end, Krista stared at the phone, confused.

Katelin quickly threw wind pants and a tank top on before grabbing her key and running out of the room. She ran down the hall to AJ’s room and banged on the door. No one answered. She quickly ran to the room that Ang was supposed to be staying in with Brian and banged on that one. A few seconds later, an extremely groggy Brian opened it up.

“Jesus, Kate,” he complained. “It’s fucking eight in the morning. Where’s the fire?”

“I think the question should be ‘where’s your girlfriend,’” Kate said as she pushed her way in the room. “I swear to god if Leighanne is in here, I’ll fucking kill you, Littrell.”

“What are you babbling about, Kate?” Brian questioned, confused. “Why would Leighanne be here and where the hell is Ang? I thought she was with you.”

Katelin glared at him. “Don’t give me your shit, Brian. We all saw you leave the club last night with Leighanne. Including Ang.”

“You guys were there last night?” Brian asked, his blue eyes wide.

Katelin nodded, crossing her arms across her chest. “So what do you have to say for yourself, Brian?”

Brian sighed. “Nothing happened with me and Leighanne. I took her back to her hotel and then came back here. I thought Ang was still mad at me for earlier and I figured she’d be with you.”

“Well, she wasn’t and the way you and Leighanne were all over each other last night, I don’t think she wants to be with you either,” Katelin stated.

“Then where is she?!” Brian exclaimed.

“If I knew, would I be here?” Katelin retorted.

Brian’s cell phone ringing interrupted them. “That’s probably her,” Brian commented as he went over to pick it up. “Hello?…Oh, hi mom.”

Katelin rolled her eyes and walked out of the room to continue her search for her best friend. She had made it as far as the next doorway when she heard the elevator doors open. AJ and Q walked out, leading a horrible-looking Ang. “Oh my god!” Katelin exclaimed. “What the hell happened?”

“Not here, Kate,” Ang whispered. “Just take me to your room. I don’t want Brian to see me.” Katelin nodded and went to open her door. AJ and Q led Ang over to the bed and then went to give them some time alone.

“We’ll leave you guys alone,” Q stated. “Remember, Ang. No shower.”

Ang nodded, tears welling up in her eyes as they walked out of the room. Katelin kneeled down in front of her. “What happened, honey?”

“I don’t know,” Ang said, quietly. “I don’t remember anything. I remember seeing Brian with…with her and the next thing remember was waking up in a hotel room.”

“With who?” Katelin questioned, quietly.

“I don’t know,” Ang cried, her tears spilling down her cheeks. “I’ve never seen him before. But Kate, it gets worse.”

“How?” Katelin asked, innocently. “Did he hurt you at all?”

“No,” Ang answered. “At least, not that I know of. I don’t have any bruises or cuts or anything. But, Kate, I woke up and I didn’t have any clothes on.” She started crying harder and Katelin couldn’t do anything else but hug her while she did.

“Did he rape you?” Katelin whispered.

“I don’t know,” Ang said, wiping her eyes. “I mean, something must’ve been slipped in my drink because I can’t remember anything about last night. But Katelin, it still gets worse.” Katelin’s eyes widened, as she wondered how the hell this could get any worse. She didn’t say anything so Ang continued. “He was dead, Kate.”

“WHAT?!” Katelin yelled.

“He was dead. Gone. Not breathing. Cold,” Ang responded, becoming hysterical. “He had overdosed. I woke up next to a dead body and I had a syringe in my hand.”

“You had a what in your hand?” Katelin wondered, absolutely astonished. This just kept getting worse and worse.

“I didn’t do it, Kate.” Ang started sobbing. “I did not kill this guy. No way.”

“I didn’t say you did,” Katelin told her, wrapping her arms around her once again. “Did you call the police?”

Ang shook her head. “No. I freaked out and then I called Q. He must’ve told AJ because both of them showed up at my door. They got me out of there and they were going to take care of it.”

“Ang, you have to go to the police,” Katelin told her.

“Q and AJ are taking care of everything,” Ang stated. “They won’t let me go. What if this got out, Kate? Backstreet girlfriend helps some guy o.d.? No way. I’m not bringing the guys into it.”

“But Ang,” Katelin began. “They’re already involved. As soon you called them, they got involved. I mean, AJ’s going to help get rid of a dead body. If that’s not involved, then I don’t know what is.”

Ang grabbed Katelin’s hands, pleading with her. “You can’t tell anyone, Kate. No one at all. Especially not Brian.” Katelin nodded, though she was not happy about it at all. “I won’t, Ang.”

“Promise me, Kate,” Ang begged.

“I promise, Ang.”

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