"There's nothing to settle down from," Nick countered. "And yes, I want to go. But you've got to promise not to skate ahead of me and ignore me the entire time. I'm not used to being back on the ice yet."
"Understood," Brain replied. "I won't ignore you and I'm sure that Noelle won't either. I'm telling you, Nick, she's a really sweet girl. You just wait."
"It's not like I haven't met her, Brian. Remember? I was the one who FOUND her."
"Technically, yes, but if you want to think about it that way, you just remember that if you had never showed up, I still would have been on that rink with her."
"I'm the one who broke the ice," Nick said, thinking that Brian probably wouldn't have even approached her if it hadn't been for him.
Brian chuckled. "You literally broke the ice!"
Nick frowned at Brian's idea of a joke. "I did not BREAK the ice."
"But you just said so yourself."
"Shut-up. You know what I mean."
Eleven o'clock rolled around quicker than Nick had imagined, and pretty soon, he and Brian were pulling up in front of a small deli. When Nick looked at the little building, he noticed a white sign with the words "Fastner's Deli" written in black, swirly letters and he smiled nervously. After the hasty exit he had pulled yesterday, he wondered how Noelle would act around him. Or even more important... how he would act around her.
"It's real simple," he heard Brain say, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Just wrap your fingers around that little handle there, and pull."
Nick swung his head away from the window to face Brian. "I know how to use a door," he glared.
"Then USE it!"
He grumbled, opening the door and swinging a leg out. That's when he saw her. She was standing in the doorway leaning against the wooden door frame with a smile on her face... and she was looking right at him. Nick couldn't have wiped the stupid grin that had plastered itself across his face even if he had wanted to.
Noelle motioned for them to come over and thankfully, Nick's legs obeyed. Soon, after greeting her, he and Brian were standing inside the cozy deli looking around at the memorabilia that Noelle's family had collected over the years. Everything was so neatly arranged on the walls, that it was hard for them to tear their eyes away from the random pictures and artifacts.
"Cool place," Brian told Noelle as he and Nick followed her to a booth by the window.
Noelle sat down and patted the seat next to herself. "I'll tell my aunt that you said so."
Brian and Nick looked down at her hand and then at each other, trying to decide telepathically who would get to sit next to her. Nick contemplated just taking the seat, and leaving Brian in the dust, but something stopped him. Was he being shy? Maybe he was afraid that she liked Brian more and wanted HIM to sit next to her. Hadn't she looked directly into Brian's eyes as she patted the seat?
"C'mon," she urged with a smile, as if it were no big deal.
Brian squeezed in. "So..." he started, not daring to look back at Nick, who retreated to the other side of the booth. "How long have your aunt and uncle had this place?"
"A long time," Noelle answered, pushing a menu over in Nick's direction while she looked at Brian. "Since I was little."
It was silent for a while, and Nick and Brian took turns smiling at Noelle. "So..." Nick finally got the courage to break the silence.
"Brain told me that you guys are in a singing group," Noelle interrupted before Nick thought of anything interesting to say.
Nick blushed. "Yeah... We always come here on our breaks to... you know... lay low and get reorganized for when we go back. It's the perfect little town to relax in."
"You know," she started. "I thought you guys looked familiar. I didn't really realize it though, until Brian told me. So what's it like? I mean, Brian's already told me, but I want to hear your perspective."
He was almost taken aback. Suddenly her attention had moved away from Brian and was now completely focused on him. He gulped. "Um, well... you know. It's busy," was all he could manage to get out. When she smiled at him, he pulled his blue eyes away from her brown ones and forced himself to look down at the menu.
"You have fun, don't you?"
Nick looked up for a second and gave her a nod. "Yeah, it's a lot of fun, but like Brain said before, it's nice to get a break every once and a while." He gazed down at the menu, trying to concentrate on the items, but he could still feel her gaze on him and it made him nervous.
Brian could see that Nick was a little uncomfortable with the conversation, so he decided to change the subject. "Nick even said that he'd come skating with us," Brain said suddenly. He realized that Nick would probably be uncomfortable no matter what the topic was... if he really liked Noelle, then he was going to be a little shy for a while anyway.
Noelle, with her lips on her glass, taking a sip of water, almost spit it out. "Seriously?" She tried not to laugh. "ICE skating?"
Nick frowned, suddenly losing his shyness. "It's not THAT funny."
Chapter 5
The Loneliness Inside
Non-Nsync Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
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