Five minutes after the ending of 'Scream 3,' Nick stared at a bright blue screen. It wasn't extremely late, but Noelle had fallen asleep at her end of the couch. Nick couldn't move. Earlier, when Noelle had gotten underneath his skin, it had scared him. How could she look into his eyes know what he was thinking? What was so special about her that she could change his way of thinking?
He pulled his eyes away from the blue screen and looked over at her sleeping figure. Should he wake her up or just let her sleep? He had to wake her up. What if she had to be somewhere? Then it would be his fault that she had been sleeping... but when she woke up, she would leave... wouldn't she?
He moved the big, empty bowl to the coffee table and scooted across the couch so that he was sitting right next to her. "Noelle?" he said quietly.
Her eyelids moved slightly, but that was it.
"You should probably get up..." He just stared at her face. Hey... he'd tried his best. He wasn't going to SHAKE the poor girl awake.
A phone ringing knocked Nick back to consciousness. He opened his eyes and looked straight at the cable box that rested on top of his television. It was almost nine AM... He tried to get up, but something was on him...
When he looked down, he noticed that Noelle was no longer sleeping on her side of the couch because she was now in his arms. He really didn't want to wake her, but decided that the call could be important, so he carefully slipped away, set her down gently on the couch and then dashed toward the phone. "Hello?" "Hey, Nick, it's me." 'Me' usually meant Brian. "What's up, Brian?" There was a slight pause, but then Brian's voice came back over the line, "You're not... mad at me, are you?" "No. Why would you think that?" "Just after the way you left the rink yesterday. You wouldn't even let me try and talk you into staying." "I'm not mad." "Nick, I've been thinking, and If you really like Noelle, then I think you should go for it. There are plenty of girls out there for me to choose from and I'm not going to get in your way when this one obviously likes you more." Nick was almost speechless. Almost. "She... she likes me more? She told you that?" "Well, she didn't exactly TELL me that, but I'm good at picking up on those sort of things. You know?" Nick actually smiled. "I know," he agreed. "So, seriously? You're backing off?" "Yeah, why not? It's not that big of a deal." "It's not?" Nick suddenly felt guilty for having Noelle over without Brian knowing about it. Maybe if he knew, he wouldn't be so willing to give up. "No, it's not. A girl that we just met isn't worth ruining a good friendship over. And Nick, if you ever need to talk about something... about anything, you know my number." Nick gulped. "Yeah... thanks, Brian." After he'd hung up with Brian, he walked back over to where Noelle was sleeping and knelt down beside the couch. "Noelle?" he said just loud enough to wake her up. "Noelle, wake up." She opened her eyes and looked at him with a smile... then she shot up and looked at her watch. "My God! What time is it?" "About nine," he answered. "Calm down, everything's okay. You didn't have to be anywhere, did you?" "No... I just wasn't expecting to fall asleep over here." He stood up and held his hand out to her. "Want to go out for some breakfast?" She smiled and took his hand, letting him pull her up. "All right." ***** Brian had said that he would back off... that Nick was free to go for Noelle, but then why was it still so difficult? He kept telling himself that she liked him, that she'd probably say yes if he asked her out to dinner, but for some reason, he couldn't imagine himself working up to courage to do so. Besides, he already knew the end result of all of that dating shit, so why even bother? She could be the one. What was 'the one?' The one for what? The one to make him happy or the one to take his heart in the palm of her hand and rip to shreds? He knew that he couldn't do it. He couldn't let himself be hurt. Not anymore would Nick Carter allow himself to be stepped on. "I thought you said we were going to Annie's Diner. I think you forgot to turn." "Oh!" Nick stepped hard on the brake and made a quick right-hand turn as he sped around the block. "Sorry." "It's okay, just easy on the pedal next time..." He pulled into the nearest parking spot. "Sorry." He felt her hand on his as he moved to put the car into park. "It's okay," she said again. He pulled away and reached for his door handle, leaving Noelle with a confused look on her face. She got out and walked up to him. The cheerful look was gone from his face and was replaced with a distant one. She took his hand anyway and led him to the doors. When they sat down in a booth, she looked carefully at his face. He wouldn't look at her. "Did I do something wrong?" It took a second for him to look at her. "What?" She sighed. "Never mind. I should know by now that this isn't my problem." "What are you talking about?" he blinked. What was the problem? "You! Your moods keep changing and it's really confusing me." Nick picked at his napkin. He honestly didn't know what to say to that. How could he tell her anymore without her knowing exactly how he felt? If she knew how he felt, then it would be easier for her to get in and he couldn't let that happen.
Chapter 9 (not ready)
The Loneliness Inside
Non-Nsync Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
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