Chapter 13
Night passed. Nick sat there in the warmth of his bed, trying to figure out why Riana had shut him out that day. The rest of the day went downhill after that. Nothing seemed to go right, even Brian avoided him all day by staying in his room behind closed doors. AJ was never around, he was always too busy with Leah to even stop to say a simple hello. Kevin and Howie were always busy working out in the gym or something that Nick wasn't interested in doing. The only person that would keep him preoccupied was Riana. Besides that, he had fun when he was with her. In fact, he loved it and hated when they parted at night, but was excited for the next day that he would spend with her. Nick didn't realize how great she was until she was not able to be with him. And his heart went out to her, someone like her should never be going through what she was. What was she going through? Nick wanted to know but figured Riana would tell him when she was ready. There was no need to rush, there was still a month of the cruise left.
As Nick shifted in his waterbed, it was then that he realized that he was going against his own promise to himself. The promise that he was not accustomed to break, until he met Riana. She was slowly making Nick forget about his past. To learn to trust again. But Nick was still afraid. Very afraid. He remembered the day that he told Riana that she should have nothing to do with him. He told her to stay away from him, but he wasn't thinking. He NEEDED her. He didn't know what he wanted. All he knew was that he was petrified. Just the thought of him getting hurt in another relationship was enough to make his mind sprint in the other direction. But then he felt a warm sensation pull on his heart strings. He imagined holding her in his arms, being engulfed in their tight embrace by the fragrant smell of her hair. He would look deep into her blue eyes, feeling as though they were penetrating into his soul. Then he would kiss her, a kiss so sweet and so soft that neither of them would ever want to end.
Just the thought of that made him smile. He had to come to a decision, but he did not have the slightest idea of which road to take to get there. ___________________
The slight rumble from underneath her bed made Riana awake from her slumber. It was time. Time for face the world after a day of hibernating in the comfort of her bed. Grabbing the nearest article of clothing she could find, she slipped it on without a hassle and walked to her dresser. She grabbed her shampoo and shower things and slowly walked to the bathroom. She noticed that Leah's door was open and her bed was made. She never came home. Not that she ever was home, anyway. Riana hadn't seen much of her best friend since the guys came on the scene.
"Guys. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em," Riana muttered to herself as she stepped into the shower and let the water trickle down her slender body. The only thing in her mind was Nick. She still couldn't believe what she had done. She should talk to Brian first, to see if things were still the same between them. She liked Nick a lot, and she knew that if he ever found out about "that night" would crush him. She dressed in her black bikini and slipped on her blue tank top and shorts. She applied some lip gloss and styled her hair into a messy pony tail on the top of her head. She took one look in the mirror and shook her head. She pulled her hair out of its bun and made let her blonde hair fall to her shoulders. She put on some make up and took a deep breath, figuring that it was now or never. The best way, she decided, was to act as if nothing happened. Brian and her were just friends. That's all. Nothing more, nothing less. If only it was that simple.
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"B, get the door!" Nick called with his mouth full of toothpaste the next morning.
"Why can't you Nick? You're closer," Brian murmured softly from his sleeping position on the couch. He rubbed his eyes as he walked over to the door and opened it to reveal a Riana, looking very timid.
"Brian, hi. H..H...How are you?"
"Uh, great! Just fine. Wanna come in?" He asked. Riana looked at him and smiled warmly, a smile showing that the night was temporarily forgotten. Thank you, he mouthed to her. He could already tell that everything was going to be OK.
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"So, we docked early this morning," Nick said, "so does anyone know where we are?" Nick, Riana, and Brian sat eating donuts and drinking coffee and hot chocolate at their kitchen table.
"Yep, we are in England! I'm so happy, I want to see my family!" Riana said with excitement.
"How far away is London from where we are?" Nick asked. He stared at Riana for an answer.
"Ummm...about three hours. I'm going to take a bus," she said as she swallowed the last of her glazed donut.
"Sounds cool. Can I go with you? I really want to meet your family," Nick said warmly. Riana smiled.
"Of course! My parents just love company," she said. "It's only going to be my parents and my little sister, Hannah. They say it gets lonely when its only the three of them."
"Lonely? Why?" Nick asked.
"Well, I rarely get to see my family because of my career. I have an older brother, Steven, who actually is a lawyer out in California, so we only get to see him around Christmas. And I have an older sister, too. Laura is a writer, so she travels the world and writes about all of her experiences," Riana told Nick. "I feel bad for Hannah, though. My parents expect her to follow in the footsteps of her older siblings, but she told me she really wants to be a schoolteacher in the city. I guess my parents wanted all of their children to be famous."
"All of my family is famous. I'm a singer, so is Aaron. BJ is modeling and Leslie and Angel are working on their singing careers, too. The Carter Family was destined to be famous, " Nick said with a smile. Riana caught his gesture and smiled. After a moment, Riana finally spoke up.
"Don't you ever get tired of being famous?" she whispered. "I mean, sometimes I wake up and I want to go back to the time in my life where looks or money didn't matter."
"Of course, Riana. Every star must think that or something is wrong. I often think about my life as something other than a Backstreet Boy, but then I remember the smiles and screams from the fans and I know that I do this all because I want to and I love to." Nick told her. Riana listened to every word he said. She stared at his soft lips, and ached to kiss them again. Stop it, she scolded herself. She didn't need to get her feelings involved in their friendship...
She didn't know that Nick was thinking the same thing. He had the sudden urge to kiss her lips, but something was holding him back. Maybe rejection? Couldn't possibly be. What have I got to lose? He thought as he brought his fingers to her chin. He tilted her face and kissed her softly. When he opened his eyes he saw Riana smiling back at him, a contagious smile that Nick followed. He leaned in to kiss her again but suddenly he pulled back.
"I'm so sorry," he apologized. Riana looked up at him in shock. She shook her head.
"No, don't apologize. It's not your fault." She paused. "Well, I am going to go call my parents. I'll let you know about it later," she said, walking out the door in a hurry.
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"Ok, calm down. Just a kiss. Just a kiss. That's all, a kiss." Riana repeated over and over to herself that night. Was he leading her on? The only thing that she hated was how willing she was for more of that kiss. She didn't want Nick to know how happy she was when he kissed her. But in a way she did. She would see how she felt the next night when Nick and her would go to her parents for dinner.
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"Don't be so nervous, Nick. They're people, just like you and me," Riana told him as they walked down the busy streets of London to her childhood house.
"Nervous? I'm not nervous," Nick scoffed. "Wait, how do I look?" he asked. He stepped back so Riana could observe what he was wearing. He looked very sophisticated with his tan khakis and blue shirt with a blue tie. He wore his horn rimmed glasses over his blue eyes. His blonde hair was slicked back, with a few loose strands framing his forehead.
"You look great, Nick." She said, adjusting his tie so it rested on his chest perfectly. She took a deep breath and looked down at her own attire. She wore her hair in a half pony, letting some of her blonde hair flow freely over her shoulders in the wind. Her skirt stopped mid thigh, showing off her summer tan so the world could see. She wanted to impress her parents. She wanted to show them that their little girl was beautiful, full of etiquette, and grown up. She wanted to make them proud.
"You ready?" Nick asked as they stopped in front of her porch. Memories of herself running around in the dirt with Leah in her front yard made her smile.
"You bet," she said, and rang the doorbell.
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