"Hello is this Sarah Hunter?".
"Yes," Sarah said into her cell phone. "Who am I speaking to?".
"This is Jive Records...".
Sarah smiled. She had been waiting to hear from Jive. She thought her recording session had gone well and wanted to know details on her next move to success.
"I'm afraid we have problems. We don't actually need another young female singer on the label any more so the contract is off,".
Sarah nearly dropped the phone. "What the hell? So that's it, you don't want me on the label. I've been dropped? This is to do with Nick isn't it,". I bet he called Jive and paid them to drop me, she thought angrily.
"No," the Jive representative protested. "We just don't need you any more,". The truth was, Jive had seen Nick's outburst on TV and didn't like the bad publicity he had given Sarah and didn't want anything to do with her any more. They thought she would give the label a bad name.
"Thanks for wasting my time!" she shouted angrily, then hung up.
Sarah stomped into her bedroom and slammed the door. "Nick better be worried!" she cried. "First he disses me on TV then he gets me dropped from Jive. He's gonna pay!".
Nick switched off his Playstation and went to get a drink. He was on the tourbus driving to North Carolina where the tour would start the next day.
"What's up Nick?" Kevin asked as Nick grabbed a can of Diet Coke.
Nick shrugged. "I'm bored. Wanna play some Playstation?". He wanted to challenge someone as it was boring playing by himself all the time.
Kevin didn't really want to but he saw how sad Nick looked. "OK, just a quick go," he said to make Nick feel better.
Half an hour later Kevin finished playing and went to sit next to Brian. "What's up with Nick?" he asked his cousin.
"He's still sad, well can you blame him after what Sarah did? He's lonely,".
"I feel so sorry for him," Kevin said.
"Who do you feel sorry for?" Howie asked, joining them.
"Nick," Kevin answered. "He hasn't smiled in weeks. I wish we could do something to cheer him up,".
"Well we should all make an effort to be nice to him," Howie said.
"I could fix him up with a hot chick!" AJ added, also joining them.
Brian laughed. "Trust you to say that, Bone! But seriously, I don't think getting into another relationship would really do him any good,".
They glanced over at Nick, who sat alone with his Playstation. His mouth was in a permanent frown and his eyes were downcast as usual.
"I hope he doesn't do anything stupid," Kevin said, worried for Nick. "You all know what he did when he was living alone...".
Brian looked down, not knowing what to say. He knew what Nick had done the night before but didn't know if he should tell the others.
"Brian?" Howie asked, noticing Brian's expression.
Brian sighed. "OK guys, I'll have to tell you all. But this stays quiet, Nick would be mad if he knew I'm telling you this,".
The other three looked at him curiously. "What?" they all asked.
"Last night Nick got very low, he was so lonely and depressed. He told me that he was very close to finishing himself off,".
"Oh no!" Kevin gasped.
"But he stopped himself before going too far luckily. Last night he told me that he won't do it again. He says he's going to make an effort to get on with his life,".
"I'm glad to hear that," AJ said. "He hasn't been himself for a long time, since before Sarah left him. I hope he really does make an effort,".
"We'll help him, won't we guys," Howie added.
Nick went over to join them. Although he was still very sad, he remembered his promise the previous night and was trying to make an effort. "Hi guys," he said with a weak smile.
"Sorry for beating you just now," Kevin said, referring to the car game they had played on Playstation.
Nick shrugged. "That's OK,".
The others didn't know what to say to him after what Brian had told them.
"Where's Leigh?" Nick asked, breaking the silence.
"She's meeting us there tomorrow, she has to visit family for something," Brian answered. Even though she wouldn't be gone long, he missed her a lot.
"Oh right," Nick said, pushing a strand of hair out of his eyes. As his moved his arm, the guys could see the bandages on his arms. Brian shot them a look as if to say Don't mention it.
The bus stopped at the hotel where they would be staying. As they got out, a small crowd of fans greeted them.
"What did Sarah do to you?" one asked.
"Did she hit you?" another asked.
"You poor thing, how could she hurt you like that?".
Nick hurried into the hotel out of their way. It was obvious they had seen his outburst on TV. That'll just be the start of it, he though. He was kind of pleased they didn't like her but he didn't like being reminded of her.
When alone in his new hotel room, he unpacked his things. He was upset over being reminded of Sarah but stopped himself from doing anything silly again.
"Nick!" Howie called from outside. "Are you OK? We're going to grab something to eat, coming?".
Nick didn't feel like going out but he agreed. After all, he had promised himself to sort his life out, and going out with his friends was a start.
He got changed and put on some baggy pants and a long sleeved shirt. He wouldn't be able to wear anything sleeveless until his cuts healed up, as people would wonder how he got them. The last thing he wanted was people knowing about it.
Nick sat in the pizza restaurant with Brian, Kevin, AJ, Howie and their girlfriends Kristin, Amanda and Claudia.
"I bet you're looking forwards to seeing Leigh tomorrow," AJ said to Brian.
He nodded. "I miss her!".
Nick looked down, he hated talking about missing people, it made him miss Sarah. Despite what she did to him, he missed having her company.
The others realized that the comment had made Nick sad so they switched topic and talked about sport.
After the meal, they all went to a club. Nick didn't normally like clubs but it cheered him up and he managed to smile for once.
"It's good to see you smiling for once!" Brian said as they drove back to the hotel quite late that night.
"It's good to get out for once instead of sitting in my hotel room alone," Nick answered.
What would I do without these guys? he thought, glad he had such caring friends.