Chapter 4 - Nick Call It Quits

She got no reply but still went it. Her concern on him is over the top. She found Nick curled up on his bed, with the lights out.

"Nick," she sat down by him and rubbed his back. "What's wrong?"
Nick rolled over to reveal his puffy red eyes. "Everything's gone wrong, mom," he complained.

He sobbed and broke down crying again. Like any other mom, Jane hated to see any of her children upset. It really takes a lot to make Nick cry.

"What is it, Nick?" Jane asked again.
Nick rolled over and closed his eyes.
"Is it Brian? I know you two fell out," Jane asked again.

Nick again. Over the past months, the pressure of fame had been getting hard on him. The late nights working, the early mornings, the fans' frenzy and not enough sleep - he hadn't been getting on well with it. Sometimes they quarrel but falling out with Brian was the last straw.

He sighed again. "I don't want to be in the band anymore."

I was sitting beside Brian in the house. He had offered to drive me home but I refused, since my parents called it "a night stay."

"So, what are you going to do about Nick?" I asked.
Brian sighed and shook his head. "I really dunno. This is our first big row," Brian said, looking down.

I looked into Brian's killer blue eyes. They were teary. He smiled a half-hearted smile as tears started to roll down his cheeks.

"It's all my fault," I told him.
He shook his head. "No it's not. Nick had been acting pretty strange lately. It's only the matter of time until he flipped," Brian explained.

I ladi my head back down. It was my fault - I knew it, I told myself. I split up two best friends in the world.

"Do you believe in love at first sight, Sarah?" Brian asked.
I smiled. "I do because I experienced it before," I answered.
He smiled. "Who's the lucky guy?"
"Um, it was Nick," I said, hesitating.
Brian looked down with tense. "I see," he whispered.

I played with my hair.

"Nick, you've got to try. For the sake of the the other members."

Jane had been trying to convince Nick to stay in the band for the last twenty minutes, but nothing seemed to be working.

"Mom, I've tried," Nick said, rubbing his eyes. "It's not working. I'm so tired."
Jane kissed Nick on the cheek and laid him down. "Then you'd better sleep," she adviced.

She kissed him again and shuts the door. Nick couldn't sleep. All he kept thinking about was Sarah. He had rung Brian to tell him how crazy he was for the girl, even though he had just met her. He thought Brian would like her, that's why he asked him to come. He'd never thought Brian would go off with Sarah.

Best friends do not do that. Brian and Nick had never ever fallen out over girls before. That was why it hurts Nick more than their normal arguments. He doubted that Brian was crazy over Sarah, though.

Nick was crazy about her, not Brian. He knew ir when he laid his eyes on Sarah, it was love at first sight. In Brian's case, it was lust. He knew Brian would be over her very soon and then he could have Sarah all to himself. I will not have to quit BSB then. Nick smiled at his thoughts and fell into a deep sleep.

Brian was crazy over Sarah. As Sarah laid on the sofa tiredly, he knew he couldn't be more sad than he was. If only Sarah experienced love at first sight on him.

"Jess?" he asked.
"Brian," I answered. "I think you'd better get home. My family are sleeping over. So I'm not coming home today," I told him.
Brian's smile faded. "Oh I see. Um, uh, I gotta go," he said, sounding hurt.
"Bye," I said, waving at him weakly.

A few minutes later, I fell into a deep sleep.

Jane saw Sarah laid tiredly as she went downstairs.
"Sarah, wake up," she said. "You could sleep in that room. Have a nice nap," Mrs Carter said, pointing to a small room.

I guess it was Nick's room when he was a very little kid because it has sign with a 4th grader handwriting saying "NICK'S ROOM. DO NOT ENTER WITHOUT PERMISSION." I laid on a water bed and tucked in.