Nick woke in the morning to a soft knocking at the door. Having gotten in late, he had only a few hours sleep and was still groggy when he opened the door. Mr. Kinadle was on the other side.

“Morning Nick.” Mr. Kinadle stated as he walked into the guesthouse leaving Nick standing at the door.

Half asleep, Nick failed to pick up on the stern tone in the older man’s voice. “G’mornin’ sir.” He said before stretching and yawning.

“Nick, Brianna isn’t in her room. I expect you know where she might be.”

Nick had to think for a minute, his mind still foggy from sleep. Then he remembered, “Oh, yes. It was late when we got back. Plus, neither of us were particularly sleepy so, rather than possibly waking you up Bree came out here. We stayed up talking for I don’t even know how long. It feels like I just fell asleep. Bree’s asleep in the bedroom.” Having tried to cover for Bree’s drinking, Nick didn’t think to point out that he had slept on the couch.

“Nick,” Mr. Kinadle began very upset, “I’ve trusted you with my daughter and this is what you do? Just because she’s 18 now…” he didn’t finish his sentence because at that moment he turned around and saw the pillow and blanket on the couch. “Oh.” This time his voice was much quieter and he even looked embarrassed. “I see. Well then, I guess I owe you an apology. I should have known better. You’ve always treated Brianna with respect. I’m sorry, son, but I was just worried when she wasn’t in her own bed. Besides, that new boy she insists on seeing, I don’t like him.”

“It’s not a problem sir. I can understand your concern. Billy and I kept an eye on the two of them last night. He gave me a funny feeling too, but everything went okay.” Yeah, right. Note to self; talk to Bree about this guy SOON. He let out another big yawn. “Sorry, still sleepy. Besides,” laughing a little here, “you know I’m not really a morning person.”

“It’s okay. I’ll tell Mrs. Kinadle that everything’s fine. Go ahead and get some more sleep. Come up to the house for something to eat once all of you are awake.” Mr. Kinadle patted Nick on the back before leaving. Nick didn’t even think about it, he just crawled back onto the couch and immediately fell back asleep.

Several hours later a very tired and hung-over Brianna stumbled out into the living room of the guesthouse. “Nick.” She whispered, noting how even that quiet sound hurt her head. He didn’t move. This time she shook him a little. “Nick, wake up.” She put her hand to her head and wondered why she ever let herself drink that much.

Nick opened his eyes to see Brianna standing next to the couch holding her head. Chuckling a little, “Head hurt sweetie?”

“Shhhh! Not so loud. And my stomach, too. Move over Goliath so I can sit.” Nick frowned slightly at the nickname she had given him. He was incredibly taller than she was, but he still didn’t find it as funny as she did. He sat up while at the same time pulling her down next to him.

“That should teach you not to drink so much, or not at all.”

“This coming from the same guy who parties almost every night with AJ and Howie?” Nick had put his arm around her shoulders and she snuggled into him, causing him to laugh.

“But I know how to handle my liquor, little girl. Bree, what are you doing?” He was still laughing at her trying to snuggle in closer like she was trying to burrow under his skin.

“Cold. You make a good blanket. But, shush, you’re hurting my head.” She finally found a comfortable position and sighed as Nick pulled the blanket around them both.

“Fine. Fine. But, you should have let me get you something for your head before you got comfortable. You have to go face your parents soon, and I don’t want you looking hung over. Do you have any idea what they would do to the both of us?”

“Probably kill us. What cures a hang over?” She really didn’t want to move. Nick would be leaving in a few hours and she wanted to snuggle and talk. Well, talk AFTER her head stopped hurting.

“You gotta let me get up if you wanna feel better.” He kissed the top of her head and stood, noting her groan. “I’ll be right back.” Returning he handed her a few aspirin, a cold Sprite, and a peppermint.

“Trying to tell me I got bad breath?” She smiled.

“Nope. Maybe morning breath, but I haven’t gotten that close to find out. The peppermint will settle your stomach and the sugar in it will help you feel better too. It has something to do with alcohol dropping your blood sugar level, like diabetics or something. I dunno. I just know it helps. Now, drink. Little sips, okay?” He settled back on the couch and she snuggled back into him and drifted back to sleep.

“Bree? Hey, little girl, you need to wake up.” Nick was talking softly. Billy had woken up and reminded Nick they only had about 2 hours before they had to leave. Rubbing her shoulder this time, “Bree, C’mon, wake up.” He was rewarded with a little whine and her stretching.

“Nick” she whined, “I don’t wanna wake up.”

“I know, but I have to leave soon.”

She sighed. “Do you really have to? Can’t you stay another day?” She knew he couldn’t. They were too busy working on the new CD, planning promo stuff, and all the other things the group always has to do, MTV and what not. “Don’t answer that. I know the answer already.” Sitting up she noted her head didn’t hurt nearly as much. “I guess I have to face my parents soon, huh?”

“It’ll be okay. I told your dad you came out here and we stayed up talking almost all night. Then it was so late you just went to sleep back in the bedroom.”

The remainder of Nick’s time was spent talking and laughing. They did go back to the main house to get something to eat and let Nick talk with Brianna’s parents for a few minutes. When it was time to say goodbye Brianna couldn’t help but cry a little. She hated good-byes, any good-byes. But she especially hated saying goodbye to Nick because she never knew when she would see him again.

“Hey, no tears. It’s summer; you can come visit me this time. And when school starts, I’ll just have to make it a point to come visit you at campus. Do you think I could survive walking around a college campus?” He was trying to make her smile. He doubted there really was any way he could get on campus without causing a scene.

“Oh, yeah, I can see it now. Backstreet Boy mauled by 500 girls while attempting to visit a friend at the University of Florida. News at 6.” She was smiling, but she was still crying. “Go. I’ll be okay. You know how I am.” Nick gave her one of his great big bear hugs, kissed the top of her head and disappeared into a black Lincoln Town Car.

She watched until the car was completely out of sight before retreating to her room. She was happy because of her graduation, but sad because Nick had to leave. Just then the phone rang. “Hello?”

“Hey baby? How ya feelin’?” It was John.

She smiled a little. “Okay, I guess. I’m a little hung over, but Nick helped me keep it from my parents.”

On the other end John was scowling. He chose not to even acknowledge the comment about Nick or that he had even been there. “So, if you’re feelin’ up to it, there is another party tonight. This time it’s at Michael’s house. His parents are out of town.”

“Sure, I need some fun to cheer me up a little. But John, not so much to drink tonight, okay?”

<~ Chapter 4 or Chapter 6 ~>

In the End

Karina 2003