Nick spent the day at rehearsals. He left before Brianna woke up. Even though he knew she knew would be at rehearsals, he left her a note anyway. He was tired and distracted and Kevin was aggravated. During one of their breaks Kevin took it upon himself to have a “talk” with Nick. One of their “I’m the big brother, you’re the younger brother, heed my guidance” type talks. Nick barely managed to conceal his yawns while Kevin softly ranted at him for staying out too late, drinking too much, and not taking rehearsals seriously enough.

Of course I take them seriously. Don’t they understand that I just wanted to have some fun, to get out for a bit? Don’t they understand how much I need to spend time with Brianna and how quickly she is gonna be gone? Don’t they understand how much I’ve screwed things up and I have no idea how to fix them? No, I guess they don’t understand that part. But the rest they should. They’ve been young and so busy you can’t think straight. Don’t they ever get tired of this? Don’t they ever just want to walk away from it, this same old routine, day in and day out? Don’t they ever want something different? I can’t be the only one? Can I?

Nick spent the rest of his break time in quiet thought. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. So many things bothered him, but he didn’t know what to do about it, or even how to talk to anyone about it. He had so much stuff bottled up inside he wondered how much longer he could contain it before he exploded.

Brianna woke to a quiet hotel room. Without even getting out of bed she knew Nick had left for rehearsals. The day was hers to do as she wished. She had a heavy feeling and didn’t know what to do to make it go away. After dressing she found his note and laughed to herself. “Have fun” he says. She thought what she could do to have fun. She decided she needed to get out of the hotel and get some fresh air. Grabbing her camera she headed down to the lobby and out the front door. She was sitting in a small family café` eating New York Style pizza when her cell phone rang. She answered without looking at the number, thinking it had to be Nick calling.

“Hello.” She said cheerfully.

“Hi there you. How’s things going?”

“Mitchell?” She was surprised to hear his voice.

“Yeah. I hope you don’t mind my calling. I was just thinking about you and wanted to see how you were doing.”

She noted to herself that though surprised she was happy to hear his voice, even missed him a little. “I’m doing well. Just bumming around New York for the afternoon.”

“Oh, well I didn’t mean to interrupt your visit. I just wanted to say hello.”

“No, no, you didn’t interrupt anything. Nick is in rehearsals today, so I have the afternoon all to myself.” She was swirling her straw in her drink.

“Oh, that can’t be too fun, being all by yourself in such a big city.” He seemed concerned.

“No really, it’s okay. I do this all the time. I know when I come to visit him his time is already planned out and he can’t spend every moment with me. I actually enjoy getting out and seeing new things, exploring on my own. Kind of like a little adventure.” Finishing her sentence she put the last bit of her pizza in her mouth and tried to chew quietly.

“An adventure? I like that. It does sound fun. Have you ever been to New York before?”

Quickly swallowing she answered, “Mmm Hmm. Twice before. Though, the first time I really didn’t get to see much. But I like it. Don’t know that I’d like to live here, but it is a great place to come to visit.”

“Why wouldn’t you want to live there?”

“I don’t know. Just too big of a city I guess. I’m a small town girl.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that. People underestimate the virtues of a small town.”

“Yep. I agree.” She didn’t really know what to say next. Things were still somewhat new with him.

“Well, I’ll let you go have your adventure. Be safe okay? And call me when you get home please?”

“I can do that. You be safe too and I’ll see you in a few days I guess.” When they hung up she thought to herself that his calling was somewhat strange, but then smiled that he had been thinking about her. It was nice to be missed.

Brianna spent the day visiting different places in New York. She went all the way to Brooklyn to get some famous New York style cheesecake and even bought some for Nick and the rest of the guys to have later. All day she kept hoping Nick would call her while on one of his breaks, but the one and only time the phone rang was when Mitchell called. Before heading back she took a ride through Central Park and wondered if Nick had ever done that. She thought to herself that it would be nice for the two of them to do together, if he could get out and away from all the fans that followed him for just a little while.

<~ Chapter 71 or Chapter 73 ~>

In the End

Karina 2003