My attention turned to Brian as he entered the small kitchen area and began rummaging though the fridge. I watched him pull out a soda, then he turned to me and smiled.
“How you doing Ella?”
“Mmm, could be better,” I replied. “I thought you didn’t like that stuff,” I said, referring to the flavored drink in his hand.
“It’s for Nick,” he explained.
“Oh.” I turned back to the window. It was silent for a moment until Brian spoke,
“Why don’t you take it to him?” he suggested. I faced him to see a small smile playing on his lips. I shrugged,
“Yeah, I guess I could.” I stood up and took the can of soda from him.
“The other guys are in the bunks… Nick’s in back.” I smiled and made my way to the back of the bus. Nick was sat on the couch, staring almost through the TV screen, a game of Nintendo paused. Final Fantasy I think, but hell if I knew for sure.
“Here.” I handed him the soda and sat down next to him. He continued to stare into the screen. “Sorry,” I said quietly, not actually looking at him. I’d never been that great with apologies and this attempt, even to me, seemed pathetic. Then again I hadn’t really done anything to be overly sorry for. Had I? “I didn’t mean to upset you… I… I don’t know. Maybe I’m just a pessimist.” Nick finally looked at me, but didn’t crack a smile.
“Maybe we should keep our distance from each other for a few days,” he said, seeming emotionless.
“Nick, we’re on a bus… how do you propose we do that?” I asked, trying to remain calm but feeling myself begin to panic.
“I don’t mean ignore each other… just not spend every second together,” Nick explained. “Maybe it’ll stop us having these disagreements.” He trailed off and waited for my reaction. I stood up slowly,
“Okay. If that’s what you want. I’ll talk to Denise and get her to sort out separate hotel rooms.” I made my way back to the front of the bus, smiled at Brian, and replaced my self by the window.
“Ready for me to whoop you ass?” Brian laughed, picking up one of the Nintendo controllers. “Nick?”
“Yeah?” he replied, seeming a little dazed.
“You okay man?” Brian asked.
“Huh? Yeah…” Brian sighed and waited for Nick to explain his odd mood.
“So you’re kinda taking a break?” Brian asked, noticing Nick’s somber expression.
“No, well… yeah. I dunno. I didn’t mean it like that. Just… you know spend a little time away from each other each day.” He sighed, “I didn’t mean all separate hotel rooms and stuff.” Brian tried to hide his amusement.
“So you still wanna get some each night, but you don’t want to spend all day in her company?” Nick couldn’t help giving a small smile, but it was quickly replaced by his previous seriousness.
“Brian, I’m scared.” Brian looked confused. “I’ve never loved someone this much, and suddenly we’re having dumb arguments. I’m getting mad at her for doing practically nothing.” He rubbed his forehead in frustration. “I don’t wanna mess this up.” Brian smiled sympathetically.
“Seeing as it’s done, try the whole distance thing for a few days. I expect Ella feels exactly the same as you. Don’t worry about it.” Nick was silent for a moment, then gave his friend a half-forced grin.
“Let’s play some Nintendo!” Brian laughed and unpaused the game.
I hadn’t really spoken to Nick during the past two days. Not that we weren’t talking… I guess we just weren’t communicating.
“Hey Ella,” Alice, the dancer, sat down opposite me.
“Hi Alice.” I folded up the newspaper and smiled.
“We, as in the dancers, were wondering if you wanted to travel on our bus today. You know… with Nick and all… plus you must be bored hanging with the guys all the time.”
“Are you sure that there’s enough room?” I asked, grateful for this opportunity.
“Yep. So you wanna?” I nodded and stood up,
“I’ll just go and tell the guys.”
I walked down the backstage corridor to the boys dressing room. It was still three hours until they were due on stage.
“Hey guys,” I opened the door to find Howie and AJ, “Oh… where’s Nick?”
“Oh, him, Bri and Kev are playing b-ball,” AJ replied. I thanked them and headed to where the net had been set up.
“Nick?” The guys stopped playing and turned to me. “I just came to tell you that I’m gonna travel on the other bus when we leave here… just for today.”
“Okay, if that’s what you want,” Nick replied, turning back to the game. I let out an infuriated sigh before turning and heading back to the dressing room. If asked to describe Nick Carter in one word, right now, I would definitely say stubborn! His inability to admit that he was wrong about the whole distancing thing just increased my infuriated mood. Why was he mad just because I was going along with it? Hell if I knew what was going on in that cute head of his! Cute!? Man, why was he so annoyingly cute…
Chapter Four
When The Time Comes
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