Nick waved to Brian as he headed over to his car. "See ya Bri."
"Why are you in such a rush? We don't leave till next week" Brian called out, from his position standing next to his Jeep to beep the locks.
"Well mom's not here to help me pack my suitcase so I gotta do it myself" Nick said sheepishly.
Brian laughed. "Honestly Nick, sometimes you can be such a baby. Why don't you get Nat to help you out."
"Good idea Bri. I better tell her I'm leaving first though" Nick said as he opened the driver's side.
"You haven't told her?"
"Nope, but she'll probably jump for joy that the house can stay tidy for more than five minutes, for at least a few weeks though" Nick responded.
"You don't think she'll miss you even a bit?" Brian inquired nonchalantly, having noticed the close bond the two had developed over the few months they had been living together.
"Probably not, she probably won't even notice that I'm not around" Nick replied with a shrug.
"What about you?"
"What about me?" Nick said, pulling a confused face.
"Well, will you miss her?"
"I don't know. What kind of a question is that?"
"Just asking a simple question Frack" Brian said.
"What do you think?" Nick reiterated back at Brian.
"No Nick, what do you think?" Brian grinned slyly, before getting into his car, enjoying the puzzled look on his best friend's face as he drove away.
**************
"Natalie!" Nick called out as he set foot into the house. He dropped his backpack into his room and went in search of his room mate. "Nat?"
He heard no anwer so he stepped out onto the balcony to get some fresh air while waiting for Natalie. Nick looked across the balcony and saw Natalie, sitting, totally engrossed in her book. Nick tip-toed behind her and clamped his hands down on her shoulder, causing Natalie to scream in fright. She wouldn't stop screaming no matter how much he tried to calm her down that he had to finally cover her mouth.
"Shhh, Nat it's me" Nick laughed.
"Oh Nick" Natalie said in relief, before she began hitting him repeatedly with her book. "Jerk, jerk, jerk! I thought you were some axe-murderer coming to get me."
"Well obviously I'm not, so be quiet before the neighbours call the police and I'm on the cover of Bop for being the Backstreet Boy gone wrong" Nick said through clenched teeth.
"Well don't do that then" Natalie said witheringly. "I almost peed my pants."
"Little more than I needed to know there Nat" Nick said.
"So did you just come here to give me a heart attack or do you have anything important to say?"
"Actually I do" Nick said as he took a seat next to Natalie. "I'm leaving next week to do a promo tour."
Natalie stopped reading, as Nick watched her and noticed a small flicker of emotion come over her face. "Is that so?"
"Yeah, I'll probably be back in about a months time so you can clean without having a stress out about me getting in the way" Nick joked, trying to lighten the situation.
"How long will you be gone?" Natalie said in a light voice.
"I told you, about a month tops. It's a local promo so it shouldn't take that long."
"That's um..great Nick. I hope you have fun" Natalie nodded, trying to put on a happy smile.
"Yeah but I've done this like a zillion times over, so it's not the most exciting thing in the world."
"Yes Nick..but..you..are..a..Backstreet Boy" Natalie spelled out with a small laugh. "It sorta comes with the territory in case somebody failed to mention it to you in the past five years."
"I know, I know" Nick responded with a laugh. "But it can be as boring as hell having to say your name over and over again, and have to come up with fifty different ways on how to dodge the girlfriend question."
Natalie's ears perked up at the mention of 'girlfriend'. "Speaking of which, how come you odn't have one?"
"Don't start Nat. I've got half these people wondering why I don't have one and half the fans wanting to tear my head off if I do. It's kinda hard to find someone who'd put up with that" Nick explained.
I would Natalie thought before shaking her head clear of any such thoughts. "That's too bad Nick."
"It's cool. I'll survive. I get my dose of affection backstage at concerts so I'm happy" Nick shrugged almost jokingly.
"Glad you get your thrills from somewhere Nick, even if it is from 13 year olds who have barely hit puberty" Natalie retorted with a laugh.
"Ouch" Nick laughed. "What about you? You're pretty free and single so I wouldn't be talking."
Natalie tried to smile, afraid of where the conversation was leading. "In theory yes. But it doesn't mean I haven't been asked out."
"Well, well, well. Natalie's secrets come flying out" Nick remarked with a raised eyebrow. "So how come I haven't seen anybody come by to visit you?"
"You're not here 24 hours a day" Natalie protested indignantly. "Besides I'm not sure meeting you on the first date would go down too well."
"Why? I don't bite. I can be quite charmin when I put my mind to it you know" Nick stated matter-of-factly.
"Bingo" Natalie said. "A guy does not need to be subjected to your attempts at being charming, cause it'd be enough to make anyone sick."
"It would not" Nick said.
"Ahh..you haven't seen yourself be 'charming'" Natalie said with a laugh. "And you can be quite intimidating to top it all off."
"I am not" Nick insisted.
"Guys can also find you a bit threatening" Natalie added, glancing over at Nick to affirm her statement.
"How the hell do you figure that out?" Nick said, looking confused. He'd always thought he was quite friendly and approachable.
"Have you ever noticed when we walk together in a mall or something, guys automatically grab for their girlfriend like they're going to disappear?"
"No" Nick replied, looking confused.
"Well they do" Natalie smiled.
"Why?"
"Alright so I'm scary and a girlfriend stealer, but that doesn't explain that the fact I haven't met any guy in your life at all. And don't say there's no one cause I've seen you moping around looking faraway in dream land" Nick countered.
"When did you suddenly become so preceptive" Natalie shot back at him.
"I have got three sisters. I think it's pretty self explanatory" Nick said. "I remember we were in Europe and BJ broke up with her boyfriend and mom wasn't around so I got stuck with the ice-cream and the male bashing for six hours non-stop."
Natalie laughed. "Alright you're pretty experienced with the inner-workings of the female mind. But seriously Nick there is no guy, so therefore no one for you to meet."
"I'm not convinced. You do have it bad for someone but you just don't want to tell me."
I wonder what he'd think if he found out it's him. Natalie shifted her position to try and avoid Nick's bright blue eyes. "I don't have it 'bad' for anyone" Natalie argued.
"You do" Nick exclaimed almost accusingly. "So just tell me and make life a whole lot easier."
Natalie put on a smile to try and avoid the question. "Don't hold your breath." She turned back to her book and sighed, I really wish I could Nick but I can't.
**************
"I don't know Nick" AJ said into the phone. "Nat and I don't exactly share details like that."
"Come on Bone, it's worth fifty bucks if you tell me" Nick whined on the other end.
"As much as I'd love to take your money, I'm telling you I don't know" AJ insisted.
"Thanks alot, looks like I'm cleaning Nat's sneakers then" Nick sighed deeply, causing AJ on the other end to raise both eyebrows in question.
"Yes, you go and do that Nicky" AJ remarked, before putting the phone down and turning to Howie, who was sitting on the floor, scouring AJ's CDs for something to listen to. "I swear, that boy gets weirder and weirder everyday."
"What did he want?" Howie asked distractedly as he continued to flip through AJ's CD case. He came across a familiar looking CD and looked at AJ accusingly. "Excuse me, but wasn't this the CD I was looking for all last year? And when I asked you about it, you told me to check with Obie and he almost beat me up cause I wouldn't leave him alone?"
"Ooops sorry Howie by the way I have your CD" AJ admitted sheepishly. "Sorry I only found it a couple of months ago. I swear I really did think Obie had it."
"Well you won't mind if I take it back then" Howie stated before AJ quickly objected.
"Uhhh you can't. The case is there but I lent the CD to someone else" AJ responded.
"Meaning kiss your CD goodbye Howie" he muttered under his breath, a little annoyed.
"Sorry, I'll get you a new one if it doesn't show up."
"Famous last words" Howie retorted, before changing the subject. "So what'd Nick want?"
"Oh he wanted to know if I knew where Nat's birthmark was" AJ relayed matter-of-factly.
"So do you?"
"Do I what?" AJ asked, stepping over the mess Howie had spread out on the floor.
"Know where it is?"
"Why would I know where it is? It's a birthmark for heaven's sake, you don't exactly need to know stuff like that when you're playing hide and seek together" AJ cried out with a laugh. "If anyone should know it's Nick, he's the one who.." AJ trailed off, remembering that only he and Kevin knew about Nick walking in on Natalie in the shower.
"The one who what?" Howie asked.
"Nothing" AJ said quickly, trying to change the subject.
Howie shrugged and gave AJ a dubious look before returning to what he was doing. "So how long have you known her for?"
"Who Nat? Ever since we were kids. Then I was around 16 when she moved away with her family to DC and we kinda lost contact" AJ said.
Howie nodded, thinking quietly to himself. "Why would Nick need to know that anyway?"
"I don't know, maybe they're drinking contaminated water over there. All I know is Nick's stuck with cleaning Nat's sneakers now. God knows how they got onto a topic like that" AJ said with a confused smile.
"Have you noticed how close they are now?" Howie observed, looking up at AJ to see his reaction.
"Mmm, too close it's freaky. I went over there once and they were folding laundry together."
"How very domesticated" Howie laughed. "Do you think it'll lead to anything more?"
"What? Folding laundry?"
"No AJ" Howie said witheringly. "Theire whole weird relationship together."
"Who knows? But if you ask me one of them has probably aleady begun falling for the other but they're just hiding it" AJ predicted knowingly. "I think they suit each other pretty well though."
"You do, do you?" Howie said with an incredulous look, remembering the crush AJ had had on Natalie when she'd first moved out to Florida.
"Sure anyone who can live with the walking mess that Nick is 24/7 is his perfect match by far."
Chapter Eleven
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