Everyone was huddled around Nick who had been deposited onto a sofa backstage. Natalie wiped away a tear, before Denise managed to push through and get a closer look at him. He was still blacked out when Cassie came running in yelling at everyone in general. She looked down at Nick in shock, not knowing what to do. AJ stood next to Natalie, putting a protective arm around her.
"God what the hell happened?!" Cassie demanded.
"He had a pretty bad fall. Weren't you watching?" Brian spoke up, giving Cassie an accusing look.
Cassie looked guiltily at Brian knowing she hadn't taken her seat in the audience and she had instead decided to step out for a bit, only rushing back when someone paged her.
"Is..is he gonna wake up?" Natalie asked worriedly when she saw one of the paramedics position himself next to Nick.
"It's hard to tell. He fell from quite a height" came the paramedics' serious response.
Natalie nodded trying to pray as hard as she could that Nick would wake up so they could resolve everything. "Come on Nick."
"I love you" Cassie whispered softly, as she looked down tearily at Nick's limp figure.
Nick moved slightly, mumbling things nobody could really understand.
"Mmm.." he murmured.
Cassie pushed everyone out of the way just as Natalie was about to kneel down to be closer to Nick. AJ caught her in time while Natalie looked taken aback by Cassie's behaviour.
"Careful there" AJ managed to smile.
"I will" Natalie remarked, looking at Cassie's dramatic outbursts as Nick's side.
Cassie grabbed Nick's hand, stroking it gently. "Wake up Nicky, come on babe."
"Come on Nick" Natalie urged as Cassie looked back at her and glared.
"I can handle this. Just stay out of it. I'm sick of your interfering" Cassie hissed.
"I don't know what you're talking about Cassie, but I don't think this is the time or the place" Natalie replied.
"He doesn't need you" Cassie said before turning back to Nick.
"That's a bit harsh don't you think" Brian finally spoke up, feeling the need to come to Natalie's defence.
"No I don't. She almost messed up what Nick and I had with her pathetic attempts at making him jealous, and I'm not keeping quiet about it any longer" Cassie snapped.
"Excuse me! Pathetic?!" Natalie exclaimed as AJ grabbed onto her to keep her back.
"Drop it Nat" AJ whispered commandingly.
"She's the one..." Natalie trailed off as she noticed Nick's eyes start to flutter.
"Nick wake up. It's Cass, come on."
Nick began to move around a bit before he sleepily tried to open his eyes. He was making small noises to himself as he came to.
"Nick?" Cassie said hopefully.
Nick opened his eyes partially, before opening them fully much to everyone's relief. He held onto Cassie's hand and smiled. "Nat?"
Everyone gasped including Natalie who was wide-eyed and shocked at what Nick had just said. Cassie glared at hime, then up at Natalie who was still in a state of disbelief.
"Oh shit" AJ mumbled under his breath, knowing the scene which was bound to occur.
"Nat?" Cassie said through gritted teeth as Nick groggily tried to sit up. She dropped his hand and looked at Nick angrily. "Nat?! Nat?! Fuck you Nick!" She exclaimed before shoving Nick hard into the seat and slapping him hard on the face.
"Whoa! Hey!" Brian interjected as he blocked Cassie from attacking the victim even more. Cassie tried to get past Brian who was trying to protect Nick who hadn't yet regained full consciousness. "He's still hurt!"
"You asshole!" Cassie screamed as she flailingly tried to throw punches at Nick. "I can't believe you did that!"
Nick was touching his cheek and wincing while everyone watched the drama unfold before them. Natalie felt several pairs of eyes on her, hoping that nobody was assuming she had been out to steal Nick in some weird love triangle. Cassie was now trying to attack Nick with her handbag while Brian was making a vain attempt at acting like Nick's human shield. "Cassie, Cassie stop please stop."
"Why the hell should I?!" She yelled as she took another swing at Nick.
"Cassie calm down" Nick whimpered flinching each time Cassie came near him.
"Cassie stop it. He's still not fully with it" Natalie cried out. Cassie turned to her, her eyes blazing.
"You! You've been nothing but a pain in the ass" Cassie screamed, while trying to get to Natalie. She raised her hadn up to hit her but then stopped. "No, forget it. Screw you all" she yelled before looking at Nick angrily and walking out.
"Phew, I thought I was gonna have to be a hero there and step in front of you" AJ said letting out a sigh of relief.
"Great taste in women you got there Frack" Brian commented as he stood up, knowing Nick was relatively safe already. "Psychos R Us."
Nick was groaning as he kept touching his cheek, which had been hit again in the same place where Natalie had slapped him before. He felt numb, but it felt like half his face had fallen off. "God what did I do now?" He whimpered.
AJ laughed. "Boy have you got alot to learn."
**************
"Man I am gonna have a bruised face till the end of time" Nick whined as he caught a glimpse of his cheek in the mirror.
"She almost knocked you out" Natalie said sympathetically.
"Hey it's not as if I really need my face" Nick joked, before looking at Natalie in amazement. "Hey you're talking to me properly."
"Well I think you've been through enough for tonight without having to be verbally abused" Natalie responded with a smile.
"I know, Cassie totally lost it."
"Well what do you expect? You said my name instead of hers" Natalie pointed out with a shrug. "Not exactly the best thing to say Nick."
"I just fell from the stage! I wasn't exactly in full control of my faculties" Nick said defensively. "Do you think she'll ever talk to me?"
Natalie looked at Nick and snorted. "Not in this lifetime" she remarked. "I mean she would've beat the crap out of you if Brian hadn't stopped her."
"Lucky he did or else I may not have a nose right now" Nick said jokingly.
"That would've looked nice" Natalie grinned. "Anyway I'm glad you're alright Nick."
"So am I" Nick laughed half-heartedly. He looked seriously at Natalie. "Listen I think we need to have a talk."
"Yeah sure, hang on while I call Rob and tell him where I am" Natalie said distractedly.
Nick made himself put on a smile. Wondering silently to himself if he'd missed his chance. Something had happened during his time of unconsciousness and he knew instinctively that couldn't let Natalie slip away.
**************
"What a night" Brian sighed while he gathered his things backstage and stuffed it into his bag. "Girls getting violent, Nick falling off the stage.."
"Speaking of which, Chaos are you functioning properly now?" AJ asked, taking a seat next to Nick on the couch, where he hadn't moved for the past hour, while the rest of the guys had had to close the rest of the concert.
"Besides looking like I just went ten rounds with Mike Tyson? Sue I'm just dandy" Nick responded with a roll of his eyes.
"You'll recover. Women just can't get enough of your face these days" Howie added with a laugh. He grabbed his jacket from a chair and gave Nick a pat on the back. "But seriously man, I'm glad you're okay. Quite a scare you gave us today."
"So am I" Nick said. "Except for that phone call from mom. She talked my ear off, I thought she was gonna go hysterical on me."
"Well you are her baby" Brian teased.
"Well I'm heading home with Kev, Bri are you coming?" Howie declared.
"I'll probably drive Nick home, he might still be a bit funny in the head."
"Okay then, later guys" Howie said.
"Goodnight" Kevin added tiredly. "Try not to kill yourself between now and tomorrow Nick."
"Ha ha" Nick muttered.
AJ turned to Nick who was laying back into the couch with a faraway distant look in his eyes. He was playing with a teddy bear one of the fans had thrown on stage and looking deep in thought.
"So Nick, something's been bugging me since your little Days of Our Lives brush with death" AJ spoke up, snapping Nick back to reality.
"What?" Nick asked cautiously.
"Were you for real with saying Nat's name when you woke up or was it a slip of the tongue? You know momentary stupidity."
Brian turned to Nick with sudden interest. "Yeah I've been wondering the same thing."
"I don't know" Nick responded. "Maybe, maybe not."
"That's not an answer, that's avoiding the question" AJ countered.
"That's cause I don't know the answer" Nick said witheringly. "I was half unconscious when I said it."
"Well you're wide awake now, do you secretly like Nat?" Brian asked.
Nick was trying not to look at AJ and Brian so he was concentrating on the pile of stuffed toys the crew had collected from the stage. "Wow look at the toys."
"Stop changing the subject" AJ said as he hit Nick upside the head. "Answer us."
"Do you mind? I was in an accident today" Nick said while rubbing the back of his sore head in pain.
"I'll do it again" AJ threatened, holding his hand up in readiness.
"Alright, alright. I may have started to like Nat a teeny tiny bit" Nick replied softly.
"No shit" AJ said sarcastically. "I knew you would eventually."
"Same here" Brian grinned. "I just wanna know what's gonna happen with you and Cassie. Are you two finished?"
"Yeah I think so. We were heading for that direction anyway. It just wasn't working out.
"That and the fact she was ready to kick your butt" AJ snickered. "She probably hates you."
"I know and I know" Nick responded with an irritated expression.
"You could at least fake being upset" Brian piped up as he looked at Nick's calm exterior.
"Well cause I don't think I really am. As awful as that sounds I think I was ready for us to break up anyway" Nick sighed giving a shrug of his shoulders. "Call me a jerk but that's what I think."
"Also probably cause you like Nat more than you're willing to admit" Brian said knowingly.
"Yeah anyway" Nick said trying to change the subject. "Bri can you drive my car home? I think I'm still a bit light-headed."
"What am I supposed to do with mine?" Brian said looking confused.
"Ahem" AJ said clearing his throat. "I'll take it. Mom drove me over here and I think she left already."
"Wow, even your own mother doesn't want to be near you" Brian laughed.
"Double ha and a half" AJ said sarcastically.
"Alright can we get going now, Nat's all by herself" Nick whined impatiently.
Brian and AJ snapped their heads to face Nick, giving him looks of bemusment. "Since when did you become the ever loving room mate?" AJ teased.
"I don't know" Nick grinned. "But I think the idea's growing on me."
Chapter Twenty-Three
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