The Call

By: Ari

Lara piddled through the house, making sure everything was all cleaned up. The kitchen table was set up nicely for a romantic dinner for two. She stopped by the mirror hanging in the corridor to check her reflection. She smiled, twirling a ringlet around her finger. She was wearing a cute little number that she had bought on a whim. The midnight blue fabric fell to right above her kneecaps, soft velvet traced a pattern over the dress. Her hair was pulled up, cascading down in a waterfall of ringlets. Everything was perfect, everything was in place. Only thing that was missing was him.

She flipped her wrist over, checking on the time. Him and his buddies slipped out to have a few drinks to celebrate the completion of their latest album and he was due home at anytime.

The phone shrilled, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin.

"Hello?"

"Hey Lara! What's up baby?" She smiled as Nick's voice floated over the line, just barely making it over the noise in the background.

"Nothing much. Where are you?"

"Huh?" She frowned slightly.

"When are you coming home Nicky?"

"Lara baby, listen. I'm gonna be late tonight, so don't stay up and wait for ok baby?"

"Nicky....but I thought you were..."

"Huh? Wait, wait...say that again?"

"Nicky, you there?"

"Lara baby, you're really dropping out. I think my battery must be low. Listen if you can hear me...we're going to this place nearby all right? Gotta go!"

The sound of the line disconnecting replayed itself over and over in her ears as she stared at the handset before slipping it back into the cradle.

Let me tell you the story about the call that changed my destiny / Me and my boys went out, just to end up in misery / Was about to go home when there she was standing in front of me / I said "Hi" / "I've got a little place nearby, wanna go?" / I should have said no / Someones waiting for me. . .

"And here's to another one down...may there be many more!" Aj cheered, raising his shot glass in toast, followed by four other glasses.

"Not too many more...it just keeps getting tougher and tougher doing this" Kevin grumbled, sipping his scotch.

"Oh stop....it's just old age kicking in" Nick snickered, then yelped as Kevin's foot made contact with his shin underneath the table.

The evening passed pleasantly, remembering all of the good times and just being laid back, enjoying the last few moments of freedom before the album was released and the beginning of yet another world tour.

Kevin was the first to leave, Brian following closely behind. No big surprise there. Those two were eager to return home to their wives, not to mention the fact that if they came home in the middle of the night totally plastered, Lisa and Amanda would have them sleeping out in the dog house for a while. Howie remained a little longer, leaving after a phone call from Kelley left him with a red face and slightly glazed eyes.

"I guess it's just you and me Junior" Aj murmured, motioning for another round and giving the waitress a wink.

"I think I should be headin home Bone, Lara's waiting up for me..." Nick slurred, staring at the bottom of his empty glass.

"Come on...one more round and I'll get you home..deal?" Aj pleaded, perking up a little as the waitress returned with another bottle of Jack.

"Sure...one more couldn't hurt I guess..." Nick agreed, reaching for the bottle.

"How much do we owe sugar?" Aj turned on the McLean charm, pulling the waitress into his lap, his fingers dancing over her leg.

"Nothing. The young lady over there picked it up. No message, just to 'enjoy'." the waitress giggled, slipping from his lap, swinging her hips as she made her way back over to the bar.

"Hmm..." Aj glanced over at the woman in question, his eyes roaming over her body. She caught his gaze and wiggled her fingers at him before turning back to her conversation with the bartender.

"You know her Bone?" Nick giggled a little as he tossed back another drink.

"Nope. Not a clue. But I'm thinking we need to go thank her, what do you say Junior?"

"Uh-huh....sure Bone" he tried standing up, but grabbed onto Aj as his knees buckled. They snickered and laughed as they helped each other over to where the woman sat engaged in her conversation, never looking at them until they were seated on either side of her.

"Got a name sweetheart?" Aj interrupted, motioning for the bartender to refill her almost empty Fuzzy Navel.

"Perhaps...do you?" she teased.

"Alex. My buddy here is Gene"

She twirled around on her barstool. "Can you speak for yourself cutie?" she reached forward and pushed back a lock of hair that had fallen in front of his eyes.

"Uh....uh-huh" he babbled, trying to form coherent words. It had been a while since he'd played this game. Now he was drunk as hell and already seeing someone, what was he doing?

"Erin...my name is Erin." she answered Aj's question, but never removed her eyes off of Nick, her finger tracing his jaw line down to his lips, her thumb lightly stroking that pouty lower lip of his. She finally shifted her gaze back over to Alex as he picked up her right hand and gently pressed a kiss to her palm before flickering his tongue over that sensitive place between her fingers.

"Well, Erin, what brings you here this evening..." he asked, his voice lowering and growing more huskier then before.

"Nothing...just felt like taking in a few sights, hang out with some of the locals. Nothing major, how about you two?"

"Was hanging out with some friends of ours, but now we're all alone." Aj rasped, sliding closer to her, smiling slightly seeing that Nick was following his lead. Good kid.

"What a shame...and here I am....all alone...in a strange area. Think you two could possibly help me out?" she smirked, leaning back against 'Gene', her head resting on his shoulder blade as she turned so she could flicker her tongue against his neck before placing a soft kiss there.

Nick closed his eyes, the alcohol fuzzing up his brain. He couldn't think, but he sure as hell could feel...and all he could feel right now was this hot body pressed against his, and the familiar sensation of his pants growing tighter in certain areas.

"I think we could be of some service to you mam" he whispered, tilting his head down and capturing her lips with his own. He glanced over to his friend. Aj winked at him, pleased with him.

"Mmm....I've got a room nearby, you guys wanna go?" she asked as soon as Gene released her. Instead of answering her, Alex pulled her up against himself and claimed her lips roughly.

"Does that answer your question?" he smirked, pulling them both to their feet. He looked over Erin's shoulder. "Uh, Gene, why don't you make your phone call and Erin and I'll go flag down a cab. `Kay?" he flashed his friend a meaningful look, then led Erin through the crowd towards the exit.

Nick reached down into his coat pocket and dug out his cellphone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Lara! What's up baby?"

"Nothing much. Where are you?"

"Huh?"

"When are you coming home Nicky?"

"Lara baby, listen. I'm gonna be late tonight, so don't stay up and wait for ok baby?"

"Nicky....but I thought you were..."

"Huh? Wait, wait...say that again?"

"Nicky, you there?"

"Lara baby, you're really dropping out. I think my battery must be low. Listen if you can hear me...we're going to this place nearby all right? Gotta go!"

He flipped his cell phone shut and hurried out of the club, slipping into the cab on the other side of Erin, once again claiming her mouth as the driver pulled away from the curb.

He pulled the girl close as the music switched to a slow ballad. His friends had long ago abandoned him there, but he'd been having fun so what point was there in leaving? He twirled her around to the beat of the music. His eyes widened and he stopped where he stood as his eyes took in the sight over at the bar. Wasn't that...no...it couldn't be...Nick would never do anything like that to Lara he thought, watching the tall blond assist his friend in the seduction of the young woman. Nah, he's just playing it up to help Aj with his latest conquest, that's all he continued his inner monologue.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

"Noth..." his words fell silent as he saw Nick passionately share a kiss with the woman. Ok, so maybe he WOULD. He watched silently as the trio made their way out of the club. "Nothing baby....just thought I recognized someone.." he words trailed off as his mind raced. He pulled her back into his arms and lost himself in the music.

But I call my girl up and say / Listen baby I'm sorry / Just wanna tell you don't worry / I will be late don't stay up and wait for me / I'll say again you're dropping out my battery is low / Just so you know we're going to a place nearby / Gotta go...

Nick rolled over, groaning as his body fought any movement. He clenched his eyes shut, trying to block out the bright light.

'Shit...it's been a long time since I woke up with this bad a hangover' he moaned inwardly, stretching. He felt someone shift next to him, then they squirmed in closer. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. He froze however, feeling a third body attached to the woman next to him.

'What the fuck...' he carefully pried his eyes open a millimeter, then sprung them open. The woman next to him was pressed up to him from shoulder to toe... Lara only came up to his chest, and this person had shoulder length golden brown hair, not Lara's longer, darker locks.

"Oh shit..." he hissed out, and bright green eyes raised up to meet his horrified blue ones.

"Shh...no noise" she groaned, trying to bury her head in his chest. The third body protested against the noise and movement, trying bury himself underneath this girl.

"Bone?" he whispered. 'Ho~ly Fuck....how am I going to get myself out of this one?'

There was no doubt in his mind what had taken place. His body still carried the lovely floating feeling that usually came after a long night of lovemaking, not to mention that they were all three were tangled in sheets that were still damp from their efforts.

"Shut up Nicky...no noise.." he moaned.

"Would you two wake up!" he jumped from the bed, ignoring the fact that the room was spinning. "Oh my God, what have we done...what have I done?!?!" he continued to rant as he pulled his clothes on. The two in the bed just pulled the covers over their heads trying to block out all of the noise that was hurting their sensitive ears.

Throwing one last look at the rumpled bed, Nick grabbed his coat and flew out the door.

"Alex?" Erin whispered.

"Hmm?"

"Um, can you loosen up a bit babe? I can't breath...and I really need to use the bathroom" she chuckled.

He sighed and released his grip on her waist. She sat up, looking down at him. On impulse, she lightly traced his goatee from his ear to where his face was buried in the bed. He turned his face and caught her finger between his lips, sucking on it lightly.

"You know...I've never done this one night stand thing before...this was a first for me" she said softly. "I just don't want you thinking I do this all the time, that I'm some sort of a slut, which I'm pretty sure your friend is thinking right about now."

"S'ok...it was a first for all of us someway or another...I'd never done the threesome thing with Nicky" he chuckled, pulling himself up into a sitting position.

"Nicky? You mean Gene....ohmyfuckinggod.." she hissed, her eyes widening in recognition, her mind clicking the names together. She had just slept with Nick Carter and Aj McLean.

"Uh...hi...I'm Aj" he grinned, bending over to give her a quick kiss.

Nick crept silently into the house, looking around wildly as if Lara was going to jump out of nowhere screaming that she knew where he was last night. He climbed the staircase just as quietly, and into his bedroom. He couldn't help the small smile that turned up his generous lips. She was still sound asleep. He snuck into the closet, grabbed a change of clothes and hurried down to one of the guestrooms to take a shower.

"Are you sure you don't need a ride to anywhere or anything?" Aj asked for the hundredth time as they finally got out of bed and got dressed.

"I'm sure. My friend doesn't live too much further from here if I'm correct, and I can always come back here if there's no room for me there. She's expecting me next week, but I got bored back home so here I am" she said cheerfully, fastening up her jeans just barely before Aj tackled her, tossing her giggling back onto the bed.

"I don't want last night to be a one night thing" he whispered softly, brushing her hair back out of her face.

"Me either" she whispered.

"Rise and shine Beautiful" Nick whispered, dragging his finger down the ridge of Lara's nose.

"Nicky?" she whispered, her eyes cracking open slightly. Her face lit up seeing him sitting in front of her. She sat up and threw herself into his arms. "Where were you last night? I missed you" she said softly, holding him tightly, inhaling his clean scent.

"Sorry baby, Aj and I had too much to drink so we crashed at a hotel. I didn't think you'd appreciate me stumbling home rip-roaring drunk" he bit out. Damn he hated lying, but he couldn't tell her, not yet anyway. "I brought you breakfast in bed to make up for it though..." he smiled, pulling back a little so he could look down onto her beaming face.

Erin's eyes widened as she maneuvered her Altima up the winding driveway. Ok, so she knew her friend had a secret that she was going to share once she got there, but damn. The house that she pulled up to was huge! She whipped her car beside a Four-runner that was parked in front of the garage. Slowly she made her way up the small staircase and stood before the door, pressing in the doorbell. She heard the chimes ring through the house. A few minutes later she heard footsteps and the door was pulled open.

And Nick Carter was staring down at her like he'd seen a ghost.

"How in the hell did you find me" he hissed, his eyes as wide as saucers.

"Honey, who is it?" Another voice resounded from behind him. "ARI?!?!!?" Lara shrieked, bolting past Nick and pulling her into a crushing hug. "You wench! You weren't supposed to be here until next week!!!!" she squealed.

"Um, Lara....do you know that Nick Carter is standing behind you staring at us?" Ari responded, silently cursing herself.

"Yes you dolt! That was what I was going to tell you!!! I couldn't just tell you over the phone or you would have had me committed." she laughed. "Nicky and I are engaged! We're getting married in the spring" she announced, letting go of her friend to wrap an arm around her fiancee's waist, thrusting out her left hand to show off her engagement ring.

"Oh wow..." was all that Ari could spit out. Her eyes raised slowly to meet those icy blue ones that were filled with a mixture of feelings, horror? Fright? Lust? Anger?

"Well don't just stand there! Come on in! It's awesome that you're down here now, but you could have at least called!" Ari let Lara pull her into the house, talking a mile a minute.

Ari and Nick carefully avoided each other all day, or as much as they could in such close quarters.

"It's perfect! I didn't think about it when I invited you down here, but tomorrow Nicky and I are having this huge Barbeque, everyone's going to be there...including Aj" she winked at Ari, who started choking on her dinner.

"Oh really" Ari wheezed out, reaching for her tea.

"Yup, I've been hinting at you for a while now....not that he's met you yet, but who knows" Lara smiled.

"Great" she said weakly.

"Look, I'm exhausted, why don't you two stay up and catch up on each other" Nick offered as they cleared away dinner. All he really wanted was to run upstairs and hide himself under the bed. Things couldn't be worse.

"Are you sure honey?" Lara looked at him worriedly.

"Of course baby, you guys haven't seen each other in a while, you can do all of your girly things without me interfering. Plus we have the next week or so to all spend time together" he added weakly.

"Only if you're sure. I'll be up later" she said, kissing him sweetly, then sighed watching the ghetto booty sway as he made his way upstairs.

"Um, I'll be right back Lara, I"m going to go change into my sweats ok?" Ari blurted out and rushed up the stairs after him.

"That girl is not right" Lara shook her head and finished putting the last few dishes away.

Ari looked around, noticing that only one of the doors on the second floor was shut. She barged in, not bothering to knock.

"I knew you'd be right behind me" a sad voice filled her ears.

"Nick...I'm so sorry...I had absolutely no idea..." Ari started, but her voice failed her.

"No, it's not your fault. I should have known better. No amount of liquor is an excuse." he sighed.

"I hate to say this, but why need even to tell her? I mean, she's one of my best friends, but no one knows about last night except for you, me and Aj. If she never asks, then why tell her, and possibly blow your whole relationship to hell and back?"

"I don't know Ari. Let me sleep on it and I'll figure something out. I'm going to bed now." he said, and she took that as a dismissal.

I can't take it back what's done is done.....

One of her friends found out / that she wasn't my only one...

"So cook out huh? Why does it look like you've invited the entire neighborhood?" Ari teased as her and Lara made yet another trip to refill the snacks.

"You wouldn't believe how many of these people are just family, the Carter clan itself is huge, then there's all of the other guys families and then friends." Lara said shaking her head. "You get used to it after a while." she grinned, throwing a cheese curl at her friend.

"Yeah, and people are still pouring in. I helped set up, I'm officially resigning from cleaning duty" Ari announced, plopping on one of the barstools.

"That's what you think wench."

The past few days had been non-stop setting up for barbeque. It amazed Ari how much work was put into it, but she never imagined that it would be as big as it was.

"I wish the guys would hurry up and get here." Lara sighed, "Almost everyone has already gotten here except for them, though it's not surprising. They'd be late to their own funeral" she muttered, carrying a huge bowl of chips back out to the fray.

"LARA!!!!!" Both girls nearly jumped out of their skin as the war cry resounded through the house, followed by someone flying in and pulling Lara into a crushing bear hug.

"Aj, if you don't find a quietier way of making an entrance I'm going to kick your ass" she laughed as he twirled her around.

"Aww, you know you love me!" he chuckled, punctuating his statement with a loud smacking kiss.

"Nicky, I know you aren't going to let him get away with kissing on your girl..." Brian taunted, only to be given the finger.

"Bout time you guys decided to show up, everyone has been here for almost an hour now....hi baby" she broke away from Aj's grasp and sauntered over to the younger man, giving him a quick kiss. "Guys, this is Ari, she wasn't supposed to be down here until next week but showed up on my doorstep the other day" Lara said, gesturing over her silent friend. "Ari, you know who these guys are, but for the record, Aj, Brian, Howie, and Kevin."

"Hi there" she smiled, shooting Aj a quick look and hoping he caught it. His eyes grew huge as he recognized her.

"So this is the infamous Ari that I'm always hearing about" he grinned, clearly enjoying this. "Come on girl, we've got some talking to do, you should hear some of the things that she says about you" he cheesed, throwing an arm over her shoulder and led her back into the living room. After closing the door tightly behind them so no one could over hear them, he turned to face her. "Ok...first things first.." he breathed, quickly closing the distance between them, pressing his lips to hers, his tongue swiftly seeking entrance.

A few minutes later he released her.

"Ok, now that that was taken care of, what in the FUCK is going on?!?" he demanded.

"Uh, well...it's like she said. I came down a week early to surprise her, but turns out I was invited so she could introduce me to you guys and to announce her and Nick's engagement. I had no clue she knew you guys personally, let alone marrying one, namely Nick within a year." she blushed, trying to find the easiest explanation.

"And has either of you bothered to tell her what happened? Wait a minute, dumb question. Man, she's going to kill both of ya" he snickered, plopping down on the couch, pulling her down with him so she was sitting on his lap.

"I fail to find anything funny about this whole situation. I feel terrible, but there was no way of me knowing...and Nick's going to be the one who's asking for it, him and Lara are together, no one asked him to sleep around on her." Ari grumbled, turning so that she was straddling his lap, looking directly at him.

"Well, I do recall you begging quite nicely the other night...."

"Funny...real funny."

"I don't know why in the world I let you guys talk me into doing this" Lara grumbled from Nick's lap, watching the crowd mill around, eating everything in sight, leaving trash on every available surface.

"Because, you love being the center of attention and everyone compliments you on the great job. That's why" he chuckled, giving her a sound kiss on the cheek.

"Ok, no PDA's....depresses the rest of us."

Lara whirled around with a big smile.

"Lancey!!! I thought you guys were still on tour!" she squealed, quickly being enveloped in a group hug.

"We had a few days off so I figured we'd make a pitstop" he grinned, his green eyes dancing.

"Did you guys get something to eat? There's plenty of stuff all over the place, what do you want to drink?" she asked, going into full hostess mode.

"Yeah, there's a few more mixed drinks hidden in the kitchen, for those of you who are of age" Nick called out, sticking his tongue out Justin, taking a sip of his own drink.

Justin cut his eyes and glared at him.

"Come on Lara-lou, I'll help you" Justin offered, grabbing a few empty bowls and soda bottles and headed into the kitchen.

"Ignore him, he's been touch and go lately, I don't know what's with him" Lara said sadly, pulling out fresh salads from the refridgerator.

"I do" Justin said simply, deflating the soda bottles before throwing them in the trash.

"Oh really, enlighten me" Lara smiled at Justin's joke.

"Lara, I think you better sit down baby...."

"Hey Nicky, can you come in here for a minute? I need your help really quick" Lara called sweetly, sticking her head out of the french doors.

"Sure, whatcha need baby?" he asked, joining Lara and Justin in the kitchen. As soon as he stepped in from the crowd her hand whipped out and met his cheek with a loud crack.

"How dare you..." she hissed, her eyes filling with tears. Nick flickered his eyes over to where Justin was standing, arms over his chest, his glare murderous.

"Lara baby..."

"Don't fucking 'Lara baby' me Nickolas...you fucked some ho behind my back, and then you thought I wouldn't find out! That's low....that's REALLY low...I thought you loved me Nicky." The last words came out as a whisper.

"Lara....I DO love you sweety, I don't know why in the hell I did what I did, but I can't go back and change it..."

"Where in the hell is your buddy McLean, his ass is mine too....but first, I want you upstairs packing, I can't deal with you right now." she said firmly, angrily brushing away the betraying tears.

"Lara please..."

"No!!! I mean it, I want you out of here. I need some time to myself, and this is my house, so you're gone." she ordered. Justin leaned back and smirked, clearly enjoying the scene in front of him.

"Yo, what's all the racket out here" Aj poked his head out of the living room. "Oooh shit...." his eyes widened at the scene before him - Lara standing with tears staining her cheeks, Nick looking like the kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar and Justin leaning against the counter looking smug.

"How in the hell could you pull him into one of your little slutfests Alex! It's not enough that you guys had him out drinking, but you pulled him into your fucking bed with you and some whore!" Lara turned on the smaller man who at least had the decency to blush.

"Hey, what's going on here..." Ari popped up behind Aj. "What are you guys doing to her!" she demanded, hurrying over to her friend, pulling her into her arms. "Are you all just going to stand here and stare at me?!? What in the hell is going on here?"

Justin's eyes widened.

"Lara hun, what's wrong, what have I missed here..." Ari tried to coax her friend, smoothing her hair.

"Who in the hell do you think you are?!?" Justin demanded, coming over to glare at Ari face-to-face.

"Boy, what is your problem..." she hissed, looking up to meet his eyes.

"Erin hun, she knows." Aj said.

Ari froze.

"You were in on this too?" Lara whispered, stiffening in her friends grasp.

"In on it? Shit Lara, she was it" Justin snapped, yanking his friend from Ari.

"This keeps going on like a soap opera gone bad" Aj muttered, his eyes darting between Lara, Ari, Justin and Nick.

"How in the hell do you know all of this brillo-boy?" Ari snapped.

"I was there chick...why don't you tell Lara what happened, you were there. Tell her how you came on to Nick, how you two were all over each other at the bar, how you two and Aj left together and Lord only knows went from there..."

He was cut off as Lara pulled from his grasp and belted Ari across the face.

"I trusted you! You have stayed under my roof these past few days, you knew Nick! You knew we were engaged! And you didn't tell me!"

"That's because I didn't know Lara! They were just two hotties at the bar! How in the hell was I supposed to know who they were and that Nick was yours!?! Do you really think I would stoop that low? I thought you would know me better than that!"

"Why in the hell should I believe you" Lara said flatly, turning back to Justin.

"Because it's the truth, either of the guys can tell you. We all had too much to drink, and it all went downhill from there!"

"Then why in the hell didn't you tell me....Dammit Erin! Nick! Aj! Either of you three could have told me, but Nick, you should have, and Erin, you DAMN sure should have, I shouldn't have had to heard it from a fourth party" Lara said quietly. "Out. I want all of you out of my house. I don't care where in the hell you go, but get out of here."

Now two years gone / Nothings been won / I can't take it back / Whats done is done

"So which one do you think?? The green one sophisticated one or the cute blue one?" Lara asked for the 20th time, holding both dresses up for inspection.

"We've told you, the blue one. You're going to wear it anyway" Kelley pointed out, carefully applying her eyeliner.

"Have you heard if Nicky is bringing someone tonigiht?" Lara asked softly, pulling the dress off it's hanger and slipped it on.

"I'd would think so, we're expected to make an appearence so I'm sure that he'll have a date. I heard that Nick was going to ask you to go, but Brian got to you first. I don't know why you two don't get back together, you're both still head over heels for each other" Lisa pointed out, slipping a pair of amethyst studs in her ears.

"Doesn't mean anything...I can't trust him, that has to be there before anything else. He has to earn that back slowly before we get back into anything major" Lara said firmly.

Since she had found out about Nick's little secret, they had made up as friends, but nothing more. She had even forgiven Ari and Aj, though they never heard the end of it. Time had passed quickly, Ari had moved down to Orlando from Balitmore, and only a month ago her and Aj had announced that they had eloped.

Tell Ari what you think of this story so far!