The second he saw her, Ryan flew in her arms. Being used to her presence before, he had missed her a lot since she had left.
“Oh Ryan, look at you! You look wonderfull sweet heart! I missed you so much!”
“We all missed you Sabrina.” Brian said softly when he reached her.
There was something in his voice that told her he really meant it. She smiled at him and hugged him. Then she took Delilah in her arms and Ryan by the hand while Brian took care of her suitcase. She finally asked him where was Nick.
“He’s sick so he stayed at the hotel.”
“Oh. Is it the flu?”
“Something like that. He’ll survive.”
They sat in the car and Brian did a small tour of the city for Sabrina, who had never been to Japan. He told her about the concerts, about how his mother had been taking care of the children and finally about the kidnapping. “... and then she said that she would win either way. I haven’t heard from her since.”
“I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you about her visit Bri. Nick made me promise not to. We might have been able to prevent it from happening.”
“It’s OK. He’s safe now. We hired an extra bodyguard for the children.”
“That’s a good thing.” She took a pause before asking him why he hadn’t called her.
“I wanted to but you were so far away. There was nothing you could have done from Spain. And I didn’t wanted to get you all worried. It was better that way. It might have affected your work.”
“I guess you’re right.” But she felt betrayed in a way that Brian wouldn’t have understood. In her heart, she was the children’s mother. She cared for them more than anything on earth. She also felt guilty for not being around them for such a long time. If she had been there with Brian, maybe Samantha wouldn’t of kidnapped Ryan. What if something else happened?
“Sab?”
“Yes?”
“How is it going between you and Nick? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
But she wanted to be honest with him. He was her best friend now that Ali wasn’t around anymore. “I don’t know. I feel like he doesn’t care as much as he used to do. He wasn’t even at the airport today.”
“What about you? Do you feel the same way about him?”
“Maybe. Time change a lot of things. I was only 17 when we started going out. I didn’t really knew him and he didn’t knew me either. Now I’m 19 and I feel like I’ve grown so much in the past two years. Maybe we’re not meant for each other anymore. Or maybe we just need to get to know the other all over again.”
Brian only nodded and they stayed silent until Brian pulled into the parking lot of the hotel. Nick was waiting for her in the lobby and he obviously felt better now that he had rested for awhile. She kissed him on a cheek and sat next to him. She was more happy to see him then she had thought.
“Is that all? A kiss on the cheek after three weeks of separation?”
She smiled and he kissed her again, only this time it was a real kiss. When they pulled away, Ryan was next to Sab, looking at them with question marks in his eyes.
“Hey you two! Be carefull my son isn’t a witness to your triple X scenes!”
“Don’t worry, we’ll be more carefull next time!” He turned to Sabrina and asked her if she wanted to go out for supper tonight.
“I’d love that!” Then she called out to Brian and asked him if he wanted to joined them with the kids. “We can ask everyone! Do you know if they have plans tonight?”
Nick looked at her. He had been talking about a romantic dinner, just Sabrina and him. Even thought he understood she had missed the gang, she would have plenty of time to talk to them. But she was so excited about it, he didn’t dare to say anything. “They didn’t mention anything. We have to ask your mom too Brian.”
After an hour, they finally got everyone together and they all walked to a little restaurant nearby. Sabrina was holding Nick by one hand and Ryan by the other. Everyone was talking and happy to be altogether. Fortunately, there wasn’t a concert until Sunday night and Sabrina was leaving Sunday morning. They had a very nice evening, filled with jokes, laughs and stories of all kinds. Once they got back at the hotel, they all left for their rooms, exhausted. It took Sabrina many hours to fall asleep after that. She was thinking about what her life had become and where she wanted to go from here. And especially, with whom.
* * * * *
The next morning, the sound of Nick barfing in the bathroom woke her up. She felt sorry for him and made sure he was alright. She got him a glass of water and put him back to bed. She couldn’t remember the last time he had been so sick.
“It might be something you ate. Food poisonning. It could happened since you’re not used to the food here. You should rest today sweety. I’ll stay with you.”
“No,” he said. She could barely hear him. “I want you to have a nice day. I wanted to take you around town today but I’m really not feeling good. But why don’t you ask Kevin or A.J. to take you somewhere? Or I’m sure Brian and the kids would love to do something with you. I’ll try get some sleep so I’ll feel better tonight. Maybe we could go out then. Just the two of us.”
“It sounds good about tonight but I’m not sure I want to leave you here alone. What if you’re really sick? Maybe I should take you to a doctor.”
“No, no, I’ll be fine. Go! Enjoy yourself. I’ll still be here when you’ll come back.”
She smiled and kissed him on the forehead. “I’ll get ready and see what I can do. I have my beeper so if you need anything, just beep me.”
She left half an hour later and knocked on Brian’s door.
“DADDY! DADDY! DADDY! WAKE UP!”
Brian opened the door and smiled at the sight of Sab. He was in boxers and still looking sleepy. “Hey Sab. What are you doing up so early?”
“It’s eleven o’clock Brian. How come you’re still sleeping? Who takes care of the kids?”
“My mom took Delilah for a walk and Ryan was watching some japenese cartoons. He can be quiet sometimes.”
“Do you want to go somewhere? Nick’s really sick. He says he just needs some sleep and he convinced me to go out. When is your mom coming back?”
“I don’t know. Probably 30 minutes or so. She wanted to take the kids out this afternoon. If you want we could go walk downtown. There’s a very nice part of the city I’d like to show you.”
“That’d be nice.”
“OK. You can hang out with buddy here if you want. I should be ready in no time.”
While Brian was in the shower, Jackie came and took Ryan with her. She was going to take them to an amusement park where there was clowns and little rides. Brian and Sabrina stopped by Nick’s room before leaving just to make sure he was alright and they found him sleeping. They took a bus downtown and started walking around the old roads and window shopping. Sabrina bought a few toys for the children and a beautiful green shirt for Nick. They finally reached what Brian had been so anxious to show her: an amazing fountain with crystal blue water. It was very old and the architecture was breath taking.
“This is so magic Brian. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“It’s one of my favorite place in the world. I come here every time I can. Usually there is a lot more tourists. We’re lucky today.” He took Sabrina’s hand and lead her to an empty banch. They sat there for over an hour, looking at the fountain, and he never let go of her hand.
* * * * *
“I’ll see you in a week Nick. Maybe two. We’re a bit behind in the filming so it might take longer than we thought. Joshua Jackson’s grandmother died Thursday and that’s why I could come here. We’re suppose to start again tonight.”
Nick sighed. “I don’t want you to go away again. I’ll miss you.”
She sat beside him on the bed. He was still sick. “I’ll miss you two sweety. I’ll call you as soon as I get to Madrid.”
“Have a nice time.” He kissed her again and she left. He didn’t knew it was the last time he’d feel her lips against his.
* * * * *
Brian and Sabrina didn’t say a word all the way to the airport. They both knew that something had changed between them. When it was her boarding time, Brian holded her very tight and for the first time he kissed her. Slowly at first because he was scared of her reaction. But she had been prepared and she kissed him back.
“I don’t know what changed between us Brian but I think we’ll need this week to think about where we stand and how we feel. It’s not something to take lightly.”
“I know. Good luck with the movie.” He pulled her closer to give her one last kiss...
CLICK. CLICK. CLICK. A reporter was taking pictures of them. “Aren’t you Brian Littrell from the Backstreet Boys? Is this your girlfriend?”
Brian could clearly see fear in Sabrina’s eyes and he guessed she was thinking about Nick. He got rid of the reporter by telling him a big story about how people always thought he was Brian Littrell and how easily people mixed them. He told him he only wished he could be part of the band.
“Do you think he believed you?”
“I don’t know. You’d better go if you don’t want to miss your plane. Have a good trip.” He wasn’t sure about how he felt after she left but he knew just how much he cared about this girl.
It Never Ends Chapters Index
Chapter 5