“Open up baby,” Nick whispers before popping a grape into my mouth.
I bite into it and pull him close for a long kiss, squeezing some of the sweet juice into his mouth.
“Mm,” he smiles at me and pulls me close for a slow dance just as Kevin and Kristen dance over to us.
“Havin’ fun?” grins Kevin.
“Sure am,” Nick says happily. “Where are Brian and Jade?”
“They had to leave,” Kristen giggles. “We got the DJ to play Let’s Make Love and they kinda ran outta here.”
“I bet!” I giggle. “Do they ever do anythin’ else?!”
“WE could go back to our rooms…” says Nick suggestively.
“We could…” I kiss him.
“We’re leaving now anyway,” says Kevin. “AJ’s out in the car already. Layla had to leave early.”
“We’ll hitch a ride with ya,” says Nick and we all head outside and climb into the limo.
Around 30 minutes later, we’re back at the hotel and in the elevator riding up to our floor.
“Whoa, what’s that box by my door?” asks AJ heading towards his room.
“Hey! Don’t touch it – it might be a BOMB!” yells Nick.
“Bomb?!” asks Howie opening his door.
“That box…” Nick points the box out as we all stare at it. “Anybody know the bomb squad number?”
“No, but I’m sure it’s in Talking Pages,” says AJ sarcastically. “Don’t be so dumb Nicky! Who’d wanna blow us up?!”
“Not us, YOU!” says Nick defensively pulling me closer to him.
“Yeah, any angry husbands lately?” I tease.
“Nup,” he shakes his head and walks right up to the box. “Hey, it’s addressed to me…” He opens a flap and Nick pushes me behind him. “Heeeeeey! Tequila!”
“Huh?” Howie joins him and pulls out a bottle of tequila with a grin. “Somebody knows you well.”
“Yup!” AJ grins and opens his door. “Hey Nick…”
“What?” Nick looks embarrassed.
“BOOM!” AJ yells laughing as he drags the box into his room.
“Shut up!” Nick yells back as everyone laughs.
“Hey baby,” I wrap my arms around his waist and nibble on his ear lobe. “I’m real honoured you protected me…”
“’Course I did,” he says proudly.
“C’mon guys! Ya gotta help me drink this stuff,” AJ beckons us all inside his room. “We’s gonna party!”
“Yay!” cheers Howie heading towards the stereo.
“Wha-?!” Brian mutters as a banging on the door wakes us both up. I check the clock as Brian pulls on his pants and heads to the door. It reads 4:35am.
“Hey guys!” Ali giggles as she falls through the door and into Brian’s arms. He just about manages to stop her hitting the floor.
I sit up, pulling the sheet around me. “Whoa, what have you been drinkin’?”
“AJ found this box of tequila outside his room,” she hiccups. “I like AJ’s kind of fans!”
“I can tell,” Brian says dryly.
“We got LOADS left so c’mon!” She steadies herself and grabs Brian’s hand, “Everybody’s waitin’!”
“Hey Ali,” Brian stops her before she can pull him out of the room. “Could we have a little clothing time here?”
“Uh, sure!” she giggles again and pushes him back into the room. “But you get ONE minute, no more.”
“Whatever,” Brian shuts the door on her and turns back to me. “Wanna go?”
“Sure,” I stand up and reach for my jeans and Brian’s football jersey. “Never say no to tequila.”
He chuckles and pulls on a white t-shirt. I run my hands through my messed-up hair and grab a pin to put it up. Brian comes up behind me and kisses my neck, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“As much as I love you in your clothes, you look damn sexy in mine.” I start giggling and he shoots me a curious look. “What?”
“Just imaginin’ how you’d look in mine…”
“Not good. In fact…don’t even GO there,” he lets go of me with a chuckle and we head into AJ’s room.
The door is wide open and we can hear Limp Bizkit playing loudly on the TV. Nick is standing in the middle of the room playing air guitar, Ali is giggling on the floor at his feet, Kristen is throwing popcorn at Nick, Kevin is trying to eat the popcorn, Howie is on the bed singing along with Fred Durst, and AJ is using an empty tequila bottle as a microphone. Brian and I exchange amused glances before heading inside and shutting the door behind us.
“Hey, you made it!” Nick grins, strumming his imaginary guitar.
“Tequila!” AJ throws a full bottle across to us. “I got a WHOLE box of this stuff.”
“Cool,” Brian unscrews the bottle and takes a slug before handing it over to me. “It’s no fun bein’ the only sober one.”
“Nup,” I agree and then grimace as the liquor hits my throat. “Whoa. Good stuff.”
“Remember that body slammer Jady?” Nick says slyly, reaching out to pull me close for a little rawk dancing.
“I sure do,” I respond with a giggle.
“Hey, kinda tryin’ to wipe that fact from my memory,” Brian says, taking another drink. “Best friend and girlfriend…”
“Oops, sorry bro,” Nick chuckles.
“You’re not,” Brian states.
“Nup, I’m not,” Nick spins me around the room and the tequila hits my head.
I watch Nick dancing with Jade and feel pretty jealous. I know it’s dumb cos he loves me and she loves Brian. Plus, Brian is laughing at them so if he doesn’t feel any jealousy why should I? But I’ve always felt like Jade is the better me in a way. We get on so well but I remember my mom once asking me why I can’t be more like Jade and that stuck. And Nick did have a thing for Jade when he first met her. It had been so obvious. And I still can’t erase the image of them kissing after the tequila body slammer. I shake my head and take another gulp of the tequila. This crap is doing me no good. I should take Brian’s lead, so I stand up with a wobble and pull him into a weird version of the Samba. And I didn’t even know I could samba.
Nick spins Jade around the room as Brian takes a long drink of tequila. He doesn’t like it when Nick touches his girl in that way. Dumb he knows but it is just the way he feels. He doesn’t like ANYBODY touching his girl. He thinks he does well to hide it from Jade cos he knows she would feel pretty crowded by that. He is just so scared of losing her to somebody else. Nick spins Jade into his body and Brian grimaces slightly. He remembered Nick telling him about Jade before he had met her. Saying she was beautiful but kinda wild with it. Nick’s exact words had been “I don’t think she can be tamed but I’d sure like to try”. Yeah, Jade is pretty wild. Just when he thought she was as in love with him as he was with her, she would do something to prove him wrong. Maybe some girls just can’t be tamed and he will spend the rest of his life chasing her. He doesn’t want to do that. He wants to settle down with somebody, get married and make babies. But right now he will do anything for Jade. Ali walks over and pulls him into a weird dance and he smiles at her, grateful to be dragged away from his thoughts.
“Enjoy the show?” he asks her and she nods.
“The party was the best bit. Apart from Bitchney.”
“Bitchney?!” he exclaims.
“Yuppers,” she giggles. “Suits her dontcha think?”
“Uh, I guess,” he says warily before laughing. “So whose idea was this lil tequila party?”
“Whoever left the box outside AJ’s room I guess,” Ali says. “Damn good idea.”
“Yup, it was,” he grins and glances across to where Jade and Nick are laughing. “I wonder what the joke is?” he points them out to Ali.
“Us probably,” she mutters darkly.
“Huh?” he looks at her quickly.
“Oh ignore me,” she smiles quickly. “I’m just feelin’ morose. Tequila always does that to me.”
“Do you worry ‘bout Nick and Jade?” Brian persists and she sighs.
“I know I shouldn’t. But it’s just… I know he liked her before he liked me and… Well, why is he with ME and not her?”
“Because he loves you,” Brian tells her.
“But WHY? I’m no Jade. God knows my mom tells me that often enough…”
“Do you really want to be Jade?” Brian asks. “She’s not perfect. Far from it actually. She has a real temper on her. She sulks like crazy…” Ali laughs and Brian chuckles. “She’s never on time…”
“But you love her,” Ali states.
“I love her,” Brian repeats with a big smile. “I can’t help myself.”
“Jade has that effect on people.”
“So do you Ali. I bet Jade and Nick are having the exact same conversation about US.”
“Doubtful,” Ali giggles.
“So I put the gel in it and it all stuck up,” Nick finishes telling Jade his hairstyle secrets and she laughs.
“And it’s still standing.”
“I’m still standing,” Nick sings. “Better than all the rest… Who sang that Jade?” he asks.
“Dunno. Elton John?” she thinks a while.
“Oh yeah. It was wasn’t it,” Nick laughs. “Man, he’s a cool dude.”
“I’ve never met him.”
“Oh ya should!” Nick chuckles. “I did this show with him in London a few years back. It was outside and it rained so the stage was all slippy…”
“Ya fell on ya ass right?” she interrupts with a giggle and he looks affronted.
“Because the stage was wet, I fell over?”
“Oh yeah! You ALWAYS do stuff like that. You’re clumsy Boy.”
“I am NOT!” he pouts.
“Ok, ok, what’d ya do?”
“I fell over…” She giggles and he laughs. “But hell, Sisquo fell over more times than I did!”
“Sisquo was there?” she says confusedly.
“Yup, it was like a variety show. Lots of acts.”
“Ah, I get it.”
“So I fell over, got my butt wet and wriggled it at Elton John,” Nick says with a grin. “I was like wriggling my butt goin’ “dude, I’m all WET now” and then I thought “Shit Nick, you’re wriggling ya butt at a totally gay man on LIVE TV”…”
Jade laughs hard, “I bet he LOVED you.”
“He gave me a BIG ol hug,” Nick nods with a wink and she laughs even harder.
“I bet!”
“He was cool though. Totally Kevin’s big hero,” Nick says.
Jade smiles and glances across to see Brian and Ali dancing together. She catches Brian looking over at her and leans in to Nick’s ear, “Should we go over and play ‘em?”
He looks over at their partners and grins wickedly, “I think we should.”
Jade and Nick let go of each other and walk over to Brian and Ali.
“Hey you two,” Nick says seriously. “Do ya HAVE to flaunt this affair ya got goin’ on?”
“Wha?” Brian looks surprised.
“Yeah, we know,” Jade puts a hand on his arm. “You guys are in love right? You’ve decided you’re dating the wrong people…”
“Wow, they know,” Ali tells Brian. “We don’t have to hide it any more.”
“Well thank the Lord for that,” Brian grins and puts an arm around Ali.
“Yup,” Ali giggles.
“Shall we go tell the others baby?” Brian asks Ali and Jade pulls a face. “What?” he asks her.
“You called her baby,” she says with a pout. “You called somebody other than me baby.”
“Aw, I didn’t mean it,” he lets go of Ali and pulls Jade into his arms, kissing her nose and feeling her nestle against him.
“Gee, thanks,” Ali puts her hands on her hips. “Brian, I’ve reconsidered this relationship.”
“Good,” Nick says as Brian chuckles. Nick pulls Ali into his arms, “I think we got it right first time.”
“Me too,” Ali smiles, conveniently forgetting that it had been Brian who she had initially been drawn to that first night.
“Brian,” Jade looks up at him. “Can we go back to bed? I’m feeling tired.”
“Me too,” he kisses her softly. “C’mon, let’s sneak out.”
They head towards the door but AJ jumps in their way, brandishing a bottle of tequila and singing loudly. He spins them both around several times and then hands the bottle over just as the stereo starts to play I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor. Ali rushes over to Jade and pulls her back into the centre of the room.
“Our song girl!” she grins and Jade starts to sing along.
Brian leans against the door and takes a drink of tequila. He doesn’t think they’ll be leaving just yet somehow.
After my fourth tequila slammer, the room is seriously starting to spin. I grin inanely at everyone in the circle. They grin back. They all look pretty trashed to me. After dancing around to Limp Bizkit, I had taught everybody the Oops I Did It Again dance but AJ had given up after tripping over a chair and falling into a plant-pot. We were now trying to play T or D, I say TRYING because most of us are too trashed to think up stuff. Kristen finally thinks up a dare for me.
“You gotta sing As Long As You Love Me… AND do the chair dance.”
“No way!” I start giggling. “I’d end up breakin’ the damn chair. But…” I look at Ali. “Remember that spoof we do?”
“Yeah!” she giggles. “We could do that… But then I get to choose the next dare.”
“Ok,” I agree, struggling to my feet with Ali. We stand facing the group. “We need a copy of your music guys.”
“Oh!” Howie rummages through his bag and produces a battered copy of their album.
Ali puts it on and the intro for All I Have To Give starts playing. I start it off while Ali poses behind me.
“I don’t know what she does to make you smile
But I’ll be there to make you cry
I may have a fancy car
But to get to you I wouldn’t drive a thousand miles…”
Ali pushes her way forward, “I don’t care
If she buys you nice things
And her gifts come from the heart
But if you were my boy
I’d make it so we’d always be apart…”
We both sing the chorus. “But my love is all I haven’t to give
Without you I know that I can live
I wish I could throw the world away
But love is all I haven’t to give.”
Ali imitates Howie. “When you talk
Does it seem like she’s listening to every word you say?
That’s ok babe
Just tell me your problems
And I’ll try my best to ignore them anyway…”
I do an AJ. “Does she never leave when you need her the most?
Do her friends get none of your time?
Baby please I’m on my knees
Prayin’ for the day you’ll go away…”
The final chorus is drowned out by cheers and laughter, and we take exaggerated bows.
The ringing of a phone wakes me up and I groan. My legs feel heavy and my neck hurts, not to mention the throbbing in my head. I open my eyes and realise the heaviness in my legs is AJ’s head, my neck hurts cos I’m across a couch arm and my head REALLY hurts. Someone grabs the phone and I look in their direction. It’s Kevin. He’s whispering down the line looking every bit as rough as I feel. Kristen is next to him on the bed and Nick is hanging off the edge. Jade is lying in a corner with her legs over Howie’s lower body and her head on Brian’s arm. I chuckle slightly. The room is a total wreck. Pity I can’t remember much about last night. Kevin hangs up the phone and looks across as I move slightly.
“Hey Ali,” he whispers. “We gotta get goin’. The cars are already here to take us to the airport.”
“Ugh, I really don’t wanna get on a plane today,” I moan.
“Me either but Houston calls,” he sits up and lays a hand on Kristen’s shoulder. “Wake up honey.”
I move my legs and AJ falls off the couch.
“HEY!” he yells. “Owch, my head…” he whispers sitting up.
“Ditto,” I stand up. “The cars are waiting to take us to the airport.”
“Uh… Why?”
“To fly to Houston,” I walk over to shake Nick awake. “Hey babes, we gotta go to Houston.”