| Chapter 46 Nick and A.J. didn't say much to each other in the car on the way home. A.J. knew the interview was hard for Nick to do, so he kept quiet and let Nick deal with it on his own. When they pulled up to the house, A.J. started to get out of the car, but noticed Nick wasn't moving. "You gonna sit out here for a while?" A.J. asked. "Huh? Oh no, I was just thinking," Nick said. A.J. looked at him, "You wanna talk about it?" Nick looked over at his friend, "No not really," he said getting out of the car and walking into the house. Nick started up the stairs, then stopped and turned around, "Bone, can you drive me to the airport later?" A.J. looked surprised, "You're leaving tonight?" "Yeah, flight leaves at eight," Nick said. "Yeah, sure I'll drive you. I'm gonna go see if I can get a flight out tomorrow," A.J. said heading to Nick's office. Nick watched him round the corner, then turned and went to his room to finish his packing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Brian and Tara looked really happy this morning," Kira said as she sat down at the table. Howie looked up from his plate, "Yeah they did. Nick didn't look to good though." "I know, I watched him during the interview. There were a few times I thought he was gonna loose it," Kira said. Howie took a drink, "Yeah, I hope the camera's didn't pick that up." "Well, if they did, let's hope that John edits it out," Kira said with her mouth full. Howie laughed, "Not likely. John is a good reporter, but if there's something to be made of it, I'm sure it'll stay in." "So how do you think Nick's really doing?" Kira asked. "It's hard to tell with him. He tends to hide his true feelings alot, but I know this can't be easy for him. He truly loved,.... loves Tara, and even though it was his decision to let her go, I know he's hurting," Howie said. "Maybe we should go over there tomorrow and cheer him up," Kira said. "We can't, he won't be there," Howie said. Kira looked at him, "Why won't he be there?" "He's leaving tonight to go on that promotional trip," Howie answered. Kira thought for a moment, "Don't you think it's odd that the label would call just him to go on this thing? I mean have you guys ever done stuff like that for the label before?" Howie put his fork down and looked at her, "No we haven't. I didn't think about it until just now, it is kinda odd." They were both done eating so Kira got up and took the plates into the kitchen. Howie grabbed the glasses and followed her, "I'll ask him about it when he calls me." "What's he calling you about?" she asked. "Well he gave me the key to his house. He wants me to house sit for him, and he said he'd call and tell me how long he was gonna be gone," Howie said. Kira looked at him funny, "He wants you to house sit? You haven't stayed a whole night there almost since you got here." Howie laughed, "Well, I'm sure now that things are OK, that A.J.'s probably going back to LA to be with Sarah, and he's gonna be gone. Guess he thought we'd like a change of scenery." Kira burst out laughing and punched Howie in the arm, "Good lord Howard!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian poked his head in the bedroom door and saw that Tara was still sleeping. He was coming to realize that she wasn't as well as she was saying she was. She was still tired all the time, and the added worry about Nick wasn't helping much. Brian was worried too. He and Nick were best friends and shared everything, but he knew Nick was hurting and he was part of the reason. Brian wanted so much just to snap his fingers and everything be all right, but he knew it didn't work that way. Nick was gonna have to deal with his feelings on his own, and there was nothing that Brian or anyone else could do to help. Brian walked down to the kitchen and looked through the pantry and frig. Nick and Leighanne must have gone shopping because the pantry was stocked and so was the frig. He knew Tara wouldn't feel like cooking, so he decided to try and make dinner for them. It'd been a long time since he'd cooked anything, and he hoped he wouldn't burn the house down. He picked out some steaks and decided to bake them, that would be easy. Then he picked out some potatoes and a can of green beans. He could bake the potatoes in the microwave and put the beans on the stove. Everything was going, and Brian was setting the table when Tara came downstairs. She walked into the kitchen and smiled, "What are you doing?" Brian looked up, "Cooking dinner. How you feeling?" Tara walked in and sat down at the table, "OK, I'm still tired." Brian poured her a glass of tea, "Well, it's just gonna take some time I guess to get back to where you were." Tara took a drink and looked at him, "I didn't know you cooked." Brian smiled, "I just started." Tara laughed, "You need some help?" "No, actually everything should be done," Brian said. He took the potatoes out of the microwave and the steaks out of the oven. He fixed Tara's plate and handed it to her, then he fixed his own. Tara was already eating when he finally sat down. "So, is it OK?" he asked. She smiled, "Yeah, it's actually pretty good." "Why do you sound surprised?" Brian said smiling. Tara laughed, "Well you just don't strike me as the domestically inclined type." Brian laughed, "Yeah I guess not, but I'm learning." Tara heard something and looked over at the oven. "Bri, you're done cooking right?" she asked. He looked up at her, "Yeah, why?" "Well you might wanna turn the oven off before you burn the house down," she said. Brian got up and turned it off, "Hey, I said I was learning." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A.J. and Nick pulled into the parking lot at the airport. Nick grabbed his bags from the trunk and started into the building. "Nick, wait a minute," A.J. said. Nick turned around and let A.J. catch up to him. "Listen man, while you're gone, if you need anything don't hesitate to call me. Even if you just feel like cussin someone out, OK?" A.J. said. Nick smiled at him, "I'll be fine. Tell Sarah I said hi." "I will. Nick, be careful OK," A.J. said. "All right man, you too," Nick said hugging him good-bye. Nick turned and walked into the building. A.J. watched him as long as he could. He didn't feel right about this trip, and he knew Nick wasn't fine. He took a deep breath and headed back to the car. God, please be there for him, he thought as he got in the car and drove off. Nick took his seat on the plane, buckled his seat belt and leaned his head against the window. It was gonna be a long plane ride. He heard some giggling in front of him, and he looked up to see a couple of teenage girls traveling with their parents. They were looking at him, and whispering to each other. Nick knew they recognized him, and was waiting for them to get up the nerve to come and talk to him. Yep, here they come, he thought as the girls left their seats. "Excuse me, are you Nick Carter?" one of the girls asked. Nick smiled, "Yeah." "Oh my God! Can we have your autograph?" the other girl almost screamed. He laughed, "Sure." He gave each one of them an autograph and posed for a picture before the stewardess asked them to take their seats. The girls reluctantly left, and Nick breathed a sigh of relief. The stewardess walked to the front of the cabin and began the safety speech. Nick new it by heart, so he tuned her out and stared out the window. The airport was busy, planes coming in and taking off. He wished they'd leave already. The stewardess finished her speech and took her seat. The captain's voice came over the speakers, "Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be taking off shortly. Our estimated flight time will be six hours (Nick groaned), next stop, Vancouver, Canada. Have a pleasant flight." Chapter 47 |