Rachel called Nick's phone and Tim answered, letting her know they were on their way out the door and to get inside the SUV that was waiting out front. He escorted Nick through the lobby, Nick smiling and waving at the few fans that were out and made his way to the truck,
"Hey." He got comfortable and looked her over,
"Where are your friends?" She smiled,
"They're gonna meet us there. You aren't going to be tired tomorrow are you?" He shrugged,
"I'm used to it." She nodded as she watched Tim get in the front seat,
"What time do you have to be up tomorrow?" He bit his lip as he looked up at the ceiling trying to remember his schedule,
"Not sure, I know we have MTV then we have our in-store at Virgin." He leaned forward and tapped Tim on the shoulder,
"Hey Tim, what time do we have to be at MTV?" Tim continued to look forward as he answered,
"We leave the hotel at eleven." He looked over at her,
"Plenty of time to sleep."
They met up with Rachel's friends and were having a good time when she pulled him towards her,
"Let's dance." His frowned and shook his head slowly,
"Nah, you go ahead." She put a fake frown on her face and pouted, her lip sticking out and he laughed,
"Ok...ok." She pulled him onto the floor and they began to dance, one hand on her lower back, the other on her hip. As they grinded there was a flash and he turned to see that a photographer had taken a picture, they continued to dance until he stopped and pulled her by the hand to their table,
"You're not tired?" She shrugged,
"A little." They sat around and watched people come and go, dancing and mingling. He looked over at her and realized this was the first time he had been around a girl in weeks. Between interviews, photo shoots, recording and promotion time had flown by,
"You wanna get out of here?" She nodded and went off to let her frends know she was gone for the night. They made their way to the truck, that pulled up front per Tim's instrutctions, and settled inside. She sat close to him as he wrapped his arm around her. They sat in the back, watching the city go by, he was amazed a city could be so alive at three in the morning,
"Hey stop over there, I want some ice cream." She turned and looked at him,
"At three in the morning?" He shrugged,
"Why not?" She smiled and allowed him to lead her out of the truck,
"You can stay here, we'll be right back." Tim looked from the ice cream parlor back to Nick,
"It's glass, you'll be able to see me the whole time." Tim sighed and nodded his approval but Nick was already on his way. Rachel stood in front of the counter looking up at the choices, Nick standing behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist,
"What do you want?" She looked over the board once more,
"Let me get a scoop of vanilla in a cup." He laughed,
"All that deciding for vanilla...no, give her a scoop of mint chocolate chip in a waffel cone...make that two." She shrugged and nodded her head at the clerk who looked to see if it was ok,
"You gotta live it up a little." She turned in his arms and ran her hand over his wild hair, smoothing it down,
"Is that what we're doing tonight...living it up?" He smiled,
"Yep." She nodded and looked as if she was thinking over what he said,
"How much living are we going to do tonight?" He looked over to see the clerk busy preparing their order,
"As much as you want?" He released her from his grasp and reached for his wallet,
"It's on the house if you sign an autograph for my little sister." Nick smiled,
"Cool." She waited, cones in hand, as he signed the autograph,
"Thanks man." They headed out of the parlor and settled back into the truck. She leaned over and licked his ice cream and he laughed,
"It's the same thing." She shook her head and looked into his eyes, almost whispering,
"Your's tastes better." His eyebrows raised questioningly,
"Really?" He leaned down and kissed her, their tongues moving slowly. The ice cream long forgotten they kissed until the truck came to a stop,
"Oh...I guess we're here." He nodded and looked down at their hands, covered in melted ice cream. The driver handed them both towels as they made their way out of the truck. They walked through the lobby and he noticed her looking around,
"What's wrong?" She looked over at him, an unsure expression plastered on her face,
"No fans around?" He looked around the lobby for the first time,
"I guess not." She looked around once more,
"I figured there would be fans all over the place, all the time." He shook his head,
"It dies down, it is four in the morning. There are some fans staying in the hotel though." They stepped into the elevator behind Tim and he leaned against the wall, his eyes closed the entire way up as they rode in silence. As they walked down the hallway they saw AJ coming out of a room,
"Hey man, what's up?" He and Nick slapped hands as he quickly glanced at Rachel,
"Nothing, what are you doing up?" He shrugged,
"Me and D were hanging out." He looked over at Rachel,
"You look familiar." She smiled,
"Yeah, I work at the radio station." He nodded as he snapped his fingers,
"Oh, ok, now I remember, cool." He looked over at Nick,
"Hey Tim, can you take Rachel to my room, I'll be there in a minute." She waved good-bye to AJ and they watched as she and Tim made their way to his room. Once they were inside he turned to AJ,
"What's up? I know that look." AJ shrugged,
"She works at a radio station...you think thats smart? Better not say or do anything you don't want the world to know." Nick laughed,
"Like with you?" AJ sighed and shook his head,
"There a difference between me telling some embarrassing story about some silly thing you did when you were fifteen and telling you've experimented with coke or that you've been drinking on a regular basis since you were seventeen." Nick sighed,
"She wouldn't do something like that...besides I don't plan on doing anything that will ruin my reputation tonight." AJ laughed at his ignorance,
"Do you plan on sleeping with her?" Nick rolled his eyes and looked at him as if it were a stupid question,
"Ok then. Sleep with her and fuck her over and see what happens."
Home
Full Circle
Chapter 94