�Are you waking up slowly?
Nothing but lonely
Are you waking up holding your breath?
And are you looking for something
I�ll promise you one thing
I�ll promise I�ll always, always be there�
Why is the sun so damn bright in the mornings? And why must it always be right in my eyes when I wake up?
And what the fuck is with that constant banging noise?
I�m not all that bright when I�m half asleep. Actually, most people will tell you I�m not bright at all, but I think they�re wrong. I can be bright sometimes.
Just not in the mornings.
The banging continued, sounding far away and echo-y, as the phone began to ring. It wouldn�t stop. The machine would pick up, an unheard message would be taken, and then it would start ringing again. This noise also sounded far away, though I know I have a phone somewhere in my bedroom.
Once again, not bright in the mornings.
The sun is bright in the mornings - the reason why I have my face covered up - but Nick Carter is not.
Blaming the noises on my own rattled brain, I closed my eyes and snuggled closer to� the girl in my arms?
My eyes shot open and it wasn�t until I sat up and saw the beautiful sleeping brunette beside me that I remembered the previous days events.
She�s still here. I didn�t dream her up.
And I wasn�t dreaming the noise either.
Glancing at the bedside clock, I feared the wrath that waited for me downstairs.
�Fuck!�
I think I cursed much louder than I had intended because, as I untangled my legs from Kara�s, she stirred from her sleep, a discontented sigh escaping her lips as she rolled onto her back.
�Aw baby� I�m sorry. Go back to sleep.�
I pushed loose strands of hair from her face, my knuckles touching her cheek, and, without thinking, brushed my lips against hers.
Shit. Forget Mike. I want to crawl back into bed with her and kiss her until she wakes up and then some.
Before I could make my mind up, she curled up into a ball on her side and covered her eyes instinctively with her arm.
Fighting my heart, though it begged me to get back into bed and forget the rest of the world, I grabbed my glasses and moved to the window, pulling the curtains closed against the harsh day.
With one last longing look, I sighed and left the room, shutting the door securely behind me. Rolling my eyes at the phone�s continuous ringing and the unceasing beating at the door, I ran down the stairs to the front door and flung it open.
�What?!�
You got me up at nine o�clock in the morning when I was perfectly fine in bed with my limbs tangled with Kara�s.
I don�t care that I was supposed to meet you at eight to do yet another boring wedding-related task. Do it your fucking self! I�m only there to keep you from taking home another girl!
�Where is she?�
Mike pushed past me into the house, fuming as the noise around me disappeared.
�What?�
God, I don�t want to deal with this right now.
�Kara. Where the hell is she? That�s why you didn�t show up at the ring place. You fucked her all night and over slept.�
I gawked at him, unsure of what to say to his accusations. Telling him what actually happened isn�t going to help my case.
�Mike, I just forgot to set my alarm.�
�Stop lying. Where is she?!�
He glared at me before heading towards the stairs, making much more noise than necessary.
�Jeez Mike, she�s still asleep.�
Halfway up the stairs, he spun back towards me, a satisfied smirk on his face.
�And how would you know that?�
I looked around the house from where I stood at the foot of the stairs.
�Because she�s not up?�
And people think I�m not smart.
Rolling his eyes, he continued stomping up the stairs, ignoring my smartass comment. Seeing my door opened, he stormed in searching for Kara.
�She�s not in here man. She slept in one of the guest rooms. She�s still sleeping in one of the guest rooms. Just calm down, Mike. Nothing happened last night.�
Even if something had, it�s not any of your goddamn business.
He pushed past me, and before I had a chance to stop him, the guest room door slammed open.
*
�Stop pretending you�re asleep Kara.�
The voice pulled me from the delicate sleep I�d fallen into after Nick had climbed out of bed. Cursing probably because of the obnoxious presence that is Mike.
Rubbing my eyes as he flipped on the lights, I sat up, pulling the covers around me. In a slight daze, I wasn�t prepared for the physical attack that came.
�Get out of bed you whore.�
Ripping the sheets from the bed, he grabbed a hold of my upper arm and pulled me on to the floor.
�Did you enjoy your night fucking Nick?�
What?! When� how�?
�What the fuck are you doing, Mike?!�
No, Nick. Please don�t get involved with this. It�ll just make everything worse.
�Nick, don�t��
Getting to my feet, Mike�s grip on my arm tightened before he pushed me towards the bathroom.
�Get dressed. I have to take you to Angie because you�re late too.�
Slamming the door behind me more for protection than to show anger, I leaned back against it, trying to control the tears that came to my eyes.
�Stupid whore.�
I ignored the insult until I heard something slam against the wall.
Something that sounded like Mike.
�What the hell are you doing?!�
No, Nick, don�t get involved. You�re just going to make things worse.
�Nothing happened last night, and I don�t appreciate you coming into my house and insinuating something that wouldn�t be any of your goddamn business.�
No, wrong thing to say.
�Where do you get off? Jeez, Carter. You�ve been pining over this stupid girl for months. I don�t think��
I couldn�t hear the rest of what he said, but whatever it was didn�t settle well with Nick.
�Get out of my house before I hit you. I�ll take Kara to meet Angie, but you can do everything else yourself.�
Oh god, Nick. I�m already fucking up your life.
�Stay away from Kara and my house. Until Saturday. Even then I don�t want to see you anywhere near her. If I didn�t like Angie so much, I�d fucking call the whole thing off.�
The other room went silent and I splashed my face with cold water, trying to stop the shaking while ignoring the ache in my arm from Mike�s grip.
That�s not really a pleasant way to wake up in the morning.
How am I supposed to explain that to Nick? And last night�s outburst?
A soft knock on the bathroom door pulled me from staring at my reflection, but I ignored it, hoping he�d just go away.
But he didn�t.
Rubbing my face with more cold water, I glanced over my shoulder in the mirror to see Nick sticking his head through the door with his hand covering his eyes.
�I�m assuming that since you haven�t screamed, you�re still dressed.�
I pulled my eyes away from him when he opened the door the rest of the way and uncovered his face. Stepping into the bathroom, I could feel his presence behind me as I purposely dried my face very thoroughly.
�What was that?�
He leaned his head against the side of mine and rested his hands on my shoulders, putting gentle pressure on the base of my neck with his thumbs, trying to rub away some of the stress.
Don�t do that Nick. I�m going to break down on you again and you saw where that got us last time.