~~~~Chapter Six~~~~
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For the first month or so of touring with Nick, Jessica was having a great time. She had formed
a friendship with Brian's girlfriend and spent most of her time away from Nick shopping or just sharing
girl talk with Leighanne. She tried to be friendly with Laurie but they were just too different, in
ages and personalities. Kevin and Howie had no steady dates with them, but the occasional girl
would show up for a couple of days with the group. It was hard to form friendships but she tried
to be personable and friendly to newcomers. Nick lavished attention on her in his spare time. Jessica was unused to that kind of treatment and loved Nick all the more for it.
They rarely left the bus or hotel rooms, but Nick would occasionally surprise her with little
gifts of jewelry or clothes. He made sure all the latest movies and cds were available to them
and that all their favourite foods were on hand. Jessica attended every show and die-hard fans
were starting to recognize her. Nick would make faces and gestures at her from the stage to make
her laugh, but she noticed that during ballads he never looked at her, but out to the crowd
instead. She never mentioned it to him, but found it a bit odd. During a phone conversation with her sister, she learned that her photo was making the
rounds on the internet. Fans were speculating her identity and where she may have met Nick. "I
told you!" Nick teased when Jessica told him about it. "Our fans know everything about us."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This particular evening, Jessica was getting ready for the concert when she felt a wave of nausea hit her. "Maybe I should stay here tonight." She sniffled and coughed into her sleeve. "I must have caught that flu bug that's going around." Nick felt her cheeks and forehead. "You're really hot, you should get into bed." He advised. He peeled her sweatshirt off her and grabbed a T-shirt of his from the floor. "Put this on while I call room service for some tea, okay?" She nodded as he kissed her forehead. "That's sweet of you Nick. Thank you." she whispered. "Anything for my babygirl." He told her. Once the tea had been delivered, he picked her up and tucked her under the covers. "Don't stay up waiting for me, okay?" He placed his hand on her head. "You need your sleep." "I'll try." Jessica promised. "Have a good show." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Where's Nick at? Is he coming with us tonight?" Kevin peered into the groups meeting room backstage. "He's had plenty of time to change." "I think he's still in his dressing room." Howie offered. "He was pretty concerned about Jessica. He was going to call her to see how she was doing." "Well I'll give him the plans anyway. If she's that sick he probably just wants to get back to her, but you never know with him." Kevin made his way down the hall to Nick's private room, surprisingly stopped only once or twice by arena officials wanting something for their kids. "Nick?" Kevin knocked on the door and waited for a response. No answer. He pushed on the door and it opened slightly, offering a view of the room. Kevin stood there in shock as he realized what he was seeing was real. Nick was sprawled on the floor, totally naked, with a bare breasted, young girl who was in the middle of giving him a blow job. Nick was clearly enjoying what she was offering him, his cries and moans becoming louder by the second. Kevin shut the door quietly and spun around, heading back to the others, his mind racing in confusion and questions. How could he do such a thing while his girlfriend was sick back at the hotel? How dare he? Didn't he care about her? Of course everyone in the group had all had groupie flings at one time or another, but it was different when you had a girl with you, waiting for you. "Nick coming?" Brian asked as a flustered Kevin re-entered the room. "Umm, no, he's busy right now and then going back to the hotel. I think I'll join him guys. I'm not feeling too hot all of a sudden." Kevin stammered out. AJ studied Kevin with suspicious eyes. "You were fine a few minutes ago." "It's probably the same thing Jessica has, it hit her all of a sudden." he protested lamely. "Alright, take care of yourself." Brian called after him as Kevin left the room in search of a ride back to the hotel. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Hey Kev! You goin' back to the hotel too?" Nick waved and ran down the hallway to meet Kevin halfway. "Where's the guys?" "They were going to a club or something. I think I caught what Jessica has." Kevin averted his gaze to the floor. He just couldn't stand looking at his friend right now. "Yeah, knocked her right down. I put her to bed before I left and told her to get some sleep." Nick grinned. "She's cute when she's sick." "Do you love her Nick?" Kevin fiddled with the straps on his bag and then stared at him. "What?" Love her?" "Yeah, love her. She's left her family, her life for you, to be with you. Do you even give two shits about her?" "I care for her. I don't know if it's love yet." Nick stared down at his shoes and then back up. "Why? Don't you think I do? Why are you asking me this?" "I don't know Nick." Kevin shook my head. "You make me wonder sometimes." "I'm not gonna get trapped again. Heather really hurt me, you know. I'm taking it nice and slow." "She's a nice girl Nick, you know she cares about you." "I don't want to get hurt again!" He shouted and turned away. "Nick." Kevin put his hand on Nick's shoulder and tried to get him to look around. "Leave me alone! Leave us alone!" He climbed into the car that had pulled up in front of and slid his headphones on, jacking the volume up and turning towards the window. The conversation was over. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kevin decided that Jessica needed to know. They could talk about it, she could assure him that she cared for him, that she wouldn't hurt him like Heather had. She needed to know, for herself most of all. He knocked on the door and prayed Nick was still down in the lobby. The girls had swamped him when they had returned from the arena. He had been able to sneak away, but Nick was trapped by the autograph seekers. "Kevin! Hi! How are you?" She sniffled and excused herself. "I'm sorry, I feel horrible." "I know, I won't keep you long. It's about Nick." Her hands flew to her face, her eyes wide with fear. "He's alright, isn't he?" "Oh no, I'm sorry! He's fine." Kevin rubbed her back gently. "He's down in the lobby surrounded by the fans, he's fine." "Oh thank goodness! You scared me Kevin!" Her eyes sparkled as she teasingly slapped at his hands in mock anger. "Oh look what he had sent to me during the show!" She turned and picked up a huge vase of red roses, one lone yellow rose standing out in the center of the bouquet. "Aren't they gorgeous?" Jessica dipped her nose into the blossoms and tried to breath in their scent. "I'm still too stuffed up to smell them though." She laughed and put the vase back on the dresser. "I think I'm in love with him Kevin. I feel so silly saying that." She curled up on the bed, pulling her legs under the covers. "Why?" "Oh." she laughed nervously. "We haven't known each other very long, you can't fall in love with someone so quickly, can you?" "I guess it depends on the person." Kevin quietly told her. "He's just so wonderful Kevin! The fans seem to get him down sometimes and he gets a little moody, but he's so loving." She started telling Kevin how he took care of her before the show. He didn't have to heart to say anything about Nick to her anymore. She was obviously in love with Nick. She probably wouldn't believe him if he told her. He decided right then he would just keep an eye on Nick, it was all he could do. "So what did you need to tell me Kevin?" Her sleepy eyes peered up at him. "Something about Nick you said?" She yawned. "Oh nothing." Kevin switched the light off by the bed and moved to the door. "I just wanted to let you know where he was so you didn't worry. Go to sleep, okay?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What are you doing Kevin?" The older man spun around from shutting the door and was met with Nick's angry glare. "What are you doing in my room?" "I...I came to tell Jessica something." "What? What did you need to tell her that couldn't wait? You know she's sick!" "I saw you tonight Nick, back at the arena." Kevin admitted wearily. "I came to tell you the guys plans and I saw you. I thought she should know." "You saw me? Saw me what? Getting dressed?" he sputtered, then it dawned on him and his eyes grew wide. "You didn't tell her?" "I couldn't. She started praising you to the skies, Nick. I couldn't say anything to her after that." Kevin saw the relief spread across his face. "It was just a blow job Kevin. It didn't mean anything." Nick said nonchalantly. "I needed some and I knew Jess wouldn't be in the mood. And hey, it made some fans day. She can tell all her friends she blew Nick Carter." He smiled and stuck the card in the door. "She loves you Nick." "Kevin, don't start with me. Leave Jess and me alone, got it? She'll know what she needs to know and nothing more." Nick turned the knob and opened the door a crack. "I don't want to see you anywhere near Jess again. Just leave us alone!"
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