Time went by and Nick lay in his bed staring up at the ceiling of his hotel room. He felt like crying. This month had passed by way too fast. He and the rest of the guys would be leaving later on that evening back to America. He wasn't sure if he would see Elena ever again. He had told her that he loved her, and her him, but it was just too hard. She lived here in Russia and he in America.
They had agreed to write to each other but he didn't think that they could stay together. It was too hard. He sighed. He was waiting for her to come over so they could say good-bye. He shifted, trying as hard as he could to hold back the tears that he felt pricking at the back of his eyes. He couldn't let her see him like this. He had to be strong for the both of them. Then a moment later, there was a soft knock at the door. He got up, swallowed and walked over to the door. He swung it open and came face to face with his beloved.
"Hi," she greeted him with a small soft voice. She was also trying as hard as she could not to cry. She took a deep breath and entered his room behind him and shut the door.
"So," she started, her voice cracking, "Um, I guess this is good-bye..."
Neither of them could hold back anymore. They both began to cry. He took her into his arms and lay back with her.
"Elena, I'm so sorry," he told her, his tears streaming down his face. "I love you and I wish with all of my heart that I didn't have to go back home to America. I love you! I want to stay here!"
Elena shook her head and sniffled.
"No Nick. That wouldn't be right. America is your home. All of your family and friends are there." She kissed him. "I better be going Nick. I don't want you to be late and miss your plane."
He sighed and stood up with her. He wrapped her into one last hug and gave her one last kiss. Then he took off the ring from his finger and placed it on her finger. "Never forget me ok?" he begged her.
"I promise Nick, I will never forget you." She held onto him for a moment longer then she pulled back and walked out the door.
Elena leaned against the door and tried to regain her breath. This was it. Nick was going and she would never see him again. She began to walk down the hall, tears flowing freely down her face. She made no effort to wipe them away.
Nick leaned against the door. He struggled to breath the right way. He never expected to fall in love but he had. There had been no stopping it. And now he was going back to America and he would never see her again. He tried to wipe his tears away but more kept coming. He got up and walked over to grab his bags, looked around one last time and made his way to find the guys and leave.
Chapter 6
*One Year Later*
Nick sat down trying to concentrate on what their manager was talking about, but no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't get his mind off of Elena Produnova. Sure they had written letters to each other, but just as they had expected, between her traveling and his singing, they eventually lost touch.
Brian reached over and tapped Nick causing him to jump up.
"What is it?" Nick asked.
Brian gave him a worried look. "Well, we are all leaving. The meeting is over," he finally answered him. "Bob decided to end it since you weren't paying attention."
Nick looked ashamed. "I'm really sorry bro. I am just tired."
Brian shook his head. "It's ok Nick."
Nick got up and followed Brian. No, he thought to himself, as long as Elena is out of my life, I will never be ok.
Brian looked at Kevin. "Dude, I'm worried about Nick. He is always so sad these days."
Kevin nodded and looked thoughtful. "Ya know B, yesterday I was out taking a walk and I heard something quite interesting."
"Oh yeah?" Brian cocked his head. "What was it?"
"Well, nothing really except that some Olympic gymnasts are going to be performing at the theater by Disney World."
�Maybe Elena will be there and we could take Nick," Brian suggested.
"That's exactly what I'm thinking!" exclaimed Kevin.
They sat together and began to form a plan on how to get Nick there.
Chapter 7
Nick was busy working on his new song for their new album when there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" he called out.
The door swung open and in walked Brian with Kevin. "Hey bro. Whatcha doing?" Kevin asked with a smile.
"Nothing really, just trying to work on a new song here." Nick answered him not looking up from his guitar. He strung a few notes, the shook his head not happy with the way they wounded.
"Well they guys and I were wondering if you would like to come out with us..." Brian said studding his expression.
"Huh?" Nick grumbled blankly. "Oh, yeah, sure. Give me 15." He hit a few more notes then wrote something down.
Brian smiled at Kevin. They agreed and left the room.
15 minutes later all of the guys headed over to Nicks room. Howie pounded on the door.
"Are you ready?" Howie yelled.
Nick opened the door and sighed. "I guess." He closed his door behind him and followed them to his car.
"I'll drive." Brian said taking the keys from Nick.
"Whatever." he shrugged. Nick began to daydream about Elena.
After about 20 minutes the car finally stopped. "Well here we are!" AJ chirped as they all jumped out of the car.
Nick looked at the building and sighed.
"Well let's get on with it." He began to walk into the building when he saw the sign. He whipped around to face the guys.
"YOU BROUGHT ME TO A ROCK'N'ROLL GYMNASTICS COMPITITION?!!!!!!!!!" He yelled.
"Oh is that what it is?" Brian asked innocently as he dragged Nick into the building.
Nick tried to protest but it was no use against Brian and the other guys. He finally stopped struggling and just went along with it even though his heart felt heavy. He sat down in the front with the others and slouched in his seat with his arms crossed.
Soon the competition began. The first one up for the woman's side was Dominique Moceanu performing to Ricky Martin. He tried to sit back and relax but he couldn't because on the other side of the floor were the gymnasts and he couldn't see if Elena was there because of the lighting. He glanced around trying to see if there was anything that would show him if Elena was there, but there was nothing.
Soon Dominique finished and the first competitors for the men�s side came on. For the Men�s side were the twins Morgan and Paul Hamm. After they finished on came Shannon Miller. Nick tried to settle down. Maybe Elena wasn't here at all. The announcer went through a few more names. Nick shrugged. Oh well I guess she isn't here.
But as soon as he began to relax, the announcer announced the next gymnast. Nick almost didn't hear her name. But from the look Kevin gave him, Nick knew the announcer had announced Elena Produnova.
Nicks eyes fell on the floor. There she was, dressed in a black out fit. They said she was performing to Zoro. He recognized her routine as her Olympic routine. She was just as great as always. But this time she looked different. Now she had blond hair. He wondered what else was different.
She finished her routine, waved to the crowd and ran off the floor. Nicks heart beat so fast; it felt like it was going to pound its way right out of his chest. Quietly, he snuck his way over to where the gymnasts were. He saw Svetlana and Aleksei sitting with Elena. He made his way over to her. She looked up and saw him coming. Her eyes grew wide and showed pure shock. Her small hand flew to her mouth.
Aleksei gazed at her concerned. He put his hand on her shoulder the looked up. That was when he saw Nick. He jumped up and ran over to him and gave him a hug.
"Nick, it's great to see you again!" Aleksei gushed.
"Yeah man. It's great to see you too," Nick said, happy that Aleksei hadn't changed at all. He was just as fun loving as he always had been and his smile was just as bright.
"So I take it you want to see Elena?" Aleksei asked with a smile.
Nick blushed. "Yeah actually I do. That is if I am allowed."
"Don't worry," Aleksei told him. He grabbed his arm and led him over.
Elena played with her now short blond hair. Nick couldn't take his eyes off of her as he walked the few feet to her.
"Elena." He said when he got to her.
"Nick," she responded.
They looked at each other for a few long moments before Nick reached out and pulled her into his arms.
"Oh Elena, it has been too long." He breathed into her hair.
"Nick?"
"Yes?" He looked down at her, unable to believe that she was with him again.
"Is is it possible that after all this time that, um, maybe you can still love me?"
He looked down into her eyes.
"It is more than possible, Elena, for ever since I left, I have never stopped loving you. Not even for one single moment."
She cast a bright smile up at him and he brought his lips down to hers for a welcome back kiss. They didn't want to pull away, but she had to because it was time for her to get ready for the second part of the competition.
She changed into some black pants and a white jersey that said on the back Produnova 10. Her song was the woman�s version of "Who Let the Dogs Out".
(Authors note: the reason I changed her hair color and later on you will see the few other changes is because this chapter was kinda based on the actual rock'n'roll competition a few months after the Olympics. Elena had cut her hair dyed it blond and went through a few other changes while in America. some facts I have used here were from the actual competition)
After the competition was over, Elena came out with Svetlana and Aleksei and walked over to Nick who was waiting for her with the rest of the guys.
"LET'S GO CLUBBING!" A.J. shouted.
They all laughed at him, agreed, and made their way out.
Chapter 8
They arrived at the club and right away AJ went out to see if he could find himself a girl to dance with. Kevin asked Svetlana to dance and the others went out to get a table. They stopped at an empty table in the middle of the crowded place, but Nick wanted to spend some time alone with Elena so he took her hand and with a smile to the rest, he led her to a table in a dark corner.
They sat down and looked at each other for a few minutes then Nick spoke. "I like what you did with your hair. Anything else different?" he asked.
She stuck her tongue out at him showing off her new tongue ring.
"Aww, he said, "You got your tongue pierced."
She nodded. "Yeah and a couple of tattoos."
He smiled at her. "Gosh I missed you so much." He finally added.
She cast her eyes down. "Yeah Nick. I missed you too. It was really hard for me, and then after we lost touch..." she trailed off looking at the dance floor.
"I guess that would be mostly my fault," Nick said feeling guilty.
She looked back at him. "Oh no Nick, it wasn't all your fault. You had your music, I had my gymnastics touring." She glanced away from him.
Nick frowned.
"What's wrong?" he asked, but before she could answer him, his worst nightmare came.
He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around. His eyes grew wide as he came face to face with his ex girlfriend Mandy. After losing Elena, Nick had made the mistake of dating Mandy to try to get his mind off of Elena.
He sighed deeply. "Hello Mandy," he encored.
"Hello Nicky." she purred in her soft, husky voice.
"Is there something you need?" he asked.
"Just you out on the dance floor with me," she requested.
Nick sighed again. He was about to tell her no when he heard the sound of a chair being thrown back. He turned around quickly just as Elena jumped up and ran away from him. Not even bothering to say anything to Mandy, he took off after her. There was no way he was going to let her get away from him. He looked all around when Aleksei ran up to him.
"If you are looking for Elena," he told him, "she ran out the door."
Nick thanked him and took off after her. He threw open the door and was hit with a blast of cold air. He looked each way and chose to go to the left. He ran around the corner and saw her leaning against the wall crying.
"Elena," he whispered as he slowly walked to her.
He took her into his arms and hugged her as she cried. He didn't say anything, but after a moment, he led her for a short walk in the park near by. When they got there, he led her over to a tree and sat down with her. He took off his leather jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders.
For a moment, he smiled at her, seeing how it was practically 10 sizes too big for her. Then he lifted her chin so she was looking at him.
"We need to talk ok?" he asked.
She nodded and he began his story about him and Mandy. The story took a little over half an hour and by the time he finished, they were both in tears. She looked up at him.
"I'm so sorry Nick. I had no idea that was what happened. That she did that to you. How can anyone be so heartless?"
He looked at her. "That doesn't matter. All that does is that you are back in my life and we are together again."
She smiled at him. "Together again."
"This time I don't plan on ever letting you go for anything."
She hugged him tighter. "I don't plan on it either."
They held each other and gazed off at the starry sky.