The early morning rays
pierced through the silent room, awaking me from my horrid nightmare. I dreamt that I
went to a party and... Wait. Aren't we not supposed to feel the aftermath of our
sleep? My head pounded with each heartbeat, feeling as thoughsomeone were
hammering away at my temple. I brought my handsto them to try and ease the pain, but
the soreness of mymuscles was almost worse then my throbbing head. My breathcaught
in my throat as I tried to open my heavy eye lids. But when I took in the sight next
to me, I knewit had happened had to have been a nightmare.
Nick lay at my
side- shirtless. I took one frightened lookdown at myself. I was wearing only my panties.
I started to scream, frantically pulling at the sheets to cover myself.
Nick
jumped straight up "Huh, what?!". Oops, big mistake. He shouldn't have made such
a rash movement. Taking his head in his hands, he looked over to Eli who was till
screaming.
"Nick, oh my god, what did we do?!" I shrieked, my breathragged
and panting.
Nick looked at her, then at himself "I think
we..."
"Oh god no" I cried, pulling the blanket over my head. I felta pressure
on the bed, followed by Nick's arm placing itself around my coveredbody. I waited
for him to say something- anything. But no. I started tpfeel woozy from the lack of air
under the sheet, so I poppedmy head back up
"Nick, we couldn't have..." I
trailed, my view blocked by my longbrown hair. Once again, nothing. "NICK!" I scram,
losing patience. All hehe could do was squeeze me tighter.
"It's okay" I heard
him say weakly. Not very convincing.
I peeked at him through the strangs of
my hair. He appeareddeep in thought. What could he possibly be thinkin... "Holyfuck,
BRIAN!!" I shouted, bounding to my feet "My god Nick,what about
Brian?"
He looked up at me. His eyes said it all.
Not caring about
my lack of garments, I continued to ramble "Brian! I cheated on him! I love him! I
cheated on him..."My eyes grew wide as I pointed down at Nick with an accusingfinger "I
cheated on him with his best friend! I had sexwith his best friend... with you. YOU!!" I
shouted.
"Calm down!" Nick finally interfered, standing up and once again
taking me into his strong arms "We'll figure things out"
I shoved him away,
and he fell to the floor. Thankfullylanding on his feet "Nick, what are you talking
about?" I scram, tangling myshaking fingers in my unmanaged hair "We slept together!"
I looked down at the bed and took in a deep breath "And...and wedidn't use
protection. I don't see anything here" I cried,falling to my knees.
Nick held
me firmly to his chest "Shhh... don't cry", hesoothed. "We can think this through... We
don't have to tellBrian about it just yet. It was just a mistake". Those wordsechoed in his
head painfully. To him, this had not been amistake. Her worm tears drizzled down his
torso. He sighed "Itdidn't mean anything"
"You're right" I sniffled, "It didn't
mean a thing" I felt relieved saying that "But we still did... did... 'it'. And I can't lie
to him"I pulled away from him to see my red dress crumpled on the floor. "This night
was supposed to be his" I whispered, picking it up.
"Eli, put that on" he said
softly "We'll get dressed, andget the hell out of here".
Nick felt entirely
responsible for letting this happen. But the problem was, he couldn't even recall what had
happened last night. Seemed to him he would have remembered having sex- most of all
with his Angel. After all, he'd been dreaming about it for so long. He pulled his shirt over
hishead and looked at her from the corner of his eye.She was so beautiful... even all
chewed up the way she was.
"Nick"
"Yes!"
"We need
to stop at the drug store on the way back"
Nick eyed her strangely
"Why?"
I put my shoes on, trying to keep my balance. Damn, werethey ever
high. "Because, well" this was embarrassing to say "We had sex,and we didn't use
anything. So, um, I, well, to avoid havingwell... I want to get the morning after
pill"
The gravity of the matter hit Nick right there and thenlike tone of
bricks."Ok" he agreed awkwardly.
They both proceeded downstairs in search
of a phone, and carefully made their way through the heap of still slumbering
guests.
"Need help?"
We both turned to face a spiky haired guy.
He looked familiar "The phone please" I asked politely.
He smiled and
extended his arm "I'm a friend of Laurel's-,Michael. We met last night"
"Oh!"
I exclaimed, my face flushing. I forgot about her, and Ididn't even want to begin to
imagine what he thought of us.
He grinned again "If you're looking for a lift, I
can giveyou one. Laurel left her bag here last night, and I'd liketo bring it back to her.
Can take you guys along..."
"That would be very kind of you, Thanks" I
smiled.
Michael nodded and glared at Nick. The twolooked hung over, that
was for sure. He took the hand bag, and out they were. On the way back, they
stopped at the drug store like Eli had requested, but sh neglected to tell him why.
**Meanwhile**
Brian sat on the hard floor Indian style, nervously playing with Nick's N-64. Eli hadn’t come back last night, and he had
no idea where on earth she was. He hadn't told anyone about it, because didn't want to worry anyone just yet.
In the meanwhile, Becca was plaguing his conscious. How could he face the woman he loved after having kissed another the night before? He sighed
hopelessly, pausing the game just as the phone rang.
"Hello?" he answered, rubbing his tired face with his bony
hands.
"Bri, it's Kev" the deep voice said.
Brian leaned back on the bed "What's up?"
"Not much. Have you seen Nick?"
"No man, sorry."
"Where the hell is he? He's been missing since last night!"
Brian sat up abruptly "He didn't leave with you guys after
the party?" he asked loudly
"No. Nick, Eli and Laurel weren't there by the time we left.
I called Naila, and she said that Laurel is back, but she's
still asleep. Maybe Eli would know" he suggested.
"She's not here either" Brian panicked "Where the hell are
they?"
Even though Kevin was just as worried as Brian, he tried to
keep his cool
"Don't worry man, I'm sure they're fine. Laurel was with
them... she would have said something it anything serious had happened."
Brian wasn't so convinced, but he still went along with Kevin's proposal "Yeah, guess you're right"
"We have to get to the venue early today. A.J is back in
Florida" Kevin said, not wanting to press on with explainations.
"How come?"
Kevin scratched his head and took a deep breath "Amanda had a
drug overdose. She's in a coma. He's with her."
Brian gulped "Oh man, poor Bone" he said recalling how much his friend cared for his girl.
"I hope she's gonna be Ok"
At that moment, Brian heard rattling at the door "Kev, gotta
go."
He watched as Felicity walked in.
He quickly stood up and hugged her. "Baby, you look
terrible. What happened?"
The words had left his mouth before he could even process them. The sight of
her creased dress, mangled mane, and pale face blotched with day-old make up.
Not baring to look at him, I pulled away "I had a long night" I mumbled. I felt so dirty and cheap.
"I'm going to take a shower"
Brian let himself drop to the bed once he heard the water
running. He wanted so much to scream "I'm sorry!!! I cheated
you". But he couldn't. Although it would ease his conscious,
it would only break her.
**Same Time**
"Laur, honey, wake up" Kristy whispered, nudging her.
Laurel grumbled and pulled the pillow over her head.
Kristy slapped her ass.
"OUCH!!" Laurel yelled, taking one hand out to rub her behind
"Go to hell"
Kristy giggled "Someone's here to see you"
"I don't care" she said childishly, her voice slightly
muffled by the pillow.
"Well I do" she heard a male voice say.
Laurel looked up opening her sleepy eyes "Michael?!" she
said turning a bright shade of red "What are you doing here"
"You forgot this yesterday!" he smiled dangling her hand bag
with his index finger
"And I also drove your friends back" he said a little less
enthusiastically.
"Thanks" Laurel said glaring at Kristy who stood behind him
making kissy faces
There was a long silence. "Well then, I guess I'll see ya
around" Michael said making his way to the door.
"Hey" Kristy called back "Wanna come to the show tonight?"
she shot a playful look at Laurel who sat up, her jaw
hanging.
"Yeah, sure" Michael said with a grin forming on his lips.
"Give your name at the door, they'll let you in" Kristy
said.
He looked back, and waved before leaving.
"What you do that for?" Laurel yelled leaping out of her bed
"Oh re-LAX" Kristy said waving her hand "Just being friendly
with the guy. Don't pretend you didn't want me to"
"I didn't!!" she said unconvincingly. Kristy gave her a look
of disbelief
"I hate you!" she said laughing.
**Later That Day**
After a long and boring plane trip back, Alyssa took a cab
directly to the concert arena. She knew that the others were
already there for an early rehearsal, and she didn't want to
waste any further time. Accompanied by her bodyguard, she made her way inside and was led directly to the Backstreet dressing room. All
eyes turned to her as she walked in.
"Lyss!" Naila shouted, running over to take her in a bear
hug.
"Whoa" Alyssa coughed, trying to push her away "A little too
happy, aren't we?"
By this time, she was already surrounded by Kevin, Howie and
Kristy.
"How's he holding up?" Howie asked with concern evident in
his voice.
Alyssa sighed "When I left, he was speaking with Amanda's
parent's. He's a little shaken, but I think he'll be fine. He
told me he'd be here for the next show"
Kevin grinned and sat back down on the couch. He watched
Naila converse with Lyss for a few moments and then turned
to Howie.
"Dawn" he said simply.
Howie smiled "Yeah, I know. She's back in the picture"
He thought a while "Don't you find her a bit odd?"
"How so?" Kevin asked.
"I don't know. Something's weird about her. I can feel it.
She's got some sort of mysterious air to her" he
confessed.
"You're making too much of it man" Kevin reassured "She's
probably just shy"
Howie laughed "A manager- shy? These people are ruthless."
he sighed "I'll just have to wait and see"
"So, what about you and Naila?" Howie teased "Looks like you two are getting
somewhere"
"Very slowly"
Both turned to see Alyssa standing infront of them "She told
me about it. Why don't you just ask her out?" she sugested before walking away.
Alyssa giggled to herself as she made her way to the
washroom when she was intercepted by Brian
"Eli's in there" he said abruptly.
"Sorry!" she apologized, eyeing him strangely. "Has she been in
there long?"
"She came down with some sort of stomach flew. She's been
throwing up all day"
Alyssa wrinkled her nose in disgust "Eww. I'm gonna see how
she's doing" she said opening, the door and quickly shutting
it after herself. Brian didn't even try to stop her that
time.
She looked down, only to find a weary looking Eli leaning on the toilet bowl
with one arm.
"Are you Ok?" she queried, kneeling down to her.
I looked at her and forced a grin on my face "Not really.
But who cares. How's A.J?"
Alyssa was sick and tired of hearing people ask her how he was. Didn't
anyone care about how she was doing? "He's fine" she spat
coldly.
"Wanna talk about it?"
She looked at me queerly. "Can I trust you?" she asked.
"Of course". I just hopped I wouldn't up-chuck in the middle of
it...
Alyssa stood up and hopped onto the sink "Before A.J found
out about Amanda, he was about to kiss me".
"What?!" I choked "But he loves her".
Like I was one to talk...
"I know." Alyssa said bluntly "I haven't told anyone. And he
seems to have forgotten about it. Like if nothing happened"
"Well..." I was about to say something when my stomach
flipped and I vomitted again.
Alyssa leaped down right away and held my hair back. I
moaned as I flushed the toilet for what seemed the millionth
time that day.
Alyssa smiled supportively when she caught a glimpse of
something in the waste basket. She took the box out and
gasped "Eli, you took the morning after pill" she said,
astonished. She then laughed "No wonder you've been barfing. You and Brian
must have been in a rush, huh?"
I winced at her comment. Brian. Once again, I felt
nauseated and in the bowl I went. What I would have done to have
taken the pill because of Brian.
"No"
"No what?" Alyssa repeated.
I knew I could trust her. I had to tell someone, and it
might as well be her "Nick and I went to a party, got drunk,
and well..."
"No way!" Alyssa shrieked
I nodded as tears began to weld in my eyes "God, what have I
done? This isn't me" Alyssa tried to place an arm around me
but I only brushed it off "Please, just leave me alone. I
thought that telling someone would help, but it hasn't" I
blurted in tears "I have to sort things out myself".
Alyssa nodded and left the bathroom. Everyone in the
dressing room seemed to be busy, so she left unnoticed. At
first, she didn't know quite where she was headed till she
heard a grumbling sound. She patted her stomach "easy girl"
and headed to the cafeteria.
Once in the cafeteria, Alyssa bought a salad. She
paid mindlessly and picked at it for a while,
discovering when she sat down, alone in her thoughts,
that she really wasn't all that hungry anyway. What
was she going to do? It hurt so much.
"Life sucks,"
she mumbled. Not only was she in the shit, but so was
everyone. She took a deep breath and a sip of her
milk, then screwed up her face. Even the liquid making
her stomach churn with unhappiness. She knew she just
had to get over it. Him. "Life sucks!" she exclaimed,
a little louder, and aimed her full carton at the
waste bin across the room. It made an arc and landed
perfectly. "Yay for me" she muttered, then jumped as
she felt a hand on her shoulder and a voice say, "Nice
shot. Care to share that life sucks policy with me?"
She turned around to see Nick. Immediately all
thoughts of her problems disappeared when she saw his
face. Man, he looked rough. His skin was pasty, his
eyes sunken. Any of that could be put down to his
hangover, but the pain and anxiety flaring in his eyes
came from the soul. Lyss was a very intuitive person,
and she knew something was really going on here. She
hadn't missed the way Nick looked at Eli either.
"Sure" she smiled. "Sit down."
Nick sat and slumped in the seat.
"Rough night?" Lyss laughed. "You look like you've
got a major hangover."
"You could say that." Nick sighed. "You're right.
Life does suck."
"It sure does" Lyss replied glumly, "But why for
you?"
He stared into her inquisitive green eyes. Nick
suddenly felt an overwhelming need to confess all, to
take this great burden he had been carrying to
someone. He knew he could trust her. Should he tell
her?
She made the choice easy for him. She patted his
hand, and said softly,
"Eli told me what happened with you and her last
night. You want to talk about it?"
Nick closed his eyes for a second. "Yes. I mean No.
I mean yeah, why not? No. Definitely...I don't know!"
He laughed weakly. "I don't know what to do." He
lowered his head and banged it against the table. "I'm
so confused."
There was silence for a moment. "Nick..." Alyssa
began gently, "You like her, don't you?"
Nick's head shot up. "NO!" He stuttered. "I mean,
she's a beautiful girl and all, and great person, but
she's my best friend's girl and I don't, I can't..."
"Can't what?" she probed. "Nick, you can trust me.
I don't miss things like this often. I can see it all
in your eyes. Can't what?"
"I can't be in love with her," he mumbled.
"I know how that feels." Lyss inhaled sharply.
Nick looked up again, distracted from his thoughts.
"For what it's worth, I think Amanda's a bitch," he
offered softly.
"Thanks." There was another silence. Lyss shook her
head, not wishing to get into detail. "What are you
going to do?"
"I don't know." Nick first wished to stop the room
from spinning. "What would you do?"
Alyssa blinked hard. "God, I don't know. I guess
I'd be straight with Brian. I know it's going to be
hard," she continued earnestly, "But if there's any
chance of salvaging your friendship, you should take
it. He deserves to know the truth, and I'm sure he'd
do the same for you."
"Yeah," Nick's blue eyes were full of pain. "But
would he do the same thing to me?"
Lyss shrugged apologetically, then noticed Nick had
gone deep into his own thoughts. Patting his shoulder
gently, she left the table, leaving him staring off
into space. She knew it was up to him now.
Poor Nick and Eli, and Brian, what a mess it was.
And Nick was so hopelessly in love with Eli. He
deserves to be happy, Lyss decided, wondering if Eli
even knew that Nick was in love with her. She doubted
it. Eli only saw what she wanted to see sometimes. Her
heart went out for her three friends, and Brian, who
was the unsuspecting pawn in this whole disaster.
Deep in thought, she exited the caf, falling in
step behind two of the dancers, Lou and Lindsay. She
heard them chattering, but dismissed it, knowing they
were probably just gossiping about one of the other
dancers. Wait. Her ears pricked up when she heard
Brian's name. What could they be talking about Brian
for? Unless...her heart began to pound. What if the
dancers had found out? She focused her hearing very
carefully.
Lou giggled and turned to Lindsay. "So he's been a
very bad boy!"
"Yep. But it's so strange, I mean, one minute he's
madly in love with Eli" Lindsay pronounced the name
clearly, as Alyssa shook her head in disbelief, "And
the next Tori sees him all over some mystery girl!"
"Yeah, but you can't really take what Tori say..."
Lou drifted off with a laugh, "You know her, she
probably exaggerated!"
Lindsay shook her head frantically "No, she was
real specific, Brian had his tongue down her throat
all right!"
"Wonder if Eli knows," Lou pondered, "He always
seemed so nice. And they made such a cute couple!"
"Well, I guess you never know," Lindsay shrugged.
While they moved onto the next hot gossip, Alyssa
was in a total state of disbelief. She half wished she
hadn't heard anything. She couldn't believe Brian. He
always seemed so faithful, then again, so did Eli.
Lyss thought it over a couple more times; then decided
not to say anything to Eli. It would only make things
worse; she should find out in her own time.
Yeah right, the unsuspecting pawn, who would have
thought it? She hated to think what she would find out
tomorrow.
A Special THANK YOU To Alyssa Morgan (the real one) For Helping Us Out With This Chapter! Please Go And Check Out Her Amazing FanFic: I Wanna Be With You.
