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RECAP: ***Slowly, [Nick] drifted off to sleep, thinking about how much he needed sleep so he could feel better the next morning.***
"I'm not calling him," Lauren said sternly to herself, as she sat in her hotel room alone, two days after she had gotten back from her run-in with the teenagers. She had cried that night.....not because she was scared of what these kids might do, but because she was upset about the whole situation. She was upset that she had to go through that, just because she was friends with them...she was closer with AJ then any of them ever perceived.
Lauren felt terrible. She had tried to put the whole thing out of her mind, but she had screwed up. She had screwed up the moment she met him by not telling him they were siblings right away.
She knew he was going to call.....that one of them would call. It was inevitable. She had become close with these boys in such a short span of time; closer than she was with almost anyone. It was going to be tough to try to tell them she couldn't hang out with them anymore.
********************
Nick heard the doorbell ring from his bathroom, but couldn't get himself off the ground to answer it. "Fuck," he whined, grabbing the toilet and puking again. After he was done, he attempted to stand up, which resulted in only minor dizziness.
"Nick!" his mother called from downstairs, "Brian's at the door!"
"Coming!" Nick called back wearily, as he wandered out of his room, down the stairs and to the front hall. He was aware he probably looked like crap, but couldn't do anything about it.
"Hey Frick," Nick said, as he stepped off his staircase, "what up?"
"Damn Nicky," Brian said, scrunching up his forehead, "what's wrong? You look sick!"
"I just woke up...." Nick lied, running his hands through his hair, "plus, I think I'm getting a cold...but besides that, I'm okay."
Brian nodded, and continued, "Well I just came by to tell you we have a meeting this afternoon....and I also wanted to know if you've talked to Lauren recently?"
Nick shook his head, and had to bite his lip to hide his smile, despite the fact he was a little under the weather. "AJ said he wanted to call her, but since we haven't seen her in a while he thinks something is wrong," Brian finished.
Nick shrugged, hoping AJ wouldn't call her. "No, I haven't spoken to her....maybe I'll call her today?" he offered. Brian and Nick continued talking, and then Brian went his separate way.
Nick made his way back up to his room. He collapsed onto his bed with a huge sigh. The fact was, Nick had a humongous crush on Lauren.....and every time he saw her it just got bigger and bigger. The day that AJ had told them all he had a thing for her, Nick's heart had almost broken right
then and there, but he was determined not to back down.
"Why is it, just because I'm shyer than AJ, I'm always the one left in the dust?" he asked an empty room. He longed to tell Brian, but he was afraid of what he'd say. He was scared that he would accuse him of trying to steal AJ's girl.
The thought of Lauren entered his mind, and he smiled. So, she was three years older than he was.....what did that matter? The first day they had met, Lauren had told him he looked older than 17. That day he was convinced she liked him.....now he wasn't so sure.
He looked at himself in the mirror. He had dark circles under his eyes and looked like shit. "Nothing's wrong with me," he said, convincing himself, "I'm just worn out....all I need is some time off to relax."
*************************
"Hello?" Lauren said wearily, as she picked up the phone, almost positive it was AJ. It was. "Lauren," AJ replied, "why haven't you called? Is something wrong?"
It had been officially two whole days since she saw the boys last, and already she was miserable. She was miserable because she was hiding from the truth. "No, no," Lauren answered, putting on her best fake voice, "it's just that I had to, um, visit some relatives out here." It wasn't completely a lie, but it was pretty damn close.
"Oh," said AJ, "well, guess what? Tomorrow we're leaving on the bus to Tampa....we reserved your seat, that is if you're still coming?"
AJ's voice was so sweet and caring, she almost broke down then and there, but she kept herself composed. "Yeah....that is if you still want me there?" she said back, smiling through the phone.
"You bet I do," AJ answered, and he told her times to meet. Despite herself, she hung up the phone quite excited. Her initial plan was to try to tell AJ and the boys that she couldn't go to the concert, and slowly try to break away, but it was too hard. Something was drawing her closer and closer. Thinking about the concert made other feelings slowly disappear.
***********************
Nick bit his lip as he tried to control himself. His body was shaking again, but this time they were in Lou Pearlman's office in a meeting....it wasn't easy.
He started to break a sweat, but no one in the room seemed to notice. After Brian had shown up at his house, he hadn't thrown up again, but he also hadn't eaten. At this meeting, however, he was starting to feel nauseous again.
"So, if no one has any questions, I guess that's it!" Lou announced, as everyone stood up. Kevin started talking, but Nick couldn't stand it any longer. He mumbled something about being late for another appointment, and dashed out of the room, ran down the hall into the bathroom, and threw up in the toilet.
As he sat there, tears streamed down his cheeks. "Nothing's wrong with me," he cried to an empty bathroom, "I just have the flu."
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