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***RECAP: 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."***
Lauren handed the money to the cabbie, and he drove away, leaving her in a huge parking lot. ‘This has got to be the place,' she thought to herself, as she gazed around at the two huge buses and people milling around. In no time she spotted AJ talking to a large group of people.
"Hey!" she said, walking over to him and giving him a big hug, "what's up? Are we leaving soon?"
"Whoah there, Miss Antsy Pants!" AJ exclaimed, putting his arm around her, "see that bus down there?" Lauren nodded as he pointed. "That's the bus we're going on....all the guys are there now, so if you wanna go there, I'll be there in a few seconds...I just gotta take care of some stuff first," he finished.
Lauren nodded again and smiled, as she walked toward the huge bus. The door was open, and she slowly stepped up onto the platform and into the bus. "Hey guys!" she announced, as the four boys looked up from whatever it was that they were doing. Lauren's mouth almost dropped open at the sight of this bus: it was humongous! It had a couple small couches, six small stowaway beds, and even a little TV!
"Hey Laur!" Brian said, standing up and hugging her, "glad you could make it!"
Lauren just beamed. She was so glad to be back with these guys....it seemed so weird when she wasn't hanging around with them. She greeted the other guys with hugs, but when she got to Nick, something made her wonder.
"Nick, are you all right?" she asked, stepping back from the hug and taking a good look at him. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said, for what seemed like the millionth time, "why do you ask?"
"You look really pale," she answered, "and you look thin.....like you've been losing weight or something."
Nick shrugged and averted his eyes.....he was glad AJ wasn't on the bus right now, trying to put the moves on Lauren right in front of his face.....but it worried him that Lauren thought something was wrong with him.
"Hey everyone....let's get going!" AJ announced, stepping up into the bus, interrupting Nick's thoughts. The driver boarded the bus, and it began to drive out of the parking lot, onto the freeway.
The plan was that they would arrive in Tampa that afternoon, perform a show that night, then leave the next night, leaving almost a whole day to relax in Tampa.
"Ooooh, what time is it?!" asked Brian excitedly, searching frantically for the remote control to the TV, "I think the basketball game is on now!"
"Yo, Rok, I never did hold you to that rematch," AJ countered, flopping down on the couch, "when we get back to Orlando, your ass is grass!" Lauren just laughed, as she sat down in between AJ and Nick.
"Yo Nicky, is our bet still on? I bet you twenty bucks that the University of Kentucky CREAMS North Carolina!" Brian said loudly, as the game began. Nick leaned over to he could see Brian in plain view and forced a smile. "You're on," he said weakly, as he leaned back.
Lauren looked at Nick while he watched the game. Something was definitely wrong....there were dark black circles under his eyes and his face color, which usually was very tan, was now pale white. She looked down at his arms and noticed how thin they were....and they were also shaking.
"Nick," she hissed, not wanting the other guys to hear her, "you're shaking!"
Nick's blue eyes got this pained look in them as he said, "It's fine don't worry....I always get this way before a concert...I'm just nervous...it's just nerves."
Lauren gave him a skeptical look, as she reached over and put her hand on his forehead. "Well, you're not warm," she mused, as Nick said, "See? I'm telling you, it's just nerves."
Lauren gave another skeptical look, as Nick tried to control the shaking. ‘Just please don't throw up,' Nick said over and over in his head. The last thing he wanted to do was throw up all over Lauren. He hadn't eaten anything that day....it seemed like every time he did eat, he always ended up throwing it back up anyway. He hadn't had a decent meal in days.
Nick managed to control himself until they got to Tampa. They got off the bus right at their hotel, and somehow Lauren had expected tons of fans to be gathered and waiting for their arrival, however there were only three girls there, and they only looked somewhat amused.
Lauren had told the guys on the bus about her encounter with the "stalker fans". They had laughed after she told them, but then become fairly serious. "Just make sure you don't walk for long distances by yourself," AJ had warned, "we don't want anything to happen!"
But by now, Lauren had pretty much put those girls out of her head, as the group made their way up to the tenth floor of the hotel. "We get our own floor?!" she asked, amazed.
"Yup!" answered Howie, "and you get your own room......I'm sharing with AJ, Nick's sharing with Brian, and Kevin's also by himself."
Lauren made herself comfortable in her room, then glanced at the clock. Their management had told them that they needed to leave her for the amphitheater by five, and it was already four thirty.
Lauren decided to go to one of the guys' rooms and ask if they needed to leave. She walked down to the hall to what she thought was Nick and Brian's room. "Guys?" she called, as she knocked on the door. No answer. "Nick?" she called again, "Brian? Are you guys in there?"
No answer again. She tried the handle to the door, and to her surprise it opened. "Brian?" she called into the room, "Nick? Can I come in? Are you guys decent?" Still, no one answered. She walked further into the room and heard muffled sounds from the bathroom. She knocked on the bathroom door, but there was no response.
"Nick? Are you in there?" she said through the door, as she pressed her ear against it, but she couldn't make out the sounds coming from inside. She opened the door slightly and gasped at what she saw. Nick was hunched over the toilet, and had apparently just finished puking.
"Oh God," she muttered, as she went to his side, "Nick, what's wrong?"
Nick whimpered, as he reached for the handle to flush the toilet. "I-I'm just a little nervous," he replied, shakily standing up, "but I'll be okay....." Lauren gave him the skeptical look she had already given him many times that day. She wasn't sure what it was, but something wasn't right.
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