Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty - Two
“Hey Elisabeth,” Joe Don said as Nick looked up at him, reached over and put his arm around Elisabeth, “You two are dating now?” Elisabeth just sat there, not knowing what to say really. She just looked over at Faith and Tim and then over at Nick before looking back at Joe Don.
“Yeah we are,” Elisabeth said as she looked at him and then over at Nick, and then back at Joe Don, “We dated in the past,” Joe Don looked over at Tim and Faith, telling them hello and looked back at Elisabeth.
“Then I guess asking you out again is out of the question?” Joe Don asked as Aaron cracked up laughing and Nick elbowed him. Tim and Faith looked over at Elisabeth and she looked at them, before looking over at Nick.
“Yeah it is, I’m sorry.” Elisabeth said as she looked back up at Joe Don as he smiled, and nodded his head a little, before walking back over where the other two members of Rascal Flatts were sitting, “Well damn,”
“Well,” Nick said as he sat back in his chair, wanting to laugh, but kept a distinguished smirk on his face, “That was highly entertaining,” Elisabeth looked over at him as he flashed her a cheesy grin, and then leaned up, kissing her on the cheek, “Come on, you know you enjoyed it.”
“Not when I have to show him around Daytona Beach for that special,” Elisabeth said as she rolled her eyes, looking down at her hand, “I still wish they would have let it been one of the others.”
“Yeah,” Nick said as he looked over at Aaron who was checking out some girl that walked by, “God Aaron, could you be any more horny than you already are?” Aaron just smiled in return, leaning back in his chair.
“So,” Faith said as Elisabeth looked over at her, “You think he’s the one now, for sure?” Elisabeth smiled, wanting to giggle but yes, she was able to contain herself.
“Yes, I really do,” Elisabeth whispered, “And you’re talk we had really helped me come to that decision. I made this list at work when I’m bored. It’s things that I love about him and so far I’m on number seven hundred and twenty three I think,”
“Wow,” Faith said as he started to laugh, “Yes, okay I would say he is your one,” she said as Elisabeth sat back in her chair smiling. She looked over at Nick who smiled back at her, and reached over, putting his hand on top of hers. She looked down at their hands while biting down on her bottom lip, and looked back at him. She smiled and then looked back up on the stage, watching the stage hands get ready for the show to begin.
Elisabeth looked over at Aaron, laughing at him for a minute until one of the stage hands walked up to her and Nick, telling them that they needed them backstage now, because they would be presenting the next award, after Shania’s performance and a commercial break. Elisabeth told Andrew who was sitting behind her and Nick to watch Aaron while they were gone, and Aaron shot her a bird in return, going back to lusting after Shania.
“Nervous?” Nick asked as they walked to the backstage area. Elisabeth looked over at him and took a deep breath, nodding her head yes and smiled, “It’ll be okay. I mean, you’re used to it.”
“Yeah I am, but not in front of like every country singer imaginable,” Elisabeth said as Nick laughed a little, “It’s a little stressing,” she whispered as she looked over at some guy who was watching them as they walked up to the side of the stage where the presenters walked through. The stage hand told them to stay there until they heard their cue, and then handed Elisabeth the card that told the winner, “I don’t really want to go to any after party tonight. We should go home and pack for Daytona and rest because this is going to be going late tonight and our flight leaves at seven in the morning,”
“You’re right,” Nick said as he looked over at her. He looked down at her arms, and then to her hands, thinking about when was she going to actually tell him ‘yes’ and wear the ring he bought for her.
“Nick come on,” Elisabeth said as she reached over for his hand, practically dragging him away as their names were being called to present the next award. They walked out slowly, still holding hands as everybody applauded for them.
Nick began speaking, saying whatever was on the teleprompter for him to stay, but Elisabeth really wasn’t paying attention. She looked out over the audience because she had never been in that position before. She looked out to see Aaron, Faith, and Tim watching them. Then she looked over some to see Brooks & Dunn, Rascal Flatts, Martina McBride, and Alan Jackson. It was almost like everybody and their cousin that was in country music was there, and they were all looking at them at the time. Suddenly for some odd reason, Nick leaned over, kissing her on the lips slowly and she heard everybody scream and applaud. She had no idea what he just said or why he was kissing her.
Nick backed away from the kiss and Elisabeth blinked her eyes, looking around, and then back at the teleprompter. She began reading what she was suppose to stay which was some flirty comment about how good Tim McGraw looked in his tight jeans -
“I look better in tight jeans though right baby?” Nick asked as Elisabeth cut her eyes over at him as everybody laughed. He gave her this hot, sexy smirk that could have made her jump him right there on stage; she refrained herself.
“I don’t know about that,” Elisabeth said as she looked back at his butt and then looked back out at Tim, “Tim, you’ve got some competition,” Everybody laughed at that as the video of the nominees came up on the huge screens in the arena and they all watched it. Elisabeth looked over at Nick who looked at her, giving her this shit eating grin that was so cute it looked like a little kid smiling when they did something wrong. The video of the nominees ended and Elisabeth and Nick stood back in front of the microphone.
Elisabeth sighed as she opened up the envelope to see the winner. She showed Nick who the winner was, and he laughed and she went up to the announce the winner for the Most Stylish Video: Tim McGraw, “She’s My Kind Of Rain”. Tim leaned over, kissing Faith as he made his way up to the stage, shaking Nick’s hand. They said a few words to each other that Elisabeth couldn’t understand and he walked up to her, kissing her on the cheek and hugging her as the trophy girl brought him his award.
Nick and Elisabeth moved back a little, standing to the side as Tim said his thank you’s, mentioning how cute of a couple they were. Elisabeth didn’t understand the big fuss about it all. So what? She had a boyfriend now. So what if he just happened to be a Backstreet Boy and have a solo rock career? She wanted to roll her eyes at it all, but since it was Tim McGraw that said it, she thought she would keep her eyes in tact, and not roll them.
“Oh shut up,” Elisabeth said as she stood up, looking down at Nick who was still sitting down. Tim and Faith had left thirty minutes earlier so that they could get home before it got too late, “Nick, you still alive?” He just sat there, not saying anything, “Nick?”
“I have never been exposed to so much country music in my entire life,” Nick said as he stood up, and Elisabeth laughed at him, “Remind me why I hate it so much,”
“Because I love it so much?” Elisabeth asked as she wrapped he arm around his neck, “Let’s go home,”
“Home? Man, I wanted to go party,” Aaron said as he rolled his eyes, “You guys are like a old, crippled couple,” Nick and Elisabeth just laughed at him.
“Your flight leaves at 6:30 in the morning. We have to be at the airport by atleast four for all the security crap,” Elisabeth said as Aaron rolled his eyes, “It’s already 11:30,” she said as she reached over, putting her jacket back on when someone walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around to see Gary from Rascal Flatts standing there, “Hey Gary,”
“Hey, just wanted to say hey and that we’d see you down in Daytona Friday,” Gary said as he reached over, shaking Nick’s hand, “Nice to meet you, I’m a really big fan of your work,”
“Really?” Nick asked as he looked at Elisabeth with a confused look on his face, “I like your stuff too,”
“Cool, so we’ll see you in Daytona Elisabeth!” Gary said as he turned around, to walk back to the other guys. Elisabeth stood there, shaking her head a little and looked back over at Nick.
“I like your stuff too?” she asked, mocking Nick as he rolled his eyes, “Aren’t you the one that always tells me to turn that ’shit’ off?” Aaron laughed and elbowed Nick a little who pushed him in return.
“I was being nice,” Nick said as he rolled his eyes, “Come on, let’s go. This country shit is rubbing off on me,” he said as Elisabeth shook her head and started to walk down the isle, with Nick and Aaron following her.
“Not all you want to rub off on you,” Aaron muttered as Nick elbowed him really hard in the side, “OWW!!”
But now everybody knew.
She crossed her arms, rubbing them slowly as she looked back over at Nick. He was singing some weird song in the shower that sounded strangely like Toby Keith’s “Courtesy Of The Red White And Blue”, but she knew Nick wouldn’t be singing a country song, would he?
Elisabeth stood up, and walked over to the stairs, walking down them slowly to hear Aaron singing along with some Britney Spears video that was on MTV at the time. She laughed and he stopped when he realized she was coming down the stairs. He started to turn a little red and turned the channel when Elisabeth walked away from the stairs, going over to the sofa and sitting down at the other end.
“You left my brother alone?” Aaron asked, acting as if he was in shock, “I’m seriously in shock over here. I better call the press,” he said, reaching for the phone as Elisabeth slapped him on the arm lightly, “I’m joking.”
“I’m sorry I’ve been so busy while you’ve been here. It’s just things have been kinda hectic at work and stuff with the awards tonight, and then this special in Daytona that came up out of the blue,” Elisabeth said as Aaron cut his eyes over at her and looked back at the television, “Did you atleast have fun tonight?”
“Yeah,” Aaron said as he looked at her, nodding his head a little, “I mean, it was different. Not everyday I get to hang around people in cowboy hats,” he said as Elisabeth laughed a little, “Plus seeing you and my brother make complete asses out of yourselves was like yo, funny man,”
“We didn’t make complete asses out of ourselves did we?” Elisabeth asked as Aaron looked at her, “Just, I was nervous. I’m not good with people in front of that many people. Hosting a TV show and being on stage in front of all of these artist you love and admire, it’s a little intimidating -”
“I mean with how much he loves you,” Aaron said as he looked back at the TV and shrugged his shoulders, “Even after you two broke up and he started dating that bitch, he never stopped talking about you. He told me he just dated her so that he could try to move on, but it didn’t work,”
Elisabeth sat there looking at Aaron as he talked, wondering why Nick made it seem like he dated her to have someone to sleep with. Him and his brother talked about everything, including sex, and if that was true, he would have told Aaron that.
“He said you guys decided to just be friends and he didn’t want that, but he went along with it because that’s what you thought was best,” Aaron said as he looked over at her, “I’m the one that talked him into trying to get back with you,”
“You were?” Elisabeth asked as Aaron nodded his head to her. Elisabeth smiled a little, looking at him as he looked back at the television, “So he didn’t use her for sex? That’s what he told me, that he just didn’t want to sleep around, so that’s why he went with her,”
“He used her to try to get over you,” Aaron said as Elisabeth watched him, looking at the television still, “He bought that ring about a year and a half ago because he was going to break up with her then, and ask you but he was too scared that you would say no. So finally he got the nerve to do it,” he said as he looked back over at her, and then back at the TV, “He loves you so much, and wants to be with you so bad that I just don’t want to see him get hurt again,”
Again?
“Again?” Elisabeth asked as she sat up on the sofa more, looking at Aaron, “What do you mean again?” Aaron looked at her and rolled his eyes, standing up from the sofa to go back into the guestroom as Elisabeth turned around on the sofa, sitting on her knees, “Aaron, what do you mean again?”
“You hurt him when you told him that you only wanted to be friends. Now, can I take a piss?” Aaron asked as he walked over to the bathroom and shut the door. Elisabeth sat there in shock, turning around to sit back regularly.
She hurt him?
