Chapter 23

“Hello?” asked Nick.

“Hey, what’s up?” asked Samantha.

“Oh Sam, hey, nothing.” said Nick as he looked over at Brian who as staring at him.

“Kissy kissy time to make up……” said Brian as he started humming “I’ll make love to you” by Boyz II Men.

“Uh hang on a sec, let me beat the shit out of Rok.” said Nick as he threw a pillow at Brian, hitting him in the head, “What time is it there?”

“A little after 8.. I’m sorry, Megan fell asleep.. you know 8 our time is when we call you but she’s asleep.” said Samantha.

“Oh.. all tuckered out?” asked Nick.

“Yeah Lizzie took the class to the library today and then to the park so she was all tired.” said Samantha.

“That’s cool.. I bet she had fun.” said Nick.

“Yeah.. she did. She said she had something to tell you but I guess you’ll find out tomorrow.” said Samantha, “So what are you doing?”

“Um me and Rok’s just sittin here on the bus chillin before we go on in to get ready for the show. What about you?” asked Nick.

“Just sitting here, nothing’s on TV.” said Samantha, “So are you guys coming home for Thanksgiving?”

“Nope.” said Nick… “We’re stuck over here…”

“That sucks…” said Samantha, “I’m going to my parents for Thanksgiving.”

“That’s cool that you’ve gotten everything sorted out with them.” said Nick as he looked over at Brian and made a weird face.

“Yeah.. I’m glad I did.” said Samantha.

“Uh yeah..” said Nick, “I better go, we’ve gotta get on in there… but tell her to call me a little bit earlier tomorrow night alright.”

“Okay, have a good show.” said Samantha, “Bye.”

“Thanks bye.” said Nick as he hung up, looking at Brian.

“Ohh.. no Megan talk tonight?” asked Brian.

“She was asleep so Sam called to tell me.” said Nick.

“Uh huh..” said Brian.

“Yeah dude it was, come on man.” said Nick as they started off of the bus.

Samantha sat there on her bed in her bedroom, as she sat the phone down on it’s hook on her nightstand. She just sat there, almost in a daze thinking about Nick. She wondered if he’d ever give her a second chance and even though it had almost been two weeks since they had found each other again, it wasn’t looking good.

Samantha reached for her notepad that was laying up under her pillow and looked at it and started to laugh.

“What, write a letter to him, saying “Oh Nick, I love you… blaaahhhhh that’s more worse than anything else i’ve ever written.” she laughed as she put it back under her pillow when her phone rung.

“Hello?” asked Samantha answering her phone.

“Hey Sammy, it’s Brian.” said Brian as Samantha looked in shock.

“Hey Bri… what’s up?” asked Samantha.

“Nothing much…. um I know you just got off the phone with Nick.” said Brian.

“Um yeah… so..” said Samantha.

“Answer this…” said Brian.

“Uh oh..” said Samantha.

“You’re being mighty nice to him since after all you just blew him off almost two years ago exactly.” said Brian.

“For Meg…” said Samantha as Brian interrupted her.

“Yeah.. you’re like him you use Megan as an excuse.” said Brian.

“Brian, I don’t know what you’re talking about okay….” said Samantha.

“AJ told me.” said Brian.

“Oh well you can tell him I won’t tell him anything else.” said Samantha.

“He’s not going to tell Nick.” said Brian, “You should though.”

“I’ve tried, he doesn’t want to talk about it. I can’t make him.” said Samantha.

“He’ll come around… are you sure this is what you want now, what if.. I mean what if he doesn’t?” asked Brian.

“Do you think he still wants us?” asked Samantha when there was a silence on the line.

“Yeah.. Megan is all he can talk about.” said Brian.

“What about me?” asked Samantha.

“You’re name comes up in there sometimes.” said Brian as Nick walked into the room, “Okay Leigh, baby, I gotta go okay…. take care of Tyke and Litty for me..”

“Huh? Oh Nick in the room?” asked Samantha.

“Yes baby.. I love you too.” said Brian.

“Aww Brian.. ok man bye.” said Samantha.

“Bye baby.” said Brian as Samantha hung up and started to laugh.

“He’s whack..” said Samantha laughing as she leaned back on the bed, “Well atleast I know I have those four behind me…. now I just need Nick…”

“Uhh….” said Nick the next day as he walked out of his hotel room, still half asleep, putting a baseball cap on backwards to cover-up his hair that he hadn’t brushed.

“Nick we’re going to a press conference.. look descenet.. if I see you wear that damn Xzibit sweatshirt again I’m gonna shoot ya.” said Kevin.

“Yeah that was sooo last season.” said AJ making fun of Nick, “Damn ya wore it everywhere last year.”

“Kevin get a haircut, AJ, just go natural man.. alright I got on a shirt up under here shit it’s cold.. I’ll take it off when we get in there for the press conference.” said Nick.

“I should hope so.” said Brian, “Wake up man, did you stay up late last night?”

“Yeah..” said Nick.

“Phone with Sam?” asked Kevin.

“Hell no.. I was writing.” said Nick as they looked at him.

Nick sat in the van on the way to the press conference, dreading having to go at all. He was damn tired for staying up so late, and honestly, he just hated these damn things. Kevin and Brian usually did all of the talking anyway, and how many times can you answer the same stupid questions? On top of all of that, in Europe, the fans were more apt to ask more personal and weird questions, and much more likely to freak out when they saw the boys. His ears hurt just thinking about it. He just wasn’t up to dealing with all of it today.

“Nick, you might as well wipe that pissy look off of your face. You already know that these press conferences are part of the tour,” Kevin said.

Nick just sat there, not looking away from the window.

“And don’t forget that disgusting sweatshirt,” Brian chimed in.

Nick closed his eyes, hoping that the next few hours would pass by quickly.

“NICK!” AJ yelled loudly, making Nick jump in the air and turning around to let AJ have it.

Just when Nick was about to say something, Howie, AJ, Kevin, and Brian all looked at him with the same big cheesy grins on all of their faces.

“Morons,” Nick said, rolling his eyes and smiling a little himself.

The five guys and their entourage all filed into the press conference room. After the usual fan screaming and snapping of tons of pictures, they all settled into their seats to answer questions.

Nick sat there bored, but trying to look like he was happy to be there. He shivered, swearing under his breath for taking off his sweatshirt. Why did these hotels always have to have the air cranked down?

Nick looked up when Brian elbowed him in the side, noticing that everyone in the room was looking at him.

“Umm, sorry, could you repeat the question please?” he asked, trying his best to seem interested.

“Sure, I wanted to ask you about that new song from the movie “Magic”. I heard on the radio that you wrote that. Can you tell me how that came about?” the young girl asked.

Nick sucked in his breath and answered, “Yeah I wrote that for a friend of mine, Samantha, a few years ago when she was going through a hard time. I didn’t know that it was going to be released until recently.”

“Samantha? The same Samantha that went on tour with you a few years ago?” she asked him.

“Umm, yeah,” Nick stammered, “That was when, uhhh that’s around the time I wrote it.”

“Oh, well I love the song, it’s absolutely beautiful,” she said.

“Thanks,” Nick replied, giving her a smile and sitting back in his chair letting his breath out. “That wasn’t so bad,” he thought to himself.

The press conference continued on, all of the guys getting to answer the reporters and fans. It lasted a little longer than expected, but after an hour and a half they all decided to wrap it up.

They said their goodbyes to everyone in the room, and went straight to the venue for a sound check.

“Guys, go on out,” Kevin said, to AJ, Brian, and Howie. “I want to talk to Nick for a second.”

“What’s up?” Nick asked, looking at Kevin after the other guys went to the stage.

“Just want to make sure you’re okay,” Kevin said.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Nick asked.

“You know, the questions about “Rain” and Samantha at the press conference,” Kevin said, “Since you told me everything that happened between you two a few nights ago, I just wanted to make sure you’re alright.”

“Dude, I’m fine,” Nick said, “I can’t spend the rest of my life crying over her. I have this tour, my family, and I’m just over it. We were friends once, and maybe we can be again one day. She isn’t my whole life you know, it doesn’t bother me anymore. I really feel like that’s in the past now. I love Megan, and love seeing her, but I think that’s where it ends for Sammy and me.”

“You’re sure?” Kevin asked, skeptically.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Nick said firmly, and Kevin knew that he meant it. “Let’s get to work,” he said, going out to the stage for the sound check.