Chapter 37
“God,
you have no idea how much I’ve missed him, too.”
Kevin
walked Ciara up to his house, opening the door.
Suddenly she felt like she’d just entered Cheers Bar.
“CIARA!!!!!”
AJ, Howie and Brian turned from their places at the counter where they’d been
helping themselves to some drinks.
“Hey
guys.” She plopped her bag against a chair and made her way over, trying to
hide her disappointment in Nick’s absence. “Whatcha servin’?”
“Whatsyer fancy? Kev’s got it all covered here.” Brian
leaned in and softly kissed her cheek.
“Mmmm…I’ll
take a rum and coke…diet coke, please.” AJ immediately started mixing
her drink while Howie came around the bar for his welcome hug and kiss.
“How
have you been?” he whispered in her ear holding her tight.
“Doin’
okay right now. Thanks.” They pulled away from one another spending an extra
moment in one another’s eyes, sharing their secret talk, their secret bond. It
had been almost 2 years since that talk at Disney, but just as he promised,
Howie had remained a quiet friend when her health gave her a scare. No one knew
of their occasional phone calls after doctor appointments or when she was
feeling too achy to get up and go to work. If Ciara
had it her way, no one ever would.
“There
ya’ are, ma’am. One rum and diet coke. He’s got snacks and shit out by the
pool.”
“Okay,
thanks…” Ciara took a sip of her drink, keeping
silent that this 19 year old knew how to mix one so well.
“He’s
in the bathroom, Ci…he’ll be out in a minute.” AJ
winked at her as he made his way outside, knowing full well why she was still
shelled up. She wasn’t there for them. She was there for Nick. Wasn’t hiding it
too well either.
“Want
a little tour? I’ll show you your room for tonight.”
“Sure,
Kev, but I don’t think Nick and I will be staying.”
“Oh,
okay…I just assumed. Alright, well, let me show you around anyway.” He took her
by the hand and led her down a darkly lit hallway where the boys’ rooms were.
THERE’S where the mess was! Although not all of them so. She figured the tidy
one was Kevin’s. He just seemed like a neat-nick. Back down the hall waving
hello to the other guys, they made their way to the game room and studio area.
Amazing. There was a small rehearsal area, a small recording studio and booth
and of course games.
Finally
returning to the party, Ciara was beginning to worry
about Nick. Was he sick? Just about the time for her to ask again, he lumbered
out of the first hallway, not realizing she was there. She just stood and
looked, no…gaped at him. It had been 10 months since their goodbye’s at Parc. And 10 months on a 17 year old boy did amazing
things.
In
general, he had just bulked up. Thicker neck, fuller face, lines of maturity
etched on it like those of a sculpture’s work, his body was catching up with
his hands and feet. And his smile? Where was it? He looked up and across the
room. Ah…there it was.
“Ci…oh God, you’re finally here.” He practically ran to her,
swallowing her up in his arms, lifting her up, spinning her around and burying
his face in her hair. Her hair? “You’re letting it grow out again! I love it!”
He finally set her down and held her back at arms length just soaking her in.
He truly didn’t think he’d ever see her again when they’d said goodbye. Sure
their words said differently, but he just decided to never expect it. That way,
when moments like this did come, he’d be thrilled beyond belief. And he was.
And she was.
“Thanks…I
looked like a poodle with it all short.” She pushed up at the bottom of her
curls, thrilled it was growing out so quickly. Of course she’d cut it for Bill.
He didn’t like getting smacked with it at night. Tough. He was lucky she just
didn’t smack him. “Nick, you look…you’re all grown…my God.”
“Eh,
I’m not done yet. Come here, I’ve got a little something for you.”
He
took her by the hand back down the hallway she and Kevin had first visited,
yanking her inside one of the messier bedrooms. Big surprise. She couldn’t take
her eyes off of him. He was so tall, so…big…and yes, she could tell he wasn’t
quite done yet. He was stunning.
“Have
a seat. I gotta dig it out here.”
She
pushed a pile of clothes on the bed to the side and had a seat. Nick was bent
over a chair digging through a huge nap sack. She watched as his arms flexed
moving clothes from side to side in the bag…he had visible arm veins now. When
the hell did that happen? Maybe she’d just never noticed. He looked strong…no
longer scrawny. This was disturbing.
“Ah!
Finally! Here we go. It’s not much, but uh…here.” He handed her a beautiful
crystal bowl filled with wrapped candies. “Sugar free. I found ‘em in
“Me
either…it’s beautiful.” She pulled the bow off the bowl and popped the lid,
stealing one of the red candies. Hopefully it’d be raspberry…her favorite.
“Want one?”
“Eh,
no…something’s wrong with my stomach today…”
“Oh,
I’m sorry. You okay?”
“I
think so. Feel fine…but…in fact, heheh…excuse me.
I’ll be back.” Nick made a quick escape to the bathroom and Ciara
popped a candy in her mouth, taking her dish outside to add to the offerings
for snacks. After dinner “mints.”
“Hey…thought
we’d lost you. Where’s Nick?” Brian had another plateful of food. Two since
she’d arrived. How did he stay so thin? Men.
“Bathroom
again. Screwed up stomach, I guess.”
“Yeah,
he’s been a mess all day, poor kid.”
Ciara took a seat on the couch, bopping AJ
on the feet to get him to scoot over so she could nuzzle between he and Howie.
“Move it, Bone.”
AJ
scooted over, but not before sliding his hand, palm up on the couch where her
ass would land. Her butt hit ground and was immediately pinched. “Aiiigh! AJ….you perv. Remove your hand from my ass…now!”
“Aw,
man…I was trying to cop a quick feel…”
“You
copped it. Now stop it.” She stole a potato chip from his plate and stopped mid
bite. “Wait……a ……minute.”
“What!?”
There they go again. Four guys, four voices. In unison. They were good.
“How
much of that candy did Nick eat on the flight back here today?”
“Uh….we’re
talkin’ Nick here. You probably got half of what he bought.” Brian wasn’t gonna
cough up the fact that he’d had a few pieces too.
“Oh
Jesus…he ate that much today?”
“Well,
no, I’ve seen him nibblin’ on it since he got it, but
yeah…he had a lot today. Why?”
Ciara couldn’t stop her laughter from
bubbling over. That “poor kid” was right.
“What,
Ci? What’s so damned funny?” Now Kevin was curious…
“That’s
sugar-free candy. After 3 or 4 pieces, those with the strongest of stomachs get
the shits. He’s gotta be miserable!”
There
they went…all of ‘em. Laughing at poor Nick’s expense. They figured he couldn’t
be sick, sick. He was fine in between runs to the john. But he had definitely
had a time of it on the plane, barely making it from the airport to Kevin’s
house and ever since they’d arrived.
“What’s
so damned funny?” Nick finally reappeared, wiping his wet hands on his shorts.
Ciara was the first to “surface,” wiping
her eyes from the tears of laughter. “Oh…hi. Uh, nothin’ hon…how’s the tummy?”
Laughter started again, although this time Ciara was
able to keep a straight face…well, a crooked straight sort of face. She was
trying anyway which was more than anyone could say for the other four.
“What!?
It sucks. What is so damned…CIARA!” Now he was pissed. Hands on his hips, he
was trying not to get sucked into the laughter, knowing he was the butt of it
all.
“I’m…I’m…woooo…oh boy. Okay…I’m sorry. Um, how ‘bout some fresh air?
Let’s go out back, huh?” Ciara got up, keeping a
finger and eye on AJ lest he do some booty grabbing again and led Nick out to
the back deck.
“Okay,
smarty…cough it up. What is so damned funny about my little problem here?”
“Uh,
Nick…hon…how much of that candy did you eat today?”
“Why?”
“Answer
me…I’m not your mama…no spankings.”
Too
bad. “Um…I dunno…I was nibblin’ on it all the way
back, why?”
“Honey…that
sugar free stuff is deadly to your intestines. You can only eat a few pieces at
a time. That’s what’s messing you up so bad.”
“Oh…God.
I mean, Ci…okay…um, I ate a lot of it.”
“Are
you nauseous?”
“No…not
really. Just cramped up and well…yeah…” A blush ran up his face and settled on
his ears, peeking out from his long hair. “What an idiot.”
“Nah,
just a growing boy who was hungry. Next time, go for the Snickers.”
“No
doubt. So, uh…how…oh hell. Hang on. Wait here. I’ll be back.” He rolled his
eyes and made a quick dash back to the bathroom. It was gonna be a long night.
Ciara sat and enjoyed the quiet and then
peeked her head inside thinking ahead of the drive home. “Uh, Kev?”
“Yup…we’re
headin’ back to play some pool…come on.”
“We’ll
be back in a bit…I do think we might be staying the night though. A drive to
“No,
probably not.”
“He’s
not gonna start barfin’ is he? I HATE that shit!”
“Nice,
AJ. I’m sure he’ll be lovin’ it if he does. And he might, so gear up, bucko.”
Ciara closed the patio door as AJ groaned
and slid down deeper into the couch. “I hate puke. He can not puke.”
Seeing
the foul look on AJ’s face, she re-opened the door. “Don’t worry, Dr. AJ. I’ll
take care of him. You just go play pool, okay?”
******~~~~~~******~~~~~~
“This
is embarrassing.” Nick came back out to the patio and plopped down in a lounge
chair, grimacing a bit at his aching behind. “Dammit.”
“I’m
so sorry, Nick…I really am. And I’m sorry I laughed. I guess…well, every
diabetic gets caught by it…I shouldn’t be surprised it could happen to
anybody.”
“You
know what’s even more embarrassing?”
“What’s
that?”
“I
didn’t even like ‘em all that much. Too damned sweet.”
Ciara couldn’t help but laugh at…with…him
again. And he was smiling. His color looked a bit better than it had when she
first came in. He’d be fine.
As
their giggling subsided, he looked over at her…really looked at her and
couldn’t believe she was here. Life was getting queer with management issues,
his mom going off the deep end with the stage mother routine, and now…their
success in the states. They’d just released their second single and it was sailing
through the charts, their album flying off the shelves. In two short months,
they’d finally be touring
She
felt his gaze on her and couldn’t stay away another minute. Getting up from her
chair by the table, she made her way to his lounge chair. “Curl those legs up.
I wanna sit with you.”
He
gladly did and there they sat. No words. Just breathing in the cool November
air, watching how it softly moved the other’s hair. His eyes had to have
changed or something in the past year. She never remembered them being so
sparkly, so expressive, so…wait a cotton pickin’
minute…
“What?
You’re lookin’ at me funny now.”
“Mmm-hmm…I’m
trying to figure somethin’ out.” She brushed a stray hair from his face and he
closed his eyes at her touch. She should NOT do that.
Damn,
it was so silky. “I like this long…wish my hair was soft like that.”
“Thanks…and
you have beautiful hair…Howie’s jealous of it.”
“He
is not…”
“He
is too! I heard him moanin’ one morning and in the
middle of it he said…I kid you not…’I wish I had Ciara’s
hair’.”
“Good
God…he can HAVE it. It’s a mop.”
“It’s
beautiful.” His eyes softened and his heart was about to beat clean out of his
chest. He secretly hoped she couldn’t hear it because it was all he could hear.
Even was louder than the whooping and hollering coming from the game room
inside.
They
continued to enjoy their solitude, this quiet time. God knew when they’d get it
again. A drive back to
“Ciara…you’re lookin’ at me all funny again…what is it?” You’re
makin’ me nervous, dammit.
“Something
is different about you. I’m trying to figure it out.”
“Oh…um,
I’m older?” Big cheesy grin.
“Thanks,
smart ass. No, it’s something else…it’s…wait a minute. Look at me.”
Gladly. Ocean blue
met emerald green and a smile spread across her face.
“Nickyyyyyy……”
“What!?”
“Nickyyyyyy…..”
“Jesus
Christ, woman…what!?”
“You…..”
“CIARA!”
“You
got your cherry popped, didn’t you?”
Blush.
Fast. Now. Red. Oh let me die right now. Ocean blue left emerald green
and bore into the weave of the lounge chair.
“Niiiiick…look at me…who was she? Where does she live? Come
on…cough up the dirt…” Ciara was now bouncing on the
chair almost tipping them both over.
“Calm
down…God, Ci…” Bounce all she wanted to, he couldn’t
look back up at her to save his life. No way. No how.
She
stopped her hyper behavior, surprised at his embarrassment. “Oh come on, Nick.
It’s to be expected. You’re 17. You’re a rock star. You’re beautiful. Groupies
deluxe. Come on…” Her eyes continued to beg for more information. Little Nicky.
Wow.
Finally
he looked up. “Okay, okay! Damn. I can’t keep anything from you, can I?”
“No.
It’s written in the rules. One time or is it a relationship?”
“A
short relationship.”
“One
girl…or did you just get started?”
“Ciara…god…”
“Yesssss?”
“More
than one…not at a time though. That’s AJ’s department.”
“Nice.
I’ll keep that in mind. So she’s no more?”
“No,
I’m not with anyone now. It’s just too complicated.”
“I
can imagine. Okay, so uh…I gotta ask…”
“Now
what? I don’t think I can take anymore.”
He
was cute when he was blushing. That little boy crept back into the picture. She
was MUCH more comfortable with him like this. The gorgeous stuff was getting
way too much to handle. “Was it all you wanted it to be? All you imagined it to
be?”
He
smiled and rolled his eyes, looking away again. “Um…it’s getting better? How’s
that?”
“Normal.
Welcome to adulthood, Nick. It’s nice to have you with us.”
“Yeah,
okay…whatever. Can we, uh…talk about something else now? I think I’ve been
totally humiliated enough tonight.”
“Wanna
go play some pool?”
“Yeah,
I wanna whip your ass at pool…no. Ping pong. Let’s go play ping pong.”
“Deal,
and Nick?” She stood from her edge on the lounge chair, offering him a hand up.
“Yeah,
Ci?”
“I
missed you like crazy. Thanks for inviting me.”
“You
kidding? I couldn’t take it anymore. Never again, Ci.
Never will we go this long between seeing each other again, okay?”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
******~~~~~~******~~~~~~
“You
feeling better finally?”
“Yeah…god.
What a mess that was.”
“Well,
now you know. One piece at a time, dear.”
“None.
Ever again. I’m not touchin’ that shit for as long as I live.”
“That’ll
work too. So, uh…what can I expect at the Carter’s? Your mom seemed fine enough
yesterday.”
“I
have no idea. She’s pushing Aaron like mad. Right now he’s fine, but…I dunno.
Something feels weird about it. Suddenly BJ is modeling, Les is trying to sing.
I feel like the Partridge Family.”
“At
least you’re the cute, older one.”
“Thanks.
That helps.”
“Sorry.”
Ciara scooted around the limo bench to sit closer to
her friend…her…Nick. Something besides his loss of virginity was different. But
she couldn’t quite figure it all out. Instead of wracking her brain, she curled
up next to him and let his arm wrap around her pulling her close. Details. The
rest was just details.
******~~~~~~*******~~~~~~
As
the limo pulled up to the Carter home, Nick nudged Ciara
awake. “We’re home.”
“Oh…good.
Okay.” She sat up and stretched, smiling shyly at her lovely pillow. He was a
beautiful creature…he truly was.
“Before
we go in…let me just apologize now for anything that may happen, okay?”
“Oh,
Nick. It can’t be THAT bad. I live with Bill, remember? This will be a
holiday.”
“Mmmm…doubting
that. Come on…let’s go find out what’s inside.”
***
