Chapter 11

Knocking. Who the hell would be knocking at his door now? Nick frowned and snuggled closer to the warm body holding him tight, ignoring the continuous rapping he could hear in the distance. Tara…he was holding Tara…he ran his hand down her back, smiling when he heard her sigh in her sleep. He opened his eyes to look down at her in the sparse light, wondering if whoever was knocking would just stop if he continued to ignore them. He didn't want to get up…this felt so good…why didn't she want him?

Fuck. They were still knocking. Fine. He carefully slid out from under the covers, trying not to wake Tara up, and left the bedroom, realizing only then that it wasn't a knocking on his door. It was pounding…. "WHAT?" He asked in frustration as he yanked the door open, his eyes widening when he saw Kevin's hand raised to strike the door again.

"Oh Nick, thank god you're all right," Kevin breathed a sigh of relief, and grabbed Nick in a hug. "I was so worried…"

"You were?" Nick was still half asleep, and pulled away from Kevin, looking at him questiongly.

"Did you find him?" AJ ran down the hall, stopping in his tracks when he saw Nick. "Oh thank god," he ran a hand through his hair. "You scared the fuck out of us, blondie."

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" Nick looked from AJ to Kevin, before shaking his head and walking back into his room. "I was sleeping, man, why'd you have to go and wake me up?"

"Kevin got a phone call," AJ explained, following him into the room.

"And?" Nick threw himself down onto the couch, and looked at AJ dimly.

"The guy was singing again," Kevin shuddered, and sat down across from AJ. "I guess it's our next clue."

"And?" Nick said again. "Guys, I'm really tired, don't make me guess."

AJ sighed, and recited, "Deep within my soul, I feel, nothing's like it used to be."

Nick frowned, "and exactly why did you decide to come pound on MY door when you heard that?"

"Jesus, Nick, what song is that from?" Kevin asked him, shaking his head slowly. "Think."

Nick's face paled, and he slumped down on the couch. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh," AJ sighed, and looked around the room, his eyes widening when he saw the empty spare bedroom across from them. "Um, Nicky?"

"Yeah, Bone?" Nick asked tiredly.

"What'd you do with Tara?"

Nick looked at AJ, "huh?"

"The bedroom she was supposed to stay in, it's empty, man," AJ pointed.

"Oh no…" Kevin breathed, standing up and walking towards the bedroom. "What…"

Nick started to laugh, and shook his head quickly, "calm down, Kevin, she's fine. She just didn't sleep in there."

AJ grinned widely, and reached over to smack Nick's back. "Very good, Kaos, so you got some, eh?"

Nick rolled his eyes and shrugged off AJ's arm, "not quite."

"Ok, well, then I'm confused," AJ frowned, and looked at Nick closely. "If she ain't in there, and you didn't get any, where is she?"

"She's right here," Tara walked into the room, laughing when AJ stared at her in surprise. "What's up? It's a little early, isn't it?"

"I had a phone call a little while ago," Kevin explained, sitting down in a chair with a heavy sigh. "I was pretty worried about Nick."

Tara sat down next to Nick, smiling when she saw his face turning bright red. "Why were you worried?"

"Nicky here didn't answer the door," AJ said, looking from Nick to Tara curiously. "You SURE nothing happened? How noisy were you, not to hear Kevin banging on that door?"

"Positive," Nick groaned, shaking his head. "God, could you embarrass me any more, Bone?"

"I was asleep," Tara said softly. "So was Nick."

"In the same bed?" AJ asked pointedly.

"Jesus, AJ," Nick smacked his own forehead with his hand. "Will you stop it?"

Tara chuckled, and touched Nick's knee lightly. "Relax, Nick. Just because AJ's not mature enough to understand just being friends with a girl doesn't mean that you have to feel bad for it."

Kevin snickered, "ouch, Bone, she got you."

"Bite me, Train," AJ grumbled, frowning at Nick. "I still don't get it…"

"Not to break this up, because you know, it's a blast and all, but seeing as I'm alive, can you please leave?" Nick stood up, glaring at Kevin and AJ.

"Yeah," Kevin stood up, and waved for AJ to do the same. "We'll talk about this in a couple of hours, you should try to get some more sleep before then. We just needed to make sure you were ok."

"What are you doing here, anyway," Nick looked at AJ, frowning. "If Kevin got the phone call…."

"When you didn't answer your door, Kev came looking for you in Howie's room, thinking maybe you went to check on him," AJ replied. "Then I got kinda nervous too, I mean, you didn't answer…."

"How is Howie?" Tara asked.

AJ shrugged, "sleeping like a baby. That's Howie, he'll sleep through anything, anywhere."

Nick stood up, waving towards the door. "Yes, that's Howie, now will you two leave?"

"Going. Leave the door unlocked though, would you?" Kevin asked as he left the room.

Nick walked them to the door, and closed it behind them with a loud sigh, heeding Kevin's advice and keeping it unlocked. Leaning up against the back, he turned to look at Tara, smiling meekly. "Sorry about that…"

"Your friends were worried about you, that's sweet," Tara smiled. "Nothing to be sorry for."

"I mean AJ," Nick clarified, blushing again. He ran a hand through his hair as he walked back to the couch. "He's an idiot."

"I told you, no big deal." Tara's expression became serious, and she looked at Nick closely. "So, what I didn't hear them say, is why they came here in the middle of the night, beyond that they were worried about you. WHY were they so worried?"

"Oh," Nick frowned, sliding down in the couch to get comfortable. "Kevin had a phone call, the guy sang to him."

"What did he sing?"

"Deep within my soul, I feel, nothing's like it used to be," Nick sang softly, running a hand through his hair. "That's not my part though."

"What song is that?" Tara shivered, and pulled her knees up into her nightshirt. It was cold in the room, or at least, colder than it had been under the covers in the bedroom a few minutes ago.

"You're cold," Nick remarked, waving to her to move closer to him. "Come here."

"Nick," Tara looked at him hesitantly. "What…"

"I'm not gonna make a pass at you, Tara, I just don't want you to freeze on me, ok? Come here," He insisted. When she slid over to his side of the couch, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his chest. "See? Just to warm you up." His other arm slid over her stomach, and she could feel the heat radiating off of his palm through the thin fabric of her nightshirt.

"Just to warm me up," Tara said softly, her eyes fixed on his hand on her stomach. His touch was so soft, so gentle…and she felt so good being held by him… She shivered again, and snuggled closer to him.

"Hmm, let's try this," Nick moved around and lay down, stretching out his legs on the couch. He maneuvered Tara around until she was lying almost on top of him, her face resting on his chest, his arms locked around her waist. "How's that?"

"Warm," she whispered, feeling completely snug and warm in his embrace. "This is nice." Nice…and god, all too comfortable…WHY was it all men seemed to sleep in their underwear? Hadn't anyone ever heard of pajamas? Snuggling with a man dressed in nothing but boxers was just so…intimate…

"Good," Nick replied, not noticing Tara's cheeks flushing as he rubbed her back.

"So, what song was that line from?" Tara asked, gasping softly when she felt Nick slide a leg in between hers. She could feel every inch of his body against hers through her nightshirt, and was definitely feeling warmer because of it. "What?"

"Just getting closer," Nick told her, putting a hand on her hip to pull her into him. "There. Maximum body warmth."

"Right," she nodded into his chest. So that's what they were calling this now….body warmth. She wiggled her hips slightly, feeling a hard lump pressing into her pelvis. Funny, she was used to calling it something else…

"Tara," Nick said in a pained voice, his hand sliding up her back and into her hair. "Why…"

"What song was that, Nick?" She interrupted him, looking up into his eyes.

Nick sighed, "Quit Playing Games With My Heart."

Tara's eyes widened, and she looked at him sadly, "Games. So that's why they thought it was you."

"You said he wants me to live out a game, right?"

"That's what he said," she replied, looking into his eyes. Even in the sparse light in the room, she could see the bright blue staring down at her, wow, they were beautiful… When Nick didn't reply, she turned away, resting her head on his chest and sighing heavily. "I want to stop him, Nicky," she whispered.

"I want to stop him too," Nick agreed.

Tara felt him playing with her hair, and smiled, beginning to relax in his arms. She reached around and slid an arm around his waist, her fingers trailing over his stomach. "This is nice," she admitted softly, tracing circles over his soft skin.

Nick's breath caught in his throat, and he shifted uncomfortably under her, his hips pressing into hers as the lump grew. "Yeah, it is," he agreed in a timid voice.

Tara smiled, hearing Nick's heart begin to beat faster. She turned her head and pressed a gentle kiss to his skin, hearing, and feeling, his chest heave as he gasped. "We should get some sleep," she whispered, her arm wrapping around his waist to hug him.

"I'm not tired," Nick replied softly, his breath beginning to grow ragged. Feeling her up against him like this was torture, he knew it, and he was near positive she knew it too. What was she doing to him… A helpless groan left his throat when he felt her hips press into his, and he looked down at her with wide eyes. "Tara, what are you doing?"

"Getting sleepy," she murmured, closing her eyes and snuggling close. "You?"

Getting frustrated, was what he wanted to reply, but he just sighed, and kissed her forehead. "Same."

"We're gonna stop him Nick, I know it," Tara said in a sleepy voice, squeezing him tight for emphasis. "I won't let him hurt you."

Nick stared down at her and bit his lip. "Thank you," he whispered, not knowing what else to say. A week ago he hadn't even known who this girl was, and now…. "Thank you so much."

Tara's grip on Nick's waist loosened as she fell asleep, her mouth dropping open as her breathing deepened.

Nick's eyes remained fixed on her, and he continued to play with her hair, still fighting the feelings raging through his body at the feeling of her close to him. "Tara, what are you doing to me," he whispered softly, staring at her in awe. On the one hand, he wanted to run far away, so terrified was he over what this guy was threatening to do to him, yet on the other…he wanted bury his head in her hair and stay there forever. "I'm not a pretty boy," he yawned, closing his eyes and leaning his head back. "Not a pretty boy," he repeated for emphasis, before he too, fell into a deep sleep.

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Nick was in the middle of a nice, happy, dream when he became aware of someone talking in the room around him. He listened with his eyes closed, wondering if he was still dreaming.

"They look cute together."

"They're not together, not like that."

"Why not?"

"I dunno. Why should they be?"

"Nicky hasn't been with a nice girl in a long time…."

"A NICE girl? Come on, Brian, it's the bad girls who are all the fun…"

"Will you two shut up?" Nick grumbled, slowly opening his eyes to look up at AJ and Brian. "What the hell are you two doing in here?"

"Watching you and Tara in dream land," AJ snickered, gesturing to the brunette still fast asleep on top of Nick. "Friends don't sleep like that, Carter."

"Shut up," Nick frowned, and looked down at Tara, running a hand through her hair gently. "Tara? Wake up…"

"Man, she's a deep sleeper, isn't she," AJ remarked, sitting down and watching Nick try to wake her up. "Should we call her Kevin?"

"What about me?" Kevin walked into the room, laughing when he saw Nick lying on the couch with Tara. "You two still asleep?"

"You could have called to wake me up, you know," Nick muttered, rubbing Tara's back. "Tara? Baby? Wake up…"

"You did not just call me baby," Tara's eyes fluttered open, and she looked up at Nick with a half smile. "Baby?"

"Tara?" He smiled meekly at her.

"Do I look like a baby?"

"See? I told you they're not together," AJ told Brian, a smirk on his face.

"What's with the crowd?" Tara sat up on the couch, rubbing her eyes as she looked around the room. "Never saw two people sleeping before?"

"Nick's door was open," Brian said apologetically. "We figured we'd come in and wake him up."

"It was unlocked, not open," Nick argued, frowning as he sat up. "And only because Kevin told me not to lock it."

"We'll let the two of you wake up and get dressed?" Kevin laughed, and waved at Brian and AJ. "Meet us in my room for breakfast, ok?"

"Yeah, whatever," Nick grumbled, watching as they left. "Sorry about that," he said to Tara once they were gone, standing up and stretching. "They have no concept of privacy."

"That's ok," Tara shrugged. "You guys are obviously close, I think it's nice."

"I guess."

Tara yawned and stood up, smiling at him. "You make a great pillow, Kaos, I slept really well."

Nick returned the smile, "yeah, so did I." He looked at her and bit his lip, wondering if he should say something else.

An awkward silence fell over them as each stared at the other, neither sure exactly what they wanted to say, but both positive they wanted to say….something….

"Nick, last night…" Tara started, before stopping. "I…" she looked at Nick, and smiled uncomfortably.

"What?" Nick moved closer to her, running a hand through her hair before cupping her face in his hand. His thumb ran over her cheek, and he bent his head close to hers, staring deep into her eyes. "Tara?"

She stared back at him, wondering why in the world she suddenly felt so out of breath. "I don't know," she said softly, turning away. "We should get dressed."

"Yeah," Nick sighed. "Kevin's going to be waiting."

Tara walked into her bedroom, mentally kicking herself for her reaction to Nick's touch. He was a goddamn pretty boy, right?

She was never, ever, attracted to pretty boys. Especially not pretty BACKSTREET Boys.

But then…why did her heart feel like it was about to pound out of her chest? And why was she fighting a strange urge to run back out into the room and throw herself into his arms?

"Goddamn pretty boy," she muttered, closing the door and getting ready to take a shower and prepare for the day. "Damn pretty boy."

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