Chapter One-Hundred-Seventy-Two
Meanwhile at the hair and nails place in town when Ashley, Denise, Sarah, and Marcus arrived there they parked the van in front of the hair and nails shop only to discover about a dozen girls standing outside. Ashley recognizes two of them from Wal-Mart the night before. Marcus glanced around at other shops in the area to see that it seems to be Backstreet Fans Day Out in Kentucky. He gave an exasperated sigh.
“How do they know these things?”
“They’re Backstreet Fans Marcus, they know all,” Denise answered and she couldn’t hide her amusement. She’s been a Backstreet Mom for far too long to be even remotely surprised.
“And two of them are the girls from Wal-Mart,” Ashley added as she unbuckled Sarah from her booster seat and took her gently into her arms. “Remember Marcus? We were putting on a show for them and they heard us making our plans.”
“Right…so what’s the plan?” Marcus asked while looking at Denise again.
“You’re going to stick to Ashley and Sarah like we planned and help her get through the mob. I can take care of myself…I’m an experienced Backstreet Mom. Ashley is new and exciting so they won’t even care about me in the first place.” Marcus nodded.
“Okie Dokie…sounds good,” he replied. “Are you ready Ash?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Ashley answered and he can hear the nervousness in her voice.
“It’ll be okay honey I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he reassured.
“Kay…” Marcus opened the door to the van and stepped out and he reached for her hand. When she let him take it he helped her out. When she was standing next to him he linked his arm with hers and began escorting her toward the shop and Denise got out of the van, locked it up and followed. As they walked Ashley could feel eyes on her and hear whispers all around. Then the next thing she heard were shrieks and screams and running footsteps and she could see teenage girls from all directions running at her like vultures. She could hear them shouting her name, some begging for autographs, some shouting questions at her, and others just plain being mean. Marcus quickly pushed her toward the shop while shoving clawing fans away and when he got to the door he opened it up and pushed her in. He allowed Denise to rush inside after her and then he shut the door and put all his strength in it to keep the door closed as the fans pounded on it. The employees and the few customers that they have looked at them with confusion and shock and some of them even have recognition on their faces.
“May I please lock your door? At least until it calms down out there? You have a girlfriend of a Backstreet Boy in your shop and those are some very anxious fans outside if you can’t tell,” Marcus asked whoever would answer.
“Anxious is an understatement…” he heard Ashley mutter.
“Yes go ahead,” a woman spoke up and Marcus, Denise, and Ashley could hear the delight in her voice. She rushed up to the counter to assist them and Denise stepped forward to speak with her while Marcus locked the door and then stepped away from it and he looked at Ashley with concern and found her standing there looking very scared out of her mind. Her entire body is tense and she is trembling as she holds Sarah close to her. Sarah has her arms wrapped around Ashley in a tight grip and is looking around the place observantly. The craziness on the way in doesn’t seem to have phased her a bit by the calm look on her face, but Marcus knows she is probably masking her fear as she always does.
“Are you okay sweetie?” he questioned and he wrapped her in his safe arms and hugged her and Sarah close.
“I’m fine…” Ashley insisted.
“No you are not fine…you are trembling.”
“It’s just going to take some getting used to, that’s all Marcus…it’s not a big deal.”
“It is too a big deal. Come sit down honey,” Denise insisted as she went over to her and she wrapped an arm around her and steered her over to the waiting area. “Yes it’s going to take some getting used to…I’m glad you are fighting it but it’s okay to be a little scared…its perfectly understandable,” she reassured as she helped her sit down.
“Would she like some water Ms. McLean?” the woman who Denise had spoken to earlier questioned and Denise looked at Ashley.
“Yes please, if it’s no trouble.”
“Not at all. We have a water dispenser back here with plastic cups…help yourself.” Denise got up and went across the shop where the lady had indicated toward the water and she poured four plastic cups full of water and she carried them all back to Ashley, Marcus, and Sarah and handed them out. Ashley took a few sips of water and then set the cup down on the little table that the magazines are on and she looked down at Sarah in her lap who was drinking her water quietly. She kissed her forehead softly and hugged her close to her.
“How long of a wait do we have?” she asked Denise when she had calmed down.
“Ten minutes. I’ve made appointments for us two to get our hair and nails done, and for Sarah to get her nails done too.” Ashley nodded and reached over to the books and magazines and she picked up the book called Green Eggs and Ham By Dr Seuss and she looked down at Sarah who was looking up at her and she gave her a small smile. Sarah smiled back.
“Want me to read this to you sweetie?” Sarah nodded eagerly and Ashley opened up the book and began reading it to her animatedly. Sarah snuggled into Ashley and listened intently to the story, every now and then giggling at her voices. She could feel eyes on her as she did from other customers and some of the employees, but it didn’t bother her. They were nowhere near threatening and she felt rather content in the little shop. Infact she could hear a few ‘awe’s’ from them as they watch her interact with Sarah. When she finished Green Eggs and Ham she was just reaching for One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue fish when she heard Marcus’ cell phone ring and him answer it. She paused to listen to him having a feeling she knows who it is.
“Hey Nick what’s up?” he asked into the phone, confirming her suspicions.
*Marcus’ phone conversation*
“Hey Marcus…is Ashley okay? I had a bad feeling and thought Id call and check on her…”
“Yeah she’s fine…we had a mob of young fans on the way into the shop and she was a little scared, but we managed to calm her down.”
“Oh jeez…how scared?” Nick asked and Marcus could hear the panic in his voice.
“Calm down Nick…she handled it well enough. She’s fine…she was trembling a little and was tense but other then that she’s fine.”
“She wasn’t crying? Wasn’t having a panic attack or anything serious like that?”
“I would let you know right away if she was.”
“Kay…can I talk to her?”
“Of course,” Marcus replied and he looked at Ashley who was already looking at him expectantly. He handed the phone over to her and she placed it to her ear.
“Hey Nicky, I’m fine please don’t worry.” She reassured.
“Are you sure? Cause I can come down there…”
“No you cannot,” Ashley replied firmly.
“But baby…”
“Nick I am fine. Please don’t come running down here…I have Marcus here with me. You need to be spending time with Dakota and not worrying about me okay? Please…”
“But…”
“Nicky I need this,” Ashley pleaded. “I need this independence. You are not always going to be around to come to my rescue; I need to learn how to deal with it when you aren’t around. I’ve been relying on you for the past few months…please step back and let me see if I can handle this one on my own, okay? I need to make the fans see that I am not hiding behind you...or using you or anything like that because I’m not.”
“If Sean’s goons attack…then can I come running?”
“Yes…but I want to see if I can handle the wrath of the fans all on my own. Will you do that for me?”
“Only because it’s important to you and I only want to make my baby girl happy…but I don’t have to like it.”
“Thanks Nicky…I will call you if I need you but I just really need to see if I can handle this one by myself.”
“Kay…are you in the middle of getting your hair or nails done right now?”
“No, but we will in a couple of minutes. We had to wait, but it’s fine because I was reading to Sarah.”
“Oh yeah? What were you reading?” Nick asked, and Ashley could hear the smile in his voice.
“Green Eggs and Ham. I was just moving onto to One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish when you called.” Nick chuckled.
“So I see you’ve discovered her love for Dr Seuss.”
“Mhm. She likes it best when I act out the characters,” Ashley replied as she hugged Sarah and Sarah smiled and rested her head against Ashley’s shoulder. Ashley talked with Nick for a few minutes more until Marcus spoke up.
“Hey honey I know you’ve forgotten we’re all here and all but you’re sitting in the middle of the hair and nails shop and my phone bill is going to be pretty big if you don’t wrap up the conversation.” Ashley rolled her eyes playfully.
“Gotta go Nick, Marcus is having kittens.” Marcus raised his eyebrow.
“I don’t have kittens…I have dragons. Big scary dragons.” Ashley giggled and Marcus could hear Nick laughing on the other end.
“All right baby, I will let you go then. I love you…”
“I love you too.”
“You promise me you will call me the very second you need me?”
“I promise Nicky.”
“Okay…bye.”
“Bye,” Ashley replied and she turned Marcus’ phone off and handed it to him. The moment she did the lady that Denise had spoken to earlier called her over. Ashley handed Sarah over to Denise and then got up and went over to her and she sat in her chair.
“So…what’s first? Hair or nails?” The lady asked and Ashley couldn’t help but notice how shy she suddenly got.
“Hmm…whatever you feel like doing first is fine with me,” Ashley answered back kindly.
“You have very gorgeous hair…” She commented as she raked her fingers through her hair. Ashley beamed.
“Thanks.”
“What are you planning on doing with it?”
“Well I was thinking about coloring it…but I’m not sure what color yet.”
“I have a book of hair color samples that you can look at…and even a book with all kinds of hairstyles to choose from. Would you like me to go get them?”
“Yes please, that’d be very helpful,” Ashley smiled and the lady beamed and walked off to retrieve those items she had offered. Ashley looked at Sarah, Denise, and Marcus in the mirror and she saw Sarah had settled herself in Denise’s lap with the back of her head rested against her chest. She seems pretty content where she is at though she hasn’t taken her eyes off of Ashley at all since she handed her over to Denise. It’s almost as if she fears that Ashley is going to go somewhere without her. Ashley smiled at her reassuringly and Sarah smiled back. When the lady came back with the books Ashley looked through them and soon decided on what she wanted and it wasn’t long before the lady was working on her hair. Soon enough Denise was called over to the lady working at the station next to Ashley. Denise brought Sarah over and placed her in Ashley’s lap.
~*~*~*~*~
“Nick, she is fine.” Brian reassured for what seemed like the fifth time since Nick had gotten off of the phone with Ashley. He is sure that if he says it anymore he is going to start sounding like a broken record.
“But what if she’s not fine Bri?” Nick questioned as he got Dakota out of the bathtub and wrapped her up in a towel cradling her.
“She said she was didn’t she?” Brian asked in what he thought was a patient tone.
‘Well yes…but what if she’s lying to me? I can tell when she is lying to me in person but I haven’t had much practice over the phone.” Brian rolled his eyes.
“Yes because this is the first time you two have been away from each other since the moment you met her and it’s driving you crazy.” He informed as he followed his best friend out of the bathroom and watched him as he set Dakota on the bed and helped her get dressed.
“So what if it is?”
“It’ll do you some good to have sometime apart if that’s the case.”
“Says who?” Nick pouted.
“Says me, your best friend who has your best interest at heart.”
“My whole world is Ashley, Brian.”
“I know that. But for a couple whom has never been apart since the moment you met this is good experience for you. What are you going to do when you have to go on tour Nick?”
“Take her with me?” Nick asked softly.
“And what if Lou says no?”
“Fuck Lou,” Nick replied indignantly. “If I want my girlfriend to come with me, she’ll come with me.”
“Nick you know very well that there will be times when she can’t. And if you can’t handle just a day without her then you are going to have some serious problems on tour.” Nick scowled and Brian sat on the bed next to him.
“Nick seriously. Some time apart is a very healthy thing for your relationship. If you have time to miss her, and you give her sometime to miss you then it will only make your love for each other stronger.”
“I guess,” Nick replied as he pulled Dakota into his lap and began brushing her hair with Ashley’s brush.
“Anyway, if you run off to her how are we going to pick out promise rings? This is the perfect time to do it…when she is away.”
“Yeah daddy, we hafta look at pretty rings!” Dakota spoke up, and he and Brian can just see the excitement in her eyes. Nick chuckled slightly.
“I know that baby…but you have to promise daddy that you will not tell Ashley anything about them okay?”
“I promise,” Dakota reassured, and she crossed her finger over her heart and pretended to zip her lips and throw out the key. Nick smiled down at her and he kissed her forehead softly before standing up with her and he and Brian walked out of the room to go check on Josh who Brian had left in his bedroom to get dressed after he had supervised his bath.
“Where has Riley gone off to?”
“Her and my mom have taken off to do women things…they were very vague and wouldn’t tell me a thing. Who knows what kinds of things she is telling her about me.” Nick chuckled.
“At least your mom loves her…I’m afraid to even think about how my mom will treat Ashley. I have half a mind to not even tell her a thing about her.”
“Are you sure you could do that to her?”
“The real question is…could I do that to Ashley by exposing her to a witch?”
“Nick…”
“Brian really. You know what she’s like.” Brian sighed and nodded in resignation.
“Are you going to at least introduce her to her dad?”
“Maybe…”
“I still don’t get why you and your siblings didn’t spend thanksgiving with either one of them.”
“They’re so caught up in their fighting right now…we didn’t want to be placed in the middle of it all, you know?”
“Ah…got’cha.” Brian replied, and he wrapped an arm around Nick’s shoulders as he lead him into his room.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
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