[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
Chapter Forty-One


There ain't no party like a Backstreet party 'cos a Backstreet party don't stop. There ain't no party like a Nick Carter party 'cos a Nick Carter party don't stop... The DJ shouted this mantra into his mic at random intervals. The backyard was like a club. The beat of the bass line seemed to throb through the grass and the water seemed to jump in reply to it. People were everywhere. Every surface of Nick's backyard had someone perched on it. It was a star studded crowd, too, even though Cora, Addison, and Hugh had yet to show up. And it wasn't just the four other Backstreet Boys that stood out among the faces, either (although they were all accounted for before an hour had passed). I'd spotted several people I recognized - names ranging from Pink to Seth Rogan to Kaley Cuoco to Dr. Phil to one of the little boys from One Direction. And there were plenty of regular people mixed in,t too. The crowd throbbed with energy.

Nick was playing the part of host perfectly. He stood at the top of the steps like he was Jay Gatsby, welcoming every person that streamed through the flung-wide french doors of the house, grinning and bowing and calling out salutations from his perch. He looked stunning, too, in that perfect black suit that fit him like it had been specially tailored for his shape. His hair was slicked back a little, his eyes darting around the yard 'til he spotted me, and a grin passed over his mouth as he waved a couple finger tips my direction to say hi.

I waved back.

Everything was going so perfect. People seemed to be enjoying themselves. I couldn't help but feel like I'd really done something to be proud of in organizing the whole event myself, and I took a flute of champagne and thanked the penguin-looking waiter that'd offered it to me, my nervous energy finally releasing for the first time since I'd started the project of party planning.

I was just beginning to think that the whole thing would go off without a hitch when a general murmur rippled through the party and everyone seemed to turn all at once as Cora walked through the French doors. She commanded attention in a flaming red dress that fell to the floor in what looked like streamers of orange and red shades. She looked like a living phoenix with her dark brown hair pulled violently back from her face, giving her sharp features a beaky appearance. Her eyeshadow curled away from the outer edges of her eyes into a flame pattern and she had the reddest lipstick that I'd ever seen. It was over the top, it was beautiful, it was Cora. It was everything I wished I could be, minus the pure evil that I'd come to associate with her since meeting Nick. There was a time that Addison and I would've poured over magazine photos from this event, oohing and ahhing at her, though, and that part of me couldn't help but ooh and ahh even now.

Cora took two steps down toward the pool before Addison came out in her wake. And the murmur that had rippled through with Cora's appearance regenerated as Addison came into view. I couldn't help but gasp at the sight of her.

Addison had on a purple and neon green dress that was so tight it probably had to be painted on. The bodice was purple, but directly under her breasts it turned neon green that just barely reached her thighs. She had on a pair of heels fashioned to look like Converse sneakers that matched the purple of the bodice and her long hair was pinned back with a neon green flower on the side. She wore vitually no make-up, maybe some lip gloss, but she was absolutely breathtaking without it.

People were still talking and stealing glances as Cora and Addison approached Nick, who was still acting as host. They hardly noticed Hugh walk through behind the two ladies in a pinstripe suit. I beelined it over to Nick's side as Hugh made his way toward the cluster of popstars.

"--glaad you could make it, you both look good," Nick was saying in a stiff voice.

"So sorry we're late," Cora said thickly. She stared up at Nick, a sultry expression on her face, her bright red lips puckered into a pout. "It takes time to make old things like us beautiful, you know."

"I doubt it," Nick replied as I reached his hip. I laced my arm through his and he looked at me and smiled, then turned to Cora, "You remember Samantha... and you do, I believe, anyway, Addison, don't you?" he asked pointedly.

"Hey," Addison said.

"Hey," I answered.

Hugh cut between the two of them, and Cora shifted to glare up at him when he wasn't looking. Addison nodded and took the remaining steps into the party. Part of me wanted to cut out and follow her, but I wanted to see Hugh, too, and be there to protect Nick.

He held out his hand to Nick. "Welcome back to Los Angeles," Hugh said in his booming voice. He stared down at Nick - a feat acheived by unreal height - and took Nick's hand in his own. Nick's hand looked like a kids' compared to Hugh's. "I hear you may have a new record deal soon," he said.

Nick shrugged, "I didn't like the deal I was offered," he said. "I just let them woo me. You know I wouldn't leave, Hugh, Walters Records is my home." He smiled.

Hugh eyed him.

"But why not let the Sweed buy me lunch while I'm given the opportunity, huh?" he smirked. "You know all about taking up opportunities, don't you, Hugh?"

"Only when they are the most beneficial," Hugh replied. They were still shaking hands. It was getting tense. Hugh pulled Nick closer suddenly and leaned down so that his voice was directly in Nick's ear. He spoke softly in an attempt to keep anyone else from hearing, but I heard him, if only barely. "If I find out you fucked my wife, I will kill you," he said, and he released Nick, who literally stumbled back as he was all but dropped.

Nick struggled to regain composure and he smiled tightly, laughed like he'd been told something friendly and humorous. "I know what you're saying man, I know." He somehow managed to get his eyes to sparkle. "And I respect that."

Hugh tapped the side of his nose. He meant business. And he looked at me. "Aren't you ravishing," he muttered, "You clean up well." And he turned and took the steps, looking around the party with his hands shoved into his pockets. Cora glanced at Nick, the sultry eyes returning, then took the steps as well, a tiny smirk playing on her lips.

"What in hell does that mean?" I demanded, "You clean up well?"

But instead of answering, Nick turned and sat down on the nearest chair. He loosened his tie with shaking hands.

"Are you okay?" I asked, concerned.

"I feel like I'm gonna throw up," he said. He looked around as though trying to determine where to do so.

"C'mon," I said, taking his hand and pulling him into the house.

"But I'm the host..."

"The party will survive for thirty seconds without a host, don't worry." I pulled him into the kitchen and set him down on a stool. I wet a paper towel in the sink and wrung it out and pressed it to his forehead. I got him a can of ginger ale from the fridge.

Nick licked his lips, "I don't know what I was thinkin'," he muttered, shaking his head, eyes closed, "I don't know what I was thinkin'..."

"About what?" I asked, popping the can open and sitting next to him as he ran the paper towel over his eyes and nose and cheeks. He was sweating, I could see the glistening on his neck that told me so. He covered his face with the damp cloth. "Nick," I reached out a hand and touched his arm, "What's wrong?"

"I just -- I can't --" Nick choked over words and I realized he was crying. He covered his face with his hands, the papertowel stretched beneath them. "...stupid... it just... choice..." Nick was choking over words, muttering, breaking up.

I reached over and rubbed his shoulders. "Honey it's gonna be okay..." I said quietly.

"Not like it should be," he choked out.

"What's not like it should be? The party? Is there something I can fix?"

He was shaking his head, "It's too late to fix it," he muttered.

"It's never too late," I answered.

Nick shook his head.

"Nick," I said. I grabbed his chin and turned his face up to look at me. "It is never too late."

He stared into my eyes, tears threatened to continue falling from his, and for the first time since I'd known him, I saw something in his eyes, something I couldn't quite put a word to... Clarity? Maybe regret? His breath came out ragged.

"Here... drink this." I handed the ginger ale to him, and as he sipped, I said, "Don't let Hugh Walters bully you. You didn't sleep with Cora in New York, you said, right? So there's nothing to worry about with him."

"I didn't sleep with her in New York," Nick said thickly, lowering the can of soda he'd gulped down half of, "But I have before New York. You know that, you know about the hotel and the night with the condoms and --" he shook his head. He looked away. He put the can down on the counter, but almost missed and I caught it at the last moment before it would've spilled to the floor. "God," he whispered. "What in hell was I ever thinking, falling for Cora in the first place, daring to go against a guy like Hugh Walters? And for something so... superficial... It isn't even love. She doesn't love me. She never has, and she wouldn't ever, would she?" He looked up at me. "But you... you do."

"I do," I said, nodding.

He swiped the back of his hand over his eyes. His perfectly slicked hair fell across his eyes as he stared down. He took a deep breath, and I could hear the weight of the world rattling around inside him. He opened his eyes and stared up at me. "If you'd just been in my life sooner, Sam, things would be so different," he said, and he stood up and walked out the doors, leaving me puzzling and staring after him, holding a half drank can of ginger ale.