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Gabriella tore her eyes from the haunting stare as she heard someone clear their throat. Shaking off the weird sensation that had overcome her, she looked past the figure in front of her and her eyes narrowed at what she saw.

“Oh…”

Amy suddenly came to life behind Gabriella and jabbed her in the back, leaning to whisper to her, “That’s all you can say? Oh?”

Gabriella turned to face Amy, looking rather annoyed. “Amy, what would you have me do? Drop to my knees, start crying and profess my undying love?”

A male voice chuckled behind her and she whipped her gaze back to the man from whence it came. Feeling a flash of boldness sear through her, she snapped without thinking, “Is that what YOU expect me to do too? Well let me get out my little pillow because I refuse to put my knees on a public floor…”

The man raised one eyebrow, eyeing her curiously. Slowly, a smirk spread across his face. “So, are you always this nice to people who do you favors?”

Gabriella tapped her forefinger to her lips for a few moments, then nodded, “Yep… I must admit I am… thanks for noticing.” She winked at him and turned back to Amy, who was again staring at the two men.

“Amy come on… put your eyes back in your head. They’re just people who were nice enough to get us into a club they happen to have membership in.”

Taking in a sharp breath of defeat, Gabriella turned her face back to the two men and offered them the first genuine smile she had mustered all night, “Thank you kindly for giving us access to this place. We greatly appreciate not being squished like sardines into the club across the street.”

The man lowered his eyebrow, turned to blue eyes and smirked, then motioned towards the back of the club with his head before he disappeared into the throng of people. The blue eyed man lingered longer, slowly assessing the girls standing before him.

For the first time in their encounter, he spoke, “Do you two pretty ladies have a name?”

Amy snapped out of her stupor long enough to extend her arm over Gabriella and grip his waiting handshake, “I’m Amy… this here… well, she’s just Gabriella… my best friend. She may look sweet, but don’t piss her off - she’s got the mouth from the South and she ain’t scared to use it… and she will…on ANYBODY.”

The man gripped Amy’s hand tightly, giving it a small shake, then slipped his palm free, turning slightly to offer it to Gabriella.

Speaking in a gentle tone, but one laced with authority, he stated, “Hello Gabriella…I’m Nick…”

Gabriella looked at his hand, then up to his face and back again. After a few moments, she brought her hand up and took his, giving it a firm but quick shake, “Yeah, um, hi…Nick… as she ratted me out, I’m Gabriella. Uhm… thanks…”

Nick smirked as he slowly slid his hand free of her grasp, “Maybe I’ll…see you later?”

Gabriella shrugged, turning to Amy. With a grunt of rejection, Nick shuffled away from the girls to the VIP room where his friend was waiting on his arrival to order drinks.

Meanwhile, back near the entrance, Amy gawked at Gabriella in disbelief, “You so did not just brush off Nick Carter!”

Gabriella sighed, grabbing her friend’s wrist and dragging her to the dance floor, “Amy…he’s human… just like you and me… he bleeds, he craps...I think he feels… “ Amy opened her mouth to protest, but Gabriella quickly put her hand over her mouth, “Amy…I know he’s a Backstreet Boy…and so was his friend…AJ… big freaking whoop-ti-doo…”

Amy laughed at Gabriella as they took their place among the sweaty bodies on the dance floor, “You know… you never cease to amaze me Gabby. You can go to one of their concerts and flip the hell out on me when Nick does his little dance on stage, but you meet him in person and act like you stepped on an ant.”

Gabriella shook her head, smirking, “No…I cared more than I would about the ant, but like I said…he’s human… at least, I think he is. He seems basically human. Maybe a little egotistical, but still human. Besides, I’m sure he wouldn’t have appreciated me stomping my feet like a monkey and screaming in his ear upon recognition.”

Moving away from Gabriella slightly, Amy shrugged, “Yeah, if you say so Gabby… meet back in a hour?”

Gabriella waved her hand in the air in acknowledgement as her friend disappeared into the sea of bodies. Feeling a sudden pang of thirst, she turned to the bar, thankful at least that this was a club with a bar. Hopping up onto one of the stools, she slapped both palms onto the smooth wooden surface.

Within moments, a man in his mid-twenties appeared in front of her, asking her what would she would like.

Searching through her backpack, she pulled out a five dollar bill and slapped it on the counter, “A Bud Light please…long neck…”

The bartender nodded cheerily and disappeared, only to return moments later with a frosty bottle, which he opened under the bar and set down in front of her, “4.50 miss.”

Gabriella pushed the money across the bar and said, “Keep the change.”

The bartender smiled and pocketed the bill, then posed a question, “You’re new around here, aren’t you?”

Taking a sip of her beer, Gabriella shrugged, “Visiting…why?”

“Oh no reason, just haven’t see you around here before. I saw you come in with Nick. He’s a regular here.”

Gabriella rolled her eyes and muttered, “Why does that not shock me?”

Hiding a smile, the bartender brushed her hand, “Hey…I’ll be around if you need anything. Just holler or wave me down or whatever you want to do to get my attention.”

Nodding, Gabriella took another sip of her beer and leaned back on her stool, wrapping her feet around its legs. Taking in the room, she smiled to herself. She and Amy had done good to get into a swanky place like this. The floors were clean, the service was polite and the music was good, not to mention the beer was cold.

Grinning at her lucky fortune, she turned around on her stool to watch the people dance. From within the crowd, she could see Amy dancing with an unidentified man and woman. She looked like she was having fun which made Gabriella happy. Amy deserved to have a little bit of fun in her life once in a while. Just two more months and they would both be able to pull their noses out of enormous over-priced textbooks forever.

Gabriella sat there watching the dancers for a few moments until she felt someone watching her. Glancing beside her, she met a pair of familiar eyes. It was him. How long had he been standing there? And was he watching her?

Gabriella was about to slide off of her stool and make a hasty exit when he spoke, “Why don’t you like me?”

Feeling a bit taken aback, she turned her gazed back to him, “I never said I didn’t like you.”

Nick shrugged a little bit, taking the stool beside her, “Sure could’ve fooled me. “

She gave him an icy stare.

“Ooo…is it getting cold in here or is it just me?”

She rolled her eyes and turned her gaze back to the dance floor, “Just because I don’t drop to my knees and kiss the ground you walk on doesn’t mean I’m not a fan. Yes, I said I’m a fan.”

A small smile curved Nick’s lips as he asked, “You’re a fan, eh? Prove it…”

Sighing heavily, she turned back to Nick, her green eyes staring him down, “You’re asking me to prove I’m a fan? That’s fucking stupid Nick. Yeah, I have a couple albums and I’ve been to some shows, but I couldn’t tell you when or where you were born. I’m not a psycho stalker.”

Nick’s smile widened a little bit as he continued, “So I guess that means you wouldn’t sleep with me either, huh?”

Gabriella nearly choked on the sip of beer she had just consumed. She turned back to the bar and slammed her bottle down on it, causing some of the malted liquid to slosh over the top, “Where on God’s green Earth did you get the idea that I would…or for that matter wanted to sleep with you?”

Shrugging, Nick’s smile remained, undeterred, “Eh…just you know… thirteen years of craziness and girls begging me to sleep with them. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to pose the idea to you.”

Wrinkling her nose slightly, Gabriella asked incredulously, “So you would just randomly sleep with a girl you just met on the streets of New York trying to sleaze her way into an upscale bar?”

Nick bit down on his lip slightly for a moment, then looked dead at her and nodded, “Honestly? If nobody would ever find out about it…at this particular moment, if it was offered to me…more than likely…”

“That is disgusting Nick! What if I’m walking around New York just itching to give some gonorrhea? You want gonorrhea?”

Shifting on his stool slightly, he leaned closer to her, “Are you?”

Gabriella blushed slightly, uncomfortable at both the conversation and the direction in which it was headed, “Well, no…. but I was just trying to make a point.”

“Point taken Gabriella…”

She flinched slightly from the use of her name and shifted on her stool again. Something about him made her uncomfortably comfortable around him.

Nick slid off his stool and leaned against the bar, resting his back against the countertop, “I’ll tell you what…since you won’t sleep with me…how about I buy you a drink?”

Gabriella licked her lips an slid off her stool as well, approaching Nick. She leaned against him so that her face was inches from his and she could feel the breath puffing nervously from his nose. Bringing her hand to rest on his arm, she leaned her face to his ear and whispered, “That’d be real nice and all Nick…and no, I won’t sleep with you…but there’s just one little problem…”

Nick closed his eyes at the closeness of her body and stuttered, “Wh...what’s that?”

Gabriella smiled and stood back from him, sliding her hand off of his arm and onto her beer, grasping the bottle in her palm. Licking her lips, she smirked and turned to go, but looked over her shoulder once before disappearing into the crowd to state, “I don’t drink…”