Chapter 7
December 22nd 2005
AJ was the first to notice Nick and Jen come into the room. He had expected them to be there earlier, their flight arriving earlier than even Howie and Rene’s. Nick looked like hell. He had dark circles under his eyes, his hair was completely disheveled and he looked as though he’d lost a few pounds. That was strange in itself because all the guys, with the exception of Kevin, usually gained a couple pounds back while they were not on tour. Touring kept them all slim with the lack of sleep and the dancing at every concert. When off tour, no one practiced the dance moves and it was very easy for the weight to crawl back on.
Nick had always been the worst and he’d always been very sensitive about it. They would tour for six months, have a month off and he’d come back at least fifteen pounds heavier. Kevin never gained any weight, he was a slim eater, worked out constantly, and always practiced the dance moves while on vacation. Howie usually put on about five or six, Brian as well, because he was on a strict diet as it was because of his heart complications. AJ was in that range also, but on this break he had had Latecia. They’d spent the better part of their days at the beach, running and playing. Besides, no one could complain about his weight, when he had been using he had been thin as a rail.
Something had to be up. Nick was never that skinny.
AJ looked over to Win and realized she had seen Nick as well. He was worried about her right away. Nick had hurt her, not so much because he broken her heart, but she had thought they were better friends than that. She wished that he had just come and talked to her, she would have understood.
Nick was shaking as he looked around the room. He saw Win out of the corner of his eye and turned to look at her. She was staring directly at him, and the look he saw in her eyes was not welcoming. She turned away quickly, making a b-line for AJ. When she got to AJ, Nick noticed that AJ was looking at him too. Kevin was there as well, saying something that got Win and AJ to turn away from him and laugh. Jen squeezed his hand.
“Nicky! Hey my man, what is going on!” Brian called out loudly. Before Nick could move, Brian had gripped him in a tight bear hug.
“Brian, can’t breathe,” Nick fought to get out.
“Oh all right, I suppose you have to breathe, Jen, hi baby doll, how are you?” Brian asked giving Jen a gentler hug.
“Hi sweetie, I’m good, where’s Brianna and the adorable little baby girl of yours?” Jen asked smiling.
“Oh she was with Win a second ago,” Brian said, turning and looking around the room. He spotted Win standing with Kevin and AJ and said, “Well Win’s hanging with AJ and Kevin now, oh wait, there she is,” Brian said lighting up with a smile upon seeing his wife and daughter.
“Come on, she’s been wanting to talk to you,” Brian said taking Jen’s hand and pulling her across the room.
Nick felt Jen’s presence gone from his side like it were one of his legs he needed to stand on. He needed her. How was he going to get through this with out her? When the story came out about what really happened the guys were bound to be disappointed in him, AJ was going to kill him, and the rest of the crew were going to crucify him for making them lose Taylor. He was most worried about the second thing though. Nick was sure as soon as AJ found out he had hurt Win, AJ would lunge at him, and this time he wouldn’t miss.
Taking a deep breath he walked forward through the crowd, directly to AJ, Kevin and Win. Win caught sight of him walking towards them and quickly turned away to talk to Gina. Nick had expected that. He knew that she would not want to talk to him.
“Nick, hey, good to see you,” Nick nearly jumped out of his skin when he realized AJ was talking to him.
“Hey, AJ,” he said uncertainly, worried that any minute AJ would reach out to strangle him. Of course the rest of the guys didn’t know anything, he hadn’t said anything, and Win hadn’t said anything, but Win surely wouldn’t have avoided saying something to AJ. He had to know.
AJ did the group’s handshake and smiled at him and Kevin gave him a hug. He was surprised at the affection he was getting from the both of them.
“Nick!” Nick knew that voice, it was Daemon, hard to miss. He turned just in time for the large man to pick him up in a giant hug, nearly breaking his ribs.
“I think we need to get him a girlfriend or something, he enjoys that too much,” Kevin said laughing.
“I just missed you guys!” Daemon roared, throwing his arms around all three of them and squeezing them to his sides. They were all taken by surprised but just laughed and rubbed their necks where Daemon had grabbed them.
“Gina! Hey there you are!” Daemon yelled before taking off again.
“No wonder he and Latecia get along,” AJ said looking over at Latecia as Win scooped her up in her arms. Win smiled wide and showered Latecia with kisses. He listened as Win spoke to her.
“Now what were you doing all this time?”
“I was playing with Howie and Rene, and I saw the baby, that’s named after you,” Latecia replied laughing.
“Oh really, and then what?” Win asked laughing.
“I chased Daemon,” Latecia said with a little grin of her own.
“You did? Well I bet you’re hungry, you want something to eat?” Win asked.
“Yeah! Will you eat with me?” Latecia asked putting her hands on each of Win’s cheeks.
“Of course I will, come on, I’m sure we can find you some pancakes,” Win replied as she walked off to find something for Latecia to eat, as she clutched at her neck.
AJ couldn’t help but swell with pride. Kevin noticed and hit him lightly.
“They make quite a pair don’t they?” Kevin asked.
“Yeah, they do,” AJ smiled looking back at Kevin. Nick smiled uncomfortably, not understanding what was going on.
“Oh you weren’t here when Daemon made the big announcement,” Kevin said touching Nick’s arm lightly. Nick relaxed, thank God they were getting on the subject of the regular tour stuff, at least this way he could avoid the whole Win, Nick, Jen, Taylor conversation, for a little while anyway.
“AJ and Win are back together,” Kevin said smiling. Nick’s face fell, that was the last thing in the world he had expected to hear and the last thing he wanted to talk about.
“You, you are?” He asked carefully, not wanting to look at AJ but feeling that he had to.
“Yup, we are. And don’t worry Nick, I’m not mad at you, you can breathe now,” AJ added laughing. Nick let out a long stuttering breath and laughed. Kevin however was confused, he wanted to know what was going on.
“What’s going on?” Kevin asked, his brow wrinkling.
“We’ll talk about it later,” AJ replied automatically.
Author's Chapter Notes:
I know it's been a while, and hello, this is an xmas story, it has to be posted for xmas! So rest assured, the story will be posted before xmas! Thanks!
