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Nick's POV

"Nick seriously, you should've taken the wheel chair. Look at how much pain you're in using the crutches," Hailey said helping me inside her home. Two days had passed since I had asked her to come see me and the doctor agreed that if I were to stay pretty much bed ridden for the next two weeks I could stay with Hailey. I knew she was right about the wheel chair because the crutches were killing me fractured ribs and banged shoulder.

"I'm fine, just will take me a little longer to move around," I defended and finally made it into her living room. She took the crutches and set them against a chair and helped me sit down on the couch. I must have made a face that read "God Damn" for the amount of pain I was in as I sat because Hailey's nose scrunched up. "I can't lift my leg," I told her leaning back and she gently picked up my leg and put it on a pillow she had already on the couch. She then adjusted the pillows behind me, kneeling on the ground and then stopped and stared at me.

"What?" I asked. "Do I have lunch on my face?" I asked and brushed my hand across my mouth.

"No, I just, one am so grateful you're alive and two, I just never thought we'd be...well, us again." She bit the bottom of her lip and I took her hand.

"Third time is a charm they say," I grinned and tilted my head back.

"I'm going to get you your pain medicine and let you take a nap." I nodded and watched as Hailey disappeared into the kitchen. Everything did seem surreal like she had mentioned and wondered if I could do this relationship again without screwing up one more time. Highly unlikely but maybe I could make it work.

"Here I bought you some Gatorade, we have to keep you hydrated," she handed me two pills and a glass of purple liquid.

"Thanks," I popped the pills into my mouth and with a sip of the drink swallowed them.

"Can I get you anything else?"

"No, I'm all set."

"Okay, I have to go into work in a couple of hours since I took the last week off, who knows what my team is going to be like. Brian will be here when you wake up after dropping off Howie and Katie at he airport."

"I'll be fine." She then knelt down and lay her head next to mine. I took her hand into mine and kissed it.

"I'm afraid to leave you," she admitted.

"I can see that, why?"

"I can't lose you again Nick."

"You won't, I promise. I'll be here when you get back, you're only gone for a few hours." She looked at me in disbelief. "I'm not going anywhere baby girl," I kissed her nose.

"Okay, I'm going to go start making dinner for tonight. Get some sleep." She stood up.

"Hails, I love you." She turned and smiled saying, "I know."

~*~*~*~*~*~Hailey's POV~*~*~*~*~*~*~"Hailey, go, I know your mind is on Nick."

"I feel horrible."

"There is only a half hour left, I'll do the circuit you had planned. I'll see you Friday, now go."

"Thanks Sarah," I gave her a hug and got my things together and left the gym. She was right, the entire time my mind was on Nick and I had called Brian twice checking in on him. I had only been gone for four hours. I hopped in my car and headed home, making the twenty minute drive, a twelve minute.

When I got inside I heard Brian and Nick talking in the living room, they were watching a basket ball game on the TV.

"You're home early," Brian stated.

"I am? I glanced down at my watch."

"Don't play dumb, Brian told me you called him two times checking in on me."

"Can't a girl be worried about her boyfriend who was in a coma for three days?" I set my bag on the floor and walked over and kissed Nick and then hugged Brian. "I'll go finish dinner, you guys are probably hungry."

"Eh we've been snacking," Nick said and I saw the bag of pretzels and rice snack cakes on the ground. A long with two empty Gatorade bottles lying next to them.

"I noticed," I picked up the floor and went into the kitchen. I was able to finish making the dinner I started before going in for work in ten minutes and had the table set. "Nick you want to eat out here or at the table?"

"I'll come to the table." Brian helped him get to is feet and they came to the table.

"How did you make dinner so fast?" Brian asked.

"I made most of it before work, something I taught myself to do because if I don't, then I'm usually too tired or lazy to cook after.

"Well, it looks great," Nick smiled.

After dinner, Brian helped me clean up in the kitchen while Nick looked for a movie on demand. "So, I'm leaving tomorrow Hails," Brian said handing me a dish to dry.

"What, why?"

"I've been here for a week, and I just have some stuff to do before Bailey stays with me for a while. Leigh leaves in two days."

"Are you okay with Nick and I?"

"You two are meant to be, I'm happy for you both."

"Promise?"

"Of course. Now you go out there, help Nick get a movie that won't drive us crazy. I'll fix us up some ice cream." I pulled Brian in for a hug. "What was that for?" He asked.

"You're just amazing," I smiled and went out to the living room.
~*~*~*~*~ Later That Night~*~*~*~*~
"I'm heading to bed," Brian said goodnight to us and headed up stairs for the guest room.

"Goodnight Rok,"Nick said.

"Are you getting tired?" I asked looking up to Nick. I had sat on the floor leaning against the couch Nick lay on.

"A little, as soon as I take the pills I'll be knocked out."

"Oh, let me get those for you." I went into the kitchen and got them with a glass of water and handed them to Nick. "Nick are you going to want to sleep down here tonight? I can camp on the floor."

"I was hoping to sleep in your bed, I just want to hold you in my arms and it's been years, literally since I've held you in my arms."

"Well, we better start getting you up stairs, time we get half way up, the pills may have kicked in and you'll be sleeping on the steps."

"Hey, I am not that slow!" Nick defended sitting up and I picked up his leg and carefully set it on the ground. I handed him his crutches and used them to stand.

"Okay..." I turned off the TV and walked behind Nick, he waited at the bottom of the stairs looking up for a minute before starting.

"I don't know if I should use the railing on one side or use both crutches." He stopped on the first step.

"Try using the railing one one side," I took his left crutch. It took just about five minutes before Nick made it at the top and he slumped over his crutches.

"You alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, it will be nice when these ribs heel up."

"Come on, let's go brush your teeth and get ready for bed."

"I'm not a two year old."

"Yeah, you pretty much are." I laughed and patted Nick on the shoulder as we made it to the bathroom. We both got ready for bed and I put on my night gown that happened to be Nick's favorite one.

"You know that's just not right," Nick said sitting on my bed and trying to lift his leg up. I walked over to him and helped him, leaning forward, exposing a little cleavage.

"What's not right?" I asked innocently.

"Don't give me that, I'm an injured man here."

"Uh huh," I climbed on the bed and carefully straddled him, sitting on my knees. Nick put his hands on my hips and raised an eye brow. I brushed back the hair that fell in front of his eyes. "You need a hair cut."

"I thought you liked me better with long hair?"

"Just a trim, I love you with long hair, you're definitely more...sexy," I whispered the last part out into his ear and nibbled on his lobe a little. I then kissed his neck and made it to his lips.

"Mmm Hails, I don't know if we should," Nick pushed me away a little.

"I just want to kiss Nick."

"You're making it really hard not want to do more."

"I know," I smiled and continued to kiss Nick. A little while later I rolled over and faced Nick. He fought to to keep his eyes opened and I knew the medicine had kicked in. "Goodnight Nick," I gave him a small kiss and he pulled me to him. I rested my head on his chest, with an arm around my waist and we both fell asleep.

Nick's POVTwo weeks has passed since my accident and every day I was getting stronger and every day Hailey and I were becoming closer. I watched as she put her work clothes on, a tank top with the gym logo and a pair of shorts. She claimed that her outfit was the reason she took the job, she didn't really have to get dressed up for work.

"Can I come watch today?" I asked as she slipped on her flip flops.

"Why, are you getting sick of my Guitar Hero? I told you, you could practice as much as you wanted but you'd never reach expert like me." She smirked and put lip gloss on.

"That and I want to see what it is you do. You've seen me, come on."

"That's because I worked for you Nick."

"Gymnastics was always your first passion and besides the tumbling in the dance routines I never saw anything else."

"I'm going to be coaching Nick, not doing gymnastics. I can't bend my back any way because of surgery they did when I was paralyzed."

"I still want to see you."

"Alright, practice is four hour longs, you'll be bored."

"I get to watch you move around in those tiny shorts, I don't think I'll be bored," I winked and we went down stairs and got into her car. "You want to go out to dinner tonight?" I asked her.

"Sounds good."
~*~*~ At the Gym~*~*~
I sat in the bleachers that over looked the gym, my leg was stretched out next to me and I watched how good of a coach Hailey actually was. She was stern when she needed to be, and she had fun with her girls at the same time. They all seemed to respect her and did everything she asked them to and more. There were a couple of times I noticed her bring her hand up to her chest and take in a deep breath. I made a mental note to myself to ask her about her heart after class.

I was intrigued at what these young girls, kids were able to do with their bodies. I've seen the Olympics but those girls were all in their teens, these little ones were only about eight or nine years old and they were throwing flips and twists and jumps. And Hailey was able to do all of this at one point and more, she was going to the Olympic trials.

The four hours were up and she walked up to me at the end and took a seat. "Well?" She asked.

"You were amazing with them."

"Eh, I had to be a little intense with them because they were focusing on the Backstreet Boy in the bleachers."

"They recognized me?"

"Yeah, well, one of them did. The oldest, I told her you'd go over and meet her after she got dressed."

"I'd love to," I told Hailey and stood up. I went over to the girls, signed a few autographs and took some pictures. Twenty minutes later the gym was empty besides a small class of cheerleaders.

"Thanks for that Nick, she's going to the hot topic for the rest of the summer now with her friends." She laughed.

"You just owe me now."

"Owe you what?"

"What was your favorite piece of equipment?"

"The balance beam, why?" She raised an eye brow and I began walking over to the beams.

"Show me some of your moves," I smiled leaning on my crutches.

"Nick, I can maybe walk across the beam."

"You didn't some kind of routine?"

"Seriously?" She asked and I only smiled. She walked up to the beam, ran her hands across it and then pushed up onto her hands. She straddled the beam, her legs were held right in front of her and she pressed them up to a hand stand. She came down on one knee and did a pose. She stood up and then took a few steps doing a leap, a few more poses and then a straddle jump with a half turn in the middle. She then put her arms up, raised up on her toes, jumped and did a back flip, landing back on the beam. She then did some me dance moves and a double turn. Hailey did a cartwheel at the end of the beam and another back flip off landing on the ground. As she lifted her arms up, I began to clap.

"Maybe walk across huh?" I asked.

"That was like a level seven routine, without any back handsprings."

"You were what level?"

"Ten pretty much elite." She shrugged and smiled.

"It's hard for you to coach isn't it? To be around all of this that you gave up." I moved a little closer to her and she nodded her head.

"It's something that I'm good at and comes natural. But to wonder what I could've been."

"And if you had become an Olympic Champion, then we might not be here together, right now."

"Maybe not but I believe in fate."

"And everything happens for a reason. You got to be a dancer for the Backstreet Boys. Come on that's way cooler than a gymnast in the Olympics." I tried to joke.

"Yeah but I like to be center stage, not behind a group with another group."

"You're always on center stage, let's go get some dinner." She nodded her head and went to get her things.

"Where do you want to go? I'm not exactly dressed up for fancy."

"Fancy doesn't suit you. Let's just go to a Friday's or something."

"Tomorrow Nick, let's go to the beach."

"Let's go tonight."

"Really?"

"Doesn't matter, not like I can go in the water."

"Okay," Hailey smiled brightly and it made me feel good that was excited.

~*~*~The Beach~*~*~"So what's going to happen for the next album," Hailey asked me as we sat on the blanket sprawled out on the beach. The moon was almost full and it lit up the ocean.

"It's on hold a little while. Kevin is going to do some tracks with us and that will be great. After 'Unbreakable' it just didn't seem like the four of us were cutting it to be the Backstreet Boys."

"I can see that," she told me. I was thankful for her being right there as she lay against me. "You guys are around forever and you've already established that album after album after tours. You guys are the only so-called boy band around, besides the Jonas Brothers. And well, we saw how the Hanson brothers turned out."

"Funny. But you're right."

"Nick, why did you become so, well, tempered in Charleston when ya'll came down? The night we tried to talk, did you hate me that much?"

"Hailey I could never hate you. I was just angry with myself for ruining the best thing that had happened to me and that night I had a chance to make things right. I never thought it would be possible though, for us to be us again. It hurt so much to know that I'd never have you in my arms again. It's a good thing I'm wrong for the majority of the time."

"You had your girlfriend at the time..." she started and I put a finger up to her lips.

"She was there to try to fill the void you had left in my heart. And when I saw you, I saw the pain you still held because of me and I don't want to ever hurt you again."

"You won't," she smiled. "I can feel it, this time is-"

"Forever?" I cut her off.

"Let's take it day at a time Nick." She reached up, placed her hand on my face and kissed me.

"Hailey, how is your heart?"

"What? Where is this coming from? She asked.

"I saw you reach for your chest a few times today at work and noticed your runs were becoming shorter and you using your inhaler more than usual."

"Nick, like I told you that one day, it's just a bad heart. And I'm fine right now but I will need a transplant down the line...but most likely not until I'm old and grey."

"Have you been to the doctor lately?"

"I'm not worried about it, neither should you be."

"That's usually when I need to be the most worried."

"I'm fine. We're focusing on getting you better and us closer." She said closer into my ear and kissed my neck. "I want to stay like this forever."

"Okay," I agreed and kissed her cheek. "Hey Hailey?"

"Hmm?" She asked, her head tilted back and looking up into the starry night.

"Can I ask you something else?"

"Of course."

"Are you completely recovered?" I asked with hesitance. She sat up off me and leaned over her knees.

"From?"

"Your eating disorder." I watched as she brought her knees up to her chest and could tell she was uncomfortable talking about it.

"I'd like to say yes Nick. There is nothing more I want than to move away and forward and act as though it was never a part of me. But it's something I struggle with each day. Some days are harder than others but for the majority of the time I'm okay. It's part of me Nick and I just have to learn to live with it." She then looked into my eyes. "If you can't handle that Nick then I can understand if you don't want be with me."

"Hey, don't talk like that. I was just trying to get a better understanding of how it all works. I'll be here for the days that aren't so good, just be completely honest with me." She nodded her head and wrapped her arms around my neck, I pulled her into me; inhaling her perfume.

"I want to be perfect for you," she whispered.

"You are beyond perfect. I couldn't ask for anyone better, like you said, you don't know what you have until it's gone, like really gone. I took you for granted the times we were together and now, now I want to spend each moment with you as if it's our last."