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Eventually, the crowd thinned, as people drifted away to the various parties.  Nick and the band had planned to go to one at La Cantina.  Toby told the band to go on ahead.  Rafe insisted that Nick had to make the rounds of the ‘in’ parties.  It meant more interviews and sound bytes, more photos.

Mel wanted to go with the band.  Rafe wouldn’t let her.  It couldn’t look like Nick had dumped his date for the evening, even if it was just Mel.  Mel found it highly ironic that Rafe had spent so much time worrying about her and Nick, when it wasn’t an issue, and seemed totally blind to the facts, now that it was.  But it didn’t help her get away from the spotlight.

She spent the next few hours in a whirl of limousines and flashes of light.  Jeff did his best to keep her from getting trampled.  The media converged on them as soon as they got out of the car.  Reporters from local news and less powerful media outlets crowded against the velvet ropes lining the entrance to the clubs, jostling with each other. 

Nick!  Over here!  Just one question!  Nick!  Smile!  Just one picture! 

The big guns were all inside the parties, waiting with their cameras and microphones and the same questions.  How did it feel?  How did it feel?  Nick tried to say something different each time.  It’s hard to take in.  I never expected it.  I was thrilled just to be nominated.  I’ll remember this night for the rest of my life.  Fuck off and leave me alone. 

Nick didn’t actually say the last one, but he thought it.  He thought it more and more as the evening went on.  He wanted to go home.  He wanted to hold Mel in his arms and tell her he was sorry… except that he knew she didn’t want him to be sorry, that if she had had any idea of what he had been planning to do, she wouldn’t have gone with him and that, if he hadn’t lost his nerve, she would have been furious with him.  So Nick swallowed his disappointment with himself, and it sat in his stomach like a hot coal, smoldering and threatening to erupt into flames that would consume him.

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“Look at this trick I can do,” said Jeff, as the limo pulled away from the curb and headed to yet another party.

Nick and Mel looked over at him.  They were holding hands.  They held hands in the car and then dropped them when they got out.  It was always Mel that let go first.

Jeff put his hands over his eyes and turned his back to them.

“What’s the trick?” asked Nick.

“That’s the trick,” said Jeff.  “I can close my eyes and turn my back.  Cool, huh?”

Mel looked confused.  “Sure,” she said, uncertainly.

“And the best thing is…” said Jeff, “I can do it for a long time.  I bet I can do it all the way to the next stop.”

“Prove it,” said Nick, in a whisper.  The smile he gave Jeff was full of gratitude.

“Just remember, I can still hear.  I haven’t perfected that part of the trick yet.”  Jeff turned his back to them and closed his eyes.

Nick put his arms around Mel.  “I love you,” he whispered in her ear.  “I love you so much.”  And then he put his mouth over hers and proved it. 

They held each other tight.  They wrapped their arms around each other, but their hands were still.  Their mouths communicated silently, their tongues doing a gentle dance of love.  Nick thought it was odd that he wasn’t getting hard.  He didn’t really care if he did.  Let him get out of the limo with an obvious hard-on, he thought.  Maybe his penis could tell the world what his mouth wouldn’t!  But their kisses weren’t sexual; they were the kisses of pure love, and somehow they both knew it.  Nick knew that all he had to do to move the whole thing to another level was to move his mouth away from Mel’s and put it on her neck.

But he didn’t.  This little oasis of bliss, provided so kindly by his bodyguard, was going to be enough to get them through the rest of the tedious interviews and photo ops.  And then they could go back to the hotel and burn down the night.

They were at a hotel because they were only in town for the awards and then they were taking off again on tour.  They were setting out at noon the next day, and it had been decided that it would just be easier if they kept them all in the same place.  Rashad went home, of course.  Nothing would keep him from his kids.

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“I didn’t know that you knew Justin Timberlake.”

They were back in the car.  They were finally on their way to La Cantina.  Nick had talked to every reporter in town.  There was a videoclip of him for every television entertainment program and a picture for every newspaper.  Every radio station would have a sound byte of him for the next morning’s program.  He had shaken hands with every musician in the business and had had sips of a variety of drinks.  He was tired, and he was hungry. 

Nick hadn’t eaten anything because he hadn’t had a chance to.  Too many people wanted to talk to him.  He didn’t want to have anything in his mouth when he talked to reporters, and he didn’t want to spill anything on himself.  And he sure as hell didn’t want different reporters saying what he ate at each party.  He could just picture it:  “Nick Carter took a moment out from eating his beef stroganoff and chicken divan…”, “over a plate of tortellini and garlic toast, Nick Carter shared his thoughts…”  If they did that at every party, it would make him look like a pig.  So he didn’t eat anything and every chance he got, he told that to the reporters.  “Oh, I’m too excited to eat anything.”

“Justin?  I’ve met him once or twice.  Why?”

“You talked to him at the Staples Center…for a while.  I just wondered.”

“He was saying nice things about you,” said Mel, squeezing his hand.  Then, after a moment, “…and he was trying to steal me away from you.”

“What?”  Nick sat up a little straighter.

Melody laughed.  “Settle down now.  For some album he’s putting together.  I think he’s producing it…a bunch of different artists.”

“What did you tell him?”  Nick wondered why he was upset about this.  He knew that Mel had a career, and that the tour with him only had a couple of months to run.

“I told him to send me the details and I’d check my schedule.”

There was a look on Nick’s face that Mel couldn’t quite interpret.  “What’s the matter, Baby?  Jealous?”

Nick reddened slightly.  “Nah.”  He squeezed her hand.

“Well, don’t be,” she said.  “He’s already got his older woman.”

Nick gave a weak smile and squeezed her hand again.  Then he became silent.  Mel waited him out for a few minutes.  Then she looked at Jeff and raised her eyebrows.  Jeff pulled out his cell phone and became very interested in checking his messages.

“Do we need to talk about something?” Mel asked softly. 

She didn’t know if Nick was aware of how many times he had physically twitched when Chris Rock had been doing his ‘older woman’ jokes.  She thought that it meant that he was finally getting the message that they’d be better off keeping their relationship a secret.  But she wasn’t sure.

“No,” replied Nick, shaking his head.  “I’m just tired.  It’s been a long day.”

It had been a long day.  People on the East Coast clicked off their televisions when the show ended and went to bed, muttering about how late it was and why did they always do this on a night when there was work in the morning?!  On the West Coast, the show ended at 8:00.  That left a lot of hours for partying.  It was after midnight when they finally pulled up to La Cantina.

“I wonder if they all got tired and went home,” said Nick.

“Two words,” said Mel.  “Tofu.  Sandoval.”

Jeff and Nick laughed.  “Yeah,” said Jeff, “I figure there’ll still be a party going on.”

And there was.  Hot Latin music was pumping out of the speakers.  Bodies gyrated on a dance floor.  Two chefs oversaw a buffet table laden with Mexican delicacies.  The three tired people stood in the doorway taking in the spectacle - people having fun…eating, drinking, dancing…and not a reporter in sight.  It energized them.  Mel could feel the tension leave Nick, just ooze out of him and float away, like a swarm of butterflies set free from a jar.

Tofu noticed them standing there.  He got the DJ’s attention and sliced his hand across his throat.  The music stopped abruptly.  Tofu jumped up on a table.  He pointed his Corona at the doorway and shouted, “Ladies and gentlemen…Niiiicckkkkkk  Carterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!” 

All eyes turned to the door. 

The place erupted.  Not the polite standing ovation of the awards ceremony.  Not the feeding frenzy of the crush of reporters, saluting Nick’s achievement by shoving a microphone in his face.  Not the phony smiles of starlets and hangers-on trying to squeeze into a picture with him.  But the pure joy of the night and the music and the people…and the beer!  People rose to their feet and screamed their excitement at him, raising their glasses and bottles.  Jeff and Mel took a step back and left Nick alone in the spotlight, buffeted by the cheers.  Niiiiiccccckkkkkkkkk!!!!!

Nick laughed and shook his head.  He waved at them all and started working his way through the crowd to Tofu.  People let him through, clapping him on the back as he went.  Tofu jumped off the table and made his way to Nick.  They hugged like old friends that hadn’t seen each other for years.  They stepped apart, and Tofu waved his hand at the DJ.  The music started blasting out again.

“Hungry?” yelled Tofu over the music.

“Starving,” said Nick, with relief.

“I know Mel will want to eat,” said Tofu.  “Beer?”

Nick nodded.  “Yeah.  Beer.” 

He looked around the room.  Rashad and Keshia smiled at him from the dance floor.  Wow!  Keshia had some seriously good moves.  Blaine and Cathy sat at a table with their heads together.  Toby and Gus were making their way toward him.  In their hands were the gym bags that held the clothes from the performance.

“Thought you might like to change,” said Toby, with a grin.

“I’m in,” yelled Mel from behind him.  “Give me that.”  She grabbed the bag from Gus’ hand.  “Where’s the ‘ladies’?” she asked. 

“C’mon,” said Gus.  He took her hand and led her to the ladies room.  He lingered outside the door while she changed.

Inside the cubicle, Melody opened the bag and burst out laughing.  Sitting on top of the clothes was a bra…not one of hers, but a bra…in her size…black lace…

“How the hell did you do that?” she asked, as she emerged from the washroom.

“Well, shit, Mel! I had four hours!” said Gus, laughing.  They looked at each other for a moment and then threw their arms around each other in a hug.  “Not that I wouldn’t have enjoyed watching you dance without one,” he whispered in her ear.

“You nut,” she replied, letting him go.

Gus turned serious.  “How’s he doing?”

“He’s good,” said Mel.  “But all that emotion…it’s all gotta come out.  It’s just building up in there like a volcano.  He’s probably about to get really, really drunk.”

“Oh, I don’t think he wants to do that,” said Gus with a smile.  “I think he’s got plans for later this evening.”

Mel reached up and stroked his face.  “I’ll still be there tomorrow, Gus.  He knows that.”

They made their way back to the dining room.  As much as Nick wanted to strip his clothes off right in the middle of the room and put on his jeans and t-shirt, he declined.  Some part of him knew that he had to maintain the image.  And it wasn’t like he was strapless and in high heels like Mel.  Ah!  There she was, coming toward him. 

Nick shook his head to clear it.  Who was here?  Who knew what?  What could he do?  What couldn’t he do?

“Let’s get something to eat,” said Mel.  “I’m starving.” 

Mel had been as vigilant about food as Nick had.  She figured no one was watching her, but she didn’t want pictures out there of the blond Adonis with some short chick in the background stuffing her face.

They lined up at the buffet and filled their plates.  At the end of the line, Nick stopped and looked around.  He raised his eyebrows at Blaine, who nodded and waved them over.  Blaine introduced them to Cathy.

Nick smiled and shook her outstretched hand.  Pleased to meet you.

“Who are you?” asked Mel.  “Blaine’s never mentioned you.” 

The two men looked shocked, but Cathy got it instantly and burst out laughing. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They ate, and they drank, and they danced.  Mel watched Nick closely.  She circulated through the room, talking to people she knew, meeting new ones.  The one thing all the people had in common was a profound love of music…and of course, all the females had slept with Tofu, with the exception of Cathy, Keshia and Mel! 

Nick ate and drank and partied.  He danced with any woman who asked him.  But he didn’t ask anyone.  Mel wandered in and out of his line of sight.  She was there.  That’s all he needed to know right now.  She was there for him. 

Years of being told what he was and what was good for him had made Nick very aware of who he was and what he was capable of.  And he knew that he was a very emotional guy.  Kevin had made him that way.  No, that wasn’t right…he hadn’t made Nick that way.  He had made it okay to be that way.  Nothing wrong with tears, L’il Bro, Kevin told him over and over again.  Just shows you’re a man with a heart.

Nick knew that his heart was full to bursting at the moment.  The excitement and tension of the day would have been enough…going through the whole ceremony…on camera…’older woman’ jokes…watching someone else win.  That would have pushed his equilibrium into the red zone.  But winning!? 

Winning? 

Winning!!! 

And the ensuing bedlam…Nick knew that he had to let this out at some point.  He hoped Mel would understand that crying during sex wasn’t a bad thing.

It turned out that he didn’t have to worry about that. 

‘Cause AJ walked through the door.