Chapter 21

Riley walked through the club in the middle of the crowd surrounding the guys. There was crowds of fans on either side of them pushing and shoving to get a glimpse of their favourite popstars and it scared Riley slightly. She could see Nick a few people ahead and wished he was right by her side, but he and the guys were recording a video for a local tv station.
She sighed and looked around, feeling nervous and jumped when she felt a hand take hers. She looked to her left and smiled when she saw Leigh.
"Come on...we have a vip section!" Leigh pulled Riley with her into a roped section and up some stairs before they were on a huge balcony that had its own bar.

”Can I slap her?” Riley asked Leigh having seen a girl pulling Nick in for a hug.
“I wish. Trust me it gets easier. Look at his face. He’s not exactly enjoying the assault. They are pretty harmless though and most of them are really sweet. Just if you seem like a girl that gets jealous of his fans you wont be on their good side.” Leigh explained.
“Oh I’m not jealous. I just don’t want anyone groping on him like that when I haven’t seen him in days. Especially not after what he said earlier. I don’t know what to make of it.” Riley blabbed on to leigh.
“What did he say earlier?” Leigh asked.
'Crap…why did I mention that'. Riley felt herself get flustered.

"He uh...well he said he loved me. I dont think it was in that he actually is in love with me. More that he was saying like well he loves me so everyone else will, but it got me thinking. I mean i really really like him, but i dont think im ready for the i love you's just yet. Its too soon." She stood by Leigh at the bar as she ordered them both a drink.
"Well, i cant speak for Nick at all, but i know that he doesnt say the words i love you lightly. But he does care for you alot. Here...." Leigh handed Riley a glass of wine. She took it gladly and had a few sips before looking at Leigh.

"Should i even be drinking, with Nick...you know...not drinking." Riley looked at the glass of wine before looking at Leigh.
"Sweetie, just because Nick's sober doesn’t mean you have to be. He understands. I’m sure he would be touched if you didn’t drink around him, but one won’t hurt. You need to relax a little." Leigh guided Riley to a table overlooking the crowds and they both sat down, watching the guys as they stood on the stage waving at the fans.
AJ and Nick were goofing off with the microphones, making Riley giggle. She noticed the tension from before gone between them and wondered if they had generally made up, or it was a front.

She eyed the glass of wine up but decided against having any more of it. It didn’t seem right for her to drink when Nick was struggling to stay away. It seemed disrespectful and she really didn’t need it.
Leigh smiled at her when she ordered a soda instead and sat back down waiting for Nick to come join her. It took over an hour before any of the guys were able to make it up into the VIP section, and almost two hours before Nick was seen walking into the room.
“I’m so sorry baby. This is why I didn’t want to come tonight.” He sighed as he pulled her close for a kiss smiling when he noticed the soda in her hand. “You don’t have to drink soda cause of me babe you know that right?” he whispered against her neck before kissing her ear lobe.
“I want to.” Riley smiled back pulling Nick closer needing him close. “You promised me dancing…” she smirked at him and pulled him towards the other side of the room closer to the edge of the balcony.

"I guess i did babe, but right here? Infront of them?" He nodded at the crowd of fans below before pulling her closer.
"If you dont want to be seen with me we can go over there.." She looked out to the otherside of the dancefloor but Nick shook his head.
"Babe, i dont care who see's us. I just dont want you to be ripped apart by them. As much as i love our fans, i care about you more...much more. i dont want them hurting you."
Riley wrapped her arms around his back and grinned up at him. "As long as i have you they cant hurt me. Kiss me..."
Nick leant down and kissed her softly as they danced slowly even though the music was pumping through the club.

***

Nick carried Riley into their room and laid her onto the bed before shutting the door. It was close to 4am and the party had dragged on much longer than expected. Riley had fallen asleep against him about an hour before in the club, and it had taken him 45 minutes of complaining to get them brought back. To him he felt their first evening together was ruined, and wished he could make it up to her.

Riley stirred when he put her down on the bed and her eyes slowly opened as a smile spread across her face. “I fell asleep. I’m so sorry.” she croaked out pulling him onto the bed with her.
“I’m sorry baby. I tried to leave earlier I really did.” he sighed feeling guilty.

“You’re sorry? But why? Come here…” she said and urged for him to come lay next to her. He did and scooped her up into his arms hugging her tightly.
“Our first night together was ruined. We barely got any time together.” he whispered against her neck.
“What do you mean? I saw you all night and we got to dance and spend time together when you were done working. It was amazing. Well besides Nikki glaring at me all night. What’s the deal with her?” Riley asked suddenly wide awake as Nick kicked his shoes off along with his jeans.

Nick pulled her slose and sighed. "Les tried hooking me and her up a while back, i wasnt interested but apparently she was. She just needs to get over it" Nick kissed into Riley's neck before breathing her in. "Just ignore her."
Riley held Nick close and groaned, making Nick look up at her face. "Or is it bothering you? The glares..."
"It pisses me off. I mean she dont even know me and shes decided she hates me just because I'm with you and she's not. So stupid."

Nick sat up slightly and sighed. "Babe, a lot of people are going to think that. That’s just a part of my life. Im sure Leigh filled you in on how....well possessive my fans can be. They probably know your name now and everything. What are you going to do if they start hounding you?" Nick looked at her as she bit her lip before sitting herself up.
"They will start hounding me? Why? Does that mean i can’t go out anywhere? What about work?" She looked at Nick confused, making him smile slightly.
"Baby, they are possessive over me. I can’t help that, i don’t know why they are. But as soon as i get a girlfriend they do everything in their power to find things out about her, who she is, where she's from, whether she's a gold digger, who her exes are etc. They will do it to you, and i need you to understand that and not let it get to you, because if it does....that’s a big factor of us and believe me, people have left me for that sole reason before now. If you won’t be able to handle the pressure then....well we will have to end this or something. I don’t want to, but i won’t be able to handle the stress and everything that it entails." Nick looked away, not wanting to end what they had at all, but seeing how just Nikki glaring bothered Riley, he wondered how she could handle a whole fan base.

“So just because I’m with you I can’t go out anywhere without them attacking me? I can’t go to work because they have some twisted idea in their heads that you belong to them? And I’m meant to just take all that? Let them dig into my life and try to find dirt on me because they feel the need to protect you? Do you even realize how messed up that is? Have you ever said anything to them? Told them that you are in fact capable of taking care of yourself? Or even told them to back off if they get too pushy?” Riley asked and Nick could tell that she wasn’t about to back away.

“Honestly? No. It’s cause of them that I’m able to do what I do. They buy the record and come to our shows. I can’t be rude to them Riles.” he sighed hoping she would understand.
“You can’t tell them to chill out and back off, but they can be rude and judge anyone you are with. Harass them to the point they can’t live a normal life? Who is the part being rude here? It’s definitely not you babe. I might not know what all this entails but I do know that most humans need a reality slap at times. You are 28 years old. I think it’s time you stood up to them if they start anything. I want my man to defend me if anything happens. So if we go out tomorrow and one of them start anything that is uncalled for then I hope you are man enough to stand up for me. Fans or no fans they should respect you. Most of the people I saw out there today were our age and older. Some younger but not that many. I didn’t see anyone harass Leigh today. I want to be with you and I’m sorry Nick but if their gonna be rude to me and stuff then I hope that you will speak up to them. What they say and do behind my back is one thing but to my face…. I want your support.. If I have that then you get my support.”
Nick looked at Riley half shocked, half dumbfounded. Everything she was saying made sense.    

"They don’t attack Leigh because she's with Howie. It’s different for the other guys. AJ somewhat can relate but then he does things that don’t help himself at all. If i start standing up to the fans they will take it the wrong way, and then where will my career be then. Babe i would love nothing more than to stand out there in the middle of all the fans and tell them to back the fuck up, but this is my career. If i fuck this up what am i gonna lean back on? This just isn’t my job, its the other three guys too. What you’re saying makes sense. It makes total sense, I just...i don’t think i can do that..." He pulled her closer to hold himself but she pushed him back gently and shook her head.

"In order for you to have a normal life Nick they need to be told. I’m sure if you spoke to the rest of the guys they would agree and want to help. Do you really want to be with me?" She looked at him, a blank expression on her face.
"Of course i do…"
"Then sort this Nick. Or i can feel we won’t be going anywhere fast."
Nick felt panic strike him at her words. He held onto her hands tightly scared that she was going to leave. “It’s just not that easy Riles… I…” he sighed unsure of what to say.
“Maybe not, but you won’t know until you’ve tried. Not every single one of them can be that bad. If we leave this hotel tomorrow and someone calls me a slut purely because I’m with you are you going to just let them? Digging up info on me is one thing. I can’t stop that but from how you behaved tonight you kinda came if you would rather hide me than let them see me. Don’t get me wrong I don’t have some strange fetish about them knowing we’re together, but when my boyfriend tries to hide me it makes me think he’s ashamed of me. And that hurts. Like they can’t see us together because you think that they won’t think I’m good enough for you. But then who is it that really thinks im not good enough? Cause you don’t know what their thinking. We’ve only been together a week so I don’t expect you to be that serious about me but If you are ashamed of being seen with me purely because a bunch of strangers might not like me then I might as well go home. I’m your girlfriend Nick. Or at least that’s what I hope I am…” her voice cracked and she turned around in bed so her back was facing him. “Let me know when you decide if you want to spend your life waiting on strangers or the people who actually truly care about you…” she whispered and Nick could tell that she was crying.      

"Riles..." He went to pull her close but she shrugged him off.
"I mean it Nick. Im not living like this. I really like you, but I'm not going to let some jealous fans treat me like shit. I dont deserve that." She wiped her eyes before getting off the bed and walking over to her suitcase.

Nick felt himself panic more when she lifted her suitcase, thinking she was going to leave and sighed when she laid it down and opened it, pulling some pyjamas out.
"I'm gonna shower and let you think about this." She didnt look at him, but walked into the bathroom and shut the door.
Nick groaned and threw himself back on the bed before rubbing his face.