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Author's Chapter Notes:

Trajedy strikes the Smith family. 

Chapter 23 Was He Really That Stupid?

***Nick’s Point of View***

I was so glad the Now or Never tour was finished. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed touring but it would have been more fun with Kalie. She could have toured with us because she graduated college and her boss would’ve given her all the time off in the world. I was disappointed when she turned down the offer of being my backup singer. The rest of my best friends jumped at the chance to show off on stage but Kalie, the one I really wanted on tour with me, refused the once in a life time chance. I was willing to give her tickets to any of the shows and pay for transportation too, even overseas, but she wanted to stay close to home. I didn’t understand why. Her best friends were on tour, she had no boyfriend. I knew she never really liked to travel because she got bad cases of homesickness but I figured she would want to leave all her troubles behind. I thought I knew Kalie like the back of my hand but she proved me wrong. It wasn’t until the welcome home dinner that I found out the real reason why she stayed home.

Kalie and I didn’t get enough chances to talk to each other during the Now or Never tour. When I did get the chance to talk to her she kept repeating that she missed all of us and that it was pretty boring without us. She never told me about Jasper.

Jasper was nice, enough, I guess. He had a strong handshake but something about him made me not exactly nervous but very wary.  

He was all over Kalie and that disgusted me. She was buzzing around trying to get dinner ready and the process was slowed by him pulling her away from the dish of mac and cheese and shoving his tongue down her throat whenever he got the chance. Ok they were in the kitchen while this was going on and the rest of us were sitting around the dining room table so it wasn’t like they were making out in front of us but still; it was awkward and just gross.

Kalie finally pushed him out of the kitchen and put the final touches on the mac and cheese before serving it. She took her seat between me and Jasper and he continued to be handsy with her throughout dinner. I could tell Kalie was getting annoyed and the rest of us started feeling more and more awkward. She finally whispered something in Jasper’s ear and he stopped.

After dinner we watched a movie and Crystal asked if everyone who was on tour could stay the night and of course Kalie let us. Michelle and Chris called the basement; Crystal and Dan grabbed the pull out bed in the couch; lucky me got the guest room next to Kalie’s bed room.

That night as I laid my head on the pillow I heard Kalie’s voice from her room next door.

“Can we not do this tonight baby?”

“Oh come on why not?” he answered in a whiny voice.

“I’m tired and we have a guest sleeping in the room next door. Let’s just skip it tonight alright.”

“He can’t hear us. And it’s not like he would be listening in on us either. You’re not being fair Kalie.”

“How so?”

“Well first you’re lying here half naked; second the light coming in from the window is hitting your luscious curves just right; third we didn’t do it last night.”

“So what? We don’t have to do it every night.”

“But I want to show you that I love you and plus I’m really, really excited.”

“I can see that,” I slightly laughed at the annoyance in her voice. “But there are other ways you can show your affection for me. I’m not in the mood.”

“Oh come on. I know how to turn you on.”

“Please not tonight. It won’t work. I’m tired.”

“Kalie you don’t know me at all do ya? When haven’t I turned you on?”

They stopped talking for a while until I heard faint moaning sounds. My eyes went wide with surprise then the noises continued and my expression turned into one of disgust.

The noises went on for I don’t know how long. I do know that my heart strings were being pulled at because Kalie said, “Ouch! That hurt! Stop doing that!” a few times.

His reply was, “Just stop you know you like it!”

“Obviously she doesn’t like whatever you’re doing!” I whispered to myself. My pulse quickened and I could feel my blood boiling. That bastard was hurting my best friend and I couldn’t do anything about it.

Oh did she deserve a whole lot better. I kept thinking that I could be that better boyfriend for her. I became very jealous of that pathetic Jasper. Something in my gut told me that he didn’t really love Kalie that he was just using her for the sex. It was at that moment that my heart made my mind up for me. There was no doubt about it. I wanted to be the one to show my best friend how love could really be. There was no doubting the fact that I was falling for my best friend.

I was going to tell her about my feelings the next day but seeing the way they acted around each other stopped me. They were acting like they actually were in love. He couldn’t keep his eyes and hands off of her and she wore a gorgeous smile. Grant it she was with all of her best friends bowling and joking around but I knew one of the main reasons for that smile was Jasper. I wanted to be him. I wanted to be in Jasper’s place badly.

As you can guess I never told Kalie my feelings. She and Jasper were still going strong. They were still together when Kasey and Trish got married in October of 2003 and Kalie was a braids maid. They even held out until October of 2004 when Michelle and Chris married. The only difference was that Kalie moved up a rank to maid of honor next to Crystal. Michelle couldn’t choose between her two best friends and they were both like her sisters so she broke tradition and had two maids of honor. Michelle invited the rest of the Boys and we announced that we were working on a new cd. So that was most of 2003 and 2004. Now for 2005.   

It started off like any other year. It seemed like it would stay pretty quiet until June 14 turned the corner and BSB released Never Gone. We weren’t expecting the turn out Never Gone received because we took a four year break from the music scene as a group while Brian and I went solo for a while. I’m pretty sure I could speak for the rest of BSB when I say that we were shocked but mostly appreciative that so many fans bought the cd the day it came out and started to demand concerts close to their home towns. The cd was a success which was more than we expected.

Then another unexpected event occurred.

It was July 14, exactly one month after the release of the new CD, when Kalie called to tell me tragic news.

“Nick,” she said in a near whisper. I could hear the shock in her voice and immediately knew something was wrong.

“Kalie what happened?” I heard nothing but silence on the other line. “Kalie?”

“I just got a call that… that…”

“Kayl…just tell me. I’m listening.”

She took a deep breath in before answering, “My grandparents were killed in a car accident.”

My breathing stopped until I squeaked out, “No! What happened?”

She broke down, “They were hit by a fucking drunk driver and they were both killed! And the God damn driver left the scene without a scratch! He fucking killed both of my grandparents and he was unharmed! My grandparents are dead and he’s fucking untouched!”

I listened to her cry and I felt tears stinging in my eyes. Kalie’s grandparents were in a way my grandparents. They always considered me as a grandson and I truly felt I was a part of the Smith family. The news greatly upset me but obviously Kalie was distraught. The entire Smith family was close knit and I couldn’t imagine how they were feeling having their most beloved family members taken from them like that.

“Where are you?”

“I’m home… alone,” she sobbed.

“Where’s Jasper?”

“At work.”

“Did you call him?”

“No. You’re the first one I’ve called besides my brothers. Kim was the one who called me. I’m shaking so bad Nick I can’t really move!”

“I’ll be right over. Just stay put.”

As soon as I hung up I ran out to my car and sped to Kalie. By the time I got there her siblings and siblings in law were just opening the front door. We found Kalie rocking back and forth in the armchair, her eyes red and puffy and her arms and legs trembling. Once she saw her siblings the tears started to roll down her face again. They rushed over to her and gathered into a group crying circle. Once they parted I wrapped my arms around Kalie as a few tears escaped my eyes. I quickly brushed them away. I didn’t want her to see me cry.  I wanted to be strong for her.

“Who didn’t you call?” I whispered.

“Like I said on the phone you and my brothers were the only one I called. I didn’t call any of our best friends but they should know. I didn’t even call Jasper.”

“I’ll call Mich, and Tally, and Dan and Chris and Mark,” Trish said.

“Let me have your cell phone so I can call your boyfriend.” She reached into her pocket and handed me her cell phone.

I looked through her contacts while I walked into the kitchen so Kalie and her siblings wouldn’t hear the news all over again.

“Hey babe,” Jasper answered the call.

“No it’s not Kalie.”

“Then who is it?!” he demanded.

“It’s Nick.”

“Why are you calling me on my girlfriend’s phone while I’m at work?”

“I called because Kalie’s grandparents were hit by a drunk driver today and they were both killed.”

“Oh… why isn’t Kalie telling me this?”

Did he really ask me that?

“She can’t talk!” I answered raising my voice slightly.

“Why not?”

Was this guy that stupid!

“She’s fucking devastated! She hasn’t stopped crying since her sister called to tell her about it!”

“Well… what do you want me to do about it?”

That pissed me off and I exploded, “What can you do about it? What can you do about it?! You could come over and try to console your girlfriend like you’re supposed to!”

“Well I can’t just get up and leave my job.”

“Why the fuck not?! You know what don’t even answer that! Congrats Jasper you just won the best boyfriend of the year award you fucking prick!”

I hung up the phone and threw it on the kitchen table. I couldn’t believe he just said that. I thought he was so in love with her but that proved to me that he was really just using her. I stormed back into the living room and stopped when Kalie picked her head up from the arm chair and asked, “Is he on his way?”

I took a few more steps closer to her and answered, “He says he can’t get out of work with such short notice. He won’t be home until later.”

She buried her face into her hands and sobbed, “I want my boyfriend! I want him to hold me and tell me everything’s going to be ok!”

I picked her up and sat on the arm chair so she was cradled in my lap.

“I guess you’ll have to settle with me for now Kayl.”

With that she dug her face into the crook of my neck and wrapped her arms around my waist. I slowly rocked the arm chair and rubbed my hand soothingly up and down her back. As her tears soaked through my shirt I stared at the picture of her grandparents hanging up on the wall. I couldn’t believe this was happening.