Description: Lara realizes that she and Nick should get together as an official couple.
Rating: PC (pretty clean) - just a little kissing
Author's Note: I wanted this to happen so I decided to write it up. This story is a very short one, but it is not the last for Lara and Nick.
On With The Story!
Lara rolled over in bed and whacked her alarm. The ringing didn't stop. Sleepily, Lara sat up and glanced around.
"Uhg - the phone!" She sighed, shuffling to the edge of her bed. She picked up the bright yellow receiver from her bedside table.
"What do you want?!?" Lara demanded of the person on the other line. It was silent.
"Hello?" Lara asked.
"Hi,"A male voice said calmly. "I'm sorry did I wake you?"
"Yeah, Swifty Jones - sometimes people sleep around -" Lara glanced at the smiley face alarm clock on her bedside table. "- 3:22 a.m."
"Well, this is important," The voice told her seriously.
Lara rubbed her eyes. "Sure it is. Do you always call perfect strangers up in the middle of the night to talk seriously?"
There was a silence on the other line. Finally: "I'm a friend of Nick's."
That got Lara's attention. Her eyes went wide. "What's wrong? Is he okay?" She was suddenly very worried. Although she still didn't want to commit to a relationship, she cared deeply about her friend.
"Oh he's fine, except for you totally disregarding his feelings and tearing him apart!" The voice said angrily.
Lara was instantly relived, but a little confused. "Look, Mr. Nick's friend, I don't know who the hell you think you are-"
"Who the hell do you think you are?" The voice demanded. "If you want to be with him fine, but quit with the games, okay? Don't you care that you're hurting him?"
"Hey, now that's not fair!" Lara protested. "He knows exactly why we can't be together. You don't know anything about it! Of course I care if I've hurt him, but last time I saw him we had mellowed. I'm not playing games! I care about Nick, but I never see him as it is, and I doubt anything would change if we became a couple! Why don't you just back off pal! Do you think I would have been worried about him, if I didn't care?!? Of course I care about Nick! I love him!"
The line was dead.
Lara started to feel very dizzy. She fell back unto her bed.
* * *
And opened her eyes. She was in the semi-prone position, lying on her side. An Emergency Medical Care Assistant (EMCA) was examining her. Someone crouched behind her was holding her hand. Lara could feel the person's warm breath against the back of her neck.
"Oh, she's coming around," the woman examining her told the person behind her. Then she heard Nick's voice.
"Is she going to be okay?" He asked in a worried, concerned voice.
The woman in the red EMCA uniform nodded. "I think she should be fine."
Lara tried to lift her head. It felt like there were large weights attached to it. It ached and she felt sick and lost. Her vision was blurry. She felt like she couldn't breath.
Lara closed her eyes once more, slipping away again.
* * *
Lara was standing on a stage. There were bright lights shining down on her and she could hear the screams of fans in the audience. She was sweating heavily, but felt wonderful and alive.
She was singing to the audience. "Quit playing games with my heart, with my heart, my heart. I should have known from the start . .."
Lara reached out to take someone's hand. It was a female hand, with long, shiny, purple finger nails. As Lara grasped her hand, she looked into the girl's face. It was her own. Suddenly Lara wasn't singing anymore, but listening. Nick was holding her hand and singing to her. The grip tightened slowly and she began to hear more voices.
In another instant Nick changed. It wasn't his gorgeous face she was looking into, but someone she didn't know. He was singing her a song. A song about how she was hurting him.
"We can win. Let it go. If you want me girl, let me know." The look he was giving her was a tortured one, but suddenly the guy was no stranger. Once more Lara was starring into Nick's eyes. She winced and pulled away. Lara fell back . . . back . . . back . . .
* * *
Lara gasped. Her eyes flew open and she starred at the woman in front of her. The woman starred back with concerned eyes.
"Lara? Lara?" Nick was hovering over her.
Shakily, Lara pushed herself up to a sitting position. "It's okay Nick," She managed to get out.
It was then that the cross examination started. Just when Lara thought she might want to kill the woman for making too sure that she was alright, the woman relented and allowed Lara to get up and walk off her experience.
"So, could you tell me exactly what happened?" Lara asked Nick. They were walking around backstage an N'Sync concert. Nick had his arm around Lara's waste, steadying her.
"I came down to visit you, yesterday and you said that you wanted to go to this N'Sync concert," Nick began. "So I arranged for some special stuff. We had front row seats and backstage passes, but I also got the guys to serenade you. The body guards pulled you up on stage and the guys sang part of Tearing Up My Heart to you, then when the guards brought you back to your seat, some of the other girls kind of attacked you and pushed you up against the barrier. I'm not sure exactly what happened after that, but I know you passed out." Nick turned and hugged her. "- oh God Lara, I was so scared."
Lara returned his hug and stood on her toes to kiss him softly on the cheek. She looked into his eyes and he was surprised to see she was on the verge of tears.
"Nick, I want - when I was unconscious - I - saw something - I - Uhg! This isn't what I'm trying to say!" Lara was beginning to get frustrated. Nick took her hands and urged her on with his eyes. Lara sighed and looked straight ahead, at Nick's chest. "I saw you, and I realized something. I was wrong and I - I want more than this." Lara tried to meet Nick's gaze, but found it impossible. Finally she forced her eyes to his. "Nick, I want us to be together." With that she looked away. The confidence in her words had drifted out and she felt very alone. For once she didn't have the slightest clue what he might be thinking.
Nick starred at her. This had been the last thing he'd expected. He wasn't sure how to respond, but the look on her face told him more than she would ever have wanted him to know. She meant what she was saying. Whatever she had seen on her dream, it had effected her greatly.
Nick smiled.
Lara still wouldn't meet his eyes. She was starring at his hand holding hers.
"Lara," Nick said softly. "Lara?" She didn't respond.
Nick put his hand under her chin, forcing her eyes to his. "Lara look at me . . ."
She met his gaze, and although she remained silent, her eyes spoke for her. Nick answered them.
Leaning forward slightly, Nick brushed his lips against hers in a chaste kiss. He pulled away slightly, but remained close, his face inches from hers. Lara licked her lips and glanced at his eyes again. This time she closed the space between them. They kissed, softly at first, but with a building intensity. Lara's mouth opened slightly and Nick took no time in deepening the kiss.
His arms slid around her waste as she threw hers around his neck.
Out of nowhere came the applause. It took Nick a moment, but he realized that quite a few people had gathered around and had been watching the whole thing. He paused, mid kiss, to glance around them. Lara pulled away to see what he was doing. They were surrounded by applauding people. Front and center was Justin Timberlake.
"I'm glad you're feeling better!" He laughed.
Nick rolled his eyes and turned back to Lara. "So does this mean I get to call you my girlfriend?"
Lara smiled at him. "Only if I get to call you my boyfriend .
. ."
Nick kissed her softly. "Agreed."
THE
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So, What did you think? Should I keep writing about Lara and Nick? Please write me at BSB Poetry.
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