Nick sulked around the living room, phone held tightly in his hands. He desperately wanted to call Ashley, he'd not stopped thinking about her, or about what she said. He knew that love was something that you could feel, and that you wouldn't know what it was till you FELT it, but still he wondered how to decipher a feeling if you've never felt it. Perhaps she was right about staying in your comfort zone. Amanda was comfortable, she was there when he needed, she looked good on his arm, she was comfortable, but he could never imagine spending the rest of his life with her. He tapped the phone against the wall and made a quick decision. He dialled the phone number he'd admitted to memory.
"Yeah?" a male voice spat down the phone
"Uh, is Ashley there?"
"Nope"
"Will she be home soon?" Nick questioned, becoming agitated
"Doubt it"
"Where is she?" he questioned quickly
"Dunno, New York I think"
Nick went to ask another questioned, but he soon realized he was talking to the disconnected sound.
"Shit he hung up" Nick cursed, throwing all of his weight against the wall
Ashley had left, she'd gone back to New York, without any form of a goodbye. He shifted his weight form one foot to the other, who was he kidding? She never had the obligation to say goodbye. They were a passing affair, something she'd obviously forgotten about. He grabbed his keys from the hook and started for the door. He would need to forget about her too.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(2 weeks later)
Ashley wandered around the house in her oversized PJ's, her hair pulled back into a messy ponytail and he face completely void of expression and makeup.
"I really wish you'd snap out of this" he mother called from the kitchen as Ashley wandered past.
She didn't even hear her mothers voice, instead all she heard was Nicks. She didn't know what had gotten into her the few days after he left her. She'd become like a zombie, unable to eat, sleep, do anything. He'd taken her from a never ending pit and shown her a light existed at the end of the tunnel, and all she'd done is pushed him aside. She left Florida, scared she might run into him and have a gush of feelings back. In the three weeks previously she'd prayed that he would call, that he would admit he too had this feeling he just couldn't ignore, and announce to her that they were destined to be together. The call never came, and reality hit her like a ton of bricks, he obviously walked out of the house and never gave her a second thought. She thought of him now, his crisp blue eyes gazing up into the sky as his hair blew gently in the soft wind swept breeze. She cursed herself for giving him so much thought, but there was something unexplainable about him, it was as thought they shared a past bond, buried deep but slowly coming to the surface.
She sighed as she flopped down onto the couch and flipped on the TV just as the logo for E! Entertainment News flashed across the screen. It was showing gowns and stars from the Grammy awards from the previous night.
"And it was a night of celebration for one star for a completely different reason" the voice over announced as a picture of Nick flashed on the screen, beside him stood the gorgeous blond, Amanda, "As Backstreet Boy, Nick Carter announced his engagement to long time girlfriend Amanda Potter" the camera zoomed in on Amanda's hand and sure enough a diamond encrusted gold ring sat elegantly on her wedding finger.
Ashley dropped the remote spilling the batteries across the floor.