"Hello? Hi, this is Kevin Scott Richardson and my company placed a booking in your hotel about a week ago. Well, the situa- What?! Oh damn! You are closed due to snow? Then why the heck are you still sitting at the reception? You had to stay and answer calls to tell people that you are closed?!" Kevin gave a look of anger and ridicule at the same time. The guys all looked worried as Kevin put the phone down. "So, what are we going to do? What's happening now?" Brian asked and walked over to Kevin and sat down beside him. "We have no place to stay for the night, damn it! The hotel is closed and no one's about to come out on a night like this to tow our van away." Kevin knitted his eyebrows as he spoke. "We have no place to stay for tonight guys. We have to return to the van and sleep there for tonight, at least" Howie widened his eyes in shock and immediately said, "No way! It's freaking cold in there and both you and I as well as everyone in this room knows that we are not going to get any sleep if we go back there." They guys all exchanged looks of worry and A.J stood up and paced around the room. It didn't seem like there was another choice.
"Hey," Lucy suddenly quipped. "The thing is, my parents are not in town and neither is my kid brother, so you guys can stay here for a couple of nights if you want. My parent's room can accommodate about three people and my brother's room can hold two of you. So, I think that things might just work out fine here. And if you are worried about food, we have a lot of stores in our fridge to last us for a week at least, so you guys can stay here for the night. And I insist too, cos I'm not about to let you guys freeze in the night. And it doesn't seem like the storm is going to let up in the next couple of days." Every single person in the room froze after she said that, and all the guys immediately gave her a huge, shining smile and A.J even picked Peggy up from the ground and twirled her around in joy and relief. Lucy beamed back at them and said silently to herself, "You're welcome."
The room became a little market place as voices mixed and merged together as one to create a rather loud buzzing sound. Lucy took a seat at the corner of the couch and watched everyone as they talked. Howie was chatting to Brian and Nick and Lucy couldn't help but notice that Howie always seemed to have the urge to wink a little as he talked. Almost like he can't blink, she thought to herself. But Howie proved her wrong by turning around to look at the clock and he actually blinked! Wow! Lucy thought, that's amazing! She gave herself a private smile as she realized that she was being sarcastic and immediately felt a pang of guilt hit her. She was never used to being mean and people often had to teach her to be cruel so that she wouldn't be taken advantage of by others. She saw Nick turn to look at her and she instantly looked away, afraid of the effect he might have on her again. Her gaze now switched to Peggy and A.J. who were talking cosily in the corner of the room. Peggy was laughing quietly as A.J leaned over and whispered something into her ear. Lucy immediately turned away. She had broken up with her boyfriend a few months ago. Even though it was a long time ago, she still felt lonely and the need to have someone next to her. To comfort and hold her when she was afraid, to hold her hand and squeeze it whenever she laughed and just someone to share her moments, both happy and sad. Lucy shook her head and looked up again. She saw Tyra and Kevin sitting on the floor, by the fireplace just talking. For a moment, Tyra rubbed her arms, as if she was cold. Kevin took off his sweater in an instant and placed them around her. She smiled at him and snuggled comfortably against him. Lucy closed her eyes and then forced herself to the kitchen. She didn't want to invade in their privacy.
She sat at the coffee table and stirred the tea in her cup nonchalantly, she looked far away and her thoughts soon drifted to Nick, when she first caught his gaze at the doorway. It was so incredible and she felt a delicious warmness creep over her body as she remembered his warm smile and gorgeous voice. She had an awful urge to push her hand through his soft hair then, and move his fringe away from his eyes so that she could have a full view of his face and those blue eyes of his...
"Hiya!" A familiar voice interrupted her thoughts and the teaspoon clattered on the floor. She whirled around and nearly bumped into someone with blond hair. Blond hair?! She looked up and saw Nick's blue eyes staring straight into her own brown ones. She blushed as she bent down to pick up the spoon.
"I-I'm sorry I startled you." He said, scratching his head, giving her a goofy grin. She felt herself turn beetroot again and said, "Uh, no problem. I was kinda in my own dreamland anyway. I didn't hear you come in." She picked up her cup and took it to the sink.
"Here, let me help you." Nick took the cup from her hands, his fingers brushed against her own and he stood dangerously close to her so that she could smell his wonderful aftershave. She inhaled deeply, silently and her eyes gleamed with a little satisfaction and felt a new, strange sensation overcome her. He walked over to the sink, leaving her staring at her fingers and feeling the tingly sensation which refused to leave her hands. Not that she wanted it to, but it was so overwhelming that she found it hard to stand.
"Are you okay?" She looked up again and saw his face, eyebrows crinkled with a little worry. No, I'm not okay, she thought. How can I be okay when I'm practically going insane inside, trying not to grab and hold you tight? But she stopped herself from blurting that out and just said that she was fine. He gave that half-smile of his and she had to sit down in case she swoons to the ground. He sat next to her and started.
"So, you're chinese? Where were you from originally?"
"My parents were from Canton, China, but they moved here before I was born and I've been living here ever since." Lucy replied and she turned and looked at him in his eyes.
"Really? You look like you are an American-Chinese though. Not a pure Chinese, but I like that." She smiled and felt her cheeks burning again.
"Thanks," she said in reply. "So what are you guys doing here in Canada?"
"Well, we are here for a holiday, but it didn't seem like it was going on too well, until we met you." He said. "And your friends of course." He quickly added.
"I see. So what do you guys do?"
"We are in the entertainment industry, we sing." Lucy raised an eyebrow and brushed her fringe away from her eyes and shove a few strands of black hair behind her ear.
"Sing? So, are you a rock group, R&B or pop group?"
"We are more pop, but R&B too. We sing love songs, ballads, you know?" Lucy nodded her head in understanding.
"What's your group called?" She couldn't resist asking.
"Erm, I don't know if you've heard of us, but we are the Backstreet Boys." Nick's eyebrows knitted as he said that. It was as if he was unwilling to tell her the group name. She drew back a little when she saw the sudden change in his eyes.
"Erm, nope. I've never heard of that group." She stuttered out. She was lying, of course. She had a few friends in school who were absolutely nuts about them, and she knew that they were hotshots. Even though she liked their music, she had thought nothing of them but just some guys who earned their living by making a couple of girls go crazy. But here she was, going crazy by a guy she only met and in a group she didn't even think highly of. She thought inwardly to herself, I can't believe this is happening to me.
Suddenly, Brian stepped into the kitchen, saw the both of them sitting at the table and cried out, "Hey Lucy and Nick! Peggy and Tyra told us that there's a garage downstairs and they have a basketball net there, so how about some b-ball, Nicky my man! Tyra gave me this ball just now, I can't believe our luck!" He twirled the basketball in his hand and Lucy recognised the basketball as her brother's which had always been kept in his room. Her eyes turned a little misty with frustration as she realised that Tyra was making herself way too at home, but she blinked it away.
"Hey Lucy, wanna join us?" Nick asked.
"Erm, I would love to but I'm a lousy basketball player."
"No problem, I can teach you if you want, besides, I'm sure Brian wouldn't mind if we teamed up and beat him." Nick grinned.
"Nah, I'm sure the score would be 'Brain Littrell: 100 points. Nick and Lucy: 10 points'." Brian smirked.
"Yeah, in your dreams, Brian, in your dreams!" Nick yelled jovially, as he grabbed hold of Lucy's hand and pulled her downstairs into the garage. All the while, Lucy was repeating the words in her head 'Nick and Lucy...', and her hand felt so safe in Nick's hand as her fingers savoured his warmness...
Ooh, the excitement is growing!!! Cant wait for the next chapter? Check back to the Hosted fanfic's Page to read Part 3!