Three hours later we were all sitting on the living room floor around three empty pizza boxes laughing and talking.
“So you didn’t tell us how you met Riley, Nick,” A.J. asked, stealing a piece of pepperoni from my plate.
“I swept her off her feet,” he answered, grinning at the memory.
“Yup, I feel for him the moment we met,” I added. “I lost my footing on the fountain I was jumping into and Nick caught me,” I explained at their puzzled looks.
“Why were you in a fountain?” Howie asked.
“Why not?” I countered, smiling. “Because I’ve been told it’s not proper, you just don’t do it?”
“Well, yeah,” Brian answered.
“Bull shit. Bet someone told you it wasn’t proper to go thrusting on stage and you do it in your choreography, right?” I pointed out, remembering the video footage Nick had shown me one night.
The guys all glanced at each other and shrugged. “Yeah, but that’s different,” A.J. argued.
“How? Because you’ve seen other groups do it before, because the fans like to watch you do it, because you get a thrill doing it? Guess what. I got a thrill playing in the fountain. Come on guys. Why are you living life by rules set by society that limit the joy you experience?” I asked.
“I never thought about it like that,” Kevin admitted.
“Most people don’t. You lose so much in following rules without giving thought to the limitations behind them.”
“You are one odd chick,” Brian added.
I smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek. “Thank you. I’ll consider that a compliment.”
“Hey, lips off the other BSB. Remember our deal,” Nick teased, grinning at me.
“I said no falling in love. I never said no kisses,” I laughed, wrapping my arms around his neck and smiling up into his beautiful blue eyes. “Let’s go swimming.”
“Riley, it’s almost midnight,” Howie said.
“So, are you afraid of the dark, Howie D?” I asked.
“No, of course not. It’s just that it’s late and no one goes swimming in the middle of the night.”
“Race you to the beach,” I said, standing up. My eyes moved from one face to the next waiting to see how they would react. Would they let a lifetime of rules stop this single moment of joy?
“Last one in is a rotten egg,” Brian yelled, jumping up and running for the door. I laughed and ran after him, glancing back to see the others guys coming towards us.
“Run,” I screamed, kicking off my shoes and throwing my head back as I lost myself in the pure happiness of the moment.
Suddenly they all stopped at the edge of the water and looked at each other in question.
“What?” I asked, standing so that the water lapped at my feet.
“No swim trunks,” Kevin answered.
“Underwear, boys. It’s very handy sometimes,” I said, pulling my dress off and tossing it on the sand as I jump into the cool water.
Coming up for air, I looked up at the sand to see piles of clothes as the other guys jump in after me in their boxers or briefs.
“Holy shit, this is cold,” A.J. screamed.
“Baby,” I teased, splashing water at him as I laughed.
We played forever in the water that night. Splashing, laughing, teasing, swimming under the water to scare each other, playing chicken on each other’s shoulders, and Marco Polo in the dark. Nick carried me around on his back in the water then would suddenly dunk me. I pulled Kevin’s boxers down under water then laughed at the tint of red in his face afterwards. A.J. snapped my bra and the guys roared with later when I managed to get his boxers off and wave them around in the air. Brian tickled me relentlessly every time I wasn’t looking. Howie would sneak up on my under water and pull me under. We had so much fun letting down every guard life had ever forced on to us.
Shortly after two o’clock in the morning though I started to feel a little weak.
“Nick,” I whispered a few feet from him in the water.
“Yeah, goldie locks,” he answered, before turning to see my face. “Riley,” he called, grabbing me.
“I’m ok. I think I just need a little help getting out of the water,” I said, smiling weakly at him.
He lifted me into his arms and carried me to the shore where he laid me down and held me. I saw the fear in his eyes and I touched his face in reassurance.
“Nick, is she all right?” Kevin asked, coming out of the water.
“Riley?” Howie called out.
“Man, what’s wrong?” A.J. questioned.
“Give her a minute, guys,” Brian said.
I looked up at all their handsome faces above me and smiled. “I’m fine guys. Just a little tired. Grab some sand and stop dripping on me,” I teased, playing off how weak I felt.
They listened to me though, spreading themselves out on the sand to let the night air dry them.
“Do you guys see that really bright star right there?” I asked, pointing up into the sky.
“That’s the North Star,” Brian answered.
“Yup. Now do you see those three stars over there in that line, and the two above it and the two below it?”
“Yeah, I know that constellation,” Howie said. “Can’t think of the name right now though.
“That’s Orion. And there’s the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper,” I continued, pointing out the stars.
“You got a thing for stars, Riley?” A.J. asked.
“Actually, I do. I’d like to be a star,” I answered.
“Why?” Kevin asked.
“They are forever. They are always up there till time ends and they never fade, they never go out,” I answered.
“Sure they do. You can’t see them during the day, remember?” Howie pointed out.
“You can’t see them, but they are always there, Howie. They never stop shining just because you can’t see them. Ever constant, never changing, forever,” I said, staring into the sky.
“Are you all right, Riley?” Kevin asked, sitting up to look at me where I lay in Nick’s arms.
I looked up at the man I had fallen in love with and smiled. He still looked so scared and I knew when my time came it would have difficulty accepting it. He needed his friends with him then and they needed to know what they were going to face.
“It’s time to tell them,” I whispered to Nick.
“You don’t have to, Riley,” he answered.
“Don’t have to what? What are you two talking about?” Brian asked.
“We’re talking about telling you that I’m going to die,” I answered.
Links to other sites on the Web
Chapter 15
Back to Fan Fiction Index
Get your own Free Home Page