Brian Littrell had just sat down on the couch beside Leighanne and right as he placed his arm around her shoulders the doorbell rang. Brian sighed, apologizing to his new wife and stood up to answer it. He swung open the door and a surprised look crossed his face.
“Nick, what are you doing here? I thought you were going straight to Ashley’s to surprise her?” Brian asked leading his best friend into the house. Then he noticed the look on Nick’s face, “Is something wrong, Frack?”
“Well, yeah. I did go to Ashley’s and…” Nick stopped when he noticed Leighanne. After saying hi to his best friend’s wife, Nick turned back to Brian. “Do you want me to leave? ‘Cause I can if I’m interrupting something,” Nick nodded his head towards the couch.
“Nick, just tell me what happened,” Brian sat back down next to Leighanne and Nick plopped down into the over stuffed arm chair.
“Okay, like I said, I went to Ashley’s and when I got there we were talking and get this,” Nick paused dramatically, “She tells me that she started dating this guy and now all of a sudden he asked her to marry him and she’s going to say yes.”
“What’s wrong with that, Nick? People get married all of the time,” Brian answered, a hint of amusement shining in his eyes.
“Other people get married all of the time, Rok. Ashley doesn’t get married,” Nick answerd matter-of-factly.
“Why can’t Ashley get married?” Leighanne asked.
“Why can’t Ashley get married?” Nick repeated, “I’ll tell you why Ashley can’t get married. First off, this guy is totally not her type.”
Now, the same amusement that was in Brian’s eyes was present on Leighanne’s face as well, “Wait a second, Nick. What exactly is Ashley’s type? You?”
“What? Why the hell would you say that?”
“Nick, it’s about time you stopped lying to yourself,” Brian smiled and leaned forward on the couch, “You’re crazy about Ashley and you have been for a long time. There’s been no serious threat until now and you’re freaking out because of it.”
“Did you just say that I’m crazy about Ashley?” Nick stared at Brian.
“You heard me right. You, as in Nick Carter, are crazy about Ashley,” Brian reiterated the fact.
“No, Brian, you are the crazy one here. Ashley’s like my sister. I mean we used to spend the night at eachothers’ house and take baths together. Believe me, I think I would know if I liked Ashley.”
Brian laughed, “Nick, first off, you and Ashley are still spending the night at eachothers’ house and second, I would bet my life savings that you wouldn’t mind taking a bath with her now either. She’s done a lot of growing up, if you know what I mean, and I know you do.”
“I can’t believe I’m hearing this. Leighanne, I’m sorry, but your husband’s offically lost it,” Nick scoffed.
“He’s not the only one that’s noticed, Nick. So has everyone else. It’s so obvious how you feel about her,” Leighanne answered.
“So this is what you guys do when I’m not around? You try and figure out who I’m in love with?”
“No, Nick, you’re pretty obvious about it. It didn’t take a rocket science to figure you out,” Brian told him.
“This is crazy, Bri. I am not, nor will I ever be, in love with my best friend.”
“Nick, not to offend you, but the reason your relationships didn’t work out with other girls wasn’t because you were away so much. The reasons your other relationships didn’t work out is because they all figured out how you felt about Ashley. I mean when she’s not out on tour with you, you’re on the phone with her, and while you might have dated some pretty airy girls, they were smart enough to figure it out.”
“Whatever. That’s not even the reason I’m here. The way it’s going right now, Ashley and I aren’t even going to be talking to eachother.”
“What do you mean, Nick?” Leighanne asked gently.
“When she told me she was going to marry that guy, I started asking her all of these questions and it blew up into this huge fight with me telling her she didn’t love him and her telling me that I didn’t know what love is because I can’t even keep a relationship. Then I said that she had never even been loved so she wouldn’t know what it is either and then she said that the only reason I was angry about this is because once she got married I wouldn’t be the only guy in her life and she wouldn’t be at my beck and call anymore,” Nick said all in one breath.
“Whoa. At her beck and call? Did she really say that?” Brian asked.
“Yeah and she had every right to say that.”
“Nick, I’m sure she didn’t mean it. You know that’s not true,” Leighanne offered.
“No, Leigh, it is true. You know what it’s like. Our lives are a constant circle of concerts, interviews, plane flights, and recording sessions. To be friends with us or to even more than friends with us you have to put up with a lot of shit and Ashley definitely takes on her fair share with me because I load it on her. I shouldn’t have expected her to put up with it for as long as she did,” Nick sighed wearily and rubbed his eyes.
“Nick, you know how it is when people get angry. They say things they don’t mean and even someone as sweet-tempered as Ashley does that. You know how much she cares about your friendship and you know that she would never intentionally hurt you, just like you would never hurt her,” Leighanne reasoned, “You’re exhausted and I’m sure Ashley’s tired since it’s the end of the week and neither of you were thinking clearly.”
“She’s right, Frack,” Brian put in, “You know how hot-headed you get when it comes to the people you care about. Then throw in jet lag and exhaustion and you’re one hell of a person to try and get along with. Why don’t you stay here tonight and try to catch some shut eye? Then in the morning you can go over and talk to Ashley and everything will make much more sense.”
Nick shook his head and rose from the couch, “Nah, I better be going. I don’t want to intrude on anything that you all have planned.” “Would we have invited you if you were going to be intruding, Nick?” Brian asked.
Nick shrugged, “You just feel sorry for me.”
“Nick,” Brian threw up his hands.
“You’re hopeless, Nick,” Leighanne added, “You are not interrupting anything. Just go on up and go to sleep, okay?”
“Fine, but only because you insisted.”
Brian groaned, “Come on, Frack, and I’ll set you up in the guest room.”
Nick silently followed Brian up the stairs. Brian opened a door and walked in turning on a light for Nick.
“Get some rest,” Brian said as started to close the door behind him.
“Hey, Bri?” Nick asked before his best friend walked out.
“Yeah?”
“I know I don’t usually say stuff like this, but you’re really lucky to have somebody like Leighanne. There aren’t many people who would put up with what we do,” sadness was clearly displayed in Nick’s eyes.
“Nick, you do have somebody.” There was a twinkle in Brian’s eye.
“Who? My dogs?” Nick questioned. “Even they act like they don’t know me when I come home from a tour.”
“No, Chaos, not your dogs. Ashley,” Brian quickly walked out of the room before Nick could respond and shut the door firmly behind him.
Nick stood there for a minute contemplating Brian’s words. Ashley was
his
best friend, not his soul mate. Wasn’t she?
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