Ashley turned over restlessly in her bed. She glanced at her alarm clock for the thousandth time that night and saw that it was now two a.m. Her covers were pushed down to the bottom of her bed and she was sprawled all over the mattress, her dark hair fanned out on the pillow. Moonlight streamed in through the blinds and she could hear the waves crashing through the open windows. The sound of the ocean always made her think of Nick and right now he was definitely the only thing on her mind.
She hadn’t meant to hurt him. Actually she hadn’t even meant any of the things she’d said to him. True, he sometimes did forget the time zone and call her in the middle of the night. But that was just Nick. Half the time he didn’t even know what city or country he was in. Sometimes he just didn’t get much of anything and she still loved him despite those qualities. In fact she loved him even more because of those qualities. She had always treasured his kind heart, his insane personality, and childish way of seeing things. He wasn’t the selfish and jealous person her words from earlier had inferred. In fact he was the most generous person she had ever met. His fame had not changed him, it just gave him more to share with the rest of the world. Ashley’s heart ached remembering the words she’d spat at him.
Glancing at the red digital numbers of the clock again, Ashley also looked at the picture frame on her nightstand. She picked it up and examined it in the moonlight. It held two pictures each from the same day, taken only moments apart. They were taken on top of the Eifle Tower when the Boys had been playing in Europe. In one Nick and Ashley’s arms were wrapped around eachother, laughter evident on their faces from a joke Nick had just cracked. The second one was of Nick pretending to toss her over the edge of the Tower. Kevin, a camera ever present, had caught the happiness of their friendship on film.
She sighed looking at the picture. Nick was definitely nothing like Preston. In fact they were exact opposites. Preston was a little self-centered and sometimes was down right greedy. He definitely didn’t dress like Nick and Preston’s sense of humor didn’t even come close to matching that of her best friend. He was actually rather formal when it came to most things and Nick definitely did his own thing. Protocol was not in Nick’s vocabulary. He lived for the moment while Preston was a very calculated person. Ashley thought about Nick’s unruly blonde hair, heartstopping smile, entrancing blue eyes, and boyish features and recognized the fact that Preston wasn’t nearly as handsome as Nick. In fact, the more she thought about it the more she realized that not many people were as handsome or talented as her best friend. How many guys had platinum selling records and thousands of girls falling at his feet? Not many, except for Nick.
Wait! Why was she comparing Nick to Preston or Nick to anybody for that matter? This was her best friend and her fiance, well soon to be fiance. There was a very well defined line between the two. This was insane. That night’s insomnia was finally getting to her. Ashley swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, deciding that it was pointless to lay there and wait on sleep that would never come. She pulled on a silk bath robe, tying the belt around her waist and walked through her dark house.
Making her way into the kitchen, Ashley turned on the burner and walked over to the sink to fill up the tea pot, hoping that some chammomile tea would help her get some sleep. She didn’t have any classes tomorrow but Preston was going to stop by around ten thirty and she didn’t want to be asleep when he got there. Just as she sat the tea pot on the burner the door bell rang. She knew instantly who it was and she knew that just like her, he had struggled with his stubborn streak all night and hadn’t been able to go to sleep either. That was the problem with her and Nick. Both of them were incredibly hardheaded and had an impossible time apologizing even when they knew they were in the wrong.
Tentatively, as if displaying her emotions, she unlocked the front door and pulled it open to reveal Nick standing on the doorstep bathed in moonlight. He looked even more exhausted now than he had the first time he’d stood there in the last twenty four hours. Neither spoke for a moment.
Nick broke the silence, “I couldn’t sleep.”
“Neither could I.”
Both of them began to talk at once:
“Nick, I didn’t mean anything….”
“Brown Eyes, I’m sorry I tried to butt in….”
They both laughed.
“Go ahead,” Nick nodded at her.
“I’m so sorry, Nicky. Those things I said were so untrue. You have to know that never in million years did I mean them. Your friendship is so incredibly important to me and I’d never want to jeopardize it. You’ve been there for me so many times I can’t even count them on two hands.”
“You had every right to say what you did. It’s hard actually being me, so I don’t know how you manage being friends with me. I shouldn’t have tried to butt into your life the way I did. I just always want to make up for not being here and look out for you when I am and maybe I took it a little overboard this time. It’s your life. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
Ashley smiled softly, “I know, Nick, and I love the fact that you want to look out for me. You were right about me not knowing about love though. My own parents never even showed it to me. Just you.”
“There are so many people that love you. Don’t ever say that. You’ve turned into the most beautiful, intelligent, well-rounded girl I know and it shines through in everything you do.”
“Gee, Nick, when did you become so poetic?”
He blushed softly under her gaze. “I don’t know. But that’s how I really feel. I just thought you should know it. And I’m incredibly tired so I probably won’t remember half of what I said in the morning,” he grinned that famous grin at her.
“Then will you please come in and I’ll put you up in the guest room? It’s practically already yours anyways. You’ve got a tooth brush in the bathroom and a pair of pajama pants from the last time you slept here. I washed those and your clothes that you wore that time, too. They’re sitting on the bed in there,” she pleaded with him in the moonlight.
Nick yawned and then laughed, “I guess I”ll take you up on that offer. I might drive off the side of the road if I don’t.”
Ashley pulled him into the house and locked the door behind them. She padded up the stairs to the guest bedroom right across the hall from hers.
“So you’ll give Preston a chance, Nicky?” she asked as he followed behind her.
Nick responded through another yawn, “If he means that much to you I will.”
“Good. Besides I couldn’t get married unless I saw your smiling face at the church,” Ashley said as she pulled down the comforter on the bed for him and fluffed the feather pillow, “Just promise me you’ll save me a dance at the reception?”
“I won’t dance with anyone but you, Brown Eyes,” sincerity showed in Nick’s eyes.
“Yeah right. All the girls will be begging to dance with you. You probably won’t have any time for little old me.”
“Yeah right. I can’t get a girl to save my life,” sadness ran through his voice.
“Oh, Nicky. You’ll find somebody. There’s got to be some girl out in those mobs of fans who will just fall into your arms some day and you’ll fall madly in love with her.”
“Is that what happened with you and Preston?” Nick laughed. His laugh was a quiet, masculine laugh. If she hadn’t been his best friend she would have called it sexy even. Ashley had never noticed it before.
Lost in her thoughts she didn’t answer him.
“Ash?”
“What? Oh! No, not really. More like my mother pushed me into his arms.”
Nick laughed again and she felt her stomach knot up. Why was she doing this?
“Well, I guess I’ll leave you alone and let you go to sleep,” Ashley said.
“Thanks for the room, Brown Eyes. Goodnight. Sleep tight. Don’t let the bed bugs bite,” he grinned and bent down to give her a kiss on the forehead.
It was a chaste kiss, but for some reason Nick didn’t move away. It was as if her eyes held in him a trance and he wanted to press his lips to her skin again. She was beautiful and not a made up beautiful. He had never really thought about it before. He let his lips brush against her skin again, this time teasingly close to her mouth. She sighed softly, her eyes beckoning for more and a sweet smile on her lips inviting him to touch them with his own. Nick moved slowly towards her lips and his hand touched the soft skin of her cheek.
Just as their lips were about to touch they were startled by the sound of the tea kettle going off in the kitchen. Ashley jumped away from him and the world that they had created shattered around them as the moment was broken by the shrill sound.
“The tea kettle!” she cried and raced out of the room closing the door behind her.
A million thoughts raced through Nick’s head as he took off his clothes and pulled on the pair of flannel pajama pants that he had left at Ashley’s house. Had he been crazy to want to kiss her? She was beautiful and there was no reason not to be attracted to her, except that she was his best friend. Nick turned the light off and laid down, pulling the sheet up over his bare chest as he tried to ignore the familiar feeling of crowded boxers.
Exhaustion finally took over and Nick fell asleep, a strange mixture
of
dreams going through his head that night.
Links to other sites on the Web
Get your own Free Home Page