The next week passed quickly. Melissa and Nick became close friends, sharing their experiences and finding comfort in each other. They never did make love again that week, and felt comfortable knowing that they just needed each other just for that night. They went shopping, saw movies, went scuba diving and just spent time together, identifying with the other’s problems and trying to take their minds off of things at least for awhile. Kevin’s birthday was approaching and Brian was throwing him a birthday party. Nick hadn’t talked to Brian all week, trying to keep his mind off of his problems as long as he could, but each moment of everyday was usually spent thinking about him. Howie had called him and told him to come, that everyone wanted him there. Howie wasn’t sure if he could make it due to his mother’s birthday being around the same time.
“ Yeah I hope I can make it, but you know how my mom is…” Howie’s voice said over the telephone. “But make sure you are there Nick, everyone really wants to talk to you, especially Brian and Kevin.” Howie knew that even mentioning their names would get a strong reaction from Nick. “Well what the hell do they want to talk to me about? Its not like Brian has anything to say or at least he didn’t the night at the club.” Nick said, his voice growing stronger with anger. “ Yeah, so how is your jaw and stomach, and where the hell did you go to? AJ and I were worried about you.” Howie said caringly. “Well, I had to leave D, you know I couldn’t hang around. I went down to the beach to get some fresh air and start walking back to my house when I ran into this great girl. She was really pissed about some guy who never contacted her after they shared what sounds like a hot night together… Anyway, we ended up coming back here and talking about everything. And…” Howie’s thoughts immediately referred back to Melissa. Could she be the girl who was upset? But I couldn’t contact her, she didn’t leave her number. Oh Howie, you can overreact so quickly, he said to himself. “And what?” Howie said still trying to process what Nick was saying. “Well… I dunno things just kind of happened. I started thinking about Brian and the next thing I knew we were in bed together. It hasn’t happened since and we both discussed that we just needed someone. But Howie, dude, she’s an awesome chick. We’ve been hanging out all week and she’s been able to really take my mind off of what happened with Brian. Hey if you come to the party maybe you’ll be able to meet her.” Howie’s mind continued to race. Why was he flipping out? She left him, remember… “Oh yeah, well I don’t know how likely it will be that I’ll be there, but I’ll try, I mean Kevin is turning the big 3 0! I can’t believe it.” Howie said trying to turn his attention back to what Nick said. “Are you gonna bring Jennifer if you come?” Nick asked. “Oh yeah, about Jennifer. We haven’t talked all week, she’s being a big bitch about what happened at the club. She left a message on my cell earlier though, she said she wants me to take her to lunch and go shopping. I don’t know…” Howie’s voice trailed off, once again thinking about Melissa. “Howie, what’s going on with you? You seem like your mind is somewhere else. Are you still hung up on that girl from this summer?” Nick said inquisitively. “ I don’t know Nicky, I try to get her out of my mind, but I swear I saw her at the club the other night and now everything that happened just won’t leave my thoughts. Plus Jennifer… I keep second guessing our relationship.” “D, I think you need to track down that girl you met after Lupus. You know you’re not going to stop torturing yourself until you find her and discover what happened.” Nick said. “ I know Nicky, but I’ve tried…its hopeless..” Howie sounded really depressed. “Well D I have to go, we’re going to go swimming for a little bit. Gimme a call and let me know if you’re gonna be at the party. I’d feel a lot better with you there, someone I can talk to if anything happens. Plus you know Kevin’s parties are always the most fun when he gets drunk and silly.” “I know Nick, I’m gonna try and make it but if I don’t , have a great time and good luck, I’m sure things will work out with you and Brian , I mean you love each other and nothing should stand in your way.” “Howie,” Nick said meaningfully. “I think you should listen to yourself, you know you love that girl. You think about it and I’ll talk to you soon, k?” “ Yeah, alrighty Nicky, later.” Howie said hitting “ END” on his cell phone. Nick was right, what was he trying to do. Maybe things weren’t right with Jennifer because he still had feelings for Melissa. The question was how was he going to find her…
“Meliss…” Nick yelled to Melissa who was standing on the balcony overlooking the ocean. “ Yeah Nick” she said, not taking her eyes off of the sunset. Should she tell Nick who it was that she had seen that night at the club? He had shared so much with her and maybe it was time for her to confess. But she didn’t want him to think less of her. She rarely slept with people the first time she had met them, and now she had done it twice, both with Backstreet Boys’. She also didn’t want Howie to find out what had happened, even though she knew he was with someone else, she didn’t want him to know yet that she had slept with one of his closest friends. “Hey girl” Nick said kissing her lightly on her cheek. “Who was on the phone?” She asked. “ Oh, just Howie” Nick said wrapping his arms around her waist, enjoying the sunset. “Howie?!” Melissa said surprisingly. Nick felt her body jump as she responded. “ Yeah, why do you sound so surprised? He just called me to tell me about Kevin’s party tomorrow night. Sounds like my presence has been requested. And I have a question for you.” “Yes?” She asked still trying to grasp that Howie had been on the phone. “Would you come with me? Howie said that he probably isn’t gonna be able to make it, and I really want someone who understands me to be there in case anything goes wrong. Yeah the guy who had me in such a mess is gonna be there and I don’t know what is gonna happen and I’m kind of apprehensive.” “ So Howie’s not going to be there?” She asked again. “ Yeah, his mom’s birthday is tomorrow , he doesn’t know how long he’s gonna have to stay there.” “Oh yeah.” Melissa said, remembering it was Mama D’s birthday. “Did you know that?” Nick asked. “ OH no… no, I just have heard how much Howie loves his family, that’s not surprising he would stay there all day.” “Yeah that’s D with his family, he loves them so much, and that’s basically his personality.” Nick said still staring into the sunset. Melissa was close to just telling Nick everything, how Howie had been the one to hurt her and how she had thought how sweet he was and how wrong she ended up being. Before she could say anymore Nick grabbed her hand and started running with her down the steps to his in-ground pool. “C’mon, you can think about it while we go swimming!!” She remembered then how much of a child in a man’s body Nick still was and smiled, knowing that she had hopefully made a friend that would understand why she couldn’t tell him right away. Plus she still wondered whom Nick was talking about. Who was it that he was afraid to face? She had a rather good guess, she did know who he was closest with, but could it be? |
