Oreos for Breakfast: Nick BSB Fiction

Oreos for Breakfast - Chapter 17
By The Paperbag Princess and The Pumpkin Coach

Corresponding Message Board Posts (Fictional!)

My phone rang, and I rolled over, trying to find it to turn it off. Why hadn't I done that already? Why was it ringing when I was in the middle of something?

Oh, god, it's Rachel. Rachel's on my phone, not half naked in my bed… who the hell is this woman half-naked on my bed?

I let the phone go into voicemail and turned around to the pretty blonde pouting at me. "Turn that thing off, Nicky, and come back…" She held her hand out to me, and I moved away.

"You need to go." Nothing happened. Well, not really. I stood up from the bed, zipping my pants. No clothes were removed. Nothing happened.

"But…" she protested, sitting up to look at me. "Why?"

"Because…" Because I have a girlfriend that will never, ever forgive me for this. Shit, yeah, we'd had a fight last time we talked, but that was no excuse for this. Shit. "Because I got carried away, and I'm sorry, and you need to go now." Before Rachel calls again and starts wondering where I am.

The girl continued to protest while I grabbed her arm and led her to the door. She tried to kiss me again, and I just shook my head, shutting the door behind her and leaning against it, shaking.

What was I doing? Why had I gone to the bar after the show? She left me a voicemail during my show. Why didn't I just call her back?

Right, I did, but she didn't answer. And I'd spent all day yesterday waiting around to get her on the phone, and I was fucking sick of it.

But, fuck, even I knew that was no excuse to bring a girl up to my room. I was just… bored? Lonely? Angry? It made sense at the time. It felt good to have a drink and talk to someone who didn't argue with everything I said, and it felt really good to just touch her. Kiss her and feel her soft skin against mine. The world was so fucked up right now… that felt real and comfortable.

Half angry, I found my phone and listened to my voicemail. Three messages, the first one during my show. "Hi, honey. Still doing fucking press, but I got a free second. Love you, I forgot to say that before we hung up. Call me after your show, okay?"

Another one from Rachel, around one. I'd been in the bar talking to… Erica. Elaine? No, I think it was Erica. "Where are you? You didn't call after your show, and I hope everything's okay. I've got a surprise to tell you. Call me!"

And one from just a moment ago, when my tongue was down someone else's throat. What the hell was I doing? "Are you sleeping, baby? That's probably good. I know you haven't been sleeping the last couple nights. Call me when you get this, bunny, because you'll want to hear my news."

She loved me. I still didn't know why, but she loved me and she missed me, and I'd been making out with some groupie when I could have been talking to Rachel. Never mind that I couldn't get her on the phone and I was lonely. Fuck lonely.

I dialed her number, not sure what I was going to say to her, but needing to hear her voice. Voicemail again! Fucking voicemail! She just called me, where was she?

I suddenly realized that her phone was still screwed up. After a mad search, I found the paper with her hotel number on it and dialed that.

"Hello?"

Oh, thank god, it's her. I didn't want to talk to anyone else in the band. Especially James. I felt like he'd be able to tell I'd been with some other girl.

"Nick!" she squealed. "Why are you calling me on this phone?"

"Because I just called your cell and got voicemail."

"Fuck! I was sitting here staring at it, hoping you'd call."

Damnit. And I'd been making out with another girl. "What's the surprise, Rache?"

"Ooh!" she cooed. "We cancelled everything until Monday. James and I are coming to see you!"

The room spun, and I had to sit down. I'd been fooling around with a groupie, and she was planning to visit me? I was a lousy boyfriend. "When? How? Why are you bringing James?"

No, James is good. James is a distraction. If I'm alone with her for too long, I will tell her what just happened here, and she will leave me.

"We're renting a car, and it's a long fucking drive. Don't worry, he'll leave us alone. Besides, I know you're busy, you've got the show and the promo for the single and stuff. I'll stay out of your way… I just really want to see you, sweetie."

"Me too, baby." My chest ached with it. It had been a horrible week. It had been a horrible week for the whole world. Why did I think I was so different? I was quiet for a moment, fighting back tears. She'd be here tomorrow. It wasn't alone at the Point house with her, but it was still her, with me.

Danny's wife would never have that again. She'd never get to touch her husband again.

I was quiet so long that her voice was nervous when she spoke. "Or, I don't have to come. I can stay here in Chicago, work on some stuff…"

"No! I'm sorry, Rache, I'm just…" What am I, besides a lousy boyfriend? "I'm…. I'm so glad you're coming."

His voice broke, and I wanted to be with him now. Right this second. He'd been so sad… he was upset about Danny. I wanted to be there to stroke his hair while he cried. We hadn't even really talked about that since he found out. We'd just had voicemails and that stupid fight…

I needed to be with him, and feel his arms around me. The entire country was reaching out for their loved ones, and I missed him so bad it hurt. That's all it had been with Jeremy last night, right?

"I wish I'd known yesterday that we were canceling things," I told him softly. "I could be there right now."

He took a shaky breath. "I wish you were. Or I wish I was there. I sleep better when you're with me. I feel like I haven't slept in days."

"I know, bunny. But we're gonna have like two whole days. We'll leave early tomorrow and meet you, and we don't have to leave until Sunday. Can we get someone to drive the rental while James and I relax on your bus?"

"Sure. One of the crew will do it." I knew he had no idea where we'd be tomorrow, or how long the drive was between shows. I'd call Frank tomorrow and he'd set it up for us. "What time tomorrow will you get here?"

"Late. It's a seven hour drive, and I hear the border's a bitch. We pick up the car at nine, so it might be five or so before we get there. Will you be at the venue?"

"Yeah, I guess. I'll get Frank-"

I interrupted him. "I'll call him tomorrow. We'll work it out. I can't wait, baby! I get to see three of your shows! James has never seen you guys. You'd better live up to the hype I'm giving you."

"We will." He didn't laugh, though, and we were quiet for a moment. "Rache?"

"Yes?"

"Can you come now?" His voice broke, and my heart shattered.

"I tried," I told him softly. "Rental cars are in short supply, and the best I could do was get one tomorrow morning." I'd wanted to surprise him. As soon as we'd made the decision to pick up the tour on Monday, I'd been plotting on how to get to Nick. I'd walk, if I thought it would get me there quicker.

"Ok," he sniffled. "I just… I didn't know how much I missed you until right now. It seems so far away, tomorrow afternoon."

"We can talk, though." It wasn't enough. It was never enough.

"You should sleep. You and James have to get up early."

"I can't sleep when you sound so sad."

He hiccupped, and I knew he was crying. "I love you so much, Rache."

"I know, baby, I know." My hand hurt from clutching the phone so tightly, and I relaxed my grip, trying to breathe. "I'm so sorry I was such a bitch when we talked before the show. Really."

"It's okay," he mumbled, and I shook my head.

"It's not. I was tired and hungry and cranky, and I took it out on you. I'm sorry, baby. Did you have a good show?"

"It sucked. It felt so wrong to be up there," he admitted.

Was that my fault? Was he okay about it before I bitched him out? I sucked. I'd just felt guilty about what happened with Jeremy last night, and I'd picked a fight with Nick.

"I'm sorry… you raised a lot of money, though."

"We did a moment of silence before the show. Brian and Kevin said some nice things, and that felt good."

"Good. Tomorrow you better kick ass, okay?" I teased, making him laugh a little.

"We will. I'll tell the fellas in the morning. They'll be glad you're coming. How did you manage this, Rache?"

"Saffron. I adore her, Nick. Remember when we were on the phone and Darien told me we had another interview?"

Definite chuckle now. "Uh, yeah, I sorta remember you throwing a fit."

"Shut up," I pouted. "Anyway, we talked to the last few British press guys tonight. Not all of them made it here, because we were supposed to do interviews both yesterday and today. Anyway, they all left, and Saffron sat down with us and asked when we'd last had more than a day off, and it was the beginning of the tour. She said it was obvious that we're all exhausted, and a lot of people are canceling shows for the next few days, so if we wanted to, we could. Dude, we didn't even hesitate. We've got to be in Detroit on Monday, and I am free until then."

It felt bizarre to have free time. Fantastic, but weird.

"That is so great, baby. But… are you sure you don't want to go home?"

I smiled at the phone. He knew me too well. "They're okay, Nick. I know that. Besides, it's a lot farther to get there, and it'll involve going around the city, and I'm not interested in that."

"So I was your second choice," he teased, but I didn't laugh.

"No. You were the first thing I thought of, bunny. Believe me. Jeremy and Darien and Lola are staying here, but by tomorrow they should be able to get separate rooms. Saffron told them to run up the hotel charges to EMI. But I could not possibly just stay here when you're only a few hours away."

And its not because I have a guilty conscience or anything. It took me a few minutes of plotting to even consider Jeremy, so I was pretty confident about that one.

"Thanks," he whispered.

"Don't, sweetie. I just can't wait to see you. And James wants to make sure I have company on the drive. And he and Jeremy might kill each other if left alone."

"Did something happen?"

Shit. Why did I say that? "No… just general tension. We really need some time apart. Oh, shit, I forgot to ask, can you get James a room at your hotel? He promised me he will totally take care of himself. But… wouldn't it be nice to be normal and see touristy crap? Or do you not have any free time?"

God, I wanted that. I wanted to just hang out and be with Nick, not just fuck and fly apart, like we'd been doing the last couple weeks. For the first time since we'd gotten together, I wasn't plotting how to ravish him as soon as I saw him. I just wanted to hold him and see his smile.

Not that sex wasn't in the plans, of course…

He laughed. "No, I have plenty of free time. We did all the Toronto press today, so Friday we'll have the whole day to do whatever you want."

"Bliss," I sighed, and he sighed in agreement. This was going to be great.

To be continued...

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