Oreos for Breakfast: Nick BSB Fiction

Oreos for Breakfast - Chapter 21

By
The Paperbag Princess & The Pumpkin Coach

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We were all at the pseudo-bar now. The boys and my date were ordering drinks as we girls laughed together. Kyle the pseudo-date handed me my "cosmopolitan" and I about spit it out as I took a sip. Watered down pink lemonade? Someone could have warned me about that! The camera was focused on Jeremy. This was his big shot with his girl. Then I felt Shane's hand on my ass, and Matthew screamed, "cut" at the top of his lungs.

"You are James' boyfriend, Shane!" he reminded him, glaring at both of us.

Oh, great, now Shane was getting me in trouble! I wasn't supposed to be in trouble. I was the star! I whirled around on him, but he spoke before I could start yelling.

"Rache, I was just going for a bit of realism. You and James are friends. Don't you think his boyfriend would be touchy with you?"

I had to laugh at that. Just the other night I'd tried to be touchy with James' boyfriend, and that so hadn't worked, "Not on my ass, and not if they're really GAY!"

He tried to look all innocent, and I could feel my blood boiling. Okay, he had to go now. Not in two minutes, not in half an hour, but right fucking now, or I was going to go ballistic on someone. Suddenly Lola was in front of me, and I felt her take my hand, leading me to the side of the set, "Don't make a scene. The fans are being let in now."

I looked to the back of the room, and sure enough, the door was open and the bright sunlight from outside streamed in, illuminating their outlines. They looked like aliens landing to take us away or something. Was I suddenly in an episode of the X-Files? Could Shane really be an evil alien, and would Mulder come in and save me?

Or it was sorta like that Backstreet video… the one where the girls were directing the video and made the fellas do silly things. The one with the chair dance. 'As Long as You Love Me'? 'Quit Playing Games'? Sometimes they ran together. Brian had met Leighanne on that video shoot. Maybe my soulmate was in the crowd and I could stop obsessing about the blond god. We'd buy a couple of stupid dogs and live happily ever after…

Lola handed me a bottle of water, and I took a big swig, "Can we get the fucking 'dates' out of here? We've been shooting for two days. Matthew has to have enough fucking footage!"

Lola rolled her eyes, but walked over to Matthew. I saw Shane coming towards me out of the corner of my eye, but then Darien intercepted him. I couldn't really hear what he was saying, but I distinctly heard the words "back off."

"What exactly happened with my boyfriend?"

I rolled my eyes at James. "Your boyfriend is fucking clueless!"

"Duh. He's pretty but vacant."

"Pretty… vacant…" Jeremy sang in his best Johnny Rotten impersonation, making both of us laugh. We should cover the Sex Pistols on the next album… that would rock. We hadn't done a Sex Pistols cover since college.

"Hey, do you remember that Sigma Chi party we played?"

I smiled at Jeremy. It was weird how much we could still read each other, "Just what I was thinking about. And that guy who wouldn't quit shouting at me to show him my tits?"

"Oh, he was so flaming, Rache!" I raised an eyebrow at James, and he just smiled. "What? You know the worst frat guys were always just in the closet!"

"In your dreams!" I laughed.

He started to protest with me, but Matthew's assistant called us back to the set. "That's a wrap for the dates. Let's hear it for Shane, Kyle, Margaret and Carrie!" Everyone cheered, and Lola grabbed me, pretending that we needed to talk about something very important as Matthew's assistant led our dates out.

Thank fucking god.

She and Jeremy were getting along! Fuck me. But he'd just let me in… they couldn't be together…

Well, at least she hadn't noticed me standing back here trying to stay hidden by the catering table and shadows. The fans were all taking their places. All I needed was one Backstreet fan in the mix, and it was over.

Ego much, Nick? Damn. I watched as Lola led Rachel to a side door and then felt like I could breathe again once she was gone. It had been so hard to just stand here and not try to talk to her or touch her. She'd looked all annoyed when that guy was touching her, but there'd been something else there, too. Guilt? If she'd just been annoyed, she would have told him off, but she didn't. I think Darien did.

That was weird in itself. Darien never played her protector. That was James' role.

I looked for James and didn't see him. Did he go with Rachel and Lola? I had to keep my eye on him. He'd had no problem telling me off when I called the other day, and I knew he'd have no qualms with doing it now that he had an audience.

My phone rang, and I pulled it out of my pocket quickly. Fuck! I should have turned it off. Smooth.

"Hello?" I whispered, not having time to look at the display.

"Where the hell are you?" Kevin barked in my ear. Shit.

"With Rachel," I told him. I probably sounded like I was pouting. What the fuck ever.

He was quiet for a moment. "With Rachel? She's talking to you?"

"Well…" Fuck, why lie? "Not really. But I'm at her video shoot. Eventually I'll get her alone."

"Isn't she in…"

I finished the sentence for him. "LA. We don't have a show for two days, Kevin. I was going to fucking lose my mind if I had to sit in that hotel room for two days."

"Yeah… probably. Wow. When did you leave?"

I had to smile at the tone in his voice. He almost sounded impressed. "Like as soon as we got there. When did you discover I was gone?"

"Fifteen minutes ago? Frank went to get you for a meeting, and you weren't there. I was the brilliant one who tried your cell phone."

Nice to know I was missed. "Stunning powers of deduction, dude."

I actually made him laugh. What the hell? I was expecting a lecture.

"Shut up. I just woke up. We just assumed you were sleeping like the rest of us. You got out of the hotel alive? There are a bunch of fans out there."

"Back door."

"Man, even there. I'm impressed you attempted it. She know you're there?"

"No." Not yet. I didn't have the nerve to approach her with all these people around. Maybe I could get into her trailer? Or the bus? I was staying on her floor at the Peninsula;, I could hang out next to the elevator…

"This is a pretty big gesture, Nick. Let her know you're there. Don't just wimp out."

"What if she doesn't want to see me?" Fuck, I could barely admit that one to myself, and I now I was telling Kevin?

"At least you know you tried, little man. Don't let her go so easily. I told you the other day, she's worth fighting for."

She stepped onto the tiny stage they had set up, and the whole crowd was suddenly paying attention. She'd changed from the pretty dress she'd been wearing earlier, and her hair was down and falling in her eyes. My heart skipped a beat as I remembered the feel of her soft hair trailing down my chest. Yeah. She was worth all this.

"I'll tell the fellas where you are and cover your interviews and stuff. We expect you back on Monday."

"Yeah." Sometime. If she took me back, maybe she could come with me? If not, I'd just go back to Vancouver… or maybe just stay here and cry.

"Should I send Frank?"

"No. Please. I'm fine. I'm in the middle of a hundred Sudden Silence fans right now, and no one has noticed me."

He laughed. "What does Rachel call it? The magic ball cap of invisibility?"

"Yeah," I laughed. "That's it. It works, too."

"Good luck, man. See you in a couple of days."

I hung up, shaking my head. How did that happen? Kevin didn't yell at me? I didn't have time to think about it, though, because Rachel was on stage. This was my Rachel. Wearing just jeans and a cute little tank top, holding her guitar as everyone fussed around her. She strummed it, but the sound was weak. Of course they didn't have electric on stage. This was a video. Probably cost the record company a lot of money to recreate a divey-looking bar on this sound stage.

I took a few steps forward, then ducked back behind one of the posts in the back. I couldn't risk getting much closer, or someone would notice me. So far no one had even really glanced at me. That was actually a little freaky, wasn't it? I shouldn't be able to just wander around. They needed better security.

There was a monitor in front of me, and suddenly Rachel's face filled the screen. She was wearing more makeup than she normally did, and I had to smile, remembering how she'd freaked out Em had done her first video in Chicago. Man, that seemed like a lifetime ago now. That video was so Sudden Silence. I think they used half of the money the record company gave them on the toys and pizza for lunch! This time was different, and I could tell it was freaking her out a little. The camera came in tight on her face, and I saw her eyes dart over to the side and then she bit her lower lip. Yeah, she was nervous.

"Watch it!"

Fuck! I was so busy watching her that someone had run right into me as she rushed by. I mumbled sorry and looked up briefly.

"Nick?"

Shit… Karen… Karla? What the hell was her name? As if she read my mind, she held out her hand to me, "Kathleen. I was with Matthew on the 'Shape of My Heart' shoot."

I smiled at her, "Right. Kathleen. Hi!"

Her eyes darted around and then came to rest on my chest… specifically my lack of a pass hanging around my neck. "Why are you here? I thought…"

She was carrying a bunch of newspapers and other things. I saw my picture on one of them. Fuck. Had they all been reading the tabloids at lunch or something?

"Yeah, well… I'm sort of surprising her…"

Kathleen sighed and pulled me over to the side, "Nick, this is not going well here. She's annoyed, and we're running over schedule. We need to finish this and won't be able to do that if she's even more upset."

She was upset? What was she upset about? Me?

Okay, that was lame. Being excited that she might still be upset because I'd been a shit and hurt her!

"I'm not going to do anything. I'll stay back here and hide behind poles and stuff. Is the rest all performance?"

Kathleen considered her notes. The band was all set up for a live performance shot. That's why the fans were here, to be the audience. I vaguely remembered Rachel telling me about all the treatments they'd seen while we'd had dinner that last night. I'd told her that Matthew was a good guy to work with, and she'd taken my advice, obviously.

Was she regretting that now? Was this just another reason for her to hate me?

"Yeah, performance, and then they're done. So if you stay back here you should be okay. They've got lights and all… I doubt they can see much past the third row."

I looked over at the stage, and Rachel had her back to us, saying something to Darien who laughed and then started hitting his bass drum. "I'm always live, Rache! Don't need no fucking electric!" he cackled.

I crossed my heart and smiled at Kathleen, and she took a pass from off her clipboard and handed it to me. "Here, take this so if anyone sees you they won't cause a scene ejecting you! And stay out of the way!"

I smiled at her and slipped the cord around my head and then looked back down at the pass, which proclaimed, "Sudden Silence: Pretend to Be Nice - A/K/A Boys Suck Video Shoot."

Shit. Looking back at the monitor I noticed that her tank top had writing on it. They cameraman zoomed in as if on cue and I read very clearly, "Boys Lie" across her chest.

Great. I so wasn't going to get her back, was I?

Wait… there was something else, too. I looked back at the stage as the playback started and she leaned into the microphone, playing her guitar. On the inside of her left forearm I saw a series of tattoos. Those were new. Were they real? They looked like Chinese symbols to me and I quickly touched the new tattoo over my heart. She'd gotten a new tattoo this week, too?

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