Oreos for Breakfast: Nick BSB Fiction

Oreos for Breakfast - Chapter 24

By
The Paperbag Princess & The Pumpkin Coach

NOTE: The visual A.D.I.D.A.S. precedes Chapter 24

"Buttercup, time to wake up." I leaned down to her as the car stopped in front of the coffee shop that James had said he was at with Jeremy and Darien. Frank hopped out to find them, because Rachel was sound asleep on my arm and I couldn't move.

"Tired," she mumbled, snuggling closer to me and pulling her legs up onto the seat.

"I know, baby. But you have to soundcheck soon. Besides, this car isn't a very comfortable bed."

"Fine," she grumped.

I ran my fingers through her hair, and she turned her face up to me, opening her eyes slowly. "That's it, baby. We'll get you some coffee and maybe a donut. Bet they have Krispy Kremes backstage…"

"Donuts," she smiled, leaning up to kiss me. Returning her kiss, I cupped her face in my hands, glad that there was a partition between us and the driver. Well, we'd opened it to talk to Frank, hadn't we? Fuck it. I hadn't really gotten to kiss her since we'd seen everything, and I just needed to feel her be a part of me for a moment.

"Your lips are so soft, buttercup," I sighed as we stopped to breathe, and she smiled. "I love you, Rache."

"Me, too. Sorry I fell apart on you back there, Nicky." I shook my head, lacing our fingers together as she squeezed my hand. "Thank you for coming. That meant a lot to me. It was time I saw it and… I don't know…"

"Made it real?"

"Yeah. Maybe a little too real. What we're doing tonight is so important, Nick, and I totally lost sight of that. It was all about changing our schedule and getting here and the press stuff… We've been selling shirts at the shows and donating money, but now that doesn't seem like enough."

"Yeah. We've been putting money away from the shows for Danny's wife, but none of us have had to deal with it. I think Kevin or Brian called her once… but I don't know what I'd say."

"That you're sorry? When you lose someone like that, Nicky, so quickly… it's like your body needs time to catch up. I'm sure she appreciates knowing that you guys care. I know I did. Sometimes I didn't want people to say anything, though. Rationally, you know that there's nothing to say that will make it all better…"

Her eyes were filling with tears again, and I leaned down to her lips. "Don't cry, baby," I whispered against them, and she responded to my kiss eagerly.

Frank came back and stuck his head in the car. "Rachel, everyone's over at soundcheck. I just called James. You ready?"

She looked up at me and half-smiled, "I think I need that coffee, Nick. I'm just crashing."

"Frank will get you inside, and then we'll go find you some coffee, okay?"

She shook her head. "Please stay with me?"

That was better. I'd watch her soundcheck, and then she'd watch me, and we'd go back to the hotel to pack and change. I didn't really want to be away from her for a moment today.

Frank hopped back in the car and told the driver to go around the block.

"Hold up," I complained. "I can see the Garden from here. We're driving?" Bad enough he hadn't let me take the subway this afternoon. Now we were going to drive around the block? I was a fucking New Yorker, goddamn it! I walked everywhere when I was in the city.

Nick and Frank exchanged a look and burst out laughing as the driver pulled back into traffic. "Have you ever played Madison Square Garden?" Frank asked, and I pouted at him.

"No," I admitted. I hated being laughed at.

"You're going to be selling out stadiums really soon, buttercup. You have to drive into most of them to get backstage."

"That's stupid. Nobody drives in New York!"

"It's that or get mobbed, darlin'," Frank said, motioning out the window, and I leaned over the front seat to see.

Oh. Yeah, I remembered hanging around the stage door at the Garden, hoping to see one of my rock stars' tour buses pull through. It was a mob scene. Was everyone soundchecking at two? James had told me we were checking at two, right? And I was pretty sure that Backstreet was, too… what the hell?

I was really too tired to figure it out. We pulled through the crowd, but no one bothered us because of the tinted windows. Hell, no one was standing out there to see me, anyway. I knew they all wanted to see Paul McCartney or Bon Jovi or someone really cool. I had to wonder if the old school Who fans were beating up the cute little Backstreet fans… or maybe some of the Who fans were dads with daughters who loved Backstreet… wouldn't that be cute? Passing on the rock star obsessions.

I needed to call home. I'd wanted everyone to come, but I could only get a couple of tickets, and I knew I wouldn't have much free time, so they were staying home and watching on TV. The girls were having a bunch of friends over to shriek. But I should at least call and check in.

We pulled into an underground garage swarming with activity, and Nick helped me out of the car. Frank started walking, and we just followed. I had no fucking idea where I was going. Was Frank taking me to wherever Backstreet should be? How would I find my band? Had Lola tried to call me?

"Lola?" I heard Frank say, and I turned to look at him. He was on his cell phone. He had Lola's number? Wait, did he tell me that he'd called James earlier? He had James' number? Frank was freaking me out now.

"I've got the girl," he informed her, then laughed. "She thought the same thing. Where are you? All right, I'll keep her until you get back. See ya."

He hung up and smiled at me. "Your boys tried to walk in. Now Lola has to go and rescue them."

"Rescue them?"

"They don't have their passes yet, Rachel. There was something about security trying to detonate Darien's backpack."

Nick and I were still laughing when we joined his band. Thank god I was with Frank, or they'd be detonating my bag of t-shirts now. Speaking of which… I handed out shirts to the boys, and they all looked at me funny. Frank and Nick told the story of how I got busted by the poor guy selling shirts, and I just gave in with a sigh. It was pretty stupid.

Where the hell was my coffee? And Nick promised donuts. Were there donuts? "Is there coffee around here anywhere?"

"Yeah," Howie answered. "Over there. I'll go with you."

I let Nick continue to tell the story and walked over with Howie to the back of the room to find coffee. "So you went to Ground Zero?" he asked me, and I shrugged.

"I felt like I needed to."

"Was it horrible?"

I nodded, pouring myself a cup of coffee. "Pretty much. But… I'm glad I went." I considered my words, almost spilling my coffee. "Yeah… it was good."

Howie took my cup, taking a large gulp and smiling at me. "Had to save you."

"Get your own cup!" I complained, but smiling at him anyway. Howie was a sweetie. I could tell, as soon as we'd said where we were, that he was worried about all three of us. He was good that way, Sweet D.

"I need more lead on this cord!" Rachel called as they finally got their turn on stage and started into "Peace, Love and Understanding."

They'd been debating what songs to do as the Goo-Goo Dolls finished their soundcheck. Amber and Saffron were trying to talk them into the new single, "Pretend to be Nice," and European b-side, "Three Small Words," but they really wanted to do something more meaningful. So they'd settled on the single and this one.

We were doing "Quit Playing Games" and then the medley of hits. That was sort of lame, wasn't it? But we didn't have any meaningful songs, did we? If there's one thing a boyband can't be, it's political.

Well, not that I wanted to be. But we could do "Answer to Our Lives." Hell, we wrote that one!

"Can we start now, Diva Princess?" Jeremy called over to her as the stagehand fixed her cord.

"Depends, dear, do you want me to be able to reach the mic or not?"

I breathed a sigh of relief, seeing Jeremy and Rachel back to normal. When we'd finally found her band a while ago, they'd still been upset. She and James disappeared for a minute and when they came back, Rachel was wiping her eyes. I knew she'd do that. As soon as she'd started to come around when we were at Ground Zero, she'd immediately wanted to check in on James.

It was weird how connected they were. I didn't have anyone in my life who was that important. Not until Rachel. Was it wrong that Rachel was that important to me now? This afternoon, I'd been overcome with the thought of losing her. Maybe it was just the fact that everything was ending… well, the tour. But we were putting out the greatest hits thing, and everyone thought that meant Backstreet was over. That wasn't true, was it?

Okay, I should probably know the answer to that question, huh?

Darien counted them in, and I tried to ignore all the questions swimming around in my head, just watching them. They hadn't done this song since their shows last month, but you'd never know. Even James and Darien who didn't usually sing came in right.

I bobbed my head in time to the music. I really liked this song. I needed to find the original, even though I was sure that Sudden Silence's version was better. It had an upbeat tempo but was still somehow serious. They got to the instrumental part, and Rachel caught my eye, winking at me.

"Where is the harmony… sweet harmony…" They all sang in, well, harmony, and I had to laugh. I'd taught them that! I played air-drums along with Darien, making him laugh, as they finished.

"Itching to be in a rock band, Nick?"

Shit! Someone was watching me? I turned around and smiled, "Hi… nah, just playing along."

Elton John shook my hand and gave me a quick hug. "They're good. I've been dying to meet them."

We'd worked with him a few times, and it always amazed me when he remembered who I was. But he wanted to meet Sudden Silence? I could do that!

Rachel and James came up to me, and I turned around, sliding an arm around her waist. "Here's half of them - Rachel and James, Elton wanted to meet you."

"Holy shit!" James exclaimed, making all of us laugh.

Elton smiled and held out his hand, "Nice to meet you, too. I was supposed to see your London show a couple weeks ago, but life got a little crazy. I heard that your namesakes made it, though."

"Having you there too would have ensured that James would bail!" Rachel smiled over at James, ignoring his look. Even I knew that look. It was an "if you embarrass me, I will kill you" look. How'd she miss that one?

"Nerve-wracking to play in front of people you admire, isn't it?" he stage-whispered. "I still can't get the hang of talking to David Bowie myself."

Poor James was never going to be able to talk, was he? Elton kept trying to draw him into the conversation, and he'd just look over at Nick and me. Poor thing. I extricated myself from Nick as Elton went to do his soundcheck and put an arm around James. "Baby, breathe."

"Elton fucking John was just talking to you!"

"I know! He was talking to you, too!"

James shook his head, eyes wide, "No, he was totally talking to you."

"Whatever, dude. He thinks you're hot," Nick laughed, and James covered his face with a towel.

"No no no no… that's just wrong! George Michael maybe… but Elton…" That made even Nick giggle.

"Oh, James, you stupid boy, don't give my boyfriend any ammunition…"

"Should I tell him that you prefer JC?" Nick whispered, and both James and I whacked him.

"NO!" we shouted in unison, and Nick just smiled.

"Nick, ten minutes to soundcheck. You and Rachel going back to the hotel after?" Frank joined us, checking his watch.

What time was it? Had to be after 4 by now… show started at 7, and we were going on early, I think. I still hadn't seen the final list. Lola had that somewhere. Where was she? I should probably confer with her about my flight tonight and stuff.

"I'll be right back, bunny. I have to find Lola and see what else we're doing."

"Do you want to go back to the hotel, Rache?" he asked, not letting go of my hand.

I nodded. "I need to change and stuff. And pack. Not that we had time to unpack… oh! You still have my clothes that I gave you for Florida, right?"

I'd given Nick a suitcase of summery clothes to take to Florida for me so I didn't have to lug them all over Europe for three weeks. I could just see him leaving them in some hotel in California.

He kissed my nose playfully. "Yeah, buttercup, I have your clothes. And some other things…" He raised an eyebrow at me and patted his pocket. He didn't!

"Nick!" I hissed, and he leaned forward, kissing me quickly as I put my hand in his pocket. Sure enough, I felt silk in there. "Ewww… they're dirty…"

"That's the idea, Rache," he whispered seductively in my ear, and I shivered. I didn't know whether to be thoroughly grossed out or sort of flattered… I settled for perplexed.

She had the cutest look on her face, half amused and half disgusted. Okay, I didn't really know what I was going to do with her panties, but I sort of liked having them. I always teased her that I'd keep a pair, just so I had something of hers with me, and I'd actually forgotten I had them until a few minutes ago when I'd stuck my hands in my pockets.

Frank cleared his throat, and she jumped. "You are incorrigible, Nickolas! I'll meet you after your soundcheck?"

Like we needed to soundcheck. We could do this routine in our sleep. Took us 5 minutes to figure out the arrangement with the band, and then we were done, impressing the director who stood to the side of the stage, worrying about how he'd get everyone rehearsed in time.

"Ready to go, baby?" I went over to Rachel, putting my arms around her as she finished talking to Lola. We were back on my time now, right? We had a couple hours before we had to be back for the show, and she needed to take a nap.

"Yeah, the boys are coming with. They want to see how the other half lives." I must not have hidden my disappointment very well. "Sorry, baby, I didn't think that'd be a problem… I can tell them not to."

I shook my head. "No, that's silly. I just… I thought we'd have some more time alone. And you need a nap."

"Aww, bunny, you have a big suite. We'll let them play Nintendo, and we can nap… or maybe fool around a little?" she promised, batting her eyes at me.

"Yeah, right. These are the same boys who threatened to bug your bus to catch us in the act."

"You have a point there."

It was cool that the guys were coming back to the hotel with us, right? We were all crammed into a limo: my band and Lola and Nick and Frank. Nick was being quiet, just holding my hand and letting us talk.

Maybe I should have let him go on with Backstreet. Maybe he needed to be with his band the way I needed to be with mine. I hadn't seen the boys when we were at Ground Zero, and I… I needed to be with New Yorkers. I needed to be with people that had been to the Trade Center as many times as I had. Nick was amazing, he held my hand and let me rant, but he didn't know.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, and he looked at me.

"What?"

"I shouldn't have invited them. We only have a few hours."

Shaking his head, he kissed me quickly. "It's fine. I like hearing about all these things you did before I met you. Besides, in a week, we'll be together for ages. It's cool."

I just beamed at him as the limo stopped near the hotel. "Here or around back?" Frank asked, and we all looked out the windows. There was a huge crowd around the steps in front of the hotel, and a few of them had spotted our car and were pointing. Could they see in? Or were they just excited that "someone" was coming?

Were we someone now?

"Oooh, here," James said. "I think we need to be adored."

"Dude, they do not care about us," Darien argued. "And that would be crushing to my fragile ego."

We all snickered at that, and Frank shook his head. "I cased the crowd this morning and there are at least a dozen Sudden Silence fans out here. You'll be mobbed."

"How can you tell?" Jeremy demanded. "Do they carry signs? Our real fans wouldn't carry signs."

"You can just tell," Frank responded. "Here or around back?"

"Here," James asserted, catching my eye. He was right. Some fan love might cheer us all up a bit. We were doing this concert tonight to celebrate the lives that had been lost, right? We shouldn't just be brooding about the disaster.

Even with Frank there to shield us and Lola trying to rush us inside, we were mobbed. Pieces of paper were shoved in my face, and I signed anything I could reach. Whose pen did I have? There were even more flashbulbs going off, and I heard people thanking us for doing this show. Thanking us? For playing a couple of pop tunes? We were far from heroes.

"Can you make it out to Michael?" someone said as I took his piece of paper. I'd written out half his name before it sunk in that I knew that voice. I looked up, meeting green eyes that I'd looked into a million times and screamed. Frank pushed him away before I could hug him, and I found my voice.

"No, Frank, it's cool. He's an old friend of mine." Frank glared at me, and I laughed. "That was a good scream! Sorry! Get him inside, please?"

He rolled his eyes at me, but five minutes later, I was in the hotel lobby with Michael and James. I hadn't even thought to grab Nick as Frank hustled me inside, but I knew Michael was here for James, not me. Indeed, they were hanging onto each other like they thought they'd never see each other again.

Well… that was true, wasn't it? For a few hours, James had really thought his best ex-boyfriend was gone. God knows what Michael had been through.

"Rachel?" A quiet voice asked, and I managed to stop watching James hug Michael like he might never let him go. "I'm Simon, Michael's boyfriend."

Oh. Oh… Oh, dear.

I shook his hand, forcing myself to smile. "It's lovely to meet you, Simon. Under strange circumstances, but…"

This was Michael's new boyfriend? I couldn't quite picture it. He was beautiful. Tall like James, but his skin was the color of light cocoa, and he wore his hair in short dreads that popped out all over his head. He was wearing a sweater and jeans that must have cost $500.

I looked back over at Michael and James, their arms still around one another. Wasn't Michael always supposed to love my James? Isn't that how these 9/11 stories all ended? Apparently Simon was thinking the same thing as he shifted his weight nervously, looking at them and then back at me.

"Mike couldn't get James on the phone, so he suggested we try here and play groupie. It's been an adventure."

Mike? It took me a second to realize he meant Michael. We'd never called him Mike. No one had. Well, Darien had, but that was just Darien. He'd also insisted that Mike play football with him whenever we were all up at the Point. Michael had always been too polite to say no… or correct him.

Michael stepped away from James and smiled over at me, wiping his eyes. "I thought James might be at his place, but when we walked up and saw all the Backstreet freaks, I knew you'd be here."

I scowled at him. "They're not freaks. They're just… intense."

"They're freaks, Rache," Nick said, slipping an arm around my waist. "But…"

"Mike!" Darien yelled, pulling him into a hug. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Oh," Nick said, and I looked up at him with a smile.

"Don't worry, bunny. He's not one of mine."

Nick pouted at me, caught in his almost-jealousy, while Darien and Jeremy greeted Michael as Frank ushered us upstairs. Nick was having a party whether he liked it or not. His room was big enough, right?

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