~ Chapter 21 ~
"God what have I done?" Loreto cried out, running into her room and collasping on the bed in tears.
Shae-Lyn followed her in and closed the door. She sat down beside her friend's sob-wracked figure and tried to comfort her. "Lo, it's gonna be ok. Don't do this to yourself."
Loreto turned on her side, her back to Shae. "How Shae? How is it gonna be ok? Not only have I betrayed Kevin's trust in me, but AJ, Howie, and Nick hate me."
"They don't hate you. They're just upset. I think the realization that Kevin really is on drugs hit them hard. They took it out on you which isn't fair, but I guess to a certain extent it's understandable. Although I could wring that Latino's neck for what her said to you."
Loreto was silent for a few minutes. "When Kevin finds out I betrayed him, he'll never speak to me again," she said, sniffling.
"When Kevin finds himself again, he'll realize that you did it out of love," Shae countered reasonably.
She could see Loreto's body tense at the words. "Can you please leave, Shae. I want to be alone."
Shae put her hand on her friend's shoulder in a comforting gesture. "Think about what I said and don't be so hard on yourself."
Shae-Lyn went to her own room and changed into her black Nike tearaways, with a white t-shirt, and running shoes. She needed to get some air and clear her head which was throbbing. She also needed the exercise. All this delicious European cuisine was not good for her figure considering she wanted to lose weight, not gain it.
Grateful to Leighanne for the discman she had persuaded her to buy in Germany, she grabbed it along with her Millennium CD, and took off at a brisk pace. It was hot, but not humid, and there was a nice breeze blowing. She walked along the lake. They were staying in this little village near Rome at a nice and very private villa. Tommy and the guys had a big 4th of July bash planned for tomorrow.
She listened to Nick's soothing voice singing Spanish Eyes. His voice could take her to a place far away from reality. It always calmed her. She let her mind wander. She was sitting front row at a concert and Nick was serenading her. He handed her a rose and kissed her cheek. He stood up to go back on stage. He was in leather. The leather stretched very nicely across his fine ass. She subconsciously licked her lips.
She turned a corner and before she knew what hit her, her body slammed hard into someone else's. Her walkman went crashing to the ground, scattering in pieces. "What the fuck!" was the only thing she could say as the wind was knocked out of her.
"WHAT WHERE YA GOIN' YA STUPID BITCH!"
Shae stepped back and glanced at the stranger who uttered those words in a harsh and very unfriendly tone. His eyes were like steel, black and menacing. His breath reeked. "Uh...excuse me? You're the one who bumped into me." She bent to pick up the pieces of the broken discman.
He sneered down at her. "Don't talk back to me missy!" He kicked a piece of the discman out of the way as she was reaching for it.
Ignoring him, she went to reach for it, but her knee gave out and she toppled sideways. "OUCH!" She winced in pain.
The stranger found this highly amusing. "Serves you right bitch! You ever fuck with me again and it'll be more than your knee that hurts!"
Shae sat there. Not moving, not looking at him, not saying anything, but scared to death. She willed him to leave her alone. She heard him walking away. A minute went by then she heard two angry voices shouting. A pair of arms reached around her and lifted her up. She almost screamed when Nick said, "It's me."
She turned to face him. "Yea...I guess...no..." she burst into tears.
Nick stared at her not knowing what to say or do. He wasn't use to girls bursting into tears like this. Unless you count the fans. But this was different. Ashamed, he remembered how she had been there for him in Belgium. He reluctantly pulled her into his arms. "Ssh, Shae. You're safe now." He stroked her hair with one hand while the other one rubbed her back. "Does your ankle or knee hurt bad?"
She didn't answer, lost in the comfort and security of his embrace.
"Shae?" Nick pulled back a little and looked at her.
Her face heated up. "No, the ankle's fine. My knee's throbbing, but that's nothing new. I have weak knees. I'll be ok. I think my pride's hurt more."
Nick chuckled. "I'm glad you're ok. That guy was a creep! I told him to leave you alone or I would call the cops."
Shae smiled gratefully. "Thanks." She looked down at the ground. "Could you...?" Nick was already bending over and retreiving the discman pieces.
She studied his ass. Man, what a fine ass! The things she could do to that ass..." Her face went red again as she noticed Nick caught her staring. He gave her a smirk, but said nothing about it. Instead he said, "I guess you need a new discman," he looked at the CD, which has popped out from the impact. "and a new CD. I have an extra one. You can have it."
"Thanks. Leigh just bought me the discman."
"Where were you going?"
"Just taking a walk. Trying to clear my head. Exercise."
He glanced at her apparel as she took in his. They both burst into a fit of giggles. "Oh man!" Nick hooted. "TWINS!"
They were both in black tearaways and white t-shirts. Nike no less.
"I always told Lo that you have good taste," Shae giggled. "What will people think?"
"Let them think what they want. Do you want company?"
Shae nearly choked on her saliva. "Yea, that would be great. Especially now. I don't want to have anymore encounters with Stinky Breath Man."
Nick laughed. "I noticed that, too. Ugh!" He looked at her sideways, his eyes suddenly going soft. "I wanted to tell you something." His voice had a hint of boyish shyness to it.
"Yes?" He looked so darn cute. He could ask her to fly to the moon on his skateboard and she would agree.
"Actually, I wanted to commend you."
"For what?"
"For what you said earlier. About Kevin. And this business. Everything you said made a lot of sense. I've never met someone who's not in the business who's so intuitive about it. You really know what goes on, don't ya?"
"I have good intuitions, like you said. I read a lot. Talk to people."
Nick nodded. "It took a lot of courage for you to stand up and say all that. Considering the situation."
"Loreto's my best friend and I couldn't let you guys, especially Howie, talk to her like that. She's pretty upset about the whole thing."
"Is she?"
'God, I'm an idiot. Of course she is, Carter. Shae just said she was.'
"She was in her room crying. She thinks you hate her."
Nick immediately felt bad. "Gosh, I'm sorry. I don't hate her. I'll apologize when we get back."
"She'd like that, Nick." Her hand accidentally brushed against Nick's. He snatched his hand away as if it was on fire and widened the distance between them.
Shae bristled in anger. "What? Do I have a disease?"
"Huh?" Wide-eyed innocence.
"Huh?" she mimicked. "You. If you walk any closer to the side, you're gonna fall into the lake." Her tone was bitchy.
"Why are you so bitchy all of a sudden?"
"I guess you bring it out in me." She glared at him. He looked away. "I accidentally touched your hand and you yanked it away like I'm a walking transmittable disease. Care to explain?"
Still not looking at her, he said, "Don't start."
"Start what? All I want is a damn answer!" She walked over to him, facing him. "Stop ignoring me. Are you chicken shit? Scared that a girl is challenging you?
"Shut up. You don't know anything!"
"Oh nice Carter, real nice. Add insult to injury. Let's be honest here. You don't like to touch me because you know that I like you and you have a problem with that. And that problem is that I'm fat. Last time I checked, being overweight was not a disease!"
He brushed past her. "I'm not listening to this. Goodbye!" He turned around and stomped away.
"Yea, run little Nicky! Go back to your room and play your little boy games while you sulk in self-pity!
Nick kept walking, trying to drown out her painful words. The truth. He didn't want to hear it.
Shae collasped onto a bench. Her eyes filled with tears. Why did she say that? Was it because she knew it was true? Or did she want to hurt Nick because he didn't like her the way she wanted him to?
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