~Nick~

"Nick, come on, we have to start packing now!" The southerner called out to his roommate who seemed to be in a daze. He had complained of jet lag but he knew better than that. Knowing the sixteen year old, he was just disappointed. Their three days in Australia is up and there were still no signs of Nicole.

Every time they had finished promoting and were led back to the hotel, he would checked in at the reception counter and asked them if there was any message left behind for him. Of course there were, in fact, a whole load of them, but none came from Nicole.

Even during the interviews, he had kept to himself. But that’s not something new. He is still too young and insecure, he was afraid of messing up and would rather let the others answer the questions except for those who were personally directed to him. And when one of the journalist asked him ‘if he knew anyone in Australia, like a relative’ he had replied with "I have a friend here, a really good friend but I haven’t got a chance to meet her." And the journalist immediately sprang up at the mention of the word ‘her’.

They kept pestering him to reveal who she was and his smart answer was ‘oh, we were neighbours back in Tampa but she moved here about six years ago. She’s a great friend.’ They had asked for her name, and he personally thought that journalists really are a difficult bunch if they want to. Nick had replied ‘I’m not sure if she wants to be named, so out of respect, I will not.’ They left him then and went on to AJ. He thought that the young one had handled himself very well.

"Just a sec Rok, I’m just too tired to move." Nick replied. Brian had noticed that too but to be fair, they were all tired and their flight out to Singapore would be in forty-minutes. They can’t afford to mess up.

"I just don’t want Johnny or Donna to bark up our asses. Come on, you can rest in the plane." Nick looked at him with his eyebrow raised.

"You know I can’t sleep when we’re flying!" Brian giggled. He knew that feeling, relates to it in fact. Apart from Howie and Kevin, the three youngest BSB are afraid to fly. Even loud mouth AJ turned squeaky like a mouse when the plane jet off. Sometimes he wonder if he and Kevin were cousins. They were the total opposites of each other.

"Come on Frack, let’s get going, they’re probably waiting for us down at the lobby already." Nick nodded and started to stuff his duffel bag with his clothes. Took a chocolate bar at the mini fridge and stuff that inside too.

"You know management is gonna freak out once they see the bill." Brian laughed.

"So? We work our butts off and didn’t even get a little rest. I’m beat and I haven’t had lunch." Nick whined. Brian shook his head and together they left the room.

They saw Kevin and AJ coming out of their rooms. "Come on D, you move like a girl!" AJ shouted for their fifth member.

"I’m coming!" A voice from inside the room answered.

"I’m thankful I don’t have roommates." Kevin smiled.

"Kevin, in Singapore, I wanna bunk off with you, I really miss you." Nick started, a fake smile pasted on his face. Kevin rolled his eyes.

"In your dreams." Howie appeared from the room and AJ shook his head and the five of them walked off and entered the elevator. When Howie wasn’t looking, AJ ruffled his curls and all hard work put in making sure that no strands of hair goes out of place was wasted.

"AJ! I’m gonna kill you!" Howie cried and started to go after him. The whole elevator jumped and shook with all the commotion.

"Guys! Stop it! We’re in the damn lift for God’s sake!" Brian glared at them. Nick shook his head and sighed. He wasn’t too keen in joining his friends for a laugh. He had other things to think about. Like why Nicole hadn’t visited him.

He didn’t want to admit it, for the truth hurts like a bitch. But as the seconds ticked away, he realized that Nicole wasn’t coming. She had decided not to pay him a visit, which means, she didn’t want anything to do with him anymore. How that hurt so much. No words to tell him why she decided to do what she did. He didn’t know what went wrong. Was it something that he had wrote that had hurt her feelings? Or was it because she was too preoccupied enjoying her life that she didn’t bother about him anymore.

She was about the only girl who had been sincere and honest in being his friend. Before her, all other girls looked at him like a freak. He didn’t belong in any crowd and Brett had been a great friend but he isn’t a girl. Brett had been great because he is good looking but he didn’t judge Nick by his looks. People often mocked him why he would want to have anything to do with Nick but Brett always stood his ground. He felt the same way about Nicole too. But too bad, Nicole didn’t want him as a friend anymore.

Down at the lobby, he decided to check with the receptionist one last time. He could hear the distant roar of fans outside and wished that one of them was Nicole. That she was there waiting for him and would scream for him when he walked out of that door. But he knew better, he would be in a van when they drive up the front road of the hotel, he wouldn’t be able to see anyone.

"Frack, I’m gonna check one last time." Brian knew what he meant.

"Make it fast, I’ll cover for you." He made a beeline to the reception counter, praying hard that their management didn’t see him.

"Hi, do you have any message for us?" The lady smiled and nodded.

"Of course Mr. Carter. You’re very famous here. Let me get it for you." There were teddies and flowers and a few letters. He saw AJ running up to him and for once, he was glad that he was there.

"Yo Nick! Come on, we’ve got to get going.’

"Hold up, more gifts from fans, don’t tell me you don’t want em.’

"I want the teddies." AJ said.

"Here, take everything in this box, I’ll just take the letters.’

"You’re weird. I think you have a fetish for letters." AJ teased as they got back to the group.

"Ready boys? We have to walk out to the front entrance, the back way is as jammed. Fans here definitely know their way around. Get behind your guards, don’t fall behind. The van will be right at the front. Make a run for it, try to smile but don’t stop for long. We have to get going, we’re already late!" Johnny definitely knows how to work up their nervous system. Nick smiled. Hopefully, he would see Nicole.

The crowd was massive. He don’t think that he could get lucky enough to see her. He didn’t even know how she looks like. Clutching the letters near to his chest, he ran through the crowd, stole glances over to girls who are brunettes but he couldn’t make out who they were. Everyone was basically calling out to each of their names, he couldn’t possibly find her. If she was even there to begin with.

*************

The plane was about to take off and Nick had to find something to do to distract himself. He couldn’t sit still when the plane took off, he would think of terrible, horrible thoughts. He glanced over at Brian, he was pale too.

"I can’t do this. I have to do something." Nick confessed. Brian looked around and saw the letters Nick had placed on the open table in front of him.

"Here, read the letters, give some to me." Nick passed a bundle over to his friend and started reading his bundle.

Most of it was long and like five pages full. He decided that he couldn’t read that much. And most were in scribbling and he couldn’t make them out. He glanced over to Brian and saw that he was happily reading a letter that was typed out.

"Why do I get the difficult ones?’

"Bad luck Nicky. Come on, just read it, they’re still from fans. You can’t be biased." Brian reminded him.

"I’m not biased, I’m nervous.’

"Pick out the ones that are simple to read." Brian suggested.

Nick didn’t care anymore. He had felt very let down. He’s in the plane, leaving Australia and he still couldn’t believe that it had officially ended his friendship with Nicole. He would have thought that Nicole would come and see him and tell him that his letter was indeed lost and never reached her. He really wanted to see his friend but now reality was hitting him fast and hard.

He read a few more letters, trying to shake that uneasy feeling off. He will be fine, he had told himself. Other girls will come along, they always do, a voice at the back of his head assured him. ‘But what’s the point when all I ever want is you?’ He said.

"What was that Nick?" Nick glanced over at his friend. He had said it out loud and he didn’t even realize it.

"What?" "Who is it that you want?" Brian asked.

"No… I’m reading this letter you doofus." Nick smirked. Brian smiled. Always work.

He is really missing his friend. If anyone had seen him, they would have thought that he had fallen hard for Nicole. Nick wasn’t sure about that part yet. What he was sure was the fact that he had fallen in love with their friendship and her letters. It keeps him going. He looked out of the window, something that he had never done before. They were flying above the Sidney Harbor. It was ocean down below. He closed his eyes.

*When you feel lonely, try to sit and close your eyes. Think of nothing but just the peacefulness of the ocean. The sound of the waves by the shore. The chirping of birds across the ocean and the sweet sound from the dolphins. Then you’ll find yourself covered with warmth. Well… that’s me hugging you to say that everything is gonna be alright okay!* *I have never seen you before but I know that you’re a nice boy deep inside so there should be no reason why a girl should reject you! Trust me, anyone would like you the moment they see you! Just like me, I like you and I love this friendship since the moment we start to correspond to each other!*

*And I really want to keep it that way too Nick! Sometimes things are so unpredictable. Fate has brought us together as penpals and now as friends so I hope that Fate is not that cruel as to take this friendship away!*

Damn it Nicole, is fate really that cruel?

Nick brushed the feelings aside and started to pick another letter. A piece of paper caught his attention. Unlike the others that were neatly folded and slot in envelope, this one seemed a little crumpled and was only folded in half, with no envelope. Whoever did this must be in a hurry. Probably trying to make it fast before security get them.

He opened the paper but there was nothing much to see except for a diagram drawn in a haste. It was drawn in pencil and the person who did this was pressing hard on the paper. The coal was dark and defined.

It was a drawing of a circle with the name Nickolas G. Carter written in it.

Right down the right side of the paper was a note saying ‘I was here’.

His heart skipped a beat.

"Damn it Nicole!"