"Okay, you've barely said a word since I've been here and we're not even eating yet. What's wrong?"

"Toria, I just want this to be nice pow wow," he smiled.

"If something's bothering you then you can't keep it bottled."

"She took all my stuff. Well, not all, a good portion of it anyway."

"But I thought you called them."

"When the shift change happened with security there were some communication problems."

"I'm really sorry."

"Not your fault." A bigger smile crept on his face. "A hug and a kiss might make me feel better."

A grin played upon her lips as she moved closer to him. "Which one of the lovely ladies outside on the sidewalk would you like to get that from?"

"You dork!" He continued to laugh as he lovingly shoved her.

"Oh, Nick wants to play that way!" She grabbed a pillow off the bed and slapped his in the head.

He grabbed the other one, swatting back at her with it. "I'll get you, my pretty!" he cackled.

She settled down a little, holding the pillow close to her. "Tell me, what's on the menu and agenda for tonight?"

Well, you can choose whatever you want to eat. I was thinking Chinese myself."

"Chinese, I love Chinese! What's your favorite dish?"

"Mongolian Beef with egg rolls. How about you?"

"Broccoli Chicken with egg rolls," she grinned.

"That's perfect then."

"We can share."

"Hey, how'd you know what I was thinking?" he smiled.

She didn't say a word, tossing the menu his way. "Pick some drinks and make the order, Carter."

"Aye, aye, Captain." He placed the order and then made his way over to the bed, checking out what Toria was looking at. "What's that?"

"It's your room and you're asking me what it is?"

"Hey, I don't get to actually hang out in the room much," he laughed.

"I'm checking out what movies are on. We could basically order anything from this place."

"Something catch your eye? I personally like science fiction and action and stuff."

"I'm curious about this one."

He looked to where she was pointing, his eyes growing in amazement. "Uh, Toria, do you know what kind of that movie is?"

"I know exactly what kind of movie that is. What do I look like?"

"Toria, you're a bad girl!" he giggled, his laughter growing by the minute.

"What? Do guys own the rights to being the only ones allowed to watch those kinds of films?"

"No, it just takes me by surprise, that's all. Just calm down, we can order it if you want."

"I've just never seen one before, that's all. Curiosity gets the best of me!"

"I guess so! You have to order it, though. I ain't gonna do it!"

"You wuss! Be a man! Order the porno!" she giggled.

"No way! If the press got ahold of that one..."

"No one will find out. Besides, it's gonna be charged to your room anyway."

"Come on, Toria. You're the one who wanted it in the first place," he began to whine.

"Oh, and you don't want it?" she questioned in a husky tone.

He swallowed hard, secretly loving the subtle flirting. "Come on, show me how a woman orders a skin flick," he smirked.

Her body began to grow hot, knowing that he was playing right along with her ways. Difference with him was that there was a realness about Nick that no other guy she had known possessed. She picked up the phone, speaking with complete confidence once the person on the other end answered. She placed the phone back on the hook and stared at Nick. "It'll begin in five minutes. When does dinner arrive?"

He swallowed hard again. "They said about forty-five minutes."

"Good, that'll give us time to watch without interruptions." She grabbed his hand and led him to a spot on the floor in front of the television.

He uncomfortably shifted once he was lying down, watching as Toria was carelessly getting comfortable. She didn't seem to be the slightest bit nervous about watching this with him. He was actually a bit confused. Was this all a huge pass at him? Was she trying to tell him she wanted something from him? Was she just an extremely open girl who had no inhibitions? The more he questioned himself, the more confused he was becoming. It only made him wonder if contact with this girl was healthy for him at this point in time. The last thing he needed was more stress or unanswered questions in his life. Maybe he should just come out and ask her what she wanted. It could result in a nice friendship or maybe more, but he had to know. "Toria?"

"It's gonna start," she lightly giggled. "This is gonna be so weird!"

He stared at her intently, finding himself attracted to her more and more with each word she spoke. "All these movies end up being alike after you've seen a few."

"Has Nicky Carter been bad?" she smirked.

"The guys thought it would be funny to rent some movies for my birthday this past year. Not like it's nothing I've never seen before, or experienced for that matter." He bit his lower lip, wondering if he had confessed too much too soon.

"Oh really? I think that ego in there is gettin' a little big."

"Well, I mean...you know..."

"I know what you mean and it'd be best if you just sit here and keep the trap shut while we watch this," she laughed.

He smiled right back at her, wondering if he would ever be good with words. The movie had started out like most he'd seen; bimbo girl walking around in some area and a pervert guy soon 'stumbling' upon her. The movies turned him on, but they were nothing he could get off on anymore really. He began to remember the one time when Mandy had caught him watching a skin flick. He could look back and laugh now, but at the time he wanted to crawl into a hole and die. He had just gotten back from tour and he was in his room. When he found an old video AJ gave him as a gag, he decided to watch it. He had no clue when Mandy was coming to see him and he was growing hornier by the second. As soon as he popped the tape in and his hands began to roam, she busted into the room. He remembered how pissed she was, going on and on about how he thought his hand was better than she was. As he looked back now, he realized how ridiculous their relationship actually was. He was snapped out of thought by Toria's figure swiftly getting up and running into the bathroom. "What the?" He shut off the television and walked towards the door, knocking lightly. "Toria, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she sniffled.

He grimaced, knowing she was lying to him. "Bullshit, get out here."

"I'm fine, really. I just had to go. Geez, isn't that legal anymore?"

He sat on the bed, not understanding what could be wrong. He heard the door open, looking up and seeing her eyes were slightly red. "You're the one who said I can't hide my emotions. Live up to what you preach."

She sat down next to him slowly, gaining the courage to actually speak. "What I'm about to tell you I have never told anyone. I've never told my parents or my closest friends. I haven't even told my band mates about it." Nick's attention was focused only on her, listening to every word intently. "I'm sorry for my rudeness."

"It's okay. Something obviously upset you."

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting to see what I saw."

"I was kinda daydreaming, so I didn't catch what was on the movie." He grew embarrassed.

"It's okay. This...it's just really hard for me to say."

He inched his way closer to her. "You can tell me," he whispered. "What was it you saw that upset you?"

She took a deep breath, feeling her voice about to waver. "I just didn't expect to see that man...that woman being treated like that. So many bad memories came rushing back." Nick was tempted to speak, to ask more questions, but he let her go at her own pace. "I didn't expect to witness that kind of abuse ever again," she managed out. "I never wanted to witness that since I had to live through it. Nick, I was raped."