"Ugh…I don't feel so good," Nicole complained the day before thanksgiving, clutching her stomach and running to the bathroom.
Leslie walked to the doorway of the bathroom to find Nicole vomiting into the toilet.
"What's wrong, Nicole?" she asked, handing her a warm damp washcloth.
"I think I'm sick," she said, walking out of the bathroom and sitting on the couch. "I feel all achy, my head hurts, and my tummy hurts too."
"Oh. Well, let's get you to bed?"
"Uh huh."
Once she was in bed, Leslie disappeared for a moment, and returned to her side with a thermometer.
"Open," Leslie commanded. She stuck the thermometer in Nicole's open mouth, and waited until it beeped.
"Sweetie, you're temperature is 101°," she announced. "You're staying right there."
"Do I have to stay in bed?" Nicole whined.
"Yes, and don't whine about it."
"But I don't wanna! I wanna go outside and play with the nice boys, Mommy!" Nicole complained like a little kid.
"That's just too bad. Now, I'll be back soon. I'm gonna go get you some medicine from the drug store."
"Ok."
"Don't even try to sneak out. I will find you."
"Ugh…fine," Nicole sulked.
"Be back soon," Leslie said before closing the door that connected their adjoining rooms.
In the hallway, Leslie turned the corner and ran smack into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry…Joey," she apologized.
"Me too. Where ya goin'?" he asked.
"To the drugstore to get some medicine for Nicole."
"What's wrong with her?"
She noticed he had some concern in his voice.
"Oh…she's just got a bug."
"Really? I'll have visit her later."
"I'm sure she'd like company from you and the other guys."
"Even Lance?"
"If she's sick enough, or doped up enough on meds, then she won't know who she's talking to, much less care. Then again, there's no telling with those two."
"Yeah, I know."
"Well, I gotta go get that medicine. So I'll see you later."
"Ok. See ya."
Leslie got in the elevator as Joey walked into the room he shared with the guys.
"Hey…I'm back," Joey called to the guys after he'd shut the door.
"Hey, Joe," JC and Lance called back.
"JC, I ran into Leslie, literally, outside in the hall," Joey said.
"Really?"
"Yeah, she was going to the drugstore to get medicine for Nicole."
"What's wrong with Nicole?" JC asked.
"Yeah. Other than the fact that she's mental, what's wrong with the drama queen now?"
Lance added.
"She's sick. Leslie said she might want our company, so I said we'd go see her later," Joey said.
"She even wants to see Lance? She must really be sick!" JC commented with a laugh.
Joey laughed along with him.
"Yeah. Leslie said if she was doped up enough from the medicine, Nicole might not even care if Lance was there," Joey repeated Leslie's words, causing him and JC to laugh even harder.
Getting upset, but not wanting to show it, Lance stormed into his room, slamming the door behind him.
"What's his problem?" Joey asked.
"I don't know. Let him stay in there for now. We'll let him know when we're gonna leave
to go see Nicole," JC said.
"Where are Chris and Justin?"
"They went out to eat, I think, or something like that."
"Oh."
"Why don't we go see Nicole right now? I'm sure Leslie's back and has pumped
some drugs into Nicole already."
"Alright. LANCE!" Joey yelled. Lance walked out of his room.
"What?"
"C'mon. We're gonna go see Nicole now."
"Alright, let's go then." Lance exited into the hallway.
"He sounds agitated," JC commented.
"He'll deal," Joey shut the door behind them. “Knock, knock,” Joey called, entering Nicole’s bedroom, followed by JC and Lance.
“Hi Joey, JC…Lance,” Nicole greeted Lance in an icy tone.
"Good to see you too, Nicole,” Lance shot back at her.
“Told ya we should’ve waited till she took her medicine to bring Lance,” JC muttered.
“What’s wrong with you exactly?” Joey asked.
“I’m not sure. I’m just sick. My head and tummy hurt, and I’m all achy,” Nicole complained like a child.
“Aww…poor baby doesn’t feel good,” Lance commented sarcastically.
“Guys, would you mind if I talked to Lance alone for a moment?” Nicole requested sweetly. Almost too sweetly, it seemed.
“As long as I don’t have to listen to your argument,” JC said, walking out of the room with Joey, closing the door behind them.
“What is your problem, Lance? Why are you even here?” Nicole screamed as soon as the door shut.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he blew off the latter question, “And I’m only here because I was dragged here.”
“I’m sick. I’m not feeling well, and I really don’t feel like putting up with your moodiness right now.”
“Moodiness? I’m moody?”
“Yes.”
“Name one example.”
“The other night, when my mom called. I was upset and you made it worse by being your usual asshole self. Then, when I start crying, and no one else was around, you were all nice and sweet. You seemed like you actually cared. Cared about my feelings, what was going on inside my head, what happened; just cared about me. Did you? Do you?”
“I just felt bad for being mean and making you cry. You actually thought I cared? Ha…you’re a gullible one, aren’t you?”
For a minute, Nicole just stared at him, shocked at how heartless he was. “Get. Out,” she whispered angrily.
“What?”
“Get. Out! NOW!” she got louder with each word, until she was screaming.
JC and Joey rushed into the room when the heard Nicole yelling at Lance to get out of her room. Lance brushed past them and stalked off quickly.
Joey went to Nicole’s side immediately, holding her and trying to stop the tears that’d begun to fall from her eyes. “What’s wrong, Nicole? What did Lance do?” he asked softly into her hair.
“He…He’s so terrible. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t care about me at all! He was…pretending the other day. That cold-hearted prick!”
“Hey…shh…it’s ok, Nicole. I’m here for you.”
“I know, Joey. You’re such a good friend to me,” she hugged Joey tightly.
Meanwhile, JC stood silently at the entrance to the room, watching their interaction curiously.
Nicole moved to kiss Joey on the cheek, but he turned his head and her lips ended up on his. She pulled away quickly. “I’m so sorry, Joey…I didn’t mea-“ she was cut off when he kissed her again. She kissed back, craving the affection he was giving her, the only affection she could seem to get. What he didn’t know was that she would’ve taken that affection from anybody at that point. “Ok, obviously you meant to do that.”
“I should probably go…so you can rest. I’ll be back later with the rest of the guys.”
“Ok. Bye, Joey.”
JC walked over to Nicole as Joey left the room. “Uh…what was that?” he asked, referring to the kiss.
“Um…I…I’m not sure.”
Just then, Leslie came into the room, carrying a large brown paper bag, full of medicine.
“How ya doin’, kid?” Leslie asked her best friend.
“Not any better. That’s for sure,” Nicole groaned.
“Oh. I’m sorry. Well, I got flu medicine, pain reliever, stmoch medicine, cough medicine, migraine relief medicine, sinus medicine, and some other stuff.”
“I don’t even have some of those symptoms. And you are really gonna make me take all that?”
“It’ll make you feel better.”
“There is no way I’m swallowin’ all that crap.”
“Oh yes you are.”
“I’m leaving before you bring me into this argument,” JC kissed his girlfriend quickly then made his way out the door.
“Do I really have to take all that?” Nicole whined.
“Yes,” Leslie replied, opening the various boxes and bottles. She left and came back a few moments later with a large glass of water and a spoon. “Now, open up.”
About 2 Hours Later
Leslie opened the door to her hotel room and invited the guys in. She noticed that JC and Joey were literally dragging Lance with them.
“But she hates me, and she said she never wants to see me again! And I don’t wanna see her either!” Lance protested.
“Lance, she’s so doped up that she probably won’t remember what you said earlier. And if she does, then you’ve been presented with the perfect opportunity to apologize to her. And you will apologize,” JC spoke sternly to him.
“That still leaves the fact that I don’t want to see her!” Lance continued stalling.
“Fine, you can be an asshole then! She needs her friends to help her feel better, and you can just not be there for her when she needs you. Ok? Is that what you want?”
“She doesn’t need me! Hell! She doesn’t even want me! Like I said before, she hates me! And damn it, if that’s the way she feels, then that’s the way I feel! Now leave me alone! We can handle whatever problems we have on our own! So butt out!!” Lance yelled, all in one breath. He was looking for a quick way out of the room. Dizzy from all the shouting, he went through the closest door to him, which he thought led out to the hallway. He was wrong.
“Oh no,” Leslie mumbled.
“Did he just go in…?” Joey trailed off.
“Uh huh,” JC answered, nodding his head.
“Oh no,” Justin and Chris echoed Leslie.
“Lance? What are you doing in here? After that screaming fit, I would’ve thought you’d have left.” Nicole said somewhat bitterly.
“I went through the wrong door,” Lance replied lamely, “I got kinda dizzy from screaming all that in one breath. Not enough oxygen to the brain, I guess.” He paused for a moment, unsure what to say. “You heard me?” he asked guiltily.
Nicole suppressed a giggle. “Yeah. If you’re dizzy, you should sit down.”
Lance sat beside Nicole on her bed, about even with her waist.
“I thought you never wanted to see me again,” Lance said quietly, looking at his hand that rested next to hers, nearly touching it. He looked up again when she spoke.
“I didn’t mean it. I was just upset. It hurt when you said you didn’t care about me; that you were only pretending the other night.”
Unconsciously, he began stoking the soft skin on the top of her hand. She noticed, but said nothing. The feeling she’d had the night he comforted her returned. Her skin tingled where his touch had been.
“I hope you feel better soon, Nicole,” Lance brushed a few strands of hair off her face. She ever-so-slightly nuzzled her cheek against his hand. “I’ll send the other guys in now.” He stood up and moved towards the door.
“No! I’m kinda tired, and I want to sleep. Tell them I’ll see them tomorrow.”
“Ok. Night, Nicole.”
“G’night, Lance.”
He shut the light off as she closed her eyes. “Sweet dreams.”
Meanwhile
“I haven’t heard anything yet,” Leslie broke the silence, while the group listened for any sound to come from behind the door to Nicole’s room.
“I think she killed him.” Joey guessed, “She was really pissed off earlier. You should’ve seen her. It looked like she wanted to rip his head off.”
Just then, Lance walked out of her room, closing the door behind him.
“Jeez! We thought you were dead, Lance. You were in there for twenty minutes and we didn’t hear any yelling.”
“We were talking…sorta.”
“Sorta? I better go see if she’s ok. Maybe she’s the dead one.” Joey said, moving toward her door.
“No!” Lance stepped in front of him before he could get any farther. “She’s sleeping. She said she’d see you tomorrow along with the rest of the guys.”
“Ok. Well, we better get goin’ now. It’s getting kinda late. See ya tomorrow, baby.” JC kissed Leslie goodbye and followed his friends out the door.
In The Guys’ Room
“Dude!” JC called to Joey, who was in the kitchen area. “What was up with that kiss earlier?”
“What kiss?” Chris inquired.
“I kissed Nicole. Big deal.” Joey said, joining them on the couch.
“Twice.” JC added.
“What?!” Lance exclaimed, “Why would you do a stupid thing like that?”
“Yo, Lance. Chill!” Justin said.
“Because I like her. What’s your problem anyway?”
“Um…You might catch what she has, and then where would we be?” Lance tried to cover up his sudden outburst.
“One, she’s not contagious. Two, we don’t have a performance for a week. I know you don’t like her, but just because you don’t, doesn’t mean I can’t.”
“You’ve been acting really strange lately, Lance. What’s up with you?” Justin asked.
“Nothing. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just tired.”
“Well, whatever it is, work it out, and get over it.”