Chapter 3



Wednesday that week Nick came over to Alex's house around 12:00. Her mom and stepfathers cars were gone and Alex's car was in the driveway. He knocked on the front door and waited. Nobody answered. He knocked again louder, and still nobody answered. He twisted the door knob and the door opened. He stepped inside and looked around. "Alex?" He went down the hall to her room. He bedroom door was partway open. He knocked on the door and stepped in. "Alex?" he said again. She was laying on her bed with her face down in her pillow. "The door was open so I..." He went over to her and sat down on the bed next to her. "Whats wrong?"
Alex sat up and gently wiped the tears from her eyes. She turned her head away from Nick. "Alex." Nick touched her chin, he noticed her grimace under his touch. He pulled her head towards him. Her left eye was swolen and blue and purple. "God, Alex... Who did this?" he demanded.
"Nick..."
"Alex, please. You have to tell me."
Alex dropped her head. "My stepdad."
Nick held her in his arms. "I'm so sorry, we can go talk to someone..."
No, please," said Alex.
Nick took her hand and looked into her eyes. "Alex, why don't you want to tell anyone?"
"He'll hurt my mom if I tell anyone."
"I won't let him."
"You promise?" she asked looking up at him.
"I promise. You can stay at my house for a while, okay?" Alex nodded. "I'll help you pack some clothes."
Alex packed some of her things and did her best to cover up her swolen eye. Nick drove her to his house. When they came in the front door Nicks mom came in the room.
"Hey mom, this is Alex, Alex this is my mom Jane," said Nick.
"Nice to meet you," said Alex.
"A pleasure," sad Jane.
"Where's Aaron and everyone else?" asked Nick.
"They're out back playing basketball," said Jane
Nick showed Alex up to his room and put her stuff by the wall and they went outside.
Nick introduced Alex to Leslie, Aaron, and Angel.
"I'll be right backk," said Nick. He left Alex with the others and he went inside.
"Mom, can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Of course." She sat down at the kitchhen table and Nick sat across from her.
"Alex's stepfather... has been beating her..."
"Oh dear..."
"He gave her a black eye, but she covered it up. She needs a place to stay, I can't let her stay there..."
"She can stay here, but you'll be leaving Mondaay."
"I know, but this is just temperary," said Nick.
"Okay."
"She's afraid he will hurt her mom, what should I do?"
"Don't worry about that. I'll talk to your father about it. Now go on outside."
"Thanks mom." He got up and hugged her.
"Poor thing," thought Jane.
He went back outside to Alex and the others. Alex walked over to Nick and they sat down in the shade of a big tree.
"Is it okay with your parents if I stay here?"
"Oh course. I told my mom that you were going to stay."
"Did you tell her about..."
"Yeah."
"What about my mom?" she asked, a concerned hint in her voice.
"My dad is going to handle it, don't worry. You can stay here for as long as you need, but I'm going to be leaving Monday."
"On tour?"
"Yeah. We're starting in Europe and Germany, then Canada and U.S. We'll be gone until April."
"I wish I could go to Europe. I've never been out of the United States."
"Maybe you could go with us."
Nick saw Alex's eyes light up. "Really? Won't the other guys mind?"
"Of course not."
"I feel terrible..." she started.
"Why?" asked Nick.
"Because, I don't even have your CD."
"That's okay. I'll get you a copy if you want."
"That would be great." They sat quiet for a minute. "What about my job?" asked Alex.
"Tell your boss you quit. We'll take care of you financialy."
"Really? Your so sweet." She gave him a friendly hug.
"I like her, but I don't think she wants a relationship right now," thought Nick.

The next day Nick took Alex to her house to get her car and the rest of heer things. She had called her mom and let her know where she was staying. But she still didn't believe that David had been beating her.
When Alex and Nick went inside, David, her stepdad, was waiting in the living room. When they came in he stood up.
"Where were you last night?" he demanded.
"I stayed at Nicks house. I came to get my stuff."
Alex started to walk by him. He grabbed her arm. Alex grimaced under his touch.
"Let go of her," said Nick stepping forward.
David let go of Alex and walked up to Nick. "Who do you think you are?"
"Just leave Alex alone."
"Why should I listen to you?"
"If you hurt her again I'll turn you into the police."
"Who the..."
"Leave him alone David," yelled Alex.
"Would you stay out of this," said David.
"Your the one who should stay out of this," said Alex.
Finally David gave up. "Take all your stuff and leave. Anything you leave will get thrown in the trash. And I don't want to see you here ever again!" yelled David.
Nick followed Alex to her room. She pulled out a couple of suitcasses from her closet and started filling them with the rest of her clothes. Nick helped her put all her things in boxes and carried them out to his car. After Alex had gone through the house getting all of her things they went back to Nick's house.
Nick's sister B.J. had left to work on a modeling job, so Alex stayed in her room.

That monday Brian, Kevin, Howie and A.J. met at Nicks house. They piled in Jane's van and left for the airport. Everyone hugged Jane and said goodbye. Before getting on the plane brian hit the side of the plane with his first twice and kissed his fist.
"What's that for?" asked Alex.
"Oh, I do that for good luck everytime we fly. I've done it so long I'm afraid if I don't do it we'll crash or something," said Brian.
"Oh."
Nick and Alex sat next to each other and Brian and A.J. sat in the two seats beside them. Kevin and Howie sat in the front with their managers.
"Hey lets play truth or dare," said A.J.
"Okay," said Brian. "I'll got first. Nick, truth or dare?"
"Dare," said Nick.
A.J. thought for a second. "I dare you to kiss Alex, tounge and all for a minute."
Alex and Nick looked at each other. Nick leaned towards her and they kissed, exploring each others mouths with their tounges.
When they finnished they had gone well over a minute. Nick turned to A.J. "Truth or dare?"
"Truth," said A.J.
"Okay, tell us about your relationship with Amanda."
"We're over. I don't think we'll get together again," explained A.J. "Okay, Alex, truth or dare."
"Truth."
"Are you a virgin?"
Alex blushed slightly. "Yes." then before anyone could comment on her answer she said "Brian, truth or Dare?"
"Truth."
She thought for a second. "Who was your last girlfriend?"
Brian's grin dissapeared and a shadow crossed his face. "I... I'd rather not talk about it."
"Come on Frick, you have to answer the question," said Nick.
"Ssh," said Alex to Nick.
Brian's head drooped a little. Alex got up. "Come here Brian." He stood up and folored Alex to the back. "Whats wrong?"
"Heather, my last girlfriend, I really loved her. Then I found out that she was cheating on me. I broke up with her, but I still loved her."
"I'm sorry, when did it happen?"
"About a month ago."
"I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have asked that question."
"Its okay. I shouldn't be thinking about it. What's going on with you and Nick?"
"Nothing right now."
"Do you like him?"
"Yeah, but he probably doesn't like me."
"Are you kidding? He's crazy about you," said Brian in a whisper, so that nobody else would hear.
"Really?"
"Yeah. He's liked you since the first time he saw you at McDonalds. I was there with him that day. Come on lets go back." They stood up. Brian gave her a hug. "Thanks for listening to me."
"Of course."
They went back to their seats. Alex smiled at Nick. He grinned back.
"I guess the game is over," said A.J. He sat back and put his headhones. Brian did they same and stared out the window.
"What were you and Brian talking about?" asked Nick in a lowered voice.
"He told me about his ex-girlfriend cheating on him."
"Oh. He was upset about that for a long time. I felt really bad for him."
'Should I ask him now?" thought Alex.
'What will she do if I ask her out?" he thought.
"I..." they both said at the same time.
They laughed. "What were you saying?" she asked.
"Its nothing," he said.
They sat back in their seats. They both kept thinking about each other, not knowing whether to say anything.
When they got to Europe there were a lot of fans waiting at the airport, and it was impossible to loose them on the way to the hotel. Their managers rented out the whole floor so there wouldn't be any accidental run-in's with crazy fans. Brian and Nick shared a room like usual, Howie, Kevin and A.J. each took their own rooms. Alex took the room next to Brian and Nick. They had the rest of the day off so they decided to look at some of the stores around the hotel. Their bodyguards helped them sneak out the back away from the crowd still waiting out front.
"Don't you think you'll get recognized?" asked Alex.
"Maybe, but most of the fans are still at the hotel," said Nick. "And we have our body guards."
They walked a few blocks and found a small shop. A.J. went straight for a rack of sunglasses. Nick and Alex followed him.
"Hey bone, don't you have enough of those?" asked Nick.
"Nope." He picked up a small pair and put them on. "I don't have any like these."
"Hey guys, look what we found," yelled Howie.
Nick, Alex and A.J. went over to where Brian and Howie were looking at a whole shelf of hats. Nick picked a blue, grean and white one and put it on. "This one's cool," he said as he looked in the mirror. Nick, Brian, Alex and A.J. each got a hat, and A.J. and Kevin both got a pair of sunglasses. They walked a little further and stopped at a small diner for lunch. Because of the time difference between Florida and Europe it was only 12:30. Nick, A.J. and Brian shared a pizza, Alex and Howie each had a salad and Kevin had a pasta dish. They ate and looked at a couple more shops. When they came to an athletic store Nick and Brian insisted they go inside. Nick and Brian went straight for the shoes. Right away Nick found a pair of Nike sneakers he had to get.
"Why don't you pick out a pair, I'll pay for 'em," said Nick.
Alex found a pair similar to Nicks, with different colors, and size of course. They went over to the clothes section. Brian, Nick and A.J. went right to the same rack of shirts. After shopping for about 20 minutes they paid for their stuff and headed back to the hotel, since they were too loaded down with bags to go anywhere else. They came up to the hotel the back way and went to their floor in the elevator. They put their things in their own rooms and gathered in Nick and Brian's room where they had set up their Nintendo 64. They hooked up all four controlers and Nick, Brian, A.J. and Alex each took one. They played Mario Kart and Nick's favorite game, South Park until they got bored.

Chapter 4