“What?” he asked, catching it before it hit the wall.
“I looked at the Caller ID…” she sighed.
“So what?” he stared at the still ringing phone.
She rolled her eyes, “It’s my PARENTS.”
Nick’s eyes widened, “What?!”
“Yeah… deal with it,” she grimaced.
“M-me? No… no, no, no…”
“Yes… Nicky, please? I can’t talk to them right now… They don’t understand,” Sadie pouted, “Please, Baby…?”
He softened at the adorable look on her face, “Okay… you owe me…”
She smiled and gave him a light kiss.
“Hello?” he whispered into the phone.
“MR. CARTER?”
“M-mister Pierce?” he squeaked, “Uh… hi… how’re you?”
“CUT THE SHIT. WHERE’S MY DAUGHTER? IS SHE THERE?”
“Yeah… Yes, Mr. Pierce, she’s here…” he sighed, getting more comfortable. What was he going to do to him? There was no threat.
“WELL, MAY I TALK TO HER?”
“Umm…” he held the phone to Sadie who shook her head. Nick put the phone back to his ear, “No… No, uh Mr. Pierce… I don’t think she wants to talk to you right now…”
Sadie watched as Nick handled her family. She could hear her father speaking loudly from the receiver. Grateful for Nick’s help, she smiled.
“No, Mr. Pierce, I’m not trying to keep your daughter from you…” he rested his head against his arm, “No, she STILL won’t talk to you… No, I didn’t corrupt her…”
Sadie giggled as her lover’s eyes went wide and he stuttered, “N-no! Mr… Well… yes, but…” he blushed, “Yes, we did do that… NO! I DIDN’T!” He stomped his foot as he got frustrated, “NO, SHE WON’T TALK TO YOU! GET OVER IT!” and he hung up.
Sadie walked over to him, sitting on his lap. “Thank you,” she grinned, “What’d he ask you that got you so upset?”
Nick frowned and looked away, “If I made you fuck me.”
“Oh Nicky… I’m sorry… If I would have known they would have harassed you like that-”
“No,” he stated quickly, “Don’t… It’s okay. They have every reason to hate me. They just care about you.”
“Well, that’s no excuse.”
Nick eyed her and swallowed, “Um… Maybe… Maybe you should… talk to them, Sadie.”
Her face fell, “What?”
“Well, I just thinking that-”
“What the hell, Nick!?” she slithered off his legs, “I just told you I’m not ready!”
“Don’t get upset, Sadie… It was just a suggestion!”
“Whatever,” she shrugged it off and walked out of the room, “I’ll be back…”
“Sadie-”
SLAM!
“Damn it…” Nick sighed, picking up the phone. He had to call AJ. He was so worried about Julia… He didn’t even know where she was. That’s all he needed to know… That’s all he’d make Alex tell him.
Nick dialed the number, half expecting AJ to look at the caller ID and hang up. But to his surprise, “Yeah, Nick… What ya want?”
“AJ?”
“Yeah… who else would it be?”
“Alex… please…” Nick begged, “Hear me out and don’t hang up this time…”
He only sighed, “What…?”
“AJ… I…” he could do this, “I… just need to know. Is she okay? Please? Just tell me where she is and I’ll leave you and her alone. Please…”
Nick could almost see AJ’s frown, “Why? Why do you care so much, you fucking bitch fucker.”
“What does that mean?” Nick asked, slightly taken aback.
“Nothing… Just that you’d rather fuck the whore next door instead of-”
“Fuck you!” he screamed, surprising himself, “Don’t you EVER call Sadie a whore! EVER, you fucking ass!”
It was AJ’s time to be shocked, “Uh… Um… If you care so much about her then why do you care where Jule is?”
“I care about where ‘JULES’ is because… Because…” AJ could hear the crack in his voice.
“What’s up, Nick?”
“I love her, Alex. I still love Julia.”
AJ was silent, so Nick went on. “I know I fucked up, AJ. But I can’t stand to think that I hurt her… please… I don’t know what to do. Being with Sadie and knowing what caused all this… I don’t know what to do anymore… Please, AJ, please…”
“That’s what I like to hear…” he responded quietly. Whether Nick was an ass hole or not, he knew that Julia still was in love with this man. She wanted… no… She needed Nick to still care.
“Then will you tell me?” he asked in a whisper, “Please, Alex… Please… Oh dear God please…”
***
Sadie’s heart burst with pride as Nick screamed his command of not calling her a whore. She smiled and started walking into the room.
“I still care about where ‘JULES’ is because… Because…”
She stopped.
“I love her, Alex. I still love Julia.”
Sadie’s heart died at that moment as she stared at the ground. “What?” she questioned out loud, “But… Oh my God…” He’d been lying… The whole time… he’d been lying to her. She felt sick… She had to get out. Scratching down a note, she picked up her jacket and head home.
***
Nick’s mouth went dry, “What?”
“Nick, don’t get upset…”
“Upset! Upset? No of course not… Why would I be upset…? You slept together?” he felt tears rising and prayed his voice wouldn’t show it. No such luck, “I c-can’t believe you… Alex?”
“Nick, are you…? God, I’m so sorry… I knew it’d be a mistake, but… she was so confused. She wouldn’t have listened to reason! She just kept telling me how she didn’t want to be rejected again. I couldn’t reject her again, Nicky.”
“Again?” he spoke softly.
Alex hit himself, “That’s not important now, Nick. Way before Nick and Julia time…”
“No, no… NO! You tell me! WHAT AGAIN?”
“It was a long time ago…” AJ knew that wasn’t so true, “The ‘98 tour.”
Nick’s lip trembled, “The ‘98?”
“Nick, it’s not how you think-”
“THE ’98! I can’t… I can’t… take this…” he gulped, “We were together for the ’98 tour… And she was… she was…”
“No, she was not. Let me explain, okay?” AJ pleaded.
“Alright,” he sighed.
“Okay… Julia had feelings for me back then, yes. So, she decided to act on them. I refused because I didn’t feel the same way… Then you asked her out and she said yes, and then yes when you asked her on tour with you.”
“But… If she…”
“Nick,” he deserved to know the truth, “Julia went out with you to make me jealous.”
“She-”
“But it backfired and she fell in love with you.”
“The whole time we were going out then… She’d been in love with you? SHE DIDN’T EVEN LIKE ME?” Nick exclaimed. This was horrible for him.
“Yes.”
“God… I can’t believe I fell for that…” Nick wasn’t even sure why this bothered him so much. Probably because they’d just slept with each other to top it off. That’s right… They had… “And now… You fucked her… She fucked you…”
“Yes… but Nicky… It was just pity sex.”
“Why are you telling me this?” he wondered.
“Because, I think she’s trying to get up the guts to talk to you again… and I want you to know what happened. I wanted you to know the truth. She still loves you… I promise, Nicky…”
“Oh, you PROMISE she still loves me… Well, thank you. Thank you very FUCKING much… And I though I was the ASS HOLE,” he broke down, “I can’t take this right now… I can’t…”
“Nick, don’t,” CLICK, “hang up…” AJ sighed and turned as Julia walked into the room.
“Alex… What’s wrong?”
“That was Nicky…”
She momentarily wondered why he was using an endearing term to address him, “Oh… and… so…?”
“I told him.”
She gasped, “That I was here!”
“Julia…” he paused, “I told him everything… Everything.”
“What’s everything?”
“Everything… that you’re here, that we had sex, the story of the ’98 tour… That was his favorite.”
“Alex, that was shit he wasn’t supposed to know!”
“He had a right to, Julia! He did!”
“But now… What if he…?”
“I know, Jule… I know… But he loves you.”
“I love him too. So much, AJ. I love him so much.”
“Then you better tell him.”
Julia let out a cry and reached for the phone.
*~*~*~*~*