After Tonight

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Second Chance: Sweet Love So Blind

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I hate Brian. I swear I do. His ass was definitely in some serious shit this time. When I went back into the room to be briefed on what we would be doing for the video, I didn’t expect to find out that I was going to be the central focus of the video. Well almost the central focus since it is a video on the Backstreet Boys but I thought all I had to do was maybe prance around in some skimpy clothes. Maybe even dance a little which is not one of my stronger points but I was assured by Katie that it was a must have skill for all models so I tried to know the basics at least.

Hey don’t look at me, the last music video I saw was LFO’s ‘Summer Girls’. That seems to be the general concept for most videos I see on MTV nowadays so how was I supposed to know that some bright spark wold come up the whole love story theme anyway?

"Who came up with this anyway?" I muttered, half under my breath as I tried on yet another outfit for the blasted video shoot.

"Huh? You said something, Erin?" the pile of clothing at the far end of the room shifted and a wild-haired mop of curls popped up. I sighed and looked at Dee. I’ve been doing a lot of that lately, the sighing I mean, and I know I have that whole misery chick gig going on now but can you really blame me? A girl’s entitled to a good whine once in a while. That’s what they invented PMS for.

"Nah, I was just wondering who came up with the video concept, it’s pretty different from what I’ve mostly seen," I said, lying though my teeth. I actually thought it was kind of sweet till I found out that the whole plot called for me to be Brian’s so-called girl. Ok so a million girls would kill to be in my place, well better make that a zillion but hey I had better taste than to want to pretend to be the girlfriend of a lying, manipulative jerk.

"That would be me," a new voice chimed in. I looked up and saw Aurin walk in along with Nanci. I hadn’t really had a chance to talk to either of them yet. All I knew was Nanci was Kevin’s girlfriend and Aurin was some sort of assistant to Denise McLean.

"Huh?" I asked, totally confused as all the stuff that had happened to me today struggled to sort themselves into the little slots that made up my poor brain.

Aurin smiled and her wide grin lighted up her already gorgeous face. "I was the one who came up with the concept. I guess you’ll have to blame it on all the romance novels I read," she said with a laugh.

"Yeah," I said, trying to be polite, "It’s really sweet." I wasn’t exactly lying. It was a sweet story, the whole story screamed of sugar saccharine ‘rot your teeth’ sweetness.

Yuck.

I don’t like using that term though. I always hate it when people say something is sweet. It’s such a general and insincere word to describe something or someone. Like the person who told you that couldn’t be bothered to take the time to list out what they really think.

I must have spaced out for a moment or something ‘cos next thing I knew, I kinda tripped over a particularly flamingo pink boa. The feather kind, not the kind with scales. Anyway, Nanci hurriedly managed to grab hold of my arm before I could crush Dee with my 110lb frame.

"Are you ok? The three of them asked at the same time. I winced a little at the near hysteria in Nanci’s voice but managed to reply, "I’ll live, I just need some water or something," I said.

"That makes one of us. Water isn’t going to help me," I heard Aurin whisper softly to herself in a sad undertone. Looking at her, it seemed like I wasn’t the only one who had a problem with her love life.

After a little argument among the three of them, it was finally decided that Nanci and Dee would go get some water and maybe food for me. I think Dee and Aurin were more desperate to get Nanci away from me, seeing as how she had practically hyperventilated after my little fall.

The minute the two of them walked out the door, I turned to Aurin. "What’s wrong?" I asked, trying to insert the proper amount of comfort into my voice.

Aurin looked at me and I could see her eyes shine with unshed tears.

"Damn, am I that obvious?" she asked, blinking in surprise.

I shrugged. "Kind of," I said.

She sniffed a little and rooted around in the pocket of her jeans for something. Guessing correctly, I found a piece of clean tissue and handed it to her.

"Thanks." Wiping her nose, she raised a hand to her eyes and dashed the tears aside.

"So who’s the jerk?" I teased, half-serious. She certainly looked as if some guy was trying to mess or had messed up her life. I should know that look. I see it in the mirror every single day.

She sighed a little before finally admitting.

"Nick."

It was my turn to look surprised. For all her poise and funky cool, I would have thought she would have gone for someone like A.J. Then again he was going out with Denise.

"Nick?" I raised one eyebrow at her expectantly, waiting for more facts to fill in the blanks of the story.

"God... I feel like such an idiot, liking someone who doesn’t even have a clue I exist. Well existing as a girl anyway," she blurted, her words pouring out in a torrent.

By the time Nanci and Dee came back with my tea and lunch, I had learnt all about how Aurin had had a crush on Nick ever since Nanci had introduced them two years ago and it hadn’t gotten any better with time passing.

"I thought when I started working for Denise, he would see more of me and think ‘Damn, I can’t live without her!" Aurin confided sadly, "But all we ever do together is play around with his Nintendo and shoot hoops. Do you think I’m too old for him?"

I shook my head, making a mental note to talk to Nick sometime in the next few days and maybe knock some sense into him.

From what I’d seen of Nick and Aurin together before, he was definitely aware of her as a girl. ‘And not knowing how to show it,’ I grinned to myself, thankful that Nanci and Denise walked in then, carrying a steaming cup of tea and piles of sandwiches. It was just past two’ o clock, which explained why I was feeling so light, headed. All I had this morning was the crust off my toast. The rest I’d left for the birds after the way my stomach turned on my first mouthful.

"Hey anyone hungry?" Dee asked. My stomach growled and the four of us started laughing. "I’ll take that as a yes then, help yourself," Nanci invited.

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Evening found me and Aurin walking on the beach together before dinner. Actually we were supposed to be with Nanci and Dee too, but seeing how Kevin and A.J had tagged along, the two pairs of lovebirds were off in their own little perfect worlds.

So the two of us walked along the shoreline silently, watching as the flaming sun dipped lower and lower and light faded into nothingness. The air was cool and fresh, with the salt of the sea flavoring it. I looked back once in a while but there was only the two of us, the other four having gone back to the mansion some minutes before.

I was still in my jeans and tank top, hardly suitable clothing for the chill that summer nights by the sea could bring about. It wasn’t like I had a choice though since I didn’t have any other clothing, Well not till Katie came back with my clothes. I had to give her my key since I was busy with fittings the whole afternoon and I couldn’t go back to get my own stuff.

I still remember my own reaction when Katie told me that I had to stay on location till the job was over. Volatile wouldn’t have begun to describe it. Well it actually made sense to me and it wasn’t anything new really but hey I wasn’t exactly thinking rationally nowadays, was I? To make a short story out of it, I all but threw a fit right then. It finally took Katie to give me THAT look before I would shut up and stop bitching.

Of course I was pretty ashamed of myself after that and tried to keep a low profile for the rest of the day. So when Katie asked for my keys, I meekly handed it over and didn’t say another word as I watched her drive away while I stayed trapped, so to speak, in the house with Brian.

Of course that doesn’t mean I didn’t have a couple of swear words for Brian in my head. If I ever uttered them out, his ears would probably have been scorched off. And I swear he knew what I was thinking too since he kept smiling at me the whole afternoon in that smirkish way of his! I wouldn’t put it past him to have some other devious plans up his sleeve.

Next to me, Aurin sighed and I looked at her. Ever since this afternoon when she had confided in me, she had seemed to sink in some kind of depression. Nothing serious really, just one of those bluesy mood when nothing seems to work out right for you. I get them a lot but it’s never a good feeling so I really felt sorry for her. I was hoping to catch Nick before dinner but he and Brian seemed to have disappeared. Not that I was keeping an eye out on Brian’s whereabouts. He could have streaked naked past me and I wouldn’t have cared. Oops. Awful thought but you get my point.

Anyway back to Aurin. She sighed and I looked at her. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing, I was just looking at those ships," I lied. Moody people tend to get a little touchy about stuff. I didn’t exactly want to make Aurin any unhappier.

"Oh. Hey do you mind if I stopped here and sat awhile?" she asked me, "I kind of want to be alone right now."

I nodded. Did I mention that we need our own space to be bummed out too? I decided to walk on a little more before settling down to stare at the sunset.

I walked on as she settled herself down onto the still warm sand, then turned back. "Give me a yell when you’re going back, ok?" I asked, sensibly since I didn’t know the landscape well enough yet and I had no wish to be lost after dark. She nodded her head then stared at the glowing horizon where lights from the ships moored out blinked gaily.

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The sand was warm and just a little bit sticky as Aurin sat down. Looking up to check, she saw Erin walk on ahead. After settling down more comfortably onto the ground, she reached up and fingered the silver chain that hung around her neck.

The cold metal seemed to give her some strength and after a second, she reached up and unclasped it, bringing it to her. A matching silver heart locket dangled from the chain and she opened it. Staring at the picture inside, tiny teardrops pooled in her eyes and one of them rolled down her cheek before dropping onto the image within that was forever imprinted on her heart.

Before she could wipe the teardrop away so that it wouldn’t stain the picture, a pair of warm hands fastened around her head covering her eyes and a soft voice whispered "Guess who?"

She didn’t have to guess though. No matter where, when, whatever, she would always recognize his voice.

"Nick?" she answered, guessing correctly and his hands dropped away.

"Aww... you’re no fun... hey what’s that?" he asked, looking with interest at the locket she still held in her hand.

Before she could say no, he snatched it away from her. With a sudden fury of panic, she made a lunge at him and tried to grab it back. Fear gave her additional strength and she jumped onto him, knocking Nick to the ground. "Give it back to me, Nick," Aurin said, trying to pull the fragile piece of jewelry out of his rough hands.

They wrestled like that for minutes, Aurin trying to grab her locket back from Nick as he held it high above his head which, given his height advantage, ensured that she could not reach it.

"Nick, come on, give it back to me," she pleaded, tears coming to her eyes as she imagined what he would say if he saw the picture inside.

"Why?" he asked, still holding onto it as he rolled over onto his back, burying himself further into the sand while Aurin was sprawled carelessly all over his body.

Dropping the locket to his side, Nick put his arms around Aurin and pulled her closer, his lips finding hers in a single movement. Slowly, almost shyly, his mouth moved on hers, soft kisses that gradually became deeper as she started kissing him back. Nick moaned as he tried to pull her even closer. "God... Aurin, I love you so much..." he said in a whisper between kisses as he rolled over so that he was on top of her now.

At first Aurin couldn’t think, just let the words wash over her as she reveled in Nick’s kisses. But it caught on a distant thread of her mind and rebounded back to her like a dash of cold water. She broke off the kiss abruptly and looked at him. "You... you love me?" she stammered, shock in her voice.

Nick looked back at her. "What’s wrong?" he asked, looking at her worriedly as hysterical laughter bubbled in her throat and spilled in a mixture of nervous giggles and hiccups.

"Nothing," she said, struggling beneath him, trying to get up. Silently, he shifted his body aside so that she could sit up. She ran a sandy hand through her spiky short reddish brown hair. Looking down at her emerald green tank top, which was almost identical to the one that Erin was wearing except Aurin’s was cut off to show off her belly button, she uttered a groan. "Damn, I think I got sand all over me."

As she attempted to dust herself free of the sticky sand, Nick tried to talk to her.

"Aurin, we have to talk. About what just happened," he said, trying to look into her eyes but she refused to comply, choosing to look down at the sand instead.

"Yeah sure, whatever you want. I... I have to go back now," she said, hurriedly standing up and walking away from him. "See you at dinner," she called out, moving without a backward glance.

Nick sighed in confusion. "Dammit Aurin, why did you run away?" he asked out loud but no answer came back to him and he flung his arms out in frustration. His fingers caught on something and he groaned as he felt it bite through his skin. "What the..." he said, looking down to see a silver object glitter with the fading rays of the sun.

It was the locket which he had snatched away from Aurin and then forgotten as he had kissed her. ‘Nice going Carter, you just scared her off by being such an animal,’ he thought cynically.

Then curiosity got the better of him and he picked up the tiny silver trinket. Maneuvering the simple mechanism, he opened the locket and sat there stunned.

Then a smile worked its way over his face, brightening up his face and a look of determination came into his ocean blue eyes. Getting up, he ran in the direction that Aurin took.

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Aurin wandered through the beach, walking aimlessly as she tried to access her emotions. ‘God, why did you screw up just now? He said he loved you for God’s sake, isn’t that what you want?’ she thought to herself, stopping suddenly as she mentally berated herself.

Sitting down, she traced loopy doodles into the sand as she thought some more. Mechanically, she reached up to finger her necklace but only a thin silver strand weighed on her fingers, the usual weight around her neck missing.

‘Oh God... my locket,’ she thought panickedly. Frantically, her mind raced through all that had happened, trying to think where it could be.

A shadow fell over her body and she jumped. "Were you looking for this?" Nick asked, dangling her locket from his fingers as he sat down beside her. "Nick... oh. Thanks." Aurin said, trying to sound calm and collected but her fingers trembled as she reached out for it. As she moved to claim her property back, his fingers curled close and captured her smaller hand in his.

Stroking her smooth skin with his thumb, Nick looked at her.

"Nick, what are you doing?" Aurin asked, the panic returning into her voice as she refused to let herself think about what might possibly happen this time.

"Why did you run away from me?" he counter-questioned.

"I didn’t run away from you," Aurin replied, confused by the turn in conversation.

"Yes you did. Admit it, you ran away from me after I kissed you," Nick said accusingly.

"No I didn’t. I’ve been kissed before, why would I run away because of that?" she said, her voice just bordering on hysterical sobs.

"Ok, different question now. Why do you have a picture of me in your locket?" he asked, the tones in his voice as neutral as if he was asking her what she wanted for lunch.

Silence. Aurin looked away, feigning a sudden interest in the full moon that had just risen.

"Why?" Nick pressed.

She hesitated a little before finally admitting. "Because I love you," the words coming out in a soft whisper that he could barely catch.

Nick sighed in relief as he pulled her into his arms. "Then why did you run away?" he asked, laying his cheek against hers.

She didn’t answer him, just sat there with him, their bodies pressed close as she tried to capture the moment in her mind.

"Why did you say you love me?" she finally spoke, saying the one question that had been haunting her ever since she ran away from him. Not that she was going to admit it to him, letting him in on her fears would only give him that much more power over her.

"Because I do," Nick replied, firmly and without the hesitation that had dogged her earlier admission of love.

"How can you?" she asked, half to herself, half to him, the insecurities in her soul rising to life again.

"Are you fishing?" he teased then sobered as he saw the seriousness in her eyes. "How can I love you?" he repeated, "I love you because you’re the most alive person I know, you take so much joy in everything and you’re the only one who makes me stop to think what my life is about... I know this sounds cheesy but you complete me," he said, pausing as he touched her face, "I saw what Brian went through after he walked away from Erin and I don’t want to go down that path. It’s dark and lonely in there and I would rather have you light up my life than to live with regrets for what could have been and didn’t because I was too scared to take a chance."

"I’m glad you did," Aurin replied, tracing a finger on the arm that was around her waist. "I was too scared to tell you, I thought you would laugh at me and that would have killed me," she said.

Nick laughed. "I thought you would laugh at me, that I was too young for you and that’s why you ran away. If I hadn’t found the locket, I would never have gotten the courage to come after you," he admitted shakily.

"Never, you can never be too young for me," she declared, looking up into his blue eyes which was a mirror of hers as they glowed with happiness.

"I was two years ago. I fell in love with you the first time I met you, but I was too young to really understand what it meant. I did a lot of growing up after I realized how I felt." Nick said, "Plus seeing what Brian went through... I’m just so glad I didn’t let go of my dreams."

"I love you, Nick, I’m so glad you believed in me so much," Aurin said shyly, tilting her head back to kiss him.

"I love you too, Aurin," Nick replied before losing himself in her sweet kisses.