I Will Buy You a New Life
Chapter 12
~*"A friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart."-Unknown*~
--Next Day-Disney World--
"This is the coolest place I've ever been," said Angelina looking up towards Cinderella's Castle ahead of them. The enchantment of the place itself was overwhelming to her. She'd never been somewhere that made her feel so free, so safe, and so happy all at the same time. She hadn't thought about anything but being there with Brian throughout the entire day. Fear of what the people around her were saying or what his friends would think when they met her didn't cross her mind once. For the first time in her life she felt like everything was going to be okay. "You know," she said slurping her Mountain Dew out of the souvenir cup Brian had bought her, "this is the best day of my life." Brian raised his eyebrows and looked over at her.
"Seriously? Even better then the day you left Tampa?" She thought about it for a second, then nodded her head.
"Way better. I don't really know how to express it, but I feel so..." she paused, searching her vocabulary for an adequate word, "...I really don't think there's a word to say how I feel." Brian smiled. That's all he ever wanted to hear come out of her mouth. He wanted her to always be that happy and to feel that content. He wanted her happy to the point of not having the words to express her happiness. "And you know, if you wouldn't have been such a pain in the ass, I never would have been this happy in my life." He laughed a little along with her.
"Well, thank God I'm such a pain in the ass!" A few people passing the two glanced over at Brian's comment and giggled. Brian simply smiled, somewhat embarrassed and continued walking.
"So what time are we supposed to meet your friends?" she asked as they continued walking. It was getting pretty dark and she figured the park would close soon. Brian looked down at his watch.
"The park should be closing in about an hour or so. So basically we can leave whenever you're ready. They're supposed to meet us in front of Downtown Disney when the park closes and it'll take probably about a half an hour to an hour to get there from here...especially if we wait until they kick everyone out of here." Angelina nodded, catching the drift that he was ready to leave.
"What's at Downtown Disney?" she asked. She looked down at something on the ground and noticed they were holding hands. She didn't know how long that had been going on, or if he knew it was. She blushed deeply, and looked away from him for a few seconds to recollect herself. She didn't want to take her hand out of his knowing that if she did he might be hurt.
"Sounds cool, huh?" he asked. Angelina turned back to face him. She had no clue what he was talking about. She felt bad that she hadn't heard his answer and felt even worse having to ask.
"I'm sorry, what'd you say?" she asked. Brian half-smiled, wondering what had distracted her, but he just shrugged it off and repeated himself.
"In Downtown Disney there's some shops and restaurants and entertainment and stuff. It's really fun actually. I always get recognized there, whether I'm disguised or not, so I'm 100% sure with Nick, Kevin, AJ, and I all together we'll get stopped every two feet, but oh well. I mean, if you don't mind it that is." She shook her head, thinking about the two girls they'd met the other day and the other girls they'd met earlier that day. They all seemed nice enough. A few rude looks were tossed her way, but Brian told her to just brush it off. As long as their rudeness wasn't vocalized she could do just that, but she knew if someone started saying rude things to her, she wouldn't be able to handle it. She just prayed she wouldn't be forced to cry in public. Brian must have noticed the far off look on her face, because he squeezed her hand a little, causing her to look over at him.
"Hey, don't worry about it. If you just want to meet up with them and go somewhere else, we can. It's up to you. I understand if you don't think you're ready to deal with these girl's jealousy."
"No, it's okay Brian. Honestly. I'm sure they won't be that bad....will they?" Brian hesitated. He didn't want to scare her with horror stories from past experiences, but at the same time he didn't want her to find out the hard way just how evil people could be.
"They can be pretty mean sometimes, I'm not going to lie to you, but we also have the power to just walk away from it...and we will. I promise." Angelina nodded her head. She trusted Brian. If he was confident that it would be okay, then she was too.
"Yeah, it's cool," she said, smiling at him. He smiled in return.
"So, you ready to go?" he asked. She nodded her head, and the two turned towards the exit. Just as they were nearing the exit, Angelina heard a loud noise from behind her, causing her to turn around. The fireworks show had begun. A huge smile formed on her lips as she stood mesmerized by the lights. Brian turned around to see what she was looking at, and his heart sunk. He'd forgotten about it all day, forgotten his heartache and his pain, but now it was all flooding back to him. Angelina dragged him forward to get a better look. She'd never seen anything so beautiful in her life. The lights exploded behind the castle as she held tightly to Brian's hand. Her heart fluttered each time a firework was let off. She was so wrapped up in her own little world that she didn't notice the few tears that trickled from Brian's eyes...she also didn't notice herself pressing her lips against his. Brian tensed up as their lips met, and pulled away to look at her. For the first time, she noticed how sad he looked. She feared the worst, thinking it was something she had done, and instantly drew back from his arms. He tried to explain to her what was going on, but she couldn't hear him over the loud bang of the fireworks. He wanted her to know that it wasn't her that he was crying about, but about his past...about his loss, his heartache. He grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it and smiled at her as he wiped his tears away. That's all she needed to see in order to know that it wasn't her at all. She wasn't quite sure why he was crying, but she figured she'd find out later. She lead him away from the fireworks and back towards the exit, not wanting him to be somewhere that upset him. Once they were safely back in the parking lot and waiting on a tram to take them over to Downtown Disney, she decided to ask him what was going on. She opened her mouth to ask, but before anything could come out, he answered her.
"That's where I proposed to Leighanne," he said quietly, getting a far-off look in his eyes. "Same time, same place...same day." Angelina's eyebrows flew up.
"Oh my God, Brian! I'm so sorry! I had no clue!" Brian shook his head.
"There's no way you could have known...don't worry about it. I'm okay now. It was just hard ya know? Being there again, feeling all the emotions flooding back. I felt like I was about to pass out."
"Well, thank God you didn't. You need to tell me this stuff ahead of time from now on," she said smiling. He nodded as the two climbed onto the tram.
"Hey Mister! Aren't you a Backstreet Boy?" a little boy who was sitting in front of them asked as the tram began to move. He was turned completely around in his seat and if Brian hadn't been talking to Angelina they would have noticed that he'd been staring at him since they exited the park.
"Baxter, turn around and leave that man alone," scolded his mother. Baxter's eyes welled up and he looked like was about to throw a temper tantrum.
"No Miss, it's okay. He wasn't bothering us at all," said Brian, smiling at her. Baxter's face went back to normal and Brian smiled at him. "Yeah, little man, I'm Brian." Baxter's little face lit up as he smiled. Angelina smiled at the look on his face. The little boy, who couldn't be more then four years old, was the cutest thing she'd seen in her life.
"You're Brian? I'm Baxter!" he said pointing to himself. "And that's my mommy and my cousin Lilly from Indian Anna."
"Indiana," corrected his mother. Baxter nodded his head.
"That's what I said! Indian Anna. She's 6. She thinks Nick's cute!"
"Do not!" said Lilly.
"Do to!"
"Do not!"
"All right you two, calm down or no Disney Quest tomorrow," said their mother. Brian grinned. He couldn't wait to have kids. Baxter and Lilly settled their differences by sticking their tongues out at each other and then Baxter turned his attention back to Brian.
"I wish I could dance like you. I know how to do that one thing," he said moving his hands from side to side, trying to imitate the "Everybody" dance. "But that's it. Momma said I can be just like you when I grow up."
"Your mommy's right you know. You can be anything you want to be when you grow up. You could be a policeman or a fireman or--"
"Or a Backstreet Boy?!" Brian laughed and nodded his head.
"Or a Backstreet Boy," he agreed. He glanced over at Angelina who was talking to Baxter's Mom, then back at Baxter. "So where are you from, little guy?"
"I'm from Mitchican."
"Michigan?" Baxter nodded.
"Yeah! Mitchican." Brian laughed slightly.
"I'm from Kentucky. You know where that is?" Baxter nodded his head.
"On the way down here, mommy gave me a map and whenever we saw a license plate from a state on the map, we'd color it in. There were some from Tenkucky." Brian didn't bother correcting him this time.
"Well, that's cool. I used to do that in the car when I was little, too," said Brian, smiling.
"Really?" asked Baxter. Brian nodded. "Is that how you got to be a growed up? Cause momma said if I do that, and learn where the states are, I'll be smart like a growed up."
"Your mommy's right. You will be smart like a grown up."
"Who's that?" asked Baxter, pointing to Angelina.
"That's my friend, Angelina," said Brian glancing over at her. She looked over and waved at the two, then Brian turned back to Baxter. "She's my special friend. Do you have any special friends?" Baxter thought about it for a second.
"Nope. Not girls. They have cooties like Lilly."
"I don't have cooties!"
"Do to!"
"Do not!"
"Do to!"
"Aunt Marie!"
"Mommy!"
"All right you two, enough. Come sit over here," she said, placing Lilly on the other side of her. "There. Now you two behave or no Disney Quest tomorrow." Lilly and Baxter both pouted with their arms crossed over their chests for the remainder of the ride. When they got off at Downtown Disney, Brian took pictures with Baxter and Lilly and gave them each autographs and hugs. Angelina smiled as she watched him with the two kids. She knew someday he'd be a wonderful father. Finally they parted ways and Brian took Angelina's hand and lead her through the crowds of people in search of the guys.
"Baxter was just the cutest little thing," said Angelina. Brian nodded in agreement. "His Mom was telling me about how after they went to your concert, Baxter ran around the house with headphones on singing "Larger Than Life" for 3 months pretending to be you. She said he wouldn't answer to anything but Brian or B-Rok." Brian smiled. It made him so happy to know that kind of stuff. It made all of the crap worth it.
"God I can't wait to have kids!" he said grinning.
"Hey hey!" they heard from behind them. Brian looked over his shoulder and saw Nick.
"Hey!" he said turning around and seeing Nick, Jill, AJ, his girlfriend Jenn, Kevin, and Kristin. Angelina tensed up a little, but relaxed when Brian turned around and nodded at her. She knew he was telling her it would be okay. "Everyone, this is Angelina." They all waved and said hello to her. She smiled and did the same in return. As Brian told her each one of their names, they stepped forward and hugged her.
"And you must be Nick," she said smiling before Brian introduced him. He nodded and opened his arms. She hugged him for a little longer then the rest of them. She already felt so close to him, it was weird.
"Nice to finally meet you," he grinned. She nodded in agreement.
"Okay, so where we eating? I'm starving," said AJ. Brian and Angelina shrugged their shoulders.
"Where do you want to go?" Brian asked Angelina. She shrugged her shoulders again.
"Wherever you guys want to go is fine with me." After a few minutes of debating, they decided on Planet Hollywood since Angelina had never been there. Nick demanded that they go there claiming she hadn't lived until she went to Planet Hollywood. He was one of those people who goes to one in every city and gets the T-shirt, just to prove they've been there. He had a pretty extensive collection in his closet at home. He liked Hard Rock more, but seeing as the closest Hard Rock was at Universal Studios, he went for the next best thing.
"After dinner, I'll take you around and show you all the cool stuff," said Nick as she sat down next to him. Brian took the seat next to her as she nodded. "They have the coolest stuff ever here. Stuff from the movie "Speed," "Pretty Woman," "Titanic," even "Aliens!" It's so cool!"
"Now we all see why Nick wanted to come here..." said Kevin, laughing. Nick laughed sarcastically along with him. To everyone else, dinner was very nice. No interruptions by fans, no pictures being taken. To Angelina however, dinner seemed very long and very awkward. They were all very nice to her and did all they could to include her, but she still felt out of place. She began thinking about the events of that day. She'd almost completely forgotten that she kissed Brian. Apparently so did he. The intensity of the kiss was overshadowed by his pain. She didn't know whether to be happy or upset about that. She looked over at Brian who was talking to and joking around with AJ and Kevin, then over at Nick who looked as lost as she felt. She tapped his arm softly and he looked over at her.
"Can I talk to you?" she asked. Nick nodded, standing up. He whispered to Jill where they were going, then lead Angelina outside.
"What's up?" he asked, sitting down on a bench. Angelina paced back and forth in front of him, trying to figure out how to say it.
"I kissed Brian," she said bluntly. She couldn't think of another way to say it then to just blurt it out. Nick looked shocked.
"You did?" he asked, to be sure he heard her right. She nodded, sitting down next to him. "Well, what did he say?" he asked. She shook her head and looked down at the ground.
"Nothing. He...well see we were leaving and I dragged him back to watch the fireworks and I was in awe and something took over me and I kissed him. What I didn't know was that today is the day he proposed to Leighanne, at that time, in that spot...so he was upset. Needless to say, we didn't really talk about the kiss, we talked about his pain." Nick leaned back.
"Wow...so you didn't bring it up to him again?"
"No. I didn't even think about it until a few minutes ago. I don't even know if he realized I kissed him. Do you think I should say something to him about it later?" Nick shrugged his shoulders.
"I probably wouldn't, because that might just drudge up his emotions for Leighanne again."
"I didn't even mean to kiss him either, ya know? I mean, if I had had that planned or something then I probably would have said something, but I didn't even mean for it to happen...it just sort of did." Nick nodded.
"Well, if I were you, I'd wait for him to say something."
"And if he doesn't?"
"Then I wouldn't say anything about it. That's just me though, I don't like being the one to talk about that kind of stuff...especially at the beginning of a relationship when you aren't completely sure of the person still, ya know?" Angelina nodded. Nick was right, she should just not bring it up. She didn't like confronting people.
"Hey, nothing like running off," said Brian from behind them. Nick and Angelina turned around and smiled at him. "What's going on out here?" he asked, sitting on the bench between them.
"Ya know, Rok, there is a whole other half of the bench not being occupied. You didn't have to squeeze your fat ass in between us," said Nick, scooting over so that Brian wasn't halfway on his lap anymore.
"Hey, I'm not the one with the ghetto booty here, Nicky," said Brian smiling at him. Nick stuck his tongue out at him. "You know, we just met a 4 year old kid who stuck his tongue out at his cousin earlier." Angelina laughed watching Nick stick his tongue out at Brian again. The three of them laughed. "So what's going on out here?"
"Not much. Just talking about how much you suck. I was telling her to run now before it was too late," said Nick. Brian pouted and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Hey, I recall that little 4 year old kid pouting too, Brian," said Angelina. Her and Nick laughed while Brian continued pouting.
"I'm going back in," said Nick standing up and walking away before either one of them could protest. Brian smiled at Angelina.
"Sorry about dinner."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you looked bored. I probably should have just invited Nick and Jill. I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry." Angelina shook her head.
"You don't have to be sorry. I'm having a lot of fun. Your friends seem really cool." Brian nodded. Inside he was debating whether or not he should bring up their kiss from earlier. He didn't want to embarrass her, but he really wanted to make sure he knew exactly what was going on.
"What was that kiss about earlier?" he asked bluntly. She wasn't expecting that one at all, and he wasn't expecting to actually say it out loud. She opened her mouth to reply, but didn't know quite what to say.
"I was...I guess I was just caught up in the moment. I'm sorry," she said quickly. He shook his head.
"No, don't be sorry. I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page in this relationship." He bit his tongue as soon as the word "relationship" came out of his mouth. He wasn't sure if that's actually what they had or not. He knew they needed to talk, but it would have to wait until later, the guys were walking out of the restaurant.
"Where to now?" asked AJ, always the partier. Brian looked down at Angelina, expecting her to be tired, but instead she stood up next to him.
"Yeah! What else do they have to do here?" she asked. They all agreed on heading over to Pleasure Island to see what was going on. (Pleasure Island is another section of Downtown Disney.) Once there it was decision time again. Nick wanted to go to the BET Soundstage Club and dance to some hip-hop; Kevin was leaning more towards the PI Jazz Company to listen to some smooth Jazz; AJ was ready to dance at the Mannequins Dance Palace; while Brian wanted to go to the Comedy Warehouse and laugh his ass off. Angelina, Jenn, Jill, and Kristin didn't really have any preferences so once again the guys all had to fight over it.
"I have an idea!" said Jenn stepping between the four of them. They all stopped arguing and looked at her expectantly. "Why don't we just do all of it?" The all looked at each other and shrugged. The group worked their way from the back of Pleasure Island up to the front, being sure to stop at each place they wanted to go. By the time they were all too partied out to even move it was almost 5 o'clock in the morning. It was far too late and they were far too drunk to get all the way home safely, so the group opted to crashed at Brian's. Kristin, the group's pre-elected designated driver for the night drove Nick's Durango filled with her 6 drunk friends and her somewhat sober husband back to Brian's house. Everyone passed out the minute their heads hit the pillows (or the floor in Nick's case).
-=Chapter 13=-
-=Chapter Index=-
-=Story Index=-
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