Torn Apart



Once again, Nick got dressed and marched over to Heather’s house. He banged on the door until she finally answered it, Antoinette in her arms.

“Yes? May I help you?” She asked in a most innocent tone of voice.

“Why did you do this, Heather? Why the hell can’t you just live and let live? Ava and I are going to be together, regardless of what you do! So just leave us alone and stop all of this!” Heather put her dog down and looked at Nick with falsely kind eyes.

“This isn’t about you and Ava. This is about you and I. I had you in the palm of my hand and you ran to that poor gutter girl. I’m not saying that I loved you, but you belonged to me. And when things are stolen from me, I take them back! And if I can’t take them, I win them back. And it seems to me like the balance has shifted yet again, my dear. And there is nothing that you can do about it! Unless of course you just admit defeat and mar-ry me.” She said, melodically at the end.

“No, you haven’t beaten us! And you never will! I’m warning you, Heather. Quit while you’re ahead!” Nick growled, then he turned on a dime and left her property. Heather stood in the doorway, very satisfied. Still, she had to wonder, what was Nick planning to do now?

Nick got back home and found Ava in the kitchen with Myah, AJ, and Brian sitting all around her. She had the phone to her ear and her eyes were red and puffy with tears.

“Who’s she talking to?” Nick asked Brian.

“Her parents. They’re tired of all the rumors and want the truth.” Brian whispered back. Nick went and sat by her side and held her hand. Ava hung up the phone and looked at Nick.

“They want us to come to see them right now… so we can all talk, I guess.” She said, and then she sniffed. Nick leaned up and kissed her trembling lips.

~*~*~*~*~*~


Nick pulled into Ava’s parents’ driveway and parked. Both he and Ava got out and walked up to the front door. Ava rang the doorbell, even though she had keys. Her mother opened the door with a worried look on her face and let the young couple inside. Ava led Nick to the living room and they sat down. Ava’s father was already seated and ready to talk about the situation. There was a moment of eerie silence in the room. Then Ava’s father cleared his throat and shifted in his seat.

“You do realize that what you two have done will have a lasting effect on both your lives. Now, I’m tired of seeing your pictures in magazines. I’m tired of our friends calling us and telling us that their daughters have heard all sorts of rumors about their favorite Back-street-whatever-the-hell-you-are getting Ava knocked up! I’m tired of it! And it has to stop! Not only because I don’t want my daughter exploited, but because it’s going to ruin your career if it continues. So we’ve been talking and Ava is no longer going to stay with you. She’s coming to Hawaii with us. And she will stay there until the child is born, and then we’ll deal with matters then. As for the situation at hand right now… you both will go before the public and deny the pregnancy. Is that clear?” He asked, finally. Nick nodded, and Ava responded with “Yes, Daddy.”

“Ava, I want you to go one back and pack up your things. You’re coming home tonight. And you…” He looked at Nick. “You find some kind of way to talk to the media and clear this up. And make no contact with my daughter until then.” Once her father had finished giving his strict instructions, Nick took Ava back to his house with a heavy heart.

He could not help but feel more animosity toward Heather. Ava had to go away, and it killed him inside. It was all her fault. Why did she have to be so spiteful? Why couldn’t she just back off?

Ava went up to her room and started piling her clothes and belongings into her suitcase. She was crying hysterically as she threw them inside. Nick went up to her room with her and closed the door. He pulled her away from the suitcase and held her close to him. He kissed her lips and wiped away her tears.

“It’ll be ok, baby. The months will pass in no time. And you’ll be in Georgia, in school. And I can visit you every chance I get. And I’ll give you a cell phone, and you can call me whenever you feel like it. Despite the time difference. And we can write. And there’s always email. You can tell me how the pregnancy is going. And I can tell you how things are here. It’s only temporary.” He kissed her again and rubbed her back. Just then, Myah came in the room.

“I really hate to butt in on you guys, especially with all that’s going on. But Ava, your Dad called. He wants you home in half an hour. So you better leave now to beat rush hour traffic.” Myah advised. She backed out of the room and closed the door again. Nick felt himself get weak. He placed his hand on her stomach and kissed her one last time. Then he watched as she zipped up her suitcase and left the room.

As he heard her car start and speed away, he knew she was gone. Her father didn’t want them together. And even though he said that their separation was only temporary, he knew that her father would make things hard if not impossible.

~*~*~*~*~*~


It was a lazy Wednesday afternoon when Nick appeared on MTV News. He managed to get a spot there talking about the Backstreet Boys future plans, and he’d have a chance to deny the rumors of him being a father-to-be. Ava sat by his side, her stomach looking pretty flat in her jeans.

“I don’t understand who started the rumors or why they did it. Ava and I have only just started dating. There’s no way she could be carrying my child. And she’s not even pregnant. So, they’re all just vicious rumors and worthless gossip.” Nick commented. The interviewer, Suchin, then turned to Ava and asked her how she was taking all of the rumors. Ava answered in her practiced southern accent, which sounded nothing like her usual voice. She spoke this way to eliminate the possibility that she really was the voice on the audio files floating around the internet.

“It really bothers me that people can be so cruel. Nick and I are just trying to lead a normal life, as normal as it can get, and some people just can’t stand to see others be happy. I hope that it stops and I hope that we can just move on from this.”

Heather watched in awe. She couldn’t believe it. Had they really gone on television and denounced the pregnancy? They had. And everyone and their grandfather had MTV. It would spread across the nation. All of her hard work and effort had been flushed down the toilet. Who wouldn’t believe Nick and Ava with their innocent victim acts and believable stories? Heather quivered with anger.

~*~*~*~*~*~


At that same exact time, Ava and her parents were boarding a plane to Hawaii. Ava held back her tears to avoid being chastised by her father.

Once the plane got in the air, she looked down at the city she loved and watched it get smaller and farther away by the second. The city was also the home of the man she had grown to love. She felt sick, not just because she was leaving and she missed Nick desperately, but because of morning sickness.

~*~*~*~*~*~


Myah knocked hard on Nick’s door and AJ answered. She gave him an envelope and it had Nick’s name written on it in light-blue ink.

“This is from Ava. She told me to give it to Nick right away.” Ava said. AJ invited her in and then he made his way up to Nick’s room where Nick was and hadn’t left for days. He opened the door only to see Nick sprawled out on the bed, half asleep.

“Jesus, man, you need to get your ass out of bed and take a shower. You look like shit run over twice. But hey, maybe this’ll cheer your up. It’s a letter from Ava.” He tossed the envelope on the bed and left the room. Nick grabbed it quickly and tore it open. He unfolded the paper and began to read.

“Dear Nick, the closer we get to the day of our departure, the more I think of you. I think of our last night together. I think of how you held me so close to your heart. I knew then that you loved me. And I knew that I loved you too. Even now, as I write this, I can feel your arms around me. I can feel your warm, naked body pressed against mine. I can smell your sweet breath, your cologne. I can hear your heart beat. And it makes me miss you all the more. Each second that passes and I am not with you feels like 100 years. Though your child is within me, I feel empty without you. I wish that I could deny my father and stay with you. Then I could fall asleep next to you every night and wake up in your embrace every morning after. Baby, this is torturing me. I have never felt so strongly for someone in my entire life. And when I’ve finally found that love that some people spend their lives searching for, it’s torn away from me. Be sure to promise me this one thing. Promise me that you will not fall out of love with me. Please. Because if you did, I don’t know how I’d be able to live through it. If you promise this to me, I promise you that I will love you with all that is in me until the day that I die. And I mean that. I love you, Nick. And I don’t want you to sit and sulk for the duration of our time apart. I want you to live and make every second count. Be happy for me. And when the day comes that we’ll see each other again, the wait will have been worthwhile. I have to go now. We’re about to leave for the airport. I will write you something better as soon as we settle in the new house. Until then, think of this letter as me giving my heart to you. Yours forever, Ava”

Nick held the letter against his heart and fought back tears with every bit of strength in his body. He had never felt so helpless. He had never been so deep in love with someone he had known so very briefly. Maybe Ava was right, maybe she was they had found love in each other that most search for all their lives. Her words comforted him. His soul was at ease.


Chapter 11 ~ Contents Page ~ Stories ~ Home Page