My Happy Ending
Prologue

“I can’t believe this.” Joey said sadly as she and Ashleigh sat in her house. It was an early January evening, snow was blowing softly outside. The two girls were sitting in Joey’s living room quietly sipping mugs of hot chocolate.

Ashleigh gave her friend a sad smile. Unfortunately, this was something that had to be done. “I’m really going to miss you, Joe.”

“I don’t see why he couldn’t move up here.” Joey said in a bitter tone, but smiled back at Ashleigh to let her know that she was joking.

Ashleigh laughed. “Do you honestly think he would survive in that?” She said, pointing out at the blizzard that was happening outside.

“I guess not.” Joey chucked. “I’m glad things are working out for you guys, Ash.” Joey said sincerely. Though she was upset that her best friend was moving thousands of miles away, it seemed as though Ashleigh had finally managed to get her personal life on track.

“Thanks.” Ashleigh replied, taking a sip of her drink. “I never thought it would come this far.”

Joey laughed a little. “Well, I don’t know about that. When we were in high school you were pretty adamant that you were going to marry him.”

Ashleigh cringed. She had hoped Joey wouldn’t bring that up. “Who said anything about getting married? I’m just moving in with him.”

Ashleigh and Nick had now been officially together for the past year and four months. In between flying back and forth to each other’s homes, things had progressed smoothly between them. It was only natural that they would want to take their relationship to the next level. Especially since they lived so far away from one another.

“I know, I’m only joking.” Joey said with a laugh. She didn’t know how she was going to handle having her best friend living so far away. For the entire time they’d known each other, they’d always lived at most half an hour apart. Now they would no longer be just a car ride away. “This sucks, Ash.”

Ashleigh nodded. Part of her really didn’t want to move, but she knew it was for the best. She couldn’t just stay in Minnesota because her best friend was there. She was growing up, and as such she needed to make sacrifices. “I know. I wish you could come too.”

Joey smiled a little. “You know I can’t do that.”

“I know, I was only joking.” Ashleigh sighed.

“So, what are you going to do once you get to Florida? Lots of swimming and fooling around on the beach?” Joey asked.

Ashleigh shrugged. She didn’t really know what she planned on doing. She thought about maybe searching out locations to open a new store. She’d had to sell her old one on account of the move. “Probably for the first few days. I’d like to go back to work though. Maybe open another coffee shop or something.”

Joey nodded, she’d known how much Ashleigh loved owning her store. Granted, she’d complained about her staff a lot. Selling her business hadn’t been easy for her, but it was something that needed to be done. Besides, a Starbucks had moved into the mall two stores down, so Ashleigh had figured it would be best to get out before things went south anyway.

“He’d better treat you well.” Joey said seriously, changing the subject. Ashleigh had had her fair share of heartbreak. She didn’t need anymore relationship drama.

Ashleigh rolled her eyes, but smiled still. “You know he does.”

“I know. I’m just worried about you. So far away, not able to run to my house.”

Ashleigh laughed. That was true. There had been many a time when she’d run to the friendly arms of her best friend when her boyfriend was acting like a jerk. “You’ll only be a phone call away.” Ashleigh reminded her. She stole another glance out the window. While she was sad that she was going to be leaving her life in Minneapolis behind, she was excited for everything that was sure to come.

My Happy Ending
Chapter 1

Nick smiled to himself as he waited in the terminal of the Tampa International Airport. Ashleigh’s plane was due to land any minute, and he was about to burst with excitement. She was coming to live with him. Permanently. No longer would they have to deal with tearful goodbyes and not knowing when they were going to see each other again. Instead she’d be with him every single day. Nick couldn’t be more thrilled.

They’d been together for a little over a year. During that time Nick had gone up to Minneapolis more than a few times. He’d spent Christmas up there and with Ashleigh’s family. Her mother seemed to take a liking to him, which delighted Ashleigh. She’d gone down to Florida a few times, visiting him on his birthday, a couple of times in the summer and once in the late fall.

Now she was going to be living in the same house as him. Nick could hardly believe it when she’d accepted his offer.

Nick and Ashleigh sat silently in Nick’s bedroom. It was late, and Ashleigh had an early flight the next morning. However, they both couldn’t bring themselves to go to sleep. They knew that when they woke up, all they would be facing was another goodbye.

“I don’t want to leave, Nick.” Ashleigh murmured, nuzzling her head into his bare chest.

“Then don’t.” Nick said. Ashleigh looked up at him, thinking he was joking. He wasn’t. “I’m serious, Ash.”

She thought about that for a moment. Live with him? She would have to give up everything she had back at home. Minneapolis was the only home she’d ever known. Was she really ready to take that step with Nick? She’d have to sell her house, and sell Urban Bean. Well, Urban Bean wasn’t doing so well considering the Starbucks that had just moved in two stores over…

“I’ll have to get my things in order…” Ashleigh started, but she could already see the grin creep up on Nick’s face. “But yes…okay…” She said quietly.

“Really?” Nick said in disbelief. He hadn’t expected her to accept. He kissed her deeply.

Ashleigh smiled. “Not yet though. After New Years?” She asked, hoping that wouldn’t ruin Nick’s good mood.

Nick nodded quickly. That did sound good, he figured Ashleigh would have quite a few things to take care of before moving clear across the country. “That’s perfect.” He replied, hugging her tightly. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” She said excitedly.

“Nick!” Ashleigh called, practically running over to him. She was only holding her small carry-on bag, as most of her things had already been shipped out to Nick’s.

“Hey you.” Nick said, embracing her. “Did you have a good flight?”

Ashleigh wrinkled her nose. She was definitely glad that her days of flying were going to be reduced. “I guess. They played a really bad movie. I tried to sleep, but there were some loud kids…you know how it is.”

Nick chuckled a bit. He was always amused by Ashleigh’s little rants about her plane rides. “Yeah, I do. Let’s go home.” He said, putting his arm around her and walking out of the airport.

Ashleigh couldn’t help but grin. Florida was her home now. She loved the sound of that.

When she and Nick arrived home, the first thing Ashleigh did was make a beeline for the bedroom. The last thing she wanted to think about was unpacking, though it was inevitable. Boxes were littered all over the house.

“You’re going to have to unpack sometime, Ash.” Nick said, sitting down beside her.

Ashleigh pouted. “I know. Can we just wait… twenty minutes?” She asked, kissing him softly and pulling him down on top of her.

“I take longer than twenty minutes!” Nick whined in a joking manner, continuing to kiss her.

“Mmhmm…” Was Ashleigh’s only reply.

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Later that evening Nick and Ashleigh began the torturous task of unpacking Ashleigh’s things. There actually weren’t that many things, but it was something that neither of them really wanted to do. So, while Ashleigh put things away in the living room, Nick unpacked the bedroom.

As she was downstairs setting up a shelf to put her DVDs on, Nick opened the drawer of his bedside table. He peeked out into the hall, making sure Ashleigh wasn’t lurking around the corner. Inside he pulled out a small velvet box that he’d acquired a little over a month ago.

He’d considered proposing to her on New Years. He figured that would be romantic and fitting, since they’d first exchanged “I love yous” a year before. She was going to be moving in with him, it had seemed like a logical step.

Plus, he was the only un-wed Backstreet Boy at that point. AJ had gotten married earlier that year. Nick was turning 30 in a couple of weeks, he was beginning to feel as though it was time to settle down. In the end, he had lost his nerve. He hadn’t spoken to anyone about his intentions, knowing that the others wouldn’t be thrilled.

They were still weary when it came to Ashleigh. She hadn’t spent a lot of time with them, and as such his band mates still pictured her as the star struck fan she’d been so long ago. No matter how many times Nick tried to tell them that was simply not true, they didn’t exactly trust his judgement. Why should they? He didn’t exactly have the best track record. His only hope was that with Ashleigh now living with him, she’d spend more time with them and they’d soon learn how much she’d changed.

The sound of Ashleigh running up the steps made Nick jump a little. Quickly, he shoved the ring back into the drawer. “Hey!” He said, as she opened the door to the room.

“Hey…” Ashleigh replied, eyeing him strangely. “Can you come help me set up the shelf? Because I honestly have no idea how to do it.”

Nick nodded and breathed a little sigh of relief. She really had no idea what he was planning. “Sure. What do you need help with?” He asked as he followed her downstairs.

She sighed, looking at the pile of wood that lay on the floor. “Everything. Can we trade? You unpack this and I unpack the bedroom?”

Nick thought about that for a second. It worried him a little, thinking she might find the ring and his secret would be discovered. Then again, there really would be no reason for her to go into his drawer, as she had her own night table on her side of the bed. “Yeah, okay.”

Ashleigh ran upstairs and groaned at all the boxes that were inside the bedroom. It was mostly clothes, which really only meant a lot of putting things on hangers. Still, she hated unpacking. Walking over to Nick’s stereo, she decided to play some music. Eyeing a small pile of CDs beside it, she flipped through them. She didn’t find anything too interesting.

Running back to the living room, she quickly pulled her iPod out of her purse and plugged it into the stereo. Nick was far too focused on putting the shelf together to notice her.

That is, until he heard the blaring noise coming from upstairs. Intrigued, he took a break in setting up the self to go see what Ashleigh was up to. Peeking into the room, he saw her delightfully placing articles of clothing onto hangers as she sang along to her music.

“Why are you listening to this?” Nick asked in disbelief, and Ashleigh laughed as she continued to sing to the song that was nearly thirteen years old.

How did you know, ‘cause I never told
You found out
I’ve got a crush on you
No more charades
My heart’s been displayed
You found out
I’ve got a crush on you

“It came up randomly!” Ashleigh said, defending herself. She didn’t even own that CD, it had been something she’d borrowed from Joey when she was looking for new music to listen to. The CD had amused her greatly.

“Uh huh.” Nick joked. “I see how it is, you secretly want my brother.”

Ashleigh rolled her eyes. “Obviously.”

Nick went over to her mp3 and began to scroll through her songs. She had quite a collection of music, nothing too diverse though. It was mostly 90’s pop music, with a few current things thrown in here and there.

“You really need to listen to better music, Ash.” He commented, settling on an old Britney Spears song.

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Excuse me, I have Backstreet Boys on there you know.”

“Well, besides that of course.” Nick said with a laugh. “At least you have once saving grace.”

“And what’s that?” She asked with a grin.

Nick grinned as he pressed play on the song he had selected

Humidity’s rising
The water’s getting low
According to all sources
The street’s the place to go

Ashleigh burst out in a fit of giggles as Nick sang along to Geri Halliwell’s remake of It’s Raining Men. “You’re such a dork!” She laughed.

Nick continued to sing along as she walked out of the room, leaving Ashleigh to continue unpacking. She continued to laugh, and began to sing along herself. If she had ever felt unsure about moving in with Nick, he certainly was doing a good job of convincing her that she was going to be perfectly happy.

My Happy Ending
Chapter 2

Two weeks later, Ashleigh awoke rather early. She was feeling a little apprehensive, so she decided to go down to the kitchen and make herself some tea.

That day was Nick’s 30th birthday. The other four Backstreet Boys would be flying into Tampa to attend Nick’s party. It wasn’t going to be anything extravagant, just dinner at a nice restaurant and possibly coffee afterwards, but Ashleigh was beyond nervous. Since she and Nick had dealt with having a long distance relationship for the most part, they hardly spent time with other people when they were together. As such, Ashleigh hadn’t really met the others since reuniting with Nick.

“Happy birthday, Nicky.” Ashleigh said when she heard him finally make his way downstairs about an hour later.

“You’re up early.” He commented, sitting down beside her.

Ashleigh gave him a soft smile. “I wasn’t feeling well.” She told him.

A look of concern washed over his face. “Are you going to be okay to go out tonight? You don’t have to. We can reschedule.”

Ashleigh smiled at him. As much as she really wanted to agree to that, she knew she couldn’t. It was Nick’s birthday, and an important one at that. “No, I’m sure it’s just nerves.” She reassured him, taking another sip of her tea.

I should be the one that’s nervous Nick thought to himself. “Why would you be nervous?” He asked her.

Ashleigh shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m kind of scared of the others.” She admitted.

Nick gave her a strange look. “What? Why?”

Ashleigh shrugged, feeling a little embarrassed. “I don’t know. They only know me as crazy Ashleigh.” She said with a small laugh. She knew she was being paranoid, but she really couldn’t help it. Looking back now, she couldn’t believe the way she’d acted back then.

“I love crazy Ashleigh.” Nick said, giving her a tight hug. “You’re so cute Nick! Tee-hee!” He joked, making fun of her days as a Backstreet Boys fanatic.

Ashleigh rolled her eyes. That was exactly what she had been worried about. That the others would only see her as the teenybopper she used to be. “I’m not like that anymore.” She said defensively.

Nick gave her a look. “Yeah, I kind of figured that.” He said, before kissing her. “They’ll love you, don’t worry about it. Now, where are my presents?” He said with a boyish grin.

“I didn’t get you anything.” Ashleigh said seriously.

Nick pretended to pout, giving her puppy dog eyes. “But…it’s my 30th birthday! It’s over the hill!”

“You are so not over the hill.” She laughed, getting up from her chair to retrieve Nick’s gift. He sat anxiously in the kitchen waiting, though he knew whatever she was going to give him wouldn’t match the look on her face that evening. That was what he was really excited about.

Soon enough, Ashleigh returned with a gift wrapped package. “I wanted to wait until tonight.” She giggled, knowing that Nick wouldn’t have been able to hold out so long. This childish quality in him was just one of the many things that attracted her to him.

Nick gave Ashleigh a wide grin as she handed him his gift. Tearing through the paper, he held up a purple and gold football jersey.

“Ashleigh!” He exclaimed, not knowing whether to laugh or scold her.

“What?” She asked innocently. Nick was always going on about how much he loved the Tampa bay team, she figured she’d give him something from her state. That, and she’d wanted to see the look on his face when he’d opened it.

“It’s the Vikings.” Nick said, giving her a playful look.

“Love me, love my Minnesota.” Ashleigh replied, sticking out her tongue. Nick grinned and pulled her onto his lap.

“Well, I guess I haven’t got a choice.” He chuckled, kissing her softly.


That night, Ashleigh nervously stepped into the restaurant with Nick. The waitress led them into a private room. Everyone else had arrived already. There were the other four Backstreet Boys of course, their wives and Nick’s siblings. The party had been kept relatively low-key, and Nick’s other friends were planning on talking him out the following weekend.

“Nicky!” AJ exclaimed as Ashleigh and Nick stepped into the room. “The big 3-0!”

Nick rolled his eyes as the others teased him about being old. He and Ashleigh quickly took their seats. Ashleigh leaned in close to Nick, suddenly feeling very shy.

“I guess I should introduce all of you.” Nick started, putting his arm around Ashleigh. “I know you guys have met before under…different circumstances.” He continued. “But, this is my girlfriend Ashleigh.”

Ashleigh could feel her face turn redder by the second. She was sure that the others thought she was just a crazy fan and that Nick had no clue what he was doing. She smiled and waved a quick hello to everyone.

“Ash, this is Brian, Leighanne, Kevin, Kristin, AJ, Rachel, Howie and Leigh.” Nick introduced his band members and their wives. “And these are my sisters; BJ, Leslie and Angel. And of course you know Aaron.” He said with a smirk.

Ashleigh remained silent for the bulk of the evening. She hardly knew these people, didn’t exactly know what she should say to them. Of course Nick made every attempt he could to talk to Ashleigh and get her to join into the conversation, but Ashleigh still felt as though she was out of place.

Nick looked over at Ashleigh. She was being uncharacteristically quiet. Nick smiled to himself. As far as he was concerned, the evening was perfect. Everyone he loved was in the same room. Suddenly he didn’t feel quite so nervous anymore.

“Guys,” Nick started. “If you don’t mind, there’s something I’d like to say.”

Ashleigh looked at Nick as the room fell silent. What could he possibly have to say? He’d already made a long and wordy toast before they’d received their food. However, when Nick knelt down in front of her, she had a sick feeling that she knew what was coming. Oh God She thought. He’s not going to…

“Nine years ago, you walked into my life. I was stupid at first and didn’t realize what I had. I’m thankful every day that I ran into you again and that you gave me another chance.”

Ashleigh stared at him. He couldn’t possibly he proposing. No, he was just giving another wordy speech about how much he loved her.

“You are my life, my love, my everything.” Nick continued. “Ashleigh Marie Dane, will you marry me?”

Ashleigh’s breath caught in her throat. He had to be joking…but Nick looked at her in all seriousness. His eyes were filled with love, and his outstretched hand was holding a diamond engagement ring.

She could feel everyone staring at them, awaiting her response. How could she say no to him, in front of all these people, and on his birthday? She figured he hadn’t meant it that way, he had to have been certain she would say yes. She didn’t know what else she could do. What felt like an hour was in reality only a matter of seconds. She loved Nick, yes, but she didn’t know if she was ready to get married yet. Especially since her previous engagement hadn’t worked out so well.

“Nick, I love you…” She started, but was unable to finish as Nick’s lips silenced her.

Just like that, Nick was slipping the ring on her finger and the others were congratulating them like crazy. If Ashleigh had been uncomfortable before, it was nothing compared to this. She hadn’t said yes! She sighed and forced herself to smile. What was she going to do?

My Happy Ending
Chapter 3

“That was interesting.” Leighanne commented as she and Brian entered their hotel room. They were only in Tampa for that evening, and then they would be flying back home to Atlanta.

“I didn’t realize Nick was so serious with her.” Brian said. Truthfully, he wasn’t really sure what was going through Nick’s head. Granted, the two of them hadn’t talked very much since taking a break after the Unbreakable tour but he thought he would have said something. Plus, he remembered Ashleigh from before. All too well. “I mean, I knew they were seeing each other again, I just thought it was…”

“The same as last time?” Leighanne finished his sentence. Nick’s previous relationship with Ashleigh had been anything but serious. It was a stretch to call it a relationship even.

“I’m just not sure he knows what he’s getting himself into.” Brian sighed. “Nick’s so blind when it comes to girls. He runs into her at one of the concerts, and now they’re living together and getting married?”

Leighanne nodded. “I know. She didn’t really seem like she’d changed much, did she? She still just kind of clung to Nick and didn’t talk to anyone else.”

Brian somewhat agreed with that. Though he felt a little guilty making judgements on someone he barely knew. “Yeah. Maybe I’ll have a talk with him.”

Leighanne chuckled a little. “You think you’ll be able to talk any sense into him?”

Brian smiled. “I doubt it. But it’ll be worth a try.”

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Ashleigh sulked as she listened to Nick babble the entire way home. He talked about how happy he was, and how great their life was going to be and how wonderful his birthday had been.

She wanted to throw up.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be with him. She just wished he could have taken things slower. She’d just moved in with him, and now he wanted to get married? Add to the fact that she hadn’t gotten the friendliest vibe from the others. Needless to say, she was not in the greatest mood. She kept silent for most of the ride home and Nick didn’t seem to notice. He was talking a million words a minute, and obviously very happy.

She didn’t know what to do. If she told him she didn’t want to marry him yet, it would probably break him. Ashleigh didn’t want to do that. She also didn’t have anywhere to go in the event that he got really upset with her. She still didn’t know anyone in Florida.

So she kept her mouth shut as she drove.

When they got home, Nick was obviously exhausted. Kissing her softly, he told her he loved her. She gave him a genuine smile and told him that she loved him too. Sighing, she grabbed the cordless phone and sat in the spare bedroom on the other side of the house. Not that it really mattered, Nick was basically dead to the world.

“This had better be good, Ash.” Joey muttered, half asleep as she answered the phone.

“Nick asked me to marry him.” Ashleigh blurted out, not wanting to beat around the bush.

“What?” Joey asked, instantly waking up. “Congratulations!” She said excitedly.

“No!” Ashleigh exclaimed, feeling somewhat lost and a little worried that her best friend was going to take Nick’s side. “Not congratulations!”

Joey was somewhat confused. “What? Why not?”

Ashleigh sighed. “Because. It’s too soon. We’ve been going out for a year. I’ve been living here for two weeks. Everything’s all well and good now but who knows what’s going to happen in the future? I cannot make that kind of commitment yet.” She explained.

“Well, what did you tell him?”

“I didn’t! He gave me this big speech about how I meant the world to him and whatever. It was in front of everyone, Joe! They were all looking at me and judging me. And I told Nick I loved him… and he took that as yes…”

Joey paused for a moment. That was a sticky situation. “I’m sorry Ash.”

“I can’t do this. When we get engaged I want it to be when we’re both ready. Not because he’s too rash and doesn’t think about things.” Ashleigh continued to ramble.

“You should tell him. Just let him know you aren’t ready yet and that this was a big shock to you.” Joey advised.

“I guess so.” Ashleigh mumbled. She really didn’t want to see the look on Nick’s face when she told him that. She knew it was going to upset him a great deal.

When Ashleigh finally slipped into bed beside Nick, she glanced at him sadly. He had the covers wrapped around himself in a disordered manner and his hair was sticking out in every direction. She giggled a little, he really was adorable.

“Ashleigh…” Nick said the next morning, nudging her awake.

“Hmmm?” She asked, not opening her eyes.

“Howie and Leigh called, they want to know if we want to go out for lunch with them before their flight leaves.”

Ashleigh cringed. There was that sick nervous feeling again. However, this was the least she could do for Nick before tearing his heart in half. “Yeah okay.” She replied, getting up.

“Did you have fun last night?” Nick asked her as she made her way to the washroom. “No one said anything to you, I think they liked you.”

Ashleigh just nodded as she looked at herself in the mirror. She wasn’t in any mood at all to discuss the events of the night before. She felt ridiculously nervous, probably due to the fact that she was going to have to tell Nick she didn’t want to marry him, as well as having to go out to lunch with his friends.

Yet before she knew it, she was sitting on a patio, sipping grapefruit juice and chatting with Nick, Howie and Leigh.

“So, how are you enjoying Florida, Ashleigh?” Leigh asked her.

Ashleigh snapped back to reality. Again she had been agonizing over her impending conversation with Nick. “It’s great.” She said with a smile. “You couldn’t ever sit on the patio in Minnesota in January.” She added with a laugh.

Nick put his arm around Ashleigh, finally things seemed to be falling into place for him. He and Ashleigh were now engaged, and that made him happier than he ever thought he could have been. He hadn’t had any doubt in his mind that she would accept, after all she’d been engaged once before.

Ashleigh stole a quick glance at Nick. It pained her to see him smiling away, not knowing that in a couple of hours she was going to bring his world crashing down. She debated with herself over and over again. Maybe she should just go through with it and not tell him. Then again, if it didn’t work out that would hurt much worse than if they had just never gotten married in the first place. Simply put, they just hadn’t been together long enough for Ashleigh to even consider marrying him. Of course she had daydreamed about it (many, many times) but that didn’t necessarily mean she wanted it right this instant. No, postponing things was definitely the right thing to do.

“Ash?” Nick tapped her on the shoulder. She’d gone off into space again. “Did you decide what you wanted to eat?”

Ashleigh had hardly even glanced at the menu. Between her internal struggle over what to tell Nick, and trying to impress Howie and Leigh she hadn’t given food a second thought. “Um, I’ll just have a salad.” She said. Food was the last thing on her mind.

Nick gave her a strange look. That was hardly like her, usually she ate as much as he did. Or at least attempted to. “Are you sure?” He asked.

She nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure. I’m not all that hungry.”

The rest of them ordered and again, Howie turned to Ashleigh. He figured he may as well try to get to know her a little better. She had to have grown up some in the last few years. Otherwise Nick wouldn’t be with her, right? “What kind of music do you listen to?”

Ashleigh didn’t quite know how to answer that. All she listened to was 90’s teen pop. Somehow, she didn’t think that would be the best answer. She racked her brain to come up with something, anything… “I don’t know. I like everything.” She internally scolded herself. What a generic, boring answer.

“You used to be a Backstreet Boys fan, right? That’s how you and Nick met?” Leigh asked, and Nick shot Howie a glare. Evidently that subject was taboo.

Ashleigh managed to keep her cool. “Sort of. Nick and I were…friends back during their tour in 2001. My friend and I decided to go to a concert for kicks two summers ago and I met up with Nick again. The rest, as they say, is history.” She laughed, proud of herself for managing not to have a nervous breakdown. Even though that wasn’t exactly how things went down. “How did you guys meet?” She asked, though her days as a Backstreet fan had already given her the answer.

Leigh grinned, obviously happy to talk about Howie and herself. “I was their webmaster.” She said.

Ashleigh nodded. “That’s cool.” She was beginning to feel a little more relaxed around them. Perhaps things weren’t so bad after all.

Still, she had her impending conversation with Nick to look forward to. She smiled, trying to look happy despite the impending disaster that was sure to follow.

My Happy Ending
Chapter 4

Ashleigh sat silently in the bedroom for about an hour before going to talk to Nick. They’d had a nice afternoon with Howie and Leigh, and she didn’t want to ruin his good mood. However, she knew it had to be done sooner than later. So, she’d gathered all her courage and approached him when he was sitting in the den.

“Nick…” She started, walking up to him. She had no idea what she was going to say.

“Hey.” He said with a smile on his face. It broke her heart, this definitely would have been easier if he wouldn’t look so cheerful all the time.

She sat down beside him and sighed. “We need to talk.” She cringed when she heard herself speak those words. She hated it when conversations started off that way.

Nick gave her a strange look. He didn’t have the faintest idea what could be on her mind. “Okay.” He said, putting down his book and turning to face her. “What’s up?”

She took a deep breath and prayed he wouldn’t be too upset. Maybe he would understand. “I love you…so much.” She assured him, and herself.

“I love you too.” He replied, still not knowing what she was getting at.

“Promise you’ll remember that when I tell you this?” She asked him. This was almost unbearable.

Nick searched her face for any indication of what she might be talking about. He looked at her, watching him. She looked as though she had something important to say. The only thing he could think of was. “You’re pregnant?” He asked her, sounding terrified.

“What?” Ashleigh said, startled. She hadn’t expected him to jump to conclusions like that. “No, Nick.”

Nick let out a sigh of relief. As happy as he was with Ashleigh, having a child was not his top priority at the moment. “Then what is it?”

“This engagement thing.” She started, still not really knowing what she was going to say. “Don’t you think it’s a bit too soon?”

Nick studied her for a second. He didn’t think it was too soon at all. They’d managed to keep a good relationship for the past year, even though they lived on opposite ends of the country. “Of course not.”

She bit her lip, though she knew that was the answer she was going to get from him. “I sorta do.”

Nick looked as though someone had killed his dog. Ashleigh didn’t want to marry him? “What? Why? I thought everything was fine…”

Ashleigh internally kicked herself. She felt as though she was being extremely insensitive. Watching him get upset wasn’t helping the situation, in fact she would have preferred it if he would have gotten angry. “It’s just that we’ve only been together for a year. I don’t think that’s enough time to determine if our relationship can last.” She said simply.

“But you said yes! Why are you suddenly changing your mind?”

Asheligh gritted her teeth. She hadn’t said yes, and her decision wasn’t sudden. “I never said yes, Nick.” She said calmly. “I told you I loved you, and you took that as yes.”

“Wouldn’t you have taken that as a yes?” Nick questioned her. He still didn’t understand where all this was coming from.

“No, Nick, I wouldn’t have! But what was I supposed to say?” She asked him, starting to get upset. The fact that Nick was sitting there looking heartbroken and dejected was not making this easy. Part of her wanted him to get angry, so at least she’d feel a little better. “Everyone was standing there watching us. It was embarrassing. I had no idea you were going to do that, I’m not even remotely ready to get married yet!”

Nick sighed. He’d thought that proposing to her with everyone there would have been romantic and exciting. All he’d wanted was to show everyone how much he really loved her. Evidently, she didn’t feel the same way. “You were engaged before.” Nick pointed out, choosing not to argue his opinion on his method of proposal.

Somehow Ashleigh knew he was going to bring that up. “Matt and I were together for three years before we even considered it.” She said, rolling her eyes. He was the last person she wanted to talk about. “Besides, you saw how that turned out. I still had feelings for you, Nick. After eight fucking years. Do you really think it was a good idea for me to get married when I was pining over some other guy?”

“So?” Nick shouted. Her argument wasn’t making any sense to him. He knew she and Matt hadn’t gotten along from the start. “Who cares about that? If you had those feelings for so long, isn’t it safe to say that they won’t change? You don’t have to worry about Nick Carter coming and messing things up because I’m him!”

Ashleigh laughed a little at that. “Feelings aren’t the only important thing in a relationship, Nick. You need to make sure you are compatible. That you agree on major life issues…” She trailed off. This entire conversation was getting derailed. The fact that Nick was getting angry wasn’t helping like she thought it would have. It only made her feel worse. Ten minutes ago he’d been so happy, and then she ruined it. She wished she could have wanted to marry him too.

“So let’s talk about major life issues!” Nick said, feeling exasperated. He had thought they were both in tune with each other, now he wasn’t sure. He felt like he was losing her.

“That’s not what I meant.” Ashleigh said, also feeling exasperated. This was definitely not going well. Why couldn’t he understand how rash he was being? “Can we just cool it on the marriage talk for a while?”

“So you want to break up.” Nick said angrily. He was grasping for straws at this point, saying anything he could to get her to reconsider.

“No! I want us to be together.” Ashleigh replied, putting her head in her hands. “I just don’t think we’re at the point where we can make a commitment to each other like that.”

“Why not?! Do you think I’m not capable of being faithful?” He asked, still standing in front of her, while she sat on the couch, fuming. “Because let me tell you Ashleigh, out of the two of us I’m not the one who has a history of cheating on their fiancées.”

Ashleigh turned her head sharply to face him. She couldn’t believe he had gone there. Especially when she’d cheated with him. Furthermore, he almost looked pleased with himself for saying something so hurtful. “You don’t get to do that.” She said angrily, standing up and moving towards the stairs. “You do not get to try and use that to guilt me into changing my mind. Goodbye, Nick.” She said before walking upstairs and leaving the house.

Not that she knew where she was going to go. She’d grabbed her purse before leaving, and started walking around the block. Digging through her things, she found her iPod and started looking through the songs. Music usually helped to calm her down, however she couldn’t find anything that would make her feel better. Sighing, she walked in silence.

Nick , on the other hand continued to sit the basement. He was shocked that she’d actually left. He simply couldn’t understand where she was coming from. Did she think that they had some underlying issues that hadn’t been discovered yet? Was she suddenly going to stop loving him?

That thought terrified him. She was one of the only people in his life that had ever given him a second chance. He’d treated her like dirt, and yet years later she’d been able to see past that. At times, he felt like she was the only one who understood him. Sure, he had the other boys but they all had their own families now. Nick was the only one who hadn’t yet settled down. Before, he’d blamed that on simply not finding the right girl.

Now he had, and she didn’t want to be with him. Not in the sense he wanted her to be, anyway. Nick wondered what the point of them even staying together after this. Why did she even want to stay with him if there was no room for their relationship to progress? She was so pessimistic about their relationship. Everything had been fine, perfect even. Who was to say that was going to change?

Of course it was going to change now, but that was because Ashleigh had declined him. Now things were going to be awkward between them, and Nick wasn’t sure they’d be able to get past it. That he would be able to get past it. He felt ridiculous. He’d proposed in front of everyone, and now he was going to have to tell them all that the wedding was off. That she didn’t want to go through with it.

Nick sighed. The others would probably think that he’d failed miserably yet again. Either that or they would begin to dislike Ashleigh, which he didn’t want either. Not that it mattered, Nick wasn’t exactly sure their relationship could survive a test such as this one. Which made him wonder, maybe he hadn’t been so right about proposing to her. If she couldn’t understand his desire to be with her, was she really the right girl?

He loved her with all his heart, and it seemed to him as though she didn’t care at all.

His thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the phone. “Hello?” He answered irritably.

“Hey Nick.” Came Brian’s cheerful voice. Nick rolled his eyes, he hardly wanted to talk to him. “How’s it going?”

“Fine.” Nick said coldly. He wasn’t exactly in the mood to discuss the matter.

Brian didn’t let Nick’s tone put him off. “How’s Ashleigh?”

“Fine.” Nick replied, feeling himself get angry all over again at the mention of her name.

“I kind of wanted to talk to you about her...” Brian started, not exactly sure what to say. “You guys kind of had a weird relationship before, I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were getting into. Marriage is a big commitment-”

“You think I don’t know that?” Nick cut him off. Brian’s attitude was really starting to grate on his nerves. Nick wasn’t a child anymore, he hated being treated as though he didn’t know anything. “Anyway it doesn’t matter. She said she didn’t want to marry me.”

“What?” Brian asked, confused. That surprised him, he would have figured she’d jump at the chance to be Mrs. OhMyGodNickCarter!

“She said we weren’t ready.” Nick said sadly. He felt like such a failure explaining this. Especially to someone like Brian.

“I’m sorry Nicky. Maybe she’s right though. You guys haven’t been together that long.” Brian said, feeling a little better about the Ashleigh situation, even though Nick sounded quite upset. The fact that Ashleigh had been the one to tell Nick it wasn’t the best idea told him that perhaps she had grown up a little.

“I guess.” Nick muttered, still irritated and still not really wanting to talk about it. “We had a pretty big fight and she ran off. I should probably try to go find her.” He said, feeling a little guilty.

“Okay, Nick. I hope things work out for you guys.” Brian replied before hanging up.

Nick rubbed his forehead as he walked upstairs. He didn’t exactly feel like going to find Ashleigh. Instead, he went into his bedroom and sulked unable to shake the feeling of resentment he had towards his girlfriend.

My Happy Ending
Chapter 5

The next two days went by painfully slowly. Nick and Ashleigh hardly spoke at all, avoiding each other at all costs. It wasn’t a difficult thing to do considering the size of Nick’s house. He spent most of his time in the basement, playing video games or fiddling around with his guitar.

Ashleigh on the other hand spent a lot of time in her car, driving around aimlessly. She’d walked around Tampa, gone window shopping and done just about everything she could think of to take her mind off Nick.

Nothing had worked. She missed him, and wanted to work things out. Though, she and Nick were both quite stubborn. Anytime the two of them had argued before this it hadn’t been over anything important. They hadn’t had time to get into large fights on the few weekends they’d stolen together.

Swallowing her pride, Ashleigh finally decided it was time to talk with him. She made her way down to the basement, where she saw Nick sitting on the floor in front of the television set. Either he hadn’t noticed her or he was ignoring her because he didn’t even look up.

Ashleigh quietly walked over to him pressed her lips together. She really hadn’t meant to cause such a rift between them. “Nicky…” She said softly, kneeling down and hugging him from behind.

“Don’t.” Nick said sharply, not taking his eyes off the screen. “Why don’t you go talk to Joey or someone?”

“I don’t want to talk to her; I want to talk to you.” She replied. She hadn’t talked to Joey at all since their conversation on Nick’s birthday. What was the use? Joey would only worry about her and she wouldn’t be able to fix anything. “Nick, please.” She said, sitting down beside him. “I want to fix it.”

Nick shrugged. He wasn’t interested in apologizing to Ashleigh and telling her she was right. The very thought of doing that made him angry all over again. Why should he have to be the one to give in? “Really?” He said, his voice lacking in any sort of emotion. “And how do you plan to do that?”

“If you would just understand…”

Nick glared at her, finally taking his attention away from his game and focusing on Ashleigh. “Why should it have to be me that gives in?” He asked angrily.

Ashleigh put her head in her knees. She couldn’t believe that they were going to start arguing again. All she’d wanted was to talk to him calmly. “Because my way involves inaction. If it were the other way around, you’d be the one to get your way, if I were saying we should get married and you were saying no.”

Nick pouted, she did have a point. He couldn’t force her to marry him just so he could win their argument. It didn’t make any sense, and that certainly wasn’t the way he wanted things to go. “I guess. I just don’t see why you don’t want to.”

“I just think it’s too soon. Please understand that.”

Nick scoffed. How could it be too soon? They hadn’t had any problems in there relationship at all, so what did the amount of time matter. That was precisely what he told her.

“Everything isn’t always going to be perfect.” Ashleigh said calmly, not wanting to fight with him any longer. “How do we know how things are going to go between us when things aren’t so great? Lord knows we aren’t doing a very good job right now.”

Nick sighed. The only reason things weren’t going well was because she refused to let their relationship move ahead. “Only because you’re being so stubborn.”

She didn’t lose her cool. “I’m not being stubborn, Nick. I’m being realistic. I was already engaged once, can you imagine what would have happened if I had been married when I’d met up with you again? Things definitely would have been a lot worse.”

“But you don’t want anyone else.” Nick said, looking at her for affirmation of his statement.

“No, I don’t. But that doesn’t mean we have to rush into things. I didn’t say it was completely off the table for the future. If things continue to work out between us I would love to marry you some day.”

“Some day.” Nick said, rolling his eyes. Still, he began to understand her point. Perhaps he had acted a little too rash. She was right, they hadn’t yet faced any major relationship problems. However, Nick didn’t have any doubt in his mind that they would be able to get through anything together. After all, they loved each other, wasn’t that all that mattered.

“I love you.” She said, kissing him.

Nick responded eagerly to her kisses. “I love you too.” Though he still wasn’t keen on the idea of waiting, he figured he may as well lay off for a while. If she didn’t want to yet, there was no point in pushing the issue any longer. Nick could only hope that she would change her mind.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“We totally did it on the floor of the basement.” Ashleigh giggled into the phone later that evening. After two days of not talking, the girls definitely had a lot to catch up on. Ashleigh moving so far away had been hard on them, they’d seen each other nearly every day since they were in the sixth grade. Now, they had to settle for talking on the phone instead of having girly sleep-overs (which they still did, despite the fact that they were now in their later twenties).

Joey laughed. She was glad she had finally phoned Ashleigh to see what was going on. “So, is the best part about fighting making up?”

“Definitely.” Ashleigh giggled. “So? How’s the snow?”

Joey groaned. She couldn’t deny the fact that she was jealous of Ashleigh, living in sunny Florida. “It sucks. Though a bunch of us went ice skaing a few nights ago.”

Ashleigh felt a pang of jealousy. She really did miss all of her friends terribly, especially since the events of the last few days. It worried her a little, that moving away would cause her to lose touch with everyone. “That must have been fun.”

“It was all right. Nothing compared to you though, hanging out with the Backstreet Boys.” Joey laughed. “You never did tell me how Nick’s party went, besides his crazy proposal.”

“It was okay. I didn’t talk much. I felt really shy, and couldn’t shake this nervous sick feeling.” She admitted.

“And here I thought you would have been over your obsessive Backstreet Boys days.” Joey teased her. “I’m sure they loved you.”

“I guess so. Though they probably all hate me now for not marrying Nick.” Ashleigh said, a tinge of worry in her voice. She really didn’t want that to happen, especially after she’d began to feel a little more comfortable around Howie and Leigh.

“Nah.” Joey said dismissively. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“I hope so.” Ashleigh replied, but still wasn’t able to shake the feeling that things between her and Nick weren’t going to be able to go back to normal. At least not for a while.

My Happy Ending
Chapter 6

A week later, Ashleigh and Nick had managed to rebuild their relationship little by little. They were still in somewhat of a disagreement, but for the most part Nick had let it go. He opted not to bother her about it. He wanted them to get married when they both wanted it, not simply because he was forced her into it.

Still, that didn’t stop him from wondering why she didn’t want it. He’d heard her reasoning, but it still seemed difficult for him to understand. Regardless, they’d managed to start speaking to each other again. Things were still a little awkward, but at least they were trying. Nick figured the best way to get Ashleigh to change her mind would be not to fight with her, but to act as though everything was fine. To treat her as though nothing had changed.

That morning, Nick rolled over to Ashleigh’s side of the bed, eager to hold her and try to get things back on track. To his dismay, there were only rumpled sheets where he thought she would have been.

Already awake, Nick stumbled out of bed and walked down the hall to the washroom. Pausing a little, he noticed that the light was on and the door was half open. Upon closer inspection, Nick gasped at what he saw.

Ashleigh was lying in a curled up ball on the cold tiled floor. “Ash.” He said, kneeling down. Touching her hair, he noticed that she was sweating. “What are you doing?”

“I threw up.” She whimpered, not moving at all. Though she felt a little better, she didn’t want to risk getting sick again. So, instead of heading back to the bedroom, she’d simply laid on the washroom floor and waited for the nausea to pass.

Nick continued to stroke her back, suddenly not caring about their differences of opinion. “Are you sick? Do you want me to get you something to drink?”

“I don’t know. I felt like I was going to pass out.” Ashleigh said, still not daring to move from her position on the floor. “I got up and I had to go to the washroom, and then all of a sudden I just felt really dizzy and then I got sick, and I felt like I was going to pass out, so I just laid down here…”

Nick grimaced. That didn’t sound good at all. “I’m going to take you to the doctor.”

“No.” Ashleigh replied. “I don’t have a doctor here.”

“We’ll go to a walk in clinic.” Nick said as he walked back towards the washroom to get dressed.

Ashleigh continued to lie against the floor. She really didn’t want to move, she would have been perfectly content to stay there all day long.

“Come on, get dressed.” Nick said, handing her a pair of jeans and a tshirt. Ashleigh just whimpered. Reluctantly, she sat up and pulled her clothes on. Surprisingly, she didn’t feel that sick any longer.

“Actually, I think I’m okay.” She said, pulling the clothes on.

“You passed out!” Nick said, helping her up.

“Almost passed out.” She reminded him. She really didn’t want to go to see a doctor, she hated waiting rooms and hated tests even more.

Nick still looked at her sceptically. She didn’t exactly look sick, and the colour was returning to her skin. Still, it worried him a great deal. “Just to be safe.” He said. Ashleigh rolled her eyes, but knew that she wasn’t going to win this argument. Reluctantly, she followed Nick outside to the car.

By the time they arrived at Tampa General, Ashleigh was feeling much better. When she’d tried to tell that to Nick, he’d simply given her a look telling her that she was going to see a doctor. Now, they were impatiently waiting for her turn.

“I hate waiting rooms.” Ashleigh said, her voice filled with exasperation. She flipped through yet another boring gossip magazine.

Nick stared blankly at the television. It was playing an old episode of Happy Days. Nick wondered to himself if he’d done the right thing. He was supposed to be taking care of her, right? He just wanted to make sure she was okay. Plus, this would show Ashleigh that he could cope in a crisis.

“Nick?” Ashleigh said, touching his shoulder. He was zoning out again, as he usually tended to do. “What are you thinking about?” She asked, somewhat alarmed. Waiting rooms really did freak her out. She hated looking at all the sick people, and refused to feel as though she was one of them. Nick was just being paranoid.

“Yeah?” He said, leaning over to her. “Don’t you like Happy Days?” He asked, motioning towards the screen.

“Not really.” She said, rolling her eyes. She didn’t care if it was House being played on the tv, she just wanted to get out of there.

Luckily, her turn came rather quickly. “Ashleigh Dane?” The nurse called, and Ashleigh practically ran out of the waiting room. Nick quickly followed her, knowing she didn’t want to be there in the first place.

“And now we play the less entertaining waiting game.” Ashleigh muttered as they sat in the small room. “Oh, and uncomfortable bed! Score!” She said sarcastically.

Nick laughed. At least she hadn’t lost her sense of humour. “I’m sure the doctor will be in soon.”

“I hope so. I just want to get out of here.” She said, sitting on the bed.

Nick frowned a little. She really did look as though she was better. Maybe he was being a little too over cautious. Before he had the chance to suggest to her that they go home, the doctor walked into the room. “Good morning, Miss. Dane.” He said, reading off the clipboard in his hands. “So we had a little fainting spell this morning, did we?”

Ashleigh sighed. “Yes. But I’m fine now. He’s just being paranoid.” She said, pointing to Nick.

“Well, you never can be too careful.” The doctor smiled. “We’ll just do a couple of tests to make sure you’re okay. I’ll have a nurse come in to take a blood sample.”

Ashleigh pouted a little but nodded. “Okay.” She said weakly.

Once the doctor stepped out of the room, Ashleigh shot Nick a glare. “This is ridiculous.” She said to him. If he wasn’t being so overly precautious, she’d be at home right now and not waiting to get stabbed with a needle.

Nick gave her a sympathetic look. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.” He was beginning to regret that decision however, since it seemed like it was just making her angry with him.

“I’m fine.” She said flatly.

Nick sighed. The last thing he wanted was for them to be on bad terms again, especially after they’d just gotten over their last argument. Well, somewhat anyway. Nick was still annoyed at the fact that she’d shot him down. “Tell you what, I’ll make lunch.”

Ashleigh stuck out her tongue. “Do you want me to get sick again?” She asked sarcastically.

Before Nick could respond, the nurse walked into the room. Ashleigh immediately tensed. Mentally, she once again cursed Nick for bringing her to the hospital.

Nick took Ashleigh’s hand and held it tightly as the nurse drew blood from her. She looked very uncomfortable, and he felt guilty for putting her through this. He hoped there was nothing seriously wrong. Even though that would probably make Ashleigh upset with him, for putting her through this without a reason. Still, Nick figured it was better to be safe than sorry.

Ashleigh almost felt as though she was going to pass out again, although this time she knew it was from the needle in her arm. She gave Nick a weak smile, glad that it was over.

Before the nurse left, she told Ashleigh to come back in two days to get her test results. Ashleigh had tried to dispute this, asking if she could just phone. However, the nurse was insistent that they results be given in person.

So, two days later Ashleigh and Nick once again were sitting in the bland doctor’s office. Much to Ashleigh’s discomfort, she’d continued to feel ill in the mornings and she had a sick feeling that she knew exactly what was wrong. She hadn’t said anything to Nick for fear of upsetting and worrying him. She figured waiting until the doctor’s confirmation would be best.

Of course, she still managed to complain. “This is such a joke.” She said bitterly. “I don’t see why they couldn’t just phone me.”

Nick sighed. He’d done nothing but listen to Ashleigh complain for the last two days and it was starting to grate on his nerves. “Because there are privacy laws.”

“Well that’s stupid.” Ashleigh scoffed, not caring how immature she was acting. “This whole ordeal is stupid.” She sighed.

Nick rubbed his eyes. First his failed proposal and now this. Could things possibly get any worse? He didn’t understand how they could go from being hopelessly in love to hopelessly irritated with one another in the matter of a week. It didn’t make any sense to him. “I love you, Ash.” He said, trying to make her, and himself feel a little better.

“I love you too.” She mumbled. All she felt however, was that Nick was causing her a great amount of grief.

The two of them sat in silence for the next few minutes, until the doctor finally entered the room. “Good afternoon.” He said cheerfully. “Feeling better?” He asked Ashleigh.

“Not as bad.” She replied carefully. Nick gave her a look, as far as he’d known Ashleigh had been fine since that morning.

He nodded. “Well, I do have your test results.” He said, sitting down.

Ashleigh cringed and felt that nervous feeling return. She knew what was coming. How could have been so stupid not to have seen it before?

“You’re pregnant, Miss Dane.”

My Happy Ending
Chapter 7

Nick felt his face drain of all colour. Pregnant? How could that be possible? He tried as hard as he could to push those thoughts out of his mind and to concentrate on what the doctor was saying.

“Your conception date was around December 25th, 2009. This will make you due around the 17th of September. I’ll give you the cards of a couple of good doctors in the city here…”

Christmas. Of course. How could they have been so careless? Nick cringed as he recalled their second holiday together.

It was Christmas Day. Well, very early morning on December 26th, to be exact. They were spending the night at Ashleigh’s mother’s house, as well as the following week. Now Nick was sleeping in the guest room in the basement, and Ashleigh was in her old bedroom. She had been living with her mom for the past few weeks after she’d sold her house in preparation for the move.

Ashleigh tip toed down to the basement where Nick was staying. She felt it was rather strange that her mom would put them in separate rooms, especially since they were going to be living together within the month. However, Ashleigh had obliged for the past three days that Nick had been there. Now, she was starting to get a little apprehensive. She giggled to herself, feeling like a teenager all over again.

She cracked open the door, and peered inside. Smiling to herself, she stepped into the room and slid into the bed beside her sleeping boyfriend.

“Nicky…” She purred, kissing his neck. Nick stirred a little, but didn’t wake up.

Ashleigh wasn’t quite ready to give up yet. Gently, she leaned over and kissed his lips. That got him moving.

“Huh…?” Nick murmured, beginning to wake up. What was Ashleigh doing in his bed?

Ashleigh grinned and put a finger to her mouth. “Shhh…” She whispered, kissing him again.

“Ash…” Nick whispered in between kisses. “Your mom is right upstairs.”

“I know.” She replied. “That’s why we have to be quiet.” She said, taking his hand and placing it up her nightie.

Nick couldn’t help but smile as he touched her. Their kisses grew deeper and Ashleigh wrapped her arms around Nick, tugging at his boxers. Eventually, she managed to slip them off of him.

Giving him a sneaky grin, she pulled him on top of her. Lightly nibbling on his ear, she wrapped her legs around his. Nick buried his head into the pillow as he slipped inside her, terrified of making any sort of sound.

They moved slowly against each other, safe under the confinement of the comforter. Ashleigh tightened herself around him, making Nick moan.

“Quiet, Nicky.” Ashleigh reminded him, silencing him with her lips.

The ride home was silent, with Nick trying as hard as he could to concentrate on driving and Ashleigh staring absentmindedly out the window. She hadn’t seemed shocked when the doctor had told them. Perhaps she’d already known. Maybe that’s why she’d been on edge for the last couple of days. Nick seethed at the thought, if that were the case, how could she keep something like that from him?

“You knew about this, didn’t you?” Nick said in a eerily calm way, not taking his eyes off the road in front of him.

Ashleigh sighed. “I had an idea.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Nick said, almost sadly. Had he really caused that much of a rift in their relationship that she felt she needed to keep things from him? Especially something of this much importance?

“I didn’t want to worry you.” She replied. While that much was true, she had also worried that Nick knowing about the possibility of her being pregnant would cause him to be even more upset with her. Though now, that didn’t exactly matter. He was clearly not overjoyed.

“I’m not worried. We’ll just get you an abortion.” Nick said simply, and Ashleigh snapped her head around to stare at him. How dare he suggest something like that on his own! It wasn’t his right to make that decision.

“And who says you get to decide that?” She spat, feeling herself getting angrier by the second. So much for their relationship getting back on track.

Nick shook his head. She was being ridiculous. The two of them couldn’t raise a child, they could barely take care of themselves. The state that their relationship was in was no place for a baby. “You don’t want to get married, I don’t want to have a kid.”

Ashleigh stared at him in shock for a moment. Had he seriously just used his loss in their last argument to try and win this one? Never mind what important subjects were on the table, Nick was acting ridiculously immature. “No.” She said flatly.

The rest of the drive home was quiet. Neither Nick nor Ashleigh bothered to try and talk, knowing it would only result in an argument. Ashleigh sighed, how were she and Nick going to be able to make it through this? She’d thought that they’d finally reached an agreement on the whole marriage issue, but now with Nick bringing it up again she wondered how much of that had been true. Maybe he didn’t agree and only said he did to appease her, hoping she would change her mind.

Once they arrived home, Ashleigh headed for the bedroom. She wanted nothing more than to fall asleep and forget about this whole ordeal. Nick once again sat himself down in the den. This entire situation was so backwards. How could Ashleigh be so against marrying him, yet be perfectly fine with having his child?

He half-heartedly flipped through the channels, not knowing what to think. He began to wonder if he should call someone and ask for advice. Though, he knew the only answer he would get from anyone would be to keep the baby. So that was out.

It bothered him a great deal that things had been so sour between he and Ashleigh lately. Nick wanted nothing more than to fix things, but he wasn’t sure how he would even begin to go about doing so. Especially when they both had such strong opinions about such important issues.

Ashleigh smiled as she lay her head on Nick’s shoulder. The two of them looked at each other, giggling as though they were little children who’d done something that mommy wouldn’t approve of.

“I feel like such a teenager.” Nick whispered, hugging her tightly.

“I know.” Ashleigh giggled. “But it was fun, wasn’t it?”

Ashleigh lay motionless in the bed as she recalled the memory of that night. Had that really only been six weeks ago? Everything had seemed so perfect then, and now they were barely speaking. She wanted so much to blame Nick for causing all this trouble in the first place by proposing to her, but she knew she couldn’t do that. It wasn’t him proposing to her that had caused their fight, it was her rejecting him. It wasn’t Nick who had sneaked down to the guest room on Christmas, it had been her.

Ashleigh didn’t know what she could do. She didn’t particularly want to go through with an abortion. Though, it would hardly be fair to their child to be born under such circumstances. She and Nick were already feeling the pressure of their relationship, and having a child would only add to that. Maybe they weren’t as strong as she’d originally thought. Maybe it had only been easy for them because they hadn’t been faced with any major life decisions yet.

One thing was for sure, Ashleigh completely stood by her decision not to marry him. She was beginning to learn that Nick was very set in his ways and wouldn’t accept “No.” as an answer. Did she really want to be married to someone like that? No, she didn’t. That was part of the reason why she and her previous fiancée hadn’t worked out. He had never been willing to compromise.

However, compromise wasn’t exactly an option in this case. They either had the baby, or they didn’t. They either got married, or they didn’t. There wasn’t exactly a middle ground. Was it fair of her to judge Nick for being so set in his beliefs when she was doing the exact same thing?

She contemplated calling Joey, but she knew the only advice she would get from her friend would be to keep the baby and to ditch Nick. She thought about calling her mother, but she figured she would get the same kind of response. She didn’t want her mom to dislike Nick at all, and she thought that maybe calling her might make that happen.

Knowing she would probably regret her decision, she picked up the phone and dialled the number to her mother’s house.

“Mom…” Ashleigh whimpered, once she answered.

“Ashleigh! How are you, how’s Florida?” She asked, happy to hear from her daughter.

“Florida is awful.” Ashleigh said, her voice shaking. The tears in her eyes threatened to spill over at any moment. “Nick asked me to marry him and I said no and he got really upset and then we found out that I’m pregnant and he wants to have an abortion and I don’t and I don’t know what to do…” She sobbed.

Her mom was silent for a moment. “Why don’t you want to marry him?”

“Because it’s too soon!” Ashleigh defended herself.

Her mom sighed. “But if you two are going to have a child together, don’t you think it’s the right thing to do?”

Ashleigh rolled her eyes. She should have known her mom would be completely old fashioned about this. “No. He doesn’t want to have the baby anyway! We aren’t even talking.”

“I’m sorry honey.” Her mom sympathized. “Why don’t you come home for a couple of days? Maybe you and Nick need some time apart to clear your heads?”

Ashleigh bit her lip. Leaving Florida scared her, thinking that if she left that would be it. She wouldn’t be coming back. She didn’t want to do that, she wanted to try as hard as she could before giving up. However, maybe her mom was right. Maybe a break would be good for them. It wasn’t as though she would be moving out, she would just be going home for a vacation to visit her mother and best friend. “Maybe.” Ashleigh muttered into the phone.

“Think about it, okay?” Her mom said. “You could stay here, or you could stay at Joey’s. I’m sure she’d be happy to see you.”

Ashleigh laughed a little. If she stayed with Joey she’d hear nothing but Nick trashing for the entire time she was there. “I will. Thanks, mom.”

My Happy Ending
Chapter 8

After an hour or so of moping around lazily in the den, the phone rang. Nick sighed, knowing that Ashleigh probably wouldn’t answer. Especially if she was tired and upset. Reaching over to the cordless device, Nick groaned. How was it that Kevin always knew when he was having a crisis?

“Hey, Kev.” Nick said shortly. “What’s up?”

“I just wanted to remind you that we’re meeting up in LA next week to map out some details for the new album.” He said. Nick rolled his eyes. It was as if nothing had changed. Kevin took a break for one album, and as soon as he’d come back things went right back to how they had been before.

“Sure.” Nick replied.

Kevin paused for a moment, Nick sounded a little off. Of course he’d spoken to Brian, who’d told him that Nick’s engagement had been called off. Could he be upset about that? “Nicky? You okay?”

Nick sighed. He figured that the gossip train had already left the station, and that everyone knew about his failed proposal. He didn’t exactly want to talk about it any more. However, he also knew that Kevin wouldn’t let it drop until Nick spilled his life story. “I guess.”

“You want to talk about it?” The older man asked.

Nick smiled a little. As if he’d have a choice. “Not really.”

“Are you sure?” Kevin asked, concerned for the youngest member. “Sometimes it can help to talk. You know, when I-”

“Okay, okay.” Nick cut him off, not interested in hearing one of Kevin’s speeches. “Ashleigh and I aren’t getting married anymore.” He started. “Though I’m sure you already know that.” He added, a touch of bitterness in his voice.

“I’m sorry about that, Nick.” Kevin said sincerely. “Don’t you think it’s for the best though? She seems like a nice enough girl, but do you really think she’s the best thing for you?”

Nick scowled a little. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I just think that she may be attracted to you for the wrong reasons.”

At that moment, Nick realized that maybe the others hadn’t really noticed Ashleigh’s change in personality. She certainly wasn’t interested in him in the way she was back then. In fact, Nick was certain that if he’d asked Ashleigh to marry him when she was 18, she wouldn’t have hesitated to accept. “She’s not like that anymore, Kev. I’m not stupid.”

Nick could almost hear Kevin smile through the phone receiver. “I never said you were. I just want you to be cautious.”

“I am! I love her, she loves me, isn’t that all you need?” Nick nearly shouted. Kevin’s attitude was starting to get on his nerves. He wasn’t a child any longer, he could make his own decisions. Nick sighed, remembering that the issues between him and Ashleigh had become much larger than the status of their relationship. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter anymore. She’s pregnant. I just found out today.”

“Oh, Nick.” Kevin sighed, not really knowing what to say. Somehow, the blonde always managed to dig himself in a deeper hole.

“Don’t ‘Oh, Nick’ me! This is serious shit, what am I going to do?” Nick nearly yelled.

Kevin thought for a moment. “You need to step up, Nicky. You were willing to marry this girl, you should be there for her; for your child.” He said wisely.

“I’m not ready to have a kid, Kev.” Nick said in a small voice, reminiscent of when he was younger. “I can’t do this.”

“You should really be talking to Ashleigh about this.” Kevin sighed yet again, he couldn’t be expected to take care of Nick forever.

“I tried. I told her she could just get an abortion, and she got angry.” Nick explained, feeling justified in his actions. After all, it would easily solve their problem.

“Of course she did! Nick, you need to have compromise in a relationship. You need to take responsibility for your actions.” Kevin nearly scolded him.

“I’m scared.” Nick replied sadly. “What if I fuck the kid up?”

“You’ll do fine, Nicky.” Kevin assured him. Nick did have the ability to be mature when he really wanted to. It was just a rare occasion. “Go talk to Ashleigh.”

“Yeah, okay.” Nick said reluctantly. He worried that Ashleigh was still angry with him, it had only been a short time since they’d fought. What if she hadn’t calmed down yet? Especially with how irritable she’d been lately. “Thanks, Kev.”

“No problem.” Kevin replied. “Let me know how it goes.”

“Yeah. Later.” Nick said, pressing the ‘end call’ button and tossing the phone onto the couch. He sighed to himself as he trudged up the two flights of stairs to the bedroom. He really didn’t want to get into another screaming match with Ashleigh. They’d argued enough over the past few weeks. All Nick wanted was for things to go back to normal.

Opening the door to the bedroom, Nick’s eyes widened at what he saw. “What are you doing?” He screeched, any though of calmly approaching her had evidently been thrown out the window.

“Packing.” Ashleigh said simply, folding a sweater and placing it inside a duffel bag. She’d given her mother’s offer a little bit of thought and had decided it wasn’t such a bad idea. Maybe it would be good for her and Nick to spend some time apart.

“Why?!” Nick asked hastily, as he walked over to her and pulled bag out of her hand. He knew that things were rough between them, but he’d never wanted her to leave him.

Ashleigh gave Nick a blank look. There was no possible way Nick couldn’t know the answer to that question. In fact, Ashleigh figured that Nick would be itching for her to leave. “I’m going home for a while.” She told him, walking back over to the closet and pulling yet another sweatshirt off of a hanger.

“This.” Nick stated, pulling the shirt out of Ashleigh’s hands and hanging it back up. “Is your home.”

Ashleigh rolled her eyes, but stopped packing. She sat on the edge of the bed an considered him. If Nick was ready to talk to her, she would talk. She also wanted to fix things between the two of them, however she really hadn’t foreseen that happening in the near future. Which was why she’d opted for a vacation back home. “I can’t do this Nick.” She admitted, putting her head in her hands. “I want to stop fighting.”

Nick sat himself down beside her. “Me too.” He agreed, taking her hand in hers. “We just don’t agree on anything lately, do we?” He said with a slight chuckle.

Ashleigh glared at him. How could he possibly be making jokes at a time like this? “No.”

“I’m sorry.” Nick said, hugging her tightly. “I shouldn’t have just suggested that we get an abortion so quickly. We can talk about it.”

“What’s the point?” Ashleigh scoffed, pulling away from him. “You aren’t going to change your mind.”

Nick shrugged. “It scares me, Ash.” He admitted, looking at his feet.

“Me too.” She replied, glancing at him.

Nick continued, not really knowing how to explain how he was feeling. “Having a kid is a huge commitment.”

She rolled her eyes. “You wanted to get married, Nick.”

Nick nodded. “I know. But if it’s just us, and we end up hating each other, then we only really ended up hurting ourselves. But if we screw up a kid, that’s huge!”

Ashleigh didn’t really know how to take that. What Nick said was true, it was a big responsibility. “I couldn’t live with myself…” She started.

Nick eyed her. “You really want to have this baby?”

“I have to!” Ashleigh shouted, hopping off the bed. “Do you think there isn’t a reason why I only live with my mom? Why I never see my father?”

“I know.” Nick said, again looking at the ground. He really had been insensitive in suggesting that to her. Ashleigh’s father had wanted her mother to have an abortion. “We really need to work on our relationship Ash.” Nick said, pulling her back down beside him. “Because I don’t want my kid to go through what I did.”

Ashleigh nodded slowly, comprehending what Nick was saying. “I think we can do it.” She replied, looking at him with hope.

“I hope so.” Nick said seriously, looking up at the ceiling. What was he getting himself into? He still wasn’t thrilled, but now realized that Kevin was right; this was his responsibility. He couldn’t just abandon her; that would hardly help things.

“I love you, Nick.” Ashleigh said, kissing his cheek lightly. Part of her worried that Nick was only saying these things to please her, and didn’t really believe them. She very much hoped that in the next few months, his feelings about their child would start to change. After all, he’d only just found out about it that day. Soon he would come around.

“I love you too.” Nick muttered, returning her kiss. Hopefully, that would be enough.

My Happy Ending
Chapter 9

“Come on, Ash!” Nick called from the living room. That morning they were on their way to Los Angeles. Nick had some meetings with the band concerning their next album, and he figured it might be nice for them to get away for a little while. Perhaps some sort of vacation what just what they needed. Even if this was primarily for business purposes.

Ashleigh nearly flew down the stairs once she heard Nick’s voice. “This is so exciting!” She beamed. “LA is going to be fantastic. Can we go to Koi?”

Nick laughed a little. He found it quite amusing that something as mundane as a California dance club excited her so much. “You can’t drink anyway.” He reminded her with a slight smile.

She shrugged. “I know. But it’ll still be cool to go there and see what it’s like.”

“I guess we can.” Nick replied, as the two of them stepped out of the house and into the cab that was waiting to take them to the airport.

When they finally landed in LA, they immediately made their way to the hotel. As per the usual, Ashleigh complained throughout the entire flight, and Nick attempted to sleep with no avail.

Surprisingly, there weren’t many photographers around as they made their way through the streets. Luckily, the media had yet to catch wind of Ashleigh and Nick’s relationship drama. Though, Nick had a sick feeling that it was just a matter of time.

“LA is so cool!” Ashleigh gushed, peering out the hotel window. “How much do you think it costs to open a store here? I bet it’s really expensive.” She marvelled.

Nick laughed a little. “People would pay here no matter what you charge.”

“I guess so.” She said. “What time is your meeting?” She asked, changing the subject.

Her answer came when Nick’s cell phone rang right at that moment. Nick rolled his eyes upon noticing Kevin’s number on his caller ID. “That guy must have a tracking device on me.” He muttered before flipping his phone open, causing Ashleigh to giggle. “Yes, I’m here.”

“We’re going to meet for dinner.” Kevin said simply. “That way we can discuss some of the issues we’ll be bringing up with management tomorrow.”

Nick nodded, and stuck his tongue out. “Yeah, okay.”

Closing his phone and tossing it down beside him, Nick grabbed Ashleigh and kissed her forcefully.

“What did Kevin want?” Ashleigh asked him, disregarding his kisses.

“Nothing.” Nick mumbled, pushing her down onto the bed. On account of their disagreement over their engagement, the surprise pregnancy and the argument over that, they really hadn’t been in the mood to be intimate with each other. Now that they were in California and things seemed to be slowly repairing themselves, Nick intended to change that.

Ashleigh responded eagerly to him, once she realized what he was doing. He raked her hands up the back of his shirt and pulled it swiftly over his head. Nick grinned as he continued to kiss her, glad that she was now thinking the same thing he was. He nearly ripped her shirt by pulling it off so hastily.

Not wasting any time, Ashleigh undid Nick’s jeans, followed quickly by his boxers.

Licking her lips, Ashleigh took nearly his entire length in her mouth. Nick moaned, almost pulling on her hair.

And then the phone rang again.

“Ignore it.” Nick breathed as Ashleigh continued to suck on him.

However, the phone didn’t stop ringing. Nick glared at it, trying to will it to stop. When it didn’t, he reluctantly reached over and answered it.

“What do you want?” He snapped.

“Jeez Nick, touchy this afternoon?” Brian laughed from the other end of the line. “I was just wondering if you and Ashleigh wanted to go out for coffee or something.”

Ashleigh giggled and continued to run her tongue over Nick’s cock. Nick had to bite his lip to keep from making any noise. “Yeah, sure Bri.” He said quickly.

“Great, do you want to meet in the lobby in a few minutes?” Brian asked, obviously quite unaware of Nick’s position at the moment.

“Uh huh, yeah okay.” Nick agreed, hastily flipping his phone shut. He then turned his attention back to his smirking girlfriend. “You’re awful, you know that?” He said, as he quickly stripped her of her underwear.

“You forgot something Nick…” Ashleigh said, as he pushed her down onto the bed, motioning towards her skirt.

Nick just gave her a grin and shook his head. Thrusting himself inside her he sighed heavily. It really had been entirely too long since they’d done this.

Ashleigh dug her fingernails into Nick’s back as he quickly moved against her. “God Nick…”

Nick moved faster still as Ashleigh wrapped her legs around his waist and tightened herself around him. Nick groaned, unable to hold on any longer. “Ashleigh….I’m sorry… I can’t…” He breathed as he came.

She only giggled. “It’s okay Nicky.”


Fifteen minutes later, Ashleigh and Nick sauntered into the lobby of the hotel, where Brian and Leighanne were waiting.

“I was just about to call you again.” Brian said as the four of them walked through the revolving doors and made their way towards a small coffee shop down the street.

“We were occupied.” Nick explained, giving Ashleigh a wink.

Brian and Leighanne just laughed and gave each other a knowing look. “So, how far along are you?” Leighanne asked, eager to change the subject.

“About seven weeks.” Ashleigh answered, taking Nick’s hand in hers.

“Excited, Nicky?” Brian asked, patting his young friend on the back.

Nick shrugged. He wasn’t exactly overjoyed, but he had to admit that he did feel a little happy about things to come. After all, he and Ashleigh would really have to work on their relationship now. They weren’t exactly just fooling around anymore; they had an actual responsibility now. “I guess so. It was kind of a surprise.”

Brian nodded. Despite Nick’s immature personality, he really was handling the situation rather well. “It’s a blessing.”

Nick rolled his eyes. “I guess.” Ashleigh turned her head and grinned at Nick. Evidently her train of thought was along the same lines as Brian’s. Nick really wished he could have been more excited, however most of what he felt was nervousness.

“Well, I’m really excited for you guys.” Leighanne smiled. “We should come down to Florida one of these days and go baby shopping.”

Ashleigh nodded in agreement. “You should!” She was definitely glad that it seemed as though Leighanne was accepting of her. “That would be so much fun!”

As the girls gushed over possible nursery items and baby talk, Nick tried his best to smile. However, inside he felt more worried by the moment. Ashleigh certainly did seem to be excited over this. Nick wished his attitude would change, however at that moment all he wanted was for things to go back to normal.


That evening, the five backstreet boys crowded around a large table in a rather upper class resteraunt. Nick sighed as he looked down at the menu. Thirty years old, and he still hated all these fancy dishes. He really would have rather been at McDonald’s.

“So, Nick. Are we going to have time to record a new album?” Kevin asked, pulling Nick out of his daydreaming of cheeseburgers and milkshakes.

“What?” He asked, sounding completely clueless.

Kevin sighed. Nothing much had changed at all. Nick still managed to space out and go off into his own world whenever important business matters were concerned. “With you and Ashleigh having a child, are you going to have time to record?”

“I think so.” He said, he hadn’t really thought that much about it. Ashleigh seemed to be perfectly capable of doing things on her own for the time being. Besides, she could just go with him if they needed to travel, couldn’t she?

“Are you sure about that?” Brian asked, knowing that Nick didn’t exactly what this pregnancy ordeal entailed. “Maybe we should postpone until after your baby’s born.”

“True, but then he’ll want to spend time with his kid.” Howie commented.

“But if we do it now, by the time the baby’s born we’ll have to do album promo, and then he’ll have to leave then…” AJ said.

Nick just sat quietly as the other discussed his personal life. If he had tried to speak, would they even notice? They seemed to like to do that a lot, make decisions for him. “Let’s just start recording now. I can do album promo when the kid is born. They can come with me.”

Brian nodded slowly, still unsure that Nick knew what he was getting himself into. Album promo was hard and tiring. It definitely wasn’t the best environment for anyone, especially not a newborn.

“Besides,” Nick continued. “It’ll take a while to complete the album anyway. We can just finish it in two years instead of one.”

“Yeah, Nick’s right. It takes a long time to do anyway.” Howie agreed. “We don’t have to rush at all, we can take our time.”

Nick grinned, proud of himself for coming up with such a good solution.

Meanwhile, Ashleigh was sitting in a rather smaller, less fancy restaurant with Leigh, Rachel, Leighanne and Kristin. She felt rather out of place and uncomfortable, though she had accepted the invitation to dinner simply because she didn’t want to distance herself from the others. As nervous as she was, she really did want to become part of the Backstreet family.

Noticing that Ashleigh was rather quiet, Leigh attempted to spark the conversation. “So, what’s going on with you and Nick?”

Ashleigh shrugged. She didn’t even know what was going on, how was she supposed to explain it to the others? “I don’t know. He’s been acting really strange.”

“He asked you to marry him, didn’t he?” Rachel asked, taking a sip of her drink.

Ashleigh nodded. “Yeah. That really freaked me out.”

Kristin nodded sympathetically. “I can imagine. How long have you guys been together for?”

“Nearly a year and a half.” Ashleigh replied, staring at the glass of water in front of her. Was it right for her to gossip about her relationship with these girls? She hardly knew them, and they were all married to Nick’s best friends. Still, they had been the ones who had asked. “I dunno. It really seemed too soon.”

“I think he’s feeling kind of left out.” Leighanne theorized. “I mean, all of his friends are married. Maybe he feels a bit out of the loop.”

Ashleigh nodded. That did make a little bit of sense. Add Nick being ridiculously rash to him feeling left out of his group of friends, and him proposing to her seemed to be the most logical thing he should do, in his mind anyway. “Yeah, I’d agree with that.”

“It was smart of you to say no.” Rachel smiled. “Nick always does stuff like this. He’s never sure about what he wants.”

“I’d marry him in the future…” Ashleigh said quickly, not wanting to turn this into a Nick bitching session. “Just, it’s way too soon. We haven’t even been living together for a month.”

“That long distance thing must have sucked.” Leighanne mused.

Ashleigh couldn’t have agreed more. “It really, really sucked. Thankfully Nick wasn’t working very much, so he could come up to Minnesota to visit a lot.”

As the conversation turned away from Ashleigh and Nick’s relationship and towards the hardships of being with a Backstreet Boy in general, she began to feel a little more comfortable. The girls seemed to accept her, and agree with her decision not to marry Nick just yet. She laughed and talked right along with them, feeling a bit more secure with herself and her relationship with Nick.

My Happy Ending
Chapter 10

A few weeks had passed since Ashleigh and Nick’s trip to Los Angeles. As Ashleigh started to get more and more excited about her pregnancy, Nick only grew more and more nervous. However, he hid it well. Every time Ashleigh mentioned anything about their child, Nick was always sure to smile and nod, to offer hugs and to grin with anticipation and false excitement.

It was now the middle of March, and winter was slowly coming to an end. Now that the snow was melting and it was starting to get warmer out, Ashleigh had no problem convincing Nick to take a short trip up to Minnesota. Seeing as Ashleigh wanted to start preparing their place for the baby, and Nick was going to start recording soon this was probably going to be their last chance to go before their baby was born.

“Ash!” Joey shrieked, upon spotting her and Nick walking through the terminal. Much to Nick’s pleasure, they would be staying at her place rather than Ashleigh’s mom’s. Staying there had made Nick just a little uncomfortable. It wasn’t that Ashleigh’s mom didn’t treat Nick well – far from it. Nick just felt as though he would rather stay in a place where he could freely kiss his girlfriend without feeling as though he was being watched.

Ashleigh grinned and ran towards her friend. The two girls quickly embraced each other in a hug, leaving Nick to stand around uncomfortably. He hated lingering in airports, the paparazzi always seemed to find him there. News that Ashleigh was pregnant hadn’t quite got out yet, and Nick intended on keeping it that way as long as possible.

“Ash…” Nick said, putting his hand on her shoulder as the two girls stood, laughing and gossiping.

Ashleigh turned around to look at Nick. She knew right away what he was thinking. “Yeah, okay. Shall we go somewhere for lunch?” She asked Joey.

Joey shook her head. “Let’s take your bags back to my place. I told some people that you were coming in for the week, and so a bunch of us are going out to dinner.” She said, with much excitement.

Ashleigh grinned. “That sounds awesome! Where are we going?”

The three of them continued to walk through the airport, Nick glancing around suspiciously. He always had the feeling he was being watching, and wasn’t particularly fond of that fact. Ashleigh and Joey continued to talk, not caring that they may end up in a magazine the following day.

“Manny’s.” Joey simply replied, causing Ashleigh’s jaw to drop and to throw her arms around her friend.

“You know me too well!” She exclaimed. “Who’s all going?”

Joey shrugged. “You know. The usual people from school, and Jared…” She said, trailing off.

“Who’s Jared?” Ashleigh pried.

Nick sighed as Joey gushed about her new boyfriend. What had possessed him to stay at Joey’s place again? He was starting to think that Ashleigh’s mom’s house might have been a better idea. “Can I stay back?” Nick asked, knowing that it was a futile attempt.

“Of course not! Don’t be silly.” Ashleigh replied as they stepped into Joey’s car. Nick rolled his eyes as he reluctantly sat in the back seat. This week was sure to be full of girly gossip and baby talk. He contemplated if it was too late to catch the plane on its way back to Tampa.


“I love you.” Nick muttered as he came up behind Ashleigh and began to kiss her softly.

“I love you too.” Ashleigh replied, however she was a bit distracted with getting ready for the dinner that night.

“Time for a quickie before we go?” Nick asked suggestively, winking at her.

“Not quite.” Ashleigh said, glancing at the clock on the bedside table of the guest room.

Nick pouted. “Come on. I have to put up with all your crazy friends tonight. I deserve something.”

Ashleigh gave him a quick peck on the lips before stepping out of the room. “You’ll get your reward after.”

Soon, the three of them were once again speeding down the highway in Joey’s car. It was at this time that Joey decided to drop the bomb on Ashleigh. She figured she should wait until they were in the car. This way, Ashleigh couldn’t cop out.

“There’s something you should know, Ash.” Joey said, biting her lip. Ashleigh was not going to be pleased at all.

“Oh?” Ashleigh replied, looking out the passenger seat window. She glanced behind herself at Nick, who wore an annoyed look on his face. She made a mental note to let him have the passenger seat on the way back.

“Kate’s boyfriend is coming.” Joey started.

“Yeah? So?” Ashleigh replied.

Joey drew in a breath, preparing herself for the inevitable screaming that would come from her friend. “Yeah…. she’s dating Matt.”

Much to Joey’s surprise, Ashleigh didn’t scream. She didn’t yell, she didn’t demand the car be turned around. Instead, she laughed.

Evidently, Nick was just as shocked as Joey was. “You’re not mad?” He asked in astonishment. Admittedly, he wasn’t too keen on spending the evening with Ashleigh’s ex, but it didn’t bother him too much. After all, he was the one that ended up with her.

Ashleigh shook her head. “Mad about what? That Kate is dating my ex, or that I have to see him?”

“Both?” Joey asked.

Ashleigh just shrugged. She really couldn’t care less, which didn’t surprise her in the least. She had never regretted her decision to break up with Matt, and she knew she was much happier with Nick than she ever would have been with him. As far as she was concerned, he was just another lame ex-boyfriend. “Not really. I don’t care what he thinks of me and it kind of seems like something Kate would do. She’ll learn eventually.”

Joey laughed. Dating their exes really was a habit that Kate had. They usually found it more amusing than hurtful. “That’s true.”

Ashleigh, Nick and Joey entered the restaurant and quickly found their table. They were the last ones to arrive, as per the usual. Ashleigh always liked to be late, finding it awkward to be the first person to arrive. “Hey guys.” She said, sliding down into a chair near the centre of the table.

Nick sat down beside her and couldn’t help but smirk to himself as Matt glared at him. It had been a year and a half and evidently, the guy was still holding a grudge. “Hey.” Nick said, nodding in Kate’s direction. This caused Matt to protectively put his arm around her, once again providing amusement for Nick.

“Ash, this is Jared.” Joey said as she sat down beside her new boyfriend. Ashleigh nodded a small smile in his direction. Admittedly, she was a little jealous of Joey. She always seemed to have relationships that lacked drama. Quite unlike those of Ashleigh’s.

“So, you’re pregnant?” Kate asked, grinning at Ashleigh. “Have you started thinking of names yet?”

Ashleigh and Nick exchanged a little bit of a glance. They hadn’t thought of names at all. In fact, Ashleigh wasn’t sure how she could have forgotten about such a detail. “Uh, no, we haven’t.”

Kate stared at Ashleigh wide-eyed. “Really? I have my children’s names picked out already!”

Ashleigh stifled a giggle, and watched as Matt shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Children had always been an uncomfortable subject for him, and Ashleigh decided to take this opportunity to make things uneasy for him. “Oh? What are they?”

Kate grinned. “Ross for a boy, and Rachel for a girl.”

Nick nearly spit out the water that he was drinking, and he could tell that Ashleigh was equally as amused. Perhaps this dinner wasn’t going to go so badly after all. He got to laugh inwardly at Matt’s awkwardness, and later he’d get to make fun of Kate’s ridiculous baby names.

However Ashleigh was one step ahead of Nick. “Actually, that’s a good idea!” She exclaimed. “I should name my kids Chandler and Monica!” She said, her voice dripping with fake enthusiasm.

Nick gave Ashleigh a glare, he couldn’t tell if she was joking or not. “Kids? I thought we were only having one!”

However, Kate and Ashleigh ignored Nick. “And Joey should name her kids… hm, well I guess she can’t really name her kids Joey and Pheobe.” She said, after thinking for a moment.

Joey stuck her tongue out at Ashleigh, upon hearing that piece of their conversation. She knew that Ashleigh was just making fun of Kate, and hated the fact that she had to be a part of it.

Ashleigh giggled, and gave Nick a quick smile. He sighed to himself. It was now evident that she was only joking. However, the seed had been planted in Nick’s mind. Would Ashleigh eventually want more children? He didn’t think he could stomach that thought, one was enough for the time being. He took another sip of his water and quickly ordered something harder to drink. He definitely just wanted to make sure he could get through this first child before thinking any further ahead.

My Happy Ending
Chapter 11

Two mornings later, Nick was awoken by the loud ringing of his cell phone. Grumbling, he felt around before answering it.

“Hello?”

“Nick!” Came the screeching voice of his publicist from the other end of the line. “We need to do some damage control!”

Nick sat up in bed. He surveyed the room, and quickly noticed that Ashleigh was no where in sight. Assuming that she and Joey had once again gone out for breakfast, he laid back down. “What? Why?”

“The paparazzi saw you at dinner the other night. They printed a big story about how Ashleigh’s pregnant, and how you two haven’t been getting along lately.”

Nick groaned. He knew that going out in public had been a bad idea, though he supposed it couldn’t really have been helped. Ashleigh had wanted to go out to dinner with her friends, and Nick couldn’t exactly shelter her. The media had been bound to find out sooner or later. “Great.”

“There’s pictures of you guys too.” Juliette rambled on. “You should make a statement.”

“Saying what?” Nick challenged, getting annoyed. Though, it wasn’t Juliette’s fault. It was her job after all, to inform Nick of these things and help him fix them.

“Saying that you and Ashleigh are doing fine, that you want this child and that you’re excited.” Juliette practically screamed at him. Nick sighed, this really wasn’t something he wanted to deal with at the moment. He had enough on his mind already. He didn’t exactly want to lie to the media and tell everyone in the world he was happy about this, especially when he hadn’t sorted out all his feelings yet. Though he knew that Juliette wouldn’t let him off the hook without some sort of confirmation.

“Fine. Just tell them that.” Nick said, sounding exasperated. “I gotta go Jules. Later.” He said, flipping his phone closed.

Stepping out of the bedroom, he saw that Ashleigh and Joey were sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast.

“Well, look who’s awake.” Ashleigh smiled, and Nick rolled his eyes.

“Morning.” Nick mumbled, sitting down beside Ashleigh. “Not sick today?” He asked, putting his head on her shoulder.

“Not really.” Ashleigh replied, taking a sip of her coffee. “Do you want something to eat? We got Bagels.” She said, motioning towards the large bag sitting on the kitchen counter.

Nick pondered that for a moment, and then walked over to the counter to prepare one of the bagels for himself. Deciding he’d better let Ashleigh know about the paparazzi issue, he spoke as he spread cream cheese on one of the bagels. “Ashleigh, you’re not gonna like this but-”

“I know, I’m famous.” She beamed, holding up the issue of the Star that featured she and Nick. As Nick sat back down, she handed him the magazine which was already turned to the page with their article on it.

(Yet Another One Of) Nick Carter’s Failing Relationships

Unlikely duo Backstreet Boy Nick Carter and his girlfriend Ashleigh Dane are having a little trouble in paradise. Surprise, surprise. The two were reportedly engaged earlier in the year, only to break things off in the matter of a few weeks. Rumour has it that the two of them were separated until Ashleigh found out she was carrying his child. Since then, the two have been back together but things have been less than perfect. They’ve been spotted arguing about baby names among a group of friends while out for dinner in her home town of Minneapolis. Is Nick getting struggling with being a father before the baby is even born? We’ll keep you posted!

Nick shook his head in disgust as he read the article. “How do they find out this stuff?” He asked in disbelief. “This is ridiculous.” He sighed, taking a bite of his breakfast.

Joey shrugged, picking up the magazine and looking at the photo that accompanied the story. “At least they got a really good picture of you guys.” She commented. That much was true, despite the negative nature of the article, Ashleigh and Nick looked quite happy in the photo.

“I guess.” Nick muttered. “It’s still irritating that they won’t butt out of my life. You would think they wouldn’t care after all this time. I’m sorry Ash.”

Ashleigh just smiled. “Don’t be sorry. I’m in a magazine! And I know that’s not how you really feel, so don’t worry about what they say.” She said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Nick gave her a weak smile, but he couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. The magazine was partially right, he was getting cold feet a little. No longer was he worried about the fact that Ashleigh didn’t want to marry him, he now had much bigger things to deal with. Like not messing up his child’s life before it even started.

“I’ll leave you two alone for a bit.” Joey said, getting up and quickly leaving the kitchen. Ashleigh nodded to her and then once again turned to Nick.

“That article is kind of right though, we really should be thinking of baby names.” She smiled. “Have you thought of anything?” She asked.

Nick shook his head. Naming the child was the furthest thing from his mind. “No, I haven’t.” He paused for a moment, dreading the inevitable conversation that was sure to follow. “Have you?”

“A little bit. Maybe like… Jordyn for a girl and James for a boy?” She suggested.

“Sure, that sounds good.” Nick replied, having no clue whatsoever. In the long run, did the name really matter?

Ashleigh narrowed her eyes at him. “You don’t have any input at all?”

Nick put his head in his hands. He really wasn’t in the mood to discuss anything to do with the baby. “No. I don’t.”

Ashleigh continued to look at him strangely. He wasn’t acting at all like himself. Sure, she could just chalk it up to stress, but that wouldn’t really solve anything. Nick usually opened up to her about his problems, what was the difference this time? “What’s wrong, Nicky?” She asked softly, putting her hand on his shoulder.

“Nothing.” Nick spat. “Everything’s peachy keen.”

“Nick…” Ashleigh sighed, rolling her eyes. He really did seem like he was in a bad mood. “Is it about the article? Really, I don’t care what-”

“It’s not that!” Nick exploded, unable to contain his emotions any longer. He was sick of acting like everything was alright when it wasn’t. He was sick of pretending. “It’s just too much stress Ashleigh. I can’t do this.”

“What are you talking about Nick?” Ashleigh asked him carefully, almost afraid of the answer. Was he breaking up with her? She didn’t think she could bear the thought.

“This baby thing. I can’t do it.” He said slowly.

Ashleigh sighed. She knew it was too good to be true. “There’s not much we can do to change this, Nick.”

Nick sighed. “I know that. I just wish this hadn’t happened.”

“Well it did Nick, we had sex and it happened. God.” Ashleigh replied, starting to get irritated. His indecisiveness as of late was really starting to get to her.

“Well we should have discussed this before hand!” Nick nearly shouted, standing up from his chair. “I mean, we should have talked about it before we even did it the first time.”

Ashleigh laughed and shook her head. “Oh yeah, that would have been great. As we were leaving the club, ‘Hey Nick, if I get pregnant, what are we going to do?’” She said sarcastically. “I’m sure that would have gone over really well.”

“I meant once we got back together.” Nick replied through gritted teeth. “Besides, I’m sure you wouldn’t have forced me to keep the baby when you were eighteen.”

Ashleigh glared at Nick. Forced him? She and him had talked about it, and she’d thought they’d made the decision to keep the child together. “Forced you?” She yelled. “I never forced you! God Nickolas, I can’t fucking believe this! I’m so glad we’re not getting married, because you have no idea what you want.”

“Ashleigh, I just need some time to think.” Nick sighed, running a hand through his hair. “This is a lot to handle so suddenly.”

“Then go think.” Ashleigh said bitterly. “Go back to Florida and think. And tell me when you’ve made up your mind on what you want.”

Nick looked at Ashleigh in horror. Was she actually telling him to leave? As confused as he was, he knew he definitely didn’t want that. “Ashleigh…” He pleaded, but she wouldn’t have it.

“No.” She said. “Pack your shit and leave. You figure it the fuck out or you go find a stupid girl who won’t give shit how little you care. I’m through with this, Nick.” She said angrily.

Nick just stood dumbfounded as Ashleigh stormed out of the kitchen. He sighed, and began to walk to the bedroom. Evidently, packing was his only option, so that was what he planned to do.

My Happy Ending
Chapter 12

“So you just threw him out?” Joey asked Ashleigh, somewhat shocked.

Ashleigh sighed, sitting down on Joey’s bed. “Well, what was I supposed to do?” She snapped. She was under enough stress already, she certainly didn’t need adding to it. Wasn’t he supposed to be helping her?

Joey rolled her eyes. “I don’t know. Talk to him?”

“What could I talk to him about? He’s being so frustrating.” She said, standing up and beginning to pace around the room. She really didn’t know what to do with herself. An hour ago, she’d thought everything with Nick was fine. Now Nick was in the guest room, presumably packing his things to go back home.

“He’s scared, Ash.” Joey tried to rationalize, as she heard the front door slam. “And now he’s gone.”

“I don’t understand what there is to be scared of.” Ashleigh muttered, folding her arms across her chest. “He’s supposed to love and support me and all that stuff.”

Joey fiddled with the picture frames on her dresser. “You don’t think that family wouldn’t scare him? You watched House of Carters. Have you even met his family?”

Ashleigh shrugged, peering at the pictures Joey was looking at. There were quite a few of her and her old friends. Ashleigh smiled a little when her eyes landed on one of her and Joey taken at their High School graduation. That had been a much simpler time in her life, she thought bitterly. Before she met Nick. “I met his sisters and brother at his birthday.”

“And his Mom? Dad?” Joey questioned.

“He doesn’t talk to his Mom.” Ashleigh replied. “I don’t know about his Dad.”

“What does that tell you, Ash? Maybe he’s scared his kid will think of him the way he thinks of his parents.” Joey tried to reason. As far as she was concerned, Ashleigh was being a little too rash.

“Well he doesn’t need to be such a cock about it!” Ashleigh exclaimed. “Anyway it doesn’t matter. He’s gone. He’ll call me when he gets his shit together.”

Joey just nodded, accepting the fact that she wasn’t going to talk Ashleigh out of her decision to not see Nick for a while. “Are you sure you don’t want to go after him?” She tried one last time. “We can still follow him to the airport.”

Ashleigh shook her head. “No. I want him to come to me when he’s ready. I’m really sick of his bullshit.” She said firmly, surprising herself a little. She’d definitely become stronger in the last couple of years. “Maybe it’s better this way. We never had any problems when we were long distance before.”

“Yeah, but you want to move forward don’t you? Besides, you moved all your things down to Florida. You’re going to have to go back there some time.” Joey replied.

“I know. I just wish he wasn’t acting so childish.” Ashleigh said, looking at the ground. Truthfully, as angry as she was with Nick at that moment, she was already starting to miss him.

“He’ll come back. He did once already.” Joey said, offering her friend a small smile.

Ashleigh nodded. “Yeah. I know.”


By the time Nick made it back to Florida, he was exhausted. He’d managed to catch a flight out that afternoon and make it back for that evening. Frustrated and lonely, he flopped down on his couch to turn on the TV.

Flipping through the channels, Nick became increasingly more irritated. He’d known he’d acted irrationally with Ashleigh, and yet he felt justified in blaming her for their argument earlier. After all, she’d been acting as though this was something they’d planned and should be excited about when in reality, Nick only saw it as a mistake with huge consequences.

He didn’t understand why it was so hard for her to accept that this was difficult for him. Hell, he hadn’t even wanted children in the first place, and now all of a sudden he didn’t have a choice in the matter.

His ears perked up as Access Hollywood began to talk about him. Nick rolled his eyes, but continued to watch. In addition to their story on he and Ashleigh at dinner the other night, they now had photos of him at the airport alone.

“Well that’s just fucking great.” Nick muttered to himself as he switched off the TV. Picking up his cell phone, he scrolled through his list of contacts. Calling any of the others was out of the question, they would only tell him he was being irrational and to man up.

“Hey Chris?” Nick said, as his best friend picked up the phone. “You up for going drinking tonight?”


“Hello, hello miss Ashleigh.” Jared smiled as Ashleigh answered the door later that evening. “And how are you doing today?”

Ashleigh shrugged. Something told her she probably shouldn’t spill all her problems to her best friend’s boyfriend. “Fine.” She simply said. “And you? Where are you guys going tonight?”

Jared stopped into the house and sat down on the couch as Ashleigh continued to channel surf. “I think we’re just planning on going to a movie or something. Why don’t you and Nick come with us?”

Ashleigh just shrugged. “Nick went home. He had some thing to attend to.”

Jared just nodded. “Well, you could just come with us.”

“I don’t think Joey would like that very much.” Ashleigh laughed, knowing her friend probably would want some alone time with her boyfriend.

“I don’t think it would be a problem.” Joey said, coming into the room. “Go get changed. We’ll wait.” She grinned.

Ashleigh sighed, but reluctantly went to go get dressed. She knew that if she protested, Joey would make her go along with them anyway. She figured she may as well spend some quality time with her friend while she was in the city anyway.


“Forget her, Nick.” Chris laughed, as the two of them sat at a table of a small pub that overlooked the beach. “If she’s going to be that way you don’t need her. There’s plenty of girls.”

Nick shrugged, and took another sip of his beer. How many had he had? Chris had just kept buying them for him, and he kept drinking them. “I guess so.” He agreed, Ashleigh wasn’t really making any effort to see his side of the situation. So why should he care what she thought?

“Speaking of which…” Chris smirked, as one of the aforementioned girls approached the two of them.

“Hey.” She smiled, walking over to Nick. “Nick Carter, right?”

Nick just looked up at her. Something told him that this was a very, very bad idea. Still, his frustration with Ashleigh and the alcohol in his system pressed him to move forward. “Yeah, that’s me.” He said, flashing his signature smile. “And what’s your name gorgeous?”

“Nadine.” She giggled, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger. “My friends and I are here for Spring Break, and we rented a boat. But we’re having a bit of trouble…”

Nick just gaped at her, and looked back at Chris, who only gave him a thumbs up. “Sure. Nick said, getting up from his seat and walking down to the beach with Nadine. Sure enough, she led him over to a group of her friends that were trying to get their boat started.

“You know, you’re really cute.” She mentioned, as Nick inspected the boat. She draped her arm around his shoulder. “I saw you in the Star today… your stupid girlfriend doesn’t know what she’s losing…”

Nick looked up at her, and once again the alcohol in his system got the better of him. Ashleigh really didn’t know what she was losing. He was Nick Carter, girls fell at his feet. He licked his lips and kissed her forcefully.

Apparently this had been her goal, because she responded to him quite eagerly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back whist running her hands through his hair. “We could go back to my hotel room if you want.” She winked.

Nick didn’t even take a second to ponder that, they were already walking up the beach.

Five minutes later, they were in her suite and Nick was eager to do anything and everything possible to forget about Ashleigh. He pushed Nadine down onto the bed and crawled on top of her. Sleeping with groupies was something Nick hadn’t done in quite sometime, and he had to admit it felt rather nice that he was still able to attract girls.

He leaned down to kiss her once again, and as he did so a familiar memory crept its way into his mind…

After what seemed like forever, they finally reached his floor. Nick led the way as Ashleigh followed quickly behind him. As soon as they entered the room, Nick pushed her up against the wall and kissed her forcefully. Her entire body tensed up, and yet she didn’t stop. This was a feeling Nick knew all too well. The nervousness and yet excitement of sleeping with Nick Carter. A dream becoming a reality.

He kicked off his shoes and ran his hands over Ashleigh’s back. Moving his lips from her mouth, he moved down to kiss her neck. Then, he pulled away from her and gave her a look.

Instead of giggling like most groupies did, she gave him a soft kiss and a comment. “Nice doorway.”

Nick smirked, taking that as a sign that she wanted to move further into the room. Not wasting any time, he led her over to the queen sized bed, which was dressed with black sheets. Beginning to kiss him again, he picked up her up and pushed her down onto the bed. Taking the dominating role as he always did. The girls never knew what to do.

Now what was he doing? The exact same thing, sleeping with some girl who meant nothing to him. Just as he had intended to do with Ashleigh that first time.

But Ashleigh had become more to him. Somewhere along the line, his feelings for her had changed. In meeting her once again, he’d realized what he’d lost, and he’d been able to win her back. Was he willing to throw that all away for some girl who he’d probably never see again? Who only wanted to sleep with him because of his name, and not because she was in love with him as Ashleigh was?

“I can’t do this.” Nick stammered, nearly jumping off Nadine. “I have to go.” He said quickly, nearly running out of the room. Putting his head in his hands once he was safely out of the hotel, he sighed to himself. Ashleigh was right – he really did have some serious thinking to do.

My Happy Ending
Chapter 13

“How far did you get, Nick?” Ashleigh screeched into the phone two days later. Boredom had overcome her, and she’d visited some of the old message boards she used to frequent. Apparently, Nick had been sighted with some college students the night he’d got back to Florida, and there was photo evidence to back it up.

Including one of him kissing another girl.

Nick cringed. He had really hoped Ashleigh wouldn’t find out about that. “Not that far.”

Ashleigh seethed with rage. What the hell was the matter with him? She sent him home to think about things, and all he did was sleep with some random girl? “How far is not that far? With you, that could mean anything. God, you and your stupid groupies. I really thought you were past that Nick, we’re supposed to be working on things, not fooling around with other people!”

Again he sighed. He knew Ashleigh was right. “Ash, I’m sorry okay? It was a really shitty thing of me to do and as soon as I came to my senses I got the fuck out of there.”

“How far?” She challenged. Not that she particularly wanted to know, but she wouldn’t be able to begin thinking about forgiving him until she knew the whole truth.

“Like… I kissed her and stuff…” He trailed off.

“What stuff?” Ashleigh asked, starting to get angry all over again. “God Nick just fucking tell me.”

“Nothing!” Nick nearly shouted. “Really Ash, we were just kissing.”

“You make me sick.” She said angrily. “You were going to have sex with her. You shouldn’t even be thinking about other girls that way!”

“I was stupid and drunk. I made a mistake, I’m only human. Christ.” Nick replied. “Seriously Ash… I would never do that do you. I thought of you and left, even if you’re being kind of bitchy to me lately.”

It took everything Ashleigh had not to throw her cell phone against Joey’s wall. “Fuck off Nick, you know you’re the one who’s being completely irrational. You need to come to terms with this pregnancy thing. Hell, you were ready to marry me a few months ago! Don’t call back here until you’ve decided what you want, and no we are not on a break.” She said bitterly, hanging up on him.

“You were the one that called me.” Nick said to the dead line.


Three weeks later, Nick was still sitting in his Florida home, alone. He hadn’t bothered to phone Ashleigh, because he had yet to decide how he really felt. Or rather, he had yet to feel happy about their child. The fact of the matter was, Ashleigh didn’t want Nick to call her with the news of “I don’t want to do this.” The only answer she would accept at this point was his approval of the situation.

She hadn’t made any attempt to get into contact with him. Instead, she was still back at Joey’s place. Probably having quite a few Nick bashing sessions. He sighed to himself. All that work to get Joey to finally like him, shattered in only a matter of minutes. Why did there have to be someone there with a camera?

Because you deserved to get caught. He thought bitterly to himself.

Over the time he’d spent in Florida, he’d tried to do the thinking that he’d promised Ashleigh he would do. Instead however, he found himself agonizing over the pain he was causing her and wasting time by watching TV and playing video games. After the incident with Chris at the pub he hadn’t dared go out with any of his friends for fear of getting himself into such a situation once again.

However, staying inside the house for the most part was starting to get the better of him. So, he decided it might be a good idea to go for a walk. There were some things he needed to pick up anyway.

An hour later, Nick parked his truck at the local mall and began to leisurely walk around, occasionally going into a store. It definitely felt awkward to go to the mall alone, he was used to Ashleigh pulling him into every store that she liked, and forcing him to look at things he really didn’t care about.

One store that particularly interested him was TJ’s Kids. After staring at the store for a moment, he decided to go inside.

Walking around the store, he saw all sorts of things he knew he needed to buy. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to actually pick out anything. For one, he didn’t know anything about what he should get, and he really did want Ashleigh there with him when they did shopping for the nursery.

So he just walked around, looking at the different products and eyeing the other customers in the store. He smiled as he watched one couple shopping together. They looked to be in their early twenties. They looked as though they were genuinely excited and happy to be picking out things for their nursery.

Nick sighed. He wished more than anything that at that moment Ashleigh could have been with him. Why couldn’t they be happy like that? Because he had been too afraid of messing things up, that he had somewhat turned into a self fulfilling prophecy?

Suddenly overrun with guilt, Nick quickly walked out of the store. He felt guilty for arguing with Ashleigh and not being excited right along with her. He felt guilty for nearly sleeping with someone else. Most of all he felt guilty for being so selfish and not giving Ashleigh the support she needed. As he drove home in silence, he began to fully understand everything that Ashleigh had been saying to him for the past few months. They were in this together, and nothing was going to change that.


“You really should call him.” Joey said as Ashleigh walked into the living room and flopped down onto the couch.

“No.” Ashleigh replied firmly.

“Ash, you guys need to work this out.” Joey prodded. While she wasn’t exactly pleased with the way Nick had been acting lately, this really wasn’t the best way to deal with it. Despite the fact that he’d been off kissing another girl, Joey knew that Nick really wasn’t a bad guy. If anything, he was just confused and stressed. It wasn’t an excuse for his actions, but it was a little bit of an explanation.

“He’ll call when he’s ready to talk about it.” She said simply, staring at the TV.

“How do you know that Ash?” Joey asked, getting frustrated with her friend’s stubbornness. “Maybe he’s giving up on you, thinking that you’re never going to forgive him.”

“He knows I have to come back. My stuff is all there.” Ashleigh replied. She really didn’t want to give in to Nick, she wanted him to call her. She wanted him to prove that he really was serious about wanting to fix things. The fact that he hadn’t called yet was a good sign. It meant that he was taking the time to think, and not just absentmindedly begging for her to forgive him.

Joey sighed. As much as Ashleigh tried to put up a strong front, she knew that she was upset. She’d heard her friend crying into her pillow more than one time over the course of the last couple of weeks. “Just phone him.”

“He needs to be the one to take the first step.” Ashleigh explained. “I need to know he’s really serious. Besides, it’s not like I’m impatiently waiting for his phone call.”

Baby I don’t wanna waste another day
Keepin’ it inside is killin’ me
Cause all I ever wanted comes right down to you

Joey rolled her eyes upon hearing Ashleigh’s ringtone. “Right. That’s why you keep your phone with you everywhere you go.” She laughed. “I can’t believe you still have that as your ringer.”

“Only for Nick…” Ashleigh replied, staring down at the screen of her cell. Sure enough, Nick was calling her. She took a deep breath. He was either going to tell her that he’d changed his mind and that he was ready to fix things, or that he couldn’t handle it and she was on her own.

Either way, there was only one way to find out.

My Happy Ending
Chapter 14

Ashleigh carefully answered the phone, not wanting to sound too eager. “Hello…”

Nick breathed a sigh of relief; he had been starting to think that Ashleigh wouldn’t pick up. “Ash, I’m so so sorry…” He started, not really knowing what else to say. “I suck.”

Ashleigh rolled her eyes. This wasn’t what she wanted at all, she didn’t want to hear empty apologies and him begging for forgiveness. She wanted to know what he intended to do about his attitude. “Yeah you do.” She said. “Why are you calling me, Nick?”

Nick sighed once again. Ashleigh really wasn’t going to let him off easy. “I did a lot of thinking like you wanted me to… I’m sorry I acted like such a jerk. I really want you to move back to Florida.”

Ashleigh smiled a little, but she tried not to show it in her voice. “What did you think about?”

“I just… thought. I went to the baby store and stuff. I really want us to start planning baby stuff together.” He said, unsure of how to explain himself. He was still scared, but he felt strangely hopeful about their future. “Please come home Ash.” He said sincerely.

“Okay.” She agreed softly. She still felt a little annoyed with Nick, it had taken him quite a while to come to this realization. However, the point was he was now in the same place she was, or closer to it anyway. From here on, they could start to work on things and get things in order for the baby. “I’ll come back as soon as I can get a flight out.”

Nick beamed. He had half expected her to reject him. “I love you so much Ashleigh. Call me when you find out when you’ll be here.”

“I love you too, Nicky.” She replied, flashing Joey a grin. “I’ll call you as soon as I know what’s up.” She said, and flipped her phone closed.

“So, I take it all went well?” Joey asked, though judging by the look on Ashleigh’s face she really hadn’t needed to.

“He seems to feel better about the whole thing.” Ashleigh shrugged, walking over to the computer to check for flights back to Tampa. “He said he wants to go baby shopping and stuff.”

Joey nodded, wondering if Nick really was excited, or if he was once again just saying things to make Ashleigh feel better. “I really hope it works out for you guys.” She said.

“Me too.” Ashleigh replied. “I don’t think I can take any more drama.”


The next afternoon, Nick sat impatiently in the Airport terminal as he waited for Ashleigh’s flight to arrive. She had opted to fly out the next day instead so she had time to pack and get her things together. Nick would have preferred that she jumped on a plane as soon as possible, but he figured her coming home a day later was better than her not coming home at all.

As Ashleigh walked through the gate, Nick nearly tripped over himself running over to her. “I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you.” He said quickly, hugging her tightly. “Don’t ever leave me again.”

Ashleigh rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help but smile. “Nick, there are people taking pictures…” She said as she glanced over his shoulder.

“Let them.” He replied, kissing her. “Maybe there’ll finally be some good things said about us.”

She giggled a little and kissed him back. Nick certainly seemed to be more attentive than the last time she’d seem him. Though, that could just be chalked up to his excitement over the fact that she’d come home. She took his hand as they began to walk out to the parking lot.

“So, I trust that you and Joey had fun for the last couple of weeks?” Nick asked. He wasn’t sure he really wanted to know, but he figured he may as well start to make some sort of conversation.

Ashleigh shrugged. She hadn’t had that much fun. Joey had spent most of her time with Jared, and Ashleigh had just hung around the house. She hadn’t wanted to go out much, knowing that she would have to explain to her friends the entire story as that what had gone on with Nick. “Not really. She goes out with her boyfriend a lot.”

Nick just nodded, not really knowing what else to say. It seemed as though things were still a little awkward between them. “Did you want to go out for lunch?” He asked, once they were in the car.

Ashleigh gave him a strange look. “Are you trying to get us to be seen?” She asked sarcastically.

“Maybe.” Nick answered sheepishly. He figured if the press saw him and Ashleigh on good terms, they’d start to leave him alone. “But I’m actually hungry too. Let’s go to Chili’s.”

Ashleigh laughed. “I’ll never understand your fascination with Chili’s.” She said, staring out the window. Glancing around, she sighed to herself. As much as she loved Minneapolis, Tampa was starting to feel more and more like her home.

“They have an Awesome Blossom, Ashleigh.” Nick replied, as though it were obvious. “It’s awesome.”

Ashleigh made a face. “It’s a deep fried onion. It’s disgusting.”

Nick raised an eyebrow. “Okay, it’s obvious you’ve never had an Awesome Blossom.”

Ashleigh laughed at Nick’s attempt at sarcasm. “You know I’ve had one. You make me share one with you every time we go there.”

“And this time.” Nick said, as he pulled into the parking lot of the popular restaurant chain. “Is going to be no different.”


Once they were seated and had ordered their food (including an Awesome Blossom as an appetizer) Nick placed his hand on top of Ashleigh’s and grinned at her.

Ashleigh shifted in her seat. She still felt somewhat uncomfortable around Nick, though she supposed she was going to have to try and work on their relationship as well. It seemed as though he really had done quite a bit of thinking.

“I thought about baby names…” Nick said slowly, as he waited for Ashleigh’s response.

“Oh?” She asked, intrigued. “And what did you come up with?”

“Well I actually really liked James for a boy.” Nick started, pausing to give Ashleigh a moment to think about it. “And I also thought Katherine would be okay too, cause I don’t know, Katharine Dane sounds really cute…” Nick rambled, and Ashleigh just listened to him intently.

“Carter.” Ashleigh said, interrupting Nick’s babble.

“What?” Nick asked, thinking that Ashleigh was trying to get him to stop talking. “Sorry, I just got carried away.”

“No.” Ashleigh giggled. “I mean the baby’s last name, it’ll be Carter.”

Nick gave Ashleigh a confused look. “But your last name is Dane.” He said, referring to the fact that Ashleigh had the same last name as her mother.

“Yeah, I know. That was because my dad ran off before I was born. You’re still here.” She replied causally, shrugging her shoulders.

“I guess that makes sense.” Nick said. He really was beginning to feel quite a bit better about the whole situation. Having been apart from Ashleigh made him realize that he would rather be with her and deal with the pregnancy issue than not be with her at all. “I’m really glad you’re back, Ash.”

Ashleigh gave him a soft smile. She was happy too, wasn’t she? Nick had hurt her, but he had just been confused and scared. She didn’t think he was going to betray her trust again, at least she hoped he wouldn’t. “Me too.”

My Happy Ending
Chapter 15

“Nicky…” Ashleigh purred as she climbed into bed the following week. She crawled up behind him and whispered in his ear. “I love you…”

Nick didn’t respond at all.

Frustrated with Nick’s lack of attentiveness, she attempted to roll him onto his back. Finally succeeding, she crawled on top of him and kissed his cheek. “Come on Nick, wake up.”

“Ash…it’s like four in the morning.” Nick mumbled, trying to roll back over on to his side. It didn’t exactly work very well with Ashleigh on top of him.

She rolled her eyes. “It’s two thirty eight.”

“I have to get up for a flight…” He said as he fell back asleep.

Ashleigh bent over and started to kiss his neck. “Your flight is at noon.” She said softly, trying to wake him up yet again.

The next day Nick was off to LA to record for a couple of months. Ashleigh had opted to stay back in Florida and continue to get things ready for the baby. It wasn’t too big of a deal, she and Nick had spent over a year long distance. Strangely enough, Ashleigh was looking forward to it a little bit. It seemed as though their relationship worked quite a bit better when they were miles away from one another. Ever since she’d moved down to Florida they’d had nothing but trouble.

Apparently, Nick finally caught on to what Ashleigh was trying to do. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down closer to him. She responded to him eagerly, moving one of her hands down to the band of his underwear.

“Impatient, are we?” Nick muttered in between kisses.

Ashleigh just nodded as she slid down onto him. She ran her fingers through his hair, and at that moment she couldn’t even remember why she’d been angry with Nick in the first place. He’d done nothing but kiss up to her all week, and now he was about to leave.

“I love you so much Nick.” She said, choking back tears as she buried her head in the crick of his neck.

“I love you too…” Nick replied, but soon felt her start to cry and she moved with him. “Ash? What’s wrong?”

Ashleigh just continued to cry as she rolled off of Nick and onto her side of the bed. “I’m sorry.” She said in between sobs.

Nick just looked at her, he was fully awake now and had no idea what was going on. First Ashleigh was seducing him, and the next thing he knew she was upset. As far as he could tell he hadn’t done anything wrong.

“It’s…okay…” Nick said, rubbing her back softly. What the hell was he supposed to do?

“I just don’t want you to leave.” She cried, her reply muffled by the fact that her face was in a pillow.

But Nick still didn’t quite get it. Ashleigh had known that he had planned to go out to LA, and it had been her decision to stay back in Florida. “It’ll be okay.” He tried to reassure her. “We’ve done this before, remember?”

She nodded slowly, and before Nick knew it, Ashleigh was clinging to him yet again, her face buried in his chest. “I just… don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“I’ll come back every other weekend, and you’ll have Joey come down for a bit, right?” Nick asked, hugging her. Ashleigh continued to cling on to him.

“Yeah. She is.”

Nick continued to hold her, wondering what has caused her sudden change in emotion. All through the past week she’d been a bit awkward towards him, this was the first time she’d come on to him and it was certainly the first time in quite a while that he’d seen her get so sad.

He sighed to himself, wishing that there was something more he could do to make things easier for her. He’d been trying as hard as he could to make up for his lack of enthusiasm before, but somehow Nick didn’t think he’d done enough. For the rest of the night, Nick lied awake with Ashleigh, trying to reassure her as she continued to get upset.


“Hey Bri, can I talk to you for a bit?” Nick asked once he had arrived in LA. The five boys were staying in a hotel, and had the entire 15th floor to themselves.

“Sure Nicky, what’s up?” Brian replied. He, Leighanne and Baylee had arrived at almost the same time Nick had. As such, they were the first ones there.

“Um, can you come to my room for a sec? And don’t call me Nicky.” Nick said, shooting Brian a glare.

Brian laughed, and followed Nick into his suite. “Oh, I’m sorry, Nickolas.” He said, causing Nick to glare at him once again. “What’s going on?”

Nick sighed. He really didn’t know how to bring up the whole Ashleigh fiasco with Brian. Especially when Brian seemed to be handling family life so effortlessly. “It’s just…Ashleigh…”

Brian gave Nick a sympathetic look. He really had been dealt his fair share of relationship issues over the past little while. “What about her?”

“I don’t know! She just, got really upset last night and didn’t want me to leave. She’s been so mad at me over the last few weeks that it just seemed really weird.”

Brian pondered that for a second. “Well, I’m sure she’s been under quite a bit of stress lately.” He said, and Nick instantly felt guilty. He really hadn’t been helping in that aspect at all. “And girls do tend to have mood swings and that sort of thing…”

Nick nodded. What Brian said made sense to him, though he still felt awful about how he’d been acting before. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Just try to be there for her Nick.” Brian advised. “I know you haven’t been doing the best job so far, but keep trying.”

Nick scoffed. ‘Not doing the best job’ didn’t even skim the surface of how much of an ass he’d been.

“Just let her know that you love her.” Brian continued, and Nick nodded in agreement. That seemed like the only thing he really could do at the moment.


That following afternoon, Ashleigh and Joey were sitting in the living room of Nick’s house. Joey was planning to visit for a week while Nick was away, to help Ashleigh with preparations for the baby and to keep her company for the first little while.

“You weren’t kidding when you said he had a huge house.” Joey commented, glancing around. “This place is huge.”

Ashleigh giggled. “I know. I have no idea what I’m going to do here by myself. I think I’m going to get kind of freaked out.”

Joey laughed. “I’m sure you’ll be fine. There’s a huge gate outside.” She said, peering out the window. “So show me around.”

So, Ashleigh took Joey around the house, showing her the more interesting things. Finally, she stopped outside the bedroom door. “It’s a bit of a mess.” She warned, before walking inside.

“He has a king sized bed?” Joey asked, in shock. “What the hell do you need that for?”

Ashleigh shrugged. “He still manages to kick me in his sleep.”

Joey grinned, and looked around the room in amazement. “You know, ten years ago I never would have thought we’d be standing here.”

Ashleigh smiled as well, recalling what she was in the past. It was interesting to her, the fact that she was able to sit in Nick’s bedroom and not have a complete spaz attack. She laughed a little to herself, remembering the first time she’d ever spoken to him. “Ten years ago at this time we were working at the call centre, trying to save up money for Black and Blue.”

“See?” Joey said, putting her hand on Ashleigh’s shoulder. “That was the best idea I ever had.”

Ashleigh rolled her eyes. Though she had to admit, she was grateful to Joey for pushing her to go on to the tour, for getting her to go to the Unbreakable show, for giving Nick her phone number… “I guess. He’s got some cool tour videos, if you wanna watch.”

The girls settled on the couch in the den, watching old videos that the boys had taken during the Black and Blue tour. Not long afterwards, the phone rang and Ashleigh quickly answered it.

“Hey.” Ashleigh said, recognizing Nick’s cell phone on the caller ID.

“Hey, I just wanted to check in and see how you girls were doing. Joey got in the afternoon, right?” Nick said through the other end.

“Yup.” Ashleigh replied, giggling at something that she saw on the TV screen. “We’re watching your tour videos.”

Nick groaned. “Those ones that Kevin took? What year?”

“Black and Blue, of course.” Ashleigh said, as though it were obvious.

“Of course.” Nick said, laughing. “I’ve got to get going, I’m heading out to dinner with AJ and Rachel. I’ll call you later.”

“Okay Nick.” She said, she was feeling quite a bit better about him being gone. After all, as Nick had said, it wasn’t like they weren’t used to this. “I love you.”

“I love you too. I’ll have my cell phone, just call me if you need me.” He said before hanging up. Though he was glad that Ashleigh seemed to be in better spirits, the memory of her getting so upset the night before he left still shook him up a bit. He worried that she might get upset again, and that he wouldn’t be able to be there to help her. Nick sighed, slipping his phone into his pocket before leaving his room. Thankfully, Joey would be there with her for the first little while.

My Happy Ending
Chapter 16

The next couple of months were a blur for Nick and Ashleigh. Nick was constantly busy, trying desperately to do as much work as he could while he was away and Ashleigh was trying her best to get everything set up for the arrival of their child.

Nick came in for a couple of weekends to go shopping for the nursery and whatnot, but his demanding schedule usually only allowed him to go back home for a couple of days at a time.

Ashleigh hadn’t been having much trouble on her own. Truthfully, she was enjoying the silence and the ability to do things at her own pace. As much as she would have loved to have Nick at home with her, she understood the demands of his job. It wasn’t as though she didn’t know what is was like to be away from him for an extended period of time.

Joey had stayed with Ashleigh for the first week, which had come as a great relief to Nick, knowing that Ashleigh would be taken care of somewhat while he was gone. As much as he knew she was independent, the thought of her being alone scared him a little. He called as often as he could to check in with her, and she always reassured him that she was doing fine. Still, he couldn’t shake the worry.

Needless to say, Nick was relieved when he was able to take a break from recording and go home to Florida.

When he got home that afternoon, he wasn’t surprised to find that Ashleigh was still asleep. From what she’d told him, she would sleep for the better part of the day and be awake for most of the night lately.

“Ash…” He said, gently shaking her awake.

She rolled over, and lazily opened her eyes, nearly jumping out of bed when she spotted Nick standing before her. “Nick!” She exclaimed, hugging him tightly. “You’re a week early!”

Nick grinned and lightly kissed her forehead. “I know. I managed to get away sooner, and I wanted to surprise you.”

Ashleigh rolled her eyes, but giggled. That was typical of him.

“So, what’s been going on here?” Nick asked, sitting down next to her. “How are you?”

Ashleigh sat up a little more and shrugged. She hadn’t really done much at all. She’d bought some baby supplies, and gone to doctor’s appointments, but most of the time she’d just lazily laid around the house. Occasionally she would walk around the city, but that got tiresome on her own. “I’m good. I haven’t done very much.”

Nick nodded. He couldn’t even imagine how bored Ashleigh must have been, she didn’t know anyone in Florida at all. “Well, why don’t you get ready and we’ll go to the mall and do some shopping.”

Ashleigh gave him a strange look. “You just got back. Aren’t you tired?”

Nick shook his head. After years of touring, he was used to constantly being on the go. Besides, he’d been looking forward to doing this for the entire time he’d been gone. “Not at all.”

Ashleigh nodded. “Yeah, sure. Just let me shower.”


An hour later the two of them were walking around the mall. “You want something from Starbucks?” Nick asked, pointing in the direction of the popular coffee chain.

Ashleigh wrinkled her nose. She hated Starbucks with a passion, even more so now that one had moved into the mall where her old store had been. She gave Nick a look that said he was crazy for even suggesting they go there.

“Okay, okay sorry.” Nick said, holding up his hands to admit defeat. “Will you be mad if I get something from there?” He asked, though he was more joking than anything.

She shot him another look. “You don’t want anything from there, their coffee’s disgusting.”

Nick laughed as they entered TJ’s Kids. “So… I know nothing about any of this stuff.” He said as they perused the aisles. “What do you think we should get?”

Ashleigh shrugged. It wasn’t like this was her area of expertise or anything. She’d never had any siblings, and she’d never taken care of and children. She knew just as much as Nick did in that regard. “I have no idea. Like…a crib and stuff?”

Nick nodded, and they continued to look around the store. As Nick tried to figure out what the difference was between the different pieces of furniture, his thoughts were interrupted by Ashleigh grabbing his hand. “It’s kicking!!” She said excitedly, placing Nick’s hand over hers.

“What?” Nick asked, somewhat confused.

“You haven’t felt the baby kick before.” She said excitedly, grinning up at him.

Nick just stood there for a moment, sure enough Ashleigh was right. He could definitely feel their baby kicking. It was at that moment that this entire thing began to seem real for him. Sure he’d been feeling better about it, even excited, but for the first time he was actually starting to realize the reality of the situation.

“I love you Ash.” She said, kissing her softly, and catching her completely off guard.

“I love you too Nicky.” She laughed, returning his kiss. “Did you pick out a crib yet?”

He shrugged his shoulders, he really couldn’t tell the difference between any of them. “Uh, I guess so?” He said. “They all kind of look the same to me.”

Ashleigh nodded. This really would have been easier if her mom would have been able to go with them. However, her mom was halfway across the country and quite busy with work as of late. “Maybe we should ask someone for help.” She suggested.

“You mean a store clerk?” Nick asked, pondering that for a moment.

Ashleigh shook her head. “No…I mean like… someone who knows about this stuff.”

Nick couldn’t agree more with that. He and Ashleigh had no clue what they were doing. He didn’t really know of anyone that would be willing to come down to Florida to help them though. “I guess I could phone Brian and Leigh. Even if they don’t want to come down, they might be able to give us a few tips.”

Ashleigh nodded. That sounded like as good an idea as any. “Yeah, okay.” She agreed.


Ever the shopaholic, Leighanne had agreed to drive down to Tampa for a couple of days to help Ashleigh and Nick out. So, two days later they found themselves once again shopping around for baby items, still clueless as ever. However, this time they had Leighanne helping them.

“Have you decided on colours for the nursery yet?” Leighanne asked, as they drove to yet another store.

Ashleigh shook her head. “Not really. I guess we should probably go with something neutral, like green.”

Nick stuck his tongue out from the backseat. “I hate green.”

Ashleigh giggled and turned around to look at him. “But Nicky, the magazines all say that you love green!”

“The magazines lie.” Nick replied, rolling his eyes. “Isn’t it supposed to be pink for a girl, and blue for a boy?”

“But we don’t know what we’re having.” Ashleigh pointed out. “That’s why it’s better to go with something neutral.”

Nick shrugged. “Why do we have to paint the room anyway? It’s fine how it is.”

Leighanne looked at Nick through the rear-view mirror. “It’s a bland white colour!” She said, laughing. That was hardly childlike at all. “Maybe you should go with something like yellow.” She suggested.

Ashleigh nodded. “Yeah, I like that! It’s all bright and cheerful. What do you think?”

“Yellow sounds good.” Nick agreed. He was incredibly grateful that Leighanne was there to help them out. Colours for the walls? He never would have even thought of that on his own. Of course now he suspected this meant he was going to have actually paint the walls. That was something he wasn’t too keen on.

As the two girls giggled and traded pregnancy stories in the front of the car, Nick actually smiled to himself. Any worries he’d been feeling had faded away and were replaced with excitement for things to come. He and Ashleigh had been getting along quite a bit better lately, and Nick only hoped that it would last this time. He didn’t think he could handle another stress in their relationship. The only thing he worried about now was having to leave Ashleigh again once their child was born to go record again. However, that was quite a ways off for the time being.

As Leighanne parked the car, Nick took Ashleigh’s hand in his as the three of them walked towards the store entrance. He was certain that things could only get better from here.

My Happy Ending
Chapter 17

Over the next little while, Nick and Ashleigh kept themselves busy with baby-proofing their house, painting the nursery (or rather, Nick painting the nursery) and just plain enjoying their time together.

Ashleigh found herself quite enjoying the Florida summer, and while she regretted not being in Minneapolis with her friends, she was glad that she was with Nick. Since they’d had their argument back in the spring, things only seemed to be getting better between the two of them. Where Ashleigh had held many doubts earlier in the year, she was feeling much better about the two of them, thinking that they had been able to stay together even when things got difficult.

Nick found that he was rather enjoying himself as well. As much as he pretended to complain about having to set up furniture, he really did like taking on the role. Though he’d had trouble with his own family, he felt nothing but optimistic about the life he, Ashleigh and their child were going to have.

He’d tossed around the idea of bringing up the marriage subject with Ashleigh again, but he’d quickly dismissed it. He didn’t want to risk her getting upset over the idea, and he figured he’d be better off waiting until she brought it up… if she ever did. It was strange, Nick had never thought of himself as wanting to be married or having children, but with Ashleigh it all seemed to be coming naturally. He only hoped that she would change her mind eventually, after all, it made sense, didn’t it?

Ashleigh’s mom had managed to get some time off work, and had spent a little over a week with them in late July for Ashleigh’s birthday. As Nick had expected, she’d been amazed by the size of their house and had thoroughly enjoyed her visit. She’d warmed up to Nick quite a bit, and Nick suspected it was because he was being so good to Ashleigh with regards to their whole pregnancy situation. He’d heard the whole story from Ashleigh soon after they’d gotten together about how her mom had been fairly young when she was born, and how her dad had wanted nothing to do with the two of them. So, Nick could understand Ashleigh’s mom’s happiness with him.

While Ashleigh had spent the week with her mom, she’d wondered a little if she was ever going to meet Nick’s parents. She knew he didn’t exactly get along with them very well, but she was sure that they knew about their situation. Especially since they seemed to be the paparazzi’s favourite people to chase as of late.

She knew that Nick didn’t talk to his mother at all, and that he and his dad just didn’t keep in touch. She’d met all of his siblings at his birthday party, and Aaron had stopped by for a visit in July as well. She figured it was a touchy subject and didn’t bother bringing it up with Nick.

As the summer drew to a close, Ashleigh and Nick were impatiently awaiting the arrival of their child. Everything was set up and ready, and now all they had to do was play the waiting game.

Nick awoke late that September morning. It was raining outside, which wasn’t uncommon for Tampa at this time of year. He walked down the stairs, and saw Ashleigh sitting at the kitchen table, staring at a mug of ginger tea.

“Something’s wrong.” She said, as he sat down beside her.

“What?” Nick asked, half because he wasn’t sure what she was talking about, and half because he was still not completely awake.

Ashleigh sighed, and nervously rested her hands on her legs. “Something is really wrong.” She repeated herself. “He hasn’t kicked at all, Nick! He always, always kicks in the morning!” She said, getting frantic.

Nick watched as Ashleigh was obviously working herself up. “Hey… it’s okay.” He said reassuringly, rubbing her shoulders a little. “There’s probably just no room in there. And we’re having a ‘he’ now?”

Ashleigh shrugged. “Or she.” She said, her voice still filled with worry. “Are you sure?” She asked.

“Of course.” Nick replied with confidence. “You’re due in what…like two weeks? I bet you it’s getting kind of cramped in there.”

Ashleigh sighed. “You’re probably right. How do you know so much?”

Nick shrugged, and kissed her lightly before getting up to rummage through the fridge. “I was the oldest of five kids. You learn a few things.” He said, pulling out a carton of eggs. “Eggs?”

Ashleigh shook her head. She wasn’t hungry at all. “No thanks.”

Nick frowned. “You should eat something.”

She forced a smile, Nick really was being wonderful to her throughout this entire ordeal. “I’ll have something a little later.” She replied. “I think I’m going to go back to bed for a while.” She said, getting up and walking back to the bedroom.

Nick just watched as Ashleigh left the kitchen. He sighed to himself, he hadn’t seen Ashleigh that miserable in quite a while. Though he thought it was nothing, he really didn’t know as much about pregnancy as he’d led on to her. Glancing over at the phone, he thought it might be a good idea to call and ask someone, just to be on the safe side.

He couldn’t call his own mother, that would be a drama in itself. He could call Ashleigh’s mom though.

“Cathy?” He said, once she answered the phone. “Hey, it’s Nick.”

“Nick!” She exclaimed, obviously happy to hear from him. “How are you? Did Ashleigh go into labour?” She asked excitedly.

Nick laughed a little. “No, no. Not yet. I just called to ask you a question, if that’s okay.”

“Sure, whatever you need.”

Nick sighed. “Ashleigh was kind of worried this morning…she said that the baby wasn’t kicking at all… I told her not to worry about it… should we be worrying about it though?” He asked, cringing. He never did have a way with words.

She paused, thinking about it for a moment. “Well, you should probably take her to get it checked out. I don’t think it’s a big deal though, I imagine it’s probably becoming a little bit of a tight fit.” She laughed.

“Yeah, that’s what I said.” Nick agreed. “Okay, I’ll take her in, just in case. Thanks Cathy.”

“You’re welcome Nick, good luck.”

After hanging up the phone, Nick quickly ascended up the stairs to his and Ashleigh’s bedroom. After shaking her awake, he quickly convinced her to get dressed and go down to the doctor’s office. Not that she needed much convincing, she was just as eager to make sure everything was okay as Nick was.

“So, what do you want to do for our anniversary?” Nick asked her, trying to ease both their minds as he drove down the highway.

“What?” Ashleigh asked, she hadn’t been paying attention at all.

“Monday. The sixth. Two years?” He said, trying to remind her.

Ashleigh grinned a little. In all her nervousness and excitement, she’d nearly forgotten about that. “I don’t know. Don’t you have something extravagant planned?” She joked.

Nick chuckled. “I’ve been a little busy.” He said. “We could go out on the boat?” He suggested, and Ashleigh shrugged.

“I don’t know about that.” She said. “Why don’t we go for sushi? Remember when we did that?”

Nick nodded. He remembered that all too well. “I still don’t know how to use chopsticks.”

Ashleigh giggled. “You’ll have to learn eventually, Nickers.”

Nick rolled his eyes. “I won’t have to learn eventually.” He said, as he leaned in to kiss her once he had parked the car. “And don’t call me Nickers.”

My Happy Ending
Chapter 18

“I can’t seem to make out a heartbeat.” Dr. Reynolds said as Nick and Ashleigh sat before her.

“What?!” Ashleigh asked, terrified. Everything had been going so well! Instinctively, she reached for Nick’s hand and held it tightly.

“It’s probably nothing to worry about.” Dr. Reynolds tried to reassure them. “I’m going to send you for an ultrasound just to be sure.” She said, giving Ashleigh a small smile and stepping out of the room for a moment.

Ashleigh gave Nick a look of horror and nearly started hyperventilating. This was certainly not the type of stress she needed. Hell, she didn’t need any type of stress! Not after what she’d gone through a few months prior.

“It’s going to be okay.” Nick said, running his hands over Ashleigh’s hair. “Don’t worry about it.” He said, though he wasn’t so sure himself. If everything was truly fine, wouldn’t the doctor be able to hear a heartbeat? He tried not to think about it too much, and attempted to stay as calm as possible. There was no sense in the both of them worrying.


Half an hour later, the two of them sat in the ultrasound room, Nick held Ashleigh’s hand throughout the entire process. The two of them kept exchanging worried glances. The technicians didn’t say much to them, they basically kept quiet for the most part. This was another fact that alarmed Ashleigh to no end. If everything was okay, they wouldn’t have hesitated to tell her so, right?

After being told that the doctor would be in with their results shortly, the only thing Ashleigh and Nick could do was wait.

“It’s bad news.” Ashleigh muttered, staring down at the ground. “I know it’s bad news. If things were find they would have said they were fine, but they didn’t say anything…” She trailed off, looking at Nick with pleading eyes. It was almost as if she was willing him to make everything better.

Nick stayed silent for a moment. He wanted to reassure Ashleigh, but at the same time he didn’t exactly want to give her false hope. “Just wait until we hear what Dr. Reynolds has to say before you start to get worried.” He advised, though it didn’t do much to ease his own doubts.

“How can I not get worried, Nick?” Ashleigh asked, her voice rising with panic.

Nick just looked at her sadly. There really was no way to get either for them to stop worrying. Not until they were told that everything was fine.

Something told Nick that wasn’t going to happen. Not when Dr Reynolds walked back into the room with a solemn look on her face.

“I’m so, so sorry.” She said, sitting down beside Ashleigh.

“No…” Ashleigh whispered. How could this be happening? She’d done everything she was told to do, and as far as she’d known everything had been fine. Sure, she’d been under quite a bit of stress earlier on, but she’d been for check ups many times since then and had been told she was alright.

Nick put his hand over his mouth and just stared at Dr. Reynolds as if he were begging her to tell them something different. That this was a joke, that their child was fine.

“I can’t even begin to imagine how awful this must be for you…” She started, but Ashleigh wasn’t listening anymore. She’d heard all she needed to hear. As far as she was concerned, she’d failed as a mother before she’d even had the chance to try. There really wasn’t anything that could be said that would make her feel any better.

Nick however, listened to every word. It was the only thing he could do, as he didn’t know what he was supposed to or say. They were going to prep Ashleigh for surgery… and she was going to deliver that day. What should have been a joyous occasion was quickly turning into a nightmare.

“Oh God, oh God.” Ashleigh sobbed, clinging to Nick. He just sat there in shock, putting his arms around her without saying a word. He’d half expected Ashleigh to blame him for everything. But she didn’t. Instead she just cried, her body shaking as she held him.

“Nick, say something!” She exclaimed suddenly, pulling back and facing him. Her face was stained with tears her hair was a mess. Nick on the other hand, looked picture perfect, as he always did. It was scaring her a little, his lack of emotion. “Say something to make it better.” She pleaded.

“I…can’t.” Was all he managed to get out. He was definitely in shock. He’d managed to make Ashleigh feel better every other time she’d been worried, but he suspected there was nothing he could do or say to ease their pain.

“Take me home.” She begged, clinging to him once again. “I want to go home.” She said, crying again.

“You can’t.” Nick said sadly, feeling tears start to brim in his own eyes. He quickly wiped them away, feeling as though one of them had to be strong. He felt heartbroken, not being able to give her the one thing she wanted.

She didn’t reply to him, she just continued to cry, her tears soaking through Nick’s t-shirt. Perhaps she’d been too active, too busy…

“Ash…” Nick choked out, not able to contain himself any longer. “I need to get out of this room.”

Ashleigh just nodded. Quickly, the two of them gathered their things and made their way up to the next floor of the hospital, where Ashleigh would be having her C-Section.


Nick sat outside of the hospital, half heartedly scrolling through the contacts on his cell phone. Ashleigh had opted to be put out for the procedure, as she really didn’t want to go through the emotional pain of being awake through it. Nick had wanted to stay in the room, but Ashleigh had begged him not to, saying that it would be too depressing. He sighed, she was probably right.

He glanced up at the large building. At that moment, their child was being born. While he should have been happy, the only thing he felt was guilt and anguish. He thought a little about the irony of the situation. Eight months prior, he’d have given anything for Ashleigh to have an abortion. Now, he would give anything to bring that same child back to life.

He watched as a lady about five feet away from him took a drag from a cigarette. He contemplated asking her for one, thinking about how easy his life had been back when it was just a blur of cigarettes and alcohol. He hadn’t a care in the world, and he certainly hadn’t wanted to settle down.

“Are you okay?” The lady asked him. Lost in his thoughts, Nick hadn’t noticed her sit beside him.

He smiled a little; he must have looked like a wreck, staring up at the sky and wiping tears from his eyes every couple of seconds. “My girlfriend is having surgery.” He said, happy to have someone to talk to, but not wanting to get into the specifics of the situation.

She smiled and put a hand on Nick’s shoulder. “I’m sure she’ll be fine.” She said, smiling at him. Nick wondered if she recognized him, but figured that she didn’t. She looked quite a bit older than him.

Nick nodded, he didn’t have many doubts that Ashleigh would be physically fine. Emotionally was quite another story. He didn’t feel as though he was ever going to feel better, he could only imagine how Ashleigh was going to feel. “I hope so.” He said, forcing himself to think positively. “Are you…?” He asked, feeling the need to be polite.

She laughed a little. “I’m fine. My twelve year old broke his leg at soccer practice.”

Nick thought about that for a moment. How was that even possible? “How?” He asked, glad he had something to take his mind off the situation at hand.

Again, she laughed, shaking her head. “I have no idea. He always seems to get himself into these situations.” She said, and stood up. “I’d better get back inside, I hope your girlfriend gets better.”

“Thanks.” Nick said, shaking her hand. “I hope your son…gets less accident prone.”

She grinned as she walked back to hospital doors. “Me too.”

Nick hung his head once again, suddenly realizing everything he hadn’t realized he’d been looking forward to had been taken away from him. He would never get to take his son (or daughter) to soccer practice, and shake his head when they became accident prone (which they surely would have, if they were anything like him).

Worst of all, he was going to have to deal with telling everyone what had happened. Instead of excited phone calls, he was going to have to make depressing ones. Flipping through the contacts on his phone, he momentarily wondered if he could get Kevin to call everyone for him. Nick shook his head, again remembering a simpler time when Kevin could bail him out of any situation he got himself into. If only this could be so easy.

Sighing, he went back inside and half heartedly looked around the gift shop. He felt as though he should get something for Ashleigh, but he really didn’t think there was anything he could buy that would make her feel better. Instead, he made his way back up to the waiting room, hoping that his presence and support would be enough.

My Happy Ending
Chapter 19

Ashleigh’s eyes fluttered open a few hours later, and the first thing she noticed was Nick sitting beside her, watching her intently.

“Nicky…” She said softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

Upon seeing her wake up, Nick instantly moved closer to her. He gently stroked her hair, not knowing what he could do for her.

“Tell me it was a dream.” She said weakly, but glancing around the room, Ashleigh knew that this was all quite a reality.

“I’m sorry.” Nick said, his hand still playing with her hair. He felt immeasurable amounts of guilt over the whole situation, and yet again he wished he could have made things better. “If I hadn’t stressed you out so much, and acted like such a jerk – ” He started, starting to lose his composure.

Ashleigh watched as Nick blamed himself for what had happened. She didn’t think it was his fault at all, in fact she was almost certain it wasn’t. As far as she’d known, everything had been fine up until that morning. She reached up and touched his face softly, wiping away a stray tear. “Not your fault.” She said quietly.

Nick glanced at Ashleigh, and a look of relief washed over his face. “Are you sure, because – ”

Ashleigh just shook her head. She couldn’t stand the fact that Nick was blaming himself. Especially after how well he’d treated her throughout her pregnancy, after their little hiccup anyway. “I love you, Nick. You’re perfect.”

He gave her a small half smile. It made him feel slightly better to know that Ashleigh still loved him, even while they were obviously going through such heartbreak. “I’m so sorry, Ash.” He said, frowning once again. “I know how much you wanted this.”

“You did too.” She replied, putting her hand over his. “I know that you did.”

Nick nodded, and stared out to the hallway. He’d never liked hospitals, and this wasn’t helping that fact very much. If anything, it only solidified to him that nothing good could come from a visit to one. “I really did.” He said.

For the next little while, they sat silently with each other. Ashleigh, drifting in and out of sleep and Nick holding her hand the entire time. He tried to think of something more positive, but his mind kept drifting back to the night before. When everything had been so much simpler.

“We are not sending our child to a private school, Ashleigh.” Nick said, rolling his eyes as the two lay in bed the previous night.

“Why not?” She asked, rolling over to face him. “Come on, I always wanted to go to a private school!”

Again, Nick rolled his eyes. Seeing the serious look on Ashleigh’s face however, he had to laugh a little. “The only reason you wanted to go to one was because you wanted to wear the cute outfits.”

“No!” She defended herself, trying to stifle a giggle. “I think they provide a much better education.”

Nick scoffed. “Yeah, okay.” He said sarcastically.

“Did you tell anyone?” Ashleigh asked suddenly, startling Nick. He’d thought she’d fallen asleep again.

He shook his head. That was something he wasn’t looking forward to at all. Everyone was so excited for them, always calling and reminding him to phone them the second Ashleigh went into labour. What were they going to say when he told them that it wasn’t going to happen? “No, I didn’t.”

Ashleigh sighed. Her eyes wandered around the bland walls of the hospital room. She didn’t know how she was going to be able to face going back home. Back to where everything was baby proofed, to where she and Nick had just finished setting up the nursery…

There was a soft knock on the door as a nurse peeked her head in the room. “Sorry to interrupt…” She said quietly. “Did you want to see him…?”

Ashleigh and Nick looked at each other. Ashleigh had never imagined that the first the she’d ever be holding her own child, that she’d be saying goodbye. It was certainly something she didn’t want to do, but she knew she’d regret it if she didn’t.

Nick slowly nodded his head, as if to read Ashleigh’s mind. The nurse quickly nodded a conformation and left the room.

“God.” Ashleigh said, looking at Nick. “How are we going to do this?”

“I don’t know.” Nick replied sadly.

Minutes later, the nurse returned with their son, wrapped in a soft blue blanket. Placing the child in Ashleigh’s arms, she quickly left the room to give them some privacy.

“It’s a boy.” Nick said, looking at Ashleigh cradling their baby. “What name did we decide on?”

“James Clayton Carter.” Ashleigh replied softly, not taking her eyes off her son.

“Clayton?” Nick asked, still watching Ashleigh.

“My Grandpa’s name.” She explained, glancing at him quickly. Again, she turned her gaze back to the lifeless child in her arms. “He looks like you.” She commented smiling a little. Perhaps if she pretended everything was okay it would make this easier.

Nick raised his eyebrow, bewildered by the fact that Ashleigh thought there was any resemblance between the two of them. The whole scene was bittersweet, really. Ashleigh looked natural, like she’d been born to be a mother. Only to have it end before it even began.

“The blonde.” She said, referring to the mess of blonde hair on top of their son’s head. “You guys have the same hair.”

“You and I have the same hair, Ashleigh.” Nick said, smiling a little. As bad as this whole situation was, for a few minutes he felt as though they were a real family. One that got to take their child home from the hospital and start their new life together.

“Do you want to hold him?” Ashleigh asked, looking up at Nick.

“Yeah.” Nick said softly, as Ashleigh passed James over to him. Nick looked down at the closed eyes of his first born child, and was again hit with a wave of remorse. He would give anything, if only he could make those eyes somehow open.

“I’m sorry Nicky.” Ashleigh said, her voice beginning to crack. “I wish I could fix it.”

“Me too.” Nick said, blinking his eyes rapidly to try and stop his own tears from falling. “Me too.”

My Happy Ending
Chapter 20

After spending four days in the hospital recovering from surgery, Ashleigh was quite ready to get out of there. Not that she was too keen on going home either, but it would be far more comfortable than the bland walls of Tampa General.

Nick hadn’t left her side for the entire time she’d been there, something she found to be quite ca compassionate thing for him to do. She’d told him to go home and get some sleep, but he wouldn’t budge and usually ended up dozing off in the chair beside her bed.

Not surprisingly, the morning that Ashleigh was discharged had come as quite a relief to both of them. However, when they finally stepped outside, they were met with another problem.

“Fuck.” Nick swore under his breath, pulling Ashleigh closer to him. There was a slew of paparazzi outside, which he should have expected given their interest in him lately. Holding Ashleigh’s hand tightly, the two of them began to walk towards the car, but not without incedent.

“Nick!” One particularly brave photographer called to him. “Can you talk to us about the past few days?”

“Just keep walking.” Nick muttered to Ashleigh. “Ignore them. If you give them so much as a glare they’ll do a page long story on it.”

But Nick’s disinterest in didn’t stop them. “Nick!” Another one called as he continued to follow them. “Can you comment on the status of your child?”

Nick bit his lip, unable to contain his frustration at the situation. He spun around and grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt. “I’m leaving the hospital with my no longer pregnant girlfriend and without my son, what does that tell you?” He nearly shouted, before turning his attention back to Ashleigh. Of course, this only made them get followed more.

“How many pages do you think that’ll take up?” Ashleigh asked sarcastically once they were in the car.

Nick sighed as he began the drive back to his house. “I just… lost it. Those people are monsters, Ashleigh. They have no heart.”

She just nodded her head, staring out the window. Part of her felt as though she just wanted to go back home to Minneapolis and forget all about her experience in Florida. Then again, she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Nick. She slouched down in her seat, not really sure how she was supposed to be feeling.

Once they arrived back home, Ashleigh solemnly walked upstairs to the bedroom, and couldn’t help but glance across the hallway to the nursery. Sighing, she stepped into the room and sat down onto the floor, hugging a blanket to her chest.

Nick quickly followed her upstairs, and peeked into the room where Ashleigh was sitting. He sighed, Ashleigh really wasn’t making this any easier on herself. He figured asking her to move would be a bad idea, instead he just sat down beside her in silence. The two of them stayed that way for a little while, not really knowing what to say to each other, or if there really was anything that could be said.

“Happy anniversary, Nicky.” Ashleigh finally broke their silence.

Nick gave Ashleigh a small smile and kissed her quickly. “I love you…”

Ashleigh sighed, tears brimming in her eyes once again. She quickly wiped them away, sick of feeling depressed and helpless. All she and Nick had done while they were in the hospital was cry and feel sorry for themselves.

“I wish this wasn’t happening, Nick.” She whispered, hugging him again. “I wonder what he would have been like, you know? God, we don’t even know what colour his eyes were.”

Nick put his arm around her. He’d been thinking all the same things, and was glad that Ashleigh seemed to be on the same wavelength as he was. “I know.”

“He probably would have gotten all famous, been on like American Idol or something.” Ashleigh mused, fiddling with the blanket in her hands. “He would have a real heartbreaker.”

Nick nodded, feeling more and more regret for something that had been beyond his control. Sighing, he glanced around the room. Why Ashleigh had chosen to sit in the nursery, he had no idea. It was only making him feel worse about the whole situation. He watched as Ashleigh traced the pattern of the blanket with her fingers, and as his eyes drifted up to her neck he suddenly remembered. “I almost forgot, I got you an anniversary gift.” He said, dashing out of the room.

“I thought we agreed no gifts!” Ashleigh called after him, but Nick returned with a velvet Tiffany’s box.

Ashleigh looked at Nick with disbelief. Was he going to propose to her again? She considered that thought for a moment, perhaps she wouldn’t be so opposed…

But it wasn’t an engagement ring. Far from it, actually. It was just a simple necklace with heart charm dangling from it. She smiled up at him. How had she managed to find such a good boyfriend? “Thanks Nicky.” She said, kissing him.


The next week went by painfully slowly for Nick and Ashleigh. Most of the time they would sit silently with each other, either zoning out in front of the television set or just laying in their bedroom. Neither of them had told anyone what had happened. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop the tabloids from running their stories. Most notably, US Weekly had them on the front cover leaving the hospital. The only reason Nick knew this was because he’d run out to buy groceries the day before and had seen it on the newsstand. However, he’d decided against bringing it home, knowing that it would only upset Ashleigh.

So that evening when Nick’s cell phone rang, he quickly stepped into the den to answer it. Looking at the caller ID, he figured Kevin was calling to scold him for yelling at the paparazzi. “Kev, look, I’m sorry, they were just really getting on my nerves…” Nick rambled.

“Why didn’t you tell us, Nick?” Kevin asked, not using an accusing tone, but rather a gentle one. “I’m so, so sorry.”

Nick ran a hand through his hair. He really hadn’t wanted to deal with telling anyone about what had happened. “I just didn’t want to talk about it.” He said sadly. “Ashleigh and I haven’t told anyone.”

“I can’t even think how hard this must be for the two of you.” Kevin said sympathetically. “If you need me, you know where I am.”

“I know.” Nick said, grateful that Kevin wasn’t upset with him. “Thanks Kev.” He said, hanging up.

Nick slowly made his way back upstairs, but stopped when he heard Ashleigh talking. Nick moved a little closer to the room, and figured that she was talking to Joey. He smiled a little to himself; that would be the first time the two girls had talked since they’d got back from the hospital. He turned away from the bedroom and went towards to kitchen to make himself something to eat, and to give Ashleigh her privacy.

“Oh my God.” Joey breathed, upon hearing that Ashleigh and Nick had lost their child. “That must be horrible. How are you doing? How’s Nick doing? Jesus Ash, I’m sorry.”

“It sucks.” Ashleigh replied, wiping her eyes again. Her face was starting to hurt from crying so much. “I can’t stop fucking crying. I’ll start to feel better, and then something will happen to remind me, and I’ll just get upset all over again.”

Joey frowned, Ashleigh was always full of drama. It really didn’t help that most of the time, things weren’t exactly her fault. “That really sucks, Ash. How’s Nick doing?”

Ashleigh sighed. “I don’t think he’s doing so well either. He’s so sweet to me, and he listens to me cry, but I mean he gets upset too. So most of the time we just end up sitting here all upset together.”

Joey pondered that for a moment. “Well, at least you guys are handling it together.”

Ashleigh smiled a little. That much was true, if any good had come of this it had helped to push she and Nick closer together. “I guess so. He really is being wonderful. He even went out last night to get food to make chicken alfredo.” She said.

Joey grinned. “That was nice of him. Did it turn out okay?”

Ashleigh giggled, talking to her friend was definitely making her feel better. “Yeah, it actually did. He’s not a bad cook.”

The two girls continued to talk, and Ashleigh began to feel a little better. While the pain of her and Nick losing their son was still there, the fact that her relationship with Nick had become more solid throughout the whole mess made things a little better.

My Happy Ending
Chapter 21

The days continued to go by painfully slowly. As more and more time passed, it seemed as though more people found out what was going on and called to offer their condolences. Ashleigh didn’t exactly know how to feel about that. Of course, she was grateful that her friends cared about her, but she also would have much rather been left alone with Nick.

After sheltering themselves in the safety of their home, Nick had finally decided it was time to attempt to go out and face the real world. He hadn’t gone out hardly at all, if only to pick up things from the grocery store and Ashleigh hadn’t stepped outside since they’d arrived home the hospital nearly two weeks prior. It was time for the two of them to go out.

“Hey, Ash?” Nick asked, as the two of them lay silently on their bed that Sunday afternoon.

“Hmm?”

“I was just wondering… I’m kind of sick of making food every night…” He started, unsure of what her reaction would be.

She gave him a slight smile. She had to admit, she felt a little guilty, Nick had been waiting on her hand and foot. “I can make dinner tonight, if you want.”

Nick shook his head. That hadn’t been his intention. “That isn’t what I meant.” He said, and drew in a deep breath. “I mean, did you want to go somewhere for food? If you don’t want to we don’t have to, but I just thought.-”

Ashleigh giggled a little at Nick’s rambling. He was doing everything in his power to make sure that she was comfortable. She found it rather endearing. “Sure.” She said. “Just not Chili’s.” She added with a grin.

Reading the expression on his face, Ashleigh could tell that Nick was elated. “Okay.” He said, jumping off the bed and kissing her. “Get dressed into something nice.” He instructed, and quickly left the room.

Two hours later, he and Ashleigh were sitting in a private booth in a ritzy downtown steakhouse. As Ashleigh flipped through the menu, she found herself constantly looking over her shoulder to make sure that no one was watching them.

Nick just watched as Ashleigh glanced over the menu. Things were definitely different now, no longer did they joke around with each other. Instead they sat in a sad, sombre silence. Nick began to wonder if things would ever go back to how they had been before.

“What do you want to drink?” He asked her, as she continued to stare at the menu, or peek behind herself. Nick noticed she hadn’t even turned a page.

Ashleigh only shrugged. “Just water.”

Nick bit his lip. There really wasn’t much point to this if Ashleigh was only going to be uncomfortable. It was supposed to be helping them, not making things worse. “We can share a milkshake, if you want.”

Ashleigh raised her eyebrow a little. “Do they even have those on the menu?” She asked him.

Nick held up the backside of the menu. “See?” He said, pointing to the list of drinks on the back.

Ashleigh leaned over the table to see what Nick was pointing at. “That’s the dessert menu, Nicky.”

Nick pouted a little. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Ashleigh just looked back down at her menu. “I’m really fine with water, Nick.”

Nick sighed. She really didn’t seem to be enjoying herself at all. “Well, what did you want to eat?” He asked. “They have this maple glazed salmon stuff, it’s really good. But they also have this almond crusted steak, every time I come here with Brian that’s what he gets.”’

“You and Brian come here a lot?” Ashleigh asked, ignoring Nick’s question about the food. She figured she’d just order whatever he did.

Nick shrugged. “We used to, whenever he’d come down to Florida. We haven’t in a while though.”

Ashleigh nodded. “I like Brian and Leighanne.” She commented. “They’re really nice.”

Nick smiled, at least he’d got Ashleigh to talk to him about something other than their son. “I do too. I used to really not like Leighanne though.”

“How come?”

Nick thought about that for a moment. “I don’t know. Brian and I used to hang out all the time, then he met her and all his free time was spent with her.”

“That sucks.” Ashleigh replied, not really knowing what that would be like. Out of she and Joey, it was always Ashleigh that had the boyfriends.

“Yeah, but I warmed up to her after a while. I guess I couldn’t expect Brian to stay single forever.” Nick said, closing his menu and placing it off to the side. “It was annoying for a bit, when he got married he kept bothering me, asking me when I was going to find a girl and stuff.”

Ashleigh rolled her eyes a little. “That had to be irritating.”

“You know, I’m pretty sure he was only joking. But yeah, it bugged me. That’s why…” Nick started, and then stopped himself before he dug himself into a hole. The last thing he needed was for Ashleigh to be angry with him.

“That’s why what?” Ashleigh asked, wondering why Nick had trailed off all of a sudden.

“Nothing, nevermind.” Nick quickly said, opening his menu and pretending to read through it once again.

Ashleigh peered at him. What was he talking about? Quickly she did the math in her head, if Brian and Leighanne had gotten married in 2000 that would mean that by the time they released Black and Blue… and that’s when it dawned on her. “That’s why you were with me, wasn’t it?” She asked, gently pulling the menu away from Nick’s face.

“Maybe?” Nick said, cringing. He was dead.

But instead, Ashleigh only laughed. “Did you actually think I’d be mad? God Nick, my reasons for wanting to be with you were no better.”

Nick sighed in relief. He’d half expected Ashleigh to storm out of the restaurant and never speak to him again. “Oh really? And what were those?” He asked with a smirk, though he had a feeling he already knew.

She rolled her eyes. “Obviously you know.”

Nick grinned. “Give me an ego boost.”

“You adorned my walls.” She laughed. “I didn’t go a day without thinking of you? I listened to your cds on repeat? Hell, I made a mix tape where I cut out just your solos from all the songs!” She giggled. “I was utterly, hopelessly in love with you.”

“And now?”

She smiled, putting her hand over his. “Still, utterly and hopelessly in love with you.”

Nick smiled back at her, wondering how it was possible that so much had changed between them and yet, managed to stay the same. “No posters on the walls though.”

She giggled. “Well, that can easily be changed.”

Nick quickly shook his head. “No thanks.” He laughed.

The two of them continued their dinner in much better spirits. This only solidified the fact that once they got out of the house and stopped moping about, things would start to get better.

That evening when they arrived back home, Nick quickly checked the caller display and noticed he’d missed a call from Brian. Sighing, he figured he’d better call Brian back, knowing that it was probably just going to be another questioning period on how he and Ashleigh were holding up.

“Hey.” Nick said, once Brian answered the phone.

“Nick! Hi!” Brian replied. “I was a little worried when you didn’t pick up your phone.”

“You could have called my cell.” Nick replied.

“I know, but I didn’t want to bother you if you’d gone out.” Brian said. “Did you go out?” He asked, knowing that Nick and Ashleigh had been stuck inside the house for quite a while.

“Actually, yeah.” Nick said with a grin. “We went out to dinner. It was really nice. It made us feel a lot better.”

“That’s good.” Brian replied. “Listen, Leigh and I thought you might like to get out of the house for a while, and we really haven’t seen you guys in a long time, so we were wondering if you’d like to come out to Atlanta for a few days?”

Nick pondered that for a moment. Usually he didn’t really like going out to visit Brian in Atlanta and having to live the suburban life for the time that he was there. However, his situation had changed drastically since the last time he’d been out there. “I’ll have to ask Ash…but I think that would be fun.”

“Great!” Brian replied enthusiastically. “Call me back and we’ll work on the details.”

“Sure thing.” Nick said. “Later.” Nick said, before hanging up his phone. He then ran up to the bedroom where he saw Ashleigh laying on the bed. She’d changed out of her dinner clothes and was relaxing on the bed reading a book. “Brian just called.” Nick said, sitting down beside her.

Ashleigh looked up at Nick. “That’s weird, we were just talking about him at dinner.”

“Yeah, I know.” Nick replied. “Anyway, he wanted to know if we wanted to go visit him in Atlanta for a few days. What do you think?”

Ashleigh thought about that. She and Nick had enjoyed themselves at dinner, perhaps going outside of the house and doing other things was key to the healing process. “Yeah, I’d like that.” She agreed.

Nick nodded and pulled out his cell phone to call Brian back. Their lives were definitely starting to fall back into place, bit by bit.

My Happy Ending
Chapter 22

“You guys made it safely!” Leighanne gushed as she answered the door. Nick and Ashleigh had just arrived in Atlanta after spending a few days planning flights and packing their things. “Come in, come in.”

“Hey Leigh.” Ashleigh said, as Leighanne pulled her in for a hug. “Thanks for inviting us.”

“No problem.” Leighanne replied with a grin, as Brian entered the room, followed closely by Baylee.

“Hey guys.” Brian said, offering the two of them a warm smile. “Ashleigh, I don’t think you and Baylee have met before.”

Ashleigh glanced down at the boy standing beside Brian. Of course she’d seen pictures of him before, but she couldn’t deny that he was even more adorable in person. “Hi Baylee.” She said, looking down at him. “I’m Nick’s girlfriend.”

Baylee looked up at Nick, and laughed a little. “You like girls?” He asked, wrinkling his nose?

Ashleigh giggled, and Nick pulled her in close to him. “Nah.” He said, kissing her check quickly. “I only like this girl.”

Ashleigh rolled her eyes at Nick’s cheesy remark. “I heard you guys had your ten year anniversary a couple of weeks ago. Congratulations.” She said.

Brian and Leighanne grinned at each other. “Thanks.” Leighanne replied. “And you guys have been going out for a while now too, haven’t you?”

“Two years on the sixth.” Ashleigh said happily.

It was then that Baylee interjected. “Nick, I want to show you my basketball hoop.” He said, pulling Nick away from Ashleigh and towards the backyard.

Brian laughed a little as his son pulled Nick away. “I guess I’ll go with them.” He said, quickly following the two of them.

Once the boys were outside, Leighanne turned to Ashleigh. “I know you probably hate it when people ask you this, but how are you guys doing?”

Ashleigh shrugged. Though there were still times when she felt upset, she was slowly starting to heal and feel better. “Better.” She replied, sitting down on the couch in the living room. “Getting out of the house really helps us a lot.”

Leighanne shook her head. She couldn’t fathom the amount of pain that Ashleigh and Nick must have gone through. “How’s Nick doing?”

Ashleigh sighed. That was a tricky question. She knew Nick was upset, that much was obvious. Though, he’d been focusing so much of his energy on making sure that she was alright that he hadn’t talked about how he was feeling himself very much. “He’s been very sweet. I don’t know if he knows how much I appreciate how much he’s been there for me.”

Leighanne nodded. She had to admit, she was quite proud of Nick. She’d seen him at his worst and at times had never thought he would grow out of his bad habits. “You should tell him.” She said. “I’ve never seen Nick this happy with a girl. You two are wonderful together.”

Ashleigh blushed a little. It certainly meant a lot to her that Leighanne felt that way. Especially since Ashleigh had felt that the others didn’t quite accept her as Nick’s girlfriend. “Thanks, Leigh.”


That night, Ashleigh lay silently awake in bed beside Nick. She couldn’t fall asleep, her mind was racing. Nick really had been sweet to her over the last little while. He’d taken care of her, even when she knew he was feeling pain as well.

All she’d wanted was to have Nick’s child and raise it while the three of them lived happily ever after as a family. Through losing their son, she and Nick had only grown closer and solidified their relationship. In fact, Ashleigh felt as though she loved him more than she had before any of their problems started. The fact of the matter was, they’d been faced with a number of issues and they’d managed to make it through them together.

She rolled over, and looked at Nick. He was sleeping so peacefully, and it made her smile. Her thoughts drifted to nearly a year prior, when he’d proposed to her, and when she’d been terrified of the thought. Thinking over it again, it didn’t seem too scary. She wondered if Nick still felt that way, if he still wanted to marry her. After everything they’d been through together, would he have changed his mind? Ashleigh didn’t think so, after all he seemed to be happy with her.

“Nicky…” Ashleigh said, gently shaking him awake. “Are you sleeping?”

“Yes.” Nick mumbled, pulling the comforter over himself.

“Nick…seriously.” Ashleigh said, shaking him again.

Nick sighed, rolling over to face her. He was ridiculously tired, why did Ashleigh always want to have serious talks with him at night? Nevertheless, he opened his eyes and smiled at her. “What’s up?”

“Thank you for being so nice to me.” Ashleigh said simply, kissing him on the cheek. “I love you.”

Nick closed his eyes, starting to drift off to sleep again. “I love you too.” He mumbled.

Ashleigh hardly noticed that he was slipping away again. Instead she continued to talk, not really knowing what she was supposed to say to describe how she was feeling. “You’ve just been so perfect… I don’t know how I would have got through this without you. I never want you to leave me.” She said, cuddling up to him.

“I won’t leave you, Ash.” Nick replied, still half asleep, putting his arm around her.

Ashleigh took in a deep breath, afraid of the answer to the question she was about to ask. “Do you still want to marry me, Nick?”

Nick’s eyes shot open at that moment. Did she really just say what he thought she said? Was she actually bringing up the taboo marriage subject? “What?” He asked, unsure if he’d heard her correctly.

Ashleigh bit her lip, and looked up at him. “I want to marry you.”

Nick searched Ashleigh’s eyes for any indication that she was joking, but she just started at him in all seriousness and vulnerability. He could hardly believe it, he hadn’t expected her to change her mind so quickly.

Then again, they’d been faced with quite a bit over the past year. In between Ashleigh denying his first proposal, their surprise pregnancy and the subsequent loss of that pregnancy, they really had managed to beat the odds and stay together. Even still, Nick thought that they’d come out stronger because of it.

“I want to marry you too.” He said slowly, and almost immediately Ashleigh began to attack him with kisses. “But.” Nick said, in between her kisses. “I don’t want to do this here.”

“What?” Ashleigh asked, pulling back a little.

“I don’t have the ring… and isn’t it supposed to be me who proposes to you?” Nick asked, though he was grateful it was Ashleigh who had brought up the subject.

Ashleigh rolled her eyes. “I don’t care.”

Nick kissed her softly on the forehead, and laid back down on the bed. “Just let me take care of it, okay?” He asked.

Ashleigh nodded, after everything he’d done for her, she figured she might as well let him propose how he wanted to. “Okay Nick.” She said with a smile. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Nick replied softly, before they both drifted off to sleep.


“I’m glad you’re awake.” Nick said the next morning, as he had tip toed out of the guest room and into the kitchen. There sat Brian at the table, sipping a mug of coffee and reading the newspaper. “I need to talk to you about something before Ashleigh wakes up.”

Brian quickly set the paper down and looked at Nick. “What’s up?”

Nick fidgeted a little with the edge of his t-shirt. “She kind of… said she wanted to marry me.”

Brian narrowed his eyes at Nick, unsure of where he was going. As far as he’d known, Nick had been the one who wanted to get married all along and it had been Ashleigh who had said they should wait. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

Nick nodded his head quickly. “Yeah! But… I told her I wanted to be the one to propose. So… how do I do that?”

Brian chuckled a little. “You didn’t ask for my help the first time.”

Nick pouted. “I didn’t think I needed help the first time! I mean, I know she’s going to say yes and all, I just want it to be perfect. Things have been so hard for us lately, I want to start off this part of our relationship right.” He said, looking at the ground.

“That’s sweet, Nick.” Brian replied. “Just find something meaningful.”

Nick thought about that for a moment. Something meaningful? Suddenly an idea sprung to his head, and a grin crept up on his face. “You’re right. Thanks Bri.”

My Happy Ending
Chapter 23

Once Nick and Ashleigh arrived home from Atlanta, Nick promptly put his plan of proposing back into action. As soon as he felt they were settled back home and had most of their things unpacked, he had set out on his quest to find the perfect ring.

He’d thought about just giving Ashleigh the engagement ring he’d used before, but upon looking at it again he didn’t feel it was appropriate. All the memories that ring held were full of angst and turmoil. That, and he wanted to surprise Ashleigh, he figured she’d just be expecting the other ring.

So, Nick walked around what he felt like was every jewellery store in the city. Every engagement ring he saw looked basically the same, a plain band with a diamond in the middle. They bored him, and didn’t seem to be quite what he was looking for.

After what seemed like an eternity, Nick finally spotted something that caught his eye. It wasn’t the most complex ring he’d ever seen, but it seemed to be more what he was looking for than just something generic. A white gold ring, with a sapphire in the middle and four small diamonds on either side. Simply put, it was perfect.

The following evening, Nick had carefully laid out all of his plans. He’d picked up dinner, got his boat ready and made sure everything was in order.

“Ash!” Nick called, rushing up the stairs to the bedroom. “Close your eyes.” He instructed, upon entering the room.

Ashleigh gave Nick a look, but did as she was told.

“Keep them closed.” Nick said, as he took her hands and led her down the stairs. Ashleigh only giggled, but continued to keep her eyes closed as Nick had told her to.

Leading her out through the back door and down to the beach, Nick kept a close watch on Ashleigh to make sure she wasn’t peeking. However, Ashleigh knew where she was upon feeling the sand beneath her feet. “You’re taking me to the boat aren’t you?” She asked with a laugh.

“Shhh!” Nick commanded. “You’re going to ruin the surprise.”

Ashleigh shook her head, but continued to keep her eyes closed. “Sorry.” She said. “God Nick, you’d better not be taking me to Chili’s!” She joked, her voice full of fake annoyance.

Nick helped Ashleigh onto the boat, and once he had them going, he sat down beside her. “Okay, you can open them now.” He said, pulling food out of the cooler.

As she’d predicted, they were indeed sitting on his boat. “Nick, you are too predictable.” She laughed, and then peered down at the food that was set in front of her. “Oh, sushi! Where did you get this?”

Nick laughed. “I just went and picked it up right before I brought you down here.” He said. “Do you get it?” He asked.

“Get what?” Ashleigh said, breaking apart a pair of chopsticks are starting to eat.

“Our first date.” Nick explained, intently watching Ashleigh eat and trying to figure out how exactly she was using the chopsticks. “We went to Fuji-Ya, in Minneapolis, remember?”

Ashleigh grinned and nodded her head. “I thought our first date was at The Avalon.” She said, and when Nick gave her a confused look, she explained further. “In Boston.”

Nick rolled his eyes. “That does not count as a date.” He said seriously, breaking apart his own pair of chopsticks.

Ashleigh laughed. “I know. I was joking. Jeez.” She said, and watched as Nick failed miserably at eating his food. “You still can’t eat with chopsticks.” She laughed.

“I’m trying!” Nick insisted, but soon gave up and used the plastic fork he’d packed just in case.

Once the two of them finished their meal, Ashleigh cuddled up in Nick’s lap and leaned her head against his chest. “Now what?” She asked impatiently.

“Hmm?” Nick said, playing with Ashleigh’s hair. He noticed she’d let it grow out a little longer than she usually did, falling about an inch above her shoulders. “You should grow your hair out long again.” He commented.

Ashleigh sighed, Nick was going to drag this out wasn’t he? “It was so hard to maintain.” She said. “I cut it the second year of university, and I was able to sleep in an extra twenty minutes.” She laughed.

“It was cute.” Nick said, leaning over and kissing her.

“Niiiick.” She whined. “You’re killing me.”

Nick laughed at Ashleigh’s impatience. It was hard to believe that just under a year ago she’d been so opposed to them getting married. Now she was sitting here on the edge of her seat waiting for him to ask her again. “What are you talking about?” He asked innocently. “All we’re doing is having a quiet evening on the boat.”

Ashleigh rolled her eyes and turned around to kiss Nick. “You’re bad at lying.” She said in between kisses.

Soon enough, Ashleigh and Nick were lying breathlessly underneath the depths of the blankets Nick had put on the boat earlier that afternoon. Their clothing was scattered all around them and the sun was starting to set.

“See, now my pants are all the way over there.” Nick said as the two of them rested together. “And I can’t just expertly pull things out of my pockets.” He said with a laugh.

Ashleigh laughed. The fact that she knew Nick was going to propose to her made the entire evening even more passionate than any other date they’d had. It also gave them quite a bit of cause for bantering back and forth, which she found to be highly amusing. “Why, is there something in there you want me to have?” She asked innocently.

Nick shrugged. “Maybe. Why don’t you have a look?”

Ashleigh beamed and as fast as she could started rummaging through Nick’s pockets. Nick snickered to himself, and while she searched he pulled the ring out of its hiding place beside the cooler.

Ashleigh bit her lip as she came up with nothing. Evidently, Nick was fooling her again. She turned to face him once again, and her breath caught in her throat.

Nick was sitting beside her, his hand outstretched, holding the ring she’d so desperately been looking for between his thumb and forefinger.

“I hate you.” She joked, staring at him, waiting for him to make a move.

Nick only grinned. “I love you.”

“You’re horrible.” She laughed, the breeze causing her to shiver a little.

“You’re wonderful.” He replied, still staring at her.

Ashleigh didn’t say anything in response, she only watched him as he stared into her eyes.

“Marry me.” He said softly.

Ashleigh pretended to consider that for a moment. She put her finger over her mouth, as if to pretend she was thinking. “Well…” She said, smiling. “I guess.”

Nick shook his head, and placed the ring on Ashleigh’s finger. “You’re ridiculous.” He laughed, kissing her.

She only smiled at him, and looked down at her hand. For the first time, she noticed that it was a different ring than Nick had used last time he’d proposed to her. “You didn’t have to buy me a new ring, Nick.”

“I know.” Nick said, kissing her hand. “But I thought this one was perfect. Sapphire, for September… for us…”

“And for James.” Ashleigh replied, kissing Nick’s lips softly.

“And for James.” Nick agreed, hugging her.

“I love you Nick.” Ashleigh said quietly, as he pulled the blanket up around them.

“I love you too.” He replied as he held her. “So much.”

My Happy Ending
Chapter 24

It didn't take long for Ashleigh and Nick to spread the news of their engagement to everyone that they knew. Ashleigh's mom was of course beyond excited, and insisted that she throw and engagement party for the two of them. As such, Ashleigh and Nick had hopped on a plane to Minneapolis to visit everyone and attend said engagement party.

Most people had been able to make it. Naturally, all of Ashleigh's friends were there as well as the other Backstreet Boys and their wives. Aaron had also managed to be there. This made for Ashleigh's mom's house to be quite crowded.

“How surreal is this?” Kate asked, walking into the kitchen where Ashleigh and Joey were helping her mom prepare some snacks. “Ash, did you honestly ever think that all five Backstreet Boys and Aaron Carter were going to be in your house?” She gushed.

Ashleigh laughed a little. “Nick's been here before.”

“I know, but all of them? God, should I go over there and introduce myself?” She asked, leaning over the table where Ashleigh was sitting.

“Go ahead.” She said. “But don't ask them to sign anything!” She called after Kate, who quickly scampered off.

Joey snickered once Kat was out of the room. “My God. You'd think she was still fifteen.”

“I know.” Ashleigh laughed.

Ashleigh's mom rolled her eyes and per her arm around her daughter. “I seem to recall someone else who was once like that.”

Ashleigh cringed and glanced at Joey, who only laughed. “She has a point, you know.”

At that moment, Nick came walking into the kitchen with an annoyed look on his face. “Ashleigh, Kate is taking pictures with Howie and AJ.” He said with a sigh. “Oh, what's that?” He asked, as he looked down at what Joey was arranging on one of the plates.

Joey smacked Nick's hand away just as he was about to pick at the food. “They're jalapeño poppers.” She said. “And you can wait until we put them out for everyone.” She added, giving him a look.

Nick pouted and attempted to take another one off the plate. This time, Joey didn't smack his hand away, she only shook her head.

“If you eat that, I'm not kissing you for the rest of the night.” Ashleigh said, wrinkling her nose.

Nick grinned and her and popped the snack into his mouth, promptly pulling her closer to him by the waist. He moved into kiss her, and Ashleigh struggled to break free of his grasp, giggling all the while.

“Look, I'm glad that you guys are all happily in love, but if you're going to fool around can you please do it outside of the kitchen?” Joey asked them, they they were hardly paying attention to her.

Eventually, they got the hint and moved out of the kitchen and back into the living room. Sitting down on one of the couches, Ashleigh and Nick briefly surveyed the room. There were quite a few people in attendance, something that made both of them quite happy.

“I can't believe that Kate brought him here.” Nick whispered in Ashleigh's ear motioning to Matt, who was sitting on the couch across the room, looking rather dejected.

Ashleigh shook her head and laughed a little. “That's what Kate does.” She said.

Evidently Matt realized that Ashleigh and nick were talking about him, because he quickly made his way over to where they were sitting. This caused Nick to protectively put his arm around his fiancée, and for Ashleigh to roll her eyes.

“Congratulations, Ashleigh.” He said stiffly, holding out his hand for her to shake.

“Thanks.” Ashleigh replied awkwardly, responding to his hand shake.

He looked behind himself and watched as Kate talked with AJ and Rachel. “Yeah... well...” He said, as he walked towards Kate.

Ashleigh and Nick glanced and each other and laughed a little. “Well, that was beyond weird.” She said, shuddering. “Hey, wouldn't it be hilarious if AJ hooked up with Kate?”

Nick shook his head. “AJ's married to Rachel.” He pointed out.

“Yeah, I know. I mean if he wasn't, you have to admit, it would be funny.” Ashleigh giggled, giving Nick a quick kiss on the cheek.

A few minutes later, Brian and Leighanne made their way over to Ashleigh and Nick to offer their congratulations. Of course, they'd already known that Nick was going to propose on account of his conversation with Brian, but they were still excited to hear the news.

“So have you guys decided on a date yet?” Leighanne asked, and Ashleigh and Nick gave each other a look.

“I have no idea.” Ashleigh laughed. “I don't even know where we're going to have the wedding.” She said.

“Well, if Nick gets his way you guys will be having it out on the ocean.” Brian laughed, and Nick grinned at Ashleigh.

Ashleigh pretended to think about that for a moment. “Well, I don't know. I was sort of hoping we could have a winter wedding, and for the reception we could go ice skating.” She joked, knowing that Nick was hardly a fan of Minnesota winters.

Leighanne laughed. “That actually sounds like it might be fun.”

Nick just shook his head in dismay. “Don't get too used to the idea.”


Once Ashleigh and Nick arrived back home, the enormity of the fact that they actually had to start planning a wedding hit them. There was still quite a bit to do, and not a lot of time to do it in with Nick setting off to Sweden to record for a little while. However this time, Ashleigh would be joining him on his trip.

“Nick.” Ashleigh said, as she sat in the living room looking at a calendar. “We need to pick a date to have the wedding.”

Nick sat down beside her on the couch. “Sure. How soon do you want to do this?”

Ashleigh bit her lip as she stared down at the dates in front of her. “I don't know. It's going to take a long time to plan... and we're going away. Maybe like a year from now?”

Nick nodded. “That sounds good. What about September sixth?” He asked, referring to the date that they officially became a couple two years prior.

Ashleigh shook her head. “No... I don't like that. It's kind of cheesy. We should go with something a little more subtle.”

Nick thought about that for a moment, and suddenly he got an idea. “Hey... do you still have that ticket stub?”

Ashleigh looked at him in confusion. What was he talking about? “Ticket stub?” She asked.

“Yeah, from when you and Joey saw us in concert. We should get married on that day.” Nick explained. It seemed logical to him, it was the day that they'd met each other once again.

“Why do you need the ticket stub?” Ashleigh asked him, wondering why he'd needed that. “That was August 23rd.”

Nick stared at her in amazement. “You have a freakishly good memory.”

Ashleigh giggled. “Obviously I would remember that day.” She said, swinging her legs up over Nick's lap. “But that's a really good idea. I like that a lot.” She agreed, flipping to the date on the calendar and putting a big circle around it.

“I can't believe this is actually happening.” Nick said, as he stared down at August 23rd, which was now marked with a large blue circle. “I was starting to think it never would.”

She smiled at him. “We were tested a lot this year weren't we?”

“But we passed.” Nick said, inching his face closer to hers.

“Mhmmm.” Ashleigh agreed, kissing him softly and wrapping her arms around his neck. She'd never felt as excited and impatient for anything as she did about their upcoming wedding.

My Happy Ending
Chapter 25

“You're amazing, Nick.” Ashleigh sighed as she snuggled up closer to him. “How did you get to be so good?” She asked.

Nick shook his head and put his arm around her, kissing the top of her head. “I'm not sure you want to know the answer to that.”

Ashleigh giggled. “It can't have been that many girls.”

Nick attempted to get up from the bed, but Ashleigh quickly pulled him back down. “I don't like where this conversation is headed.” He said with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

She pouted. “Nickers... just tell me.”

He looked away from her and started to fiddle with the disheveled sheets. “Um, I don't think I can.” He said slowly. “But honestly, you're the best that I've ever had.” He finished quickly, hugging her.

Ashleigh rolled her eyes, but laughed. “Can I ask you a question?”

Nick grimaced. He thought that he'd done a good job at avoiding the topic of past lovers before this. It was something he really didn't want to talk about at all. He didn't want Ashleigh to know much about his past in that regard, and he wasn't sure he wanted to hear about hers. “Sure.” He replied cautiously.

“Was I good the first time we slept together?”

“Of course you were.” Nick said without missing a beat.

“Really? I was really nervous.” Ashleigh said slowly. She hadn't even told Nick he'd been her first, in fact she'd led him to believe that she'd slept with her high school boyfriend. It hadn't been to difficult, Nick had never really asked about her past relationships.

“Well, you were wonderful.” Nick assured her. He wasn't lying either, there had been a reason he'd kept her around. “Did Kyle not think you were good or something?” Nick asked, referring to the guy she'd dated for a while in High School.

“Uh... no.” Ashleigh said uncomfortably. “I never... we never...”

Nick looked at Ashleigh, wondering what she could possibly try to be telling him. And then it hit him. Could she have been? No, that wasn't possible. “Ashleigh? Was I your first?”

“Maybe.” She said timidly. Why had she even brought up the subject? Even now, almost ten years later she was embarrassed beyond belief.

But Nick just grinned and hugged her. “That's adorable.”

Ashleigh pouted. “It's not adorable. It's embarrassing.”

Nick just shook his head. “It's not embarrassing at all. I think it's sweet.” He said, smiling and she held her head in her hands. “And I wasn't lying before when I said you were the best.”

Ashleigh blushed, and couldn't hide her grin. “I love you.” She said, peeking up at him.

“I know you do.” he grinned.


Ashleigh sighed as she sat at the dining room table. All afternoon, she'd been writing up wedding invitations ans she was starting to get rather bored. Nick had offered to help her but she'd declined, stating that she wanted people to actually be able to read the invitations.

She looked over the list she and Nick had compiled. Most of the guests were pretty obvious. The other guys, some of Nick's friends, Ashleigh's friends from Minneapolis, her mom and Grandparents, Nick's siblings, his dad...

Ashleigh frowned. “Nick!” She called.

“What?” Nick answered, he had been in the kitchen preparing dinner.

“Can you come here?”

Nick walked into the dining room, wiping his hands off with a towel. “What's up?”

“You're not inviting your mom to the wedding?” She asked, pointing to the list.

“Oh.” Nick said, not really wanting to get into the specifics. “Nope.”

Ashleigh sighed. She'd never understood Nick's issue with his mom. One day they were fine, the next minute he was swearing up and down that he'd never talk to her again. Ashleigh had never even met her, and Nick had never made any mention towards the fact that she would one day. “It's your wedding Nick. You should invite her.”

“Are you going to invite your dad?” He snapped at her. Talking to his mom never ended well, especially since the whole House of Carters fiasco.

Ashleigh refused to lose her temper with him. “That's a little different.” She said, sighing. “I've never even met him. You lived with your mom for twenty years.”

Nick crossed his arms an continued to stand across from her. “Technically, no. I was away in Europe for a huge part of my teenage years.”

Ashleigh rolled her eyes. Nick was being completely unreasonable. “Nick, how bad can she possibly be?”

Nick sighed and looked up at the ceiling, trying to find the words to explain to Ashleigh exactly why he couldn't stomach the thought of his mother. “She doesn't care about me. She cares about how much money I make, and give to her.”

“How do you know she doesn't care?” Ashleigh asked softly, giving him a sympathetic look. She couldn't quite imagine what Nick's situation would be like. She'd grown up without her dad, but that had been fairly easy, as she hadn't really known anything else.

Nick sat down at the table and started to look through the pile of invitations. “She didn't call here at all to say she was sorry about James.”

“Maybe she didn't know.”

Nick rolled his eyes. “Everyone in the world knows, Ash. Or do you not keep up with the message boards anymore?”

Ashleigh shook her head and continued to address yet another invitation. “You don't need to be rude to me, Nick. I was just asking.”

“Well, I'd rather you didn't.” Nick said bitterly, getting up from his seat and walking back into the kitchen. Leaving Ashleigh without any of the answers she'd wanted.


“How can you not think the topic of his mom would be a touchy subject?” Joey asked as the two girls talked on the phone later that night.

“I don't know.” Ashleigh sighed. After thinking about it for a while, she'd felt a little guilty bringing up the whole thing. It had been obvious that Nick didn't want to talk about it, and she'd kept pushing him. “I just thought it would be important for him to invite her!”

“Yeah, but at your wedding don't you only want to invite people you love and who won't start shit?” Joey asked. “Speaking of which, are you going to invite Kate?”

Ashleigh rubbed her eyes. As much as she enjoyed picking out patterns and flowers, she really was starting to tire of planning. She really just wanted the wedding to be over with. All she really wanted was to be married to Nick. “I don't know. Maybe I'll write on her invitation not to invite Matt.”

Joey snickered. “Or you could not do that, Matt could show up and you could totally rub it in his face.”

“Yeah, okay, because we're sixteen years old.” Ashleigh said sarcastically, and then jumped back to the original topic. “Seriously though. I think I really upset Nick. I mean, he dropped it after a while and we had dinner normally... but still.”

“I'd say just to leave it, Ash.” Joey advised. “If he wants to talk about it, he'll talk about it. Just let him invite who he wants to invite.”

Ashleigh couldn't argue with that. It was as much Nick's wedding as it was hers, he had a right to invite (or not invite) whoever he wished. “Yeah, you're right. Thanks, Joe.”

“You know I'm always right.” Joey laughed. “Now, when are we going to go dress shopping?”

My Happy Ending
Chapter 26

“Nick?” Ashleigh asked as she peeked her head into the basement. As Nick usually did when he was upset, he was sitting in front of the television playing video games.

“Hey Ash.” Nick said, not taking his eyes off the screen. “You want to play some Halo?” He asked, holing up the other controller.

“Uh, no.” Ashleigh replied, shaking her head. She couldn't ever recall a time she'd actually played Halo with Nick, though that didn't stop him from asking her repeatedly. She would have much rather played Mario Kart. Regardless, she walked down the stairs and sat beside him. “I'm sorry I brought up the whole issue about your mom.” She said, biting her lip.

Nick continued to concentrate on his game. “It's fine.”

Ashleigh just sat quietly, not really knowing what else to say. She didn't want to push any further because that had upset Nick the last time, but on the other hand she really did want to get Nick to open up to her about this.

“Have you finished doing the invitations?” Nick asked her after a few minutes of silence. Well, silence on their part anyway. His game was rather loud.

“Yeah.” Ashleigh replied. “I'm going to send them out first thing tomorrow morning.” Then she laughed a little. “You should see the little note I put inside Kate's.”

“Oh?”

Ashleigh continued to giggle, amused by her wit. “Yeah, it said 'Plus guest: Note, ex fiancées of the bride do not count as guests'.”

Nick laughed. “Good one. What do you think she'll do?”

Ashleigh shrugged. “She'll probably phone me to bitch. Either that, or they'll be broken up by then.”

Nick nodded. “you sure you don't want to play?” He asked, once again picking up the other controller and waving it in front of her.

Ashleigh shook her head. “You know that game makes me dizzy. I'll play something else with you.”

Nick groaned. “Ashleigh, I'm sick of Mario Kart.”

Ashleigh flashed him a grin as she looked through Nick's other games. “Well, if you bought something other than Halo...” She joked.

“Hey!” Nick defended himself. “I have Zelda too!”

Ashleigh rolled her eyes and gave Nick a look. “That's a one player game.”

Nick sighed, admitting defeat. “Fine. Put in Mario Kart.”


That night, Nick found he was having trouble falling asleep. Ashleigh's comment about his mom has brought up some memories that he'd much rather have forgotten. He really didn't like thinking about his mom, but he had to admit he felt a little guilty. After all, she was his mother. Ashleigh didn't have the luxury of deciding whether to invite both of her parents to her wedding, as such Nick could understand why Ashleigh had felt it was important for him to invite his mom.

However, he worried. He and his mom hadn't talked in well over three years, and it scared him to tihnk of what might be said. He worried that she would guilt trip him, that she wouldn't like Ashleigh and that she would just create a lot of unnecessary issues that they really shouldn't have to deal with on their wedding day.

Then again, she was his mother. She might get upset if she found out she wasn't invited. Perhaps if they invited her, she wouldn't even bother to come. Then Nick's conscience would be clear, and he wouldn't have to deal with her.

Somehow, he doubted that would be the case.

He looked over at Ashleigh, sleeping soundly right beside him. He paused for a moment, wanting to talk to her, but not wanting to wake her up. Though, he remembered all the times that she'd woken him up during the night when she'd wanted to talk.

“Ashleigh.” Nick said, nudging her awake.

“Mmm.” Ashleigh mumbled, rolling over slightly but not exactly waking up.

“I need to talk to you.” He said, shifting down a little from his sitting position. “About my mom.”

Hearing this piqued Ashleigh's interest. She opened her eyes and sat up a little. “What about her Nick?”

Nick sighed. “I don't know. I just... I can't have her at the wedding.” He said, not really sure how to get the right words out.

“I know.” Ashleigh said, once again feeling guilty for bringing up the whole issue.

“You must think I'm so ungrateful.” Nick said looking at her with sadness lingering in his eyes. “That I could take my family for granted like that.”

Ashleigh shook her head and rested her head on his shoulder. “I don't think that at all.”

“She just stirs up so much shit.” Nick attempted to explain. “She's such a fucking drama queen. I'm scared that she'd throw a fit, or not like you and it would ruin our day.” He said, running his hands through his hair. “She'd need to have all the attention on her and I just couldn't handle that.” He said.

Ashleigh nodded. Inwardly, she scolded herself. She should have known all of this about Jane Carter. She'd been a fan, she'd read the stories. Of course, Ashleigh hadn't known how much of it was really true until that point. “It's okay Nick.” She said. “I understand.”

“You really don't want to meet her, Ash.” Nick said, reiterating his points from before. “Really, you're not missing much.”

Ashleigh nodded in agreement, not really sure she actually wanted to meet the woman responsible for putting Nick through such pain. “I'm sorry for asking you about her.” She said sincerely.

“It's okay. I should have explained it better.” He replied, leaning over and kissing her. Grinning, he flipped Ashleigh over on to her back. “You know... while we're both awake...”


“It's too poofy.” Ashleigh complained, looking at herself in the mirror. The weekend before she and Nick were leaving to go to Sweden for a month or so, she had flown up to Minneapolis to go dress shopping with Joey.

Joey rolled her eyes. “Ash, you haven't liked anything.”

Ashleigh looked back at her friend, trying to muster up a response, however she came up with nothing. “That's not... okay fine.”

Joey laughed. “Weren't you supposed to have the perfect wedding dress in your mind since you were like, five?”

Ashleigh sighed, looking at herself in the mirror once again. She felt as though she'd tried on over a million dresses, and nothing had jumped out at her. “These are all just...”

“What?” Joey asked, not sure what Ashleigh was getting at.

“I don't know!” Ashleigh replied, going back into the change room. “God. They're just too complex. I just want something simple.”

Joey nodded, and continued to look through the racks as Ashleigh got changed back into her clothes. Soon enough, Ashleigh approached her best friend. “I'm bored of this. Do you want to go get lunch?” She asked.

Joey nodded, taking one final glance around the store. “Sure.”

Walking around downtown looking for a place to eat, Joey couldn't help but notice how much happier and upbeat about the whole wedding idea Ashleigh was. Compared to the last time she was getting married, Ashleigh seemed to enjoy planning quite a bit more and took it much more seriously.

“Nick's the one.” Joey said with a grin.

Ashleigh turned to look at her friend. “What?”

“Nick.” Joey repeated herself. “He's the one.”

Ashleigh laughed. “Well I should hope so, I'm marrying him.”

Joey rolled her eyes. “I know that. But what I mean is, it's for real this time. You guys really love each other.”

Again, Ashleigh gave Joey a strange look. Shouldn't she have already come to this realization. “Of course we do.” She said. “What made you think of that all of a sudden?”

Joey shrugged. “I don't know. You're just so concerned with getting the perfect dress, and all that stuff. When we went dress shopping for your wedding with Matt you just picked up the first one you saw.”

Ashleigh nodded, understanding where Joey was coming from. “Well, I guess this is really it.” She grinned. “I mean come on, Joe. It's Nick Carter.” She joked.

Joey laughed, remembering when Ashleigh had insisted on planning her wedding with Nick Carter back when they were in Junior High School. “Do you remember when you signed your name 'Ashleigh Carter' on that report we had to do for Mrs. Brooke in grade nine? She got so angry at you.”

Ashleigh giggled. “I'd love to see the look on her face now.”

Joey smiled. She felt unbelievably happy for her best friend. “You and Nick really are perfect for each other Ash.”

Ashleigh blushed a little at Joey's compliment. Still, she couldn't help but agree with her. She couldn't have imagined facing the past year with anyone else. As cheesy as she thought it was, she was starting to believe that she and Nick really were meant to be together. “Thanks, Joey.”

As the two girls entered the restaurant, Ashleigh couldn't help but feel giddy. The next time she and Joey saw each other would be the night before her wedding.

My Happy Ending
Epilogue

Let’s talk this over
It’s not like we’re dead

Ashleigh pouted as her mother and Joey fussed over her that morning. She was sitting in Joey’s living room, getting her make-up done for her wedding to Nick that afternoon.

“Sit still Ashleigh, God.” Joey scolded as she proceeded to attack Ashleigh with a make up brush.

“I am sitting still!” Ashleigh replied, though she was doing anything but. She was fidgety beyond belief, already feeling antsy. She was nearly ready to go, besides putting her dress on, her make-up was the last thing she was getting done.

“I don’t know why you two are insisting on getting married outside.” Her mom commented while making sure Ashleigh’s hair was in place. “It looks like it’s going to rain any minute.”

Ashleigh rolled her eyes. The last thing she cared about was the weather. After everything she and Nick had been through in the past couple of years, rain was the least of her worries. “It’ll be fine, mom. I’ve got an umbrella. Besides, it’s going to take place under a huge tent thing. It'll be fine.”

Was it something I did?
Was it something you said?

“Not getting cold feet, are you?” Kevin laughed as he and the others arrived at the park where Nick and Ashleigh’s wedding was supposed to take place.

“Not at all.” Nick smiled as he sat down on one of the wooden chairs. The guests would start arriving shortly, and Nick was grateful for the couple of minutes he had with his best man beforehand. “Thanks Kev.” He said.

Kevin just smiled at the younger man. “You and Ashleigh have come such a long way.” He commented, and Kristin nodded in agreement.

Nick looked up at the sky. Though it was grey and rain threatened to spill over at any moment, he couldn’t have felt happier than he already did.

Don’t leave me hanging
In a city so dead

Nick stood silently at the alter. He smiled to himself as the flower girl (one of Ashleigh’s friends daughters) made her way through the guests, and as Baylee followed quickly behind with the rings.

His breath nearly caught in his throat as all the guests rose from their seats and Ashleigh began to walk towards him. Her dress was simple, and her hair was pulled back. As she walked down the aisle with Grandfather linked to her arm, he couldn’t help but grin.

And as Ashleigh looked up at him, she grinned as well.

Held up so high
On such a breakable thread

Ashleigh grinned at Nick as she got read to read him her wedding vows. As Joey handed her the paper she'd written them on, she bit her lip. It had taken Ashleigh nearly an entire day to figure out exactly what she would say.

“Nick, you were everything I ever wanted since I was fourteen years old. You were my idol, the person I desired to be with more than anyone in the world. Now, as I stand here before you I can't even imagine how things came together like this. I love you more than anything, and not because your poster hangs above my wall, but because you love me with such honesty and intensity that I never thought was possible until now. I will always love you, Nick.”

You were all the things I thought I knew
And I thought we could be

Nick smiled as he went to read his vows to Ashleigh. He looked back at Kevin, who nodded for him to proceed.

“Ashleigh, you are the love of my life. I can't imagine where I would be without you. There was a time when I thought this day would never come, but you and I got through it together. You've kept me sane and you've kept me rational, even when I didn't deserve it from you, you still gave me love. You believed in me more than anyone ever has. I'll never stop loving you, I couldn't even if I tried.”

You were everything, everything that I wanted
We were meant to be, supposed to be
But we lost it

Ashleigh and Nick glanced at each other as they placed their rings on each others fingers. After all they'd been through together, it was very much a relief for them to stand in front of all their friends and family and declare their love for each other.

All of the memories so close to me just fade away

After being told he was able to kiss Ashleigh, Nick promptly took her in his arms and kissed her tenderly. Ashleigh blinked back a couple of tears as she kissed him back. Everything she'd been dreaming about for the past year was finally happening. She and Nick were offically married.

All this time you were pretending
So much for my happy ending

The reception was being held at a small recreation centre not too far away from where they'd had the wedding. Once everyone was seated, Joey grinned at Ashleigh and began her toast to the bride. Ashleigh smiled back, though she worried a little about what Joey was going to say.

“Ashleigh has been my best friend since we were in the sixth grade. She and I did everything together. I know you're going to hate me for saying this Ash, but she and I adored the Backstreet Boys... and from the looks of it, she still does.” Joey giggled.

Ashleigh rolled her eyes. She'd known Joey was going to bring that up.

Joey continued. “She's been my best friend through everything. Through High School, and even though we were in different faculties in University, she always made time for me. In all the years I've known her, I've never seen her as happy as she is when she's with Nick. Congratulations you guys, you deserve it.”

You’ve got your dumb friends
I know what they say

After Joey's toast, dinner was promptly served. If Nick and Ashleigh had their way, they would have been happy with burgers and fries, however Ashleigh's mom wasn't about to allow that. So instead, they ended up having a nicer dinner of grilled chicken and rice. Ashleigh and Nick grinned at each other, both thinking how much they would rather be eating something more along the lines of fast food.

They tell you I’m difficult
Well so are they

After dinner was over, Kevin stood up to toast Nick as his best man. Nick gave Ashleigh a look, knowing Kevin would say anything he could to embarrass Nick. Ashleigh just giggled.

“Nothing makes me happier to stand here on Nick's wedding day. I've known him since he was twelve years old, and I watched and helped him grow up. I feel like I should say something cheesy like 'I remember when Nick came home from his first date with Ashleigh'” Kevin laughed, and paused as the other guests laughed as well. “But that's not exactly how it turned out. Needless to say I couldn't be happier that these two managed to find their way back to each other, because I've never seen Nick happier.”

But they don’t know me
Do they even know you?

Once dinner was over, it was time for Ashleigh and Nick to have their first dance as a married couple. Ashleigh had told Nick he should be the one to choose the song, since he was of course the more musical oriented out of the two of them.

“Joey mentioned something to me about the fact that when you two were younger, you said that you wanted to dance to a Backstreet Boys song at your wedding.” Nick said, and Ashleigh rolled her eyes. How many more times were they going to make fun of her? Still, she couldn't help but grin a little at the irony of the situation.

“I thought that would be a little weird.” Nick continued. “So I thought I'd choose the next best thing.”

And as Ashleigh joined him on the dance floor, God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You by Nsync started to play.

“You're a loser.” Ashleigh giggled as she danced with him.

“You love it.” Nick replied, kissing the top of her head.

All the things you hide from me
All the shit that you do

“I'm ashamed, Nick. Don't you know that Backstreet Boys and Nsync are arch enemies?” Joey laughed as she approached Nick and Ashleigh once they were finished their dance.

Nick pretended to look surprised. “I've never heard anything about this!”

Joey shook her head as she looked at Ashleigh. “Too bad, it's too late for you to get out.” She joked.

Ashleigh smiled as she put her arms around Nick's waist. “He's cute, so I'll let it slide.”

You were all the things I thought I knew
And I thought we could be

“Congratulations, Nick.” Bob Carter smiled as he approached his son.

Nick smiled as he hugged his father. Through all his family drama, he was grateful for the fact that they were still on speaking terms at least. “Thanks, Dad.”

“So you're the one that finally got him to settle down.” Bob said, flashing Ashleigh a smile.

“That would be me.” Ashleigh grinning, shaking the hand of her new father in law. Though she understood Nick's reasons for not wanting his mother there, Ashleigh was happy that Nick was able to get along with his father.

You were everything, everything that I wanted
We were meant to be, supposed to be
But we lost it

“Welcome to the family, Nick.” Clayton Dane said, as he and Ashleigh's mother approached the two of them. “You're going to have your hands full with her.” He said, winking in Ashleigh's direction.

Ashleigh rolled her eyes, but giggled. “Grandpa, I'm not five years old anymore.”

Nick just laughed. “Don't worry, I already do.” He said, putting him arms around Ashleigh.

“You're so grown up.” Cathy commented as she looked at her daughter's smiling face. “I'm so happy for you.”

“Thanks Mom.” Ashleigh beamed.

All of the memories so close to me just fade away

Nick stood with the other four Backstreet Boys for a moment as Ashleigh sat with her girlfriends from University.

“Good for you, Nicky.” AJ congratulated him.

“You know, I never thought I'd say this, but you and Ashleigh are beyond perfect for each other.” Brian said, giving Nick a hug. “You guys have both changed so much.”

Nick chuckled. “Thank God for that.” He said, glancing over to Ashleigh. She was laughing and talking with her friends, wearing the same upbeat happiness he'd fallen in love with.

All this time you were pretending
So much for my happy ending

“If you smash that cake in my face, you're not getting laid tonight.” Ashleigh said as she and Nick went to cut the cake.

Nick clasped a hand to his chest. “But, Ashleigh! It's our wedding night!”

Ashleigh laughed and gave him a look. “Then don't put cake on my face.”

Nick grinned at her devilishly, and as they went to cut the cake, he playfully grabbed a chunk of it.

“Don't.” She warned him, a smile playing on her lips.

“I would never.” Nick said, shaking his head, but of course he was lying. Ashleigh squeezed her eyes shut as he messed up her picture perfect make up with wedding cake.

“You're horrible.” Ashleigh said right before Nick kissed her.

“See? Now it's fair.” Nick said, referring to the cake that was now on his face as well as a result of kissing Ashleigh.

It’s nice to know that you were there
Thanks for acting like you cared
And making me feel like I was the only one

“So?” Joey pressed as she walked up to Ashleigh and quickly whisked her away from Nick for a private girl talk. “Did you get anything special for tonight?”

Ashleigh laughed at her friend's interest in hers and Nick's sex lie. “Maybe.”

“Come on Ash! You have to tell me.” Joey prodded.

Ashleigh only giggled. “Maybe I'll tell you tomorrow during the gift opening.” She said.

“You'd better.” Joey giggled.

It’s nice to know we had it all
Thanks for watching as I fall
And letting me know we were done

As the evening drew to a close, Ashleigh and Nick were taken to their hotel suite via limo. Ashleigh sighed as she rested her head on Nick's shoulder.

“Hey, don't fall asleep!” Nick nudged her. “We still have plenty of activities planned for this evening.” He said suggestively.

Ashleigh opened her eyes and looked up at him. “I thought I told you that if you smushed the cake there'd be no sex.” She joked.

“That's not funny, Ashleigh.” Nick said seriously.

Ashleigh laughed. “You're so cute when you want sex.” She said, moving her lips up to touch his.

He was everything, everything that I wanted
We were meant to be, supposed to be
But we lost it

As Nick unlocked the door to the suite, Ashleigh stood at the entranceway behind him, not moving.

“Come on.” Nick urged, eager to finish what they'd started in the limo.

Ashleigh shook her head. “Aren't you supposed to carry me in?” She asked innocently.

Nick sighed jokingly. “Oh of course, how could I forget?” And as he said so, he picked her up and carried her inside.

All of the memories so close to me just fade away

Snuggling as close as she could to Nick, Ashleigh pulled the covers over herself. She couldn't have imagined that day being anymore perfect, and thanked her lucky stars once again that she was able to marry the man that she loved. “I love you, Nick.” She said quietly, before drifting off to sleep.

“I love you too, Ash.” Nick replied, turning to face her.

All this time you were pretending
So much for my happy ending...

I want to thank each and every one of your for reading and reviewing, it's because of you that this story got finished. I hit a pretty big writer's block somewhere after... chapter nine I think and had a really hard time getting back into the swing of things. If you guys hadn't been so passionate about the story, I doubt it ever would have got done. So I really have all of you to thank for the fact that I managed to finish this.

Okay, I'm going to explain my song in the Epilogue. First of all I felt as though it was fitting, because the title song was in the epilogue of the last story and yeah.. while it doesn't really fit at the end of the story, I think it fits the story as a whole. There really was a point I think where both of them (Nick and Ash) thought the relationship was going to end and couldn't survive the stress they were being dealt. Add to the fact that Ashleigh was having a little bit of trouble getting the other Backstreet Boys to respect her and yeah. For that reason, I felt as though the song worked. While it was the contrast of a happy scene and a sad song at the end, I felt it was because of those bad experiences that they were able to make it to point in their relationship where they were able to get married. I hope that's how it came across anyway. (FYI, for those who don't know, the song is “My Happy Ending” by Avril Lavigne)

This story was a lot different than the first one. I felt as though it was definitely a lot sadder, and as such that made it harder to write. When I wrote the sad scenes in Ashleigh and Nick of the past in In Pieces, it was okay because we knew that in the future things were working out for them. But there was no future in this story, and that made it hard.

Having Nick and Ashleigh lose their child was incredibly hard to write. I had to research stillbirths a lot, and that was so depressing. Depressing to the point where I changed the story a bit. There was supposed to be this really sad scene where Ashleigh actually delivers the baby, thinking everything is fine, and thens he starts freaking out because he's not crying or anything. But that would have been too hard to write... so I changed it and went with what's in there now. Which was still incredibly hard to write, but it was necessary for the plot to move forward. It actually came form a dream I had, where a couple gets pregnant, the guy is less than happy about it, and then in the end the child dies and he realizes that he really did want the baby. After I woke up from that dream I was like “HEY! A plot for the sequel to In Pieces!” And thus, My Happy Ending was born. The proposal and stuff came later... but in the end, it wrapped up very neatly. Ashleigh and Nick were supposed to be nowhere near ready to be married in the beginning, and by the end, they've gone through and over come so much together that yeah, it's time for them to tie the knot.

Anyway... I think this marks the end for Nick and Ashleigh. I'm not gonna lie, I do have a couple of ideas for a third story... but I think it might just be overkill at that point. They're married, how much drama can there possibly be? We'll see. In the meantime I think I'm going to focus on my new characters and see where that takes me.

Again I'd really just like to thank all of you for your awesome support. You guys rock! I never could have done it without all your fabulous reviews. I hope you enjoyed reading about Nick and Ashleigh as much as I enjoyed writing about them.

----Saka xoxox