[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
Chapter Twenty-One: Batshit Crazy


Kelsey ignored every text, call, and e-mail from Desi for an entire week. And that was a lot of texts, calls, and e-mails to ignore. Nick knew because he was the one that ended up fielding half of them because somewhere around the third day, Desi figured out that Nick would at least reply. So there was a long string of how's Kelsey and she's okay going back and forth between the two guys while Kelsey spent the week fuming over Desi's passion-fused words.

Normally, having a pissed off girl floating around the house was a downer, but since Nick wasn't the guy she was pissed off at, he found the experience refreshing. And the angry sex? Well, Nick wasn't about to pass that up anytime soon (and there certainly was a lot of it). In fact, it was the fifth night of Desmond-Free Week when Nick was laying in a sweaty mass of sheets and Kelsey when his cellphone rang.

"'Lo?" Nick asked into the phone, breathless. Kelsey ran her fingers through his hair as she laid across his chest, her hair splayed across his skin.

There was a pause. "Are you busy?" It was Howie.

"Hey Howie," Nick panted. "I uh, not anymore?" Nick grinned at Kelsey who smiled back up at him and nuzzled into his chest.

Howie laughed, "She still there?"

"Shut up," Nick panted.

Howie snickered. "Look, I'll make this quick so you can get back to - uh- what I'm keeping you from... Kevin gave us the demo of the song, and I was thinking we should all get together and tape it sometime. The five of us. What'cha think?"

"Sounds marvelous."

Kelsey kissed Nick's chest and he closed his eyes, restraining a moan.

"What do you think about this weekend?"

"Okay."

"Okay. We were hoping to use your studio actually."

"My studio?" Nick asked. Then he sobered up as the words sank in. "My studio -- here in Nashville? Ya'll are comin' to Nashville?"

Howie laughed, "That's the point, yes."

"This weekend."

"Uh-huh."

"Well shit I better clean the house then," Nick said, only half-joking. He glanced at Kelsey. "I um, I have a girl here," he said, staring into her eyes, "Just so y'all know."

"Well I'd hope you aren't making yourself pant like that or I'd have to ask you what kind of bionic hand you had installed," Howie joked.

"No I mean, she lives here," Nick replied, rolling his eyes.

Howie snickered. "You dawg."

"Shut up."

"Well warn her that the Backstreet Boys are taking over Casa de Carter for a couple nights. We can get this song taped and maybe we'll actually have a kick start on the album finally." Howie's voice climbed in excitement. "And Nick? Did I mention I'm real proud of you dude? This song is brilliant."

Nick closed his eyes. "Yeah," he said, "It is."

"You've come a long way from the little tool you were a couple years ago," Howie said with a faux nostalgic air to his voice. "Anyways, lil bro, lemme call the other guys, tell'em you confirmed for the weekend and I'll call ya back with everyone's itineraries as soon as I know'em." Howie paused, and the grin in his voice was evident as he said, "Have fun tonight, Don Juan."

Nick hung up the phone and tossed it onto the night stand.

Kelsey looked up at him, her chin on his chest.

"Howie," Nick said by way of explanation. "The fellas are coming to tape the song." He smiled.

"Desi's song?" Kelsey asked and she sat up, hugging the sheet across her chest as her eyes widened and her hair cascaded down her back. "Really?"

Nick realized in that instant where his folly lay. Kelsey knew the song as Desi's song. The Boys knew the song as Nick's song. He chewed the inside of his lip, trying to decide how to tell Kelsey what was going on with the song and the rights to the song, but she was already onto the next topic before he could settle on any words.

"So y'all really tape like actual albums and everything in the studio then?" she asked.

"I did a lot of my solo album there," he replied.

"That's pretty awesome," Kelsey said.

"Yeah," he answered.

She licked her lips. "Des would probably wanna know y'all are taping the song."

"I'll tell him," Nick replied.

"Okay," she answered. She snuggled back into the pillows and stared up at the ceiling.

Nick turned toward her, "You okay? That's the first time you've mentioned The-D-Word since last week," he pointed out.

Kelsey shrugged, "Yeah, I guess so. I mean this is probably the longest I've been out of touch with him other than when I was with Luke..." She stared at the blanket and started picking at it a little with her fingers.

"You still pissed about what he said?" Nick asked.

Kelsey shrugged again. "Not really."

"So why are you still avoiding him?"

Because he's in love with me and I don't know how to handle that yet, Kelsey thought. Outloud, she said, "I'm just not ready to forgive him yet, I suppose."

Nick sighed and rolled back into his own pillows so they were laying side by side on the bed. "Eventually you're gonna though, right?"

"Eventually."

It would've been easier to tell her about the song if she'd doubted ever wanting to forgive him, he thought.

So they laid there, each of them in their own secrets, thinking of all the ways it'd be easier to tell the other person what they were thinking.




Desi, meanwhile, had spent the week writing.

Crumpled notebook paper was strewn around the hotel room floor like snow drifts, massive piles of discarded pages, words scripted upon their every surface. He'd been dribbling out words since the moment he'd been standing on the curb as Kelsey drove away. Word vomit about the moment when you spill your guts to someone and they throw it all away.

He was laying on his back on the floor in the dark, staring up at the ceiling, splayed out.

His phone vibed. He picked it up.

Kelsey wanted me to tell you we're taping your song this weekend. Me and the Boys.

He stared at the words on the screen, squinting, almost unable to understand the meaning of them.

Seriously?

Yeah.

Desi felt a lump rise in his throat. He was about to be legitimately published, his music actually recorded by people whose music was actually heard of. He imagined getting contacted for a million song writing jobs following it's release, people scrambling to get a song written by the guy that wrote the new Backstreet Boys song.

He sighed and looked around at all the paper. He wasn't gonna be able to write another damn song, though, he thought to himself, considering his muse was gone.

Desi grabbed the tank top that she'd left on the bed and picked it up and smelled it. It was purple flowers and coconut and something else, something uniquely Kelsey. He breathed deep and then shoved the tank top back among the blankets on her bed, where he kept it to preserve the smell.

He felt pathetic.




"They're crazy. That's your warning," Nick said as his car swerved off the I-40 and into the BNA arrivals lane. He glanced at Kelsey, "I mean completely, 100% batshit crazy."

"They're friends with you," she pointed out, "They'd have to be."

"Touche."

Nick pulled the Escalade up to a space and parked it and got out, walking around to the back. Kelsey stayed in the seat, biting her lip and watching in the mirror as four guys trampled through the underbelly of the arrivals lanes dragging luggage. Nick hugged each of them in turn and laughed at something one of them said, and slapped his hand on the back of another. She had a feeling that she should know all their names but like all the names of the Spice Girls that was a bit of 90s trivia long lost in the recesses of her brain.

Nick opened the hatch of the Escalade and started piling up the luggage. "Lift with your hips not your back for Christ's sake, you're gonna bust your sacroiliac."

"Nick's gonna bust his sack," snorted a low voice. Nick giggled.

"It means back, you dirty, hairy bastard," replied the first voice.

The door opened behind Kelsey and suddenly a face popped up through the two front seats. "Hello!" The blue eyes staring at her were excited and dancing. "I'm Brian." He stuck out a hand.

"Hey," she replied. "Kelsey."

"Purdy name!" he said enthusiastically. He then proceeded to toss himself into the far back row of seats by rolling over the middle one, legs flailing.

She raised an eyebrow. Okay. Nick was right. These guys were batshit crazy. She turned in her seat and saw Nick and the guy with bushy eyebrows shoving the last of the suitcases in. Meanwhile the other two were climbing in the middle seat. "I ain't sittin' with Rok," muttered the guy who'd been excited about the sack breaking. He had a big thick beard and nerdy black-framed glasses. "I had enough Rok time on the plane." He slid into the center seat, then saw Kelsey peeking over her seat's shoulder. "Well hello there sweets."

"Hi," Kelsey muttered.

The other guy shoved in next to The Beard and stuck out his hand, "Howie Dorough," he said, "Nice to meet you. Sorry for interrupting y'all the other day." He thumbed at him, "He didn't say it because he's rude, but his name's AJ."

"Hi," Kelsey said again.

The last guy got in and looked at the two crammed into the center seat. They both grinned up at him. He looked back at Brian. "Sorry Kev," AJ said, "We took a vote on who was gonna sit with Brian and you lost."

Kevin grumbled something, then started to turn back to the third row as Nick climbed into the driver's seat.

"What's your name, by the way, doll?" AJ asked, leaning forward.

"That's Kelsey," Brian shouted from the back before she could answer. Then, "Kevin, did you meet Kelsey?"

Kevin looked toward the front, "Hello Kelsey."

"Hi," she said a third time.

Nick grinned into the rearview mirror. "Okay let's go," and he pulled out of the space and into the flow of BNA traffic.

"OHMIGOSH," shouted Brian from the back, "WE'RE BACK AGAIN!"

And then the whole Escalade exploded into about a thousand different conversations as the guy all jostled to talk about their travel to BNA at the same time. Nick grinned over at Kelsey. "I told you they're crazy," he laughed.

"Batshit crazy," Kelsey nodded.

He laughed and his eyes twinkled, "I gotta warn ya, too..."

"What?"

"I get pretty batshit crazy around them myself."

Kelsey raised an eyebrow.

Nick grinned.