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Chapter 10

Nick looked over at Howie who was driving the car. He still hadn't figured out how he was going to meet up with Dan without Howie noticing but he was sure that it would work itself out. He didn't want to do anything that would seem too obvious. The last thing he wanted was to make Howie suspisious. That would ruin everything because he knew that Howie would tell AJ and the other guys and they would make it so much harder for Nick to do this again. If not impossible.

"We're here Nicky," Howie said and Nick glanced quickly at him but then opened the door and stepped out of the car. As he was standing here, he looked over the parking lot to see if he saw Dans car, and he spotted it not far from Howies. When Nick heard the door slam, he watched as Howie walked towards the door and he stayed behind him. Once inside, Nick looked around to see if he could see Dan. He was no where to be seen. "What's wrong Nicky?" Howie asked as he looked back at Nick.

"Nothing," he answered quickly, "just haven't been down here in awhile."

"Have you ever been down here," Howie joked and Nick smiled at him.

"Very funny," he replied.

"Yeah, I thought it was," Howie said to Nick and smiled.

"You should work on you act before you take it on the road."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Howie asked.

"Get better jokes dude," Nick said with a wide grin on his face. Howie smiled back and laughed then he shook his head.

"What, don't you think I'm funny?" Howie asked joking.

"About as funny as getting my teeth pulled," Nick replied.

"That hurts man," Howie said pretending to be hurt by what Nick said. Nick smiled and shook his head. Where the hell was Dan? That's when Nick realized that he probably wasn't going to show if he and Howie were too close.

"Why don't you get what you need. I'll just be over there looking at some magazines alright?" Nick asked as he pointed towards the rack in the front of the store. Howie was quiet for a moment.

"Alright," he said reluctantly, "but if you aren't there when I get back..."

"Don't worry," Nick interupted, "you drove and no one could get here fast enough. Besides, my cell phone is at home. You don't have to worry because I'm not going anywhere."

"Okay, you want me to get anything inparticualr?" Howie asked.

"No, whatever you want, I don't care really," Nick answered. Howie nodded and Nick walked towards the magazine rack and hoped that Dan saw that he was alone and came quickly. Nick sighed and picked up a magazine and started to flip through the pages.
"Nick," he heard and looked up and saw Dan.

"Hey man, I wasn't sure if you'd get to me in time," Nick said putting down the magazine that he was looking at.

"I never disappoint," he said as he handed Nick a bottle filled with the same pills that has sent him to the hospital. Nick slipped them into his pocket before anyone noticed what was going on.

"Thanks man, I really needed some more of these. AJ went fucking insane and got rid of everything," Nick explained.

"Well, at least you've got friends like me. We keep it coming."

"Yeah thanks, but you should go now, I see Howie coming back," Nick commented as he saw Howie beginning to come into veiw.

"Alright man, take care and don't hesitate to give me call if you need any more," he said as he patted Nicks arm and walked away.
"Who was that?" Howie asked when he reached Nick.

"Some guy, it was nothing," Nick answered, "he just knew who I was so it's no big deal."

"Oh alright," Howie replied, buying what Nick had told him, "well I'm going to pay for this and then we can get out of here."
"Alright cool, lets go then," Nick said as the followed Howie to the checkout line. Nick tried his best to keep from becoming nervious. He couldn't let Howie catch on to what he was doing or trying to do. It only took Howie a few minutes to get through the line and pay for everything.

"Come on Nicky," Howie said to Nick and then the two of them started to walk out to the parking lot and to Howie's car. Howie put the bags in the trunk as Nick took a seat in the passanger seat. Nick sighed as he pulled the door shut and then he heard Howie shut the trunk and then walk around the car to the drivers seat and get in. They didn't say anything for the entire ride. Neither of them felt that there was anything to say at the moment so they kepy quiet.

It wasn't long before they arrived back at Nicks house. When Nick stepped out of the car, he went straight into the house and up to his room. He dropped onto his bed and laid there for a few minutes. Soon he shut his eyes and just listened to see if Howie was going to come up and check on him. Though, none of the guys had really been doing that, only a couple of times during the day to see if he was hungry.

Nick laid there for a while longer until he heard the tv downstairs go on. That's when he knew that Howie wouldn't be coming up for a while. This was the time for him to get his fix without Howie knowing about it. Slowly he stood up from the bed and walked into the bathroom and he shut and locked the door behind him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the bottle. His hands shook has he opened it. He let a few of the pills slip out into his hands and then he shut the bottle and put it back in his pocket. Nick put the pills in his mouth and leaned his head against the wall as he sollowed them.

Nicks eyes flew open when he heard someone baging no the bathroom door. His hand went to his head and that's when he realized he was on the floor. He didn't remember if he had fallen or just laid down there. Whatever it was he knew that he had to answer Howie.

"Nicky," Howie yelled.

"I'm fine D. My stomach is just bothering me," Nick replied.

"Why didn't you answer me the first time that I called you?" Howie asked, worried, "are you alright? Should I take you to the hospital?"

"No!" Nick shouted, knowing that if Howie took him to the hospital, they would find out what he did, "I mean, you don't have to. It's nothing. It'll pass."

"Are you sure? Maybe there's something that a doctor can do for you."

"It's okay, I'm alright. Don't worry about me," Nick answered hoping that Howie wouldn't figure out what he did.

"You sound pretty sick, maybe I should call a doctor," Howie commented.

"You don't have to do that Howie. I'm going to be just fine. It's probably just the withdrawals," Nick said, hoping that Howie brought it.

"Oh, maybe then we should call AJ. He'd know.."

"Howie we don't need anyone," Nick yelled, finally lossing his patience.

"Fine, I was just trying to help you geez," Howie replied backing off. Nick laid back on the floor once he heard Howie leave the room. He was still slightly disoriented but as always, it would pass in a few moments. As he lay there, he thought about what he had to do keep this a secret. AJ was definately going to be hard to fool, but it wasn't impossible. He just had to make sure that AJ wasn't around when he got his fix and he would be alright. It couldn't be that hard, could it?