“Nick!” Isabelle hissed from the doorway. It was already Christmas Day. Touring had gone by rather quickly these last few days – they flew from one state to the next, or so it seemed. Nick seemed to be perfectly fine with everything. It was Isabelle that seemed to be struggling. She didn’t feel like she had any time to spend with Nick on a personal level. They were always busy; if they weren’t running around from one city to the next, they were sleeping. They hardly had any time for themselves. Isabelle was glad to be in Tampa with Nick now until after the New Year, but she was nervous about meeting his friends and family.
“What?” Nick chuckled and came in from the back porch with a beer in his hand.
“Something went wrong…this ham doesn’t look right at all,” Isabelle made a sour expression towards the stove where a ham sat on top which she had just pulled from the oven. “I keep trying to call my mom but she’s not answering. She’s mad that I didn’t come home for Christmas.” Tears brimmed her big brown eyes. The last thing she wanted was for her family to be upset with her. That was why she had opted out of going home for the holidays in the first place.
“Hey,” Nick caught her attention and pulled her chin up with his index finger so he could look into her eyes. “Relax, okay? Everything’s gonna be fine. Baby, if the ham didn’t turn out right, we’ll order a pizza. It’s no big deal.” He leaned forward and kissed her forehead.
“But it is a big deal!” Isabelle shot back. “I want your friends and family to like me…and ruining Christmas dinner isn’t really the best of starts.” She mumbled and looked back at the ham, trying to think of what she did wrong.
“Izzie,” Nick laughed. “First off, Chris and Brittany are pretty much the easiest going people you’ll ever meet. Rob eats anything – you could shove that in his face right now whether it’s ready or not and he’ll be happy. Aaron’s the same way – he just loves food. Angel’s not the judging type when it comes to food because, well, she can’t cook. Honey, there’s only five people out there. None of them care. And I sure as hell don’t care! I’m just glad you’re here.” He said sincerely, kissing her softly on the lips. “Now, I’ll go order pizza. Then you and I are stepping out of the kitchen to the porch to enjoy Christmas day here in Tampa.” He grinned. “Capiche?” He winked.
“Yeah, yeah. I get it,” Isabelle sighed and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
“For what?” Nick grinned as the two stood there in the doorway just staring at each other for a little while.
“For making me feel comfortable and accepted by you and your friends,” Isabelle shrugged and wrapped her arms around Nick’s neck as his arms snaked around her waist.
“Baby, you are accepted by me. You know that, right?” Nick questioned quickly. He wanted Isabelle to feel satisfied and accepted in their relationship. Isabelle nodded; she knew how Nick felt about her. It was mainly just his friends and family. She wanted them to like her. “And my friends and family know that I like you, so they should like you too. Besides, like I said, food really isn’t the way to their hearts.” He winked. “Only mine, but you already won that over.” He joked.
“Ha ha,” Isabelle laughed sarcastically. “Better have. Because we both know I wouldn’t be able to win you over with my cooking.” She rolled her eyes back at the mess on the stove.
“That’s not true,” he corrected her. “Now come on, let’s go outside and enjoy Christmas, okay?” He tugged at her arm and pulled her towards the door. “You go entertain while I call for pizza.” He kissed the top of her head and shoved her out the door before she could interject.
“Hey Isabelle,” Brittany smiled politely from her side of the table. Rob and Chris had walked over to the poolside with their beers to talk about something else. Aaron was chasing Layla, Nick’s bulldog, around the backyard while throwing Frisbee. Angel and Brittany were sitting out talking. “We were just talking about you.”
“Oh?” Isabelle put a smile on her face and walked over to the other girls to sit down and chat. “What about?” She asked.
“Why you’re interested in my brother,” Angel laughed and took a sip of her beer. Isabelle mentally wondered if Angel was even old enough to drink. She didn’t think she was, but she surely didn’t bring up that tough subject.
“No, I ask myself why he’s interested in me…” Isabelle tugged her legs up to her chest comfortably and grinned at the two. “He’s so sweet to me.”
“Aw,” Brittany smiled. “I’m just glad he finally found a nice girl. Usually whenever we’d double with Nick or go out with him and his girlfriends, we’d be stuck with some slut like Paris Hilton.” She shuddered. “That girl was nothing but trash.” She took a sip from her beer, as well.
“Amen,” Angel laughed. “She was kinda sweet whenever I first met her, but she only got worse.” She made a disgusted look and took another sip from her beer.
“Well, I’m just glad you both seem to like me,” Isabelle chuckled softly. “I have to admit, I was really nervous about coming home with Nick for the holidays. But I also didn’t want to go home.” She sighed. Thinking about home made her kind of sad. She did miss her family, she just wished they could accept her and accept the fact she liked someone that didn’t fit their plan for her life. She shouldn’t have to worry about their plan; it was her life.
“Oh trust me, Nick and I know all about dysfunctional families,” Angel winked with a laugh. “You should ask him about ours sometime. He’ll be the first to tell you how fucked up it all is.”
“He’s explained it to a degree,” Isabelle shrugged. “Mine’s not necessarily…dysfunctional. It’s mainly just my parents. They have this crazy plan made for all their kids and when we don’t follow it, they end up disappointed.”
“Like what?” Brittany asked, completely intrigued now.
“My mom encouraged all of us to get married and start a family early. She would push for it when we turned twenty-three. But with me, I didn’t just go out and fall in love like she’d hoped for,” Isabelle sighed. “So when I met Brady, my ex, my parents pushed for things to get serious with him. That’s why I went on tour to begin with. Brady was working for the guys and he got me a job with the merchandising people.” She explained.
“And then you fell in love with Nick,” Angel snorted. “Shocker.” Isabelle was a little taken back by Angel’s bluntness, but she didn’t say anything.
Brittany rolled her eyes and went in to correct Angel, to try and not scare away Isabelle. “What she means, is that things like that have happened before. But you and Nick seem to be really good for each other. Nick seems to be changing.”
Isabelle was a little nervous about them talking to her like this. It sounded like Nick was a player before he met her. She didn’t doubt it; he was a gorgeous man and from the few angry looks she got at the concert in Germany, she was almost sure he had girls throwing themselves at him every night. She just hoped she hadn’t gotten herself stuck in a situation where she’d be cheated on. She didn’t have the patience for cheating. “Yeah, I think you’re right.” Instead of worrying anymore, she agreed and let the conversation drop.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry for the wait, folks! I've been crazy busy with Christmas, work & New Year's right around the corner! I work at Disney World so you can only imagine just how crazy life is at the moment, lol. I hope everyone has been enjoying their holiday season =]. I'll try & update more shortly! Please review!!
