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Chapter 5

The clanking sound of the lunch cart rolling down the aisle woke Carrie out of a light slumber. She opened her eyes and remembered that she was still on the plane to Germany. Carrie slowly sat up straight and glanced over at Nick who was curled up in his seat, fast asleep. She watched him for a moment, unsure if she should wake him or let him sleep. In her moment of thought, the squeaking sound of the wheels on the cart caused Nick to jolt awake. He looked around in confusion and glanced over at Carrie.

“What time is it,” he asked softly as he rubbed his forehead.

“It’s around noon. We still have another four hours before we land,” Carrie said as she put down her dinner tray.

“Oh,” Nick said as he slumped down in his seat.

“You should eat, Nick,” Carrie suggested.

Nick slightly sniffled as he straightened the green beanie hat on his head. “Not really that hungry,” he said as he leaned his head back on the headrest.

“Just eat a little something, please.”

“Fine,” Nick said as he put down his dinner tray.

The stewardess came by and handed both of them a tray with a bowl of cream of broccoli soup, served with sliced apples and a ham sandwich. Nick blankly stared at his tray and Carrie placed her hand over his.

“Just eat a little of it.”

“I will,” Nick said as he stirred up the soup while sniffing.

Carrie quietly ate her lunch while observing Nick. He was picking at his food more than he was eating it. She’d never seen him eat with such a struggle before. She watched him as he put his spoon down and rubbed his throat. He was almost wincing in pain as he swallowed. Carrie sighed and put down her sandwich.

“Nick, seriously, are you okay?”

“I don’t know,” Nick said as he looked back down at his tray. “I do know that I don’t want any more of this food.”

“Okay,” Carrie said as she wiped her mouth with her napkin. “You don’t have to eat any more.”

“Good,” Nick replied as he slumped back down in his seat, resting his head against his hand.

Carrie polished down the last of her sandwich and signaled for the stewardess. She cleared their trays away from them and Carrie drew her attention back at Nick. He creased his forehead as he swallowed. Carrie linked her fingers with his and rubbed her thumb over his. Nick glanced over at her and sighed.

“Babe?” he said in a meek tone.

“Yes?”

“I think I’m sick,” he surrendered.

Carrie softly chuckled and squeezed his hand. “It’s about time you admitted to it.”

“Shut up,” he whined as he laid his head on her shoulder.

“Poor baby,” Carrie said as she laid her head against his. “You should sleep for a bit. There’s plenty of time.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not,” Carrie asked then kissed the top of his head.

“This chair is so not comfortable.”

“If I let you your head on my lap, will you sleep?” Carrie suggested.

“Yes, but…um….one thing,” he answered hoarsely.

“What is it?”

“Can we switch seats?”

“Why?”

“Just because I like the aisle seat better,” he said as he looked at her.

“Okay,” Carried replied slowly as she got out of her seat.

Nick scooted over and she made herself comfortable in Nick’s original seat. She closed the blind on the window while Nick grabbed a pillow and blanket from the overhead compartment. Carrie took the pillow from him and placed it on her lap. She invitingly patted the pillow as she glanced up at him. Nick covered his mouth as he harshly coughed. Carrie took the blanket from him and unfolded it as he sat in the seat.

“Lay down,” she ordered as continued to unfold the blanket.

Nick obediently laid his head on the pillow and rolled over on his side. Carrie gently rubbed his arm as he continued to cough. Nick took off his beanie hat and handed it to Carrie.

“Too hot for that now,” he said as he cleared his throat.

“Babe, you sound horrible,” she said as she caressed his cheek. “You’re burning up.”

“I told you I was sick,” Nick said softly.

Carrie gently ran her fingers through his hair as he closed his eyes. Nick shifted his position and pulled his IPod out of his pocket. He opened his eyes and handed it to her.

“Damn thing was poking me. Will you hold on to it?”

“I can do better than that,” she said with a smirk as she put the earphones in her ears.

Nick smiled and kissed the palm of her hand. Carrie turned on his IPod and went back to caressing his tousled hair. Nick nuzzled his head against the pillow and slowly fell asleep in her lap. She smiled at Nick’s selection of 80’s music in his IPod and flipped through the menu for something to listen to. Carrie was in the middle of looking at a possible Duran Duran song when she felt something soft bounce off her head. She looked up and A.J. was laughing at her from above her seat. Carrie put the song on pause and picked up the Nerf ball that had landed in Nick’s seat.

“Sorry,” he said while taking the ball from her.

“Could you be more careful, please? You’ll wake up Nick.”

“He’ll get over it,” A.J. teased.

“Don’t be a jerk,” Carrie said while rolling her eyes.

“Aw, come on, he’s just a big baby.”

“Alex, sit down and shut up,” Carrie said while rolling her eyes.

“Rawr,” A.J. said with a laugh. “Lighten up, Carrie.”

“Alex, I’m in no mood,” she pressed.

“Fine,” he said as he went back to his seat.

Carrie sighed and went back to listening to her music and looked out the window. She gently rubbed Nick’s arm as she closed her eyes and relaxed. The music boomed in her ears as felt her body fall limp and sleep snuck up on her. Less than two hours had passed and she was awoken by the sound of the “seatbelt on” light coming on. She hazily rubbed her eyes and looked at Nick, who was already sitting in his seat, ready for landing. Carrie removed her earphones and handed the IPod to Nick. Without a word, he took it from her and slipped it into his pocket. Carrie put on her seatbelt and held his hand as she watched him sniffle and groggily looked ahead of him. She reached over and tickled his cheek with her index finger. Nick glanced in her direction and sighed as he kissed her hand.

“What is the plan when we get to the hotel?” she asked.

“Sleep,” he said while nodding.

“No meetings or anything.”

Nick shook his head as he coughed into his hand. “No, not until tomorrow.”

“Good,” Carrie replied.

The plane landed smoothly and Carrie immediate went into protective mode. She wasn’t letting Nick out of her sight. She stood behind him as he wobbly got off the plane and headed over to the baggage claim.

“Nick, let Josh get the big bag,” Carrie ordered.

“I’m not crippled,” he stubbornly answered as he pulled the first bag off the conveyor belt.

“Nick, stop trying to be macho and let him carry it.”

Nick clenched his jaw and shook his head. “Don’t start with your bossing me around crap. I’m not in the mood,” he continued as he gathered the rest of the bags.

“Don’t snap at me,” Carrie said as she grabbed her duffle bag from him.

“Sorry,” he muttered as he turned around. “I just want to get in bed.”

“And you will,” Carrie said then kissed his cheek. “Let’s head over to the van. Josh is waiting on us.”

The two of them hustled over in Josh’s direction and he led them into the van. The rest of the guys had already taken their seats inside the van. Nick plopped down in his seat and covered his mouth as he coughed.

“You should lay off the smokes,” A.J. teased.

“Fuck off,” Nick replied between coughs.

Carrie reached over and smacked A.J. as hard as she could.

“Ow!” he shouted while rubbing his arm. “What the hell?”

“Be nice,” Carrie warned.

Nick put his face in his hands and groaned. “I’m gonna die.”

“Should we notify the coroner?” Brian said with a laugh.

“Brian, you’re not helping either,” Carrie hissed. “He’s younger than all of you and ya’ll are acting like you’re five. Knock it off!”

“Sorry, Carrie,” A.J. replied. “We didn’t mean it. We’re used to picking on him.”

“Well, knock it off,” Carrie muttered as she rubbed Nick’s back.

Carrie held back her annoyance as they rode to the hotel. It wasn’t long before they arrived at the entrance. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw that only a small group of fans lingered outside the doors. Carrie watched as the other guys got out and greeted the girls. Nick still sat in his seat with his head in his hands. Carrie placed her hand on back and sighed.

“Nick, let’s head on up to the room. Someone else can take care of the bags.

“I don’t wanna move,” he mumbled.

“Babe, you’ll feel better in bed.”

“Okay,” Nick said as he slowly undid his seatbelt and got out of the van. Carrie followed closely behind and rolled her eyes in frustration as she watched him stop and sign a couple of autographs. She wandered into the lobby and waited for him to meet up with her. A.J. came over to her with a room key in his hand. He smiled as he looked at her with her arms crossed.

“He’s too nice,” Carrie said between clenched teeth.

“And he’ll never learn,” A.J. said with as he handed her the room key. “Don’t worry about the bags, we’ve got it taken care of.”

“Thanks, Alex,” Carrie said as she placed her hands on her hips.

Nick slowly walked in and sheepishly smiled at her. “I’m sorry, baby. You know I gotta say hi to the fans.”

“Never mind that. Let’s just get up upstairs,”

Nick obediently followed her to the elevator and they rode to their floor in silence. She stared at the key as she waited for the doors to open. As soon as the elevator stopped, she hastily got out and looked for their room. Carrie let out a sigh of relief when she saw their bags were already waiting at their door, which made it easy to find. She moved the biggest bag out of the way and opened the door, letting Nick in first.

“You, bed, now,” she ordered.

“I can help you with—“

“No, in bed,” she said as she propped the door open with one of his bags.

Carrie drug all the bags into the room and caught her breath as she stood up straight. Nick had already stripped down and crawled into bed. He stared up at the ceiling and rubbed his head as he coughed. Carrie removed her shoes and crawled onto the bed, laying beside him. He looked at her and wrinkled his brow in misery.

“You look like death,” she said bluntly.

“Thanks, I love you too,”’ he replied with a smirk.

Carrie smile and kissed his cheek. “Don’t move. You are taking some Tylenol before you drift off,” she said as she went for her purse. “What time is your meeting tomorrow?”

“Not until one in the afternoon,” he said as he sat up.

“Good, then you can sleep. I don’t want you out of this bed until then,” she said as she reached into the mini refrigerator for a bottled water.

“Not even to pee?” he joked.

“You know what I meant,” she said as she handed him two tablets. “Take these and lay down.”

“Yes, Mommy,” he said as he put them in his mouth.

Carrie watched as he obediently took the tablets and laid back down on his back. She wandered over to her suitcase and changed into her pajamas. She walked back over to the bed and Nick was already starting to drift off. He jumped a little as she crawled under the covers. Nick looked at her and moved closer as she opened her arms to him. He laid his head on her chest and she gently rubbed his back.

“Just sleep,” she whispered. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” Nick mumbled and surrendered to his fatigue.