I stirred the mixture in my cup with a spoon and watched the clouds of white whipped topping float around. "Collette, honey, you've been staring at that cup of hot chocolate for almost fifteen minutes now. What's on your mind?" Marcy Lingual, one of my only friends these days, frowned with concern. I allowed a smirk to form over my lips as I shrugged. Marcy was always a sweetheart to me. I had known her since I was a kid. She owned the best diner in Jersey and I forced myself to eat there at least once a week to visit with her. She was an overweight, fifty-some year old African American woman with charcoal colored hair, strands of gray poking out in a few different spots.

"Ah, work," I shrugged. "Like always." I tried to play it down. "But I'll be fine. You know me. I recover quickly."

"You know what, honey? One of these days I'm gonna march on over to that place and give them a piece of my mind," Marcy waved her notepad with a few orders from the five or six people that were seated in the diner. "I swear to you. They treat you with such disrespect. Your momma would never have wanted it to end up this way." The smile that had formed on my lips at Marcy's anger quickly diminished at the mention of my mother.

"It's ok, Marcy. Soon I'll be off for Christmas break and then I won't have to worry about it. Besides, I'm a store manager and I make more than three of those people put together. I don't have much room to complain," I finally took a sip of the drink in my hands. The warmth had disappeared and I made a sour face. It was no use drinking it cold. It defeated the purpose of "hot chocolate".

"Honey, you just wait. One of these days you're gonna meet a nice man and move your way out of this crazy place," she shook her head. I laughed out loud at how random her statement was. "I'm serious! I can feel it in my bones!"

"Alright Marce," I smiled and fished a five dollar bill out of my wallet. "I believe you."

"You better," she said seriously. "I met this nice man a few days ago...he came in here to buy a lunch and coffee..." she strained to try and remember every detail. "Tall, dark hair...maybe in his early thirties?" She described. "I think he paid with a credit card! Let me go look up his information!" She exclaimed. I laughed and shook my head.

"It's okay, Marcy. I'll find a man on my own," I sighed. I only wished I could find a man. I was tired of going home to my one bedroom apartment and having to snuggle in warm blankets until the heat kicked in. "Here you go. I'll see you next week?" I asked her.

"Hold on, lemme get your change," she glanced at the five. I scrunched up my nose and shook my head.

"No change," I said. "I'll call you later in the week."

"Thank you baby," she smiled a toothy grin. "You still comin' over for Christmas dinner?" She asked and I nodded.

"I'll be there," I smiled as I pushed open the door and heard the little bell ring above my head. As I pushed open the door my attention drifted to above and I watched the mistle toe dangle. The corner of my lips curved up in a grin and I shook my head and hailed a taxi.

"Collette, you don't understand! There's a huge mess down here! People are seriously fighting in the aisles!" One of my best friends and co-workers, Lucy Reynolds, exclaimed into the phone. I could hear the chaos in the background.

"Luce, it's almost 9:30, isn't the store closing soon?" I sighed as I unwrapped my scarf from around my neck and turned on one of the lights in my small one bedroom apartment.

"No, we're open until 12:00 tonight, remember? It's that mad holiday rush," I could hear the bitterness in Lucy's voice. "It's insane, Cole. You should really get down here. Rex and Cory are about to blow their tops right in the middle of the store!"

"Fine," I sighed and began to wrap my scarf back around my neck, just as quickly as it had come off. "I'll be there as soon as I can." Lucy thanked me and hung up. I put more work into this store than I should have. My parents had inherited it from a great uncle, or something like that. It was a simple Macy's department store, but it was our's. My father left home shortly after I did; the saying holds truth that they stuck together for the kid. Shortly after that, my mother moved to Grand Cayman with my aunt and I haven't really heard from her sense. It sounds like a crazy story, and I guess in a way, it is one. But I have my dad. And I know my mom's out there somewhere. And that's all that matters.

I walked through the entrance of the department store muttering choice words to myself the entire way. "What's the big deal, Rex?" I tried not to whine as I approached my business partner and a friend from high school, Rex McIntosh.

"Take a look around, Collette," he spat out. He was usually a nice guy, but during the holiday season everyone became a little nutty. I rubbed my temples and looked around the crazy store. "And to top it off, there's some Aaron Carter wannabe that tried to steal from us!" He yelled.

My eyes darted back around to face him. "What?!" I nearly screamed out. Stealing was a huge pet peeve of mine. If anyone ever tried stealing from my store, I had their butt thrown in jail.

Rex nodded. "Yep, Lucy and Jason caught him. They threw him in the back room with a security officer and called his contact." Rex explained. I turned on my heel and began marching back to the back room. "Collette! Wait! I need your help out here!" Rex called after me. I was already way too far gone. I wanted to nail this kid if it was the last thing I could do.

"Oh, thank goodness, Cole," Lucy sighed in relief as I approached the back door that she was guarding. "I'm so sorry we had to call you so late but it's a mad house down here, if you couldn't already tell..." she rambled on.

"Who's the kid?" I muttered and folded my arms across my chest.

"Aaron Carter," she said quickly. I frowned.

"I know, I know, I heard it all from Rex. The 'Aaron Carter wannabe'. What I want to know is, what's his real name?" I frowned. I loved my friends dearly but sometimes Lucy and Rex could be a little...slower than the rest of us, to keep it friendly.

"No, Cole, his name's Aaron Carter. It's the Aaron Carter," she emphasized. My eyes grew in anger. I stomped past her and threw open the door to see one of our security guards, Aaron Carter and his famous older brother, Nick Carter standing there.

"I am so sorry," Nick automatically approached me but I put my hand up to silence him. I sucked in a deep breath before I let it all go. This was going to be a very long night.

"What did he take, Mike?" I glanced at the security guard. He pulled out a $500 watch from the table behind him and handed it to me. I shook my head in disgust. "What's your deal?" I looked at Aaron Carter. He shrugged and continued to stare at the table.

"Look at her when she's talking to you, man," Nick sounded just as distraught as I was over this. Aaron continued to stare at the table. "Listen, I am so sorry about all of this. I really don't know what's gotten into him. I'll pay for the watch and pay anything else you need me to. I swear this will never happen again."

"I'm afraid you're not going to be able to go through me, Mr. Carter," I said curtly. "I'm going to have to call the police and have him arrested. You can deal with them," I glanced at the watch in my hands. "And by the looks of it, the watch is still in new condition and the tags have not been removed. So you won't have to pay for the watch."

"You're calling the police?!" Aaron exclaimed and slammed his fist down on the table when I nodded. "You don't understand what this is going to do to me! I didn't even get away with stealing the damn thing!" He yelled loudly and stood up from his seat. Mike adjusted his belt and grabbed his cuffs to restrain Aaron but I held my hands up.

"Sit down, Mr. Carter," I said firmly and leaned across the table. I may be small, coming in at 5'5", but when someone tried to steal from me, all hell broke out of my bones. "You listen and you listen good. You have enough money according to your apparel to buy anything in this store. I'm sure one of your fancy credit cards has $500 on it. If you really wanted that watch you could have paid for it. And yes, I do understand what this will do to you. They'll throw you in jail for an hour or two until your brother can get the bail off his credit card, and then you'll be home free without even having to spend an entire twenty-four hours in a jail cell. The people that buy from this store are good people, Mr. Carter. If you ever try to steal anything from here again, I will make sure you serve time." Aaron's shocked expression was enough for me. "Mike, watch him for me. Mr. Carter?" I glanced up at Nick. It was confusing, considering they were both Mr. Carter. "Can I speak with you outside for a minute?"

Nick nodded and followed me outside the door. I sighed heavily and rubbed my temples to try and allow a small smile to appear. I could tell Nick was genuinely sorry. "Listen, I still can't believe this happened. I really want to do something for you. You can call the police if you want, maybe what he needs is a wake-up call..." Nick rambled. By now a small crowd had formed -- teenage girls began to squeal as they realized their pop star hero was standing before them.

"Let's go back into one of our offices, okay?" I sighed and lead him into my office room -- a small, cooped up room with an oak desk not any bigger than four feet long with a lap top on the surface. "I really don't want to call the police. Tonight's crazy to begin with. I just wanted to scare him a bit."

"I understand," Nick nodded. I could tell he was appreciative that I wasn't going to involve the authorities. It would draw attention to the store and the media would come. Once the news got word that Aaron Carter had taken something from the store, the magazines would get notice. All hell would break out in my store.

"Usually in these situations, we ask that twenty hours of community service be done. It comes to about five hours a week, so it would be for four weeks. But in this case, that's obviously really difficult, considering your situation," I sighed. People in entertainment always seemed to push the wrong buttons with me.

"No, please do not make any excuses for Aaron. He will do the community service. I'll make sure of it, Miss..." he looked around my desk for a nameplate.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I realized I hadn't introduced myself. "Cooper...Collette Cooper."

"Okay, Miss Cooper. Please, do not make any excuses for my brother. He needs to know what he did was wrong and if making him realize that is with community service, than so be it. No offense, but you lecturing him isn't going to make a difference. God knows I've lectured him time and time again, but still, nothing comes out of it," Nick sighed.

I bit my bottom lip. I wasn't so sure I should trust them. They were in entertainment and I never could trust stars to follow through with anything. But oh well. If he showed up for the community service, then great. And if he didn't, life would go on. "Okay then. He can start on Monday."

I finished typing the weekly report on my lap top quickly to be e-mailed in to headquarters. I heard a soft knock on my door. "Come in," I managed to mutter as I finished and hit send. I returned my attention to the door.

"Cole, there's some people here to see you," Rex smiled from the door and held it open wider for our two guests to walk in. I must admit I was incredibly shocked to see Aaron and Nick Carter in my presence. I mustered a smile and stood to greet them.

"Hello," I tried to smile as warmly as possible. Aaron nodded and Nick nudged him.

"Hi Miss Cooper. I'm here to start my community service," Aaron mumbled and shuffled his feet a bit. I smiled in his direction and then back at Nick again.

"Wonderful! You can probably get started cleaning the windows. I'll introduce you to Clark, he's in charge of our janitorial staff," I explained and walked past them to lead them into the store. "Here's the supply cabinet. Don't try to take anything. Clark has a count on every possible item in this closet. It's pretty much his life." I said seriously. Aaron nodded and rolled his eyes. I figured he wouldn't try to take anything from the cleaning closet, but you never know.

"Hi, you must be Aaron," Clark Robertson approached. I smiled at Clark. I had already briefed him on our mischief-maker. Clark was a man that had worked for my mother when she owned our Macy's store. He was probably reaching retirement soon. He was one of the only men his age that worked at the store that never complained about the work load. He was proud of what he did and I was proud of him, too. "I think I'll have you start washing down the windows in the front of the store." He handed Aaron a bottle of Windex and a towel. Aaron looked at the objects that were obviously foreign to him. Clark rolled his eyes. "Here, I'll show you." He muttered and ushered Aaron to the front of the store.

When they were out of sight I turned towards Nick. "Mr. Carter, I have to thank you for actually showing up. I must admit, I was a little leery when I first agreed to let Aaron do community service here," I blushed but smiled.

"Aaron needs to grow up," Nick shrugged. "And please, no more Mr. Carter. It makes me sound old. Please, call me Nick." He smiled warmly. I nodded and smiled.

"Okay then, Nick. I can call you when Aaron is finished," I said and smiled in his direction. He scrunched up his nose and shook his head 'no'.

"If it's alright with you, I'll just stay. I might actually be able to use this as an excuse to get my Christmas shopping done," he smiled. "There's never enough time in the day, I swear."

"Oh, I know," I laughed softly and then looked around as a woman started browzing. "Well, if you'll excuse me Mr.--" I cut myself off to correct what I was about to say. "Nick, I'm going to go help some customers. Feel free to look around." I smiled and left him in perfume department. I smiled as I walked towards the customer in some kind of exhilerated mood. There was something about that man that made me go wild inside.

"Ma'am, I can assure you that the clerk was not aware that the perfume was half off," I tried to calm the angry customer tapping her foot impatiently on the floor in front of me.

"Then maybe you should fire her! Your employees should be well informed what is on sale and what is not on sale. I was almost ripped off! If I hadn't paid close enough attention to the sign, you would have gotten away with it!" She yelled angrily in my face. I closed my eyes and opened them again.

"Miss, it's the holidays. Nearly everything in this store is marked down in some way or another. My employee has apologized over and over again for her mistake. You were very smart to have read the sign and I apologize that we didn't catch our mistake until you pointed it out," I explained as rationally as I could muster. "Now if you could please find it in your heart to let this go, I would greatly appreciate it. In fact, I'll pay for your perfume myself. Is that better?"

I watched her contemplate the idea and slowly nod her head. I sighed, relieved, and walked to the cash register and rang her out myself. She left with a look of distaste across her face, but there wasn't much more I could do. "Cole, I am so, so sorry!" Lucy apologized again. I held my hand up.

"Luce, it's really okay," I smiled. "When I first started out, I made so many mistakes. Hell, I still make them today." We both giggled softly. "Just remember to check the list to see what's on sale and what isn't. The computer should tell you when you ring something up, but then again, that perfume wasn't logged. So just check the hand written list, too." She nodded and I walked away, back into the angry mob of customers.

"Miss Cooper?" I heard from behind me. I turned and smiled when I saw Nick and Aaron. This time Aaron managed to give me a slight smile.

"Oh, hi guys!" I smiled back. "And Nick, it's Collette." I smiled in his general direction. He looked a little flushed. "Aaron, do you think you could straighten up some of the departments? I know the men's department is a mess." Aaron nodded and went to find Clark to help out in any way he could.

"Jeez, you would think these crowds would die down a bit," Nick muttered as he stood and watched the crazy holiday shoppers pushing their way through other people.

"It won't die down until the day after Christmas. Even that day can be hectic and crazy because everything's still on sale," I sighed and managed to make my way through people.

"Really? But it's only December 1st," Nick chuckled with a frown. I nodded. "That's crazy. I'm not sure I could put up with twenty-five more days of this." He shuddered. I laughed and shrugged.

"My parents owned this place when I was a kid, so I spent a lot of time here. I spent almost every holiday season here after school, so I watched it for seventeen years," I laughed. I watched this sparkle in his eye...a sparkle I couldn't quite put my finger on. Then I realized what it was. He was interested in what I was talking about.

"So, did they just give it to you after college?" He frowned. We walked towards the front of the store and exited out into the mall part. There was a lone bench in the center of the mall area. We both sat down without even agreeing to leave the store.

"Sort of," I hesitated to answer. The sparkle was still there in his crystal blue eyes. "My dad left my mom after I moved out. It was one of those weird, yet ironically typical stories where the husband stays around for the kid, but once she's gone he doesn't really have a reason to stay. I guess that's why I was the only child." I tried to make light of the situation. "My mom lost it and moved out of the country with my aunt." I rolled my eyes. I watch Nick's expression intesify and I laughed. "I'm sorry, I know it sounds really weird and crazy. In fact, I don't even know why I told you." I laughed softly.

"No, no!" He laughed as well and shook his head as if to shake off the expression. "I'm glad you did. It just sounds..." he couldn't find the word.

"Crazy," we both said at the same time and laughed. "I guess my family just isn't as normal as other families."

Nick smirked. "Well then, I guess we have more in common then we think," he laughed lightly. "Because neither is mine."

The week went by quickly and soon it was Saturday. Saturdays were always my favorite. It was one of the days I didn't have to go into work. The mall was always especially crazy on Saturdays because the schools were out for the weekend so all the teens found the mall as a place to hang out. We had extra help at Macy's today and I was assured by Lucy and Rex and countless other employees that I didn't have to be there.

"Regina and I would love to come back to spend Christmas with you, Lette," [A/N: Lette is pronounced Let. Simply a nickname] my dad said into the phone.

"No, really dad, it's okay," I said as I held the phone between my shoulder and my ear and poured some cat food into the bowl. "Marcy already said I could come over to her place for Christmas dinner. Besides, I'll barely be home while you were here. The store is going to be so busy."

"Honey, why don't you just sell the store? Your mother's name is no longer on it and I certainly don't want it," he sighed. "You need to go out and experience life with other people. Be more social." I rolled my eyes. When I was growing up that was all I ever heard from my parents -- "Go out and be more social," or, "No one gets anywhere by spending all their time locked up in a room" well, in my case, a store.

"Dad, that store is all I have," I muttered. "There aren't any teaching jobs available right now. Everyone that graduated with my degree wants to work at the elementary school. I'm not interested in teaching middle or high school levels. That's not where my degree's at," I explained.

"Then move away from New Jersey and New York City altogether! Nothing's keeping you there, Lette," my dad sighed. Part of me wanted to be angry with him for saying that. How could he possibly know what my life was like or what was keeping me here?

"Dad, I have friends," I muttered and plopped down on the couch, finally able to hold the phone with my hand instead of on my shoulder. There was a beep on the line informing me that there was someone else calling me. "Hey, someone's calling me on the other line. Can I call you back?" I asked him. He agreed that we would talk another time and we hung up. "Hello?" I said as I switched over lines.

"Hi, uh, is this Collette Cooper?" A deep voice asked. I frowned and tried to place my finger on the face behind the caller.

"Yes, who's speaking?" I creased my brow and tried to figure out who the man was on the other line.

"Oh, sorry," he sounded embarrassed for not introducing himself earlier. "It's Nick Carter, the brother of the kid that tried to steal from your store?" He reminded me. I had to work hard at holding back my laughter. I would have known exactly who he was with or without his added statement about the attempted robbery.

"Oh, hi, Nick," I couldn't help the smile that formed over my lips. I tucked my legs underneath of me on the couch to get more comfortable. "What's up?" I asked, curious as to how he got my phone call.

"Well, I called the store but I wanted to tell you that my dad found out about what had happened with Aaron and pretty much freaked out. So he called here this morning and sent a plane ticket for Aaron to fly back to Tampa and stay with him for a while," Nick sighed. "I told him all about the community service and he definitely wants him to finish that, as well. He just wants to dish out his own punishment."

"I understand," I said. I knew this would have never worked out. Aaron Carter was a celebrity. Celebrity's don't do community service. Plain and simple.

"So he'll be gone for a few weeks. But once he gets back, it's back to the community service," Nick said as if he was standing firm on this one. I cracked another smile.

"Okay, Nick," I said. "It's really okay. Please don't worry about it."

"Alright," Nick said. There was an awkward silence. I was about to say thank you for calling and end the conversation when I heard him clear his throat a little. "Uh, Collette?" He asked.

"Yeah?" I muttered as my tabby kitten, Ariel, jumped up onto the couch and purred her way over to me.

"Uh, I was wondering...I don't really know many people in the area but I'm going to be spending a lot of time here, and I've kind of gotten to know you," he rambled on. "So I was wondering if you would want to go to dinner sometime? Or something?" He sounded so unsure and I wasn't sure to smile because it sounded as if he was asking me out on a date, or not take it so seriously.

"Yeah, I'd love to," I muttered simply. I wasn't really sure what else to say in response to that.

"Great," I could sense the smile on Nick's lips. "How's tomorrow night?"

"I still can't get over the fact that you're going out on a date with the older brother of the kid that tried to steal from the store," Lucy pouted on my bed as she watched me analyze my imperfections in the mirror.

"Well, get over it," I said rather frankly. "Because I'm leaving soon. You're my best friend, Luce. You're supposed to be supportive and positive. Besides, aren't you the one that's always on my case about going out some more and at least trying to meet new guys?" I frowned and laughed softly in her direction, then quickly turned back to the mirror.

"Well, yeah," Lucy sighed and tried to come up with an excuse. "It's just...Nick Carter wasn't exactly the guy I was talking about. Can't you go and run into some random guy in the grocery store and go out with him?"

"It's not like I'm marrying the guy," I rolled my eyes. "We're just going to go out and have dinner. It's not like it's even a date," I shrugged. Secretly, I wished it were considered a date. To bet honest, I wasn't even really sure what it was. "We're just going to get to know each other better." I explained, both to Lucy and myself. "How do I look?" I sighed and faced her. I had decided on a pair of hip hugger jeans and a white sweater with a v-neck. I finished it off with my black pea coat and black leather boots.

"You look great," Lucy sighed and rolled her eyes. "Just...be careful. I will be sitting by my cell phone all night. Call me if you need anything." She emphasized the word 'anything'. I smiled and nodded as there was a knock at the door.

"That's him," I smiled and adjusted my clothing and hair one last time.

"No shit," Lucy muttered. I shot her a death glare and she quickly took back the statement.

"When you leave, just make sure you lock up," I called back to her and went to open the front door. I sucked in a deep breath as I saw him. He was wearing faded jeans, a green sweater with a black leather jacket over top. His hair was simply ruffled and done up that looked as if it had taken only minutes, yet it was nearly perfect. "Hi," I smiled and tried to hide the rising crimson color in my cheeks.

"Hey," he smiled back. He paused and I grabbed my scarf off the coat rack. "I was thinking we could go to Rocketfeller Center. They're putting up some more Christmas decorations and things," he suggested and I nodded.

"It sounds like fun," I smiled warmly. I always loved going into Manhattan during the Christmas season. Unlike New Jersey, Manhattan always had a way of making Christmas seem so magical and exciting.

"I have tickets on the ferry. I know it's cold, but it's really pretty--" Nick rambled as we headed to the elevator. I stopped him once I pushed the button to go down with a smile.

"I love the ferry, it sounds like fun," I reassured him. He looked relieved and we made our way down to the first floor. Things were so different with Nick now. Before he was just a customer...a celebrity. But now he was my date. It felt so good, yet so nerve wracking at the same time.

"No way," I laughed at something proposterous a fan had once done just so she could meet the guys. "She threw her underwear on stage with her phone number written on the butt in magic marker?" I tried not to choke on my own saliva. Nick couldn't control himself either and doubled over in laughter.

"You wouldn't believe what some people would do to meet a celebrity," Nick shrugged it off as we continued to walk on the dock before we approached the ferry. I smiled as I watched the water ripple with the gentle yet frigid December wind.

"I can't believe it's already Christmas time," I sighed, and wrapped my arms around my body in hopes to obtain some body warmth. "It seems like just yesterday it was hot out here and we had to have the air conditioning on." I shuddered just thinking about the warm summer days.

"I wish I could live in New York," Nick muttered as he shoveled his hands in his pockets to remove the tickets he had purchased for our ferry ride earlier in the day. "It's so beautiful here all year long."

"Ha," I smirked. "Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely place and I love being able to see the city at night from my bedroom window, but it can get pretty crazy and dangerous. It's hard when you know the homeless guy living outside your apartment complex on a first name basis and there are constantly robberies and break-ins." I could sense the disgust dripping from my own voice.

"It's everywhere," Nick shrugged. "You wouldn't believe the people that try to steal from us...fans, even. At least they call themselves our fans," he shook his head. "I love Florida, it's a great place. The beaches are nice and being close to a big city is nice, too. But there's something about this city that gets to me." He shrugged, as if he couldn't put his finger on what exactly it was.

"Ah," I nodded in agreement as we boarded the ferry and made our way to the second floor of the boat. "It's that feeling of lust for the city, even though the city isn't close to being a human. You can feel the emotions in the lights and the polluted air. There's something about the way the cold wind chills the side of your cheek yet instead of making you bitter and unhappy at the holiday season, it fills you with laughter and cheer as you watch people hustle to finish Christmas shopping. Even though most New Yorkers aren't pleasant, there's something about the city at this time of the year and nothing can change that," I rambled into one ongoing comment.

"Wow," Nick muttered and looked off at the city. "I didn't think the feelings could be put into words, but obviously I was wrong."

"Ha," I smirked. "That took me twenty-three years to muster." I laughed softly. Nick glanced at me with his lips curved up in a grin. "What?" I frowned with a small smile, wondering why this gorgeous man was staring me down.

"Nothing," he shook his head. "No offense, or anything, but overly intelligent girls usually aren't my type. But there's something different about you..." he rambled. I had to stop myself from listening after he said "overly intelligent girls usually aren't my type." Was he telling me he liked me in a subtle, yet not so subtle, way? "I don't know, maybe it's the way you're so poetic and independent..." as he tried to figure out what words he was looking for, I tried to read into the situation to see if I was over analyzing his words or not...ironically, I was over analyzing something over analyzing...is that confusing or what? "Collette?" Nick muttered. I literally shook my head and looked up into those deep blue eyes.

"What?" I felt heat rise in my cheeks, embarrassed that I was confusing myself while he was trying to have a conversation with me.

"Oh, sorry, I just said look at how beautiful she is at night," he pointed behind me to the famous Lady Liberty. I turned around and watched as the wind blew my hair around my shoulders. I smiled at the sight. It was beautiful.

"Yeah, you're right," I smiled over my shoulder at Nick. "She is beautiful."

He smirked and I could see the words playing on his lips. "She's not the only beautiful girl I see tonight." He whispered so softly I wasn't sure I heard him, but then I realized he really had said it as he leaned in and kissed my cheek. I felt like a school girl as my lips curved up in a large smile.

"Do you wanna skate?" Nick held his hand out to me as we approached Rocketfeller Center. After a few taxi rides, countless enthusiastic girls stopping us to get autographs, and two hot-dogs from a vender on the side of the road, we had managed to make it to our destination -- the ice skating rink at Rocketfeller Center. I nodded with a smile as Nick walked up to get the ice skates.

"Nick, please let me pay," I practically begged. He pushed my hand away with a grin. I rolled my eyes and folded my arms across my chest. "Men." I scoffed with a smile on my lips and told the vender my size.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nick laughed as we walked to a bench to get our skates on.

"Exactly what it sounded like," I laughed and plopped down and began to untie my shoes. Nick seemed so confused so I laughed and pulled him down so he was sitting next to me on the cold wood bench. He shook his head and put his own skates on. "I have to warn you, I haven't really been skating in a while. With work and things around the apartment, I just don't have time." I blushed.

"And you think I have been skating recently?" Nick laughed. I giggled as he shook his head. "With travelling and recording, I haven't even seen an ice skating rink in a few years." He laughed. He, too, seemed embarrassed that he had brought me to an ice skating rink that we would both probably fall all over the place on. We wobbled over to the entrance to the rink and uneasily started to skate. Instinctively, I reached out and took hold of his hand. "Oh no, you don't," he laughed and tried to pull away jokingly. "If you go down, you're going down by yourself." Almost seconds after he said that, he fell flat on his rear end. I burst out in laughter as he put his head down, his shoulders shaking with laughter.

"Aw, are you okay?" I tried to stifle my laughter and put both of my hands in front of him to help him up.

"Yeah," he chuckled, clearly embarrassed he was the first one to go down and that I was trying to help him up. After he brushed off his butt, he took hold of my hand once more. This time I could tell it wasn't for balance...it was because he wanted to. I felt this strange sensation shoot through my stomach, up through my chest and ripple through my arms and legs. I had that famous feeling of butterflies. I swallowed hard to try and rid myself of the feeling. "You alright?" He frowned, clearly concerned as we skated, no, rather shuffled our feet, across the ice.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I'm...better than fine." I felt odd saying it. I wasn't usually the "type" to step out and say exactly how I was feeling. It just wasn't like me. Then again, if there was any night to take chances, it was tonight. Nick had already admitted to me that I wasn't his usual type, but he was giving me a chance anyway. Maybe I should take more chances.

Nick squeezed my hand and we started skating faster. I laughed as I struggled to stay on my feet. I wasn't sure if it was the warm feeling in my legs that made my knees give out or just the fact that I hadn't been on a pair of ice skates for a few years. I laughed as my butt hit the ice. Nick turned, laughing the entire time. "See, it's not so funny when you're the one that falls," Nick laughed and put his hands out to help me up. I smiled and took them. This time when Nick pulled me up, neither of us let go. As I stared into his eyes, the DJ began to play "All I Want for Christmas" by Mariah Carey. I watched as Nick leaned down and those gorgeous eyes closed. Instinctively I closed my eyes and nearly fell over as his warm lips caressed mine. I have never had such a great kiss. After a few seconds, I felt his tongue slowly massage my lips and I opened them to give him entrance. We would have kept up our first make-out session if a nine-year-old little girl wouldn't have roughly knocked into the back of me and pushed me full force onto Nick.

"Sorry," she mumbled, obviously embarrassed for interrupting, but kept on her way. Nick and I laughed and made our way off the ice to take a break.

Well, I wanted to write and let everyone know that unfortunately due to some complications, my Internet has been disconnected at home so I will no longer be able to update the fan fiction. I'm actually at work right now doing this, and I'm not sure I'll be able to have enough time or patience to update from work every day. My boss might not like it too much either. So thank you so much to all of my reviews and a huge thank you to all of the people that read the story. Hopefully I'll be back...it just depends on my Internet service =/

Once again, I am sorry for having to pull away like this. But keep your eyes open for more from me in the future!! Thanks!

-Sarah