Chapter 45
After Amanda had shown up that night, Nick began to really regret telling her no. Tracy was obsessed with the wedding, wanted everything a certain way. She asked for a small wedding on the beach behind the house. Her parents didn't like him very much and Nick just felt like everything was going wrong. He wanted to escape....just run away and leave everything. He couldn't just leave but it was becoming overwhelming for him.
The day had finally arrived....the backyard wad decorated with bright flowers in orange and pink....flower petals littered the small platform that held the wedding guests. Nick stood inside the house, looking at himself in the mirror as he dressed and thought about being Tracy's husband. His stomach had been doing backflips all morning and he had thrown up at least twice since breakfast.
"Dude, you're just nervous." AJ had said as he observed Nick hugging the toilet seat. Nick looked at him, his face pale and sweaty.
"I don't think I can do this. Something bad is gonna happen...." he muttered.
"You're just getting married. It's not the end of the world." AJ laughed. As Nick slumped to the floor shaking....he highly doubted AJ knew his world was crashing down.
"Come on, baby. We are gonna miss the wedding if you don't get dressed soon." Lance called from the doorway. He was dressed in a suit, his blonde hair spiked with hair gel. Amanda stared at the blue dress hanging up by her closet and sighed, wiping stray tears from her eyes. There was no way she could do this, no way she could watch her best friend get married.
"Amanda I thought you said you were going. Come get ready." Lance said again.
"I'm not going, you go ahead." she replied coldly, her arms across her chest. Amanda's eyes fell upon the picture of her and Nick as children hanging on the wall and she teared up again.
"Look, Nick needs his friends there to support him. I think you ought to go." Lance said, walking towards her and rubbing her back. Amanda hated how happy he was.
"I don't feel well." she lied, although she actually felt sick to her stomach with stress. Lance wouldn't have any of it, he dragged Amanda off to the bathroom to get ready for the ceremony.
Amanda knew she would make sure to take extra aspirin that afternoon.
Nick stood in the mirror, looking at his reflection as he got ready. He was sweating bullets, feeling very nervous. As he walked around the room he sat down on the bed and took a box out of his night stand, opening it.
"Amanda..." he whispered, his eyes watering with regret. The ring was meant for her and he'd saved it after fighting with Tracy. Part of him still loved Amanda, still believed that they'd marry one day. Nick put the ring back and wiped his eyes, licking his lips. He knew what he had to do.
He took the steps carefully, walking down the halls of his house very slowly. He passed by the room where Tracy was and saw her in her wedding gown. He silently cursed himself, he knew it was bad luck to see the bride before the wedding. Nick looked around the corner, saw nobody was there....then made a run for the door. His hand was on the door handle when he heard footsteps.
"Where you going, Nick? The wedding is gonna start in like an hour." AJ said, startling him.
"Um....I just needed to run out for a bit." Nick laughed, but AJ wasn't buying it.
"I don't think so." he said, holding the door closed. Nick felt his heart race. He couldn't go through with this wedding, not after the dream he'd had the night before.
"Let me go AJ!"
"You can't take off now....NICK!!!"
It happened so quickly AJ didn't have time to grab him. Nick plowed through, knocking AJ to the floor.
"NICK!"
Nick ran and ran, taking the stairs two at a time until he reached a bathroom in the hallway. He slammed the door shut and locked it, AJ banging on the other side.
"Open up, Carter! You can't stay in there all day!"
"I don't plan to..." Nick muttered as he went for the window.
"What the heck is going on? Tracy said she heard some commotion up here." Brian asked a few minutes later, coming upon AJ banging on the bathroom door.
"Nick's locked himself in and refuses to get married. He said something about bad luck." AJ explained as he jiggled the doorknob.
"Okay, so he's got a case of cold feet."
"Cold feet? Brian he tackled me as he was running away! What gave you that idea?"
"Nick? It's Brian. How about you come out of there and we have a talk?" Brian said calmly, standing in front of the door.
"He's not answering. What the hell is he doing in there?" AJ mumbled when they heard some scuffling.
Brian and AJ realized the situation was getting serious.
"Time for our backup plan. I'm getting Amanda." Brian said, running down the stairs.
Amanda was debating on leaving when Brian came running up to her, his face flushed and out of breath.
"We have a problem.....oh my." Brian started, but Amanda saw Nick's legs dangling from an open window. She raised her eyebrow as they stared in disbelief.
"Do I wanna know?"
"Nick's got cold feet. Can you help me talk to him? He'll listen to you-"
"No, I won't. Nick chose where he wanted to be and I will not have anything to do with this wedding." Amanda snapped coldly. Her mind flashed back to that night, rejection still in her head. Nick didn't want her anymore. It was over.
"I don't know what you're talking about...." Brian mumbled.
"Honey I think you should help them. Think about Tracy, she doesn't deserve her wedding day ruined. If Nick doesn't want to get married, he needs to talk to her." Lance suggested to everyone's surprise. Amanda almost laughed at Brian's dumbfounded expression but decided to follow him into the house.
"Nick?" Amanda said, standing in front of the bathroom door.
"I'm not coming out." he replied bluntly.
"It's me."
"Why are you here? I thought you didn't want me to get married either."
"Nick, just open the damn door." Amanda hissed. She hated when he was stubborn. Nick opened the door and she stepped into the bathroom, noticing the shower curtain on the floor and the window open.
"Don't ask." he said, sitting on the toilet and sighing.
"You realize everyone could see you from here?" Amanda asked....her eyes boring into his red rimmed ones. He didn't reply, just shifted uncomfortably.
"So are you gonna tell me why you were dangling from a window?"
"I can't do this." Nick mumbled.
"You had the opportunity to leave her, Nick. I would have left Lance for you. You chose this....we both know you don't love her." Amanda replied.
"I have a really bad feeling about this. Like I'm making a mistake....like something bad is gonna happen if we get married and go to Aruba. She picked Aruba, I wanted Hawaii." Nick confessed. He also couldn't help thinking about seeing Tracy in her dress....it was bad luck.
"Nick, you're my best friend and I want you to be happy. She has been rotten to me for a few weeks now but she doesn't deserve you running out on her. Like you told me when I wanted to run away....we can't run from our problems." Amanda said, sighing.
"I guess you're right. Do you think I am ready for this? You know....marriage?" Nick asked.
"You will make a wonderful husband and a great father one day. I think you're just scared." she smiled. She didn't realize she was tearing up....it was like letting him go.
Nick nodded and stood up, fixing his jacket.
"Okay.....if you think so then I'm ready. Thank you Amanda....I needed this. I just hope I won't regret it." he said, hugging her. She felt tears spill down her face as he held her for a moment before running out of the room.
As Amanda watched him go, she couldn't help think that maybe Nick was right.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Welcome to the final chapter of Not The Other Guy! Thanks to everyone for reading, leaving feedback....giving me ideas and suggestions. Even though interest seemed to die out as the story came to a close, I wanted to finish it. Hope you continue to read the rest of this series!
