That evening…
Veronica put her dirty dishes in the sink and started washing them. The smile had formed the minute after James stated it was a date and hadn’t left. She knew she must’ve looked like a fool for the rest of her shift, smiling and giggling to herself, but she couldn’t help it. Luckily, she’d been able to keep her composure and remain calm and unaffected while around James, or so she hoped.
Her mind was racing though, trying to figure out what to wear and when to leave, there was so much to do before hand. Looking at the microwave, she decided to try and call Nick. She grabbed her cell and headed into her room, finding his number and dialing quickly. She waited through the rings and then his voice came on the line.
Hey this is Nick, I’m either not available or in the country to take your call right now. Leave me a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Peace.
She waited for the beep and then left her message.
“Nick, it’s Veronica. Just wanted to let ya know that I talked to James today, and you told me not to tell you what happened so I won’t. So yeah, give me a call when you can and I’ll tell you bout it. Bye!”
She hung up and then called Lynne.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
At Kevin’s…
“Nick can you hand me that plate please?” Kristin asked.
“Sure,” Nick grabbed the plate and passed it to Kristen and noticed the bowl of Cheese Nips was empty. “Are there more nips?”
“Sure, they’re in the kitchen,” Kristen grinned, “you and those crackers Nick. Oh hey while you‘re at it, can you get me that plate of buns that are on the stove too please?”
Nick blushed, “I can’t help it, I love those things.”
“You love those cracker things period Nick, I swear that’s all you eat when we’re on the road, that and pop tarts. I don’t know how one human being can eat so many pop tarts,” AJ groaned.
Nick flipped him off as he took the empty bowl into the house to refill it. Once inside, he set the bowl down and looked around for the box of crackers. Spotting them he grabbed it and opened it, stuffing his hand inside and pulling out a handful of the crackers, stuffing them into his mouth before turning and pouring the rest into the bowl. Tossing the empty box away, he grabbed the bowl and the plate of buns and started out, when he remembered he needed to check his voicemail.
He set the bowl and plate back down and brushed his hands off. Reaching into his pocket, he whipped his phone out and flipped it open. He opened his voicemail to find he had one missed message. He brought the message up to find it was from Veronica, his eyes widening as the message played. He deleted it after and quickly called her back, grabbing the bowl and plate again, making his way back out into the yard.
“Hello?”
“Veronica? It’s Nick! I just got your message.”
“Hey Nick!”
“What’s up? How’d everything go? Did you ask him?” he asked as he handed the plate to Kristen.
Veronica chuckled, “Yeah I did.”
“And what happened? No wait, I wanna hear from the beginning.”
“Nick…”
“No, don’t leave anything out. Go ahead!”
“Well I was working and he came in later in the afternoon. We were talking and I kept trying to work up the nerve to ask.”
“Uh huh,” Nick mumbled, grabbing another handful of crackers and popping some into his mouth while he listened, finding an empty seat to sit in.
“Right, so I casually asked him what he was going to be doing tonight, and he said he was only working five and a half hours and that he’d probably go home and relax cause he was all caught up on his homework.”
“Ok,” he shoved more Nips into his mouth, crunching away.
“So then I said, since I wasn’t doing anything and he wasn’t, would he like to catch a movie together tonight.”
Nick’s heart sped up considerably for some reason as he waited, licking his lips, the taste of salt invading his mouth. “And?”
“And…well, he stopped slicing, cause he was slicing cheese for wafer. Anyway, so he stops slicing and I turn from the slicer I was cleaning to look at him and he’s like…staring at me.”
“Staring at you? Like…how? I mean…was it a creeped out stare or like an…amazed stare?”
“It was…well it was a nice stare if that makes sense. And then he smiled and oh man.”
“Well? What’d he say?!” his heart was pounding now, he couldn’t have turned her down, he just couldn’t. Nick wasn’t sure if HE could take it if she told him he’d said no.
“He said…sure.”
“No shit!! Really?” Nick screamed.
“Really!” Veronica laughed.
“Yes!!” Nick pumped his fist, some of the nips flying out of the bowl and onto his lap as he abruptly stood up. “I knew you could do it!”
Six pairs of eyes turned to stare at Nick who was now pacing around.
“Aww thanks Nick, I probably wouldn’t have done it if you hadn’t convinced me to.”
“ I’m so proud of you! You must be on cloud fuc…I mean flippin nine.” Nick casted an apologetic glance at Brian and Leighanne and then at Baylee.
“Yeah, I’m pretty happy,” she replied breathlessly. Nick Carter was proud of her, he was excited for her, it was a heady feeling.
“Well I want you to call me and let me know everything that happens, I mean it!”
“Nick!” Veronica laughed.
“I don’t care what time it is call me!”
“I will, I promise.”
“Wow great! Ok, I’ll let you go so you can get ready. Congrats woman!”
“Thanks Nick, thanks for helping me to do this.” She really couldn’t thank him enough.
“No problem honey, anytime. I’ll talk to ya later then.”
“Ok, bye!”
“Later!”
He flipped the phone closed, turning to find everyone staring at him intently.
“What was that all about?” Leighanne asked, a small smile on her lips.
Nick grinned, “I just got some great news.”
“Oh yeah?” Kevin questioned.
“Yup.”
“Well, who was it?” Howie asked.
“A friend.”
“A friend?” Kristen pressed.
“Yeah.”
“Ok, so what was this great news?” AJ asked, grabbing a chip and popping it in his mouth.
“She finally asked this guy she’s had a crush on out for a date and he said yes!” Nick announced, his face lighting up.
“Uh huh, and who SHE again?” Brian replied.
“A friend.”
“Does she, your friend have a name?” Leighanne smiled.
“Yeah.”
“Why are you being so vague? It is a secret?” Howie countered.
“No.”
“Then why won’t you say who it is? And stop with the darn one word responses!” AJ muttered.
“Does it matter? No it doesn‘t. Anyway, I brought the nips,” he walked the bowl over and set it on the table. “Do you need help with anything else?”
They all stared at him
“No? Then I’m gonna go hang with ma little man! Baylee…you better watch out, I’m comin’ to get you!” Nick growled, making his way over to the squealing, laughing little boy.
