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“My Nicky!” Paris ran to Nick, almost knocking AJ and Howie off their feet and shoving Brian out of the way, and threw herself on him. “Oh Nicky, I missed you,” she sobbed.

“Oh isn’t that sweet,” Ashlee said with disgust and complete hatred to AJ.

AJ looked at Ashlee in shock. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn’t find the words to do so.

“Ashlee?” she heard Nick choke out quietly.

Ashlee looked over and Nick and remembered why she came. She smiled softly and walked over to him. Nick pulled her in close and wrapped his arms around her.

“Thank you so much for coming,” he whispered in her ear.

“You’re welcome.”

She pulled away gently and walked back over to AJ.

“Well buddy, you ready to go?” Brian said as he patted Nick on the back.

“Am I ever!”

“I say we celebrate! My treat!” Paris said excitedly.
AJ and Ashlee looked at each other.

“Are you joking me?” Ashlee mouthed to AJ.

“Just remember, it’s for Nick,” he whispered in her ear.

He turned to the other guys and smiled. “Where to?” He asked Paris.

“Where do you wanna go, Nicky? Clink’s?”

“Sounds good to me!”

“Good! I guess well all just meet you there!” Paris turned to Nick and smiled.

“She’s really not that cute,” Ashlee told AJ as they were walked out of the rehab center.

“And she’s kind of a bitch.”

“Kind of?” she said bitterly.

“Speaking of which, why did you come looking like you had just thrown up?” AJ opened the car down for her to get in. Ashlee waited until he got in to tell him about her talk with Paris.

“Because I almost did.” She stopped for a moment before telling him the rest. She still hadn’t told him about what Nick did at the air port, but figured she might as well right now. “Okay. First off, that day we sent Nick down here, in the air port..he, um..kissed me.”

AJ’s eyes got wide and he turned to her, “He what?!”

“Don’t get mad! It was probably just the drugs! I’m not worried about it and neither should you be.”

AJ breathed deeply, “Continue.”

Ashlee sighed, “Anyway. Just as we were about to walk in to see Nick, me and Paris, she stopped me and said, ‘Nick told me what happened in the airport. If you even look at him in my presence, I will ruin your life faster then you got it back together.’”

“Are you fucking serious?! I hate that woman. I absolutely hate that stupid bi...”

“Baby! Woah!” Ashlee interrupted. “Honey, it’s okay. I’ve dealt with girls before. I’m thinking I’ll be able to handle it.”

“But you don’t know this girl. She is nasty. Why do you think Nick started to doing drugs in the first place?”

Ashlee shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.

“You know how they dated, then broke up?”

“Yea.”

“Well, they got back together right after our CD came out. Nick was so happy. He treated her like a queen for the next month, then one night, they were at a bar here in town, drinking, singing kareokee and what not. Nick decided that that would be the perfect time to proclaim his love to her. So, he got up on stage and sang some stupid love song, and asked her to marry him.”

Ashlee looked at AJ speechless.

“Yea,” he agreed to her facial expression. “It gets worse. Nick finished the song and walked over to her. He said the whole ‘I love you’ thing. All Paris did was look at him in disgust. She told him that that was the most humiliating thing she had ever gone through and that she really never liked him in the first place. She was just using him to help gain more fame. She was spending his money and wasting his time to get everything she wanted. It was obviously a waste of her time, too because no one even knows about them getting back together.”

“Are you joking me? I hate people.”

“I know, which is why I’m not happy about her being here.” They pulled into the parking lot for the restaurant. “We’re here.”

“Um, Alex. They’re closed.”

“What?”

“There is no one here and the sign says closed.”

AJ looked at her.

“That’s impossible, they use to come her all the time. Paris is regular which is why she...which is why she wanted to come here.” AJ slammed his hand on the steering wheel. “Dammit!”

AJ grabbed his phone from his pocket and dialed a number.

“Brian? Where are you?”

“Pulling in. Where’s everyone else?”

“Fuck! Just park. Looks like the other two are right behind you. I’m thinking we’ve been screwed.”

Ashlee and AJ got out of the car, as did Kevin, Brian and Howie.

“Paris knew they were closed today,” AJ said as they walked over to the other three.

Brian pulled out his phone and dialed who she assumed was Nick.

“Nick, this is Brian. Call me back, bye.” He shut his phone and looked at AJ. “Voice mail.”

“Where the hell is he?!” AJ put his head in his hands and shook his head. Ashlee look at Brian with concern. She walked over to him and put her arm around his waste.

“Please, Ashlee. Not right now,” he said with his head still in his hands. Ashlee looked at him in disbelief then at Brian. Brian could tell that she was hurt. She looked at Kevin and Howie and smiled weakly.

“I’ll be waiting in the car,” she said quietly and walked away.

AJ looked back at her as she walked away. “Great, not even ten minutes of those two being together, and shit’s hitting the fan.” He turned to the other guys, “We’ll just meet you at the hotel, we can all talk and each there.”

The other guys nodded and left right away.

AJ slowly walked back to car and got in.

“I’m sorry.”

With out looking at AJ she said softly, “I would like to go home now. I welcomed back Nick and now I would like to go home.”