* * * Chapter 4 * * *

"I had a great night," I told AJ when we stopped on Nick’s front porch.

"Yeah, my mom loves you ya know..." he replied with a smile.

"Your mom’s a sweetie! I can’t believe she’s going to take Arti and me shopping on Wednesday after rehearsal!" I whispered happily after AJ put his arms around me in a hug. "Does she do that with all the new people on tour?!?"

AJ laughed a little and then pulled away so he could look me in the eyes.

"Only the special ones," he whispered with a smile.

I gave him a smile back. He gave me a short goodnight kiss before he turned to go to his truck.

"See you tomorrow," he turned around and called to me after he walked a few steps.

"Ok..." I replied with a little wave. "Drive carefully."

"I will," he said as he opened his car door.

I stood there on the top step of the lighted front porch and watched him drive away until he was out of sight. I smiled to myself as I remembered what a great time we had at dinner with Denise, his mom. ‘This tour is going to be great!’ I thought to myself as I stepped up to the door and turned the handle. When I walked in the door, I saw Nick on the couch in the sitting area with his head back on the cushion. His eyes were closed so I assumed he was asleep. I shut the door quietly before I walked over to where he was.

"Nick," I whispered as I leaned over his sleeping body. "Nick!"

Nothing.

"NICK!" I whispered louder as I shook him a little.

"Wha...huh?" he mumbled as he shifted a little.

"Nick...wake up!" I whispered again.

He stirred a little before he lifted his head and opened his eyes.

"What time is it?" he asked in a sleepy voice.

"10:27," I replied as he sat up. "Come on...let’s get you to bed."

When I held out my hand to help him up, he took it and gave me a sleepy half smile as he stood up. He stood there for a few seconds and he looked like he wanted to fall back onto the couch and go back to sleep, so I tugged his hand a little.

"Come on...upstairs," I said as I led him to the stairs.

He slowly followed me up the stairs and I got to the door to my room, I turned around and watched him as he continued to his room across the hall. He opened the door and sleepily walked in before he plopped down on his bed. I walked in my room and left the door open a little before I went in the bathroom and changed in to my pajamas and got ready for bed. I didn’t hear any noise coming from any of the other rooms so I figured everyone else was in bed too. After I crawled under the covers of the huge bed, I rolled onto my side and stared out into the empty room. I closed my eyes after a few minutes and fell into a deep sleep.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ Nick ~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

My eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness of my room when I woke up in the middle of the night and opened my eyes. I heard noises coming from one of the rooms across the hall so I got out of bed and went to see what it was.

"No...No...NO!..." a voice said softly and then got louder until it was screaming. "NO!!!!!"

The door to Liz’s room was open a little so I walked over to it, pushed it open a little further, and looked in. She was lying on her back screaming in her sleep as tears rolled down her cheeks. I walked over to her bed and tried to wake her up, but she didn’t open her eyes. Her hands were a little cold to the touch and when I looked at her face, I saw that she was crying with sweat on her forehead. I didn’t exactly know what to do, so I pulled the blankets back a little. She was lying towards the middle of the bed, so I sat on the bed next to her and picked her up so I was cradling her in my arms.

"Ssshhhh...it’s ok," I whispered softly as I pulled the blankets up over her a little.

She calmed down after a few minutes and when I felt her hands, they were warm again. Her breathing had returned back to its normal deep pattern so I knew she was asleep still. When I felt like she was ok, I laid her head back down on one of the down pillows and pulled the blankets up over her sleeping body.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ The Next Morning ~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

The early morning rays of the sun shone through the white curtains that covered the window across the room from the bed. I slowly opened my eyes to a squint and found myself facing someone else laying next to me...actually I was facing his bare chest. I looked up and saw Nick with his head leaned against his hand that was propped up on his elbow. He was already awake and watching me when I finally woke up. I closed my eyes again and kept them closed, hoping that he wouldn’t be there when I opened them again.

"Why are you in my bed?" I asked in a slightly groggy voice when I opened my eyes to see him still lying there.

He laughed a little before he brushed back a few pieces of hair that fell into my eyes as I pulled the blankets up to my chin.

"You had a bad dream last night...I woke up and heard you screaming at the top of your lungs in your sleep," he explained with a serious face.

"Awww crap," I said as I rubbed my eyes a little.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothin...I’ve been having bad dreams for the last 6 months...since I first came here to Orlando..." I replied as I rolled over. "They keep comin back and I can’t make ‘em go away."

I rolled out from under the blankets and walked over to the chair where one of my bags was sitting. After rummaging through it for a few seconds, I pulled out my towel and some clean clothes.

"Hey...if there’s anything I can do, let me know ok?" Nick said after he got up.

"Sure thing," I replied as I headed towards the bathroom.

Nick walked out the door and shut it behind him so I went into the bathroom for a shower before I got dressed. When I walked into the kitchen downstairs, Jane, AC, and Nick were all sitting around the table eating their own choice meals for breakfast. They were all dressed and ready to go to rehearsal for the day.

"Good Morning," Jane said to me as I walked into the kitchen.

"Morning," I replied with a half smile. "What’s for breakfast?"

Nick stood up and walked over to the counter and then opened one of the upper cabinets.

"Whatever you feel like," he said as he gestured to the cupboard that was filled with cereal boxes, spices and flavorings, and drink mixes among other things.

I looked at the counter and saw that a package of pancake mix was open, but I wasn’t in the mood for pancakes.

"Have any oatmeal?" I asked with a smile.

"Oatmeal?" he asked with a scrunched-up face. "You want oatmeal?"

"Yeah...I love the stuff," I replied as I walked over to the cupboard door that he held open.

"Sorry...no oatmeal...mom’ll have to pick some up for ya," he replied with a shrug before he went back to the table to finish his bowl of cereal.

"We’ll go to the grocery store later today," Jane said as she stood up and set her dishes in the sink. "You can come with and pick up some stuff if you want."

"Ok. That sounds great," I replied as I pulled out a box of Cheerios from the cupboard. "Where’s the dishes at?"

Nick pointed to one of the other cupboards as he drank the milk from his bowl. I pulled out a bowl and poured myself a bowl of cereal before I sat down across the table from Nick. He was reading a newspaper so I didn’t bother trying to make conversation with him. AC had already left so it was only us two in the kitchen. I hurriedly finished my breakfast and put the dirtied dishes in the sink.

"So, when do we need to be to the studio?" I asked Nick as I put my foot up on one of the chairs around the table and tied my shoelace that had come undone.

"9. We need to leave in about 5 minutes," he replied before he stood up.

I followed him out of the kitchen, but when he turned to go upstairs, I sat down on the dark green couch in the sitting area. Jane, AC, and Nick all came down a few minutes later so we all went to the door and headed out. I saw my reflection in the mirror as we walked past it on the way out. ‘Man...I look like death warmed over...’ I thought to myself as I walked out the door towards the truck.