Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Are you still awake?” Nick murmured against Ava’s ear hours later as the two of them lay on a mattress that he had eventually gotten off of their bed and placed by the fireplace. He’s not sure what time it is, but he can hear the birds chirping outside and see the slight glow of the sun coming up through the curtains, so he knows they’ve been up all night.
“Barely,” Ava murmured back and she rolled over onto her stomach on top of him and rested her head comfortably against his shoulder, before snuggling more into the big blanket that covered their naked bodies. “I can’t believe we had sex in pretty much every inch of this suite and I’m not dead from exhaustion.” Nick chuckled softly and tightened his arms around her, before resting his forehead against hers, looking into her eyes and tucking a strand of her damp hair behind her ear.
“My favorite was the kitchen,” he informed with a small grin on his face. “I can’t believe you’re a chef and we’ve never made love in the kitchen before up until now.” Ava laughed softly and he silently took in the beautiful sound.
“We can hardly call me a chef, baby; I’ve only ever cooked for the family before…”
“That could change some day, you never know…” Nick responded casually and she tightened her arms around him and lovingly buried her face in the crook of his neck.
“Oh yeah, baby?” She asked softly and he heard the amused tone in her tired voice.
“Yeah, why not…? You can’t keep your delicious cooking in the family forever; someone else is bound to discover it and lose their minds over it.”
“You really think I could pull off cooking for other people?” She asked in a small doubtful voice and she looked up at him again, meeting his blue eyes.
“I do sweetheart. You cook for all of us all the time…why not spread your wings and really venture out there with your recipes?” Ava bit her lip nervously at the thought.
“It’s one thing to cook for your family, but it’s a whole different ball game to cook for the rest of the world…David hated my cooking. Loathed and despised it…there was nothing I could do right for that man.”
“David is an asshole, sweetheart” Nick insisted, hugging her closer to him protectively. “His opinion doesn’t matter.”
“But if I couldn’t even do one thing right for him, what makes you think I can do it for strangers on the street?”
“Because baby you’ve been cooking for me for ten years. There is nobody in this world who loves your cooking as much as I do. You don’t make mistakes, Ava Marie. David was one big gigantic mistake…but your cooking is not.” Ava continued to look at him with doubt in her eyes and he rubbed his nose lightly over hers. “Trust me baby girl, you would have people lined up out the door and around the corner from miles away.” Ava gently cradled the back of his neck in her hands and rested her forehead against his.
“I love you for believing in me, Nicky, but I think you believe in me a little too much.”
“You don’t believe in yourself enough baby girl…so yeah, it’s all on me to be your biggest fan.” Ava closed her eyes and he lightly tickled her bare back with the pad of his fingers. “Just think about it okay? It would give you that independence you are always searching for. You would be making your own money by doing something that you love and at the same time be helping me provide for our family…like a real team.”
“Kay, Nicky…” she told him softly, deciding that promising him she’ll think about it won’t hurt anything. “I’ll think about it…”
“Thank you,” he responded, hugging her close to him affectionately and kissing her forehead. “I love you baby girl.”
“I love you too…” she murmured, before snuggling against him and drifting off to sleep. He once again kissed her forehead and quietly lay there watching her and gazing into the glow of the fire in the fireplace as he thought about things, before eventually drifting off to sleep himself.
~*~*~*~
Later on that day Ava opened her eyes and found herself lying in bed in the bedroom. Nick had obviously moved both her and the mattress back in there at some point that morning. She smiled to herself as memories of last night drifted through her mind and she glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand to see that not only does it read eleven thirty, but there is also an iced venti caramel macchiato from starbucks sitting there next to it, and it had a message written on the cup. She raised her eyebrow in curiosity and sat up with her blanket cocooning her, before grabbing up the coffee and reading what it says.
Morning beautiful, see you soon it read, with a little heart under the words.
Ava’s heart melted as she got out of bed and ventured into the other room. When she discovered Stefan, Demyan, Drake, and Drew all sitting around the living room as well as Kevin, Brian, and Raven, she was suddenly glad that Nick seemed to have thought to put his tee shirt and her sweat pants back on her too. Jade and Zara were both of course sitting on the floor playing with Jade’s Fashionista Barbie Limo and watching cartoons.
“Morning sweetheart, how’d you sleep? We heard you had quite a night…” Raven questioned as she watched the younger woman go and instantly place herself next to Kevin on the couch and snuggle into his side with her blanket and all, like the natural baby of the group that she is. Kevin chuckled softly and wrapped his arm around her, and kissed the top of her head.
“Pretty good…I don’t regret staying up all night one bit, but I am very grateful Nick thought to provide me with caffeine right when I woke up nonetheless.”
“He knew you would be,” Raven responded and Ava rested her head against Kevin’s shoulder.
“Where is he anyway? I’ve grown accustomed to having him here right when I wake up…”
“Out running errands…he’ll be back soon, he has to be. We’re leaving pretty soon here” Kevin answered.
“And my brother…?” She added, not accustomed to him being gone in the mornings either.
“Still sleeping, he and Tierja had a busy night as well. I sent Howie and Kathryn in there to wake them up.” Ava nodded and snuggled into Kevin a little bit more.
“How long do we have?”
“A couple of hours…Nick already did most of the packing for your family but left your suitcase open and available to you knowing you would want inside it. Ray and I got donuts and apple juice for everybody if you’re hungry” Brian explained, before grabbing a nearby box of Dunkin Donuts and putting them in her reach. Ava raised her eyebrow in slight concern and reached for a pink icing donut with sprinkles.
“Did the poor baby sleep at all? We were up all night after all…”
“He says he did, we had no choice but to take his word for it.” Ava frowned slightly, but before she could open her mouth to respond, the door opened and the love of her life and her mother walked in, as well as AJ, Tierja, Kathryn, and Howie. Ava studied him and saw that if he got any sleep at all, it wasn’t much. Which is pretty obvious since he managed to get her coffee, pack their things, run errands to who knows where, and from the looks of their daughter, give her a bath all before eleven thirty.
And if that’s not enough to set people’s inner alarms off, the bags under his eyes should’ve been a big clue. She will definitely be forcing him to go to sleep the moment they’re on the bus later. She loves him for being there to take care of her and Jade, but not at the expense of his well-being. He has dance practice with the boys tonight as well as a ballet to take her and Jade to afterwards, he needs his sleep. She is slowly healing now, it is high time she shows him they’re a team and start taking care of him.
Despite being slightly upset that he hadn’t taken care of himself at all this morning, she smiled at him happily, instantly looking at him like he is her whole world and his heart turned over in his chest.
“Hey baby, you’re awake…” he greeted and crossed the room to get to her. When he was standing in front of her, he cradled her face in his hands and kissed her lovingly. “I see you found your coffee.”
“Yes I did, thank you baby…” she told him while sliding her arms around his neck. “It was definitely very much needed, and I love you” she told him, deliberately saying it in front of her whole family, making all of them exchange surprised looks.
“I love you too,” he told her happily, and he gathered her up in his arms and sat down in her place with her in his lap.
“So, where were you and my momma at this morning while I was sleeping, hmm?” she asked nosily, knowing full well that they were together. They both had a distinctive air about them that they were off doing sneaky things when they walked in. Nick rolled his eyes playfully and before he could open his mouth to respond, Denise beat him to it, having a ready answer.
“Out eating brunch,” she answered truthfully. “I just really felt like treating him to some brunch this morning and spending some quality time with him.” Ava knows full well that she is leaving something out, but was too overcome with emotion right then to really think about it.
How many times did she and her mother fight over her boyfriends in the past? Too many times to count and she hated it. It was an event that always ended with her storming off angry and in tears. She certainly never bothered to treat any of them to brunch or go out of her way to spend ‘quality time’ with them, that’s for sure.
To have her accept this one means so much to her, especially since she’s starting to open her eyes and fully understand just how important this one is and always has been. Ava looked into Nick’s eyes and while he hugged her close to him affectionately, his arms firmly around her waist, she brushed her lips over his, before gently making him rest his head against her shoulder and she hugged him back and idly played with his long blonde uncombed strands. She could feel him snuggle into her, another sure sign that he is tired. She knows he could fall asleep right there on her shoulder if she let him. And she wants to very badly.
“You have to let me up baby; I need to go get ready.”
“We have a bathroom and shower on the bus you know…”
“I’m not leaving this hotel room in my pajamas and without a bra on, Nicky, no matter how much you would enjoy that.” Nick laughed softly and placed soft kisses on the crook of her neck before pulling back and looking into her eyes. He kissed her lips briefly before reluctantly releasing his arms from around her. As soon as he did, she got to her feet, grabbed her only partially eaten donut and caramel macchiato from the coffee table and she disappeared in their bedroom, shutting the door behind her. He waited and when he heard the shower running in their room he looked at everybody else.
“She looks happier than ever…what happened last night?” AJ who still hasn’t been clued in on what his sister was up to while everyone was out partying it up and causing drama last night.
“She made me my favorite meal and surprised me with it when I got back,” Nick answered happily while pulling Jade into his lap and sitting back in his spot with her comfortably. She slid her arms around him and snuggled into him and he kissed her forehead. “She had candles of her favorite scent everywhere, a warm fire in the fireplace, the table set for three, and even wine…the whole place smelled like her and her cooking and it was the best welcome home I’ve ever received in my life. I completely forgot we were even in a hotel room and everything.”
“Apparently it was a really big night for the two of you…she’s even telling you she loves you, finally.” AJ responded, making Nick grin even more and Tierja gently wrapped her arm around his shoulders and kissed his cheek affectionately, knowing first hand just how important hearing those words from a McLean is.
“I’m happy things are turning around for you, sweetie” she told him gently.
“Thanks,” Nick grinned and while AJ reached out and slid his arm around her waist and reeled her in close to him, kissed her forehead and hugged her affectionately, he looked at Howie.
“I did my part in loving her cooking and even planted the idea in her head that starting a career as a chef would be the best thing for her…it’s your turn now. And you really have your work cut out for you, because she doesn’t believe it’s something she’s either capable of doing or deserves.” Howie nodded, Nick’s warning not being anything new to him, he knows how Ava is.
“Don’t worry, I’m on it” was all he said.
~*~*~*~*~
“Are you ready baby? It’s time to go…” Nick questioned while walking into their bedroom to find Stefan sitting in a lazy boy chair that he had pulled into the room the moment she was dressed and it was safe for him to go in there, and her just zipping up her suitcase.
Jade was sitting on the bed hugging her teddy bear close and quietly watching her, her hair now pulled back into two braids that rested on her shoulders, completing how adorably fashioned she looks in her red and black plaid long sleeved shirt, jeans, and almost knee high black boots that he had put her in earlier that morning.
To his amusement, Ava decided to match her today; wearing her own long sleeved red and black plaid shirt, jeans, and knee high black boots, but left her hair down and straightened the way she knows he likes it.
“Yup, I’m ready” she answered as he came up behind her and wrapped her in his arms.
“What, no makeup? I thought I was going to have to pry you from the bathroom mirror for sure…” he asked when he got a good look at her face and he smirked as she rolled her eyes playfully.
“Ha-ha…” she responded while leaning back against him. “That’s why I left the makeup out, smartass; I will wait until we’re on the bus.” Nick laughed and leaned over her and kissed her lips softly before pulling back. “Okay, well good because we really have to go now” he told her while grabbing up her suitcase on one shoulder, before wrapping his arm around her waist and in one swift movement, lifted her up and easily placed her so she hung over his other shoulder, making her squeal and laugh. He smirked and turned her so she faced the side of the bed and the nightstand where she once stood.
“Grab your stuff,” he instructed gently, and as soon as she had her black handbag in one hand and her coffee in the other, he glanced at Stefan to see him amusedly scoop his daughter up into his arms and follow him out of the room.
“What about the rest of the stuff, crazy? If you’re carrying me, who is going to grab those…?”
“I brought everything down to our bus ahead of time, we’re good” Nick told her amusedly and she rolled her eyes playfully when she felt his hand come to a rest on her bottom, holding her into place.
“You’re having way too much fun, Nickolas.” She informed him. “And I’m heavy; you should probably put me down” she added and he snorted.
“Hardly, sweetheart…I’m good, no worries.” He reassured her. Ava huffed but otherwise let it go. When they made it down to the busses he walked onto theirs and set her suitcase down before bringing her down into his arms cradling her. She rested her head against his shoulder and glanced at Howie curiously who was sitting on one of the couches beside Kathryn looking protective. Before she could say anything though, one of their event coordinators stepped onto the bus looking fretful.
“Hey Carrie, what’s up?” Howie asked concerned.
“I was looking for you or Kevin…Kev isn’t on his bus yet, so I found you. We have a problem…”
“What’s wrong?”
“Our caterer’s for tonight and tomorrow’s events quit on us last minute…we can just pick up some take out for you guys tonight since it will just be the five of you and our crew, that’s not a big deal…but we need to come up with something for the fan event tomorrow.”
“Isn’t this fan event that you speak of just another sound check and meet and greet…?” Ava spoke up confused from her comfortable perch in Nick’s arms.
“We decided to do something a little different this time…since it’s an outside venue we decided to throw in an intimate barbeque with the Backstreet Boys. They’ll still do the sound check and question and answer part like usual, but there will be food available during the meet and greet. We had a caterer, but like I said they quit at the last minute…”
“We could have Kevin or one of the security guards pull out a grill…” Brian suggested shrugging his shoulders and Kathryn smirked suddenly.
“I’d pay good money to see Kevin wear a chef hat and apron for the fans…” Ava couldn’t help but giggle.
“With kiss the cook on it...it would have to say kiss the cook” she insisted and Raven burst out laughing.
“Kiss the cook but don’t touch the buns!” Ava and Kathryn joined in on her laughter and Carrie smirked in amusement.
“As entertaining as that would be, we have a lot of fans coming to this meet and greet...we will need Kevin’s full attention on them…and that also means we will need all of our security guards focused entirely on the boys too.”
“Is there no chance of finding a backup catering company by tomorrow? Kevin and I could spend the trip to New York helping you find one if we have to…” Howie spoke up again; causally watching as Ava quietly snuggled deeper into Nick and bit her lower lip.
“That’s what I’ve come on here to ask you to do, but it is last minute so it won’t be easy...”
“I was planning on riding on this bus with Kat since she insists on being with Ava, but I’m sure Kev won’t protest to the idea of joining us…especially since it’s a business crisis. We could break out the phone books and get right to work.”
“That would be great Howie, thanks. He should be on his bus by now, I will go get him and then we can be on our way and get to work.” Howie nodded and as soon as she was off the bus, he got to his feet and went in search of the phone books, before proceeding to turn the kitchen table into a place that they can work.
Soon enough she was back with a ready-to-work Kevin and while the busses set off to their next destination and they got right down to business, Ava quietly squirmed out of Nick’s arms and walked over to the couch and sat down. She looked over at Nick, smiled at him, and quietly motioned him to her. He immediately obeyed and crossed the room to get to her and as soon as he was standing in front of her, she took his hand into hers and gently pulled him down so he lay across her lap on his stomach before grabbing a nearby pillow and making him rest his head on it.
“Bri will you do me a favor and bring me a blanket please?”
“Yes ma’am,” Brian answered, and he disappeared into the bunk room. While he was doing that, she grabbed the hem to Nick’s shirt and pulled it up over his head before tossing it aside so he lay there in only his jeans and he looked at her curiously.
“What are you doing?”
“Making you comfortable,” Ava answered just as Brian returned with a comforter from one of the bunks. He handed it to her and she covered Nick up and began to gently rub her hand over his back. “You may have been able to convince everybody else that you slept, but I know better” She informed him gently. Nick opened his mouth to protest, but she lightly placed her finger to his lips silencing him. “I love you for taking care of me and Jade, but not at the expense of your health. Since you insist on not taking care of yourself at all, I’m going to have to step in and do it. We aren’t doing anything right now Nicky, just relax and take a nap…” she told him seriously and she shifted so she was straddling him, before proceeding to give him a full on back massage. Nick couldn’t help but close his eyes comfortably at the feel of her hands rubbing his back.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
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Chapter End Notes:
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Twitter: UrsTrulyAshee
Twitter: UrsTrulyAshee
