The next couple of weeks through the tour had been running smooth. Nick and Bella have become better friends than they were while dating and the guys still worried that Bella would hurt Nick once again. They were in Orlando, Florida where they would be having two concerts.
Bella was on her bed in her hotel room since it was raining out, playing her guitar. She was interrupted when she heard a knock on her door. Setting her guitar down, she stood up and walked over peeking into the peep hole. A smile crossed her lips and she opened it up.
“What are you doing, thought you were going to call your sisters?” Bella asked stepping aside for Nick to walk in.
“I talked to BJ and Angel, but didn’t get a hold of Leslie.” Nick plopped on the bed and picked up her guitar.
“I’m bored,” Nick sniffed.
“You sound congested still,” Bella pointed out sitting on the side of the bed. Nick had the flu a week ago and was still getting over it.
“Just a little cold. Nothing for you to stay away from me for four days straight!” Nick picked on Bella who put Nick in quarantine for a flu-virus. “What are you doing?” He asked.
“Working on a song,” Bella crossed her legs.
“Oh? Let me hear.” Nick held the guitar over to Bella.
“Not ready.” She closed her book that she was writing lyrics in.
“You always let me.”
“Yeah but this one is, well, I’m stuck. Something is missing.”
“So, play, let me hear and help.”
“You’re all flushed, do you have a fever?” Bella asked leaning over to feel Nick’s forehead.
“I’m fine, play.” He pushed her hand away before she could reach and she sighed in annoyance. She took the guitar and began strumming her fingers over the guitar strings.
“I can’t believe I’d say I’d lay our love on the ground, but it doesn’t matter ‘Cause I made it up, forgive me now…” she then stopped strumming and put the guitar down.
“Is that all you got? Because it was sounding amazing.”
“Nick-“ Bella bit her bottom lip and gave him a look pleading not to sing any more.
“Bella, please,” he rolled his eyes and took her journal. He flipped open to the last page written in it and scanned the page. Bella watched as his eyes moved back and forth, how he licked his lips and mouthed the words after reading them once in his head. “It’s not done.” He finally spoke.
“That’s what I said, I just have pieces.”
“May I?” Nick asked picking up the pencil. “I think I can relate,” Nick looked up smiling from the page. Bella’s heart fluttered, the way Nick’s hair fell over his blue eyes and the way he looked up at her.
The two spent the next two hours going through lyrics, Bella playing the guitar and sharing a moment the two didn’t know at the time; that would bring them closer together.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Bella why are you freaking out? You just caught my cold I’m sure of, my fever is gone and I just have the sniffles left over.” Nick explained to Bella who was at a small convenient store looking for Emergen-C packets, vitamins, and buying orange juice.
“You don’t understand Nick, I canNOT get sick.” She said sharply throwing a bottle of hand sanitizer into the basket.
“Just take some Nyquil at night and Tylenol during the day if you’re feeling lousy.”
“Those just COVER up the affects. I need things that will prevent and make me better.”
“We’ll get you better; you have another day to rest before performing. Cancel your interview tonight if you’re worried.”
“You don’t get it,” Bella rolled her eyes and went to the check out.
“What’s there to get? I’m confused?” Nick admitted. Ignoring Nick, she handed the cashier a twenty and took her bag off the counter. She then walked out of the store and began walking back to the hotel that was down the block.
“Bella, there’s something you’re not telling me,” Nick grabbed her arm to stop her from walking. She closed her eyes briefly and sighed.
“I’m sick Nick,” she shrugged her shoulders.
“Okay, so you rest and get better. I was sick for a week and I’m fine now.”
“No, I mean I’m sick, like if I get the flu I could die.” Her eyes avoided Nick’s and she looked at her feet.
“What are you talking about, dying from the flu? I didn’t have bird flu or anything like that.” Nick joked and Bella turned to walk away letting out an angry sigh.
“Bella, I’m sorry, look at me and explain.” He gently tilted her chin up with his index finger and thumb after he caught up with her. “Let’s go over there,” he took her bag of remedies and walked over to a bench that was under a shaded tree. They took a seat and Nick angled himself to face Bella, giving her his complete attention.
“I have hodgkin’s disease,” she spoke slowly after a moment of silence. “It’s a type of cancer of the lymphatic system. They caught it in my thymus gland but could travel to my bone marrow or spleen. I was stage two, which meant it was in two different lymph nodes.” She then looked up at Nick to see if he was following her at all.
“You got sick just before you left me?” He asked and she nodded her head. “Can it be cured?”
“I’m in remission right now, I went through chemo for a year and as far as they know they got it all. But even the slightest cold can flare things up.”
“Wow. Alright that explains a lot.” Nick ran his hands over his face, through his hair. “Bella, why didn’t you tell me?” Nick looked at her and she knew immediately how much keeping this from him hurt.
“Because they doctor’s didn’t know much at first and you guys were just starting things again with the band and I didn’t want to hold you back. God Nick, and at first they thought it was something else, and they told me I had months to live and I couldn’t do that to you. I was so much in love; I couldn’t stand to lose you that way.”
“I would’ve been there for you Isabella,” Nick said softly.
“I know and I love you for that but I didn’t want to be selfish.”
“You are the least selfish person I know,” Nick pulled
Bella into his arms. “All those fights we had just before we broke up about me accusing you of not eating…”
“You knew my past; you had nothing else to go on. Weight loss is one of the symptoms. I was losing weight and my body’s defense went down and I kept getting sick and the doctor’s didn’t know why and I finally went to a specialist.”
“I’m sorry for those fights, especially the ones right after you would have a fainting spell, I’m an ass, you had every right to leave me.”
“Stop it, you had no idea, I didn’t even know at the time.”
“How do you feel right now?”
“I feel like I have a cold but every cold scares me.”
“Let’s get you to the hotel and into bed,” Nick told her standing up.
“I’m sorry for lying to you. I was just so scared of losing you forever and I didn’t want to put you through any of it. I don’t want you to have to worry every time I get a cold because I do that enough.” A few tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked up at Nick.
“Baby, you’re not going anywhere. I’m not going
anywhere.” Nick held her tighter and kissed the top of her head. “If you get sick, I’ll make sure you get the best treatment possible.” With his arm still around her, Nick and Bella walked back to the hotel in silence.
Bella drank a tall glass of orange juice with two packets of Emergen-C before climbing into her bed. Nick lay with her, his arms wrapped around her waist tightly, silently promising himself he’d never let her go again.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Thank you Orlando! Now are you ready for your home towns very own BACKSTREET BOYS?!” Bella yelled into the microphone and the crowd screamed with excitement. “I said, are YOU ready for the BACKSTREET BOYS ORLANDO?!” The arena grew louder.
“Not just yet,” a voice came over the speaker and then girls in the audience screamed louder.
“Oh no?” Bella asked confused. “Why is that Nick?” She put her hand on her hip smiling.
“Because I think we should give Orlando a special treat tonight.”
“What may that be?” Bella asked now nervous to what Nick
had up his sleeve.
“Hey Orlando, how would you like to hear a duet performance with Bella and I? This song is brand new and you will be the first to hear it!” Nick grinned putting a hand on Bella’s lower back. There were cheers and more screams.
“Nick, no.” Bella spoke into Nick’s ear and not the microphone. Two stools were then brought out onto stage, and a microphone stand was in front of the stool meant for her to sit in.
“Trust me,” Nick smiled, took her hand and led her to the stool. He took her microphone, set it into the stand and he took a seat. Just then the band began to play the familiar new music notes to the song Nick and she had worked on just two days ago. Nick began singing first.
“Just one more moment, that’s all that’s needed, like
wounded shoulders, in need of healing, time to be honest. This time I’m pleading, please don’t dwell on it, ‘cause I didn’t mean it.” Nick nodded to Bella and she picked up.
“I can’t believe I said I’d lay our love on the ground, but it doesn’t matter ‘cause I made it up, forgive me now,” Bella sang, her eyes never leaving Nick’s. “Every day I spend away, my soul’s inside out, gotta be some way I can make it up to you now, somehow, by now you know that- “
Nick joined in, his hand in a tight fist up to his
chest. “I’d come from you, no one but you, yes, I’d come for you, but only if you told me to. I’d fight for you, I’d lie, it’s true, give my life for you. You know I’d always come from you.” As practiced when they wrote the song, Bella let Nick sing the next part.
“I was blindfolded, but now I’m seeing, my mind closing; now I’m believing.”
Bella picked up and stood up from the stool, “I finally know just what it means to let someone in, to see the side of me that one does, or ever will. So if you’re ever lost and find yourself all alone, I’d search forever just to bring you home. Here and now, it’s a vow.” Nick reached for Bella’s hand and squeezed it and the two sang together:
“By now you know that I’d come for you, no one but you. Yes, I’d come for you, but only if you told me to. I’d fight for you, I’d lie, it’s true. Give my life for you. You know I’d always come for you, you know I’d always come for you. “
“No matter what gets in my way, as long as there’s still life in me, no matter what, remember, you know I’ll always come for you.”
Nick then sang, “Yes, I’d come for you, no one but you, yes, I’d come for you but only if you told me to. And I’d fight for you, I’d lie for you, give my life for you, you know I’ll always come for you.”
“No matter what gets in my way, as long as there’s life in me, you know I’ll always come for you.
“I’d crawl across this world for you, do anything you
want me to. No matter what, remember, you know I’ll always com for you, you know I’ll always come for you…” The two finished off together, facing one another. They pulled the microphones away from their mouths, hand in hand and their faces inches away. As the lights went off, Nick and Bella’s lips found each other’s and they kissed softly. A kiss that was soft, full of emotion and left both breathlessly, as they pulled apart.
Author's Chapter Notes:
I fixed it so that there is more spacing and everything isn't scrunched in!
