It had been two days since the kiss that almost happened and although it was still on both of their minds neither Nick or Ashley dared to speak about it. The rest of that bus ride had gone by quite awkwardly with few words and nervous glances, each wondering what was on the others mind.
The boys were now in New York City for a few days. They had a show at Radio City then a day off for some press and radio interviews before heading to a show in New Jersey and ending their stay with another in New York. Since everything was so close they were staying at the same hotel for those few days and taking a van to their shows to make transportation easier. They had rented out a big suite where they each had their own rooms along with a nice living area.
The show at Radio City went off without a hitch. As the boys got word that the venue had finally quieted down and the crowds outside had dispersed they made their way out.
“I’m starving.” Ashley said to AJ as they headed for the stage door. “Would you be up for a last dinner? Nothing too fancy…maybe pizza?” she said with a grin. She tried to eat as much pizza as possible when she was in New York because there was nothing like it anywhere else. She knew AJ wouldn’t be able to resist either.
“Don’t have to ask me twice.” He laughed. “Let’s hop in a cab and go to that one little place we went to last time.”
“Read my mind.” She said as they caught up to the others.
“Anyone up for pizza?” AJ said extending the dinner invitation.
“I gotta get back to the hotel.” Brian said as he slid his hat on. “Leigh left a little while ago with Baylee. He got worn out shopping with the girls earlier and I told her I’d come back right after the show.”
“It’s too late to eat for me.” Kevin shrugged. “We have to get up early tomorrow for radio anyway. I wanna get a good nights sleep.”
“Ok gramps.” AJ teased as he turned to find the others. “What about you, D?”
“Just call me gramps junior.” Howie laughed. “I’m on the same page as Kevin, plus I have to go over our schedule and make some calls.”
“Where’s Nick?” AJ said looking around finally noticing he wasn’t with the rest of the group.
“He snuck out early. Managed to get past everyone I guess.” Howie shrugged.
“Guess it’s just me and you then kiddo.” AJ said as a cab pulled up to the curb in front of them.
“Fine by me.” Ashley smiled. “Night guys.” She called to them as they got into the cab.
Five minutes later they were sitting in the small seating area of the pizzeria awaiting their slices and garlic knots.
“I have missed New York pizza so much.” Ashley said as the man behind the counter waved to them signaling their food was ready. AJ got up and grabbed the tray and placed it down on the table.
“Me too.” He said inhaling the incredible aroma the pizza was emitting. He wanted so badly to just take a big bite, but he knew it was too hot.
“The show was really good tonight. The crowd was super pumped up.” She said blowing on her to try and cool it down faster.
“Yea, I love New York. They always get crazy.” He said finally taking a bite. “This shit is so hot.”
Ashley couldn’t help but laugh at the look on his face as he burned his mouth on the steaming cheese and sauce.
“You’re evil, don’t laugh.” He said taking a sip of his drink in hoped of cooling down his mouth before going in for another bite.
“If you would have some patience it would cool off and you wouldn’t burn your mouth.” She said with a laugh finally taking a bite of her slice.
“It tastes best that way.” He laughed. “So are you bored out of your mind yet, or are you still having fun?”
“I’m having a lot more fun this time.” She smiled. “I like getting to hang around with you guys more. It was lame when I had school work and shit to do.”
“Hopefully we’ll have some down time mid tour to actually go out again. We try and do a few big dinners when we can squeeze them in.”
“Maybe we can all go out while we’re here.” She suggested.
“Yea, we’ll definitely have a little down town for at least dinner.” He said finishing his first slice and going up to order another. “So you said Angel called the other day and said she was coming…do you know when?”
“When we’re in Saratoga. I think its like a little over a week or so.” She smiled.
“I’m sure you cant wait for her to get here so you guys can get into some trouble.” He laughed.
“Duh.” She chuckled. “But Scott will be with her so I dunno how much trouble we’ll be getting into.” She shrugged with a slight sigh.
“He seems like a nice guy. Don’t you get along?” he said trying to judge her tone of voice.
“Oh yeah, he’s great. We just can’t have as much fun as we would if it was just the two of us.” She said passing it off. “No biggie, we’ll still have fun, I heard they have a lot of cute stores up there.”
“I don’t know if we’ve ever been up there before, but even if we have we don’t get much time to explore.” He shrugged. “But it should be fun.”
“Yeah, I hope so.” She smiled and wiped her mouth as she finished her food.
“It’s still early.” AJ said glancing at the clock on the wall. “There’s a Starbucks on the corner we can grab some coffee or something.”
“Yes please. I need caffeine.” She laughed as they threw away their garbage and headed to the coffee shop. They ordered their drinks and took a seat on the plush couches.
“So what’s up with Nick? He’s been acting weird these past few days.” AJ asked taking a swig of his coffee.
“What do you mean weird?” she said hoping he hadn’t sensed the uneasiness between the two of them.
“I dunno, he just hasn’t been very talkative. You told him I’m ok with the two of you being friends right?” AJ said worried he had offended his friend with his original apprehension of their friendship. Although he still wasn’t fully comfortable with it he knew that he had to trust Ashley and Nick in their decisions.
“He hasn’t said anything about it to me.” She shrugged, glad that he hadn’t caught on to the tension between the two of them. “Maybe he’s just tired?”
“Yeah, maybe.” AJ shrugged it off as he continued to drink his coffee.
Nick sighed as he pulled on shorts and a T-shirt. He was lucky to have slipped out of the concert hall unnoticed by every one. He was getting pretty good at disguising himself and with the crowded streets of New York it was even easier. He tossed his towel on the floor and sat on the edge of his bed flipping through channels. He wasn’t tired, but he wasn’t in the mood to go anywhere. He heard the other guys come back in and could tell from the voices that it was only Kevin, Howie and Brian. He wondered where Ashley was, most likely with AJ since he hadn’t come back either. Nick knew things between them had been awkward the past few days and he wanted to ease the tension. He knew it was about time he see just how hard it really was to pull one over on Ashley, since she was so confident that his pranks would have no effect on her. He smirked to himself as he dug through his suitcase pulling out the item he was looking for. It would be perfect, now all he had to do was wait. He wanted to make sure he was ready when they got back so he pulled out his phone and sent AJ a message.
‘Let the mayhem begin…give me a heads up wen ur on ur way bak…make Ash go in2 her closet n have a front row seat it will be funny.’
AJ looked down as his phone went off on the table. He pulled up the message and grinned to himself knowing this would be interesting.
‘On our way bak now…’ he wrote back before looking up at Ashley who was in her own world texting Angel.
“Ready to head back?” he said with a smirk.
“Yup.” She smiled and followed him out the door and into a cab.
They got back to the hotel a few minutes later and Ashley lingered as AJ talked quickly with some fans, signing autographs and taking pictures before making their way up to the room.
Nick could hear the door open and the faint sound of voices from his hiding spot. He smirked to himself as he heard the voices getting closer.
“Which one is our room again?” Ashley asked looking around. They hadn’t spent much time in the room yet and everything looked the same.
“The one in the corner.” He said grabbing some water from the mini fridge. “Can you do me a favor since you’re going in there? I need to charge my phone and it’s in my bag in the closet. Can you just pull it out and leave it on my bed?”
“No prob Bob.” She said heading towards the room. He walked over to the couch where he had a clear view into the room and took a seat waiting to see what Nick had in store.
Ashley opened the closet and looked up to find some one in a Michael Myers mask with a bloody knife staring at her. She jumped back and screamed, started by the masked man.
“Oh my god Nick. You’re such an ass.” She said holding her hand to her chest as she could feel her heart pounding. AJ busted into a fit of laughter. She had practically jumped out of the room she got so scared. “Take that creepy thing off.”
The person slowly walked out of the closet and towards her with the knife raised.
“That’s so not funny.” She said backing away as he proceeded to slowly follow her not saying a word or even blinking. “Nick, seriously.”
The person ignored her and continued to follow her backing her into a corner. He breathed heavily as he towered above her.
“Nick! Cut it out! That thing is creepy!” she said trying to push him away from her. “You got me, you scared me now its over.”
He continued to ignore her.
“Nick seriously stop.” She said nervously as the person once again raised the knife at her.
“Stop what?” Nick said coming out from behind door he was hiding behind with a smirk. “I’m not doing anything.”
“If you’re here, then who?” she said her eyes growing wide with worry looking back at the person in front of her and nervously trying to get away from him again.
All three men burst into a fit of laughter. The person in the mask finally pulling it off and revealing himself.
“Kevin!” Ashley said in shock. “You suck! How could you do this to me?”
“I couldn’t help it. It was too perfect.” He laughed finally backing away from her. “Nick knew you would assume it was him right away. We had you going.”
“You all suck!” she pouted. “And you knew?” she said turning her attention to AJ.
“I love you Ash, but it was good. I couldn’t pass it up.” AJ laughed.
“I hate you all so much.” She crossed her arms and could still feel her heart beating rapidly. “And what psycho actually carries this shit with him?” she said turning her attention to Nick with more a nervous laugh still trying to return to her normal heart rate.
“What happened to ‘It’s hard to get one over on me.’” He said mocking her with a smirk.
“Yea a prank! Not a heart attack!” she said shaking her head with a slight laugh.
“Pranks, scares. All the same to me. Always gotta be on your toes, you never know what I’ll throw at you.”
“Just remember, pay backs a bitch and it’s coming for you.” She warned him.
“Uh huh, I’m shaking in my boots.” He smirked.
“Just you wait and see. I’ll get you back and you’ll think twice before pranking me again.”
“Bring it on.”
“It’s already been broughten.” She laughed. “Now if you loser faces would excuse me I need to go unwind from a heart attack.”
“Sleep tight…hope no one comes calling at night.” Nick smirked making a stabbing motion with his bloody knife complete with old horror move sound effects.
“Shut up.” She said fearfully as he snickered.
“Seriously though, can you get my charger?” AJ laughed as she headed back to the room.
“Get it yourself, loser.” She said wish a laugh as she nervously approached the door to their room.
They couldn’t help but laugh as she cautiously looked around making sure there would be no more surprises.
“You’re off the hook…for tonight at least.” He said with a grin as she flicked him off and shut the door.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry if this gets a little messed up I'm posting from my blackberry because I'm in Fl for a wedding and have no internet. I promise once I get back with a brand new year will come faster updates n amazing chapters...its my New Years resolution to keep you all satisfied :) Enjoy this is a fun one!
