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I'm all about you
“Is there anything more I can do to fuck up my life?” Aliesa lifted her head at the outburst, the pen in her hand hitting the corner of the journal she was writing in. A frown appeared instantaneously on her face, as Nick stalked in through her bedroom door. “Didn’t go to well?” With a loud snort, he planted himself next to her on the bed. “I’ll take that as a yes,” she retorted plainly, placing the journal down in her lap. She bit the edge of her pen cap uneasily, focusing in on Nick. Whatever he had to say was going to be bad, that was a given. They had seen the tabloid pictures in the store when they were out picking up groceries. Neither of them had been surprised when they saw the flashing red light on the answering machine when they returned back to the house. They’d both been dreading it the entire ride home. They knew full well the implications of bad publicity. Suffice it to say that it was only the luck of the draw that had Nick had to be the one to face the wrath and return Shannon’s frantic call. Aliesa had been taken out of the running the minute Brian called to check up on them. He’d seen it too. She was hoping that maybe they weren’t in that much trouble. But by Nick’s reaction she was probably wrong. “What did she say?” “What didn’t she say?” Nick rebuffed. “Then the pictures?” “All over the place.” She leaned forward apprehensively. “And the damage control?” She resounded pulling the pen from her lips. He let out a beleaguered sigh confirming what she already knew to be true. “That doesn’t sound good Nick,” she said slowly, sitting up straight. “Remember that party we were hoping to avoid?” She nodded. He motioned. Her mouth gaped. “She’s making us go? You’re kidding!” “Wish I was,” he whistled mournfully. Aliesa shook her head vehemently protesting the thought of even attending. “But doesn’t she know who’s going to be there?” He tapped his fingers against the back of his neck. “That’s what she’s counting on.” Her head dropped to the side. “I thought we were supposed to be avoiding the exes! Not trying to run into them! This is ridiculous! What is she thinking?” Nick smiled pensively. That was enough to set Aliesa on a panic attack. “Oh no don’t tell me there’s more?” He sat back, sucking in his cheeks. “It’s not just the party.” She bit her lip and let out a deep breath. “What else?” His jaw tensed. He looked her straight in the eye. “MTV Diary.” Her expression became one of disbelief. “No way…when…” He held up his hand to stop her from commenting any further. He wasn’t done. “And we have some joint radio interviews, movie premieres…” Her jaw dropped, her mouth slightly parting, as he continued listing. “Random record release parties for people on the label, television spots, oh and did I mention the fact that Shannon thinks we need to cement our relationship by being spotted around on normal everyday couple outings?” The pen fell from her hand. “Couple outings?” “Yes. And I quote. Very, very, very public dates.” His nose crinkled, his tongue darting out wetting his lips. “A LOT of them,” he emphasized before picking up her fallen pen and handing it back to her. She took the pen back reluctantly and groaned. “Oh God! We have to do all of that for some pictures of you and your ex-girlfriend hugging? It’s a good thing you didn’t kiss her! Shannon probably would have ordered us to have a baby!” The comment was met with a horrified expression. “Not funny,” he responded, shuddering at the repercussion of that kind of turn of events. She eyed him grimly. “Well at this rate we’ll be adopting twins.” She leaned back against the headboard. “I can’t believe we have to do all of that.” “Is this the point in the conversation where you start blaming me?” “Why would I have to remind you that you’re an idiot? You already know it’s your fault.” “And here I thought you’d be different now that we’re trying the friends thing.” She twirled the pen in her hand and pointed it at him. “You’re just lucky I’m being understanding.” He scratched his head, nodding but not bothering to comment further on the issue. They had other things to discuss. “Which leads us to our other problem. What happened with Brian?” “Well you were right. He was worried.” She tugged the end of her shirt tersely. “I told him we were okay. But I don’t know if he believes me.” Her fingers brushed together lightly as she dropped the pen back on top of her journal and crossed her legs Indian style. She waved her right hand to make a point. “I swear Nick I get this feeling sometimes that he isn’t 100% sold on us.” “Like he knows?” He asked cocking his head. “Exactly! You too?” Nick leaned back, pressing his hands against the bedspread. Stretching his long legs out he nodded. “Once and a while. Every now and then.” “Then I guess we weren’t as good as we thought we were.” She pondered. “It’s like. It’s like he expected me to be more upset that you didn’t tell me that you ran into Mandy. And with the pictures in the papers and the gossip flying around… we knew Brian wouldn’t be that surprised because he knew. But he was too calm with me. It’s almost like he’s trying to gage something. He said things. It almost felt like it was a test.” The corners of Nick’s lips lifted up contemplatively before pursing into a straight line. “I think we’re going to have to do something drastic. The sooner we do it the better…” She let out another deep breath, shifting, curling her fingers and resting it underneath her chin. “What kind of drastic are we talking about?” He stared at the door a moment before focusing back on Aliesa, studying her in an effort to determine something. “Howie's club. We’ll meet the guys there tomorrow night.” “What is showing up together going to prove to anyone? We do that already.” “Not like this. We’re going to have to change our rules.” She lifted her chin, her eyes blinking rapidly. “What do you mean?” “I mean we’re going to have to do more than just show up together.” A feeling of nervousness formed at the pit of her stomach at the idea he was presenting. “You mean PDA?” Her head shook dubiously. “No way. No way! I relented on this whole us being friends thing but there is NO way I am going to PDA with you. That was off bounds for a reason.” “Look I don’t want to do it either but I think at this point we have to.” “WE don’t have to DO anything. Besides we do enough as it is!” “We have to do more than hold hands and give each other pecks Ali.” “Call me crazy Carter, but I don’t think groping is the answer to our problems here. I think we need an alternative solution. One that doesn’t have you ramming your tongue down my throat.” “There isn’t an alternative.” “There is ALWAYS an alternative.” “It’s the only thing we haven’t done.” “And there’s a reason why! It’s disgusting. You can act in love without any of the physical stuff.” “Ali.” “No.” “Ali.” “No.” “Ali.” “Calling me Ali isn’t helping you plead your case either.” “Aliesa. You know I’m right.” “We’ve come this far without it.” “And we’re still trying to convince people.” “I still don’t see how this will help us at all.” “Did you with Christian?” “What?” “Christian and you. P-D-A?” Aliesa let out a hollow laugh. “Oh you are not using that line of argument.” “You did.” “Nick. That was different.” “How? He was your boyfriend. You’re my wife.” At that reasoning, she went still, her voice hesitant. She couldn’t think of a rebuttal, any kind of protest. She bit her fingernail. She really had to stop doing that. “Don’t reject the idea before we try it out,” he reasoned. Their argument was stupid. And he knew he was right. She knew he was right. “Fine,” she relented. “We’ll do this. We’ll try this plan of yours. BUT.” She poked him in the chest with her finger. “Only on your promise that if it doesn’t work we revert back to normal.” “Agreed.” “And don’t think for a minute you can just put your hands anywhere.” “I wouldn’t.” “I reserve the right to smack you when people aren’t looking.” “Can I tell you again how glad I am we’re on friendly terms now?” She raised an eyebrow. “Don’t make me regret that we are.” ******************************* “Nick?” Aliesa called out as she rummaged through her jewelry box. She couldn’t find the other damn earring and it was driving her up the wall. “NICK! Have you seen an earring?” She closed the box. “Nick are you there?” His voice filtered out to her. “Down the hall.” It was all she heard before the sound of shuffling and heavy-handed drumbeats drowned him out entirely. At that she gave up on finding the other pair of her earrings. It was hopeless. It wasn’t there and she was running late. She scampered about, shoving things in her purse before dropping it half-hazardly on the bed for the tube of lipstick on her dresser. Blotting her lips quickly with a tissue she reapplied her lipstick and spirtzed out another spray of perfume. “It’ll only make it better,” she rationalized as she donned on another spirtz on second thought. She pinched her cheeks. He’d said dress to kill. If this hot red number didn’t do it she didn’t know what could. It was THE dress. It’d only been worn once. She’d bought it for the sole purpose of getting Christian Burns to ask her out. It’d done the trick. And it wasn’t going to fail her this time. If he wanted to make a statement with her he was going to get one. “Showtime Aliesa,” she said aloud as she took another quick look in the mirror before picking her purse back off the bed. She needed a male reaction. She shut the door behind her in search of Nick. She stepped into the music room. He wasn’t there. Typical. He was never where she needed him to be. She opted to check his room. “Nick?” She poked her head into the door. Vacant again. She sauntered onto the stairwell. “Nick? Where in the heck are you?” she shouted as she made her way down. “Right here.” Aliesa jumped back startled at the sound of his voice, almost losing her balance. He rushed up the stairs. Her hands automatically grabbed the side of his arms. “You okay?” Nick asked, securing her balance by firmly planting his hands on her waist. She responded, her heart still beating rapidly, still shaken at the surprise. “Warn me next time will you?” “Sorry. I didn’t think you were that edgy,” he shrugged smiling innocently. “I didn’t know you were down here. I heard you playing the drums.” “I was but then I had to grab something that belongs to you before I forgot.” “You found my earring?” A contemplative look etched onto his face. His eyebrows furrowed together in thought before her words registered. “No not your earring…” he started before stopping as he took a good look at her. “What?” His gaze just stayed on her and her alone. It was penetrating. “Nick? Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked him coyly, even though she thought she had a pretty good idea why. The look in his eye said it all. It was all about that red dress. It had struck gold again and she knew it. Hell if she was going to deny an ego boost. It never hurt anyone. He didn’t respond right away, just flashed her that trademark grin. The one that always got him what he wanted, the kind that made girls weak in the knees. And it made her tremble, just a little bit. It was disarming. He leaned forward; just close enough for her to catch the scent of his cologne. And damn him for knowing what it would do to her. It was intoxicating to her to say the least. “I can’t help it. You look unbelievably amazing,” he said huskily. Her face flushed red in modesty at the remark. Oh he was good. He’d just proved to her that he wasn’t a resident heartthrob for nothing. Those screaming girls had a reason to swoon. And though Aliesa wasn’t the swooner type she surely wasn’t immune, not totally. But what differentiated her from that was that she was just as good as he was for suckering in the opposite sex and getting her way. Her eyes lowered at first, before they drifted back upwards, meeting his for the briefest of seconds. She leaned in; making sure her lips barely grazed his ears. “Now THAT Mr. Carter is a compliment. It’s definitely an improvement from nice. I think you’re learning,” she whispered. She pulled back and let her fingers brush the hair at the nape of his neck. “And by the way your hair is much much better this way,” she murmured in a hushed tone letting her fingertips linger a moment longer before she stepped out of his arms, making sure her body brushed against his briefly before continuing her descent down the stairs. Aliesa Montaine was a tease and a damn fine one. She was bad. She was just evil. And Nick was lucky she knew how to play the game just as well as he did. They were going to need that tonight. He watched her retreating figure before shaking his thoughts away and stepping forward to follow. “So what is it that you had to give me?” she asked as he grabbed his jacket from the banister. “Now I don’t remember saying that I had something to give you,” he said teasingly. “It’s probably because you were too busy with your jaw dropped to the ground.” “Refresh my memory…Was that before or after you told me I had sexy hair?” “I never said you had sexy hair.” “My jaw never dropped to the ground Ali-” She pressed a finger against his lips and shut him up. Drawing herself closer to him, she pressed his hand against her waist. She tilted her head up, leaning in forward slowly. Her eyes floated up at him seductively through her lashes, as she traced the outline of his lips with her finger. His grip suddenly tightened around her, with a sharp intake of breath. She pressed her lips to the corner of his teasingly. “If it didn’t. It is now.” With that said, she pulled herself away. His eyes shut. “You’re awful.” “You’re too easy,” she answered a smile playing on her lips. “So tell me what it is.” “I think I liked you better when we weren’t friends. You were less demanding,” he commented dryly, as he fished in his pocket and retrieved something. She extended her hand out to him. “So hand it over already.” “I’m guessing you’re referring to this?” His palm opened as he watched her reaction. Now it was her turn to stare at him. And she did. She gawked. “Is this what I think it is?” He smirked. Her reaction was priceless. “Yeah. Not your earrings.” He opened the small box in his hand and her mouth fell even more than it already had. He was holding a ring. And not just any ring. A diamond. And it wasn’t just a diamond. It was a huge diamond. A diamond set in the center of a familiar shape. A rose. A rose, her favorite flower. And it was pink. She loved pink. Pink stones, sparkling pink stones. It was gorgeous. And she couldn’t believe he was holding it out to her. “I wasn’t sure about it. If you don’t like it I could take it back and we can get a different one. I just thought you know it might legitimize the whole married thing…” he explained. She just gaped some more if that was even possible. “Should I take it back?” he asked worriedly when she didn’t speak right away. “No. It’s just.” She caught his gaze. “It’s. Wow. I. I don’t know what to say. You didn’t have to,” she said flabbergasted at the gesture. “Well you never got an engagement ring. I thought we could say it was an anniversary gift. Make things more official. I thought it would help.” He plucked it out of the box and took her hand in his. “I talked to the jeweler and he said we can get the wedding band attached so you’d just have to have one ring,” he explained as he slid it on her finger. It fit just right. “It’s perfect,” she gushed gazing down at it. “Thank you. It was very…sweet of you.” His blue eyes sparkled. “Are you saying that you think I’m sweet?” Aliesa's head snapped back up, meeting his smirk with a raised eyebrow. “The gesture you moron.” “Knew it was too good to be true,” he cracked, putting the ring box down on the table and shrugging his jacket on. “Well let’s get a move on. We have some public appearances to make before the club. Our reservation at that restaurant was for half an hour ago.” “Wait,” she said stopping him as he began to move past her. She kissed him quickly on the lips. “What was that for?” He asked a bit surprised at the sudden intimacy, when she pulled back. She took her fingers and smudged his bottom lip. “If we’re going to do this right you need a lipstick mark.” She frowned, analyzing her work. “I don’t think it’s enough though.” He shrugged. “Guess we’ll have to try again,” he suggested wickedly as he brought her back towards him. She halted the action. “Down tiger. Save it for the public.” “You’re no fun.” She patted his chest. “I may be wearing your ring Carter but that doesn’t mean anything.” Then she fixed his shirt collar. “Now come on. We’re late right? Stop making an ass of yourself and let’s go.” “Can I just say yet again how much things are different now that we decided to be friends?” he blurted as he shut the door behind them. “Totally different,” he repeated rolling his eyes. Chapter
19
AUTHOR'S CHAPTER NOTE: ***This
chapter would not have been conceived if it were not for a little help.
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