Please Don't Cross Me, I Asked Nicely

Mel and I went backstage to congratulate the boys. She hugged Joe first, to my surprise.

“You guys were AWESOME!” she gushed excitedly.

Joe was slightly sweaty, grinning from ear to ear.

“Thanks,” he replied sheepishly, hugging her back with one arm.

Kevin was wiping his face with a towel just as Mel tackled him with a hug. I hugged Joe first, normally.

“Aww! You're no fun!” he whined.

I rolled my eyes, then hugged Kevin next. He chuckled.

“So, where's Nick?” Mel asked before I could.

“Oh, um, he's in the bathroom, but he'll be right out.” Kevin answered.

I nodded in comprehension.

“So, Rose, where are you from?” Joe asked suddenly.

“Oh. Florida,” I answered, not really giving him my full attention. My mind was on Nick. Why would he sing that song? The lyric that bothered me the most had to be

Used to run and hide
used to beg out of love.
But I can't escape this time,
oh no

It's WAY too soon for him to be thinking about love!

“Oh, hey, Nick,” Mel said, bringing me out of my thoughts.

My eyes snapped over to Nick and Mel.

“Hey, Mel,” he replied with a chuckle.

“You guys were AH-MAZING out there!” she complimented.

“Thanks, Mel,” he replied, looking in my direction afterward.

“How about some lunch? I'm starving!” Joe whined, holding a hand to his stomach.

I laughed a little, as did Nick.

“Right! Let's get some food!” Mel yelled enthusiastically. She shot me a look and I rolled my eyes.

I started walking, but Nick's hand grabbed my wrist gently.

“Do you want to talk about my songs?” he asked.

“Yeah. I'd love that,” I answered.

“So, after we eat or during?” he asked.

“Um, maybe we can sneak away from the others?” I suggested.

“Sure,” he agreed.

He picked up his acoustic guitar again, placing it over his shoulder. We walked out of the door towards the cafeteria once more.

…

Eventually, we arrived to the cafeteria. Nick and Joe opened the doors for us while Kevin's phone was practically glued to his ear. When we entered, everyone stared at us, the girls gawking at the guys more than Mel and I. I sighed as did Mel. As we were about to grab their hands, two girls came up to us, both of them brunette, very pretty, and skinny. I rolled my eyes.

“Your performance was fantastic!” one said.

“Yeah, like, totally amazing!” the other said, staring at Nick.

I sighed quietly. Nick spoke first.

“Thanks, girls, but we'd like to just hang out with our friends, please”, he said kindly, a fake smile plastered on his lips.

It seemed like it was forced.

“That sucks. So, will you be busy tomorrow night?” the same brunette who was interested in Nick asked.

I bit my lip in anger, trying not to burst with jealousy.

“Sorry, I'm not interested,” Nick answered quickly, his lip twitching at the end.

He wanted to smile. I just knew he did.

“Oh. That's cool,” the girl replied, crestfallen.

“Sorry to bother you,” the other said, walking away with an arm around her friend's shoulder.

“That was harsh,” Kevin commented.

“I didn't mean to be, but it was kind of rude for them to just ask that when we were obviously busy,” Nick answered a little coldly.

“True,” Mel and I said in unison.

We got some McDonald's this time. I ordered a 20 piece nugget with a medium, wildberry smoothie and a small order of fries. Mel got a salad with a fish fillet, medium fries, and the same size and kind of smoothie as me. Joe ordered a double quarter pounder with medium fries and a vanilla, medium, triple thick shake. Nick ordered two McChickens with medium fries and a medium diet coke. I'd wondered why he got diet coke... Kevin ordered the same as Mel.

When Mel and I reached for our wallets, Joe pulled out enough money for she and him, while Nick paid for he and I. I groaned loudly. So did Mel. I hated it when other guys paid for things without asking me. Kevin, gladly paid for his own food.

Somehow, Joe found an empty table away from most of the crowd and staring groupies of the boys. Again, I suppressed my laughter. Mel, Joe, and Kevin sat while Nick and I stood. Three pairs of eyes landed on us.

“Oh, so where are you guys going?” Kevin asked, completely oblivious to the staring pair of Joe and Mel.

“We're going to go somewhere and talk in private,” Nick answered.

I was shocked at how quick he answered the question. Hell, I couldn't even think that fast... unless it was Math, of course.

“Alright. That's cool. We'll call you when we're getting ready to leave,” Kevin replied.

Nick nodded in return before turning, waiting for me to follow his lead.

…

A while later, we ended up walking to our infamous tree. I smiled. Obviously, Nick plans on making this place our place.

We sat in the grass, the both of us eating at the same time.

“So....,” Nick said, trailing off after he ate his first McChicken.

“So....,” I mimicked. A melodic chuckle escaped his lips.

“Let's play 20 questions,” he said in a casual tone.

“Really?” I asked in disbelief, not really impressed.

“Yes,” he answered, locking eyes with me.

“OK. You go first,” I replied.

“Ha, no. Ladies first,” he countered.

I rolled my eyes. What a pain.

“When is your birthday?” I asked.

“September 16th. Yours?”

“November 1st. Damn. I hate that you're older than me.” We both laughed at my lame joke. “Where were you born?”

“Dallas, Texas, but grew up in Wyckoff, New Jersey,” he said with pride. “You?”

“Jacksonville, Florida. It's a horrible city. Nothing special,” I answered honestly.

“Hmm. Why's that?” he asked with curiosity.

“The weather's nice, but the town, in general, is boring. I want to move somewhere like New York or California. Anywhere but Florida.”

A laugh escaped his lips.

“California's expensive as is New York. At least you'll have snow in New York,” he suggested.

I shrugged.

“Favorite color?”

“Blue, sometimes green. Yours?” he answered.

“I hate green or any loud colors, really. I'm more into red, black, purple, occasionally pink. Rarely green or white, but I love blue,” I gushed.

I was rewarded with another laugh, but it was short-lived and softer. We got out a little bit more about each other like how Nick's SO into sports, especially softball and baseball, but does occasionally play basketball and football, as well as golf. I had no interest in sports, so we debated over that.

He loves to swim, while I can't. He's only visited Florida once while the farthest I'd been besides here in Orlando. But, soon after a while, we started digging much deeper.

“I hate to ask this, but I've wondered for a while,” Nick began, causing my stomach to drop. “Why do you care more about others than you do yourself?” he asked.

I sighed deeply.

“It's just the way I was raised, sort of. My mom always told me that it's good to think of yourself, but if you're always selfish, you miss out on the blessings God has for you. I never understood what she meant until 8th grade.”

“I always shared everything I had since, in a sense, I had to. Vic was my twin sister, regardless of our differences, so, I thought of it this way: if I'm good or at least kind to others, regardless if I'm having a good day or bad one, then I'll be rewarded in return tenfold. Maybe not right away, but eventually, at least.”

“But... what really influenced me....” I clenched my fist a little, “had to be my dad. He'd always tell me whenever Vic and I would argue that I should be a better daughter... and look after Vic. He neglected me, always adoring Vic as though she was his only daughter. I could never talk to him about anything, especially not anything about his precious Vic.”

Tears filled my eyes and I tried to suppress them.

“Rose, I-I'm sorry. I feel like a complete ass,” Nick began, running a hand through his hair before he scooted closer to me, “I shouldn't have-,” but I cut across him.

“N-No. It's OK. It's the third time I've had to recount it, so it's fine,” I replied as my throat hurt a little from my suppressed cries.

“So, why did you leave your old high school for New Preston?” I asked.

“You're going to think its silly,” Nick tried, avoiding the question.

“Try me,” I said in a serious tone.

He sighed before speaking.

“I was made fun of for my singing.”