Just One Kiss

“Should we get all over dressed up like last time?” Stacy asked her brother as they walked around the mall.

“It is a charity benefit, so I would think so.” John replied, wrapping his arm around his sister’s shoulders.

“Well, it’s a concert. I know I haven’t been to one since I saw My Chem on the Vans Warped Tour, but correct me if I’m wrong in seeing that not one female was wearing an evening gown that night.”

“Okay, maybe we don’t have to go that extreme, but still, dress nicely.” John smirked.

“Yeah, says the one who shows up in jeans and a t-shirt everywhere he goes.”

“I wear a suit or a tux when I have to. I’m a good ole boy Stace, you can’t tame me.” Stacy laughed as they went into the first store they came up to.

“Why is it always easier for me to shop with you than another woman?” Stacy asked suddenly as she looked through a rack of dresses.

“Maybe because I’m your brother, I’m honest, and hell I don’t know.” John laughed, pulling a black dress off the rack. “How about something like this?”

“I’ll look like a floozy in that,” Stacy sighed, not even looking up.

“Look at it,” John grumbled, rolling his eyes. Stacy looked up, and saw the little black dress her brother was holding up.

“What is up with people and little black dresses?” Stacy sighed. “It is pretty though.”

“Try it on,” John said, handing the dress to his sister. She shook her head, but took the dress and headed for the changing rooms. She returned a few minutes later, and John nodded his head in approval.

“I like it,” he said.

“It’s too short,” Stacy said.

“Not that short,” John insisted. “Besides, it fits your crazy personality. Just find a pair of shoes and a small clutch and you’ll be good to go.”

“Fine,” Stacy rolled her eyes, but smiled all the same. “Now, since you chose my outfit, I’m choosing yours.”

“Don’t think so,” John said. “Go change so we can get out of here.”

After Stacy changed from the dress and she paid for it, the siblings walked back out of the store, and John headed for the food court.

“I’m starving,” He muttered, looking at the menus.

“Well, eat. I’m going to the shoe store.”

“You have a hundred pairs!” John shouted after her.

“None that’ll match my dress.” Stacy called back. John shook his head as he watched her leave, and turned back to look over the menus again.

“Women,” someone said beside him.

“She’s not normally like that, I guess that night is going to be different for her,” John shrugged.

“Romantic evening you two have planned?” The guy asked. John scowled at the thought of that.

“Dude, she’s my little sister. We just have this party to go to for our company.”

“Best of luck to you then,” the guy took off, leaving John confused. Then it hit him on why Stacy was so worried about how she looked for that night. She must have found out Nick would be there. He could tell she was falling for him, and that she was falling hard. He realized he had to talk to her about this and soon.

He didn’t want his little sister getting hurt all over again.

~****~

“Where you going?” Brian asked Nick, who grabbed his duffle bag and tossed it over his shoulder.
“Just inside the arena,” he said, shrugging as he stepped off the bus. Brian watched as he walked up the parking lot and into the arena, but not before he pulled his cell phone out of his front pocket.

“Nick’s been acting weirder than normal,” Brian commented to himself.

“He’s falling in love,” Kevin said with a chuckle. “You of all people Brian should understand that.”

“She’s isn’t anywhere near us,” Brian muttered.

“Doesn’t mean they haven’t been keeping in touch. They do both have cell phones you know.” Kevin shook his head at his younger cousin and sat next to him. “I’m sure he’s fine Bri.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Inside the arena, Nick went through his contacts, and pressed the dial button when he got to the name he was looking for.

“Hello?” Stacy answered. Nick could tell she was out of breath and sounded tired.

“Hey, it’s Nick, bad time?” Nick asked.

“Oh, no, we’re at the hotel. John’s just being an as…” Stacy screamed before she started giggling uncontrollably. “Johnathan I’m on the phone!” she shouted. Nick heard John mutter something about “killjoy” before Stacy said “Sorry about that. John’s in a good mood. I think he and London finally got some stress relieved.”

“How much longer between the two of you?” Nick heard John ask.

“Shut up!” Stacy shouted back to her brother. “So, what’s up?”

“Nothing, just sitting at the arena, waiting to run a sound check.”

“Sounds fun,” Stacy laughed.

“Oh, yes, because you know I live to sing for an audience of four.” Nick replied sarcastically.

“Hey, it’s like my rehearsals for Raw or Smackdown. You know I love performing grammy award winning dialogues to my brother and our friends.” Nick laughed, but as soon as it started, he cut it off.

“Are you okay Nick?” Stacy asked, the concern all but evident in her voice.

“W-Where are you guys right now? It seems our schedules keep us around one another, and I just need someone to talk to.”

“We’re in Detroit, but we’re about to head out to Dayton.”

“We’re in Columbus for the weekend, do you think you can meet up with me?” Nick asked, rubbing his hand down his face.

“Yeah, sure, just let me know. I gotta go, we’re boarding the bus.” Stacy said. “Is everything okay Nick?”

“Honestly, I’m not too sure,” he mumbled, letting his head hang. “I’ll talk to you when we meet up.”

“Okay,” Stacy said. “See you in a couple days.”

“Definitely,” Nick smiled. “Thank you Stacy, I couldn’t think of anyone else to get help from.”

“It’s no problem, and the way I see it, I owe you something since you pulled me out of the way of that cart.”

“You owe me nothing.” Nick replied. “I’ll let you go, and I’ll send you a message about where to meet up.”

“Sounds good, see you later.”

“Bye,” Nick hung up the phone, and immediately went into a trance.

“You okay Nick?” Howie asked as he walked into the dressing room. Nick blinked and looked up at Howie.

“Yeah, fine,” he replied, standing up and stretching out his back. “Is it time for sound check?”

“Yeah it is,” Howie replied. “Nick stop, you know if you have something to tell us, you can.”

“It’s nothing Howie, I’m fine. Let’s go do sound check!” Nick bounded out of the room, but not before seeing the apprehensive look in Howie’s eyes. He just had to keep it together for a couple days.

~***~

“Hey Nick,” Stacy said as she walked up to the table he was sitting at. “Sorry I’m late.”

“It’s fine,” Nick replied, standing up and opening his arms. Stacy slid right into them, feeling the same warmth and comfort she always felt with Nick’s hugs.

“So, the way you sounded on the phone, you have me worried.”

“I’m sick,” Nick stated flatly.

“You always seem to be sick,” Stacy noted.

“Not like that,” Nick said, taking in a deep breath. “It’s not exactly an illness, it’s a condition. With my heart. My life is finally taking the big toll on my health.”

“I don’t…” Stacy started, but Nick cut her off with a sigh.

“I went to the doctor a few weeks back. I was having discomfort in my chest and went to get it checked out. He told me I had developed cardiomyapathy, which, according to him, is where…”

“Is where the muscles around your heart is weakening.” Stacy finished for him. “It puts you at a greater risk of having a major heart attack, even at a younger age.”

“Y-Yeah,” Nick muttered. “Most people have to be told about that. You’re smart.” Nick smiled, trying to ease the tension. Stacy smiled back, but Nick noticed it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Not exactly,” Stacy sighed. “I was born a few weeks early. There was some distress during the delivery. I wasn’t getting enough oxygen flowing to my heart, which meant I wasn’t getting the blood I needed in there. It was pumping, but nothing was going through. After I was born, it seemed to magically cure itself, but my heart muscles never strengthened the way they should have. So, in a way, I have the same thing as a birth defect.”

“Wow,” Was all Nick could reply with. Then a thought suddenly hit him. “Wait, how are you wrestling with a heart defect?”

“Diet and exercise,” Stacy shrugged. “Eat right, work out regularly, especially on a cardio machine, and it really helps.”

“Hmm,” Nick muttered, taking a sip of his water. “You know, I have a break coming up. If you have some time off, maybe we can meet up and you can show me some exercises you do.”

“I’m a wrestler,” Stacy replied. “We don’t have an off season and I don’t have any vacation time.”

“How about this then, we go talk to whomever it concerns, and I join you on tour.”

“I guess we can do that.” Stacy replied. “Nothing wrong with asking right?”

“Not at all. First thing you can show me is what I can eat right.”

“Salad,” Stacy suggested, looking over the menu. “It doesn’t really matter what you ear, as long as it’s not completely junk. Like even a steak is okay, as long as you don’t over do it by adding a baked potato smothered in butter.”

“Okay then,” Nick smiled, looking over the menu more.

“What can I get you?” The waitress asked. Nick looked up at Stacy, indicating she could go first.

“I’ll get the buffalo chicken salad with ranch dressing.” Stacy said, looking back at Nick.

“That sounds pretty good, I’ll have the same.”

“Coming right up,” the woman said, smiling extra sweet toward Nick. She took the menus and carried them, but not before sending a glare toward Stacy.

“I think your fan club got a little smaller,” Nick laughed, watching the teenager walk away.

“Oh well, it’s never really been big to begin with.” Stacy shrugged. “So, here we are, sitting down with each other with nothing else. What to talk about.”

“I’d actually like to get to know you a little better,” Nick replied, sitting back in his chair slightly.

“There’s nothing exciting about me. I grew up with two brothers and my parents in West Newbury Massachusetts. I was always close with my brothers growing up, and nothing changed on that end.”

“What about wrestling? What made you get into that?”

“Mainly John. He’d always wanted to be a wrestler, and I thought it was cool, so I decided to go with it as well.”

“Kinda gives you an excuse to really keep up with your workouts as well.” Nick commented as the waitress set their salads in front of them.

“Yeah,” Stacy muttered. They fell silent as they started eating.

“So, what about you, how did you get around to being a member of the Backstreet Boys.”

“Just, auditioned. It was originally just Alex, Howie, and myself, but soon we added Kevin, then he suggested Brian join in.” Nick replied. “Nothing too exciting to tell there.” They fell in silence again, and Nick knew he couldn’t hold the question back anymore.

“Okay, there was another reason I asked you to meet up with me. I didn’t want to do this over the phone.”

“Do what?”

“Well, the Make-A-Wish concert we’re both attending, I was just wondering, if you wanted to, you know, go together, like a date.”

“You’re asking me out on a date? What happened to preventing me from getting mixed up in your crazy?”

“I don’t know, and this is probably the stupidest thing I’ve done, but I just, I guess I..”

“Nick,” Stacy cut off his babbling. He looked at her with confusion in his eyes. “I was kidding.” She stated. “Of course I’ll go with you as a date.” Nick’s face slowly went from confusion to happiness, causing Stacy to let out a small giggle.

“So, do you have anything to do today?” Nick asked.

“Not until tonight when we do the show.” Stacy replied. “Why do you ask?”

“No reason, just making conversation. I think when I get back we’re having to head out on the road.” Nick’s cell phone started ringing, proving to him he was correct. After a quick conversation with Brian convincing the other man he would meet them at the airport, Nick snapped his phone shut and shook his head.

“I take it you have to go?” Stacy asked, leaning her chin on her hand.

“Yep, we have to meet up at the airport.” Nick sighed, putting the phone back in his pocket. “I guess I’ll see you at the concert. It’s the last thing for us, so after that I’ll go home, and we can figure out the touring right?”

“Absolutely,” Stacy nodded, standing up and grabbing her purse. “Have fun.”

“You too,” Nick smiled, drawing her close to him. It seemed like an eternity before they broke apart, neither wanting to say goodbye so soon. “One other thing, stay safe.”

“Always, same goes to you.” Stacy smiled.

“Always,” Nick replied back swinging their combined hands before letting his fall. He walked down the sidewalk toward his rental car, but not before watching Stacy get into her own rental.