I Could Be the One

I tapped the toe of my canvas Vans on the still wet cement, beginning to become incredibly impatient as each second ticked by. Haley let out a long sigh, looking both ways down the dark alley.

"Are you sure this is where he said to meet him?" She questioned for the third time. I pulled my phone from my bra and checked the time once again. He was almost half an hour late. My fingers typed a quick text and before I was done, she let out another annoyed sigh.

"Yes I'm sure, Haley," I snapped, feeling agitated with my friend at this point. It wasn't my fault Tim was taking so long. But it wasn't hers either and I instantly felt guilty for the hostility of my words.

"I don't like it out here, Addy. What if someone tries to kidnap us?" Haley asked, attempting to peak behind the dumpster that was a few yards away. I rolled my wide, onyx lined eyes.

"They'd bring you right back," I mumbled under my breath. She sent me a quizzical look but before she could question me at all, a voice echoed off of the buildings, making her jump in fear.

"I'd never let you two get abducted," he laughed, wrapping his arms around my shoulder. I looked up at him under my luscious eyelashes. "Of course, unless it was me doing the kidnapping." I let out a genuine laugh and wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling him into a hug.

"Great show, Tim," I beamed up at my long lost friend. Running his fingers through his beautiful blonde hair, he eyed Haley for a moment before settling his attention back on me.

I'd never understand Haley when it came to Tim. Years ago, after Tim and my cousin broke off their long relationship, I'd introduced the two, knowing they would be good for each other. Of course, this caused plenty of tension between my cousin and I. Tim had shown so much interest in Haley and at first, she seemed to like him too. One day, she started to act cold to him. I had asked her a million times over but still to this day she refuses to tell me what happened between them.

"Thanks, doll," he grinned down at me and then looked somewhere into the darkness. He shivered noticeably and tugged on my arm. "Let's get out of here. This place kind of creeps me out too." Haley scoffed, but grabbed onto Tim's other arm anyway.

We reentered the building where we had gone in before the show. Tim flashed a warm smile at the men by the door, easily earning our admission back into the nightclub.

"Avicii!" Tim turned in time to see a hand thrust a shirt in his direction with a marker. The Swede sent me an apologetic smile.

"Ash is backstage somewhere, go find him," he advised before tossing me his identification badge and then wandered towards his awaiting fans.

A soft sigh escaped my lips as my fingers clutched the laminated paper. I'd come here to visit with Tim, and while Ash was a great guy, I wouldn't travel so far out of my way just to see him. Instead of protesting, I grabbed Haley's hand and we made our way towards the bouncer.

He was a plump man with a bare head. I was unsure whether he shaved it, or if he had the misfortune of it all falling out naturally. The security figure reminded me instantly of a cue ball. I gave him my most winning smile as I flashed the badge. His thick black eyebrow raised and he crossed his thick arms over his chest.

"How did you even get that?" He eyed it. "Who did you steal it off of?" Haley opened her mouth to protest, but I held my hand up to silence her promptly. In most cases, Haley's loud mouth wound us in more trouble than not.

"Actually, Tim Bergling himself gave it to me," I scoffed at him, showing him what a great inconvenience he was putting us through. "You know, Avicii," I emphasized my friend's stage name for good measure. This only resulted in a roll of the guard's eyes though.

"I'm gonna need that back," he told me, a warning tone just under the surface of his deep voice. My eyes formed slits as I glared at the man and Haley shifted her weight beside me.

"My name is Adelina and I've been Tim's friend for years. Find his manager and he'll confirm," my scowl stayed fixed on my tensed facial muscles.

"Hey man, they're cool, let them back," a voice said as footfalls neared. The guard puckered his lips sourly and he stepped aside, but not before he threw a glance over his shoulder at the accented voice.

I smiled gratefully at the same man who had scribbled his name down for me just a few short hours ago. He truly was handsome. The light blue in his eyes stood out against his simple black v-neck shirt and light washed jeans. His dark blonde hair was pushed straight up, away from his forehead with what I assumed to be sweat. I wondered if he even remembered signing my light up sword.

"Thank you," I said, suddenly realizing that for once, Haley was oddly absent in conversation, when she was usually the first to strike one up. My eyes found her just in time to spot her smirk before she strutted off, most likely to hunt down her own prey. I almost rolled my eyes at my friend, but I refrained from doing so when he spoke up.

"So you're Adelina? It's great to finally meet you," his voice was a smooth as velvet. "I've heard a lot about you."

I grinned at him but I couldn't help but to wonder what exactly he had been told about me. Maybe it was something he just said to fill space in conversation. No, surely Tim had spoken of me. But this still left me curious as to what was said.

"I'm Nicky," he continued when he realized I wasn't going to say anything. I didn't mean to remain blank; it was just so hard to not be mesmerized by this man in front of me. I was already a goner.

The air conditioning was on high. A shiver ripped through me and I curled my bare legs under me. I watched as Nicky threw random things into his suitcase.

"Nicky," I started slowly for the second time today. He froze in his motion and his head turned to me. "I'm sorry for whatever I did."

He shook his head slightly, and continued his work. It was so rare for Nicky to be void of his always upbeat, happy aura. This frightened me as it meant that whatever was eating away at him was something that was impacting him greatly. And I was more than certain it had everything to do with me.

I begged him to talk to me. To tell me what was going on. He faced me again, his eyes were unbearably hollow.

"Did you sleep with him, Adelina?"

My face contorted into confusion before it relaxed, and my jaw slacked ajar.

"Oh god, Nick," I started, my voice was barely above a whisper as I stood from the bed and took a step near him. "No, of course I didn't. I came back alone once I was told you left me behind."

Perhaps my explanation was too frantic because it appeared that Nicky didn't buy it. I was so pained by this; I knew I was telling the truth and I also knew this was the first tell tale signs of a failing relationship. Nick didn't trust me, and that's when I realized that I didn't have much faith in him either.

He swiftly returned to his packing, tucking the Playstation controllers away safely.

"I promise I didn't do anything wrong," I attempted this approach once more. His lips curled down into a frown, and though he wasn't looking at me, I noticed that he looked years older with such a solemn expression.

"I don't know why I ever thought I could come between you two," he muttered over the sound of his suitcase being zipped closed. My face crumpled. I was prepared to ask him what he meant when he chose to continue himself. "I knew he had feelings for you," he sighed in frustration to himself and then raked his fingers through his thick hair.

"It's not like that," I replied quietly, not skipping a beat. A small smile played on his pale pink lips for the slightest moment before it disappeared, leaving no trace of it's existence behind.

"That's what he said too," he said as if it were all one big joke. But it wasn't, and I was beginning to feel my dinner churn deep in my stomach so I sat back down in hopes to regain my composure.

"You didn't cheat on me, did you?" I asked after a few minutes of an internal battle. Terrified my question would just further upset him, I closed my eyes just as I felt the bed sink in beside me.

"How could I?" I noticed an unrecognizable emotion thick in his voice. "I'm so in love with you it's pathetic," he spat the last part in words coated with venom. A pang shot through my chest as I came to the conclusion that Nicky didn't want to love me as much as he did.

I was silent, and he decided once again to stand and pull on his leather jacket.

"Shouldn't you be packing too?" He asked lightly, glancing over at me.

I froze. This was the moment I was dreading all day. My fingers faced together in my lap as my teeth mercilessly dug into my bottom lip.

"I don't know if I'm coming, Nick," I broke the news carefully, my eyes resisting the urge to blink so I could study his face. It was now his turn to remain silent for a minute or two.

"Where will you go?" He finally asked, avoiding my gaze. I let out the breath was holding in anticipation. I shrugged, struggling to remain casual.

"Maybe Las Vegas." Nicky's face turned sour at my words. Of course he knew that was where Tim's next stop would be. "Maybe I'll go to Los Angeles," I said thoughtfully. "Or maybe I'll go back to Pennsylvania. I miss home," I admitted sadly, not taking my eyes off of my boyfriend as he attempted to busy himself with anything he could get his hands on. He nodded as he straightened the provided phone book on the table.

Just then, Nicky's phone blared in his pocket causing me to jump in surprise as the generic tone pierced sharply through our blanket of silence. It was Sander, of course, informing him it was time to head to the airport.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" He checked again, sounding severely disappointed. I nodded sadly.

"I think it's best if I don't."

Nicky pursed his lips once again and his eyes looked into the distance. A frown was fixed upon his always smiling mouth. He was hurting as much as I was but something had to give. We weren't happy anymore. Maybe time apart would do us good.

"I hope you don't go with him," he said before kissing my cheek lightly. "I hope I'll see you soon, Adelina," he spoke ever so softly before hoisting his bag off the bed and exiting the room.

I wanted to speak but when I opened my mouth, the words were absent. My vision became blurred just before he closed the door behind him. Feeling defeated, I dialed Tim's number. Something just had to give.