Paparazzi Pandemonium

“Well, thats the last of it” My mom sighed, sticking the last of our suitcases in the trunk of the silver Lexus that belonged to Kelly, Mallory’s mother. “Thanks for the ride Kel, with. With all of our cars on their way to Dallas getting to the airport would be a nightmare without your help.”

“Not a problem at all, your a brave woman, managing to get these kids in the airport all by yourself.” She laughed, patting my mothers shoulder.

“Don’t remind me, now I was thinking the best way to get there would be...” The two mothers drifted into their own conversation about traffic on the interstate, loosing the mall amount of my attention they had captured. I looked at the clock on my cell phone one again.

“Annie, calm down. They’re only two minutes late, I promise you there on their way. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if they pulled into your driveway right now.” She said knowingly. As if on cue, the big black Range Rover I’d been longing to see pulled into my driveway.

“See Nick, I told you they wouldn’t leave without us.” Joe called as he got out of the passenger seat to Nick while he was getting out of the back. He looked annoyed but I couldn’t help but notice that he looked relieved as well. “He was freaking out the whole way here” Joe finished with a smirk.

“I was not!” Nick defended himself loudly, avoiding eye contact with all of us, giving away the fact that he was lying.

“You were too dude.” Kevin chuckled as he made his way over and pulled me into his friendly embrace. “How you holding up Barnes?” He asked after letting me go and hugging Mallory.

“Fine now, but I can’t guarantee I’ll be the composed when it’s time to say goodb-” I was cut off from my statement from Joe, who pulled me into a massive bear hug. “J-Joe...C-an’t Breath” I managed to get out with what little oxygen breath I had left.

"Joe if you don't let to if her soon, she's not gonna make it to Texas alive." Nick sighed as Joe slowly released me from his grip on me before Nick pulled me into his arms.
"You ok?" he asked, his angelic voice laced with concern before gingerly pressing his soft lips against my temple.

"Better now that you're here." I sighed, trying to muster up as much courage as I could to not break down at the thought of leaving my home.

"Nicholas, Joseph, Kevin! I hadn't even noticed you arrived!" My mom called out as she walked towards our central location. "Thank you so much for offering to help get us to the airport, with Annie's father already in Texas and all."

"Our pleasure Mrs. Barnes" Kevin smiled politely.

"Oh for goodness sakes we've been over this, Mrs. Barnes is my mother-in-law. Please call me Molly."

"Sure thing Molly" Kevin replied with a laugh. "Do you need us to put any luggage in our car?"

"Believe it or not we actually fit everything in Kelly’s car, but it's gonna be a tight fit so were gonna stick Annie any Mallory with you."

"Eww Mallory and Annie?!" Joe asked pretending to be stunned.  "What did we ever do to you?!"

"Oh Joseph, always the jokester." She sighed happily. "We better get going though, if we wanna make our flight. Be safe on the road kids." With that she walked away, grabbing Sophie and Corey by the hands and dragging them into Mallory's car. Nick opened the car door, politely helping an already ready eyed Mallory into the car before turning and guiding me in. I turned to Mallory and pulled her into a hug while Nick hopped in the car, Kevin already revving up the engine.

"Mal, you can't cry yet ok" I said, my voice starting to shake. "We made a deal remember. No crying until were at the airport"

"I'm just gonna miss you so much." She sobbed into my shoulder.

"I'll miss you too." I cried, finally giving into my bottled up emotions. This was all too much, I sobbed even more when I remembered I would have to say goodbye to Nick soon as well. Even though he was coming up to Dallas in a month,he was so much a part of me that the thought was still to much to bear. After we both recollected ourselves and broke apart, I noticed that Kevin was already pulling onto the interstate. I let out a shaky sigh and layer my head against Nicks shoulder as he put his arm around mine. Pulling me closer to him before he started playing with the ends of my hair. I instantly felt more at ease. The rest of the ride was spent just like this. Silent but not a bit awkward.

As we pulled into the airport I noticed them. Swarming around the entrance to the airport, just waiting for someone of interest to walk in or out. I remember the boys body guard Rob had once explained to me that the paparazzi scenes in airports were usually some of the worst and now I believed him. Every single one of them had a look of determination on their face. Get a good picture. Sell it as something it’s not. Cash the check and go home. That’s all that these slime balls really wanted to do. They didn’t care that I would be saying goodbye to my best friends or the love of my life. They just wanted the money.

“Oh shit” I heard Kevin mumble as he parked the car in the dimly lit garage, keeping far away from the paparazzi as possible. I looked over and saw that Joe’s face had the same annoyed expression on it as he pulled a black beanie put of the dashboard and slipped it on his head. Nick and I looked at each other at the same time, he looked more pissed than annoyed like his brothers. We both knew that with these sleezebags watching, we couldn’t have the proper goodbye we desperately wanted...scratch that needed. All five of us got out of the car quickly, keeping our backs turned to the cameramen who were about twenty five yards away and we’re not even looking in our direction.

“How in the world are we going to get through that?” My mother asked Kevin, her tone worried and her voice hushed.

“Well, it looks like they have two guys out there already, clearing the path to the door but we’re gonna need more than that to get Annie through scotch free so I’ll call and have them send more guys out.” He sighed “I think it would be best if we all just said our goodbyes here and not walked you in.”

“No, no way!” Nick growled at Kevin, tightening his grip around my shoulder. The fierceness in his voice surprised me, I looked up to find that the expression on his face met that of his tone. “I’m not letting Annie nor her family deal with our issue alone.”

“Nick! Us walking in would only add to the problem!” Joe snapped back “What do you think would happen if you, Kev, and I all walked in. Annie entering will cause enough commotion as it is, do you want to make that worse!”

“No, but-”

“But what Nick, do you have any better ideas?” Kevin asked.

“I have an idea.” I said, earning everyones attention. “What if I walked in alone?”

“No!” Nick stated, the same fierceness evident in his voice.

“Why not, we have Corey and Sophie to think about people. Lucky these slime-balls have not seen anyone in my family but Ty, they have no idea who you three are.” I stated, gesturing towards Corey, Sophie and my mother “Mom, you can walk the little ones in easy, and just imagine how scared they would be if the paparazzi were trying to get me picture.”

“Annie you are not walking through that on your own!” My mother stated with authority

“I’m walking in with her.” Nick said firmly “I don’t care if it causes more commotion.”

“Fine, then Molly, Corey, and Sophie will walk in first, and then Nick and Annie a few minutes later. What do you say?” Kevin asked my mother.

“Can you really get more security out their Kevin?” She quizzed sounding more concerned.

“In a matter of seconds.” He replied smugly

“OK” She sighed “But please be careful Annie.”

“OK Mom.” I whispered, hugging her. She and my two younger siblings said their goodbyes to everyone and left after giving me one last concerned look. After watching them make it into the building without even the flash of one light I took a deep breath, holding back my tears knowing that it was my turn to say goodbye.

"Stay safe, ok darling?" Mrs. Thomas whispered into our hug. "And visit us soon. We'll miss you"

"Ok" I replied, eyes welling up with tears. Before leaving her embrace and being pulled into Kevin.

"Don't have to much fun before we get there." He solemnly laughed before pulling me tighter. I didn't even get to say anything before Joe pulled me away from Kevin and into him.

"Find a good Texas girl for me" He playfully demanded causing me to giggle through my tears. "Preferably one with a cute little accent."

"Typical Joe" I laughed again before turning to Mallory, who immediately suffocated me in her arms, sobbing. Neither of us spoke for a long time, we just stood there sobbing and hugging. To an onlooker, I'm sure we looked insane, but I could have cared less.

"I don't want to say goodbye" She breathed through sobs.

"Don't then," I replied. "We can say see you later, just like they do in those stupid TV shows we make fun of."

"Ok," She halfheartedly laughed before pulling he apart. "See ya later."

"See you later" I sighed.

The sound of camera shudders echoed around the high ceilings of the airport check-in area, bright flashes blinding anyone in the area. Security tried to herd the flock of paparazzi away from Nick and I. Nick wore his aviators, shielded his eyes from the glaring flashes of the cameras as he tried to keep his back turned to them.

My back was to Nick as I stood at the counter, showing my ID and obtaining my boarding pass. I was wearing a pair of dark sunglasses to hide my own teary eyes...my nose was bright red though, giving away how I felt about having to leave. Some of the paparazzi started shouting questions at us, asking why I was crying, where I was going, or when I would return. Nick and I both pretended we didn’t hear them, even though we did.

Once my bag was checked, I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket. I glanced over my shoulder at Nick, then the swarming paparazzi who were now being physically being held back by airport security. My shoulders tensed in discomfort before I turned my attention back to my cell phone, reading the text my mother sent.

Annie, we’ll be waiting for you in the Starbucks, by terminal A-13, the first one outside of security check. Take your time and be safe.

Love, Mom

I knew my mom was very uneasy about this whole situation, but I was thankful that she was being supportive and not forcing me into a quick goodbye with Nick like I had everyone else today. It wasn’t going to be very private in the first place, but I was glad it wasn’t going to be rushed too. I responded with a quick thank you before slipping my phone back in my pocket.

Nick and I looked at each other through the dark lenses of our sunglasses and I knew that this was it. I drew in a shaky breath and laced our fingers together. Nick methodically ran his thumb back and forth over mine as he led me over to the security area, keeping the paparazzi at a distance. I was filled with a sense of re when Nick spotted a small alcove that would make us completely out of view to the scum-bags and gingerly pulled me into it.

A single tear rolled down my cheek once they were in the tiny bit of privacy. Nick released my hand only to wrap both of his muscular arms around my waist, pulling me as close to his body as I possible could be. I wanted to stay like this forever, just having him hold me close, inhaling his sweet scent, feeling the warmth of his body against mine.

So much had happened so quickly. These past few months had been a roller coster ride. Up one minute then down the next. We had made it through and grown closer because of it. He had become so much a part of me that imagining life without him again, even for just one month seemed so unbearable, especially in these last moments.

He raised one hand to my cheek and gently wiped away the lone tear before lifting my sunglasses from my teary eyes and placing them on top of my head, but I refused to look at him. Afraid that the sight of him without the barrier of the tinted lenses would be too much to handle. I didn't want to cause any more of a scene than I already had by bursting into hysterics.

I would tell by the way his body tensed around me that t physically hurt Nick to see me so upset, but I knew it hurt more that I wouldn't look at him. He slid his fingers beneath my chin and tried to coax me up to look at him but I gently jerked my head away, looking to the side. He took a deep breath before speaking.

"Please look at me." He whispered.

"I don't want to." I replied under my breath.

"Why not?" My heart twigged in pain as I heard the hurt in his voice, I sighed heavily before continuing.

"I'll cry." It was a pathetic excuse I know, but it was the truth.

"So you just want to leave without looking at me? We both know that's not going to happen.” He whispered, moving the finger that was under her chin and raising it to wipe my bangs out of my eyes, allowing his finger to slowly graze my forehead as he did so. “Please baby, show me your beautiful eyes so I can make it through the month."

My lips twitched at the corners into a weak smile at the cheesiness of his line. It worked though because I slowly raised my gaze up to his face, frowning quickly when I noticed his eye’s were still covered by the lenses "No fair, I can't see your eyes."

He let out a short chuckle before removing his sunglasses. We both reached for each others' faces at the same time I grazed my fingers lightly over his cheek as Nick wiped the tears that were brimming in my eyes. My hands slid around his neck while Nick's traveled down to my waist again. A slight sparkle lit in his eyes before he dipped down and kissed me, softly at first then trying to convey his passion in it. I accepted it gladly, returning the fervor and meaning.

As we stood their sharing our last real kiss for a long time, I tried to memorize everything about it. The way his hands caressed the small of my back. The way my fingers felt as they glided through his hair. The way his mouth molded to mine and they way his tongue felt against mine before it glided into my mouth tenderly. I committed all o this to memory hoping it might help me make it though that lonely month without him.

Time stood still through our embrace until Nick pulled back and started reaching around in the bag that was slung across his body. I tilted my head to the side, watching with curiosity. He pulled out a box wrapped in silver paper with a little bow on top. He held it out to me with a sheepish smile, "You know how I love giving you gifts."

I looked at the gift and then up at him, "Nick you didn't have to get me anything."
"Yeah I know but one of them is sort of a gift for me too."

"A gift for you?" I asked raising my eyebrows slightly.

He laughed and wiggled the boxes in his hands, "Yes, now take it. But don't open it until you're on the plane. Promise?"

Smiling, she reached out and took them from him, "Promise."

"Good. You should probably go through security now though."

I sighed and nodded, knowing that mom would probably be angry if I made us miss our flight. I put the gifts from Nick in my carry-on before looked up at him for what I knew would be the last time.

"Don't you go forgetting me, okay?" I whispered, my voice cracking on the final word, another tear rolling down my cheek.

I shivered as he spoke- whispering so close that I could feel his breath on my skin. "Not a chance." He leaned down and gently kissed away the tear, "I love you Annie Barnes."

"I love you too Nick Jonas."

"Have a safe flight." He slid his arms around me once again and gave me a tight squeeze before stepping back. He took my hand and led me back around the security, gave me one last kiss, then let me go and backed away, allowing me to go through the checkpoint. When I reached the other side I turned to look back at Nick and let out a huge sigh. He raised a hand and gave me a small wave which I returned before turning and hurrying off towards the Starbucks where my family was. I wished she could have stood there cherishing the moment longer but I knew if I did the overwhelming desire to run back to him would win and I'd never get on that plane.

It wasn't until we were an hour into our flight that I remembered the gift. I looked a Sophie who was asleep in the seat next to me before leaning down and pulling my Le Plague Floral Flights bag from under the seat in front of me and pulled out the wrapped box. I slowly slid my fingers beneath the tape, ripping the paper and exposing the infamous robin’s egg blue box. Seeing a small piece of paper with Nick's handwriting on it, she snatched it up off the box and read it,

Annie,
I know you're already trying to figure out the shipping cost to send this back to me because you think it's too much. You better not. I want you to have this. Besides I couldn’t return it if I wanted too, they have a no return policy a Tiffany’s for items that have been engraved.
Love, 
Nick

I smiled to myself as I ran my hands over the front of the box. Nick really was the sweetest guy and he loves me as much as I love him. I have no idea why, but he does and that's all that matters. I gently pulled at the ends of the white ribbon, causing the bow to wither away and removed the ribbon, setting it to the side.

As I lifted the lid away away my eyes widened and my jaw dropped as I saw the heart charm dangling off the silver link bracelet. I ran my fingers over the smooth silver and felt my eyes begin to tear up as I saw the words Everything I’ll Ever Need engraved where the usual bracelet would read Return to Tiffany's

I wiped away my tears and hooked the bracelet around my wrist before slowly bringing that same hand up to my neck, fondling with the dog tag that had the same familiar phrase written on the back. After I recollected myself I reached back into my bag and pulled out my iPod and let his familiar voice drown out the engine of the plane. I knew then that I would be fine. More than fine actually because I have everything I’ll ever need. On top of that I’ll be getting ride of a few thing I don’t. No more Kathleen, no more Trevor, no more paparazzi pandemonium.

Maybe Texas won’t be so bad after all.