Figured You Out

Chapter Five

"Nick, are you an idiot?" Brian asked as he smacked him upside the head once they were backstage again. The fans had been let back outside so the boys could change into their stage clothes. Nick slipped his black pants on, sitting down on the couch near the door of their dressing room. He rubbed the back of his head and thought about what Brian was saying to him.

"You told that fan you loved her....is this registering at all how bad of a move that was?" Brian scolded. Nick sat in silence, his hand massaging the bruise forming on his head.

"Rok, I say stuff like that to fans all the time. It's harmless." Nick protested, his lips curved into a half-hearted smile.

"Look, you should know better. That girl gave me the creeps....I just don't want anything to happen to you." Brian replied with a sigh. He wondered how Kevin would have handled this, Nick was always getting himself into trouble...even at the age of 30. Sometimes Brian thought about if that was why Kevin left, because he was tired of playing daddy Kevin all the time.

"Dude, are you lecturing him about the ass-grabber?" AJ grinned as he walked past them. After sound check had ended, AJ referred to one of the fans as the "ass-grabber", to general amusement.

"Its not just that, Jay. Nick said that he has seen this girl before." Brian explained as Nick hung his head in silence.

"I just said she looked familiar! Look, she was probably just nervous, I wouldn't read into it too much." Nick protested. He was tired of the guys constantly chastising him for his actions. He was thirty years old, Nick felt that he did not need to be babysat anymore....that it was high time he made his own choices.

"Nick, just promise me you will be careful." Brian said, patting him on the back. Nick nodded and finished getting dressed. All he could think about was the girl from sound check that had kissed him. He was slightly put off by her behavior, not that he wasn't used to people grabbing at him before...but something about the girl sent up red flags. The concert began without a hitch, energy was high and the crowd was large. Nick looked to the side of the stage, expecting Lauren to be there, but she wasn't. This was the first time Lauren had not come to a show since they were dating, and Nick felt his heart breaking when he saw the other girls there watching. Nick and Brian walked over to the crowd of girls nearest the stage. It was her again...the girl from sound check. Before he could react, Nick felt her grabbing at his pants leg. She finally got hold of him and he tripped, falling into the crowd. The fans immediately descended on him, pulling at his clothes as he lay on the ground, his arms covering his face.

"NICK!" Brian screamed, the music cutting out as all attention was on the throng of girls attacking his bandmate. It took a few minutes, but security finally rushed over to help. When the whole ordeal was over, Nick was laying on the floor, his shirt and vest torn to pieces, exposing his bare chest. Paramedics rushed in and Nick was carried out to an ambulance waiting outside.

"I don't get it. How come he is always the one who gets mauled?" AJ commented as they went to the hospital, still in their concert clothes.

"AJ he could have been killed." Howie said in an annoyed tone.

"Well, I still wish it would happen to me. Why does Nick have all the fun?" AJ pouted.

"He is damn lucky he just has a concussion," Brian said as they walked down the hallway. Nick was only in the emergency room, and it was blocked off so he could have some privacy.
"You all right, Nick?" Brian asked once he reached his bed.

"I will be ok, mild concussion. No biggie." Nick grinned, tapping gently on the top of his head. Brian laughed, and pretty soon the two of them were giggling.

"Seriously, it could have been worse, those girls were tearing you apart back there."

"They always want a piece of me, those girls need to learn to share. Now hand me my pants, I'm feeling drafty back here." Nick chuckled. It had been a long night and he was looking forward to getting back to the hotel and being with Lauren. He was just worried if she would be there when he got back.