The New Girl In The Band

•11•

"Of all the guys she would go out with... Why with him? Why with Trent?!" Jayden cried but he doesn't seem to notice Trent's presence unlike William and Julian who looked up as soon as they felt his presence in front of them.

"Oh who am I kidding?! Of course she'll go out with him... Trent has everything." He continued.

"I do not." Trent said.

Jayden lifted his head up and stood up and wiped his tears immediately. "Jayden, you could've told me sooner." He said. "You could've told me that you have feelings for Nicole."

"And what are you going to do about it, huh?! You know what, it won't make a difference if I have told you how I feel about her! You're gonna go out with her anyway!" Jayden outraged. "You always have everything wrapped around your fingers tight! You're always the Prince Charming that every woman wishes for!"

"Jayden..."

"You know what, I just realized it by now that deep within me, I've always been jealous of you."

Trent just said nothing and looked at him.

"And I'm not giving her up to you. I'm gonna make her mine." Jayden added.

"And I won't let myself lose her to you." Trent said firmly. He smirked and said, "Well, Trent, may the best man win."

After they finished their dance rehearsal, they went back to the studio by exactly three in the afternoon. Their recording went from 3 in the afternoon up to 8 in the evening and in fact, it was worth of their effort.

When they reached home, Nicole's phone rang. She looked who it was and it was her mom, Christina.

"Hello?" Nicole answered.

"Nicole..." Christina sobbed on the other end of the line.

"Mom?! What's wrong?" She asked with concern in her voice.

"Nicole... Your dad..."

Then she sighed and rolled her eyes, "What now? Did he came there to hurt you again?" she asked, annoyed.

"No... No. That's not it Nicole."

"Then what is it?"

"Your dad's dying.... He's been suffering from lung cancer for six months."

Her eyes suddenly widened as tears came out from them and covered her mouth to prevent herself from letting out a sob. "He's looking for you... He needs you." Christina cried.

Nicole cried silently as she sighed, "I'll see." She said. "I'll see if I can go back there." Then she hung up and cried silently to herself in the garden.

"Nicole?" Jayden called out as he went towards her. "Which one do you want? Chicken or pork?"

She turned around, her cheeks stained with tears and just with the sight of her crying tore his whole heart apart. "Nicole?! What happened?" He asked concernly.

Nicole didn't say a word and she just hugged him tight while crying silently and endlessly.

"You can tell me anything." Jayden said to her and she looked at him in the eye and took a deep breath and said, "My dad... He's dying from lung cancer." Then she burst into tears and then sobbed out loud, enough for the other guys to hear it.

"What happened?" William asked.

"Her dad's dying from lung cancer." He replied.

Trent made his way to her and shoved Jayden lightly aside so he can have her hugging him.

"It's gonna be alright, baby." Trent whispered to her as he kissed her forehead. "We are all here for you." And she just sobbed even more as she tightened her hug around him.

Then he lifted her head and kissed her on her lips, "I'll always be here for you." He assured her. "Remember that, okay?" She didn't say a word and in fact, she actually looked pale. It wasn't long until she fainted in front of them but Trent managed to catch her in his arms.

"Nicole!" They all shouted in shock as when they saw her faint.

**

Nicole opened her eyes just to see herself in a hospital room with them. "What happened?" she asked them.

"You fainted." Julian said.

"Are you okay now?" Jayden asked. She didn't answer because she knew to herself that she didn't know how to answer his question. Her father's dying from lung cancer. The man who share the same blood as her. The man who ruined their family. The man who thoroughly abused her mother, physically, emotionally and verbally...

And now, she could picture him lying on his deathbed, dying from his godforsaken disease. She felt happy that he's dying because that meant that he's already paying for his mistakes in the past but still she couldn't help herself but to be in pain for her father.

"Nicole, you can go back there if you want to." Trent said. "We will go back with you to Perth."

"But..."

"This is a family matter Nicole." Zach suddenly said. "I'm sure our manager and our fans would understand."

"Thank you guys..." She said as she burst into tears and then they all formed into a group hug.