"Ok, so we have a little tiny bathroom…" Nick pointed out to her as he took her on the tour of the bus. Her suitcases were already piled by her new bed, loaded onto the bus by her driver and Kyra felt terrible. She had brought so much, not realising how truly small the spectacular bus would be. She confessed her discontent to Nick. Nick told her not worry.
"It's ok, don't worry-if we don't have enough room, we can throw some of your stuff into one of the other guys' buses…" Nick said with a relaxed smile as he showed her where she would be sleeping and the mini fridge and kitchen.
"Are you sure?!" She said to Nick as they weaved through her belongings heading towards Nick's domain at the rear of the bus. Nick laughed sweetly at her.
"Of course." He said opening the door to his "room" which consisted of a double bed and some storage space.
"Hang on!" Nick said halting Kyra at the door which made her jump slightly. He hid her view from the room inside and she smiled and began to blush profusely.
"Not even one full day on the road and it's a mess…?" She asked, a slow smile creeping across her face like the rising sun. She giggled at Nick, happy that she was seeing the ins and outs of his personality already. She absorbed her surroundings down to the smallest detail, wanting to capture every inch of the world he was living in.
Nick had left his bed nice and tidy to impress her. However, AJ had nipped onto his bus and came out with a drink, claiming he was thirsty. What Nick hadn't realised was that AJ had raided his underwear drawer and sprawled all of Nick's underwear out onto his bed to embarrass him in front of Kyra. He was a dead man, Nick declared in his panicky head. He slipped inside, and closed the door behind him, leaving her standing laughing with her arms folded against her chest as she waited. She wondered what could be so embarrassing that he could not show her.
"Oh shit…" Nick said as he grouped his underwear quickly and shoved them into a draw as quickly as possible. He kicked the draw closed and headed back to the door, checking one final time that there was no more underwear anywhere. He clicked open the door. He wondered how many times he would be blessed with opening a door and having her on the other side, smiling at him.
"Well?" She enquired. "Can I come in now?" She said playfully releasing her arms. Nick moved from the opening of the door and allowing her in. When she surveyed the room and found nothing odd about it she asked as to what had happened.
"Let's just say Backstreet Boys like to play pranks on other Backstreet Boys…" Nick confessed with a smile and watched as she sat down on his bed and got comfortable.
"Oh ok…" She acknowledged, taking a brief look out of the window, watching the road pass by. She was overwhelmed, once again thinking of what it had been in her story that had led her here. Silence quickly fell over them. Nick's palms began to sweat. She felt like family to him, but sometimes even family could be strangers to one another. He wondered how he should move the conversation on. He looked around and tried to find something to trigger discussion between the two. She stood up and approached him. Nick felt his heart jump as she became closer to him in the confined space. She stood relaxed in front of him and placed her hands in the back pockets of her jeans.
"How come you get the double bed huh?" She asked playfully and Nick sighed in relief. She was cute and playful and Nick was automatically drawn to this.
"Well…I'm gonna need my rest…" Nick said quickly, but then called himself lame for not coming up with something funny to say. "Well, we may have to have a Playstation marathon to see if we change over the beds in two weeks." She said, recalling seeing a Playstation near her side of the bus and walking out of the room, heading back down the bus. Nick leant against the door for a moment and simply watched her walk and unzip a suitcase. He rested his head against the wood and sighed. "You are everything I imaged you to be….but so different…" Nick thought ambivalently in the calm corner of his mind. He couldn't believe his fantasy had become a reality. She was real. She was no longer organised words on a couple of pages. She was smiling at him as she unpacked. She was breathing the same air as he was and sighing and brushing hair from her face. He could reach out and touch her and feel well and healthy, without fear of panic and pain or death or his soul which was dying. "You want some help?" He asked as she began putting things away. She smiled and shook her head.
"I'll be fine thanks honey." She said sifting through some clothes. Nick headed towards her and squeezed by, attempting to reach the mini fridge. He placed on hand gently on her back as he passed and she turned to him and looked at him in such a way. He paused there for a moment, locked in her gaze.
"Welcome to the Never Gone tour." Nick whispered, knowing this was a leg of the tour was one he would never forget. She smiled. He kissed her cheek tenderly and felt his own skin tingle as he touched her, as if energy was passing through them.
"Thank you." She whispered back, a rose colour blossoming slightly on the cheek in which he had kissed. Nick looked in her eyes. She was definitely feeling this.
