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Chapter 5
Later that day
"Arrrhhhhh!!!" an angry Nick jumped up from his spot on the floor. He backed
away and stormed over to the couch, landing on it in a huff. A laughing Brian
also stood up from where he had been laying on the floor. Chanting something,
he did a victory dance around the Playstation.
"I demand a rematch-," Nick was cut off by the sound of the doorbell.
Meanwhile, upstairs, A.J. strode over to the door and opened it. His hopeful
grin faded when he saw Eric staring back at him. "…Oh…it's only
you…" A.J. trailed off as he stepped aside, letting their bodyguard
walk in.
"Hey Eric!" Kevin called from the near-by room.
Eric waved at Kev, who was sitting in the Kitchen with a sandwich.
"You look a little disappointed to see me, J? I told you guys that I was
stopping over tonight to make sure everything's going good." He glanced around
the room only to see Nick and Brian come bursting through the basement door
simultaneously, laughing their heads off.
Seeing Eric, Nick greeted him; " sup Eric!" Not waiting for a response, he
ran back through the door and down the stairs he and Brian had just come
through. Brian raised his shoulders in a shrug and followed his friend back
down.
"Not much has changed since the last time I saw those two." Eric smiled,
commenting on Frick and Frack.
"Yup… we're doing good," A.J. paused, not wanting to sound too annoyed.
"… You can get back to enjoying your vacation now." he switched his
weight from one leg to the other and looked over at Eric; who now made his
way over to the kitchen.
The Boys had insisted that their three bodyguards join them on their vacation,
but do whatever they wanted; only "checking in" on them every once and a
while. Unfortunately, now was not the time that A.J. wanted him to be there.
"You're not even going to invite me in?" Eric stated as he opened the fridge.
A.J. sighed and joined him and Kevin at the counter.
"Hello?" a voice came from behind the half-closed front door. Sierra stepped
into the entryway and met the eyes of the three men sitting in the room to
her left.
"Hey!" A.J. got up from his seat and walked over to greet her. "What's up?"
"Not too much since this morning." She laughed sarcastically. Kevin
smiled, remembering how beautiful her voice was.
"Is this a bad time?" She motioned towards the two still in the kitchen.
Seeing her, Eric got up. "No No, I was just leaving." He picked up his half-eaten
sandwich and walked over to where her and A.J. stood.
"This is Eric." A.J. introduced him to Sierra after being given a rude glance
by his friend. "This is Sierra," he pointed to the basement. " She came over
to play billiards with me." He happily announced.
"It was nice meeting you." Eric shook her hand and then walked towards the
door. "Word to the wise-," he turned around and faced her before leaving.
Yet catching an evil glare from A.J., he stopped mid-sentence. "Oh, never
mind." Eric laughed as he shut the door behind him.
"Hey there." Kevin called to Sierra from the kitchen.
" What's up Kev?" She jokingly answered. He laughed, seeing that she had
given him a nickname. They both smiled and A.J. broke in.
"Shall we?" He led her to the stairs leading to the basement. Following him
down, the two were greeted by people laughing, and saw Brian and Nick engaged
in a Full-Out pillow fight.
Brian slammed Nick over the head with the cushion he was using in substitute
for the pillow Nick had stolen from him. Nick returned with a blow to Brian's
side, causing him to fall backward onto the couch in front of where Sierra
and A.J. stood.
Still not noticing the new arrivals, Brian leapt towards Nick, and landed
on him, causing them both to fall to the ground. Sierra laughed uncontrollably,
and A.J. gave a confused look.
"Ehhh-emmm." He cleared his throat loudly, making both guys look up. "Ya
know, if we're interrupting something, we can just go back upstai-," He was
cut off by Nick who had gotten up from under Brian and the pile of cushions
from the couch.
"NO-NO! Don't leave!" He managed to say between laughs. Brian got up as well
and looked a little embarrassed, but joined in with the laughter soon enough.
His some-what curly red/brown hair was sticking up; it was obvious that he
had been losing the fight.
"Hey Sierra!" Brian smiled when her eyes met his own; so he took a step closer.
She smiled back at him, thinking about how nice it sounded when he said her
name.
"So…" Nick breathed. "What's up?" He bit his lip to keep from smiling
too broadly.
"Not so much, I just thought I'd stop over and see what you guys were up
to." Sierra stated. But looking once again at Brian, she smiled. "But obviously
you two are having lots of fun by yourselves."
Nick laughed. She sounded so cute, and didn't seem to be nervous around them
at all. The last couple of weeks had been filled with crazed fans following
them everywhere. It was so nice to meet a girl that didn't start squealing
or crying hysterically when they were around the boys.
"Well, ya know," Brian crocked his head back proudly. " Sometimes I just
have to show Nicky here whose boss." He motioned over towards Nick while
he folded his arms across his chest.
"Seeing as how you lost the pillow fight…I totally agree with
you." A.J. added sarcastically.
The three of them all laughed as Brian defended himself. "I would've won
ya know." He stated, pretending to be annoyed.
"Oh…REALLY ?" Sierra playfully shot back. "Says who?"
Keeping right up with her remarks he moved up in front of her. " I do
!" he said, crocking his head to the side once again, he added quickly. "Do
you have a problem with that missy?"
"And what if I do?" She replied smoothly, putting her hands on her hips and
moving closer to him as well.
"Eh?" Brian let out a challenged gesture, "Bring it on!" He dared her, moving
still a little closer.
By this time, the two stood face-to-face, each trying to stare the other
down. Nick stood a few feet away to their sides. He looked over at A.J. and
the two exchanged glances of confusion.
Brian stared at her, and when she did not return any more comments, he opened
his mouth to speak, but stopped as Sierra reached down to her left, grabbing
a near-by cushion, and smacking him across the face with it. He fell a few
steps backward, bewildered, but didn't hesitate on his revenge.
He ran back over to her, and before she could hide behind Nick, Brian grabbed
her around the waist and threw her on the couch. He then jumped up, clutching
his fists together and waving his arms in the air triumphantly. Yet, not
looking where he jumped up and down, Brian tripped over the fallen cushions
and lost his balance, landing right on top of Sierra.
"Whoa!" Howie exclaimed as he stopped mid-step down the stairs. "What's going
on here?" He looked at Brian who was still lying halfway on Sierra.
"Um…sorry…" Brian told Sierra as he quickly stood up, reaching
out his hands and pulling her to her feet as well. They stood there for a
couple of seconds, both red in the face.
Howie, still a little confused, joined A.J. and Nick by the couch. It was
dead quiet in the room as Kevin plodded down the stairs. "What you guys up
to?" He questioned, seeing them all standing in a group. With that, A.J.,
Brian, Nick, and Sierra burst out laughing.
"What?" Kevin gave them a disturbed glare as he walked over. "What!?"
He demanded again as the other four still laughed un-controllably. A.J. tried
to grab Nick's shoulder for balance, but he too was laughing too hard to
stand, and they both toppled over forward. Unable to stop themselves, they
landed on Sierra and Brian, who could not move out of the way fast enough.
" I'm not even going to ask." Kevin stood next to the still-confused Howie.
He had to smile as he watched the four make their attempts to get up; and
fail miserably each time. Finally giving up, they all sat in an odd-shaped
circle holding their stomachs.
" I can't breath!" A.J. laughed, trying to calm down.
"My stomach!" Nick chuckled. Brian sat next to him taking deep breaths. To
his side, Sierra straightened up, also trying to breath. She looked up to
see Howie and Kevin totally left out of the 'conversation'.
"Hey guys…" she smiled, calming herself, and rose up to join them.
"Umm…hi…" Howie looked over at her, still lost.
Nick used all his strength to stand up next to Sierra. " It actually wasn't
that funny," he stated, speaking mostly to Howie and Kevin. " You just had
to be there!" He exclaimed.
"I guess we would." Kev said, glancing at his watch. "Well, I ordered pizza
a little while ago, it should be here any minute…anybody hungry?"
"Starved!" Sierra rubbed her stomach, which still hurt from laughing.
" I could eat a horse!" Brian added in thick southern drawl. "Let's go ya'll!"
"After you, partner!" Nick teased, punching Brian's shoulder. Brian glared
at Nick and closed his eyes in annoyment.
A.J. walked between them. "Chill Rok!" He spoke as he climbed the steps.
"Anyways, if ya'll don't hurry, ye ain't gettin' nothin'." He also teased
Brian, but couldn't help it; it was just too damn easy. Brian opened his
mouth to speak, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry about it," Sierra whispered. "You can kill them after
we eat."
He smiled and followed everyone else up stairs.
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