This one-shot is for Mel's sister Sarah, who I don't know much about, but must be awesome. I mean, it has to run in the family, right? Mel needed SOMEBODY to show her how to be cool. :)
All joking aside, I hope you like it Sarah!
Enjoy!
Calling You
The first phone call was at midnight. Sarah almost didn’t answer it, having a swim meet the next morning and wanting to get to sleep at a relatively decent hour, but she’d already pressed the answer button before she could stop herself. It was a bad habit she had of never looking to see who was calling, and she wished she’d looked when a voice she didn’t recognize at first responded.
“Sarah?” the voice asked carefully, and Sarah’s eyes narrowed in thought as the tried to place the voice. It sounded extremely familiar, but distorted slightly over the phone line.
“Yeah, who’s this?” she asked, glancing at the clock. She was lucky her parents had already turned in for the night and that her sister was blasting music from her bedroom; she didn’t want to deal with a late-night scolding about still being awake.
She didn’t receive an answer for a few moments, causing her to wonder if it were some sort of prank being played on her. She was about to hang up when the lyrics to her favorite song began to be sung softly to her over the line. There was only one voice that could capture the emotion and energy of that song. The voice that sang it to thousands of people almost every night.
“Nick?” she asked softly, blushing slightly with the recognition of who she was on the phone with. When she randomly scribbled her phone number down and tossed it to him after a semi-private meet and greet, she never really expected a response. Sure they’d talked and gotten along, but she thought it was silly to get her hopes up that a world-famous pop star would want to call her.
“Yeah, hey.” He replied, and Sarah had to bite her lip to stop the squeal that threatened to escape. “ I didn’t really know how to say who I was. You could think someone was playing a trick on you, sorry for singing. Is it late where you are?”
“Midnight, so yeah,” she replied, somewhat calmly. She didn’t know how his voice affected her so much. It was just the two of them right now; and even though they were miles apart, he wanted to talk to her. “And I’d never complain about you singing to me.”
“Oh, I’m sorry!” Nick said quickly, causing Sarah to giggle. “It’s only nine here, I can call you later. I really am sorry I—“
“It’s okay, really.” Sarah said, still giggling slightly. “I can talk to you. How many people can say they’ve had a late night conversation with you?”
She smiled happily when he conceded and the two of them fell into easy conversation. It was nearing three when Sarah finally yawned goodnight into the phone and falling asleep with a smile on her face.
She placed first in her swim meet the next day.
--
Six months later, Nick paced nervously in front of the hotel phone. His cell phone was recovering from one of Joe’s experiments (trying to see if it would bounce on concrete if thrown at seventy miles per hour—it didn’t) and he was wondering if he should call Sarah.
His talks with Sarah and become an almost daily luxury for him; her voice soothing away the stress the tour brought on. He loved his life, but sometimes he just needed an escape. It was hard to picture her now, her face blurred and fuzzy in his memory, but he knew her voice. He knew which laugh meant what. From the slight chuckle she provided when she was simply amused to her loud laugh that seemingly never ended when she thought something was extremely hilarious; he knew them all and he could tell by the tone of her voice exactly how she was feeling.
They hadn’t talked in two weeks and three days, not that he would admit to counting. He knew she was busy with training for cross country and that she’d often get home tired, barely able to shower before passing out on her bed only to repeat the process the next day. He understood that, but he couldn’t make this nagging feeling in his chest go away. He missed her, and it killed him that the few moments he had to himself couldn’t be spent on the phone with her.
His brothers noticed his pacing, but wisely said nothing. They both knew his dilemma and sympathized with him. They noticed that Sarah brought so much joy into his life and adored her for that. And Nick told them countless times that even though there was a slight age difference between the two of them that Sarah’s family liked the friendship and camaraderie the two shared. Her sister Melissa also approved of their friendship and the perks it provided, such as speaking to Kevin when he would occasionally phone the house.
He heard a faint buzz coming from his destroyed cell phone and raced to it. The screen was cracked, but he could still see part of the name. With a grin he waited until it stopped buzzing before walking over to the hotel phone with confidence. It rang three times before she answered, and his heart lifted when he heard her voice.
“Hello?”
“Sarah.” Nick breathed, the happiness inside him bubbling up and threatening to explode into a grin on his face. “How are you? Are you finished with cross country training? What’s up?”
Her laugh rang through the phone line, the one he recognized as ‘happily embarrassed.’ She answered all of his questions and more, and the two talked enthusiastically until both mothers had to pry the phones from their sleepy fingers.
--
The eighty-ninth phone call was on a Saturday, midday. He’d called her to wish her luck on her gymnastics rehearsal and she was ecstatic that he’d remembered. They’d only talked for a few moments before hanging up, but the smile on her face and the burst of energy she’d felt while remembering his words gave her high rankings and even more to be happy about.
She was about to leave the gym when she heard her name called from someone in the stands. She didn’t notice the look her parents gave each other or the way her sister was gazing at someone next to the person who called her with adoration which was easily returned, all she noticed was the mop of curly hair and the smile that millions of other girls wallpapered their rooms with. She could tell by his grin that his chocolate brown eyes were twinkling, and she all but ran to the stands to see him.
“Nick!” she squealed quietly (there were a few teenage girls still around, and she wanted him all to herself) before pulling him into a tight hug. He returned the gesture with matching fervor and the two held each other for a few moments before parting.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, blushing slightly. It was the first time they’d seen each other since the meet and greet, Sarah relying on television appearances and photos to see him and Nick having nothing.
“I thought that after all this time talking on the phone we should actually see each other. We have a few days off tour and Kevin readily agreed to come with me. Now I know why,” he joked, pointing at their older siblings deep in conversation. The two laughed together before he took her hand and walked with her outside.
“I kind of wanted to ask you something too. Something that I felt wouldn’t be appropriate over the phone.”
Sarah’s heart pounded in her chest as she wondered what he wanted to ask her and she fought the blush that threatened to appear on her face. “Yeah?” she asked, her voice wavering slightly.
“Do you think you—wow, this is so much easier when I sing it, but that’s really cheesy. Do you—will you please be mine?”
Sarah stood shocked for a moment before jumping up and squealing. She pulled him into another tight hug, and he knew that words weren’t necessary. He may not know her every action, but he knew her voice, and that was a definite yes.
“On one condition,” she said after a few moments, the two sitting together on a bench outside the gym, hands intertwined.
“What’s that?” he asked curiously, his eyes meeting hers.
“Don’t forget to call.” She said, smiling broadly.
He grinned back, a full smile that made her knees go slightly weak. “I’ll be calling you.” He promised.
