Chapter 3

I open my eyes. Back in the hospital with the disgustingly happy walls.

"I hope you're happy, Nick," I hear a harsh voice. "You got what you wanted."

Beau.

I look over at him. He's standing about five feet away from my bed, his arms crossed across his chest, a not-so delightful frown on his face.

He starts walking over to me. "You managed to scare the shit out of a lot of people who love you."

"Good," I reply, closing my eyes.

"What is this attitude you're giving me, mister? Don't you even dare!"

"Oh, don't yell at me," I fake whimper. "I'm just a poor little sick baby. I didn't mean it." I give him the fakest frown ever.

Right before Beau could reprimand me, Celeste and some guy walk in the room.

Celeste smiles. "Oh my god, you finally woke up!" She runs over and starts kissing me. "We were all so worried about you, Nicky!"

The unknown guy walks over to me and kisses me on the lips. Sasha?

"How long was I asleep?" I ask, rubbing my eyes.

"You were in a coma for three weeks," Celeste tells me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Beau slip out of the room.

Ignoring what I just saw, I widen my eyes. "Three weeks?!"

She nods. "We were all so afraid you wouldn't wake up." She starts tearing up. "That was one hell of a stunt you pulled, little panda." Celeste kisses me on the forehead again. "How do you feel? Any pain?"

I shake my head. "It doesn't hurt anymore. I just have a little headache."

Celeste smiles and nods. "Good. That's very good." Then she breaks down into sobs.

Sasha and I just stare at her. My so-called boyfriend takes the opportunity to hop in the small bed next to me and wraps his arms around me, kissing my neck. I just kinda stare at him. He looks into my eyes. "Are you okay?"

I nod. "I just… I don't really know you… I'm sorry. You seem really sweet, I just…"

"It's fine, I understand," he says and sits up.

"No, you can lie next to me… it was nice."

He smiles and lies back down, cuddling, but not too close this time.

"Are you tired?" he asks me in a whisper.

I nod. "A bit."

"We should sleep. When you feel better, we can go out somewhere together and try to get your memory back," he tells me, playing with my hair.

"Okay," I reply with a yawn.

He smiles. "Yes, we need sleep."

I close my eyes.

"We can go to Russia together," he starts softly whispering into my ear. "We can go to my house and drink hot chocolate by the fire as we watch the snow fall. It'll be so nice." He starts running his fingers through my hair. "I think you'll like it there. It will be just the two of us. We can get away from everything; the fans, the media, the entire world… just us."

I drift off to sleep as he keeps whispering.

X X X

I hop in Sasha's car.

"Have fun you two," Celeste says. "Don't get into too much trouble. Call me if you need anything. You know how to get back to our house right, Sasha? If you get lost call me. I'll have my phone on always. Oh, and make sure Nick doesn't eat anything he's allergic to and-"

I turn to Sasha. "Is she always like this?"

He laughs and nods. "Pretty much." Sasha turns to Celeste, who is still rambling away. "Good bye, Celeste." He closes the car door in her face and starts the car.

She looks at us, gives us a small smile with a wave and heads back into my house.

Sasha turns to me. "Ready?"

I nod. It's quite scary though. I know nothing about anything. I just know the inside of my house and the hospital. It's like I've never been anywhere before.

We pull out of the driveway and head down the street, out of the neighbourhood.

"Where do you want to go first?" he asks.

I shrug. "Where could we go?"

"We could go to the mall. Oh, but there might be a lot of fans… I don't know if you're ready for an ambush yet."

"Do they know… about what happened?"

Sasha nods. "The entire world knows pretty much."

"Oh," I say, looking out the window at the passing cars.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I just find this whole thing… weird."

"It must be."

"Sasha, where are you from? You talk funny."

He laughs. "I talk funny? You do too. I'm from Russia."

"Am I from here?" I ask.

Sasha shakes his head. "You grew up in England."

"How come my parents aren't here?"

He pauses. "I think Celeste better tell you."

"Did they die? Is that why?" I ask.

"No, they're alive."

"Then why do Beau, Celeste and I live in a giant mansion all alone?"

"You have another brother. His name is Jean-Luc. But he's in Africa."

"Why is he there? And you never answered my question."

"He's on vacation there with his fiancée."

"You still didn't answer my question."

"Yes I did."

"About my parents."

Silence.

"Please, Sasha, tell me."

"They live in Europe."

"Why?"

"It doesn't matter. You're not very fond of them."

"Well why not?"

"Ehh…"

"You're ignoring the question."

He stops the car. "We're at the mall."

"That we are."

He turns off the engine and takes off his seatbelt. "Let's go."

"I'm not leaving until you answer my question."

"Fine," he replies. He opens the door and gets out, closing it behind him. He starts walking away from the car and towards the building.

"Sasha?!" I yell out after him. I open the door and get out, running after him as fast as I could go on crutches. I hate being alone.

"I thought you weren't getting out of the car," he says, sounding slightly mad.

"Oh, I see what you did there… you're mean."

Sasha laughs and pulls me into a hug. "You know I love you."

"Actually, I don't."

He frowns and lets go of me.

"I'm sorry, Sasha," I say sincerely.

Sasha shakes his head. "It's okay. It's not your fault. I know."

I grab his hand and look up at him, smiling. He smiles back. We walk into the mall, hand-in-hand and suddenly I hear a scream. I let go of his hand and look over to where the scream came from, only to see two fifteen-year-old girls running up to us.

"OH MY GOD!" one of them shrieks.

I look at Sasha. "What? Is something wrong? Why are they screaming? "

Sasha smiles at them. "Hi," he says cheerfully to them and they scream some more.

Confusion.

"Nick, you're so hot!" one of them runs up to me and grabs me, pulling me into an awkward hug.

"Uh, hi," I say, shocked.

They giggle and one turns to me. "Will you sign my boobs?!"

I look at her in disgust. Girls scare me. Boobs are even scarier. Vaginas are the scariest.

Sasha grabs my hand, "Sorry, we have to go!" and we run off into the men's washroom.

"Is it okay that I'm totally and utterly freaked out by this?" I ask him.

He smiles. "You'll get used to it, I promise. Here," He takes out a wig and a hat from his man purse, "put this on." I take it and he puts on a disguise himself.

I laugh. "You look funny as a blonde."

He kisses me. "You look adorable no matter what."
I blush. Even though I don't know him very well, it's nice to be loved.

"How about we go get some lunch?"

Grinning, I reply, "I'd like that," and I take his hand.

I'm falling in love with this foreign hottie all over again it seems.