"Alright! Here we go!" Nicky returned after a few moments, a glossy acoustic guitar in hand. "What should we sing?"
"Any requests?" JM smiled at Cori, taking a bite of his toast.
Cori shrugged shyly, but Kole, who was now burning another slice of bread, chuckled.
"Come on, Cori!" he grinned. "We know you like us. What's your favorite Miracle 10 song?"
"Umm..." Cori felt her cheeks burn like Kole's toast as all eyes fell upon her. "I like 'My Fate'," she answered at last, naming the first song to pop into her head.
"Of course she picks Tanner's solo," snorted Axel.
"Yeah, how about one we can all sing?" laughed Kole.
"Oh, I wasn't thinking," Cori apologized, glancing embarrassedly at Tanner.
"Don't be mad because she has good taste," he grinned proudly.
"I can pick something else," Cori quickly added.
"No, it's okay," said Nicky suddenly, as he finished tuning his guitar. "Tanner can sing the first one," he smiled, strumming out the first few notes of 'My Fate'. "Take it away, Tan."
Taking a sip of water, Tanner nodded and began to sing.
"Is this really happening?" Cori was immediately awestruck as Tanner belted out his song. His voice was loud, crisp and clear- and as he reached the chorus, he turned to look right at her. "This can't be real!" she held her breath in the magical moment. "And to think, I was worried about missing a Miracle 10 broadcast if I came out here for the week. Talk about a live stream!"
Cori continued to take in the surreal concert, but when the time for Tanner's high note arrived, his voice cracked and Kole let out a laugh so disruptive that Tanner did not go on.
"Tan man, what was that?" Kole teased.
"The fire's making my throat dry," Tanner grabbed his water bottle and took another sip.
"Oh, is that what happened?" Kole was not convinced.
"This is why we have really expensive vocal software at the studio," JM whispered to Cori.
"Whatever!" Tanner glared at him, jumping up. "Let's hear you sing something!"
"How about we all sing something this time," Nicky tried to halt the impending argument.
"Go ahead. I'm out," Tanner rolled his eyes and turned to leave.
"Where are you going?" asked JM.
"To take a dip," Tanner replied. "I'm sick of not being able to shower," he finished, turning to leave, but Cori caught his eye.
"I thought you sounded good," she whispered.
"Thanks," he said and a smug smile crossed his lips before he stalked away.
Cori watched after him, her heart feeling happy, but JM's voice quickly brought her back to the campfire.
"So, what are we gonna sing?" he wondered.
"Cori, do you know 'Picture You'?" Nicky asked.
Cori nodded and Nicky once again began to play, the rest of the boys singing along.
Despite the absence of Tanner, listening to Miracle 10 perform live was still a dream come true. However, all-too-soon, the song came to an end.
"What next?" asked Nicky.
"'Mon Ami'?" JM suggested.
"Ugh, can we please get past our last album?" Axel sighed. "It's getting so old."
"Yeah, let's do some new stuff," agreed Kole, making his third attempt to brown some toast.
"Or something else entirely," said Axel, picking at a piece of Kole's previously charred bread. "This is too much like work. We're supposed to be on vacation. You know, resting our voices."
"Come on, guys," Nicky frowned. "You really made me bring my guitar down here for not even two whole songs? Let's do at least one more."
"Go ahead," shrugged Axel, standing up. "You know how to sing," he added. "I'm gonna go make sure there's no more marshmallows hiding in the cupboards. Kole, come help me."
"Fine," Kole sighed, following after him. "You coming, JM?"
JM ran off too, leaving Cori alone with Nicky.
"Okay, then..." Nicky sighed and turned to Cori, but she could see an idea suddenly forming on his face. "Wanna hear the new song I've been working on? You'd be the first person I've played it for."
"Oh... Are you sure you want me to hear it?" Cori raised her brows, surprised and honored.
"Why not? It'd be nice to have a fresh opinion," he smiled. "So, you'll listen?" he looked at her intently.
"Sure," Cori nodded awkwardly under his eye.
Nicky grinned widely, adjusted his guitar, and the music began.
No sooner had Nicky U opened his mouth to sing, than Cori was pulled into the song, completely lost in his beautiful melody and acoustic accompaniment.
Nicky U's voice was stunning- even more pleasing than in a studio recording. His sweet vocals seemed to kiss her ears as he sang the ballad directly to Cori, his eyes still fixed on her face. Cori watched in amazement, deeply impressed as his voice floated through the night. His skilled fingers plucked at the strings, his eyes sparkled with feeling, and his lips were mesmerizing as they parted to let out the lyrics. The song's debut was so enchanting, that before Cori knew it, Nicky was finishing his last note and looking to her for some sort of response.
"So? What do you think?" he asked when Cori primarily failed to speak.
"It's amazing!" Cori exclaimed, shaking her head, still stunned by the powerful music.
"Really?" Nicky asked humbly.
"Yes! You sound even better than you do on the radio!" Cori told him. "Your voice is as gorgeous as you!" she blurted. "I mean, as gorgeous as you can have." Cori feverishly tried to correct her sentence, but she knew it was no good. Standing up awkwardly, she bit her lip and looked away. "Um.. I'm gonna go change for the night," she said, stepping towards the cabin. "Thanks for letting me hear your song," she added smally before darting as fast away from Nicky U as she could.
"No problem," Nicky called after her, sounding slightly confused, but no one was as confused as Cori.
"Why did I say that?!" she kicked herself when she was safely hidden in Tanner's room. "'Your voice is as gorgeous as you!'" she mocked herself in horror. "How could I say that to Nicky??? And what did I say to Tanner? 'I thought you sounded good'. Good! Not great, not gorgeous, but good??? And to Nicky U? I say you're GORGEOUS!!!"
Cori looked hard into the mirror and slapped her cheek.
"Why did I say that?!" she cringed again, glancing around Tanner's bedroom. "Tanner's the one who I like! Tanner's the one who's gorgeous! Not Nicky," she sighed, picking up one of the tee shirts he had loaned her. "It was because of the song," she decided at last. "It had such a nice sound and the lyrics were so romantic. That's all. I was just really into the song. Yeah. It was just because of the song," she told herself, tossing the shirt onto the bed next to Tanner's teddy bear. "Well, just because of the song and that weird dream..." she frowned, instead grabbing the now-dry shirt of Tanner's and pulling it on. "But it was just a dream. Maybe in the dream, you liked Nicky, but in reality, you like Tanner," she reminded herself. "You like- Tanner!" Cori nearly bumped into him when she entered the hallway.
"Hey," he looked down at her. He was now wearing a pair of harem pants and a tee; his hair still wet from the lake. "Nice shirt," Tanner grinned, surveying her change of clothes too. "You going to bed already?"
"Um, maybe," she said, now flustered by both Tanner's words and her own recent outburst.
"I probably will, too," he told her. "After I see if the guys found anything to eat downstairs," he added. "Do you want anything?"
Cori opened her mouth to answer, but just then, Nicky reached the top of the steps, guitar in hand, and also in a fresh set of clothes and hair wet.
"Hey, guys," Nicky smiled, but noticing their surprise at his appearance, he went on. "Your lake idea sounded so refreshing I had to give it a go," he chuckled, flipping his bangs and splashing Cori. "I needed to put this back though," he nodded to his acoustic.
"We're just going to go grab a bite," Tanner shrugged.
"Cool. I'll meet you down there," said Nicky, heading for his old room.
"Come on," Tanner turned to Cori.
"Um, on second thought, I'm just gonna go to bed," said Cori, glancing down the hall and catching a glimpse of Nicky's back as he disappeared into the room.
"Aren't you hungry?" Tanner eyed her confusedly.
"I'll be fine," Cori promised. "Besides, there's toast out there," she chuckled awkwardly and dashed down the stairs and out of the cabin.
"Ugh! That dream has me all messed up," Cori panted when she reached the tents. "At least I don't have to sleep in the room where I dreamed it though..." she sighed, but her relief was only momentary as a more worrisome realization reached her. "I may not have to sleep in the room where I dreamed about Nicky... but I do have to sleep in the same tent as Nicky!"
Cori took a breath and crawled inside the tent, nervously propping up one of the flashlights and unrolling her sleeping bag.
"Please don't have another weird dream tonight," she ordered herself. "Please." Cori sighed and squeezed her pillow. "At least Tanner will be here, too," she smiled, suddenly noticing a shadow outside of the tent. "Tanner?" she watched as the tent flap moved aside to admit another person, but received a shock of stress to see it was Nicky.
"Hey," he smiled, climbing into the tent and setting down a plate of crackers and peanut butter. "Tanner told me you were out here. I thought you might want something besides Kole's old burnt toast," he laughed.
"Thanks," said Cori, unable to look at him and embarrassedly hoping he would just leave the snack and go.
To her displeasure, however, Nicky crossed his legs and sat down right beside her.
"Have one," he told her, picking up a cracker and coating it in nut butter. "I had to sneak these past Kole to bring them to you," he chuckled. "They're a lot better than what the guys are eating in there."
Cori glanced at him curiously, but meeting his eye, quickly turned her gaze to the crackers.
"They're eating some kind of cheese from a can," he laughingly explained before tossing the cracker into his mouth.
Picking up a cracker herself, Cori took a bite, and for a long while, the only noise was the sound of their crunching. After a while, Cori dared another peek at Nicky. His white sleep tee hung loosely over his torso, matched with a pair of black shorts. His brown hair was still damp from his swim and Cori watched as a droplet of water fell onto his cheek.
Dropping his cracker back onto the plate, Nicky swept the bead from his cheek, giving his hair another shake and splashing Cori again.
"Oops! Sorry!" he looked at her apologetically.
"It's okay," Cori wiped the water from her own face and stared at the floor. However, she could feel Nicky's eyes still on her.
"Thanks for camping with me," he said.
"No problem," Cori shrugged, nervously darting her eyes around the tent.
"I really mean it," said Nicky. "Thank you."
"It's not like I'm the only one camping," Cori chuckled uncomfortably.
"Yeah, but this is different. I spend every day with those guys," Nicky frowned. "And even then, sometimes it can still get pretty lonely."
"What do you mean?" Cori finally looked right at him in surprise.
"Kole and JM have girlfriends, Axel's got several, and Tanner- well, he's really into his fan club," Nicky told her. "I mean, that's nice and all, but I've never been in it for the fame. It's all about the music for me." He smiled slightly and continued. "Anyways, I know even the others get lonely at times. We're always working or on the road. That's idol life for you. But it'd be nice to know someone's there waiting for you when you get back- or at least just having someone to talk to, you know?"
Cori remained silent, a frown on her lips.
"That's why Kole always winks during our live broadcasts," Nicky went on. "It's a secret message to his girlfriend," he explained. "I've always wanted to try something like that," he added pensively. "But I guess first I need to actually have someone to send a secret gesture to," he laughed.
"What kind of sign would you do?" wondered Cori.
"Hmm," Nicky looked thoughtful. "Maybe a heart," he grinned. "Like this." Nicky snapped his thumb and forefinger into a little heart shape.
"You thought of that pretty quick," Cori laughed. "You must think about that a lot."
"I told you it gets lonely," said Nicky. "And that also means boring. Which is why I'm glad you're here," he smiled. "It's a nice break from the guys," he laughed. "I don't know if you've noticed, but they're not the best conversationalists."
A small chuckle escaping, Cori returned his smile, and for a long beat, they just looked at each other.
"Uh... Cori?" Nicky began at last.
Cori looked up slowly; nervously.
"Can I ask you something?" he finished just as slowly.
Cori raised her brows, but otherwise did not answer as Nicky took a deep breath and reached for his back pocket.
"So..." he began again, and Cori was surprised to see him pull out her rolled up magazine Kole had discovered in the woods. "This is your magazine, right?" he continued, flattening the magazine out on the blanket.
Cori nodded dreadfully. She knew where this was going.
"Well I was just wondering..." Nicky went on, opening the magazine and pointing inside. "Why did you rip out the picture of me?" He looked up at her, a faint spark of hope in his eyes.
"I didn't," said Cori with an awkward half-smile. "One of the girls at camp did it," she explained.
"Oh," Nicky creased his brows and flipped the booklet shut.
"She thinks you're really cute," Cori added quickly, sensing his disappointment.
Looking at Cori, Nicky chuckled smally, but his face turned suddenly serious.
"Hold still," he said at once.