The Pop Star and the Dreamer

It was answered when Adam phoned me with a request. "Bro, you have to come to Queenstown."

"Why?"

"You're going to be my best man."

"What... You're getting married?"

"Sure am, bro. Jemma and I. We're tying the knot, and I want you by my side."

"Oh, man. I would love to. When is it?"

"You have a month to get your shit together."

When I told Kiara, she exploded in joy. Especially when she got a call from Jemma, asking her to be a bridesmaid...

It was Kiara who came up with the idea of writing them a song. We sat down, just piano and guitar, and started writing. When she suggested it, I was unsure. I figured it would be hard, but no, it flowed, and within a couple of weeks, we had it recorded.

Flying into Queenstown, my heart did a flip and beat faster. I did love this place, not only for its wild beauty, but the people. I loved the people. I had made so many friends in such a short time.

It was where Kiara and I fell in love. Or at least realized we were more than friends.

Adam and Jemma met us at the airport, and it was a wonderful feeling of coming home.

It was early in the morning of our second day I got a phone call. "Nash, where are you?"

"I'm down by the lake, just taking a stroll."

"Do you want to be alone?" she asked anxiously. I felt the fear in her voice.

"No, I didn't wake you because I thought you needed the sleep."

"Where are you, I'll be there."

I watched as she walked down to the waters edge, The fear I heard in her voice was there, painted on her face. "What are you doing?"

"Kiara, I have been struggling with something for a while. There's been a hole inside me. It wasn't until we got here that I realized what it was."

Her fingers clasped tightly on mine. "You're scaring me, Nash."

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to. It's this place, there's something about it."

I saw the fear slipping away, and a thin smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "I feel it, as well. This place will always be special to me. It's where my eyes finally opened."

"It's the same for me, but it goes deeper than that. I feel at home here. The moment we stepped off the plane, it was a feeling of coming home."

She sighed, her head nodding. "Now I'm getting scared again."

"Kiara, this is going to sound crazy, but this is home for me. I feel it deep down inside. I love it here. When I'm here, I never want to leave."

A deep frown pushed down her smile. "Nash, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying I want this to become our home."

She slipped into my arms. "You said our."

"Of course. There is no more me. For me, it's always us."

"What about the tours, the festivals? Do you want to give that away?"

"No, god no. What I'm saying is, we could buy something here. I'm not talking about a mansion, I'm talking about a home. Somewhere we could put down some roots. I love this place. It's safe, friendly. We could make this home base."

"What about LA?"

"We could keep, LA. We don't have to live there."

"Can we even buy something here?" she said wistfully. "Maybe foreigners aren't allowed to?"

I spun around, giving her a sad thoughtful pout. "I don't know either. I'm not talking about anything massive, just a little cottage where we could return to. Use it as a recovery pad."

"Nash, I get it. I have fond memories of this place as well, but holy crap, babe. It would be a lot of money. The LA house would be empty most of the time. And really, how much time would we actually spend here?"

I sighed, defeated. She was right. I was dumb, I couldn't get past the emotion, the feelings. We wandered along the lake front before walking up to the shopping center. We got a nice lunch, and did some shopping. It was amazing how many people knew us. The shop assistants made a fuss over Kiara. Not just because of who she was, we were friends. They liked us.

Adam chased me up about organizing his stag party. I gathered as much information as I could from all his mates. He asked for strippers, but there was no way. No way in hell I was doing that. I organized a band and got a local bar to lock off their premises for us.

When I quizzed Kiara. She was very tight lipped. None of the girls would spill. I did get a bit of a clue when I saw the steam ship, "The Ernslaw." wasn't available for any bookings. I also found out the hottest rock band in town were suddenly unavailable for the weekend.

So, the weekends were booked, although now I felt like we had been one upped.

The wedding was amazing, the day couldn't have been better. The sun shone brightly, and it went off without a hitch.

Kiara even paid for their honeymoon.

It was the day after, as we took a drive around the lake, when Kiara shocked me. "Nash, you blew me away the other day when you said about living here, but I have to say, The longer we spend here, the more I feel what you talked about. It does feel like home."

"Yes, it does."

"Where would we live?"

She giggled, and squeezed my hand. "I don't know. I'm sure we could find something."

That started our search. Over the next few days, we looked at twenty or more properties. None had that feeling. None felt like home, and we were running out of time. We had to be in Germany in five days.

We flew out with nothing resolved. Adam and Jemma were still on their honeymoon, so we didn't even get to say goodbye. That sucked.

I pretty much gave up on the idea as we worked the European shows. Working as her manager, as well as squeezing in a couple of my own shows, meant I was busy, anyway.

Kiara seemed a little distant. Although with five shows stacked up one after the other, it was exhausting. Dylan, as well, seemed busy, I couldn't get sense out of either of them.

Still, the show must go on. The last show was in London, and it was three nights. Originally, it was just the one show, but that sold out, as did the second.

By the end of the third show, I was exhausted myself, and ready to get back to LA.

Dylan had been left with arranging all the flights and accommodation, so it was a bit of a shock, when we got to Heathrow and our flight was to NZ. When I gave Kiara a questioning, confused look, she put her fingers up over my lips. "Shush, we didn't get a chance to say goodbye to Jemma and Adam."

"Where are we staying?"

"Dylan has everything arranged. All you have to do is sit back and rest."

Ahhhh, first class. Yeah, it makes me one of them assholes, but the ability to stretch out and have a decent sleep. Absolute heaven.

Adam, and Jemma met us at the airport, and as always, the girls talked non stop. Adam and I caught up, as always. Seven O'clock, on a Monday night, there wasn't much to do except crash. Adam tried to keep the party going, but the constant travel and the long flight meant there was nothing for us but sleep.

The next day Kiara took control. She had it all planned. The four of us hit the road. We pulled up on the lake front, about fifteen miles out of town.

I knew something was up when we were greeted at the gate by a real estate saleswoman. I glared at Kiara, but she just smiled. "Shut up, and don't say a word."

The saleswoman met us, and it was hugs all around. She quickly showed us through the quaint little cottage. It was an old farm workers' cottage. Refurbished yes, but still with real old world charm.

To say I was stunned was an understatement. It was perfect. Everything we had talked about, and the bonus, was a huge barn like building out the back. When Kiara and I walked through it. I said. "Studio."

She laughed. "Absolutely, babe."

We walked around the fence line to get some privacy. "Kiara, we don't even know if we can purchase it."

"Yes, we can. Dylan has already worked through all the paperwork. It's sitting on Lorraine's desk, waiting for our signatures. If you want it, it's ours."

We slipped into each others arms, and the kiss was as fierce and passionate as our first. "There's lots of work needed," I said.

"Yes, there is."

"It needs a big deck to watch the lake from."

"Yes, it does."

"It needs..."

"Nash, this was your idea. What this place needs more than anything, is new owners. I want those owners to be us. Think about it, babe. This would be the first thing we bought together. It would really be ours."

"Yes, you're right." I pulled her back into our kiss, and said, "Let's do it."

The next weekend, we organized a house warming. It wasn't big, but it was fun. All our friends turned up. We grilled food, drank beer, even smoked a little weed.

It was the start of our new lives as Kiwis and as a couple. Now I just had to convince her we needed children. Somehow, I think that might be the hardest battle, but maybe not.