Brittany smiled at Nick and Rae as she hopped into the back seat of Nick's Durango, the next evening, "Hey, guys! Where's Zack?" she suddenly sounded slightly worried. What if he couldn't even stand to be around her now?
"Oh, Rae and I were at the mall today, so we decided to just pick you up and then go get Zack on the way to the theater," Nick explained, while pulling out of Brittany's driveway.
"Oh, okay," Brittany sighed, while looking out the window. "He's my best friend... it's abnormal to be nervous, isn't it?"
Rae looked over at Nick with a sad smile, "No, Britt. It's normal. You guys weren't only best friends, you were boyfriend and girlfriend too, and so it'll be awkward."
Brittany nodded and ran her fingers through her hair as they pulled into Zack and Rae's driveway. Her breath caught in her throat as Zack stepped from the house, after Nick had honked his horn.
Zack was dressed in baggy khakis and a rust red t-shirt with faded-looking, white writing on the front and back, from Abercrombie and Fitch. His hair was nicely spiked and his eyebrow ring looked sexier than it had before.
Brittany felt like puking as she watched Zack get into the back seat, next to her. He looked so good it made her stomach flutter. She loved him so much, she missed him so much.
Zack looked at her, smiling slightly, "Hey, Ritt."
They were still friends and he was trying desperately to keep it that way. He hadn't thought it would be this hard on their relationship - for a second the thought that this was worse on their friendship than just dating, came to his mind, but he simply brushed it off, as Brittany said hi to him politely, and Nick pulled the car out of the driveway.
~ * ~
It was halfway through the movie when Brittany suddenly stood and ran from the theater. Zack looked at the now vacant seat next to him, and to Brittany's fleeting figure.
Nick looked over at him questionably, and Zack shrugged. "Well, go find her!" Nick urged, sounding as if it was the most obvious thing to do. Which it was.
"No, I can't," Zack spoke nervously.
Nick rolled his eyes and stood with a groan at Zack's stupidity. He headed out of the theater, leaving Rae to scoff at her brother.
~ * ~
Nick found Brittany standing outside in the lobby, her hair now tousled and the makeup around her eyes, streaked.
"Britt?" he asked tentatively, coming up behind her and placing his hands on her shoulders gently. "What's wrong, you okay?"
"No," Brittany shook her head, fresh tears welling in her eyes. "I don't feel too good, Nick," she turned around, burying her face in his chest as he wrapped his arms around her securely.
"What's goin' on, Brittany?"
"I can't stand being so close to him. I want to hold his hands and tell him how much I love him, but I can't, and that kills me!"
Nick sighed, "Then why are you guys doing this?? You both love each other and you know it!"
"I love him, but I don't know if he loves me - for all I know he's regretting everything that he gave up for me!"
"That is a bunch of sh*t and we both know that! You want to know why he refused so strongly to talk to Shannon?! Because he was afraid that for some reason he'd have to go back to that group! That he'd have to leave you... so he stayed away from her. So don't give me that sh*t about him not loving you, because he loves you with everything in him! That I know!"
"Stay the hell out of this, Nick. I'm sick of talking about this," with that, she shimmied from his grasp and walked back into the theater, taking her seat next to Zack again.
Nick knew he'd struck a nerve. Whether or not it was a good one, he didn't know.
~ * ~
Brittany couldn't stand the uncomfortable silence that had nestled itself between her and Zack. Nick had been exhausted - or so he'd said - and had asked Zack to drive them all back to Zack and Rae's. Rae had, of course, gotten into the back with Nick, leaving Brittany to sit in the passenger seat, next to Zack. Rachel and Nick had fallen asleep upon leaving the movie theater parking lot, and Brittany just couldn't find a single thing to talk to Zack about... a single thing that wouldn't be awkward, that is.
Finally, she got so fed up with the silence that she turned in her seat and faced the love of her life. If only he knew that! "Zack, we gotta talk. I can't stand this silence between us. We're best friends... right?"
Zack turned his head to look at her, briefly, before turning back to the road, "Yeah, of course we are, Britt... I just... feel weird, I guess."
She nodded, resting her head back on the seat again. Weird. Of course. He felt weird.
Brittany reached her hand over, suddenly, and grabbed Zack's in hers. She gave it a tight squeeze, "Maybe we should just give each other some breathing room for a while. You know, kind of take a break from each other."
Zack's heart shattered to a thousand pieces - if it wasn't already crumbled, to begin with - but he nodded, against his better judgement, "Yeah... okay."
Nick, in the backseat, met Rae's eyes. They'd been awake the whole time, and had listened to all that had passed between Brittany and Zack. This wasn't good.
~ * ~
Nick followed Zack into the kitchen, as Rae followed Brittany into the living room, when they got back to Zack and Rae's house, their parents out of town for a while.
"Zack, I heard what you and Brittany were talking about in the car on the way home. Rae heard it too. And I think I can speak for the both of us, when I say this - in love... Are you two freakin' stupid?!"
Zack practically spit out the pop that he'd just consumed, "Excuse me??"
Nick calmed down, taking a deep breath and resting his hand on his friend's shoulder, "Look... Zack, I'm sorry, it's just... the more time you put between Brittany and yourself, the more space... the more you're just going to grow apart."
Zack shrugged Nick's hand from him, "She made her choice, Nick... I can't force her to love me."
