Love Menagerie: Chapter 18: The Real Facts

Nick/Sarah

Nick looked at Sarah over the top of his coffee mug, later that week. Lucy had gone back home days ago and Derek had met back up with the Yankees in New York, so the two of them had the house to themselves. It hadn't been too awkward ... they'd both kept busy with things of their own ... but mornings were the worst. Sitting around at breakfast together, the room silent. It was almost easier when Sarah had been fighting with him ... at least they'd found words to say to each other.

"Hey, what are you doin' today, Sar?" Nick finally spoke up, putting his mug down and sliding the sports section out of the newspaper next to him.

Sarah looked up from her magazine, a curious expression on her face. What was Nick Carter up to now? It was always something with that boy and she didn't know how much she liked that. "Um ... I was thinking of going to the mall to maybe buy some-"

"The mall?" Nick interrupted her and put down the paper, knowing he couldn't even pretend to not be hanging on every word she said. "Sarah, it's a beautiful, sunny, hot day out. Why would you go to a mall?"

"Nick," Sarah rolled her eyes and couldn't help but laugh, "we live in Florida. Most days are beautiful, sunny, and hot. Why? What did you have in mind?"

Nick grinned at the suspicion in her voice. It was almost funny how much the girl didn't trust him. Almost. He stopped grinning. "Gee, girl, have a li'l faith in your ol' pal." He chose to ignore the roll of her eyes. It was only nine in the morning and he'd already managed to get her to roll her eyes twice. "I thought we could take a drive down to my place, go out on my boat for the afternoon. I have to grab some more clothes, anyway. So what do you say?"

Sarah sighed, "This is so insane; you realize that, don't you, Nick? I mean, you live like ten minutes away from here and yet you're staying here for no reason. Why don't you just go home instead of going to get more clothes?"

Nick looked at her, feigning hurt. "As moving as this conversation is, I have things to get to," he stood and wiped his bare chest off with his fingers, getting rid of the crumbs from his toast. "Be ready by noon. Oh and Sarah, you know why I haven't left yet. You haven't forgiven me."

By now Nick was in the hallway, beginning to head up the stairs. Sarah, desperate to get rid of him, called out to him, "Nick, if I tell you I forgive you, will you leave?"

There was a pause and Nick's head suddenly popped back into the dining room. "No."

"Why not?" Sarah sighed, looking away. His eyes were unnerving. She needed him to go. Her resolve was dwindling ... and very, very quickly.

"Two reasons. One, I know you really don't want me to leave. Two, you haven't really forgiven me ... 'cause when you forgive me you're gonna fall in love with me ... and you haven't admitted to that ... yet."

Sarah looked at him with a glare, "Ego much?"

"Yep!" Nick called out with a secret grin as he sprinted up the staircase. "Be ready by noon!"

"Bite me!"

"Blow me!"

"In your dreams."

"You know it!"

Freddy/Brittany

The week was coming to a close and Brittany and Freddy were getting antsy, to say the least. It had been the best week of Brittany's life and she was feeling nervous and anxious and depressed that in two days Freddy would be back with the Mariners and Brittany would be back at home. Soon, Sarah would be going back to New York; Nick would be leaving when she did; and Derek was already gone. She was going home to nothing and the thought highly dispirited her.

Freddy knew she had been down; her attitude had changed so drastically since she'd woken up that morning, knowing their time was limited and would soon be over. He wished there was something that he could do to make her feel better, but he had a career and she had a life too ... even if she didn't feel as though it was very important. It worried him that she was upset; he didn't want anything to happen to her or the baby and stress wasn't good for either of them. He wished she would just move to Seattle with him so he didn't have to worry about them, but wasn't even about to ask. He couldn't ask her to give up her life for him ... it wasn't fair, especially when he wasn't quite sure he could do the same for her. They were best friends, there was no doubt about that, and she was carrying his baby ... but would he drop his entire life if she simply asked him to? He had no idea.

They'd spent the entire week having fun and seeing the sites. They weren't sites to Freddy any more--he'd been to all of them thousands of times--but he'd wanted to show Brittany around and he'd done just that.

One day they'd visited the historical sites like Casa Natal de Bolivar, the birthplace of Simon Bolivar. Simon Bolivar had dedicated his life to the liberation of Venezuela from the Spanish and had at one time been the president of Venezuela. And Freddy had taken her to Ciudad Bolivar, a city at the lower Orinoco, where Bolivar had set up his base for the final stage of the War of Independence. Ciudad Bolivar was the tentative capital of Venezuela prior to liberation. Brittany had loved all of it. She'd loved listening to Freddy tell her the history of his country.

Another day, they'd traveled to Rio Orinoco, which was the third longest river in South America. And the next day they'd gone to Salto Angel (Angel Falls), the world's highest waterfall. The Falls had been Brittany's favorite. She didn't know if she'd seen anything as beautiful. And, of course, Freddy had kept his promise and they'd spent an entire day snorkeling and fishing. He promised the next time that she was there with him, assuming she was no longer pregnant, they would go rock climbing and hang-gliding.

Brittany had never experienced better moments and she wished there was some way she could stop it all from ending. And yet, real life was calling. Oh, how she hated real life.

Nick/Sarah

"If you start to get too hot, just jump in; the water's great," Nick said as he watched Sarah sunbathing out of the corner of his eye. Her skin was tanned and slicked with tanning oil that smelled like coconut. Her white bikini made the color of her skin stand out even more and it was making Nick's stomach flutter. She was so beautiful.

Sarah mumbled a response, rolling onto her stomach. The heat felt wonderful to her, though she knew eventually she'd need to jump into the water to prevent herself from overheating. She could feel Nick's eyes on her and as much as she didn't want to admit it, his gaze wasn't helping to cool her off.

If he doesn't look away soon, I'm gonna flash him just to catch the boy off guard, she thought and giggled a second later, grateful that Nick didn't ask why.

Sarah, herself, was caught off guard when she felt Nick straddle her and begin to massage her shoulders. "Oh, Lord," she groaned, her eyes popping open and instantly closing again. The man had magic in his fingers and the fact that she was already feeling slightly intoxicated from the sun and his eyes on her didn't help. She rolled onto her back underneath him and tried to act as if he hadn't had any effect on her. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I thought it looked like a massage would help ya out a bit," Nick smiled sheepishly. "Plus, I gotta admit, your skin just looked far too tempting not to touch."

Sarah looked up at him, the sun shining behind him and forming a halo around his head. She couldn't help but admit it: the boy looked like an angel. But she knew better ... he wasn't one, as much as he'd been trying to make her believe he was. And yet, lying out on that boat, the sun beating down on them, their skin slicked with tanning oil and perspiration, their skin touching, Sarah couldn't help but look at him with the feelings she'd been trying to deny. She wanted him and there was no way she could deny it now.

"C'mere," Sarah whispered, noting the fact that Nick's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Don't ask why, but gosh, I want you so bad."

Her voice was shaky and Nick was afraid she might cry. And when he saw the tears forming in her eyes, he quickly bent down and placed his mouth over hers, their lips moving in a very familiar kiss. If his life ended right then, he would have died a happy man.

"I won't ever do it again, Sarah. You have to believe me," Nick whispered as they kissed and touched each other, their hearts beating quickly and in unison. "I won't hurt you; I can't hurt you. I just can't."

"Don't make me promises," Sarah murmured, her lips meeting his again. "Just don't."

Nick sighed and reveled in her feathery touch.

Freddy/Brittany

It was the day before Brittany and Freddy were leaving Venezuela. They'd been busying themselves in order to avoid the obvious: they'd be leaving each other. Brittany sighed as she heard Freddy clanking around in one of the guest bathrooms. He'd been trying to fix the sink and the fact that she'd heard quite the strain of curses over the past two hours she figured he wasn't having much luck.

"Brittany!" Freddy called out suddenly. "I need your help."

Brittany sighed again and looked at the cap in her hand, "Hey, did you know that googol is a number? A one followed by one hundred zeros." She heard Freddy groan and couldn't help but smile.

"Brittany, stop reading Snapple caps and come and help me! I need you to hand me the llave."

Brittany giggled and stood up from Freddy's bed with a roll of her eyes. If he couldn't think of the word in English, he went to Spanish. She walked down the hall and looked through the bathroom door. "It's a wrench, Freddy, a wrench."

"Whatever," he growled and tossed it to her, sitting up and wiping his forehead with the hem of his T-shirt. "It's hot in here."

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Brittany smiled gently, sitting down on the closed toilet and watching him sigh.

"Nope."

"Hmmm ... comforting."

Later that night the two of them stood in Freddy's bedroom, packing their bags so they could leave the next morning.

"Freddy, stop," Brittany laughed, grabbing her underwear back from him as he held it up against himself. "You're really starting to freak me out, you girl. Ever thought about the fact that you'd be one ugly woman?"

Freddy laughed and rolled his eyes, "Thanks."

"You know, an oyster can change from one gender to another and back again," Brittany murmured a moment later, looking down at her suitcase to make sure she had everything she'd come with. She then proceeded to pick out what she would wear the next day and set it aside.

Freddy looked at her carefully. "I'm never letting you near Snapple again."

"Why?" Brittany smiled and looked up at him, her eyes shining for the first time in days. "Oh, am I annoying you with my facts?" she smirked when he hadn't responded. "Well ... I have a fact that I think you'll enjoy."

"Doubt it," Freddy shrugged indifferently and sat down on the bed, finished packing.

Brittany grinned as he looked at her warily. "A one-minute kiss burns twenty-six calories."

Freddy never got the chance to respond, as she knelt next to him and ran her fingers through his hair, pulling his face to hers. After exactly sixty seconds, Brittany pulled away and sighed dreamily, before giggling.

"I feel thinner already!"

"Oh my gosh," Freddy laughed.

Brittany sighed and looked at him, her smile slowly fading. How would she go God-only-knows-how-long without seeing his face or feeling him near? "I'm gonna miss you, Fred. A lot."

"Yeah," Freddy nodded, "I'm gonna miss you too."

Brittany sighed as he ran his hand along her cheek and pulled her face back to his, another one-minute kiss delivered. Freddy had no idea what they were in each other's lives--aside from best friends and parents together--but he knew he sure enjoyed her.

*Real Facts #s 83, 84, and 102. Get all the Real Facts at Snapple.com