Love Menagerie:

Chapter 26: Halfway Up, Halfway Down

A month had passed. Freddy and Brittany were together and doing well; Sarah had gone back to Florida to return to school; and Nick had left Seattle a week after Sarah, never having told her his feelings. Brittany had talked to him countless times while he and Sarah were both staying with her and Freddy. But somehow, Nick had managed to talk himself out of ever telling Sarah how he felt...it was stuck in his head that Sarah was just too good for him, she deserved better. He forgot about the fact that the situation didn't rest on his shoulders alone...Sarah had been the one to kick him out.

Brittany had actually cried when her friends had gone back to their lives without mending their torn relationship. She just wanted everyone to be happy. She and Freddy were happy and Nick and Sarah deserved the same. And she knew for a fact just how unhappy the two of them were. She had spent four of the six nights that Sarah was there, with Sarah crying on her shoulder, upset that she'd let Nick go and that she was too embarrassed to do anything about it. It didn't matter how many times Brittany insisted that Nick would take her back if she would just talk to him. In Sarah's mind, she'd made a ridiculously irrational decision and didn't deserve a second chance. Sarah didn't think of the fact that Nick had once made a ridiculously stupid decision and Sarah had given him a second chance. If Nick was half the man that Sarah was a woman, he would do the same for her. He was...and he would. Sarah hadn't asked.

Nick/Sarah

Nick looked at the doorbell, his hand hovering above it. He knew he was acting stupid. They were friends now, right? They'd managed, in a week's time, to form a bond that should have been formed before they'd ever gotten together the first time. They'd become friends while in Seattle...so why was he so incredibly frightened to ring her dumb doorbell? Sarah had given him the address to her condominium a week before, proud of her new place, telling him to use the information if he ever felt the need. She'd given the invitation, so what was so wrong with taking it? Nothing.

Ring the doorbell, Nick.

Nick rang the doorbell.

Sarah sighed, setting her lap top aside and standing from her bed. She stretched her arms above her head and sighed for whole different reasons as she felt her muscles loosen. She hadn't been expecting any visitors but there was nothing wrong with taking a quick break from an excruciating paper. Gosh, how school sucked.

Sarah sprinted quickly down the staircase, straight through the small living room, and to the front door. She pulled it open and smiled. Wow. Nice surprise. She hadn't actually imagined that Nick would ever come to her house...especially without any good reason. Well, maybe he had one...she hadn't asked yet, after all.

"Hey, Nick." Sarah smiled and opened the door wider, letting him into her wonderfully cozy abode. "What brings you here?"

"I was in the neighborhood."

"Right."

Nick laughed and looked away. Okay, so Sarah now lived forty-five minutes away from him...in a direction not conveniently used. "Actually, I came to talk to you."

"Oh, really? 'Bout what?" Sarah looked at him skeptically, a small smile on her face. Should she be scared when boy-wonder actually initiated conversation?

"I, um... Well, could we sit or something? Or should we stand here, having a deep and meaningful conversation in the entryway?"

Sarah smiled sheepishly. "Let's go onto the verandah."

"Oh, you have a verandah, eh?" Nick teased as they walked through the sliding glass doors.

"Shut up."

"Sar," Nick sighed once they were seated. He turned to face her, his eyes serious and intriguing. "I just..."

Sarah's eyebrows rose expectantly when Nick stopped talking. "You what, Nick?"

Nick closed his eyes, trying desperately to find the words he'd been rehearsing for days now. He'd had them down like Backstreet Boys' song lyrics, on the way over to her place...and now he couldn't wrap his tongue around them if his life depended on it.

Time to speak from the heart, Nicky boy.

So he did.

"Sar, I just came here in order to find some peace of mind."

Sarah was staring at him, looking so lost.

Nick looked away from her eyes, in order to continue. "For a month now, I've been beating myself up inside, wondering what I can do to get you to forgive me for what I did. And I think I've finally realized the answer." He paused as he took the time to chew thoughtfully on his bottom lip, looking out over the great view that she had. "Nothing."

"What?" Sarah's eyes widened. What was he trying to say?

"There's nothing that I can do, Sar. Because you told me, when we got back together, that one night when we took that walk...you told me that I was getting my second chance, and there wouldn't be a third."

Sarah sat silently, staring at him. She had said that, hadn't she? Her face reddened as she cast her eyes downward, wondering exactly what she'd gotten herself into. If she took him back again, he'd never be able to take her word as truth again. Her word would hold no weight.

Nick bent and leaned his elbows on his knees as he felt his eyes burning. He could do this. He could be strong and do this. It simply had to be done. "So I came here to officially end all of this. I feel as though we never really freed one another...and I guess I need to feel freed before I can move on."

This wasn't what he wanted! He wanted to take her in his arms and hold her and kiss her and tell her how in love with her he was...but this is what needed to be done. But he didn't know that she didn't want this either.

Freddy/Brittany

"Do you think I did enough, Freddy?" Brittany sighed, sitting next to him on the couch, going over baby names.

Freddy set the book on the coffee table in front of them and leaned back, looking at her with a strange expression. "What are you talking about?"

"With Nick and Sarah-"

"Oh, will you stop with that already? My gosh, Brittany, it's not your place to 'fix them.'"

Brittany groaned and let her head fall and hit the back of the couch. "I know that, Fred...but I feel like it is. I mean, they were staying here with us and I couldn't even help them out."

"You don't know that, Brittany. You have no idea what influence you had on them. Sometimes these things just take time."

"That is so cliche."

"Yeah, I know. And not very true either."

Brittany rolled her eyes and laughed, lifting her head back up to look at him again. "Well, at least you're an honest boy."

"Yeah," Freddy sighed. "Now can we get back to these names?"

Brittany leaned forward and grabbed the book, handing it back to him. "Hit me."

Flipping through the pages, Freddy picked back up with the B's. "Bernardino."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Bertol."

"Heck no."

"Bittor."

"Are you making these up?"

"No," Freddy laughed. "Quit dissing my heritage."

"Blah, blah, blah. Go to another letter."

"Delfino, Delmiro..."

"Suck."

Freddy laughed and flipped a few more pages. "Garci?"

"Garci Garcia?"

"Good point," he smirked, making it obvious that he'd been joking in the first place. He looked at her, hopeful. "How about Xavier?"

"Yeah! And we can call him 'X'?!"

"Really???" Freddy smiled excitedly.

"No."

Nick/Sarah

Sarah was stunned to silence. Nick was officially breaking up with her? So she had kicked him out...but she'd still been holding onto the small hope that they could reconcile their relationship eventually. And now he was saying that wasn't going to happen? What the heck was going on?

Nick sighed when he got no response. He stood from his chair and quietly made his way back into the living room, grabbing his jacket from the couch, and heading for the front door.

"Nick, wait."

Nick stopped walking and turned around, surprised to find that Sarah had been right behind him.

"Don't do this."

"What?"

Sarah shook her head, willing her tears to stay at bay, but they slid slowly down her face nonetheless. "Don't leave. Please." She took a deep breath as Nick stood before her silently for what felt like years. There was nothing more terrifying than laying your heart out on the line and being met with suspense. Couldn't he at least answer her?

"Why?"

Sarah let go of the breath she'd been holding and looked away, crying harder than she had been before. Shaking shoulders, quivering breathing, a tearstained face. When had she allowed herself to turn into an emotional wreck? When she met Nick Carter.

"Because I don't want you to go."

"Why?"

"Because I don't think I can go through life without you, Nick."

"Why?"

"Because...because I love you."

Nick's mouth opened and for a moment he was completely speechless. He honestly hadn't been expecting that. He hadn't been expecting such utter honesty from her. "Then why didn't you come to me?"

"Because I was scared and embarrassed for how I acted when I 'kicked you out.'"

"But I thought..." Nick licked his lips and ran his hands through his hair, his eyes darting across her face questioningly. "I thought the last time was my last time. I mean, I thought there was no third chance."

"This isn't your third chance. This is my second."

"What?"

"This was my fault, Nick. You were doing what you thought was right, keeping your word with a friend, and I took it the wrong way. I'm sorry...and now I'm asking for my second chance."

"You amaze me, Sarah Martinez. You absolutely amaze me."

Freddy/Brittany

"C'mmon, Fred," Brittany sighed. "Let's just stick to something semi-normal, okay? Look, why don't we forget the name book?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know a million Hispanics, right?"

Freddy laughed, "You could say that. Do you know a million gringos?"

"Shut up," Brittany glared at him and tried not to laugh. "You're a butt. Anyway, think of somebody you really care about, who also has a decent name."

"Umm...Joel?"

"No," Brittany shook her head. "Everybody will pronounce it the English way."

"True...Ivan?"

"No, they won't pronounce that right either. And I don't really like that name anyway, not to mention the fact that I can't stand Ivan Rodriguez."

Freddy laughed and rolled his eyes, "He's one of the best catchers out there, Britt."

"He's a pompous ass hole."

"Okay...whatever."

"Keep thinking."

Brittany stood from the couch and went into the kitchen to get a drink. Making two mugs of hot apple cider, she could hear Freddy mumbling names to himself in the other room, making her smile. She felt her stomach quiver as she made her way back into the living room and Freddy looked up at her with his beautiful eyes.

"Carlos?"

Brittany's eyes widened and Freddy watched them begin to sparkle.

"After Gui-Gui??" she breathed with excitement, placing the hot mugs on coasters that were sitting on the coffee table.

Carlos Guillen was one of Freddy's best friends and was the Mariners' shortstop. Brittany absolutely adored him and his son, Alfonso.

Freddy laughed, "If that's what you call him."

"Oh my gosh...yes! Let's name our baby after Carlos. We should call him and tell him-"

"Would you just chill for a second?" Freddy rolled his eyes and pulled her back onto the couch with him. He bent and placed a gentle kiss on her mouth, loving the fact that it made her smile. "We have to make sure we can find a good middle name that goes with it."

"Antonio," Brittany blurted out without a second thought.

"What?"

"Antonio. I decided months ago that if it was a boy I wanted him to have your middle name."

Freddy smiled. "That's sweet."

"I know. I was born like that."

Freddy rolled his eyes before wrapping his arms securely around her shoulders. He grabbed her hand and playfully sucked her finger into his mouth. "Yes, you were."

Brittany giggled. "So we've named our baby then?"

"Yep."

They sighed.

"Carlos Antonio Garcia..." Freddy smiled.

"Our sweet little baby boy."