The words jolted my body like a roller coaster jolts your stomach around a turn. I was sick, but I felt fine. I was dead when I was still breathing. I couldn’t think straight. I was frozen in my spot. Any words I had were prisoners in my throat.
“Are you going to say anything?” he asked.
“I…I…I dunno, I can’t even think,” I confessed.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I know it was a little sudden.”
“How long?” I asked.
“Excuse me?” he asked.
“How long has it been?” I repeated.
“A long time, a few years even, I really don’t remember,” he said. “But I know it’s true.”
“I believe you,” I whispered. He put his hand on my cheek and gently rubbed it.
“All the other girls meant nothing to me. You and David were right. I only went with them because I thought they were hot or easy. You were always there. Yours was the voice I heard when I woke up in the hospital. Your eyes were the ones looking into mine when I blacked out. They were never there for me when I needed them. You have been,” I felt tears prick my eyes as he spoke. I had never known he felt that way.
“I love you too,” came the words before my brain could stop them. Then I burst into tears. Nick took me into his arms and let me sob into his shoulder.
Meanwhile in LA David was going over the dance moves for the impending show that evening. He had picked up on them remarkably well and no one had picked up on the fact he wasn’t really Nick. The only comment that had been made was a passing one by Kevin about how in shape “Nick” looked.
“Hey Nick!” Brian called.
“Yeah?’ David called back.
“Who were you on the phone with?” he asked.
“Uhhh Sam’s cousin,” he said.
“Really?” he said. “You broke up with his girlfriend?” David panicked. What could he say? Then something came to him.
“No, I was telling him how I broke up with Jessica,” he said. “You must have just misheard me.”
“Yeah, I guess so. Wait…you broke up with Jessica?”
“Yup, about a week ago,” he said.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Well it was a tough decision and it took me a while to get over her, but I’m cool now,” he lied.
“I thought you were really into her,” Brian observed.
“I guess I wasn’t,” David replied.
“Anyone new in mind?”
“Not that I know of,” David had no idea what was transpiring back home.
A few days later he called again, to see how Nick was doing as him. I picked up the phone.
“Hey Samantha, where’s Nick?” he asked.
“He left about ten minutes ago to go see how his house is, I can catch him on his cell if you want,” I responded.
“Nah, I was just calling to check up on him. How’s he doing as me?”
“No too great,” I said.
“How so?” he asked.
“He’s in love with me,” I said. I heard a loud crash.
“What was that?”
“I dropped the phone,” David said. “He’s in love with you?”
“And I love him back,” I finished.
“Oh God, I thought you said this would never happen,” he said.
“Why is this so upsetting?” I asked.
“He’s pretending to be your cousin, think incest,” he told me.
“Oh right, so we’ll just keep it secret,” I said.
“Samantha that’s not going to work, eventually we’re going to have to tell the truth and switch back,” he said. “Believe me I don’t want to switch but we’re going to have to.”
“Then don’t if you don’t want to, I love having Nick here with me,” I said.
“Part of loving is letting go, we need to tell them the truth,” he was being very firm in this matter.
“I can’t, I’m sorry,” I said. David was silent for a moment.