PART 9 Nick sat down in the boat and opened the glove compartment, smiling with relief when he saw the envelope staring back at him. A small part of him worried when he remembered he'd left it there and Lis had taken off on the boat but now, all the worrying was for naught. He pulled it out and was about to shut the door when he noticed the spare gas key wasn't sitting on top of the envelope. He dug through the compartment, hoping he was wrong and it hadn't been on top or maybe it slid when he opened it up but the keys were nowhere to be found. "Lis?" she heard Nick call her from the stairs and she forced herself out of bed. "What?" "Come out here." "I don't feel like it." she said from the doorway. "You come up here." "Why?" he asked, looking up at her. "I'm sick okay?" He nodded and came up, noticing how pale she was as he neared her. The minute her eyes fell on the envelope she backed away and Nick instantly knew she'd seen it. "Lissy...baby..." "Don't Lissy baby me. Just....just go get all your clothes or whatever it is you're gonna take with and leave." He walked towards her, "I'm not leaving until you hear me out." he tossed the envelope on the bed. "I don't feel like listening Nick. Or looking at you or even being near you for that matter. You make me sick." "I can explain!" Nick said, trying to reason with her. "You slept with another woman Nick, I can see it with my own eyes." Lis yelled. "Pictures don't lie." she threw the envelope at him. "Damnit Lis I don't remember it." "That's supposed to make me feel better? You don't remember her but I'm sure you remember others." "There were no others!!" "You really should see a doctor Ty." Howie said watching as Ty finished getting ready. "Why?" she glanced at him. "You've been acting out of sorts lately and everything. There's a lot of flu going around." "I'll take that into consideration." He smiled, "That's my girl." Kevin pulled his Jeep into the garage of the beach house and got out. He wanted to be early to make sure they wouldn't lock each other out of the house. Jenn watched as AJ paced his office, "Something going on?" she asked. He shrugged as he sat on his desk. "Kev wants the five of us to get together today." She smiled, "That's great." He gave her a dirty look, "Nothing great about it Jenn. What are we going to do, sit around and talk about old times?" She walked over and wrapped her arms around his neck, "J it might help you to see them again. Come on, D's your best friend and you won't even talk to him. He's called every day trying to talk to you and you either hang up or don't even take his call." "Its my choice." he stated stubbornly. "But don't you think you're being even the tiniest bit unreasonable?" "No." he shook his head, "You going out today?" "For awhile, Alec wants to see all of us so be gone for a couple hours. Why?" "Just curious." he smiled at her. "I should probably go but I think you should see the guys J." He sighed, "Jenn..." "I know I know, its your decision. See you later." Brian pulled his car into the driveway of the beach house and looked around. Looks like I'm the first one here, he thought as he slammed his car door and headed up to the door. He was surprised when Kev opened it, a sandwich in one hand. "Hey cuz." Kev greeted, opening the door wider so he could get in. "Hi Kev. Guess we're the first two here huh?" "Yeah. AJ and Nick gave me a hard time about showing so it could only be the three of us, Howie seemed indecisive but I bet he'll show." Brian smiled, "Be nice to see the other two." he took a seat in the kitchen and took a water from the table. Alec had just finished setting out the take out when the phone rang. "Hello?" for a minute all she heard was silence. "Alec its Lis...I'm not coming over." She frowned, "Why? You okay, you sound funny..." Lis bit her lip, trying to keep from crying. "I kicked Nick out...I just don't feel like being around anyone right now..." "What?" "The article was true..." "Honey I'm sorry!" "Its okay, I think I'd be better off alone right now. Can you just tell the others I'm sick or something? Not up to everyone knowing yet." "I'll being back dinner on my way back from the meeting." Howie said walking into the living room where Ty was reading. "Okay, how long do you think its going to run?" He shrugged, "You know how these meetings go, they can go an hour or they can go five." he leaned over the couch and gave her a quick kiss. "I'll try not to stay too late." "No rush, I'm heading over to Alec's in awhile anyways." "You guys seem to be getting together a lot lately." She shrugged, "Its the only way we find out anything." Howie froze, "About what?" "What's going on with each other." she watched as he visibly relaxed. "Well then have fun catching up." Brian answered the ringing door and stared in shock at AJ. "Going to let me in?" he asked, staring past Brian into the house, "Or are we meeting out here? Suits me better, closer to the car." "Come on in J." Kevin called from the hallway. "I reserve my right to walk out at any time. Just thought I'd tell ya that." AJ stated, taking his sunglasses off. Kevin nodded, "That's okay. We're not going to start till the other two show up." "Fine by me. Got anything to drink around here?" J asked, heading for the bar downstairs. "Don't you think its a little early J?" Brian called. "Why its past noon, hell I'm usually through a six pack of beer by now."