The Apartment
Written by Jules

Part 1
Part 2

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Part 1

His place was quiet when he closed the door to his apartment, except for some faint music playing in the background. His new roommate was there, if ‘roommate’ was the proper term. He could see faint light coming from her open door. He remembered what had happened so vividly that night.

-- Flashback --

Nick turned his TV volume to mute, and then listened again. He could have sworn he had heard someone at the door. Sure enough, there was a faint knock at the door again.

What the fuck, it’s nine thirty, he thought to himself as he got up from the couch he had been sitting on and dropped the remote, letting it fall on the couch. Maybe it’s one of the guys.. haven’t seen any of them much lately. He walked over to the door, and then opened it, not bothering to unlatch it. Then he peered out into the hallway. Interesting to say the least.. “Hey Jess, what’s up?” He asked, recognizing his best friend’s girlfriend. She was holding a bag of McDonald’s in her right hand, her small purse thrown over her left shoulder. She wasn’t very big compared to him, tall but slim. She was wearing dark blue jean overalls with one strap undone with a red and white striped t-shirt underneath.

He looked down at himself before he unlatched the door. He was only wearing a pair of ratty old boxer shorts. How ridiculous he looked, he shook his head in disgust. He wasn’t really expecting company at all that evening, especially not a female. They made small chat and then he invited her in.

“Thanks. I’m sorry it’s so late.” She walked into the room and looked around. She spotted his discarded clothes by his bedroom door.

Nick closed the door and then walked into the small living area. He watched as she ran her fingertips slowly over the edge of his couch and then sat down. She rested her elbows on her knees and ran her fingers through her hair with a sigh. Then she looked up and looked at the television. It was ‘Dude.. Where’s My Car?’ the scene where the guys were in the clothing store trying on their tailored suits. Jess didn’t smile.

Nick grabbed some stray clothes that were lying around. He slipped a t-shirt over his head and then looked over at her to see what she was doing.

“I bought some Mickey D’s,” she said warmly. “Would you like some?”

“Yeah sure.” Her face was flushed, when he took a closer look at her. He wasn’t really sure what was going on.

Jess took the contents from the bag and spread everything on the coffee table in front of her. She had thought of everything. She got bought one of those dinner for two deals; chicken Mc Nuggets, French-Fries, ketchup, hamburgers, coleslaw, and soft drinks all included.

After Nick gotten his t-shirt on he found a pair of jeans that were also lying around so he wouldn’t feel so naked.

“You’re going to hide your nice boxers Nick,” she chuckled weakly.

There was something definitely wrong. She wasn’t her usual self. She was usually hyperactive, take care, I know what I want type of person. She wasn’t displaying those characteristics very well at that moment. “If I had known you’d be stopping by I could have put on my matching bowtie.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh my gosh. I can’t believe you guys did that.”

When they had been on tour a while back, he, Brian and AJ had all put a show on for the girls.. it had been hilarious. They had actually done a striptease number. The girls had loved it.

Nick sat down beside her after he was finally redressed, sinking into the plush couch. No one he had ever met had such a nice couch as him. He had slept on it himself quite a few nights. The room it was in wasn’t very big. It was a kitchen attached to a semi large room, most commonly called the living area, with three doors going into rooms, one in which was a washroom. It wasn’t a permanent thing. Most of his furniture was stored away in a safe place. He was looking for a new home at the moment because he had been getting a lot of fan visits lately. It wasn’t that it was a bad thing, because he totally loved the fans, if it wasn’t for them he wouldn’t be doing what he loved, but they were popping up at the worst times. They seemed to flock to him whenever he brought over a girl or when he was exhausted.

As they ate she asked him about what he had been doing lately. If he’d been seeing anyone at all. How his family was doing. He hadn’t been going out with anyone much lately though and his family was fine. He had never really been that interested in her, at least not sexually, because Jessie had always been Brian’s girl. She was a cute Southern gal with an accent so thick it was hard for everyone to understand. After a while, they got used to it though. Of course he befriended her. She was always nice to everyone. She was basically part of the big Backstreet family.

-- End of Flashback --

Everything about night seemed weird at the time when she had arrived at his door. She was like that some times though. When Brian went away on business, she’d come over sometimes at the oddest hour so she wouldn’t have to be alone all of the time in such a big empty house that they lived in. Nick remembered, while he ate that night, wondering why Brian wasn’t there after a while. Sometimes it took her a while to get what ever it was off her mind. The answer floored him once he found out.

-- Flashback --

“Brian and I broke up,” she said after a while, looking up at him, cutting through what he had been saying.

He had been telling her about his most recent visit with Aaron. They had been getting into mischief while camping. The idea of him camping alone was bad enough. “What?!” He exclaimed, his eyes bugged out of his head. “What happened?”

“He was tired of being tied down.” She said quietly. “Can you believe it?” She asked, biting the edge of her lip, then she looked down at her hands.

“Tied down?” He asked, shock evident in his voice. He looked at her with a weird statement on his face. “You guys have been going out for eight years. That’s ridiculous. Maybe you misheard him..”

“I didn’t! He.. He ugh,” her voice started to shake as tears formed in her eyes, “he told me that! He wants me to get my stuff out of the house in the next few days..” she explained. She was crying now and her accent started to get thick as she went on. “We had gone out for dinner and then when we were going home he started to talk about all of this nonsense. Then he said he didn’t want to be tied down anymore.”

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight against his body. She pressed her forehead against his chest and he rested his head on top of hers as he rubbed her back in a circular motion, trying to sooth her. She brushed the tears away from her eyes and wrapped her arms around him. “It’s going to be okay,” he said softly.

She sat up right when her tears had subsided. “I don’t know why though. All of our friends are all getting married off and he was starting to get distant.” She searched Nick’s eyes, looking for some type of hint or suggestion of what was going on with Brian but he had no idea. He was at a loss for words. “What am I supposed to do? I have no where to go.”

“I’ll help you out okay,” he said softly.

“What do you mean, help me out?”

“You can stay here with me until you figure something out,” he said without even second-guessing himself.

“I can’t do that to you. It’s not fair.” She said sternly. “It’s sweet of you to offer though.”

“It wouldn’t be that bad. There are two rooms. I’m house searching right now anyway, so if you and Brian don’t work something out this place would be yours.”

“But Brian’s-.”

“Don’t worry about him or what he thinks. He has a place to live, you don’t.”

“He’s your friend.”

“Well I’m your friend too. Maybe not as good but what does that matter?” He asked. “I can’t force you to stay here. I’m just giving you an option.” He said, starting to get frustrated.

She was quiet again, fighting her feelings on what to do. “Maybe I could. It would only be for a little while until I figured something out.”

“That’s okay.”

-- End Of Flashback --

That was a month ago. Nick had offered to let her stay at his apartment until she figured something out. He didn’t mind helping her out. It wasn’t that big of deal.

Brian had actually gone out of town for a few days to visit Kevin. He hadn’t been around town much lately at all. That was probably for the best right now anyway.

He walked over to Jessie’s room and knocked quietly, peaking into the room. “Jess, are you up?”

“Yeah. I was just looking through some stuff.” She said, looking up at him from her spot on the floor. She was sitting cross-legged in front of one of her big boxes. Her silky blond hair that went just past her shoulders were tied back in pigtails at the nape of her neck. Her usual bright blue eyes were now somewhat dull. She looked like she was only about twenty-three rather than twenty-five where as Brian was age twenty-seven. Nick was three years younger than her.

He kneeled down on the floor next to her and that was when he saw that she was wearing the delicate chain around her neck. Her hand went to her neck unconsciously, playing with it. They were in a big mess. Oh yeah, he thought to himself. Shit would fly. Kevin’s head would explode. He could see it now. Thank God if everyone found out what was going on at that moment that Kevin was a few hours away, rather than a few blocks. And undoubtedly it would be all blamed on me. And no easy way to get out of it.

“What’s in there?” He asked, pointing to the box filled to the top.

“Just stuff that I should have left with Brian..” she sighed while closing the box and wrote the word ‘Salvation Army’ on it.

“Any of it his?”

“No,” she said rolling her eyes. “I don’t need any of his stuff.” She took the chain out from under the edge of her tank top unconsciously and played with the two rings that were hanging around her neck. They sparkled against the light.

“Why don’t you take a break?”

She nodded her head. “I still can’t believe that I’m married but not to Brian,” she sighed. “It’s crazy. How could this have happened?” She asked, leaning her back against the side of the bed.

“Elvis was in the right place at the right time when we were drunk?” He said sarcastically, running his hand against her cheek.

She sighed, “This wasn’t the way things were meant to happen.”

“I know that. I didn’t mean for a night of dancing to get your mind off of things to turn into us getting married, trust me. We’re lucky that it didn’t end up all over the tabloids.” Nick said. “Lets go outside on the back deck and get out of this room for a while, okay?” He asked, while standing up.

“Okay.” She agreed, taking his offered hand.

He helped her stand up and then they walked out of her room. Then they went out back to the little patio and sat down on the bench that was against the wall. She rested her head against the shoulder.

“It’s so nice and warm out here,” she said quietly, drawing a pattern on his arm unintentionally. The humidity was making her skin all sticky. He was really sweet in a different way that she had come so accustomed to. That she had grown to love. Nick hadn’t pressured her since they got married on whim, not that Bri ever had when they were together though.. she and Nick had only had sex that one time. He had joked about what marriage was though if there was no sex.. she had then explained that they couldn’t just have sex because they were.

They enjoyed the peaceful night. Everything was dark and quiet. A warm breeze picked up the edge of her hair, making it dance around, tickling her shoulders.

“I’m mad that Brian hasn’t called me, to see if I was okay.” Jess said after a while. She sat up and then took the necklace off her neck and held the rings in her hand. “I went over to the house once after work but he wouldn’t answer the door.”

Nick watched her as he looked at them, from the strain of light in the apartment. “It’s a pretty shitty thing for him to do, out of everyone that I know. I thought he would have called you at least once.” Nick said. “He knows you’re here though, that you’re okay,” he said rolling his eyes. “I played basketball with him last week and told him to at least call or something, you know?”

She nodded her head. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

She turned on the bench to look at him better. “Did he ever mention any other girl’s name to you or have anyone unusual tagging along with him?”

“No.”

“Ohh,” she said looking out into the backyards of all of the other apartment complexes. It was like a big courtyard in the middle of all of the buildings how they had everything situated. Some lights were on but most of them were dark, creating many shadows. It was midnight though, so it was understandable. She looked back over at Nick and smiled. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me this past month. You’ve been really great. I don’t know how to ever repay you.”

“You don’t have to do anything in return.”

She smiled and then looked down at the rings in her hand again. “Anyone ever told you how good of taste you have in rings before?” She asked, looking at him.

“Umm.. well no. I just thought that you’re a classy lady and you deserved something nice.” He took them out of her hand and slipped them on her ring finger. The night they gotten married, they had been talking about what it would actually be like to be married, after many, many alcoholic beverages. So then he got this great idea to ask her so he went into the jewelry store and bought a wedding set. White gold rings with a fair sized square diamond in the middle. His was a gold band with a few diamond flecks in it. “They look do nice on you.”

She laced her fingers with his. “They are perfect.” She smiled a little. They locked eyes as she brought her hand up to his face and traced along his features. It was easy to see why all of the young girls swooned over him. After many years he had grown from a scrawny kid to a handsome man for the world to see. She ran her fingers along the side of his face, across his lips.

He brought his hand up to hers and pressed her fingertips against his lips again and kissed them as he stared into her eyes. She shivered from his touch.

She was so entranced that she moved her hand against the back of his neck and drew him close as she leaned in to kiss him, getting caught up in the moment. He moved her legs so that she was sitting partially on top of him. She moaned when his tongue touched hers. He wrapped his arms around her, as his hands couldn’t help but roam her body. When they broke apart they were both breathing heavily, their lips swollen and sensitive. They kissed a few more times.

Nick’s hands slipped under her shirt. His large hands felt wonderful against her skin and ran his thumb over her sensitive skin. She moaned against his lips. She had taken her bra off earlier because the under wire had been pinching her skin. She pressed herself against his growing erection.

They broke the kiss. She looked into his eyes, they were filled with desire and passion. She ran her fingers through his spiked hair and smiled at him. She leaned her forehead against his. She kissed him lightly on the corner of the lips, slipping her hand into his pants.

He groaned as she ran her thumb over the head of his cock, he groaned, shifting positions underneath her.

“Jess..” He murmured, his cock stiffened as she ran her hand up his shaft. “M..mm..maybe.”

“Hmm..” She whispered, putting her free hand against his cheek, then she kissed him lightly against the lips.

“Maybe,” he said, regaining his voice. “We should take this inside..”

They went into the apartment, locking the back door behind them. They made their way into Nick’s room as they kissed. They didn’t bother turning on any lights, there was a steady stream of light that flickered through the curtains. Nick leaned down and kissed her passionately while untying her hair, letting it cascade over her slim shoulders.

Their lips never left each other as they started to undress one another. They started to unbutton his shirt, when Jessie finally got it undone, she pushed it off his shoulders and slipped it off to the floor. He reached down to unfasten her jean shorts, pushing them off her hips to the floor. He slipped his fingers under the edge of her panties, pushing them down with her shorts. She stepped out of them and then reached for his pants buckle. She was quickly able to get it undone and his pants and boxers were soon on the floor as well.

They broke the kiss, looking at each other in the eyes, looking for any hesitation.

“Are you sure about this Jessie?” He asked seriously, putting his hands on her bare hips. “You’re not just some pretty woman I met somewhere. You-,” he started but stopped when she pressed her left index finger against his lips.

“It’s okay Nick. I know what I’m doing.” She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his luscious mouth passionately again, to keep him from talking.

He slipped his hands beneath her tank top and then lifted it over her head slowly, breaking their kiss once again. He leaned down to kiss her softly and then started to kiss down her neck, sucking and licking it. She wrapped her arms around him as his mouth trailed down to her breasts, moaning at the sensations Nick was provoking within her body. She ran her fingers through his hair begging him to continue. Nick backed up onto the bed, pulling Jess on top of him. She began to kiss his mouth, sucking and biting his bottom lip, working his mouth open only to tease his tongue. She kisses across his jawbone and down his neck, down his chest. She took his right nipple between her fingers and pinched it gently until he groaned.

The telephone started to ring in the background.

“Who could be calling now,” he said as she slid her left knee up between his legs, just below his balls, nudging them lightly.

“Don’t worry about it Nick..” She murmured. She kissed him, enjoying the way he responded to her. She released his nipple and slid her hand down further between their bodies and held his erection, she could feel pressed against her. He felt so good. She caressed him as he squirmed, pressing against her hand. His body shook as she stroked the head of his cock. “Do you like that Nicky?”

They could hear his younger sister BJ talking on the phone to the answering machine in the background, thanking him for taking out for the late night movie earlier.

“Yu, uh, uh.. I do..” he stuttered. He thought he was going to lose his mind from the pleasure he was feeling and from the fact that she was touching him.

She continued fondling him, stroking him up and down expertly as if he was doing it himself. Every so often she would change the rhythm, and bring the urgent need to orgasm back to a dull ache. In response he caressed her breasts until her nipples pressed hard against the palm of his hand and she moaned into his mouth. He reached his hand between her legs, barely grazing her clit and she shuttered. They continued playing, touching one another for a while, watching each other’s reaction. They rolled over so he was on top of her. She wrapped her legs around his waist, aching for him.

He reached over to his nightstand and pulled open the top drawer, slipping his hand inside where he found a condom. He kissed her lips as he slipped it on. Then he entered her slowly, savoring the tightness and the heat from her body. Their bodies were molded together by their sweat. He pressed his lips against hers, so they only made soft noises. They wouldn’t want the neighbors to be able to hear. They clutched each other, and the bed sheets and they rocked with each other bringing themselves closer and closer to orgasm. He wrapped his arms under and around her, lifting her to him to meet every thrust.

Her body started to shake beneath his as her inner walls started to tighten around him, taking him over the edge as well. He tried to unlock their kiss but she was holding onto him firmly, crying out in his mouth. He could feel more than hear. It was the most amazing feeling he had ever felt before. He came so hard, he spurt after spurt, his body jolted, filling her, and seeping out of her.

He did a few more thrusts and then relaxed, lying his head down against her shoulder, trying to catch his breath. He pulled out of her then and discarded the condom.

They laid together. He rested his head against her shoulder as she ran her fingers through his hair. Their bodies were stuck together from sweat.

She kissed his shoulder, “Thank you Nick.”

“No reason to thank me,” he smiled lopsidedly. Then he lifted his head off her shoulder to kiss her.

They laid like that for a long time and then he rolled them over so he was on top.

The next morning Jessie and Nick were up, cleaning up the place. This was the first time in a long time she had been happy. His family was supposed to be coming over. Only the guys from Backstreet actually knew that she was staying with him. It was going to be a surprise when they saw her there. They were so not cool about stuff like that, let alone them being married. They weren’t sure how they were going to tell his family but they had agreed that they wouldn’t tell them before Brian. She owed him that much. That wasn’t going to be for a while though. She didn’t even know how she was going to drop the bomb on Brian, telling him that they got married - unintentionally. It wasn’t going to be easy with either situations. The timing had to be right. She wanted to tell Brian first no matter what. Before last night they had even talked about quietly getting a divorce but they thought it would be too risky. Someone unexpected was bound to come across the information somehow.

Nick walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her when she took up from picking up some dirty clothes from the floor. She leaned against him. “What are you thinking about?”

“All sorts of stuff.”

“Oh,” he said knowingly. He lowered his head and kissed her bare shoulder. “Cleaned your room yet young lady?”

“Oh bite me..” she chuckled.

“Just tell me where,” he chuckled back, nibbling on her neck.

“Nick,” she whined, twirling around to face him. He took her hands in his, lacing their fingers together. “Not when your family is going to be here any minute now.”

“Okay, okay,” he said, slipping his fingers into the belt loops of her shorts, pulling her close to his body for a kiss. She sighed against his lips, and rested her hands on his lower arms.

They heard a knock at the door and they looked at each other momentarily, moving away from each other, not exactly sure what to do with themselves.

“Better answer the door,” she suggested with a smile.

“Yeah I guess so,” he said, letting go of her. He walked over to the door and opened it to find Aaron. “Hey.”

“Hi Nick,” Aaron said, and then looked past him. “Jessie, what are you doing here?” He asked nosily.

Jessie knew that was coming.

“Yo AC where are your manners?” Nick questioned, as he turned around to watch him walk into the apartment.

“Hi Nick,” Jane said, walking up behind him.

He turned around to see her taking off her sunglasses and slip them into the side pocket of her purse. She kissed him on the cheek. “How are you doing Hon?”

“Good thanks,” he smiled.

“Oh, Jessie.” Jane said, walking into the apartment. “How nice to see you.”

“Nice to see you too,” she agreed, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat.

“Where’s Brian? Is here around here somewhere?”

“No. We actually broke up.” Jessie explained. May as well get that out of the way. Better now than later.

“That’s too bad.” Jane said.

Jess then looked over at Nick. She wasn’t sure what all to say.

Jane looked away from Jess for a moment over to Nick curiously and then back to her.

“Uh Mom, she actually moved in here because she had no where to go. Her family is all back in Kentucky.”

“Oh. Well I hope you’re keeping everything clean for her then.” Jane said.

Nick rolled his eyes and stuck his hands deep into his jean pockets, his face flushed. Then he realized he still had on his wedding ring. “Of course I am.”

The four of them sat down on the couches and started talking. Then there was another knock at the door.

“Did everyone not come in when you guys got here?” Nick asked, getting up from the couch he was sitting on, next to Jess.

“Yeah. Everyone else wanted to go out on the boat with your dad.”

Nick nodded his head and ran his fingers through his hair as he walked over to the door, wondering who this could possibly be. He was shocked to see Brian.

“Hey Nick.”

“Hey..”

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Part 2

Jessie stood still like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle. She had loved Brian for as long as she could remember. They had met while they were in middle school. She hadn’t been allowed to date though until she turned seventeen years old. She was only allowed to hang out with the opposite sex if it was with in a group situation. She and Brian had fought their feelings until she turned eighteen, little did they know that it would turn into a long on again off again romance. They had shared many firsts together. Their first kiss, first love, lost their virginity together. People always seemed think that first loves never lasted but it seemed to be true in their place for a long time. Things seemed perfect to the outsiders but now she was coming to terms with the fact that it really wasn’t. Something in her mind clicked after a moment, she could feel four very different sets of eyes on her. She decided that she had to talk to Brian.. tell him something. No, she would make him do the talking. Explaining. Maybe if she made him talk, her heart wouldn’t hurt so bad. I’ve tried to talk to him. She turned away smoothed her shorts.

Brian’s eyes stared at her as he spoke smoothly. “Can I talk to you Jessie.”

“Okay,” she replied.

Aaron took his Game Boy out of his pocket in the background.

“Aaron not now,” Jane scolded. “We’re visiting.”

Jessie felt like she was walking in slow motion, on her walk to death’s door through the long bright tunnel as she neared the door. She looked away from Brian to Nick and saw that he still had on his wedding band. She looked Nick in the eyes and then down at her left ring less hand. Realization of what she was thinking crossed his face and he nonchalantly slid his left hand into his pocket.

Brian stepped back outside as she passed Nick, picking her sandals up on the way. She followed him out to his car and then they heard Nick close the door as quietly as the old door would allow.

“I just wanted to see how you were doing,” Brian said, leaning up against the side of his car and crossed his arms across his chest.

“I’m okay,” she said meekly, once again meeting his eyes. “I’ve called the house a few times and gone over there once.”

“I was away trying to sort through some stuff.” He ran his right hand through his blond wavy hair.

“What did you have to sort out?” She questioned, looking away from his eyes. She kicked the small pebbles at her feet, listening to them scatter away. Then she sighed. “You were the one-.”

He cut her off in mid sentence. “I know I was the one but I just wanted to get away so I could think. That’s all.”

“Why didn’t you want to be with me anymore? I need a reason.”

“I just changed. I don’t know what to tell you. I just started to reevaluate everything.”

“Thanks a lot Brian Littrell,” she said, her accent becoming thick from becoming upset. “So I just stopped fitting in your life. So you decided to slowly write me off!”

“It wasn’t like that I swear. That’s not what I meant.”

She started to walk away from him with her arms crossed, a storm cloud brewing over her head. Brian pushed himself away from his car and followed her as she walked. She stopped suddenly when they got to the end of the parking lot where there was a small bridge. He collided into her, bracing her so she wouldn’t fall over.

“Don’t walk so close to me,” she said, pushing his hands off of her body.

He let go of her. “How long are you planning to stay with Nick?”

Uh oh, she thought to herself. “I don’t know. We haven’t discussed it in a while.” She said while turning around to look at him.

“How can you not know?”

“I just don’t. There’s some things that you don’t know about right now.” She said truthfully.

“Like what? Did you loose your job? Need some money?”

“No. Nothing like that.”

“What then?”

“I don’t want to tell you.”

“Why not?” He asked, his face turning pink from frustration.

“I don’t know what you’ll think,” she said starting to get frustrated.

“Okay fine,” he said putting his hands on his hips. “Don’t tell me.”

“We got married..” She said quietly.

“You what?” A mixture of hurt and anger crossed his face. “How could you?!”

“It was an accident. We were drinking. We didn’t know what we were doing.”

“I can’t believe this. You’re always responsible.”

“Don’t you think I know that? It was an accident. I’m not perfect and neither are you.”

“Did you guys tell Kevin?”

She shook her head in response. “No.” He always seemed so threatening when he switched to ‘big brother’ mode. “He’s too controlling. He always tried to walk all over people when something big happens. He always thinks he knows everything.”

“You have to get a divorce or an annulment. You can’t stay married to my best friend.” He said, starting to walk back to Nick’s apartment at a fast pace.

“We’re trying to figure out what to do now.” Jessie said, following him. “You have to promise not to tell anyone before we get the chance to.”

“How can you ask me that?” He asked as they neared the apartment. Then he turned around before he opened his car door. “Do you know how embarrassing it will be when everyone finds out. Everyone in Kentucky will know in no time. I’m going to be the laughing stalk.”

“I never meant for that to happen,” she said.

“Let me know when you’re going to start telling people.”

“Okay,” she said as he opened his car door and then sat down, closing the door. “Thank you.”

-- & --

“That was fun. I think they liked me.” Jess said proudly.

“Ad they don’t even know.”

“That I’m a bad influence on you but you could have gotten caught because you were wearing your ring.”

“I like my wedding band. Who says you’re a bad influence though?”

“Brian.”

“That’s what he said?”

“Yes.”

-- Flashback --

Jessie went back into the apartment after Brian left. She walked into the kitchen to get something to drink.

“You really have to find a better place than this Nick,” Jane commented s she did yet another quick survey of the space and shook her head. “It’s really not big enough for all of your stuff.”

“I am looking at a few different places right now actually.”

Jessie caught Nick’s attention.

He nodded his head and bit his lip before he spoke. “Would you guys like something to drink?” He asked as he stood up. He had been too nervous when she went outside. He wasn’t sure what would happen. “I forgot to ask you guys when you first came in.”

“I’ll have a Coke please Nick,” Aaron answered, looking up from his Game Boy for a moment and surveyed the room. His eyes rested at Jess for a couple seconds. Then he returned his gaze back to the game he had paused.

“I’ll have water please,” Jane replied.

“Okay,” Nick said and then walked into the kitchen. He walked closer to Jess and then spoke quietly so the others wouldn’t be able to hear. “What happened out there?”

“I told him,” she said looking into his eyes.

“You did?” He asked, shocked. “I thought you were going to wait a while.”

“I didn’t mean to. I just sort of said it. He was trying to push me around and I just went ahead and did it.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t come in here and rip my head off or something.” Nick commented, a small smile formed on his lips. “Does he want you back?”

“He didn’t say so. Even if he did I’d have to say no..”

He nodded his head and then got everyone’s requested refreshments.

-- End of Flashback --

“What do you want to do now that he knows?” Jess asked. “We should tell our parents before Brian mentions it to someone.”

“Aren’t you worried about what your parents will think?”

“Of course I am. I just don’t want to wait much longer because the longer we wait the more upset they will be.” Jess explained. “What are your parents going to think? They’re probably going to say I forced you into this.”

“I’ll tell them that we’re equally responsible.” He said. “Do you want to get a divorce or annulment? Or do you want to see where this leads us?”

“We could see where it leads us.. but we still have to tell people what’s going on. It wouldn’t be right if we didn’t.”

We’ll tell our parents soon then..” He said and then kissed her lips softly.

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