Kayleigh woke up the next morning with a pounding headache, wondering just how much she had had to drink the night before. She remembered betting Nick that she could hold her liquor better than he could and going shot-for-shot with him but after that was mostly one big blur. She opened her eyes and immediately squinted at the bright sunlight filtering through the curtains. She tried sitting up and realized that something was holding her down. Her eyes widened at the arm possessively wraped around her waist. She slowly rolled over and her jaw dropped. It was Nick. What the hell was Nick doing in her bed? Wait. She looked around. This was Nick’s room. Okay. So what the hell was she doing in Nick’s bed? Oh god, Kayleigh thought. She was suddenly very aware that she didn’t have any clothes on. Neither did Nick for that matter.

Kayleigh laid there for a minute, the sheet pulled up to her chin, trying to catch her breath. Nick hadn’t even stirred yet. Coming to a decision, she slithered out from under his arm and out of the bed. Frantically, she gathered up all of her clothes, which were scattered throughout the room and threw them on. After she was dressed, Kayleigh took one last glance at Nick’s sleeping form before she disappeared from the room.

Nick awoke to the sound of a door slamming. He glanced over to his left and noticed that Kayleigh was no longer in bed with him. He could’ve sworn that when he had woken up an hour ago to go to the bathroom that she was curled up next to him. Maybe it was a dream, he thought. He shrugged and rolled over, becoming aware of the fact that he, too, was naked. So it wasn’t a dream. That would be the only reasonable explanation for it. If only he could remember what had happened the night before.

Nick sat up in bed and thought about the situation that he was in. He had cheated on his girlfriend. The love of his life. How would she react to the news? He was drunk. That was his valid, and extremely truthful excuse. Lauren would forgive him. But she would, with out a doubt, hate Kayleigh and that was something he didn’t want to happen. Nick was really happy with the fact that Lauren and Kayleigh got a long so well and seemed to be becoming very good friends. He didn’t want anything to screw that up. So he wouldn’t tell her. There. Problem solved.

But most importantly, Nick had just slept with his best friend He buried his face in his hands, sighing heavily. They had just crossed a very important line in their friendship and they could never go back. Nick decided that he was going to do everything in his power not to let things become weird between the two of them. Even if it meant pretending that it never happened.

Kayleigh entered her room and leaned against the door, taking time to catch her breath. She stood there a second, trying to figure out what to do. The first thing that came to her mind was to call Brooke. She glanced at her watch. It was only 7:45 in the morning in London which meant it was quarter to three in the morning in Florida. She quickly grabbed her cell phone and dialed the number to hers and Brooke’s apartment, praying that Brooke would answer.

“Hello?” an extremely groggy voice answered after five rings.

“Brooke?”

“Kayleigh, is that you?” Brooke asked, suddenly becoming very awake. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s…well…actually something is wrong,” Kayleigh answered. “Something is very, very wrong.”

“What’d you do?” Brooke asked, warily, glancing at the clock. “It has to be something big for you to be calling me at three a.m.”

“I…I…slept with,” she took a deep breath.

“With who?” Brooke prodded.

“With Nick,” Kayleigh finally answered.

“You what?!” Brooke exclaimed so loud that Kayleigh had to hold the phone away from her ear. “Oh my god! Are you kidding me? How did it happen?”

“No, I’m not kidding, Brooke,” Kayleigh told her. “Would I lie about something like this?”

“I guess not. But Kay, how did it happen?”

“Well, that’s the funny part actually,” Kayleigh said, trying to make light of the situation. “I don’t really remember.”

“You don’t remember?”

“I was drunk. So was he. We were both so very, very drunk. I remember being at the club and doing shots with Nick. I remember dancing with him. And I remember, well, actually I don’t remember much after that. Kayleigh waited for a response from Brooke.

“How do you know it happened then?” Brooke finally asked.

“Because I woke up in bed with him,” Kayleigh replied. “Both of us completely and totally naked.

“What’d Nick say?”

“Nothing. He was still sleeping. I snuck out before he woke up.”

“Well, what are you going to say to him?”

“I don’t know, Brooke. He’s my best friend. What if this ruins that?”

“It’ll only ruin your friendship if you let it, Kay,” Brooke advised. “Just don’t let that happen.”

“God, this is so hard,” Kayleigh admitted. “Something has happened over here. I mean…” she trailed off.

“What Kayleigh?” Brooke questioned quietly. A feeling in her gut told her what Kayleigh was about to say.

“I think…no…I know that,” she took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “I’m in love with my best friend.” Brooke smiled to herself. She knew it would happen sooner or later. It was only a matter of time before the two of them realized how perfect they were for each other. And she told Kayleigh just that.

“It’s not perfect, Brooke,” Kayleigh said after Brooke was done. “Nick doesn’t feel the same way about me. I’m still just his best friend. He’s so in love with Lauren. He’d never feel that way about me.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure, Kayleigh,” Brooke pointed out. “Just think about what I said. You guys belong together. But now, I gotta go. I’m exhausted and I’m sure Mother Madison is not going to appreciate the cell phone bill she’s going to receive.”

“Alright Brooke,” Kayleigh sighed. “Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye Kay!”

“Bye!” Kayleigh hung up her phone and fell back on her bed, staring up at the ceiling and thinking about the mess she had just made.

A Few Hours Later

“Kayleigh?!” AJ called from the hallway, knocking on her door. “Open up!” Kayleigh opened the door, towel drying her long blond hair:

“Can I help you?”

“Lunch time. Come on,” AJ said walking into her room.

“I’m not hungry, AJ,” Kayleigh told him. “I’ll just order room service or something later.”

“You will do no such thing,” AJ said in mock anger. “You are leaving tomorrow and there is no way in hell that you’re spending your last day in Europe holed up in a hotel room. We are going out.”

“Going where?” A voice spoke up from behind them. Kayleigh spun around and saw Howie in the doorway.

“Going to get lunch,” AJ answered. “Are any of you fools coming?”

“Brian, Leigh, and Nicky are,” Howie replied. “Kevin and Kristin went out earlier.”

“Morning guys!” Leighanne announced cheerfully.

“And how were we feeling this morning?” Brian asked Kayleigh, a smirk playing on his lips. Kayleigh stuck her tongue out at him:

“Just peachy, Brian. Thank you very much. Now what are we waiting for?”

“Oh just a certain blond-haired, blue-eyed best friend of yours and mine,” Brian answered just as Nick appeared in the doorway, talking on his cell phone.

“I miss you too, baby,” they all heard him say. Kayleigh sat down on her bed and squeezed her eyes shut, trying desperately to tune him out, something that did not go unnoticed by AJ.

“Okay Laur,” Nick said. “I love you too. I’ll see you in a few days….Bye.” He looked up at everyone else. “Are we ready?” They all nodded and Nick caught Kayleigh’s eye. She smiled a little uncomfortably at him but hung back with AJ. Nick knew that she must be feeling pretty uneasy about the whole situation and decided that he would do anything in his power to make that feeling go away. Even if it meant pretending that it never happened.

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