Karina

Karina and Nick walked down the beach holding hands. They were afraid to go back to AJ's place, because they didn't want to interrupt what they were sure was World War III.

"Nick, do you think she knows? About me, I mean?" Karina asked, nervously.

"I don't know. I hope not. If she does, you're in some deep shit," he answered truthfully.

"Nick, I can't lose my best friend over this," Karina said, starting to cry. Nick put his arms around her and held her tight, his chin resting on top of her head.

"Come on," he said finally. "Let's just go to your room for tonight. We'll go back to AJ's to survey the damage later."

As they made their way up the beach, they noticed the sun was coming up. Karina stopped and turned to watch the beautiful red and orange streaks begin to come over the horizon. Nick stood behind her, his arms still around her. They watched silently for several minutes, then Karina took his hand and led him toward her room. She stopped suddenly as they were walking by a large, private bungalow on the resort property. She saw Mikayla, dressed in a white terry robe, sitting on the verandah watching the sunrise. Karina turned to Nick and gave him a sad look.

"I have to go to her, Nick," she said, dropping his hand. She walked up onto the porch, where Mikayla was sipping a cup of hot chocolate. She didn't acknowledge Karina's presence at first, but after a few seconds she turned her green eyes on her. Karina saw the hurt in those beautiful eyes, and it was like a dagger was going through her heart. She walked over and sat down beside her friend. Neither of them spoke for awhile.

"Karina, how could you let him get with that girl?" Mikayla asked quietly. "And why didn't you call me when you saw that he was getting in trouble? I mean you were at the bar WITH him, forgodsakes."

"I'm so sorry, Kayla. I don't know. I just..." Karina couldn't finish her sentence.

"Has he been with anyone else that you know of, or just this girl?" Mikayla asked, not really sure if she wanted to know the answer.

Karina contemplated her response. If she told Mikayla, it would likely end their friendship forever. If she didn't tell her, the guilt would eat away at her for the rest of her life. She had never been able to lie to Mikayla...

"Yeah, Kay. He was with somebody else," she said quietly.

"Was it you?" Mikayla asked after a few seconds.

"Yes." Karina answered simply, softly. Expecting the worst, she couldn't look her friend in the face. She heard Mikayla sigh deeply. The silence was deafening for Karina. She was waiting for the hammer to fall, but then she heard Mikayla... laughing.

"What's so funny?" Karina asked, very confused. "I just told you I was with your fiance, and you're LAUGHING?"

Mikayla stopped laughing and looked at her, and she got an evil smirk on her face.

"Yep. I'm laughing. I forgive you, K. I really do. You wanna know why? Well, remember that time you found the panties in Joey's bed? Well, they were mine..." Mikayla said, laughing again.

Karina was stunned. She couldn't believe what she was hearing... Mikayla had slept with JOEY??

"Oh, don't look so shocked, K. You can't tell me you didn't even have a clue," Mikayla said, still laughing.

To be honest, Karina really did have an idea that Joey had been with Mikayla, but she just never wanted to think about it.

"Sooooo... now we're even," Mikayla stated, giving Karina a slight smile.

"Mikayla, what are you going to do about AJ?" Karina asked quietly. Mikayla turned her eyes back to the ocean, her face lost all expression.

"It's over. I don't trust him. He drinks too much. He's addicted to women. He said he loved me. Obviously he doesn't. It's that simple. Listen, I don't want to talk about him anymore though, ok? I'm tired and I want to go to bed," she said, rising from her chair.

She walked inside and flopped down on her bed. Karina followed her in and laid down beside her. Mikayla put her head on Karina's shoulder and started to cry softly. Karina stoked her hair and put her arms around her. Soon, they were both sound asleep.

Karina woke up the next to the sound of Mikayla talking on the phone. She had no idea who was on the other end of the line, but whoever it was was yelling.

"I know," Mikayla said into the receiver. "Calm down. I'm fine."

More yelling from the other end.

"I'll handle this myself... NO there is no point in you... But..." she kept trying to speak, but the person on the other end kept interrupting with more screaming.

The person then apparently hung up, because Mikayla replaced the receiver and looked up at the ceiling. She was fighting back tears. She glanced over and saw Karina, and she tried to smile.

"Hey babe," Mikayla said. "Did you sleep ok?"

"Not really. I kept having dreams about being on the ocean in a raft. It was terrible. I'm seasick today," Karina laughed.

"It's called a HANGOVER, ya dumb bitch," Mikayla said smiling, then poured her friend a cup of strong coffee.

"Who was that on the phone?" Karina asked, taking the coffee from her hand.

"Nobody. Listen, while we're here, why don't we do some sightseeing? I brought the nanny to keep Lyric for me, so it'll just be us."

"Ok," Karina said slowly. "Kayla, are you sure you're ok with this. I mean, I..."

"Stop," Mikayla said, interrupting. "Let's just forget about it, ok? You're my best friend, and I'd never let a guy come between us. I love you, Karina. You're like my sister. You fucked up. I forgive you. End of story."

"You'll forgive me, but not AJ?" Karina asked.

"Damn straight," she answered, a look of steely determination in her eyes.

**************************

Late that afternoon, AJ heard a knock on his door. He got out of bed for the first time that day and shuffled to answer it. When he opened the door, he was faced with a sight that he really and truly didn't expect or want to see... A very pissed off Kevin Richardson...