She gave Nick a good 30 minutes or more after she heard the water turn off before she fixed him some juice and went upstairs. If he hadn’t eaten much in the past few days then orange juice would be much better than soda. He was still in the bathroom so she busied herself with separating his clothes and took 2 loads downstairs and started one. Back upstairs she opened up one of the windows even though the air conditioner was on. Hearing the sound of the ocean would calm him.

Tapping on the door softly she just wanted to check on him. “Nick? Just checking. You okay?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah I’ll be out in a minute. Sorry.” She chuckled a little. It sounded like he had fallen asleep. Grabbing a T-shirt and boxer shorts she went into the other room to change. Coming back in the room she went to stand and watch the water.

Nick came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. “Hey.” He said before kissing the top of her head.

Breathing the salty air she answered, “Hey yourself. Feel a little more relaxed?”

“Mmmm. Thanks.” He managed while trying to stifle a yawn.

“C’mon you. In bed.” She turned around and started pushing him in that direction. Of course he went willingly. Sleeping in his own bed sounded good.

Once settled under the covers Nick changed roles by scooting down and snuggling into Brianna. She smiled but her heart was hurting for him. He was keeping it inside instead of dealing. With his head on her shoulder she combed her fingers slowly through his hair and let him drift off to sleep.

It was quite a while after that before Brianna was able to sleep. She just kept watching him. It had actually shocked her when he settled with his head on her shoulder. He had wrapped his arm around her waist and held on so tight. He was like a scared little boy. She had seen Nick a lot of different ways, but she had never seen him like this and it really upset her.

Yeah she was worried about AJ. She kept wondering why she didn’t see it and why no one said anything to her. But she knew AJ was in a safe place and the people there would help him work through his problems. They would help him get out all that stuff, what ever it was, that’s been eating him up inside and pushing him to what he was doing. She hurt for AJ as well. He was a sweet guy and always nice to her. Naturally she didn’t want anyone she knew and liked to have to deal with so much pain that it drove you to alcohol and drugs.

Nick, he was another story. He kept things inside, too. The immediate reaction to everything caused his composure to crack some. He went into shock in a way and let his emotions show. Nick always wants to be the fun guy, the happy guy. He doesn’t like his darker emotions to show. Brianna kept thinking about all this and wondered if now that he has had a little bit of time to get control of himself if he was just going to bottle up and not deal with the bigger issues.

She knew she wasn’t going to get any answers tonight. Kissing his forehead she then allowed herself to drift off to sleep.

<~ Chapter 25 or Chapter 27 ~>

In the End

Karina 2003