Nick found Mike sitting in the living room. “She okay? Where’d she go?”

“Said she was going for a walk. Not that it’s any of my business, but what is going on Nick?”

“Dude, I don’t have a fuckin’ clue.” He said running both his hands up the back of his neck, then stretching a little. “I’m gonna go see if she’s okay.”

“You want us to leave?”

“Nah. You don’t have to. Besides, you’ve been drinking. You don’t need to be drivin’ right now. Chill for a bit. Watch some TV. I’ll be back in a bit.” He left Mike sitting on the couch just as Tony was walking in.

“He going after her?”

“Yeah. I think when they get back we should not be here. I don’t think either of them know what’s going on, and they’re not ready to try and answer any questions about it.”

“Shit, I didn’t mean to upset her, either of them. It’s just, Mike you can’t tell me you haven’t seen this coming?”

“I don’t know, Tony. So what should we do?”

“I can’t drive and I know you can’t. I say we just go find empty rooms and crash for the night, a few hours, something." So, that is exactly what Mike and Tony did.

Nick didn’t have too walk far to find her. She was sitting near the water’s edge with her knees up to her chest and arms wrapped around them.

“Hey little girl.” He said as he walked up behind her.

“Hey.” She didn’t sound upset.

“You know you ought to be careful or the sand crabs will carry you away.” Nick teased sitting down behind her and placing his arms around her shoulders.

That comment made her laugh some. “You are so silly sometimes, Nick.” Bree smiled and leaned back into him. Things were strange, but oddly enough they felt, right.

**Sigh** “Bree, I know there is so much going on, but maybe this is something we need to talk about. Things have always been easy between us, ya know.”

Leaning her head back onto his shoulder, “I’m scared Nick.”

“About what?”

“Losing our friendship. Losing you. This complicates everything.”

“I know sweetie. And I’m sorry. I just…” He had to stop for a second and think. He leaned forward a little and placed his cheek right next to hers. “I don’t want any of that to happen either. It’s just, well, I just, I like the way this feels. Do ya understand?”

“Yeah. That’s what scares me too. Do you think we’re able to be friends and handle this, whatever’s happening between us, at the same time?”

“I’d like to think so.” After that they sat in silence for a long time just watching the water.

Bree was the first to break the silence. “What did Tony mean, about ‘I told you so’?”

Sniffing a little at the irony of it, “He’s been telling me for a while that, well not in specific words, but basically that, ya know, umm, we should be more than just friends. I know he was just jokin’ around in there. Basically just givin’ me hell. I’m sure he didn’t mean to upset you.”

“I’m okay. I was just a little embarrassed, that’s all, ya know, at getting’ caught.”

“Yeah, that makes two of us. I felt like a little kid gettin’ caught with his hand in the cookie jar or somethin’.” He gave her a small kiss on her cheek. “So, what now?”

“That’s the million dollar question. I don’t know. I guess we just keep doing what we’ve always done, just be us.”

“Just be us, huh? Figure the rest out along the way?” Bree nodded her head yes in response. Nick put his head down for a second then kissed her on the side of the neck. “Walk with me?”

“Sure.” They got up and took a walk down the beach. Things were quiet for a few minutes then they started to fall back into their usual easy chatter. An hour later when they made their way back up to the house the awkwardness from earlier was gone. Nick checked out front before locking up and saw that Tony and Mike both had stayed, so he figured they must have gone to sleep somewhere. He and Bree went to separate rooms to shower.

When Bree came back to Nick’s room he was already laying in bed with his eyes closed. “You asleep already?” She whispered crawling under the covers.

“Nope, just waiting for you, snuggle bunny.” He teased and they both laughed a little. After she settled in to a comfortable spot Nick asked, “Ever snuggle with anyone like you have with me?”

“No, just you. Besides, you know my dad never let me sleep at any other guy’s house or whatever except you. You’re the only one he ever trusted. Even then he was still kinda freaked out by the whole thing. I had to reassure him that nothin’ ever happened.” He had a tank top on so she lifted it a little to play with his tummy, causing him to squirm and giggle a little.

“Bree, that tickles.” He grabbed her hand and kissed it. But as soon as he released it she went right back to rubbing his tummy. Shaking his head, “Yeah, after your graduation he came out to the guest house cause you weren’t in your room. At first he didn’t realize that I had slept on the couch and he was a little upset. I never understood that. He knew you’d sleep in the same bed with me when you’d visit, but it was different when I visited.”

“That’s just because, it’s like their house. I don’t know. I think even whenever I get married when I go home to visit my husband and I will have to sleep in different rooms. He’s just weird about that.”

“But you’ve been out of the house now for a year. And, yeah, weren’t you seeing someone? What happened there?”

“Oh, John. That didn’t work out, again. And no, he didn’t strike me as the ‘snuggling type’.”

“John? As in that guy from the graduation party?”

Oops. Forgot I hadn’t told him about that. She nervously started playing with the elastic to his pajama bottoms. “Umm. Yeah. We, ah, ran into each other at a Frat party and started talking again. But things went bad right before I came out to visit you the last time.”

This time when Nick grabbed her hand he held it by lacing his fingers with hers. What she was doing was distracting. “How come you didn’t tell me it was him you were seeing?” That upset him a little. That was twice she had neglected to tell him about this guy.

Looking up at him, “Nick, don’t be upset. I don’t know why, really. Just, you didn’t like him, and when we ran into each other it was when we weren’t talking. I don’t know. Even then I guess I knew it wasn’t serious, just someone to hang with and stuff. And like, the day after I came back from visiting you I called him and ended it. It really wasn’t that big of a thing.”

“It’s okay. I guess that just caught me off guard that’s all. So, he wasn’t a snuggle type?”

“Well, don’t know really. He just doesn’t seem like the type who would. He also seemed like the type who wouldn’t accept ‘no’ so I never stayed over at his house or had him come back to the dorm. He actually had the nerve to accuse me of sleeping with you.” She blushed a little and put her head back down on his chest. “I think that is when I knew it was over. He never could accept you and I being friends. And anyone who is going to be any significant part in my life is going to have to accept it and be happy about it.”

Nick was quiet for a few minutes processing all of what Bree had just said. He knew they had always been close, but hearing her put it like that, well, he just never thought she felt that strongly about their friendship. She was actually willing to choose to not have someone in her life if they couldn’t accept him. Would he do the same for her? He had actually never thought about it or had a reason to think about it. But he was also stuck on something else that she had said and wasn’t quite sure how to ask about it.

Noticing his prolonged silence Bree looked up to see if he had fallen asleep. But he was just staring up at the ceiling. “What’cha thinking about so hard up there?”

“Hmm? Oh, just about what you just said. That’s all.” He combed his fingers back through her damp hair and decided that he really didn’t need to know the answer. Instead, he turned on his side to face her and scooted down so they were eye level. “I know I said this before, but thanks for being here.”

“I wouldn’t be anywhere else, Nick. Whenever you need me I’ll always be right here.” She was watching him as he brought his hand up to cup her cheek in his palm.

“I know.” He whispered before slowly moving in to kiss her. The kiss was soft and unhurried the complete opposite from earlier. He only allowed himself to kiss her for a minute and then he pulled her into a hug. “G’night Bree. Sweet dreams.”

“Sweet dreams, Nick.”

<~ Chapter 30 or Chapter 32 ~>

In the End

Karina 2003