He was beginning to think that it would have been better to fly to New York.

Seriously.

Usually a few days on the bus with Brianna as the only person to occupy him was something he looked forward to. But her constant motion and moodiness was driving him batty. When ever he asked her about it she simply said she was happy the semester was over and that she had so much built up energy from the relief of it all. He could hardly get her to sit still to play a game much less lay down for a movie or nap.

On the bright side of things they did talk a lot. It seemed in two days they talked enough to catch up for all they had missed out over the past several weeks. She told him about the struggle with her classes, what she had signed up for this next semester, about the fight with her dad, and everything in between. She even talked about Mitchell and how she met him. Of course, Nick was upset over what John had done and made Brianna promise she would never go out with him again. While listening to her talk about Mitchell he held back any comments and tried to keep any facial expressions from betraying him.

They were friends. It was settled. He just need to get used to it and go on.

Friends.

He was stuck on that word. Why did it suddenly sound so horrible? Just friends had always been fine before; more than just fine. Brianna was his best friend and a few months ago he would have never of thought to ask for more. But now everything had changed. He had changed everything. And now he had to suffer the consequences. He just needed to get used it.

So, rather than dwell on her social life he in turn told her some funny stories of his own. Some of the fan encounters. Mostly of the girls he met while out at clubs. He told her how he had run into some old friends in LA and hung out with them, even when the other boys didn’t want to go out. He didn’t understand why they ALL had to settle down just because of what AJ was going through. He didn’t want to rub things in AJ’s face, but he was still young and enjoyed hanging out in clubs.

Brianna assured him there was nothing wrong in the way he felt. She told him it was only natural for him to want to have some fun. That he needed it to help blow off steam and relieve the stress of everything going on. She knew he was holding things back from her. But this thing with AJ was something that knocked them all for a loop. There were bound to be feelings and thoughts that he himself would rather not deal with much less share with anyone else. But she was his friend and would always listen to him and be there for him, no matter what.

Friends.

Just friends. But at times it didn’t even feel like that. It felt like they had taken two steps forward and then three huge steps backwards. That word kept reverberating in her head. It made her feel hollow and empty from the sound. Maybe she wasn’t what he wanted afterall. Maybe they were only meant to be merely friends. Maybe she should stop dwelling on it and just get over it already.

Still, every time he mentioned some random girl she could feel her stomach twist in knots. She only hoped her face didn’t betray what she was feeling inside. The last thing she wanted was to complicate things more with him or make him feel uncomfortable around her. She just had to get used to the way things were going to be.

Just Friends.

<~ Chapter 68 or Chapter 70 ~>

In the End

Karina 2003