CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX:
All of a sudden, you sat straight up in the bed. "What's wrong?" AJ asked, trying to catch his breath. "Nothing. I'll be right back." you told him as you got up off of the bed and ran into the bathroom, closing the door behind you. No sooner than you shut the door, you threw up in the toilet, thankful that you had atleast made it into the bathroom. You could tell by the feeling that you had in your stomach that you were nowhere near being done, so instead of running back and forth, you decided to just sit down on the floor and wait it out. You were starting to feel really bad, and you were getting tired as if your burst of energy from earlier that evening had finally come to an end. "Now I know how Nick must have been feeling when he crashed on the floor" you thought to yourself as you leaned over the toilet to throw up again. Meanwhile, AJ was still out in the other room sitting on your bed, wondering what was taking you so long to come out. He waited for another 10 minutes or so before he finally decided to come and see what you were doing. ******, are you ok in there?" he asked as he knocked on the door. "Just great" was the reply that you were able to choke out before throwing up once more. "Well then, what's taking you so long?" he questioned. Since you were kind of pre-occupied at the moment, you didn't answer him so when he got no response, he took it upon himself to open the door and check on you. He walked in to find you sitting on the floor beside the toilet with your knees drawn up to your chest and your head resting on your arm that was stretched out across the edge of the toilet seat. "You need any help?" he asked as he walked over and brushed the hair from your face with his hand, laughing slightly at your misery. "AJ!!" you whined, just now noticing that he was in the bathroom. "You weren't supposed to come in here" "Why? What's the big deal? It's not like you've never seen me drunk before" he said, trying to make you feel better. "That's different" you protested, not lifting your head from your arm. "If you say so" he said as he grabbed a scrunchie from the sink and tied your hair back for you. "Thanks, but I think I'm done now" you groaned. "In that case then, let's get you up off of this floor and into bed" he said as he leaned down and put your arm around his shoulders, slipping his arm around your waist and helping you to your feet. Once you were up, you flushed the toilet and stumbled over to the sink to splash some water on your face and brush your teeth. When you were done, AJ gave you a glass of water to drink, telling you that it would lessen the hangover in the morning, and then he took your hand and led you out of the bathroom and back to your bed, realizing that there was no way the two of you were going to be finishing what you had started just a little while ago...atleast not tonight. Despite how much he wanted to, you were in absolutely no kind of condition to make an important decision that could ultimately affect your friendship after it was done, and he didn't want to take the chance of it happening. He valued your friendship way more than that and he wasn't going to risk messing it up over something that he now couldn't even be sure if you meant, or if it was just an alcohol related lapse in judgment. You crawled up on your bed and collapsed into your pillows, falling asleep almost instantly. AJ just stood there looking at you for a moment before covering you up and turning off the light. He leaned down and kissed you on the forehead, and then left your room, locking the door behind him so that you could sleep, and hopefully feel better in the morning. He knew that he wouldn't be able to go to sleep just yet though, as everything that had just went down between the two of you in your room was still playing on his mind and he wasn't sure what to think of it all. Did he make a mistake for letting it go as far as it did? Would you regret that you had started the whole thing in the first place? Were your actions an indication of your feelings for him? All of these thoughts and more were running through his head as he walked down the hall towards his room. When he got there, instead of going in, he just sat down on the ground and lit up a cigarette, trying to clear his head. He leaned against the door to his room, closed his eyes, and stretched his legs out as he continued to smoke his cigarette. He as about half-way through, and majorly lost in his thoughts when he heard a voice say "Don't you know that there's no smoking in the hallway? You're supposed to go outside and do that." AJ opened his eyes to see Howie standing over him with Claudia by his side, coming back from their evening together. "Ask me if I care" was AJ's response to his friend, who could tell that there was something on his mind. "What's up bone? You wanna talk about it?" Howie asked AJ as Claudia excused herself and went on to their room so that the guys could talk privately. "Thanks D, but I'm good. I just need to get in here and get some sleep and everything will look better in the morning" AJ replied putting out his cigarette and standing up. "Ok, if you're sure" Howie shrugged, walking towards his room. "I'll talk to you later then" "Alright, see ya" AJ said before entering his own room and closing the door. Since it was really late, he decided to just go on and go to bed. He may have had alot on his mind, but he'd also had enough to drink that once he laid his head down, it didn't take him too long at all to fall asleep. Sunlight came seeping into your room way too early for your liking the next morning and you were awakened by the sound of your phone ringing. At first, it seemed as if it were distant, kind of like it was in a dream, so you didn't move. Then you realized that it was your phone, so after letting out a loud sigh, you stretched across the bed and picked it up. "Hello?" you mumbled into the receiver. "Hey*****, what's up?" came the voice on the other end. It was Kristin, and she sounded way too perky for what you thought was still morning time. "Well, I was sleeping...why?" you told her as you snuggled back down into your pillows and pulled your blankets up to your chin. "Sleeping!?!?" she practically yelled. "It's almost 2:00 in the afternoon girl, what's wrong with you? Leigh, Claudia, and me have done been out shopping and come back. I was gonna call you then and see if you wanted to come, but Leigh told me to let you sleep and call you when we got back" "Really?" you asked with very little enthusiasm. "Yep. I mean, you can't come to Hawaii, and just stay in your hotel room you know?" she stated proudly. "Why not?" you questioned, quite content to stay in your bed. "UGH...girl, I swear sometimes you can be as stubborn as AJ is. Look, we are going down to the beach to lay out for a while and you should come with us. It'll be fun." Kristin said while laughing. "What about Brian, Howie, and Kevin? Why can't they go with you?" you questioned. "Because, they have already made other plans. Besides that, it will give us girls a chance to hang out, you know, just the four of us, so will you come? PLEASE?!?!" she asked, practically whining. "Fine" you said, sighing rather loudly. "Great. I'll let Claudia and Leigh know you're coming and we'll be over in a little while ok?" she said excitedly. "Alright, see you then" you responded reluctantly. You hung up your phone and just laid there for a moment before finally rolling out of the bed to get ready. As soon as you stood up, you felt like someone just hit you with a baseball bat...it was really pounding, so you made your way to the bathroom to take some aspirin, hoping that they would kick in before your friends arrived. Realizing that you had slept in your clothes last night, you took a quick shower before changing into your bathing suit. You put on a yellow bikini that had little purple hearts all over it, and then you slipped a pair of jean shorts on over top of it. Once you were done getting dressed, you grabbed your beach towel, suntan lotion, and your portable CD player, as well as a few CDs, and of course a pair of sunglasses since you knew that the bright sun wouldn't help your headache any. Just as you sat down to put your shoes on, there was a knock on your door. "Come in" you yelled, as you finished tying your shoe laces. The door opened, and Kristin, Leighanne, and Claudia came in, sitting down on the bed beside you. "Damn girl, you look like shit!" Leighanne laughed, looking at your bloodshot eyes. "Thanks alot Leigh" you shot back with a little smile. "I guess it reflects how I feel then huh?" "Yeah, I heard about your night last night" Claudia added. "I'm not surprised." you said, looking over at Kristin, knowing that she was the one who shared the information. She just smiled back at you. "So, are we ready or what?" Leighanne asked, impatient to leave. "I think so, let's go." you answered, taking one last look around your room. "I'll make the bed later." You guys grabbed your bags and headed down to the beach. Once you got there, you picked out spot and set up your stuff. Claudia had brought a huge blanket that she spread out for all of you to lay on, so you rolled your towel up and put it under your head as a pillow, put your sunglasses on, and laid back to enjoy the sun. You slid your shorts off and shoved them into your bag, taking out your CD player and a few CDs for later. The four of you laid there and chatted for an hour or 2 about all kinds of stuff and you were actually glad that you had decided to get out of bed after all, even though you still didn't feel all that great. Kristin and Leighanne decided that they were hungry so they were going to go up on the boardwalk and grab a snack. "Will you grab me a slice of pizza and a Dr. Pepper?" you asked, handing them a ten dollar bill. "Sure, you want anything Claudia?" asked Kristin. "Uh, maybe just a water" she replied, starting to hand them some money. "Don't worry about it, it's just a water. I'll get it for you" Leighanne said, refusing to take the money. The two of them left to go get the food, leaving you and Claudia to watch the stuff. Since your hair was still wet from your shower when you left the hotel, you had left it down, but now that you were outside and it had dried, you were starting to get hot. You got up and went over to Kristin's bag, looking for a scrunchie, since you hadn't thought to bring any of your own. You found one and proceeded to put your hair up in a pony tail to cool yourself off, and then you went back over to your spot by Claudia. As you went to sit down, you saw her looking at you funny, but you weren't exactly sure why. "What's wrong?" you asked her, taking a seat beside her. "Ummm...did something....ummm...happen last night that Kris forgot to tell me about?" she asked with a big smile on her face. "What is that supposed to mean? I don't even know what she did tell you." you replied simply. "She just told me that you, Nick, and AJ had a little party in your room, and perhaps too much to drink in the process." she informed you. "Oh. Well yeah, that's about it I guess. I don't really remember too much about it...why?" you asked, wondering what she was getting at. "So, do you know what happened to your neck?" she asked, handing you her mirror. You looked in it, seeing the hickeys that AJ had left on you for the first time since you had been up. "Oh my god" you gasped. "Come on *******, don't hold out on me. This is big, what happened?" she questioned, really wanting some details. "To tell you the truth Claudia, I ummm...I don't know." you answered, still looking in the mirror, touching the marks on your neck with your finger. "Ok, so you don't remember the details of how it happened...that's cool, but atleast tell me who did it. Was it Nick or AJ?" she asked as she giggled excitedly. "Oh man!" you yelled, putting your hand over your forehead, unable to believe what you thought you had apparently done. "You mean, you don't remember that either?" Claudia asked, trying not to laugh. You looked at her, you face full of seriousness and said......
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN:
No, I don't remember that either. In fact, I can't remember shit! I don't know what happened in that room last night, or who it happened with". you told her. "Oh wow. That's not good" Claudia said as she put her mirror back into her bag. "No kidding! What the hell am I gonna do now? I can't believe that I had so much to drink that I can't remember something like that" you said, taking the scrunchie back out of your hair so that no one else would see your neck and ask you alot of questions too. "I wish I knew what to tell you girl. You're almost gonna have to find out something though....somebody has to know what happened" she replied. "Why don't you just ask one of them?" "Oh yeah, that should go over real well. I'll just say, hey AJ, did I have sex with you last night or was it Nick? I don't think so!" you said in frustration. "Well who says that you had sex with either one of them?" she questioned. "Come on Claudia. It's pretty obvious, don't you think?" you demanded. "Pretty much. I was just trying to make you feel better. Maybe it wasn't one or the other anyway...maybe you did it with both of them at the same time. It's not like any of you really knew what you were doing you know" she said as she busted out laughing. "I'm glad that you are finding this funny, because I certainly don't think it is. I don't think it's funny at all" you said, shooting her a dirty look. "I'm sorry. I couldn't help it" she said apologetically. "Look, I don't know if this will help you figure out what went on with who or not, but last night when Howie and I came in, we found AJ sitting on the floor in the hallway in front of his room, and he looked like something was on his mind" "Really? Did he say anything?" you asked, hoping for even the smallest little clue that would help you remember what had happened. "Not really" was the answer that you got. "Great!" you thought to yourself. "Not only have I messed up my relationship with one of my best friends, but I can't even remember which one it is". You turned back to Claudia and said "I have to straighten this out, but in the meantime, promise me that you won't say anything about it to ANYBODY, including Howie." "You've got my word" she assured you before changing the subject. "I'm gonna go for a swim because I am really hot...wanna come?" she asked, trying to get your mind off of things for a while. "No thanks. I think I'll just stay here and think for a while" you replied as you reached for your CD player. "Ok, I'll be back in a bit then" she called to you as she walked down towards the beach. You put on your headphones and laid back, closing your eyes as you listened to "You Got It Bad" by Usher. You laid there thinking really hard, trying to replay the events of last night in your head, but there was no use. You just couldn't remember. You hadn't meant for something like this to happen, much less not being able to remember it happening, but deep down you were hoping that whatever had gone on in your room, that it turned out that it was AJ that it happened with and not Nick because although you and Nick have a very close friendship, there was no desire for it to become sexual, atleast on your part. You were completely lost in your thoughts when you noticed a shadow standing over you, blocking the sun. You sat up and opened your eyes, lifting your sunglasses slightly so that you cold see, and there stood Nick looking down at you. You pulled your headphones off so that you could talk to him as he said "Hey sexy. What's up?" "Hey Nicky. You know, you look about as bad as I feel" you said laughing. "What, is that your polite way of telling me that I look like shit"? he asked as he took a seat next to you on the blanket. "Maybe" you shot back. "What are you doing here anyway?" you asked, trying to hide your nervousness about what he wanted and why he was there. You felt really weird being around him at the moment since you weren't sure if anything had happened between the two of you, and if so what it was, but you tried to act normal so that he couldn't see it. "I ran into Kristin and Leighanne up on the boardwalk and they told me that you guys were down here. They are stuck in line waiting for pizza so I thought that I would come on down and keep you company" he replied. "Oh, that's cool" you said. "You know, I wonder if anybody has ever died of a hangover, because I sure feel like I could right now" he complained as he laid down, stealing your towel to use as a pillow. "You are so stupid!" you laughed as you hit him on the arm. "I AM stupid.…stupid for drinking that much. You knew that AJ would whip both our asses at that game, you should have talked me out of playing" he whined. "Whatever! I had more to drink than you did little boy" you said, rolling your eyes at him. "Yeah, maybe by one shot" he defended. "What a night, huh?" you asked, anxious to hear what he was going to say. "To say the least. Do you remember anything about it?" he asked, looking up at you. Your heart just about jumped out of your chest when you heard that and you couldn't help but wonder why he was asking you that. "Not really. Why do you ask?" you questioned worriedly. "Because I don't remember a damn thing, so I was just wondering if you had that problem too" he replied. You breathed a sigh of relief over what he had just said before saying "Must have been something we drank". The two of you exchanged smiles before Nick closed his eyes to take a nap and you retreated back into your thoughts. "On the positive side, Nick doesn't remember anything either, but on the negative side, that still doesn't mean that it wasn't him. We could have had sex and neither one of us can remember it. I don't know what would be worse...for him to remember it and mess up our friendship by making it weird for us to be around each other, or for him to not remember and then I never know for sure. And what about AJ? Why was he sitting outside of his room thinking like Claudia said? Does he remember anything about last night? Did him and I do something that he regretted doing afterwards, or did he see me with Nick and get upset? UGH...this is such a mess. I have to get to the bottom of this....AND SOON!!" You were trying really hard to sort things out in your head, when your thinking was interrupted once again, this time by someone tapping you on the shoulder. You turned around and saw that it was....
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT:
It was Kristin and Leighanne who had just returned with the food. "Girl, next time you want to have pizza at the beach, you had better make sure that someone is going to deliver it because that line was a bitch" Leighanne teased as she sat down on the other side of Nick. "I see the drunk found you ok" "Yeah" you laughed as you took your pizza and Dr. Pepper from Kristin. "What were you lost in thought about anyway? I called your name like ten times before I finally tapped your shoulder" she inquired as she took a seat on the blanket next to you. "Oh, nothing much really. I was just off in my own little world I guess" you lied, not wanting her to know the truth about what was bothering you. In all of the years that you and Kristin have been friends, there has been very little that you have kept from her, but you just couldn't bring yourself to tell her about what happened last night, or the fact that you couldn't remember any of it. It was far too embarrassing for you, especially since you normally use better judgment than that. She seemed to buy your story though and the subject was dropped, much to your relief, as the three of you settled in to eat your lunch, even if it was a late one. You had gotten maybe one bite of your pizza into your mouth when Nick, being the way that he is, smelled it and sat up. "Where's mine?" he asked, looking at Leighanne. "Don't look at me" she defended. "Kristin got the pizza while I was in line to get my ice cream." "Sure, just blame it all on me why don't you?" Kristin said as she took a sip of her drink. "I didn't hear him ask for anything" "Me either" Leighanne agreed, turning her attention back to her ice cream. "Well, you knew that I was coming down here to hang with you guys for a while. You could have been nice and got me something anyway instead of eating in front of me" Nick protested. "Your legs aren't broken and I believe that you know where the lines are. You can go and get your own. As far as that goes, you could have stood in line with us and got something and you wouldn't have had to start from the end of the line. You knew we were getting food" Kristin argued. "Yeah, but..." Nick started to argue back before you cut him off. "Nick! Why don't you just share my pizza with me? It's kind of big for me to eat by myself anyway" you interjected. "Alright, if you don't mind" he said, satisfied with your solution. "Not at all" you assured him, as you passed him the slice of pizza so that he could have some. With the argument over the food settled, you guys finished eating and talked for a little while longer before you decided that you had gotten enough sun for one day and that you should be heading back to the hotel now. Kristin and Leighanne weren't quite ready to leave yet though and Claudia was still in the water, so you told them to go ahead and stay and that you would walk back by yourself. After all, it's not like it was that far or anything. Nick however, hadn't been smart like you were earlier and didn't take any aspirin before coming out, so he decided that since his head was still throbbing that he would walk back with you, and borrow some of yours. You agreed, glad to have the company, and shoved all of your things back into your bag. You said goodbye to the girls, telling them that you would talk to them later and then started towards your room. Nick took your backpack from you and threw it over his shoulder to carry it, sort of his way of being a gentleman, and saying thanks for sharing your pizza with him at the same time. The two of you exchanged smiles, but didn't really talk much on the walk back to your room, since it was such a short one from the beach to the hotel. Nick seemed to be pre-occupied with the "scenery", and you were still trying to figure out how you were supposed to find out what happened last night without specifically coming out and asking someone. You reached the boardwalk directly in front of your hotel, and you were just about to open the door to the lobby and go in, when someone just outside the door caught your attention. It was a very pretty girl about your age, with brown hair and hazel eyes that looked very familiar to you, so you decided to walk over to her and see if it was who you thought it was. "Nick, can you wait here for me for just a second?" you asked as you started in the girl's direction. "Sure" he called after you, having no clue of what you were doing. He leaned up against the wall and watched as you approached this girl that obviously had more luggage than she could handle on her own. "Nikki? Is that you?" you asked as the girl noticed you standing there looking at her. As she looked up to face you, you knew that you were right...it was her. She had gone to school with you and Kristin and the three of you were very good friends back then, however, you lost touch with her once you graduated because you had went off to different colleges to pursue different career paths. While you had attended college right there in Florida, Nikki had moved to Maryland to attend college there, making it hard for you guys to keep in contact. Kristin too had lost touch with her due to working at Disney World at the time and dating Kevin...she was never home. *****?" Nikki asked in disbelief. You nodded your head and gave her a huge smile as you leaned in to hug her. "I can't believe this. It must be like 3 years since we've talked" you said excitedly, finally letting go of her. "I know, and then to run into you here of all places. It's unbelievable, but definitely great to see you again" she stated, still a little shocked. "What brings you to Hawaii?" you asked her curiously. "Work unfortunately" she replied while rolling her eyes. "That must really suck coming to a beautiful place like this and then having to work" you said, trying not to laugh at the expression on her face. "Well, it's not all bad. I do have some days and all of my nights free to do what I want, but best of all, since it's work related, my company is picking up the bill, and it's not costing me a cent" she said happily. "That's the way to go. You always did know how to live it up girl" you complimented. "Thanks. Look, I'm really sorry but I have to get checked in and be at a meeting in less than 30 minutes, so I've gotta go. I'd really love to get together with you sometime this week if you're gonna be here so we can catch up. It's been so long since we've talked and I'd love to know all about how you've been and what you've been up to" she apologized, trying to gather up all of her stuff. "No need to apologize. I understand. I'll be here until Sunday, so when you have some free time, I would love to get together and do something so we can catch up with each other. Where are you staying?" you asked. "Right here if I can get all of my shit through the door" she laughed. "Well, what a coincidence. This is where I am staying too" you informed her. "No way" she squealed excitedly. "Yep. You know, I have a friend here with me. Would you like us to help you with your bags?" you offered. "Oh no, that's ok. I don't want to trouble you" she said, still trying to figure out how she was going to carry everything. "It's no trouble at all" you assured her as you motioned for Nick to come over. "We have to go that way anyway to get to our room" "Well, if you're sure. I'd really appreciate it." she replied thankfully. "What's up?" Nick asked as he joined you and Nikki by the door. "Nick, this is Nikki...one of my best friends from high school. She is staying here in the hotel and as I'm sure you can see, she desperately needs some help with her bags. Nikki, this is my very good friend Nick." you said, practically all in one breath. "Nice to meet you" Nick said as he took Nikki's hand, locking his eyes on hers. "Yes, same here" Nikki said with a smile, looking down at the ground shyly. When they finally let go of each other's hands, the three of you grabbed Nikki's bags and once she checked herself in and got her room key, you helped her carry them to her room. She thanked you both and you gave her your room number so that you guys could get together later on in the week, then you left her to get settled in. "How come I've never met her before?" Nick questioned as you went down the hall and got into the elevator. "Because I haven't seen her or talked to her in about three years or so" you explained as you pushed the button to take you to the top floor where your rooms were. "Well, why not?" he asked. "We lost touch after high school ok?" you said, laughing at his persistence. "You should really try to not be so obvious" "What do you mean? I didn't do anything." he insisted. "Please Nick! I saw you staring at her from the wall the whole time I was talking to her, and then when I introduced you to her, you were practically drooling like a dog!" you teased. "Don't lie. I was not!" Nick protested as the elevator doors opened and you started down the hallway towards your room. "Does she have a boyfriend?" he asked, completely bypassing the door to his room and following you like a puppy to continue his questioning. "Why don't you go and ask her? I told you that I haven't seen her in a long time, so I don't know" you told him, going behind him to dig through your backpack for your key since it was still on his shoulder. You found it, and went to unlock the door, when Nick said "What's that?" "What?" you asked, looking at him in confusion. "That" he said, pointing to a note with your name on it taped to the front of the door. "I don't know" you replied as you pulled it off of the door and put it between your teeth so that you could get the door open. You went inside, shut the door, and sat on the bed to look at it, with Nick still following behind you. "So, who's it from?" he demanded. Well nosey" you said opening the note, "if you must know, it's from........
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE:
"If you must know, it's from AJ". "Oh really? What's it say?" Nick asked. "I don't know. Why don't you leave so I can read it?" you responded, laughing slightly. "Ha Ha! Why do I have to leave for you to read it?" he inquired. "Well, for starters, if it was meant for you to know what it said, it would have been on your door instead of mine, and furthermore, even if I didn't need to read this note, which I do, you would still have to leave because I need to change out of my bathing suit and I can't do that with you here." you explained. "What's the matter *****? You and AJ got something goin' on that you want to keep a secret?" he teased. "Shut up! I hardly think so" you shot back. "So read it then" he countered. "Goodbye Nick" you said while opening the door. "I can't go yet. You still haven't given me any aspirin for my headache" he protested. "They're in the bathroom on the sink. Go and get some" you told him, not leaving your post by the door. "Fine" he said, walking into the bathroom, realizing that you weren't going to give in and read the note with him there. He took the aspirin, then came back out of the bathroom, walking over to where you were waiting for him. "Ok, I'll go now so you can change. You can tell me what the note said later" he said with a smile. "You are a persistent somebody, aren't you?" you replied, unable to keep from laughing any longer. "Yep" he stated proudly. "Does that mean that you're gonna tell me?" "Nope" you said, standing your ground while pushing him out the door. "Alright, but when you talk to Nikki again, you're gonna ask her if she's got a boyfriend, right?" he questioned as he turned to walk down the hallway towards his room. "I'll talk to you later Nicky" you laughed, rolling your eyes as you shut your door. You stood there for a minute smiling at Nick's cuteness over his little crush on Nikki, then you turned around and walked back to your bed to sit down so you could finally read your note from AJ. You unfolded it completely and looked at the familiar writing scribbled onto the paper, a small smile forming on your face as you read it.Hey *****,
Chapters 31-35
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