All eyes were on me and Nick's.  I'm sure I was turning all different shades of red… I was so humiliated.  I can't believe Brian called me a slut.  Is that what I am?  Does having sex with your best friend, make you a slut? 

Nick was staring deep into my eyes, and I could tell he was sorry about mentioning the fact that his strangest place was the bathtub.  I should've known Brian would find out eventually, and I should've known he would react this way.  He just wants to look out for me… I realized that now. 

"Well… I'm gonna go talk to him." I finally said, getting up to leave, "I'll talk to you all tomorrow…"

Silence…

"Guys?  Are you too shocked to speak?"

"Yep." they all shouted in unison.

"But don't mind us, Col, go talk to Brian." AJ suggested.

"I'm sorry you guys had to witness that whole thing…"

"It was actually very entertaining!" AJ laughed, as Sophia glared at him.

I giggled at that comment… AJ would find this all very comical.

"Wait a second." I shouted, turning around to face everyone once again, "This is Brian's room too, so where did he run off to?"

"Oh jeez, you're right Col… he has the spare key to my room, so try there." AJ replied.

"Okay thanks Bone.  See you later."

As I walked towards the elevator, I heard footsteps from behind me.

"Nick, hey." I said, shyly.

"Aw, don't tell me your gonna get all nervous around me now… was I that bad?" he laughed.

"I'm really concerned about Brian.  He seemed really angry, who knows what he might do."

"Listen, I'm really sorry about before, it just sorta slipped out.  I regret saying it."

"It's okay Nicky, don't worry about it.  My main problem right now is Brian.  I think we should both go talk to him.  We are two of his best friends."

"Yeah okay, but if he tries to throw a punch, I'm out of there."

"You've got yourself a deal Carter!" I replied, kissing him softly on the lips.

He took my hand in his, as we stepped onto the elevator.

Brian's View

Fuck you Nick… why'd you do that?  Why'd you have to go and take her away from me?  I thought to myself.  As soon as I had stormed out of Kevin's room, I went straight to AJ's,  Thank God he had given me his spare key. 

"Brian?  Are you in there?" I heard Col shout, as she knocked on the door.

"Go away!" I snapped.

"No Brian… I'm not gonna go away until we talk about this."

I reluctantly opened the door… Nick was standing right beside her, and I wasn't expecting him there.

"No way are you coming in here Nick."

"C'mon Brian!  As much as you wish he wasn't… Nick's involved too." Col mumbled softly.

"Okay fine, close the door behind you."  I refused to look at either of them.  The fact that they had slept together was almost too much for me to handle.

"Brian, I really don't see why this is bothering you…" Col began.

"Why is it bothering me?  Because you're fucking Nick, that's why!" I shouted.

"Brian!  Stop…"

"Stop?! How can I stop?!  I don't wanna see my best friend get hurt."

"B, Nick is your best friend too… you know it takes two to have sex."  I winced when she said that.

"Yeah but he probably forced you into it for all I know!  Or maybe he's just using you for the sex."

"Okay Brian that's enough." Nick snapped, "How could you even say that I was using her?  You know me a hell of a lot better than that."

"Hey Nick, do you even care about her?  Do you even love her?"

"Of course I care about her.  Why are you even asking me that?"

"Yeah well I really doubt you care for her as much as I do." I replied, tears beginning to form at the corners of my eyes. 

I looked over towards Col, and noticed she was holding Nick's hand tightly.

"Hey Colleen, I bet you anything once you guys leave here, you're gonna go fuck right?"

"Brian please stop acting like this." she pleaded, tears falling.

"How could you do this to me Nick?  How could you take her away from me?"

"What are you talking about Bri?  I didn't take her away from you, she's still your best friend.  I didn't do anything to you… you don't fucking own her!" Nick screamed.

"I love her!" I blurted out. 

Silence.  No one moved, no one said a word.  Tears were streaming down Colleen's face.

"W-what did you just say?" Col asked, weakly.

"I love you…" I replied.

Nick's View

"What kind of bull shit is this Bri?" I asked, angrily.

"It's not bull shit Nick.  I love her, which is a lot more than you can say."

"What are you talking about?  I love her…"

"You don't love her like I love her… I know it." he shot back.

I had nothing to say.  Maybe I didn't love her like he did…

I slowly got up, and left the room.  I needed to think.

Colleen's View

As soon as Nick left the room, I burst out crying.  Brian immediately came over to me and wrapped me in a hug. 

"I'm sorry Brian, I didn't know."

"I know honey, I know.  Nick's right, you can do what you want, don't let me hold you back from what you really want.  And if what you really want is Nick, then so be it."

"I don't know what this is with Nick.  Is it a fling?  Does he love me?" I sobbed into his shoulder, as he gently rubbed my back. 

"I'm here for you… as a friend, or something more, if that's what you want."

Something more?  I never even considered Brian as something more.  He's always been such a great friend to me, and that's all I've ever known him to be. 

"I gotta go Brian… I'll talk to you later."

"Okay Colleen, if you need to talk, you know where I'll be." he replied, smiling.

As I was just about to leave, I turned around to face him once again.

"B?"

"Yeah?"

"You really love me?"

"Always have, always will."

I smiled, and headed towards me and Nick's room.  We really needed to talk.