"Dammit, where has all the liquor gone?" I asked to no one in particular, as I rummaged through my now empty cabinet.  I angrily slammed the door closed, realizing that there was not an ounce of alcohol left in the house for me to indulge in. 

"Now where the hell am I supposed to go?" I mumbled, stumbling over to my car keys. 

"I can't drive… I'm sober enough to realize that," I thought aloud. 

I realized the only way to get something to drink was to go to AJ's house and take it.  Most likely he wouldn't give it to me if he realized the state I was in, so I'd have to be pretty sneaky. 

"Cool.  An adventure," I slurred, giggling girlishly.

Nick's View

"Col, I think I'm gonna head home," I sighed.

"Oh… you don't wanna stay?" she replied, her voice trailing down to almost a whisper.

"You know I want to… but I don't think it's a good idea," I murmured, quickly diverting my gaze from her face to the floor.

"Ok…"

"Are you going to be alright by yourself?"

"I think so, Nick."

"Good.  Ok well call me if you need me or anything," I said, slowing walking towards the door.  I was hoping she'd pull me back and tell me to stay for a little while longer.  God knows I wanted to stay, but I needed to hear it from her. 

"I will.  Don't worry about me, I'll be fine," she stated. 

She quickly walked over to me, immediately catching me in a hug.

"Thanks for everything, Nick.  I really needed you tonight, and I'm glad you were willing to stay with me.  After all we've been through at least I can always count on you to be here for me."

I nodded, not quite knowing what to say.  I still had my arms protectively wrapped around her, not really wanting to let go.  She slowly removed her hand from the back of my neck, and ran her hand down my cheek.  I really shouldn't have let her do that… but I did.  She edged closer to me and lightly touched her lips with mine before pulling away quickly.

"Talk to you later," she whispered, turning around and disappearing into the kitchen. 

I had all these emotions running through my head.  I was happy, but angry as well.  I was shocked, but it was a good feeling.  I wanted to run after her and ask her why the hell she did that… but, on the other hand, I wanted to run after her and kiss her again.  I was so confused, I could hardly even think.

I let myself out.

Colleen's View

Stupid.  That was the only word I could think of to describe myself.  Completely stupid.  It was only now that I realized why Brian had decided to move on without me in his life.  I was a bitch.  Nick and I had barely kissed, but it was going to blow up in my face anyway.  I picked up the phone and quickly dialed Sophia's number.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Col."

"Oh, hey.  What's up?" she asked, not seeming to be too into the conversation.

"I kind of kissed Nick…"

"I'm pregnant," she blurted out, totally taking me by surprise.

"You're what?!"

"Pregnant," she repeated.

"Oh my God… that's great!"

"What do you mean 'that's great'?" she snapped.  "It's horrible.  I'm not ready for this."

"Sophia, you're going to be a great mom!  And AJ's gonna be a great dad.  You - "

"Listen, I gotta go.  AJ's home and I'm guessing he wants to talk to me about this whole thing," she interrupted.  "I'll call you later and we can talk about Nick, alright?"

"No, forget Nick.  We'll talk about you later.  Bye."

"Bye."

I hung up the phone, laying myself down on the couch.  If I didn't get some sleep, I was going to go crazy.

AJ's View

AJ entered the kitchen quietly, taking a seat across from me at the table.  He folded and unfolded his hands nervously, before opening his mouth to speak.

"I love you, Sophia.  And I know you feel the same way about me, which is why I don't understand how come you don't want this baby.  It's ours.  Our very own child.  And now you're telling me you don't want it.  How is that supposed to make me feel?"

"It has nothing to do with you, AJ," I started.  "I just don't think we're ready to be parents, that's all."

"We are ready.  We're going to be the best parents ever, and I think you're just afraid to admit it."

"Why would I be?"

"In the back of your mind, you want to have this baby."

"No, I really don't."

"Well you have no choice, because I'm not letting you do anything stupid."

"Shut up, I would never."

"Yeah, alright…" he mumbled, giving me a dirty look before storming out of the room and upstairs, slamming our bedroom door loudly behind him.

Figuring I would have to sleep in the spare bedroom tonight, I reluctantly made my way upstairs.

Brian's View

I stumbled up the steps of AJ and Sophia's house, accidentally walking into the door. 

"Shit!" I shouted, rubbing my head.

I tried the doorknob and, fortunately, the door creaked open.  I could always count on those two to leave their front door open.  They have to be more careful next time.  Someone might break in…

I didn't bother closing the door behind me, afraid I might wake them up.  I knew exactly where they kept their liquor, and immediately starting grabbing as many bottles as I could. 

"I am the man," I laughed, quickly walking towards the door.  I felt my shoe hook onto something, and a precious bottle of vodka fell to the floor.  The strong smell took over the living room.  There were pieces of glass everywhere.  I didn't want to stick around for them to wake up, so I bolted out of there, annoyed that a bottle had been wasted.

Nick's View

I crept down the steps, finally giving up trying to fall asleep.  It wasn't going to happen anytime soon.  I flung open the refrigerator, grabbing a can of Coke.  I threw myself down into a seat, running a hand through my hair in frustration.  Whatever had just happened between me and Colleen… it was going to change things again.  Most likely things wouldn't go as I wanted them too.  She would say it was a mistake.  I would accept it… again.  Whatever.  Same old story.

The loud ringing of the phone brought me back to this planet.

"Hello?"

"Hey Nick, it's Brian!  How are you!" he screamed into the phone, causing me to hold it away from my ear.

"Shhh, stop talking so loud, man.  Why aren't you in bed or something?"

"I can't sleep.  I'm having way too much fun over here."

"Ok… what kind of fun?" I asked, wondering what the hell he could be doing at 2:30 in the morning.

"I can't tell you, duh!" he slurred, laughing stupidly.

"So then why the hell did you call me?"  I could tell from his voice that he was bombed.

"Good question.  You are the weakest link!  Goodbye!"  And with that, he hung up the phone.

Normally I would go over there and stop him from drinking.  But, he was a big boy… he could handle this himself.

Brian's View

"Oh my God, Nick… no you did not just hang up on me!" I shouted into the phone.  "Oh well, no great big loss to society," I grinned, slugging down the last bottle of liquor.

"You know what?" I spoke into the air.  "If I hadn't of been such a fucking klutz, I wouldn't have dropped that bottle of vodka.  And I would've still been drinking right now… God, I hate my life."

"Colleen, this is all your fault.  I hope you realize this.  I hope your life is hell from now on because that's certainly what my life is now because of you." 

With that said, the room faded to black.