"Nick I have to talk to you,"Leighanne said, pulling Nick aside as they were about to leave the hotel for the airport.

"What?"Nick said tiredly. It had been a long, exhausting past few days and all he wanted to do was go home and be alone before rehearsals for the tour started.

"It's about Jessica. I know she probably doesn't want you to know, but it's really not a big secret and maybe you can help her out,"Leighanne explained, dropping a light duffel bag to the floor. "I'm really worried about her."

"Why? Can't AJ help her out?"Nick said starting to walk away, anxious to get into the limo. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about Jessica.

Leighanne grabbed the back of his t-shirt,"Nick come on, cut it out. I'm surprised Brian didn't tell you already, but AJ and Jessica broke up."

Nick turned around quickly and Leighanne smiled triumphantly. Nick looked stunned,"Why? What happened?"

"It's a long story and don't you dare ask AJ about it. Haven't you noticed AJ's been miserable lately?"Leighanne demanded.

"It's hard to notice anything with Mandy attached to me all the time,"Nick muttered, looking around quickly for her.

"Well break up with her. It's obvious you don't like her,"Leighanne said, with a carefree wave of her hand.

"Listen, did you call me over to tell me AJ and Jessica broke up? It's not like I care,"Nick said stubbornly.

Leighanne rolled her eyes,"You two are impossible. The both of you. Anyway, no that's not why I called you over. Did you know that Jessica's been having money problems?"

Nick looked stunned again,"No...she has?"

Leighanne nodded,"She lost her apartment. She hasn't been able to keep up with the rent."

Nick's blue eyes widened,"Are you serious? Jesus...she should've told me. I would've helped her. AJ would've helped her. SOMEONE would've helped her."

Leighanne shook her head,"You know how stubborn she is."

Nick ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath,"So what do you want me to do?"

"Maybe um...ask her to live with you?"

Nick laughed sarcastically,"Right. Ok. I'll just casually ask her 'hey Jess wanna come live with me' and it wouldn't be weird or nothing. I'm sure Mandy would just be estatic when I told her. She'd come over and help Jessica decorate her room. It'll be one big goddamn party." Nick's pitch was turning louder as he spoke and Leighanne groaned and put a petite, manicured hand up, signaling him to be quiet.

"Nick, shut up. You know you still love her, who are you fooling? She still loves you too, I know she does. Now I know you don't like Mandy, so stop leading the poor girl on. Not that I feel too sorry for her, but whatever. I asked Jessica to live with Brian and me, but she wants to stay in Florida. If she doesn't find a place she'll have to move back in with her parents. She only has a few days Nick. You don't even know if she'll say yes, but it's worth a shot,"Leighanne tried to persuade. She saw Nick's face slowly soften up and she knew he was going to give in. "What do you say? It would help her out Nick, it really would."

Jessica took a deep breath and plopped herself down on her couch. She was just packing the rest of her stuff into boxes and preparing herself for the surprise visit she was going to make her parents. She hated that she had to go crawling back to them like a child. All the convincing she had to do to reassure them that she could take care of herself was about to be shot to hell, and her pride was about to go with it. It's not so much her father as her mother. She was about to get up again when her phone rang. She reached over and picked it up.

"Hello?"she answered, stifling a yawn.

"Hi Jess..."

Jessica's eyes widened and she stood up abruptly. It was Nick. Why was he calling?? "Nick...uh, hi."

"So um I heard about you and AJ and the apartment."

I groaned,"Leighanne told you didn't she??" Why couldn't she just keep her damn mouth shut? Why couldn't she just not go telling Jessica's personal life to the one person she didn't want finding out.

"Uh, yeah. I'm sorry about everything,"he said, uncomfortably.

"Yeah me too,"Jessica said, softly.

"I know you need a place to stay and uh since you'd have to live back with your mom and dad do you um, wanna uh live with *cough* *cough*..."

"Nick are you ok? What are you saying? Spit it out."

"Doyouwannalivewithmeforawhile?"

"What? Stop mumbling, I can't understand you."

"Uh ok...if you need a place to stay you know you can crash at my place for a while. Um, just until you get on your feet, I mean,"Nick said, quietly.

Jessica's eyes narrowed,"Listen Nick, I don't need a pity invitation that Leighanne put you up to. Don't try to tell me otherwise because I know she gave you some sob story and I don't want to hear it. As a matter of fact I have a place to stay."

"Yeah with your parents. And you know if you go back it'll just give them the satisfaction that they were right and you were wrong. And Leighanne didn't give me a sob story, she just told me and I offered,"Nick said. So he was stretching the truth, but hey, it was for a good cause. They were still friends, and friends help eachother out right?

"You offered?"Jessica said, smiling to herself. "Really?"

"Yeah,"Nick said. "It'll be cool."

"Wait, what about Mandy? Is she cool with this?"

"This isn't about Mandy."

Jessica rolled her eyes,"Come on Nick, get serious. You know she'd never go for it."

"I'm breaking up with her,"he said quickly.

"Huh?"Jessica said quickly, the surprise obvious in her voice.

"You heard me. She's not right for me,"Nick said.

"Ok..."Jessica replied slowly, taking in what he just told her.

"So what do you say?"

"It'll just be for a while right?"

"Whatever you want."

"I guess it's better than going home...and nothing will happen with us right?"

"Whatever you want."

"Nick..."

"What?"

"Nothing, forget it. Ok I'll move in but only for a few weeks."

"Cool. Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"If you don't want anything to happen, nothing will."

"Ok. What about you Nick?"

"I think I made it pretty clear before."

"Oh."

"Do you need help or anything with your things?"Nick asked, changing the topic quickly.

"No I'm good. I called a moving truck to come. What am I gonna do with my couches and stuff?"

"Uh, I guess you can put them in my basement."

"Ok, thanks Nick. It means a lot to know that you still care enough to help me,"Jessica said, feeling her heart rate speed up. Just talking to him did that to her. But it would just seemed wrong if things changed between her and Nick just because her and AJ had broken up and Nick and Mandy weren't doing too good. It was bad enough that they'd kissed while they were both in committed relationships. Too many people would still get hurt and the last thing Jessica wanted to do was hurt AJ more than she did already. She still had to talk to him about the other day and hopefully work things out. Even if he didn't, Jessica still wanted him as a friend. Until the situation cleared up, her and Nick wouldn't be able to get together. It just wouldn't be fair. No matter how much Nick wanted it or how much Jessica wanted it.

"You know I care about you Jess,"Nick replied softly.

"Yeah I know,"Jessica said, playing with the telephone cord. "I'll see you in a little while ok? Probably in a few hours, depending on the moving truck."

"Alright, cya."

"Bye Nick."

Jessica hung up the phone and fell back onto her couch sighing deeply,"What did I just get myself into?"

She knew one thing was for sure, it was going to be pretty interesting living with Nick again...

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Butterfly Kisses

Chapter Fifteen