"Yeah, yeah, whatever helps Jess, I'm all for," she sighed, finishing off her bagel.
"Now, to call Brian and Jess," Nick said, standing up and walking over to the phone. He quickly dialed Brian's cell number, knowing he would be on his way to the studio.
"Hello?" Brian asked, picking up his cell.
"Hey Frick! Did you hear what AJ told me last night?" Nick asked.
"No what?" Brian asked.
"Well.. he told me he slept with Jess....when it was a lie," Nick said.
"No way! What are you going to do to get back at him?" Brian asked.
"Well, I've got a plan, but I'll need you're help," Nick started.
"Sure, go ahead," Brian said, as Nick shared his plan.
"Perfect, sounds good to me," Brian said.
"Thanks. Will you call Jess? I need to get ready to go to the studio," Nick said.
"Sure," Brian said, hanging up. He dialed Jess's number, and waited for her to pick up. "Hello?" I asked.
"Jess, Nick has this brilliant plan to get back at AJ for what he did last night. Only problem, we need your help," Brian said, repeating the same steps Nick told him.
"Great. I'll meet you at the studio," I said, running up to my room and brushing my hair and teeth. I grabbed my stuff, and jumped into my car. His plan was perfect, and I couldn't wait to see the look on AJ's face when we did this. "Hey, AJ, last night was so fun," I said, winking at him, as I walked through the front door of the studio. I saw everyone who was needed, AJ, Nick, Brian, BJ and me, including the other guys.
"Huh?" he asked, confused.
"Oh, you remember, on the couch," I said, running my fingers across his shoulders and down his spine.
"Oh yeah," he said, smiling,
"But it would have been more fun if you had just went with the flow."
"Sorry, it was my first time. I'll get better, promise," I said, leading him to the closest chair to sit down.
"So, how does it feel cheating on Nick? Make you want to come back to me?" AJ asked, bringing up a sour subject. I knew he thought we were talking about just a kiss, but everyone else thought we were talking about sleeping together. Before I could answer, Nick came running through the door, right on cue. "AJ! What the hell?! What made you think you could sleep with my girlfriend?" Nick asked, practically yelling.
"It was both of us," AJ said, standing up. It was definitely risky territory he was entering, but he wanted to see how long he could keep this little "white lie" going. Before Nick could get another word out, I jumped up and kissed him with all the passion left inside of me. "It was nothing, Nick. Can't you see I only love you?" I asked, trying my best to impersonate Mindy. I knew AJ was probably fuming behind me, but I did my best to keep my gaze specifically on Nick.
"Oh, baby, I thought you'd promised yourself something, a long time ago. What happened to that age-old "I'll-wait-till-I'm-married" promise?" Nick asked.
"Come here, I'll tell you everything," I said, grabbing his hand and leading him out the door.
"How am I doing?" I asked, as we exited the building.
"Perfect, I'm so proud," Nick said.
"Wait, we can't laugh or anything, cuz he thinks this is serious. Only at the end can we kiss," I said.
"Well then, I'll have to control myself till then," he said, grinning. As soon as the couple left the building, Brian took on his roll.
"Okay, AJ, you've got plenty of explaining to do."
"Well, isn't it obvious. Something just sparked between me and Jess, and it just never died down. Nick just got in the way," AJ said.
"Can't you see how much you've hurt him? You're supposed to be his friend," Brian replied.
"Me?! He stole my girlfriend! It was the LEAST I could do to get back at him," AJ said. He tried to pass, but Brian wouldn't let him.
"AJ, you have plenty of girls drooling for you. When one passes, can't you just understand she's gone? She's with Nick now. I'm afraid to ask how you'd go around with other girls' old boyfriends," Brian said, sitting down,
"I'm sorry about what happened, buddy. But you can't change the past. Why can't you just be happy for him?" AJ thought about it for a moment. He almost came clean, but still had a little dignity left in him. He walked away, and came face-to-face with BJ Carter. "Hi," she said quietly.
"BJ, don't look so pitiful. You know what happened, why aren't you angry too?" AJ barked.
"Don't worry, I am. But, if that's what you wanted to do, then so be it. I just don't see why it was with Jess. She's one of the sweetest girls I know, and she has a boyfriend. It may be Nick, but God knows they were meant to be together," she said. He looked up in time to see Jess and Nick, kiss outside the door. It finally hit him, it was true. He couldn't keep running from this, she was happy. They both strolled in, hand in hand, and it took all of AJ's strength to hold himself back from punching the daylights out of Nick. "Excuse me, everyone. I have an announcement," AJ said, standing on the closest chair. Everyone circled around him.
"I have 2 things. One, the whole about me and Jess, it's not true. I tried to kiss her, but she pushed me off. Sorry," AJ said.
"Um.. AJ, we knew. We just wanted to see how long you'd keep us THINKING it was true," I said.
"Thanks. That brings me to my second thing," AJ said, "I know I've been acting like a total asshole with the whole Nick-and-Jess thing. I'm sorry you guys, I was just shocked." He bounced off the chair, to stand in front of me and Nick.
"I just realized how happy you are together, and I'm sorry how against it I was at first. But I want you to know, I'm behind you 100% now, no matter what," he concluded.
"Thank you AJ, that means a lot to me," I said, tears forming in my eyes. I put my arms around his neck, and quickly kissed him on the cheek. He smiled, hoping that wouldn't be the last kiss he got from her. "Thanks man," Nick agreed, slapping hands with him, once I left.
"It's good to have you back," Brian said.
"Excuse me, but don't we have some recording to do? Let's make this our best album ever!" Howie exclaimed.
"See you later, honey," I said, kissing Nick once more.
"Jess, c'mon! Come over to our house, you've got some major secret-spilling to do," BJ said, grabbing my arm, and practically dragging me out the door.
"I'll meet you at 6, we'll have dinner. Somewhere," Nick said, before the door blocked the two of us.
"Good job, Beej!" I exclaimed.
"You too," she said, hugging me. We got into our cars, and drove to the Carter house.
