Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2005 02:28:30 -0700 (PDT)
From: slpwriter <slpwriter@yahoo.com>
Subject: Nick Lachey: My Everything-89

Hello, Everyone!

I'm back with another chapter of "My Everything."

Thanks for all of your support! Without it, I don't
think I could have written this story for this long.

Now on with the story.

First of all, let me just say that this is my first
time writing any kind of fiction like this.

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of total fiction and is
not meant to imply anything about the sexualities of
Nick and Drew Lachey or anyone else mentioned in
this story.

If you are too young to read this, or if
Homosexuality offends you, then please don't
continue any further and leave.

Other 98 Degrees stories I'd like to recommend are.

"Give Me Just One Night" by Unanoche.
"69 with Jeff Timmons" by Zachary Scott Pritt
"Nick Lachey" by Ken.
"98 Degrees Is Hot" by Gay Night
"The Reunion" by RinSong.
"Loving Nick Lachey" by Jordan
"Playing Doctor with 98 Degrees" by Brian
"This Gift" by Sprout

and finally:

"What I feel for you" by Thack.


Now, I"ll let you get on with the story.

Enjoy.


Previously on "My Everything".....


I lost my composure right then. I brought a hand to my
face and covered my eyes as the first sob escaped my
lips.

"She said that you never loved me the same way that
you love her." I said to her. "She said that you only
tried to love me, out of pity, because I was raped,
and you wanted to make it up to me. So, she said you
played my little charade and ended up playing me like
a violin in the process."

"How dare she say that to you?!" He said. "She sure
had alot of nerve!"

I removed my hand and turned to look at Nick. He was
really angry now. But, I had a question to ask him.

"Was she right?" I asked, in between sobs. "Did you
ever really love me?"

"No, she wasn't!" Nick said, in shock.Then he cupped
my face.

"Sean, my love for you was very real." Nick said,
sweetly. "I don't want you to ever doubt that."

"Thank you, Nick." I said, as I hugged him again. "I'm
sorry I had to ask you that, but I needed to hear it."

"Don't apologize." He said. "Anyway, what else
happened?"

I pulled back from Nick, briefly.

"Well, then she went to leave and then said that she
wanted to clarify something for me." I explained to
him. "That's when she told me that I wasn't the
world's greatest son, and that he'd died a long time
ago! After that, she left."

"I'm really sorry that you had to go through that,
Sean." Nick said. "Jessica had no right to come down
on you like that."

I turned away and leaned down to pick up the TV
remote. I switched on the television and then set the
remote back down on the table. Then, I also put my
drink down, too.

"Do you want to know what the worst thing about this
whole tragedy was?" I asked him.

"What?" He asked, curious as to what that was.

"When I saw on the news that Jessica had been
attacked, tonight, all I could feel was relief." I
explained to him, as I started to lose it again. "I
wondered if she was dead. And if that had been the
case, I knew that the hell in my life was over. It was
finally over and I wouldn't have to worry about
Jessica anymore. I wouldn't have to be put through
anymore pain by her."

I looked up at Nick and saw that he was shocked by my
revelation. He was looking at me, intensely.

"If it's wrong for me to feel that way, Nick, I'm
sorry." I sobbed. "But, it's how I feel. It's the only
way I can feel."

After saying all of that, I couldn't go on. I sank
down onto the couch and buried my head in my hand as I
allowed myself to cry my heart out.

Nick just stood there, looking down at me. After
hearing everything that I'd said, he wasn't sure what
to say or what to do. He didn't even know what to
feel, either.

Finally Nick sat down beside me, on the couch. I sat
up and took a look at him, wondering what he was
thinking. I could see the mixed emotions that were
playing on his face. It looked like he wanted to be
angry with me, but at the same time, I think he felt
sorry for me.

Nick didn't say anything. Instead, he put an arm
around my shoulder and pulled me into his arms. When
he did, I clung to him like I would never let him go.

"Oh God, Nick!" I said, as I sobbed hard. "I never
wanted to hurt you like this! Please, forgive me! I
love you so much!"

After I'd finished rambling, I heard Nick gasp, in
shock. It was then and there that I realized that I'd
let the truth be known. I had revealed my true
feelings for Nick. "Now what? How was he going to
react?"

Before I could find out, I heard the door slam shut.
Startled, Nick and I both turned to see Joe Simpson,
standing near the door, along with Danny, Jeff,
Justin, and Detective Adams.

"I KNEW IT!" Joe bellowed. "NICK, I TOLD YOU THAT HE
WASN'T OVER YOU! NOW, I'M MORE CONVINCED THAN EVER
THAT
IT WAS HIM WHO TRIED TO MURDER MY DAUGHTER, TONIGHT!"


**********
CHAPTER 89
**********

INSIDE SEAN'S APARTMENT..........

I quickly rose to my feet and wiped the remains of my
tears away and tried to quit sobbing. But it wasn't
easy.

"What the hell gives you the right to come barging
into my home like you own it?!" I hissed at Joe,
furiously. "Get the hell out of here, right now!"

"I don't think so, you little home wrecker!" Joe
Simpson, snarled. "I have every right to come in here,
after the way you snuck out of the hospital earlier,
to avoid being questioned by Detective Adams, here."

When Joe said that, I looked over at Detective Adams,
who was standing there, looking at me. And he
definitely wasn't pleased with me at that moment.

"Joe, I'm exhausted!" I said to him. "Hell, everyone
is! You are! Jeff and Danny are, too!"

I turned around and looked at Nick, who was still
looking at me, through tired eyes. But, he also had
that confused look on his face that I didn't like
seeing.

"And Nick is too." I said, tiredly. "So, excuse me if
I wasn't in the mood to be questioned right there in
the hospital. I need my rest."

Joe crossed his arms, and gave me a look of contempt.

"Well, that's just too bad." He said. "You won't be
getting any rest until Detective Adams has questioned
you."

As I looked around at everyone else, I could see that
I was outnumbered here. So, I was forced to make a
hasty decision.

"Alright." I said. "I'll talk with Detective Adams."

"You're damn right you will!" Joe snarled at me.
"Because you're not going to avoid it this time!"

I shot Joe a death look.

"Keep it up, Joe!" I threatened him. "Keep it up and
you'll be the next person who winds up in the hospital
tonight!"

That did it. I'd finally hit a nerve, because Joe's
temper turned red hot almost immediately.

"You Son of A--!" Joe started, as he lunged at me.

This time, Nick wasn't quick enough to react and when
Joe brushed by him, he was knocked into the couch.
But, I was ready for Joe.

As Joe reached out to grab ahold of me, I quickly
sidestepped him, and grabbed one of his arms and
pulled it up behind his back. Then with my other arm,
I pushed him hard in the back, knocking him against
the wall, near my mantle, face first.

Joe yelled out in pain, as he hit the wall, and I
pulled the back of his arm up even harder, intent on
hurting him a bit.

"I'm warning you, you fucking piece of shit!" I said,
through gritted teeth. "If you ever try to attack me
again, I swear I'll kick your ass clear into the next
millennium!"

All Joe could do was whimper, in pain. By this time,
Jeff, Danny, Nick, Justin, and Detective Adams were
headed over to separate us.

"You're not going to get away with this, you fucking
little whore!" Joe yelled at me.

In response to his insult, I pulled his arm up again,
hard. Joe screamed out in pain.

"Sean, let go of him!" Nick begged me, in a worried
tone. "You're hurting him!"

I ignored Nick and focused on Joe, who was still
struggling to get free of my hold on him.

"YOU JUST KEEP THE INSULTS COMING, AND I'LL HURT YOU
WORSE THAN THAT!" I screamed at him.

I felt someone grab me and start pulling me away from
Joe. I didn't resist and let go of Joe.

"Get him out of here!" I yelled as I turned back to
see that it was Danny and Justin who had ahold of me.
I saw Nick and Jeff get ahold of Joe to keep him
restrained. Detective Adams had moved in between me
and Joe, so that there wasn't anymore blood shed.

"Alright, that is enough!" Detective Adams said,
sternly. "Both of you calm down!"

When Joe finally was turned around to face me, his
face was as red as a lobster, partly from rage, and
the rest from pain. He was rubbing his arm that I'd
pinned behind him and had hurt.

"You're not getting away with this, Sean!" Joe fumed.
"I ought to hit you with assault charges!"

"You go ahead and try it!" I challenged him. "You try
it, and I'll file counter charges so fast, it'll make
your ugly old head swim!"

"If you both can't calm yourselves down, I can throw
you both in a jail cell!" Detective Adams threatened
both Joe and me.

I couldn't resist throwing out a sarcastic remark.

"Make that a padded cell for him!" I said,
sarcastically. "He's even crazier than Jessica!"

Joe growled at that, and attempted to lung at me, but
Nick and Jeff kept a strong hold on him.

"Will you guys get him out of here?!" I asked, in
frustration. "I've had more than enough for one
night!"

I saw Nick and Jeff look at each other, then at Joe,
and saw them both nod in agreement. Apparently I
wasn't the only one who'd had enough.

"Come on, Joe." Nick said, patting his back. "Let's
get back to the hospital. Jessica needs us right now."

Joe calmed down, so Jeff and Nick slowly released him.
Joe started to step in my direction, but stopped when
Detective Adams stepped in front of him. Then, Joe
pointed a finger at me.

"This isn't over, Sean!" Joe growled at me. "If I find
out that you did try to murder my daughter, I'm going
to come after you with everything I've got!"

I just rolled my eyes, in exasperation. His threats
didn't intimidate me, even slightly. I was convinced I
could handle anything he could possibly throw at me.

"Just get out!" I said. "If you want to come after me,
legally, fine! Knock yourself out! It'll just be a
wasted of precious time and money for you!"

Joe shook his head angrily.

"Let's go, guys!" He said, in fury. "If I stay here
any longer, I will end up in jail!"

Joe stomped past Detective Adams and out of the house.
I put a hand to my face and sighed, in relief.

"I'm going to go out there with him and get the car
ready." Jeff said. "Justin, are you coming?"

"Yeah." Justin said. "Would you mind taking me back to
the hotel? I need to get some rest."

"Sure." Jeff nodded. "Come on."

Then Jeff turned back to me.

"Good Luck, Sean." Jeff said. "I have a feeling you're
gonna need it."

Jeff turned to leave. He said goodbye to Danny as he
walked out. I stood there, not sure how to take Jeff's
words. I didn't know if he meant that he thought I was
guilty or innocent of murder.

Justin turned and looked back at me. I could see that
he was trying to analyze me or something.

"Sean, I hope Joe is wrong about you." He said. "Not
just for our sakes, but for yours."

I frowned at Justin, wondering what was up. "Was he
turning against me?" I could tell that he had his
suspicions, but I didn't say anything. I wasn't about
to dignify what he'd said with a response.

"Justin, just go." I said, in exhaustion. "You need to
get some sleep. We can talk about this, in the
morning."

Justin shook his head at me and then sighed in defeat.
Then, he looked over at Nick.

"Goodnight, Nick." He said. "I'll see you and the rest
of the guys in the morning."

"Goodnight, Justin." Nick said. "Count on it."

Justin then left and closed the door behind him. Then,
there was silence. But only briefly. I turned around
to see Nick, Danny, and Detective Adams, all looking
at me. I could see that Danny and Detective Adams were
looking at me, intensely. Nick, was another story. I
couldn't tell what he was thinking at that moment.

My actions tonight were bad enough, sneaking out of
the hospital, and coming home without a word to
anyone, but it was even worse that I'd lost my cool
and threatened Joe the way I had. But worse than that,
it made me look foolish in front of my friends. I
could definitely sense it in their accusing looks.

I looked over at Danny and decided to excuse him from
the room.

"Go to bed, Danny." I said, firmly. "We'll talk about
things in the morning."

Danny didn't look like he was going to move anytime
soon, so I decided to put a little more seriousness in
my tone.

"Now." I said, in an authoritative tone.

Danny saw how serious I was and knew that he wasn't
going to get anything out of me about what happened
tonight.

"Fine." He said. "But, I'm still mad at you for
leaving me at the hospital. that was really childish
of you to do!"

I sighed in frustration and raised a hand to my
forehead. Danny turned towards Nick.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, Nick." He said, then
turned to Detective Adams. "Goodnight, Detective, and
good luck."

Nick and Detective Adams, bid Danny goodnight, as
Danny walked away to the spare bedroom to get some
sleep. It was clear that he was beyond exhausted.

When he was gone, I heard Nick speak.

"Well, I'm going to head back to the hotel." Nick
said. "I have to get some sleep so that I can be ready
for the press conference, later this morning."

I turned back to Nick and saw how tired he was. His
eyes were barely open.

"Nick, I don't think you'll be able to drive back to
the hotel." I said to him. "Look at you. You're
falling asleep on your feet."

"Yes, I will." Nick said. "It's not that far."

"Are you sure?" I asked him. "I'd be more than happy
to drive you back to the hotel. You can pick up your
car, tomorrow."

"No, that's alright." Nick insisted. "I can manage."

He then started walking to the door. As he opened the
door, he glanced back at Detective Adams.

"Detective, please find the person who did this to my
wife." He said. "In the meantime, I'm going to be
doing the best I can to hold my family together, right
now."

"I will do what I can, Mr. Lachey." He said. "And, if
you know of anything that could be of help to me, in
this case, please don't hesitate to call and let me
know."

"I will, Detective." Nick said, then looked at me.
"I'll see you, tomorrow, Sean."

"You too, Nick." I said to him, as he left. "Get some
rest."

Nick left the house and left me alone with Detective
Adams. I looked over at the Detective, intent on
getting this interrogation over with so I could have
some peace and quiet.

"Alright, Detective." I said, wiping my tears of
sleepiness away. "I'm ready. So, where did we leave
off?"

*******************************************************
BACK AT THE HOSPITAL, IN JESSICA'S ROOM............

Drew and Casey were still sitting in the chairs next
to Jessica's bedside. Drew had ahold of Jessica's hand
and was talking to her, softly.

"Jessica, it's me, Drew." He said. "If you can hear
me, I want you to know something."

Casey watched as Drew talked to Jessica and saw a tear
running down his face.

"I want you to know that you have my full support." He
told her. "Everyone is rooting for you. Casey is, Nick
and the rest of the guys are. Kandi is, too. You've
got alot of people who want to see you get better."

Jessica still wasn't responding yet, meaning there had
been no change since she had been brought into the
hospital.

Then, the door opened, and Tina, Cate, and John walked
into the room. All of them had coffee in their hands.

"How is she?" Tina asked them, hoping for some good
news. Her hopes shattered when she saw the looks on
Drew's and Casey's faces.

"There's been no change." Casey told them. "She's
still unresponsive."

Casey and Drew both got up so that Tina could sit back
down next to her daughter's bedside.

"Here, you two." Cate said, holding up a hot coffee
cup. "John and I brought you, both, some coffee from
the cafeteria. You both look like you could use some."

She held the one out, that she was holding, to Drew.
Drew accepted it and managed a weak smile from his
mother, while Casey accepted his cup of coffee from
John.

"Thanks, Mom." Drew said, tiredly. She nodded, as she
watched him take a sip of it.

"Thanks, Mr. Lachey." Casey said to him, as he took
his coffee cup from him.

"You're welcome, Casey." He said. "And, please, call
me John."

Casey nodded. Then he started yawning. John saw this
and noticed that Drew and Casey were both tired.

"Why don't the two of you head back to your hotel and
get some sleep. He suggested. "There's nothing more
you can do here."

"I think he's right." Cate agreed. "Drew, you look
like you could use some sleep too."

"I sure could." Drew said. "Why don't we head back to
the hotel and sleep for awhile, Casey?"

"Alright." Casey agreed. "Come on, let's go."

Drew looked over at Tina.

"Tina, will you promise to have someone call us if
there's any change in Jessica's condition?" He asked
her. She nodded.

"Yes, I will." Tina said. "Thank you, both, for being
here. Your support helps alot."

Drew leaned down and kissed Tina, lightly on the
cheek.

"Don't lose faith." He said to her. "I'm sure that
Jessica will come out of this, alright."

Tina nodded and Drew turned to go. Casey was at the
door, waiting for him.

"Drive safe, you two." Cate said, as Casey opened the
door.

"We will, Mom." Drew said as he exited the room. Then
Casey left as well and closed the door.

*******************************************************
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE BEST WESTERN HOTEL........

NICK'S ROOM.......

Nick opened the door to his room and walked in to find
Kandi, asleep, on the spare bed. Justin and Jeff were
right behind him.

"She's asleep." Nick whispered. "Should we wake her
up?"

Justin shook his head no. He didn't like that idea. As
much as he would have wanted to have her sleep in his
room where he could keep a closer eye on her, he
didn't want to disturb her. She needed the rest.

"No, don't do that." Justin whispered to Nick. "I'll
let her sleep in here, tonight, if that's ok with
you."

"Yeah, it's fine." Nick whispered back. "Come on,
let's go into the living room area and we'll talk
there."

Jeff, who hadn't said a word since they came in,
walked into the family room with Nick, while Justin
carefully leaned over and shut off the baby monitor so
Kandi wouldn't be disturbed if she woke up. Nick was
going to be in the room anyway if she did.

Then Justin joined Nick and Jeff in the living room.
As he did, he happened to glance at the mini bar there
and noticed the bottles of booze there.

"Would any of you care for a drink?" He asked. "I
could use some before I hit the sheets."

"No thanks." Jeff said, "I'm going to head to my room
in a few minutes.

Justin nodded, then looked in Nick's direction.

"How about you, Nick?" He asked. "Would you like
anything?"

Nick wasn't sure if he should, but then he decided
that maybe it couldn't hurt.

"Sure." He said. "Pour me a glass of Merlot, please."

"Coming right up." Justin said, as he turned back to
the minibar and grabbed a wine glass. Then he pulled a
bottle of Merlot from the shelf there. He opened it
and poured Nick some into the wine glass.

When he was done, he set the bottle back down on the
table there and handed the wine glass to Nick after
he'd checked on Nicole and then turned around to face
him.

"Thanks." Nick said, accepting the glass from Justin.
He took a sip of it as she sat down on the couch, near
Nicole's crib.

"Can you believe what happened over at Sean's,
earlier?" Justin asked, as he turned around to get
himself something from the bar. "That was quite a
show."

"I know." Nick said, nodding. "I have seen many sides
to Sean, but that one was a first."

"I agree." Jeff said. "I almost believed Sean meant
what he said when he threatened to put Joe in the
hospital. And seeing how Joe went after Sean and the
way Sean handled him, I have to wonder what would have
happened if Danny, Justin and I had not accompanied
Joe over to Sean's."

Justin came over to sit next to Jeff, with a glass of
scotch in his hand.

"Things could have been alot worse." He replied. "I
wonder if Sean really would have put Joe in the
hospital tonight."

"Well," Nick said, as he sipped his glass of wine
again. "I'm just glad that I was there so that things
didn't get out of hand in case Joe had shown up there
alone."

"Justin nodded. Then, something occurred to him.

"Why were you there, Nick?" He asked. "You never did
tell us."

Nick sat back and looked at Justin and Jeff. He knew
that he had quite a story to tell them.

*******************************************************
BACK AT SEAN"S APARTMENT............

"Let's continue from where we left off, back at the
hospital." Detective Adams said, as he opened his
notepad and grabbed his pen. "The last question I'd
asked you, before that nurse interrupted us, was if
you knew that Jessica Simpson was in the hospital in
acoma. Did you?"

"I knew she was in the hospital, tonight." I said to
him. "I saw on the news, tonight, that she'd been
attacked, but I didn't know how serious it was until
Danny came by and told me."

Detective Adams wrote that down, in his notepad. When
he was done, he looked up at me and proceeded to ask
me the next question.

"What time was it when you heard it on the news?" He
asked me.

I'd remembered that it had been after 10:30 when I'd
walked into the house, tonight. I'd turned on the TV
and was flipping through the channels.

"It was about 10:40p.m. when I saw it on TV." I told
Detective Adams

"How do you know that for sure?" Detective Adams,
asked, as he wrote.

"Because, I'd looked at the clock just before I turned
on the TV." I told him, as I started getting kind of
anxious. I knew that the harder questions were coming.
It was just a matter of when.

Detective Adams, finished writing that down and looked
back up at me.

"Where were you in between the times of 10:00 and
10:40p.m.?" The Detective asked me.

I knew that had been coming. So, I had to be careful
not to make any mistakes in my answers, or Detective
Adams would know I was lying.

"I was here, at home, taking down the Christmas Tree."
I told him. Of course that was only half the truth,
but he didn't know that. And I certainly didn't want
to tell him that

"The whole time?" He asked me.

"The whole time." I said, seriously.

"You didn't go anywhere or do anything?" He asked me,
as he studied my reaction.

Luckily, I was too smart for him. I put on my Poker
face and kept my emotions in check. Although, I didn't
show it, I was definitely scared.

"No, I didn't." I lied to him. "I stayed here. The way
that it was storming earlier, I was not about to go
out in all of that."

Detective Adams looked at me. I couldn't tell if he
bought my answers or not. He was looking at me the way
a detective is supposed to when he's doing an
interrogation.

"Is there anyone who can confirm your whereabouts,
tonight?"

I shook my head.

"No, I don't think so." I told him. "I was here,
alone. I didn't have anyone else over at all,
tonight."

That answer seemed ok with Detective Adams, because he
didn't seem to have anything else to add to that.

"So, are we done, here?" I asked him. "I really do
need my rest."

"Not quite." He said. "I have a few more questions to
ask you. But, first I'm going to do a quick review."

"Go ahead." I said. "I'm not going anywhere."

Detective Adams took a moment to look over his notes
on what he had so far. Once he was done, he looked
back up at me.

"From what I have here, in your earlier statements,
you said that you and Nick Lachey are good friends,
yet you and Jessica Simpson are not. I find that quite
interesting, which leads me to my next question.

"What?" I asked him, as I turned away and walked a
bit.

I heard a few seconds of silence. Then, I heard a
question that I wasn't prepared for.

"Are you in love with her husband?" I heard Detective
Adams ask.

I froze in place. "How was I supposed to answer that?"

*******************************************************
AT THE SHERATON HOTEL, IN CASEY'S ROOM.....

Casey opened the door and he and Drew walked into the
room. Casey shut the door behind him and Drew plopped
himself down on the bed.

"Man, I am beat." He said, as he started to take off
his shoes. "I could probably sleep for a week
straight."

"I know how you feel." Casey said, as he removed his
shoes and started on his socks. "I feel the same way."

Drew stood up and took off his shirt, revealing his
tight and toned body.

"I wonder what's going to happen now that Jessica is
here, in critical condition." Drew asked, out loud.
"If things don't improve for her soon, I may have to
stay here until she does. I won't be able to go back
to New York with you."

"I've even wondered about that, myself." Casey said,
as he stripped down to his boxers. "If you have to
stay here, then that means I have to go back to New
York, alone. I'd have to. My job is back in New York.
So, is my home. And all my patients who I have to
check up on."

"I know." Drew said, as he removed his pants and was
now in only his boxers, as well. "Let's just hope that
everything works out, so that I can go back to New
York with you."

"I hope so." Casey said. "I'm praying that you will.
But, if you can't, then I'm not going to worry about
it. Right now, your family needs you more than I do."

"Yeah, I know you're right." Drew said, as he pulled
back the covers from the bed and got into it. "But it
won't be the same without you, here. I'd miss you,
terribly."

"I'd miss you too." Casey said, as he shut off the
light and climbed in bed, next to Drew. "But, now's
not the time for me to be selfish about it. Your
family needs you and that's all that matters right
now."

He planted a kiss on Drew's lips. Then, he brought his
hand to Drew's cheek and caressed it gently, with his
thumb.

"Don't worry your handsome head about it, anymore." He
said. "Let's get some sleep."

Drew snuggled into Casey and laid his head on his
chest. then, with a huge grin, he looked back up at
Casey.

"You in the mood for some hot lovin', Baby?" He asked.

Even though it was dark, Casey could tell that Drew
was grinning from the tone of his voice. He laughed.

"Are you kidding me?" He asked, in between laugh.
"You're not too tired? I sure am, that's for sure."

"I was just joking." Drew said. "I'm too tired for it
as well. Raincheck?"

"Oh yeah." Casey said, kissing Drew again. "I'm going
to hold you to it."

Drew laughed.

"Ok, baby." He said. "I wouldn't have it any other
way."

Drew laid back down on Casey's chest.

"Goodnight, my handsome Doctor." Drew said, as he
yawned.

"Goodnight, my handsome Sprout." Casey answer back,
with Drew's most popular nickname.

Given how tired they both were, they were asleep
within minutes.

*******************************************************
BACK AT THE BEST WESTERN HOTEL, IN NICK'S ROOM......

"Wow." Jeff said, as he stood up. "That's some story."

"Yeah." Justin said. "Jessica sure was nasty to Sean,
tonight. Not to mention you."

"Yeah, I know." Nick said. "But, I don't really
believe that Jessica would have done something like
that. I think she was just blowing smoke.

Nick looked over at Jeff and noticed that he had a
very intense look on his face. Justin saw it too and
wondered what he was thinking about.

"Jeff, what is it?" He asked. "You look so intense."

Jeff looked at Nick and then back at Justin. What he
was going to say would no doubt shock them.

"Now, that I think about it," He said. "and from
everything that you just told us and what we witnessed
tonight at Sean's, I have to wonder if Sean did have
something to do with Jessica's accident tonight."

Justin didn't look too shocked by that, but Nick was.

"Jeff, come on." He said. "Besides Danny, I know Sean
better than anyone. He was my husband, once. Sure, he
has some issues with Jessica, but he's always tried to
make nice with her. No. There is no way that he would
have tried to do something like this."

"How do you know that, Nick?" He asked. "With
everything she's done to him up until tonight, how
could Sean not have been pushed to the edge?"

"Jeff has a point, Nick." Justin said, before Nick
could say anything. "When Kandi and I were at dinner,
we were talking about Jessica and how she's been
treating Sean since he came back into our lives. Kandi
and I were talking about how Sean's been a real
trooper through all of this family drama that Jessica
has put him through."

"So?" Nick asked. "What does that have to do with
anything?"

Justin looked at Nick, knowing that what he was about
to say would have a great impact on him.

"Kandi said that Sean has taken alot more flack from
Jessica than she thought he would, but eventually at
some point that he was going to snap. And if he did,
she didn't want to be anywhere near him."

Nick was rendered speechless at that moment. He
realized that what Justin had said, made sense. But he
still found it hard to believe that Sean could resort
to violence as extreme as murder.

As Nick sat there, speechless, his mind flashed back
to an earlier moment.

<<FLASHBACK>>

"Oh god, Nick!" He heard Sean sob. "I never meant to
hurt you like this! Please forgive me! I love you so
much!"

<<END OF FLASHBACK>>

"No." Nick said, shaking his head. "Sean didn't do
this. He didn't try to kill my wife! It's not
possible!"

"Nick, think about it." Jeff urged him. "Jessica
threatened to out you to the world about your
relationship with Sean, as well as try to take your
daughter away from you. She destroyed Sean's ornament
that had been very special to him. She lied to him and
said that you only loved Sean, out of pity, which was
a lie. And then, we heard Sean say that he loves you
when we were at Sean's earlier after we found out that
he snuck out of the hospital."

"So what?" Nick whispered, fiercely. "Sean was upset
because of the things that Jessica said and did to
him! Can you really blame him?! She really did a
number on him, tonight." I didn't take what he said,
personally! Sean knows that it's over between us and
we will never be anything more than good friends!"

"Nick, I think you're in denial." Justin said. "The
facts don't lie. I think the question would be "What
would be Sean's motive for wanting Jessica dead?" From
everything you've just told us, his motive would be to
protect you from being outed to the whole world. He
wanted to make sure that you didn't lose everything
that was most important to you."

"I am not in denial!" Nick was starting to get mad,
now. "Sean is innocent! He didn't do it!"

"Shh!!" Jeff said, gesturing towards the baby crib.
But it was too late. Nicole started crying.

"Go to bed, you two!" Nick told them. "I've heard
enough on this subject tonight!"

He got up and went over to get Nicole out of her crib.

"Do you think that we want to believe that Sean is
capable of murder, either?" Justin asked him. "No, we
don't. But, the facts speak for themselves."

"I don't care about the facts, Justin!" Nick said, as
he lifted Nicole out of the crib. "There is no solid
evidence that Sean could have done this!"

"What about the fact that he won't tell any of us what
happened to his hand, tonight?" Jeff asked him. "If it
was just an accident, why couldn't he just tell us?!"

"Enough!" Nick said. "I don't want to hear anymore!
Both of you, just go to your rooms and get some sleep
now! We'll talk about this, in the morning!"

Jeff and Justin could both see that Nick was beyond
upset now. They watched him sit down on the couch and
try to calm down Nicole, who was crying loudly.

"Alright." Justin said. "Come on, Jeff. Let's go."

Justin turned and walked out of the living room. Jeff
walked to the doorway, but turned and looked back at
Nick, momentarily. Nick looked up at him from where he
was sitting. He didn't say anything. But, he gave Jeff
that look again, which meant that Jeff wasn't going to
get anywhere with him where Sean with concerned. So,
Jeff decided to just leave him be. He left the room
and headed for Justin's so that he could talk to him
before he left to go to his room.

Nick sat there, on the couch, holding his little girl,
who was calming down now, and shook his head.

"Sean didn't do this!" He kept saying to himself.
"Sean wouldn't do this to Jessica! He's innocent! He
has to be!"

As Nicole started to drift off again, Nick thought
about Sean and wondered how his interrogation was
going with Detective Adams.

*******************************************************
BACK AT SEAN'S APARTMENT.........

I still couldn't get over the shock of Detective
Adams, asking me if I was in love with Nick. "Was I
really that obvious?" I couldn't have been. But, then
I remembered that he had been there, when Joe, Danny,
Jeff, and Justin had walked in on me, crying in Nick's
arms. He'd heard me say that I loved him. Which was
true, but he didn't need to know that.

I turned back to the Detective and gave him an answer.

"Of course I love Nick." I told him. "He's been a
great friend to me."

Detective Adams gave me a strange look. Obviously that
wasn't the answer he wanted.

"That's not what I asked you." He said. "I asked you
if you were in love with him?"

Now, I was starting to get angry. I was severely tired
and this interrogation was getting us nowhere, and
frankly, I didn't see why I had to put up with it.

"Listen, Detective," I started telling him. "I think
it would be best if we wrap this up, right now. I'm
very tired and I need my rest."

I had hoped that this would get him off my back. But,
unfortunately, no such luck.

"You seem very anxious to get rid of me." Detective
Adams, said, looking at me, suspiciously. "Why is
that?"

The Detective was really starting to annoy me with his
questions. But, I knew that If I lost my cool, then
he'd get even more suspicious that he already was.

"I'm tired, Detective Adams." I told him. "That's
why."

"I can see that." He said. "I have one more question
and then we'll wrap this up for now."

I breathed a sigh of relief. Little did I know that my
relief was going to be short lived.

"What is you blood type?" Detective Adams, asked, out
of the blue.

"My blood type?" I asked again, in shock. "It's B
positive. Why?"

The Detective looked like he wanted to say something,
but decided not to.

"Thank you, Mr. Perry." He said, jotting that down and
closing his notepad. "I have what I need for now. I
will go now so you can get your rest."

"I'll show you out, Detective." I said, walking to the
door with him.

Detective Adams opened the door and walked out. But,
before he left, he turned back to me.

"Oh and before I forget." He said. "I may have more
questions for you, later, as this investigation
continues. I'd advise you not to leave town until the
investigation comes to a close."

I looked at the Detective and saw it in his eyes. Even
though he wouldn't admit it, he was definitely
considering me as a suspect in this case. Plus, I got
the feeling that there was something he wasn't telling
me. But right now, I didn't care. I just wanted him
gone.

"Fine." I said. "It's not like I'm going anywhere."

"See that you don't." Detective Adams, said. "Have a
good day."

Then he left and I closed the door behind me and
locked it. The last thing I wanted was anymore
unexpected surprises like I'd had earlier.

Then, after shutting out all of the lights in the
house, I headed for my room. As I got to the door, I
peeked in on Danny and saw that he was fast asleep.
Then I walked into my bedroom and started taking off
my clothes.

Once that was done, I walked to the laundry room and
threw them into the hamper with my other dirty clothes
to be washed.

I re-entered my bedroom and shut off the light. Then,
I crawled into bed and pulled the covers tightly over
me. Finally, I was going to get some rest.

But, I was still worried about Detective Adams. The
way he told me not to leave town, meant that he was
considering me as a suspect in Jessica's attack
tonight. I wished at that moment that I'd never left
the house last night. I shouldn't have let Jessica get
to me like she had. Now, everything was a mess.

I looked at the clock on the table, next to my bed. It
read 4:30a.m. I had sure been up a long time. But so
had the guys, now that I thought about it. But two
people that I knew wouldn't be getting much rest was
Joe and Tina Simpson. They would most likely be
spending the night in the hospital, next to their
daughter's hospital bed.

"Stay strong, Sean." I said to myself. "Everything
will be alright."

But I wasn't so sure things would be alright. I fell
asleep, wondering what was in store of me, later
today."



To Be Continued........?

Well, that's all for this one. I hope you all enjoyed
it!

"What happens next?" Oh, if you only knew!"

Stay tuned.

slpwriter@yahoo.com