Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2004 21:50:00 -0800 (PST)
From: slpwriter <slpwriter@yahoo.com>
Subject: Nick Lachey: My Everything-63

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.

NEWSFLASH: To those of you who don't already know,
Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson, in real life, have
reconciled and are now husband and wife. I wish them
all the best with their marriage and hope they live
a long and happy life together.

If you want details about their wedding, check out
the 98 Degrees Official Website at
www.98degrees.com.


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.

"What I feel for you." is an awesome story and
Thack, himself deserves applause for all of his hard
work on it.


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

Enjoy.

NOTE: This chapter will look different because it was
accidently erased and I managed to recover it so I
didn't have to rewrite it again. so there are alot of
">" symbols. After this one, the chapter will return
to their original form without them.


Previously on "My Everything".....


I heard gasps in the background and everyone asking
questions all at once, until Drew told them all to
pipe down.

"Have you heard from him?" Drew asked me.

"Yes, Drew, I have." I said. "And that's what I need
to talk about with all of you."

"Where is he, Sean?" I heard Jesssica's voice ask.
"Do you know where he is?"

"Yes, Jessica." I said to her. "He showed up,
unexpectedly here in Orlando at my place yesterday
evening when I got back home. He stayed the night."

"Well, is he there, now?" Jessica asked. "Can I talk
to him, please?"

"You can't, Jessica." I told her. "He's not here
anymore."

"Do you know where he went, Sean?" I heard Jeff's
voice ask me.

"He's on his way home." I told everyone. "He left
for the airport a few minutes ago. He should be home
by late afternoon, your time."

I could hear sighs of relief and 'yes's' going
around as everyone processed this wonderful news.
Nick was coming home!

"Sean, thank you so much for calling us." Jessica
said. "I'm sorry I misjudged you."

That admission, was a shock to say the least, coming
from her. But I accepted it, anyway.

"Don't worry about it." I said to her. "Apology
accepted. Anyway, back to you, Drew, and what you
did."

"What about it?" He asked, his voice monotone.

"As furious as I am with you right now, I don't want
to see you and Nick at odds over this." I told him.
"I've decided that I will save your sorry ass ONE
last time."

"What are you talking about, Sean?" I heard Justin
ask.

"Yeah, I'm wondering the same thing." Kandi added.

"Nick doesn't know about what happened." I told
everyone. "I didn't tell him anything and neither
will you guys. But he does know that you did
something to me, Drew, but doesn't know what. All I
told him is that what you did do caused me to beat
you up and needless to say, he wasn't happy about
it."

"Are you serious?" Drew asked, stunned at this
revelation. "He actually defended me?!"

"Yes he did, Drew." I told him. He loves you. It's
evident that he missed you alot while he was gone.
And if he finds out about what you did, your
relationship with him will be changed forever, and I
don't want that. No matter how angry I am with you,
I don't feel like you deserve to lose your brother.
I know how much you love him, Drew. Or so I
thought."

"I do, Sean." Drew said. "Never forget that. But
what am I going to tell him? Nick knows me too well.
He'll know when I'm lying."

"Well, you'll have to think of something." I told
him. "Because if you want your relationship with
Nick to survive, he can never know that it was you
who broke us up."

I then got more specific, knowing now that it was
out in the open, there was nothing to hide anymore.

"Nick can never know that you're the one who made
sure that our marriage was never legal. He can never
know that you paid off that minister to deceive us.
If he ever finds out, your relationship with him
will be destroyed forever."

**********
CHAPTER 63
**********

Drew was listening to everything that I was saying
and he knew that I was telling the truth. Nick would
be destroyed if he knew what Drew had done to him.
Not to mention me.

"Look, Sean, I don't think we should do this." Drew
said. "You and I both know that lying doesn't solve
anything. It just leads to more trouble. After all,
Nick broke up with you anyway, even when he knew
that you two weren't legally married."

Drew also had a point there. But I had to disagree
with him there. There was still something to
consider here that could have made all the
difference back then, those two years ago.

"But, Drew, had you not done what you did, and our
marriage had been valid, there could have been a
chance that Nick and I could have worked things out
back then." I pointed out. "Besides, he would have
had to come and find me first before he and Jessica
could get married, because he would have had to
divorce me first."

I then felt really angry and hurt all of a sudden,
as I remembered everything that I'd gone through
last night.

"But since that didn't happen, things are different
now. Jessica finally has the man that she's loved
all these years. But unfortunately, I have to wonder
if it will last."

Jessica was shocked to hear that. She chose that
moment to make her feelings known about her
marriage.

"I can't believe you just said that." She said, her
voice starting to sound angry. "How can you say it's
not going to last between Nick and I? Do you know
something I don't?"

"No, Jessica, it's not that." I said. "I'm sorry,
what I said didn't come out right. But there is
something you need to know about Nick. He finally
decided who he wants to spend the rest of his life
with and who he's decided to let go."

When I finished, I didn't hear anything. Nothing but
total silence.

"Jessica?" I asked her. "Are you still there?"

"Yes." She said. "You just caught me off guard,
that's all. Anyway, did Nick tell you what he
decided?"

I then thought about it for a moment and wondered if
Nick should be the one to tell her instead. After
all, now that I was in love with a married man, I
wasn't about to admit to her that she had won. 

"I think I'll let Nick tell you himself." I said,
not wanting to get into it. "He'll be home soon."

"No!" Jessica said. "Sean, please tell me. I have a
right to know."

"Yes, you do." I told her. "But, you have a right to
know from YOUR husband."

"But Sean, I don't-" Jessica started, but was cut
off by sounds of Nicole crying.

"I've gotta go check on my daughter right now."
Jessica told me. "Don't hang up until I get back."

As soon as she left the room, I then decided that I
no longer wanted to be on speaker phone and made
that known to Drew.

"Drew, could you please take me off of speaker phone
now?" I asked him.

"Fine." He said, as he picked up the handset and
turned it on, as he flicked off the speakerphone
switch.

"Alright, it's just you and me now." Drew said.
"Will you tell me what Nick decided?"

I can't." I said, bitterly. "But you did say that
you don't want to lie to Nick about what you did.
What do you want to do?"

Drew hesitated for a moment, thinking it over. Then
he spoke.

"I think I should tell him the truth." Drew said.
"If Nick is going to find out what happened, I think
it should be from me."

I was floored that Drew was actually thinking of
telling Nick the truth. I knew that took a lot of
guts for him to admit.

"Are you sure, Drew?" I asked him. "You do know that
what you are about to do will have consequences
right?"

"Yes, Sean, I'm sure." He said. "And I do know that
there will be consequences. Besides, the more I
think about it, the more convinced I am that telling
my brother the truth is the best thing to do. I have
to take responsibility for what I've done. It's
possibly the only way that you and Nick will be able
to forgive me in time. If not completely, it should
at least make things easier, rather than lie about
it and make it harder."

I had to admit that Drew was right. Lying to Nick
wasn't the right thing to do. And if there was any
chance for Nick to forgive Drew for what he did,
that meant that Drew had to tell him the truth.
There was no other way. Lying about it would just
make things worse for him and Nick.

"Alright then, it's settled." I said. "When are you
going to tell him?"

Should I tell him tonight?" Drew asked me. "I'm not
sure that I should if he's on his way home. I know
Nicole has missed her Daddy so much and she wants
him back."

"I'm sure." I agreed. "Nick misses her like hell. He
told me last night."

I then decided for Drew what he should do.

"Don't tell him tonight, Drew." I said to him. If
you can, put it off until tommorrow and let Nick
enjoy the time with his family. You might as well
get one last brotherly hug from Nick while you can,
because once it hits him what you have done, he's
not going to want to be anywhere near you that's for
sure."

"Ok, then." Drew said. "That's what I will do. I
will try to put it off until tommorrow."

"Good." I said. "Well, I have to go. I have errands
to run and things to do for the day. Tell Jessica,
she'll have her answers when Nick gets home."

"I will." Drew said. "Good-bye, Sean. And I'm
sorry."

"I know you are." I said, coldly. "But there's
nothing you can do about it now. the damage has
already been done."

I couldn't say anymore, and decided to end the call
right there.

"Goodbye, Drew." I said, hanging up the phone, not
waiting to hear his response. Once that was done, I
collapsed on the couch and tried to will myself not
to cry.

"Come on, Sean." I said to myself. "Get a grip.
You're stronger than this. You can't cry over
something that is over. You and Nick are over. And
the sooner you accept that, the better off you'll
be."

But it wasn't helping. The more I tried to convince
myself that it was over for me and Nick, the more
horrible I felt.

I looked down at my right hand and my eyes rested on
my wedding band, which was still on my finger. As
soon as I saw it, I was unable to stop the tears
from falling.

I fell back onto the couch, and curled up into a
ball, as I let all the emotions I was feeling,
overtake me.

"I will always love you, Nick." I whispered to
myself. "You will never know just how much."

I lied there, on the couch, crying my eyes out as I
remembered how perfect my wedding day to Nick had
been and how happy I had been that day when I had
finally married the man of my dreams.

"You and I were so happy that day." I said, as I
wiped at my eyes. "It's just a shame that it had to
end."

Just then, the house phone started ringing. I pushed
myself up off of the couch and picked up the
handset, which had been sitting on the coffeetable
nearby.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Sean. I'm glad I got ahold of you."

It was Ben's voice I recognized on the phone. I was
really happy to hear from him. After all, I hadn't
left things with them, very well.

"Hey, Ben." I said. "What's up?"

"I was calling to check up on you and see if you
made it back home safely." Ben said, his voice
sounding concerned. "I'm also curious to know what
has caused you to just take off like that back to
Orlando without so much as an explanation to me or
Matt."

I felt really bad at this moment for the way I'd
abruptly left Los Angeles and didn't tell Ben and
Matt the whole story about what happened between me
and Drew.

"I did make it back safely, Ben." I said to him,
feeling really guilty. "And thanks."

"No problem." Ben said. "I just wanted to let you
know that Matt and I are here for you if you ever
need to talk about anything that's bothering you.
Not to mention the fact that you just called us up,
out of the blue, and asked us to send your things
back to Orlando for you because you were leaving
town ASAP. You wouldn't even tell us why. What's up
with that, Sean?"

It's complicated, Ben." I said to him. "Things have
happened. Very ugly things."

Now, Ben was really concerned. The way I was talking
made him think that something terrible had happened
to me.

"What are you talking about, Sean?" Ben asked.
"What's happened?"

I ran my hand through my hair, as I took a deep
breath and let it back out in one heavy sigh. I knew
that this was going to be a shock for Ben, what I
was going to tell him.

"I found out something yesterday, which has been
kept a secret for over two  years. I found out why
my marriage to Nick was never legal."

"You did?" Ben said. How did you find out?"

"From Drew." I told him. "He is the reason that Nick
and I were never legally married."

"What do you mean?" Ben asked, frowning in
confusion. "Sean, I don't understand."

I then thought back to my confrontation with Drew,
back in Los Angeles yesterday afternoon.

<FLASHBACK>:

"Listen, Sean can never know about this." Drew said,
into his phone. "He can never know that I paid you
off to act as a minister, and make sure his marriage
to my brother was never legal. If he ever finds out
about this, any chance I ever have at a relationship
with him will be over."

When I heard that, I stopped right where I was. I
could not breathe. All I could do was stand there,
with my eyes wide, and my mouth hanging open. I felt
totally numb of all feeling. I was just in shock.

I thought back to the day Nick and I got married and
then remembered the look on Drew's face when the
minister had asked if there was anyone who didn't
think that Nick and I should have been married, and
that they should speak up at that time.

Suddenly, all I could feel was anger burning within
me when I realized what this meant for me.

 I had been decieved! I had been betrayed by the one
person who I never thought could have hurt me like
that. Someone who I had grown to love, who was like
the brother I'd never had. And as a result, I had
been deprived of the happiness that I'd once had
with Nick, who I'd once loved more than life itself.

I stood there, and watched as Drew talked to whoever
it was on the phone. As he did, he started to turn
in my direction.

I quickly darted back around the corner, so he
wouldn't see me right away. I intended to listen to
the rest of his conversation to see if I'd learn
anything else. And I did.

"Look." I heard Drew saying. "I've given you twenty
thousand dollars to do a job for me and I hope that
this will be the last time I ever hear from you."

Now, if I was devastated before, my blood had just
reached the boiling point! I felt like I wanted to
erupt like a volcano.

At that moment, I was sick of hiding anymore and
decided to make my presence known, so I stepped out
from the corner, where I would be seen.

Drew had his back to me and I saw him flip his phone
shut. Just then, he turned around to walk back to
the front of the house. Instead he came face to face
with me.

"Damn." Drew gasped. "Sean, you startled me." He
said, just as he looked me back in the face.

I shook my head, as tears of anger and betrayal
started to run down the sides of my face.

"How the hell could you do this to me?" I whispered,
my voice, cracking. "I'd always thought that you
were like a brother to me. The brother I never had.
I loved you, Drew. And I thought you loved me too.
Obviously. I was wrong about you."

Drew gulped, when he realized that I must have heard
him on the phone just now. But just in case, he
decided to try to play the innocent routine in case
I didn't know anything.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, frowning.
"What did I do to you?"

"You know damn well what you did!" I said, raising
my voice. "Don't even try to hide it from me, Drew!
I heard you, talking to someone just now. I know
everything! I know that you were the one who made
sure Nick and I were never legally married and that
you paid off your little protege $20,000 dollars to
make sure of it!"

Drew started to come towards me, in an attempt to
try to comfort me, but I held a hand up, making him
stop in his tracks.

"If you know what's good for you, you'd better keep
your distance." I snarled, fiercely. "Because if you
even attempt to touch me, you will regret it!"

Drew's eyes started to well up with tears when he
saw just how much he had hurt me at that moment.

"Sean, please let me try to explain," Drew started
to say. He was starting to cry.

"Oh, please do." I said, interrupting him. "I want
to know how you could do this to a man that you
supposedly love so much."

"I do love you, Sean." Drew sobbed. "You have to
know that when people are in love, like I was with
you, they can do desperate things without even
thinking about the consequences of their actions. I
didn't want to lose you, but I just couldn't help
myself."

"And that's supposed to make it perfectly alright?"
I asked him, getting angrier by the minute.

"To just take something so precious and beautiful to
me, as one of the most memorable experiences of my
entire life and make a complete disaster of it?!"

Drew took a few steps closer to me, but did not try
to touch me or anything.

"I'm not proud of this, Sean." Drew said. "This was
probably the dumbest thing I ever did."

"NO! I erupted at him. "WHAT YOU DID WAS HEARTLESS
AND CRUEL!! YOU ARE A SORRY EXCUSE FOR A MAN, DREW
LACHEY! YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYBODY ELSE, BUT
YOURSELF!!!"

THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Drew shouted back at me. I LOVE MY
BROTHER! I LOVE EVERY ONE OF MY FRIENDS!! AND I
ESPECIALLY LOVE YOU!!!"

"SHUT UP!!!!" I screamed at him, as I shoved him
hard. "YOU DON"T KNOW THE MEANING OF THE WORD,
"LOVE."

Drew fell back onto the ground, on his ass and
looked up at me, his breaths coming out in quick
gasps, as he was trying to control his emotions.

I took that moment to stop shouting and calm down a
little, but my mind was still racing with thoughts.
 
"I can't believe this." I said, as I started to break
down. "I've been robbed! robbed of the life that I
could have had! What I should have had! A happy,
lifelong lasting marriage with the one man that I
loved more than my own life!"

Then, I turned and looked at Drew, who was getting up
off of the ground and I was started to really feel the
heat from my temper starting to escalate dangerously
high.

"And because of you, I will never have that again!" I
said, the vehom obviously in my voice. "You took that
away from me! Away from US!!! Nick and me!"

Right then, I had hit the breaking point and I could
no longer control my emotions. I grabbed Drew and
slammed him against the side of the house.

"How could you do that to your own brother! I fumed at
him.

"Sean, I'm sorry." Drew sobbed out. "But, there's no
going back now. What you and Nick had is over. He's
not yours anymore!"

I couldn't take that and my fist shot out and I decked
Drew and he fell down below me.

I knelt down and straddled him and punched him again,
repeatedly, this time with both fists on either side
of his face.

"YOU BASTARD!!!" I screamed, sobbing hysterically.
"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?!!!! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO
US?!!"

"NO! SEAN, I'M SORRY!" Drew sobbed, from underneath
me. "DON'T HIT ME AGAIN!! NO!!! PLEASE!!

Drew's begging fell on deaf ears, as I punched him
again. This time right in the side of his jaw, near
his mouth.

Once that was done, I got up off of him and watched
him, as he half coughed and half sobbed, as he got up
and stood before me, but couldn't say anything, as he
was too shaken up for words.

All I could do was look at him with agonizing
contempt.

"I'm sorry, did that hurt?" I asked, sarcastically, in
anger. "Trust me, that can't hurt half as much as what
you've done to me! Not to mention your own brother!"

I knew at that moment that I could no longer stay
there. I could not be around him anymore. I decided
what I had to do.

"I'm going to have Ben and Matt send my things back to
Orlando." I told him. I'm getting the hell out of
here, tonight! And if I never see your sorry ass
again, that'll be just fine with me!

Drew didn't say anything, he just wiped at his lower
lip, which was bleeding.

"I'll see you in hell, Drew!" I snarled, as I turned
tail and walked away leaving him standing there.

As I rounded the corner, I heard him sobbing again.

"I'm sorry." I heard him sob. "Oh, god, I'm so sorry."

I turned back around and looked around the corner and
saw him slumped down on the ground, crying his eyes
out, hiding his face in his hands, among his knees.

"Oh yeah, you're sorry alright." I thought to myself,
as I got into my SUV. "You're sorry that you got
caught."


<END OF FLASHBACK>:


"You will when you hear this." I continued. "Drew paid
someone to act as a minister at our wedding. Since he
was the best man to the groom, we let him make all of
the arrangements for our wedding and he totally
screwed his brother and I over. And now I hate him for
that."
 
"I can't believe what I'm hearing." Ben said,
 sounding furious. "You're telling me that the little
shit actually had the nerve to deliberately sabotage
one of the most perfect weddings that I'd ever been
to in my entire life?! Man, I didn't think he had it
in him to do that to you. Not to mention his own
brother."

"Tell me about it." I agreed. "And speaking of Nick,
you should know that he's back."

"He is?! Ben exclaimed in shock. "When did he get
back?"

"Last night." I said, lying down on the couch and
propping up my feet. "He showed up here, in Orlando
right when I needed a friend the most. Jake had
brought me home from the airport and then I sat
outside for awhile, thinking about what Drew did and
how devastated I was because of it. I broke down and
then next thing I knew, I felt a hand on my shoulder
and I thought it was Jake. You can imagine my shocking
surprise when it turned out to be Nick instead."

"That's just so unreal." Ben said, sounding relieved.
"So, is Nick still with you right now?"

"No, he isn't." I told Ben. "He's gone back home to be
with his wife and daughter. He's decided to stay with
Jessica."

"I'm so sorry, Sean." Ben said. It was obvious that he
was disappointed. I guess he had been hoping that Nick
and I would get back together. But that just wasn't in
the cards.

"Why, Ben?" I asked him. "There's nothing to be sorry
about. It obviously what Nick wants."

Ben fell silent for a moment. Then he surprised me
with his next question.

"But is it what you want?" He asked me.

I didn't know how to answer that one. I knew that I
was in love with Nick and there was a part of me that
didn't want Nick to be with Jessica. But the other
part of me wanted whatever made Nick happy and if it
was Jessica, then I wasn't about to ruin that for him.

"I don't know, Ben." I finally answered him. "But I
will admit that I still love him. I don't think I've
ever stopped loving him."

"Sean, that's great!" Ben said, sounding excited. "You
need to tell Nick how you feel."

For a split second, I almost thought about doing just
that, but then the more rational part of my brain won
over the selfish part.

"I can't do that, Ben." I said, sadly. "Nick and I
both came to the decision together. What we had is
over."

"It may be for Nick, but it isn't for you, Sean." Ben
pointed out. "If you still love him as much as you say
you do, then you need to at least decide whether or
not, you'll be able to let him go."

"I have to let him go, Ben." I told him. "I have no
choice."

I wiped at a tear, that had started to roll down my
cheek. It was clear that I was hurt. But it was true
that love could hurt. 

I figured out just how badly it could when Nick and I
broke up and I had been thrown out of their lives like
garbage. I still loved him even then. At least until
my suicide attempt. After that, I had resolved my
feelings for him.

At least, I had until last night when I had kissed
Nick for the last time.

All I knew at the moment was that this was going to be
a tough time for me. Trying to get over Nick was
easier said than done.

*******************************************************

LATER THAT EVENING, IN LOS ANGELES............

"Oh, god, baby! I'm so glad you're home!" Jessica
cried, as she clung to Nick, like he would disappear
any minute.

"I'm glad to be home, baby." Nick said, as he hugged
her, tightly. "I missed you and our daughter so much
while I was gone."

Nick looked up and saw the rest of the guys, standing
there, speechless, just watching him.

"Well guys, can I get my hugs already?" Nick asked,
letting go of Jessica, and spreading his arms out.

Drew was the first to greet Nick and he threw his arms
around his big brother and hugged him, tightly.

"I've missed you so much, big brother." Drew said. "It
just wasn't the same around here, without you."

"I have to agree with Drew." Jeff said, keeping the
bitterness out of his voice, so Nick wouldn't pick up
on it. "We all missed you."

"I missed you too, Jeff." Nick said, as he let go of
Drew. Jeff came up next and hugged Nick.

"So, how are you doing, Nick?" Jeff asked him, as he
wondered what Nick was going to tell him.

"I'm much better now, Jeff." Nick said, as he pulled
back from their hug. "I've been through a lot while I
was gone."

"Where did you go, Nick?" Justin asked, as he gave
Nick a brief hug.

 Nick pulled back as Kandi came toward him and then he
hugged her.

"Different places." He said, as he hugged Kandi.
"Hawaii, New York, etc."

Danny was the last one to get a hug from Nick.

"So, we were right when we'd guessed that you'd have
gone to Hawaii last thursday." Danny said. "We
probably would have found you sooner."

Nick shook his head. "Not necessarily." He said.

"Why do you say that, baby?" Jessica asked him, her
curiosity getting the better of her.

"I didn't stay in Hawaii that long." Nick said. Just
for the one day. Then I went to New York where Sean
and I first met and relived all the wonderful memories
we once shared there."

Jessica's smile vanished the moment she heard Sean's
name come up. She had been furious with Drew earlier
when he had let Sean hang up before she could get back
to the phone to grill Sean about what Nick had
decided.

"I've shared alot of great memories with you too,
Jessica." Nick said, putting his arm around her. "And
We're going to share even more together."

Jessica's face lit up at that moment. What Nick saying
what she thought he was saying?!

"What are you saying Nick?" She asked him, in
surprise. "Have you decided who your future is with?"

"Yes." Nick said. "My future is with you. My beautiful
wife. And our beautiful little girl."

Tears came to Jessica's eyes when she heard that and
she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him,
like there was no tommorrow.

"I'm so happy, Nick." Jessica murmured. "Now we can
finally get on with our lives. Together."

"Yes, babe." Nick said, cupping her face into his
hands. "From here on in, it's just you and me."

Nick then leaned in and kissed Jessica passionately.
He ran his hands up and down her body as he made out
with her.

"Get a room, you two!" Justin said, sarcastically.

Nick continued to kiss Jessica and gave Justin the
finger instead.

"He's baaack." Danny said, rolling his eyes. But he
was just joking. He was glad to see Nick getting back
to his old self again. But then, a thought occurred to
him.

"Nick, how did Sean take your decision to stay with
Jessica?" He asked, out of the blue.

Nick and Jessica stopped kissing and they both turned
around to face the guys. Jessica leaned into Nick's
chest, and he put his arm around her.

"He took it pretty well." He said. "He didn't seem all
that surprised by it."

"Oh." That was all Danny could say, before the room
fell into an awkward silence. Then Nick decided to
break it.

"So, where's my little princess?" Nick asked,
referring to Nicole.

"She's taking a nap, in the living room." Jessica
said. "I know she'll be happy to see her Daddy when
she wakes up."

"You bet she will." Drew said, from behind Nick. He
turned around to face Drew.

"She missed you like hell while you were gone." Drew
told him. "She would not stop crying the other day. We
tried everything we could think of to get her to stop.
Holding her, checking her diaper, etc. You name it, we
did it. At least until Jeff came up with a brilliant
idea."

"What was that?" Nick asked him, getting intruiged.

"I grabbed a tape of you and Jessica, singing a duet
together and she calmed right down when she saw you on
the tv screen." Jeff explained. "Then, after a while,
she drifted right off."

Nick sighed, sadly. "I'm sorry." He said. "I should
have been the one to help her feel better. But I
wasn't here to do that and my sweet little girl was
the one who had to pay."

"Baby, it's alright now." Jessica said, putting her
hand to his cheek. It doesn't matter anymore. All that
matters is that you're back here where you belong. At
home with your family and friends who love you so
much."

"Thanks, babe." Nick said, then looked in the
direction of the living room.

I'm going to go and look in on our daughter." Nick
said, kissing Jessica on the cheek.

"Alright, honey." She said. "I'll be in in a minute."

Nick then walked into the living room to go and spend
time with his little girl.

Jessica then turned to the rest of the guys.

"Listen guys." She said, lowly so Nick couldn't hear
them. "I don't want Nick to know about what Drew did."
She said. "He can never find out about it. That's the
way it has to be."

"But, Jessica." Drew whispered. "Sean told me...."

"NEVER MIND WHAT SEAN TOLD YOU!" She whispered,
fiercely. "What Nick and Sean had is over and I don't
think that what you did needs to be brought to light
now. It's in the past and that's where it should
stay."

"I can't believe this." Jeff said. "You're asking us
all to lie to Nick about what happened? Jessica, we
can't do that."

"He's right, Jessica." Drew said. "What if Nick asks
me about Sean? He already knows that I did something
because Sean told him, he beat me up. What am I
supposed to tell him?"

"Don't worry about Nick." Jessica tried to reassure
them. "I'll handle my husband."

Jessica looked around at Kandi, Justin, Danny, Jeff,
and Drew and she could see that they did not like
being put in the position to lie to Nick.

"I don't like this, Jessica." Drew said. "I don't
think lying to Nick is the answer. In my opinion,
it'll only make things worse for your marriage."

Jessica sighed in frustration and turned away.

"Jessica, come on." Danny said, shaking his head.
"Nick has to know about this."

Jessica looked up past them and her eyes widened.

Danny, Jeff, Drew, Justin, and Kandi, all turned
around and saw Nick standing in the doorway to the
kitchen.

"I need to know about what?" He asked.


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

"Well, that's all for this one, folks!"

"Will Nick find out Drew's secret?

"And how will Sean deal with his feelings when Nick is
concerned? "Will he be able to move on?"


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

slpwriter@yahoo.com