"Ok, your turn.  Truth or dare?"
 
    "Um, ok, lesse...truth."
 
    "Alright...who have you got a major crush on?"
 
    Nick laughed.  We were walking through a carnival in a local park, close to the hotel.  We'd already gone on some rides, played some midway games and eaten a tonne of junk food (y'know, all that healthy fairground food, fried in a pound of fat or containing enough sugar to rot your teeth on the spot), so we decided to just walk around a bit.  Neither of us felt like going back to our rooms yet, and Nick hadn't been recognized so far, so we decided to push our luck a little further and play a game of Truth or Dare.
 
    Nick finished laughing at my silly question and continued.  "Ok, umm...besides you...," I rolled my eyes at him, "It would have to be...Rachel Leigh Cook.  She's just too hot for words."
 
    I suppressed a giggle and Nick turned to me.  "Your turn, truth or dare."
 
    "Uh....truth."
 
    "Before you met me and the rest of the guys, you had posters of us plastered all over your room, didn't you?"
 
    My eyes widened in surprise and embarrassment.  "That's a very conceited thing to ask Nickolas...but yes, I did.  And I'm not too proud to admit it."  I raised my chin high.
 
    "I knew it all along," he replied, "and it just makes me love you more to know that you were a crazed fan once."
 
    I started to make gagging sounds at this comment.  Nick punched me playfully on the arm and put his arm around my shoulder.  "We should start planning our wedding, or at least set a date."
 
    "Alright, when would you like to get married?  Do you want a summer wedding or what?"
 
    Nick thought for a second.  "It depends where we have it.  All of your family is in Canada, and mine are scattered around the States.  Do you want a big wedding or a small one?"
 
    "Medium.  Nothing too big, but I don't want just our parents and siblings either.  We can't let it leak to the media, or else there'll be a mob."
 
    "That's for sure.  I think we should have it in Winnipeg then, or at least in Manitoba.  That way more of your family can come, right?"
 
    Abruptly, I stopped, my eyes open as wide as they could go.  Nick got a panicked look on his face and started back-pedalling.  "I'm sorry, it's ok if you don't want to talk about this right now, I know you said you felt rushed and all and I'm sorry I pushed the issue, we can stop talking about this right now if that's what you want, I never meant-"
 
    "Nick, shut up!" I hissed at him, "Look over there."  I pointed in the direction of the Ferris Wheel.
 
    Nick waited a few seconds before he turned his head and stared in the direction I was pointing in.  There, right before our eyes, was Lindy.  And there also was a guy who looked slightly familiar to both of us, but we couldn't place him.  The only thing we were sure of was that he had Lindy wrapped in his arms, smothering her lips with his hot little kisses.  Appalled, Nick and I stared for a few seconds more, then turned to each other with horrified looks on our faces.  "What are we gonna tell Brian?" I whispered.
 

    ***Back at the hotel***

 
    We stood motionless in the elevator, not saying a word to each other.  Brian would be devastated!  How are you supposed to tell someone that you've caught his girlfriend redhanded while cheating on him?  Nick chewed his fingernails as we neared our floor.  The doors opened and we shuffled out together.  Silently, we went into the room Nick and Brian shared, and plopped down on the couch.  We could hear Brian in the shower and even as we sat there, we could hear him singing cheerfully to himself.  It broke my heart to hear that he was so happy, all the while oblivious to what was actually happening to him.  Finally, Nick got up.
 
    "I've got to tell him, you know that, right?"  I nodded.  "I mean, it wouldn't be right to keep a secret like this from him."  I nodded again.  "Like, if this happened to me, I'd want him to tell me, and not to-"
 
    "Nick!" I interrupted again.  "I know we've got to do this, you don't have to justify it to me.  The question is, how are we going to go about it?"
 
    "Go about what?" Brian had appeared around the corner, rubbing his hair dry with a towel.
 
    "Uhhh, making all the um, arrangements for our, uh, wedding.  It's just so much to plan..." Nick stammered.
 
    I decided to help him out a little.  "Yeah, and we want everything to be perfect, I mean, no sense in doing a half-ass job, right?"
 
    Brian eyed us suspiciously.  "I don't know what you two are doing, but it sure as heck ain't planning a wedding.  So, ‘fess up.  What sort of scheme are you guys concocting now?"
 
    Well, you could just about hear our eyes hit the ground, and at lightening speed I might add.  Noticing this only made Brian try harder.  "Well, tell me.  Nick, c'mon, you know you can't keep anything from me buddy.  You like to blab too much."
 
    I muttered to myself, "Not about everything, I'm hoping."
 
    Nick smacked his head.  "Oh man!  I totally forgot!  Sam, you and I are supposed to meet Denise right now for, uh, something.  Sorry Brian, catch ya later!"  He grabbed my hand and started to pull me out of the room, but Brian stopped us.
 
    "I'm serious Nick.  Tell me what's going on.  You guys wouldn't be acting this strange if it wasn't something you didn't want me to know."
 
    I glanced at Nick and bit my lower lip as he turned to Brian.  "Bri, man, you better sit down for this."
 
    Brian sat down with a confused look on his face.  Nick continued, "We went to the carnival over at the park today, and we saw Lindy."
 
    Brian looked even more confused.  "She's not supposed to be coming back until next week.  Are you sure it was her?"
 
    I looked him straight in the eyes.  "We're sure.  There's something else though..." I looked back at Nick, and he nodded, "we saw her with another guy, and they were kissing pretty heavily."
 
    Brian's expression didn't change.  He just sat there, staring back at us.  It was starting to creep me out, so I asked him, "Are you ok?"
 
    At first, he didn't answer, which made me worry even more.  Then, I saw him clench his hands into a fist, and his entire body tensed.  "I'd like to be alone."
 
    I swallowed and nodded, and watched Nick do the same.  He patted Brian on the back, and Brian stiffened.  Nick gulped and ushered me toward the door.  Once outside we couldn't hear anything from inside the room, so we followed the sounds of laughter coming from AJ and Howie's room.

 
    Two hours later, we were still holed up in Howie and AJ's room.  I looked at my watch as Nick completed his 3rd lap in Mario Kart.  I stood up and headed toward the door.  "Hey Sam, where're ya goin'?" Howie inquired.
 
    "I'm worried.  Brian hasn't come over here or anything, and I just want to check on him.  I'll be back in a bit."
 
    I walked out and went straight into Brian's room.  As I used the spare key card Nick had given me to open the door, I heard the TV softly droning from inside the room.  I walked in and found the TV on, but no one was watching.  Curious, I started looking around the room, calling for Brian.  "He's not here."  A female voice answered me.
 
    Freaked, I spun around and came face to face with Lindy.  Narrowing my eyes, I snapped at her.  "You scared the crap outta me.  Furthermore, what the heck are you doing here?"
 
    She reached over to grab her purse and made like she was going to leave.  "I was waiting here for Brian to come back after he stormed out, but I guess I'll leave, since I'm not welcome here anymore.  Just so you know, he didn't say where he was going.  And I know what you saw today, he told me everything.  I'm just sorry he had to find out about it this way."
 
    I blocked the door, preventing her from leaving.  "What exactly didn't you want him to find out about?  As if I don't already know."
 
    For a moment, she actually looked apologetic.  "Look, I didn't mean for any of this to happen.  Who ever does?  I was just fooling around, I didn't want it to turn into anything, but it kinda did.  And now everyone's upset with me."
 
    "Boo hoo, I'm crying for you."  I mocked her, looking back with fury in my eyes.  "Listen to me, you'd better fix this.  Brian doesn't need any more pain in his life, especially not from you.  So either make up your mind and choose one guy, or get out."
 
    "It's not that simple," she bit back, "you don't know me that well, and you don't understand this.  Don't go sticking your nose where it doesn't belong."
 
    Instantly, my defenses went up and my attitude kicked in.  "Pardon me, but this is exactly where it belongs.  It so happens that I'm engaged to Brian's best friend, and furthermore, Brian is also a very good friend of mine.  So if you mess with him, you mess with the whole family, so to speak."
 
    I felt the doorknob pushing into my back, so I stepped forward and let it open.  Brian came in, looking eerily calm.  He noticed the looks on our faces, and realized we'd been having a fight.  "Sam, don't worry about this please.  Lindy and I need some time to sort things out, so could you just give us a bit, ok?  I promise I'll talk to you later."
 
    I nodded dumbly and turned to walk out.  Brian came up to me from behind and turned me around.  "Hey Sam?  Thanks."  He kissed my cheek and walked back to his part of the room with Lindy.
 

Chapter Twenty-Two
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