"It's perfect."
 
    Those were the very words I stated 3 hours later, after I'd tried on over 30 dresses in 20 different shops.  The dress I was wearing was simple, but very elegant.  It was sleeveless, had tight, sheer material on the bodice, with satin underneath, a long, flowing skirt with no train and little white flowers all around the bottom edge of the skirt.  It was beautiful, and perfect.
 
    The guys were all sitting in front of me with satisfied looks on their faces.  It had been a really long day, and I think even though they were happy to help out, they were glad it was over.  So was I.  This had been one of the hardest decisions of my life.
 
    After I'd changed back into my street clothes and paid for the dress, we sauntered back to the waiting limo and drove back to the hotel.  The guys had a concert that evening, so they all went back to their separate rooms to have a short rest before travelling to the venue to warm up for their last concert before the break.  All except AJ.
 
    "Sam, I need to talk to you for a minute, and then I need to talk to you and Nick both."  He looked upset about something, so I agreed without hesitation.
 
    Once we'd gotten back to my room, I turned to face him.  "What's up?"
 
    He lifted his face so he was staring directly into my eyes.  "I, um, what I mean is, uh, well you see..."  He let out a frustrated sigh and began again.  "Sam, from the first time I met you, I liked you.  You've got this, I don't know, certain charm about you that's very hard to resist."  He paused to clear his throat.  "I guess what I'm trying to say is, I wish you were my girl instead of Nick's."
 
    I gave him a bewildered look and wondered what the heck I'd gotten myself into.  "Uh, that's, um, very flattering AJ...but....well, you know that I'm engaged to Nick, and I love him very much...um, what exactly had you expected me to say?"
 
    "I honestly don't know Sam.  I just, well, maybe it's my way of trying to explain the whole incident with Nick and Jill the other night.  I mean, not to say I was trying to break you guys up, but I just wasn't thinking and - oh, man, this is a big mess."
 
    I just stood there, staring at him.  I didn't know what to say.  I had no idea this had been going on, right in front of me, and I'd been too blind to notice.  "Well, AJ, um, if you're apologizing for the Jill thing, then you're forgiven.  I still don't really understand why you did it, but I forgive you.  And about uh, the other thing...I don't want to hurt you AJ, but Nick and I are together, and we plan on being together for the rest of our lives.  You're my friend, and I love you in that way, but not in the romantic sense.  Nothing can happen between us AJ.  I hope you understand that."
 
    He stared at me with a strange look in his eyes.  Gruffly, he said, "Fine.  But there's one thing I need to do, and who knows?  Maybe you'll change your mind after I do it."  Without wasting a moment, he pulled my face to his and kissed me hungrily.  I pulled back from him with a look of shock on my face, pointed to the door and said simply, "Leave."
 
    He shrugged and left, leaving me with a million questions and fears.

 
    "Once we were lovers, just lovers we were, oh what a lie.  Once we were dreamers, just dreamers we were, oh you and I.  Now I see you're just somebody who wastes all my time and money, what a lie, you and I...What about your, your ten thousand promises that you gave to me....."
 
    While I'd heard the guys perform that song many times before, for some reason it struck a different chord in me that night.  I still couldn't get AJ out of my head, or more accurately, what AJ had done.  Nick had noticed before he went on stage that there was something bothering me, but he hadn't pressed the matter.  He knew I'd had a long day, and I guess he just figured that I was under a lot of stress.  Which was true.  What could be more stressful than having one of your best friends, let alone one of your fiancee's best friends, tell you that he "wished that you were with him" and then have him kiss you?  The biggest thing I was worried about was Nick.  How would he take it?  He and AJ were already at odds with each other, with the Jill incident and all.  After finding out about this, Nick would probably beat AJ senseless.  At this point, I was mad enough at AJ to let that happen, but deep down I knew I couldn't stand to see that..  AJ had been such a good friend to me, why did he have to go and complicate things?  I crossed my arms as I sat in my chair backstage with a big scowl on my face.  Damn him for doing this to me!
 
    "Sam, honey, what's wrong?"  Denise came over and sat down beside me.  "I thought you'd be happier today.  You picked out a gorgeous dress from the sounds of it, and tomorrow you're going home and getting married.  What's bothering you?"
 
    Oh boy.  I should've been more careful.  It's not that I didn't like Denise, she was great and all, but she was AJ's mom.  I mean, what could be more awkward?  I decided to give it a shot anyway.
 
    "What would you do if you were committed to someone, and you knew that the someone's friend liked you, and that someone's friend kissed you, but you haven't told that someone, and you don't want to hurt that someone's friend, because they're your friend too?"
 
    Denise had this ‘huh?' look on her face for a couple of seconds until she could process the riddle.  Her eyes lit up as she understood.  "Does the person that you're committed to know about this?"  I shook my head no.  She looked at me intently and took my hands in hers.
 
    "I would tell that someone that I'm committed to about this, as soon as I could."  She paused briefly, then continued.
 
    "And then you, Nick, and AJ need to sit down and have a serious talk about it."
 

***Later that evening, after the concert***
 
 
    "Mmm, your hair smells so nice...like flowers or something.  I love smelling your hair."  Nick buried his face deeper into my long mane.  I giggled softly at him, then snuggled deeper into his arms.  We were sitting on the balcony of Brian and Nick's hotel room, enjoying our last night in Germany.  It was late, and most everyone else had gone to bed.  The city was so quiet at this time of the night, so peaceful and calm, that we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to sit outside and savour every minute of it.
 
    We sat in silence for a few minutes, holding each other and gazing at the stars.  Even though Nick was content, I wasn't.  After I'd talked to Denise, and she'd told me that AJ had confided in her a little while ago about his little ‘crush', she'd helped me decide what to do.  I needed to tell Nick about the whole thing.  Immediately.  I broke the silence.  "Nick?"
 
    "Babe?"
 
    "Something pretty bad happened today."
 
    "I figured.  You ready to talk about it?"
 
    "Yeah."
 
    "Okay, shoot.  I'm all ears."
 
    On your mark, get set, go.  "Ok, after we all got back from shopping today, AJ said he wanted to talk to me.  So we went into my room, and he told me...he told me he liked me an awful lot, and that he wished that I was with him instead of you."  I felt Nick stiffen, but he didn't say anything, so I continued.  "I reminded him that you and I were together, and that nothing could ever possibly happen between him and I.  He ignored me, and then-" I stopped.
 
    Nick sat up straight and turned me around so he could see my face.  "And then?"
 
    Bang.  "He kissed me, Nick."
 
    No reaction.  Not even a flinch.  He tried to turn me back around again, but I wouldn't let him.  I sat up straight and forced him to look at me.  "Say something."
 
    There was a long pause.   Then, "I'll kill him."
 
    "No, you won't."
 
    "I will."
 
    "I know you too well.  You won't."
 
    "Fine, I won't.  But I'd sure like to right now."
 
    I ran my hands through his hair.  "Well Rambo, rationally speaking, what are we going to do?"
 
    Thus followed the longest, loudest and most frustrated, tortured sigh I'd ever heard from him.  "I know what you're going to suggest, and I guess you'd be right.  But I'd like to do it now."
 
    "He's sleeping, sweetie."
 
    "My point exactly.  If I'm not allowed to kill him, I want to at least make him suffer a little bit.  Let's go."
 
 

Chapter Twenty-Six
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