A horrible day. A bad start, a bad mood, a bad middle…and now, a bad end. The endless gripping of everyone around him seemed to irritate him even more than usual. Luckily he hadn't seen Lilia all day, otherwise that would have taken the cake. Talk about the awkward situations, that would be unbearable.

Plus he had seen AJ and Lilia's little reunion this morning and he didn't quite know what to take about it. It hadn't been anything special, no big display of emotion, but she looked happy to see him.

He sighed. Noticing his horrible temperament, his loving band mates had taken it upon themselves to make it their mission to brighten his day up. That included dragging him out to a club. He tried to reason with Brian, hoping that his best friend would realise that the best thing for him would be to sleep and brood. But no, he was so misunderstood, and therefore could not beg off at any cost.

Pounding music, and being ditched the second they set foot in the place was more of a detriment then an improvement. Perhaps Nick was being unfair. They always went off on their own when they went clubbing, but today it seemed to just add fuel to the fire, them dragging him there and then promptly abandoning him. But they all had women to keep happy.

He stood up, glancing around. Maybe now he could make his escape. He was about to grab his coat and sneak away to the exit when Kevin and Brian both returned, girls in tow. They noticed that he was in the process of leaving, stole his jacket and sat on it so that he was unable to. Nick sighed in frustration.

"Nick, what is your problem today?" Brian asked.

"Just stuff, B. Now give me my coat, I want to leave," he ordered.

"No can do, man. You're going to have fun tonight if it kills you. We go back to work tomorrow, a concert then we take off for the next venue. It'll be killer, so get your ass in gear and enjoy your youth while you can," he said. Nick noticed that he kept glancing behind him curiously, so Nick turned around and saw the reason for his friends' curiosity. Lilia was headed towards him.

Undecided about how to act around her, Nick was helpless but to stand still, and try to pretend that he wasn't thrilled and terrified to see her. She walked straight up to him, oblivious to anyone else and the table, grabbed him by the shoulders and kissed him soundly on the mouth.

The kiss was over before it began, barely giving Nick the time to respond or even clarify in his mind what was happening. She pulled away, and he was in shock. He heard Brian and Kevin catcalling the two of them, and ignored them, opting to stare in shock at Lilia. Then she slapped him, spun on her heel and walked out of the room.

Reeling from the interesting greeting he had received, he turned to his friends, shrugged his shoulders as if to explain what they had witnessed, and then tore after her.

* * * *

"Lilia!" he called, running after her into the street. She continued walking, not heeding his calling. Finally, his height played and advantage and he caught up with her. He ran in front of her and blocked her way.

"What do you want?" she demanded. He kind of did a double take, wondering if she was insane or had multiple personality disorder, because she didn't seem to remember the incident that had just happened.

"What was that all about, Lily?" he demanded in return.

"I found out. I know Nick," she said, spiting her words out at him.

"What do you know?" he asked, obviously not knowing.

"I know that you…the arena and the tape and the note. You bastard, you knew what that would do to me!" she exploded.

"Oh, so I see. I can see how grateful you were when you thought that it was AJ, but now that you're little delusion has been popped, you're ready tear my face off. I don't need you and your double standards," he yelled back, and started to storm off when he paused and turned around to glare at her.

"I just couldn't stand to see you in pain anymore," he said quietly. She was lost in his eyes, and saw more there than she had thought possible. His showed hurt. Her anger returned, he had no right to be hurt.

"Save your pious attitude. And you want to know the difference between AJ and you? I thought you understood. I thought that understood what I was living with, and that you would leave me alone. I mean, after I met Cara…I thought that you would have understood. But you persisted, and put me through hell. What kind of person are you?" she yelled back.

"You put yourself through hell. Now, if you're quite finished here, I think I left part of my bruised ego back at the club. Looks likes I need it."

"No, I'm not finished yet."

"Well, that's just to bad Lily, because I am," he said. He brushed past her and stormed back towards the club. She stood in shock for a moment and raced after his retreating form.

"Nick, wait!" she called. He kept walking, faster than she could reach him. Giving up, she broke into a fast run, and grabbed his arm. He swung around.

"What the hell do you want?" he demanded. He had just decided that he was through with her.

"I wanted to say…Thank you," she said.

"You're welcome," he said simply, and start to leave again. She hesitated, and then made her decision.

"Nick, I said I wanted to thank you. Properly," she said, as she grabbed him and kissed him on the mouth. Once again surprised by the rashness of this girl, he was caught off guard. Deciding to take control of his destiny for once, as she started to pull away, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him, to make the most of it, hoping that this time, he didn't get slapped. Finally, she broke away, looking flustered, her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkling.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow Nick," she said, smiling. She grabbed his hand, shook it and turned and marched off.