Chapter 26: Forgiveness

"Brian, I really don't know," I replied.
"You have nowhere to stay, you can't say no," he commented.
Suddenly Nick came out of his room and looked over at us. He was wearing boxers and a white t-shirt.
"What's wrong Kate?" He asked as he saw the look of worry on my face.
"I have no place to stay," I replied.
"So you're staying with Brian?" He asked, his eyes narrowing.
"Well actually, I came here to find A.J. and I had the wrong room and Brian offered me a place to stay."
"Oh." Is what he said. Not like I expected him to offer me a place to stay or anything. We all stood out in the hall uncomfortably.
"Well I guess I will stay Brian," I replied to his offer.
He opened the door for me to come in.
"No Kate, stay with me," Nick replied, coming to where Brian and I stood. I looked up at Brian and thanked him.

~BACK AT THE ROOM~

"So why do you want me to stay here, don't you hate me?" I questioned, setting down my things.
"No I don't hate you, I understand what happened," he mumbled, scratching his head. I sat down on the bed.
"You do?" I asked, shocked.
"Do you understand what happened with Mandy and I?"
I looked up at him, my eyes questioning his.
He sat down next to me.
"Mandy and I were together for a long time Kate. But she's very, very possessive and, and she's worried about material things and herself more than anything else. Our relationship parted several times before our final goodbye. I think it was painful mostly because she was the first person I was ever serious with and we were both in the music field. I think I thought she was the only one who could understand, so I stayed with her, despite her horrific actions."
"Why did she come here?" I asked.
"I don't know, it's not like her to come out of the blue like that. It was more than money, but I dunno what," he looked confused.
Suddenly I got a chill. A chill that filled my body when Kaylee was around. But how could they know each other?
"You okay Kate?" Nick asked.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. I understand," I replied, looking up at him. "I'm really sorry, I don't know what happened to us out there Nick. I still can't believe it happened. We were just angry."
"I need to talk to Brian, will you wait here?" he asked.
"Yeah, go ahead," I replied, getting up from the bed and walking to the bathroom.

~BRIAN'S ROOM~

"Hey come in," Brian replied as he let Nick in.
"We need to talk, I'm sure that's obvious," Nick replied.
"Nick I'm really sorry, I don't know what got into me. It hurt me almost as much as Kate when I saw you with Mandy. You know how I feel about her," Brian softly said as he sat down in a chair.
Nick sat down on the bed next to him.
"Yeah, I know. I think Kate's a bit shocked that I'm taking this well all of a sudden. But I know that you more than anybody knew what Mandy was doing to me and you tried to get me away from her," Nick maturely said. "I was thinking about it after you'd all left and I think I can get past this if you and Kate both agree that you truly kissed out of anger and the heat of the moment. BUT, that doesn't mean it didn't hurt me when I saw it," Nick added. Nick had been through just as much pain as he had anger. And forgiving was easy for him because he forgave Mandy so often when they were together. Hell she'd slept with another man once when he was touring and he still wore her ring with love and devotion a month after. Sometimes he was forgiving, sometimes he was angry and sometimes he broke down when no one was around.
"Well, why don't us three go to breakfast in the morning and we'll talk about it, okay?" Brian asked, standing up to pat Nick on the back. "I'm sorry."
Nick patted his shoulder as he made his way to the door and back down to his room.

"That was quick," I said as he walked in the door. I had put on my nightgown and was watching television in bed.
"Well Brian and I have been through a lot and I'm going to let this go...BUT," he started. I frowned. "We're meeting for breakfast in the morning. I want you both to tell me face to face that it was nothing but anger and the heat of the moment and that we can go on from here," he replied, sitting on the bed next to me.
"Okay." I said, looking down at my nails.
"What's wrong?" he asked, rubbing my face.
"I'm so sorry, I feel really bad...I dunno what happened," I whined.
"It's okay, I understand," he replied as he pulled the covers down and got underneath them.
"You want to stay in the same bed as me?" I questioned.
"Yeah, why?" He asked, looking up at the TV.
Why? Why? In Orlando when Kaylee made that whole incident I had to chase him to L.A. and back to get him to forgive me for something I didn't do. Now he actually witnessed something that I did and forgives me only after ten minutes of being angry? I was so confused. I'd talk to Brian in the morning, maybe he knew why.
"Good night," I replied as I rolled over onto my side and faced the opposite way.
"Night," he replied as he continued to watch TV.

~THE NEXT MORNING~

It was only 8:30 when we met at the local IHOP for breakfast. I ordered some crepes and strawberries and a large black coffee. My eyes had rings around them from my tiredness as I handed the waitress the menu.
For most of breakfast we ate quietly, all looking at one another every now and then. Brian sat across from us both, sipping on his coffee every few seconds and looking at us nervously. I guess Brian and I both wondered if Nick was still so forgiving this morning.

~AT THE SAME TIME~

*KNOCK KNOCK*

"Yo Felicia, it's early, whaddya doin'?" A.J. moaned as he opened his door.
"Where's Brian?" she asked curiously.
Suddenly the events of the night before came flooding back to A.J.
"Uhh, I dunno," A.J. replied nervously.
"A.J. what's wrong?" Felicia questioned, her hair messy from her night out on the town.
"Uh, nothin', I'm just tired," he lied.
"Come on Alex, do you know something I don't?" She asked in a half teasing manner, staring at his bare chest and tattoos.
"Uh..." was his reply.
"Tell me, what happened?" Felicia was more serious now.

~AT THE SAME TIME~

"Well go find them!" Kaylee screamed into the earpiece on Mandy's cellphone.
"But Kaylee! I dunno where they went," she whined.
"Well do a little searching, you have to finish the second part of the plan. Unless," she thought for a moment, "there won't be after Brian and Kate's kiss last night. Well, whatever, just go! What am I paying you for!?" Kaylee continued to yell.
"Fine, I'll meet you in two hours, ciao," Mandy replied before she hung up. "Wow, someone who's a bigger bitch than me, I like it," she smiled coyly and walked around the hotel.

~AT THE SAME TIME~

"So should we close this case, or what?" Brian broke the silence.
I looked up from my plate and stared at him and then at Nick.
"Okay, now do we all agree this was an accident?" Nick asked, looking from me to Brian.
"Yes," I replied.
"Yes," Brian followed.
"So there's nothing there and this was purely out of anger and hurt and we can forget about it?" Nick questioned, again looking at us.
I pushed my food around my plate waiting for Brian to answer. When he didn't I looked up at him. Nick stared at us both, the silence growing more with each second.
"Well?" Nick asked.

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