"Theresa, you don't have to keep apologizing, I understand." Karen said, "But I have to go, I have Brian's jeep and I have to return it to him before he gets worried. It was nice talking to you and finally being able to settle things."
"Yeah, maybe we can hang out sometime, just us girls. Be friends." Theresa suggested.
"Yeah that'd be great... give me a call sometime." Karen said heading off.
Theresa sat on the bench. 'I was wrong about her. I'd hate to say this but that talk made me realize that Nick needs her. He loves her. And it'd be great just to be friends. She treats him well.' Theresa smiled. 'I can't wait to move here. I'll get to hang with the Backstreet Boys and all the cool people.' She was more happy with herself now. Theresa got up. 'I should go tell Dawn.' She headed back to her hotel.
Brian dropped Leigh Anne off and sped off to his house. When he got into the house he saw Nick sitting on the couch. He was watching television. He flipped to MTV and 'God Must've Spent A Little More Time' was on. "This is our song..." Nick said to himself. "You mean everything to me, I don't know what I'd do if I lose you."
Brian watched intently and he could feel his heart falling to pieces. 'Of all girls, I fall for Karen. Why?' He turned around and ran into Karen, she just got into the house. "Karen? You're back!" He yelled in a whisper. He pulled her up the stairs...
"Brian? What's going on? Why are you whispering?" she said stumbling up the stairs.
He pulled her into his room. "Karen, we have to tell Nick what happened?"
"But... he's going to freak.. he's going to hate us..."
"Not if we tell him it was a mistake, a friendly thing."
"Even that I spent the night in here, what happened in here?"
Brian took a deep breathe. "Yes... but we can tell him that you had a nightmare about your stepfather and you came into my room and just spent the night."
"Brian, I don't want to lie, if we're going to tell him, we are better off telling the truth..."
"Oh-- okay." Brian agreed. He said heading down the stairs. "Nick's in the family room right now, let's go tell him."
"He's here right now." she said nervous.
"Yes..." Brian grabbed her hand, "We can get through this together."
Karen's eyes teared up. "Brian? I'm scared, I don't want to lose him..."
"You won't.." Brian forced himself to say. 'She doesn't love me.... I have to let it go.'
"Brian wait, I know why Theresa hates me so much.. I ran into her this morning... and we talked things through..." she said hoping to buy some time.
"You did?" Brian asked surprised. "Why does she hate you?"
"She likes Nick.. she told me she was jealous of me... she broke up with Travis to be with Nick.. but I'm in the way...."
"What? Since when?"
"I guess ever since she met you guys... I told her I'd break up with Nick for her, but she told me not to, she said that I made Nick happy and she didn't want to see him sad if he lost me.." Karen said. "Brian, we can't tell him the whole truth, not yet at least...if we told him we spent the night in the same room, I wouldn't imagine what he would do..."
"Are you sure?" he said surprised at what he just heard about Theresa. 'Maybe she's the way I can get Karen. Theresa and Nick and then Karen and I...' Brian thought selfishly.
"Yeah..." Karen said softly. "But we have to let him know that we kissed..."
The two headed downstairs. Karen walked into the room trying to hide that she was crying. "Karen?! You're back! Are you okay? You look like you were crying." Nick said looking into her eyes.
"I'm fine." she said as he gave her a hug.
He looked at Brian, he noticed that Brian was fidgeting and nervous. "What's going on?" he asked.
"Nick, Brian and I have to tell you something.." Karen said trembling.
"What? What is it? Did you're stepfather come after you?"
"No, it's not that..."
"What is it then?" He looked at Brian again. "Brian?"
"I'm... I'm... sorry.." Karen said as she started to cry again.
"Sorry for what? Will you guys please tell me what's going on?" Nick pleaded now worried.
"Nick, Karen and I..." Brian took a deep breath, "We kissed last night..."
"You what? Is that true?" Nick asked Karen as he backed away from her.
"Yes..." Karen nodded.
"It was only a friendly kiss right?" Nick asked. Karen looked at Brian and they both nodded their heads as they lied. Nick sat there stunned. He couldn't believe his ears. "What else happened?" he asked.
"Well, she..." Brian continued. He knew Karen said that they shouldn't tell him but he couldn't hold back, he couldn't lie anymore to his best friend.
Karen looked at Brian and knew right away what he was going to say so she decided to finish the sentence for him, "I spent the night in his room...." she sobbed harder.
"You what?" Nick said in anger.
"It was an accident.." Karen cried harder.
"Accident? Are you saying you walked into his room and just decided to fall asleep in his arms?" Nick yelled.
"No," Karen looked at Brian again. 'I have to do this...' her eyes told him and he nodded. "I had a dream about my stepfather raping me and there was no one else home so I went to his room and he comforted me. I fell asleep in his arms I was scared. He was protecting me."
"Is this true Brian?" Nick said.
"Yea-- Yes it is." he said softly.
"But the kiss? What lead to the kiss?" Nick wondered.
"We were just talking and we saw an old interview on MTV that we did before our tour and remember that little girl Charity that died of cancer.. well it was that one. It made Karen tear up and from there we just hung out and talked and laughed and then out of no where we kissed.. that's all! It was all innocent."
"I can't stay here! I have to go home!" Nick said angrily. "I don't know what to say about this."
"No, Nick, please..." Karen sobbed. "Don't go... I love you."
Brian stood there watching her fall apart. 'There's nothing I can do.' he thought sadly. 'She doesn't love me...'
"Karen, I have to go, I can't sit here any longer." With that, Nick left in a huff, slamming the door behind him.
Karen sat there crying harder and harder every second. Brian just stood there watching. Then, he walked up to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Karen, Nick just needs time right now... please stop crying."
"Brian, how could everything go so wrong? Everything was going fine.. and now this.."
Brian knew it was his fault. He put his head down and he too started to cry.
"Brian, what am I going to do? What are WE going to do? It was a mistake right?" she asked hoping he'd say yes.
"Karen..." he looked at her sad eyes. "Yes... it was a mistake..." he said quietly. Karen embraced Brian and cried on his shoulders. 'I love you,' he wanted to tell her, 'I'd do anything to have you in my arms...' he shook his head. 'No, she loves Nick and they belong together.'
Meanwhile, Nick got into his car and sped home. 'How could she? How could he? They're my two best friends and they go behind my back and...' his mind was raging in anger. 'I thought I could trust Brian, but no, he put a move on my girl... But they say it was a mistake.. is it really? Does Brian like her? Does Karen like him? What am I going to do? I love Karen so much, I can't lose her now. If they said it was a mistake, a mistake I have to believe, why would they lie about it??' his mind kept asking him questions he couldn't answer. When he got home, he stormed up the stairs and locked the door to his room.
Aaron saw this and followed him up the stairs, 'I wonder what happened... Is it about Karen?' Aaron knocked on the door and he heard Nick turn on the radio full blast. 'Seems to me he doesn't want to be interrupted.' Aaron went back downstairs to watch TV but his mind was distracted by Nick's loud music. He was playing 'Don't Wanna Lose You Now' from their new album. Aaron walked up to Nick's door again. 'It has to be something with Karen...' The song finished and Nick put in another song, 'Have You Ever' by Brandy...'Something's definately up....' Aaron went down the stairs and he could here Nick crying through the loud music.
'Why would they do this to me? Did I do something to them to get back stabbed like this..?' Nick thought through sobs. 'What am I going to do? I can't lose my best friend and my girlfriend all at once. Maybe it was truly a mistake...' Nick laid down in his bed, his mind was raging with anger, confusion and sadness. He slowly drifted into a sleep.
Back at the hotel, Dawn sat on the bed in surprise at what Theresa had just told her. "So you're telling me you and Karen sat in the park and actually talked things through like civilized people, there was no blood or yelling???" Dawn asked in surprise.
"Well, at first we were yelling at each other and then she mentioned Nick.... I broke down into tears and we talked about it, I told her about my silly crush and she said she didn't know..." Theresa explained.
"I was right...AGAIN!" Dawn rubbed in.
"The thing that made me realize she truly wasn't out to ruin my life was when she said that she'd break up with Nick for me.. for a friend..."
"She said that..??"
"Yeah...I don't know what made me do it but I told her NOT TO break up with Nick, she made him happy.." Theresa said. "It's funny, I've been hanging on to a grudge on Karen and she isn't really that bad... I'd rather have HER with Nick than me.."
Dawn was surprised to hear this coming from Theresa's mouth, after all, she had dispised her so much just a few hours ago. But she was glad that they were now getting along. "Theresa, that's awesome, I knew you had it in you to make peace with Karen."
Brian and Karen sat on the family room couch, they hadn't said a word since Nick left. Brian had Karen in his arms comforting her, he knew that he hurt is best friend and may have just lost two of his best friends. He wanted to cry but felt he had to stay strong and keep Karen company. He turned on the radio and the song "Music of My Heart" sung by his friends, 'N Sync and Gloria Estafan, was playing.
"You never know.... What you've done for me....Put your faith in me....And down from my soul....You never know the gift you've given me I carried you with me Yeah, through the days of hell....I think of days before you make me hope for something better....you made me reach for something more...."
"You told me to run.... You told me to fly.... Told me to free the me inside...Help me hear the music of my heart.... Help me hear the music of my heart...You opened my eyes... You opened the door to something I never known before... And your love is the music of my heart..."
"You were the one always on my side....Always standing by...Seeing me through you were the song that always made me see..I'm singing this for you...Everywhere I go I think of where I've been, and you're the one who knew me better and....Then anyone else will again..."
Karen listened to the song as she cried softly, 'Brian's been there for me since the beginning, he took me in, he bought me clothes, he's been there for me through my rough times and my good times.. he's made sure I've been happy ever since I met him.... but Nick he was there too I just pushed him away... and now I just broke his heart by...' she began to cry harder. The song continued. 'This song reminds me of all the things that I've been through in the past month with Brian and the rest of the guys....'
Brian comforted the sobbing girl. 'How I wish to have you in my arms? But I've already done enough damage to your relationship with Nick, my best friend.' he couldn't let it go. He just ruined all his morals on friendship. He started to cry softly.
Karen looked at the crying Brian, 'I know we're both sorry for what we did, but I just hope Nick can forgive us... it was a mistake...' Her mind kept thinking about Nick. "Brian, we have to stop crying, and pray that Nick will forgive us, we all make mistakes right???" she asked him.
Brian looked her and smiled, "You're right, it's just that..." he stopped. 'I love you..' he couldn't bring himself to saying it because he was afraid of what might happen. He wiped away Karen's tears, she smiled and went to wipe away his tears. They just looked at each other and their faces got closer, their lips touched lightly when Karen pulled away. "I'm sorry, I don't.." Brian said.
'Why does this keep happening? How can I stop this?' Karen thought to herself. 'I can't ignore him and push him away.... he's my friend....' Karen continued to look at Brian, who was now looking to the ground in embarassment. 'I just wish...' her mind drifted. "Brian? I have to go find Nick, I have to talk to him...." she said getting up.
Brian just looked at her and nodded. He couldn't do anything to stop her.
"Brian? Can I borrow your jeep?" Karen asked quietly.
"Yeah sure," he whispered throwing her the keys.
Karen left immediately and got into Brian's jeep. She headed straight to Nick's house.
Brian laid down on the couch. His tears started flowing crazily. The radio was still on and 'With or Without You' by U2 came on. He cried harder and harder, I have to get over this. He got up and changed and went for a walk.
At Nick's house, the doorbell rang, Aaron got up to answer the door and there was Karen. "Where's Nick?" Karen asked.
"He's upstairs, he hasn't come down since. Did something happen?" Aaron asked worried about his brother.
"Aaron, I just really need to talk to him right now, do you think I can go up to his room?"
"Yeah, but I tried knocking and he wouldn't answer the door, he's been playing depressing music... and I could here him crying.." Aaron said. "Please Karen what happened? I'm worried about him."
"Aaron, not right now, I'm going to go try to talk to him." Without another word she went up the stairs. She followed the music and stood there, contemplating on whether she should knock or not. Just then "their" song came on, Karen began to cry and leaned against the door and fell to the ground.
Inside the room, Nick was awoken by their song.. "God Must've Spent A Little More Time On You..." His eyes were puffy and red. 'No not right now..' he said about the song as he got up to turn it off. As he did that, he heard crying coming from his door. He went to open it up, he saw Karen sitting there curled up in a ball. 'What's she doing here?' He looked around in the hallway. No one was around. He bent down, "Karen?"
She looked up and saw his red eyes. 'He must've been crying...' She turned away and started crying again.
"What are you doing here? When did you get here?" he asked looking for answers.
"I.. I just got here... Nick, I came to talk to you.."
"About what?" he said standing up. "Haven't you and Brian said enough?" he said. Anger was now arising within his body.
Karen started to cry harder with guilt and sadness running through her mind.
"Nick? What's going on here?" asked Jane looking at Karen.
Nick looked at his mother, "Umm.. mom?...I'll tell you later.." he said helping Karen up and pulled her into his room. He shut the door behind him. Karen fell to the ground. Nick could tell that she was truly sorry, but he just didn't understand. "Karen, please stop crying... I... okay, we'll talk about it..." Nick started. "Please stop." He sat down beside Karen he didn't know if he should hold her in his arms or be mad at her, he loved her too much. He decided to pull her in and give her a hug. "Karen, why are you here, really?" he asked.
"Nick, I want to work this out, I want us to be okay.... I want to be with you..."
"But.."
"No, it was a mistake... honest?"
Nick looked into her eyes. 'Is she telling me the truth?' He searched her eyes, all signs telling him she was.
"HONEST!" Karen assured.
"Karen, you mean the world to me and I'd do anything to have you in my arms, but I can't have that knowing that you and Brian spent the night together."
"He was only comforting me because of the dream I had..." Karen said. "Nick, you weren't there who else was I suppose to go to?"
"You could have called me..."
"You were busy with family, I didn't want to interrupt... Nick, you can't be there 24/7, you have to believe me, it was a mistake..." she continued.
'I can't let this beautiful thing go, she's made my life perfect..' Nick said to himself.
"Please? Please believe me.." Karen said with hurting eyes.
"I do, I do believe you," he pushed himself to say. He reached out and gave her a hug. "I'm glad you're mine," he said looking her in the eyes. He smiled weakly.
Karen looked at him with happiness. "I'm sorry for what I've done to you... please let me make it up to you." she said. She leaned in and started kissing him forcefully and passionately as she caught him in surprise.
(AN: Okay, if you don't like sexual content please leave now. I only added this because I've been recieving tonnes of email asking me to make it more exciting... I even recieved examples, mainly this... So please don't hate me or anyone else... If anyone gets offended please let me know and I'll immediately change it. I didn't exactly write this part. Thank you to whoever sent this into me 'who wants to stay anonymous'. I did change it a little bit to follow the story line and took out the really graphic parts and tried to make it more readable.. but that's it.)
Nick knew that things were going to get out of hand, so he backed away, locked the door and turned on some music. He went back to Karen on the floor and started kissing her. All their anger, sadness, and happiness was all out now, all they wanted to do was be with each other. Karen rolled on top of him, she kissed his neck and nibbled his ear. Nick let out moans, then he remembered his family was downstairs or in their rooms so he turned on some music loudly as he continued to kiss Karen. She lifted his shirt up and over his head, she was placing little kisses on every inch of his bare chest. Nick pulled her up to face him and licked her lips. He used his tongue to pry her lips open and their tongues entangled in each others mouths as their hands wandered each others bodies. Nick wanted to feel her bare skin against his so he lifted up Karen's shirt. He placed her carefully underneath him and felt her warm skin against his.
They both knew that they were doing this to make sure that they proved to each other their love. To let each other know that they are there for each other any time.
Nick slowly undid Karen's bra, then he stopped, not sure if he was ready for this. He wasn't even sure if she was ready for it. Karen looked at him. "What's wrong?"
"Are you sure we should be doing this?"
"Do you love me Nick?" she asked.
"Yes...with all my heart..."
"Then I'm sure...." she said and pulled him into her and started to kiss him as he finally undid her bra. He took it and threw it aside. He placed his hands on her breasts as he felt her pleasure for the first time with nothing in the way. He made his way towards them and started to lick her nipples carefully. Karen reached down and unzipped his jeans. Nick helped her slide them off. She felt his manhood growing in his boxers against her body. She was turning him on. She never felt like this before. Her stepfather raping her was forced but this was different.
Nick knew his floor was hard so he picked Karen up and brought her to his bed. He looked at her long and smiled, he was happy they were doing this, it made him feel secure about their relationship, that she was willing to move on. He placed his hands on her waist and slowly pulled down her pants. He laid on top of her as they kissed each other with more passion. Karen was rubbing his back as he was playing with her hair. They kissed and kissed. Nick felt his manhood growing as he felt her hands make her way down to his boxers. He too slowly pulled her panties off. Nick laid down on top of her as the two now felt their unclothed bodies against each other.
Karen got up and started to kiss him around the pelvic area. She took his manhood into her hands and slowly rubbed it as he moaned. She then took it and slowly placed it close to her lips. He felt her breathe softly. She wanted to please him and that she did.
Nick sat up and guided her lips back to his as Nick wanted to please her back so he took his fingers and slowly outlined her lips. Karen took his fingers in his mouth and she continued to feel out his manhood. Nick was now erect and he placed his body between her legs and slowly entered her. He started to thrust slowly as she let out soft moans. He leaned into her lips and kissed them as he continued to thrust slowly not wanting to hurt her. He whispered into her ear as he was out of breathe, "If I'm hurting you please let me know." Karen nodded her head as Nick started to push harder. She bit her lip trying not to make so much noise. Just as they were both about to reach their climaxes, Nick pulled out as he felt her tightening around him and started to kiss her. He laid down next to her holding her in his arms, "I love you...." he whispered. They were both out of breathe.
Karen opened her mouth to say it back to him but no words came out. She couldn't say it. 'Do I really love him?' she said to herself. Nick was waiting for a response, but as she opened her mouth to try andsay it again, but nothing came out. She pulled his lips to her lips and kissed him. "I love you too." 'I think.' she said to herself.
Nick smiled and embraced the girl he just "made love" to. She wasn't his first but he felt that this meant something. It was the first time he ever felt this way about a girl.
Karen fell asleep in his arms and Nick pulled a blanket over her not wanting her to get cold. He held her in his arms and he too fell asleep.
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