Brian wrapped Julie in a big hug while she was crying. He was trying to calm her down but then realized that that wasn't going to happen so he just let her cry and cry. They then heard someone come into the kitchen.
"Guys, what's going on?" asked Jessica when he saw Brian hugging Julie, but as soon as Julie raised her head from Brian's shoulder, Jessica saw that Julie was crying. She immediately rushed up to her and demanded to know what was wrong.
"Can I tell her?" asked Brian. He wasn't sure if Julie was ready to tell her secret to anyone else.
"Yeah, go ahead." Said Julie through tears.
"She's in love with Nick." Said Brian simply.
"That's wonderful!" exclaimed Jessica. "Isn't it?"
"No it's not, not when Nick doesn't love me." Said Julie. She finally stopped crying.
"You don't know that." Said Jessica and Brian.
"Yes I do, don't ask me how, I just know that's all." Insisted Julie. Then they heard the microwave beeping; the popcorn was done.
"Brian, please get the popcorn while me and Julie go to the bathroom, she can't go back into the living room looking like this. She needs to get some cold water on her face to make the redness and the puffiness in her eyes go away." Said Jessica, she started to lead Julie into the bathroom.
"Brian, please don't tell anyone what just happened." Said Julie.
"Don't worry, I won't tell them."
"Thanks." With that Jessica and Julie went to the upstairs bathroom to wash Julie's face.
Brian came back into the living room with the popcorn and sat down.
"Where's Julie?" asked Nick.
"Oh, she and Jessica needed to get something from Julie's room, they'll be right back." Said Brian.
"Why did it take so long for Julie to make the popcorn?" asked Nick.
"She got caught up in doing something else that's all." Explained Brian. He was getting slightly annoyed because he hadn't expected Nick to ask so many questions.
"What was she doing?" asked Nick once again.
"Ask her later will ya? I'm trying to watch the movie." Hissed Brian.
"Okay, okay." Said Nick. He had gotten the hint that whatever went on in the kitchen, he wasn't supposed to know about and Brian sure wasn't about to tell him.
Fifteen minutes later Julie and Jessica came back into the living room and Julie took her place near Nick once again.
"Is everything okay?" asked Nick; he leaned closer to Julie.
"Everything is fine, let's watch the movie."
"Okay." Nick knew something was up with Julie because he saw her stiffen when he leaned closer to her, he didn't want to push it so he went back to watching the movie.
When the movie was over, all the girls went upstairs and the guys were left sitting in the living room. Kevin, Howie, and AJ went to get something to eat and Nick and Brian were left sitting in the room.
"Okay, so now will you tell me what happened?" asked Nick.
"No I won't, Julie will tell you herself when she's ready." Said Brian.
"What do you mean when she's ready? Ready for what?" asked Nick, he was getting more and more confused.
"When she's ready to tell you what's wrong, now if you excuse me, I'm going to go to my room." Said Brian and before Nick could say anything else, Brian got up and left the room.
*~*~*

That evening, Kevin, Jen, AJ, Angela, Brian, and Jessica all went out, and Howie was also out on a date with a girl he had recently met. Julie was unpacking her things in her room and thinking about what she should do about Nick. She didn't want to tell him that she loved him, yet she knew that he has a right to know. Her talk with all three girls had helped a little but she was still very confused. She heard a knock on her door and said, "Come in". Her back was turned so she didn't see who had come in. It was only when she heard the person say "Hey" that she realized that it was Nick. She slowly turned around and faced him.
"Hi, what's up?" Julie tried to keep her voice light, but it was hard to do.
"Nothing much. Where is everyone?" asked Nick.
"Oh, they all probably went out already if you didn't see anyone." Said Julie.
"I see, look Julie I'll get straight to the point. We've known each other for five years and we've always been able to talk to each other right?" asked Nick.
"Yeah." Said Julie.
"Exactly, so won't you please tell me what happened this afternoon? I know you were upset, I could see it all over your face." Nick had come closer to Julie and was now standing only two feet away from her. She slowly moved back and sat down on her bed, he did the same.
"Nick, this isn't something you just tell a person." Started Julie.
"You told Brian." He accused.
"I didn't tell Brian exactly, he guessed it." protested Julie.
"Either way he knows, and I bet all the girls know too." Said Nick.
"Yes, they do, but I needed their advice, that's why they know." Said Julie.
"So you didn't need my advice on this?" asked Nick raising his eyebrows; he was getting mad.
"I couldn't ask your advice on this." Said Julie avoiding Nick's eyes.
"Why not?" asked Nick but he only got silence from Julie. "Was it about me or something?" Julie nodded. "Well, that's more of a reason why I should know about it!" he said more loudly than he had intended.
"I can't just come out and say something like this, it's very personal!" said Julie, her voice was getting louder too.
"How personal could it possibly be?" exclaimed Nick. He was getting mad at Julie for not telling him anything. "Can't you just tell me?"
"How am I supposed to tell you something like this?? How do I tell you that I love you?" as soon as the words were out of Julie's mouth, her hand dropped the clothing that she was holding.
"I gotta go." She mumbled and ran out of the room. Nick just sat on her bed completely dumbfounded by what he had just heard. He then snapped out of it and realized that Julie had just run out. He ran out of her room just in time to hear the front door slam. "Great, just great." He said under his breath, grabbed his jacket from his room and ran outside.
*~*~*

Julie had absolutely no idea where she was running, she only knew that she had to run somewhere far, so that Nick won't find her, not for a while anyway. She couldn't believe that she had just blurted out that she loves him, she wasn't even planning on saying it, and it just came out in the heat of the moment. She turned onto a familiar street and realized that this was the street that leads to the beach; she decided to follow it there, and just sit down on the sand and try to clear her head. She walked for a while and then found a place to sit behind some rocks. As soon as she sat down, the reality of what she had done got to her and tears just started to pour out of her eyes and she was unable to stop them.
*~*~*

Nick looked right and left trying to figure out where Julie had gone. It was getting cold outside and she had run out in a tank top and shorts. He knew he better find her fast. He then remembered that she also likes the beach and so he took off in that direction. He got to the beach and looked around, he didn't see Julie anywhere. All he saw was sand, water, and rocks. Not a single person there. All of a sudden, he thought that he had heard someone crying. He listened more closely and heard that it was coming from behind some rocks. He quietly walked over there and saw Julie. He didn't know what to say to her so he just stood there for a few minutes trying to decide what to do.
Finally, he came closer and softly said her name. She looked up at him and turned away again.
"Go away." She said.
"Not until you talk to me." Insisted Nick.
"I think we've done enough talking for today, and none of it was good." She still sat with her back to him. He sat down near her and placed his jacket on her shoulders. When she tried to shrug it off, he put it back on.
"I'm not cold." She tried to get his jacket off of her shoulders once more.
"Julie, it's about fifty degrees outside and we're near the water, you can't just sit here in a tank top. You'll freeze." He put his jacket on her again; this time she didn't shrug it off. Nick was satisfied that she had at least listened to him then.
"Okay, I'm not gonna freeze, you can leave now." She said; her voice was full of hurt.
"I'm not leaving, I thought that I made that clear."
"Well, I'm not talking." She moved away from him.
"Then I am and you'll just have to listen to me." He got up and walked over to her and stood right in front of her. Julie still refused to look at him and kept her head down. He saw tears dropping from her eyes onto the sand. He took a deep breath and started talking:
"Look, I know that what you told me today had come as a shock to you because you actually said it and it had come as an even bigger shock to me when I heard it. Unfortunately, I can't tell you that I love you…but I can tell you that I have feelings for you and believe me; they go beyond friendship. You're different from any other girls that I have ever met and I think that if we give 'us' a try, we might have something very special here. I don't want to lose this, whatever it is that we have." He sat down facing her. "I want to give me and you a chance, if you're willing to do the same. Believe me, there's no one I would rather fall in love with than you." He reached out with his hand and picked up her chin. "Please say something." He pleaded.
"Nick, what you just said meant a lot to me and yes, I would like to give us a try." She then smiled and his heart soared. Julie felt like a great weight had just been lifted from her shoulders. Nick got up and held out his hand to her and she took it, no longer feeling the nervousness that she had felt towards his touch earlier. He put his hand around her shoulders and they walked back to the house.


chapter 1 chapter 3