Julianna's point of view

I stared in shock at the person in front of me.
"JESS!!!!" I squealed. "Not that I mind, but what are you doing here? The wedding's not for another four weeks!"
My best friend grinned widely. "Well, finals are over and I'm officially on my summer break and I figured that I should come here early. Besides, I heard that you could really use a best friend right now," she said sympathetically. I grabbed her suitcase and she followed me inside of the house.
"I take it you heard about Nick?" I asked, walking into the living room.
Jess dropped her bag near the couch and nodded. "Yeah, AJ told me a few days ago. How come you haven't called?"
I massaged my temples slightly. "I'm sorry, but things have been really insane on the set lately. We're approaching the deadline for the movie in three weeks and it seems like there's still a million and one things to do. I've been putting in sixteen-hour days there and I'm only home to sleep."
"Oh, that's gotta suck," Jess said. "But on the bright side, now I'm here," she grinned.
I smiled back halfheartedly. "God, I am so tired right now, I just want everything to be over already. And dammit, I want Nick to stop acting like a little kid and get over himself! He hasn't called or anything! I've called him three times to try and work this out and all I got was his machine. Do you really think that he won't come to the wedding?"
Jess shrugged. "Don't know. I honestly hope that he will because if he doesn't, he'll probably regret it for the rest of his life. I had no idea that boy could be so freaking stubborn."
"Don't I know it," I sighed.
"How long has it been since his blowup?"
"Four days. You know, you're lucky you came this early in the day though, cause I have to be on the set in," I looked at the clock, "Twenty minutes."
"You look exhausted," Jess commented.
"Tell me something I don't know," I said and wearily picked up my purse, stuffing my cell phone into it. "I'm really sorry that I have to leave when you just got here."
Jess smiled. "It's okay, I totally understand."
"Thanks. Make yourself at home. The guestroom in down the hallway and to your left. Umm…there's food in the fridge but if you want something, feel free to borrow my car and go to the store, which is down the street and then about five blocks to the left." I tossed Jess my car keys and she looked at me in confusion.
"How are you getting to the set without your car?"
"Brad is picking me up," I replied and heard a honk outside. "He's been absolutely wonderful through all this madness. He picks me up and drops me off in the morning and night, insisting that I shouldn't drive when I'm so tired."
"He sounds like a wonderful guy."
"He is, and I promise that you'll meet him this weekend," I said and headed towards the door. "Once again, I am so sorry for running off like this!" I called out.
"Jul, it's no problem at all. Don't worry about it," Jess smiled again and I was out the door.

Jess's point of view

I dragged my suitcase to the guestroom and began putting some of the clothes into the closet. I didn't bring much since I knew that the case would be too heavy to carry. Once I was finished, I sat down on the quilted, dark blue comforter and tried to figure out what I was supposed to do for the entire day. I wanted to see AJ, but it was only a little after six in the morning and I highly doubted that he was already up. I wasn't a bit tired so I decided to just go for a short walk, stretch my legs after the flight.
I locked the house and turned in the direction of the beach. As soon as I got to the edge of the sidewalk, I slipped off my sandals and let my toes sink into the cool sand in front of me. I closed my eyes and deeply inhaled the salty air, enjoying the serenity of the moment. After a few seconds, I opened my eyes and slowly walked towards where the waves were breaking at the shore. I began walking along the water's edge, studying the ocean, and deep in thought about Julianna's engagement.
I had walked about a quarter of a mile when I spotted someone up ahead, sitting on the sand, facing the water. As I got closer I saw that it was just the person that I needed to talk to.
"Nick," I said, coming up to him.
"It's too early for autographs," he said wearily, not even looking at me.
"Don't flatter yourself," I retorted and sat down on the sand.
He finally turned his head and stared at me blankly. "Do I know you?"
"You should. You do. I'm Jessica, Julianna's best friend?" I reminded.
Nick nodded. "Oh, right. What are you doing here?"
"Decided to come a bit earlier than planned. I was hoping to run into you."
"If you're going to lecture me-"
"I just wanted to tell you to stop acting like a jerk and hurting Julianna and Brad," I stated.
"I am not acting like a jerk," Nick said stubbornly.
I noticed he didn't comment on the second part of my statement.
"Yes you are, and if you keep going like this, you're going to lose two very good friends. What's your problem with them getting married anyway? You of all people should be happy since you brought them together."
"They've known each other for four months!" Nick exclaimed. "Do people get married after four months? NO!"
"YES!" I challenged. "Did you know that Julianna's parents only knew each other for four months before they got married? And you've met them, they're totally happy and still very much in love."
Nick opened his mouth and then closed it again.
"See? You don't even have anything to say to that! Now will you admit that you're wrong?"
"No."
I let out a breath of frustration. "What are you, in love with Julianna or something?"
"Of course not, that's ridiculous!" Nick said defensively.
"Well I can't come up with any other explanation for why you're being an idiot," I sighed.
"So now I'm am idiot? What happened to being a jerk?" he snapped.
"You're both, and a few other words that I'd care not to use right now," I told him.
Nick shot me a dirty look and I glared at him.
"You know I'm right," I said matter-of-factly.
"No, you're not," he returned in the same tone.
"Fine, that's it. I give up. I really thought that I could get through to you but I can see now that nothing can get through that thick skull of yours. But I'm warning you Nick, if you don't straighten this out, you will lose your friends and will regret it for the rest of your life." I got up and walked away from Nick, fuming at his attitude. He was even more stubborn than I had originally thought.

Julianna's point of view

"But we just did this scene last week!" I protested. "How could it get lost?"
The director shrugged apologetically. "I'm sorry, but it looks like you're going to have to stay here longer than was planned once again."
I sighed. Great. As if this day couldn't get any worse. Now I was not going to get home until at least 4 am. Wonderful friend I was being to Jess.
"How are you?" Sam asked, coming up to me.
"Ugh, don't ask," I groaned. "The stupid scene from last week got lost and now I'm gonna be here until the wee hours of the morning finishing the damn thing."
Sam smiled supportively. "By the way, who's the guy that keeps dropping you and picking you up and work lately?" she asked.
I smiled. "Brad, he's my fiancé," I told her.
Sam raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Fiancé? Wow, since when?"
"Since about a week ago," I replied and showed her the engagement ring that I had put into my pocket due to the movie.
"It's beautiful!" Sam exclaimed, looking at the jewelry.
"Yeah, it still seems so unreal to me that we're getting married. I'm so happy, but the never-ending problems with this movie keep bringing my mood down," I added glumly.
"I know the feeling," Sam sighed. "But look at it this way, only three more weeks and we'll be finished."
I nodded. "Yeah, I just have to survive that long."
"You look like there's more on your mind than the problems of the movie," Sam commented, cocking her head to the side.
"Does it show that much?"
"Yep, spill it."
"I had a huge fight with Nick."
"Carter?"
"One and only."
"What happened?"
"He just blew up at me when I told him that Brad and I got engaged. Then he told me to call of the wedding and when I refused, he said that he wasn't going to come."
Sam whistled slightly. "Damn, that's quite a mess."
I ran my fingers through my hair. "No kidding. This happened four days ago and I honestly tried to make up with him, but he's not taking my calls. He's not taking Brad's calls for that matter either. The other guys have tried talking to him, but to no avail. Even Kevin didn't get anywhere." I shook my head. "I just don't know what to do anymore."
"Doesn't sound like there is anything more to do," Sam said. "You tried to be the bigger person in all of this and make up with him but it doesn't look like anything or anyone will get through to him. I guess you'll just have to wait and hope that he comes to his senses before the wedding."
"Yeah, but I don't want to lose him as a friend, he's a good one."
"I know, but you can't knock him over the head and drag him to the wedding now can you," Sam said with a rueful smile.
I gave a slight laugh. "True."
"Okay people, back to work!" the director yelled and Sam and I rolled our eyes.

Nick's point of view

I stared at my ceiling. There was nothing even remotely interesting up there but I knew that if I got up, I'd have to face the ominous blinking red light on my answering machine. Besides, I didn't have to listen to the fifteen messages to know what they were. At least three would definitely be from Kevin, ready to give me yet another lecture. Another three would be from Brian, offering bizarre explanations as to why I was pissed about Julianna's engagement. Three more would be from AJ, complete with various colorful words calling me all sorts of things and ordering me to get off of my ass and go apologize to Brad and Julianna. Naturally three more would be from Howie, who, in his calm and peacemaker-like way, would tell me that the way I was acting was wrong and that I should just stop it and tell Julianna that I would definitely come to the wedding. And the last three would be from Julianna; I knew that for a fact because those messages were at least a couple of days old and I was in the house when Julianna left them.
So for those reasons and those reasons alone I kept staring at the ceiling, trying to find at least something there that would keep my attention for more than a few minutes. I got nowhere. The ceiling was too flat and too white to keep anyone's attention for more than a few seconds, much less minutes.
Jessica's words kept playing over and over in my head and I kept trying to make sense of them. I knew one thing for sure: I did not have feelings for Julianna.
I did not have feelings for Julianna.
I did not have feelings for Julianna.
I would keep repeating that to myself and to everyone else for as long as it took for them to believe it. The only thing I felt for her was friendship. Yes, definitely, only friends.
"Oh who the fuck am I kidding?" I exclaimed to the empty room.
I knew what I had to do, and I knew exactly whom I should talk to.

Brian's point of view

I was on my way out to pick up a few things when my cell phone rang.
"Hello?" I said, locking the door and stepping out into the driveway.
"Bri, I gotta talk to you," Nick's voice came.
"Okay, talk," I told him and got into my car.
"Not over the phone, I gotta talk to you in person. There's some stuff that I need to tell you and get your opinion on."
I took a quick glance at my watch. "Fine, tell you what, I got a few errands that I need to run right now but I can be by your house in about an hour. How's that?"
"Great, see you then," he said and hung up.

Nick's point of view

"Okay, what is so important that you had to talk to me about it in person?" Brian asked after I opened the door.
"Hello to you too," I said dryly.
He smirked. "Hello Nicky."
I rolled my eyes as he followed me into the living room. "I have a problem."
"What else is new?" Brian laughed.
"Dude, this is serious. Will you quit with the remarks for a while?" I snapped.
My best friend's smile vanished and he laced his fingers together. "All right, you have my full attention."
"I…uh, think I might have feelings for Julianna," I admitted. Man, did I just say that out loud? I even scared myself.
Brian raised his eyebrows. "And here I thought Leighanne was wrong. Women," he mumbled.
"Leighanne?" I echoed.
"Yeah, she thought that was why you freaked out about the engagement," Brian explained.
"Oh, I guess she was right."
"You do realize how cliché this entire thing is, right?"
"Since when did my love life, or lack thereof, become a cliché?" I asked defensively.
"Nick, think about it. First you and Jul hate each other, then you're friends, and now you have feelings for her. This is straight out of those fiction stories that fans write about us."
"And how would you know what they write?" I smirked.
"Sometimes I get bored and I read stuff," Brian shrugged. "But that's not the point, the point is that Jul is engaged to Brad. And at the risk of sounding harsh, you're too late Nick."
"How do you know I'm too late?" I countered.
"Have you seen those two when they're together? They're like in their own little world they're so in love. Half the time they have no idea what's going on around them. That's how I know you're too late. The best thing you can do right now is be happy for them. Nick, you can't let your feelings stand in the way of Julianna and Brad being happy. You also have to come to the wedding because if you don't, you will lose two good friends, that much I guarantee you."
"You sound like Jessica," I retorted. But as much as I hated to admit it, Brian was right. What he said hurt, but it was true nevertheless. Then again, I was also too stubborn for my own good and at that moment, I still had no intention of attending the wedding.
"Jessica? When did you speak to her?" Brian asked.
"Earlier today. She caught up with me on the beach."
"I thought she wasn't coming for another few weeks."
I shrugged. "She's here now."
"I wonder if AJ knows," Brian said, scratching his chin.
I shrugged again; Jessica's early arrival was the last thing that I wanted to think about.
Brian turned his attention to me once again. "So are you going to get over yourself and apologize to the happy couple?"
I bit the inside of my lip. "No."
"NICK!" Brian exclaimed.
"Look, I'm sorry okay? But I just can't. I don't want to be there when Brad and Julianna are announced husband and wife, I just don't!"
Brian shook his head and got up. "You have no idea how grand of a mistake you're making my friend."
I mumbled something incoherent in response.
"Fine, if that's the way you want it. But don't say I didn't warn you," he said and walked out of my house.
I heard the door close and plopped against the back of the couch, feeling no better than I did before Brian's visit. In fact, I felt worse. It was like my feelings were some unimportant annoying detail that was ruining everybody's fun. Well so be it. I wasn't about to just act like nothing was wrong and if I wound up losing two friends in the process, oh well.

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