Leighanne came into her hotel room to find her husband lying on his stomach on the bed with his head buried in his pillow. Grinning, she went over and sat next to him.

"Hi," he said drearily. His voice was muffled.

She put her hand on his back and leaned closer. "You know, Bri, if you wanna go to sleep, you're allowed to turn off the lights."

"Tried it," he replied. "Didn't work."

"Okay," Leighanne said, getting down to business, "what's on your mind?"

Brian rolled over onto his back. "Why do women have to be so difficult?" he complained, pulling his wife down next to him.

She laughed and got comfortable, lying on her side. "You really think I'm difficult?" she asked, putting a hand on his stomach.

He smiled. "Let me rephrase," he said. "Why do teenagers have to be so difficult?"

"You're such an old fogey," Leighanne said, laughing.

"Okay, fine! Kayla. Why does Kayla have to be so difficult?" he asked, laughing.

"What happened now?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. She and Nick messed around, and then she blew him off and flirted with some other guy, and now Nick's depressed," Brian reported.

Leighanne sighed. "Oh dear."

"So I finally sat down with Kayla and talked it out, because I figured it had gone too far," he went on.

"And?"

"I convinced her that she should talk to him."

"That's good, isn't it?" Leighanne asked, confused.

"Yeah, at first, it actually was good," Brian agreed. "I watched them from the window, and for a second, they had it all worked out."

"But," Leighanne supplied for him.

"But of course Kayla got scared and pulled out at the last minute while they were kissing," Brian said. "So Kayla came up and shut herself in her room, and Nick is still out there, more depressed than ever, and I don't know who to go talk to first."

Leighanne took a deep breath, getting into problem solving mode. "Okay," she said. "First of all, if you go talk to Kayla now, she's going to bite your head off, and you'll never get anything accomplished," she pointed out.

Brian thought about that. "You're right," he realized. "I guess I should go talk to Nick then?"

Leighanne shook her head. "Think about it. If you try to talk to Nick when he's this upset, do you really think you're going to get a single word out of him?"

"You're right again," Brian said. He looked at her. "Am I really this stupid, or are you really that smart?"

She smiled. "No. You care about your friends. That's all."

"I just hate seeing them like this," Brian said. "It seems so utterly pointless."

Leighanne shrugged. "Maybe it's not."

"What?"

"Maybe it's a good thing that they keep doing this...that she keeps getting scared and backing out."

"How could that be good? It's just hurting Nick over and over."

"Well...by the time they do get together, she will have completely gotten over her fear."

"What if she doesn't get over it?" Brian asked. "What if they never get together?"

She gave him a look. "Brian," she said.

He grinned. "Okay, you're right. They will," he consented.

"So anyway, I vote that tomorrow afternoon, after they've both cooled down a little, we each take one."

Brian nodded. "Sounds good."

"Let me take Nick."

Brian made a face. "But Kayla's gonna be all pissed off at me for making her talk to Nick," he complained.

"Want me to take both of them?"

Brian raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so eager to talk to Nick? Is there some kind of secret crush I didn't know about?" he teased.

"That's the most disgusting thing I've ever heard," she murmured, closing her eyes.

Brian laughed. "Why then?"

She shrugged. "He needs to be comforted a little."

"Oh, and I'm not capable of comforting him?" Brian asked indignantly.

"Brian, if you really want to wrap your arms around him and stroke his hair, be my guest!" she replied.

"Whoa, hold up a second," Brian said. "Just what exactly do you mean by 'comfort'?"

Leighanne smacked him. "You are sick!"

He laughed. "I don't think you should do anything to Nick that I wouldn't do."

Leighanne rolled her eyes. "How about I don't do anything I wouldn't do to Kayla?"

"Well...okay," Brian gave in. "But you know, if you wanna do more with Kayla than with Nick, we can, ah, break out the video camera and make some serious money."

"Okay, number one, are you not making enough already?" she asked.

Brian grinned evilly. "My greed knows no bounds," he said. "What's number two?"

She smirked. "Number two, dream on."

"Oh, I will," he said, smirking right back.

Leighanne sat up. "That's just wrong."

He laughed and sat up too. "I'm sorry." He slid his arms around her. "Please, baby?" he said, running a hand through her hair and looking into her eyes. He leaned forward and kissed her softly. "Forgive me?"

Leighanne rolled her eyes but wrapped her arms around him too. "You suck," she said, grinning.

Brian chuckled. "You wanna forget about Nick and Kayla for a little while?" he purred into her ear.

"Yes, if that means sleeping."

"Ouch," Brian said, laughing.

"I'm sorry, honey, but my eyes are practically shutting right now," she said.

"Okay, okay, fine," he gave in. "No nookie for Bri-Bri tonight," he said, pouting.

Leighanne smiled. "I'm gonna get changed, but I think you should still follow your suggestion."

"Huh?"

"Forget about Nick and Kayla for a little while," she said, touching his nose.

"Okay," he said. "See, I was hoping for a distraction..."

Leighanne gave him a look.

"Okay, shutting up now," Brian said with a grin.

"Just remember it'll all work out, Brian. They'll be okay."

He sighed. "Yeah. I hope so."


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