It just amazes me how when you are so wrapped up in another person, the world could end and you would never realize it. That could be why I never even heard Izzy creep up behind us. You think we'd get the feeling that somebody was watching us, or we would feel her shadow lurking nearby, but nope. We didn't notice a thing. It wasn't until we heard a loud cough from behind us, that we finally leapt apart guiltily, like we were little kids being caught stealing cookies from a cookie jar. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything," Izzy sarcastically replied, a hurt look in her eyes.

"Izzy! What are you doing here?" I asked guiltily, not being able to even look her straight in the eye. Even though I wasn't looking straight at her I could tell that she was definitely hurt. Granted she'd broken up with Ashley, but I think that the last thing she'd expect would be to find him making out with her so called best friend.

"It's a public beach. Nick and I were just going out for a walk," she coldly replied.

It was then that I looked up and realized that Izzy wasn't alone. Nick had seen the whole thing as well and was now standing further back from the three of us, as to distance himself from the whole situation. I didn't know if I should feel satisfied that he'd seen me making out with another guy or guilty for stooping to that level. Of course it was not my intent to have Nick find us. I only let things with Ashley go that far because of the plain selfish reason that I was just damn lonely.

"I can't believe that you'd have the audacity to make out with MY boyfriend in a public place too!" Izzy went on.

"I thought you guys broke up?" I tried to defend myself.

"Yea we did but-"

"Then he's not YOUR boyfriend," I reminded her.

"He may not be my boyfriend anymore, but I just broke up with only a few hours ago! I don't expect him to jump right into my best friends arms!" she argued.

"Izzy, I don't see why you are so upset," Ashley chimed in. "You claimed you were only using me for my fame and shit so you have no right to be upset. In fact, if you were just using me this wouldn't even bother you."

Izzy was quiet for a minute because she knew that Ashley was right. I could tell that she was desperately thinking of something to respond to that, but she couldn't. I saw her helplessly look over at Nick, her eyes seeming to plead for him to jump in and defend her, but I knew Nick. He was not about to jump in and get involved in some stupid cat fight.

Desperate for anything to defend herself, Izzy whirled on me. "I can't believe that somebody who I thought was my best friend would do this to me! After everything I've done for you! I want my dress back!" she childishly exclaimed.

I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. Yes, it was totally inappropriate to be laughing at the situation, but Izzy honestly sounded like she was all of 5 years old. Besides, what did she want me to do? Just take it off right then and there and hand it to her?

I knew it was wrong but I couldn't resist the urge to push Izzy a little further. "Do you really want me to take it off right now? I'm sure that'll really get Ashley's attention," I said with a little smirk.

Big mistake. Izzy's face turned bright red with anger and I thought for sure she was going to explode but instead she just replied in a very calm voice. "Do what you want Mel, but let me just suggest that the sand might not be the best place for your 'first time',"

OK, that was low. That was lower than lower. It was just playing dirty. I had to admit that I think Izzy had just officially gained an edge over me right there. That's the one major disadvantage of fighting with your best friend. They know everything about you and what your weak spots are, so if you get into a fight they will definitely use what they know against you. I could just feel my cheeks start to turn red in embarrassment and had to look away.

"I still don't see the big idea Iz," Ashley stepped in to defend me. "Even if Melissa and I were about to have sex, which we weren't, why would it bother you so much? I thought you didn't care?"

Izzy just ignored Ashley's comment, since she couldn't do anything to hurt him at that point. Instead she decided to kick me a little harder while I was down. "Nick, you've been awfully quiet back there. How do you feel about Melissa practically fucking another guy?" she asked, obviously trying to get Nick to defend her.

"Oh my God! Iz in case you haven't noticed there is a HUGE difference between just making out and almost fucking," I reminded her. "And don't try to pull Nick into this."

"Why shouldn't I? If I were Nick I'd be pretty pissed to find you all over another guy like that, especially when you wouldn't give him what he really wanted."

I swear I almost lunged at her right there. Thank God Ashley was holding me back because I swear I had never felt so much anger towards somebody right then. The closest I'd felt to this was when Nick confessed about sleeping with Katie, but that was different. He didn't intentionally do it to hurt me like Izzy was doing now.

"All of you are acting like fucking 5 year olds!" Nick exploded. "I don't think that I'm in a position right now to make judgments on anyone else so please don't try to pull me into this fucking mess! Personally I don't give a fuck what any of you do at this point."

"Nick's right. I'm not getting involved in any more of this stupid melodramatic drama. I'm leaving!" Ashley announced as he got up and walked away.

Great. Now it was just me and them. I didn't have the energy to continue this awful fight. It WAS stupid. I didn't even understand why Izzy had reacted the way she did. All I knew was that I wanted to go home, go to bed, and not come out of my room for a couple of days.

"You guys are right," Izzy agreed, glaring at me. "I'm actually not feeling very well. You wouldn't happen to have an aspirin on you Nick, would you?" she asked in a syrupy sweet voice.

Oh God, I felt like I was going to be sick. I couldn't believe that this was happening. Could life get any worse for me? I couldn't help but start to tear up again.

"Are you crying?" Izzy asked haughtily, enjoying my discomfort. "You should be happy. You've managed to nab two cute blondes from boybands. Maybe I should congratulate you."

"Izzy..." Nick warned. "Let it go."

"Nick would you mind if I just talked to Melissa alone for a second? I promise I'll be mature," Izzy asked him.

"All right. I'll be right down there if you need me," he agreed pointing to a spot further on the beach.

"Thanks," she told him and watched him walk away as she sat down beside me. I instantly turned my back on her. After everything she said, I didn't owe her any type of explanation.

"Come on Lis," Iz begged. "I just want to know what I've done wrong."

I almost wanted to laugh. What she did wrong? "I think I should be the one asking what I did wrong?" I bitterly replied.

Izzy just looked at me stupidly. "You knew that Ashley and I were going out and didn't you think it strange that we broke up so suddenly? Didn't you stop to think that maybe, just maybe, there was a good reason why I broke up with him? A situation where I didn't have much control over the matter? And what do you do? You fucking make out with him in a public place!"

"If there was a reason why you couldn't be together even though you still loved him why didn't you just fucking tell him?" I asked her. "God, what is with everyone's relationships today. Can't two people just tell the God damn truth?"

"Maybe the situation was just a little more complex than you would understand," she told me with a scowl. "Besides I was doing it because I loved him. It was for his own good."

"Well, secrets are just dumb in general," I muttered, thinking of all the secrets that Nick had to have been holding from me. "I don't understand why Nick just can't be honest with me," I rambled on, unaware of the tangent I was starting to wander off on.

Izzy paused for a moment and licked her lips a little. "Well," she said after a moment. "Maybe it's like my situation with Ashley. Maybe he's doing it to protect you. Like he doesn't want to hurt you. "

"All I know is that he's hiding shit from me and I'm just too afraid to trust him. I don't know if I'll be able to trust him again," I admitted.

Izzy sighed and seemed to be deep in thought. "Look, whatever is going on, no matter what awful mean shit Nick says to you, never doubt that he loves you. He's acting this way out of love, not spite."

"But, that doesn't make any sense Iz," I argued, becoming very confused until all of a sudden it hit me. Nick had to have confided in Izzy and told her something that she was trying to keep from me. "You know something, don't you? Nick told you something about me?"

Izzy looked a little panicked and I could tell that she lying. "I don't know anything Mel, OK? I just have known Nick for about 10 years now and I understand how his mind works. He's not always the brightest crayon in the box."

"Well, you can tell him that I'd rather hear the horrible truth than a bunch of painful lies," I indignantly replied. "The only reason Ashley and I were making out tonight was to get back at you and Nick. It didn't mean anything."

"Did Ashley say anything about me?" Izzy curiously asked. Damn that girl had nerve. She refused to tell me shit about Nick, but expected me to report every single little word Ashley had said to me.

"Basically you've confused the hell out of him. One minute things are going great and the next you've turned into a major bitch on him. He's hurt," I explained vaguely.

"That's it?" Izzy asked disappointed.

Finally I lost my calmness again. "You are such a fucking hypocrite Iz! You can't tell me what Nick is hiding from me, and don't try to deny it because I know he told you something, but because I might know shit about Ashley you expect me to tell you everything? How stupid do u think I am?'

Izzy stood up then, clearly having enough of this conversation. "I should go. Nick is waiting for me," she said coldly, ignoring what I'd just said to her.

"Don't run away Iz!" I screamed at her as she walked away. "He fucking loves you all right? Why are you going off with Nick anyway? To spite me? You wouldn't shut up before about how much he supposedly loved me!"

But it was too late. She was gone and I was left on the beach completely alone and abandoned which was exactly how I felt inside.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Izzy reached Nick she was already crying and obviously very upset about how things had ended up with me.

"Are you all right?" Nick asked, immediately putting his arm around her shoulder.

Iz just nodded and looked up at him. "Nick, you have to tell her the truth. She loves you. More than you might think. You're killing her inside. Just tell her the truth and get her back. Don't lose her over something stupid."

Nick looked a little surprised at Izzy's comments. "You know I can't do that Iz."

"You're crazy if you don't Nick," she chastised him as they continued to walk back to AJ's house.