Izzy and I didn't wind up going to sleep until almost 3am that morning, so naturally we slept most of the day away. We woke up at 12:30 and had some brunch and naturally took our time. Needless to say I didn't step into my apartment until a little after 2:00. While I was sleeping though, Nick was wide awake. He had woken up bright and early. (Another rarity on his part especially since he only got home last night and his body was still trying to get used to adjusting to a million and one different time zones.) I guess maybe he was really excited about our date that night and had tons of planning to do.

What I didn't know was that even though Nick had sworn that he was over Katie, she was still on his mind. In fact, that morning he had woken up from what he had thought had been a particularly nice dream until he realized that he had been dreaming about Katie and their night together in Sweden.

Frustrated with himself, Nick climbed out of bed and made his way over to the bathroom for a shower. Once under the spray, he began to rack his brain, trying to sort through everything that was going on in his mind. First off he still had to decide where to take me that night and what he could say or do to get me to change my mind.

After about 10 minutes of going through at least a dozen or so ideas for that night and rejecting all of them, meanwhile trying to push all thoughts of Katie out of his head, he decided that perhaps he could use some advice. Frustrated, he got out of the shower and quickly dressed. AJ would kill him for dropping by so early, especially the morning after the tour, and Nick debated about calling him first but decided that this was too important. He didn't have much time.

He drove over to AJ's in record time and rang the doorbell about 5 times until finally AJ appeared at the door looking as if he had just rolled out of bed. "Jesus Carter, what the fuck are you doing here at this hour? And why did you have to ring the fucking doorbell so many damn times?"

"Sorry," he apologized. "I know you were probably sleeping, but I need to talk to you."

"Well, couldn't it have waited? Like preferably until sometime after 12?" AJ complained.

"Melissa found out about Katie," he blurted out in one breath.

"Oh shit..." AJ sympathized, totally changing his attitude. "How?"

Nick took a deep breath. "Well, uhh... I kinda let her name sort of slip out," he admitted sheepishly.

"You dumbass... So what happened? I see she didn't kill you... At least not yet."

"Barely, but I kind of managed to let her give me another chance. I promised that I'd take her out tonight and I'd make it special to show her that I really care about her and not Katie," he explained.

"And? What do you have planned?"

"Uhmm... well ... nothing," he admitted.

"Nothing?!"

"Nope. Every idea I've had is just really cheesy and corny."

"Chicks love corny shit. Just take her out on your boat tonight, buy her flowers, get some fancy takeout... It's not that difficult," AJ advised.

"I wanted it to be special," Nick whined.

"Well, since I don't see you performing any miracles in the near future, this will have to do. Anything else?"

"Well, ... yea," he said slowly. "I kind of need some other advice as well."

"Shoot."

"Well, I really care about Melissa and I know that I really want to be with her, but every time I let my mind wander ... there I am thinking about Katie again! I feel nothing for her, yet she's all I think about. Do you think it's just a guilty conscience?" he tentatively asked.

"Nick," AJ laughed. "There's nothing wrong with thinking about another girl! Just as long as you don't act on it, which you aren't going to. Right? I mean she was just a one night stand. Not like you are going to keep in touch with her."

"I uh... did give her my cell phone number and my home number," he admitted.

"Are you fucking crazy? Dammit Carter, what kind of peach has a one night stand with a woman and afterwards gives them their phone number? God, were you just begging for Melissa to find out? What would you have done if she had called while Melissa was at your house? Or if she overheard some kind of message Katie left on your answering machine? Has she called?"

"Not that I know of, but you know I hardly ever leave my cell on and I just got home, so who knows if she tried calling there." He stopped and sighed. "I know it sounds dumb, but it seemed like the thing to do. I woke up and realized what I had done and that I couldn't go back and undo it, so I tried to be as nice about it as possible. Now she's just terrorizing my thoughts."

It was AJ's turn to sigh. "I don't know what to tell you buddy but you seem a little confused yourself. Maybe it is all just a guilty conscience or maybe your self-consciousness is trying to tell you something. Maybe you and Melissa just aren't meant to be together. Maybe all this shit with Katie is happening for a reason."

Nick looked very thoughtful and sullen for a moment. He refused to believe AJ's hypothesis about our future as a couple yet he wondered if maybe he was self-consciously moving towards Katie.

"Look I'm not sating that you should dump Melissa for Katie," AJ told him reading the look on his face. "See how everything goes tonight with Melissa. Just be aware that if things with her don't pan out there is always Katie."

"I guess you're right," Nick muttered not really understanding at all. If anything he was left even more confused than before. Now he had to deal with the possibility that he could be in love with both myself and Katie.

"There is one more thing," he spoke up after a few moments. "You know that surprise party we were planning for Melissa's birthday? Well, maybe it won't be the best thing to keep it a surprise as of right now. She's already pissed that I haven't mentioned anything about her birthday. Adding that on top of everything else I did to her ... well I just don't think it's a good idea."

"No way are you going to tell her," AJ told him. "After all the work we put into it you are not going to fuck it up by ruining the surprise."

"But..." Nick started to protest.

"No. Once she sees everything you put into it she's bound to realize how much you care for her," AJ insisted. "Trust me on this. Now is there anything else or can I go back to bed now?" he impatiently asked.

"No, I think I'm good now," Nick said with a sigh. Somehow he got the feeling that AJ's "advice" wasn't exactly gonna make things between him and me perfect again.

"OK, good luck with Melissa tonight. I hope it turns out the way you want it to."

"I hope so too," he muttered as he turned away. "So, then maybe I can move on and forget about Katie."

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As I mentioned earlier, I didn't get back to my own apartment until about twoish. The first thing I did was go into my room and change into something more comfortable and then I checked my answering machine, hoping that Nick had called me with our plans for the evening.

Instead of a message from Nick though I found one from AJ telling me that he heard what happened last night and wanted to know if I wanted to talk.

I didn't really want to "talk" but I figured that I probably should call him to let him know that I was okay. With a sigh I picked up the phone and dialed his number.

"Hey J," I greeted him as soon as he picked up. "I got your message. Good news sure travels fast huh?" I should have known that AJ would find out eventually. I swear I have never met a straight guy who enjoys gossip as much as him.

"Yea, I heard this morning. Got it right from Nick himself," he said proudly.

"You talked to Nick?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"Uh huh. Matter of fact he stopped by my house bright and early this morning."

"And?" I prompted him. "What did he say about me? Is he TRULY sorry?"

AJ was silent for a moment. "I can't tell you everything Melissa because there are some things that Nick told me in confidence, but I will tell you this much. Nick is very confused and going through a lot right now. He does care about you, but is unsure how to show it. Give him a chance okay?"

I sighed. I had agreed to see Nick tonight, but I hadn't agreed on forgiving him just like that. It hurt that he could confide so much in AJ and could barely talk to me, his own girlfriend. "So, you're saying I should forgive the bum?"

"I'm not telling you what to do. All I'm saying is don't be so close minded okay?" He paused and quickly changed the subject. "So, as I understand it's someone's birthday on Saturday. The Big 21 from what I hear."

I had to smile. AJ had been the first one to even mention my birthday in weeks. It felt good that at least somebody cared. "Yea, I'm getting old," I whined. "But thanks for remembering. It's pretty bad when you remember my birthday and my own boyfriend doesn't."

AJ ignored my comment about Nick's forgetting my birthday and continued on. "So, what have you got planned?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing," I answered. It was the truth. Nick could barely get my name straight never mind my birth date. Izzy and Melanie hadn't really mentioned anything, but I suppose they'd drag me out to some bar for a girls night out, only it wouldn't be very fun with them going on about how they'd be missing Ashley and Kevin. Truth was I probably was better off spending my birthday in complete solitude.

"What a shame!" AJ chastised. "You shouldn't be alone on your birthday. Nobody should. Good thing you have me as a friend."

"OK AJ, where are you taking me?" I asked him before he could even make a suggestion.

"Well, you are supposed to go do something wild and crazy on your 21st birthday, so how about I take you to go get that tattoo you've been thinking about getting?"

A tattoo? Wow, I'd been talking about maybe getting one but ... well it was all talk and that was it. I'm not all that fond of needles even though I've had my belly button pierced since I was 18 but that was different. It was very quick; a tattoo would certainly take more than 10-15 seconds.

"I dunno AJ..." I said uncertainly.

"Aww... c'mon Babydoll," he begged. "Don't chicken out on me now! You're afraid it's gonna hurt?"

"Well, ... yeah," I admitted. "Plus what if I do it and hate it?"

"What do you want and where?" he asked.

"I either want a white tiger on my lower left side of my back, a butterfly on my left shoulder blade, or something on my pelvis like a Chinese symbol or something," I answered. "I really want the white tiger, but I want it to look a certain way and I can't seem to find the right design.

"I suggest you go for the pelvis. A Chinese symbol is something small that doesn't need to be filled in and hardly anyone will be able to see it if it comes out bad," he advised.

I paused and considered his advice. I did consider AJ the tattoo guru of sorts.

"Aww, c'mon," he whined. "I'll hold your hand the whole time and I know a great artist who will really calm you down and everything."

I had to laugh. "God, you are starting to sound like Nick," I told him.

"Is that a yes?" he continued to press.

"Fine," I agreed, figuring why the hell not? I think after all the shit that had just happened I could use something as wild and crazy as getting a tattoo as a release.

"Speaking of Nick has he called yet?" AJ tactfully changed the subject. Told you that he enjoyed gossip as much as any girl I've known.

"Nope not yet. I did just get back from Izzy's and we have been talking for a while here. He's probably trying to get through," I hinted.

"Okay, I see how I rate now," he teased. "I guess I probably should let you go."

"Good idea," I agreed.

"So, we on for Saturday afternoon?"

"Sure. Why not? Talk to you later."

"OK, and I want details about what happened with you and Nick."

I just rolled my eyes. Sometimes a girl had to wonder about AJ.

After I hung up I debated upon making myself a little something to eat because I was unsure of whether or not I'd be eating with Nick later. After a few minutes of poking my head in the fridge to see if I even had any food, the phone rang interrupting my thoughts. That's probably Nick, I told myself as I nearly broke my neck in order to get the phone. Why I was so anxious for him to call? I had no idea. I mean why should I care so much? He was lucky I was even giving him this chance! as much as I didn't want to admit it though, Nick still had a certain power over me. I probably should've just moved on after last night, but somehow, deep down, I think I knew that I'd forgive Nick and that Katie would be forgotten and then we'd live happily ever after, right? What were the chances that Nick would even ever see her again? In a way I was just trying to pretend that the whole thing never happened. It seemed easier that way, at least at that point.

"Hello," I answered the phone breathlessly.

"Hey," I heard Nick's voice on the other end. "I tried calling you few times before and your phone was busy."

"Yea, I was talking to AJ," I explained.

"Oh?" Nick remarked. Was it just my imagination, or did he sound just a tad but jealous?

"Yeah," I uneasily answered. Trying to get away from the awkwardness of the moment I got right to the point. "So, where are you taking me?"

"It's a surprise, but I'm coming to pick you up in about an hour."

"Ugh," I whined. "But if you don't tell me where we are going I won't know what to wear!"

"Something nice. Nothing too fancy, but I wouldn't want to wear just anything," he offered.

I sighed. He knows how I HATE surprises. "Fine, but you better make it more like an hour and a half okay?"

I expected him to give me more of a fight, but he actually didn't mind. "Works for me," he agreed. "So, I'll see you soon?"

"Uh huh. Bye," I told him as I hung up the phone thinking of all the shit I had to do.

I ran into the bathroom to take a quick shower and afterwards searched my closet from top to bottom to find a suitable outfit for that night. After much debate I selected a long cornflower blue peasant style dress with my beige sandals. Dressy, but not too fancy, yet still romantic. I decided to go easy on the makeup and only used a little bit of eyeliner with a natural color lip gloss and finally decided to braid my hair into two pigtails and twist them into two little buns, with a zig zag part in the middle. Remarkably, I was actually ready by the time Nick arrived to pick me up.

When I heard him knock at the front door I nervously checked my appearance in the mirror over my head and ran to the door to open it. Standing on the other end was Nick, looking damn fine I must say. (Ugh, why did he have to look so good? It was so hard to stay mad at him when he looked like that!) He was holding out a bouquet of red roses to me.

My smile faded when I saw the flowers. Sure, any other girl probably would be delighted if a guy bought them flowers, and I was happy. Just well ... the problem was that I was allergic to roses! I knew I had mentioned it to Nick before, but obviously he must have forgotten. I didn't want to hurt Nick's feelings or get the night off to a bad start so I decided to pretend that nothing was wrong and just tried to keep my distance from the flowers.

"What's wrong?" he asked me as soon as he saw my expression change.

"Nothing," I lied, putting on a fake smile. "I'm perfectly fine."

"These are for you," he told me as he thrust the flowers towards me.

I tried to hold my breath and turn my head, but I wasn't quick enough. I could already start to feel my nose itch. "Oh, they're beautiful," I managed to squeak out before I started to sneeze.

"God bless you," he said with a laugh. "I'm glad you like them."

"Why don't you come in and I'll try and find a vase for them," I suggested, trying to hold back another sneeze, but failing miserably.

"Okay," he agreed, following me inside. "God bless you again."

"Thanks," I answered with a little sniffle. "Why don't you wait here in the kitchen. I think I have a vase in the living room." I didn't even wait for a response. I had to get out of there and away from those damn roses before I died. Bad enough my eyes were starting to burn like hell.

Within the 5 minutes it took me to find a vase I must have sneezed about 25 times. I guess it must have been bad because when I returned back to the kitchen with the vase, Nick immediately looked at me with a concerned glance.

"Are you getting a cold? " he asked. "You keep sneezing and your eyes look all red. Do you want to stay home and rest or something?"

"No!" I insisted. God, this was dumb! I probably should just tell him the God damn truth. "I'm fine ... just, well... I'm allergic to roses!" I blurted out.

"Shit! You've told me before and I totally forgot," Nick remembered, smacking himself on his forehead. "Why didn't you say something earlier?"

"I didn't want to hurt your feelings," I admitted. "I'm sorry, but I can't keep them here. I'll die."

"It's fine. I uhh just guess I'll dump these in the trash on the way out," he assured me. Was it my imagination or did he sound a little cold towards me?

"Maybe Izzy would like them?" I suggested. I just really felt horrible that he spent all that money on flowers for me and he was just going to throw them away. Granted it wasn't like he couldn't afford them, but still...

"Somehow I don't think Ashley would appreciate some other guy giving his girlfriend flowers," Nick reasoned. I suppose he was right.

Was this any indication of how our date was destined to turn out? Could this be a sign? Some importent telling me I should just forget him?

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"Can I open my eyes now?" I impatiently asked about half an hour later. We had arrived at wherever we were supposed to be, but Nick had still insisted that I keep my eyes closed. "This is pointless," I whined as he led me in the right direction. "I already know that we're at the beach."

"How?" Nick asked sounding disappointed that I'd figured it out.

"Well, first off I can hear the sound of the waves hitting the shore, secondly I can smell the ocean, and thirdly I know you. It's practically natural for you to take me here," I told him matter of factually. It was no lie that we had shared some of our finest moments together at the beach.

"Oh, well that doesn't mean that there isn't any less of a surprise for you. Watch your step here," he warned as he led me up a set of steps, perhaps a dock of some sorts? "Okay, you can open them now."

I opened my eyes and looked around. We were standing on the deck of Nick's boat overlooking the ocean. At the front of the boat there was a small table set up for two, illuminated in candlelight.

"Is this all right?" Nick nervously asked. "I figured that it would be better for us to maybe be alone without anyone else around to bother us."

"It's perfect," I replied as I slightly shivered in the cool evening sea breeze, glad that I had remembered to bring a sweater with me.

"Let's eat then," he announced with a smile, proud that I was pleased with his effort as he led me to the table. "I ordered Italian food. Is that all right?"

"Is that all right?" I asked with a laugh. "Nick, you're forgetting who you're talking to. My dad is 100% Italian. I live off of Italian food."

"Good. At least I didn't screw THAT one up," he said with a smile. "Now I remember there's some kind of Italian food that you said you can't stand, but I didn't remember if it was chicken parmesan, veal parmesan, or eggplant parmesan, so I took a guess and got the veal. Was I horribly wrong?"

"No, I love veal. It's the eggplant I can't stand," I reminded him making a face, as I started to help myself to the food. "Not bad," I told him as I took a bite. "You don't know how many Italian places cannot cook Italian food. My grandma made better lasagna then some of those places and she's a little old Polish lady!"

Nick laughed. "Then I guess I'm going to have to try it one of these days."

"Uh huh..." The conversation kind of died a little right there and we both were silent, just concentrating on our food and enjoying both the scenery and each others company. This left the perfect opportunity for my mind to wander. I was a little surprised by Nick's forgetfulness. Okay the eggplant was one thing, but the roses? He even forgot that I liked Italian food? What else had he forgotten over in Europe? Since he'd came home he was like a whole new person.

I know they say that curiosity killed the cat, but I had to know. Had he also forgotten my birthday? "So, Nick," I interrupted the silence. "Do you remember what Saturday is?"

"Of course. It's you're birthday" Nick answered with an honest face. "So, what are we going to do to celebrate?"

I breathed in a sigh of relief. He DID know, but then why hadn't he mentioned it before? "I don't know. I'm booked for the afternoon. AJ's taking me out to get my first tattoo. Honestly to tell you the truth I think he has something up his sleeve. I think he's kind of planning a surprise party for me because he was awfully insistent on me getting my tattoo on Saturday. I think it's just an excuse to get me out of the way. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?" I interrogated.

Once I stopped talking I realized that Nick had stopped listening somewhere in the middle of my monologue. His face was fixed in a scowl and he did not look happy. "A tattoo? AJ's taking you to get a tattoo?"

"Yeah. What's the big deal Nick? Last time I checked you had quite a few there yourself," I said defensively.

"Are you sure that's what you want? A tattoo is kind of a big decision there," he advised me.

"I don't see what the big deal is! You sound like my father, Nick," I protested. "I have my belly button pierced and you never objected to that!"

"That's different," he tried to reason. "A tattoo is forever."

"Yes, it is but I don't think that's the issue here Nick," I said slowly, finally catching on to what he was getting it. "You're not mad that I'm getting a tattoo. You're mad because I'm getting it with AJ and not you."

Nick sighed and got up from the table to lean against the railing and stare out at the water. "That's not it," he insisted.

I could tell that he was lying. It was obvious by the hurt in his voice. "You're jealous aren't you?" I asked him in a softer voice. "You can admit it."

"Okay fine... I'm jealous of AJ, all right?!" he blurted out angrily. "I come back from being on tour and all of a sudden you two are all buddy buddy. Do you know why AJ is taking you out to get a tattoo? To get you out of the way because all of us: me, Izzy, Melanie, AJ, Kevin, everybody ... we were planning a surprise party for your birthday. Happy now? I was supposed to take you out for the afternoon, but I guess AJ beat me to it."

Wow... I didn't know what to say. Half of me wanted to yell back at him and remind him that he was forgetting the fact that since he came home I had found out that he had been sleeping with another woman and maybe that was the reason I was so "buddy buddy" with AJ. Yet the other half of me found it extremely sweet that he cared enough about me to get jealous over something like this and be able to admit it. Besides, it was very satisfying to be able to give him a taste of his own medicine.

"Nick..." I finally managed to find my words as I got up and joined him at the railing. "AJ and I are just friends nothing more. I'm sorry if me going to get a tattoo with him upsets you but, I promised him this months ago. I had no idea about the surprise party, but you guys should know me better than that. I HATE surprises! Look at what a big mess this has caused. I was all mad at all of you guys thinking you forgot my birthday and then I accepted AJ's invitation not knowing that you were fighting over who was going to bring me in. I'd be happy if we just had a plain old party with no surprise. Where is this party anyway?" I asked.

"AJ's," he answered. "Look, I'm sorry if I overreacted, but I'm just scared of losing you. I know I fucked up big time and don't deserve the chance you are giving me, but I don't want to go through the pain of losing you to AJ."

"You're not going to lose me to AJ," I promised him as I wrapped my arms around his waist to hug him. "Let's just end all this jealously crap and just enjoy the rest of the night."

"Good idea," he agreed as he wrapped his arms around me and I leaned my head back against his chest as we watched the sun set on the water in silence.

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When Nick pulled into my driveway later on that night it was a little awkward. We both sat there in silence for a moment not knowing what to say or do.

I finally broke the ice. "Well, I had a great time tonight," I told him, wincing when I thought about how cliched it sounded.

"I did to," he told me. "I'm glad you decided to give me a second chance."

I paused for a moment. Yes, I had given him a second chance but I never said that I was ready to definitely continue our relationship. We needed to talk this out before we decided anything. "Nick what are we?" I asked him seriously.

"What do you mean, what are we?" He looked downright confused. "We're boyfriend and girlfriend right?"

"Are we?" I questioned. "I gave you a second chance by letting you take me out tonight, but I don't know if we can honestly just go back to what we were before Katie."

"I'd like to try," he sincerely answered, looking me dead in the eye. "There's nothing going on between me and Katie. It was just a one time thing I swear."

I sighed, hoping I wouldn't regret what I said to him next. "I'll make you a deal. I'll try and put this all behind me and go on like it never happened as long as you swear to me that you will never see or talk to Katie ever again."

"Done," Nick agreed.

"I mean it Nick. I not only want you to never see her again, but I don't want her calling you, e-mailing you, writing you letters... She doesn't exist. Got it?" I asked him. "Because next time there won't be any second chances."

"I swear to God that I'm not going to keep any contact with her," he promised crossing his heart with his fingers.

"You better not because if I find out..." I never even finished my sentence because before I knew it Nick had shut me up with a kiss. I kissed him back, trying to fool myself into thinking that the whole Katie fiasco was just a really bad nightmare. It was a lot harder than it seemed. Maybe I just needed some time to think it over more?

I pulled away from a disappointed looking Nick. Normally when he dropped me off at my place I didn't wind up getting inside until almost an hour later because our goodnight kiss had turned into a major make out session. "I better get inside now," I told him as I started to open the door.

"What happened to going back into normal?" he teased with an impish grin.

"You still have some groveling to do before things go totally back to normal," I answered leaning over to give him one last kiss goodnight. I intended it to be just a light kiss but the way he kissed me back nearly took my breath away.

"Okay, now I REALLY better go inside now," I joked as I pulled away.

"Wait... Before you go I wanted to ask you something. My parents and Aaron are going to be over tomorrow night and I want to know if you want to come over for dinner?"

"Wow... Dinner with the rents? This was a little intimidating. I had never met his parents while we were dating and now he wants me to meet them when things are as weird between us as now? My stomach flipped just thinking about it!

"Oh, sure. I'd love too!" I answered hoping that I didn't sound to fake.

"Okay. I'm having them over at around 6. Good for you?" he asked.

"Great. I'll see you tomorrow," I told him as I hopped out of his car.

Oh, God... How was I going to get through all of this? I wondered as I unlocked the door to my apartment.