Lis yawned as she headed down the stairs two at a time. "I'm coming!" she yelled as whoever was at the door kept knocking. She was thankful Bri had taken Michael out shopping for the morning. She opened the door and stared in shock at the woman on the step. "Uh hi." Lis said anxiously.
"Morning." E said looking at her. "Can I come in?"
"Sure." Lis stepped back and let her in the house. "Nick isn't here..."
E spun around. "That I know, right now he's sleeping off a bad hangover."
"Nick never drinks."
"Apparently he does now." E said following Lis into the kitchen. "Do you mind if I talk to you?"
"Not at all. Coffee?"
"Sure thanks." E took a seat at the kitchen table and watched Lis for a few minutes.
Lis sat down across from E. "How long have you known him if you don't mind me asking?"
"Over a year, we live in the same building in New York."
Lis nodded staring down at her juice. She raised her eyes to see E staring at her. "I get the feeling you didn't come here for coffee."
"I came to find out why you're so hellbent on hurting Nick. From everything I've seen you're playing him like a yo-yo."
Lis' jaw dropped. "What? I never EVER want to hurt him."
"Really? Wow because I seem to think marrying his former best friend points in that direction...and as for hurting him to...hell you've been leading him on since he first came home. How many times have you slept together?"
"I...that's none of your business."
"Seems to be when you're using my best friend. You say you don't want to hurt him but you've seen him...BJ said you died inside in the last year are you trying to do the same to him?"
"How dare you..." Lis said in disbelief.
"Don't want to hear the truth? I can't see how anyone would want to...no let me rephrase that...could hurt him so much and still claim to care about him like you say you do."
"He's...he was my life."
"Till you moved on, then he came back and you jumped ship again am I right? Then you tell Nick after he does everything he can think of to get you back that you two are finally back together and soon as you see B you change your mind...either you're very stupid or got a lot of guts to mess around with people's lives the way you do."
Before Lis could speak she heard the front door open and Brian's voice. "Lis we're home."
E smiled. "Ah the elusive recurring fiancee."
Bri walked in, "Michael's asleep in the living room. Oh hi don't think we've met, Brian Littrell."
"I'm E..." she noticed the confused look on Bri's face as he tried to remember her, "I'm Nick's friend from New York."
"Oh." he looked at Lis then back to E. "Nice to meet you." he said still confused as to why she was at Lis'.
"Same here, I've been wanting to talk to you for awhile now."
"Oh boy." Lis muttered.
"About what?" Bri asked, pulling up a chair.
E smirked. "About what you're doing to Nick."
A confused look crossed Brian's face. "I'm not doing anything to Nick."
Lis started playing absentmindedly with the cup in her hand. "I think she means us, Rok."
He looked at Lis then at E. "I told Nick the day he married Lis I'd look after her...that's what I'm doing."
"Strange way of showing it...stealing your best friend's wife unless maybe Nick was under the illusion you were closer than you were."
Bri stared at E. "Nick was...still IS one of my best friends. Right now I can't help it if I'm hurting him...he hurt all of us when he walked out that door and didn't come back."
"So this is your revenge on him? You knew he was trying to get his family back...so you just let him think he was finally getting his life back and then bam take it all back?"
Bri sat there stunned for a minute, he was used to AJ's accusations but these...he had no idea what to say. His usual remarks of 'we've all moved on with our lives' didn't seem to fit but he could try. "We've all moved on with our lives E..." he stopped and looked at the table, "Did Nick even call us once when he was in New York? Any of us?? No! And he's never given anyone an explanation..."
E sat there shaking her head. "Oh he called all right...he called one night and you picked up the phone a short two weeks after Nick left. I mean Lis were you really that lonely you pounced on his best friend?"
"Oh that's it..." Lis said getting to her feet. "I'm going to check on Michael."
"Yeah disappear again... I think that's one thing you and Nick have in common." she said as Lis walked out of the kitchen.
"Look..." B started, "You weren't here for those three months..."
"No I wasn't but I heard Nick's side and for the last little while I've seen things with my own eyes...basically you're trying to punish Nick for leaving everyone...and mostly you...you're hurt he never got in touch with you so you figure this is the best way to hurt him back and I gotta say congratulations it's working."
Bri sighed, "Nick didn't seem too upset last night." he lied.
"Really?? Wow funny because BJ and I had to pick a drunk Nick up from Shan's at about midnight last night...I guess that's just something he does when he's home huh?"
"Drunk? Nick's never gotten drunk..." B said slowly.
"I guess you and Lis deciding to get married last night slightly pushed him over the edge!!" E said sarcastically, slightly amazed at how stupid Brian was.
Bri got up and walked around the kitchen, thinking things over. "This isn't a good situation E... from the start... everyone's been hurt... Nick and Lis the most but don't they deserve to be happy? Shouldn't Lis feel safe?"
"Sure...but you can't tell me those two aren't happy together?"
Bri shook his head. "Not anymore..."
E stood up. "That's a lie and you know it!! You just don't want them to be happy so you can step in and take what's left of his life!"
"That isn't it." Bri said sadly.
Before E knew what she was doing she was in front of him, "No I think that's it exactly." She felt her hand tighten up into a fist and before she even said anything else she clocked him with a left hook.
Bri stumbled back, finally grabbing onto the counter. "What was that for?"
E smiled. "For Nick...let's just say that was his revenge for the last year." And with that she turned and left the kitchen, heading straight out the front door.
A minute later, Lis walked in. "B? What happened?"
Brian shook his head, "She hit me!"
"You need ice on that."
He pushed her hand away. "I'm okay really. I've got to go somewhere."
"B you can't drive like that."
"I'll call a taxi, really I'm fine." he gave her a weak smile. "Really..."
She looked at him skeptically. "If you're sure..."
"I am. Trust me."
"K I've got to run out for a few, I'll take Michael with me." she gave him a quick kiss and gave him one last look before she left.
Nick rolled over in bed, finally awake. He sighed and pulled the stuffed bear closer to him. Funny thing was it still smelled of Lis. He'd found it in the Durango when he'd come home from the Keys. He stared at the little suit and shook his head. "I don't understand Lis...how can you think what we have is so wrong?"
Shan watched Bri walk through her front door. She momentarily forgot the fact she had given him a key to her place. "What the hell are you doing here? My god you have some nerve to show your face."
He sighed. "I heard Nick came over last night."
"Yeah at least he had the decency to inform me you're marrying my best friend before he passed out on my sofa." she shook her head, her eyes stopping on the growing bruise on his eye. "What happened?"
Brian sat down in the chair opposite her. "Did anyone ever tell you Nick's pal E has one hell of a left hook?"
Nick stumbled down the stairs in his sweats and surveyed the main level for signs of his siblings. He didn't see anything so he headed into the kitchen to get something to drink. His eyes stopped on a piece of paper on the table. He picked it up and read it quickly, BJ and AC had gone out shopping. "Good finally alone." he said to himself and made himself a quick breakfast, deciding to spend the day at the beach.
Lis set the blanket down on the sand and sat down, hugging her knees to her. She was thankful Han was able to look after Michael for a few hours so she could have some time for herself. She closed her eyes as E's words kept repeating in her head. "Maybe I did lead him on..." Lis said softly.
E looked around the table at AC and BJ. "I've got an idea."
BJ smiled. "Good, what is it?"
"Saturday at the wedding we..." E began filling them in on her plan.
AC nodded. "Oh I like it."
"But we're going to let it go that far?" BJ asked worriedly.
"Unless something happens before then." E looked at the two Carters. "But something tells me it won't."
Nick walked down the beach, his hands deep in his pockets. He'd never felt worse in his life. He wasn't sure if it was because of the hangover or what was going on but he just wanted to curl up in bed and stay there. After walking for a good half hour Nick stopped and sat down on the warm sand. His eyes scanned the beach and further down he noticed a figure sitting there. Nick leaned back on his elbows and closed his eyes, wondering if there was anything he could do other than just accept things the way they were.
